Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

So I am anxious about your merits first, and I will reward you with money. You will stay in the post house first, and then I will specially arrange exams for you. "

Fan Ruobing was a little at a loss, but he quickly realized that he even thanked her.

Shi Congyun nodded, he couldn't break the rules he set, and then he called for Fu Zhaoyuan first, and asked him to take Fan Ruobing to resettle him, and at the same time send troops to protect him.

Then they asked people to find Feng Jisheng, Chen Chengzhao and others from the confidentiality department, and asked them to study whether the plan proposed by Fan Ruobing was very feasible.

......

At night, the moon is bright and the stars are sparse, and the sky is full of stars.

The craftsmen of the Confidentiality Department studied all afternoon, and they stayed in the Privy Council's office, so that the officials on duty did not dare to leave. After all, the emperor was still inside, and it was not easy for them to get off work, so they could only wait dryly.

In the afternoon, the Palace Food Department heard the news that Lin Shanggong brought the maids and eunuchs to deliver a meal, but everyone was immersed in research and had no intention of eating at all.

Afterwards, Lin Shanggong also stayed and served Shi Congyun's side serving tea and water.

At night, when the sky was completely dark, with stars and moons all over the sky, Feng Jisheng and others came to a conclusion with light in their eyes: "It's possible, but you have to try it first."

Emperor Shi agreed with his rigorous way of living. After all, possibility is not enough. Engineering problems must be practiced to gain true knowledge, and you can't just slap your head on it.

At the beginning, Shi Congyun suggested to try the open section of the Yellow River. Although it is not as good as the Yangtze River, there is no wider place other than that.

However, it was quickly overruled by Chen Chengzhao. He felt that the big fanfare on the Yellow River would definitely leak the news, because there were so many business travelers on both sides of the Yellow River, it was almost impossible to keep it secret.

If Nantang knew that they were building a pontoon bridge, he would be prepared.

So in the end, Emperor Shi decided to experiment in the big lake in Shanglin Garden outside Daliang City.

This decision frightened the ministers. Shanglin Garden does have a big lake, wide enough to simulate the Yangtze River, but it is a royal garden, the emperor's real estate, and a floating bridge is built in it. Those exquisite flowers and trees, mountains and rocks, how dare they destroy it? , wouldn't it be in the way of your hands and feet, and you can't use it.

Feng Jisheng proposed that a large pool should be dug out on the edge of Bian River for training sailors, and at the same time, they could experiment in it.

Emperor Shi didn't care at all, "It's not advisable to waste people and money like that.

You bring people in, and I will have all the valuables taken away, and the things inside will be destroyed at will, not to mention that it is a royal garden, and outsiders usually dare not approach it, so I can send the imperial army to guard it, it is easy to keep it secret. "

"Officials, that's the royal garden. The most beautiful scenery near Daliang is in it. Exotic flowers and plants, rare birds and beasts, isn't it wrong to ruin it like this?" Feng Jisheng, Chen Chengzhao and other confidential officers Officials are still hesitant.

Shi Congyun waved his hand: "You guys, there is no pattern at all, it's just a garden. When I take down the Southern Tang Dynasty and take the world, the whole world will be mine. I'm afraid I won't have a garden. Go ahead and do it. It's the most suitable place. .”

All the officials froze there for a while, unable to speak, and then they bowed their hands and promised, "The official is really the king of the world!"

Chapter 450, Hot April

At the beginning of April, after deliberation and the emperor's personal order, the Confidentiality Department arranged for Fan Ruobing to take an examination, which was regarded as a work exam, and finally passed without any accidents, and was awarded the confidentiality driver Yaolang as a fifth-rank Jilu official.

Then Shi Congyun ordered Fan Ruobing to be temporarily appointed in the Confidentiality Department, under Feng Jisheng's dispatch, to be responsible for testing the new pontoon bridge in Shanglinyuan.

On the other hand, logistical preparations have never stopped. In the shipyard by the Bianshui River, large ships are being built, and it is claimed to be for merchants in Luoyang.

The training of the navy and the further expansion of 5000 people have already started.

In the last war, the navy broke through Jingjiang Town, Guizhou, and then went all the way south, taking advantage of the strong ships and guns, breaking through the severe disease along the Guijiang River one after another, directly reaching Panyu, blocking the estuary, approaching the city with troops, and seizing a large number of preparations for the Southern Han Dynasty. Gold and silver treasures, seeds and beauties for fleeing.

