Chapter 18 What, there are five spies among four, that makes sense, right?
"Yes, Your Majesty, this precedent must not be set. By doing something so detrimental to one's moral integrity, I wonder how history books will view the Song Dynasty!"
What can I do? Just use my two eyes. You're still dreaming of Song becoming the Great Devil? It's hilarious. People just think you're crazy. You don't have to get beaten for good things. You just like the feeling of getting beaten, right? With your thick eyebrows and big eyes, you don't just enjoy being beaten, do you?
It's so hurtful! These words are so hurtful!
The minister who was speaking was knocked to the ground, his face turning purple. It was clear that he was holding his breath and was pent up in anger. If you didn't know, you would think he was beaten in the court!
"Your Majesty, I believe that once a research is completed, it should be put to use. However, we must carefully consider how to use it. There must be a moment when it will make a big splash!"
"Of course. If they research something and you don't use it, then what's the point of researching it? It's better to eat more instead of wasting money. At least the fat on your body will be useful."
Am I not on the same team as you? Why are you cursing at me even though we're on the same team?
The minister felt that he was being unfairly scolded, and he couldn't find anyone to reason with, so he returned to the team feeling aggrieved.
In fact, it was not only him, Song Renzong also felt that he was scolded by this sentence.
It was still about what happened yesterday during the day off. He remembered Su Jinghe calling Da Song a pig, or a fat pig surrounded by jackals, tigers and leopards waiting to be slaughtered!
No, we still have to develop.
"We still have to use this gunpowder." Song Renzong, who usually would wait until the ministers had finished their discussion and reached a general trend before making a decision, was defeated this time before the war even reached its climax.
You have to leave!!
If he doesn't give in, Su Jinghe thinks that their Song Dynasty will really become a fat pig with no temper and can only grow meat silently and be slaughtered at will!
So what did this king become? A pig farmer?
"Your Majesty..." After seeing the end of Song Renzong, some people became even more motivated and insisted on showing their kindness and dedication to the people. With tears in their eyes, they began to perform with emotion.
"Your Majesty, warmongering only satisfies temporary arrogance. In the end, it is the people who suffer. Qin Shi Huang's aggressive military policy ultimately wiped out nine out of ten Qin households. The entire nation suffered unspeakably, forcing..."
【Wow, here comes a great saint.】
The Song Dynasty still couldn't get used to Su Jinghe's flattering and ambiguous expression.
This person thought he was being praised by his inner voice, and he was so complacent that he wanted to advise His Majesty not to act on his own.
He really should be sent to the frontier, and not given an official position. He should experience the life of a poor commoner living on the frontier, and then he will know whether or not to act like a grandson.
"Jiang Qing." Song Renzong glanced at the person below him and said, "Why don't you go to the border, eat and sleep with the people, and experience the hardships of war."
"Your Majesty, I... I..." Lord Jiang's face turned pale, and before he could explain anything, he was dragged away.
[Huh? What a great idea! It's rare for Song Renzong to be so confident, confronting his ministers. Was he so bold this morning? Isn't he afraid of what others will say about him?]
Minister: No, who is pointing fingers? Who wants to confront whom?
Song Renzong: What are you talking about? What ambition and courage!
"Your Majesty, the initiative in war is always in the hands of the strong. Only by becoming stronger first can we reduce the number of wars in the Song Dynasty." This was said by Lu Yijian, which many people did not expect.
There was a sudden rustling sound in the court. There was no such a big reaction when Lord Jiang was dragged away just now.
"Prime Minister Lu actually..." Song Shiyi looked at Lu Yijian who stood in front of him and even suspected that he had heard it wrong.
[Hmm? Didn't they say Lü Yijian was a conservative? Hmm? Could this information be wrong? Wasn't this the reason he and Fan Zhongyan had a conflict?]
Su Jinghe was also in doubt. He didn't doubt Lu Yijian, but he doubted his own memory, wondering if he had remembered it wrong.
"Prime Minister Lu is devoted to the Song Dynasty. It is really touching." After hearing Su Jinghe's voice, Song Shiyi tried hard to turn his words into praise for Lu Yijian.
Stop yelling at Lu Xiang!
How could someone be yelling at His Majesty and Prime Minister Lu at the same time? Do they plan to survive in this court?
It's really touching. I feel like an octogenarian trying hard to learn new things and keep up with the trends. It's much better than those other stubborn, century-old people who live in who knows what era.
Eighty-year-old man·Lü Yijian:?
A century of stubbornness. Others:?
Both those who are praised and those who are scolded have a sense of powerlessness, especially when they are so helpless that they have no place to vent.
It’s frustrating, very frustrating.
Song Shiyi looked at Lu Yijian in front of him, who was still so tall and majestic even from the back, and this time his feelings were much more sincere.
"Prime Minister Lu is truly a man of great generosity. I truly cannot possess such generosity."
Why are you suddenly praising Lu Yijian?
Su Jinghe didn't understand and just kept looking at Lu Yijian's back. As he looked, he remembered an important question.
"It's bad. I didn't wash this dress today."
Seeing Su Jinghe observing Lu Xiang, Song Shiyi was a little worried, fearing that this person would suddenly start using his superpowers to publicly research what new gossip he had.
It’s okay, no, not washed?
Song Shiyi quietly took a half step to the side, and Su Jinghe didn't understand what was going on.
When leaving court, he asked, "What's wrong? You suddenly went over there just now, and I didn't see you wanting to have a private conversation with anyone."
"What?" Song Shiyi had already forgotten, his mind was full of it.
"I wonder how far this new type of gunpowder has been developed. I'm really looking forward to seeing it used on the battlefield."
"Yes, then we in the Song Dynasty won't have to compete with the Liao people in terms of physical fitness and horses. Can we not be better than them in terms of brainpower?"
After Su Jinghe finished speaking, he thought of something else.
"We're not inferior in terms of physical fitness, but a crushing victory is still more satisfying."
Song Shiyi didn't say anything, he just accompanied Su Jinghe for a while, then when there were fewer people around, this guy started nagging again.
