According to the regulations, Hanlin painters are not allowed to discuss matters related to the government, such as whether Li Buqi is a thief and a thief, Cui Bai should not express his opinion, but Zhao Zhen was very tolerant and just nodded, and said gently: "I will consider this matter, you should step down first." ”

Ding Du arrived after a while, and after Ding Du saluted, Zhao Zhen asked: "I heard that Li Buqi often goes out to the scholar's mansion." Now there is a text in Shaanxi that says that Li Buqi may be a spy of the Xia thief, do you know? ”

Ding Du was stunned for a moment, but quickly came back to his senses and said resolutely: "Your Majesty, the minister doesn't know what evidence there is to say that Li Buqi is a Xia thief's spy, but what the minister saw Li Buqi would not have an affair with the Xia thief, but would want to get rid of the Xia thief as soon as possible." ”

Zhao Zhen saw that Ding Du was so sure, so he asked: "How does the bachelor know that Li Buqi is not a summer thief?" ”

Ding Du said: "Li Buqi and a Shaanxi scholar found the minister's house for the study of phonology, but after learning that the minister was compiling the "General Essentials of the Martial Arts", he offered two things, and the minister recently discussed repeatedly with Yousi, thinking that these two things can greatly improve the combat power of my Great Song Dynasty, which is the magic weapon to restrain the Xia thief. If Li Buqi was a summer thief and a spy, how could he offer such a thing? ”

Zhao Zhen immediately became interested: "What are these two things?" ”

Ding Du said: "One of them is a crossbow. With iron as tendons and iron as kicks, the minister thinks that the strength is stronger, the range is longer, and he can wear heavy armor, which is a sharp weapon to deal with the summer thief iron harrier. The second is the iron nail horseshoe, which is bent with a piece of iron and nailed to the horse's hoof. Although I also know how to protect the horse's shoe, it is not so simple and easy to use, which can reduce the wear and tear of the horse's hooves, and one horse in my Song Dynasty can be used for two or even three horses. The ministers estimated that if they used this horseshoe, they could save at least five or six hundred thousand yuan a year in the cost of buying a horse. Moreover, my Great Song Dynasty was defeated by the Xia Thief Liao Kingdom because of the lack of horses, if one horse was used for two or three horses, the combat power was not far from the Xia Thief Liao Kingdom. ”

Zhao Zhen didn't have much feeling about the crossbow, but he was excited when he heard that the use of horseshoe could save the Great Song Dynasty millions a year. In his impression, the Great Song Dynasty is now short of money, in order to fight the Western Xia, even the treasury has been emptied, and the prime ministers are now thinking about taking money from the emperor's inner treasury every day, but the inner treasury has also bottomed out, if it can save five or six hundred thousand yuan a year, then the financial pressure will be reduced a lot. He asked excitedly, "Is it really so powerful?" ”

Ding Du said: "The minister does not dare to speak falsely. The minister has not heard that the Xia thief has such a thing, and even if he does, he will not let me learn these things in order to send a fine work. Since Li Buqi offered these two things, how could he be a summer thief? It should be said that he hates the summer thief and will not be destroyed. I don't know what evidence is there to say that Li Buqi is a Xia thief? ”

Zhao Zhen looked at Gan Zhaoji, and Gan Zhaoji hurriedly said: "That line only said that the people around Ren Fu were gone, and only Li Buqi escaped alone, this matter is very suspicious, so I suspect that the Xia thief deliberately spying on Li Buqi and spying on my Great Song Dynasty." ”

Ding Du's beard was about to blow up: "That's unnecessary?" Chen Zeng watched Li Buqi scarred, except for one in the back in front, it can be seen that he fought bravely and did not avoid arrows. This warrior also. Your Majesty should remember the story of Li Ling, Gongsun Ao falsely said that Li Ling was a matter of the Huns, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty killed Li Ling's whole family, and Li Ling had no heart to return to the Han Dynasty. If Li doesn't abandon such a warrior as a summer thief, who will dare to charge into battle in the future? Your Majesty, please make a clear decision! ”

Ding Du once gave Zhao Zhen a lecture, although it was basically a Confucian classic, but Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty would also be used as a great achievement, and the negative teaching materials of the poor army would also be often mentioned, so Zhao Zhen naturally understood the story of Li Ling.