The speed and the strength of the soldiers were beyond everyone's expectation. Then they cooperated with the West Road Army to cut off the side of the Southern Han Army and almost wiped out the last resistance force of the Southern Han Kingdom.

This is the first time that the Qin State Navy has fought independently. Before that, it was used as an auxiliary or logistics force of the army.

In particular, the power of the gunboat is also deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Because of this, when Shi Congyun proposed to advance the military expansion in an orderly manner, with an annual expansion of 25 to [-] troops, and finally keep the number of forbidden troops at around [-], most civil and military personnel agreed to expand the navy first.

Compared with the army, the number of naval forces is still relatively small.

Emperor Shi agreed, but also asked to strengthen the training of the navy and speed up the construction of gunboats.

And the gunboat still needs to make some changes, one is based on the opinions of the soldiers in front, and the other is the businessman Shi Congyun invited back from Guangzhou.

Emperor Shi sent officials to inform them of the destruction of the Southern Han Dynasty and allowed them to continue doing business along the coast. However, in exchange, Shi Congyun paid for the blueprints of their ships and handed them to the craftsmen of the Department of Secrets for research. Based on the strengths of each family, these Arab ships traveled across the ocean all the year round and came to Guangzhou from near the Arabian Sea to do business. They must have their own unique views on ship construction.

Emperor Shi also extracted some information from them about the current situation near the Arabian Sea. Of course, it was purely out of curiosity. For the current people, it was beyond the reach of the whip.

Many things are proceeding in an orderly manner, and the turmoil after the promulgation of the new law has also arrived in an orderly manner.

At the beginning, it was just some opinions, and there were memorials from all over the world, both inside and out, and most of them were more reasonable, but gradually, more and more people began to use the stories of ancient sages and sages, or the allusions of benevolence and righteousness of kings. , saying that the laws on imperial examinations are too strict and do not conform to the way of benevolent emperors.

Later, with more and more memorials in this regard, the words became more and more direct and clear.

Moreover, the frequency of such memorials has also increased significantly.

The more interesting phenomenon is that at the beginning, these memorials were all issued by local officials, but gradually they became more and more issued by Beijing officials.

Emperor Shi was not stupid. He understood that these local officials must be just diverting his attention. Most of them were instigated by the officials in the capital. Folding the local officials just wanted to fiddle with the imperial examinations, and they had no ability. How could they get involved.

It must be these high-ranking officials in the capital who want to stop them, but dare not be the first birds, so they find someone to provoke the trouble. For local officials, if they want to enter the capital and want to improve their official career, they must To curry favor with the high-ranking officials in the capital, find a way to get on the line, everyone has their own plans, and naturally they are in a panic.

Yes, Emperor Shi viciously characterized this behavior as collusion in his heart.

To put it bluntly, the existing bureaucratic group wants to maintain and monopolize interests.

Once these strict imperial examination laws are implemented, many of them will not be able to make a fuss about the imperial examination and seek benefits for their families.

Those with vested interests are the most afraid of fair competition, and they will block this opportunity for fair competition anyway, just because they have a lot of resources in their hands, including money and power.

But money and power are not what Emperor Shi is most worried about, because compared to these, no one can compare to him, a prestigious emperor.

What I fear most is public opinion...

Shi Congyun carefully looked through this type of memorials, checked the names, and found that many of the people who submitted these memorials were from the Ministry of Officials and the Imperial Academy.

Moreover, many of them are people with many disciples and great knowledge.

Needless to say, the Imperial Academy, the Imperial Academy is a national talent pool.

The scariest thing about these people is that they have a large number of fans. To put it bluntly, they are full of peaches and plums. To put it bluntly, they are everywhere. Black people can be called white. In this country, information technology is underdeveloped, education at the bottom is very limited, and literacy Even in a cultured age, it is too easy to confuse people.

Emperor Shi thought about this matter carefully, but did not react for the time being.

But in mid-April, the students of Guozijian also went to the shuffle, saying that they asked him to take back his orders and abolish the laws about the imperial examinations, and compared them with the ancient Ming emperors Yao, Shun and Shangtang, hoping that he would practice benevolence as the emperor.

The most amazing thing is that they also said very righteously in the memorial that they did this for the emperor's reputation in the future, and hoped that he would become the eternal emperor.

Shi Congyun was almost laughed at by the ignorance of these students at the time. They didn't have the brains to think about who they enacted such laws to protect?Isn't it to protect students like them from being bullied by powerful people and taking away opportunities.

However, the students of Guozijian come from all over the world. They are always too young and naive. They have never seen the bloody storm of power struggle. His subordinates are lambs who can be played with at will.

