Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

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Chapter 3515 Mutual sabotage

"Uh... there's no need for that," Zhao Yuan said speechlessly.

Li Yu said, “It is necessary. Guiren Garden was originally the largest in Luoyang. Now that other gardens have been split up, it makes my Li family garden seem even larger.”

"The Li family's properties are mostly in Daming Prefecture, and only my elder brother's and my descendants live here in Luoyang."

"Today, please offer Guiren Garden to the imperial court in exchange for several hundred acres of land in the suburbs."

"And two farmhouses in the suburbs, so that my elder brother's and my descendants can have a place to live."

"Only in this way can we shut some people up!"

In fact, Li Yu had other ideas; his family's garden was too big.

Moreover, there were no losses this time. The tallest tree in the forest is bound to be felled by the wind, and it will inevitably attract a lot of gossip in the future.

It would be better to just offer it to the imperial court!

After careful consideration, Zhao Yuan said, "How about this? Guiren Garden will be divided in two. Half will be kept for your elder brother's descendants, and you will move to the suburbs to build a residence."

"The money for building the house will be paid by the imperial court."

"I will also grant you and your brother's descendants five hundred acres of good land each."

"He also bestowed some gold, silver, and cloth, as well as a number of oxen and mules."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Li Yi seemed to have won a battle, turning his head to look at his brother-in-law.

Cheng Duanyi pursed her lips and remained silent.

Zhao Yuan asked, "The ban on academies has been lifted for many years, so why are there no academies in Luoyang?"

Li Yi pointed at Cheng Duanyi: "Only he can take the lead in raising funds to build the academy in Luoyang."

"But he was unwilling to accept the new teachings of the retired emperor and His Majesty, so the matter was delayed."

Cheng Duanyi did not refute, and sat there tacitly agreed.

He did study natural sciences, but he was too old to learn them and he never received an offer from the imperial court. In the end, he simply put on airs and rejected new learning.

Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "How about this? The royal family and the court will allocate some funds, and wealthy merchants in the private sector will voluntarily donate some more, to build a Longmen Academy near the Longmen Grottoes."

"Mr. Li will be the headmaster, and Mr. Cheng will be the deputy headmaster. Mathematics, physics, astronomy, geography, chemistry... these are all subjects that will be taught."

"As for other subjects, you may pursue them as you see fit."

"Anything is fine to talk about?" Cheng Duanyi asked.

Zhao Yuan said, "As long as you don't slander the royal family and the court, you can say whatever you want."

Cheng Duanyi cupped his hands and said, "This old man is willing to serve as the deputy headmaster."

.....

Princess Zhu Yan of the Shu Kingdom is about to get married. Her husband is Chen Ao, a handsome scholar who is skilled in both literature and martial arts.

Zhao Yuan took this very seriously as it was his daughter's first marriage, personally going to guide and supervise the renovation of the princess's residence.

The Princess's Mansion was converted from the Dong family's West Garden.

This garden was originally purchased by Dong Yan, whose nickname was "Dong Midnight," and his friend's nickname was "Chen Midnight."

The idiom "in the middle of the night" originated from this, and it has been recorded in history.

However, what remains is a bad reputation.

Just how greedy is this bastard?

When he was a local official, he used public funds to purchase high-end work clothes for the yamen runners and stipulated that they must leave their clothes at the yamen for safekeeping after get off work.

Then, they secretly commissioned a batch of inferior clothing to replace the high-end work clothes, and then resold them.

When he was an official in the Ministry of Personnel, he asked his subordinates to buy things for him.

His subordinate bought something, but he refused to pay for it and instead berated his subordinate after taking the item.

This guy built two gardens in Luoyang, named Dong's East Garden and Dong's West Garden respectively.

Decades after his death, his children and grandchildren squandered his fortune.

Because the Dong family had been in arrears with taxes and owed a large amount of debt, the government confiscated their land and houses.

The ownership of the Dong family's East and West Gardens thus transferred to the government.

At first, officials and scholars held literary gatherings in the garden. Gradually, however, it was neglected, as maintenance costs money, and now it is in a state of disrepair.

"Can it be completed within three months?" Zhao Yuan asked.

"Reply to Your Majesty."

The Ministry of Works official in charge of the renovation and reconstruction said, "Although Dong Yan was a notorious corrupt official, the gardens he personally designed were excellent."

"This garden adheres to the principle of 'lotus emerging from clear water, naturally beautiful without artifice,' and was built without much embellishment."

"The pavilions, terraces, flowers, and trees are all naturally arranged, and the steps and strange rocks are as if they were formed by the erosion of time."

"Nowadays, the only repair work is to remove weeds and shrubs and paint the walls with a layer of whitewash."

"Then just replace the rotten wood and repaint it."

"It will take a month and a half to complete the material replacement and painting. Another month and a half of drying time will be sufficient."

Li Shishi nodded in approval and said, "Excellent."

The couple strolled hand in hand through the garden, and soon came to a small lake, the water of which gushed forth from a spring.

As they walked deeper into the winding, secluded paths, Zhao Yuan actually got lost.

It took me quite a while to find my way out.

In the evening, we returned to the palace.

Zhao Yuan remarked with emotion, "I visited both the East and West Gardens of the Dong family today."

“Each garden has its own unique features and is very beautiful. The West Garden can be used as Princess Yan’er’s residence, and the East Garden can be given to Kang’er as Prince Yu’s residence.”

"I also heard that when Sima Guang retired to Luoyang, the Dong family's property was confiscated."

