Chapter 30 Dialogue

I don't know if they learned the words by heart, but Mr. Gui and Mr. Hai have been with the prince for half a month, so they have finally practiced it. After a brief and dead silence, the two gentlemen changed the topic as if nothing had happened and began to discuss the recent poetry and literary gatherings, as if the two lines of poetry just now had never existed.

Of course, Zhang Taiyue's emotional intelligence is top-notch and unrivaled in the world; probably anyone who has left a name in history will not have a bad emotional intelligence.

No matter how much people in later generations criticize the eight-legged essay system for selecting scholars, to this day, the imperial examination system of our dynasty is still the most reasonable and fair promotion system in the world. After being improved twice during the reigns of Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong, there was basically no room for favoritism or fraud in the Ministry of Rites examinations. Even if the senior ministers wanted to promote their descendants, they could only do so at such literary gatherings, using poetry and prose to bring their outstanding children to the limelight and lay the groundwork for their fame in the imperial examinations in the future.

Such a high-end and private literary gathering is certainly beyond the reach of ordinary scholars. Even Gui Zhenchuan and Hai Gangfeng's qualifications to attend the conference were obtained by Mu Qi with the help of his old face and the name card of Duke Mu's Mansion. To be honest, the fact that the son of Duke Mu was interested in literary gatherings was the most outrageous thing in the upper class of the capital, enough to make the civil service circle drop their jaws. The two gentlemen who entered the venue holding the Duke's Mansion's name cards were inevitably subject to a subtle discrimination:

You even want to curry favor with someone like the Prince of Duke Mu. How bad is your taste?

However, this kind of condescending arrogance often leads to a slap in the face, and today is no exception. Both gentlemen are generous people, and they often help others cover up something in their conversations. But after careful observation, Mu Qi quickly discovered something - high-end literary gatherings in the capital are very expensive, and the people who organize them certainly won't be so kind as to help others. Such a high-profile effort to win over scholars was often done in order to allow one's own children to stand out and accumulate some reputation before entering officialdom.

There is nothing wrong with this intention, and the operation is also quite simple. After all, the direction of the literary gathering is vaguely controlled by the host. As long as the topic is prepared in advance and two hangers-on are invited to act as the atmosphere group to flatter, the situation can usually be controlled during the gathering.

But since it is "normal", there are certainly times when it is not so normal.

For example, the most famous thing in the capital recently is probably the "Spring Appreciation Banquet" held at the home of Minister Yan of the Ministry of War. The medicinal wine bestowed by Emperor Feixuan was used as the prize for the literary gathering. In name, it was to receive the emperor's grace together with the candidates taking the imperial examinations, but in reality, he wanted to take the opportunity to push his own nephew Yan Zhiming to the forefront and keep the benefits within the family.

To this end, the Yan family made very careful preparations, even abandoning the commonly used poems and essays, and deliberately focusing on the prose and policy essays that they were very good at, hoping to use the surprise to attack the norm, to catch the enemy by surprise, and to win in the chaos.

...Then, they ran into Gui Zhenchuan's hands.

Mr. Gui is very knowledgeable about human nature and he is very restrained in his essays, and he doesn't even use the topics he is most familiar with. But as I said, there is a huge difference in literary talent between people. They may not have put in much effort, but their opponent was completely defeated and had no chance to struggle.

In short, Gui Zhenchuan finished the article in one stroke. Everyone in the room passed the article around, and no one said a word after reading it. Although it is said that there is no second best writer, the gap is so big that even a fool can see it. It's certainly not nice to slap your master in the face, but you can't pretend to be deaf and blind and flatter him in front of so many literati, right?

Besides, everyone is educated, so they can naturally see what the current situation is at a glance - isn't this routine of pretending to be cool and then getting slapped in the face just a reprint of the Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng? But the owner’s surname is also Yan! This kind of thing might end up in history books as an allusion. You're dancing too happily now. Are you thinking of becoming an immortal clown in the future?

Of course, a mere essay is nothing. When officials enter the capital, they will have to compete in the palace examination in the future, and the winner will still be decided by their policy essays. This is the Yan family's strength, and it is absolutely not something that ordinary scholars can transcend.

"Strategy is about discussing current affairs and expounding political theories. Since they have an uncle who is a minister, they naturally have a great advantage." Mu Qi even explained, fearing that the two of them had something in mind: "With such an advantage, it would be strange if they didn't win."

