Chapter 1666: Differences

Just as Zhao Erhu said, his life in these years has indeed not been very comfortable.

Because he doesn't like burying his head in a mountain of documents and a sea of meetings; what he likes is galloping on horseback, between life and death on the battlefield.

He of course has changes, and like Jiang Wuyang, his prestige is growing day by day, but what hasn't changed is that he is not so keen on power. The good life he wants is not worrying about survival, but just drinking and eating meat with his brothers.

He didn't expect that the good Big Brother he met by chance back then would lead him to this point in just a few years; he didn't even dare to dream of it.

However, now that the internal fighting is basically over, the rest is nothing more than the border and the plateau not being very honest, and other places are generally stable. He really doesn't want to move anymore; he really wants to nest in one place and be comfortable.

So after congratulating his good Big Brother, he directly confessed his request.

Wang Yan looked at Jiang Wuyang, who followed him in and was giggling behind, and couldn't help but shake his head: "You two are the same. Third Brother came back a few days earlier than you, and when he saw me, he kept shouting that he wouldn't do it and wouldn't go. You are the same; you haven't even finished looking at your prince's mansion, and you've come to me to throw off the burden?"

"Big Brother, I've really had enough. It used to be you who said that the large army is outside, and it won't work without people you trust. But now we have taken down the mountains and rivers, and quite a few people have been promoted, and there is no one in the army who doesn't have eyes. I don't know about other places, but anyway, the people under me are all quite good. Big Brother, just let me live a peaceful life; I really have had enough."

"Everyone else is thinking about monopolizing power and forming cliques, but you lot are the opposite—complaining that you have too much power. You've worked so hard to get where you are today, and you really want to be an idle prince?"

Jiang Wuyang behind walked to the front and picked up a small three-legged tripod on the shelf to play with: "Big Brother, Second Brother and I are not suitable for being officials. We two are definitely not wanting to find trouble; we are just afraid that people around us will do bad things, forcing us two to come forward and use our names to do bad things.

You know us two, Big Brother; our brains are not enough, and we are easily deceived. You say that if something bad really happens, making everyone unhappy, that would be bad."

"That's right, Big Brother." Zhao Erhu took over the conversation, "Is there anything bad about being an idle prince? I heard the Heavenly King is quite comfortable and quite relaxed?"

"The Heavenly King is comfortable, but he is not relaxed at all. You don't care about these things; you don't know that the Heavenly King is the director of the Religious Bureau. There is a big pile of monks and Daoists in his mansion, as well as quite a few foreigners. You see him as comfortable, but in fact, there are many things to do."

It seems that the Religious Bureau is a leisurely office, but in fact, the power is quite large, especially since the Heavenly King is not a white giver; he also has full subjective initiative. Even if he came to the capital to retire, he was still very willing to do the work Wang Yan arranged for him; being idle is also being idle.

As long as there is power, of course there is a place to play. Even the security guard at the door can block takeout, and when someone gets married in the community, they can mix two boxes of happy cigarettes, not to mention the Heavenly King, who is the heaven of the religious world in the Shenzhou.

Buddhist temples need approval, temple property needs to be checked, monks need to be re-counted, the construction of new temples needs approval, new monks becoming monks need quotas, and rules need to be redefined. Daoist mountain heads need to be registered, becoming a monk needs approval, and there are quota restrictions every year. The original tax exemption measures need to be revised, etc.

There are also plateaus, borders, Miao borders, etc. Different ethnic groups have different beliefs, and the worship of some places is of course within the scope of management. Various temples in the local area are also under control.

At the same time, because of reaching out to the plateau and borders, religion also involves the issue of unification and governance. Local myths and legends also need to be organized and improved to comb through the pantheon. This is a quite grand thing and also a quite valuable thing. It is the burden Wang Yan added to the Heavenly King, letting him do some more valuable things.

Local ones need to be strictly managed, not to mention those from foreign countries. Foreigners have built quite a few churches, and there are even red-clothed bishops leading them. Their churches are like countries within a country, and no one can manage them.

But now the situation is different, and the rules have been redefined. For a period of time earlier, those big figures in the church ran away. It wasn't until the situation stabilized that Wang Yan didn't arrest the foreign church members on a large scale, which was considered to have put their hearts down and they returned one after another to welcome the new order.

So there are quite a lot of problems involved here, and there are also many various interest-related issues. The Heavenly King's approval makes the religion in the Shenzhou want to die. These people don't dare to confront strongly. After all, Wang Yan has never compromised with anyone. If someone dares to find trouble today, he will send troops to destroy the inheritance tomorrow.

