Clam Pearl

In the New Year of the ninth year of Tiancheng, Gu Maobing received a letter from his family, but he still did not return to Beijing after all. He had long since ceased to look forward to the so-called family. What about his mother and elder brother were not things he needed to consider. Brother said how much of his ancestral property was divided, etc., those are just passing by.

Because the last big post station he was ordered to supervise was finally completed, Gu Maobing felt that he had done something in his life.

Now in his racecourse outside Xinjiang, there are more than [-] horses, cattle and sheep, especially the quality of war horses is increasing year by year.Nowadays, three-tenths of the horses used by the Ministry of War can be directly deployed from Western Xinjiang for free. Correspondingly, it is the money to buy war horses every year, so I don’t know how much it has saved the country.You know, when Lord Anji boasted of his wealth back then, the minimum price for a fine horse was several thousand.Now the war horses here are free for the Ministry of War.

The last station is also the 120th station built by Gu Maobing in the past four years.This inn is located on the bank of Fengzhang. Originally, it belonged to the zone of no-management, but the little uncle came to believe that whoever occupies the site will own it. Therefore, Gu Maobing built a large-scale building in Fengzhang without hesitation. A post station that is smaller than the official state capital.From then on, the frontier of Daliang moved another three hundred miles to the west, and the area around Fengzhang belonged to Daliang.

The inn was built in March of the ninth year of Tiancheng. As a result, the first spy agency network in Daliang Kingdom was formed. This is also a force that Gu Zhao has always hoped that the Gu family can control. From south to north, from west to east, As long as there is a post station, there must be national informants. These people are slightly disabled soldiers selected from the Gu family army. After they became station heads, they began to secretly cultivate their own informants. At present, the pigeon news of each station is not yet complete, but the framework has been started.Seeing that the whole country was going up and down, all the officials and people were under Ah Run's surveillance.

In March of the ninth year of Tiancheng, Yan Wang Zhao Yuanxiu returned to the capital. This day is the day when Jiaozi’s Waking of Insects is also a good day for all things to recover. On this day, the governor Li Zhai, the general Li Qi, the king of Sishui Zhao Yuanrui, and the king of Lu Zhao Yuanshan were all there. The Ten Li Changting Pavilion welcomes the King of Yan back to Beijing.

The important ministers in the capital were not alarmed, because King Yan did not have a son-in-law, and he had no network of his own when he was away all the year round. Of course, it was customary to keep a distance from the prince, so only a group of officials from the Prince Yan's mansion greeted him.

The three brothers, who hadn't seen each other since they were young, finally met at the gate of Shangjing. Although they had no relationship before, the two elder brothers showed the greatest kindness in order to win over their little brother.King Yan didn't pose much of a threat to them, but he was just a mere concubine. In fact, the biggest threat was actually the compatriots around him.

In recent years, King Sishui and King Lu have been fighting fiercely. Because his father was upright and young, and he was persecuted in his early years because of the issue of inheritance, the courtiers did not dare to force him on the issue of establishing a heir.

King Sishui and King Lu have been taught by their grandfather since they were young, and they have also quietly learned a thing or two about the emperor's mind. Although they only issued an edict at the beginning of this year and the beginning of this year, the three princes came to the court to listen to the government together, but these two sons are in court. There have been many battles over the above, especially differences in political opinions.

Zhao Yuanrui, king of Surabaya, focused on safety when dealing with problems. As the eldest son, he was kind-hearted and loved Buddhist affairs.Lu Wang Zhao Yuanshan believes in iron law, pays attention to rules, and pays attention to military affairs.

In terms of marriage, last year, the king of Surabaya asked himself the eldest granddaughter of the Yan family in Dengzhou, a master of Neo Confucianism, as his wife.However, King Lu asked his own cousin, the first cousin of his uncle's family, to be his wife.Today, I have not made things difficult, and I have agreed one by one. I just wait until the end of this year to get married.These two people have already matured mentally and physically, and now all four concubines in the family are full, and even King Lu is afraid that he will be a father in September this year.

