Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

[Why does it seem like only that little blind man got tricked? Did he trust you too much?]

"I wonder if my deception wasn't very good enough. He was willing to trust me because no one else had spoken to him yet. I always feel like I'm not doing him justice. I feel a little guilty."

[It's not just guilt, is it? He's the only one who got caught. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk.]

"Stop tut-tutting and prepare plan B."

[Next up, Guangzhou team? ]

"Let's go back and think about the plan carefully. If we fail a few more times, everyone will switch to Plan B."

Pushing open the door to the lounge, Qi Yuan waved at him, "Shangluo, come quickly! This hot dry noodles is delicious! Do you want to try some?"

"What's hot dry noodles?"

"Hey, the Wudang team just sent it over. They ordered a lot, so they sent us some too. Come and try it! They said it's super authentic and really delicious!"

"No need, I've already eaten. I just came back from there."

【Malaka!】Apollonia suddenly shouted.

"what happened?"

"In her stomach! There's a phlogiston marker in her stomach! She's marked! Malaka, there's a mark in that hot dry noodles too!"

"Huh?" Shangluo was stunned for a moment, then took a closer look. "Really?! In the end, we were the ones who got marked, right?"

"Miscalculated." Qi Yuan was still eating noodles after learning about the situation.

“Why are you still eating?”

"Well, since everything is marked, we might as well eat it. Tsk, it seems we are still one step behind." She wiped her mouth just as she finished the noodles.

"Ah, you got caught. I didn't succeed. I was definitely missing a trick."

"I was wondering how hard it must have been to make it to the finals," she shook her head. "Our team is the strongest in Yujing in recent years. But now we realize it's a truly frigid high altitude, with everyone fighting like gods. But I still don't understand. I don't drive, so what's the point of tagging me? Are they trying to give you a treat?"

"Not necessarily." Shangluo shook his head. "I just ate at their place, and I didn't get any phlogiston at all. So it seems they didn't intend to mark me at all, but instead intended to mark you and the other people in the team. What exactly do they want to do?"

Zhu Xianxin had reminded him before that there was actually another secret method of "Taiyi Jinhua" in the Wudang team's car.

"Wait a minute, I'll go over there and see what's going on."

He went out, turned left, and arrived at the Yanshan team's lounge again.

"Hey!" Gao Shiyu waved at him from behind the table. "Shangluo, you're here again? Come and try it! This hot dry noodles is super delicious!"

[This is over. This kid has two sets of signs in his head. Your steamed bread, and Zhang Baoling's hot dry noodles. How can this kid be hit by the same trick twice? And he doesn't even seem to know he's been hit. That's not right. Isn't this how this little blind man sees? Can't he see it?]

"he is."

Suddenly, Gao Shiyu smiled. "Don't worry, I quite like the mint flavor. If you have anything delicious, just send it to me. I'll eat it all."

Back in the lounge, Shangluo pulled out a stool and sat down.

He said to Qi Yuan, "The situation is this: Team Lan Fang ate, but not in sufficient quantity, and they probably won't eat. Team Wudang noticed right from the start. And then there's that kid Gao Shiyu, playing dumb, trying to get free food and drinks. He doesn't seem to care about being marked at all; he probably thinks the Xuantan Tigers can't lose. We still haven't even visited Team Guangzhou's territory, so I think the result will be similar."

"Ahhh!" Qi Yuan held his head. "What kind of group of gods are these? Why didn't they all fall for it? Why didn't they follow the script? Shangluo, do you have any other ideas? I have no idea what to do if this continues!"

"I have another plan." Shangluo lowered his voice, the corner of his mouth slightly raised, "I still have a trick that I haven't revealed yet. How can I be so easily dismissed? Since an open attack won't work, I have no choice but to use Plan B - now, it's time to send out the ghost soldiers~"

Chapter 488 Topic

"Ghost soldiers, huh?" Qi Yuan nodded. "Then it's up to you. Are you in time?"

"Don't worry, there's still time. We've already made the arrangements. This time we just need to go in and mobilize the troops."

"Okay, okay, keep going. I have a feeling they might be about to do something. If we can't keep up, it'll be very difficult to handle."

As they were talking, Wen Yuan suddenly came in.

"Oh, you can still come?" Qi Yuan looked at her. Obviously, she also knew about the Jinyiwei being silenced.

Wen Yuan nodded, pointed behind him, and stood next to the door.

Shangluo recognized someone who came in. It was the student from the Imperial College who had previously interned at the Ministry of Works' Yuheng Division. He was one of the students, and there were others with him.

Among the many people who came with him, he went in and the others stood outside.

"Nice to meet you again." He looked at Shangluo. "I'm here to give you the questions. The questions have been deciphered, and we all knew it just now. Don't get excited yet."

When they said this, everyone in the room was stunned.

It is only 12 noon now. This is the topic announced a day in advance. We have been given a day to prepare, which shows that the difficulty is

That's hard to say. It could be extremely difficult or just averagely difficult. But what's clear is that the organizers definitely felt this topic was anything but easy.

