Four years of martial arts.
A spring breeze blows, and a new year begins again.
After nearly two years of construction, war-torn Luoyang has finally restored its basic appearance.
A painting depicting Luoyang's new style was now in Liu Yu's hands.
Liu Yu held the painting book in his hand and looked at the scene above carefully.
I couldn't help but feel very happy.
He was not only happy about the new look of Luoyang in the picture book; he was also happy because of the picture book.
The painting is not the usual freehand ink painting, but a vivid picture drawn with charcoal black pen.
Although it still seems very immature in some details, it basically has the appearance of later sketches and portraits.
"Not bad!"
Liu Yu praised it twice.
"Did you draw all of this picture book?"
Liu Yu asked a woman in the hall.
"Your Majesty, these paintings were all painted by my concubine!"
Upon hearing the emperor's question, the woman immediately answered.
"Haha, I never expected that the Xi family of Gaoping is not only a family of Confucian classics, but will now produce another generation of originators of the painting school!"
After Liu Yu said this, he walked forward and hugged the woman affectionately and returned to her seat.
This girl is no one else
It was Xi Xuan, the daughter of Xi Jian, the minister whom Liu Yu relied on.
As a scholar of Confucian classics, Xi Jian himself had extremely high attainments in calligraphy.
His daughter Xi Xuan's level is also not low.
Not only calligraphy, but also extremely talented in painting.
Therefore, after Xi Xuan entered the palace, Liu Yu quickly discovered her talent.
Liu Yu immediately told Xi Xuan that there was a kind of picture carefully drawn with charcoal that could perfectly reproduce the scene.
Xi Xuan, a genius, quickly understood everything.
In order to test her skill, Liu Yu ordered people to escort Xi Xuan to Luoyang to replace the original drawing official.
Now that the results are in hand, they far exceed Liu Yu's expectations.
"I'm just following His Majesty's instructions and trying to figure it out. I can't be considered the originator."
Xi Xuan half leaned in Liu Yu's arms and twisted uncomfortably.
"Haha, I just said a few words casually. You are the one who truly understands it. You are naturally the originator of this painting school."
As Liu Yu spoke, he exerted a little more force on his hands.
Xi Xuan noticed Liu Yu's intention, and her pretty face suddenly turned red.
She was scared to death in the hall in broad daylight.
Xi Xuan quickly changed the topic.
"Your Majesty, drawing and painting are just elementary skills. Why should we pay so much attention to them?"
This time she went to Luoyang to draw, not just by herself.
Together with the guards, maids and officials, there were over a thousand people.
What puzzled Xi Xuan even more was that there were dozens of children from Yecheng School accompanying him.
No matter where Xi Xuan went, these children followed him.
Along the way, I studied her painting skills with great concentration.
"This is not a new skill."
Liu Yu smiled softly and then continued.
"These drawings are extremely precise. They not only replicate the scenery on them, but also paint the customs and customs of a place on the paper."
“With such a detailed picture, one can know from thousands of miles away what seeing is believing.”
Xi Xuan was still a little confused when he heard this.
"Then what's the use?"
"What's the use? It's very useful!"
"Your Majesty, can you tell me something?" Xi Xuan, a young academic master, is full of curiosity.
"Not only can you draw mountains and terrain, but you can also draw local customs and products, and you can also draw shadows for people."
Liu Yu talked about a lot of benefits one after another.
Finally, Xi Xuan finally understood.
The painting skills I have figured out by myself are secondary to painting landscapes and architecture.
According to Liu Yu's intention, the most important thing was to map all the mountains and rivers that the Han army passed by.
"Now all the tribes of Hulu, Yi and Di have been sent by me to fight in all directions."
"Now that our military is at its peak, they dare not make mistakes, but they cannot guarantee whether they will be capricious if there is another chaos in the Central Plains in the future."
"So, now that our army can control them, we must grasp the reality and reality in their territory."
"Among them, various terrains and mountains are the top priority!"
Liu Yu had been holding these words in his heart for a long time.
Limited by production and supply issues, the Central Plains dynasty's direct control over the outside world will inevitably decline.
Once it falls, the barbarians in the frontier areas will rebel.
And because of lack of understanding, reaction time is often greatly increased, and it is easy to miss the best opportunity to counterinsurgency.
Liu Yu had seen the mountain and river maps that were "treasured" by the imperial government.
For the situation in Zhongyuan prefectures and counties, these freehand maps are somewhat useful.
Once you get to the place where Ji Su rules, everything is completely blank.
There is no map information left at all about the places where the battles were fought.
"As long as you have such a detailed map, it is like having clairvoyance, and you can plan your march and formation in advance."
Liu Yu said again.
These rudimentary sketches in Xi Xuan's hands have already used detailed scales.
As long as there are slight changes, you can make military maps one by one.
