Chapter 1023 Knowing today, why was it in the first place
Zhang Yuan analyzed Zhu Neng and Li Zhaoliang thoroughly in his words.
Zhu Neng and Li Zhaoliang are indeed blinded by greed. They have fallen into the quagmire of the Western war and are completely unable to escape.
Zhang Yuan saw clearly the war situation in the West early, so after occupying a certain territory, he decisively withdrew from the alliance established with Zhu Neng, Li Zhaoliang and others to avoid falling into the quagmire.
Kou Ji thought about it again and again, and said to Zhang Yuandao: "If Zhu Neng and Li Zhaoliang lose to the Roman Empire and are in danger of annihilation, you can do your best to leave an incense for them."
Zhang Yuanxiao asked: "Order? Or just say it casually?"
Kou Ji asked: "What's the difference?"
Zhang Yuan said bluntly: "If you give the order, I will do it even if I use all the strength of the Western Tianzhu Kingdom. If you just say it casually, I have to look at the situation before making a decision.
It is impossible for me to try my best to pay for the mistakes of Zhu Neng and Li Zhaoliang."
Kou Ji smiled and said: "It's not an order, nor is it just a casual comment. If you can do it within your power, just save it if you can. There is no reason to put yourself in it just to save others. We are not knights."
Speaking of this, Kou Ji said with some regret: "They are all descendants of my Han family. They were exterminated by outsiders, and we have no glory in our faces."
Zhang Yuan nodded, agreeing to Kou Ji's request.
If Zhu Neng and Li Zhaoliang were really defeated and their families were really in trouble, he would come to their rescue.
The next few days.
Kou Ji took Zhang Yuan to grow vegetables in the greenhouse, enjoy various delicacies in Qingdu, attend classes at Wenchang Academy, and go to the forging steel workshop outside the city to see the new steel forging furnace that Kou Tianci was building.
Kou Ji took Zhang Yuan around Qingdu and took Zhang Yuan to see everything that could be seen in Qingdu.
When Zhang Yuan left, Kou Ji also prepared some craftsmen and scholars for him to take with him.
Since Kou Zhun incorporated practice into the teaching system and felt the benefits of practice, all students he educated must pass practice and obtain a certain evaluation before they can graduate from him.
The craftsmen and scholars Kou Ji asked Zhang Yuan to bring back were the students in Wenchang Academy who needed practice.
Because the distance from Western Tianzhu is relatively long.
Kou Ji extended the time of craftsmen and scholars.
At the same time, they were promised a generous financial subsidy, and they were considered as paid practitioners.
Zhang Yuan also promised them that when they arrived in the Western Tianzhu Kingdom, the Western Tianzhu Kingdom would allocate them houses, maids, and generous monthly stipends.
Kou Ji is not short of money, and Zhang Yuan is not short of money either.
Tianzhu used to be a transitional person who wore gold and silver.
After Zhang Yuan and Cao Liang invaded Tianzhu, they used various means to collect all the gold, silver and copper in Tianzhu into their own hands.
The amount of gold currently controlled by Zhang Yuan is very huge.
The salary of the scholars and craftsmen at Wenchang Academy was just a drop in the bucket to him.
The benefits that scholars and craftsmen could bring to Zhang Yuan far exceeded Zhang Yuan's small salary.
Whether Zhang Yuan or Cao Yongli, the people in their hands are quite mixed.
The people in their hands are composed of seven or eight incompatible ethnic groups.
So it is very difficult to manage.
They were born in the Song Dynasty, and they naturally like to be close to the Song people, and they also like to turn the people under their rule into Song people.
So they wanted to use war to eliminate the incompatible ethnic groups in their country, and at the same time make the people in the country more pure.
So they need scholars and craftsmen.
It can almost be said that there are as many as there are.
Kou Ji naturally knew what Zhang Yuan needed, and he was not willing to ask Zhang Yuanbai to make a trip.
Kou Ji personally sent Zhang Yuan to the Sunrise Pier, and sent scholars, craftsmen, and the seeds for Zhang Yuan to cultivate on the ship.
Then the Qingguo fleet was sent south to follow Zhang Yuan's fleet.
