Chapter 689: Rule with Ease
The second day of Qingming Festival.

Just after the Qingming Festival, the Minister of Rites Wang Gui submitted a memorial requesting the emperor's approval for the funeral specifications for Qin Qiong.

Su Mingzhe took the memorial and read it. It said: buried in Zhaoling Mausoleum, and worshipped in Taimiao, etc.

None of this is a problem.

However, the posthumous title given by the Ministry of Rites was the single word "Zhuang".

Su Mingzhe was immediately dissatisfied:
"My dear Lord Wang, isn't the word 'zhuang' inappropriate? Duke Yi always strives to be the first in every battle. After I ascended the throne, he took the initiative to retire and refused visitors. I think Duke Yi can be called 'Wuning'."

In history, only one person has been given the posthumous title "Wuning", and that is Xu Da, the first commander of the Ming Dynasty.

Now, Su Mingzhe gave Qin Qiong this posthumous title to satisfy his respect for the heroes of the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

"Your Majesty is absolutely right. I was wrong in my thinking."

Wang Gui was not willing to get into a conflict with a dead person, so when he saw that the emperor was determined to do so, he immediately nodded and said that he would change it when he returned.

After receiving the emperor's approval, the Ministry of Rites immediately notified the Duke of Yiguo's Mansion that Qin Qiong's funeral could be held according to the funeral rules for a duke.

These are the rules.

As for when Qin Huaiyu will inherit the title, it will have to wait until Qin Qiong is buried.

This is similar to the emperor's reign title.

After the death of the previous emperor, the new emperor would have to wait for several months before he could have his own reign title until the next year.

Afterwards, Su Mingzhe wrote another elegiac couplet and sent it to Duke Yiguo's Mansion.

Wait until Duke Yi’s mansion has set up the mourning hall.

Su Mingzhe went there again to pay his respects.

According to regulations, when a duke dies, the body must be kept for 28 days.

Li Shimin's tomb is called 'Zhaoling'.

In other words, Qin Qiong's coffin could only be sent to Zhaoling Mausoleum after 28 days.

In the blink of an eye.

Su Mingzhe has traveled to this world for a month.

On that day, Su Mingzhe stayed in Hanyuan Hall and called Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji, Gao Shilian and others to come. He took out the system of demotion and inheritance of titles submitted by Xiao Yu and asked them to make the final improvements.

After everyone looked at it, they didn't find any problems and all nodded in agreement.

The attendant Chu Suiliang recorded this incident.

This also means that the "Tang Dynasty Title System" was promulgated throughout the country only after obtaining the joint approval of the emperor and his ministers.

After the title system was established, Su Mingzhe drove the King of Wei, the King of Wu, the King of Shu and other princes and dukes to their fiefdoms and made them serve as vassal states.

There are so many fewer princes and dukes in Chang'an City.

Li Chengqian, who became the Jingzhao Yin, benefited the most.

First of all, there were fewer troublemakers in Chang'an City, and the workload of Jingzhao Yin was reduced by more than one third.

Secondly, without so many princes and dukes, the ministers in the court could only approach Crown Prince Li Chengqian if they wanted to gain the merit of following the emperor.

Li Chengqian's power in the court suddenly increased.

Seeing Li Chengqian living happily day by day.

Su Mingzhe decided to find something for his son to do.

In mid-April,

Su Mingzhe created an avatar, hand-copied a vernacular version of "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature", and presented it to Li Chengqian, the prefect of Jingzhao.

Although Li Chengqian had never been in contact with the Ministry of Works, had never worked in the fields, and had never been a farmer, after reading "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature", he was still keenly aware of what changes this book would bring to the Tang Dynasty.

After hesitating for several days.

Li Chengqian was still honest and presented the wonderful book "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature" to the emperor at the grand court meeting on the first day of May.

Su Mingzhe felt relieved when he saw Li Chengqian accept his test.

If Li Chengqian dared to conceal the book "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature", he would become the prince who served as the prince for the longest time in the world.

Now Li Chengqian took the initiative to hand over "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature" to Su Mingzhe as a good omen.

Su Mingzhe then nodded with satisfaction, and then took the opportunity to confer the title of Crown Prince on his eldest grandson Li Jue.

After the grand court meeting was over, Su Mingzhe called Li Chengqian, and the father and son stayed in the Hanyuan Hall and copied the book "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature" twice by category.

Originally collected by Su Mingzhe.

Only if the two manuscripts were damaged would Su Mingzhe take out the originals.

One of the two manuscripts was placed in the Hanyuan Hall and guarded by dozens of eunuchs and over a hundred guards as a national treasure.

The last manuscript is divided into categories of technology.

The technologies in "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature" involve production technologies such as machinery, bricks and tiles, ceramics, sulfur, candles, paper, weapons, gunpowder, textiles, dyeing, salt making, coal mining, and oil pressing.

To the Tang Dynasty, these things are no different from heavenly books.

Especially gunpowder.

It's almost no different from a dimensionality reduction attack.

Therefore, both Su Mingzhe and Li Chengqian believed that these technologies could not be used all at once.

Since you can’t do it all at once, you need a plan.

For example, what technology should be used in what situation.

The two discussed this issue for half a month before they barely came up with a preliminary plan.

In the blink of an eye it's June.

Su Mingzhe looked at the excited Li Chengqian with a smile in his eyes:
"Qian'er, if we can implement it according to the plan, it will take fifty years or even a hundred years to see the results. Aren't you a little unwilling?"

"I am a little unwilling, but even if I can't see it, my son can always see it. Even if my son can't see it, our descendants of the Li family can always see it."

