Chapter 67 System Upgrade
After the prince gave his instructions, a rare and strange silence fell around the long table.
In fact, what the prince said was right. Everyone had indeed climbed up by passing the imperial examinations, and they had done a lot of work to help the sages compile a few allusions on a daily basis. But it would be fine if you just made up a few quotes from Confucius, but is it really okay for you to do such a cruel thing to the emperor's own father right away?
To be honest, this incredible order really went beyond the bottom line of several new officials, and inevitably made the few junior officials who had not seen much and were timid a little nervous. In addition to being horrified, they racked their brains to think about it, intending to find loopholes and shirk such an unimaginable task. From the few days of getting along with him, it seemed that although the prince was powerful and crazy, he was reasonable most of the time. As long as they could point out the loopholes in the plan, the prince would not force them...
But after racking their brains for a while, they were shocked to discover an extremely subtle fact - there seemed to be no flaw in this plan!
Oh, of course this doesn't mean that they can really wake up Emperor Xingxian from the underworld and ask him to give a speech on reducing the power of the princes. Instead, after much thought, they found that all the relevant materials that could be used to disprove "Emperor Xingxian Talks about the Reform of the Princely System" had actually been collected by the Crown Prince in the name of compiling a collection of quotations, and now they are all in the hands of the Hanlin Academy - or in the hands of Zhang Taiyue!
As I said before, Emperor Xingxian was just a small vassal king during his lifetime, and there were simply not so many archives and documents for later generations to compare and investigate. As long as one has mastered a handful of collected works, county chronicles and memoirs, one basically has the right to interpret the entire life of Emperor Xingxian. Even if others have doubts, they will never find even half a page of paper to question them.
This is the advantage of working in an unpopular field. As long as all the eyewitnesses are dead, those who hold the materials are called experts. They can do whatever they want and are unrestrained in academia - Emperor Xingxian himself didn't say anything, so is it the turn of outsiders to complain?
Several newbies were so shocked... or so inspired that they were speechless for a moment.
Especially Zhang Taiyue - especially Zhang Taiyue, as a young SSR, although he has only been in the officialdom for half a month, he has actually vaguely sensed the absurd nature of the court under Lao Deng's rule, which was in a state of disarray and almost peaceful, and he couldn't help but feel greatly stimulated. But even after suffering such a severe shock, the Four Books and Five Classics and the philosophical thought of sages that he had read since childhood still played a stable role, maintaining his simple three views on serving the emperor like Yao and Shun - in other words, Zhang Taiyue had been tempered by the times but remained infatuated, and still hoped to persuade Lao Deng to mend his ways through orthodox means and implement some of the new policies that he had been longing for.
Funny enough, one of the major driving forces behind his simple outlook on life, apart from a few scriptures, was what he saw and heard in Duke Mu's mansion. Judging from Zhang Taiyue's insights after entering the palace, although the Crown Prince is crazy and unreasonable, and his behavior is often bizarre, at least what he says and does is upright, and he is trying his best to get rid of the long-standing ills and make a fresh start in the world, and his various measures are quite effective. Putting aside the Crown Prince's ability and conduct, it can be said that Master Feixuan and Emperor Wanshou were able to discern the talent of the Crown Prince and select such a young but courageous minister, which truly means knowing people and assigning them to the right positions.
Therefore, Zhang Taiyue, who was equally young and equally courageous, could not help but have some delusions in his heart. He thought that perhaps all the chaos in the court was due to the treacherous ministers in power. The emperor's original intention was good, but the execution was distorted. As long as loyal ministers like the prince and himself could rule the country properly, they would be able to restore order, restore the good governance of Emperor Gaozu and reopen the foundation for eternity, and so on - and so forth.
But now, after witnessing with his own eyes the various instructions given by the prince on governance, the rookie Zhang Taiyue could not help but feel the great pain of a broken filter - if Prince Mu had to rely on such tricks that were almost deceitful to barely push his will, then would the rest of the people still have room to govern the country in an upright manner?
