Late at night, the hall was finally quiet. The time for warmth was over.
On the desk in the hall, Lady Zhao looked at the dog that had picked her up in anger.
It was hard to imagine how this dog could be so absurd. To think that he was still a scholar. He had even learned etiquette and shame from a dog.
At this moment, Lady Zhao really wanted to slap this dog a few times, but she didn't have the strength. She didn't even want to move her fingers, let alone raise her hand to hit him.
On the way to Fengta, Jiang Li looked down at the ashen-faced Empress Dowager Ji. He was puzzled.
He was clearly very happy just now, crying and laughing, but now, after he was done with his work, he immediately refused to acknowledge her.
Jiang Li couldn't figure it out along the way, so he didn't bother to think about it. He was in a good mood at the moment. He had Sister Ji under his control. This was the highest level of living off a woman, not living off others like a slave.
Mr. Lu once said that a real man lived between heaven and earth. How could he be depressed and live under others for a long time? It was the same for him to live off a woman.
Of course, traditional Chinese culture was broad and profound, and it was not impossible to change it occasionally. Ordinary people really could not learn it.
Jiang Li went to the bed and put Lady Zhao under the blanket. He then turned around and went to get four books.'Worship is worth reading. Otherwise, how can I take down Empress Dowager Ji?' Mr. Li relied on his real strength to make a living, not external conditions.
"Where are you going?" Zhao Ji said hurriedly, thinking that Jiang Li was going to leave after eating.
She had accepted her fate. She had fallen in love with this dog, and even after being bullied by him, she still wanted him to do whatever he wanted. She was afraid that he would suddenly disappear, causing the world that had just been lit up to become dark again.
Walking back to the bed, Jiang Li lowered his head and kissed Empress Dowager Ji's cheek. Smiling, he said,""I'm going to get something. Mister Li still has to sleep with Sister Ji until dawn.”
Hearing that the dog was not leaving, Zhao Ji smiled brightly, but suddenly turned cold and said sarcastically in a low voice,"A dog's mouth can't spit out ivory, BenGong will be angered to death by you sooner or later.”
"Oh?"
Jiang Li's eyes twitched. He really wanted to say to Lady Zhao,"
Empress Dowager, can you not be so cute? Otherwise, I'll always want to bully you.
Now, he finally understood that Empress Dowager Ji wasn't just a little woman and clingy monster in the dark. She also had a conspicuous tsundere and a hint of S M…She was an extremely complicated creature.
However, Mr. Li liked this kind of complicated creature very much, because the experience was directly maxed out, reaching 100 points.
Jiang Li gave up on the idea of bullying Empress Dowager Ji. He moved like the autumn wind, taking one step at a time. In the blink of an eye, he had returned with four volumes of the masterpiece.
Climbing up the warm phoenix bed with ease, Jiang Li placed the four books beside Empress Dowager Ji and said with a faint smile,""Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Names, Thousand Character Classic, Ancient and Modern Virtuous Classic, all of Master Li's works. Empress Dowager, let's see if they can be passed down.”
"Master Li…"
Concubine Zhao looked at him with disdain."How can you be so shameless? Master Li, are you even worthy? BenGong see you are not even worthy of Mister Li, if one day BenGong mood is not good, I will definitely publicize your true face and ruin your reputation.”
"May I ask what the Empress Dowager's true colors are? Master Li doesn't understand." Jiang Li held her hand, toying with it and threatening her.
Concubine Zhao wanted to continue belittling him, but when she saw that a certain hand had started to dig into the golden silk quilt, she hurriedly changed her tone."Go away, bengong was just joking with you.”
"I see!"
Jiang Li nodded and stopped teasing Empress Dowager Ji. He put his arm around her waist and sniffed the intoxicating fragrance. Pointing at the four books, he said,""Are you still watching? If not, I'll turn off the lights.”
"Don't…"
Concubine Zhao expressed her intention and reached out to pick up the first book.
