Chapter 838

The sky outside the imperial study was clear and blue like a gemstone.

The gloom in Xiao Ming’s heart gradually dissipated. It had to be said that the attitude of the two Kong family members was very much to his liking. However, speaking beautifully was one thing; the most important thing was how they would fulfill their promises.

Rising and walking in front of the two, he said, “Since Ge Yiren invited you, you must know what I want. Just do as I say, and I will keep a close eye on how well it’s done.”

As he spoke, Xiao Ming looked directly at Kong Huai-ren and his son.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I, Kong, will definitely go back and earnestly comprehend Your Majesty’s New Confucianism to share Your Majesty’s worries,” Kong Huai-ren said, bowing.

Xiao Ming nodded. He looked at Kong Sheng-ze. “I am very pleased that you can go to Bowen Academy. When you return, I will reserve a good position for you. Of course, I will also readmit Confucian scholars, but these Confucian scholars are not those Confucian scholars. You should understand what I mean.”

Kong Sheng-ze gently nodded. Undoubtedly, these Confucian scholars had to be New Confucian scholars.

With the animosity resolved, the Kong family father and son were greatly relieved. Kong Huai-ren also grew bolder. He said, “Your Majesty’s achievements are unparalleled through the ages. You campaigned north against the barbarians, conquered Goryeo in the east, and pacified internal strife in the Great Yu Empire. These merits are sufficient for a Fengshan Ceremony at Mount Tai. I, Kong, believe we should choose an auspicious day for Your Majesty to hold the Fengshan Ceremony.”

Xiao Ming chuckled. He said, “The Fengshan Ceremony is still too early. It will not be too late after I have pacified the entire realm. Moreover, New Confucianism has not yet been widely promoted. If I were to ascend Mount Tai at this time, it would surely invite ridicule.”

Kong Huai-ren felt a renewed pressure in his heart. Having accepted this matter, he had to act quickly. After some thought, he said, “Your Majesty, I, Kong, have always been very interested in this newspaper. I hope Your Majesty will allow me to propagate the ideas of New Confucianism through the newspaper. This will surely achieve twice the result with half the effort.”

Xiao Ming was naturally pleased. “That’s certainly no problem. I was even thinking of publishing the matter of my meeting with Duke Yansheng today in the newspaper to show that there is no ill will between me and the Kong family.”

Kong Huai-ren’s dark face broke into a smile. Now, he was completely at ease. In his opinion, as long as they followed the Emperor’s will, the Kong family would continue to hold a high status in the future.

“This is excellent,” Kong Huai-ren said with joy.

After an open and frank discussion about New Confucianism, Xiao Ming talked about some more details with the two before dismissing them.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty! You have gained another assistant,” Pang Yukun said with emotion.

Xiao Ming smiled, “Don’t you blame me for being somewhat biased towards Legalism?”

Pang Yukun had always been known for his adherence to law. He said, “Whether it is Confucianism or Legalism, both have the duty to uphold the imperial family. Previously, I worried that Your Majesty was powerless to cope, but now it seems I worried too much, so I have no feelings of grievance.”

“Then I am at ease. From now on, you are to prepare for the conquest of the State of Chu. The Great Yu Empire has been divided for too long; it is time for it to be reunited.”

The Grand Secretaries all understood Xiao Ming’s upcoming plan, and the victory of the Northern Expedition had also fueled the imperial court’s martial spirit. Therefore, they always maintained a positive attitude towards war.

Responding with a “Yes,” Pang Yukun bowed and departed.

The imperial study quieted down. Xiao Ming turned and looked at the map hanging on the wall. Now, a large part of the Great Yu Empire’s northern territory belonged to him, but his rule south of the Yangtze River was still very weak, and this was something he could not tolerate.

However, before instigating war, he needed to continue strengthening the Great Yu Empire’s industrial level and produce a wider variety of industrial products, some of which were crucial for war: military food.

In this Northern Expedition, the biggest consumption was still logistical supplies. Some food even rotted before reaching the battlefield, causing enormous waste. In his opinion, the outdated grain and fodder transportation of feudal armies severely hampered the progress of war.

Therefore, he had long conceived the idea of producing military food, such as military canned food, because currently, only this type of canned food was relatively easy to implement.

In contemporary Europe, the invention of canning was in 1804. At that time, a Frenchman who ran a candied fruit business discovered that if food sealed in glass containers was properly heated, it would not spoil easily. He was greatly inspired by this.

This method allowed food to be preserved for a longer period without rotting or spoiling.

It was with canned food that the long-distance, long-term operations of European armies became a reality. It could be said that the ability to mass-produce and popularize canned food was an important indicator of whether a country’s military power had entered modernization.

Now, Xiao Ming’s army was transforming into a modern army in all aspects, and food naturally also needed to transform.

Thinking of this, he sat down and drafted an imperial edict, ordering the Imperial Household Department to establish a Great Yu Empire canned food production workshop, and he also made strict requirements on the types of canned goods.

Given the current situation of the Great Yu Empire, producing canned beef was naturally impossible; it would be too wasteful. However, relying on Dengzhou’s fisheries to produce canned trout, and relying on Qingzhou Province’s agriculture to produce canned potatoes, canned dried rice, canned dried vegetables, and so on, was feasible.

In addition to canned goods, he also ordered the Imperial Household Department to produce biscuits and bread for use as military rations. After all, both items could be stored for a year or even longer.

Besides canned goods, he also ordered the Imperial Household Department to produce individual backpacks, so that soldiers could carry more food, greatly reducing the pressure on logistics and making the army more suitable for long expeditions.

The imperial edict arrived at the Imperial Household Department. Qin Rui, as the chief official of the Imperial Household Department, immediately ordered the organization of artisans to establish a canned food workshop.

After three years of advanced study at Bowen Academy, he successfully took over his father Qin Chengming’s position, becoming the official in charge of industry in the Great Yu Empire.

“You are to immediately go to the glass workshop and instruct them to build a branch factory in Dengzhou to produce glass bottles. You are responsible for organizing the production of backpacks. And you, go to the Agricultural Department and have them cooperate in providing ingredients. Three months from now, His Majesty wants to see the first batch of canned food. Hurry, hurry!” Qin Rui said, looking anxious.

The officials of the Imperial Household Department had long been accustomed to Qin Rui’s style, but there was nothing they could do about it. Currently, the Imperial Household Department was under the greatest pressure in the Great Yu Empire. Every now and then, an imperial edict would arrive, demanding that they mobilize resources to establish workshops.

If there was any delay, Qin Rui would be summoned to the palace for a reprimand, resulting in a severe scolding from Xiao Ming.

Having arranged everything, Qin Rui sighed. He was both pained and happy. Although he was a bit busy, the Imperial Household Department had transformed from an idle and overlooked department into a highly sought-after government office. After all, to accelerate industrial construction, the Imperial Household Department had been granted many special powers.

This power allowed him to mobilize all resources to build missing industries.

According to his statistics, the Great Yu Empire’s industrial system now included over fifty types of industrial products, and this number was continuously increasing. However, this was still not enough, because the complete list of industrial systems the Emperor had given him was very complex.

The novel has already been fully translated up to the final chapter. You can access it on my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/caleredhair