Speaking of which, Liu Zongzhou, a famous scholar who was 60 years old at that time, had a very bumpy career.

Liu Zongzhou, whose courtesy name is Qidong, was named Niantai. He was from Shanyin, Zhejiang. Because he had long been studying in Shanyin, Shanyin, he was called Mr. Qishan.

In the 29th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, Liu Zongzhou passed the imperial examination and was promoted to the head of the Ministry of Rites as a disciple of the army. Later, he was demoted to the hometown for impeaching Wei Zhongxian and Keshi.

In the early years of Chongzhen, Liu Zongzhou was reinstated as the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture and promoted to the Minister of Works. He was eventually promoted to the left censor of the Left Capital. He was dismissed from his post because he wrote a memorial to offend the emperor and returned home.

He was honest and upright, with very strict ethics. He dared to resist and speak out in a dynasty, but was repeatedly demoted and did not change his ambition.

In real history, after King Fu ascended the throne in Nanjing, Liu Zongzhou was reinstated as Minister of Works, but he made a statement about current affairs and impeached a series of high-ranking and powerful figures such as Ma Shiying, Ruan Dacheng, Liu Kongzhao, Liu Zeqing, and Gao Jie. They were eventually unable to be tolerated by the government and the country, so they were released.

After the Qing army captured Hangzhou, Liu Zongzhou, who was teaching in Qishan, cried in grief and anger, and did not eat or eat. He died on a hunger strike for 23 days.

When Li Xiao saw Liu Zongzhou standing in front of him, although his hair was gray, but his spirited and righteous face, he felt very moved when he remembered the tragic ending of this famous scholar in his true history.

For a moment, Li Xiao was very curious about how Chen Zilong told this famous figure in history.

After he asked Chen Zilong quietly, Chen Zilong smiled and said, "Mr. Li, after the student met Mr. Liu that day, he praised Mr. Liu for his achievements in governing, and told him that when the land in Shandong was in vain, my Chifengwei was prosperous and vigorous. Now Mr. Li has newly obtained Dengzhou and many overseas places, and is in urgent need of employment. If a famous scholar like Mr. Liu goes to serve, Mr. Li will give him a heavy use. Mr. Liu was originally unwilling to hide in the countryside, and seeing Mr. Li is so open and capable, he is immediately moved. I persuaded him again, and Mr. Liu agreed to go to Shandong with the students and wait for the appointment of the master."

However, Li Xiao was in a difficult situation in his heart how to use this famous Liu Zongzhou in history.

Liu Zongzhou was a master of Neo-Confucianism and a famous scholar of his generation. But to be honest, his personality was good at studying and teaching, but it was really difficult for him to deal with it freely in the officialdom. From the fact that he was repeatedly recovered and was repeatedly released back to his country, it can be seen that it is actually difficult for someone like Liu Zongzhou who cannot get any sand in his eyes to be able to make it difficult for him to survive in the officialdom.

Moreover, Liu Zongzhou was a traditional scholar who read and studied things. He was not like Chen Zilong. He could have a strategy in the world and provide advice and strategies for himself at any time. He was not very good at planning military operations and government affairs management. It was a bit difficult for such famous poets and books to manage specific government affairs.

So how should I arrange him?

Li Xiao thought for a long time, but his eyes suddenly lit up.

Since Liu Zongzhou is not good at managing specific government affairs, it is better to give full play to his solemn supervision and his expertise in lecture education, and set up a special supervision department to supervise various government agencies and let Liu Zongzhou serve as the Minister of Supervision Department. Wouldn't it be possible to give full play to Liu Zongzhou's strengths?

In this way, Liu Zongzhou can legitimately supervise and impeach officials at all levels, strictly prevent them from corruption and abuse of the law, and at the same time, he can play the teaching style of Neo-Confucianism and educate officials more about integrity, so as to prevent problems before they happen.

After all, Li Xiao now wants to manage corruption among officials, and he relies on the secret agents of the Security Department to secretly supervise it. The Security Department, which is responsible for intelligence and spy work, has a bit of the smell of Jinyiwei.

If an efficient and honest Supervision Department can be established to supervise various bureaucratic institutions under Li Xiaojun's rule, it will greatly reduce the work pressure of the Security Department, and will be more conducive to punishing corruption among officials and creating a good situation of working together to manage corruption among officials.

As the founder of the Qishan School, Liu Zongzhou had many disciples who needed promotion. His disciples who were well-read in poetry and books were arranged to go to Dengzhou, Jeju, and Taiwan Island to educate local immigrants so that their children could receive poetry and books education.

In this way, in addition to those immigrant children who can receive good education, those Taiwanese natives should also be more likely to be educated and understand the poetry and etiquette of the Han people, thereby accelerating the dissolution into the blood of our Han people.

Li Xiao thought that his plan was settled, and then he would see how Liu Zongzhou was doing.

In the living room, Li Xiao and Liu Zongzhou sat opposite each other, and talked about tea.