Gui Zhenchuan remained silent, and Hai Gangfeng hesitated. After a moment of silence, Mr. Hai finally spoke in a low voice:

"In fact, that Zhang Taiyue also came to attend the literary gathering..."

Mu Qi: …………

He was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for Minister Yan.

·

The Yan family was hit by two identical versions of The Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng in one breath. What Minister Yan himself thought was still unknown to the outside world, but Zhang Taiyue's reputation skyrocketed and became widely known in the capital.

As a fellow SSR of this dynasty, Hai Gangfeng was deeply impressed by Zhang Taiyue's speech on politics and could even recite the entire text:

"Mr. Zhang said that the world is in turmoil right now. There are many issues such as the ancestral temple, Japanese pirates, and the Yuan Dynasty history case. All of these are complicated and difficult to decide. However, the current emperor is a man of great courage and has never been indecisive. Although there are many issues in the court, he will definitely cut the Gordian knot and make a decision in a short time without any delay... Therefore, there will be a big disturbance in the court soon."

At this point, Hai Gangfeng was also a little hesitant. Zhang Taiyue's arguments in the literary gathering were logically clear and every point made sense, so he had no choice but to believe them. But now that I have calmed down and thought about it carefully, I still find it incredible: moving the Taimiao, repairing the Yuan history, and managing coastal defense, each of these is a difficult and complicated government affair. Even just arranging and assigning them is a huge project. How could such a heavy project be decided in such a hurry?

Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish, haste makes waste… Doesn’t the court understand this truth?

But Prince Mu was stunned for a moment, then nodded slowly with a very strange expression:

"Can you even guess this? It's Zhang Taiyue..."

He is indeed the regent of the dynasty, the essence of three hundred years of officialdom, and the human AI model of the court. The old Taoist priest has been mysterious and elusive all his life, and his mind is always unpredictable. Apart from a few of the smartest people in the cabinet, I'm afraid even the officials of the six ministries can't figure out the details of the emperor's will. For a scholar who had just arrived in Beijing to be able to see the emperor's temper so clearly, his vision was truly frighteningly sophisticated.

Gold will shine wherever it is. It is said that Xu Shaohu of Qingliu has already started to recruit talents... Lord Xu is very insightful!

Hai Gangfeng was surprised and said, "Is it really that fast?"

Mu Qi smiled slightly: "This is the style of your Majesty. Judging from the current situation, I'm afraid the result will be known around the birthday... Maybe your Majesty has other considerations."

He didn't know whether Shengxin had considered this or not, but judging from later archaeological discoveries, the old Taoist's style was probably influenced by elixirs. Heavy metal poisoning triggers uncontrollable impatience and boredom, which rapidly reduces endurance and makes people act more and more hasty and impatient; this is why people disregard reality, act head-on, and go all in.

In fact, this temper became more and more obvious in the later period, so that his subordinates had figured out his routine. Yan Dang would often send him memorials of advice after he had taken the elixir, and would take advantage of the effect of the elixir to fly into a rage and scheme to frame Lao Deng. The government was in chaos and no one dared to speak out until public anger boiled over and the huge bomb of Hai Gangfeng emerged.

Having calculated people's hearts all his life, he was still played like a monkey by those below him. This was probably Lao Deng's retribution, and he couldn't blame anyone.

However, Hai Gangfeng certainly didn't know the reason for this terrible thing. He tried his best to understand Lao Deng's decision, but he was still worried:

"I dare not discuss other things, but I'm afraid it's not appropriate to make a big fuss about coastal defense. After all, the Japanese envoys are still in the capital..."

The Japanese are not stupid, so why would they watch you prepare for coastal defense to destroy them? Even a desperate dog will jump over the wall, not to mention that the Japanese pirates are much smarter than animals!

Now the coastal areas are empty. If a disaster breaks out prematurely, how should we deal with it?

Mu Qi shook his head and could only sigh:

"No matter what, the emperor's decision cannot be changed... Of course, it is my job to receive the Japanese, and I can't let things get out of hand."

·

Things turned out just as Hai Gangfeng had expected. Just two days after the news of the reorganization of coastal defense was publicized, the Japanese envoy Kusunoki Nishinin came to the door in a threatening manner. He had an ugly face and rude behavior, which was far from the respectful manner he had shown to Qingci a dozen days ago. Obviously, as the East Factory was arresting Japanese spies and hunting down officials, the emperor had such a tough face; the envoys who were provoked one after another finally couldn't bear it anymore and decided to test it openly.

