Don't be a prince

Li Xiaogong's words can be regarded as the military's complete success.They either want to send troops now, or they want the civilian group to promise to send troops to Korea sooner or later.

After taking a sip of tea from the attendant, Li Chengqian said: "I'm not a fool who doesn't know the art of war, so I know that Goryeo is difficult to deal with. But, the Goryeo people used the remains of former soldiers as bargaining chips to threaten us. It's really too much. If it was Tubo, Gu would not be so angry, but he, a small country on the border, dared to be so presumptuous, so he couldn't be used to it. Don't worry, everyone, Gu is very confident in the rate. They sent troops this time, at least It can pull out one or two cities. I personally led the newly equipped weapon to attack fortifications, and it has miraculous effects! But what it is, please forgive me for not being able to tell, it is a weapon that is more powerful than the eight-ox crossbow."

The eight-ox crossbow has been transformed, and now it has become an artifact-like existence. These generals still know about it.Is it more powerful than the modified eight-ox crossbow?What kind of powerful method is it?How curious!

However, the prince has already talked to this extent, so they naturally dare not continue to ask.If you know too much, you may be suspected of treason.When it comes to military weapons, the best choice is to stay far away.

With this in mind, everyone stopped talking about Li's affairs, and started to inquire about the academy exam.There are also many children of the military commander's family studying in the college, and there are now more than 100 graduates in the first phase.If the children of military commanders' families can hold full-time civilian jobs, they would still be happy to see it.After all, the battle will be over one day. If a family wants to continue, it is the most correct way to occupy a place among civil servants.

"When and how the college's assessment will start, that's the business of the emperor, how can I make the decision? But you can rest assured that the children of the military family have performed very well in the internship this time. The results of the final exam are of course Important, but the results of this internship can also affect them to a great extent."

The Tang Dynasty was not the end of the Han Dynasty. Cao Cao's idea of ​​"acquiring talent but not virtue" had no market in Datang.Through this internship, we can clearly see the character of these students.Fortunately, the grades are good. Except for the second sons of a few big families, there are no students who pull their hips.

Li Jing said with a smile: "De Jian has a lord himself. Now that he has been educated by the academy, it is not a problem to enter the court. But then again, Your Highness, how many people will the academy recruit this year?"

Sensing the sight gathered, Li Chengqian smiled mysteriously: "This time, there will be no enrollment, Daodefang, Wannian county government. I don't believe you don't know about the movement near the county government of Lantian county. This time the college will Separate the teaching task of literacy within three years and hand it over to the schools in these three places. Only those who come out of these three schools and pass the college's major exam can enter the college to study. In the future, the college will be a place for scholars to study The place."

Although they were confused, everyone understood that the academy will become even stronger in the future!

Eating with generals is actually very boring, except to fight for wine is to fight for wine.Even someone like Li Jing's face turned red from drinking, and he couldn't even walk steadily.No one dared to get drunk for Li Chengqian, so when he left the restaurant, there was almost no one standing inside.

After coming out of the restaurant, Li Chengqian did not go back to the East Palace to deal with government affairs, but got into a very ordinary carriage, and was escorted by his own soldiers who had changed into civilian attire, and left Chang'an City.After inspecting the arrowheads made by the artisans led by Li Tai from the academy, he continued to move forward under the leadership of a spy from Baiqisi.

The secret stronghold of Baiqisi, the road is naturally complicated, at least Li Chengqian is not confident in remembering how to get through the dozen or so forks.

Although the road is complicated, it is not far away.It didn't take long to arrive at the destination - the former stronghold of Baiqisi, now the gunpowder workshop.

Duan Yunzhi waited at the door, saw the prince arriving, waved his hand, and immediately members of Baiqi Division came to check, even the prince was no exception.

"Your Highness, Mo Nu, these are the rules of the Gunpowder Workshop, formulated by Ouyang Shuo. After learning about the benefits and disadvantages, the subordinates feel that this rule must be followed."