So these people can only accompany the Heavenly King all day, cater to the Heavenly King's preferences, move various classics and treasures to the Heavenly King's mansion, and also send people to act as consultants, while also forming a huge professional team to organize the pantheon, all of which are self-funded.

All this is to let the Heavenly King show mercy, set the rules a little wider, leave some leeway when checking temple property, be quick when approving, and give more quotas every year.

The plateau is even more so. The reincarnation of the Living Buddha itself needs the golden seal and golden book of the Qing court to recognize its legitimate status. Wang Yan directly implemented the management method of later generations: no approval, no finding of the soul boy, no reincarnation, and cracking down on illegal reincarnation.

Due to the high mountains and long roads of the plateau, and other more important places in action, there was no large army pressing the border, but only a team was sent to coordinate affairs and suppress the situation. So the situation on the plateau was not very good earlier, fearing power but not cherishing virtue.

And when the situation began to clear up, the attitude of the plateau also cleared up. At the same time, there was surplus strength, so Wang Yan began to mobilize troops and went to the plateau little by little. Just like this, they gathered an army adapted to the plateau climate and were changing customs on the plateau.

In general, the Heavenly King is quite comfortable...

At this time, Su Zixuan, holding the child, smiled and said: "Others are just afraid that their power is not big enough and their position is not high enough, and good brothers are all unevenly divided. You two are the opposite, one after another pushing it out, as if power is some kind of flood or beast."

"Sister-in-law is right. Third Brother and I are just shallow-sighted and can't get on the stage. If Big Brother hadn't led us, we two would have died somewhere long ago, or even been eaten as rice meat."

At this time, the little thing in Su Zixuan's arms hummed.

"Don't listen, don't listen. Second Uncle is bad, why talk about rice meat for no reason." Su Zixuan rolled her eyes at Zhao Erhu, and then said, "Did Lian Sheng and the others all come?"

"Went to the back to find... Sister-in-law." Zhao Erhu is a practical person and was at a loss about the problem of the two sisters-in-law.

Su Zixuan hummed, then turned and left holding the child: "We women are going to talk about intimate words. You good brothers chat. Go, have someone serve the dishes."

She didn't forget to tell people when she left...

In the Hall of Preserving Harmony, only the three of Wang Yan were chatting. Zhao Erhu and Jiang Wuyang were wandering around the hall, sitting on Wang Yan's dragon throne for a while, then sitting on other chairs, patting the beams and pillars in the hall for a while, and then flipping through the documents on Wang Yan's desk casually.

They also looked at books and paintings with Wang Yan. If they saw one they liked, they would ask Wang Yan if he wanted it. After getting a negative answer, they would put it aside alone, intending to take it to their prince's mansion to decorate the facade.

It really felt like their own home, with no politeness at all.

Wang Yan laughed heartily, letting them perform clumsily.

Even if they trust each other, when their status is vastly different, they will also be suspicious. Both of them have a big pile of people following them to give ideas, and their cultural heritage has been deep these years. It is estimated that they heard some small historical stories and were uneasy in their hearts and couldn't sleep. After all, they are different-surname kings, and their ends are generally not very good...

Zhao Erhu said: "I think being an emperor is not that good."

"Why is it not good?" Wang Yan distributed cigarettes to the two.

There are tobacco leaves and paper; what's missing is just the processing technology of the intermediate links. Even if not processed, selling the dry tobacco rolled up as a finished product also has a market. Wang Yan is now producing unfiltered cigarettes, and the brand is called "Huoshan." The taste is still quite good. While smoking, spitting out tobacco shreds, the feeling is also online...

As the saying goes, five thousand years is too close, fifty years is too far. The Shenzhou is currently in such a turbulent stage, and it is also in such a historical period of great change. All this can be condensed into this burning cigarette in Wang Yan's hand...

"Just look at this place where you stay. Look at this hall of yours, it's too big and too deep. The sun outside only shines to here, and there are so many places inside that don't shine. And this hall is high and wide. Even if so many things are placed, it still feels empty in the heart, feeling particularly uncomfortable."

Zhao Erhu spoke very well about the loneliness of the emperor.

He is a person who has no sense of security. The place where he stays all day is either a palace or a hall. There is no one by his side, and there is no one to rely on all around. The emptiness in his heart is, in the final analysis, a guilty conscience. In essence, it is no different from the feeling of being in a deserted building in the wilderness.

However, this doesn't matter to Wang Yan. After all, his state of mind is not this hall, but the real deep sea. The sunlight shines through only two hundred meters above, and there are twenty thousand miles below in the seabed.

The three brothers ate and drank, and the laughing and talking sounds echoed in this empty hall.

