Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

"My lord is worried that the villain did not meet King Zhenbei face to face this time. Most of the time he was negotiating with one of his aides surnamed Huang. King Zhenbei seems to listen to him very much. It is said that this person has a high prestige in the northwest. He can even influence King Zhenbei's thoughts, and the locals call him Huang Junshi."

Li Xu tried hard to recall what kind of person his eldest brother was, but all he could think of were some subjective evaluations. In fact, the two brothers didn't spend much time together, and after so many years, people would change. of.

"In your opinion, is King Zhenbei credible?"

Manager Jin smiled but said nothing, and then said: "Compared to Zhenbei King, Huang Junshi has a clear mind and seems to be reasonable."

Li Xu planned to ask Ye Changqing to send someone to investigate the details of this Huang Junshi afterwards. This person should be the chief think tank of the eldest prince. Such people often play a role in deciding the life and death of the master.

If he is a treacherous and evil person, then the northwest may be turned into a mess by him. If he is a kind and benevolent person, then it can only be said that the eldest prince is lucky to meet a subordinate with both ability and political integrity .

"My lord, the contract has been completed, and King Zhenbei will never go back on his word, but you are right to be worried. If he wants to steal technology, the northwest is his territory. We are beyond our reach. We are too passive, and even the entire factory may be taken away by him for nothing. Walk."

Li Xu originally wanted to build a factory in the Northwest. On the one hand, he wanted to save costs, and on the other hand, he also wanted to deal with the First Prince. The loss of a factory is nothing, but he cannot be ignorant of the First Prince. As long as someone enters the Northwest, Then you can gather useful intelligence.

But Li Xu would definitely not be willing to let him give away the completed factory to others.

Therefore, he needs to know what kind of character the eldest prince is. The king of Zhenbei has a good reputation outside. At least he has guarded the northwest for so many years, and the Huns rarely take advantage of it. The church is turbulent, and the number of troops that can be dispatched every year is very small. Under such circumstances, it is still very easy for the Northwest Army to win.

Since Guanshi Jin had never dealt with the First Prince, Li Xu stopped asking, and asked a different question: "What do you think of the Northwest? I have never been there, how is the economy there?"

Guanshi Jin hesitated for a moment, and then suddenly began to untie his belt. Li Xu looked at him inexplicably, and Liu Shu stood in front of Li Xu, afraid of dirtying his prince's eyes.

"Guard Jin..." Liu Shu was about to issue a warning, when he saw Guanshi Jin take off a jacket, put on the jacket again, tidy himself up again, and then handed over the jacket.

Liu Shu was still nagging in his heart: Why give the prince a piece of ragged clothes?And the clothes can smell bad from so far away, and I don't know how long it hasn't been washed.

But he didn't dare not to pick it up, and when he got his hands on it, Liu Shu saw a faint pattern drawn on the white silk cloth, and the lines looked familiar.

"This is...?" He raised his head and asked Jin Guanshi. He wanted to tell the other party that not everything can be brought to the prince. The origin of this thing is unknown, so he dare not hand it over without asking.

Guanshi Jin took a step back, bowed and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. On this clothes is a map of Northwest China drawn by me. Although it's not detailed, the terrain along the way from the capital is what I walked step by step."

Li Xu asked Liu Shu to bring it up. This map should be drawn by him every day. Because it cannot see the water, it has not been washed, and I don't know how long it has been worn on the body, so it smells a little heavy.

But Li Xu didn't care about this, he opened the clothes, and what he saw was a very detailed and clear map, the drawing technique was actually very similar to his.

He looked up at Guanshi Jin, and the other party explained very interestingly: "I saw the map you hung in the prince's study before, and it has distinctive features. You explained it to me, and I drew it according to this method. I really looked at it more Clear and clear."

Li Xu remembered that there was such a thing, but he only said a few words casually when he saw that Guanshi Jin was interested in his map. He didn't expect that the other party was learning and using it. If such a person hadn't been exiled overseas, he must have been able to You've made your mark in the officialdom, right?

