Tang Dynasty Little Godfather

Chapter 234 Fight On, Father!

In order to maintain Wang Xi's basic public image, she has always maintained a very open attitude towards women, without setting any principles or limits for herself.

While Wang Xi was playing around with her sisters, others were working tirelessly for their careers.

For example, Li Linfu.

Regarding Li Linfu's historical contributions, no amount of criticism is too much. He was undoubtedly the founder of the An Lushan Rebellion, as the entire bureaucracy of the Tang Dynasty suffered devastating damage because of him.

In feudal times, official governance was of paramount importance. Without Li Linfu paving the way, Yang Guozhong, with his abilities, might not have been able to cause such widespread destruction.

This also proves that Li Linfu's ability is beyond doubt, and he is also a very hardworking scholar.

After Li Linfu arrived at Anye Bureau, the bureau immediately underwent a qualitative change. He not only persuaded Yuwen Rong to let Anye Bureau take the lead, but also formulated some of Anye Bureau's principles into explicit regulations, and had people take these regulations to the countryside to promote them with gongs and drums.

Compared to their previous low-key and secretive approach, this new method naturally greatly improved their efficiency, allowing them to fight their way from Luoyang to Zhengzhou.

Inside a post station on the outskirts of Zhengzhou, a group of middle-aged nobles in fine clothes were accusing each other, and almost every word they said could send the other to prison.

Li Linfu sat in the middle, took a small sip of fragrant tea, put down the teacup, and slowly said, "Everyone, everyone, please stop talking."

The nobles who were arguing all looked at him at the same time.

Li Linfu laughed and said, "If the envoy for expanding the territory were sitting here, based on what you all just said, he would probably already be in prison."

Those present were taken aback by what they heard and stared at Li Linfu in fear.

I got carried away and said everything.

This is how to do.

Li Linfu chuckled and said, "Don't panic, everyone. Not to mention that our Anye Bureau doesn't handle this matter, even if we did, what you just said was just idle chatter and shouldn't be taken seriously!"

"Yes, yes, yes! The master is right. What we said just now was just said in anger. We shouldn't take it seriously."

"Yes, yes, we... oh dear, we've made a fool of ourselves in front of the rich man."

Li Linfu added, "However, our Anye Bureau still manages matters concerning unregistered households and land, gentlemen."

“We are planning to donate this land to the On Yip Department.”

"We hope that Master Li will show leniency."

"Where! Where!"

Li Linfu cupped his hands and smiled, saying, "Thank you all for your support."

After these people left, the official beside Li Linfu said, "Sir, you are truly a brilliant strategist. You just made a slight mistake, causing them to fight like the snipe and the clam, while we reaped the benefits."

“They are all descendants of meritorious officials, we can’t fight them head-on!” Li Linfu chuckled.

Just then, another official entered the house and reported, "Sir, the wealthy Xue family from Bianxiang has contributed six hectares of land."

Li Linfu said, "Six qing? Shouldn't it be forty-eight qing?"

The official remained silent.

Li Linfu's expression suddenly changed, and he sneered, "Outrageous! Do you really think I'm here to beg for food? You're trying to fob me off with this little bit of land?"

His subordinate said, "Master Xue and the others are all from noble families."

Li Linfu narrowed his eyes and said, "But they were able to build such a huge fortune during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, so we don't need to be too afraid of dealing with these people. Send someone to secretly contact those tenant farmers who surrendered themselves to the Anye Bureau, and have them take the charges against these people to the Land Expansion Commissioner to file a complaint. As long as they dare to file a complaint, our Anye Bureau will give them enough land."

This matter needs to be brought up. Once it's brought up, the imperial court will have a reason to deal with them, and the imperial court will definitely deal with them.

"I obey your orders."

"besides."

Li Linfu said, "There are too few hidden households coming to surrender. Those troublemakers are really shameless. You should send people to the villages to spread the word that our Anye Bureau is short on time and will not stay here for long. After we leave, we will no longer accept surrenders from hidden households here. Everything will be treated as a crime. I am not the Duke of Qi. I have no time to waste here with them."