Does he have to learn such shameless tactics if he is lucky enough to become a prime minister in the future (which is almost inevitable based on his current experience)? !
The truth is always painful, especially this dirty and naked truth. After having the good fortune to glimpse the tip of the iceberg of central decision-making, Zhang Taiyue's heart of Taoism was shattered along with the filter. After all, the young Emperor Shezong was too smart, so smart that he couldn't even deceive himself, so he could see the whole picture from a single glimpse, and could immediately imagine his future situation - he was in a high position, powerful, and had authority to follow orders. He looked like a righteous and upright official, but in private he was just an old man who went with the flow and even cheated and deceived. For the sake of his ideals, he even had to act crazy and stupid, and was gradually forced by the unreasonable government to become equally unreasonable, crazy and confused...
What's this? Hasn't this already turned into the shape of the Prince of Mu?
Don’t do that kind of thing! Becoming the second prince or something...! A normal person always hopes to remain normal throughout his life. Even after entering the cabinet, he should be able to remain normal temporarily...at least for ten years!
The unspeakable truth instantly destroyed the sanity of a small Hanlin, so Zhang Taiyue shrank in the chair in a daze, unable to utter a word.
The prince did not have the time to carefully understand the subtle and indescribable mood of the Shezong. Since Zhang Taiyue did not say anything, he just assumed that he had agreed. So he turned around and asked Gui Zhenchuan who was sitting on the left:
"How is Mr. Gui's work going?"
Gui Zhenchuan had never thought about the cabinet and confidential matters, so he adapted well to all the prince's madness and immediately stood up and replied:
"I have already asked someone to make a copy of Yu Shaobao's epitaph in the West Lake area. It will be delivered within a few days."
Where there is criticism, there must be praise. While strengthening Bao Zong, Mu Qi has been thinking about how to completely rehabilitate Yu Qian, the Shao Bao. This kind of thing always needs a reason to be done, so Gui Zhenchuan was asked to privately collect information and articles about Yu Shaobao's life, and then quietly spread them after printing, intending to create public opinion for his rehabilitation first. When the time comes, we can ask a censor to "report the rumors" and make a note of it. We don't have to worry that Master Feixuan will not comply.
To put it bluntly, he gained enlightenment after being seriously injured. Just look at the monsters and demons in the cabinet today, and everyone will miss Yu Qian, the young master.
"In times of turmoil, loyal ministers are known!" The prince sighed, "Please do this carefully, Mr. Gui. It is better to have one minister who can save the country than a hundred mediocre ministers. It is easy to chop off a talented person's head, but it takes thousands of years to grow a similar head. By now, the emperor must have understood this principle very well."
Zhang Taiyue, who was still in shock, looked up blankly, but was only confused: If you are talking about Yu Shaobao, just say Yu Shaobao, why are you looking at me with such a meaningful and weird look?
The prince calmly looked away and looked at Wu Chengen again. Although Da'an is composed of a makeshift team, the makeshift team of the Duke's Mansion is at least well-organized. Mu Qi, Zhang Taiyue and Gui Zhenchuan, the three officials, were in charge of the court affairs and generally could not get involved in too many details; but Wu Cheng'en was recommended by the Duke's Mansion, and although he failed the imperial examination, he could still study in the Imperial Academy as a juren, and his status was considered semi-official and semi-civilian, so he could join in some street gossip and help others inquire about the things happening in the circle of folk literati.
Now the prince is planning to redress Yu Shaobao's name. In addition to writing a petition to the top, he also has to gauge public opinion. Therefore, Wu Cheng'en would go to taverns and teahouses in his spare time, and inquire about the unofficial history of various places with a few taels of silver. Now he had a general understanding of it. He stood up, took out a piece of white paper, and reported to the prince:
"Public opinion is very sympathetic to the Shao Bao. Although it is not easy to challenge the court openly, they always rely on the ghosts and gods in the underworld and the theory of karma, hoping that the heavens will protect the loyal and punish the evil. Many stories about the retribution in the underworld have also been circulated. But - but these stories are inevitably crude and unbearable to read..."
