Tibet

Li Ye had already received the news that Lei Wanchun had captured Feihu County. This was enough. He did not plan to capture Youzhou now, but just to frighten Zhu Si and create conditions for capturing Youzhou in the future.

At this time, Li Ye got the news that Wei Wang Li Bai had fled Luoyang. Although his whereabouts were unknown, it was not difficult to guess that Li Bai was Tian Shengong's son-in-law. He, his wife and children could only go to Tian Shengong.

Of course, this is also Tian Shengong's method, holding the emperor to order the princes. Although Wei Wang Li Bai is far from being the emperor at present, Li Bai has the emperor's succession edict. Based on this, Tian Shengong will do everything possible to support Li Bai. After taking the throne, he controlled the world as prime minister.

Everyone saw the opportunity. Li Tan of Jingxiang and Li Rong of Xuzhou. I wonder if the Yue King Li Xi would have any ideas? Currently, this man is still living a debauched life in drunkenness and dreams, hiding in his house all day long and fooling around with his more than 20 wives and concubines.

He also received a succession edict, but he did nothing. Did he want to win? Or just play dumb and wait for the opportunity.

There is also Peng Wang Li Ji. It is said that he started to recruit new soldiers, but he is also the one with the greatest risk. He is a clear move and he is in Chang'an. Once the emperor dies, he will be the first one the eunuchs have to deal with. Only relying on Long Wu Jun is no match for Shence Army and Plum Blossom Guard.

Li only's smart approach was to push it to the Bian-Song area and use Bian-Song as the foundation.

Li Ye shook his head and interrupted this unrealistic thought. Li only had the Longwu Army in his hands. How could the Longwu Army leave the capital.

Li Ye took out a black flag and inserted it into Luoyang on the sand table. The black flag represented the destruction of the entire army. Li Ye meant Li Ji's fate.

At this time, Li Ye's eyes fell on the vassal towns in Hebei. If the princes fully denounced the eunuchs, what would these vassal towns do? Will they send troops to assist the eunuchs?

Tian Chengsi will definitely do it, and so will Li Xilie. Li Xilie is most likely to send troops to Jingxiang.

At this moment, Li Ye felt that he was a chess player, and all the forces on the sand table were chess pieces. He had to calm down and finally send troops, so that he could have the last laugh.

At this time, Wei Yingwu appeared at the door, bowed and said: "Your Highness, Liu Changshi is waiting to report!"

Li Ye nodded, put down the wooden pole, clapped his hands and walked out of the staff room. He suddenly stopped and asked with a smile: "How is Wei Gao preparing for the exam?"

Wei Yingwu smiled and said: "Beizhi came to see him yesterday. The three of them lived in the same room, but they studied independently. They basically didn't go out and even ate in the inn. It seemed that Guo Jun was planning to change his arithmetic exam. Beizhi saw him reciting "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic".

Li Ye said calmly: "The key is whether he is interested or just wants to be an official?"

"I asked him about it in my humble position, and he said he was very interested in astronomy and calendars."

"I know, for the sake of his grandfather, I can give him a chance."

Li Ye quickly came to his official room. Liu Yan had been waiting for him for a long time.

"This is a humble post, Your Highness!"

Li Ye sat down and asked with a smile: "The registration should be closed!"

"It officially closed yesterday, and the Department of Etiquette kept statistics overnight. The total number of applicants is currently 46,000!"

"so much!"

Li Ye was shocked. There were actually 46,000 people, which was 16,000 more than the upper limit they expected. They thought that there were only 30,000 people at most.

"Your Highness, this number has reached the same level as during the Kaiyuan period, which shows that the world's scholars recognize your Highness. It's a good thing!"

Li Ye was also very happy. One of the purposes of holding this large-scale imperial examination was to test his status in the minds of the world's scholars. Forty-six thousand people came to refer to it, which was the same as in the Kaiyuan period, which shows that the world's scholars He is regarded as Datang's hope.

"How many people applied for the arithmetic subject?"

"There are 3,200 people in the arithmetic department, 15,000 people in the Jinshi department, and the rest are in the Mingjing department."

Li Ye nodded, "Have the fifty special recruitment quotas been confirmed?"

"Forty-four are confirmed, and there are still six vacancies."

Li Ye's heart moved. He wrote down three names and handed them to Liu Yan, "These three people can be considered special recruits. They live in the Pingan Inn in West City!"

Liu Yan nodded, "The humble job meeting will arrange it. In addition, considering the recruitment of 500 people, it is a bit too much."

Li Ye said calmly: "Five hundred people enroll in the school, and I'm afraid only 300 will survive in the end. In fact, I hope to recruit more experienced local officials. They are more pragmatic and will produce results."