"Sima Guang often went for a stroll in the East Garden, and when he got drunk, he would lie on the stone bed and bask in the sun."

Chapter 3516 Southwest

The Ming Dynasty envoy is already touring the southwest.

The envoy's name was Xia Dajun, and he had previously served under the Tian family of Sizhou.

After Tian Yougong chose to submit to the Ming Dynasty, Xia Dajun was also granted an official position.

After serving two terms as a local official, Xia Dajun was transferred to the Court of State Ceremonial, and this time he represented the imperial court on an inspection tour of the southwest.

He traveled south from Chongqing and first visited the Yang family (ancestors of the Yang family of Bozhou).

The infighting between the Yang family uncle and nephew has lasted for more than ten years, and there has been no resolution yet.

Furthermore, both actively submitted to the imperial court and claimed to be the legitimate rulers.

Xia Dajun said to both his uncle and nephew, "There are barbarians in the south who do not submit to the king's rule. The Emperor of Ming intends to send troops to conquer them."

"You may build official roads and post stations within your respective territories."

"Whoever finishes the repairs first will become the head of the Yang family, and the imperial court will officially appoint him as the military governor of Zunyi."

"During the construction of official roads and post stations, no one is allowed to compete for credit; otherwise, the imperial court will surely punish them!"

The Yang family uncle and nephew all agreed, and they stopped fighting, instead mobilizing troops and laborers to repair the official road.

After passing Zunyi and continuing south, Xia Dajun met with several chieftains and conveyed the imperial court's order for them to repair the official road.

The chiefs all agreed, but whether they would go against their word would only be clear in two years.

Then we arrived in Guiyang.

This place is now called Juzhou, and was once referred to as Guizhou by Zhao Kuangyin.

In the early Northern Song Dynasty, it was occupied by the Luo family and was even granted a title by Zhao Kuangyin.

Later, Luo left, and his remaining troops established the "Shiren Tribe," but Song soon drove the "Shiren Tribe" away.

The Song family refers to the ancestors of the Song family of Shuidong during the Ming Dynasty.

The leader of the Shiren tribe was a collateral ancestor of the Shui'an clan during the Ming Dynasty.

The current head of the Song clan is Song Xihua. They actively pursue Sinicization and claim that their ancestor, Song Jingyang, came from Zhending, Hebei.

They've gone a bit too far in Sinicization, even thinking of being loyal to the Song Dynasty, and are still using Emperor Huizong's reign title to this day.

Song Xihua warmly received Xia Dajun in Juzhou (Guiyang) city: "You are an envoy of the Ming Dynasty, but I am a subject of the Song Dynasty."

"Guests from afar are welcome, and I should treat them with hospitality. But do not mention the matter of surrendering!"

Xia Dajun glanced at the other man and questioned, "If you are a Song official, why are you dressed like a barbarian?"

Song Xihua said, "I also often wear Han Chinese clothing."

"I am not entirely sure why Your Excellency is loyal to the Song Dynasty,"

Xia Dajun warned,

"But there's one thing I need to remind you of."

"Stop using the pretext of suppressing rebellions for the Song Dynasty to conquer and annex nearby tribes."

"Those tribes have already submitted to the Ming Dynasty."

"If you dare to attack neighboring tribes again, it will be considered as declaring war on the Ming Dynasty!"

Song Xihua suddenly felt uneasy.

He was so loyal to the Song dynasty, he was just using Emperor Huizong as a pretext to expand and annex territory.

Today, his territory has doubled compared to the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, and he controls Guiyang and five surrounding prefectures (tributary prefectures).

Xia Dajun was too lazy to attend the banquet, and pointed to the musketeers behind him, saying, "Does Your Excellency know what weapons they are carrying?"

"An iron rod?" Song Xihua wasn't quite sure.

Xia Dajun said, "Your Excellency may provide ten suits of armor, and I will have my soldiers shoot at the armor."

Song Xihua also wanted to investigate the Ming army's strength, so he immediately ordered ten suits of iron armor to be brought to him.

He possessed a limited number of iron armors, and his army primarily used leather and rattan armor.

Ten suits of iron armor were placed on the wooden stakes, and the Ming soldiers raised their flintlock muskets.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Before the smoke of battle had even cleared, some soldiers went to investigate, then ran back to Song Xihua and whispered something in his ear.

Chapter 3517 Sincere Submission

Upon hearing this, Song Xihua was greatly alarmed and went forward to investigate personally.

He noticed that the armor was pierced through, and his expression became somewhat flustered. He asked, "What kind of weapon is this?"

Xia Dajun said, "The Divine Machine Firearm. Our Great Ming also has another firearm called the Divine Might Cannon."

"A single shot can destroy a city wall two or three miles away."

"You may not know this, but just last year, the Ming Dynasty not only recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun,"

"Moreover, they occupied all of the Liao Kingdom's territory and destroyed the once-invincible Jin Kingdom."

"Now that all the surrounding countries have submitted to the Ming Dynasty, do you still intend to resist stubbornly?"

Song Xihua was taken aback upon hearing this. Although he was unsure whether the Jin Kingdom had been destroyed, the muskets before him were indeed difficult to withstand.

After thinking for a moment, Song Xihua suddenly knelt down: "I am willing to submit to the Great Ming Dynasty!"

Xia Dajun smiled and helped him up, saying, "Since you are truly loyal, then you should take the tribute and personally go to Luoyang to pay homage to His Majesty the Emperor."

"Isn't it Kaifeng?" Song Xihua asked, puzzled.