Who doesn’t know that the purpose of King Jin’s entry into the Ministry of War is to cut off the crown prince’s foundation in the army and gain an upper hand in the struggle for the throne? Now, if he can destroy King Jin’s plan to transport ordnance, it will be equivalent to giving him an advantage.
He gave the King of Jin a head-on attack, ruined the King of Jin's good deeds, and at the same time gained a favorable position for His Highness the Crown Prince.
What a great achievement!
Li Tai frowned and glanced at Mu Yuanzuo with some displeasure, but did not speak. Instead, he waited to see how Fang Jun would deal with it.
Mu Yuanzuo was a smooth man and extremely capable, but his magnanimity was really limited.
Fortunately, Fang Jun did not disappoint him. After listening to Mu Yuanzuo's suggestion, he shook his head slightly and said: "No, this batch of ordnance is the equipment of the Liaodong army. It must be equipped to all armies this winter, otherwise it will inevitably affect next spring.
The battle between the DPRK and China should have a bottom line, that is, it must not affect the stability of the overall situation, let alone the plan of the Eastern Expedition. Otherwise, how are we different from the unscrupulous Changsun Wuji? His Royal Highness
We look forward to victory, but it must be an honorable victory. If there is a slight flaw, it will become an indelible stain after the prince ascends the throne. Isn’t it a grave sin for our ministers?”
Mu Yuanzuo was immediately startled. He quickly stood up and left the table. He bowed his arms to the ground and said regretfully: "Thank you so much for your teachings, Duke Yue. I am short-sighted and have almost tarnished the prestige of His Royal Highness. I am so ashamed!"
It is true that he is too narrow-minded. His Highness the Crown Prince's ambition is to ascend the throne and conquer the world. Naturally, he needs to inherit the country and the country step by step openly. Otherwise, if he uses strategies to achieve his goals, he will inevitably be criticized in the future and become an indelible flaw.
Your Majesty is the best example today. Since he came to the throne, he has worked hard and diligently to govern the ruins left by the former Sui Dynasty.
It is still slandered by those Confucian scholars who claim to be orthodox.
The crime of killing brother and brother is indeed unpleasant, but the question is whether His Majesty Li Er could have been arrested without hesitation back then?
If he had been killed at the slightest provocation at that time, although there would be no bad reputation for killing brothers, it would only be a stumbling block on the road to the crown prince's ascension to the throne.
At that time, Li Chengjian will raise troops to judge, which is justifiable...
This is the importance of honor and justice.
In any case, the reputation of the king is very important. It not only means whether he can rule the world with enough authority, but also whether he can become the leader of the dynasty.
The King of Jin is at a disadvantage. If he wants to seize the throne of the Crown Prince, he must use extraordinary means. He has no choice but to bear the reputation of his brother and live in the wall like His Majesty did back then. But the Crown Prince is now the legitimate Crown Prince, occupying the prestigious position.
If you act with great righteousness, you don't need to take risks, and you can't take risks.
If he was really smart enough to sabotage this arms transport by some means, the King of Jin would certainly be punished for dereliction of duty, but the Crown Prince would be charged with "ignoring the overall situation and military aircraft", which would be recorded in the history books even if it was not possible.
Become a stain that can never be washed away.
By that time, not only will I have no merit at all, but my Highness will be peeled off, fried, bones bruised and ashes thrown away...
Mu Yuanzuo shuddered and secretly rejoiced. Fortunately, Fang Jun gave him some advice. Otherwise, he would have made a big mistake and would have to cut off his official career from now on!
However, after thinking about it, I felt a little unwilling, and asked tentatively: "But we just sit back and do nothing, and let the King of Jin and Duke Zhao smoothly transport the weapons to Liaodong and accomplish a great feat?"
Fang Jun snorted and sneered: "How can it be so easy? The ordnance must be transported to Liaodong. No matter how we fight in private, we cannot harm the interests of the empire. This is the bottom line. If we cannot stick to the bottom line, we will fight again.
What's the difference between those national thieves who bring disaster to the country and the people? But even if they transport weapons to Liaodong, it doesn't mean that the trip will go smoothly."
Mu Yuanzuo did not dare to try to figure out Fang Jun's thoughts in case he said the wrong thing again, so he simply kept silent.
Anyway, I will be obedient and guard this three-acre land in Jiangnan. I will do whatever you ask me to do, so I won’t make any mistakes...
Li Tai looked at Fang Jun's expression and reminded: "Pay attention to propriety and stop in moderation."
Fang Jun said sternly: "Your Highness, rest assured, the bottom line of the humble minister will never be exceeded. No matter what, the Eastern Expedition is a top priority, and we will never take any measures that will harm the Eastern Expedition."
Li Tai breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Of course I can rest assured that you are doing things. Okay, go and clean up quickly, say goodbye to Gao Yang, explain, and return to Guanzhong as soon as possible tomorrow morning. Don't let the prince and brother wait impatiently.
