The red building is so arrogant

Chapter 630 Battle of Palace Examination [Part [-]]

【Terrible inertia...】

Renshou Palace.

"... Your Majesty has just recovered from a serious illness, and his body of ten thousand gold still needs to be nourished. It is really inappropriate to consume energy repeatedly. Therefore, I have the courage to ask the Supreme Majesty to reset the ranking of the palace examination, and then leave it to His Majesty to decide."

After euphemistically explaining the purpose of his visit, Jiao Shun bowed and stood in the hall, waiting for the Supreme Emperor's reply.

However, there was a long silence.

It had been so long that if it hadn't been for the emperor's upturned feet swinging from time to time on the chair opposite, Jiao Shun would have suspected that the blind old man had fallen asleep long ago and hadn't heard what he said at all; it had been so long that Jiao Shun muttered, Could it be that he had guessed wrongly, the Supreme Emperor who had rejected the list twice, did not intend to accept it as soon as it was good, but made up his mind to fall out with his son?
It shouldn't be...

Even if the Supreme Emperor is greedy for imperial power, it's not like this.

At the beginning, Jiao Shun was still thinking about the thoughts of the Supreme Emperor, but later, his thoughts simply diverged, and he went up and down, so that when he recalled it afterwards, he couldn't remember exactly what thoughts he had at that time.

In short, the time in Renshou Palace seems to be frozen.

After a long, long, long time, the Supreme Emperor exhaled like a dream and said, "The last time my father and son talked face to face, it seemed to be the end of winter in the second year of Longyuan."

After finishing speaking, he changed his words with some uncertainty: "Maybe it was the early spring of Longyuan's third year?"

Finally, he seemed to give up, shook his head and sighed: "I can't remember, I can't remember."

Listening to this tone, could it be that the Taishang Huang sent back the list twice, in fact, because he wanted to have a parent-child exchange?
Jiao Shun didn't dare to believe it all, but he also didn't dare not to believe it. He was hesitating whether he should say something, when he heard the Supreme Emperor on the other side say again: "I remember that because of some industrial innovation, we had a big fight in Renshou Palace. Although the emperor took the initiative to plead guilty afterwards, but since then..."

Halfway through, he fell silent again.

And it was even more difficult for Jiao Shun to answer these words.

Fortunately, the Supreme Emperor was not silent for a long time this time, he pulled up the thin blanket covering his body, and asked quietly: "Since you are his appointed minister, then come and tell me about it, it's a day of anger and resentment." What are the benefits of the New Deal."

Jiao Shun was still hesitant just now, whether he made a mistake in coming this time, but he immediately changed his mind when he heard this sentence - it was thanks to him that he came, maybe the father and son would have to quarrel.

After all, one is obsessed with the New Deal after a stroke, and the other has a long-standing grudge against the New Deal. How can we talk about the same thing?

At that moment, he cleared his throat slightly, and said in a loud voice: "Back to the Supreme Emperor, I think that if we only consider the national conditions of our Great Xia, the new policy has both advantages and disadvantages. Short-sighted, it is difficult to distinguish for a while."

"Ok?"

Since Jiao Shun entered the palace, the Supreme Emperor raised his head to look in his direction for the first time, obviously he did not expect Jiao Shun to say such words at all.

But soon, the Supreme Emperor lay back on his back again, snorted and said: "What a lucky minister!"

He obviously felt that Jiao Shun was timid, so he deliberately spoke according to his own mind.

"Your Majesty, the same is true in front of His Majesty."

Jiao Shun deliberately removed the word 'micro', and his tone was neither humble nor overbearing.

"Ok?"

The Supreme Emperor raised his head for the second time, and although his eyes were cloudy, there was no doubt that there was doubt on his face.

Jiao Shun saw that he was just 'staring' at himself and didn't say anything more, so he continued according to the established train of thought: "I have collected a lot of information about Wuxi country in the past two years. Wuxi country is indeed powerful in the world, but for the sake of Taking the road of industrial power, the hardships suffered by the small people in the country are also appalling."

"For example, in order to have more wool for weaving, the factory owners did not hesitate to seize the people's arable land by various means and turned it into sheep pens and pastures. As a result, the price of food was high and the people were displaced and unable to sustain themselves."

"For another example, in order to reduce costs, we try our best to squeeze the workers, so that countless workers suffer from five labors and seven injuries in just a few years. At that time, the factory owner will dismiss them mercilessly, leaving them suffering from all kinds of diseases and no money. Heal and die."

"As far as I know, most of the workers in Wuxi country today do not live to be 30 years old, and nearly half of them are not even 25 years old. Countless young children have died of exploitation."

"All these misdeeds can be said to be countless!"