"Let me ask first, have you been able to collect some information before?"

"Yes," Shangluo replied, "We know it's probably not in Yingtian City, nor at any racetrack. So maybe it's off-road?"

"Your information is half correct. Tsk, see for yourself. This is my first time, and I also think it's a bit outrageous, but it seems to be worthy of such an 'above average' difficulty."

Shangluo took the oil-paper bag, opened it and took a look.

he understands

"Huh?" Qi Yuan was stunned for a moment. "City wall? Running laps on the city wall of Yingtian??? There's even something like this??? Shouldn't this kind of question be told to us a week in advance so we can familiarize ourselves with the course?"

"The court's message is that if it were any other course, everyone would have to be familiar with it in advance. However, everyone knows the shape of the Yingtian City Wall; it's in the textbooks, and it's not beyond the syllabus, so there's no need to announce it in advance. As we speak, the Yingtian City Wall is already being sealed off, waiting for you to take the exam tomorrow."

"Sure enough." Shangluo looked at the documents in the oil-paper bag. "It really isn't on the road, nor is it on the racetrack. It's actually on the city wall."

"But there's a bicycle lane on the city wall! The Yingtian City Wall isn't the Shuntian City Wall or the Xi'an City Wall. It was built to follow the terrain of the mountain. Not only are there ups and downs and potholes, but you have to climb up the mountain. How can you drive on it?"

"Hmm," the Imperial College student who had submitted the question thought for a moment. "I've ridden a bicycle myself, and you can drive in most areas. But there are a few areas where you might need to be careful. But don't worry, the entire lane has been converted into a bicycle lane, so you can definitely drive. As for whether you can race, that's the court's decision, and I don't know why. Anyway, you can do whatever you want. With your racing certificate, you can still go up the city wall. Well, anyway, just do whatever you want. I'm leaving now."

He left, but Wen Yuan didn't leave yet.

"Ah," Wen Yuan pressed her forehead, "I was stunned when I saw it. I wanted to call and tell everyone right away, but I was silenced right away."

"Who came up with this question?" Shangluo asked.

"Yes, it was the emperor himself. But he said you should be familiar with Shangluo. He said you seem to hold chariot races on the city walls there? Hey, he looked pretty fast."

"That's a 4x4! And a go-kart! Can a Formula One car run on it? Never mind, I kind of get it."

He understood that if Zhu Xianxin was not deliberately teasing him, then he just didn't understand which of those were cartoons and which were real stories.

"It seems that we really have to send out the ghost soldiers."

"Is it too late?" Qi Yuan asked.

"It's very quick to mobilize the ghost soldiers in time. Wait for me tomorrow morning, it will only take a few minutes."

"Master Hu, good morning."

"Good morning. Isn't this..." He looked around, "Isn't this Shang Tianjun? Why are you coming here so early in the morning to get your hair permed? But didn't you just get it permed last week?"

"I have a question. Can this black perm be restored?"

"Sure." Master Hu nodded. "Just wash it off with alkaline detergent. Have you changed your mind? Want to dye it a different color? I told you, I think you can dye it silver-gray, which is what many young people do now. If you're a little bolder, you can dye it milk tea color."

"Huh? There's silver gray." He looked at the colored paper on the wall.

[Hey, hey, hey, you're not really planning on dyeing your hair, are you? If you're going to dye it, I think milk tea color would be nice.]

"Why."

【Because it looks very friendly! 】

"Friendliness is fine, but now I want a little deterrent effect."

He asked Master Hu, "After fading the black hair, the color of the hair will remain the same as before, right?"

"No. I've tried it on other people before, and the hair of a celestial being isn't that easily damaged. If I wash it off right now, it will immediately return to its previous color. Doesn't it look better? Does it work?"

"Yeah, it works."

In order to invite the ghost soldiers, he planned to dress up nicely this time and not be as casual as before.

He found a random seat and sat down. Master Hu laid the chair flat and placed a basin of water under his head.

"Wait, I'm still boiling water."

There was a pot of water sitting on the small coal stove at the door. When he came in just now, he saw the kettle bubbling.

"By the way, why are you boiling water at the door?"

"It's not necessary to boil water at the door, there's gas in the house. But this pot of water is like the sign of a barber shop. You always have to boil a pot in the morning so that people know you're open. I don't just dye hair, my regular business in the morning is shaving. Many old men have to come here in the morning to get a shave, so that they can feel refreshed for the whole day. They are repeat customers, I guess. I knew them when I was a Jinyiwei. By the way, they can still meet here occasionally."

"Who's coming?"

"Almost everyone has been here. Even Old Lady Wang has come here—of course she doesn't come for a shave, she comes for a perm. The most common person who comes here is, oh, they're here."

"Minister Wen, please sit here." He waved the towel on his shoulder and greeted Wen Zhong who had entered the room to sit down.

Shangluo considered the title for a moment. Wen Zhong, Minister of Rites, Wen Yuan's grandfather. They had met once before, but they weren't very familiar with each other. It was correct to address him by his title in public.

"Master Wen." Shangluo raised his head and greeted him.

