Chinese dining table

Chapter 1267 The Giant Bear is Not Dead
Before the emperor's body is completely eaten by insects, we must be on guard against his resurrection.

There were no emperors in the era before Yun Chu, but he had witnessed how a harmless leader could betray a group of officials after his death.

In one county, two teams with a total of 69 people were arrested at once. The matter was very serious. An inconspicuous section chief was sentenced to two years and six months in prison in this political turmoil.

Li Zhi's political wisdom far exceeds that of the deceased leader. Yun Chu feels that Li Zhi wants to take away more people in one wave.

The mausoleum of Li Zhi in Qianxian County was built on a very large scale. The planning of this mountain mausoleum began in the year Li Zhi ascended the throne. The blueprint was completed in the sixth year of Yonghui, and the construction officially started in the first year of Longshuo. It is still under construction.

It is located on Liangshan Mountain, 170 miles away from Chang'an, covering an area of ​​5,000 acres. The three peaks of Liangshan Mountain are all included in it. The highest peak in the middle is the tomb that Li Zhi prepared for himself. After the high mountain was cut into a round hill, the other two peaks on the sides became two Rushan Mountains. The scale of the mausoleum is extremely spectacular.

The layout of Li Zhi's mausoleum is actually the same as that of Chang'an. There are two three-meter-high city walls outside the tomb, dividing the mausoleum into the outer city and the inner city. The only difference is that there are fewer city gates than Chang'an, with only four gates: Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise.

Although the scale of the mountain mausoleum is very large, it did not cost much of the national treasury. This is very different from the other imperial mausoleums, because the first year of Longshuo was the time when Li Ji led the army to return to the east. In other words, the construction of Li Zhi's mausoleum officially began after Li Ji destroyed the three kingdoms in Liaodong.

Li Zhi had told Yun Chu a long time ago that he had arranged a place for him in the imperial mausoleum...

Thinking about it now, this is quite scary. God knows whether Li Zhi wanted to bury Yun Chu alive in the imperial mausoleum or wait until Yun Chu died before burying him there.

If he were to be buried in the imperial mausoleum after his death, Yun Chu would still be willing. After all, this was a great honor. If he were to be buried in the imperial mausoleum alive, Yun Chu felt that this might not be much of an honor.

Ever since Qin Shi Huang used Terracotta Warriors to replace living people as burial objects, later emperors rarely used human sacrifices. Of course, this was just a matter of no large-scale human sacrifices. Small-scale human sacrifices were still common. For example, Emperor Wu of Han buried Lady Gouyi with him.

The "Book of Han" says that Lady Gouyi died because she made a mistake and was scolded by Emperor Wu of Han, which led to her death in depression.

"Records of the Grand Historian" says that Emperor Wu of Han was worried that after his death, his son would be weak and his mother would be strong, so he ordered the death of Lady Gouyi.

Yun Chu learned from Xu Jingzong that both of the above were nonsense. Lady Gouyi was sacrificed by Emperor Wu of Han, and her sacrifice was the kind where the internal organs were hollowed out and filled with spices to ensure that they would never decay.

Yun Chu was more inclined to Xu Jingzong's inference. After all, what made Emperor Wu of Han most unforgettable about Lady Gouyi was her peerless beauty. If she was buried casually and eventually was riddled with holes by insects, it would not look good.

Crown Prince Li Hong also had this worry, especially after being beaten by Yun Chu, this worry became even more intense. He felt that based on what he was doing now, he might not live longer than his father.

So, after staying in Chang'an for eighteen days, he went straight to the Liangshan Imperial Mausoleum construction site for inspection. After inspecting the imperial mausoleum construction site, he found out a lot of illegal activities. Corruption was rampant here, which was shocking.

The furious Prince Li Hong of the Tang Dynasty went on a killing spree at the Liangshan Imperial Mausoleum. He took the blood of corrupt officials and mixed it with cinnabar and other pigments to paint the murals in the White Tiger Palace to increase the killing power of the White Tiger.

Finally, 600,000 strings of cash were allocated from the Eastern Palace treasury to purchase new building materials to make up for the mistakes of corrupt officials.

After finishing these things, he hurriedly set off and headed straight for Jiucheng Palace, ready to personally take care of his sick and mentally unwell old father.

As for the ongoing fierce battle for Chang'an, Li Hong felt that such a trivial matter could not be compared with the importance of taking care of the old man's body.

Li Hong has looked stronger recently, and even his usually handsome face has become much rounder than before.

People who don’t know think that the Crown Prince has gained weight, but only people like Naha who know the truth know that not only is the Crown Prince’s whole body swollen, he also has a low fever.

It took Crown Prince Li Hong a full half month to walk from Liangshan to Jiucheng Palace.

When he arrived at Jiucheng Palace, the prince had finally regained his former handsome appearance. Although the emperor allowed Prince Liu to enter Jiucheng Palace, the prince stubbornly asked Prince Liu to station in the wilderness sixty miles away from Jiucheng Palace. He himself entered Jiucheng Palace with two hundred guards and Naha.

Li Zhi became fat. There was nothing that could be done about it. As long as the people in the Li family didn't keep exercising, they would soon become fat.

Of course, at the feet of the fat Li Zhi, there was an even fatter bear lying down.

Li Hong only needed to take a glance at the giant bear's eyes to know that the dead giant bear was not the one rumored by the people of Chang'an, because it was impossible for other giant bears to show pity for him.

