"The admiral who oversees academic affairs and supervises local cultural and educational affairs... finally showed his fangs," Zheng Song said.
Wang Zhuo, the representative of the Wang family in Taiyuan, said: "It's called to supervise local culture and education, but it's actually aimed at our gentry. That person wants to take away the right to interpret the classics, and it's no longer just one or two days."
Cui Gan, the representative of the Boling Cui family, sighed: "Printing has helped him a lot, otherwise the Nine Classics annotated by Hongwen Hall would not even be able to leave Chang'an City."
Wang Zhuo suddenly said: "Printing was created by Master Zixiao Guansun. Do you think he will fall in love with that person?"
Lu Xiu of the Fan Yang Lu family shook his head and said: "It's hard to say. His original intention of inventing printing was indeed to print Taoist scriptures. There is no doubt about this."
Everyone nodded. After all, the first thing printed by the printing press was indeed the Taoist scripture used for the innovation of Zixiao Temple.
Later, the printing technology was taught to major Taoist sects such as Maoshan and Louguan Taoism, and was used to print Taoist scriptures. From all accounts, it was created for the purpose of promoting the Taoist scriptures.
Lu Xiu changed the subject and said: "However, we don't know what purpose he had in handing this technique to the person later."
Wang Zhuo added: "Don't forget, his disciple is married to his legitimate daughter. If he doesn't provide enough benefits, will he marry his legitimate daughter?"
Li Hong, the representative of the Li family in Zhao County, said: "Chen Jingke claims to be a descendant of Chen Yangong. I wonder if you can find any clues?"
Zheng Song shook his head and said: "We have checked that during the Yongjia Rebellion, the Chen family in Yangwuhu did have descendants who moved around."
"It's just that the Chen family has a large population, and it's been hundreds of years since this happened. It's difficult to find everyone."
Wang Zhuo said contemptuously: "He must be a fake, otherwise why not contact the Chen family to recount the genealogy."
Lu Xiu reminded helplessly: "You must not forget that the person he relies on today is not the Chen family's shadow, but Sun Zhenren."
"We don't need to investigate his true origins. We just need to know that he is a disciple of Zhenren Sun."
Except for Wang Zhuo, everyone else couldn't help but nod again. It didn't matter what Chen Jingke's origin was. The important thing was that he represented Sun Simiao.
Moreover, the Chen family has long since declined, so what if it is confirmed that he is a branch of the Yangwuhu Chen family?
Wang Zhuo said unwillingly: "He and the queen are called aunt and nephew, and he is in love with Princess Jinyang. It is said that he likes the princess very much, so he cannot be on our side."
Zheng Song said in confusion: "Then why does he still write articles praising the gentry? Is it true that Sun Zhenren is forcing him?"
Cui Qiandao: "I don't know, maybe there are other plans. In short, it can't be Zhenren Sun. He left Beijing in early February to look for medicine and has not returned yet."
Zheng Song couldn't help complaining: "This old god is really restless. He spent the first half of his life wandering around. Now that he is old and can't take care of himself, he still has to run around."
Cui Qiandao: "He stayed in the capital for so long all because of this disciple. Maybe he fell into his old ways after seeing Zixiao Temple gain a firm foothold."
Wang Zhuo interjected: "Could it be that he learned about this in advance and deliberately avoided it?"
"..."
Everyone simply ignored his words, Sun Simiao left in early February, and the emperor held an imperial meeting in March, with more than a month in between.
How unimaginable was Li Shimin that he told Sun Simiao, an idle man, such a big plan more than a month in advance?
It doesn't make sense logically.
They knew very well why Wang Zhuo targeted Zixiaoguan everywhere. The reason was very simple. It was because of personal vendetta.
Wang Xiuqi was a branch of his family. He was first beaten by Chen Jingke and then punished by the emperor, which severely ruined the reputation of his family.
Seizing the opportunity this time, I naturally tried my best to put on small shoes for Zi Xiaoguan.
Everyone was very dissatisfied with his behavior of avenging private revenge. Cui Yun, the Cui family of Qinghe who had been silent, said bluntly:
"Zhenren Sun is the leader of Taoism. We must not easily offend him at this critical moment, lest he push them there."
Lu Xiuyi said: "Yes, the strength of Taoism has increased greatly since Zhenren Sun's innovation, and there is a faint tendency to overwhelm Buddhism. At this juncture, we must not offend them."
Others also agreed with this decision.
Cui Yun added: "Everyone seems to have forgotten the purpose of today's gathering, which is not about Zixiao Temple but about the academic affairs of the admiral. Don't prioritize."
