Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 36 Li Zhi's Edict

In late December, the wind was fierce and the frost was severe. The dew on the branches had all turned into frost. Outside the Chunming Gate of Chang'an City, a carriage drove in.

There were two old men sitting in the car. One of them was tall and slender, holding a landscape painting in his hand with a smile on his face. He was Lu Chengqing, who was sent to Sanmenxia by Li Zhi.

"Brother Yan is indeed the most skilled artist in the Tang Dynasty. This 'Map of Sanmenxia' is magnificent and lifelike. Your Majesty would surely be satisfied if he saw it."

The old man next to Lu Chengqing was a few years younger than him, with a seven-inch long beard. He was Yan Liben, the Minister of Works.

Yan Liben once painted "The Eighteen Scholars of the Qin Palace" and, at the behest of Li Shimin, painted "The Twenty-Four Meritorious Officials of the Lingyan Pavilion". Among the painters of the Tang Dynasty, he was hailed as a legend of painting.

He smiled faintly and said, "Brother Lu, you're too kind. When I was the Chief of Construction, I also went to Sanmenxia and wanted to build a plank road nearby to avoid the dangerous pass, but I was unsuccessful. I was able to help a little today, which made up for a regret."

Lu Chengqing sighed, "Brother Yan is very righteous. If we can open up this waterway, I wonder how much manpower and material resources can be saved."

Yan Liben said sternly, "I have always had a question in my mind. When His Majesty asked Brother Lu to explore Sanmenxia, ​​did he intend to conscript laborers and forcibly dig through the reef?"

Lu Chengqing knew what Yan Liben was worried about.

According to this observation, the water in Sanmenxia is turbulent and there is no place to stand.

If we had forcibly built a wooden bridge and let the laborers dig it, who knows how many people would have drowned in the Sanmenxia waters.

"Brother Yan, don't worry. In my opinion, His Majesty seems to have another solution. It's definitely not about forcibly conscripting laborers to dig."

Yan Liben asked, "What if Your Majesty really has this intention?"

Lu Chengqing said proudly: "Lu must die for his advice!"

Yan Liben nodded and said no more.

After entering the imperial city, the two went their separate ways.

Lu Chengqing first went to the Ministry of Revenue and saw that there was no trouble in the yamen and all officials were doing their duties. Then he went to Ganlu Palace to ask for an audience.

When Li Zhi learned that he had brought back a map of Sanmenxia, ​​he hurriedly ordered him to present it.

At first glance, I felt a surging and majestic momentum rushing towards me, as if the water of the Yellow River was leaping onto the paper and was about to rush out.

Looking closely, you can see that the canyon is flanked by water, with towering cliffs and jagged rocks.

Two reefs as big as small islands in the middle of the river divide the river water into three streams, forming three gates: "Human Gate", "Ghost Gate" and "God Gate".

There is also a ship in the painting, sailing towards one of the gates of Sanmenxia at a very fast speed.

If you look closer, you can vaguely see a little man on the bow, directing the crew and adjusting the sails and rudder.

The little man danced and gesticulated, appearing extremely anxious, which further highlighted the danger of Sanmenxia.

Judging from the ratio of people to ship, the ship was not big, just a medium-sized ship, but it was already so dangerous. This shows that large cargo ships cannot pass at all.

After passing through the three gates, there is a big mountain called "Dizhu Mountain". The turbulent river is blocked by Dizhu Mountain and divided into two, flowing separately.

Lu Chengqing explained that as long as the water passed through the three gates, the flow would be blocked by Dizhu Mountain and would be much smoother, and there would be no danger anymore.

The backbone of the country comes from this.

Li Zhiduan looked at it for a long time and nodded secretly.

As long as these two large reefs are blown up, Sanmenxia will become a wide and safe waterway, and grain from Luoyang can be transported to Chang'an continuously.

He encouraged Lu Chengqing and asked about the situation around Sanmenxia. Lu Chengqing answered them one by one.

Li Zhi had an idea in mind. After the regular court the next day, he issued an imperial edict, ordering officials of the three provinces and six ministries, the nine temples and five academies, as well as the fourth rank and above of the Censorate to wait at the Youyanming Gate in the middle of the afternoon.

In addition to these people, Li Zhi also specially selected Liu Rengui to participate.

After the news reached the Menxia Province, Han Ai conveyed the order to his two assistant ministers.

Although Cui Dunli was also a minister, he usually worked in the Ministry of War and there was no need for him to notify anyone. So he ordered someone to call Liu Rengui over.

"Liu Jieshi, His Majesty has ordered you and me to go outside the Youyanming Gate at mid-noon to wait for orders. It may be that a banquet will be held in the palace, so don't forget it." Han Ai said with a smile.

Originally he did not like Liu Rengui, but since the emperor looked at him differently, he had to try to win him over.

Liu Rengui replied yes, without asking any more questions, and took his leave.

Liu Rengui's assignment in the Menxia Province exactly corresponds to that of the Zhongshu Sheren in the Zhongshu Province.

The Secretariat had six secretaries who were responsible for drafting imperial edicts, while the Ministry of Personnel had four attendants who were responsible for reviewing imperial edicts.

If any dissatisfactory or non-compliant findings are found, they shall be reported to the Shizhong and Menxia Shilang.

