Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 595: Minister of the Ministry of Rites
In the lower reaches of the Wangchuan River Valley, the Shangshu Xingtai was stationed.

Several ministers sat down. After the tables and chairs were modified, they abandoned the low tables and couches they were used to using.

Higher Huchuang was used to make stools, chairs, and tables that were taller than chairs.

The office space generally had a long, widened table. The Minister of the Chancellery Pei Mao sat at one end of the table, and the Shangshu and Shangshulang sat in order.

Official documents have been changed to anti-counterfeiting paper with hidden patterns and patterns, and the paper also has folders.

Administrative efficiency increased dramatically, especially during special periods when only the signature of the Shangshutai was required and their rejection was not required.

As a humanoid machine for signing and stamping, it is also to restore some dignity.

From Pei Mao onwards, everyone would have a brief discussion on the official documents they handled.

A few days ago, Zhang Lu, the Heavenly Master of Tianshi Dao and Marquis of Langzhong, ascended to heaven in broad daylight while visiting the Grand Marshal. This matter had already been reported to the Shangshu Xingtai.

Even though the shogunate officials raised their hands and swore, Pei Mao still found it a little unconvincing.

He also felt that it was impossible for these people to work so hard to perform a drama for the cause of Zhang Lu's death. Now the shogunate has sent a letter requesting that Zhang Lu be conferred the title of Zhaohua Guangde Zhenren and be worshipped in a temple.

This made Pei Mao feel uneasy. As for Zhang Lu's achievements, the Hanzhong area could do whatever they wanted with secret sacrifices, but it seemed a bit unworthy of the position to have the imperial court formally confer him a title.

This was the first case in modern times where a person was canonized as a god. Although the shogunate had previously expressed its intention to canonize the spirits of heroes who suppressed the rebellion as gods of mountains and rivers in various places, not many military officers with a rank of 1,000 koku or above were killed in the expeditions.

Only after these meritorious people die in the future can they be conferred titles.

Pei Mao held the folder and examined it with lowered eyebrows, then passed it to Wei Ji: "The imperial decree to confer the title on the gods is a major event for the ancestral temple. I think it is inappropriate for the shogunate to issue the document. It is better for the Minister of Rites to draft the proposal."

However, Guanzhong currently does not have a Taichang Minister or a Taichang Yamen, so it does not have this system.

If one person was elected as the Minister of Rites, he would be able to take charge of the maintenance of the imperial tombs in Guanzhong, the governance of the tomb counties, the recruitment and dispatch of tomb guards, the worship of mountain and river gods, and the resulting water control, road construction, and tree planting work.

Although Wei Ji felt that Pei Mao's remarks made sense, recommending and rebuilding a heavyweight ministerial organization in the court would divide the power of the Grand Marshal's Office.

With the Minister of Rites in place, the other ministers won’t be far behind.

The court's proper units are being rebuilt one after another. Should we also discuss the issue of the succession to the throne?
Whether adopting a son from the royal family or selecting another wise one, it would cause huge changes.

Another patriarchal issue that cannot be ignored is that the emperor can only choose a successor from the younger generation, and the most suitable one is the Pingyuan royal family. This family has many descendants and no shortage of people of the right age.

There is another problem. If we look for one from the royal lineage of the Chen Kingdom, the Grand Marshal is the uncle of the late emperor, and his sons are of the same generation as the late emperor and are all young, so it is impossible to adopt a younger generation to the late emperor in the short term.

The transfer of lineage is unstoppable.

The most terrifying thing is that after the reconstruction of various official institutions, the Grand Marshal is determined not to accept the Han Dynasty and wants to establish a new dynasty. That would be troublesome.

As a surviving Hedong noble, Wei Ji did not want to offend the shogunate again.

He not only bears the responsibility of the Wei family, but also has the responsibility of saving the people of Hedong.

After careful consideration, Wei Ji said, "From a logical point of view, it is indeed the Taichang Temple that should propose it. It is better to first discuss the division of Zhang Lu's fiefdom. There is no precedent for the Shangshutai to follow in the matter of conferring the title of Immortal. I will go to the Grand Marshal later to explain the difficulties."

Wei Ji had a heavy burden, and so did Pei Mao; both were from Hedong, and too many of their in-laws, fellow villagers, and old friends had been reduced to slaves.

Only if they stay in this position can their fellow villagers benefit from it and avoid being treated harshly or tortured.

The other people had no objections either. If they could use this incident to persuade the shogunate to rebuild the Taichang Temple, it would also be of many benefits to the Shangshu Xingtai.

At noon that day, Wei Ji came to see Hei Xiong with Pei Mao's letter.

There were drizzles in the sky and the Wangchuan River Valley was shrouded in fog.

The air was fresh. After lunch, Black Bear flipped through Pei Mao's letter and asked Fa Zheng, "If we rebuild the Taichang Temple, who would be the right person to take on this job?"

Fa Zheng said without hesitation: "I think Wei Gong, the governor of Liangzhou, is quite suitable."

Hei Xiong also nodded. There were a limited number of high-ranking officials in Guanzhong, and there were only three people who were suitable to serve as the Minister of Taichang Temple. The other two were Shizhong Liu Ai and Shizhong and Sili Xiaowei Zhong Yao.

Zhong Yao and Liu Ai were the only two remaining ministers in the Jian'an court, and they were the embodiment and symbol of the will of the previous emperor.

