Sui Dynasty: I, Yang Guang, am both scrupulous and stable

Chapter 267
Only half a month had passed since the peace talks in Xiliang. Yuan Xian and others sent people to secretly cross the river and deposit the money.

Xiao Cong looked at the carts of gold and silver and asked, "Prince Jin, do you really not have to worry about muskets?"

"Even if you give them a musket, they won't be able to imitate it within a year or two."

Yang Guang sighed again and said: "Hey, if we really fight Nan Chen, a small-scale war will be okay. A large-scale fight against our army will not be without casualties, and the other side will definitely be able to seize the muskets from our army. Now It was a huge profit to get such a huge benefit in exchange for just a few muskets.”

Xiao Cong was still very worried.

"Besides, since the Sui Dynasty is so big, Nan Chen must have been trying to find a way to get our muskets. Everyone manages it properly, but it is unrealistic."

Xiao Cong said: "I am very worried that if Nan Chen obtains the muskets and manufactures them in batches, it will be detrimental to us."

"Uncle, don't worry. Although Nanchen has developed agriculture and commerce, there are few coal mines and iron ores available for mining. Its manufacturing capacity is not comparable to that of the Sui Dynasty. It is also difficult to prevent and control muskets now, which will consume a lot of manpower and material resources. Moreover, There is also a huge gap between muskets and muskets.”

After saying this, Yang Guang turned around and got on his horse: "Brother, I am going back to Daxing City for the New Year. You have to keep an eye on Chen Shujian. Now that I have Yuan Xian, he can help me get in touch with Nan Chen. Let’s get raw silk, collect it in large quantities, as long as the price is reasonable, you can have as much as you want.”

"Raw silk? Why is this?"

"Nanchen is rich in silk cloth, which is very expensive in Daxing City, but if nothing else happens, I will sell it to them next year."

"Ah? Are you selling it to Nan Chen?"

Yang Guang reined in the horse's rope: "Yes, what follows is not a war of muskets, but a war of productivity."

……

The weather is getting colder, and the palace of Prince Jin is bustling with lights and colorful decorations. Xiao Menglan is preparing the supplies needed for the New Year.

As the head of the Jin Palace, Xiao Menglan needs to make a lot of preparations. Gifts from each palace are indispensable, and a word of etiquette is the most important.

Ten miles outside the city, Yang Guang returned on horseback. Li Yuan went out to greet him. When he saw Yang Guang, he dismounted and said, "His Royal Highness, King Jin."

"Thank you for your hard work, cousin, why bother you to come out to greet me."

The two of them entered Daxing City together. Yang Guang went to see the emperor and empress first. The two saints were very happy to see him. Empress Dugu said: "Amo, please stay in Daxing City for a while when you come back this time."

The emperor also said: "Well, Goguryeo in the northeast still refuses to let us use the passage. The prince has sent back a message and plans to attack Goguryeo. What do you think?"

Queen Dugu immediately interrupted the emperor: "Didn't your Majesty say that Amo will not discuss government affairs when he comes back today? You should also let him have a good rest."

Yang Jian laughed: "That's right. You can go back to your house and rest first."

"Father, Emperor and Mother, I will take my leave first."

Queen Dugu watched him leave and said, "Amo is always polite, cautious, and kind. It's really wonderful."

"How is the situation with the Crown Princess?"

When the emperor asked about the Crown Princess, Empress Dugu shook her head in distress: "It's still the same. The child has been saved, but she used to be quite healthy. Now she has lost a lot of weight because of being pregnant. In the first three months, Mr. Sun asked her to walk on the ground, but she never thought that she would be bumped into by the little palace maid again, and now she would have to continue lying on the bed."

Yang Jian's eyes narrowed slightly: "Are you being attacked by a little palace maid? Queen, the East Palace is in the palace, so you should be more careful. Don't show mercy to those who deserve to be punished and killed, and warn those who deserve to be warned."

"My concubine has given instructions to everyone in the East Palace, and also talked to the Yun family alone."

"The prince may have to fight on the front line, but we can't let anything happen in the East Palace."

"I, my concubine, saved the day."

When Yang Guang returned home, Xiao Menglan took Princess Yaqi and Tang Tong'an to greet him. After entering the mansion and walking not far, he stood in front of the corridor and dressed in red, bowed and saluted: "Slave Nanxi, please see His Highness the King of Jin."

Yang Guang himself was a little surprised by Nanxi's appearance.

Naturally, she refused to come in by herself. Being able to come in meant that Xiao Menglan allowed her to enter the house.

Before Yang Guang could ask, Xiao Menglan said: "Your Highness, the New Year is approaching recently, and I am too busy, so I sent someone to Changlefang to invite Miss Nanxi to help. Nanxi has arranged all the internal affairs properly. ."