"I heard that the superior country is preparing its military and intends to attack our country!" He said sternly, "We are paying tribute respectfully, is this how the superior country treats us? How treacherous!"

The prince of Duke Mu, who was carefully checking official documents and reports, did not even raise his head. He just waved to the servants to leave, and then spoke slowly:

"Let me correct you on a few points. First, the negotiation between you and me cannot be considered as 'betrayal' in any way. If you say this, you should practice Chinese more. Second, when it comes to 'treason', our country is indeed far behind and cannot compare with Japan. Third..."

He finally looked at Kusunoki Nishi and smiled slightly:

"Who said that our country's coastal defense is to plot against Japan? The imperial edict clearly stated that it is to guard against the Japanese pirates with ulterior motives. Could it be that Japan is full of Japanese pirates?"

Kusunoki Nishi was stunned for a moment, and immediately defended himself: "What are you talking about, my prince? Not to mention that our country has always been submissive, even if there are one or two crazy people causing chaos, they are just minor scabies, how can it be worth the country to make such a big fuss? Are you making a fuss about nothing?"

This statement is both an explanation and inevitably contains a hint of sarcasm, probably mocking Da'an for being powerful on the outside but weak on the inside, and for having to make such a fuss just to deal with a few pirates. Mu Qi smiled slightly but did not answer - although the Japanese man's words were sarcastic, they still made some sense; as long as there was no decisive technological revolution, the national strength of the two countries would be vastly different and would never be overcome. Even someone as ridiculous and lazy as Lao Deng would still be no match for the Japanese if he could just pull himself together a bit.

...However, will Japan's ambitions stop because of some difficulties in reality?

It should be said that Japan's strength has always been relatively weak; but the Japanese people's aggressive ambitions and insidious viciousness just make up for this. As the saying goes, a toad may not bite you, but it is disgusting. It is really stomach-churning to have such a vicious, cruel and despicable neighbor lurking beside you who are so close to you.

Mu Qi remained calm: "We are not just targeting the Japanese pirates, we also have to target ambitious foreign enemies."

"Foreign enemy?" Kusunoki Nishi immediately asked, "What kind of 'foreign enemy' are you talking about? Does the superior country consider our country as a foreign enemy?"

The Prince of Duke Mu remained silent, but Nanye Xinin refused to relax - he could certainly see the prince's hostility towards Japan, but he was sure that he would not dare to define it as an enemy country without authorization; as long as the Prince of Duke Mu was speechless, he would have a good chance of winning this confrontation, and he could at least gain a lot of benefits!

Therefore, he was aggressive, seized the pain point and attacked quickly: "I am sorry that I don't understand what you mean by foreign enemies. But I can assure you that our country has no ambition to invade the superior country! As for 'targeting' and so on, please explain it to me."

He leaned forward, staring directly at the Prince of Mu, trying to compress the maneuvering space and exert invisible pressure. The prince lowered his eyes, looking silent, as if he was embarrassed by the questioning and could not answer for a moment.

After a moment of stalemate, the prince finally spoke softly:

"Of course, Japan has no intention of invading the Central Plains now. I believe this as well."

A smile appeared on Kusunoki Nishi's face.

"There is a huge gap between China and Japan. A rash invasion is like swallowing an elephant with a snake. How can it succeed? I think the nobles in Japan also understand this truth." Mu Qi said calmly, as if talking to himself: "So, we still have to take one step at a time and work slowly. First, we have to gain a firm foothold on the mainland, and then talk about the future. In a nutshell, 'If you want to conquer China, you must first conquer Manchuria and Mongolia; if you want to conquer Manchuria and Mongolia, you must first conquer Goryeo' - if you really want to take action in the Central Plains, you should at least solve the Korean Peninsula first, so that you can use it as a springboard to sweep across the Northeast and invade the south... Am I right?"

He smiled, looked up and stared at the old face of Kusunoha Nishinin, which had suddenly lost its color. His eyes were clear and innocent, without any anger at all.

...So, grand strategies between countries are so boring and old-fashioned. Even after hundreds of years, the central idea has not changed much. It's boring from every angle.