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

Chapter 751 Erfeng is finally leaving.

After the execution of these pirates, the body of the pirate leader Haizhu was made into a specimen and displayed at the entrance of the Ningbo Maritime Patrol Office, covered by a large glass case. Xia Lin went to see it and found it quite frightening; the uncanny valley was visible to everyone. However, the warning effect was also quite good.

“I want to take this craft too.” Erfeng pointed to the box of human skin specimens: “I’ll make a whole row of them in Chang’an.”

After saying that, he sighed and said, "By the way, I should be leaving tomorrow too."

"What? You don't need shipbuilding technology anymore?"

Li Shimin glanced at Xia Lin helplessly after hearing his words: "You didn't tell me that the blueprints alone weighed seven hundred jin."

This was actually just a minor incident. A few days ago, Chang'an replied, saying that if Xia Lin set a price, Li Tang would be willing to buy the technology no matter how expensive it was. Xia Lin said he could give it away for free, out of respect for Crown Prince Li Zhi. So Li Shimin was happily preparing to go to the shipyard to get the blueprints.

But when the blueprints were brought out, he was actually dumbfounded. He didn't understand the technology, but he knew what it meant that all six boxes contained blueprints for a ship.

He opened any box, and the dense array of graphics and symbols arranged by year made him dizzy.

This is the result of ten years of painstaking research by Jiujiang Shipyard and several major academies. Now, the wisdom of tens of thousands of people is condensed into these few boxes. When the demonstration and improvement materials from Shangzhou to last week were laid out in front of him, Li Shimin knew that his mission could not be accomplished.

Even getting people across is impossible, because this is not a problem that one or two people can solve. In Xia Lin's words, it is the result of a country's manufacturing system.

Since that's the case, Erfeng should go back eventually. After all, he is the King of Shu, and it doesn't look good for him to always hang out with the Emperor of Wei.

“I’ll come back in a few days.” Erfeng raised her chin and the lance in her hand: “I’ve never been a captain before. When are you going to war? I want to be the captain.”

"Alright, the flagship is expected to have its sea trials next February. You come, and I'll make you the captain of the flagship."

"It's a deal." Erfeng tossed the lance in her hand to Xia Lin: "This is the token, don't try to deceive me."

"Of course." Xia Lin took the spear. "On the way back, shall we stop by Fuliang to see Chengqian?"

"Of course I have to go see my son. Alright, I won't say any more to you. Go back and tell your dog emperor that his father, the King of Shu, has passed away and that he should not miss him."

After saying this, Li Shimin turned and rode away. Xia Lin stood there watching Li Shimin's back. He was actually quite impressed. Emperor Taizong's demeanor and wisdom were indeed unmatched by ordinary people. If it weren't for their different positions, they would have truly become friends like Bo Ya and Zi Qi.

On his way back, Li Shimin was also very disappointed. He also wanted to expand his territory and ride the waves. The experience of fighting pirates on the big ship for several days made him toss and turn at night. Whether he opened his eyes or closed them, he could see the scene of cannon fire and red clouds in the sky.

He first went to Fuliang via the official road, spent a few days with his wife and children, and then hurriedly set off back to Chang'an. Like Xia Lin, people like them were destined to have little time to enjoy the peaceful life of having a wife and children and a warm bed.

Back in Longcheng, he could spend more time with his wife, but since he became the King of Shu, he has been separated from his family much more. He felt that he and Xia Daosheng had many similarities; his helplessness was reflected in Xia Daosheng's, and his ambitions were the same as Xia Daosheng's.

"It's just a pity that we were ultimately enemies, not friends."

After Erfeng returned to Chang'an, she told her sister about what she had seen and heard along the way. She then sighed for no reason, "If the world were to be in harmony, my relationship with him would surely be as close as that of Bo Ya and Zi Qi."

"You've been in Ningbo Prefecture for so long, didn't you have a few mistresses to serve you?"

"I don't have time," Li Shimin said, gesturing as he spoke. "I'm so busy with daily ship drills, troop deployments, and route planning that I haven't seen a single woman, let alone had time to serve her."

Third Sister raised an eyebrow: "Is that female bandit leader really that beautiful?"

“She’s very beautiful, with delicate skin and tender flesh. I don’t know if it’s due to her natural talent or because she ate human flesh. If you want to see her, I’ll take you to the entrance of the Ningbo government office next time. That woman was made into a figurine by Xia Daosheng and is displayed there for people to see.”

Hearing her younger brother recount the dramatic events, San Niang secretly longed for it. As a military officer, she was now confined to the palace and had no freedom. Moreover, with her children being placed in Fuliang Academy by Douyazi, she could only see them once a year, and she missed them dearly.

"So you ultimately didn't bring back the technology of navigation?"

“We can’t bring it back.” Li Shimin became serious at this moment: “Sister, I just happened to be about to tell you this.”

"Tell me," Erfeng described to her sister in detail how complex and advanced those ships were. Not only that, she also explained how these ships were built, how many scholars had worked for many years, and how much financial resources had been invested without regard to cost to achieve what they are today.

