Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 434: Old Smoke, New Rain and Dew

It is early summer, on the sixth day of June, and the Port of Tianjin has temporarily stopped operations today in preparation for the emperor to see off the former Privy Councilor and many civil and military officials, scholars and merchants.

The emperor was here in person, of course mainly because Tian Le was about to set off.

A table was set up on the dock, and the sea breeze blew everyone's robes.

"In the imperial examination, I asked the candidates how the world can practice the great way and achieve great harmony. First question: What are the similarities and differences between the world today and the world Confucius talked about? Second question: The origin of etiquette is food and drink. Later sages made many works. Confucius said that etiquette has been fully developed. However, people today know that the world's granaries are not full, so how can etiquette be fully developed? Third question: The Ming Dynasty is a country of etiquette, and it emphasizes trust and friendship. However, the north of the desert, the western regions, the western oceans, and the eastern oceans have their own beliefs and often come to disturb and cause trouble. If only China respects etiquette, how can we achieve great harmony?"

Lu Xiangsheng listened to the words of the emperor's mentor, and the emperor asked him to answer the questions in the palace examination.

Behind Tian Le in front of him, there were some new scholars who also answered the papers.

The title is borrowed from the Li Yun chapter of the Book of Rites, but the key points are actually hidden in those three questions.

The first question guides everyone to think about the larger world, which includes the East, South and West.

The second question guides everyone to further pay attention to the study of nature, and also reiterates the emperor's understanding of etiquette, and the "refutation" and extension of Confucius's views. First of all, Confucius said that the beginning of etiquette is food and drink, and eating to survive is the most basic etiquette. But at that time, "the former kings did not have palaces, they lived in caves in winter and in nests in summer. There was no fire, they ate the fruits of plants and trees, the meat of birds and beasts, drank their blood, and ate their fur. There was no hemp and silk, and they wore feathers and skins."

Later, "the saints came to make it, and then they improved the benefits of fire, molded gold and mixed earth to make terraces, palaces, windows and doors, and used them to burn, cook, roast, and make wine and cheese, and processed hemp and silk to make cloth..." Confucius felt that this way of "keeping healthy and sending off the dead" and "serving ghosts and gods" would have a better effect, and the souls of the gods and ancestors would be happy, and people and gods would communicate and be harmonious. The great accomplishment of rituals can therefore "accept the blessings of heaven" and accept the blessings bestowed by the gods.

But the emperor has already expounded the truth of the continuous evolution of reality and cognition in the theory of the study of things and the extension of knowledge. After all, the Master is an ancient man, and we cannot force him to have perfect insights. But it is true that eating well and surviving is the most basic etiquette. Later, the saints studied things and gained knowledge, and learned to use fire, build, burn utensils, smelt metals, and weave. Only then did people's most basic etiquette have a certain guarantee. But is this enough? What should we do if the people of the world cannot be fully fed and clothed to survive?
The third question is: Even if the Ming emperor and his ministers are willing to make the Ming Dynasty achieve the state of great harmony as the ancient sages said, what about foreign invasions? The northern barbarians invade the border, the Japanese pirates invade, and the Western invaders invade the border. These things are not far away. They don't talk to you about etiquette, so how to solve this problem?

The emperor raised his wine glass to see them off: "Many of you mentioned the word education. Having the ambition and courage requires methods. The gentlemen in ancient times were good at writing and dancing, because the weapon of education must be used together with the education of weapons! The grudges have lasted for more than a thousand years, and the truth has been said countless times. This time, we are going to end the foreign invasion forever, and finally for the real world peace! If you succeed, you should benefit the world, both publicly and privately. I wish you to ride the wind and waves and achieve this ambition in the vast ocean!"

"We thank your Majesty for your encouragement and courtesy! We respectfully listen to your instructions!"

This was just the last blessing, which had already been said in the Forbidden City and heard when they accepted the invitations from Jinxianyuan, Lifanyuan, Tianle and others.

What they are talking about now is justice, the significance of their trip to the Ming Dynasty and their ideals and aspirations. Personally, it is naturally the endless opportunities in the future. Let's give it a try.

After the farewell ceremony, others began to board the ship, leaving only a few bigwigs headed by Tian Le on the dock.

The only person Zhu Changluo needed to see off was Tian Le.

He looked at Tianle's beard dancing in the wind and raised another glass of wine with emotion.

After more than ten years of getting along, they have already developed a deep affection.