" Huh…" She was surprised. She hadn't noticed it earlier as her mind was focused on that dog. Now that she looked at it, she realized that it wasn't a bamboo slip. It was made of a similar material as the painting scroll. Jiang Li said it was made of Xuan paper.
She had wanted to ask Jiang Li how the Xuan paper was made and whether it was extremely time-consuming and expensive. However, she had forgotten every time and was led by the nose by this dog.
If Xuan paper could be mass-produced, it would bring about a huge change. Many aspects would be affected. Xuan paper could be derived from a series of items, generating huge wealth and benefits. It could also bring convenience in many aspects.
Firstly, the officials in the court could abandon the bamboo slips and use rice paper for their documents and memorials. This way, she would not have to face the small mountain of bamboo slips.
Reading memorials was her biggest headache, but she had no choice. Her role was to keep Lu Buwei in check and not be fooled by that old thing.
Lu Buwei had too much power now. If she couldn't hold him back, Zheng 'er's throne might be in trouble.
It was not uncommon for a king to be kicked off the throne by a powerful minister and replaced by another royal son.
In the eyes of the Qin royal family or the nobles, as long as their interests could be guaranteed, it was the same no matter who became the King of Qin. If it could increase their interests, it was not impossible to change the person.
Therefore, even though she hated being in power behind the scenes, she had no choice but to support a series of followers to prevent Lu Buwei from controlling the world with one hand and truly dominating the court without any regard for the king.
When Zheng 'er had just succeeded to the throne, she had cooperated with Lu Buwei to stabilize Zheng' er's position, while Lu Buwei had wanted to secure the right to supervise and assist the government.
A thirteen-year-old king was useless. He couldn't even understand government affairs, let alone manage the entire State of Qin.
Back then, if the two of them did not cooperate and join hands to suppress the other forces, Zheng 'er's throne would definitely not be stable. There were many people in the Qin royal family who wanted to be king.
However, now that Zheng 'er was almost at the age of governing, that old thief Lu Buwei didn't want to return the power. He wanted to continue to supervise the country and assist the government. She had a headache about this. When Zheng' er reached the age of adulthood, a struggle between the kings and ministers that would affect all aspects of the Qin country would definitely erupt.
Lu Buwei's ambition was not small, but there was a limit to it.
No one knew their son better than their mother. Even though Zheng 'er was usually quiet and expressionless all day, she knew that his ambition was even greater than Lu Buwei's, and he could not tolerate Lu Buwei's existence.
This ambition even surpassed the previous kings of the Qin country. The world was unified, the four seas were united, and he was the only one in the world. This was the huge ambition hidden in the depths of Zheng 'er's heart.
He wanted to build an unprecedented empire on the foundation of the Qin country, and from there, his achievements would surpass the three emperors, his virtue would surpass the five emperors, and he would be worshipped by future generations.
…
Dispelling the messy thoughts in her mind, Lady Zhao caressed the smooth book in her hand. The three characters of the Thousand Character Script in big seal script were clearly visible in her eyes. On the lower right corner of the book were two characters of Jiang Li's big seal script, one size smaller.
Not in a hurry to read the contents, Zhao Ji waved the thousand-character book in her hand and asked,"How is Xuan paper made? Was the process extremely complicated? Were the raw materials extremely precious? Would it be possible to promote the replacement of bamboo slips on a large scale?”
Jiang Li wasn't surprised by the series of questions. Everyone knew how much change paper could bring and how much wealth and benefits it could generate.
As long as the secrecy work was done well enough, even if it was only monopolized for a few years, no matter how much paper was consumed in the process of replacing the bamboo slips, they could easily accumulate wealth that could rival a country. That was calculated in millions of gold.
Wealth was nothing to Jiang Li. He had no intention of keeping it a secret. What he needed was power.
