In April of the seventeenth year of Hongwei, after a whole month of tossing and turning, Xu Rui traveled south with more than 1,000 Tianqiwei under the banner of patrolling the six southwestern provinces on behalf of the heavens, and came to Xichuan Province.

This way, the Apocalypse Guard walked very low-key, except for the necessary supplies, he tried not to disturb the various local state capitals along the way, and the officials who ushered in the delivery were all sent back on the grounds of military urgency, and none of them were found.

But after entering the boundary of Xichuan Province, Xu Rui immediately went against the norm, he must enter every city, and accept gifts if he has gifts, of course, after receiving gifts, he will also give back those rare things produced by Galaxy Group, which is called a gift exchange.

Xichuan Province is located on the border, and information is relatively closed, where have you seen those novelties?

Whether it is a magnifying glass that can see the fly's head clearly, or a lighter that is beautifully carved and wipeped, it has made the officials who received the return gift like a treasure, and their good impression of Xu Rui, the "approachable", has greatly increased.

On April 10, Tianqiwei finally came to the new Chang'an, the capital of Xichuan, which is said to have been named by Zhu Zhen, the founding emperor of the previous dynasty, and as the capital, it was several times more prosperous than the current Changxing City at its peak.

However, after the collapse of the dynasty and the thousand-year-old war, this place has long since lost its prosperity, and it is not much different from other provincial capitals, but it has a little more sense of history and humanity.

The supreme governor of Xichuan Province, Lu Linshan, the political envoy, is from a local wealthy family, and he is a member of the Zhengsanpin, and he thinks very highly of himself, so he didn't want to pay much attention to Xu Rui, an uninvited guest.

But Xu Rui also had the name of a poor reputation, and when he reached his own territory, it was really difficult not to show up, so he had to symbolically hold a reception banquet for Xu Rui with the etiquette system of receiving officials from the fifth grade, and the specifications were really shabby.

Several of Lu Linshan's henchmen heard that Xu Rui was very favored by the emperor, and they couldn't stand it, and persuaded him several times not to neglect the Qincha, but Lu Linshan turned a deaf ear and only arranged the reception to a few small officials.

Seeing that he did not listen to his advice, his henchmen were worried, worried that Xu Rui, a "favorite minister", would report to the emperor after returning to Beijing, and even not come to the banquet directly, embarrassing the Xichuan bureaucrats.

However, no one expected that Xu Rui would not only come on the day of the reception, but also be complacent, not caring at all, and chatting happily with all the officials present.

I heard that Lu Linshan, the political envoy, was a scholar in the first year of Hongwei, and Xu Rui also discussed Confucianism with him at the banquet.

After saying a few words, Lu Linshan was suddenly shocked.

Although Xu Rui is not very familiar with the classics, he has many novel ideas between his words, and after chewing carefully, he actually complements the ideas in the latest "Great Rites" of Mr. Dongli.

You must know that "The Book of Great Rites" is known as the sixth classic of Confucianism, which immediately shocked the world as soon as it came out, and even attracted many students from the Southern Dynasties to study in the northern country.

However, after all, "The Great Rites" was written by Mr. Dong Li with his life's work, and it came out for a short time, and few people can chew through the profound truth contained in it.

Lu Linshan is also a local Confucian celebrity in Xichuan, but he still has many incomprehensions about the "Great Rites".

Originally, he only had a few perfunctory words with Xu Rui for the sake of face, but he suddenly found that Xu Rui's words were often enlightening, and the most complex logic could be explained clearly in the most popular sentences, and many problems that he couldn't understand before were easily solved.

Lu Linshan immediately changed his previous arrogance, and had an in-depth exchange with Xu Rui at the banquet, and the other officials seemed to have become spectators.

Don't talk about it, I don't know, the more I talk, the more frightened Lu Linshan is, Xu Rui looks so young, but no matter what he asks, Xu Rui can answer it fluently.

is not only Confucianism, when it comes to the general trend of the world, Xu Rui has no stage fright, and talks eloquently in front of dozens of officials, and his views and opinions are unheard of, but when he thinks about it carefully, he points to the essence, and unconsciously makes a group of officials fall into it.

At first, Lu Linshan and several other officials could still talk to Xu Rui and have a few words, but when it came to the reform of the national law and the Southern Dynasty's war against Qi, others could no longer interject, and gradually became a question and answer session.

It's not that Xu Rui is really talented to the point of overpowering the crowd, but he is really standing on the shoulders of the giant of history, and he can often use the clearest perspective to answer all kinds of doubts clearly in essence.

For example, when it comes to the problem of difficult tax collection, Xu Rui directly pointed out that if you want to collect more taxes, increasing the tax burden is actually drying up and fishing, and only by making the people rich and formulating a reasonable tax system can we cure both the symptoms and the root causes, and achieve immediate results.

Although this point of view is novel, it is not brilliant, after all, who wouldn't say big things?

But Xu Rui then said how to guide farmers to plant the most profitable crops according to local geographical conditions, and then how to carry out deep processing of agricultural products, and then guide farmers to sell these products to businessmen, so as to expand profits, and how to change the fixed agricultural tax and increase the specific implementation plan of commercial tax and income tax after farmers become rich.

