In the days when I was dressed as the king of a subjugated country

The servant leading the way knelt down in front of him, kowtowed and said, "I beg Your Majesty to be merciful. The reason why the villain brought His Majesty here is because there is a person who wants to see His Majesty."

Gu Li asked, "Who is it?"

A voice came from a locked palace door: "It's an old slave."

Cao Cunlin was dismissed from his post and could no longer be a minister.Hearing that it was his voice, Gu Li was a little annoyed, and asked: "Eunuch Cao tried every means to bring me here, what's the matter?"

Cao Cunlin sighed, and there was endless depression and depression in his voice: "Your Majesty, Lao Nu and Wang Zheng watched and grew up. When you were young, Lao Nu and Wang Zheng were just two ordinary eunuchs who were often bullied in the palace. At that time, you were still young, but you told us that when you came to the throne, Cao Banban and Wang Banban will be the eunuchs! No one dares to bully us!"

Only the heads of the twelve eunuchs in the palace can be eunuchs, and the second-in-command is called a young eunuch. Ordinary ordinary eunuchs cannot be called eunuchs.

Gu Li asked: "What does Eunuch Cao mean by saying this now?"

Cao Cunlin said: "Your Majesty, the old slave already knew that he was wrong. Your Majesty has fulfilled his original promise, but the old slave and Wang Zheng have forgotten their original loyalty. Over the years, Wang Zheng and I have made too many mistakes. We should not Relying on His Majesty's favor, you deceived Your Majesty and formed a clique for personal gain. I also beg Your Majesty to forgive this old slave for the sake of taking care of you for many years."

Gu Lixin said that if the original owner was here, maybe he really remembered the years when he was young with the two servants, and his heart softened, and he spared Cao Cunlin this time.

Gu Li sighed deeply, and said, "Eunuch Cao, I have grown up, and I am not the child I was back then."

He turned around and led the people away.

When he got out of the place, he didn't get on the chariot, but looked at the servant who led him here.The servant knew he was going to die, knelt down, kowtowed and said: "Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Gu Li was a little angry, and asked: "You helped Cao Cunlin deceive me, are you really not afraid of death?"

The servant replied with a trembling voice: "Of course the villain is afraid of death, but the villain has to do so."

"Why? Cao Cunlin threatened you?"

The servant shook his head: "Eunuch Cao not only didn't threaten the villain, but gave the villain great benefits."

"Then tell me, what benefits did Cao Cunlin give you to make you willing to serve him."

The servant said: "When the villain first entered the palace, his salary was meager, and it was probably deducted by the father-in-law. Once, the villain's mother was seriously ill, and the villain had no money to hire a doctor to treat her. On that day, the villain Sitting alone by the palace gate wiping tears, Eunuch Cao saw him and questioned the villain, and the villain told about his mother. Eunuch Cao then gave the villain five taels of silver and said that if he was sick, he needed to be healed as soon as possible. His mother just kept procrastinating, procrastinating."

Gu Li was taken aback, he didn't expect such a story between the two of them.Cao Cunlin, oh Cao Cunlin, this man's heart of compassion many years ago actually found a way out for himself.Gu Li sighed, "Okay, get up."

The servant was very surprised, raised his head, first peeked at Gu Li, seeing that there was no annoyance on his face, then stood up cautiously.

Gu Li asked, "What's your name? Which prison is it from?"

"The villain's name is Zhou Changshun, and he is well-known in the supervisor's book."

"I think you have filial piety to your mother, and you will repay your kindness. I will forgive you once! Don't do it again!"

Zhou Changshun was so overjoyed that he escaped, he kowtowed again and again.

Gu Li thought for a while, and said: "Cao Cunlin... has no family wealth, go and guard the Xiaoling Mausoleum."

Gu Li got on the chariot and ordered someone to lead the way to Yu Guangle's residence.

When Gu Li arrived, Guo Jing had already taken Gu Youzhen away, and Yu Guangle was lying on the bed drinking medicine. When he saw Gu Li, he wanted to kneel down and salute. ?”

Yu Guangle nodded: "It's nothing serious."

"After all this time, I'm still to blame. Cao Cunlin has already been dealt with by me. When you recover from your injury, you can be promoted to the junior supervisor of the Rites Supervisor. If you want any reward, just tell me."

It's just that it can't be too much... As Gu Li said, his face flushed with embarrassment.After all, he is also a majestic emperor, and he has to be cautious when giving rewards to the palace people, it is really shameful.

Yu Guangle thought hard, and finally shook his head blankly: "Little man...seems like he doesn't want anything."