"Yes."

Since gaining power, this fellow has immediately revealed his effeminate, hypocritical nature.

Throughout his journey, the smile on his face never disappeared, but his underhanded tactics never ceased either.

He wouldn't confront these local bullies directly, but would secretly use all sorts of methods, such as exploiting the conflicts between these nobles, sowing discord, and making them denounce each other.

For example, someone might greet people with a smile on their face, but secretly instigate those who are hiding from others to report them.

They speak human language to humans and ghost language to ghosts; their methods are endless.

This proves the saying: let heroes investigate heroes, and let scoundrels investigate scoundrels.

Another point is that Li Linfu was also targeted; he was particularly ruthless towards the nobles who had grown up during Wu Zetian's reign, specifically targeting these people.

This was actually the result of his discussion with Yuwen Rong.

Since Li Longji ascended the throne, although he has purged the bureaucracy in the court, he has not made much progress in the local areas. Although Li Longji's land reform this time is aimed at improving the treasury, he would certainly be very happy to see them targeting the old wealthy landowners, and he may even have planned to do so.

The cake is only so big. If we don't wash it, where will Li Longji find money to distribute to his people?

Of course, Wang Shouyi and Huangfu Shangde were not idle either. Li Linfu was just charging ahead, but the most important function of Anye Bureau was to properly protect the people.

Li Linfu would collect the land and the unregistered households and leave immediately without lingering.

Wang Shouyi and Huangfu Shangde made their arrangements based on Li Linfu's list and land register.

In essence, Li Linfu was taking things in, while they were giving them out, and the good reputation still fell on Wang Shouyi and Huangfu Shangde.

Wang Shouyi does have some talent in this area, because he has been busy making money for the past ten years and has done a very good job in arranging temporary employment for these unregistered households.

Those who had gone into hiding were all settled very well, which in turn attracted more people to surrender, creating a virtuous cycle. Of course, the common people still had to endure hardship, and this was not a welfare program. If they wanted to return to their hometowns, they had to help the merchants deliver goods to earn some travel expenses, but this money was guaranteed by the An Ye Bureau and could not be reduced.

In addition, Yuwen Rong is still the main character, as he is in charge of the overall situation.

However, with Li Linfu's addition, his relationship with the Anye Department became closer, and their cooperation improved.

Li Linfu didn't punish anyone, nor did he have the authority to do so. He merely stirred up trouble everywhere, giving Yuwen Rong an excuse to deal with it.

Overall, even if someone reported him, Yuwen Rong did not punish too many people or carry out a large-scale purge. At most, he made an example of them and gave them a chance to reform.

Their goal is very clear: they want land, people, and money, not your lives.

You guys need to contribute something, otherwise none of us will be in a good place.

Thanks to the concerted efforts of these individuals, the reform has progressed exceptionally smoothly.

But when it comes to the elders' stubbornness, Wang Maozhong is undoubtedly the most stubborn, and this time is no exception.

After torturing Wang Shuang to the point of being unrecognizable, he finally understood the application of buoyancy. The improved cargo ship based on buoyancy had also been built, so he immediately went to Li Longji to claim credit.

When Li Longji learned of this, he was overjoyed. It was like someone had just slipped a pillow into his head when he was about to go to sleep. This had to be done in a big way, so he immediately invited the prime minister and ministers to go to the Wei River for inspection.

Although it's a little excessive, it's actually quite reasonable.

Because Guanzhong could not produce enough food, Tang emperors often had to travel to Luoyang for food. The improvement of the grain transport ships was of great benefit to the heart of the empire.

It is only right to give it some attention.

However, Zhang said that they had always disliked Wang Maozhong, believing that he came from a humble background, had no real talent or learning, and was purely a relative by connections. He also lacked self-awareness, was arrogant because of his favor, and looked down on everyone.

After the demonstration, Li Longji asked Yu Qin, the Vice Minister of Works, "Vice Minister Yu, is this ship as Mao Zhong described?"

