Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"It seems unnecessary? Why do I feel that those bread machines always feel so familiar to me?"

[Do you think it's a chef? ]

"That's probably it. I clearly remember carrying it back with me. It's impossible for it to just disappear like that."

[Then what are you going to do now? 】

"First ask them what they want to do. Contact me and find out where they are. I want to ask what they want to do."

"Bread! We want bread for everyone!"

On the screen, an automaton with a ceramic face said so.

"This is the situation." Jin Yiwei, holding the microphone, sent back a message from the front. They said they were here to make bread.

"Ask them, what kind of bread do they make?" Shangluo asked into the microphone.

The Jin Yiwei on the other side of the screen relayed his question.

"Bread! Delicious bread! Bread that can feed everyone!"

"." At the other end of the screen, Shangluo fell into silence.

Next to Zhu Xianfen's desk, Mr. Wen Ge stood behind him, and on the other side was Fu Yuanshan. This matter will be dealt with at a meeting soon, but before the meeting, they have to figure out what this is with Shangluo. They can't brainstorm again at the meeting.

"Ask him, what is a human being?" Mr. Wen Ge added into the microphone.

"The Romans are human beings! The Cathayans are human beings too!"

"Are there any barbarians?"

"No! They died 500 years ago!"

"Why are you making so much bread?"

"It's not enough! There's so much bread, it's not enough! So we have to make more bread!"

"." Mr. Wen Ge also fell silent, unable to ask this question at all.

"After all that, who are you?" Fu Yuanshan next to him took the microphone.

“I am—chef!”

[It’s really him! But why does it seem to be broken? Broken? 】

"Well" Shangluo thought for a while, "If he is like this, should we deal with it?"

"It's just about making bread." Fu Yuanshan pointed to a corner of the screen, "They are not just making bread. They are laying out a transportation network with New Antioch as the center. Their purpose is very clear, which is to do everything possible Collect ingredients for making bread.”

"Then someone has to eat it, right? How are they going to get the bread to the people who want it?"

"I don't know. But when I find out, I'm afraid it will be over." Fu Yuanshan replied, "They built Thebes overnight. Who knows if they will create something else overnight. If they become Our opponent is undoubtedly an unprecedented enemy.”

"What if not? What if they can be used by us? Let's call it 'Colombia Automata' for now."

"I don't suggest you name the food." Fu Yuanshan replied, "But you seem to be really sure? Then if you don't count it according to food, but according to helpers, then our worldly power will be enhanced as never before. This gives Our support will probably be higher than ever before, because the other half of the Roman Empire has already announced its support for us. If this half is considered half, if this 'Colombian Automata' can also stand behind the imperial court. , then this endless bread is enough for us to eat for a long time. So, Shang Tianjun, do you really have such a great reputation?"

"If it's the chef, he should give me some face. I need more direct intervention - Apollonia! Help me contact Talos, I'm going to shake people now."

Chapter 884 Power

"Then, let's summarize your opinions first."

After the channel was closed, Mr. Wen Ge first asked Shangluo for his opinion: "I need to know what your opinion is, and then bring it to the meeting for discussion. This is very important. After all, we all know that the emperor is on vacation."

Mr. Wen Ge did not mince words about Zhu Xianfen's current state. To put it bluntly, he was on vacation with his beloved wife.

Is this a problem? This is actually no problem. Everyone needs a day off. It's just that the position of emperor does not have holidays, and Zhu Xianfen himself has very strict requirements for himself, so he has been in a state of continuous rotation for 365 days - although this is not physical labor, this endless marathon still makes Zhu Xianfen himself felt a little manic and depressed.

And the most important thing is that his state does not start from now on. Before he became emperor, he had insisted on refining alchemy every day for more than ten years, probably since junior high school.

This holiday is not just a holiday for him as the emperor, it is a holiday in his life.

So he seized this opportunity and planned to give himself a good vacation to let his body and mind wash out. Do something you loved to do but didn’t have time to do before.