The Jieshilang actually had great power, but his rank was not high, only the fifth rank, which was not commensurate with an official of Liu Rengui's age.

The other officials were only in their thirties or forties, the youngest, Pei Yan, was only twenty-eight, but he was nearly sixty.

Liu Rengui was a man of few words, but he was very efficient. He had finished his work before the hour of noon. Tang Dynasty officials did not have a specific time to leave the court; as long as they finished their work, they were fine. Many officials from the Ministry of Personnel had already gone home.

Liu Rengui had nothing to do, so he took out a book and started reading. Around 1:00 p.m., Han Ai sent someone to invite him over.

The Menxia Province was located east of the central axis. After Liu Rengui met with Han Ai and two Menxia assistant ministers, they headed west together, passed through the Zuo Yanming Gate, and soon arrived at the You Yanming Gate.

The other officials had almost arrived.

Liu Rengui reunited with Xu Xiaode and Shangguan Yi. Shangguan Yi said with a smile, "Liu Hulu, His Majesty has issued an edict to summon officials of the fourth rank and above, and you are the only one of the fifth rank. It seems that your favor is coming."

Liu Rengui said: "I don't know what it is going to do yet. Perhaps His Majesty has something to ask me. Who knows."

Shangguan Yi laughed and scolded, "What is it that only you know? That sounds so frivolous!"

Xu Xiaode said, "I think His Majesty is planning to hold a banquet."

Liu Rengui: "Why are you holding a banquet in the inner court for no reason?"

Xu Xiaode laughed and said, "How would I know? Perhaps the sage suddenly felt like doing something. Who can possibly fathom the sage's thoughts?"

The officials chatted and laughed, feeling very relaxed. They followed Wang Fusheng through Liangyi Gate, Yuehua Gate, and Anren Gate, and finally arrived at the inner courtyard of the harem.

All the officials were puzzled.

I have been to the harem before, for example, to the Lingyan Pavilion and Guanyun Hall, where I reminisced with Emperor Taizong about the days when he was fighting for the country and enjoyed literature and wine together.

However, Anren Gate is located west of the central axis, and Lingyan Pavilion and Guanyun Hall are both on the east side.

Going further, there are Xihai Pool, Beihai Pool and Nanhai Pool, where few officials come.

Han Ai shouted, "Eunuch Wang, where are we going?"

Wang Fusheng said, "Let's go to the Forbidden Garden."

The ministers suddenly understood and followed Wang Fusheng all the way, and they also got a taste of the scenery of the harem along the way.

After a while, they passed through the Xuanwu Gate and arrived at the Forbidden Garden. Walking towards the northeast, they soon arrived in front of a small courtyard.

The courtyard was surrounded by Qianniu Guards holding swords, and the security was very tight. The officials were secretly frightened.

Xu Jingzong recognized this as a tiger enclosure and whispered, "Could it be that a foreign envoy presented a tiger to His Majesty, and His Majesty allowed us to view it?"

Everyone asked Xu Yushi, the Minister of the Honglu Temple.

Xu Yushi twirled his beard and said, "The Parthian Empire did offer a tiger, but it was placed in the stables with the other tigers. I haven't heard it was moved to the Imperial Gardens."

Yan Lide, the Chief of the Imperial Household, turned pale and muttered to himself, "Could it be that His Majesty has prepared the elixir and wants us all to take it?"

Yan Liben asked, "Brother, what are you talking about?"

Yan Lide just shook his head and sighed without saying anything.

Wang Fusheng asked the ministers to wait outside the courtyard. When he entered the courtyard and was about to report to Li Zhi, he saw Li Zhi talking to Xue Rengui.

"Mr. Xue, what do you think this is?" Li Zhi asked with a smile, pinching a pile of black powder between his fingers.

Xue Rengui hesitated for a moment and said, "It smells like sulfur. It must be medicine powder, right?"

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Yes, it is indeed a kind of medicinal powder, but it is a special kind of medicinal powder. It may surprise you later."

This is the latest gunpowder developed by Li Zhi's craftsmen.

The formula for gunpowder is very simple. The optimal ratio of sulfur, charcoal and saltpeter is 1 to 1.5 to 7.5. Anyone who has studied history knows this.

The raw materials were also very wide-ranging. The saltpeter of this period was also called "xiaoshi". Like sulfur, it was a medicinal material. The Tang Dynasty had vast territory and abundant resources, and there were many saltpeter mines and sulfur mines.

After the Imperial Medical Bureau delivered the raw materials, Li Zhi asked the craftsmen of the General Works to weigh, grind and refine the three materials into powder according to the proportions.

Then soak, dry and screen to obtain gunpowder particles.

Because gunpowder was too dangerous, Li Zhi ordered people to build several warehouses inside the tiger enclosure, which were far apart. Even if an accident occurred, the damage could be minimized.

There are more than 2,000 kilograms of gunpowder refined in this way, all of which are stored in the Tiger Circle warehouse.

Wang Fusheng stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the ministers have all arrived."

Li Zhi nodded and walked out of the yard. All the ministers greeted him.

Li Zhi raised his hand and said, "No need to be so polite, my lords. I came here today to show you something. Please follow me."

He waved to the ministers and turned to head towards the tiger enclosure.

(End of this chapter)