Li Chengqian nodded and said: "It's about the safety of the gunpowder workshop. You can't be too cautious. The more rigid the rules are, the safer they will be. The rules made by Ouyang Shuo should be made into permanent rules, and the owner of the workshop will not be able to Change."

While talking, the two walked into the workshop.

Now the stronghold of Baiqisi has been completely remodeled. The craftsmen of these weapons inspectors have strong hands-on skills, and in a short period of time, they made the tools needed to configure gunpowder according to their own ideas.How to configure it is their business, and Li Chengqian has no interest in controlling it, so he can only suggest that they try the production method of the assembly line.

"Your Highness, look, this is the finished product made by Beizhi this morning, and the moisture has been removed."

Picking up black gunpowder granules with his hand, Li Chengqian nodded. The craftsmen of Datang never made do with it. The gunpowder granules they made were much better than those made by themselves.

The most shocking thing is that in such a short period of time, Ouyang Shuo has actually produced a suitable fuze, and the burning speed is neither fast nor slow, just as long as the width of a finger in the blink of an eye.

"You know the formula of gunpowder, so it's up to you to improve it! I plan to equip the prince with a gunpowder weapon in the near future, and try the actual power of the gunpowder weapon on the battlefield. Therefore, I brought the gunpowder weapon today. Those arrowheads and ceramic bottles, you must hurry up and make enough black powder and fuze."

Gunpowder weapons don't need to control equipment, just need to control gunpowder. Without gunpowder, ceramic jars and arrows are just decorations.If the forging of utensils is also handed over to the Gunpowder Workshop, there will be a sea of ​​people who need it.Li Chengqian did not intend to deprive so many people of their freedom.

"Your Majesty knows about it. It just so happens that I want to try the iron grenade today. I wonder if Your Highness is interested in taking a look?"

This...Naturally you have to see it!

I saw with my own eyes that Ouyang Shuo used a funnel to fill granules of gunpowder into an iron grenade, and then sealed the small opening. It didn't take long for an iron grenade to be made.

Black powder is still not comparable to high explosives like TNT, so when it is used on iron grenades, it can only increase the amount of powder and reduce the thickness of the iron skin.

Because the venue is sufficient, Li Chengqian can watch the effect of the grenade explosion from a long distance.

After igniting a long enough fuse, Ouyang Shuo trotted away from the venue.Ever since he saw the power of black powder with his own eyes, he put life-saving at the top of his research.

"His Royal Highness, hurry up, this time the iron sheet subordinate chose the thinnest one, it will definitely explode."

As soon as Ouyang Shuo finished speaking, Li Chengqian saw a burst of flames and smoke rising up. After a blink of an eye, the loud noise was transmitted to this side.

The power of gunpowder will not disappoint, as can be seen from the sand and stones still falling to the ground, the blasting power this time is really good.

It wasn't until the smoke cleared and the falling rocks disappeared that Li Chengqian approached the test site under Yutai's guard.

The earth pit on the ground was so obvious. Around the earth pit, the boards were covered with pieces of iron sheet. On a large piece of pork, the iron sheet penetrated it and nailed half of the board.

"This is the best charcoal, the power of gunpowder made from purified nitre, Your Highness, you forgot to purify the nitre."

Patting Ouyang Shuo on the shoulder, Li Chengqian said with a smile: "You are right. I really forgot about this at the time. Fortunately, you made up for it. In fact, the power of black powder is not enough to completely blow the iron shell into pieces." , This point can be improved by improving the structure of the shell. As long as the difference in thickness is artificially created, the shell can be broken evenly, and the increase in power is still considerable."

Ouyang Shuo nodded again and again: "Your Highness said the same thing as I thought, and I also think this is the most effective. After all, the ceramic shell can't cause damage to the iron armor..."

Seeing that the crown prince was going to have a detailed discussion with Ouyang Shuo, Zhang Yun could only bite the bullet and remind: "Your Highness, if you don't return to the East Palace, today's political affairs will be delayed."

Hearing Zhang Yun's reminder, Li Chengqian finally came to his senses and told Yu Tai to prepare to go back.