"Oh, I really want to go back to the Three Kingdoms era. When Wei, Shu, and Wu were unhappy with their own wars, they would go and vent their anger on the surrounding countries. Tsk, let them know who is the boss."
Su Jinghe sighed seriously, even his tone was a little high, as if he was really pleased by his own imagination.
"My ancestor, please stop talking. How can you say such things? What if someone hears you and thinks you are dissatisfied with this dynasty?"
But fortunately, it was just spoken out loud, and only a limited number of people could hear it. If it was what I was thinking in my heart, everyone would know it.
Song Shiyi was comforting himself when he saw Su Jinghe nodding obediently in front of him and heard a voice in his ear.
"Oh, right, we're different from the Three Kingdoms. Cao Cao wielded absolute power and commanded countless capable ministers, while our court is filled with incompetent idiots like me. Liu Bei was benevolent and kind to the people, and when he lost a battle, he'd eagerly take the common people with him. In the Song Dynasty, the army can't withstand the resistance of the people, and even the highest officials will always be the last to be beaten. At worst, they can still surrender naked like Li Yu... Hmm? Are they really trying to force the emperor to do something like this? ...It's not impossible. The Jingkang Incident brought disaster to the Song Dynasty royal family, from the emperor to the harem, but the ministers didn't seem to show much concern. Those of lower rank were ignored by the Liao Dynasty..."
Stop talking! Stop talking!
Song Shiyi really wanted to stop the ancestor in front of him, but for some reason, the more he listened, the colder his spine became, and a great sense of fear enveloped his heart.
It's so scary.
Is this what it feels like to anticipate your own death?
Song Shiyi's throat was dry, and his eyes were inexplicably dry. He felt as if he was frozen in place, with his mind full of thoughts - change, change the future!
"Why stop here? Let's go." In the end, Su Shunqin saved the frightened crowd. He took Su Jinghe and talked while walking, talking and laughing. It sounded like they were sharing interesting things that would happen when there were children at home.
Su Jinghe listened to Su Shunqin and nodded repeatedly, "Yes, children are like this. My eldest nephew and my youngest nephew say they are adults every day."
"Only children want to become adults. After becoming adults, the world is too cruel." Su Shunqin even smiled when he said this.
Song Shiyi, who was a step late, noticed with his sharp eyes that a few drops of blood had dripped from Su Shunqin's cuffs.
"He pinched his own hands hard to control his emotions." Behind him, Zhang Dexiang looked at Song Shiyi with a serious face.
"Next time, interrupt in advance. It's better to listen less to things like this." Zhang Dexiang looked normal when he spoke, but his lip was bitten.
"Yes." After Song Shiyi opened his mouth, he found that his voice was hoarse.
Not far away, Song Renzong, who was sitting opposite Lu Yijian, was blank for a long time before he found his voice.
"In other words, after the Jingkang Incident, it was time to allow the Liao Kingdom to bully us."
Surrendering naked, it turned out to be like this...
Lu Yijian did not change the position of his hand holding the pen, and he forgot to change it. At this time, he wanted to reach out to comfort Song Renzong, but found that his hand was clenched too tightly. When he suddenly loosened it, he couldn't help trembling.
"Your Majesty, things are different from before. Haven't we made progress this time that would surprise even Su Jinghe?"
"As long as we stop being the moneybags around us and take good care of our own money, things will get better, right?"
Lu Yijian was originally a peace advocate, and even when he was comforting Song Renzong now, he could not help but bring his original way of thinking.
Be prepared to attack, gain greater strength, and protect yourself.
"No, I want to make the Song Dynasty stronger. We can't just take the beating. The best way is to eliminate the crisis at the outset, isn't it?" Song Renzong stood up and called Lu Yijian, "Let's go see how Chen Yijin's research is going. Tell her not to be so reluctant to waste it. We should also expand her research area and make sure it's kept secret. If anyone dares to spy, they will be executed..."
Some people were suppressed in silence, but Song Renzong apparently exploded within a minute of silence.
He had difficulty in having children, and thought about what Su Jinghe said, saying that these things would happen in his later years.
So I subconsciously put my thoughts into my eldest daughter, Fu Kang, who was born this year and looks very lively. My eldest son had died young, and Fu Kang is in good health, but if she had been in good health, she would have had such a future...
No, we still have to think of a way and work harder to completely suppress Xixia and Liao!
"No way!" Su Jinghe returned to the Privy Council and secretly used the big data push method to get Chen Yijin's research from the system. It would have been fine if he hadn't read it, but he was shocked when he saw it.
"What happened?" Zhang Dexiang, who had moved his office next to Su Jinghe, thought that gangsters had come into the office when he heard Su Jinghe's exclamation. He was so scared that he hurried to see if his precious Su Jinghe was okay.
At first glance, he seemed fine, pretending to be working seriously with a pen and paper in his hand. I had no idea what he was trying to do.
"It's okay." In the end, it was a kind-hearted colleague who covered up for Su Jinghe, although this cover was known to be useless.
"Thanks, brother!" After the "class teacher" Zhang Dexiang went back, Su Jinghe still wanted to say thank you to him.
Then Su Jinghe took another blank piece of paper and this time he really started writing and drawing.
Nothing else.
[No, from the Tang Dynasty until the Song Dynasty, gunpowder was not put on the market. Is it because of its power?]
At this time, Chen Yijin was brought to the vicinity of the Privy Council by Song Renzong, who was making promises to Chen Yijin.
If the research is done well, Chen Yijin will become the first female prime minister in history, and her name will be recorded in history in the near future.
Lu Yijian next to him was also saying that the two wanted Chen Yijin to study how to improve the efficiency of gunpowder production and make it more powerful.
Then I heard this sound.
"What's going on? Is there someone next to him?" Chen Yijin and Su Jinghe were not together before, and the official position was only given this time.
"Ah, no, this is a divine weapon." Lu Yijian gave a brief introduction.
Song Renzong, however, cared about what Su Jinghe said, "Power is not important?"
Then Su Jinghe's voice seemed to be responding to him, but he was obviously even angrier.