The Qingguo fleet will stop after arriving at Leizhou and Jiaozhi.
And Zhang Yuan's fleet will go directly to Western Tianzhu.
After Zhang Yuan left, Kou Ji felt that it was urgent to build an iron ship.
Nowadays, almost all of the three places connected by Qingguo require ships to reach.
The wooden boats drifted on the sea for too long. It took nearly half a year to travel from the Qing Kingdom to the Western Tianzhu Kingdom.
One round trip and it's gone in a year and a half.
Once rubber trees and other things are planted in Western Tianzhu, the number of ships traveling between Qing and Western Tianzhu will increase, and the number of ships and manpower required will also increase.
Kou Ji doesn't have that much time to wait.
Therefore, ironclad ships must be built.
Other things can wait.
After Kou Ji returned to Qingdu, through quiet guidance, he successfully presented the manufacturing methods of steam engines and steam ships to Kou Tianci.
After Kou Tianci got the slightly rough production method, he was shocked.
Like a thief, he shared his joy with Kou Ji. After receiving Kou Ji's support, he devoted himself to the manufacture of steam engines.
Although the rubber has not yet been obtained, Kou Tianci needs to try it first.
After the rubber trees are planted and rubber is produced, Kou Tianci can directly build a suitable steam engine.
After Kou Tianci obtained the manufacturing methods of steam engines and steam ships, he built a steam workshop next to his own forging steel workshop and devoted himself to research.
He withdrew a large sum of money from Kou Ji to purchase iron materials.
The Craftsman Department directly under the Wenchang Academy and the Inner Palace dispatched many craftsmen and participated in the supervision of the construction together with them.
Apart from occasional guidance, Kou Ji rarely interfered with Kou Tianci's supervision of the construction of the steam engine.
A flash.
A year passed quietly.
Just when Kou Ji and Liu Heng were harvesting sweet potatoes with hoes, two uninvited guests arrived in Qingguo.
Kou Ji and Liu Heng dug up a full acre of sweet potatoes and sat on the edge of the field like two old farmers, drinking tea and discussing how to store the sweet potatoes and spread them to various parts of Qingguo next year.
Two figures appeared quietly behind them.
One of the figures sat next to Kou Ji, snatched the teapot from Kou Ji's hand, took a beautiful sip in his hand, and clicked his mouth happily.
Kou Ji looked sideways at him and asked, "Are you not dead yet?"
Li Di looked at Kou Ji strangely and said: "I have eaten well and slept well, why do I have to die?"
Kou Ji glanced at the teapot contaminated by Li Di and said angrily: "You are now over seventy. If you don't die, you will become a thief."
Li Di chuckled, "Even if I become a thief, I am still an elegant thief."
Kou Ji snorted, "Scholars always like to cover up bad things as elegant things. The scholars in Bianjing are so romantic because you old guys taught them."
Li Di glanced at Kou Ji with disdain, "You are not a scholar, you don't understand the fun at all."
Kou Ji looked at Li Di sideways and said, "I didn't see any fun. I only saw you being romantic and squandering, making one poor man famous after another. On the contrary, it was the common people who were not put aside by you. In the eyes.”
Li Di glared at Kou Ji, "Scholars today are different from before."
Kou Ji sneered and said: "What's the difference? In the eyes of scholars, the poor people are still the top of their minds, and the common people are still untouchables and untouchables."
I heard that just two months ago, Wang Anshi killed an official who called the people untouchable with a stick at the gate of Linheng Mansion.
The memorials to impeach Wang Anshi have not stopped until now.
It can be seen that in your eyes, calling people untouchables is right."
Li Di stared at Kou Ji, "You are complaining about your students."
Kou Ji shook his head calmly, "I have no students in the Song Dynasty, and I will not complain about anyone. I just think that the world is fair. You call the people untouchables, and they call you dog officials. They complement each other.
Whether the common people are mean or not, I don't know.
But when you bark, it’s a real dog.”
Li Di said angrily: "I didn't participate in this matter, why did you even scold me?"
Kou Ji sneered: "If you don't say a word for Wang Anshi, you should be scolded."
Li Di shouted: "This matter involves a dispute over doctrine."