To be honest, a few volumes of storybooks are not important. The prince just asked a few questions to understand the situation. But when they heard the words "unsightly", everyone present raised their heads and looked at Sheyang Mountain Man in astonishment.
"Disgusting to look at"?
Sheyang Shanren had written "A Mortal's Journey to Immortality". If even he found it unbearable to watch, how unbearable must it be? !
Faced with the three people's surprised looks, Wu Cheng'en instinctively felt awkward. He endured for a moment, and could only bite the bullet and whisper:
"Among the novels I have read, there is one called "The Complete Biography of Bao Zhong". It says that Yu Shao Bao was reincarnated as an extremely smart and handsome scholar, and Xu Youzhen, Shi Heng and others who framed him in their previous lives were reincarnated as nine men and women. They fell in love with the reincarnated scholar at first sight and were willing to serve him at his beck and call, and remained devoted to him in order to atone for their sins..."
Mu Qi: …………
Zhang Taiyue: …………
Gui Zhenchuan: …………
No matter how knowledgeable they are, they can still instinctively feel the strong shock that is unique to words. "Life begins with worry when one learns to read." At certain moments, people always hate themselves for knowing too much and thinking too much, which has inspired some horrible imaginations in their hearts.
Perhaps because he had suffered too many beatings in modern times, his brain had been tortured by the insane fan fiction and had become elastic, the prince was the first to react - but the point he focused on was a little strange:
"Wait, nine 'men and women'?"
——If one were to fall in love with a talented man at first sight, why would there be any issue of “men and women”?
He almost thought that Wu Cheng'en had made a mistake due to a slip of the tongue. But Wu Cheng'en remained silent, just sighed and nodded.
...Okay, Mu Qi's cerebellum has atrophied.
Human beings’ sexual preferences are free, but this is apparently too free. It is so free that everyone has nothing to say and can only stare blankly. However, after Wu Cheng'en delivered this big bomb, he inexplicably felt a long-lost sense of comfort, as if the depression that had been hurt by that novel for a long time had been poured out with these few sentences and transferred to others.
Mental damage will not disappear, but it can always be transferred, which is probably the original motivation for sharing Raven.
However, out of some kind of conscience as a colleague, Sheyang Shanren still suppressed his eager desire and did not reveal the biggest flaw - the author of the novel probably really had a strong liking for Shao Bao, so after matching him with nine marriages in a row, he still felt it was not enough, and in the preface he nagging that a marriage should be "perfect", but "nine is the extreme number of Tao", so he deliberately left one blank. I'm sure the readers will understand...
Cao Jixiang, Shi Heng and Xu Youzhen were all matched up after the author changed their genders, and you're still nagging about one of them being missing. Which one is missing?
If you want me to call you Emperor, just say so directly! Why be so secretive! Anyway, the author's sexual fetish is already so perverted that it leaves people speechless. Even if it gets even more perverted, what else can others say? !
·
After learning about the magical, mysterious and unexpected story of "The Complete Biography of Bao Zhong", the prince's plans were greatly disrupted. He had originally planned to follow the example of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and ask Wu Chengen to write an eye-catching "Romance of Yu Shaobao" to create a good public opinion among the people - the name of the prime minister is known throughout the universe, and his behavior is admired by all the world, but doesn't "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" have any contribution to it? It is also appropriate to follow the example of our predecessors.
But it was not until now that Mu Qi realized that he was totally wrong - he thought that he was knowledgeable and experienced, and that he could come up with a new idea that would fascinate the ancients and attract crowds of people, and that he would definitely be able to create incredible and famous works. But until now, the "Complete Biography of Bao Zhong" came out, giving him a heavy slap in the face:
You may not be as perverted as the ancients!