Hearing Jiao Shun's eloquence, the Supreme Emperor unconsciously sat up straight, and the astonishment on his face gradually became stronger.

Among them, only three points were shocked by the tragic situation of the workers in Wuxi State, and seven points were shocked by Jiao Shun's words that were not conducive to the New Deal without hesitation!
So much so that after Jiao Shun's words came to an end, the Supreme Emperor subconsciously asked, "Aren't you afraid that these words will spread?"

Jiao Shun replied calmly: "Everything I said is true, and there is nothing that cannot be said to others."

Hearing that he was so calm, the Supreme Emperor didn't know what to say for a while. He was holding back his words and wanted to refute Jiao Shun, the standard bearer of the New Deal, in person, but he never thought that before he could open his mouth, Jiao would start talking. up the white flag.

At this time, Jiao Shun continued: "It is true that Wuxi has accumulated a lot of wealth through the export of industrial products, but this may not be applicable to my Great Xia - my Great Xia only relies on silk, porcelain and other things. A huge surplus has been obtained.

"Even the Wuxi Kingdom has to use real money to purchase our country's goods every year, and even bears a lot of financial burdens because of this. The reason why the Wuxi Kingdom invaded our borders in the past few years is precisely to use force to reverse this unfavorable situation. .”

"So for our DPRK, even if we can produce more industrial products for export, it's just icing on the cake, and we may even have to worry about producing too much and not being able to sell them. This is one of the reasons why the DPRK and China ministers disapprove of the New Deal. one."

"That's why I said that the pros and cons of the new policy are difficult to measure if we only consider the national conditions of our Great Xia."

The Supreme Emperor was more and more confused. Jiao Shun's two passages almost dismissed the industrial innovation as useless. I am afraid that when most civil servants in the court criticize the New Deal, they are not as penetrating as he said.

But he is the core figure of the New Deal, the most trusted confidant of the emperor...

The Supreme Emperor couldn't help asking: "You know the disadvantages of the New Deal, but why do you blindly cater to the Holy Will? Could it be that you want to help the emperor..."

Halfway through, the Taishanghuang felt that he should not describe his son in this way, so he stopped the conversation in time.

"Look at the Supreme Emperor's enlightenment!"

But Jiao Shun said with emotion: "The minister is not blindly catering to the holy will, but sincerely admires His Majesty's foresight!"

"Then what you just said..."

"What I just said has a premise, that is, 'Only in terms of the national conditions of my Great Xia', but there are no nations in the world other than my Great Xia!"

Hearing Jiao Shun's reversal, the Supreme Emperor recalled it a little bit. After all, he has been upright for many years, and he has seen a lot of them. At this moment, he can vaguely see that Jiao Shun wants to show off before he wants to be promoted.

However, he was really curious, how Jiao Shun would get rid of all the ills of the New Deal all of a sudden.

Therefore, even though he saw Jiao Shun's strategy, he didn't intend to break through the obstruction for a while, but raised his chin, motioning him to continue talking.

And this is exactly the purpose of Jiao Shun belittling the New Deal as soon as he came up.

If he had chosen to advocate for the New Deal from the very beginning, then the Supreme Emperor would not listen so seriously, and he would definitely refute it—this is not a fair debate, the Supreme Emperor is both the questioner and the referee. How can you beat him in an argument?
The only way to express what you really want to say is to first restrain yourself and arouse the curiosity of the Supreme Emperor.

Seeing that the goal was about to be achieved, Jiao Shun naturally did not hesitate, and immediately said: "Since the squid invaded Jinmen in the second year of Longyuan, our court has decided to use the power of the whole country to imitate iron-clad ships, so as to compete with Wuxi on the sea— —However, it has been more than three years, and the iron-clad ships have not been launched yet, does the Supreme Emperor know the reason?"

When the Supreme Emperor saw his question, he sneered and said: "It is because the emperor has repeatedly requested that the iron-clad ships built by our court must be stronger than those of the Wuxi Kingdom, so it is naturally not easy."

"There are reasons for that."

Jiao Shun didn't want to draw on this, so he skipped it casually, and said: "But more is spent on supporting facilities, such as the steam turbine driving the iron-clad ship, and there is a problem of insufficient power, adding airtight boilers It is difficult to support, and enhancing the thickness and toughness of the boiler will cause too much burden on the ironclad ship.”

"Other problems such as the load-bearing problem of the steel skeleton, the problem of driving the rudder, the problem of measuring the coal-fired supply... There are all kinds of problems."

"What about where?"

When the Supreme Emperor heard Jiao Shun suddenly talk about the details of these shipbuilding, he felt a little impatient, and stopped him and said, "Isn't the iron-clad ship about to be launched now? Obviously, these problems have been overcome."