In this era, the status of merchants was low. The ranks of scholars, farmers, merchants, and businessmen were very clear. Other than slaves, merchants were ranked at the bottom.
Although some merchants in this era lived luxuriously and luxuriously, they were actually on tenterhooks all day long. Without a backer, wealthy merchants were fat sheep in the eyes of the aristocrats.
Therefore, in ancient times, power was the most important thing.
Since he had asked Empress Dowager Ji to promote him, he had to make some contributions. Jiang Li was not that thick-skinned and did not want to be criticized behind his back.
Taking out three of the four great inventions, namely paper making, printing, and the compass, it wouldn't be too much to seal them, right?
As for the black gunpowder, he would keep it for now. It was a great killing weapon. If the Ancestral Dragon wanted to kill him in the future, he could only be a noble general.
If you can sit on the throne, so can I.
If one's reputation was high enough, there would definitely be people who would raise their anti-flag and follow the crowd.
Changing dynasties and following the dragon was a feat. For the aristocrats, they had to take a gamble to exchange a bicycle for a motorcycle. If they failed, their entire family would naturally be executed and their heads would fall.
Of course, rebellion was the worst case scenario. It was a situation where the monarch forced the subject to rebel.
Mr. Li was not interested in the throne. He did not want to play any tricks on him. After all, he was not Zhao Kuangyin, the Song Taizu.
Uh…I thought too much and didn't answer the Empress Dowager's question.
Retracting his thoughts, Jiang Li admired Empress Dowager Ji's beautiful face and said seriously,""The process of making Xuan paper is not complicated. I'll explain it in detail later. There are two kinds of raw materials. One is straw, and the other is sandalwood.”
"Rice straw sandalwood?"
Zhao Ji was stunned and extremely surprised.
The Xuan paper looked so precious. It was as white as snow and as light as a feather. It could be folded and rolled up, making people reluctant to write on it. Who would have thought that the Xuan paper was made of straw and sandalwood.
Not to mention the rice straw, who knew how much was burned in the farmland every year. The sandalwood bark was also not considered precious, so it could be easily scraped in the forest.
Seeing that Lady Zhao was in a daze, Jiang Li had no choice but to pinch her delicate nose to pull her back to her senses. She was obviously a beautiful young woman, but she had to be so cute.
Pa!
A crisp sound rang out. Lady Zhao was furious. She slapped the back of Jiang Li's hand. This dog was getting bolder and bolder. How dare he pinch her nose? She was the empress dowager…
Jiang Li was speechless when he was suddenly hit. This was a pleasure in the boudoir. Why did he have to treat him like this? Was Mr. Li so easy to bully?
Therefore, he turned around and looked down at Empress Dowager Ji. He said solemnly,""It's not a good habit to hit people.”
"Get up, you're too heavy, bengong can't breathe.”Concubine Zhao pushed him as she urged him. She was very regretful. If she had known earlier, she would not have hit this dog. In the blink of an eye, he had found another opportunity.
"Are we still going to fight in the future?" Jiang Li asked. His expression was as calm as water.
" How dare you..." Zhao Ji was furious. She thought about it for a long time and only had these few lines.
" So the Empress Dowager wants Jiang Li to be more presumptuous…" Jiang Li said as if he had just realized something. Since he had already obeyed the order, he had to carry it out.
"You bastard, bengong will bite you to death…"
"It's useless. Mr. Li, you're not afraid of pain. Are you still going to fight in the future?”
"Since you're not afraid of pain, what does it matter if bengong hits you a few times?”
"This is different. Don't change the topic. Are we still fighting?”
Zhao Ji, who was about to retort, suddenly felt two dog paws on her clothes. She panicked and hurriedly admitted her mistake."I won't fight anymore. Bengong was wrong. Bengong won't fight anymore.”
The reason why she surrendered so quickly was because she knew that if she let this dog take advantage of her a few more times, she would definitely be insatiable. She was a little afraid. After all, she really did not have the strength today.
…
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