Power is certainly important, but it's definitely not the top priority right now! Improving accuracy is the most important thing! Especially, we can't put the enhanced gunpowder directly into cannons. Cannons weren't used often before, so they'd kill us before killing others. Damn it, we can't just go to the battlefield like this. If we have enough power but end up losing the battle by killing our own people, that's too much trouble... Considering Song Renzong's irresponsible fence-sitter attitude, he'll definitely stop researching gunpowder, right? Damn it, no, Boss Chen must continue researching gunpowder. Let me think, how can I quietly remind everyone that there are other forms of gunpowder besides cannons? For example, making a landmine would be quite good...
Chen Yijin, who hadn't understood what was going on, grasped the key point. "Indeed, if you don't do this properly, you'll explode yourself first. When we tested it, we made an extra-long fuse and waited for it to explode. Even if it didn't explode immediately, we would use flaming arrows to help it explode. You absolutely can't let it explode on its own."
"What is that mine?"
The two people next to him couldn't answer Chen Yijin's question. They were even very busy, busy with emo and busy with comforting.
"Why am I a fence-sitter again? Doesn't he have a good impression of me at all?" Song Renzong looked at Lu Yijian with melancholy, "Why don't we count the money in the treasury and fight a battle to show him our strength? It would be good if he could change his impression of me to someone who is warmongering. What's wrong with being irresponsible..."
"He is young and has misunderstandings. He doesn't understand how difficult it is to be a king who maintains the status quo." Lu Yijian actually felt that his job had an even harder time. Suddenly, his work responsibilities included comforting the emperor's fragile heart.
Although this can indeed make his relationship with the emperor closer, but! Can't the person who caused the problem deal with it himself? It's not a good idea to always let him clean up the mess.
How about I draw a mine? No, I haven't studied it. What's the internal structure like? If I just draw the shell, will someone be able to replicate it? Maybe. The brains of experts always surpass those of ordinary people like us.
Draw, draw!
Although Chen Yijin didn't understand why she heard this voice, she understood one thing: Song Renzong and Lu Yijian both knew who the owner of this voice was.
Well! Draw it quickly, let me see it!
Chen Yijin also wanted to have more powerful weapons on the battlefield of the Song Dynasty.
In this way, we will be able to win the battle, the country will be strong, and the people will be able to live more peacefully.
[Damn, why is the drawing so ugly?]
Su Jinghe crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it into the trash can he had prepared for himself.
The next second, someone picked up his trash can.
Su Jinghe looked up at his colleague with confusion in his eyes. Why did he suddenly take someone else's trash can?
"I, I'll take out the trash and help you take it out too."
"Let me go with you. I have nothing to do anyway, so I can help digest the food."
Oh, it turns out he was just taking a break from his busy work schedule.
If Su Jinghe wasn't really busy and was slacking off, he would have gone with them.
"Okay, be careful and don't get caught slacking off."
"Yeah, no, there's no one." The two of them perfunctorily said a few words to Su Jinghe, then happily went out with their precious "junk".
They want to see what's inside!
"Your Majesty..."
"Why did you say 'pen' for no apparent reason? Is there a pen in the trash? Oh, this pen is really useless. I should have thrown it away and bought a new one."
Su Jinghe replaced the brush that was badly worn out by his use and took the charcoal pencil that his aunt had prepared for him. This charcoal pencil had a protective layer and actually looked very similar to the pencils of later generations.
"Sure enough, as long as we are willing to study hard, there will be no problem."
So the painting should be mainly practical?
[Let's draw something simple first? I remember back in the days of mine warfare, the simplest thing was a broken clay pot. The fragments from the explosion could cause secondary damage. Hmm... if this secondary damage was mixed with feces, creating explosive pollution, it would be truly incredible. Not to mention the Liao people, even gods would be killed, right? Forget it, this probably doesn't fit the aesthetics of the Song Dynasty, so I'd better not draw it in. It would be bad if they thought I was some fake, deceptive piece of shit.]
What? All the gods are dead?
After Song Renzong looked at the paper drawn by Su Jinghe, he only saw that it was a ball and didn't understand anything else. He then heard him say this.
The next sentence actually says that it does not conform to the aesthetics of the Song Dynasty?
Forget about aesthetics! Let’s first think about how to extend the life of the Song Dynasty for another two hundred years!
Song Renzong was so anxious that he wanted to push the door open and tell Su Jinghe to ignore the morals, laws and aesthetics and go for the most lethal painting first.
[The shell upgrades go hand in hand with the gunpowder upgrades. The mines should be able to fool people for at least a month or two. The first use will definitely give the Liao Kingdom a good scare. You can also start with Xixia and deploy them around the perimeter. They're bound to come, so just blow them up. Hehe, you won't be able to kill these bad guys.]
He bombed this point right away, allowing Lu Yijian to see the ball clearly.
"It's probably not something that needs to be launched from a cannon. It's probably placed on the ground, waiting for someone to step on it."
"An ordinary person couldn't crush a jar under his feet, but a warrior in armor, or a cavalryman sitting on a horse, would do it easily."
"What a great defense, specifically for keeping out villains. Can this be developed? Something that explodes when stepped on?"
The first part is Lu Yijian’s analysis, and the second part is his questions to Chen Yijin.
Chen Yijin and Lu Yijian almost understood what was going on. She held the paper and no one else dared to come over and snatch it from her. Now they were looking at her eagerly, wanting to hear a possibility from her.
"It should be fine. But if we set it up in advance, should we make it waterproof and shockproof? After that, it might not explode so easily. Or we can set up a large minefield and put a mechanism in the middle that will ignite when someone passes by? The Mo family should be able to do this kind of mechanism."
Chen Yijin is a folk god. She has also heard from her father that the legendary Mohist and Gongshujia are omnipotent. They used to train everyone, and later they were special supplies for the royal family.
Royal Song Renzong was a little embarrassed, but this was indeed not his problem. "Well, I'll have to work harder to figure this out."
The inheritance of the Mohist and Gongshu schools has long been fading. The ones Song Renzong had seen were not as powerful as the rumors said. They were not as powerful as Su Jinghe is now.
Some people have a telepathic connection with Song Renzong.
"Mo Jia, from what you've heard, he has some knowledge of this, but he's good at theory, not so good at practice."
