Dawn of the Empire

Chapter '9 Qing'e between Xian Hao (3)

As the name suggests, Linjiang Tower is built by the water. It is extremely conspicuous among the rough and rough trestles and sheds around it. It is like the Qionglou of the Dragon Palace rising above the river. Compared with the famous buildings in Bianliang and Chang'an , Not inferior to 'color'.What surprised Zhao Xingde even more was the speed with which the Linjiang Tower was being built. The newly built Laiyuan City had only just laid a solid foundation, and the Linjiang Tower on the wharf had been completed for nearly half a month.Curious, he asked Jin Changtai for clues.

"It's not that Laiyuan City was built slowly," Jin Changtai said with a smile, "but that Linjiang Tower was built too quickly. Except for the columns and beams made of Liaodong giant wood, the brackets, spires, gables, colored paintings, and carved patterns are all made of I bought it in the Song Dynasty, and just after the roof frame was erected, other components were brought in by sea boat. As a result, within ten days, the Linjiang Tower was up. Carpets were laid, curtains were installed, porcelain and incense burners were placed. , and it only took a day."

"So that's how it is," Zhao Xingde said suddenly, "I said it smells like Bianliang."

"Oh?" Li Sihai smiled slightly, "Does Brother Zhao often go to brothels in Bianliang?"

At this time, several maidservants came up and sat down beside the three adults, pouring wine. ***The woman was dressed in white, her upper body was thin and slender, and she looked lovely and pitiful.The loose long skirt was tied high, and the ribbon waist was tied just at the bust.The liquor was slightly turbid, poured into a glass cup, like flowing amber.

"Lieutenant Li, speaking of it, your income from Linjiang Tower is more than our taxes on the river."

"Thanks to you, Jin Sima, you only charge ten cents for a shipment of goods. In the future, merchants will gather, and you can do whatever you want, just tighten your hands, and you will get a lot of money."

"Thanks to the Huguo Mansion, most of the taxes collected are recorded according to the income from the dispatched military affairs. However, one day the tax collector Cao will not be able to bear it. Speaking of it, it's better for you, Linjiang Tower, by the way, Li Colonel, there are tens of thousands of people on both sides of the Yalu River. Liaodong has been transformed for a long time, and you have earned a lot of money in Linjiang Tower to educate customs and etiquette. You should praise it. Captain Zhao, don’t you think so?”

Zhao Xingde frowned slightly when he heard that the conversation between Jin Changtai and Li Sihai involved official business.Seeing this, Li Sihai took a sip from his wine glass, and said with a smile, "Brother Zhao, don't worry, they don't understand Chinese." He smiled and said a few words to the maid beside him, who blushed in embarrassment Cheeks, head down.Li Sihai said to Jin Changtai again: "Okay, it's better to invite more Taoist teachers. Every day, I talk about whether men and women can accept each other. My business in Linjiang Building will be better." He paused, "Recently, Song Guo Those Daoxue gentlemen from the Neo-Confucian Society have caused a lot of trouble, you don’t know it yet, do you?”

Although Li Sihai usually likes to make jokes, he speaks with great sense of proportion. Hearing what he said, Zhao Xingde was shocked immediately, put down his wine glass, and listened intently to what he said next.But Jin Changtai smiled and said: "What big things can happen to a group of scholars? You don't know if you're right, but the Huguo Mansion has appointed Brother Li as the Admiral of the Navy. Congratulations." Jin Changtai pulled Zhao Xingde to toast together, and Li Four Seas toasted with them, and after the drink was full, he sighed and said with some regret, "To build a real cruiser navy, it takes all the power of the country. It's a pity that there are some troubles in the Huguo Mansion to build a large-scale warship. But , Your Majesty has paid 200 million guan in internal currency to buy the wood used for shipbuilding first, start building some small gunboats, and train shipbuilders and warship sailors at the same time."

Seeing Zhao Xingde's nervous expression, Li Sihai thought he was worried that the shipbuilding materials felled in Liaodong could not be sold, and said with a smile: "Brother Zhao, don't worry, although it was only a small gunboat at the beginning, in my opinion, Your Majesty It is determined to build a large navy. The high-quality materials needed for shipbuilding must be stockpiled in advance and stored for five or six years to allow the wood to dry completely before building a ship. Therefore, the giant trees suitable for shipbuilding in Liaodong fell. Even if His Majesty uses domestic currency as a cushion first, he will still eat it up and hoard it."

He paused, and then said, "Even if it happens, I say it's just in case, if those people from the Ordnance Department don't find it easy, you still have a way out. Chen Dong, the emperor's confidant, is vigorously promoting the expansion of the sea. As long as he survives this hurdle and does not fail, Song will also buy a large amount of good timber for shipbuilding." Li Sihai frowned and murmured, "Maybe both sides of the Guandong and Guanxi The capital builds a naval division, Captain Zhao, you can sit on the ground and raise the price." Xia Guo's seaport is in Annan, and the port is far away from Guanzhong, Shuzhong, Hezhong and other innermost places. Although there is the full support of the emperor Chen Xuan, the water If the division wants to compete with Song, which has a long coastline and many ports, its inherent disadvantage is not at 01:30.

Liaodong is a remote place, and the news is extremely poor.The latest situation of Xia Kingdom was mentioned in the military newspaper, but most of the rumors about the situation in the Central Plains were half a year ago, or even a year ago.While Li Sihai was talking, he didn't even bring up the topic of Song Guolixue Society anymore.Zhao Xingde was worried, and asked tentatively: "Brother Li just mentioned that the Neo-Confucianism Society caused big troubles again, what is it?"

