Chapter 690: Old Ox Craftsman
Due to the massive conscription of soldiers by the island country of Japan, there was a shortage of men even in the workshops, forcing the women in the city to take off their kimonos and put on craftsmen's short shirts to serve as strong laborers. Like the men, they rolled up their sleeves and swung hammers to forge iron and make weapons. All the rough and heavy work was done by women and the elderly.
However, the island nation of Japan had spent more than half a year desperately manufacturing weapons to send to Goryeo for the war, and there was already a serious iron shortage in the country. They were surrounded by the sea and could not borrow or purchase from their neighbors. What should they do?
This did not pose a problem for Fujiwara. He ordered the lords and guards of various places to search and confiscate iron knives from house to house. They collected all kinds of iron tools, including kitchen knives, machetes, butcher knives, iron pots and iron kettles. All the iron tools were collected to make weapons.
This means that the island country of Japan has quickly returned to the Paleolithic Age, and every household has been crying and wailing as they switch to using earthen stoves, stone pots, stone knives, and stone axes.
Although the overall quality of life of the Japanese people on the island declined significantly, they were ordinary lower-class civilians. Generals and lords like Fujiwara were still quite well off and were not affected by the war at all.
Not only that, with the decree of Emperor Amaterasu, the whole country worked together to support the front line, and ships full of military supplies and new soldiers were sent to Goryeo.
The Shunfeng Division of the New Song Dynasty quickly gathered this information. The Minister of War Yang Xingyun believed that Goryeo and the Island Country were preparing for a decisive battle, so he immediately asked Miao Gui from the Privy Council to go to Zhao Yulin to report.
After reading the military report, he nodded and said: The two countries are mobilizing so intensively, there will definitely be a war. He asked Yang Xingyun what he planned to do?
Yang Xingyun said: Liaoyang has been preparing for war with Japan for a long time, so you can ask Liu Zheng to be ready for the attack, urgently transport food and grass, and increase troops to the border.
Miao Gui believed that the navy could also be deployed to the Yalu River estuary and the Han River estuary to prepare for war.
Zhao Yulin shook his head and asked them: "Does this mean that Goryeo will lose the war? The two countries haven't even started fighting yet, and we are putting on such a posture, which is equivalent to discouraging Goryeo."
His opinion was to let the Ministry of Rites announce to the world that Zhenla was bullying the weak Champa, and that the New Song Dynasty must uphold justice and eradicate this little gangster of Zhenla.
Yang Xingyun and Miao Gui were stunned immediately.
The trouble was clearly on the Korean Peninsula, so why did the Third Young Master go to the south to cause trouble? They looked at Zhao Yulin in confusion, not understanding what he meant.
Zhao Yulin smiled as he watched them pick up the tea bowls, gently blew open the bubble and savoured the Bamboo Leaf Green tea.
Soon, the two understood and looked at him in surprise.
Miao Gui patted the armrest of the chair and said: Great, that's great.
We just need to act as if it's none of our business, and go south first to eliminate that little bastard Zhenla, so that the Japanese can go to the island without worry and fight to the death with Goryeo.
When Goryeo sees that we are standing idly by and have no intention of helping, they will also fight the Japanese pirates with all their might. As the saying goes, a desperate army will win. This will inspire the fighting spirit of the Goryeo people and defeat the island country of Japan in one battle.
Yang Xingyun said with a smile: In secret, we should make preparations as soon as possible, and when they are exhausted, we will launch a strong attack and wipe out the Japanese pirates who have landed on the island in one fell swoop.
Miao Gui immediately exclaimed two words: "Beautiful."
Zhao Yulin said with a smile: "Beautiful, beautiful shovel."
He stared at his two stunned brothers and said: We must secretly prepare the navy and the marines, and after annihilating the Japanese pirates who have landed on the island, immediately carry out a cross-sea landing operation, march into the Japanese mainland, and bite off a piece of their meat.
Yang Xingyun exclaimed in surprise: "Good, very good."
Miao Gui laughed and said that he was short-sighted. The Japanese pirates had brought all their forces to Goryeo to fight. If we annihilated their troops, the island would naturally be empty. If we landed on the island and fought again at this time, we would be unstoppable.
When the three people looked at each other, their eyes shone brightly.
Miao Gui immediately requested permission to march south to Thang Long Prefecture and march into Champa together with Du Baiyue to test the combat effectiveness of the newly formed First Army.
Zhao Yulin nodded and asked the Ministry of War to use the generals from Liaoyang Road as the main force and draw soldiers from various places to go to the First Army in Yunnan. According to the configuration of one to three, two sets of generals at all levels of the new army should be set up to follow the , study and research tactics, and find out problems and shortcomings.
He believed that after defeating the Zhenla garrison in Champa, these generals should be able to become familiar with the programming and command and dispatch of the new army, and we can quickly form the Second and Third Armies.
Yang Xingyun and Miao Gui were pleasantly surprised and exclaimed, "Good, very good."
Zhao Yulin didn't want to listen to the two of them complaining anymore, so he told them to go and get busy. Minister of Rites Li Liang had gone to Shaanxi to worship Emperor Huang, and Miao Gui needed to take care of the imperial edict. He still had a lot of things to do here.
The two old brothers immediately said goodbye and left.
He asked his maid to invite the Minister of Works Yu Dayi and the Minister of Transport Li Dagui to come and discuss matters.
Zhao Yulin was holding a cup of tea and was about to turn into the small reception room to rest, but he saw Zhao Guangshun rushing in. He quickly put down the cup of tea, and asked with a smile why the good girl came to the office and whether she could go home if she had anything to say.
