People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 549: Han Family Appearance
Walking on the snowy road, the whistling cold wind cuts the face, which is not a pleasant feeling. The extreme coldness of this bitter cold place is not something that ordinary people can endure. At least Li Zheng, who has been here for only half a year, finds it difficult to adapt.

However, as the ambassador appointed by Xuan Xia, Li Zheng had to endure everything here. Fortunately, he was also born in Liaodong and was not completely unable to tolerate this harsh climate.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this that the imperial court appointed him to serve in Goguryeo.

Following the footsteps of the Yellow Turbans along the way, Li Zheng, as a member of them, also made many achievements. It was not until he served as a special envoy to assist Lu Meng in successfully carrying out work behind enemy lines in Huainan that he ushered in a greater future.

If he could successfully complete his mission as ambassador to Goguryeo, he would be able to enter the political center of Xuanxia and become an important official of Xuanxia after returning to his country.

As for what his mission is, it is not something that can be announced publicly.

Representing the Xuanxia court to maintain stable relations with Goguryeo was only a superficial duty, but what his real duties were about could perhaps be seen from his background in intelligence work.

After entering the Goguryeo palace, which was not very tall and magnificent, the Goguryeo officials he met along the way would greet Li Zheng respectfully.

Officials from superior countries are people whom even kings of small countries cannot neglect, let alone officials from small countries. They are all officials, but their identities and status are incomparable. This is the same even for the Han Dynasty in the past.

Even though Li Zheng's current job is the ambassador to Xuanxia, ​​the Goguryeo people still call him the Han envoy in private.

Over the hundreds of years of the Han Dynasty, the word "Han" no longer simply means the name of a country, but has become a symbol of the Chinese ethnic group. Therefore, calling them Han envoys is not a problem. In fact, Li Zheng did acquiesce to this title.

Walking deeper into the palace, if it weren't for the fact that the palace was too small, Li Zheng would even have the illusion that he was in the Central Plains.

What we see before us is that the clothes worn by palace maids and eunuchs are all of Han style. Even the official uniform of Goguryeo is similar to that of Han people.

Li Zheng, who had been in office for half a year, certainly knew what was going on. It was not that Xuanxia was forcing small countries to adopt the same clothing as China by virtue of its suzerain status, but that Goguryeo was following suit out of admiration for the Central Plains.

After Prince Jiwei succeeded the throne of Goguryeo, he specifically commissioned the Hyeonha court to select manufacturers to customize palace uniforms for him. The styles of the clothes were all requested by Goguryeo itself, and their officials were happy to accept it.

The clothes made by Xuan Xia are of excellent quality, and the shape of Hanfu is more beautiful compared with the surrounding ones. Coupled with the admiration for powerful civilization, this result came about.

At this time, Goguryeo did not even have any ethnic consciousness, and had no ability to resist the now powerful Xuanxia.

In the absence of any clear ethnic costumes, most Goguryeo nobles today are proud to wear Hanfu and speak Chinese. They would be ashamed to see people if they don't wear Hanfu when going out.

As for the lower-class people, they were not considered human beings in Goguryeo. The only clothes they wore were animal skins. Only with the import of industrial products from Xuanxia could they be lucky enough to pick up a few cotton coats and sweaters to wear.

Li Zheng knew very well that this situation was beneficial to Xuan Xia, so he was very happy to see it.

He also believed that this trend would become more and more prosperous in the future, and even be transmitted from top to bottom to the people, so that ordinary people would begin to pursue and admire the Central Plains, and eventually complete the sinicization without realizing it.

This confidence stems from the expectation of Xuan Xia's powerful future, and also from everything he sees when he enters the palace.

Not to mention the nobles of Goguryeo, even the king of Goguryeo was completely submissive to the Central Plains culture. This is not just a tall and luxurious palace, the objects and ornaments placed inside all came from Xuanxia.

The ticking precision machine next to it is a clock from Xuanxia. The desk above it is filled with Xuanxia's books and stationery. Every piece of furniture decorating the palace is made of glass and porcelain from Xuanxia. Even the casual clothes the king is wearing now are pure Han clothes.

The entire Goguryeo, from top to bottom, has become like the Han people.

"Han envoy, look at this phonograph, how amazing it is!"

Li Zheng had just stepped into the hall when he immediately heard the greeting of Goguryeo King Wei Gong. After a slight pause, he looked over and saw Wei Gong with a look of surprise and excitement, looking at a machine from left to right.

This thing called a phonograph has a very strange shape. There is a huge trumpet-like thing on the right, with the big mouth of the trumpet facing outward, and the other end is connected to a drum membrane and a thin needle. Below the thin needle is a smooth metal roller.

At this time, Emiya was not operating the machine, so Li Zheng could not see what money was spent. He was a little stunned for a moment: "May I ask the king, what is this?"

"Well, you don't know? This thing came from your Xuanxia." Shigong looked over with some surprise.