."
Unknowingly, Li Tai, who had always remained neutral and not involved in the fight for the throne, gradually became biased towards the prince.
This is actually normal. Although the King of Jin is also his brother, the fact that he came forward to fight for the throne was the fault of the King of Jin. In addition, Changsun Wuji unscrupulously assassinated Fang Jun, which made Li Tai feel disgusted.
He was also dissatisfied with Jin Wang Li Zhi.
The reason why he is willing to withdraw from the fight for the throne is because he deeply realizes that the final outcome of this struggle will never be controlled by him. If the prince wins, he will naturally cut off the challenger to maintain his authority. If the challenger wins, he will kill him.
The prince will avoid future troubles.
We have the same mother and father, and our father had no choice between life and death, so why should we covet the so-called supreme power stained with the blood of our brothers?
Even if he wins, he will feel uneasy for the rest of his life and be reviled by everyone in the world...
He only hoped that before King Jin was in deep trouble, he could retreat and perhaps preserve the brotherhood.
*****
Chang'an.
In the duty room of the Ministry of War, Li Zhi held the abacus and flipped through the account book in front of him one by one. The numbers recorded on it were superimposed one by one. It took a long time before he let out a long breath.
He put down the account book, picked up the tea cup on the table, took a sip, and shouted at the door: "Can Mr. Liu be at the Yamen? Let him come over."
"Here!"
The clerk outside the door received the order and quickly left.
After a while, Liu Shi knocked on the door and came in. He went to the table and saluted, "What are your orders, Your Highness?"
Li Zhi leaned back on his chair, pointed to the account book on the table, and said: "This is the iron and copper materials that the Changsun Iron Works has delivered to the Foundry Bureau in recent days. The prices are the same as those of the Fang Family."
The iron factory is generally the same, and the quantity has reached 30% of the required quantity. The remaining parts will be sent to the Foundry Bureau one after another. It must be able to meet the requirements of the Foundry Bureau for forging firearms. You can check it out, then sign and seal it, and record and file it. "
When he said this, Li Zhi was inevitably a little proud.
He naturally knew that the matters raised by Liu Shi and Cui Dunli were all deliberate attempts to make things difficult, aiming to undermine his prestige and prevent his ambition to control the Ministry of War.
But in the end, didn’t he finally solve it completely for himself?
Although it was a bit rogue to ask for these iron materials from Changsun Wuji, the Changsun family iron factory had to supply the needs of the foundry bureau at a price far lower than the cost. It is estimated that every day when transporting iron materials to the foundry bureau, the Changsun family went up and down.
They all bleed in their hearts, but what does that have to do with Jin Wang Li Zhi?
He is the King of Jin, the proud son of the emperor who is destined to aspire to the great treasure and inherit the great unification. All he needs to consider is whether he can achieve his goal. As for the price spent in the process, it is not within the scope of consideration at all.
Someone is paying for it anyway…
Liu Shi was a little surprised: "So fast?"
Seeing that Li Zhi didn't speak, he picked up the account book and flipped through it. Then he crackled the abacus to make some calculations. Then he frowned and closed the account book, and said hesitantly: "This... Your Highness may have made a mistake in the calculation, right?"
Li Zhi was stunned: "What's wrong? Although my calculations are not as good as those of Duke Yue, I was taught by Taishi Ling Yuan Tiangang himself. How can there be any reason to calculate such numbers wrongly?"
As he spoke, he opened the account book.
Liu Shi hurriedly said: "Your Highness has misunderstood. I am not saying that Your Highness's calculation of figures is wrong, but that some of the iron materials sent to the Foundry Bureau by the Changsun Iron Factory are inferior iron materials that are difficult to use for casting firearms. According to the
As a general rule, these iron materials must be returned. Now this part of iron materials is piled in the warehouse of the Foundry Bureau. The total number is about 30,000 kilograms. Therefore, when Your Highness makes the calculation, these inferior iron materials should be deducted. In this way
Later, the gap expanded, and about 80% of the total was still needed. This is a large number, and the mining and smelting of iron materials also takes time. If it cannot be supplied in time, it may affect the progress of the Foundry Bureau, and then lead to the start of the Eastern Expedition.
The supply of firearms and ordnance that will be consumed later. Your Highness, this is a big deal, you should urge the Changsun Iron Works to quickly supply iron materials."
Li Zhi scratched his head. He felt that Liu Shi was deliberately making things difficult for him, but he couldn't find any flaws.
Although he didn't understand iron smelting, he also knew that the quality of the molten iron produced in each furnace was different, and some of them must be of poor quality and unfit for use.
But picking out more than 30,000 kilograms of waste at once was a bit too much.
Originally, the Changsun family had complained about the supply and foundry bureau. If they were allowed to make up for this part again, I am afraid they would become even more resentful...
But if he couldn't make up for it in time, it would affect the Foundry Bureau's plans, and he couldn't bear this responsibility.