Thief Emperor

Chapter 1166 The Flourishing Age of Martial Arts
The emperor has been on the throne for nearly twenty years, and if you include his time in power in Jiangdong, it has been more than twenty years.

Over the past two decades, his temperament has been tempered to an extremely resilient level, allowing him to remain calm and composed even when his heart is filled with turmoil.

In fact, in recent years, he has rarely shown his emotional fluctuations to outsiders, except for those close to him.

But today, he was indeed very excited.

They even called Du Qian over to share their excitement.

This is not only bringing food to the people of the world, but also a small step in his efforts to recreate "old things" from another world.

However, when you put the food in your mouth, it still tastes like corn, but it's basically not sweet at all.

After all, the varieties may be quite different, and the seeds brought back from overseas are relatively primitive.

However, His Majesty the Emperor still finished it all.

Minister Du was much more refined. He finished his meal slowly and methodically, considered it carefully for a moment, and then said, "Your Majesty, this..."

The emperor said, "It can be planted as a supplementary food. In places where only rice is grown, and in dry land that cannot be irrigated, corn can be planted."

Minister Du nodded, then put the remaining sticks aside and said with a smile, "Your Majesty's years of hard work have finally come to an end."

The emperor looked at the row of sweet potatoes on one side and said with a smile, "The sweet potatoes are almost ready. This kind of thing doesn't need paddy fields and has a high yield. I'll call Brother Shouyi over to have a taste later."

Du Qian nodded and said okay.

His Majesty the Emperor and Prime Minister Du took their seats under the pavilion. Li Yun looked at Du Qian and, without saying a word, said, "I have read the reports from the Secretariat and the Agricultural Affairs Institute. This year's spring planting is quite good."

"If this year is another bumper harvest, I would like to make an inspection tour next year, visit Liaodong, and then take a trip to Yanzhou."

Upon hearing the mention of Yanzhou, Du Qian understood Li Yun's meaning and quickly said, "With Your Majesty's achievements, you should have already performed the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai. I wholeheartedly agree to this matter."

The emperor smiled and said, "I'm not such a vain person."

"There are no outsiders here, just the two of us, so I'll tell you the truth."

The emperor began, “In recent years, the court and I have spent a lot of money on repairing the official roads, which is also to lay new roads in the future and accumulate experience.”

He poured Du Qian a cup of tea and said with a smile, "Whether it's a new road or not is still a long way off. I don't know when the workshop will be ready, so I'm not going to think about it for now."

Steam locomotives, in theory, have no major problems, but theory is theory and application is application. At present, applying them would require too much manpower and material resources, and there is no concrete technology yet.

Li Yun's attitude towards this thing was that it would be better if he could have it today, but it wouldn't matter if he didn't. At least the seed had been planted and the theoretical foundation had been laid.

Nobody can say for sure. Maybe in ten or twenty years, or maybe in the next year or two, someone in the workshop will be able to make it.

"However, the repair of the national official roads under Zhuo Zhong's responsibility is almost complete."

The emperor smiled and said, "I want to go and see how well he's repairing the official road and whether he's embezzled my money."

Du Qian smiled and said, "I've also heard that Zhuo Zhong has become quite successful in recent years. Many people follow him around, all wanting to get some work from him."

"The Zhuo family is now no less powerful than when they controlled the salt route."

The emperor waved his hand and said, "There's nothing wrong with a grand display. Even if he takes some for himself, as long as it's not excessive, I'll just pretend I don't see it."

"The premise is that things are done well."

Li Yun lowered his head and drank his tea: "Otherwise, I won't let him off the hook."

Lord Du responded with a "yes" and said nothing more.

After all, some things are best left unsaid; saying too much can offend people.

"The second reason, as you've seen, is that you, Brother Benefit."

The emperor shook his head and said, "When we came back last year, I wanted to simply hand over the affairs of state to the crown prince, but I didn't expect that the boy would refuse no matter what. Later, he even went to his mother's place, knelt on the ground, and cried his eyes out."

The emperor said helplessly, "Has he been going to the Council of State Affairs less often lately?"

Du Qian thought for a moment and said, "It's not that it's less, but it's not like before, when you were in the Secretariat every day. Now, Your Highness seems to only handle the tasks assigned by His Majesty."

He quickly added, "However, the Secretariat will still compile the important matters every day and select someone to go to the Eastern Palace to report to His Highness. His Highness is very patient and listens every day."