If we retain these two people and let them continue to hold the title of Shizhong, then Guanzhong will be the only successor to the late emperor's will and the Jian'an spirit.

"Then issue a document to recommend Wei Gong as the Minister of Rites. The office of the Ministry of Rites can be located in Longshouyuan between Chang'an and Shanglinyuan."

If you want to develop Chang'an New City, you can't go to Weibei, you can only go south.

The old city of Chang'an has limited potential, and Black Bear does not want to conduct archaeological excavations.

Longshouyuan is broad and flat, making it very suitable for building the new Chang'an City. The hundred households and production teams settled here were built according to the neighborhood planning. The future Chang'an New City is a huge city without city walls, surrounded by layers of fortress neighborhoods and interspersed with farmland.

It is not difficult to get water in Longshouyuan now. When the population gathers in the future, we can either build a pipeline to get clean river water from the upper reaches of Nanshan Mountain; or use the card that summons sweet spring water at the highest point of Longshouyuan.

I am afraid that summoning the sweet spring will trigger the existing geological disaster in Guanzhong. The sweet spring is definitely not created out of thin air.

Based on his understanding of the cards and this world, there must have been geological problems in the area, but they have been suppressed.

When he used the card, geological problems coincidentally broke out, and even more coincidentally, an underground hot spring gushed out from the geological gap and appeared in front of him.

A huge earthquake that could have been suppressed for hundreds or thousands of years before erupting could very likely be detonated by him in an instant.

Anyway, the effect of the card is to lead him to an underground hot spring. As for the scale of the earthquake, it is completely a side effect of the process.

There is also a possibility that there is a hot spring underground. When he used the card, the hot spring happened to break through the surface and appeared in front of him very quietly.

How to describe this possibility? It's too quantum.

In a world where no one can observe the underground conditions, a spring appears by coincidence... This is what scares the black bear.

Therefore, he concluded that as long as the hot spring card was used, it would inevitably cause local geological problems.

Wei Ji came quickly and left quickly, so there was really no extra instruction needed from the Shangshu Xingtai, all he had to do was stamp the document honestly.

Now is not the time to adjust or promote the Shangshu. Like the two Shizhong, they were all Shangshu in the Jian'an court and are irreplaceable.

These Shangshu can only be promoted unless Guanzhong develops to the next stage.

Since there is no possibility of promotion in the short term, there is no need to make empty promises. Just stay in the Shangshu Xingtai honestly and don't cause any trouble.

As soon as Wei Ji left, Ma Liang, the commander of the Ministry of Finance, arrived.

The guard led Ma Liang into the side hall, and Black Bear took Ma Liang's visiting card and read it quickly.

After Ma Liang sat down, Black Bear said, "Your idea of ​​improving the steam engine for minting coins is a great idea. I have no objection to the Duwei Mansion developing a steam engine, but it cannot delay the minting of coins."

Ma Liang was in a bit of a dilemma, as the Sijin Duwei Mansion left to him by Zhuge Liang already had the production capacity to cast coins using hydraulic stamping.

But the craftsmen are still the same craftsmen, and the machines are still the same original machines.

After Zhuge Liang stepped down, the remaining craftsmen could only maintain the operation of the machines and were powerless to deal with the decline in the machines' coin-minting performance.

As for copying the steam engine, Ma Liang also knew that he was really powerless.

The manpower in the Sijin Duwei Mansion is basically equal to the production task. If it does not affect the production task, it can squeeze out manpower to imitate the steam engine... How can I explain this? I will definitely not be able to escape the questioning of the various departments of the shogunate.

So Ma Liang had another idea: "Your Majesty, I want to introduce a steam engine to assist in minting coins after winter."

"Introduction?"

Black Bear smiled and said, "But your Sijin Duwei Mansion has no spare money, what can you use to import it? I can persuade Taishi Wengong and others to help with the forging, but how do you calculate their wages for forging the steam engine for you?"

Seeing Ma Liang's cheeks flushed and he lowered his head, Black Bear stopped teasing and said, "I understand what you mean. I will allocate a batch of copper and iron later. You can select them carefully and send them over. You want steam engines, and other places also want them. I also need them. I will build a few more here before June."

"Thank you for your understanding!"

Ma Liang immediately bowed his head, and then Black Bear said, "Don't expect too much. I need to satisfy my own use first. The first extra one will be sent to Hancheng to test the iron forging effect. The second one will be sent to Chang'an University for scholars and students to read and study. The third one will be given to you, probably between September and October."

With the first steam engine to provide forging assistance and experience gained, it will be much faster to make the second one by hand.

Except for the ones you use yourself, other steam engines will not be refined with white mana and will not automatically recover from wear and tear, but they are sufficient for teaching purposes.

The principle of this thing is simple, but there is a lot of pressure to copy it everywhere.

Technology is secondary. Institutions that can copy materials all have normal production tasks. It is difficult to squeeze out manpower to copy without affecting the tasks.

We can only make a batch here ourselves, use these ready-made steam engines as power, and form a simple production line.

Then other steam engines were produced and distributed to various places, which allowed them to maintain production while realizing the power of the machines and allocating manpower to develop them.

We don't expect them to develop or improve anything. This is just a way to screen talent.

The spread of steam engines and the plan to deify mountains and rivers, hot airships and the search for immortals, are not contradictory at all, this is life.

(End of this chapter)