Kou Ji said calmly: "A doctrine is a doctrine, and the people are the people. We cannot forget the people for the sake of a dispute over doctrine."
Speaking of this, Kou Ji looked at Li Di and said, "You have stayed in Hexi for a long time and your courage has become weaker. You are no longer suitable for hanging out in officialdom. It's time to retire."
Wenchang Academy still lacks an inspector.
For your pity, after you retire, I can appoint you as the inspector of Wenchang Academy."
Li Di snorted coldly: "You have a beautiful idea."
Kou Ji shrugged his shoulders and said no more to Li Di.
Instead, he looked at the figure behind Li Di and said in a neutral tone: "You are not welcome in Qingguo. You can leave after eating in a while."
Wen Yanbo said with a depressed look: "Sir..."
Kou Ji said coldly: "Don't call me husband, I can't afford it."
"Narrow-minded..."
Li Di said contemptuously.
Kou Ji said calmly: "I'm just petty, I admit it. What can you do to me?"
"Sir, back then in Chui Gong Hall..."
Wen Yanbo explained in a low voice.
Kou Ji stared and shouted: "Shut up!"
Wen Yanbo opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.
Kou Ji got up and called Liu Heng to continue digging sweet potatoes.
Li Di shouted at Kou Ji's back: "Bianjing City will be gone soon. The official family is moving the capital."
Kou Ji ignored Li Di, as if he didn't hear what Li Di said.
Li Di stood up, quickly caught up with Kou Ji, and stood in front of Kou Ji.
"I said that the city of Bianjing will be lost soon, and the official family will move the capital."
Kou Ji said in astonishment: "What does it have to do with me?"
Li Di said in a deep voice: "This is a serious matter, and it can affect the whole body. Are you not going to give me some advice?"
Kou Ji smiled calmly, "What does it have to do with me?"
Li Di glared and said, "You are also a minister of the Song Dynasty."
Kou Ji smiled calmly and said, "I am now the leader of the Qing Kingdom."
Li Di gritted his teeth and said: "The leader of the Qing Kingdom is also a subject of the Song Dynasty."
Kou Ji pondered for a moment and nodded, "You are right."
Kou Ji said to Liu Heng beside him: "His Majesty, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, wants to move the capital. What do you think?"
Liu Heng scratched his head and said with a smile: "Send the tribute in advance so that His Majesty the Emperor of the Song Dynasty can build the new capital more luxuriously."
Kou Ji nodded in agreement, "It makes sense. As the Song Dynasty is the overlord of the world, the palace of the Song Dynasty should be more luxurious."
After saying this, Kou Ji smiled at Li Di, who looked ugly, and said: "In addition to this year's tribute, I will donate an additional 50,000 yuan to express my gratitude."
Li Di stared at Kou Ji and said, "You know...I don't mean this..."
Kou Ji smiled calmly and said: "I think that's what you mean. I won't pay attention to other meanings. There are many capable people in the Great Song Dynasty, so you shouldn't come to me.
I have nothing but money."
After saying this, Kou Ji stopped talking to Li Di and took Liu Heng to dig the ground together.
Li Di's expression changed again and again, and finally his eyes fell on Wen Yanbo, and he sighed for a long time, "You are so capable."
Wen Yanbo's face turned pale, "What happened back then..."
Li Di waved his sleeves and said, "If I had been in the court back then, I would never have allowed the officials to act recklessly. I would never have done anything to disgrace my husband.
Even if I disagree with my husband on politics, it will be made public.
Even if I think my husband has a problem, I will ask him openly."
Wen Yanbo's expression darkened.
"The matter of the official family moving the capital..."
Li Di squinted his eyes, stared at Wen Yanbo and sneered: "What does it have to do with me?"
Wen Yanbo looked at Li Di in astonishment.
Li Di said disdainfully: "He is the only restraint on the official family. If you personally remove this restraint and release a raptor, you must be prepared to bear the disaster caused by the raptor's clouds and rain.
He is not a toilet, so if you want to summon him, he will come and leave as soon as you want.
Not even the officials dared.
Who do you think you are?"
