The rise of the prince

Chapter 331 The Emperor's Ambition

On this day, Degong came to see him and brought precious musk, wild ginseng, high-quality goji berries and other things.

He said that he was afraid that he had been in the south of you for a long time, and the humidity was heavy, which would cause the root of the disease, so he took away the wet things.

"This Shenling Baizhu pill is made by Fuzhong pharmacists with ginseng, Atractylodes macrocephala, Poria cocos, yam, lotus seed meat, white lentils, coix seed, amomum seed, bellflower, licorice, and jujube. Take one pill every day and go Moisture." As he spoke, he took out a small porcelain bottle from his cuff and put it on the table, and Gillian next to him quickly put it away.

Qiu'er and Yue'er poured tea, and then served several dishes. "Grandpa Wang, try it. These are the hares, bamboo chickens, and roe deer that the son hunted out of the city yesterday." Yue'er said cheerfully like a butterfly, while putting the bowls and chopsticks for the two of them.

Seeing that Yue'er was so skilled, Li Xingzhou knew that De Gong would often shine light on the palace even when he was not around, so Yue'er was kind to him.

"Hmph, you still have this arrow technique." De Gong tasted the stewed night rabbit, then nodded.

Li Xingzhou laughed, poured himself a glass of wine, and then poured it for De Gong: "I can't shoot arrows, but I can use a gun, you forgot."

De Gong was taken aback, then stroked his beard and laughed: "Haha, yes, even a fool can practice for a few days with your musket, and it's not a problem to hit dozens of steps. , the four limbs are not working hard."

Li Xingzhou didn't care, he laughed, and Gillian also smiled, and came up to pour wine for them.This wine is not the general brewed by Gu Feng, but the lotus wine brewed by Li Xingzhou with a few girls, just in time for the first batch of lotus this year.

"Last time, Yan Yan said that he and Mao Luan had offered magic tricks to the emperor, but the emperor didn't pay much attention to it. Does Mr. De know about this?" Li Xingzhou asked.

Yan Yan told him about it. The emperor had seen the power of cannons in the shipyard, so he asked the palace to present the blueprints and manufacturing methods, but according to Yan Yan, the emperor didn't look at them after entering the palace, and only asked the Ministry of Industry to collect them. Hastily finished.

De Gong also frowned slightly, then shook his head and said: "Recently, for some reason, the emperor has often told Meng Zhiye to enter the palace, and also summoned many great Confucian scholars to give lectures on rites and Taoism. He is obsessed with literature. Many things are decided by the Zhengshitang."

Li Xingzhou nodded, lost in thought, the emperor is really old.

Generally speaking, no one will let go of the ultimate power easily, so the emperor is also the group of people who don't want to die the most.

Some people who can't see the reality clearly may start desperately looking for various ways to live forever when they are old, such as Qin Shihuang.

And some emperors who see the reality clearly will think about paving the way for future generations, killing powerful officials, and punishing prominent families, such as Liu Bang.

And the emperor forcibly snatched the command of the new army from the Privy Council to him this time. He also had this meaning. He naturally hoped that the armed forces would be in the hands of his descendants.

There is another way that is even more powerful, that is to speak with words and rule the country with words.

The rule of force will eventually come to an end, but the rule of thought can be beneficial for generations to come. Some emperors have seen this.

There were also people doing it in past life history.

In fact, depending on the history of Chinese civilization, the Song Dynasty can be regarded as a turning point.

Before the Song Dynasty, Chinese civilization was spread out and exposed. The Han Dynasty was about to destroy the country tens of thousands of miles away. The civil war at the end of the Han Dynasty was like that, and the foreign war was still very tough. The number of countries is beyond the number of fingers.During this period of time, the Chinese civilization was keen to conquer the law.

But after the Tang Dynasty, starting from the Song Dynasty, the Chinese culture became refined and introverted. This is due to the lack of strength, but it is also closely related to the changes in the core values.

Some people say that Confucius is all to blame. If it weren’t for his Confucianism, there would be no subsequent numbness and corruption. But the problem is that half of the Han Dynasty and the entire Tang Dynasty, these magnificent, open, and gorgeous prosperous times were also orthodox Confucian dynasties.

The imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty were based on Confucian classics and history. Many of the famous people in the Tang Dynasty were also Confucian scholars and generals who were serious about the classics. flat and biased.

But why do I always feel that there is still a difference between the Tang, Han and even the pre-Qin period and the later closed and strict dynasties?
The difference is that in the post-Tang era, some people practiced the core values ​​before tampering with Confucianism quietly. Although what they said were the words of Confucius, Mencius, and Xun, the core concepts of the theory had been secretly changed, and everything was in the service of royal rule.

That is to say, Confucianism in the Song Dynasty and later was still called Confucianism, but it was already distinguished from that before the Song Dynasty.

And it is not a relationship of development inheritance, which is suspected of tampering, because the core values ​​​​have changed.

These are only the upper class scholars and royals can do, they have the right to speak, and only they know it well.The influence is from top to bottom, and the common people don't understand this change, and they don't know it when they suffer from it. This is more terrible than the suppression by force.