Gu Li breathed a sigh of relief, but felt a little embarrassed, and asked, "Do you really want nothing?"

Yu Guangle thought over and over again, and said to Gu Li: "Your Majesty, I don't want anyone around the villain, I just want one thing in your majesty's treasury!"

Gu Li was puzzled, his inner court treasury had been emptied, and the rest were things that even the inner thieves looked down on, what did Yu Guangle want?

"You said."

"There is a version of copper movable type in the treasury, and the villain only wants this thing."

Gu Li didn't know what the copper movable type was, but Yu Guangle had always been well-behaved, so he definitely wouldn't ask for something too precious, so I rewarded him with the copper movable type.

Gu Li asked the little eunuch to fetch it from the state treasury, and when he took it, it turned out that it was a set of movable type for printing, all of which were cast in copper with iron hooks and silver strokes, showing every detail.

Gu Li picked it up and played with it, amazed, to be able to engrave characters on brass, one must have a peerless engraver, and to cast this set of copper movable type, one must be a wealthy family.

When Yu Guangle saw this set of movable type, his expression was solemn, he rubbed the copper type for a long time, and remained silent.Gu Li was a little puzzled, and asked, "Why do you want nothing else but this set of copper movable type? I don't see that you are interested in block engraving."

Yu Guangle replied: "The villain grew up in a bookstore when he was a child, and he is interested in book engraving."

No wonder Yu Guangle can read and write. It turned out that he had been exposed to it since he was a child. He might be a material for the imperial examination to be an official, but now he is working as an eunuch in the palace. It is really embarrassing.

Gu Li looked at the copper movable type and suddenly thought of the same thing - run a newspaper!

The Dibao is an official newspaper, and most of them are copied within the court bureaucrats. He wants to run a newspaper with the common people and intellectuals as the audience!

The more Gu Li thought about it, the more he felt that it was feasible, and asked Yu Guangle: "You grew up in a bookstore, do you know how to print and engrave?"

Yu Guangle didn't know why, so he said frankly, "I know a thing or two."

Gu Li laughed loudly and said: "That's good! You should take a good rest and recuperate. I still have important matters, which I need to leave to you!"

Yu Guangle let out an ah, and asked, "The villain has the guts to ask, what is it?"

Gu Li made a fool of himself: "I won't tell you yet!"

Leaving from Yu Guangle's place, Gu Li first went to Wenhua Hall to listen to the lecture on the Jingyan Day. Today's Jingyan lecturer is Wu Wutong, editor of the Imperial Academy.When Editor Wu finished his speech and left, Gu Li ordered someone to invite Yang Hongjian, Minister of the Ministry of War, to the apse of the Wenhua Palace to discuss matters.

Not long after, Yang Hongjian came in with the servant and saluted Gu Li.

Gu Li asked: "Yang Shangshu, what do you think about the lecture money proposed by Jianlu?"

Seeing that Yang Hong was silent, Gu Li asked, "Does Yang Shangshu also disagree with the lecture?"

Yang Hongjian sighed and said: "Your Majesty, I know that Liaodong has been fighting for years and almost emptied the national treasury. At this time, it is the best choice for our court to pay money, but I would rather die in Liaodong than to die in Liaodong." I would like to pay compensation to the barbarians of Chu, who are my dignified descendants."

Gu Li said: "Why do I want to do this? Yang Shangshu, I came to you for this matter. It is absolutely impossible to negotiate a peace, but it will take some time for me to track down the internal funds and enrich the treasury. Will Yang Shangshu be willing to fight for this for me?" period of time?"

Yang Hongjian asked: "What does Your Majesty mean?" Gu Li smiled and said: "It's a waste of time to delay."

Yang Hongjian thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, I can delay it until this winter at most."

"enough."

After Yang Hongjian left, Gu Li asked someone to call Prime Minister Mu.Prime Minister Mu was already getting old, and rushed all the way from Chengtian Gate, he was out of breath when he entered the hall, Gu Li felt a little sorry and asked someone to serve tea.

Gu Li first greeted, the prime minister had lunch, and the two of them exchanged greetings before getting to the point.

Gu Li said: "Yesterday I went out of the palace, not to have fun, but to see the suffering of the people."

Regardless of whether Xie Xingcun persuaded him today or whether he was instructed by Prime Minister Mu, he would try to win Prime Minister Mu's support.

Prime Minister Mu smiled and said, "I don't know what His Majesty saw?"

Gu Li talked about yesterday's worries about grain prices, and said: "The weather has been bad in recent years. Spring has already started, but the north wind blew a few days ago. According to this climate, the maturity time of this year's grain crops may not be too long. It must be postponed. Coupled with the fact that many cultivated lands are exposed to famine, I am afraid that this year’s grain production will decrease, and there will be another famine.”

