Gao Xi nodded: "Yes, he is from the Zhaowu Jiu surnamed Hu in the Western Regions, he is from the Yue clan, and he was born in He in Central Asia. It's his nephew He Chou, who has been in China for three generations, and he still can't get rid of the appearance of the Hu people. Xingman, this person's experience is somewhat similar to yours. ”

Gao Xi glanced at Wang Shichong and continued: "Back then, He Tuo and Su Wei's son Su Kui were jointly responsible for formulating the etiquette and music of the imperial court, that Su Kui was young and vigorous, and He Tuo had their own words and couldn't hold each other, so the emperor asked the civil and military officials in the court to express their positions, and as a result, nine out of ten officials chose to support Su Kui, but He Tuo's old face couldn't be put aside, and he was defeated by a junior who was a well-educated doctor, and he couldn't bear it!"

At that time, He Tuo insisted that this was because the officials in the court were attached to Su Wei, who was Shangshu's right servant at the time, and were afraid of his power, so they all turned to Su Kui.

He Tuo wrote to the emperor with this, saying that Su Wei formed a party for personal gain, and also used the story of Zhao Gao pointing to the deer as a horse to insinuate Su Wei, but at that time, Su Wei was both a man and a man, and his son was also in a high position at a young age, which aroused the emperor's vigilance. Later, in the process of investigation, it was found that Su Wei was a nepotist and wantonly promoted people who were willing to rely on him, which led to Su Wei's resignation six years ago. ”

Wang Shichong nodded and said: "I see, I was in Lingnan at the time, I don't know too much about this, I am a little familiar with the name He Chou, oh, by the way, isn't he the new Kaifu general who made great achievements in Zhou Fashang's Guizhou pacification war this time, why is this person still a skilled craftsman?" ”

Gao Xi smiled and continued: "He Tong, He Tuo's brother, has a unique skill in carving jade. Probably because his father, He Xihu, was also in the jewelry and jade business back then. There is an ancestral craft. He Tong died young. He Chou went to Daxing with his uncle He Tuo. Unlike He To, who specializes in classics and history, He Chou is more interested in the books of craftsmen of the past dynasties, and is now appointed as the secretary of the Taifu, in charge of the detailed work department, specializing in creating all kinds of exquisite utensils.

The method of making glass in my dynasty has been lost for a long time, but this He Chou can use green porcelain to create something that is the same as a real glass ware. At the beginning of the year, the Persian kingdom paid tribute to the golden cotton brocade robe, and the envoy spoke wildly. It is said that no one in the world can make such a gorgeous brocade robe.

At that time, the emperor ordered He Chou to make a piece, and as a result, He Chou made a piece that was more gorgeous and elaborate than the brocade robe offered by the Persian envoy in a few days. Let the arrogant Persian envoy only admire, which can be regarded as raising the prestige of our country, so that the emperor has a lot of face, and immediately promoted He Chou to be a loose rider. ”

Wang Shichong sighed: "This He Chou is really a skilled craftsman, a professional technical talent!" But such a person can also lead troops to quell the rebellion? ”

Gao Xi smiled: "Xingman, at that time, you were following Shi Wansui to fight against the Nanban, I don't know about it." At that time, Li Guangshi, the slang leader in the southwest of Lingnan, rebelled, which shook several prefectures and counties in Lingnan. The emperor may have felt that the difficulty of this counterinsurgency was not high, and wanted to add some military merits to He Chou, who had just won glory for the country. He Chou was appointed as the deputy envoy of Lingnan to pacify and lead the troops to quell the rebellion.

After He Chou arrived in Lingnan, with the cooperation of Mrs. Xian's grandson, Luozhou Thorn Shi Feng Xuan and other local Yi leaders who were loyal to the imperial court, he triumphed all the way, although he was a partial teacher, but he also exterminated several traitor leaders who were stubborn to the end, and as for the leaders who were willing to surrender and returned to the imperial court, they were given very good preferential treatment, and they were named state and county magistrates one by one.

Among them, there was a Qinzhou assassin Shi Ning fiercely, who was the largest slang leader in the Qinzhou area, and at first planned to rebel with Li Guangshi, but before he could launch it, Zhou Fashang suppressed the rebellion, and He Chou's department also approached his territory, so Ning was frightened and ran to He Chou's camp, asking to enter the court alone to receive the sin.

At that time, this Ning Mengli was already seriously ill, He Chou saw that he was seriously ill, so he asked him not to go to Beijing with him, and then talk about it when he recovered from his illness, and agreed with Naning Mengli that in August and September, he would meet in Daxing.