Not only is every detail a proven experience of another world, which is very operational, but not only will the income of farmers multiply, but the tax revenue of the government will also triple.

After hearing this, several magistrates who were troubled by the difficulty of collecting taxes suddenly brightened their eyes, and some even asked for a pen and paper to record it on the dinner table.

Originally, the banquet was only planned for half an hour, because Lu Linshan had said it first, he would only waste this time on this Qincha, but in fact, the banquet lasted for two full hours.

It wasn't until the third pole of the moon that Xu Rui couldn't stop yawning, and Lu Linshan really couldn't wipe off his face, so he barely suppressed the urge to continue asking questions, and reluctantly ended the banquet.

Before the end of the show, Xu Rui deliberately stopped the officials present, and gave each of the officials present a gift in the puzzled eyes of everyone.

The military attachés were given a sword each.

The sword was designed by Xu Rui himself, directly copying the shape of the Cossack cavalry knife, one of the most beautiful cold weapons recognized in the world, and made of the latest steel of the Galaxy Group.

For people who practice martial arts, a good weapon is the second life, after getting the sword, some people immediately excitedly used it to cut their own saber, but they didn't expect the saber to be not only cut off, but the sword Xu Rui gave did not even leave a trace.

This time, not only the military attaché, but even the civilian officials also saw the extraordinaryness of this knife, and they all gasped.

You must know that a famous knife often costs thousands of taels of silver, and the quality of Xu Rui's knife is still above those famous knives, he gave away more than 20 in one go, and he didn't even blink his eyes, which really can't help but make people admire his financial strength and atmosphere.

In addition to the knives given to the military attachés, Xu Rui also gave all the civil officials a special pen and a special bottle of ink each.

This pen is made of rosewood, which is not only beautifully carved, but also ergonomically designed, and feels very comfortable when holding the pen.

The inside of the pen is even more promising, adding the ink absorption design of the fountain pen, which can make the ink absorbed in the pen body flow slowly to the nib, as long as you pull out the cap of the pen can write directly, no longer need to add water to grind the ink so cumbersome.

And that bottle of ink is made of I don't know what it is, not only the color is warm, the ink fragrance is overflowing, and there is no graininess at all, it is simply the best of the best.

It is said that the pen in the hands of the literati is like the knife in the hands of the warriors, and the preciousness of this gift is no less than the heirloom sword given to the military attachés.

Only Lu Linshan saw Xu Rui's methods as an upstart, and he was quite unhappy in his heart, if he had changed to someone else, he would have brushed his sleeves away, but Fang Cai's brief talk had already changed his impression of Xu Rui, so he waited patiently for Xu Rui to finish the gift.

However, when everyone dispersed, Xu Rui took out a wooden box and handed it to Lu Linshan, who opened it and saw that it was a beautifully printed "Great Rites".

Unlike ordinary printed books, this book is clearly written, neatly cut, and beautifully bound, comparable to a royal collection.

"What is this?"

Lu Linshan didn't react for a while, and asked Xu Rui suspiciously.

Xu Rui asked rhetorically: "I heard that the adult is Xichuan Confucian, who once made annotations for the four books, but because the printing cost is too high and the quality is too poor, he has not been able to broadcast what he has learned to the world, so I want to ask Lord Lu to see how this book is printed?" ”

Lu Linshan sighed with emotion: "The printing is naturally good, but it is so exquisite, the cost must be expensive, and the number of publications must be limited. ”

Xu Rui said with a smile: "What if I told you that it only takes ten texts to print such a book of "The Book of Great Rites", and as long as a small workshop, hundreds of copies can be printed in a day?" ”

"Is that true? How is this possible? ”

Lu Linshan was suddenly startled and looked at Xu Rui incredulously.

Xu Rui said with a smile: "Don't be surprised, the machine that printed this book has been on the road, and it will arrive in Xichuan in a few days, this is the meeting gift from the lower official to Lord Lu." ”

Lu Linshan breathed.

He was born in a famous family, and he is a local Confucian, he has always been arrogant, and he will not look at the idle gifts, let alone accept them.

However, it is the lifelong dream of every academic master to write books and speak about the world.

Sadly, in this era, printing technology was backward, the cost of printing books in large quantities was very high, and the scale of private printing was extremely small, except for state acts, so even he was constantly distressed.

In the face of such a greeting gift, Lu Linshan struggled very much, but he couldn't say the word refusal.

Xu Rui saw that his hands were trembling, and sighed: "My lord, we are all readers, the so-called book has its own Yan Ruyu, there is its own golden house in the book, and many books can be read well."

It's like Fang Cai's treasure knife and magic pen, in fact, they are all handy works when the officials are idle and bored, and they really can't be elegant, so they have to make fun of it.

If you can use this set of printing machines designed by Xia Guan to broadcast knowledge, it is a great merit, and Xia Guan is still waiting to read your book. ”

After speaking, Xu Rui saluted Lu Linshan and walked away on his own.

Lu Linshan was shocked, and then he realized that Xu Rui was not an upstart, but a treasure in the eyes of others was just a plaything for him.

For many years, he has been proud of his family background and talent, but at this moment, he has a trace of self-ashamed disgrace.

A ridiculous thought suddenly appeared in his mind, could it be that the family heritage inherited for thousands of years could not be compared to a weak-crowned boy?