Before leaving, Li Chengqian said to Ouyang Shuo earnestly: "Gunpowder is a double-edged sword. It is really sinful to use it to kill people, but it is also beneficial to open mountains and explode mines. Don't take it too seriously." gone."

Ouyang Shuo nodded with a smile: "Your Majesty knows, thank you His Royal Highness for your enlightenment."

Li Chengqian smiled before returning to the carriage.

The emergence of gunpowder, with many old and stubborn sayings, is harmful to peace, but this thing also has advantages and disadvantages, at least from the standpoint of Tang people, regardless of its advantages and disadvantages, it will only bring benefits to Datang.. ..

During the day, it was a pleasure to herd sheep, so I went back to the crematorium in the study.

Seeing the mountain of memorials on the table, Li Chengqian remembered that it was already the last day of June.Tomorrow is the Great Court Meeting...

"I can only stay up late to review."

With a wry smile, Li Chengqian could only drink up a pot of hot tea, and followed the memorial.

The first day of each month is the Great Court Meeting. During the Great Court Meeting, all civil and military officials have to go to the court, and anyone can speak freely about the matters discussed in the court.

Before Yinshi arrived, Li Chengqian was awakened by Zhang Yun and began to prepare for the court.

The memorial that was processed last night has been sent back to the Ministry of Education, and only those who need to make up their minds with all civil and military officials will be brought up at the court meeting.

Naturally, all civil and military officials were present. What was different from usual was that after all the officials bowed and saluted, Li Chengqian did not return the salute.

The Tang Dynasty was not in favor of kneeling and worshiping, but when the great court was held, all the officials had to bow down to the emperor as usual.Li Chengqian is the prince, it is enough if he does not return the courtesy.

After everyone was seated, Fang Xuanling said: "Your Highness, I don't understand something, please enlighten me. People can't afford coal, and they usually use firewood for burning. There are only so many dry firewood, so felling Trees are not a big deal, so why did you issue a ban on logging? Especially around the Yellow River?"

There is no need for Tang Jian to remind, Li Chengqian had already written about the prince's education and sent it to Zhongshu Province yesterday, so Fang Xuanling asked today.

"I can't understand what I just said. I sent Zhang Yun and asked him to bring over the model that Gu made a few days ago."

Following Huangmen's summons, Zhang Yun led someone into the hall carrying a large box and two showers in his hands.

The officials looked at each other in blank dismay, not knowing what this meant.

Walking to the venue, everyone gathered under Li Chengqian's beckoning, ready to see how the crown prince would explain the ban on logging.

"My dear friends, look at this model and see the clear water in the middle? This is the Yellow River. Compared with the Yangtze River, the Yellow River is turbid because it is mixed with a lot of sand. I don't know if it was the state capital of the Yellow River Basin. The local officials did not find out that the more rainy the day, the more turbid the Yellow River will be after the water level rises. In fact, this is mainly because a large amount of soil was brought into the Yellow River by the rain. Zhang Yun, sprinkle water on the grassy side of the hillside. "

Zhang Yun arched his hands, took the shower and began to sprinkle water on it.

Although the side with a lot of green grass will bring some muddy water down, it is not serious.Looking at the slightly yellowish bottom water, no one would associate it with the Yellow River.

"Spray on the grassless hillside on the other side."

With Zhang Yun's sprinkling of water, a large amount of turbid water flowed into the bottom, and soon, the brother river in this model became like the water of the Yellow River.

"Your Highness, do you mean that only when the vegetation is strong can the soil not be washed into the Yellow River by the rain?" Fang Xuanling's reaction was the fastest, and he immediately exclaimed.

Li Chengqian nodded: "That's right, that's the reason. The Yellow River flows through the plateau area in the east of the Longyou Pass. There is little vegetation here, so it is so turbid. The river carries a lot of silt and accumulates downstream. Blockage and diversion. This is only temporary. As time goes by, if we don’t want the river flooding to threaten the surrounding people, we can only continue to raise the river bank so that it can flow according to the original river course. After a long time, it will If there is an above-ground river, if we don’t solve this problem from the root, it will bring disaster to future generations! That’s why I have to issue a ban on logging. Not only that, grazing is prohibited in the Yellow River Basin, even near its tributaries. Only in this way can this river be protected. river."