"My dear minister, I am a comrade." Zhu Changluo stared at him. "The journey is long and the mountains are high. I am afraid that we will never see each other again in this life. I hope to hear from you more often."

"I am lucky to have your Majesty's trust and respect in my later years." Tian Le's eyes were slightly red. "Your Majesty must take care of your health. The great cause has been accomplished, but I regret that I will not see that day. In my lifetime, I can make Japan a new world, which is the smallest part of my ability to repay your kindness."

"You know I hate that place deeply and worry about it deeply!"

Zhu Changluo never told him the reason, but he had expressed his emotions long ago.

At this moment, he solemnly held up the wine glass and bowed to say farewell: "Please! Xizhi is old, you still have to take care of your health, don't rush for success."

"I'm going to be a pioneer. I really want to live a few more years and see more."

Tian Le also bent down, his tone was smiling.

But after he put down the wine glass, he looked at Zhu Changluo again, and his eyes became redder. He formally performed a great ceremony and knelt on the ground: "This old minister bids farewell to the emperor! Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor! Long, long live the emperor!"

Although he knew that Zhu Changluo was actually very open-minded and treated him as both a teacher and a friend, at this moment this great ceremony between the emperor and his subject only expressed his feelings.

Lu Xiangsheng watched the emperor help him up, and the emperor and his subjects held hands to see him off. When Tian Le climbed onto the bow, they were waiting to raise the anchor and set sail.

The emperor had been waiting here, and Lu Xiangsheng even saw some loneliness from his back.

How will future generations view this? Will it be that Grand Tutor Tian felt that he had made great contributions and had single-handedly controlled the Privy Council from its inception to its growth for more than ten years, so he left with his family? Or will it be that the emperor and his ministers trusted him, entrusted him with important matters, and Tian Le devoted himself to the cause until his death?
I don’t know, it depends on the future results.

Including the results of this sea trip.

"Good luck!" Lu Xiangsheng suddenly heard the emperor shouting loudly and waving his hand.

The ship hoisted its sails and slowly set sail. On the bow deck, Tian Le led the way in bowing.

After the ship left the port and turned toward the open sea, Zhu Changluo said, "Let's set sail to Tangshan."

After saying goodbye to the old man, the next stop was to see new things.

While the emperor was riding in the carriage, Lu Xiangsheng rode his horse beside another carriage.

In the car, a clear voice asked, "Brother Jiandou, what is the machine that father wants to see in Tangshan used for?"

"Princess Rong... "

The eunuchs and female officials accompanying him were no longer surprised and regarded him as the future prince consort.

Look, the emperor has already shown special favor and allowed him to accompany Empress Shufei and Princess Le'an in their carriage.

What's more, this young man has a badge for admission to the Yangxin Palace, which means he is the emperor's personal disciple!

What is a steam engine used for?
Although it was only a short period of more than two months, Lu Xiangsheng had already absorbed a considerable amount of new knowledge.

This is also the answer to the second question in the palace examination: People today must continue to go deeper on the path of studying things to gain knowledge, discover many new laws of nature, and invent more new tools. All of this points to one goal: to more efficiently produce what everyone needs for survival and development.

The steam engine is the most important weapon in your majesty's mind, even more important than any new firearms developed by the military industrial park.

Zhu Runling may not really be interested in steam engines, but in her life, there is only this strange brother. As long as she is willing, he will be the brother who will become her husband in the future.

Lu Xiangsheng was able to pass the imperial examination at such a young age, and was appreciated by Yuan Keli and Tian Le. How could he be a bad person?

He was born into a family of officials and scholars. He had fair skin, was thin but strong, and looked like a typical handsome scholar from the south of the Yangtze River, but he was also good at both literature and martial arts.

Zhu Runling was in love for the first time and felt that the husband chosen for her by her father was the best.

And since her mother Fan Sirong was the best one selected from the ten families in Shanxi, how could she be bad in appearance?
In addition to her noble status as the eldest daughter of the current emperor, Lu Xiangsheng had no reason to resist - the biggest arrogance of a scholar who aspired to become a famous official had long been worn away by the emperor's other greater expectations.

This can be described as an "artificial" childhood sweetheart relationship, and it also reflects the emperor's open-mindedness towards his children's love and marriage.

To be honest, the emperor created the opportunity for Lu Xiangsheng to get close to Princess Le'an, so he could not escape. After all, the concept of reputation was still there at that time.

On the other side, Zhu Changluo sat in the imperial carriage, still feeling a little melancholy.