"If you ask me, sister, why don't we just do what he did and flip the table? Our Li Tang army is strong and well-equipped now. If all else fails, how about we ask my brother-in-law for help?"

"Brother-in-law! You're such a brother-in-law!" Third Sister picked up her chopsticks and hit him: "You're over thirty years old, and you still can't keep your mouth shut."

"I'm not trying to be mean, but if things continue like this, our Great Tang is doomed. Haven't you noticed, sister? Right now, they're growing our grain, mining our mines, and even our women are dreaming of marrying south. And what are they doing? They buy our grain for two coins a pound, make it into biscuits, and sell it back for ten coins a pound. They sell us iron ore for three coins a pound, refined iron for fifteen coins a pound, and refined steel has reached twenty-two coins! They give us the best coal for two coins and three cents, but we have to pay three coins for a single piece of honeycomb briquette mixed with lime and sawdust. What kind of situation is this, sister?"

Third Sister frowned and sighed deeply. She knew all too well, but what could she do? She had tried, but the problem was that other people's biscuits were just tastier, their steel was just harder, and their honeycomb briquettes burned longer. And this was just the tip of the iceberg.

In any case, the Tang Dynasty is now like a blood bank next door. Raw materials are sold cheaply here, and finished products are bought back expensively there. The money is made by the other side in the back and forth, while the people of the Tang Dynasty cannot live without the goods from there. You should know that if this trade route is cut off, the grain supply in Chang'an will increase tenfold within three days.

Why? Because they were all hoarded and sold to Tian Wei.

With the construction of the new Xianyang, Tian Wei... no, it's Xia Daosheng, who can be said to have the Li Tang dynasty firmly in his grasp.

When other countries have problems, it's either a conflict between reformers and royalists, or between conservatives and radicals, or between the newly rich and the old aristocratic families. But now, with the Li Tang dynasty, it's a conflict between the Xia faction and the Lin faction.

The Xia faction advocated that it was better to buy than to make. They only needed to provide the raw materials to obtain cheap products from there. After all, many things in Chang'an were cheaper than in Jinling. Why should they go through the trouble of making them themselves?
The Lin faction advocates complete Wei-ization, bringing in a large number of talents from Jiangnan Province, and ideally inviting Xia Daosheng himself to take charge of the work. He originally said he wanted to build an industrial zone here, so why are those Xia faction dogs still obstructing it?

So what could she, as the emperor of a country, do? Now she could only hope that a powerful man would suddenly appear on her side and change the current situation overnight.

And now this formidable man has appeared. Is Li Erfeng not formidable enough? But this formidable man is neither from the Xia faction nor the Lin faction; he's from the Xia-Lin faction…

This guy wants both things right from the start—he wants to emulate Xia Lin's table-flipping tactics and his comprehensive education system. Fine, after all that, doesn't he even consider whose name will ultimately be on the Tang Dynasty's name?

Good heavens, it's a peaceful evolution.

"I need to keep thinking of ways to resolve this. I can't just sit here and wait to die. Why can Xia Lin succeed, but I, Li Shimin, can't? Didn't he say that those who learn from him will live, while those who imitate him will die? Well then, I'll try to learn from him!"

"You..." Third Sister wanted to say something, but then thought better of it: "Try it if you want."

“We are no less than them in trade. We can trade directly with more countries, while they can only eat the leftovers of us. So what if it's engineering? I'll do that too! So what if it's a comprehensive college? I'll do that too! So what if it's a policy to strengthen the military? I'll implement that too! He has people trying to trip him up, but I'm not as easy to talk to as he is.”

"Erfeng..."

Suddenly, Third Sister said earnestly, "Have you ever thought about something? Why is he so unguarded around you?"

"He's stupid."

Is he stupid?

Erfeng shut up at this moment. Of course, he knew that Xia Lin was not stupid, and he understood the intention behind it. But the problem was that if he didn't follow Xia Lin's path, he would be forced to his death, and if he did, he would become like Xia Lin. It was a classic case of being cut off whether he stuck his neck out or not.

But following his path offers a glimmer of hope, better than being gradually devoured. At worst, they can gamble on the nation's fate, seeing whether Chang'an's destiny is stronger or Jinling's feng shui is better. At least that way, regardless of who wins or loses, the barbarians of the grasslands won't reap the rewards.

"Have you decided?"

"It's decided." Erfeng nodded emphatically: "Let's take a gamble! Let's try to turn a bicycle into a motorcycle. I'll start working on the reforms right now. Oppose? I'll kill them all. If that doesn't work, I'll bring people over from Jiangnan Road."

Upon hearing this, Third Sister burst out laughing: "Just how much weird trash talk have you learned from him?"

“Sister, you’re just as good.”

"Alright, let's not talk about that. First, bring people over from Jiangnan Road, and then we'll talk about the murder. If you switch the order of the two things, you won't end up with nothing to show for it."

(End of this chapter)