"Huh? Really?" Chen Yijin really believed it. When she heard the news, she looked at her hand again. This time she really saw some name.
"Is this where the fuse should be placed? If this thing can also use a fuse, then my other idea of setting the fire is feasible."
Su Jinghe didn't even know that he had drawn the fuse, but he was now continuing to draw other things inside. The shape of the grenade was slowly taking shape under his hands.
"Hey, I don't know if this can be made, but it seems to be available now. If I follow the existing ideas and change the outer shape, it should be possible, right?"
"Swish——" was the sound of Su Jinghe pulling out a chair.
He planned to give this to his boss and have him pass it on to His Majesty.
The noise scared the others.
Those outside the house quickly scattered like birds and beasts. His Majesty took Chen Yijin and Lu Yijian to the next room. They planned to study with Chen Yijin and find a suitable place for the experiment.
And inside the house.
"Knock, knock, knock." Su Jinghe turned a corner and came to the office of the boss Zhang Dexiang.
"Come in——" Zhang Dexiang gritted his teeth. He was so scared that he stood up and scraped his leg. As he was old, he was a little bumpy and his leg was in excruciating pain.
"Boss, I just picked up this piece of paper. It looks like the shape of a gunpowder weapon. Would you like to take a look?" Su Jinghe looked happy.
If Zhang Dexiang hadn't listened to his inner thoughts, he would probably have forced himself to believe it now!
"Let me see it. Maybe someone had some good ideas and accidentally dropped it on the ground?"
Zhang Dexiang was grinning as he spoke, and Su Jinghe was also stunned.
"Boss, do you want me to give you a massage? I have some massage skills!" Su Jinghe even took half a step forward, wanting to show the ancients the massage skills of modern people - although he learned it from a video, it is his own after he has seen it!
"No need for that. I've read all of this, but I don't understand some of it. How about..." Zhang Dexiang originally wanted Su Jinghe to explain to him what it meant, but then he remembered that the boy said he picked it up from the ground.
"How about I give it to His Majesty and ask him to find someone to study it."
"That's right, there must be someone who can figure it out. I heard that some generals themselves have dabbled in these things. They also have practical combat experience and are the best researchers." Su Jinghe nodded wildly.
That night, when Su Jinghe returned home from get off work, the Privy Council was brightly lit.
"What is this? I don't understand. From tiles to this, is this made of iron? Isn't it heavy?" Zhang Dexiang saw a thicker stroke and directly classified it as a different material.
"It shouldn't be that serious, right?" Song Renzong came over to take a look. No matter how he looked at it, it looked like an ordinary thing. He humbly asked Zhang Dexiang, "How do you know this is made of iron?" Is there any special way of communicating with Su Jinghe?
"He's talking nonsense. This kind of person is like that. He can't control his mouth and says whatever he thinks." Lu Yijian didn't give Zhang Dexiang any face. After exposing him on the spot, he also revealed his analysis.
"I can't tell the material, but I can tell the shape. He probably wants us to change the shape of the gunpowder container first so we can better target targets."
"This one shouldn't work, right?" Chen Yijin pointed at the grenade. "It looks like it's meant to be hand-held. The gunpowder isn't very stable, so the chances of it exploding in your hand are very high."
"But," Chen Yijin said, and everyone began to look forward to the expert's ideas. "But I can also modify the fireworks into handheld ones. Starting with small-powered fireworks, and then gradually expanding to gunpowder, it should be no problem."
"It's too late, we don't have time." Song Renzong is now more worried than anyone else. What if he lives too long, or his children, his grandchildren, he...
In short, the Song Dynasty cannot be destroyed like this!
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, don't worry." In the end, it was Zhang Dexiang who comforted him. Lu Yijian had already become anxious because of Song Renzong.
"That kid doesn't worry too much every day. When he gets anxious, it won't be too late for us to get anxious too."
This comfort is even worse than no comfort at all.
"Why don't we see who in the court can be persuaded to leave? I think the excuse he used last time, corruption, is a good one. Su Shunqin won't need this method anymore, so let's use it on someone else and persuade them to leave."
Song Renzong now feels that many people in the court are just eating and doing nothing.
What is the difference between allowing these parasites to stay in the court and letting the Song Dynasty commit chronic suicide?
No!
"This won't work, it really won't work." Lu Yijian wanted to persuade him to withdraw. "If the number of people in the court is reduced, they will not be enough. The grassroots can be replaced, but it will be useless if we do it now."
"Sometimes it's not that people at the grassroots don't want to work hard, but the emperor is far away, and some local tyrants use threats and inducements, and the weak-willed people are tempted." The speaker was Chen Yijin. She knew too much about the grassroots, especially when it came to women supporting the family business. She had seen many good people grow up to be ugly.
"Oh, yes." Zhang Dexiang also sighed, "It's hard to change. I'm afraid that if I give it to someone, they'll criticize me."
Song Renzong became even more desperate after hearing this, "It's really too late now."
What exactly is too late? Who is the "he" in their conversation?
Chen Yijin was confused by what she heard, but she didn't ask. She knew that it would be difficult for someone like her who had just entered the court to understand the core of the court so quickly. It would be better for her to start with what she was good at.
She looked carefully at the paper in her hand, trying to transform it into something familiar to her.
[Oh my, why are we having another morning court session? Didn't we have one yesterday? Why are we having another today? Does that make sense?]
Su Jinghe's eyes were sleepy. If he hadn't relied on his willpower to endure it, he would have started yawning in front of everyone.
His voice startled Song Renzong, who was half-closing his eyes to rest.
He analyzed things with Lu Yijian and the others too late yesterday. After returning to the harem, his favorite concubine, Concubine Zhang, fell ill again. He went to see her and then slept with Concubine Zhang. He had only slept for two hours and was very tired.
[At 3:21, His Majesty quietly rubbed his eyes, probably tired of listening.]
The attendant almost followed the voice and recorded it.
No? Why did you suddenly start remembering His Majesty's actions? Are you so bold?
Tired of listening?
There was the Vice Minister of Works who submitted a memorial requesting funds to repair the dam to prevent possible flood disasters in the future, and the Vice Minister of Revenue who tried to use data from previous years to show that the dam was repaired every year, and the last reinforcement had not even been completed for two months, in order to get the Ministry of Revenue to allocate less money.