"Shang Tianjun? What a coincidence."

He lifted up his casual clothes and sat down next to Shangluo.

"Did you go out this morning without your court dress?"

"What I'm wearing is called a public uniform." He glanced at Shangluo. "You're a kid from out of town, haven't you read much of the 'Collected Statutes' yet?"

"I haven't read it." There are actually several chapters in the "Collected Statutes" or "The Ming Dynasty Collected Statutes", but the people of Shangluo were not there when those chapters were published.

Chapter 489 Deploying Troops

This book isn't often studied during compulsory education. It's a toolkit, describing the organization of the imperial court and its departments. But it's already historical material. For example, the existence of a department like the Ministry of Industry and the Civil Aviation Department during the Hongwu and Wanli eras would have been completely unthinkable. Who would have imagined that hundreds of years later, the Ministry of Industry would be responsible for the management of flying airplanes?

We only learned two chapters from the book. One was the "Grand Archery Ceremony" and related chapters, which were relevant to students, as they were required to participate in the ceremony. The other was singing, and we had to sing it often. The song we sang most often was "The Song of the Flame Spirit Bringing Good Luck," which was almost like the national anthem. The lyrics were "The Flame Spirit Brings Good Luck, and the Holy Emperor is born. The Great Ming reigns supreme, inheriting the ancient dynasties of Yu and Tang. The rivers are clear and the seas are peaceful, and the people are prosperous. His power is extended to the barbarians and his virtue is extended to the Rong and Qiang peoples." It was a long song, but it was catchy, and singing it every day made me memorize it.

"I heard from the Emperor that you will enter the Imperial College in the future. You have great ambitions."

When Shangluo heard this, his heart sank.

"Being ambitious" means "the choice you make is very challenging."

"When you enter the Imperial College, you will systematically study the 'Collected Statutes'."

"I finally understand why no one goes to school. What's the point of learning this? Aside from the etiquette, the official system is hundreds of years old."

"You need to learn about political history from a political history perspective," Shangluo said, understanding the subject. "You need to understand how the current system came about, how it evolved, and then be able to participate in it. Therefore, as the traditional highest institution of learning, the Imperial College's position is indeed very precise: it is a place where people establish themselves. This is indeed useful to me."

Thinking of this, he asked Wen Zhong:

"You said before that it wasn't court dress?"

"Yes, that's official uniform. It looks like the official uniform of the old Song Dynasty, but it's too formal. We can't take care of it at home, so I have always kept the official uniform in the palace. You asked me why I didn't wear it, it's because I can't wear it at home. It takes two people to help me put on the clothes neatly, and no problem can be left out. Sometimes I feel like a vase, just letting them decorate it."

"What about the court robes?"

"Court robes were pretty casual. The court would distribute cloth according to rank, and once you received it, you could find a tailor to make it yourself, or have it tailored to any other style if you wanted. As long as it had patches and it was a robe, it was court robe. Sometimes it didn't matter if it wore out, you could just ask a tailor to make you a new one. I really miss wearing court robes. Back then, I was so free. I'd just throw on a cloak to cover the patches and come to work. Once I got to the office, I'd hang up the cloak and go to meetings."

"Ah, you're not feeling well now, are you?"

"You're going to the Imperial College, and you'll be one of us in the future. I'm considered your principal, so it's okay for us to talk privately. Compared to before, life isn't so comfortable now. Being a cabinet minister only gives you a little more allowance, but the workload is five times greater. When it comes to work, I have at least five people following me around. I've been a vice minister for several terms in the cabinet without any further promotion. However, people think highly of me and I can enter the cabinet while I'm a vice minister. The Minister of War in Yingtian hasn't even been able to enter the cabinet, and it's just because of my face. The Imperial College is just like that. You have face but no foundation, and you're destined for a lifetime of hard work."

He said jokingly, then glanced at Shangluo: "But for you, it's just perfect. You have your own foundation, so just come to the Imperial College to gain respect. The Imperial College doesn't belong to any faction in the East or West Wings. Although it doesn't have much future, it also means you won't be involved in party disputes. The emperor naturally doesn't want you to be involved."

"Ah, indeed. Actually, I have some matters to deal with here as well. Sometimes it's really hard to sort out the internal and external relationships, and sometimes I lose my way."

"You mean the Pure Land?" he asked.

"Yes. The Emperor should have said it all."

"The Emperor did discuss this with me. He even said, 'Did I recite the Tao Te Ching to you?' He also said he wasn't good at writing eight-legged essays. He spoke the words of sages, and there was no need to learn eight-legged essays."

As they spoke, Master Hu had already begun his work. He poured alkaline lotion on Shangluo's head and let it soak for a while. Then he applied a hot towel to Wen Ge Lao. The old man came for a shave, and as usual, a hot towel was applied to the face to open the pores for a clean shave.

Shangluo adjusted his position on the recliner and tilted his head:

"I remember. He told me then that to bear the disgrace of the country is to be called the master of the state; to bear the misfortune of the country is to be called the king of the world."

"And then? What did you learn?"