After success, one must talk about the past and the bitter days of the past, so that the good days that have reached the top now are sweeter and more fulfilling.

The story started from that teahouse in Yangzhou...

This was the most relaxed and comfortable time for the three of them together in these years. In the past, the power was expanding rapidly, Wang Yan was sitting in Huoshan, and Zhao Erhu and Jiang Wuyang were going out to execute plans as people Wang Yan absolutely trusted. Later, there was fighting, military affairs became heavier, and they were always too busy to meet. Even if they met, they always left in a hurry.

They hadn't been like this for many years.

So even though the affairs that needed to be handled were piled up like a mountain, Wang Yan pushed the work away and drank with Zhao Erhu and Jiang Wuyang from noon until evening, saying words that had been accumulated for many years.

Zhao Erhu and Jiang Wuyang were both drunk. Maturity is not a good thing; it makes them distinguish between monarch and minister.

Even if Wang Yan didn't have these thoughts at all, he couldn't stop them from thinking wildly themselves. Once they started to think wildly, they would be suspicious, and after that, they would never be able to be firm again. The so-called "a thousand-mile dike collapses in an ant's nest"—once there is a gap, it can never be tightened again...

Shi Dakai was led to walk in the palace, unhurriedly, listening to people introducing the environment he saw. In this way, he walked to the Hall of Preserving Harmony and saw Wang Yan.

"Long time no see, General Shi."

"It hasn't been long, less than two years until now. Thinking about it now, the last time I saw you in Wuchang was like yesterday. In the blink of an eye, it's today, and you have already achieved such achievements."

Wang Yan laughed heartily: "Life has its ups and downs; how can one be sure?"

"You will have to rise even higher in the future, Big Brother. In the past, how powerful were the foreigners? Two thousand people forced the Manchu Qing to beg for peace and sign treaties, letting the foreigners ride on our heads and do evil. In the past, everyone felt that the foreigners were invincible, but ever since you also started industry, the foreigners have been afraid. If you continue to develop, one day you will be stronger. We have many people and many guns, but we can't get past it.

I believe that sooner or later, we will also have our own ironclad warships, and then we will go to the foreigners' territory to ride on their heads and do evil. You have risen all the way; by that time, I think you will never be able to fall again."

Shi Dakai's words are forward-looking; in the future, it will be impossible to rebel. It's like the great America; if life is bad, it's robbery, but no rebel organization has emerged to subvert the regime.

Thought is one aspect, firepower is one aspect, and technology is also one aspect.

"Future things must be seen in the future. But one thing is certain: if we can fight to the foreigners' home, we definitely can't let them be comfortable."

Wang Yan waved his hand, "Let's talk about the main business. The war in the south was all you..."

"Big Brother, it was Second Brother who was in charge..."

"You know I don't like to speak polite words. Credit is credit. Even if Zhao Erhu is my sworn brother, I cannot erase your credit because of this. He was watching you; it's good enough that he didn't drag you down. If it's your credit, you should acknowledge it.

In the past year or so, you have done your best and fought all the way to the South China Sea. You have worked hard and made great contributions. It is said that your credit is enough to be named a prince, but considering the relationship with the Heavenly King, I will name you a Duke of the first rank, which can be considered the end."

"Heavenly King..."

"Don't think too much. The past was because of different positions. I don't know what you were thinking specifically, and I didn't ask the Heavenly King about those things. Now you are together again, and you are all old brothers who were born and died together back then. Can you really not associate with each other? I don't have so many taboos, and I believe you don't have the idea of rebellion, so there are not so many stresses."

"Then I will go visit the Heavenly King in a while."

"Go, chat well."

After chatting a few more simple words, Shi Dakai left.

The next ones to come in were Lord Di, Lord Jiang...

These were the ones who returned with Zhao Erhu and Shi Dakai. After waiting for two days, it was finally time to see them. They were all high-level officials who could be considered to have helped Wang Yan opportunistically before, reducing the casualties of the large army led by Shi Dakai and saving time. Their credit still had to be affirmed.

On the other hand, the new dynasty has just been established, and it is the time to use people. Using those who can be used first and starting this old broken machine is the right reason.

As for the aging of the parts above, they can be replaced while running.

So it was neither as low as Di and Jiang thought, nor as high as they dreamed, but they were also realistically responsible for a pile of affairs, pushing the reform and development of the empire, burning their lives, and acting as parts of this machine.

And there are many people like them in the new dynasty...

?? Daily thanks to the good brothers who gave rewards, monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and silently read the book for their strong support! ===== CHAPTER 1667 =====