The two men looked at each other with the same frustration in their eyes. They argued so passionately, was it boring?
No? Why are you targeting me? Can't you just look at someone else?
Song Renzong was already very sleepy, but because he accidentally saw Su Jing and Song Shiyi who were yawning next to him, he couldn't help but yawn along with him, and now he was completely alert.
Damn this little bastard. When I catch him, I’ll let you know how to write the word “small-minded”.
Afraid that Su Jinghe would broadcast some strange things in public again, Song Renzong chose to force himself to cheer up.
At 3:25, Prime Minister Lü Yijian quietly shifted his pace. He must have been tired due to his age. Tsk, there's no seat for us, the old Prime Minister.
Should I ask someone to move a seat now?
Song Renzong asked himself this.
Should I just take advantage of the situation and wait for my turn?
Lu Yijian, who was indeed a little tired, asked himself the same question.
The two people's eyes met secretly, and Song Renzong decisively arranged the seats.
I also reflected on my own carelessness and thought I should have discovered how difficult it was for Lu Yijian earlier!
[Wow, it's really been arranged. It seems like they looked at each other. This is the Song Dynasty version of the emperor and his ministers getting along well, like fish in water, right?]
When the two heard the compliment, their hearts suddenly became heavy, as expected.
[It's just a pity for Fan Zhongyan, who is still being demoted from the central government. Look, the latecomers can't take the lead because the former are fighting and vying for it.]
Fighting and scrambling, Lü Yijian felt like he was about to have a migraine like Cao Cao.
Damn this kid. He usually looks so well behaved, but why does he have such a vicious heart?
Ha, why does it sound so much like a fight for favor, hiss...
Song Renzong, who had given himself goosebumps all over his arms from his random imagination, became quiet.
He shouldn't have followed this kid's line of thought.
This guy is not a good person!
[Three forty, huh? Why are people still looking around during the morning session? What are they looking at?]
Shouldn't I be asking you this? How do you find time to record the emperor's movements while you're in court?
Some ministers dared not speak out but were angry, and were madly dissing this voice in their hearts.
After some people found out it was Su Jinghe, they felt something was wrong.
He saw someone peeking around. What was this person trying to do?
[Three forty-one, eh? Is this guy looking for something? Why is he looking again after less than a minute? He has no respect for court discipline at all.]
Oh no, I’m really looking for Su Jinghe.
Song Renzong is now anxious to save the Song Dynasty from a tragic future to a bright one, but he cannot allow some "people who have not passed their screening" to find Su Jinghe.
"Cough cough." He coughed in a hurry.
The teams from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue, who were still arguing about whether to allocate funds, were no longer just arguing between two people. There were quite a lot of people involved. When they heard His Majesty's cough, everyone shut up and waited for His Majesty's instructions.
"Regarding the allocation of funds for disaster relief, this is very important." Think quickly, you stubborn guy.
Song Renzong was not prepared at all and didn't know what to say, so he just blurted out this nonsense.
At 3:43, His Majesty suddenly started to say something nonsense. He must have been too sleepy and wanted to find something to do.
It turns out it was just a casual remark.
Both groups felt relieved.
Damn, this guy is really not a good person.
Song Renzong came up with a plan. "Deputy Deputy Commander Su, why don't you tell me what you think? Your hometown is in Sichuan, so you must be very familiar with the events before and after the disaster."
Huh? Me?
Su Jinghe had been slacking off for a long time when he was suddenly called. His body shuddered when he was called and he subconsciously looked at Song Shiyi, asking, "What is it?"
"Your Majesty, do you wish me to answer?"
Otherwise? Is it me?
Song Shiyi was really tired. He didn't expect that Su Jinghe, who was so serious at work and still occasionally read gossip to spice up his life, would be so unreliable after attending court.
Is it because there are too many reliable people around him, so he doesn't have to bear the brunt of the consequences, and therefore he becomes unreliable?
"Just tell me about the disasters you've witnessed before and after. His Majesty won't make things difficult for you."
I am dirty, Song Shiyi cried silently in his heart. He actually fell to this point and covered up for his colleagues during court sessions.
He is no longer that mature adult.
You should try to trip up your colleagues when you go to court!
Su Jinghe, who was unaware that he was experiencing a rare warmth in the court, after being reminded of the "teacher's" question by Song Shiyi, instead had some experience of answering questions in class before, and began to answer.
"Sichuan is prone to frequent earthquakes, a result of its location on the tectonic plate... Because of its unique location, the roads to Sichuan are incredibly difficult, making it a difficult problem to solve since ancient times. Preventing earthquakes is also a fantasy, but we can find another way."
He almost said something about the collision of plates, which the ancient people couldn't understand, and scared Su Jinghe so much that he recited a poem.
Little did he know that other people in the court were frowning at his inexplicable recitation of the poem. Isn't it a bit wrong to use this line of poetry here?
But what he said later made everyone want to listen.
To find another way, what should we do specifically?
"If we can't solve the problem of earthquakes, we will reinforce the house."
Hearing Su Jinghe say this, someone who was also from Sichuan couldn't help but interrupt, "Our Sichuan construction technology is definitely far superior to other places!"
This sense of regional pride came immediately.
[No way, are they going to form cliques and pursue personal interests?]
I gave that person a hard time and then he held back his next sentence.
Some people also gave up the idea of suspecting Su Jinghe was the owner of Xinsheng, and just regarded the overlapping time between him and Xinsheng as a coincidence.
Even Song Renzong, who had confirmed the inside story, sighed at this moment. Could this be Su Jinghe's method of being wise but appearing foolish?
How could someone dare to fabricate rumors about themselves? And the first thing they did was accuse them of forming a clique for personal gain!
"I met a skilled housebuilder in Bianjing. He's researching a new house-building technique, but he has no experience in large-scale construction. I volunteered to introduce him to the Ministry of Works!"
Su Jinghe's last sentence left everyone confused.
Let's say he took the back door. He was so high-sounding and even said it in front of His Majesty, and then he just walked back like that?