Ultimately, it is because the mind is not liberated enough and the spirit is too internally consumed. In the cruel and terrible market competition, it is not certain that this mysterious "The Complete Biography of Bao Zhong" can be surpassed, so the idea of using fan works to influence public opinion will have to be put on hold for the time being.
After having an audience with the emperor in the palace, Prince Mu began to look through archives and recruit personnel in preparation for the major reform of the royal family system. Although Master Feixuan gave the order orally, this reform was overseen by Prince Yu. But he is the regent and now the invisible crown prince, so of course he would not get involved in such a thing as offending his relatives, so all major matters are actually decided by the Crown Prince and Lord Yan. Of course, an old hand in officialdom like Yan Ge Lao did not want to take on this fatal task, so as usual he used the skill of keeping the talent in the palace and not issuing it. If the documents are neither approved nor returned, they will naturally be delayed in the long run.
But the prince soon taught Lord Yan a lesson. Of course, he was not crazy enough to attack the Prime Minister's Office directly, but he instructed the cabinet secretaries to print a large number of "Minutes of Conversations with Prime Minister Yan", claiming that they were the key points of the princely reform mentioned by Prime Minister Yan during the conversation with him. They were to be distributed to the six ministries for unified study in the name of the "Princely Reform Group" orally ordered by the emperor. After this booklet was sent to Yan's house, Yan Fenyi, who had originally asked for sick leave, immediately jumped up as if his butt was on fire. All his colds and fevers were cured without any treatment, and he went to the cabinet to take up duty that same day.
Therefore, the environment is the best way to train people. Look at how vigorous and energetic Lord Yan is now!
After several days of arguing (mainly because the Crown Prince tried hard to move forward, while Lord Yan was desperately pulling him back), the newly formed royal family group determined a preliminary strategy. They planned to first send the difficult censors in the capital to the local areas to investigate the illegal affairs of the royal family, and to strike down a group of the most arrogant and reckless troublemakers in the royal family. Then they would collect evidence of crimes to create public opinion, and by the way, instigate the lower-level royal family to prepare for cricket fighting - the Crown Prince has promised that he can come up with mass-produced secret box technology within three months, a secret box technology that even he himself cannot decipher; then, the general offensive against the royal family will be launched three months later.
Of course, political affairs can never be accomplished by simply issuing an edict from the imperial court. After a fire in the Forbidden Garden, the reform of the royal family had indeed become a consensus among the upper and lower classes, but there was still a lot of room for maneuver as to how far the reform could go. This time, sending censors and imperial inspectors to the local areas to investigate is an important move to determine the strength of the reform. If the imperial inspectors deliberately cover up and intend to reduce the crimes of the royal family and vassal states, then the court will not have enough evidence to justify the reform, and the strength of the reform will inevitably be greatly weakened. The subtlety of decision-making and execution lies here.
In the struggle for this kind of room for maneuver, old bureaucrats like Yan Fenyi are naturally at a huge advantage. After all, the Yan Party is a big tree with deep roots and luxuriant branches and leaves. Even if it is suppressed and destroyed again, its connections and reserves are by no means comparable to those of the Prince of Mu, who rose to prominence in just a few months. Lord Yan doesn't need to do anything special. He just needs to arrange for an experienced official who has been in office for many years and has smoothed out his edges among the candidates for censors, and then he can smooth over the mess smoothly.
As everyone knows, in the mature system of our Da'an Dynasty that has lasted for 200 years, the cabinet's orders will be turned into instructions by the six ministries, and the instructions of the six ministries will be turned into recommendations by the provinces. By the time they reach the specific person in charge, they become just suggestions on paper. As resistance at every level is weakened, veteran bureaucrats can make things happen at the touch of a button and drown all radical and violent reforms in the quagmire of formalism.