The book "Water Margin" was listed as an anti-book by the feudal rulers of all dynasties, and was called a masterpiece of realism by many great figures, such as Mao Zedong, because it opened up the bloody facts and criticized the distorted core values ​​after the Song Dynasty.

And now, Emperor Jingguo may be thinking of doing the same thing
Li Xingzhou sighed, the history is so similar, the country is eternal, some emperors think of their own immortality, some kill powerful officials, and some think of ruling the world with words.

If you want to blame, blame the emperor for being smart, he can even think of such a method.

Li Xingzhou was full of worries, but he didn't know what to do. This was not a simple matter of fighting a war. He was neither a great Confucianist nor a well-known scholar, so he had no say in such matters.

Afterwards, Duke De expressed a few words of concern, and then told him: "You are now the champion general, and you are still in charge of the new army. Your Majesty is sympathetic, so let you rest for a while, but don't forget that when you have free time, you will Going to the court, your grade and dispatch, you must come to all the big and small courts."

Li Xingzhou nodded.

"There is also the matter of firearms. You are the young supervisor of military weapons and the commander of the new army. His Majesty also ordered you to build the new army into the Shenji Battalion. This means that you can decide on this matter yourself. If there is any inconvenience , and casually tell the old man, but the matter of firearms must not be left behind!"

De Gong exhorted with a serious face, he must be optimistic about the future of firearms.This was the first person to tell him that, and Li Xingzhou solemnly nodded in agreement.

The two chatted casually while eating meat and drinking.

After a while, Yan Yan, Yan Kun, Gu Feng and Shiyu suddenly came to him.

When the four of them saw Mr. De was there, their words flickered after saluting, but Li Xingzhou waved his hands indifferently: "It's nothing, just tell me what's going on."

So Yan Yan cupped his hands and said: "My lord, I have something to discuss today. Now there are hidden dangers in the palace, and many things can't be managed. There are 42 water wheels, [-] supporting water drop forging rooms, grenades and gunpowder sheds in the back mountain. , plus the excavation of nitrate soil, and the porcelain vases where Zhu's family made general wine and perfume, the kiln for firing black crucibles, and the newly built courtyard for refining Xiaogang, there are hundreds of independent houses in total. , There are about a thousand workers who go back and forth to the palace every day, and when they are busy, the southeast of the palace is a piece of land, and there is almost no place to lay their buttocks."

Shiyu went on to say: "Because Zhu Rong has recently created a larger graphite crucible, the production of Xiaogang has increased by about [-]%, which has accelerated the production of suifa guns and artillery.

The few of us have just summed up, and this time we estimate that there will be at least 530 people working outside the palace to keep up with Xiaogang's production.

In this way, not only is the narrowness and congestion around the palace a problem, but overall management is also a major issue. Most of the people in the palace are maid servants, and they don't care about people at all. There are so many people who can't manage it."

Gu Feng interjected: "My lord, the General's Brewing is really selling well recently, moving food, adding a new wine stove, I have to add manpower to my side."

Degong was also listening with great interest, and then he said in surprise: "Your Fuzhong Industry has such a huge body!"

Now, Li Xingzhou also understands that the problem is coming. When the scale of the company expands to a certain level, if the strategy is not changed, the development will be restricted.

"Brother, the Liao people are going south, the Liao people's army is going south!" Wanyan Zongbi rushed into the big tent with a happy face, wearing a tiger skin on his body, a sword hanging on his waist, and a big bow on his back. The arms of the bow were as thick as a baby. Average arm.

After hearing this, Wanyan Wugu stood up happily: "Is it really gone? How much have you gone!"

"There are more than 30 in total, at least [-] to [-] who can fight." Wanyan Zongbi said with a smile.

Wanyan Wugunai knocked heavily on the table: "Okay, okay! As soon as they leave, the opportunity will come. When Yelu Shulie comes back to his senses, we have already taken Liaoyang and stabilized our position. When the time comes, my Jurchen man will return!" Who will be afraid of!"

After hearing what elder brother said, Wanyan Zongbi was excited: "Elder brother, let's kill him now!"

Wanyan Wugu looked helplessly at Houji's younger brother: "Don't be in a hurry, it's not winter when the river freezes and you can come and go freely, let's build the bridge first, once we take Liaoyang, Yelu Shulie will definitely bring people over in a panic , I'll rely on you when the time comes!" He said and patted his younger brother on the shoulder.

"Your Iron Buddha also has kidnapped horses. We will build bridges up and down the river. When they come, we will charge and kill them for a while, and then don't want to fight, cross the river and tear down the bridge, and then pass the bridge upstream, and then kill them for a while. Kill a few times!" Wan Yan Wugu Nai's eyes shone coldly.

Wanyan Zongbi also nodded, and said cheerfully, "I'll go build a bridge."

After he got out of the big tent, Wanyan Wugunai said in a low voice: "It's time to send an envoy to Jingguo, Liaoguo is a serious problem for my woman, and it also belongs to Jingguo. We are in the east, and Jing people are in the south. If we send troops on both sides, the Liao people won't survive for a year."

(End of this chapter)