Researching new construction techniques?
Song Renzong also knew about this matter. Before Su Jinghe opened his aunt's store, he seemed to have persuaded his aunt to buy a construction team, and then the house was also built by this team?
It looked gray, but there were no problems after it opened.
Isn’t the advantage of that construction team that they can paint the outside of the house different things?
The people in the Ministry of Works also thought of this. Everyone was in the court and knew their colleagues well.
"Isn't that the team that can draw on the wall?"
That's really interesting.
"Should we?"
"You were still chosen? Ask His Majesty!"
The person who asked this question was almost stabbed to death by the eyes of his colleagues.
Yes, of course.
Ever since Song Renzong's eldest daughter, Princess Fukang, was born with great vigor and vitality and the imperial physician said she was quite healthy, he doted on this eldest daughter who represented that there was no problem with his fertility. He loved her like a treasure and was planning to build a new and lovely palace for her that would suit the princess' temperament.
"The construction of Fukang's new palace is a good opportunity for this master to participate. We can then observe his abilities firsthand. If his new research is useful, we can try to promote it."
After Song Renzong finished speaking, he felt that he had been influenced by Su Jinghe.
This guy is usually not very active at work, but his words are so effective that they really influence people!
Su Jinghe didn't notice anything. He was recording as usual, but then he thought of something.
[At 3:55, His Majesty intends to embezzle a craftsman. I wonder if he will return it...]
None of the court officials dared to show any expression when they said this.
Especially Su Shunqin, who had been told by Su Jinghe to His Majesty's face that he was "narrow-minded", did not even dare to raise his head at this time, for fear that His Majesty would catch him doing anything wrong.
I wish this guy couldn't talk.
Many people, including Song Renzong, had the same idea at the time. They all liked Su Jinghe to be a mute, and it would be better to only remind them of the key and important things.
Soon, the inner voice reminded me of something very important.
[Hey? No, craftsman, I just remembered something. System, system, were the palaces of the Song Dynasty really painted with cinnabar and mercury? System? Send a push. Hi, it's really being sent.]
What's wrong with brushing these? The Ministry of Industry is a little confused. Aren't these normal means of preventing corrosion, waterproofing, and insect infestation?
The pills are all there, at least they don't eat them directly! It's very safe.
Song Renzong didn't understand either. When he tried to observe the expressions of Su Jinghe and others, he caught three people looking around.
Very good, I decided to find a way to get rid of these three.
I was originally looking for more people to come to the court, and now someone has stepped forward on their own initiative, that’s great.
These three bad guys want to find out who Su Jinghe is!
[Wow, they use both cinnabar and mercury. Wow, this is truly a Feng Shui treasure land.]
That's because some people in the Ministry of Works were complacent. Their Ministry of Works was always responsible for the construction of palaces, and this was the most essential difference between them and those ordinary craftsmen outside!
[These highly dangerous materials, coupled with the consumption of elixirs, some wastelanders working late into the night, and some emperors staying up late in debauchery, are directly depleting their bodies.]
Hmm? No...
Some people in the Ministry of Industry changed their expressions. Not only did their expressions change, but everyone else involved in the relevant processes also had a hard time.
Lu Yijian was shocked. As the prime minister who often had to make the final decision, he could not bear such a big blame.
Are you kidding me?
Well, that’s possible. I seem to be joking around a lot.
Actually, not all palaces were built by our Ministry of Works ourselves. Most of the time, we hired qualified teams with clean family backgrounds from outside. The materials were not ours either; we purchased them directly...
Some people are already thinking about what to say later so that everyone appears clean and innocent.
[No wonder Song Renzong could never keep his children. With such a good thing blessed from both inside and outside, it must be difficult to keep them, right?
I heard that the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin, had been through many battles and was in poor health.
No, who said always? Where does the word always come from?
Some ministers no longer dared to look up at Song Renzong's expression.
As everyone knows, the emperor gave birth to a prince before, but he died shortly after birth.
They even tried to save the patient by using elixirs.
Now it turns out to be poison upon poison.
There is no hope for them.
I am not from the Taizu lineage either.
However, Song Renzong was not as sad and angry as others thought.
Everything that happened yesterday was like yesterday’s death. What he wanted to solve and change now was the future.
[But I've heard that the Song Dynasty also had hereditary mental illnesses. It seems like Emperor Taizu's younger brother, eldest son, and children all had them. Well, from this perspective, the Song family really had it tough. I don't know if their physical health was good, but there was also the risk of hereditary mental illnesses.]
Who, who is sick?
How could there be people who directly spread rumors to the emperor?
Song Renzong's eyes widened. Didn't he know whether he was sick or not?
[It seems like Emperor Zhenzong of Song was in a good position when he signed the Treaty of Shanyuan, but ended up signing this thing, which directly caused future generations to suffer from his actions for many years.]
Uh...no washing.
Song Renzong sometimes suspected that his own father was not smart enough.
Not only this matter, but also the fact that he was adopted by...
This matter was not something that needed to be covered up in the royal families throughout history, but his biological father chose to cover it up, and only let him know about it from the ministers after his biological father, mother and adoptive mother had died.
If you are sick, this logic makes sense.
Song Renzong even comforted himself.
But seriously, how can I persuade His Majesty not to live in this house that might not only have excessive formaldehyde levels, but also excessive levels of various heavy metals? What if His Majesty doesn't listen and kills me? Oh, that probably won't happen. Song Renzong was already a very soft-hearted emperor. What if His Majesty listens and ends up with nowhere to live?
Is this something you need to worry about?
This question made everyone else who heard it laugh.
"Your Majesty, I observed the celestial phenomena at night..." Someone from the Imperial Astronomical Observatory stepped forward and gave a suitable reason for Song Renzong to choose an auspicious day to build the palace.
"Large-scale construction is still not a good idea. Should we slightly change the current layout?" Song Renzong was caught in a dilemma.
He really wanted to find an opportunity to fight and let Su Jinghe see that the Song Dynasty that was attacked first was really not the Song Dynasty in his memory, a Song Dynasty that would only surrender when encountering problems!
But physical safety is also very important.