Since coming to Dengzhou, Liu Zongzhou saw that Dengzhou was well-established, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and merchants were in a hurry, and he was a little satisfied with his ideal state. He was very happy and sighed in his heart that Chen Zilong did not deceive me.

It is true that seeing is true. After seeing the actual situation in Dengzhou, Liu Zongzhou became increasingly convinced that the general officer of Dengzhou Town named Li Xiao, the youngest earl of the Ming Dynasty, should be a person who can serve loyally.

After a few brief greetings, Liu Zongzhou admired Li Xiao, Chi Fengbo's humble attitude, and he was even more respectful of him.

So, when Li Xiao proposed to ask Liu Zongzhou to serve as the Minister of Supervision, Liu Zongzhou agreed with the promise without refusing.

Seeing that Liu Zongzhou agreed so readily, Li Xiao was extremely happy, so he asked him to recommend his disciples to teach positions in Dengzhou, Jeju and Taiwan. After thinking about it for a moment, Liu Zongzhou agreed happily.

However, after agreeing to Li Xiao, he coughed a few times and asked what he wanted to say the most: "Bo Chi Feng, in your opinion, now the thieves are raging, the Qing army invades the border, and the Ming Dynasty's power is gradually declining. Will there be a day of revival in the future?"

Li Xiaozhi thought of Liu Zongzhou's anxious eyes and said firmly, "Of course, I believe that things are done by others. As long as we work hard, the Ming Dynasty may not be able to cheer up a day."

Seeing that Liu Zongzhou was still quite suspicious on his face, Li Xiao said: "Mr. Liu, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. What Ben Bo has done now, such as accumulating money and grain, building cities, expanding refugees, occupying overseas, and pioneering the land, are all solid preparations for the future revitalization of the Ming Dynasty. Ben Bo believes that with your support and efforts, revitalizing the glory of the Ming Dynasty and the atmosphere of the Han and Tang Dynasties, one day, will eventually be realized."

Liu Zongzhou showed a gratified smile on his face, and the 60-year-old man's eyes shone with a childish glory of hope.

After arranging Liu Zongzhou's job position, Li Xiao appointed Hua Yuncheng, the former member of the Ministry of War who was meticulous and serious, who made him very appreciated, to replace Wu Liang, who had been transferred to Jeju, as the general manager of Iron City, so that Hua Yuncheng's advantages of being good at managing and coordinating detailed issues were fully utilized in this position.

When Hua Yuncheng saw that he had arrived, he was appointed as the chief manager of an important steel city. He was also very grateful to Li Xiao for his Xinzhong. He immediately told Li Xiao that he would definitely manage the Iron Dragon City better and make him feel at ease.

Next, Li Xiao and Chen Zilong had a close chat alone.

The focus of their negotiations was that Yang Sichang would send people to Chenyang in the future to discuss peace with the Qing court.

"Wozi, you are smart and reliable. My uncle hopes that you will join Yang Sichang's personnel who went to Chenyang to discuss peace with the Qing court." Li Xiao said solemnly to Chen Zilong. "I hope Zilong can win more rights and interests for our Ming Dynasty, cooperate with Yang Sichang's envoy, and reach an agreement with the Qing court as soon as possible."

Li Xiao paused and said again: "Wozi, now our Ming Dynasty's national strength is almost exhausted. If we want to fight against the bandits and the Qing enemy again, I am afraid that the Ming Dynasty will eventually be unable to escape the collapse and destruction. Therefore, this time, this time, the peace talks with the Qing court are extremely important. In order to reach an agreement with the Qing people as soon as possible, even if we make major concessions on some non-principle issues, we hope that Wozi will remember Ben Bo's instructions very well."

"As Chi Fengbo asked Zilong, although he was foolish, he must do his best to live up to the expectations of Lord Li." Chen Zilong replied with a serious expression, then stood up and bowed to Li Xiao.

What Li Xiao didn't expect was that after only more than half a month, in late July, news came from Yang Sichang that there had been selected personnel in Liaodong and that they could go to Chenyang soon. Li Xiao also asked to send an envoy to Jinzhou quickly and go with the envoy.

After Li Xiao received the news, he immediately sent Chen Zilong and two guards to Jinzhou with them.

Chen Zilong and others ran all the way. After eight days, they arrived in Jinzhou and met the envoy arranged by Yang Sichang to order the Liaodong Governor Fang Yizao.

What surprised Chen Zilong was that the envoy to the Qing court was a blind man named Zhou Yuanzhong. His profession was a restaurant musician who specialized in a hotel and sang a song about the fall of lotus flowers for people!

Chen Zilong saw that the man was wearing a dirty and shabby dress, with a dove-shaped face, and a thick, black and dirt-filled hand, holding a shabby yangqin very tightly.

An extremely uncomfortable feeling suddenly surged in Chen Zilong's heart.

Isn't it? I am no longer in the Ming Dynasty, and I actually sent a blind man to the Qing court?!