When the emperor wants to take a holiday, everyone will oppose it as usual. Wen Zhong Wen Ge Lao was one of the few who did not hold any objections. Because compared with other pavilion elders, he has worked with two generations of emperors and Zhu Xianfen himself for longer. He had watched Zhu Xianfen grow up - as an elder, he also felt that Zhu Xianfen needed to take a rest. He had occasionally raised objections before, because Zhu Xianwen did not come up with a reasonable excuse at that time.

This is important. Because rashly entering a state of leisure can easily lead to addiction - laziness can be addictive. The Lao Zhu family has never been short of lazy and addicted emperors, and they will become addicted almost as soon as they get involved.

In order to prevent Zhu Xianfen from becoming addicted to laziness when he leaves work, he needs to come up with an excuse that is rare enough and convincing enough to make him realize that this is an "unusual" state. Only in this way can he return to his daily life.

On the other hand, if the excuse is too casual, then he may be able to find excuses for sleeping in later, and may even break the rules. Wen Zhong has seen many such people. There are students in the Imperial College who have been keeping perfect attendance, but after suddenly being lazy for one day, they have entered a downward spiral of continuous absenteeism from which they cannot get back. It is indeed possible that Zhuxianne will become like this.

Therefore, after he made a rare and reasonable request, the cabinet unanimously agreed to let him take a rest - retreat and break through. This was a very reasonable and rare excuse. Because there are only so many stages, he won't need to use it a few times in the future.

The cabinet elders were also prepared for the absence of Zhu Xianfen - this was a taboo in the past. The power of the emperor cannot be touched by just anyone, not just anyone. Although after entering modern times, thanks to the great abundance of materials and the "simple" tradition of "no more than eight sets of clothes for all seasons" set by Emperor Wanshou, the living standards of the emperor and courtiers at least seem to have been closer than ever before - at least It seems.

For example, the emperor ate hooves for every meal, but everyone was less greedy for the emperor's hooves because they paid attention to health preservation. The emperor used gold hoes to hoe the ground, and now everyone also has stainless steel hoes. This stainless steel is much easier to use than a gold hoe.

But even if the old barriers have been broken down, no one dares to put all their trust in blind faith in human nature. What if Cao Cao appears?

The emperor is on vacation. If he hands over power to others at will, no one can guarantee that he will use the power of the court to do something irreversible.

But only Shangluo is an exception.

First, he is from the "Second Uncle" family and has nothing to do with this place.

Second, Daozu has identified him as the ruler of Heaven. To use a Buddhist metaphor, this is identifying him as the future Buddha. There is no need for future Buddhas to be at odds with present Buddhas.

This nature is infinitely close to the Crown Prince's regent role, with only some subtle differences.

But no matter what, we can rest assured by leaving everything to Shangluo.

Based on this, Wen Zhong is not speaking on behalf of himself, but on behalf of the entire court:

"Shangluo, let me tell you the truth, you are sitting here now, literally patrolling for heaven. When the emperor closes his eyes, you open them for him, and you decide some things for him. In other words , your current authority is almost the same as that of the emperor."

"I know" Shangluo nodded slightly, "However, I believe I want to confirm, where is the boundary of my behavior? Although there is no difference 'almost', what is this 'almost'?"

"Sacrifice. The most important matter of the country lies in sacrifice and military affairs. The matter of sacrifice is the only major matter that has not been entrusted to you. When the emperor is away, all the sacrifices related to the emperor will be postponed. You don't have to worry about it - I think this is more important to you. Good thing. If you go to the Temple of Heaven, Ditan and Xiannongtan more than ten times a month, you will feel annoyed, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." Shangluo nodded repeatedly, "Indeed."

"So this is a good thing that goes hand in hand. You are not suitable to go to sacrifice, and you don't want to go, so we simply skipped this one - but this is the only limit. Apart from sacrifice, there is nothing the emperor can do Yes, you can do anything.”

"Then there is no boundary at all! I'm a little panicked. It feels like standing on the rooftop of a skyscraper and looking down. I always want to jump down involuntarily."

"Fear comes from the unknown. If you want to understand what the emperor does, you won't feel panic - so, why don't we look at it from another angle. Do you think, why am I standing here instead of other elders? To guide you? I am obviously very low in the cabinet."

"Because you know me well?"