Zhang and the others also looked at Yu Qin, because they were not sure whether what Wang Maozhong said was true or false. Yu Qin was not only a child prodigy who passed the imperial examination at a young age, but also made great achievements in water management. Moreover, he was upright and honest and had a very good reputation in the court.

Yu Qin replied truthfully, “Your Majesty, it is indeed as General Wang said. This ship is not only faster but also more stable. In particular, the secret compartment technology has been improved. It can be said that it is much better than the previous cargo ships in all aspects.”

"is it?"

Li Longji looked at Wang Maozhong with great surprise, "Maozhong! I had never heard of your shipbuilding skills before. It's only been a few days since I last saw you, and even Vice Minister Yu has been full of praise for your ship."

Wang Maozhong immediately said, "This is all because of Taoist thought."

"Taoist thought?" Li Longji asked knowingly.

Wang Maozhong nodded and said, "It is precisely the principle of Qi in Taoist thought."

Li Longji nodded and said, "Regarding that Qi mechanics, I have also read that book called '100,000 Whys'."

"It is precisely the buoyancy within that."

Wang Maozhong said, "I improved this ship based on the characteristics of buoyancy."

Li Longji said, "I am aware of buoyancy, and I believe you have all heard of it as well."

Zhang said they just nodded slightly.

They had only heard about it; they didn't actually know the details.

Li Longji then asked, "How can we improve ships based on buoyancy?"

Wang Maozhong said: "According to the characteristics of buoyancy, buoyancy is vertically upward, which is exactly opposite to gravity, which is vertically downward. When buoyancy is equal to gravity, the ship will not sink. So the reason for the ship sinking is that the ship's weight is greater than the buoyancy."

Furthermore, according to the theory of buoyancy, buoyancy is equal to the weight of the ship displaced. Therefore, I have specially designed a dock to measure the displacement of this cargo ship, so that the specific load can be calculated. I have also marked the drainage line on the ship. If the ship exceeds the drainage line, it is possible for it to capsize. This is a way to prevent capsizing.

That's one point. Secondly, since the magnitude of buoyancy is related to the amount of water displaced, it means that for objects of the same weight, the larger the object, the more water is displaced, and the greater the buoyancy it experiences.

An object will float if the water it displaces is heavier than the object itself. So even a piece of iron will float if it is made large enough that the amount of water it displaces is greater than the weight of the iron.

Therefore, we widened the hull and reduced its height, so that it can carry more and sail more stably.

The improvement of the compartment technology also benefited from buoyancy. When we know the ship's load capacity, as well as the theory of the ship's center of gravity and center of buoyancy, we can design compartments more rationally, so that its beams can strengthen the hull and carry more cargo while maintaining the ship's stability.

Furthermore, according to buoyancy, the resistance a vessel experiences is related to the size of its contact surface; therefore, we make the bow smaller, thus allowing it to travel faster!

He gave a very long speech, as if he wanted to say everything he had recently learned.

Zhang Shuo and Yuan Qianyao were dumbfounded, their minds still reeling.

Yu Qin was a young genius with exceptional talent, and he also had some knowledge of shipbuilding. He quickly realized what was going on and exclaimed in amazement, "Wonderful! Wonderful! I didn't find this buoyancy theory amazing before, but now I realize that buoyancy is truly profound and astonishing."

Although he is a genius, he is deeply influenced by the current education system, which has shaped his traditional way of thinking, making it difficult for him to combine theory with application.

However, after Wang Maozhong explained it to him, he was able to quickly grasp the mystery behind it.

After he said that, the other officials dared not speak out of turn, because they really did not know whether it was right or wrong.

Li Longji laughed heartily and said, "It's not buoyancy that's so profound, but rather the Taoist philosophy!"

Suddenly, a faint thud was heard, followed by a burst of laughter.

Li Longji felt the voice sounded familiar, and looking in the direction of the sound, he saw a group of boys playing in the water shirtless on a small dock in the distance. He hurriedly asked, "Go and see who it is?"

Gao Lishi said, "Your Majesty, it's Wang Shaolang and the others playing in the water over there."

"Sparrow?"

Li Longji hurriedly said, "Let's go, let's go see what they're playing."

(End of this chapter)