At this moment, someone from the Ministry of Industry stepped forward shyly, taking a deep breath before daring to speak his words.
"Your Majesty, many of the load-bearing pillars are filled with mercury..."
A lot, perfusion, this.
Song Renzong felt dizzy.
Why are you getting into research materials? It shouldn't be a big deal, and no one's saying it's necessarily a problem in that area.
What do you mean by "no one"? Before you, there was no one, but aren't you a human?
Those who knew the situation really wanted to glare at Su Jinghe.
People who don't know the truth also want to glare at someone, but they just can't find anyone to glare at.
"If you keep fresh air and maintain a good mood, you should be able to enjoy a peaceful old age, right? The Song Dynasty should have had emperors who lived long enough... right? 】
[Forget it. After the Northern Song Dynasty became the Southern Song Dynasty, the Southern Song people moved to the south of the Yangtze River. Few of them lived particularly long lives. I guess the spiritual crisis was more serious.]
Ha, that’s really good news.
Song Renzong had no expression on his face.
Will it be too late to ask the Imperial Physician to punch in at court next time?
When Lu Yijian heard Su Jinghe's thoughts, he thought of providing His Majesty with the highest-level doctors at all times.
In fact, there are, but the imperial doctors usually do not attend court. There are only one or two of them on duty, and they are always on standby because they are worried about the safety of everyone in the court.
But when the imperial physician heard this voice, it was like listening to a divine book.
They haven't studied any mental illnesses, have they? But maintaining a positive mood is important. Anger is harmful to the body, and excessive excitement can put pressure on all five internal organs.
It didn't matter what was discussed in the court at the beginning. In the middle, they talked for a long time about whether to build a relatively luxurious palace for the princess, renovate part of the palace, and rebuild various buildings in the harem bit by bit.
Su Jinghe felt sleepy after listening to it, and started to browse the trending searches again, wanting to see if the system had pushed anything interesting to him.
[Huh? There really is a backup plan from the Liao Kingdom... Hmm? What backup plan? Let me see.]
Huh? Why is it the Liao Kingdom again?
But the Ministry of Works breathed a sigh of relief, and the two imperial doctors in the court also breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, the former really built such a building, and the latter did not stop the emperor from taking elixirs, although the current emperor didn't eat much, and although they couldn't stop the previous emperors even if they wanted to.
[Ever since Wang Qiang was discovered, the Liao Kingdom suddenly realized that even though they had more information about him, it wouldn't be of much use.]
What do you mean by "not very useful"? Many people in the court were slightly furious.
Such statements make it seem like they don’t do any serious work in the court every day!
[But without Wang Qiang, the Liao Kingdom was always curious about what the Song Dynasty was doing. Also, they didn't know what Wang Qiang was, so they bribed several Song Dynasty officials.]
"No way? So easy to bribe? Isn't it said that the Song Dynasty was a rare dynasty with the most lenient anti-corruption measures and the least corruption? They've been successfully bribed by the Liao Dynasty. How disappointing."
One of the people who was successfully attacked had a stiff expression, as if he was being scolded.
His strange change of expression was also noticed by Song Renzong, who had been paying attention to him for a long time. Others also came directly towards him and tried to catch him directly.
【Also, why didn't you ask me for this bribed good thing? 】
Hmm? Looking for you?
Um...looking for you?
Some people were unhappy. Why did he want to be bribed? Was he not loyal to the Song Dynasty?
Some people found doubts and said that this meant that he was an official and should be a human being.
I really wish someone would give me a large sum of money for no apparent reason, especially from a foreigner. I would just pocket it and not do anything for them. It would be a zero-risk, yet profitable experience.
When two of them heard Su Jinghe say this, they suddenly realized that this was the right thing to do!
The Liao Kingdom also had no way to find someone to accuse him of not working!
That's right!
Song Shiyi was speechless about Su Jinghe. He suspected that Su Jinghe had brought the concepts he had at the fine kiln factory into the present.
Is being the boss of a boutique kiln the same as being in the imperial court? Obviously not.
There is no wall that is impenetrable. If you accept it, it will be evidence of treason in the future!
Zhang Dexiang was also thinking about whether he should give his children ideological education.
If you are short of money, just tell him directly. Forget it, he has no money. Just tell Lu Xiang directly. He has a wealthy family and is rich!
[Let me see, who couldn't resist the temptation, hmm...]
The four people instantly became nervous, fearing that the King of Hell would call their names.
[How come I don't know any of these five people? Is there anything delicious to eat?]
No? Why are there five?
Because the Liao Kingdom also gave each other some information, the four people were connected to each other. It is always safer to have one undercover person than to have four people undercover.
And now you tell them there are five people?
Five people? Was there really one person who, as the voice said, secretly stole the money?
The person who was already very tempted by Su Jinghe's statement had a distorted expression on his face. He didn't know whether he was disgusted with himself for not being smart enough, or was jealous that someone could be so smart!
Wait, don’t eat melon?
Song Renzong, who only noticed the abnormality of four people, wanted to shake Su Jinghe's head to shake out all the water.
Business is more important than eating melons.
A poor farmer's son, through his own hard work, went from being penniless to having more money than he could spend in just ten years. He did the following four things.
Hmm? What? Something like that? Tell me, tell me now.
When it comes to how to make money, many people's research is brilliant, especially those who are penniless. Most of them are not that poor.
Maybe it can be reproduced.
When he was six years old, others had money to go to school, but his family couldn't afford it. So he chose to climb into the bed of a local tyrant's son, and from then on, he earned the right to go to school.
Huh? This is truly unrepeatable.
Many people got to know about gay men after Wang Gang. There were also people in Song Dynasty who liked Nanfeng, but not all of them.
After understanding the situation, these people really felt that this was not a job that a human could do.
[Oh my god, it’s still 1, and that young master is 0.]
What do 1 and 0 mean?
[In order to study, the young boy had to play a perverted game with the fifteen-year-old master, stuffing pens, inkstones, and paper into the master's butt.]
This description was so detailed that it made some people feel their buttocks tighten.
[During the most outrageous time, the young master told him that he could take home as much as he could stuff in. This time, he made the young master sick, and their affair was exposed, which dealt a heavy blow to his impoverished family.]