Now it has become the knife of those dignitaries, stabbing towards him.

Emperor Shi knew in his heart that the officials of the Imperial College must have said something to these students to encourage them to do this.

However, he is very busy now. He is preparing for the war in the Southern Tang Dynasty, paying attention to the situation in the Liao Kingdom, and there are changes in the northwest front line. The deployment there must also be adjusted. and many more.

He is too busy with many things, but the state machinery cannot operate without these officials, otherwise he would like to arrest and kill all the people who wrote the letter.

The number of people he ordered to be killed over the years was many, eighty thousand if not one hundred thousand, there was no shortage of them.

Emperor Shi did not respond to the students of the Guozijian, nor did he respond to those memorials.

Only two things were done. On the one hand, let Fu Zhaoyuan and Wang Zhong lead the Imperial Army from the East and West Banners and the Imperial Army from the Inner Palace to stay in the palace permanently;

Safety is one thing, and another thing is to talk about propaganda. Shi Congyun has never been afraid of those old men who are full of peaches and plums. One of the requirements for his Shenhuo Army's selection of people was to have read books, read and write, and engaged in propaganda. Zhanna is really who is afraid of whom!

Emperor Shi not only did not reply to the memorial, but did not relax the policy. On the contrary, he continued to announce in mid-April that in the future, children from official backgrounds would take the imperial examinations.

Now it can be said that another firewood has been loosened into the fire.

But Emperor Shi didn't care, he had never seen any big storms, and he felt keenly that this problem cannot be left to future generations to solve, because they don't have that kind of prestige and cannot suppress others.

And he came all the way here in a bloody storm, and the successive foreign wars went smoothly, which made his prestige extremely high. It is the best choice to use this prestige to solve the hidden dangers in the contemporary era.

The objective law of development in history cannot be changed, but in terms of details, he can make some accelerations.

Chapter 451, Lu Jiang

To the southeast of Jinling, to the west of Wangjiang Tower, flowers are blooming and willows are green, and the spring breeze is warm.

Surrounded by turbulent waves on the river, there are large stretches of jagged rocks, rugged and weird. Looking at the middle of the mountain, there are white jade steps, pavilions and pavilions. There is an undisguised luxury among the beautiful and beautiful landscapes. It is the favorite tone of literati, poets and dignitaries.

The pavilions and pavilions among the rocks, and the white jade steps that run through the whole mountain, the mountain is steep and difficult to climb. It must be a huge waste of money to dig a road, and a lot of laborers were recruited. Last year, when Feng Yanlu left for the north, there were none. Now When I came back, I realized that it seemed to be newly built.

Going up for a while, there is a tall Wangjiang Pavilion, built among the rocks, condescending, overlooking the rolling Yangtze River, with sparkling light and thousands of miles of scenery.

The king was surrounded by Zhang Ji and many other officials, the two most conspicuous among them was Liu Cheng who was serving beside the king and was only half a step behind.

Liu Cheng was a subordinate official when the lord was still a feudal lord, and he was the most trusted official of the lord.

On the other hand, it was Lu Duoxun, the special envoy of the Qin State, who was talking to the lord. He was knowledgeable and kind, and soon got along well with the officials in Jiangnan and the lord.

What they are talking about is a painting by a famous artist handed down from the Tang Dynasty. Touring mountains and rivers, antique calligraphy and painting have always been the king's favorite. He didn't feel anything in the past, but this time he came back from the Qin Dynasty in the north, but he felt deeply. .

Feng Yanlu was standing in the small pavilion below, this time he didn't go up to join in the fun.

I still remember the conversation between Shi Congyun, the emperor of Qin, and him at that time.

He originally thought that he could do what he likes, find out what he can use to bribe Shi Congyun, and profit from it. After all, their king is good at talking about scriptures, antiques, calligraphy and paintings. As long as officials offer these things, the king will be shocked. Very happy, the grace continues.

But Shi Congyun only replied that he was not interested in anything, only Jiangshan beauties.

That shocked him greatly, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, as expected of a great country that has swallowed the Southern Han, Northern Han, Nanping, Wuping, Shu, Huainan, and Guanbei successively for more than ten years, the young ruler gave him a A feeling of being more experienced and cunning than these old people.

While feeling emotional in his heart, he was also worried about the future of Jiangnan.

He is the second son of Feng Lingkai, the official secretary of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the half-brother of Feng Yansi, the Prime Minister of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Although his ancestors lived in Pengcheng and traveled south to avoid disaster, for his generation, the Southern Tang Dynasty is their hometown.