"Brother Zhao is really warm-hearted." Li Sihai smiled slightly, put down his wine glass, and said disapprovingly, "It's no big deal, the Neo-Confucian Society actually ordered an assassin to stab Cai Jing's son Cai Jun to death." Shaking his head, he sighed: "No matter how much the emperor of the Song Dynasty hates Cai Jing, he is a veteran and important minister after all. He retired from his old age and returned to his hometown the year before last to save his face. When Cai Yun was the prefect of Hangzhou and Cai Jing was still the prime minister, he abused him in office The government is disastrous to the people, and the common people are full of complaints. People call Cai Yun "Cai Hu". Scholar-bureaucrats' legacy. People from the Neo-Confucian Society dared to kill the world with an assassin."

Li Sihai looked up at Zhao Xingde and said: "This group of scholars really don't know the seriousness, and they are ruthless. I want to see how the emperor of Bianliang will deal with this trouble, and how Chen Dong will clean up this mess." Like gloating, he held his wine glass and said with a smile: "The Song Dynasty's party struggle is always so 'chaos', let's just watch the fun."

Holding the cup in his hand, Zhao Xingde felt a little lost. ***The maid gently tugged at his sleeve, and he came back to his senses. He raised his glass and touched Li Sihai and Jin Changtai. He drank it, but he couldn't taste the wine at all.

In Bianliang, Tokyo, Chen Yushi's mansion closed its doors to thank guests, but an empty sedan chair was parked at the door.Although Chen Dong's official rank is not high, he is not only the recognized leader of scholars at that time, but also the most trusted courtier of official Zhao Ke.Just a few months ago, because of the skyrocketing food prices in the south, after the imperial court allocated relief, there were still hungry people who died. Chen Dong was ordered to inspect the roads in Fujian, Liangzhe, Jinghu, south and south, and Jiangnan, and investigated several cases of corruption along the way. One of them was a student from the Neo-Confucian Society.It is widely rumored among the people that Chen Yushi is stern and selfless, and he is also known as Chen Qingtian.People in the world are discussing that Mr. Shaoyang worshiped his prime minister to take charge of the government, but it was only a matter of time.

At dusk, the round tables in the flower hall had already been placed on the table, Mrs. Chen frowned slightly, and asked, "Did Mr. Deng take his leave yet?"

"That's right, ma'am, the master is still discussing with Mr. Deng in the study, and the slaves dare not go in and disturb you." When Chen Dong was talking in the study, he never had servants to serve him.

Master Li nodded, but did not speak.After marrying Chen's family, Li Shishi also knew that Mr. Deng once advised Chen Dong not to marry a woman from a brothel.Every time Deng Shou visited the mansion, Mrs. Chen greeted her with a smile, acting more virtuous and courteous than any other ladies.But when Deng Su stayed at the mansion until the afternoon, Mrs. Chen never asked the maid to urge the two adults to eat, but waited patiently.Although she couldn't argue with Deng Shou, Mrs. Chen was always unwilling to entertain him with the dishes she cooked herself.Deng Shouyi also seemed to always leave in a hurry after discussing business matters, instead of staying in the Chen residence for dinner. Chen Dong didn't even notice the petty sentimentality of Taoist women's family.

Mrs. Chen was sitting leaning against the railing beside the flower hall. It was getting dark, she finally sighed, as if she had surrendered, she stood up and walked towards the study with light lotus steps.Just approaching the study, Mrs. Chen was slightly taken aback, stopped, and frowned slightly.The debate in the study grew louder.

Deng Shou put the teacup on the table with a snap, and said loudly: "I was inspecting all the roads in the south. An Sigu was only greedy for a few thousand guan, and he still followed the old practice, and he begged you to be merciful. This shortfall can be made up for. You go to use him to sacrifice the flag, fulfilling the name of 'Chen Qingtian', but how many colleagues in our company have been chilled. Many people came to me and told me that you, Chen Shaoyang, are trying to win fame and help each other. I can’t point it out, just don’t add insult to injury. It’s good to appease me if you don’t reply. I don’t know what you think. This is good, Hu Keji has nothing to do with our agency, but it’s just a pretense of revenge for Hou Xiongfei Stabbing Cai Jun to death, the 'treacherous' party is planning to make a big fuss, then this matter will frame our agency, and it is too late for everyone to hide, but you have to go to protect him." As he spoke, he became anxious and raised his voice Said: "Are you afraid that the crime of assassinating the imperial court official will not be attached to your Mr. Shaoyang?"

Chen Dong took a sip of tea, and said in a deep voice: "Cai Jun was the chief culprit in the case of the 'treacherous' party killing Hou Xiongfei back then. Hu Keji filed complaints everywhere, but the government ignored them, so I had to come here and bleed five steps. Press In the criminal system of this dynasty, murder is paid for life, and it is just asking to beheaded. In order to appease Cai thief, the rest of the party actually charged him with treason, and wanted to kill his family to show off his fierceness. If you don't kill Boren, let Boren do it for me Wouldn’t it be chilling for the world if we don’t say a word from the people in the Li Society.” Looking at the autumn leaves falling outside the window, he said with emotion, “At the beginning, the ‘treacherous’ party accused the people in our society of treason, so that Ming After Huan died, I swore that I would never allow the 'treacherous' party to pollute people with 'rebellion' again."