"You are very good, and this map is also very good. Can I make a copy?" Li Xu's question made Jin Rongshun stunned. He thought that this thing must belong to King Shun. There was no intention of snatching it.

This map was drawn by him for the first time, and it took several months to draw it stroke by stroke. To be honest, he was not willing to hand it in, but he would be summoned immediately after returning. He didn't have time to redraw a copy, so he thought Definitely can't keep it.

He lowered his head, his eyes were a little shaken, and he was a little dazed. He thought of the experience of the past year, and Li Xu's trust and trust in him. one.

"This painting is done in a hurry. If the prince can rest assured, he can wait for the humble official to take it back and draw a new one. It will be cleaner."

Li Xu has nothing to worry about, and he has roughly understood the situation in the Northwest after a few glances. Outside of Sha, the water and soil in other places are still very rich, and there are a lot of businessmen traveling between Dayan and the surrounding small countries, so the economic level is definitely not bad.

Li Xu handed the map back to him, asked him some more questions, and sent him down to draw the map.

Before Guanshi Jin left, he also mentioned in passing: "My lord, when I came back from my humble position, I passed by the imperial tomb and went to meet the third prince secretly, and found that he was often not in the imperial tomb, but went to Cangzhou in disguise. He went there for ten days. Half a month."

Li Xu didn't expect that there would be news about the third prince, and he didn't expect Guanshi Jin to pay attention to the third prince's movements. He nodded and said, "I know this matter well, thank you for your hard work."

After hearing the words, Guanshi Jin left neatly. When he walked out of the study, the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously, thinking: King Shun obviously wanted to fight for the position, otherwise he would not always pay attention to the movements of the other princes. That's right, it's worth dying for yourself.

Liu Shu closed the door and had a private conversation with Li Xu, "My lord, can the matter of the third prince be revealed to the emperor?"

"But find out why he went to Cangzhou?" Li Xu was quite surprised when he received the news earlier, but the third prince has never been a quiet person, so it's not surprising that he would sneak out of the imperial tomb, but his No one has found specific information yet.

"It shouldn't be too long to wait for Lord Ye's news."

"Then let's see what he is doing first, and the emperor is not in good health recently, so this kind of thing will be used to bother him for the time being."

Liu Shu thought that he was worried about the emperor's body, and it was not worth it for him, but after thinking about it, the prince's wings are not full enough now, the emperor should live a few more years.

He said sincerely: "The servant who turned around set up a longevity card for the emperor to pray for blessings, and do my filial piety for you."

Li Xu gave him a strange look, but he didn't object, the original owner is the emperor's son anyway, so it's good to be filial.

In the evening, when Kou Xiao came back, his face was full of excitement, Li Xu served him a bowl of soup, put it in front of him and asked, "Why are you so happy?"

Kou Xiao patted the little princess's head before answering: "I went to the library today, it's really well built, spacious and bright, with very high floors, and there are big windows on all sides, the glass windows are clear and bright, even on a rainy day It won’t feel dark when reading books in it, and when Zhang Shuo moves the shelves in, I’ll ask everyone to deliver the books.”

"Which family donated the most?" Li Xu asked curiously.

Kou Xiao handed him a list, and after a long list, the first thing Li Xu saw was the name of the Zhong family, which was at the top of the list, and they actually donated more than 1000 books, which is considered a very huge asset nowadays.

"Although families ranked beyond ten do not have management rights, according to your practice, erect a monument outside the library door and engrave these families who donated books on it, so that every student who enters the door can see it. We all know that the books they read are donated by these people, which can improve their reputation, which is more noble than donating money to build roads."

Li Xu thinks about it too, the people who donate money to build roads will benefit, and the future officials who donate books will benefit, it is clear at a glance which benefit is greater.