Tian Le was indeed the person who initially stood up to support him and has continued to support him wholeheartedly since then.

What is rare is that he has extraordinary talent, a strong will, and a deep understanding of the people's livelihood. Because of this, the monarch and his subjects are close friends regardless of age, and they are also close friends. For Tian Le, he never thought that he would meet a new monarch with such different aspirations and aspirations, and in the end, he found step by step that the young new monarch was so knowledgeable about politics and was at ease.

For Zhu Changluo, Tian Le might be more suitable than Zhang Juzheng, who was not yet firmly established. Tian Le's control desire was much weaker, and he could always adjust his approach according to Zhu Changluo's needs, with a clear distinction between the primary and the secondary.

Now that Tianle is old, he will go to Korea to make preparations in the direction of Korea for the Eastern Ocean strategy.

"Would your majesty like some melon?"

When Liu Ruoyu was not around, it turned out that Wang Wei was the one who was in charge of the imperial carriage.

Among all the female officials in the palace, no one was closer to the emperor than her. Some nobles were extremely envious of her, but she remained a female official.

Seeing that the emperor was in a bad mood, she took out the melon she had prepared in advance from the ice bucket in the corner of the imperial carriage.

Zhu Changluo withdrew his gaze from the window of the imperial carriage and looked at her.

Since it was early summer, the clothes were naturally much thinner. Although the imperial carriage had windows, for the sake of quietness, unless the emperor opened the curtain to look out the window, it was always not very airy inside. Wang Wei sat on a small bench next to the door, and that corner was even more airtight. Her cheeks were slightly red, and a few beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. Of course, it was not because of the ambiguity of being alone in a room with the emperor - she had long been accustomed to this situation, and sometimes she felt that the emperor only treated her as a child or a little sister.

She was hot.

"Eat it yourself." Zhu Changluo smiled. "How many years have you not left the palace?"

"More than five years."

Wang Wei had been with the emperor for a long time and had gotten used to the fact that she would eat whatever the emperor asked her to eat, and she would not thank the emperor in a formal manner.

While eating the melon and salivating, she answered without thinking.

"This time when you came out, you didn't look around like you did back then."

"…I was young and ignorant back then…"

Wang Wei lowered his head, not because of embarrassment, but because he suddenly felt that the emperor's eyes were a little different.

"Everyone in the palace says that you are very talented and can compose poems and couplets easily. Why do you want me to eat melon? What do you think I am thinking?"

"...The old master has set off. His Majesty is a little unhappy...Sweet."

Zhu Changluo sighed: "Yes, I am a little reluctant. But I feel a little regretful that I don't have the talent to recite something for him. Can you help me?"

“…The old master is on board!”

"It's not like I won't be able to write letters in the future."

"…Then your majesty should come up with a poem yourself, right? How can a servant write for you?"

"It's okay. He knows that I am not good at poetry. I am the emperor. I just need to know how to use people."

"...Then let me think about it." Wang Wei had no choice but to continue eating the melon.

Zhu Changluo just watched her cheeks bulge as she ate and thought. When she had almost finished the piece of melon, she suddenly raised her head and said happily, "Got it!"

"Listen to me."

Wang Wei quickly put down the melon peel, took out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth, then chanted in a rhythmic voice: "In the past, it was a stone to mend the sky, and now it is a bird to fill the sea. Together we forged Kunwu iron, and together we created a new prosperous era. The blood of the cauldron is still hot, and the old horse has not yet shed tears. Go away and don't say anything more, the fire is in my heart."

"..." Zhu Changluo listened to her and gave her a thumbs up, then sighed, "You are trying to persuade me not to say more?"

Wang Wei smiled and covered his mouth: "My eldest brother said that Your Majesty and Old Master Tian were close friends in the past and shared great aspirations. Why should we act like children?"

"He knows that the people around me understand him and me, so he is very happy." Zhu Changluo teased him deliberately, "I will make things difficult for you again, and then sing another song."

"……His Majesty!"

This is really a dilemma.

However, the journey was boring, and Zhu Changluo was just teasing her.

Looking at such a talented woman who was thinking hard with a sad face, Zhu Changluo couldn't help but sigh: In fact, it was the times that bound her.

Although it may be that Liu Ruoyu taught her regularly, and there were a lot of books and resources in the palace, if she were not a woman, with her talent, she would probably have a great reputation and made great achievements in history.