Li Zheng immediately gave a bitter smile, "Your Majesty, you don't know that inventions and research are very popular in Xuanxia. The Institute of Engineering and the Academy of Sciences produce countless rare things every year. Most of them are fancy but useless. How can an outsider know so much about them? This is the first time I've seen this thing."

Wei Gong suddenly realized that he knew what Li Zheng said, after all, he was also a student of Xuanxia Academy. As Li Zheng said, the academy often has many invention projects, there are many strange things, and the inventions with real practical significance are actually rare. If you don't pay special attention to these, it is really difficult to know what good inventions there are, not to mention that Li Zheng has been working in Goguryeo for the past six months.

"It seems that I have seen this thing before you. I must let you see the mystery of this thing!"

This made Emiya even more excited. He called a clerk and pointed at the phonograph: "Come here and play it again so that the Han envoy can see what's going on."

Although he didn't understand what was going on, Li Zheng was still a little curious and started to read it carefully.

After receiving the order, the clerk started to operate.

In fact, it was nothing complicated. He just moved closer, put his mouth on the mouth of the bell, and started shaking the drum. Only at this time, the clerk suddenly shouted loudly, which scared Li Zheng.

He glanced at Emiya and found that he was no longer surprised. Then he suppressed his doubts and continued watching.

The clerk actually said the beginning of the Analects of Confucius, "The Master said, 'Learn and then practice it from time to time.'" But he didn't say it for too long. When the roller rolled to the end, the sound stopped. Only then did Li Zheng discover that the roller had been scratched with fine marks by the fine needle.

After everything was over, Li Zheng was puzzled: "What is this?"

Emiya chuckled and said, "Don't worry, Han envoy. Wait and see."

At a signal from Emiya, the clerk hurriedly operated again, and this time he reset the roller and then shook it again. Slowly, an unclear sound came out from the machine, which was the passage from the Analects that the clerk had just recited.

Li Zheng's eyes widened suddenly, and he immediately understood why this thing was called a phonograph!

Although the sound he heard now was of completely lost quality, it was already distinguishable. This function of recording sound was truly incredible to him. Even he, a Xuanxia person, was amazed by it.

Seeing his expression, Emiya suddenly found it interesting and laughed: "What do you think of this thing, Han envoy?"

"It's unbelievable, how was this possible?" Li Zheng actually asked a Goguryeo person about the principle of the invention, which was something he would never have thought of before he came here.

But Emiya had already asked clearly, and he could actually answer it now.

But he smiled proudly and said, "It's because sound originates from the principle of vibration. The eardrum needle vibrates when it is touched by the sound, and tiny grooves are engraved on the metal foil surface, which can also record the frequency of sound vibration. If the needle is reset to make the scratches again, the sound can be restored."

Li Zheng pondered for a while after hearing this, and then carefully examined the phonograph. Soon, he suddenly realized, "Great! This is a really brilliant idea!"

Emiya laughed out loud. In Goguryeo, he could only find common ground with Li Zheng, a Xuanxia man. "Its uses are not limited to this. I heard from our trade officials that this item originated from the Ministry of Works. It is still in its initial form. If we continue to study it in the future, it may have more uses. I am really looking forward to it."

Li Zheng nodded and said in agreement: "This thing must be practical. It is an excellent invention. It is my fault that I was late in getting the news."

Emiya couldn't let go of the phonograph and looked at it again and again. He dismissed the clerks and regained his composure after a long while. He sighed, "Such an incredible and wonderful thing can only be created by Xuanxia."

The palace was quiet for a while, and Li Zheng clearly heard a hint of envy and loss in Wei Gong's tone.

He suddenly understood some of Emiya's feelings at the moment, thinking how great it would be if this thing belonged to Goguryeo.

After all, people like to keep the good things for themselves. This is human nature, and Emiya is no exception. However, as a former student studying abroad, he understands that Goguryeo would never be able to produce such things.

Being well versed in natural sciences, he knew very well how difficult it was to discover and prove this seemingly simple principle, not to mention applying it, which was a hundred times more difficult.

After noticing the subtle change in Wei Gong's mood, Li Zheng smiled slightly: "The king has also lived in Xuanxia. You should know that the great ambition of our Xuanxia court is to benefit all living beings in the world. The welfare we seek is not only for the people of Xuanxia, ​​but also for the liberation of all mankind. Although this kind of invention comes from Xuanxia, ​​it can be used by everyone in the world, so everyone in the world will benefit together. There is no need to distinguish between them."

Upon hearing this, Emiya was slightly startled, but just smiled and said, "What the Han envoy said makes a lot of sense. If it weren't for Xuan Xia, I'm afraid that today the people of Goguryeo wouldn't be able to wear cotton clothes and sweaters, and wouldn't have to use salt, sugar, and iron utensils."

Li Zheng's expression became serious: "Our country's prime minister was inspired by the way of heaven and established the Natural Religion, aiming to understand the world and transform the world. Now the people of Goguryeo can benefit from it, which is exactly what our religion does."

(End of this chapter)