Li Xu looked at the total count. From this list, there are a total of more than 3000 books. Leaving aside the repetitions, he must at least find hundreds of people to copy the books, otherwise the speed will be too slow.

These people can recruit volunteers, as long as they are good at calligraphy, anyone can be a volunteer. The copyist allows him to sign on the back of the book, presumably the scholar will be happy to do this.

It's not that Li Xu can't afford to have someone copy the books, but since this library is for public welfare and the books are also donated, copying the books can completely mobilize the people in the city to copy the books. It also makes the library even bigger.

"By the way, have you chosen the name of the library?" Kou Xiao asked.

"Don't think about it, it's called Nanyue Library. In the future, this place will definitely become a place famous all over the country, attracting students from all over the world to come here for pilgrimage."

It was hard for Kou Xiao to imagine such a grand occasion, but Li Xu said yes, so he said, "Did the prince write the inscription himself?" Kou Xiao frowned slightly after speaking, as if he thought of something, but dared not say it.

How can Li Xu not know the little girl in his heart, just his handwriting, if it is really written and hung up, it may make this library a bit eclipsed, so he will not do such a thing.

"Go ahead, General Kou's characters are strong and upright, they are the most deterrent to Xiaoxiao, and hanging the characters of generals at the door of the library can also play a guiding role?"

"What's the role?" Kou Xiao is confident in his writing. Anyway, it's a library built by himself, so it's okay for him to make a fool of himself. He has a thick skin and is not afraid of others laughing at him.

"Since ancient times, civil servants and military generals have been clearly distinguished. In special times, even the two opposing camps are not good for the people's livelihood and society. The literati pride themselves on being noble and look down on military generals. This is not good. Put your words on it and let them look up every day. , and let them remember who is guarding this land."

After listening to this passage, Kou Xiao only felt comforted. It is impossible for him to be a civil servant in his life. Naturally, he does not want to see the situation where the court emphasizes civility over military affairs. Li Xu has such awareness, which is very valuable to generals. .

"Then can we send the Kou family army to guard it?" Kou Xiao expressed great enthusiasm for this library, wishing it would open tomorrow.

"No, just use the yamen servants of the county guard's mansion. The most important thing in the library is fireproof and waterproof. Theft should not be possible. Using the Kou family army is too much of a fuss."

Kou Xiao was gearing up, "Then I will practice my calligraphy a few more times tonight, and I must not embarrass the prince."

Li Xu asked helplessly: "Why did you lose my face with your inscription?"

Kou Xiao pointed to his cheek and said, "Because if I am ashamed, it means you are ashamed. I am not afraid of being ashamed, but I am afraid that you will feel ashamed."

The words were like tongue twisters, Li Xu raised his eyebrows and snorted coldly: "Then it's better, as long as there is one person who doesn't look good, I will replace him."

This threat was very effective, General Kou immediately took a few mouthfuls of rice, drank a bowl of soup, and went back to the study to practice calligraphy.

The little princess finished her meal leisurely, and asked Li Xu: "Father, when I grow up, can I also write an inscription?"

Li Xu asked with interest: "Oh, where does my little one want to inscribe?"

The little princess thought about it seriously, "It must be a very famous place, a place that everyone in the world should know?"

Li Xu can only think of places like city walls and palaces, "Then you have to step up your handwriting practice. The more famous a place is, the more you need a good handwriting, otherwise you will be ridiculed by the world, but you can write an inscription on the courtyard where you live first. , how are you?"

The little princess was very happy when she heard this, and immediately asked the maid to fetch a pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

Li Xu didn't pay much attention to it. The courtyards in the palace almost didn't have names. He didn't like those fancy names at all, but children love to play, so it's good to practice their hands.

"Father, what should I call my yard?"

"Your yard is of course up to you, you can call it whatever you like."

The little princess thought about it passionately for a long time, and wrote a row of names. Li Xu pretended to be drinking soup and ignored her, seeing how cute she was shaking her head.