Coupled with the iconic sketch scenery, the accuracy of the orientation can be completely achieved.
In the late Qing Dynasty, a large number of European, American, Japanese and Russian travelers and explorers went deep into the mainland of China one by one on expeditions. The military drawings they made were basket after basket.
Especially the people sent by the Japanese pirates, even as small as a river or a temple, will be drawn exactly on the map.
When the Japanese pirates invaded, some national troops fighting in other places did not even know the local terrain as well as the Japanese pirates.
Liu Yu's act of driving the barbarians away at this time was also a helpless move.
He couldn't guarantee that this move would be a permanent one.
Therefore, he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to leave some useful reserves for future generations.
"Your Majesty has foresight and plans for his descendants. I am truly lucky."
When Xi Xuan heard this, he realized that the children he had taught simply would be of such great use in the future.
She couldn't help but feel proud in her heart.
"Haha, this kind of thing is of course a blessing!"
"Perhaps the real reputation will last forever through these fine charcoal drawings."
As Liu Yu spoke, he ordered the chamberlain next to him to guard these picture books carefully.
Xi Xuan also took this opportunity to sneak out of Liu Yu's arms and sat next to him obediently.
She comes from a family of ethics and is very strict about her identity.
However, Liu Yu just liked the serious look of this girl.
Having been tortured by feudalism, what he likes most now is to see these serious girls look embarrassed.
However, Liu Yu is still not in a hurry now.
Because he still has business to do.
Things that need a talented woman like Xi Xuan to handle.
"Axuan, I have one more thing. I have been waiting for you to come back and leave it to you to handle personally." Liu Yu said.
"Your Majesty, despite your orders, I dare not refuse." Xi Xuan replied seriously.
Liu Yu then ordered someone to bring up a wooden box.
Xi Xuan saw that although the wooden box was not big, it seemed quite heavy.
The two strong chamberlains had to work together to lift it up with great difficulty.
Liu Yu pulled Xi Xuan to the box.
He opened the box.
I saw that the box was filled with gold and silver!
A whole box of gold and silver.
Only then did Xi Xuan understand.
No wonder the two chamberlains were working so hard just now.
The gold and silver in this box probably weighs more than a hundred kilograms.
"Your Majesty, these gold and silver don't seem to be in ordinary shapes?"
Xi Xuan soon discovered the difference between this box of gold and silver.
The gold and silver here are not ordinary gold or silver ingots, nor are they special shapes of gold ingots.
Instead, they are oddly shaped round cakes.
No.
To be more precise, it should be gold and silver coins one by one.
"That's right, these are not ordinary gold and silver, but gold and silver coins of almost all styles that can be seen in the world collected by my people." Liu Yu said.
"What is your Majesty planning to do?" Xi Xuan asked.
"I plan to mint gold and silver coins!"
"Gold and silver coins?"
"Yes, they are gold and silver coins!"
As soon as Liu Yu said this, his eyes were already shining.
"Two months ago, Dongping Prefecture's naval forces crossed the sea and successfully established a foothold on the Japanese island."
"Those Japanese people who tie strings to remember things are just a bunch of rabble."
"It was completely vulnerable. It only took Zhang Tong, Murong Ren and the others half a month to discover a silver mine with huge reserves."
"With these silver mines, I will naturally mint silver coins."
When Xi Xuan heard this, he already understood.
Once there is enough gold and silver, it is much more profitable to mint gold and silver coins and issue them than copper coins.
Even if the copper coins are worth ten or a hundred, the total amount will not make much, and it is an act that is cursed by the people.
As for gold and silver coins, that's different.
o
"This does make sense, but that would still be too slow."
"Even if we gather together for ten years, we don't know how many more people we can add."
At this time, ordinary people did not have as many entertainment activities to consume their energy as in later generations.
In addition, lighting a lamp and boiling oil are still expensive, so after nightfall, they either fall asleep or fall asleep after giving birth.
As a result, the real fertility rate is actually not low.
but.
The difficulty lies in this 'but'.
However, the baby's survival rate at this time is really mind-numbingly low.
Liu Yu once asked officials in Qingzhou and Jizhou that nearly half of the babies in these two places would die before they were two years old.
If you take into account the various risks of growth in the future, the probability of growing up is even lower.
Liu Yu even suspected that the average age of the people in Guizhou at this time might be about thirty years old.
"Your Majesty, haven't you already ordered to reward pregnant women?" Wang Ze said.
She clearly remembered that Liu Yu had given the order as early as the year before last.
Regardless of their origin, women who produce will be rewarded with money, food and meat.
"You only know one but not the other." Liu Yu said.
"The wives of ordinary people work hard all day long. Even if they can get some food and meat, they can't make up for the previous losses. The growth of their children will still be full of hardships in the future."
Liu Yu once back-tested the reward effect for common mothers.
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