Chapter 259

"Don't worry about leaving behind children and grandchildren", this is what everyone is pursuing in this era.With this model, even the most stupid courtiers can understand the benefits of the logging ban on the lower reaches of the Yellow River.

"The logging ban and grazing ban must be implemented as soon as possible and thoroughly."

"Wei Shizhong is right. It must be implemented as soon as possible. Your Highness, I wonder if you have issued a ban on grazing? It will be passed directly by Zhongshu later, and it will be handed over to Shangshu Sheng for implementation."

When Fang Xuanling saw the ban on logging, he still felt that this thing was useless, but after understanding its function, he immediately became anxious.Even if he only mentions the grazing prohibition, he will follow it.

After instructing Zhang Yun to take everything away, Li Chengqian returned to his seat and said, "The ban on grazing has not been drafted alone. Unlike the ban on logging, it is a bit difficult to implement the ban on grazing. After all, it is necessary to implement the ban on grazing In the area, there are still many people who live on grazing. It is cruel to suddenly destroy their livelihood. Therefore, unlike the strict ban on logging, the ban on grazing must be implemented slowly. Officials must wait for the people to find a way to make a living before implementing it.”

Fang Xuanling immediately handed over his command and drafted the decree, which was also one of the tasks of the Ministry of Education.

"Is there anything else to discuss?"

Wei Zheng stood up and said: "His Royal Highness, regarding the selection of the Yushitai Guanfeng Envoy, I have already decided on the candidates, a total of 70 people, seven people from each line, and after the selected people have completed their official duties, they can leave Beijing for inspection. gone."

Li Chengqian nodded: "Since the candidates have been confirmed, let's approve them to leave. One state and one county must not be neglected. Now that the Tang Dynasty has been established for 15 years, it is time to find out the situation of the people."

Li Chengqian will feel at ease if Wei Zheng chooses the wind watcher.In fact, the Guanfengshi is not much different from the imperial envoy. The official position is not high, and the power is not great, but it can make local officials feel like a big enemy.After all, the watch wind envoy has the right to play directly, if any official is said to be slack in office, it will really be over.Datang's officialdom is not corrupt, at least in the local area, because corruption and bribery can easily be sentenced to death, and no one dares to try.

The Dachaohui was actually a large-scale meeting, and after Wei Zheng returned to his command, Gao Shilian stood up.

As soon as Li Gang left, Xiao Yu retired, and Gao Shilian became an old man in the court. Although he was only a minister of officials, at that age, no one dared to disrespect him.

Above the imperial court is not a place where the seniority of relatives is discussed, so Gao Shilian still bowed his hands and saluted: "His Royal Highness, the Ministry of Officials received the documents from the Eastern Palace yesterday, asking the Ministry of Officials to issue more than ten blank official certificates, and one of them is Fourth-rank officials, and the rest are sixth-rank officials, but I don't know what His Highness will use for it?"

Everyone was surprised when they heard Gao Shilian's question.

Don't look down on the sixth-rank officials among the ninth-rank officials, but their importance is enough to attract everyone's attention.As for the fourth grade, it has already entered the ranks of high-end, and it needs to be well understood by all noble ministers.

Li Chengqian didn't expect his uncle to bring it up in court, what a bad thing!

"It is of course useful to ask for this blank official certificate. The official department only needs to back up the information that Gu fills in, and don't pursue too much. Gu can only tell you that, except for the fourth-rank one, these dozen officials , although they are all promoted by white clothes, but their importance is already a grievance to be appointed as a sixth-rank official."

Fang Xuanling stood up and said: "Your Highness, the court has no secrets. These dozen or so people have jumped from white clothes to rank six officials. If it is not amazing achievements, it is not enough to match the reward. I want to know, Who is it, and what is the credit for it?"

