Du Ke was shocked. Why did the scene just now seem so familiar? It happened just over two months ago. So now, looking at the guards in front of him, Du Ke suddenly felt a little confused. Could it be that Qin Fang sent someone again? Du Ke was shocked. This should be impossible. "What is the matter in the mansion that you come to see me?"
The guard said respectfully, "General Qin from Yunxiang County sent someone to look for you, saying that he has something to ask you to return home."
Du Ke felt that his rationality was broken, or that there was something wrong with his hearing. How did he get involved with Qin Fang again? He felt that being involved with Qin Fang would never end well for him.
The first time Qin Fang came into contact with him was when some barbarians from the Yongzhou military camp surrendered. He then sent them to the Yongzhou military camp. The journey was long and he was tired.
The second time Qin Fang was involved was in Huanshui County. He was sent to Huanshui County again. The journey was not far, but he was still tired. Going to Yongzhou was tiring because the journey was long, but after arriving in Yongzhou, he didn't have much to do. But going to Huanshui County was tiring even if the journey was not far, because there were many things to do.
What happened this time
Du Ke cursed.
However, every time he was involved with Qin Fang, it seemed to be a good thing. The first time, the barbarians surrendered, the second time, they suppressed the bandits, and this time? Although Du Ke was extremely disgusted, he could not deny that he was looking forward to it and was very curious.
Because it was an emergency, Du Ke had to leave his duty early. As soon as he returned to the Du Mansion, he met Tao Shan. Tao Shan respectfully took out a letter and a memorial from his arms.
Seeing this, Du Ke raised his eyebrows. He knew what Qin Fang meant. However, Qin Fang was a military commander. In Qi State, if a military commander outside had to report on local matters, generally speaking, the memorial would first go to the Ministry of War. So Qin Fang's memorial was sent to him, and there was indeed no problem. But Du Ke knew that Qin Fang didn't mean that. He wanted him to take a look. This was entangled with him.
Shameless stuff.
Although he felt that Qin Fang was embarrassed, Du Ke was in a good mood. However, this good mood was not good at all when he took out the letter.
I ask, who can write so much in a letter? Qin Fang's letter took up more than ten pages. If Qin Fang was a master of calligraphy, he would just treat it as a master of calligraphy, but Qin Fang was not. Although the handwriting was still correct, in his eyes, this correct handwriting was also the handwriting of a child, very poor.
Du Ke said: "Is your general very idle recently? There are a lot of trivial things happening in Yunxiang County?" Otherwise, where did Qin Fang get the time and energy to write so much
Tao Shan didn't know why Lord Du asked this, but since Lord Du didn't seem angry, he answered honestly: "The general has not rested since he came to Yunxiang County. He first settled the barbarians... No, the general said that they are already the people of Qi State, so we can't call them barbarians, but the new people of Qi State.
After settling the new citizens of Qi, the general repaired the county wall and built a military camp. After that, he checked the Beast Mountain. There was a lot to do. When the common people came, the general was still busy all night.
Du Ke was very satisfied when he heard it: "He is really thoughtful." The name of the new citizen of Qi State is really good. However, repairing the county wall and building a military camp are also serious matters, but they are not important to him. Then, Du Ke did not say anything, but read Qin Fang's letter.
In his letter, Qin Fang first talked about the settlement of the new citizens of Qi State, and then said that he would recruit 300 new citizens of Qi State as the city defense force of Yunxiang County. Although this move was bold and somewhat inconsistent with the principle of breaking up into smaller units, the soldiers' relatives were all in the countryside, and for the safety of their relatives, they would not do anything, so it was okay.
The second thing was about using the military pay to buy land and using the crops from the land to feed the soldiers. Du Ke was shocked to hear this. This was really a good thing. Who could have thought that soldiers could be fed in this way
The imperial court was always harsh on military commanders. The amount of money allocated to the military camps was always very small. The imperial court was always worried that the money was inflated, fearing that the military commanders would embezzle it or use it for other purposes. At the same time, the money and grain allocated to the imperial court were all collected from taxes. Once the tax revenue was not collected, the imperial court would be poor, without money or grain.
However, the imperial court had never done anything like raising the army by farming. As Qin Fang wrote in the letter, using the military pay to buy land and using the income from the land to support the soldiers was what his wife wanted, and Du Ke thought it was normal. This kind of thing would only be seen by the family members who handled the affairs of the inner house.
Du Ke went on, and when he saw the Beast Mountain Longevity Taoist Temple, the Man in Chains, and Qin Fang's suspicion that it was related to King Liang, his eyes sank.
Du Ke didn't have a deep impression of the King of Liang this year, but he did have an impression. He was thirty-eight this year. Twenty years ago, although he was already eighteen years old, the King of Liang had already gone to Renzhou to be a fiefdom, and he really didn't pay attention to the powerless King of Liang. Du Ke thought that he might ask his father about the King of Liang. Du Ke continued to go down and then went to the sulfur mine and saltpeter mine.
