Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 725 Long Live!

"Great! Let life be a wilderness!"

Standing on the East China Plain, where wildflowers bloom in profusion, the spring-sown grains have already sprouted, and the landscape is lush and green. Streams murmur, and merchants rest along both sides of the official road. Some bring their families to enjoy a spring outing on the grass, which is quite a unique experience.

Emperor Jingtai stood on a large rock and gazed into the distance. All he could see were fertile fields stretching for miles, a sight that was truly comforting.

Meanwhile, Xia Lin was sitting there with several guards, roasting a chicken. This business trip was actually a time for him to relax and recuperate.

“Ah Sheng, let’s go to Yangzhou first. Yangzhou is so beautiful this time of year. I’ve heard that the girls from the Jiangnan water towns speak with a sweet, malty voice.”

"Try to tone down the stench." Xia Lin looked up and scolded, "Save your breath, you're probably almost unable to even get an erection."

"It's alright, but it doesn't last very long. I'm planning to look for a better solution when I have time. What about you?"

"I am as usual, and as fierce as a tiger."

"You're talking nonsense. You were taking medicine not long ago."

As they approached Yangzhou, they probably never imagined who they would encounter...

They encountered Li Shimin, the King of Shu of the Tang Dynasty.

They had just entered Yangzhou City that day and sat down to eat something when they turned their heads and saw Li Shimin dressed as a knight-errant, with one leg propped up on a bench, eating meat. Next to him was a horse spear, and he looked quite imposing.

Li Shimin saw them at this moment, and after their eyes met, Li Shimin carried the large pork knuckle in front of him to their table.

"Huh?"

Emperor Jingtai and Xia Lin looked at him strangely. Xia Lin asked curiously, "You, the dignified Prince of Shu, why are you running around everywhere for no reason?"

Li Shimin glanced at him, then at Emperor Jingtai, and without speaking, let out a disdainful snort from his nose: "Damn..."

"What brings you here this time?" Emperor Jingtai looked Li Shimin up and down. "Still dressed like this."

"Yes, I'd like to visit the shipyards in Yangzhou and Ningbo. The Yellow River canal is much smaller than the Yangtze River. Most of the ships in the south are deep and large, which are not suitable for the Yellow River. So I'd like to go and discuss it, but due to my special status, this is the only way."

"Oh, stealing technology."

"How can you call it stealing? The Northern Han have already started building cannons, why don't you say they stole anything? I taking some ships is considered stealing?"

Li Shimin was a straightforward man, and he spoke without any beating around the bush: "Hey, you guys made quite a name for yourselves by carrying out the massacre in Jinling a few days ago. Now the powerful clans in the north are all trying to get rid of you."

“Let them come.” Xia Lin perked up as she said this: “Last time, it wasn’t quite enough.”

"Don't worry, it's only a matter of time. Right now, that Liu Heita is running rampant, and sooner or later he'll turn the Central Plains into a mess. Then you'll have your fun."

But Emperor Jingtai clearly didn't care about these things; one question lingered in his mind: "You said the Northern Han has started building cannons? How did they get the blueprints?" "How would I know? I just know they're already building them."

Xia Lin, however, smiled and said, "It's normal. The diffusion of technology is unavoidable. As long as you're willing to learn, it's not that difficult. Just grab some sulfur, some saltpeter, some charcoal, shovel it into an iron pipe, and then try and fail. We're all yellow-skinned people, and no one is stupider than anyone else. Besides, in recent years, Northern Han has been pursuing an open-source approach, recruiting talents widely. Who can stop the technology from spreading outwards?"

After saying that, he took a bite of Erfeng's braised pork knuckle: "But you, Xiaofeng, you said the Northern Han was making cannons, but you didn't?"

"Oh dear." Erfeng slapped the table: "To tell you the truth, I've been thinking about this for a while now. After coming to Jinling this time, I invited some fireworks craftsmen back, and guess what? It's done! It's really not difficult, it's just that the casting aspect is still not quite there, but it's okay. After those master craftsmen in casting and steelmaking arrive in a few days, everything will be fine. Just like my son said, how difficult can this thing be?"

Emperor Jingtai felt a pang of sympathy upon hearing this, but Xia Lin laughed heartily: "Yes, yes, that's exactly right."

After finishing his meal, Li Shimin took his leave to rest. Emperor Jingtai asked with some concern, "Ah Sheng, now they are starting to imitate us and build cannons. What should we do?"

"It's normal. There's no way to control the flow of these technologies because they don't have particularly high barriers to entry."

"Won't we lose all our advantages from now on?"

Xia Lin smiled, which irritated Emperor Jingtai: "What are you laughing at? Speak!"

"Their artillery technology is probably not mature yet. By the time they are mature enough to fire five miles, our artillery should be able to fire twenty miles. To put it bluntly, without long-term, systematic education, even if I reveal all the technology, they still won't understand it. Do you think they can surpass the foundation I've built over more than a decade by just finding a few old men swinging hammers? Industrialization and systematization are things that need to be practiced for decades and persisted in. You can't create miracles by cramming at the last minute."

"That puts my mind at ease."

However, it was quite interesting to have Li Shimin traveling with them. Li Shimin, who was in his thirties, exuded the aura of a king. In Xia's opinion, Erfeng was more suitable to be the emperor than her eldest sister. But the Empress was the only one who could balance the conflict between the Li Tang and Tian Wei dynasties. So even if Erfeng had ideas now, he had to keep them to himself. He could only continue to pursue his own ideas after Xia Lin died.

Because Xia Lin might not start a war for a woman with whom he has had physical intimacy, but he would definitely start a war for the sake of the balance between the great empires.

At this point, the war between Tang and Wei ultimately resulted in Liu Bilie rebuilding the Han Dynasty for the fourth time...

Nobody wants to do something thankless and exhausting. The best approach is for everyone to be happy as friends and form a new tripartite balance of power.

Springtime in the south is rainy, and their journey was not comfortable. Most of the time they were bumping along muddy roads, with drizzling rain outside and the sky overcast.

Having finally arrived in Yangzhou, they naturally needed to rest for more than ten days before continuing their journey. As for the order to inspect the post stations, they had already delayed it.

But... what can be done about the delay? Call the head of the Court of State Ceremonial to reprimand them? Deduct their salaries?
"Hey, Erfeng." Xia Lin sat atop the famous Tingyu Tower in Yangzhou, gazing at the twinkling stars in the city: "Have you ever thought about creating an incomparably powerful nation?"

"How can you say such a thing?" Erfeng glanced at the drunken Emperor Jingtai, who was already slumped on the table. "You want to rebel? Count me in."

"You're really obsessed with treason." Xia Lin hugged his knees and reached out to catch some spring rain. "I mean, a huge empire that stretches from the North Sea in the north to the Cangnan Islands in the south, from the Abbasid Caliphate in the west to the Japanese in the east. Have you even thought about that?"

"To be honest, ever since you gave my sister that map and I learned that there's a vast world to the west, I've been itching to go and see it. I want to conquer a great territory, so that future generations will remember me like they remember Huo Qubing. Then tell me, wouldn't I, Li Shimin, be a ten-thousand-year-old emperor?"

(End of this chapter)