Li Ye took a few steps with his hands behind his back, and then said: "After the admission is over, the engineering school has not been completed yet. You can temporarily borrow the original Taixue. We must arrange the husband as soon as possible."

"I understand that I'm humble. It's hard to find a professor of alchemy right now. Can you let Master Tengkong do it temporarily?"

"Okay, I'll tell her later."

The two discussed it for a while, and then Liu Yan left.

As soon as Liu Yan left, Du You came in and said, "Your Highness, Yao Chunshan just came to report that the big bell that Your Highness ordered him to make has been completed!"

Li Ye was overjoyed and immediately ordered, "Prepare the car and go to the Ordnance Department!"

The big clock naturally refers to the gravity clock. Li Ye entrusted it to the Ordnance Driver's Administration. The order was Yao Chunshan. Yao Chunshan was nearly sixty years old and was a master of mechanisms in this era. It was Yao Chunshan who completed the secret room of Feilong back then. , it was only because he swore a poisonous oath that he would never touch the secret room in his lifetime that Feilong spared his life.

It is most appropriate for the gravity clock to be manufactured by a mechanical master like Yao Chunshan.

Li Ye came to the Ordnance Drivers' Customs Office and met Yao Chunshan. To Li Ye's surprise, Wei Jincheng was also there. Li Ye wanted him to invent the steam engine.

Li Ye pointed at Wei Jinshan and asked with a smile: "Does Yao Shuling know Wei Jinshan?"

Yao Chunshan chuckled and said: "He is the second disciple with a humble position. I always thought he was in Luoyang. I didn't expect that he came to Chang'an and was reused by His Highness. It was his good fortune!"

It turned out to be Yao Chunshan's second apprentice. Li Ye nodded, "Wei Jinshan is developing an extremely important machine for me, and I hope Yao Shuling can help him."

Yao Chunshan hurriedly said: "His Highness has an order, and I have to obey it. However, he also asked me for advice. His biggest difficulty is how to push the inner plug through the steam, and how to push it back. His Highness told him that he can set up a few more channels." The valve, I think this is a good idea. Through the valve and a channel, the steam is guided to the back of the inner plug. The steam pushes the inner plug back again, and the steam is drained away. Then new steam comes and it starts all over again. , and it just keeps coming and going.”

Li Ye gave a thumbs up, this is the principle of the steam engine!

Wei Jincheng said quickly: "After Master's instructions, Bei Zhi probably understood it. Bei Zhi will go back to draw the drawings and build it."

Li Ye nodded and said: "The inner plug drives the pole to move forward and backward. You have to convert it into rotation. Only then can the paddle shaft of the vehicle wheel rotate. Do you understand?"

"Beizi understands, Beizi will continue to study it and study it thoroughly."

Wei Jincheng said goodbye and left. Li Ye followed Yao Chunshan to the backyard and saw a two-foot-high wooden frame standing in the backyard. A large pendulum was swinging back and forth in the wooden frame.

Yao Chunshan introduced: "This is what His Highness called the gravity clock. The key to it is an escapement mechanism. Through the cooperation of gears and clips, the pendulum is escaped and released, so that it can It never stops, but one swing is a point in time, nine hundred swings is a quarter of an hour, and three thousand six hundred swings are half an hour. "

Li Ye nodded, "That's right, the key lies in the gear. When it swings once, the gear will move once. Then the small gear drives the middle gear, and the middle gear drives the large gear. The large gear moves fifteen times, which is a moment. Clock, there is a clock face in front, and the big gear drives the hands to move slowly. "

"His Highness's thoughts are exactly the same as those of your subordinates, but we haven't reached the point yet."

"Is there a problem?" Li Ye said calmly.

Yao Chunshan nodded, "It's a bit unstable. I used an hourglass clock to compare it. Two days' walking will be an hour slower."

"The key is to find the reason?"

Yao Chunshan smiled bitterly and said: "It should be because the gears are not precise enough. I asked Wei Jincheng to check the gears for me. The drawings he drew are very accurate, and then the craftsmen will build them according to the drawings, and then I will conduct experiments. , the gravity clock His Highness wants will be available in a month at most."

Li Ye nodded and said, "After the gravity clock is completed, you can help Wei Jincheng build my steam engine."

Li Ye discovered that Yao Chunshan was the real geek. He had just talked about the core technology of steam engines in just a few sentences. It would be a pity not to use him.

After a pause, Li Ye said again: "If the steam engine is successfully built, I will give you a knighthood!"

Yao Chunshan was overjoyed and immediately bowed and said: "I humbly obey the order!"