Regarding sulfur mines and saltpeter mines, Qin Fang wrote this: According to my understanding, sulfur and saltpeter are the main materials for making firecrackers. If the imperial court uses sulfur and saltpeter to make large firecrackers, and then uses the large firecrackers in war, wouldn't we have a huge advantage in fighting
Qin Fang did not mention Yang Haiyan. Although he did not favor men over women, nor did he despise his wife, he knew that if his son was involved in such an important matter of the court, people would talk about it, so Qin Fang did not mention Yang Haiyan here. As for the military camp land, it was related to the inner house, so Qin Fang told the truth.
Du Ke naturally knew about sulfur and saltpeter. The imperial court had also thought about this big firecracker thing, but there was not enough sulfur and saltpeter, so this method had to be suspended. He didn't expect the big thing, but Qin Fang actually found a sulfur mine and a saltpeter mine.
According to Qin Fang's letter, the King of Liang had already found sulfur and saltpeter mines 20 years ago, but he did not inform the court because he was refining elixirs, and finally the King of Liang fell ill. But if the King of Liang had not had this selfish desire 20 years ago, then the Qi Kingdom 20 years later might have unified the world.
By the way, twenty years ago, King Liang concealed the sulfur and saltpeter mines, just because he used sulfur and saltpeter to make elixirs? No one would believe this. Is King Liang mentally ill? How much sulfur and saltpeter can be used to make elixirs? According to Qin Fang's description, these two mines are so large that even if they are eaten as food, King Liang can eat them for a lifetime.
Du Ke has a conspiracy theory, could King Liang be stupid
When you get here, Du Ke will go to find Grandpa Du.
Although Master Du has not retired yet, he is already in a retired state. He is just a figurehead and will retire when he is old enough. The reason why Master Du does this is also for Master Du. This is very common in aristocratic families. It is impossible for both father and son to hold heavy fists, so the father will give way to his son because the father is not strong.
Du Ke handed Qin Fang's letter to Grandpa Du and said, "Father, what do you think about this matter? The glass mine and the saltpeter mine must be real. Qin Fang said that based on the crazy talk of the iron-chained man, it can be judged that this iron-chained man is very likely the Taoist priest who was captured by King Liang to make elixirs twenty years ago. But my son thinks that things are not that simple. Did King Liang really conceal such a large sulfur mine and saltpeter mine for that unknown elixir? Will he..."
Master Du shook his head, finished reading the letter, and returned it to Du Ke: "Prince Liang is indeed a fool. Prince Liang is not favored by his father. His biological mother is a powerless maid. He was crowned Prince Liang because he was favored by the emperor. The reason why Prince Liang was crowned Prince Liang is because his biological mother's surname is Liang. It can be seen that the emperor had no expectations for him at all.
Renzhou was the fiefdom granted to him by the emperor, and it was also the home of his biological mother. When he turned fifteen, the emperor allowed him to go to the fiefdom. Later, when the emperor passed away and the late emperor ascended the throne, he came back once, and never came back again. The next time we heard about the King of Liang was when he died of illness. If the King of Liang was a fake, what was his purpose? Why did he leave such a large sulfur and saltpeter mines untouched? If the King of Liang was a fake, then the past twenty years were enough for him to rebel and hide from the throne. "
Du Ke said: "I also think that the Liang Wang's conspiracy is not true, but if it is true, he should report the matter to the court before the assassination, right? After all, this is their kingdom."
Master Du disagreed: "One should not meddle in other people's affairs if he is not in their position. Everyone has different sense of responsibility. But I think this General Qin is not bad."
Du Ke said: "He is a little clever, but his character is quite straightforward."
Du Ye smiled and said, "I'm right, it's luck."
Du Ke was stunned, and after thinking carefully, it was true. From a thousand-man commander to a general of Wude, it only took a year and a half, and he could jump from the seventh rank to the fifth rank, jumping four levels. And as soon as he took office, he suppressed bandits, arrested corrupt officials, and discovered sulfur and saltpeter mines... How lucky is this
Master Du added: "Sometimes, people just have to believe in fate and luck."
Du Ke said: "Father is right."
Master Du waved his hand.
Du Ke said: "My son is going to the palace to see the emperor."
Royal Palace
When Du Ke went there, the emperor was testing several princes. The emperor is 27 years old this year and has three princes. The oldest is seven years old this year, and the remaining two are five years old. This seven-year-old prince was born to the Imperial Noble Consort, who was the successor of Prince Yuan at that time. The emperor succeeded in winning the throne, and according to reason, the successor of Prince Yuan should be the empress, but the emperor named the "deceased" original wife, Princess Yuan, as the empress, and this successor as the Imperial Noble Consort. So this good eldest son became a concubine's eldest son, and unless the Imperial Noble Consort "became the official", he would be a concubine's eldest son for the rest of his life.