Chinese dining table

Chapter 1266: The Most Painful Punishment at the Most Proud Moment

Li Hong had been in Chang'an for sixteen days. Finally, on the seventeenth day, he came to the Yun family again.

Perhaps someone noticed that today, there were no scholars shouting in front of the Yun family's door, and it seemed very quiet.

Li Hong frowned and said, "Master, this won't work. No one will fall for such a simple trick."

Yun Chu took a sip of tea and said, "After a long time, someone will take the bait."

Li Hong said: "How about I reward those guys who come to my doorstep to curse?"

Yun Chu shook his head and said, "I can be shameless, but you must have dignity. Remember this, you must never lose your dignity before you are buried."

Li Hong smiled and said, "Disciple knows that I must be aboveboard."

Yun Chu said: "Emperor Taizong was a great man of his time. Although he had many flaws, he was a rare emperor who dared to act and take responsibility. If you want your Li family to move to a higher level, you have to be upright and aboveboard.

To you, all the conspiracies and intrigues are nothing more than small tricks that cannot be put on the table. If you stick to these four words, the Tang Dynasty will be able to prolong its prosperity for another hundred years."

Li Hong frowned and said, "Master, you are so scheming and plotting, but you want me to be fair and square. How unfair."

Yun Chu ignored Li Hong's complaints and frowned, "I have visited the Second Workshop these days. Do you have any experience?"

Li Hong shook his head and said, "I have been standing by the big teapot for a whole day. Apart from seeing that the steam can make the blades spin, I have not found anything else."

Yun Chu sighed and took Li Hong back to the study.

After lifting a large cloth, an exquisite small teapot appeared in front of Li Hong. Moreover, there were many mechanisms connected on this teapot, and there were even six wheels underneath. Under the wheels was a track made of flat iron, and some wooden strips were laid at the bottom. It looked strange.

Yun Chu filled the teapot with water and poured some red-hot charcoal into the fire mouth under the teapot. After a while, steam began to come out of the teapot, and the long connecting rod began to move back and forth. Then, the wheel connected to the connecting rod began to turn.

Finally, the entire teapot was carried by the rotating wheels on a not-so-small map model along the track across the mountains and hills...

Li Hong's eyes moved with the teapot, but Yun Chu pulled him to another piece of cloth. After lifting the cloth, there was still a teapot here, but the coupling device on the teapot was connected to a waterwheel. As Yun Chu filled the teapot with water and lit the stove, when the steam came out, the huge waterwheel began to rotate continuously, eventually lifting the water in the low place to the high point of the waterwheel's radius, and finally lifting the water in the low place to the high point.

Before Li Hong could figure out the principle of the self-rotating waterwheel, Yun Chu lifted another piece of cloth, revealing another teapot. However, this teapot had four wheels underneath. After the steam was boiled, the teapot with wheels automatically started to run on the ground.

As the teapot passed between Li Hong's legs, Yun Chu lifted another piece of cloth. Under the cloth was a hanging date-pit-shaped Kongming lantern. Under the Kongming lantern was not only the kerosene device that Li Hong had seen before, but also an exquisite small teapot at the back. As Yun Chu added water and lit the stove, two propellers at the back of the Kongming lantern began to rotate violently, causing the two-meter-long date-pit-shaped Kongming lantern to shake wildly.

Without waiting for Yun Chu to continue lifting the cloth behind, Li Hong took action himself, added water to any teapot he saw, and lit the fire... Then, the large study room, which had been dead silent just a moment ago, was filled with the distinctive puffing sound of steam, and the study room, which had been still just a moment ago, immediately turned into a lively place of activity.

Li Hong used one finger to press against the train that was climbing the mountain, and the wheels of the train immediately began to rotate in place. Yun Chu turned the valve, and the thrust on Li Hong's finger became stronger and stronger...

Yun Chu said softly: "Compared with these things, what is Chang'an? What are those petty intrigues? What are the so-called glory and wealth? Even the so-called greatest emperor in history is insignificant in front of these things!
Everyone says that I am reluctant to give up the little power in my hands because of the prosperity of Chang'an, but they don't know that for me, Chang'an is just a tool to push these things from toys to tools that can be truly used in all kinds of work and industries.

As long as these teapots are given enough water and have fire burning them, they will work day and night without getting tired, and will not complain or rebel. They will only continue to add wealth to the Tang Dynasty.

This is the true path to enriching the country and strengthening the military."

Li Hong stood up, letting the train run freely on the track, and said with some emotion: "It has to be the master——"

After saying that, he rolled up his sleeves guiltily and stretched out his hand, as if he had made a mistake as a teenager and was waiting for punishment from his master.

Yun Chu looked at Li Hong and said, "You have some resentment in your heart, right?"

Li Hong answered honestly: "I just feel that Master doesn't love me as much as before."

Yun Chu sighed and said, "You have completely forgotten everything I taught you. If you had used the thinking and perspective of those academics to consider the problem, you would definitely not be so confused after visiting the second workshop."

Li Hong sighed and said, "My father's giant bear died of old age. My father was immersed in grief all day and couldn't extricate himself. He even ignored the government affairs.

It just so happens that at this time, Father’s trust in Mother surpasses his trust in me…”

Yun Chu sneered and said, "You underestimate your father too much."