"Am I familiar with you?" Wenzhong spread his hands, "You and Wenyuan are indeed very familiar, and Wenyuan often mentions you in front of me. But let me ask you, how many meals do you think I eat every day?"

"Uh, I don't know."

"You see, this is unfamiliarity. But since we are not familiar with each other. Although we are a little more familiar with each other than others, we are not familiar with each other at all. So, why me? This is the key to the problem - there is an implicit hint of the imperial court The basic logic of the operation of central power since Emperor Wanshou is: Why am I here to guide you in carrying out the most important mission when I am ranked lower in the cabinet?"

"Because..." Shangluo thought for a while, "Because the cabinet can't decide everything? Although Mr. Wen Ge, you are at the back of the cabinet, but you are actually closer to the world's major events?"

Speaking of this, Fu Yuanshan next to him coughed: "Let me introduce you again: Wen Zhong, the Imperial Wine Minister, the Minister of Rites, a cabinet member of this and the previous 8 cabinets - and the leader of Zhilu."

"Zhilu? What is that?"

"To put it simply, Zhilu is between the cabinet and the court. Zhilu is the main component of the central operation since the Jiajing Dynasty. Its leader is Mr. Wen Ge in front of you."

Chapter 885 Zhilu

"I know you have watched the Zhongguo TV series. The Ming Dynasty is a good drama and very interesting to watch. It's good to see that the emperor himself said - that old Taoist priest doesn't look like he acted it. But -"

He pivoted: "But to us, it's like the British government watching Yes, Minister. Like, but not quite. Right, but not quite right. Full of a lot of simplified processes for the sake of literary expression. ——This is good for a TV series. But if the real central operation since the Jiajing Dynasty is made into a TV series, I think there are at least two disadvantages: this is not good, and that is not good. "

"what?"

"Because even I can't understand it. I can't understand this, I can't understand that. And most importantly, it's not fun. In the movie "The Ming Dynasty", the center of power is dismantled into the strict party, The triangular pillars of Qingliu and eunuchs naturally give people a sense of stability, allowing the audience to understand it at once, and can form reasonable expectations for the motivations of the characters in the play. But - you think Emperor Wanshou will be satisfied with three. Are there checks and balances between factions?”

"Ah!" Shangluo understood immediately.

The real Wanshou Emperor, with his greed and fanaticism for power, would never be satisfied with allowing the three factions to form a stable triangle. Because once the three parties are stable, what will happen to him? If the two sides join forces and defeat the third side, then nothing will happen to him.

"So." Wen Zhong continued, "What Emperor Wanshou really established was not the triangle of Qingliu, Yandang and the eunuchs, but the concentric circles where everyone revolved around him. He sat on the throne like the sun, dialing the The orbit of the planet is determined by the Sacred Heart. If I use an inappropriate metaphor, you should be able to understand.

He looked at Shangluo: "The direct successor of Zhilu is the Military Aircraft Department. In fact, the place where the Military Aircraft Department stays is called Zhilu, and the names are the same. So you can understand that although I am not the first in the cabinet, I am the head of the military affairs department. I have been in this position longer than the emperor has been on the throne. I was in charge of Zhilu when the late emperor was here, and I am still in charge."

"Ah!" He completely understood this metaphor now.

The Military Aircraft Department and Zhilu are essentially secretarial agencies for the emperor himself - although the cabinet is essentially a secretarial agency, in fact only members of Zhilu can see the emperor at any time. But the cabinet has been around for too long. Just like the governor replacing the state pastor, once the original temporary institution becomes semi-permanent, a new temporary institution will inevitably appear.

So when the cabinet became a rule, the non-routine Zhilu appeared.

"But it's different from the military aircraft department, right?"

"This is the crux of the problem. Whether it is the Zhilu or the Military Aircraft Department, they are essentially the emperor's secretarial agency - but the difference is that there are differences between emperors. This is why I say that the center of power is chaotic, because everyone The emperor's ideas are different. Today, the emperor doesn't like to hold meetings. He likes to negotiate things individually. Of course, only one thing remains unchanged.