The emperor sighed: "I don't know if this kid is really like this, or if someone gave him the idea to do this."

Lord Du shook his head and offered no opinion.

Li Yun coughed and continued, "In any case, I'm going out again, and he'll have to continue overseeing the country. It'll be another opportunity for him to get some experience."

"Also, I want to go to Liaodong to take a look. Over the years, I wonder how Huang Chao has managed Liaodong Circuit." Originally, after Liaodong Circuit was established, Li Yun and Du Qian planned to assign Huang Chao to Longyou Circuit to oversee the situation in the Western Regions. However, the position of Governor of Longyou Circuit was taken by Yao Xiangong's eldest son.

Because of Huang Chao's personality, Li Yun didn't really want him to be a government official in the capital, so he could only continue serving in Liaodong Circuit.

However, His Majesty the Emperor also gave him some compensation, bestowing upon him the title of Marquis, which, although only a lifelong title, was still quite rare.

When Huang Chao was mentioned, Prime Minister Du coughed, looking somewhat embarrassed.

All the personnel changes in Huang Chao's career over the years were carried out by Du Shiyi while he was in the position of Minister of Personnel. Huang Chao was unable to enter the court for a long time and was always in a remote and difficult place. Du Shiyi was inextricably linked to this.

His Majesty the Emperor looked at him before continuing with a smile, "The fourth reason is to perform the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai."

"Throughout history, emperors who have made meritorious contributions have basically had to make this trip. I have nothing to do anyway, and I want to hand over the affairs of state to others, so it won't hurt to go."

Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Du smiled and said, "Throughout history, there has never been a wise ruler and a virtuous crown prince who are so humble and courteous to each other as His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince."

The emperor was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "If it were an outsider, I wouldn't say anything, but since we're old brothers, I'll just say a few words."

He said quietly, "Mutual competition and mutual concession."

"Actually, there's no difference."

These words sounded somewhat obscure, but Prime Minister Du could understand their meaning. He didn't speak, but simply poured tea for Li Yun and said, "Your Majesty, no matter what the situation is, no matter how many ulterior motives each side has, it's always better to yield than to fight."

"After all, the country and the people are at peace."

The emperor nodded silently: "It is slightly stronger."

He looked at Du Qian and said with emotion, "These past few years, I've often thought that if I hadn't been born in such a chaotic era, things might have been better for me."

He asked with a smile, "If it were still the Wu Zhou Dynasty, if it weren't a chaotic era, we old brothers would probably hardly recognize each other."

After thinking for a moment, Prime Minister Du nodded and smiled, “I can make friends with anyone, but Your Majesty would probably have a hard time getting to know people like Pei Huang and Cui Shao.”

"correct."

Mentioning these two people, Prime Minister Du remembered something and said, "Last month, I heard that Pei Huang had died."

He died in his hometown of Wenxi.

Li Yun grunted and casually asked, "How did you die?"

"do not know."

Du Xiangong shook his head and said, "He probably died of illness."

He looked at Li Yun and said, "The Pei family of Wenxi is now in decline. I have heard that some members of the Pei family of Wenxi have come to Luoyang to find Instructor Pei, hoping to use his connections to enter the Imperial Guard."

Li Yun was also somewhat surprised to hear this, and said, "The Pei family of Wenxi is a great family with hundreds of years of history. How could they have fallen to such a state?"

"At the end of the Wu Zhou Dynasty, a great upheaval occurred, and most families, like our Du family of Jingzhao, were reduced to ashes. If the current dynasty continues to promote traditional learning, people from these families can re-enter officialdom and recover their vitality in no time."

"However, those old families are not very knowledgeable about the current dynasty's learning, except for mathematics, which they have some basic knowledge of."

"With no one entering officialdom, they naturally fall into poverty."

Prime Minister Du reminded us, "It has been seventeen years since the founding of the nation, and eighteen years if you include the year we prepared in Luoyang."

“An entire generation.”

Lord Du said with a smile, "Those born in our Zhangwu Dynasty are probably all married and have children by now."

Upon hearing this, Li Yun also felt somewhat enlightened.

He was lost in thought for a moment before slowly nodding.

"Yes, the second generation of the Zhangwu Dynasty will be born soon."

He stood up, put his hands behind his back, looked at the field he had planted, and murmured, "I wonder how far away the prosperous era of Zhangwu is."

"Your Majesty, according to popular belief..."

Du Xiangong stood behind him and said with a smile.

"We are already living in a golden age."

(End of this chapter)