Chapter 675: Forgetting One's Origins
The first wave of envoys to the New Song Dynasty had just watched the emperor's performance and knew that the emperor was concerned about the consumption of the New Song Dynasty's garrison. The New Song Dynasty was powerful, and they said that our Mayi Kingdom was small, with few people and little expenditure. The Shangguo navy bought food and vegetables for daily needs at the port, and the market envoy reported that they collected three months' taxes in just one day.
The mastermind immediately understood that his little emperor had set his sights on the daily expenses of the upper country's garrison in Mayi, which was definitely not a small amount.
This guy has been to many cities in the New Song Kingdom, and has seen the huge seaports of Ningbo and Fuzhou. He exclaimed: The seaports and docks of the New Song Kingdom are several or even ten times larger than ours. If they want to build a port in our Mayi garrison, it must be very large. It must be cast with steel bars and earth cement to be as strong and durable as rock.
That means if we want to make earth cement and build blast furnaces to smelt iron here, how many craftsmen are needed to do the work? Your Majesty only needs to collect a capitation fee from each craftsman, which is not a small amount.
The little emperor nodded proudly, stared at the mastermind and asked him to call him "Your Majesty." Don't make a mistake and offend the superior country.
The mastermind nodded in agreement. This guy is a good ghost. He said proudly: "Your Majesty, didn't you see it? The navy of the New Song Kingdom is all men, and men can't live without women. From now on, our Tianshui Lane can open three more streets to send tenderness to the navy of the upper country. The three times more young ladies will ensure that the business is booming."
The little emperor's eyes glowed red as if he was looking at a mountain of gold that could never be emptied. He shouted, "Let's do it. We must become a vassal state of the New Song State. Go and bring the general back to me."
This fellow was afraid that his subordinates would not observe etiquette and offend the superior country, so he immediately started with himself and changed his name to "This King".
In Chengdu, the Central Council of the New Song Dynasty entered a summer vacation mode. Zhao Yulin left Huayue as regent and took Taijiantang and all the officials of the Central Council to Qingcheng Mountain for a summer vacation.
Tianjizi, the leader of the Qingcheng Sect, met him at the foot of the mountain and respectfully led him to Jianfu Palace. Lao Cao admired the fact that Qingcheng had been repaired year after year, and the stone steps had become more and more exquisite. The section of Jianfu Palace was even replaced with white marble, and the road became wider and smoother.
Tianjizi immediately explained: This is due to the strong support of the court, the orderly management of the scenic area, and the huge ticket revenue, so there is money for renovation and construction of new houses. In the past two years, Qingcheng Mountain Scenic Area has also handed over 50% of the ticket revenue to the county to repair the official road to Hengqu, to connect Qingcheng Mountain and Hengqu Town, and facilitate tourists to travel.
Old Cao was amused and said with a laugh that this is right, it cannot just be used to provide food and entertainment for us bureaucrats, it must also benefit the people.
Tianjizi reported to him: the people in the mountains who were willing to move down the mountain have all moved out, and those who have not moved have all moved into new houses. The scenic area has arranged jobs for those who have labor at home. Two hunters have savings and came down the mountain to open an inn to sell game, and they are making a good living.
Fan Zhonglian exclaimed, "Great kindness, great kindness! We just want to make the people rich."
"Right, Lord Brother."
Zhao Yulin was a little confused when he saw Fan Zhong's serious look. He said, "Don't call me Lord Fan as the King or the King. We are on vacation now. It's more intimate to call me Brother Yulin."
Everyone started laughing.
He said: Officials at our level must take the lead in reducing the privileges of the emperor and the head of state. In the future, the directors of the Central Council will be replaced every five years, or at most ten years. There will be many heads of state.
Lao Cao mumbled that this was the truth, and there were several people who had served as rulers.
Gradually, the crowd started discussing.
At night, Zhidi asked him: Brother, what you said today is to change the term of office of the officials in the Central Council?
Zhao Yulin pinched her butt and said: You are really an official who has been the Minister of Personnel, so sensitive. He felt that the country was becoming more and more stable, and would gradually turn to making a living and earning money to provide a good life for the people. The selection and appointment of officials should be standardized, and a system should be formed to pass it on.
I didn't care about his nagging. I had already climbed over him and started to move. I put my mouth close to his ear and said, "What should I do first when I go to bed? Make me happy first."
Zhao Yulin's chariot has been started by Shunzhidi. The couple quickly got into their roles and performed a joyous song seamlessly.
The next day, Zhao Yulin summoned all the officials to have a chat. He told Cao Youwen that in the future, Taijiantang must further exercise its rights and responsibilities of making suggestions and supervising. Officials at all levels, including the director of the Central Yuan, must accept the supervision of Taijiantang. No matter who it is, as long as there is evidence of illegal or criminal acts, Taijiantang should impeach him.
The gentlemen immediately started a heated discussion.
This is the right that Zhao Yulin granted to Taijiantang.
In the past, when Ding Gong was in charge of Taijiantang, he basically just ate and drank and did some empty research. Now Zhao Yulin wants them to take real responsibility and do things.
This was also what he and Cao Youwen had discussed.
Lao Cao immediately nodded and said: The burden of Taijiantang is not light. Although we are all old people who have retired from heavy posts, we still receive salaries from the court, so we have to worry about state affairs and share responsibilities for the Central Council.
Lao Cao shared the idea of Elder Taijian and the research group to conduct research in the counties and prefectures, which was immediately responded to by everyone. They believed that this would make up for the shortcomings of the Central Court's inspections.