It has been nearly nine years since he left home at the age of six. Yan Wang Zhao Yuanxiu is now 15 years old. He is Ah Run's only parent and the child who looks the most similar to Ah Run.Although not as delicate as Ah Run, he is still quite handsome.Now he is wearing a silver armor, tall and elegant, and has been fighting outside for many years, his body and temperament have long been different from the cowardly boy back then!

Under those two people's deliberate allusions and arrangements, he has always received the highest imperial education, so when he arrived at the ten-mile long pavilion, he just sat on a horse and overwhelmed his two elder brothers in terms of momentum.

After getting off the horse, Zhao Yuanxiu clasped his fists and saluted the two elder brothers: "You two emperor brothers, please forgive Yuanxiu for not being able to give big salutes to the older brothers because of his will."

Sishui Wang Zhao Yuanrui smiled cordially, went to help his little brother with both hands and said indifferently: "My brother, you have said so much nonsense, now that you come back, our third brother is complete, and we will do our best in the future Solving worries and problems for the emperor, this is considered a son of man, the third child said, right?"

Zhao Yuanxiu hadn't answered yet, but Lu Wang stepped forward and picked him up, but Zhao Yuanxiu's suit of armor weighed more than 60 kilograms. He hugged him twice in a row but didn't lift it up. Said: "I remember when you were young, I could still hug you, but now I can't hold you anymore, you have grown up! Do you remember the second brother? When I was young, I took you to fly a kite."

Ever had a day like that?Yuanxiu thinks his memory is pretty good. He and Chongjun live in a hut at the corner of their house, and no one comes there all year round. He eats Chongjun's meal, and sometimes Chongjun has nothing to eat. They have to cry and beg everywhere so that they can survive.

Zhao Yuanxiu smiled, and said to Zhao Yuanshan: "At that time Yuanxiu was ignorant, and always caused trouble for the second brother."

Lu Wang patted his little brother on the shoulder in comfort, and sighed: "What's the trouble, this is what a brother should do! Your mansion is ready to stop, I went to see it a few days ago, you The house is a bit smaller, just behind the Pingzhou County Government House. Although it was the old house of Prince Yande, it has been expanded for two years now. I think it is still livable.

A few days ago, my brother went to find someone and found a group of beautiful women from Yongzong to send you to have sex, but he didn't want to be known by the emperor, hey!They punished me to read scriptures on the mountain for a whole month, and they let me go down the mountain yesterday.There is no meat on that mountain, and there is no music to listen to, but it suffocates me to death. "

King Sishui flicked his sleeves and said: "You are ashamed to mention that you are an older brother. Yuan Xiu is so talented, so you will not learn well with him." Come on, King Sishui held Yuan Xiu's hand with tears in his eyes and said, "Ah! I don’t know, my father these years...has been not very fond of taking care of himself, worrying about state affairs day and night, not eating meat, and even copying scriptures every day, if you have time, please beg father, please Take care of the dragon body, this is the blessing of you and me, the blessing of the world... Hey, you are the youngest, maybe Father can still listen to it."

Zhao Yuanxiu smiled, nodded in agreement, and thanked the two brothers again for their care. The three brothers are very close and harmonious.

This morning, Ah Run went down early and waited for Yuanxiu in the Shuize Palace. After Yuanxiu handed over the military power to the Ministry of War, he packed up and walked all the way to the apse. Zhao Yuanrui and Zhao Yuanshan accompanied and expressed Out of the greatest kindness, but Zhao Yuanxiu acted foolishly, and treated everyone the same.After arriving outside the Shuize Palace, Sun Xi came out from there, still looking old-fashioned and very bitter. He saluted the three princes according to the rules, and Zhao Yuanrui and Zhao Yuanshan went to help him up together, working hard.On the contrary, Zhao Yuanxiu said without moving: "Get up, can the father be idle?"

