Steel Dynasty - Chapter 854

[Chapter 852: Cutting down the vassalage]

Pang Yukun and Fiji were walking side by side on the Qingzhou Avenue leading to the palace. They had just received the oral order to enter the palace.

“Pang Shoufu, the emperor summoned you and me to the palace this time probably for the purpose of cutting down the vassal.” Fiji put his hand in his sleeve, looking thoughtful.

When Qian Dafu passed down the oral message, they all learned that King Chu was dead. This was a huge shock to them, because it meant that the country of Chongqing would be in trouble again.

Pang Yukun kept frowning, “That’s what I thought too. King Chu is dead, and Li Chuyuan is busy fighting with the merchant council. At this time, there is no way for Huainan King and Yong King to cause any trouble, let alone the weak ones. King Ruyang.”

Fiji nodded, “God bless the Great Chongqing Kingdom. Now it seems that under the emperor’s governance, the Great Chongqing Kingdom will finally end its fragmentation, and a unified Great Chongqing Kingdom will surely embark on a path of rejuvenation. “

Pang Yukun smiled, “Even so, there is still a long way to go. Now the country is getting richer, but many officials have made their old mistakes again. During this period, I have received many impeachment proposals. “

Fiji’s face looked a little ugly, and he sighed and said: “The Great Yu Kingdom is developing so fast that we cannot be careful in selecting officials. In order to fill the vacancies, we can only use old officials from the past. Alas. , It’s really a dilemma now.”

“What Mr. Fei Ge said is absolutely correct, so now we can only count on the Confucian family to work hard on New Confucianism. As the emperor said, punishing officials can only cure the symptoms but not the root cause. Only by changing customs can we eliminate corruption. Soil, all in all, this matter still needs a process.”

Fiji has been involved in officialdom for many years and has a far deeper understanding of officials than Pang Yukun. He said: “You are wrong. You really think that all officials believe in Confucianism. In fact, Many officials are just using the name of Confucianism to add glory to themselves, so when we enter the palace this time, you and I should also propose to increase the punishment of corrupt officials to deter these officials.”

“Okay, our emperor has worked hard to win. Our country cannot be destroyed in the hands of these people.” Pang Yukun agreed very much.

The two of them talked all the way to the imperial study room. After saluting, they looked at Xiao Ming and waited for instructions.

“Li San has just left. You must also know the news he brought. You may have guessed why I came to you. Now is the best time for me to cut down the vassal, so you will sing with me at tomorrow’s court meeting. A double act will do.”

After glancing at the two of them, Xiao Ming told all his thoughts. If the Chongqing Kingdom was not unified, he would be a lame emperor, and the Chongqing Kingdom would be a state within a state.

After a pause, he continued: “I have given orders to the military aircraft department, and the troops to guard against the rebellion of King Huainan and King Yong are also ready. If they persist in their obsession, I can only kill them and shed blood for the unification of the Great Yu Kingdom. It’s inevitable.”

Feiji and Pang Yukun’s expressions became solemn. This time they felt Xiao Ming’s determination. From the two people’s feelings, this vassal king was indeed a trouble. For example, King Yong occupied the northern coal mines and iron mines. concentrated area.

There are still many restrictions on the transportation of coal and iron needed by Qingzhou’s industry from Yongdi, which is very detrimental to the development of industry and commerce in Dayu.

“Chu State has too much time to take care of itself, but we can deal with King Yong and King Huainan with ease.” Pang Yukun is very confident. The continuous victory of the war has made the officials in the court very confident now.

Hearing this, Fiji said: “Your Majesty, I think that although we have to cut down the vassal state, we should not do it too violently at once, otherwise it will inevitably cause extreme dissatisfaction between King Huainan and King Yong. Now it is better to withdraw military power first, and then take back political power, until the two kings are called The wealthy princes of the feudal country are enough. As for their heirs, they should be taken care of within three generations. Only in this way can they be appeased.”

Xiao Ming nodded and said, “This is what I want to say. King Huainan and King Yong are in the north. We all contributed to the country during the war, and I don’t want to break up with them, not to mention that one of them is my in-laws and the other is my imperial uncle, so I will do what you said tomorrow to find out their reactions. “

” Yes, Your Majesty.” Fiji bowed and said. In fact, he strongly agreed with the reduction of vassals, whether it was for public reasons or selfish reasons. After all, for him, the imperial concubine Cui Xueer was always a big worry for him.

Moreover, there were recent rumors that Cui Xueer was pregnant, which made him even more worried. If the vassal was to be reduced, Cui Xueer would not have the backer of King Huainan, and his daughter would be able to be on an equal footing with Cui Xueer without having to worry about offending King Huainan.

After talking about the reduction of the vassal, Xiao Ming turned to Pang Yukun and said: “During the great chaos in Chu State, Li Chuyuan asked me for help and asked to buy a lot of weapons and ammunition. Go back and count the numbers in the army with Niu Ben. Inventory, sell him all the weapons that have been eliminated by the army, so that the money earned can support the army’s replacement of breech-loading rifles. “

Pang Yukun’s favorite thing is the arms trade, and he was immediately happy when he heard this. Oh no, in the past when the vassal kings were standing side by side, they had accumulated such a large family fortune by relying on the use of weapons.

Thinking back to the good old days, he felt nostalgic. Now, he could finally sell arms again.

However, he still had doubts and couldn’t help but ask: “Your Majesty, if you sell these firearms to Li Chuyuan, if he wins in the future, won’t we suffer more casualties when we attack him again.”

Xiao Ming shook his head. “Pang Shoufu, your calculation is wrong. Moreover, the money earned from the arms trade will promote the development of weapons and industry. In the long run, it will only be beneficial to the war. For example, we earned back 40 million Two taels of silver invested in industry and commerce are enough to make the development of industry and commerce in Great Chongqing in one year exceed the normal development of two or even three years.”

Pang Yukun suddenly realized that he only saw the shortcomings of small places, but did not see the disadvantages of large places. Benefits, this time he was short-sighted.

“I understand.” Pang Yukun nodded.

After explaining these two things, Xiao Ming asked the two of them to go back, and he continued to record the various knowledge in the technological crystals.

With the development of industry and the improvement of education level in Great Chongqing, the knowledge of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries can no longer meet current needs.

Therefore, he is preparing a second generation of books that will record richer knowledge, and some will even involve the same depth as contemporary universities.

After all, the industrial level of Great Chongqing has been firmly stuck in the 19th century. Under the industrial level of this century, he needs to refine more knowledge to allow Great Chongqing to develop in an all-round way in industry, medicine, chemistry, etc.

At the same time, he is also preparing to build a royal library, in which he will put some core materials to help various research laboratories in Dayu.

(End of chapter)