Li Hong gritted his teeth and said, "Disciple has tried several times, but there was no response from Father."

"You said it was a test. Do you think you can detect your father's true intentions? Li Hong, your mind is confused. Your behavior now is no different from that of Crown Prince Chengqian back then."

Li Hong was startled and was about to withdraw his hand when Yun Chu hit him with the ebony ruler in his hand. With a snap, Li Hong felt that he had lost feeling in his palm. Then, a needle-like pain made him scream.

Immediately, his body jumped out faster than his thoughts... If he accepted the master's punishment obediently, the master's punishment would be endless, so when accepting the master's punishment, it is best to run away... At most he would be chased and beaten.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Yun Chu's family politely escorted Li Hong, who was safe and sound, out of the house. The two of them even exchanged greetings for a while at the door.

As soon as Li Hong got on the carriage, he threw himself into Naha's plump arms and rubbed against her. Naha thought that Li Hong was in the mood here, so she pushed Li Hong's head away, only to find that Li Hong was not only crying but also had snot and snot streaming down his face. He was kneeling on the carriage and crawling quickly, with his hands constantly stroking his calves. Even then, he would occasionally free one hand to scratch his back.

It can be seen that Li Hong is really in extreme pain at this moment.

Naha grabbed Li Hong's palm and found that his palm was swollen like a pig's hoof. She lifted the hem of his robe and took off his socks, and found that Li Hong's calves were covered with purple and blue ridges...

Li Hong bit Naha's sleeve, and a slight roar continued in his throat, but he refused to let his mouth make any scream.

Naha hugged Li Hong and tears flowed down her face like a waterfall. She was very scared. Although her elder brother had taught Li Hong a lesson before, all the lessons combined were not as severe as this time.

She didn't know whether her brother's actions would ruin their relationship as master and disciple, and she didn't know what choice she should make at this time.

By the time Li Hong calmed down, he had already arrived at the Eastern Palace.

Li Hong, who had just curled up in a ball, still walked briskly when he got off the carriage.

But when they returned to the bedroom and Naha took off Li Hong's clothes, she found that except for his face, his whole body seemed to have been beaten. There was hardly any good meat on his body.

"Master beat me today and broke four of my rulers. Can you believe it?"

Li Hong finally roared.

The tears in Naha's eyes flowed more violently. She caressed Li Hong Ziqing's body in a panic and said, "What is this all for? What is this all for?"

Li Hong roared in pain, "Because he is too stupid. Master hates stupid people, and he hates it even more that his first disciple is a super stupid person who bought the casket and returned the pearl."

"That's not right. Didn't my brother always praise you for being smart?"

"No, the master feels sorry for me because I'm a fool, so he's just trying to please me."

"Everyone in the world says that you are the best prince in the Tang Dynasty."

"Everyone in the world is trying to trick me into becoming even more stupid so they can kill me and eat my meat."

"Brother Hong, please don't hate your brother, okay?"

"Why shouldn't I hate my master? He could have used other methods to educate me, but he chose to use a stick. Ah - I'm in so much pain. This method of education only belongs to the Wu brothers, not to me -"

At dawn, Yun Jin, Li Si and Yun Jin were missing from the Yun family's breakfast table. The three of them had stayed at Princess Anding's mansion last night, leaving only Yun Chu and his wife and Yun Luan at home.

Yun Chu still looked calm and composed. He could vaguely hear the criticisms of the scholars in Chang'an against him, but he drank the bowl of millet porridge with great sweetness.

Yu Xiurong's appearance was not as good as Yun Chu's. Her eyes were dark and it seemed that she did not sleep at all last night.

Yun Luan ate the salted soybeans one by one to delay time.

It was not until Yun Chu put down his bowl that Yun Luan asked in a low voice, "Father, did you beat the prince yesterday?"

Yun Chu shook his head and said, "No."

Yun Luan's face wrinkled into a bun shape immediately, and she whispered: "I heard the prince's screams clearly outside the study room."

Yun Chu glanced at his son and said, "No, it was because the prince was too excited after seeing the steam engine."

Yun Luan put down her chopsticks and said, "My son can still tell the difference between screaming and shouting."

Yun Chu said expressionlessly: "The time has come, you should go to work."

Yun Luan had no choice but to leave in displeasure.

As soon as his son left, Yu Xiurong asked worriedly, "Are you really okay?"

Yun Chu sighed and said, "He was successful at a young age, and his path was smooth and steady. Everyone believed that he would be the next emperor of the Tang Dynasty. However, is there really such a sure thing in the world?

The old emperor isn't dead yet, but the empress and the prince are already fighting each other. How do you think the emperor, who is still alive, will feel?
He seemed to have forgotten that what really allowed him to ascend the throne was the current emperor, not how much territory he occupied in the Tang Dynasty or how many ministers he won over. If the emperor really wanted to depose him, believe me, Li Hong's hope of ascending the throne would be extremely slim. "

Yu Xiurong whispered, "Didn't they say that the emperor has been living in Jiucheng Palace and not caring about anything because of the death of the giant bear?"

Yun Chu looked at Yu Xiurong with his sparkling eyes and said, "The Zhechongfu of the three counties of Pucheng, Weinan, and Dali in the East Prefecture were just replaced with new ones six days ago. They include the left and right Guoyi Duwei, the other general, the chief secretary, and the military officer."