Sun Xi replied blankly: "Your Majesty is reviewing the memorial. Your Highnesses should go back. Your Highness will have to wait for a while. Lord Long Live ordered that the empress is not in good health, so your Highness does not need to bother you."

Zhao Yuanxiu looked at the two imperial brothers with a slight embarrassment on his face.Zhao Yuanrui and Zhao Yuanshan looked at each other, seeing that their father treated them equally, they felt at ease, so they made an appointment for the next reunion, each stared at each other and left.The aisle that led out of the palace was not spacious at all, but the two of them made it clear that they would stand on one side and would never walk side by side in the middle together.

Seeing those two people gone, Sun Xi smiled and said, "Your Highness, this old slave asked them to move a chair for you. You sit and wait."

Yuan Xiu asked: "How do the emperor brothers wait?"

Sun Xidao: "Sometimes standing, sometimes kneeling."

Yuan Xiu smiled and said, "That Gu is also standing."

Sun Xi didn't dare to say much, so he could only slightly nodded and said, "Yes, that old slave has gone back to answer."

"Go."

Zhao Yuanxiu stood there for an hour, and finally called to see him there, and now everyone knows that everyone treats that prince the same, and they are quite strict, even mean. .

What they didn't know was that after Zhao Yuanxiu entered the Shuize Palace, he paid homage to his father first.

Then, after Ah Run stepped back from side to side, he walked up to his son with a smile on his face, looked at this face that was slightly similar to his own, and after a long time stretched out his hand to touch his head and said, "Aren't you unwilling to come back?"

Zhao Yuanxiu had tears in his eyes, and after a long time stretched out his sleeves to wipe away the tears, he said, "Father, it's not that my son doesn't want to come back, I'm thinking about it, it's just that the outside is riddled with holes, my son... I can't bear it..." After finishing speaking, he He stretched out his arms and hugged Father's waist and said: "My son has been patrolling around again now, and the places are considered safe now, so my son is also at ease, isn't this coming back soon?"

Ah Run was not willing to push away his only child, but just patted him on the head and said, "You, don't do this in the future, your little daddy always dreams about you these days, afraid that you won't be able to eat well or sleep well."

"Isn't there no outsiders here?" Zhao Yuanxiu snorted twice and said, "Where's little daddy?"

Ah Run sighed helplessly: "I don't know what he taught you, but you don't look like a prince."

Zhao Yuanxiu let go of his imperial father, wiped away his tears with a smile and said: "Little daddy said that the imperial father is a bore, we all need to take the initiative."

Ah Run laughed, stretched out his hand and patted him and said: "Go back, I'm going to "clean up" too, you go back to the mansion and "sick" for a few days, it's good that there are few foreigners, so it's easy to pester him A few days, lest he often complain that I leave you so far away."

Zhao Yuanxiu cheered in a low voice, turned around and ran, and when he ran to the door, some came back in embarrassment to salute and leave, and when he walked out again, his expressionless face returned.

When King Yan walked away, Emperor Tiancheng turned his head and asked, "What do you think of my youngest son, sir?"

The Jinshan Lord slowly moved out of the apse. The Jinshan Lord has always had doubts. In a powerful empire, apart from political affairs, another important thing is the cultivation of heirs.But he didn't expect Emperor Tian Cheng to be very indifferent to his own son. If he looked carefully, sometimes he looked at his son with disgust and hatred in his eyes.

I used to think that the emperor was naturally ruthless, but now it seems that this is not the case. There must be secrets here, but it is not for him to ask. Master Jin Shan said: "Your Majesty has a full palace, and he has the grace of His Majesty, but... ..."

"Ok?"

"...Hehe, it's a little bit off."

Ah Run smiled lowly and said, "I have been strict with him since he was a child, but Ah Zhao doted on him, and Yuan Xiu... he taught him a lot, sir. I don't know, what he taught Yuan Xiu all these years and never told me. I don't want to ask, but... Azhao's thinking has always been... escaping, and the idea is good, sometimes... a bit too fast, maybe... it is suitable for Yuan Xiu to learn."