After the Han general Li Ling surrendered to the Xiongnu, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not kill Li Ling's family at first, but Gongsun Ao went out to attack the Xiongnu in vain, and after returning to the division, in order to shirk his responsibility, he said that Li Ling taught the Huns to fight before he returned in vain, and the angry Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty punished the Li family. This has always been regarded as evidence of the brutality of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, how could Zhao Zhen not know?

Zhao Zhen has a lot of respect for Ding Du, and always calls Ding Du "bachelor" in person instead of calling him by name, so Ding Du said that Li Buqi is not a spy of Western Xia, and Zhao Zhen is still willing to believe it. More importantly, let Li Buqi save five or six hundred thousand yuan a year by making the horseshoe, and if the crossbow is completed, he will have the basis to win the Western Xia. Everything has to be done after these two things are done.

Zhao Zhen said to Gan Zhaoji: "It seems that Li Buqi is a Xia thief and a spy, which must be wrong. You must be careful to investigate this matter, and you must not wronged him. Then he asked Ding Du, "Bachelor, I wonder when these crossbows and horseshoes will be made?" ”

Ding Du said: "The minister originally wanted to ask Li Buqi to go to the south workshop to make this horseshoe first, and when it is done, he will present it to His Majesty." The crossbow of the crossbow will take several months to complete, so His Majesty has to wait patiently. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "Okay, the military situation is urgent, the sooner this matter is, the better." ”

Just as he was saying that the eunuch hurriedly sent a military report, Zhao Zhen opened it and his face became gloomy. The military newspaper said that recently, Yuan Hao, Kou Jinming, and Ning Yuan, Wang Shigan, the lord of the bar, and Wang Xian, the prisoner of soldiers and horses, died in battle.

Alas! Defeated again!

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In the evening, when Li Buqi went to Ding Du's house to learn to compose poetry, he brought Ding Du a basket of meat sandwich buns and old Beijing chicken rolls. Ding Du said today's events. Although Li Buqi had made preparations for a long time, he couldn't help wiping a cold sweat when it came to the end. Xin Yu had already taken the line of Ding Du, and someone spoke to him, otherwise there would be no place to reason. Fortunately, the emperor who framed Li Buqi now and deliberately put it back by Western Xia may not believe it, but I don't know what kind of moths Han Qi's side will make in the future, so I still need to be careful.

This incident also made Li Buqi realize once again how important connections are, and someone in the court can only prevent the hidden arrow by talking to you. In the future, we should also pay attention to cultivating more people who can speak for themselves, whether they are in the court or in the people. However, it will take time to cultivate such power, and for now, I can only make a name for myself.

"Bachelor, now that the kid has money, he wants to start a school."

Ding Du didn't know anything else except learning, so he was the most enthusiastic about running education, and immediately asked, "What kind of school do you want to run?" ”

"The kid wants to accept some children from poor military families to school, not asking them to be able to gain fame, but only asking them to learn to read and write so that they can be educated, and they will no longer be vulgar in the future, and they will become useful people to my Great Song Dynasty."

"Oh, the children of the Junhan family?" Ding Du was somewhat disappointed, but when he thought that Li Buqi was also a child of the Junhan family, he understood. In any case, it is always good to be more educated.

Li Buqi said: "The boy is young, I don't know what to do, I don't know what the bachelor has to teach me?" ”

"What is this......" The old gentleman was poked at the excitement, and after a little thought, he gushed endlessly. Li Buqi listened excitedly beside him, but in fact, he didn't take it to heart at all, he just hoped that Mr. Ding would spread the news of his school to Zhao Zhen's ears and deepen Zhao Zhen's impression. As for the method of running a school, Liu Zhiwei has been in school for 16 years, and his mother is a teacher, so he has already had his own ideas.

PS: Thanks to csicewolf and chgfyhy for voting for it. I worked the night shift yesterday, but today it will still be updated normally.