At the age of ten, the orphan did not give up his dream of studying. He left his hometown and came to a new place, blending in with the exiled people. He became the concubine and nephew of a criminal official and lived with them.
As soon as this description came out, many people knew who it was.
The man did not hide his feelings at all, smiling at all the ministers who were looking at him, and even tilted his head to act cute, which gave people a fright.
This person didn't expect that he would be the first to be exposed.
Oh, if I had known this earlier, I would have just swallowed the money and not done anything unnecessary.
[It was difficult for a convicted criminal to turn over a new leaf, but he was quite talented. Furthermore, the place where he was exiled was short of talented people, and even more so, short of people as talented as him who were willing to humble themselves. He soon found his way into the homes of local gentry and nobles, and earned a good reputation.]
"What's wrong? I, Chuck Li, work hard for my own life. What's wrong with that? Without body trading, I can't make a way out. I have no money, so this is the only way. Is it wrong for me to be alive?"
Su Jinghe wanted to continue watching, but someone stood up and spoke loudly. The others looked up to him because of his courage and willingness to take responsibility.
Of course, treason is an absolute death penalty!
[Hey? What Chuck Li, isn't that Mei Yufeng? Ah, it turns out this person also has this past, there are quite a lot of pitiful people.]
Song Renzong also wanted to agree with Su Jinghe's words.
There are actually two such weird things in his court. He is such a pitiful man!
Mei Yufeng also stood up and said, "I just took the money and did nothing. My lover can testify for me on this matter!"
[But no one has said anything about what they did, or even discovered they were collaborating with the Liao Kingdom and committing treason, right? It's strange that they're coming forward with this, right?]
Su Jinghe's curiosity was about to overflow, and no one discussed it with him. He looked at the standing positions in front of him becoming untidy, and peeked in to see what everyone was doing.
Song Shiyi grabbed him and said, "We're in court, what are you doing? Do you want to go to the front to see what the others look like?"
Well, I really don't know what some people look like.
Su Jinghe wanted to nod, but he knew that even if he nodded under pressure, Song Shiyi would not let him go to watch the fun. This man was a bit old-fashioned despite his young age.
[However, they didn't do anything for the Liao Kingdom, yet they took the initiative to pop up during everyone's chat. Are they trying to redeem themselves from their crimes, play a Mission: Impossible game, and then become spies from the Song Dynasty reporting information to the Liao Kingdom?]
Su Jinghe had seen too many spy and undercover dramas, so when he saw these people's abnormal behavior, he even thought of a script for them.
The previous one really gave me face.
"Your Majesty, I am guilty. I am willing to redeem myself for my crimes and serve as a member of the counter-espionage team, passing false information to the Liao Kingdom!"
"Your Majesty, I have learned part of the plan during the negotiations with the Liao Kingdom. The person who communicated with me was once in charge of horse breeding in the Liao Kingdom. He said that he may not be in contact with me for long, probably because he is going to raise horses. I infer that the Liao Kingdom will launch a large-scale war! I also received three ponies promised by that person!" Zhang Celi's words attracted people's attention.
Everyone even made some secret speculations based on the rumors they had heard about him.
Could it be that this person used her beauty to trick people into giving her something away again?
This is too awesome, Lao Ai of the Song Dynasty!
"Your Majesty, I also have news. The one who contacted me was Xia. He repeatedly asked me to find out the defense of Shaanxi Road. I suspect that Xia really wants to take Shaanxi directly!" Mei Yufeng's words were even more shocking.
They were shocked that the small country of Western Xia did not take them seriously!
One person spoke quickly and acted quickly, and the other two people had already obtained information. The remaining two people repeated the words of the first person with despair, trying hard to fight for a chance to survive.
The court was filled with dissatisfaction with the Western Xia and the Liao Kingdom. At this time, the ministers seemed to have no distinction between the peace faction and the war faction, and finally unified their positions.
Song Renzong tried to express the thoughts that had been bothering him for a long time in the past few days.
"I think the Song Dynasty needs a major victory that can shock the surrounding areas. Otherwise, we should divide our forces into two groups, Xixia and Liao, strengthen the defenses on both sides, prepare in advance, and then cooperate with them to spread false information. When they attack, we will definitely catch them off guard."
"Your Majesty, this won't work. The Liao Kingdom is strong and powerful, while our Song Dynasty is still in the research stage of gunpowder. Any rash action will only result in casualties!"
"Your Majesty, this is absolutely impossible. Focusing on just one battlefield is already exhausting. If we try to manage both fronts simultaneously, we will surely fail on both sides. In my opinion, it is better to keep the Liao Kingdom as is and focus solely on Western Xia."
"Your Majesty, this idea is too radical..."
Even Su Shunqin wanted to step out and persuade them. Judging from his military capabilities, if the Song Dynasty wanted to achieve double-sided suppression, its military strength would have to regress to the time of Song Taizu.
"So this is what it means to be the target of public criticism. How exciting! Being an emperor, with so many people pointing fingers at you, must not be an easy job."
Fortunately, I didn’t stand up just now, so that I wouldn’t be accused of pointing fingers again.
Su Shunqin realized it later, and he spoke out resolutely at this moment.
"Your Majesty, I believe we can strengthen our defenses in areas where the Liao Kingdom frequently plunders us, while also focusing our military operations on the Western Xia! The Liao Kingdom may not be intent on attacking us directly right now, but the Western Xia are a young and powerful nation, and they're even trying to establish defenses in Shaanxi Province. Their ambitions are quite ambitious, so it's only right for the Song Dynasty to use them as an example to scare the monkeys!"
Someone actually came out to support it.
Su Jinghe didn't notice that it was Su Shunqin who supported him, his mind was full of it.
[As expected of an emperor, is this a psychological game? The famous broken window effect: when you want to open a window, like going to war with Xixia, you first propose breaking down a door, and so on...]
No, huh?
Song Renzong originally wanted to create an image of himself as a heroic and extraordinary person in Su Jinghe's mind.
Why is the image of a shrewd and calculating person being portrayed now? Isn't this right? Don't let your imagination run wild!
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