Lord Jinshan smiled, feeling very appropriate in his heart. This is the emperor's recognition of his thoughts. Sometimes on the surface, the kid always wins, but in fact he wins with his mouth. Most of the ways of governing the country are actually carried out according to his ideals. , may not work.

Lord Jinshan nodded: "I know, the old minister will tell your highness some more in a few days when the three highnesses start classes...Well, he is away all the year round, so he has missed a lot of homework, so he should make up for it."

Zhao Chunrun nodded approvingly: "That's right, as long as he understands Confucianism, what he wants to understand is the legal principles of Legalism, Neo-Confucianism..." At the end of the speech, Jinshan Lord gave orders in a low voice. : "There are other political studies, as well as those academic studies that Azhao said..."

Lord Jinshan knew it well, and he left. During that journey, he was full of imaginations. For a while, he thought of the relationship between the prince and his majesty, and for a while, he thought of the similar faces of Yuanxiu and Zhao Chunrun. Personal preferences are biased, and as a result, the country is in chaos. Is it possible that today, because the youngest son is similar to himself, he has a good talent and follows his own heart?

There was a great contradiction in his heart, and Lord Jinshan felt embarrassed. In his opinion, the emperor's preference is actually the least important part of the emperor's way, but it is the source of disaster for the country. Got some ideas.

That night, Gu Zhao asked people to close the door of the house early, and drove out all the idlers at home. He went to the kitchen and cooked a bowl of egg custard for Yuan Xiu. To eat this, he must hold it and feed him spoonful by spoonful before eating.Regardless of whether Yuan Xiu was that little doll back then, he still remembers every day he spent with him.In two lifetimes, it's just this one baby, it's impossible not to kiss.

While Gu Zhao was busy in the kitchen, he asked Xizai at the door, "He has been back for a long time, what is he doing at home?"

Xizai naturally knew who Gu Zhao was asking about, so he smiled and said, "Master went back, took a bath first, ate some snacks, then walked around the mansion, and finally picked the biggest old tree, and he is instructing the man-made tree house. , these past few years, my young master loves to repair this wherever he goes.”

Gu Zhao smiled, and the hand that cracked eggs was much faster: "He still remembers this! He is so old, and he still wants to play." After speaking, he looked at the yard and said: "I remember that there are many tall old trees in our house. Fix one too."

Xizai said with a smile.

This night, as night fell, the underground party finally got together, and the bowl of egg custard had been reheated several times.

When Yuan Xiu saw Gu Zhao, she couldn't hold back her tears. She lifted her robe, knelt down and kowtowed straightly, "Yuan Xiu kowtows to my little daddy. My little daddy is in good health. Yuan Xiu is not filial..."

Gu Zhao's face flushed immediately, he jumped up and stretched out his hands to pull him up, but he didn't want Yuan Xiu's height to be half a head taller than him now, Gu Zhao suddenly felt old when he stood up.

"You...how come you are so tall?" Gu Zhao was very depressed.

Ah Run was helpless, and said over there: "There are still people who dislike children who are taller than themselves, hurry up and eat, I'm hungry."

During the meal, Gu Zhao kept bringing large pieces of stewed meat to Ah Run, and Ah Run never refused to come, and the food was delicious.Yuan Xiu couldn't help thinking of what the King of Sishui said in Shiliting that his father was a vegetarian and chanted scriptures every day, so he laughed softly.

Seeing his loss of composure, Ah Run said angrily, "You're so big, you don't look like you're eating!"

Gu Zhao didn't take it seriously, and stretched out his chopsticks to pinch Yuan Xiu's chicken neck and said, "This one is the best, I remember you like it the most."

Yuan Xiu nodded and said: "Well, duck neck is also my favorite, next time I want to eat that!"

"Okay, I'll tell them to do it for you every time."

Such a close family can be regarded as a reunion.

After dinner, Yuan Xiu presented all the boxes of gifts she brought to Gu Zhao, but his father didn't even have a hair.It made Ah Run very jealous for a while, and it was a bit boring to sit there.