Prime Minister Mu stroked his beard and nodded, "It's the people's blessing that His Majesty cares so much about farming."

Gu Li sighed with a smile: "Prime Minister Mu doesn't need to praise me blindly, I know how stubborn and stupid I was before. I invited Prime Minister Mu to come over, firstly to let Prime Minister Mu understand that I am not fooling around in the palace, and secondly, to To ask Prime Minister Mu to do something."

Prime Minister Mu said, "Your Majesty, it's okay to say."

"I would like to ask Prime Minister Mu to send someone to collect four kinds of crops."

Prime Minister Mu showed doubts.

Gu Li showed the corns, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and peanuts he had drawn to Prime Minister Mu.The painting was marked with a name, and Prime Minister Mu took it and carefully identified it: "Corn? Potatoes? I've never seen this corn before. Potatoes look a bit like chicken eggs."

"The skin of this potato is green when it is immature, and the skin turns yellow when it is mature, and it grows from the ground, not chicken eggs."

It was inconvenient for Prime Minister Mu to ask more questions, so he nodded, took the album, and said, "I will send people to look for it."

Gu Li reminded: "Maybe you can go to Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian and other coastal areas to look for it. It needs to be done as soon as possible."

Prime Minister Mu agreed.

Gu Li handed him the memorial for review, Prime Minister Mu went through it, and saw that Gu Li and Zhu approved the outline, Wang Zhengfa was married to Zhongdu, Xia Xingcheng was demoted to common people, and they all spared their lives, Gu Li couldn't help being a little surprised generosity.

Gu Li said: "Prime Minister Mu, among these eunuchs, those who have committed minor crimes, I don't think it is necessary to announce their names, and just ask them to redeem their crimes with money."

For example, Hong Zhenqiu and Fu Shaoge didn't do anything harmful, they just offered bribes, and Gu Li felt that they could still be saved.If the list is made public, under the strife of factions, those "Qingliu Party" who have made a comeback will never let them go, and they must be killed.

Prime Minister Mu is also a generous and talented person, and Gu Li's move is exactly in his favor.Prime Minister Mu sighed: "Your Majesty's words are very true! This list is only known to the heads of the three judges who will be interrogated and the veterans, and the veterans will tell them."

"Among the eunuchs, there may not be no available talents, and among the Qingliu, there are many mediocre people. What I want is a good minister who can care about his family, country, and world."

At this moment, Gu Li thought of the Eunuch Party and Donglin Party in the late Ming Dynasty. After Chongzhen came to power, the Eunuch Party was wiped out, but could the Donglin Party save the late Ming Dynasty?Most of the Donglin Party is nothing more than political speculation.Qian Qianyi, the leader of the Donglin Party, was full of benevolence and morality. After the Qing army entered the pass, he claimed to throw himself into the lake to die. When he came to the lake, he complained that the water was too cold and drifted away.

These Qingliu parties headed by Zuo Shijue may not necessarily be superior to the eunuchs.

Prime Minister Mu sighed: "Your Majesty can have such insight, I... I am very relieved!"

Gu Li held Prime Minister Mu's hand, and said, "Prime Minister Mu's compliments will be saved until the world is in peace, and when the sea is clean and the river is clear!"

Prime Minister Mu looked at Gu Li, as if he was watching a stubborn son finally grow up, his eyes filled with relief.The two talked for a while, and Prime Minister Mu said goodbye and left.

Gu Li asked Zhou Changshun to get some straw, put one end in his mouth, and poked the other end on his neck, sucking desperately.

Zhou Changshun was puzzled and asked, "Your Majesty, what are you doing?"

Gu Li said: "I'm here for this kind of strawberry!"

Zhou Chang said by the way: "Your Majesty, the villain's father has been tending the crops all his life, but he has never planted strawberries."

Gu Li smiled, found out the shirt that he changed yesterday, folded it and put it in his arms.

Only then did Zhou Changshun come to his senses, and whispered, "Your Majesty, you still want to go out?"

Gu Li said to him: "You are not allowed to tell others. If anyone comes to ask, just say that I am taking a nap. If there are any rumors, I will only ask you."

Zhou Changshun frowned, and Gu Li said again: "You are loyal to Eunuch Cao, now it's time to test whether you are loyal to me."

Zhou Changshun immediately said: "The villain swears his allegiance to His Majesty to the death!"

Gu Li smiled without saying a word, and patted the young man on the shoulder.