Li Chengqian's words were almost like "there will be endless descendants". Su Mingzhe saw that Li Chengqian was in a good mood, so he let him go back to continue to be the Jingzhao Yin.

According to the two people's plan, the first five-year plan is called "solidifying the foundation."

The foundation of the Tang Dynasty is Guanlong.

To consolidate the foundation is to promote some of the technologies in "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature" in the Guanlong region.

Only when the Guanlong area develops can it be promoted to the whole world.

Li Chengqian was now the prefect of Jingzhao, and his two sons were appointed as governors of the Guanlong area.

In other words, Li Chengqian and his two sons controlled all military, political and taxation powers in the Guanlong area.

Su Mingzhe's delegation of power to Li Chengqian also made the civil and military officials of the Tang Dynasty believe that the handover of imperial power to the next generation would be very smooth.

After Li Chengqian left Hanyuan Hall, Su Mingzhe also walked towards the harem proudly.

Although Su Mingzhe is also the emperor, he will not learn from Yongzheng and work himself to death.

Anyway, he has various civil and military officials under his command, as well as an ambitious prince.

Just leave any work to them and you can just stay in the palace and rule the country.

After returning to Ganlu Palace in the harem, Su Mingzhe called the four concubines over.

Two days ago, he created another incarnation and contributed crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, peppers, peanuts, etc. to the court, and also left a planting and cultivation manual.

Su Mingzhe ordered people to plant these crops in the back garden of the palace, and now someone is needed to take care of them carefully.

When selecting people to farm the land, Su Mingzhe called the four concubines in the harem to Ganlu Palace and asked them who was willing to take care of the crops.

Concubine Yang and Concubine Yin both disliked dealing with outsiders and simply shook their heads.

Wei Guier thought that her skin was white and delicate and could not be burned by the sun, so she was unwilling to take on the hard job of farming.

In the end, it was Concubine Yan who volunteered to take on this task.

"In that case, the three concubines may withdraw first. Concubine Yan will stay. I really have something to tell you."

Su Mingzhe squinted his eyes, glanced at the other three concubines, and said silently in his heart: "This is your last chance. You lost it yourselves. You can't blame me."

The three concubines had no idea what opportunity they had lost.

After the three concubines left, Su Mingzhe asked Wang De to send someone to call Xu Hui and Wu Meiniang, and prepared a table of wine and food.

After the two talented people arrived, Su Mingzhe first introduced the three women.

The mothers of Concubine Yan De and Wu Meiniang were cousins, so the two were considered cousins.

"Mei Niang has met my sister."

Wu Meiniang was the most alert. Upon seeing this, she quickly bowed to Concubine Yan.

Concubine Yan sat next to Su Mingzhe and could only lend a hand to him. She smiled kindly and said:
"Sister, please stand up."

"Xu Cairen's father was the Chief of the Imperial Household Department. Compared to other female officials in the palace, Xu Cairen's knowledge of workshops and crops is relatively detailed."

After Su Mingzhe introduced the two, he smiled at Concubine Yan and said:

"My dear, you can take care of the crops in the future and let these two help you."

"I will definitely live up to your majesty's trust."

When Concubine Yan heard the emperor's emphasis on these crops, she immediately bowed respectfully and said that she would take his orders seriously.

Su Mingzhe nodded, and then said to Wang De: "Wu Meiniang and Xu Hui are both talented women, with bright minds and clear minds, and their reputations are as high as those of a concubine... They can be concubines."

After hearing this, Wang De quickly drafted an imperial edict to promote Wu Meiniang and Xu Hui from fifth-rank talents to third-rank concubines.

Xu Hui and Wu Meiniang were both talented and extraordinary women. They guessed that these crops were not simple, so they bowed respectfully to express their willingness to fulfill the king's orders.

"My beloved, there are two more beauties."

Seeing that the three girls knew the seriousness of the matter, Su Mingzhe nodded with satisfaction:

"It's late today, let's all rest here."

"I accept the decree."

The three women looked at each other and then bowed together again.

The emperor has become more and more greedy for beauty recently. Almost every night he would find two or three, or even four or five concubines and ladies in the harem to sleep with him.

Even if sometimes I don't find fault with concubines or ladies in the court.

By the next day, everyone would surely hear about how many more of the Baolin, imperial concubines and concubines in the Ganlu Palace had been favored.

Seeing that more and more women in the harem were favored by the emperor, many women began to worry about the emperor's loss of vitality.

Of course, there were also many concubines who were secretly happy that the emperor was lustful, because this would give them more opportunities to give birth to children in the future.

No matter what everyone thinks, Su Mingzhe will not listen to anyone's advice and will always do what he wants.

That night, Concubine Yan, Xu Hui and Wu Meiniang were left to sleep with him, and it was another night of joy.

On the second day.

Su Mingzhe went to "work" in Hanyuan Hall in high spirits.

The three women got up, washed up, and returned to the Heyu Palace.

Heyu Palace is the palace where Concubine Yan De lived. It is located at the northernmost end of Taiji Palace, close to the palace wall.

When Concubine Yan arrived at Heyu Palace, she arranged for the palace servants to go to Wang De and ask for the manual on planting and cultivating crops.

The manual is written in plain language.

The three women were all intelligent and knowledgeable ladies from high-class families. After taking a quick look at the manual, they had memorized 99% of the contents.

Now that we understand the meaning of the manual, the emperor has arranged for people to plant these fruits.

The three women immediately arranged for the palace ladies and servants to take turns on duty.

As soon as these crops bear fruit, the three women will go to the emperor to receive rewards.

(End of this chapter)