Satisfied, Gu Zhao laughed at him and said, "What in the world is not yours? Are you still grabbing this from me now? Are you still jealous of your son?"

Arun snorted and said nothing.Yuan Xiu pointed to the outside with a smile and said, "Father, my son brought you more than ten fine horses, go and see them tomorrow, do you like them?"

Ah Run was proud of herself, but said with distaste, "I'm in the palace every day, what do you want?"

Yuan Xiu smiled helplessly, lowered his head and opened the boxes one by one, took out various ancient books inside and said, "Look, little daddy, these are medical skills and agricultural books, some of which my little daddy wrote to me a few years ago to ask me to look for them." The craftsmen’s secret records are all here, and it cost millions to buy them! There are still dozens of vehicles on the road today, but some of the texts have been lost, and some of the dictations have been recorded by others. The day will come, little daddy will wait for a few more days."

Gu Zhao was pleasantly surprised, so he took off his shoes, sat cross-legged on the floor and flipped through the books one by one, sighing as he read, "Does Yuanxiu know the meaning of asking you to collect these books?"

After all, Yuanxiu is young, and has asked many times over the years, but Gu Zhao just told him to think about it. Now he still doesn't know the answer, so he also took off his shoes, knelt down in front of Gu Zhao and asked, "Although Some understand, but some also have doubts, um, I keep looking at these things, but I don’t know what the meaning is. Craftsmanship has always been low, so what does this have to do with the way of governing the country? Besides, many craftsmanship skills are outdated. It's useless, but I don't know what the little daddy will use it for?"

The two were talking about family affairs affectionately, and Ah Run was a little jealous, so he sat cross-legged when no one invited him, and sat on the side to express that he had also participated.

Gu Zhao immediately knew that this person was boring, so he moved his buttocks back, sat in a row with him, patted the book on his knee and said, "Before, I didn't want to tell you because you were young. Many things don't make sense. Now that you have traveled to many state capitals and counties, you probably know a little about this country.

In my opinion, maybe I am really out of date, but there are some truths that I want to tell you. The mainstay of this country is not literati, but craftsmen.What the literati pay attention to is just to control the people's thinking...well, let's take these as national beliefs.As for craftsmanship, it is related to food, clothing, housing and transportation. Although these are not seen by literati, but...you think about what we wear and what we eat, which has nothing to do with these? "

Yuan Xiu remained still, and his and Ah Run's thoughts were still hovering over the thought of supporting the empire through agriculture.Although they have their own criticisms of Gu Zhao's ideas in their hearts, they don't want to make him unhappy, so they all deal with him together with a smile.

Gu Zhao became addicted again, and patted the metallurgical scroll on his knee, saying: "The metallurgical scroll can develop the most beneficial agricultural tools and weapons for the country. Medical skills can prolong people's lives and improve the health of the whole people... Well, the quality is not bad. There is no vocabulary, let’s put it this way, if a city has a national blacksmith shop, a national pharmaceutical bureau, a national textile department, a national agricultural department, and a national animal husbandry department, then the city can circulate itself, which is the most basic form of a town part."

Ah Run interjected after hearing the words: "Doesn't every state and county have blacksmith shops, doctors, and farmers themselves have livestock to buy and sell. How can we intervene? Isn't this a competition for profit with the people?"

Gu Zhao laughed and didn't argue, but sighed: "A few years ago, I read Ganzhou county annals. Ganzhou originally had the technology of planting sweet wheat. There are two seasons a year. Although the sweet wheat is astringent, the taste is not good. But two seasons a year It is very rare. If it were not for the plague, although there were many natural disasters in Ganzhou since ancient times, there were few refugees, all because the local two seasons of sweet wheat can satisfy the hunger.