Not only Fang Xuanling wanted to know, but all the courtiers were extremely curious.

The gunpowder workshop must be hidden no matter what, and everyone in the court knows it, so it cannot maintain its mystery.However, it is still possible to tell a few people to a limited extent.

Clearing his throat, Li Chengqian said: "Since Fang Xiang is curious, I will explain it to you in person after the court meeting later. I can only say that the fewer people who know about this matter, the better. Shen Gong, I will ask you later." Official ultimatum, please send it to the East Palace as soon as possible."

Now that the crown prince said so, Gao Shilian and Fang Xuanling could only step down.

After all the bosses had finished their speeches, Li Xuan, Prime Minister of Sinong Temple, stood up and said, "His Royal Highness, Sinong Temple requests His Highness to give Zhenguan College an order to hand over the blueprint of the planting vehicle to Sinong Temple. Production is closely related, and it should be Sinong Temple who is in charge of production and sales. The college is a place to teach and educate people, and it is contaminated with too much money, so it is not suitable. Weichen went to the college to visit Mr. Yang Du, Mr. He sneered at the official document from Sinong Temple, saying that the college would only accept orders from His Majesty or His Highness. I visited Yan Liben, the branch dean of the Engineering College, and he said the same thing. His Majesty is not here, so I can only ask His Highness to give orders."

After hearing Xiangli Xuan Award's words, Li Chengqian laughed directly.

No, why is Sinong Si so thick-skinned?Asking for the design drawings of the academy for no reason, but in the end, you are not going to pay for anything?Yu Yue is not here, this guy is exhausted in the Tang Dynasty, so he cannot be blamed.It is estimated that this is some wicked ghost that Sinong Temple does not know has moved his mind.

"Xiangli Xiangli, don't tell Gu that you came up with the idea, otherwise Gu will look down on you. Want the design drawing of the planter? What do you think? Haven't you heard what Gu said before? The production of the planter is One of the college's industries, industry! When did Sinong Temple get so mixed up that it wanted to steal other people's jobs? Want blueprints? Yes, as long as the patent fees are settled and the planting carts are sold all over the Tang Dynasty, it will belong to your Sinong Temple. ability!"

Li Chengqian's words made Xiangli Xuanzheng blushed, and could only hide his face with his sleeve and hurried back into the team.The prince was right, it was really the idle officials of Sinong Temple who saw the importance of the planting truck and moved their minds.

A small episode, which will not disturb the original rhythm of the Great Court Meeting, Zhao Zian, the left servant of the Ministry of War, stood up and cupped his hands and said, "His Royal Highness, the Ministry of War has already issued the documents for dispatching personally, as long as the seals of Zhongshu Menxia and His Highness In addition, Han Wei, who stayed behind in Songzhou, requested to return to Beijing to report on his duties, but I dare not be professional, Your Highness, please make a decision."

Han Wei is coming back?

Tang Jian quickly stood up and said: "Your Highness, no, Han Wei has a deep grudge against Tubo because of his defeat. He came back this time, obviously for Lu Dongzan. This time Lu Dongzan came to Datang, no Did you come here by way of Tuyuhun? After Han Wei was defeated, he swore to kill every Tubo person he saw."

In his desperation, Tang Jian forgot that Lu Dongzan was also in court.

After hearing Tang Jian's words, Lu Dongzan couldn't help but blush.Tang Jian was right, he was really afraid of Han Wei and feared that something might happen, so he borrowed the road from Tuyuhun to enter Datang.Although this is the case, it cannot be admitted by the court of the Tang Kingdom.

Standing up, Lu Dongzan smiled contemptuously: "Han Wei? If he wants to come, I'm waiting for him. As long as he doesn't rely on the power of the crowd, he has nothing to fear! He's just defeated!"

It was obvious that Lu Dongzan had swollen his face to pretend to be a fat man, and Li Chengqian didn't bother to expose it.