Li Di said this, waved his hand, and walked out of the field, saying in a neutral tone: "If this kind of thing happens again in the future, don't look for me. Without you, I will be a guest in Qingguo. Take me with you.
If I come to you, I will be a bad guest.
I didn't offend him, so why should I bear his anger with you?"
Wen Yanbo stood there, looked at Li Di who was walking away, and then looked at Kou Ji who was digging sweet potatoes in the field, and let out a long sigh.
He was filled with regret.
But it has no effect at all.
Wen Yanbo did not stay in Qingguo long.
After failing to achieve his goal, he left Qingguo and thought of another country.
On the contrary, Li Di lived in Qingguo for a month.
Without Wen Yanbo by his side, Li Di's life in Qingguo was a blessing.
A month later, Kou Ji sent Li Di to the edge of the Yalu River.
When Li Di was leaving, he took Kou Ji's arm, hesitated again and again, and said, "You really don't want to go back and persuade me?"
Kou Ji sighed, "Why do you want to persuade me?"
Li Di said in a deep voice: "Moving the capital affects the destiny of the country..."
Before Li Di could finish speaking, Kou Ji interrupted Li Di rudely, "Moving the capital affects the national destiny? Why didn't I find out? The Song Dynasty moved the capital during its heyday, and was not forced to move the capital. How could it affect the national destiny?
?
The Song Dynasty did a lot of things that affected the fate of the country, and it did not see the Song Dynasty fall apart.
You have lived to such an old age and still believe this?"
Li Di smiled bitterly and said: "There are too many people who oppose it..."
Kou Ji said calmly: "Moving the capital affects only the interests. The interests of wealthy families and dignitaries. Most of their wealth is in Bianjing City.
If the Song Dynasty moved its capital, their interests would be greatly compromised.
That's why they object.
They opposed it not because it was wrong to move the capital.
It's because the opposition affects their pocketbooks.
It's all about money from beginning to end.
I don’t believe you can’t understand.”
Li Di sighed and said: "Since you have said this, I will tell the truth. Moving the capital has indeed affected the interests of the civil and military interests of the Manchu Dynasty, so the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty unanimously opposed it.
The reason why I am willing to work on this matter is that I am afraid that the official family will become disloyal due to the relocation of the capital and the separation of the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty.
You also know that in a court, if the ruler and ministers are disloyal, big problems will arise."
Kou Ji said calmly: "I have never seen anyone with his arm twisting his thigh. Since the ministers don't care about serving the emperor, then the emperor should change them.
In the Song Dynasty, there was never a shortage of ministers."
"But……"
"Okay, stop being a lobbyist for those dignitaries. No matter how much you say, it won't change my mind. I'm not afraid to tell you that I taught Zhao Zhen the matter of moving the capital.
Do you think I will overthrow myself?"
When Li Di heard this, he stared at Kou Ji in astonishment.
Kou Ji said calmly: "Don't look at me like that. Moving the capital is also good for the Song Dynasty. If there are no benefits, Zhao Zhen will not listen to me."
Li Di muttered: "No wonder...no wonder the officials insist on going their own way and refuse to listen to anyone's advice. It turns out it's just your attention. That's all...I won't be involved in this matter in the future."
At this point, Li Di raised his head and stared at Kou Ji, and said solemnly: "I have pledged my life to Hexi. When I die, I will also be buried in Hexi. Don't forget to pay incense on my grave."
Kou Ji frowned slightly, "Aren't you making things difficult for me?"
Li Di stared at Kou Ji and said, "Are you so unwilling to return to the Song Dynasty? The reason why the Song Dynasty is what it is today is 99% because of your hard work."
Kou Ji said bluntly: "So what? Everything I did was just for the people of my homeland, not for any one person.
Now I have done everything I should do, and the people are living a good life.
I have retired after my success, so I should not appear in the Song Dynasty again and cause trouble."
Li Di pointed at Kou Ji and sighed, "You have such a character that your flaws must be repaid..."
Kou Ji smiled and said, "I think it's pretty good."
Li Di shook his head and without saying another word, he shakily got on the carriage and left the Yalu River far away.
After Kou Ji sent Li Di away, he returned to Qingguo.