Now after the war and the plague, the seeds of Ganmai have been lost, and the technique of planting Ganmai can no longer be found.Just think about it, if Ganzhou had an agricultural department dedicated to collecting seeds and promoting planting techniques, and if the plague came, the local pharmacy could be dispatched by the empire to prevent and control it immediately, and there would be no such place as Juehu County. "

Yuanxiu and Arun didn't speak, but they all nodded slightly. If every town in the world has such departments, and these departments only do research and development and don't compete with the people for profit, it will still be beneficial to the people.The only thing that is not good is that the investment is too large, and the second is that nowadays scholars are all learning the arts and sciences, and craftsmanship is not the mainstream after all.Who will be the official at that time?Who will manage it?

Gu Zhao saw that they were entangled in every possible way, so he smiled and said: "What's the hurry, everything is waiting to be done now, take your time, now I just have a plan, collect these things first, and then slowly research and develop, what is broken? , Craftsmanship must never be interrupted, this is what I ask of you Yuanxiu, just like Qian Dingsi, no one was optimistic about it back then, if you have an idea for everything, you don’t have to worry about what others think, how to do it, just take it step by step Step by step is.

Naturally, if the country becomes rich in the future, these things will not be a problem, but these are exactly what I founded the knife and pen bureau to prepare for the future. "

That night, the family of three discussed for a long time that in terms of intelligence, Zhao Yuanxiu was not as good as King Lu, and in terms of research on Neo Confucianism and emperor studies, Zhao Yuanxiu was not as good as King Sishui.Fortunately, he loves to learn and is willing to learn, which comforts Ah Run a lot.

In the middle of the night, when Yuanxiu bid farewell and went home, Gu Zhao was a little bit reluctant, but he couldn't do anything about it. His family is so special, and now that he thinks about it, it must be predestined.

On this day, Ah Run slept a little deeply, so he had another nightmare. He dreamed that in that remote mountain temple, brother was lying on the bed, vomiting a lot of blood. He was blind and couldn't see anything. It was he who stole his throne.However, he justly and confidently said to his face with a smile in the tone of being ordered by heaven: "Ah Run, I will wait for you over there! You are against God's will by killing your brother and usurping the country! I see what you will do when you get there." Tell your father..."

Ah Run yelled and sat up covered in cold sweat.

As soon as Ah Run woke up, Gu Zhao also woke up.Ah Run has often been like this these years, struggling in his dreams, silently defending, then sitting up with cold sweat on his face, panting vigorously, his chest beating like a drum, hitting his soul directly.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Gu Zhao lifted the curtain of the bed, stretched out his hand to bring in the calming tea prepared by Yeye, Ah Run took a few sips of it, lay down tiredly, and did not speak for a long time.Gu Zhao said nothing, just stroked his chest one by one.Everyone has a secret, and Ah Run is unwilling to share this secret with Gu Zhao no matter what.

Fortunately, Gu Zhao never asked him what he dreamed about, but every time he was haunted, A Zhao always had a way to comfort him.Sure enough, after a while, Ah Zhaona said over there: "You said, Yuanxiu is not young now, and it's time to take a look at it for the child. Let's see whose daughter is educated, virtuous and generous..."

Ah Run smiled, turned his head and hugged him, leaned his head and chin on the top of his head and said, "I have fallen in love with your family Minghui, that girl has been close to you since childhood..."

"Hey! It doesn't count if I filled in your house myself, and now I have Minghui's idea? Don't think about it! I see, don't think about who you are in the six-star family of Hudi. You are already rich enough, so don't worry about it." Give them courage. My family can't make it, and those big clans can't make it, let me see, whoever Sui Yuanxiu likes is whoever the emperor likes a woman, why do you need to look at other people's face? Like it once, let's see the child himself."

Ah Run nodded, but he didn't think so in his heart, how can they decide the emperor's marriage.

Ah Run kissed Gu Zhao and said: "Well, wait for a few more years, and you can help me take a look these years, and don't ask for anything else, just ask... It would be nice to have a personal conversation with Yuanxiu for the rest of my life." .”

Gu Zhao has been with him for many years, even if he doesn't say anything, he understands at this moment, so he patted his belly and smiled, "You, go to sleep!"

"Um……"