Being harmonious and happy among everyone is the true meaning of living in harmony in officialdom. Therefore, it is also suggested that the prince should take care of himself and not use his clever tricks that are not worthy of public display.
In a sense, this can be considered an open conspiracy. The officialdom atmosphere has been like this for many years. Even if the prince has more fits of madness and injures more officials, it will definitely not change this greasy and flashy style of conduct from top to bottom. The powerful officials trapped in the capital were too easily blocked from hearing and seeing, unless - unless someone could not care about life and death, honor and disgrace, and could and dare to fight to the death, and could tear through the barriers of the officialdom to report the real news and load sufficient ammunition for the reform -
And on this point, Mu Qi never worried.
·
On May 15, Hai Gangfeng, who had already established a firm foothold in Shangyu, finally sent his first letter, elaborating on what he had seen and heard in the dozens of days since he took office. He focused on describing the various difficulties Shangyu had encountered, including the rampant thieves and refugees after the government became dysfunctional, the treasury being squandered like a hanging bell, and the piracy and smuggling that were so rampant that they were unimaginable and difficult to control.
Of course, Hai Gangfeng is a very experienced and skillful man, and he is definitely not a mediocre official who can only write letters and cry miserably. In the dozen days since he took office, he has taken many drastic measures to quickly control the situation. First, he visited the local wealthy families and borrowed a large amount of food and silver using the imperial belt given by the prince as collateral. Then he recruited refugees and trained them into teams to repel the invading thieves and robbers in order to stabilize the order in the city. He then distributed oxen and farm tools to encourage the resumption of production. He is so skilled in the whole set of combos that he could have been included in "The Biography of Xunli" in the past.
But Shangyu and its surroundings have been ravaged for too long, and some things cannot be solved by traditional means. After repeated investigations, Hai Gangfeng discovered that among the refugees there were a large number of elderly, weak, women and children, as well as merchants and hired workers who were not good at farming, and that the land in the suburbs had basically been divided up. These people are living off their savings and doing nothing; sooner or later they will cause trouble.
This is the new problem that the old scholar encounters. Since the True Lord ascended the throne, trade along the coast has become increasingly prosperous, and a large number of people have abandoned their original occupations to engage in maritime business. The scale of trade has been expanding and the profits have been very lucrative. However, money at sea came and went quickly. After a raid by the Japanese pirates, maritime merchants would often go bankrupt on a large scale and had to wander around to make a living, becoming an unstable factor that caused headaches for many places.
For these refugees who make a living by doing business and working, the usual methods of persuading them to farm and grow mulberry trees are no longer effective. It is only because Hai Gangfeng really wants to do something and is willing to think of a solution. Otherwise, if he were replaced by a ruthless and decisive official, he would have labeled them as bad people and driven them away. But even a good cook cannot cook without rice. With the current capital, Hai Gangfeng cannot cope with these hundreds of refugees.
The prince finished reading the letters one by one, sat there thinking for a moment, counted on his fingers and continued carefully, then called the butler:
"Go open Warehouse A and take out Drawing No. 2. I'll have a use for it after framing it."
Gui Zhenchuan was waiting by the side and was surprised when he heard this:
"What is the prince going to do?"
"Send a batch of textile machine drawings to Mr. Gangfeng." The prince said calmly: "After repeated experiments, the textile machines that have been modified are easy to assemble, easy to operate, and easy to repair. As long as there is a batch of start-up funds, we can quickly expand the most basic light industrial production..."
Gui Zhenchuan was surprised: "The prince intends to let Hai Gangfeng organize the refugees to weave cloth?"
"This is also the only industry that can accommodate a large number of workers." The prince said, "Besides, I can negotiate with the envoys of Siam and Myanmar and ask them to exchange paddy and refined rice for cloth, which can just make up for the shortage of Shangyu County's treasury. First, let Hai Gangfeng borrow grain and raw silk from other counties in the name of the court. As long as the weaving workshop can be built this year, it can be turned over within half a year..."