This time it seemed a bit difficult, until she suddenly began to recite softly: "The hand that holds up the sky can open up the gaps in the mountains and rivers, and the hand that heals the country can save the country. Don't say that it is only the twilight years, this trip to Penglai will compose a famous poem. The dragon robe should be wet with new rain and dew, and the crane robe still carries the old beacon smoke. Tonight, I will share the Qilin fire, so as to light the mountains and rivers and set the prairie on fire again."

"Everything is fine, everything is fine..."

Zhu Changluo nodded repeatedly and clenched his fists.

As a minister, Tian Le has been planning military strategies for so many years and has also volunteered to cause trouble for the Kong family. How high must his ambition be? However, he would not tell Zhu Changluo all of it.

And this trip to Penglai is really like a free and easy fairy. With the strong national strength behind him, he can do whatever he wants, and he also wants to echo him from afar to create an unprecedented brilliant China.

A first-rank civil official's official robe has a crane pattern on it, while Tian Le's official robe has a beacon pattern on it, which is of course a symbol of his being the first Privy Councilor of the Ming Dynasty.

Long Gun wants to get some new rain and dew, which means that the Ming Dynasty needs successors, and the emperor should focus his attention on the younger generation, just like Lu Xiangsheng.

As for taking the Kirin Fire to illuminate Guanshan... Where is Guanshan? In Guanlong, in the Western Regions. That was where Tian Le first established his special merits, and it was also reminding the emperor: In addition to the northern border, the East, and the South, there is also the Western Regions.

Question: This was written by Wang Wei.

This new rain...

Her eyes were clear, and she was probably just thinking about the parallelism of the poem, and she had no thoughts about him.

But Zhu Changluo looked at her with a warm gaze, not just because of her appearance, but also because of her talent, insight, and the broad-mindedness revealed in her poems.

Wang Wei immediately dodged her gaze and lowered her head: "I am too arrogant..."

"No! You are really extraordinary!" Zhu Changluo stretched out his hand, "Come here, and don't call yourself a slave anymore."

Wang Wei didn’t know whether to move or not: What does that mean?

"Isn't it said that the dragon robe should be touched by the new rain and dew?" Zhu Changluo laughed, "You have grown up, and this journey will definitely give you a status. It's a bit of a waste of your talent to let you stay in the palace. Come here and talk about what kind of job I will assign you to do in the future..."

Now Wang Wei was really embarrassed. How could it suddenly come to this?
Also, if there is a title, then wouldn't it be a concubine? Besides serving the emperor and bearing children, what other tasks can a concubine do?
However, as the imperial carriage swayed forward, she still nervously and shyly snuggled into the emperor's arms.

Although I had been mentally prepared for this, since the first time I left that courtyard six years ago.

But no one expected that he was the emperor, and such an emperor.

"There is something that is very suitable for you to do. I have never thought of who would be more suitable to do it." Zhu Changluo held the soft jade in his arms, but he was indeed talking about state affairs. "Many civilian registers have been compiled, but only the music register still has many difficulties. As for vernacular novels, although I have already encouraged them, most of them are just for the sake of self-entertainment by scholars, and storytellers..."

When Wang Wei heard the word "Le Ji", his body trembled slightly.

Zhu Changluo talked incessantly about the important things in his long-term plan.

The steam engine represents productivity, of course. The system that needs to be reformed is to better distribute benefits and include the benefits and welfare that all the people of the Ming Dynasty deserve. But in the future, in addition to trade and new education, a strong cultural influence will be needed for ordinary people in the outer vassal states.

Those things certainly cannot be the carrier of serious registers. To spread the beauty of the Ming Dynasty to the hearts of ordinary people farther away, it must rely on more popular forms.

And how many women like Wang Wei are there in this world, who are quite talented but have no chance to show their talents, and end up becoming slaves, concubines, or even falling into prostitution?

If this matter is left to men, firstly, they don't have much motivation, and secondly, they may not really take it seriously.

But Wang Wei is different.

She has both the ability and the will. The Ming Dynasty's literary foundation is needless to say, supplemented by music, singing and dancing, calligraphy and painting... In addition to the victory of science and technology and the victory of conquest, cultural victory is also indispensable.

"What do you think?" Zhu Changluo said and looked down at her.

Wang leaned against his shoulder. She had just watched the emperor beaming with joy and listened to many things he said. She opened her mouth slightly in shock and was shaken.

These things...are they so meaningful?
However, in Zhu Changluo's eyes, this expression and face seemed to convey another meaning, or an invitation.

Don't talk...

(End of this chapter)