Everyone couldn't help but look at Wang Zhuo, who was the one who brought the topic to Zixiaoguan.
Wang Zhuo was shocked and angry when he was targeted, but he also knew that what everyone said was reasonable, and he did not dare to really offend so many people, so he could only keep a sullen face and say nothing.
Everyone simply ignored him and continued discussing the original topic.
Lu Xiu said: "The previous person who intended to promote the Hongwen Hall's annotation of the Nine Classics competed with our gentry for the right to annotate."
"We were forced to publish part of our family history, but we finally blocked his attempt, which shows that scholars are still more willing to believe us."
"The admiral's academic administration is a counterattack he made unwillingly. When these inspectors take office, they will inevitably promote the Nine Classics of Hongwenguan. We must be on guard."
Li Hong said: "Is there any way to force him to cancel this plan? Building a brand new yamen will cost countless manpower and material resources. Can the imperial court afford it?"
Cui Qiandao: "The imperial court can get tens of millions of dollars of grain from glass and sugar every year, and it can also buy millions of pounds of grain from small countries in the south. There is no shortage of money and grain."
"Moreover, supervising academic affairs is an act of enlightenment and has been promoted as good governance...The key is that once this plan is passed, nearly 10,000 official positions will be added, and even Wei Xianggong will not dare to object."
"It is almost impossible to sabotage this plan from within the DPRK. All we can do is sabotage it from the local level."
Zheng Song agreed and said: "I also think so. The only way to destroy this plan is to start from the local level. At present, I can only think of two methods."
"One, find a way to recruit our people to serve as school inspectors; two, bribe these school inspectors and make them work for me."
Everyone nodded in agreement with his method.
Zheng Song said: "Since everyone agrees with this strategy, let's start taking action. First, we should visit the Confucian scholar Kong Yingda and Kong Yingda."
…
In the palace, Chen Jingke also raised his own question: "Isn't it good to hand over all the important tasks of selecting inspectors to Academician Kong? He is also from a noble family."
Li Shimin stroked his beard and smiled: "Then if I told you that when the imperial court was annotating the Nine Classics, Kong Jijiu happened to be the bachelor of Hongwen Hall, would you still think so?"
Chen Jingke understood instantly and said: "Are you saying that the Nine Classics was compiled by Master Kong?"
Li Shimin said: "Not before, he was just one of the hosts. But now, he can be the one taking the lead."
The annotations of the Nine Classics of Hongwenguan were mainly carried out by those bachelors. Kong Yingda played an important role in it. It can be said that every book was devoted to his efforts.
But to say that he is the chief editor is a bit unfair to others, so the people who have been writing in the editor column have always been the bachelors of Hongwen Hall, and there is no chief editor.
But now, if we mention his position a little further, even if we don’t say that he is the chief editor, the effect will be the same.
Li Shimin said: "The nobles interpreted the sages' knowledge wantonly. Kong Jijiu, as a descendant of Confucius, has long been dissatisfied with this and has always wanted to regain the right to interpret the ancestral learning."
"So he naturally doesn't deal with the nobles, and there is no need to worry about them colluding with each other."
"The direct descendants of Confucius personally served as the emperor of the country to sacrifice wine and preside over innovations, which can influence a large number of scholars and also contribute to the construction of the academic and political system."
Chen Jingke was once again impressed by Li Shimin's political wisdom. He really considered every aspect and left no room for the gentry.
Another point is that the nobles most likely think that the Admiral of Academic Affairs is just sending an official to promote the Nine Classics in the local area. Although they will pay attention to it and destroy it, they will not really care too much.
After all, it is unrealistic to rely on just one or two officials to turn the overall situation around.
However, they don't know that this position is completely supporting the academic and political system and the imperial examination system.
Once the school inspectors took office and secured their positions, official schools spread all over the country, as well as the imperial examination system from local to central levels.
The last time the imperial court promoted the Nine Classics, the gentry blocked it by publishing part of their ancestral knowledge. Let’s see what they can do this time.
After saying this, Li Shimin turned to say: "I called you here this time because I have something that I can't make up my mind about at the moment, and I want to ask for your opinion."
Chen Jingke said: "You can ask, as long as I know everything, I can tell you everything."
Li Shimin took out a world map and said: "I am going to entrust a few feudal states to set an example first. Can you tell me where is the best place to place these states?"
Chen Jingke discovered that there were many details on this map, and knew that Li Shimin had not been idle during this period. He should have sent people to inquire around.