Seeing Lu Dongzan's indifferent appearance, Tang Jian could only say: "Your Highness, Han Wei intends to leave his post without permission, do you want to reprimand him?"

As soon as Tang Jian finished speaking, Li Jing stood up and said, "The Battle of Songzhou was not due to Han Wei's inability to resist the enemy, but the result of Tubo taking advantage of the terrain and having a large number of people. There is no precedent in the Tang Dynasty for punishing a general who lost a battle with force. Do you want to be the first?"

Not only Li Jing, but all the generals in the court today glared at Tang Jian.If you want to say who the generals hate the most, it must be the enemy. The second most hated is the officials of Honglu Temple. That is to say, there is no such thing as "ghost translator" in this era, otherwise they will definitely give Honglu Temple The officer buckles.

The grievance in Tang Jian's heart, he is the minister of Honglu Temple, and it is his duty to protect the safety of the envoys.

Seeing that there was a tendency to quarrel, Li Chengqian could only say: "Tang Qing is right. Han Wei should be reprimanded. Compared with his duties, personal emotions should not be too cathartic. As a stayer in Songzhou, he wants to make a big deal out of small things. It is really hateful." However, as Duke Wei said, there is no precedent in the Tang Dynasty for punishing a defeated general. Therefore, Han Wei cannot punish directly, and should first reward and then punish.

Fang Xiang, you drafted an imperial edict. Han Wei is a model of the military because of his meritorious service, and he swore to swear.However, he was also guilty of leaving his post without authorization, and he was punished not to eat air-dried beef! "

As soon as this punishment came out, the generals laughed and discussed what kind of expression Han Wei would have after being taught by the prince. As for Lu Dongzan, they were dumbfounded.

Punishment can not eat dried beef?What kind of punishment is this?The Battle of Songzhou was obviously won by Tubo, why didn't the people of Tang look distraught?

After reporting one matter, Zhao Zian did not go back, but continued to say: "Your Highness, now that the grassland is stable, do you want to withdraw the garrisons in Shuofang, Mayi, and Tieshan?"

Withdrawal?

Li Chengqian looked at the generals and asked, "Wei Gong, Ying Gong, what do you two think?"

Li Jing and Li Ji have experienced the First Battle of the Grassland, and these two people still have a relatively right to speak.

Li Jing is used to being a puppet, and he never speaks at the Dachaohui. Just now because of Han Wei's incident, he couldn't help but speak. It was an exception, but now he was named again, which is very surprising.After all, when the emperor was there, he was not bad in terms of military strategy, so there was no need for him to speak.

Although surprised, Li Jing stood up and said, "Your Highness, I thought that the army could not be withdrawn. Although grassland herdsmen 1 have settled down, they still have no sense of belonging to the Tang Dynasty. As long as the Central Plains relaxes its supervision, it will become a disaster again. In history, there are not no examples of our Central Plains people ruling the grasslands, but now, isn’t that place still very different from our Central Plains?”

Not only did Li Jing think this way, but Li Ji also nodded and said, "Wei Gong is right. People in the grasslands are brave by nature. The army that invaded the Central Plains is often composed of herdsmen. Although Jieli and many nobles were arrested, the Eastern Turks The government has collapsed, but the supervision has been relaxed, and there will still be people who integrate the herdsmen, so I think that the army cannot be withdrawn."

Dugu Fu, the left servant of the household department, wanted to stand up and say, "The army stays on the grassland and does nothing. I don't know how much food and grass will be wasted every year. It is the biggest burden on the treasury", but seeing Lu Dongzan, he can only shut his mouth.

Seeing Dugu Fu's expression, Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Since Mr. Wei Yinggong thinks it's not right, he can't withdraw his troops. First, he can monitor the grassland tribes, and second, he can guard against the Western Turks, Xue Yantuo, and even Khitan Kumoxi, etc. Let’s waste some food and grass, it’s a drop in the bucket for our treasury. Besides, as long as the taxes are restarted in those places where the tax is exempted, these alone will be enough to support the army to stay on the grassland.”