Many officials in the Southern Han Dynasty, and even the Shu Kingdom that had been destroyed before, thought that Shi Congyun could be bribed with beauty based on Shi Congyun's previous actions.

But they don't think that the Jiangshan beauties that Shi Congyun said are very different from the Jiangshan beauties they understand.

His contacts with Li Fang, the best friend of Qin State, also made him understand that Shi Congyun, the son of Qin State, seems to be a womanizer, but he is definitely not the kind of person who loves children. He is very ruthless, otherwise he would not be killed. into a river.

He said that Jiangshan beauties probably want to conquer Jiangnan, so he can choose the beauties here.

Being fickle, sometimes it is indeed a rare quality for the superiors.

The more he communicated with the emperor of Qin, the more worried he was about the situation in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the more he felt uneasy when he saw the scene where the Lord Yuan and many ministers were commenting on calligraphy and painting.

Looking north, the river is sparkling and undulating.

Turning around, I found that the privy envoy Chen Qiao had also come over, and stopped in the pavilion below like him, and there were too many people above.

Feng Yanlu cupped his hands, and the other party saluted as well.

"I think Mr. Feng is absent-minded. Are you thinking about something?" Chen Qiao asked.

Feng Yanlu didn't answer right away, he often went on diplomatic missions to the north and didn't know much about the domestic situation, so he asked, "What does Mr. Chen think of the north?"

Chen Qiao glanced at him, and said directly: "Sooner or later, the army from the north will cross the river, but many of them are timid and afraid to admit it."

Feng Yanlu nodded, and then asked, "What about Mr. Han, why didn't we see him this time?"

A strange look flashed in Chen Qiao's eyes, and then he sighed and said, "Nowadays, he has banquets at home every day, and almost never asks about court affairs."

He lowered his voice and leaned over and said, "There is no other way."

Feng Yanlu suddenly understood that the ruler doesn't trust the northerners, "I'm also worried that the army from the north will cross the Yangtze River. The longer I stay in the north, the more I feel that the ruler, Shi Congyun, is not someone to be taken lightly. He is very determined. I have a hunch that he will come to Jiangnan sooner or later."

The two looked at each other and nodded. Now that the conversation has started, there is no need to try it like before.

Chen Qiao stopped talking nonsense, and went straight to the point, "Mr. Feng, there is a nice young man over there. His name is Lu Jiang, his name is Jinqing, and his name is Jinwen. He is a very brave man. I think he is in the army China will do a lot.

It's just that this young man doesn't abide by the etiquette and loves to talk about the benefits and diseases of the world. He is not pleasing to the court and needs someone to support him.

Since Feng Gong thinks the same as the old man, he must know what I'm thinking. "

Chen Qiao said, pointing to the surging river, and then glanced at the large group of monarchs and ministers who were excitedly evaluating calligraphy and paintings in the pavilion above: "If the thousands of troops on the opposite side come over, only people like Lu Jiang can be relied on. They say He is rude, saying that he is brave and ruthless, so I don’t like it, but the old man cherishes it very much.”

Feng Yanlu understood what he meant, but he was still a little cautious. Things in the officialdom were not that simple. He didn't fully trust Chen Qiao, but the threat from the north really made him terrified, and he couldn't sleep or eat.

After thinking about it, he said, "I want to meet that young man first, and make a decision after talking."

"That's natural. He's in the river pavilion below. Can Feng Gong surrender?" Chen Qiao pointed to the pavilion halfway up the mountain with his right hand, and there were figures inside.

Only then did Feng Yanlu realize that he had come prepared, so he nodded after thinking for a while: "Okay, it happens to be fine, let's go and meet."

......

In the afternoon, when the sun was setting and the guests and hosts were enjoying themselves, the Lord of Jiangnan returned to the palace, accompanied by a large number of officials. Among them, Lu Duoxun, who was the special envoy of the Northern Emperor, was also surrounded by everyone, and many people took the opportunity to say hello.

And Feng Yanlu and Chen Qiao also quietly returned to the crowd. In the distance, a tall young man was bidding farewell to them, but they were soon separated by the imperial guards.

After negotiating for more than an hour, Feng Yanlu also greatly changed his view of Lu Jiang. As Chen Qiao said, Lu Jiang is a young man who does not abide by etiquette and likes to talk about the benefits and diseases of the world, but he is also very knowledgeable and very brave.

Unlike most people in the court, he has been advocating the need to strengthen the river defense and prepare troops for war, because the north may attack at any time, and he has said many reasons why the north must send troops.