Nanxi exchanged his own life for the opportunity.

Yang Guang didn't say many words of gratitude, and there was no need for too much explanation between him and Xiao Menglan.

He just said to Nan Xi: "You must listen to the princess in everything."

"The servant knows."

Not long after Yang Guang sat down, Nanxi asked to see him alone. Yang Guang asked, "What's going on with Nanxi?"

"Your Highness, I have something to report to you, but the truth or falseness cannot be determined at the moment. Please don't blame me, Your Highness."

"You can tell me anything you want."

Nanxi stepped forward gently and said, "Your Highness, you still remember sister Qianqian."

Yang Guang almost forgot the name if Nanxi didn't mention it, but as soon as he mentioned it, he remembered the incident of Shu Guogong Liu Fang. Those messy things happened, but now that he thinks about it, he still feels that this Shu Guogong must be really capable.

I don’t know why Nan Xi mentioned this matter now.

"Did something happen?"

"Sister Qianqian has been doing some work as a singer in Changlefang since that incident, but she got involved with Duke Shu Guo a few days ago."

Yang Guang smiled helplessly. This matter was just like a conversation on the street. He was not very interested, but he felt that Nanxi did not deliberately leave everyone to chat with him.

"Have you found anything?"

"Sister Qianqian talked about how one time when she went out, she met two other people. One of them was Liang Shiyan, the Duke of Qi State, and Yu Wenxin, the Duke of Qi State. And they seemed to be complaining about the current situation, and...and..."

"And no matter what, it doesn't hurt to just say it."

"They say if you can win first place, you can win second place."

Yang Guang's eyes suddenly became fierce and sharp, and Nan Xi immediately said: "There is no proof of what I said. It was sister Qianqian who said something to me while we were drinking. I don't know whether it is true or not, but I feel that I have to inform His Highness. "

"You did very well."

"Wang Yi."

Wang Yi walked in from outside the hall, and Yang Guang immediately said: "Go and inform Li Yuan and ask him to come to my house tonight and have a drink together."

"It's Your Highness."

After ordering Wang Yi to go out, Yang Guang said to Nan Xi: "If you are free in the past two days, ask this Qian Qian girl more and see if she has any other information."

"It's Your Highness."

Nan Xi also exited the hall, and Yuan Tiantian walked in: "Your Highness, Mr. Wang Long is here."

"Please come into the house quickly, sir."

"I'll greet you myself." Yang Guang went to the door, and Mr. Wang Long had already entered.

"Master Wang, you came here without informing me in advance, so I could wait at the door of the mansion."

"Your Highness, don't be surprised. It would be rude for me to not send a greeting card when I came here unexpectedly. I just wanted to hear that His Highness is here and just want to see you."

"Please come inside, please come inside. Meng Lan orders someone to prepare tea."

The two sat down, and Yang Guang and Master Wang first chatted about the school. Everything was going smoothly, except for the huge cost.

"Your Highness, there is a strong trend of studying in major cities now. Every time I see this, I am even more grateful to Your Highness. Without Your Highness, I am afraid this matter would not be what it is now."

"What I can do is limited, but I still rely on you, Mrs. Wang."

After the greetings, Master Wang quickly got to the point: "Does Your Highness know what is happening in Qufu?"

"What's the matter?"

Yang Guang thought to himself that he did not go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing. Wang Long came to see him in a hurry. There must be something wrong, but Yang Guang did not know what Wang Long was talking about about Qufu.

"Before His Highness went to Youzhou, he worshiped Confucius in Qufu and complied with the Confucian orthodoxy of the world. However, something happened. If His Highness didn't know about it, it means he was suppressed. I thought His Highness knew about it."

"What's going on? Master seems a little unhappy."

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince climbed Mount Tai to worship heaven."

Yang Guang frowned. No one had mentioned this matter. Maybe even the emperor didn't know about it. Yang Guang didn't receive any news.
Yu Wenhuaji was with Yang Yong when he was performing sacrifices in Qufu. Unless Yu Wenhuaji rebelled, there was no reason not to tell him such a thing.

Now many people in the Sui Dynasty know that Yang Jian intends to follow the example of the ancients to enshrine Mount Tai, but he has not yet been able to do so, but he changed his name to Qufu, emphasized Confucianism, and built a school to pave the way for this.

And if Yang Yong went to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices privately first, this might not sound like a very important matter to ordinary people, but in the emperor's family, this matter would be very big.

He has gone beyond etiquette.

Not sure, but Yang Guang doesn't think Yang Yong would be so stupid, and climbing Mount Tai to offer sacrifices doesn't seem to be of any benefit to him. Yang Yong shouldn't be too late if there is no benefit.

"Master, do you have any proof?"