He explained to Shangluo: "Although the foundation of our dynasty is the imperial examination republic, the essence of the imperial examination republic is to select Jinshi to join the republic. The cabinet members must also come from the imperial examination - but the members of Zhilu are not from the imperial examination. It came from the emperor's own decision-making. At that time, Emperor Wanshou used Zhilu to do things that the cabinet could not do, and this was very important because there were some people who were really important to the government. There is no way to take part in the imperial examination.”

"For example, the national surname?"

"So the surname of the country is a member of Zhilu. Do you understand why the surname of the country can see the emperor at any time? Because all members of the surname of Zhilu can directly call the emperor's personal phone number. If there is no such thing, even if the surname of the country is the emperor's My friend, he is not qualified to wander around in the palace. He is a prince and his duty is to stay in his own kingdom. The reason why he can come to Yujing to discuss politics is because the emperor himself promoted him to Zhilu - the same reason. There are still many people who did not participate in the imperial examination, but who cannot be avoided when doing things, all of them have entered Zhilu. And now——"

He paused for a moment: "Zhilu, it's your Zhilu. When the emperor is here, Zhilu serves the emperor. When the emperor is away, according to his instructions, Zhilu now takes orders from you."

"Huh" Shangluo suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, "Now that I understand what's going on, I feel a lot more relieved. So the most effective 'toolbox' in front of me is Zhilu?"

"Yes." Wen Zhong nodded, "Because it is impossible for the emperor to directly face the Jinshi who were selected by the imperial examination, and it is impossible for the emperor to talk to the elders in the cabinet. The one who truly conveys and implements the emperor's intention is to directly But I can also ask, do you plan to convene a cabinet meeting? Or go to the court to chair the meeting? "

"No, no, no, no." Shangluo shook his head repeatedly, "I think Zhilu is good, very good."

The elder was older than him, and his jinshi degree was higher than his. Shangluo felt it best for him to do the same as Zhu Xianxun, avoiding meeting these people unless necessary, given their seniority and academic credentials.

"So, do you want to change the list of Zhilu members?"

"Can I ask who's there now?"

"The potential list has 39 people, which is much larger than the cabinet. It includes people you don't know, such as the Governor of Anxi, the Governor of Beiting, the Governor of Yangzhou, and the governors of various provinces. But there are generally no more than 15 people in office at the same time, as needed Join or launch Zhilu. Among those currently in office, there are also acquaintances such as the Marquis of Huai'an."

"It turns out that my county magistrate is here too!"

"It's your county magistrate, he's here too. The Marquis of Huai'an is a super-rank man, and his rank is completely adequate. And he is the emperor's father-in-law."

"Is this really what the emperor himself pointed out?"

"No, the Marquis of Huai'an was actually appointed by the late emperor to join. Neither he nor the emperor was very happy. Others include the generals of the Jin Yiwei."

"Well, I'm here too." Fu Yuanshan added, "I will also go to meetings when I have time. However, there is only one spot for the Jin Yiwei, so we generals take turns."

"So, I'm not being polite when I ask you if you want to adjust. You can indeed change." Wen Zhong added, "When you think you need to do something, is there anyone you can't get away from? You must discuss it with him. Yes, you can promote him to Zhilu. Those who are temporarily excluded will not be surprised, because the position is always mobile. "

"Then I have a question." Shangluo blinked, "Are there any level requirements for people who want to enter Zhilu?"

"No. In fact, anyone can do it, as long as they really don't want it. The potential list is just an unconventional rule, and you don't have to abide by it."

"So, I have another question: does it have to be a human being?"

"???"

"Also, if it must be a human being, does it have to be a living person?"

Does it have to be a human being? Does it have to be a living person?

Shang Tianjun took advantage of it. Two deafening questions echoed in Mr. Wenge's ears. He's down.

Chapter 886 Virtual Philosopher King

Can't it be done by humans?

Isn’t it okay if it’s not a living person?

It took a while for Mr. Wen Ge to recover from the impact.

Shangluo felt embarrassed when he realized that his question was a bit outrageous - he rarely felt embarrassed. But the first day of work had a mental impact on the old man, and he managed to survive it.

"Mr. Wenge, are you okay?"

"Um, it's okay." He silently walked to the corner, brought a stool over, and sat next to Shangluo.

He held the table with one hand and his head with the other.