Li Zhi was holding a golden cup filled with grape wine. His one eye was full of teasing. He said to Li Hong, who had just finished his greeting, "Why, were you taught a lesson by your master?"

Li Hong put his head at his father's feet and said ashamedly: "The lesson was very severe, father, please don't teach me anymore, I can't bear it anymore."

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Take off your clothes and let your father see you. Then we can decide whether to continue to teach you a lesson."

Li Hong obediently took off his clothes, revealing his colorful body that had not yet recovered.

Li Zhi stepped forward and poked Li Hong's scar, which had turned green, and said, "It seems that you were indeed carefully disciplined by your master."

Li Hong smiled bitterly and said, "Except for the soles of my feet and this face, there is no good meat left."

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Have you seen the second workshop?"

Li Hong nodded and said, "I have seen it."

Li Zhi smiled and said, "What did you figure out?"

Li Hong said: "My master taught me so much knowledge, but I have already learned it all."

This answer obviously did not meet Li Zhi's expectations, so Li Zhi continued to ask: "Why do you say that?"

Li Hong said with a strong sense of longing: "That big kettle is really important."

Li Zhi frowned and asked, "What big kettle?"

Li Hong was surprised and said, "It's the big kettle that can use steam to blow the impeller to rotate."

Li Zhi put down his wine glass and said, "Didn't you go to see the artillery?"

Li Hong said: "I've seen it, it's nothing special. Besides, this thing is not used by the Tang army at present, but it needs to be kept secret and not leaked, otherwise, it will be disadvantageous to our Tang Dynasty."

Li Zhi sat up and motioned Li Hong to put on his clothes, then said, "Tell me the reason behind this."

Li Hong said as he put on his clothes: "The appearance of this thing actually caused the most damage to our Tang Dynasty soldiers. Originally, our Tang Dynasty soldiers were invincible, but the appearance of artillery has offset part of their combat power.

This item must not fall into the hands of the enemy, otherwise, the consequences will be very serious."

Li Zhi pondered for a moment and said, "You mean to say that this thing cannot be popularized?"

Li Hong nodded and said, "The emergence of artillery has offset all the advantages of our Tang Dynasty soldiers in terms of training, equipment, and tactics. After all, no matter how brave, smart, or well-equipped the soldiers are, they are no different from the mob in front of artillery. The moment the bomb explodes, both the brave and the cowardly will be turned into dust without distinction.

Therefore, I think that, except for my father's personal guards, this item should be strictly prohibited from being passed on to others."

Li Zhi stared into Li Hong's eyes for a long time, then slowly said: "My mausoleum will be completed soon, you'd better not be too anxious."

Li Hong said: "I was a little anxious because of my mother's pressure. After being beaten by my master, I suddenly realized that I don't need to worry at all. I still have a lot of agricultural work that should be promoted and I have a lot of new ideas that I want to implement in various parts of the Tang Dynasty. Now, there is a big kettle for me to find out that compared with doing practical things, power and other things can be put aside."

Li Zhi asked the waiter to pour a glass of wine for Li Hong. After the father and son took a sip, Li Zhi said, "Don't be like Crown Prince Cheng Qian. That's not good."

Li Hong nodded and said, "Being upright and aboveboard is the code of conduct that I will follow throughout my life. Without it, I will not be able to surpass my grandfather."

Yun Chu returned to the study, and Yin Erhu, who was waiting in the study, put a bamboo tube in Yun Chu's hand.

When he opened it, there was only a finger-wide note inside, which read - the giant bear is not dead.

Yun Chu placed the note on the candle, lit it, and then crushed it into powder. Then he said to Yin Erhu, "Prince Yong, is Princess Taiping secretly casting cannons?"

Yin Erhu said: "So far, the person who privately forged the cannon is Xie Shilong, the scholar of the North Gate. It seems that this person has no connection with Prince Yong and Princess Taiping."

Yun Chu nodded and said, "Helan Minzhi still stays indoors?"

Yin Erhu said: "I suspect that the person staying in the Helan Mansion is not Helan Minzhi."

Yun Chu was stunned for a moment and said, "Find him."

Yin Erhu said: "There are already three groups of people looking for Helan Minzhi. He should not be able to escape."

Yun Chu sighed and said, "I should have killed him directly at the beginning."

Yin Erhu said: "Xu Jingye has also disappeared for four years, but someone claimed to have seen him in Caozhou recently."

Yun Chu shook his head with difficulty and whispered, "I always thought that Li Chengxiu was the one that Ying Gong's life depended on, but I didn't expect that Ying Gong's final entrustment was given to Xu Jingye after all.

After all, he is an old fellow who was born a bandit. He will feel uncomfortable if he does not rebel..."

Yun Chu knew that after the artillery came into being, with its powerful destructive power, it would definitely arouse the bad intentions of countless ambitious people.

Li Zhi also knew this, but he seduced those who were eyeing his throne, while Yun Chu seduced those ruffians who had already hidden themselves and were ready to hide in the shadows and wait for the right time.

Anyway, at this moment, the cannon casting technology has been spread through the scholars of the North Gate. Presumably, it won’t be long before the copper coins of the Tang Dynasty will become scarce again.

Yun Chu felt it was necessary to sell the huge amount of copper coins stored in Chang'an at a high price.