Seeing Chen Zilong's look of surprise, Fang Yizao, the governor of Liaodong, explained calmly: "Mr. Wozi, this musician Zhou Yuanzhong who sings the lotus, don't underestimate him. Although this person is blind, he is very smart and able to distinguish, and his eloquence should not be inferior to the censors of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, when visiting the Qing court is a major secret of the court, even the generals in the border town are unknown. Therefore, in order to avoid the secret leaks caused by the investigation of the border generals and not cause unnecessary trouble, this musician Zhou Yuanzhong is the most suitable person to serve as the envoy. Compared with others, this musician Zhou Yuanzhong, who is not famous and unfavorable, is the most suitable person."

After listening to the explanation of Liaodong Governor Fang Yizao, Chen Zilong felt uncomfortable, but he agreed with his statement.

At this time, the blind musician Zhou Yuanzhong heard the conversation between Fang Yizao and Chen Zilong, and raised his head and asked, "Are you the escort sent by Lord Li?"

"That's right, the student envoy is Master Li's army and praised Chen Zilong for painting."

"Oh, it's not bad. It seems that he is a scholar. It seems that following me, the blind beggar, to Chenyang, you are a little wronged." Zhou Yuanzhong blinked his white and terrifying eyes, and his words were full of teasing.

Chen Zilong sneered in his heart and replied: "Zilong does things for the country, so why bother to be wronged? I don't know when Zhou Leshi will set off?"

Zhou Yuanzhong snorted coldly and said, "It seems that Chen Shizi's intention to go on a mission is more anxious than Zhou. There is a matter of governor Fang's arrangement, so why should you ask me?"

Seeing the two of them being stubborn and disagreeing, Fang Yizao, the governor of Liaodong, hurriedly said, "Mr. Wozi, please stay for two days. After I prepare the clearance seal and authorization document, you can go to Chenyang after you wait."

Chen Zilong responded lightly: "Since that's the case, the students only follow the arrangements of Governor Fang."

In the past two days, Fang Yizao has been having a feast in succession, entertaining Zhou Yuanzhong, Chen Zilong and others.

On the third day, after handing over the customs clearance seal and authorization documents to Zhou Yuanzhong, he repeatedly told them to be extremely careful on the way and not make any mistakes. Then he asked them to take two guards to Chenyang.

These people who were on mission to Chenyang, Chen Zilong pretended to be a merchant who smuggled rice and mai, while the guards pretended to be a friend. This blind Zhou Yuanzhong played his true character, pretending to be a down-and-out musician who sang a lotus fall song to the caravan along the way.

In this way, Chen Zilong and others seemed to have become foul characters, while Zhou Yuanzhong, who was originally the most important protagonist, suddenly became a completely insignificant little character.

Everyone's dress was thought out by the painstaking intention of the Liaodong Governor Fang Yizao. The reason he did this was of course to better protect the confidential peace talks hidden by Zhou Yuanzhong. Therefore, the less conspicuous Zhou Yuanzhong was in the crowd, the safer he was.

Everyone was riding in a double-carriage full of wheat. Chen Zilong, who was pretending to be a merchant, smelled the pungent stench from Zhou Yuanzhong from time to time. He felt very disgusted, but his face was still calm.

"This Mr. Chen, bringing someone like me with me will not make you angry."

Zhou Yuanzhong seemed to know what Chen Zilong was thinking, and then teased.

Chen Zilong snorted lightly, not wanting to pay attention to him, so he pushed the guard who was pretending to be a chauffeur to speed up his journey eastward.

Hearing Chen Zilong urged the guard to drive quickly, Zhou Yuanzhong burst into laughter with his white eyes rolling.

"Sir Chen, forgive Zhou for saying frankly, you are still a person who reads poetry and books. Unexpectedly, you are still a person who judges people by their appearance." Zhou Yuanzhong laughed and said, "I didn't expect that my Ming Dynasty, all the princes and many good generals could not control the Qing Dynasty. Isn't it sad to send me a blind man to discuss peace with the Qing court?"

Chen Zilong heard something in his words, and he pondered for a moment and said, "Zhou Leshi, the student judges people by their appearance, and there is indeed something wrong with it. I hope Zhou Leshi will forgive me. However, the Ming Dynasty is so difficult and peaceful, and peace with the Qing court is the only way to escape the trouble. If you can negotiate peace with the Qing court, you will be a great achievement, and you will be able to recreate the Ming Dynasty."

Zhou Yuanzhong heard Chen Zilong's words, but his face smiled bitterly: "Scholar Chen praised Zhou. Zhou's departure is just to do his best and let God's fate. However, this matter is related to the safety and danger of our Ming Dynasty. Although Zhou is a blind and unknown person, he also knows that the skin is not there and the Mao generals are attached to it. Since the court and the good generals in the border areas are helpless against the Qing captains, let a small person like Zhou take the responsibility of saving the country. If Zhou is to fight for a bad life, he will still let the Tartar Chief Emperor Taiji agree to discuss peace with our Ming Dynasty. If the peace talks are not successful, Zhou would rather die in Chenyang than return to the Ming Dynasty!"
Chapter completed!