The inspections arranged by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection every year cannot cover the entire country. Taijiantang will conduct another survey, focusing on covering areas that have not been inspected. After comprehensive and in-depth information collection, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection will be able to grasp the basic situation of the country more accurately, which is a great thing for optimizing the formulation of national policies.
Seeing that everyone was already whispering and discussing enthusiastically, Zhao Yulin suggested that they disperse and let Lao Cao take charge, so that everyone could freely group together to discuss the details.
He called Zhidi out, and I happily asked him what he was doing.
Shall we discuss it as a group?
Zhao Yulin pulled her up the mountain and asked her with a smile, "Isn't it enough to discuss it all night last night?"
Shall we do it again tonight?
The woman immediately giggled and ran up the hill.
Guard Captain Jing Gang took two quick steps and asked him: Where are you going, Tianshi Cave?
Zhao Yulin said, let’s go there. The scenery of Qingcheng Mountain and the natural pictures are the most beautiful place. Let’s take a walk and have a look.
The two were enjoying the scenery and eating fresh tofu pudding very leisurely, when they heard Jing Gang shouting: Third Young Master, Old Madam Jia invites you.
He looked up and saw Imperial Concubine Jia coming down from the mountain. She said to him with a smile, "The old emperor invites you and your wife Zhidi to go to the Ancestral Hall and have a seat."
Zhao Yulin thought that Madam Jia, the imperial concubine, had actually come down the mountain to wait for him, so he immediately said, "I'll go right away, I'll go right away. It's just a small matter, why bother Er Niang to run away, just let someone know."
Princess Jia said happily: I'm not tired, it's just a good opportunity to stretch my muscles.
When they entered, the emperor, the empress, and Old Lady Xie were all sitting in the living room waiting. When she saw Shunzhi Di coming, the empress immediately stood up and offered her seat.
Zhao Yulin walked over quickly and stopped them, asking Jinggang to bring a chair and sit down with Zhidi. He said with a smile that this was a family chat and they couldn't lose etiquette.
What he meant was that when discussing business matters, one should follow the rules, but when talking about family matters, one can be casual.
The old emperor said with a smile that he had something to discuss with his son-in-law. Luoyang and Kaifeng had been recovered for many years. He wanted to go there to take a look, trace his roots and pay homage to his ancestors. What do you think, son-in-law?
Damn, this is just checking his army.
Zhao Yulin had just said that he should not be rude when the old emperor said that he wanted to go to Luoyang to worship his ancestors. This was a virtue that had been passed down by the Chinese people for thousands of years. How could he, as a son-in-law, not agree?
Isn't that forgetting one's roots?
Seeing him stunned, Shunzhidi was angry that the old emperor had given his son Yulin a difficult problem. The expression on her face froze and she drank her tea without saying a word.
The situation suddenly became awkward.
The expressions of the empress and the imperial concubine also became very ugly. They were all complaining about the son of Shi who came up with the idea. What other ideas were not working? Why did he have to suggest to the emperor to go to Henan to worship the ancestors? Yulin was really in danger.
After a short rest, Zhao Yulin said that this was a good thing and there was no rush. He asked Jing Gang to call the old deacon from the Ministry of Rites to come and talk to him.
The old emperor didn't know how he was going to arrange it. Looking at that expression, he thought he had touched Zhao Yulin's sore spot and was going to restrict his freedom. He immediately smiled and said it was okay, and if his son-in-law felt it was inappropriate, he didn't have to go.
Old Mrs. Xie also felt that the atmosphere was not right, and she said coldly that any Chinese who did not recognize his ancestral roots was a wicked son and had forgotten his roots.
What's wrong with the government asking us to go to Luoyang to worship our ancestors?
Zhao Yulin didn't even look at her . He waved his hand and asked the steward to write down: First, the Ministry of Rites will send people to Luoyang and Kaifeng to repair the tombs of the emperors of the previous dynasties. They do not need to be expanded or reduced. After thorough repair, they will be open to the people of the New Song Kingdom as a place for the people of the New Song Kingdom to travel, pay homage, and worship.
The old emperor, the empress and Old Lady Xie were stunned and stared at him angrily.
Zhao Yulin continued: Second , the Ministry of Rites will send an imperial envoy to Shaanxi Province to repair the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor and prepare for the public sacrifice by the new Song court on Qingming Festival next year.
The butler had already sat down at the desk nearby and was recording everything quickly, but these things had nothing to do with the old emperor's request. What was the point of the third young master speaking so confidently here?
Old Mrs. Xie continued to glare at Zhao Yulin, to see if he had anything else to say.
Zhao Yulin then said to the emperor: Speaking of ancestors, Huangdi is the ancestor recognized by all Chinese people. If Dad wants to worship his ancestors, he can go to Shaanxi to offer public sacrifices to the emperor. By then, the Central Council will appoint Dad as a special envoy to represent the New Song court to offer public sacrifices to Huangdi and pray for the people of the world. What do you think?
The emperor was already stunned when he heard this. The empress, the imperial concubine and Old Lady Xie all stared at him in surprise with wide eyes, their faces full of disbelief.
Zhao Yulin looked at the old deacon and asked him if he remembered.
The steward had placed the brush on the pen holder, stood up, bowed, and said: Remember, I have written down every word the king said.
Zhao Yulin smiled and asked him to sit down and talk. He turned to the old emperor and said: The mausoleum of our ancestors was built with the land and money of the imperial court. The foundation of the Great Song Dynasty came first, and then the new Song Dynasty became strong. It should be repaired so that people can travel and pay homage to it, and let our descendants remember it from generation to generation.