This is a good thing. Datang has already taken the lead. The stronger the outward-looking attitude, the better.
He did not answer directly, but asked: "Where is Your Majesty planning to place the feudal state?"
Li Shimin pointed at the map and said: "Two places, one is Luzon Island, which is vast and the indigenous people live in villages but are weak, so it is very suitable. The second one..."
He moved his hand a long distance, placed it in a place, and said: "Here."
Chen Jingke said in surprise: "Kiuzhou Island? This is the place of Fusang Kingdom. Their strength is not weak. Are you ready to go to war with them?"
Li Shimin said: "It's not as complicated as you think. The locals call this place Zhuzi Country, which is a vassal state of Fuso."
"The country has always been dissatisfied with Fuso and has raised troops to resist several times. However, the weak country was suppressed and even the leader of the country was killed."
"I found the descendants of the country's leader and prepared to support their restoration. Then I cut off part of the land from this island as the territory of the Tang Dynasty and divided it among the heroes."
Chen Jingke really didn't know that there was such a period of history, but he still said worriedly: "Will Fusang allow it to return to the country? What will happen when they invade the whole country?"
"After all, our army is on an expedition. We can't stop there every day to protect them, right?"
Li Shimin shook his head and said, "It seems you really don't understand why you can't station an army here?"
"Have you seen this? Tsushima Island and Tamra Island, I plan to station a naval force here each. The feudal kingdoms on Kyushu Island will provide food and wages. I believe they will be happy to do so."
"As for Fuso, have you forgotten the new ships and gunboats? On land, they may still be able to resist with their bravery, but at sea they will have no power to fight back."
Chen Jingke said in surprise: "Have you built a gunboat?"
Li Shimin nodded and said: "It has been built a long time ago. Although it is not the large battleship you mentioned, it is more than enough to deal with the Fuso Navy."
Chen Jingke had no objection and said: "Then I have no objection. Although Kyushu Island is not rich, it has been cultivated by Zhuzi Kingdom for hundreds of years, and it is more suitable to serve as a model than the wild Luzon."
"And there are hundreds of thousands of Zhuzi people here, who can be used as a source of population for the feudal state. After one or two generations of education and intermarriage, they will become Tang people."
"Well, it can also deter Fuso and contact the Ezo people in the north to jointly cause trouble for the Fuso people and consume their national power bit by bit."
"When the time is right, we can take over the Fusang Kingdom in one fell swoop, completely turn this place into the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and then entrust it to more heroes."
Chen Jingke became more and more excited as he talked, and finally couldn't help but praise: "Your Majesty is wise enough to think of this place. At first, I was actually thinking of Luzon Island..."
Li Shimin liked this flattery very much and said happily: "Since you agree, let's put the feudal state here."
"Qingzhou's navy has been established, it's time for them to show their claws."
The Qingzhou Navy was not established out of thin air. Last year, the imperial court had already begun building ships and recruiting soldiers to form a navy.
However, it was experimental in nature at that time and was not given a formal designation. It was only built as an auxiliary service.
This year, the Navy Yamen was formally established on this basis, so it took shape very quickly and immediately gained combat effectiveness.
This also marks the first time that the navy has appeared in the world as an independent branch.
In fact, the first time the navy existed as an independent branch in the previous life also appeared in the Tang Dynasty. It must be said that the Tang Dynasty was full of martial virtue.
After discussing the matter, Chen Jingke left with excitement. It was really satisfying to live a good life in Fusang Country.
I really hope to destroy this country as soon as possible and let it disappear completely from the earth.
Chen Jingke has decided to completely destroy all traces of their existence, even dig out and destroy their ancestral graves.
It will be recorded in future history books that Xu Fu led three thousand boys and girls out to sea, came to the Fusang Islands to thrive, and returned to China in the Tang Dynasty.
As for the history before Xu Fu's arrival, none of it exists.
The Jomon period, the Asuka period... similar words will not appear at all in the history of later generations.
Even with the existence of writing, the knowledge of hundreds of schools of thought can be lost. Why can't the Fusang myths and legends without any written records disappear completely?
Although this is difficult, you have to try it.
…
And looking at Chen Jingke's leaving figure, Li Shimin also showed a happy smile.
The reason why he placed the feudal state here was not just that. The first target was not Fusang, but the nearby Liaodong countries.
Chen Jingke only saw Fusang, but did not see this, which shows that his scheming and political vision are very mediocre.
Mediocrity is good, mediocrity makes people feel at ease.