"Actually, not all of them have been overcome."

Jiao Shun corrected a sentence, but he didn't bother with these details, and then said: "And this was done under the supervision of the emperor, and it took several years to do it with the power of the whole country. I don't know how many people racked their brains for it. , just imagine..."

"what do you want to say in the end?!"

The Supreme Emperor interrupted Jiao Shun again, and the impatience on his face had increased by six points.

tsk~
This blind old man just now looked like he had been quiet for a long time, but he turned out to be a temper tantrum!
Jiao Shun was more and more thankful that he came here to pass the message, not the emperor himself, and at the same time, he had to skip a part of the previous summary, and went straight to the main point: "What I mean is that the things made in Wuxi Kingdom are now rapidly moving towards complex and profound. development direction, this ironclad ship is one of the leaders."

"If it weren't for the Taizu's emphasis on industry, the smelting industry of our dynasty is more than a step stronger than that of the former Qing Dynasty. I am afraid that it will be difficult to imitate this iron-clad ship in three to five years—and if I am satisfied with this, I am afraid it will be decades or even ten years. Afterwards, the Guangdong and Guangxi naval forces were easily wiped out, and the calamity of the squid driving straight into the Kouluejin Gate will repeat itself!"

"Hmph, alarmist!"

The Supreme Emperor is no stranger to this kind of statement, so he immediately retorted: "How do you know that I, Daxia, will stand still? The court only needs to allocate funds specifically for the Ministry of Industry to develop stronger warships..."

"How much money should be appropriated?"

Jiao Shun boldly interrupted the words of the Supreme Emperor, and asked back: "The minister said just now that the industry of Westerners is developing towards complexity and intensification. If there is less funding, I am afraid it will not help, and there are not so many talents who specialize in this field."

"If there is more funding, and then specially cultivate talents who specialize in this field... wouldn't that be the New Deal advocated by His Majesty?!"

The Supreme Emperor obviously hesitated when he heard the words.

In fact, he wanted to say that it is fine for the emperor to implement new policies, but there is no need to elevate craftsmen too much. According to the old system, let them be low-ranking officials, so why can't they engage in new technologies?

But the Supreme Emperor didn't want to say such soft words in front of mere courtiers.

So he hesitated for a moment, and still snorted coldly: "Smart words! For thousands of years, my dynasty has never respected craftsmen so much, but why not come to the court to subdue the four barbarians and all nations?"

In fact, Jiao Shun may not really want to elevate the workers too much, but now the worker group has become his basic base, and he even considers himself a worker representative on weekdays. Even if he doesn't think so in his heart, he must say so .

Therefore, even though he could hear the hidden meaning in the Taishanghuang's words, he could only pretend that he didn't understand, bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, for thousands of years, how can there be a country of barbarians that overwhelms our heavenly kingdom with its excellent equipment? "

In fact, there are, but the Supreme Emperor will definitely not admit it.

After a pause, Jiao Shun continued: "For thousands of years, how have you ever seen a giant ship made of steel running across the sea? Let alone the Western Yi, my newly-made Lianzhu musket, once it is loaded into the army, I'm afraid that the method of battle formation that has been used for thousands of years will change from now on."

After all, Great Xia built a country based on firearms, and the Supreme Emperor took time to understand the country's sharp weapons such as magazine muskets, so Jiao Shun's words were also accepted—since a musket capable of continuous and rapid fire was made, what kind of three-stage firearm was used before? The phalanx of human beings is naturally unsustainable.

"And this is just the beginning. Now the Ministry of Industry is trying to continue to improve. If it can break through some difficulties, it may be able to increase the rate of fire by ten times, or even a hundred times..."

"what!"

The Supreme Emperor finally caught Jiao Shun's sick foot this time, and said with a sneer: "Do you think I don't know anything about it? Let me ask you, even if such a musket is made, where should the bullets be placed? There really is such a gun. I'm afraid it won't be enough to load dozens or even hundreds of bullets!"

"That's thousands of shots, tens of thousands of shots!"

Jiao Shun said with emotion: "I have seriously imagined that once the problem of airtightness and automatic ejection of the bullet case is solved, thousands of bullets can be strung together with something to make a bullet belt, so that they can be placed separately at ordinary times. When it is used, it can be strung together to fire hundreds of bullets in an instant."

"Furthermore, if the power of the steam engine continues to increase and the size continues to shrink, an ironclad ship that can walk on land can be built—it doesn't need to be so big, it just needs to be able to withstand the attacks of ordinary weapons."

"At that time, as long as a small number of such giant beasts take the lead in charging, no matter how many people are facing them, how can they resist if there are no equipped weapons to contend with them?!"

(End of this chapter)