I happened to catch up with Di Qing coming from the Beihai County Prince's fiefdom.
After several years of construction, the thirty-six fortresses in the Beihai County Prince's fiefdom have been completed.
Soldiers and horses were also stationed in each fort to guard the four sides of the fiefdom.
Beihai Fucheng, located in the middle of the Beihai County Prince's fiefdom, has also created a 7788.
There are not many people in the Beihai County Prince's fiefdom, so the amount of work is not large.
In addition, Beihai Fucheng did not build a city wall, so the amount of work was even smaller.
Therefore, Beihai Fucheng was completed much earlier than Qingdu.
In addition, the construction of the pier outside Beihai Prefecture has also been completed.
A shipyard and steel forging plant were also built near the dock.
In the future, most of the workshops and factories in the Qing Kingdom will be located in Beihai Prefecture.
The reason why it is located in Beihai Prefecture is because there is a huge open-pit coal mine in Beihai Prefecture.
Furthermore, Beihai Prefecture is vast and sparsely populated. If it expands to the north, no one will care about it, and it will not restrict the development of workshops and factories.
Di Qing came to Qingguo this time to take people to the shipyard and steel forging plant.
Kou Ji has already prepared manpower.
In addition, Kou Ji also prepared some potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn seeds for Di Qing and asked Di Qing to take them with him.
Beihai Prefecture is a vast area with sparsely populated areas, and most people have to work.
To ensure that people in Beihai Prefecture have food to eat, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn and other items are essential.
In addition to preparing these crops for Di Qing that had been successfully planted and with a lot of seeds in reserve, Kou Ji also prepared one each for Liu Boxu and Zhang Yuan.
However, both Liu Boxu and Zhang Yuan refused.
They wrote back to Koji saying that they did not need these things for the time being.
They didn't want some people in the fiefdom to be too full.
If you let those people eat too much, it will not be conducive to their purely enforcing the decree of the people of the feudal country.
Kou Ji felt that these two guys would definitely be portrayed as the most cruel feudal monarchs in the future.
Kou Ji felt that Liu Boxu and Zhang Yuan should learn from him.
While making effective use of labor force, send them out smoothly.
For example, send them to the sea for adventure, or send them to Beihai Mansion to mine coal and forge steel.
War lunatics such as Zhong Shiheng, Cao Yi, and Cao Yong have begun to transport criminal documents from the fiefdom to North America on a large scale.
Qingguo's orders for shipping ships have increased from thirty ships per year to one hundred and thirty ships per year.
If it hadn't been for a batch of orders assigned to Liu Boxu in Xiyang, it would have been impossible to make it.
With such a huge investment in ships, Kou Ji believed that it would not be long before the three people's fiefdom and the people in the fiefdom would be further purified.
The methods are far more effective than those of Liu Boxu and Zhang Yuan.
However, Kou Ji now does not allow them to go to war abroad. It seems that they can only purify the fiefdom and the people within the fiefdom through this method.
Kou Ji's purpose is actually similar to theirs, but Kou Ji is not that cruel.
He just transferred the cruel things out and left them to professionals.
After Di Qing met Kou Ji this time, he was not in a hurry to leave. Instead, he brought Kou Ji unexpected news.
Qingdu.
Inner Palace.
Kou Ji, Liu Heng and Di Qing were sitting in the greenhouse.
Di Qing said to Kou Ji and Liu Heng in a deep voice: "People from the Gao family have appeared near my fiefdom."
Kou Ji and Liu Heng looked at Di Qing in shock.
Yanshan Mansion, where the Gao family is located, is thousands of miles away from Di Qing's Beihai Mansion.
The Gao family is considered to have the worst fiefdom among several vassals, and its development is also the slowest among several vassals.
It is impossible for the Gao family to occupy thousands of miles of land in such a short period of time.
The herders on the grassland either became slaves of Zhu Neng and others, became criminals of the Song Dynasty, or became miners under Di Qing.
No matter how powerful the Gao family is, they cannot occupy a territory covering thousands of miles with the tens of thousands of people they have.
Even if they integrated into the grassland people and made a living by herding horses and sheep, they would not be able to travel thousands of miles.