Guangshun said with a stern face that what she wanted to talk about was official business. Was Wei Rensheng, the young deacon of the Ministry of Works, going to Qinzhou to be an official?
Zhao Yulin didn't know why this girl was concerned about the court's employment.
He asked the maid to serve tea to his daughter first, and said with a smile, "Yes, how did Guangshun know that? Is it that Lord Wei has a criminal record, is incompetent, or is there something wrong that angered Guangshun?"
Zhao Guangshun shook her head and nodded vigorously. She thought Wei Rensheng was not suitable to work in Qinzhou. It was best for him to be a small deacon in the Ministry of Works. It turned out that Wei Rensheng was very happy after accepting Yu Dayi's summons and telling him that the third young master had decided to send him to Qinzhou. She immediately went to Huaxi to talk to Guangshun. The little girl knew it immediately.
Zhao Guangshun had just been together with Wei Rensheng for only three days when his lover wanted to leave immediately. The girl was depressed and immediately came to his father to make amends.
Zhao Yulin laughed when he heard this. Seeing that his daughter did not drink tea, but sat obediently on the chair playing with the accessories around her waist, with a strange expression on her face, she was nothing like the Zhao Guangshun he usually saw. He felt that something was fishy, so he told her that this was not a joke and he had to think about it carefully.
Guangshun didn't look at him and muttered: Anyway, she won't allow the little deacon to go to Qinzhou for work. Daddy, you can do whatever you want.
At this moment, Yu Dayi and Li Dagui arrived.
Seeing this, the two of them shouted happily: The third princess, it is really the third princess who is here.
Zhao Guangshun opened his mouth and called out "Uncle" twice. He smiled at the two men with difficulty. Zhao Yulin immediately pulled his daughter out of the house and told her to go home and wait.
The two ministers said happily: No hurry, they are not in a hurry.
Zhao Yulin invited them to sit down in the small living room and told them that he was planning to hold a commendation ceremony for great craftsmen, to reward the masters and great craftsmen who had made outstanding contributions in inventions and new machinery manufacturing across the country, and to encourage these people to make down-to-earth contributions to the court.
Li Dagui was delighted and said that it was well deserved. Many of the masters who participated in the road construction were well-educated people who were well-read. They lived and ate in the mud and solved problems just like the soldiers and common people on our construction site. They should be rewarded well.
Zhao Yulin shook his head and criticized Li Dagui for having the wrong idea. He said that scholars should be rewarded and that craftsmen who were devoted to handicrafts should also be rewarded for their innovations.
Da Kui immediately came to his senses and even said “right, right, right” and he should be rewarded.
Yu Dayi asked him: So all the craftsmen and masters who are engaged in craftsmanship and inventions will be selected and awarded?
Zhao Yulin said, "That's right." He asked Yu Dayi to go to Hongmeng Valley and have a good discussion with the valley master Chen Xian. There are many masters in Cuiping Mountain and Hongmeng Valley who are like old oxen. They have been working in the trial production institute all their lives and have never come out to see the new city and new face outside. We should give these meritorious officials big rewards.
At this point, he thought that the Ministry of Rites should take the lead in selecting hardworking craftsmen and Lu Ban-type craftsmen from all over the country. He asked the two to discuss with the Ministry of Rites to select the great craftsmen who really worked hard in the new Song Dynasty and reward them well.
We need to establish a system to hold this event every three or five years, so that these people can have enough food and clothing and gain recognition and respect from society.
Seeing how much he cared about the construction, the two ministers were so happy that they said goodbye and left.
When Zhao Yulin returned, he saw Guangshun snuggling in Chen Chen's arms and asked her how Wei Rensheng bullied her.
Chen Chen said with a smile that our Guangshun had fallen in love with the little deacon. How could your father send the person he loved to Qinzhou with just one sentence?
Quick, quick, quick, tell the truth.
Zhao Guangshun stood beside Chen Chen shyly and rubbed the corner of his clothes. When he saw the maid bringing tea, he immediately took it and gave it to Zhao Yulin.
Chen Chen pretended to be angry and said: Look, our daughter is so well-behaved, how can a father have the heart to ruin her happiness? I will issue an imperial decree to keep her life in Jinguan City.
Zhao Yulin laughed and said that our Guangshun is only a little old, but Wei Rensheng is not young at all.
Zhao Guangshun immediately said: She looks like an older brother, doesn’t she look older at all?
Chen Chen glared at him and said: Guangshun’s mother looks much younger than you, not to mention Hulan, why don’t you think so?
Zhao Yulin felt deflated and said to Guangshun: This is the court cultivating Wei Rensheng. How to employ people is a national affair. Children should not be so willful and throw tantrums.
Chen Chen unhappily asked him to get out of the way and went on with her business, as she had something to say to the good girl.
Zhao Yulin knew that everything was fine, so he went back to the study to work.
In Huaxi Village outside the west gate, Wei Rensheng got the official seal for his appointment to Qinzhou. He invited his good friends to the gate to buy tickets in high spirits, intending to go in for food and entertainment, but his head kept shaking and looking around, searching for his third princess.
However, he didn't recognize any of the ticket sellers, and the ticket girl asked him who he was looking for.
Are you still buying tickets?
This girl asked carefully: Then, where is the third princess? Why is Miss Guangshun not here?
The two girls looked at them warily and said coldly: The third princess is very busy and has no time to stay here every day. We are the ones selling tickets here now.
Wei Rensheng suddenly felt weak all over. He took the ticket and walked around listlessly with classmate Jiang.
Classmate Jiang asked him: Which Guangshun girl? Is she the girl I met at the Qintai that day who was going to marry my brother? She is so pretty.
Wei Rensheng said proudly: That's right, they have both been to Huaxi Village twice.