Wang Long sighed: "Several gentlemen from Qufu told me that they saw very few people who went up the mountain overnight. It is impossible for these old gentlemen to deceive me because of their high moral standing. Regarding this matter, they are Indignant.”

Wang Long's words are very credible. He has no reason to lie to himself. If this matter is true, Yang Yong can be seriously injured by this incident.

Only the emperor has the right to enshrine Mount Tai and offer sacrifices to heaven and earth. If he goes secretly by himself, he will be disobedient. The prince is the crown prince, but he is still a minister.

It's unreasonable, but it seems a bit reasonable when it comes to Yang Yong.

"Master Wang, do you know why the prince wants to go to Mount Tai privately to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth?"

Wang Long looked troubled.

"Master, it's okay to speak up if you have something to say. No other person will know what you say to me."

Wang Long naturally trusted Yang Guang and spoke slowly: "According to the old gentleman, His Royal Highness brought an alchemist whom no one knew. The alchemist predicted that the one who sacrificed to Mount Tai first would unify the Central Plains and dominate the world. This may be the reason. "

"Alchemist?"

Yang Guang's face was full of doubts, but he immediately became shocked.

In the past, he would have believed the alchemist's words, but it was different now. He had a self-proclaimed alchemist named Yuan Tiantian beside him.

Yuan Tiantian said that she had learned a little bit about face recognition, but this skill allowed her to judge people accurately, and she almost hit the target with perfect accuracy.

It’s not impossible that he really is that magical alchemist, for example
Yuan Tiangang and Yuan Ji.

Thinking of this, Yang Guang asked: "Master, do you know who the alchemist is?"

"I don't know about this. I only know that a few old gentlemen told me that the alchemist had a boyish face and white hair. He looked like a young man and an old man. He was holding a whisk, and he looked like an otherworldly immortal."

"Master, there is some other news."

"I have only learned this for the time being. Regarding the sacrifice to Saint Kong in Qufu this time, His Highness the Crown Prince was quite frivolous and did not treat the old gentlemen with enough respect, which made you feel unhappy. So I took it upon myself to introduce and recommend Jin Dynasty to all the old gentlemen. Your Highness."

The smile on Mrs. Wang's face glowed: "I said that His Highness the King of Jin presides over the construction of schools and the promotion of the imperial examination system. He is elegant and easy-going, and he is prudent and courteous in his work. He is quite like the sages who only respected Confucianism."

Respect Confucianism alone! ! !

Wang Long's words were trying to sell Yang Guang a good deal. Yang Guang was indeed pushing for the school affairs with all his strength, and he was truly grateful. At the same time, Yang Guang also heard Wang Long's intention to test whether Yang Guang wanted to depose Bai Bai. The family only respects Confucianism.

This was not Yang Guang's intention, but an old master like Wang Long would also be a great help to him in the future. It was not only Wang Long but also the group of old scholars in Qufu who were waiting for Yang Guang's answer to this matter.

You have to make a lot of friends and a few enemies.

"Master, my father respects you as my master, and I respect you as my master. I have to learn etiquette from you on my way to the university, but master, please don't find me annoying and refuse to teach."

Although he has not heard Yang Guang say that he only respects Confucianism, judging from his words and deeds, Master Wang can be absolutely sure that at least Yang Guang respects Confucianism and behaves in this way.

Compared with the rude and arrogant prince, the king of Jin is obviously a better choice.

"Master, please help me ask a few old gentlemen about this matter. If the old gentlemen are interested, they can also be invited to Daxing City to see how our school in Daxing City is prospering. I believe the old gentlemen will be happy. "

Wang Long stood up and bowed and said: "Your Highness, King Jin, I will try my best to facilitate all the old gentlemen to come to Daxing City. Your Highness can also ask them in person about specific matters."

"Thank you, Madam Wang."

As soon as Wang Long left, Yang Guang went back to his room to rest a little tired.

Xiao Menglan walked in: "Your Highness has just come back and a series of things have come to your door. You really don't give me any time to rest."

He gently took Xiao Menglan into his arms: "Things wait for no one, people make their own decisions. If everything goes as planned and I do it one by one, that would be too smooth."

Xiao Menglan sighed and said, "Your Highness, I also have something to do here..."

"What's the matter, tell me."

"Things about the East Palace."

Seeing Xiao Menglan so distressed, Yang Guang asked, "Is the Crown Princess causing trouble?"

"No, no, no, it's not. The Crown Princess is lying on the bed to nurse her fetus. It's difficult to move around. Why would she come to embarrass me? She is much kinder to me. She is the Queen..."

"Queen Mother? What's wrong with Queen Mother?"

"The Queen Mother said that the Crown Prince will not be coming back from his expedition during the New Year. The Crown Princess is raising the fetus and has no time to take care of things. She ordered me to take people to prepare the things needed by the East Palace for the New Year."

(End of this chapter)