There is no way out if we cling to land and farming. The turbulent decades of these decades are precisely the most subtle and critical turning points in world history. As the large silver mines in Japan and America were mined one after another, huge amounts of purchasing power were released rapidly in a short period of time, building the first wave of mankind's globalized market, connecting the world's production factors through sea transportation, and creating the most glorious miracle of the Age of Discovery.
This is a great era that cannot be missed. It is a strategic opportunity period that will determine the fate of civilization and a key casino that will determine the world order for the next 500 years. For this opportunity, Mu Qi worked hard and spent a huge amount of money. He has recruited craftsmen and prepared sufficient technical reserves, just waiting for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Of course, the first pot of gold in building a factory is always the most difficult. Even if the court can finalize the contract in advance in the capital, a workshop that can accommodate thousands of people is by no means a small number. To raise this amount of funds, even emptying the current Duke's Mansion might not be enough. So the prince hesitated for a rare moment:
"Speaking of money—"
After uttering these three words, the prince suddenly closed his mouth. He suddenly sat up from the recliner, with a gleam in his eyes!
It was at this moment that a familiar voice that had not been heard for a long time echoed in my ears:
[Major historical changes detected... enough points, the system will be upgraded soon];
[The system will soon add a new function: Echoes of History]
[In the new function, the system will randomly capture historical discussions of later generations to show the host the impact of the changes]
[Note that later discussions may include subjective content, please judge for yourself]
[The system will abide by its promise and protect the host's privacy as always]
·
[Echoes of history: the birth of industrial Pixiu]
[…When merchant ships from Southeast Asia first arrived at the small workshops on the southeast coast of China, these ignorant and naive businessmen did not notice anything unusual. They just came to sell rice and spices, and exchange them for the fine cloth of the Da'an Dynasty. This kind of transaction has occurred many times in Guangdong, and now it is just inspired by others to try it again in the new port. However, they were very excited by the result of the attempt. Instead of asking them for bribes, the local officials met with them in person, invited them to drink tea, and asked them about the details of the transaction one by one.
When he heard the exchange rate of rice and cloth, the eyes of the local official named Hai flashed. He asked the merchants seriously, how much cloth could the merchants consume if sold at the same price?
With the advancement of farming and navigation technology, food in Siam and Myanmar became abundant in those years, and there was enough food and transportation capacity for foreign trade. So the merchants did a rough calculation and came up with an astronomical figure:
"I can eat anything up to 500,000 horses!"
After saying this number, even the accompanying translator couldn't help laughing. Five hundred thousand pieces of cloth! They have been doing business in Guangdong for a long time, and up to now they only trade 300,000 pieces of cloth a year, which already covers all the sales in the southern provinces. After all, a family of five might take three days to weave a piece of cloth, so where would there be so much stock for merchants to transport?
No one took this statement to heart. The leading merchant even forgot the name of this local official, but he particularly remembered the belt he wore on his official uniform. It was extremely exquisite and gorgeous, decorated with dazzling patterns, and was clearly the top-notch handicraft that the Chinese are best at. The accompanying interpreter told him that the belt was a precious gift from the Chinese emperor and the pattern embroidered on the belt was called Pixiu, a mythical beast born by a dragon that would swallow all the treasures in the world but not spit out any.
This is truly an auspicious beast, a beast that investors like. Therefore, the sea merchants specially learned the Chinese character "貔貅" and wrote it carefully in their diaries.
Great historical turning points always occur at such subtle moments. When the merchant was recording his log, he probably didn't know what he had alarmed.
But no matter what, the ultimate industrial monster that can swallow up all the gold and silver in the world with a trade surplus, and the huge economy that has been compared to a Pixiu or a silver black hole by later generations, has finally opened its eyes:
It smells profits.
】
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