When He Chou returned to Daxing, he reported the matter to the emperor, and the emperor was still a little unhappy at that time, thinking that the slang people were cunning and untrustworthy, and he must have pretended to be sick to deceive He Chou. Later, a few days later, the news came, saying that Ning Mengli was seriously ill and died in October. Although the emperor believed that Ning Mengli was really sick, he still blamed He Chou for not letting him go to Beijing, and now his son may rebel again.

But at that time, He Chou said very confidently, he thought that Ning's father and son were both people of faith and righteousness, and Ning Mengli once told him that if he couldn't act and couldn't go to Beijing, he also asked for his eldest son Ning Changzhen to go to Daxing to serve the emperor, and now that he is dead, his son Ning Changzhen will definitely come to Daxing by himself.

As a result, a month later, Ning Changzhen really entered Beijing in filial piety clothes, and he told the emperor that his father warned him on his deathbed that he had an appointment with Ambassador He, and that he must meet in Daxing, and if he couldn't go, Ning Changzhen would also go to this appointment with a national scholar. Therefore, Ning Changzhen went directly on the road after burying Ning Mengli, and he didn't worry about it according to the law. So the emperor sighed, saying that He Chou could actually make the cunning barbarian talk about credit like this, which was really amazing.

It is precisely because of this merit that He Chou was added to the Kaifu and became a four-grade official, but his Kaifu general was a vain position, and his old business still made all kinds of exquisite utensils. ”

Wang Shichong nodded again and again when he heard this, and thought to himself: This He Chou sounds the same as Yu Wenkai, who will be the chief eunuch, just a professional technical talent, Yang Jian is frugal by nature, and he doesn't like exquisite and luxurious things, let alone large-scale construction. Therefore, He Chou is useless as a hero here in Yang Jian, probably because of this reason, Yang Jian wants to give him an errand to counter-insurgency, so that he can make up for his military merits to be promoted, which can be regarded as making up for his apology.

Gao Xi saw that Wang Shichong was silent, and laughed: "According to the law of our dynasty, those who do not have military merits or outstanding political achievements and are excellent in the assessment shall not be promoted." He Chou's prestige rose sharply that time, which made the emperor's face shine, in addition to making brocade clothes, he also had another ability, that is, repairing dragon boats. ”

Wang Shichong was a little surprised, and said: "This is too big and useless, isn't that the dragon boat the kind of boat used for racing during the Dragon Boat Festival, is it necessary for a master like He Chou to build it?" Besides, does the emperor want to compare the speed of rowing with people? Do you want to take a dragon boat instead of a big boat? ”

Gao Xi shook his head: "Xingman, you may have misunderstood, the dragon boat built by He Chou is not the kind of thing for the Dragon Boat Festival, but a luxury boat for the emperor to take when he goes to Jiangdu." I have seen the blueprint of the dragon boat, which is forty-five feet high and two hundred feet long, with four stories on it. The top floor is the main hall and the inner hall, the main hall can meet hundreds of courtiers, and the inner hall can also receive more than 20 people. In addition, there are also east and west court halls for officials to rest.

The middle two floors add up to more than 120 rooms, all of which are made of fine sandalwood and inlaid with gold and jade. There are also dozens of rooms on the lowest floor, all of which are used by the palace ladies and chamberlains. This is a big dragon boat for the emperor to ride. ”

"And the boat that Queen Dugu is riding is called Xiangyu, except that the specifications are a little smaller than the emperor's dragon boat, everything is built according to the standard of building the dragon boat, and it is also a four-story building. In addition, there are nine floating boats, all of which are three-storey water palaces.

Xingman, do you say that this can build such a huge dragon boat, are you afraid that he will not be able to build the Wuya Battleship and the Yellow Dragon Battleship we need based on the drawings? ”

Wang Shichong sighed: "Gao Servant Shot, this person is so talented, it just so happens that this time when building a ship, it can come in handy, but he is a skilled craftsman, often pursuing that kind of perfect masterpiece, what we are drawing this time is a quick word, does he have no problem in this regard?" ”

Gao Xi laughed: "That huge dragon boat, it only took two months for He Chou to build, and this also includes the time for him to design the drawings." The military situation is urgent, He Chou himself is also a person who has been on the battlefield, knowing that the military situation is like fire, he will not miss you in time, you can rest assured. ”

Wang Shichong let out a long breath: "Gao Servant Shot said so, then what else do I have to worry about, this time I will go to Donglai with He Chou, within five months, I will definitely build you a warship that is enough for 50,000 troops to cross the sea, please rest assured!" (To be continued......)