Great Han Arrow God

Chapter 513 Mirror
The Son of Heaven stood at the gate of Liang's Manor, hearing the approaching footsteps inside, feeling inexplicably embarrassed.

Empress Chen Ajiao came up, took his arm, and said with a soft smile: "Your Majesty, the noble corporal, what the Holy King did, there was King Wen of Zhou before, and now there is His Majesty, there is another good story beside the Weishui River."

The emperor relaxed his brows and was about to speak, when Liu Ling scolded from inside: "Are you all stupid, the Marquis of Pingyang is here, and you don't know how to open the door to greet him? Do you know who the Marquis of Pingyang is? It belongs to His Majesty." Brother-in-law."

The Son of Heaven shook his head with a smile, pointed, curled his lips, showing a bit of teasing, and said in a low voice: "Since she married Liang Xiao, she has also pretended, and she pretended not to be so on purpose, so that you can't find a reason .”

Empress Chen covered her mouth and laughed. "Your Majesty, you can see through it at a glance."

There was a commotion in the courtyard, and the door creaked open.With his belly outstretched, Liu Ling appeared at the door.Seeing the Son of Heaven, she was startled: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty?" As she spoke, she bent her legs and was about to kneel down and pay respects.

Empress Chen let go of the emperor's arm, took a step forward, and supported Liu Ling. "Okay, okay, Your Majesty came here in the name of Marquis Pingyang because he was afraid of disturbing the people. Besides, you are pregnant, if you get gas, won't the champion come back and blame me?"

Liu Ling was also polite and stood up.Seeing this, the emperor snorted half-jokingly: "I know you are not sincere."

Liu Ling giggled and said, "It's rare to win your Majesty once, so naturally you have to be frivolous. Your Majesty, where is the daughter?"

As she spoke, she deliberately looked around.The emperor couldn't help laughing, and deliberately said with a tiger face: "Who said I have lost? You take out the ship model you made, if the parts cannot be exchanged, we are just a draw, neither lose nor win."

Liu Ling blinked playfully and shrugged. "Since that's the case, it's okay. Anyway, I'm also in a hurry to get this daughter, and it's okay to send it a few days later."

The emperor was very surprised. "How sure are you of defeating me?"

"Will we husband and wife do things that we are not sure about?" Liu Ling smiled while moving the emperor and queen in, "Your Majesty, you see that my husband often discusses shooting with others, but have you ever seen my husband discuss with others?" sword?"

The emperor was stunned for a moment, then nodded involuntarily.Liang Xiao has compared archery with many people, but he has never heard of him competing with swords.That being said, the couple is indeed a family, and they are so careful about making a bet.The emperor thought about it again, and felt a little depressed again.If it's true what Liu Ling said, wouldn't he be doomed?Although a thousand pieces of gold is nothing, but this face is really too much to bear.

Gossiping, Liu Ling led the emperor to the workshop. Deng Guobin and others had already received the order, and they stood aside with their hands folded, respectful and solemn.The emperor paid no attention to them.As soon as he entered the door, he was attracted by the semi-finished products on the case and the dazzling array of ship models on the bookshelves on both sides. Without any explanation, he stepped to the bookshelves in two steps, picked up a ship model, turned it over and over again, and couldn't put it down.

"Exquisite, really exquisite." He greeted: "Queen, come and take a look, this boat is so exquisitely made, it's just... It's a wonderful workmanship."

"It's not a work of art." Liu Ling walked over slowly, looking at the model boats in relief. "Achieving this requires ingenuity, but more seriousness is required. Building a ship is like governing a big country. There is no need to be careless, and a little negligence will lead to distortion."

The emperor smiled. "Are you going to admonish me?"

"Admonishment is out of the question. To win His Majesty's daughter, His Majesty must be convinced to lose, knowing that this is not luck, but hard work." Liu Ling said, beckoning, and Deng Guobin took the caliper.Liu Ling took it in his hand, looked at it, and handed it to the emperor. "Your Majesty, every part on this ship model must be measured with this ruler, and the error should not exceed half a hair. Only in this way can we ensure that all parts are interchangeable."

"Half a strand of hair?" The emperor put down the ship model, took the caliper, and looked at it several times, unable to believe it.

"Deng Jun, explain to His Majesty the use of this ruler." Liu Ling smiled. "Your Majesty, I will accompany the Queen to see what our woman's family likes. Take your time here."

The emperor was already attracted by the model boat, and nodded repeatedly.Deng Guobin took the caliper and explained it to him.

Liu Ling accompanied Queen Chen to the hall.The queen was very interested in the high tables and chairs of Liang's family. Sitting on them, twisting and twisting, it was very fresh and full of childishness.Liu Ling looked at it with a smile, sent someone to deliver melons and fruits, took out a brocade box, and pushed it in front of the queen.

The queen leaned back in the chair, dangling her legs, feeling both amusing and having no place to rest.She glanced at the box and said, "What is this?"

"A gift for the queen."

The queen smiled. "You don't need to give me a gift, you've helped me so much, it's only right for me to repay you."

"It has nothing to do with helping. Queen, you open it and have a look, I guarantee you like it."

The queen was skeptical, sat up straight, and opened the brocade box.Inside the brocade box is a mirror.The queen smiled disapprovingly.This mirror is beautifully made, but to her, even if it is all made of gold, she does not care about it.However, due to Liu Ling's face, she picked it up and took a selfie in the mirror.

When she saw the slender face in the mirror, the smile on her face froze, and then turned into shock.She slowly raised her hand to cover her cherry red lips.The man in the mirror also slowly raised his hand, covering his slightly parted lips.

"This this……"

Empress Chen was tongue-tied, she looked at Liu Ling and then at herself in the mirror, but couldn't utter a complete sentence.

"Does the queen still like it?" Liu Ling picked up a grape, put it in his mouth, and chewed it slowly, with a smug smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Where... where did this come from?"

"I have nothing to do. I just developed it. Queen, if this mirror sells for ten gold, would anyone be willing to buy it?"

"Ten gold?" The queen finally came to her senses and gave Liu Ling a blank look. "Even if it's a hundred gold, I'm afraid it will be in short supply. Oh, since when have I had wrinkles at the corners of my eyes? Oh, what is this, white hair?"

The more Empress Chen looked at it, the more surprised she was. She usually took pictures in bronze mirrors, so she couldn't see these details. In front of this mirror, almost nothing could escape her eyes.The more she looked, the more frustrated she was, she put the mirror into the box and closed it angrily. "Don't watch it, don't watch it, if I continue to watch it, I'll become an old woman."

Liu Ling let out a "puchi" laugh, and glanced at the maid standing behind the queen. "Is the queen trying to hide her ears?"

Empress Chen pouted, but couldn't help laughing again, and blamed: "You are really, well-behaved, why did you make such a mirror, you can see all the problems clearly."

Liu Ling said unhurriedly: "The problem is not the mirror, but the person. Do you think that if you can't see the problem, the problem will be gone? The only thing you can't see is you, but others can see it clearly. The mirror The clearer you are, the more problems you see, the more you can find a way to change them. Even if you can’t change them all, at least there will be fewer of them. Deceiving yourself and others will inevitably lead to being deceived in the end, don’t you think?”

Empress Chen's eyes flickered, but she remained silent.She knew that Liu Ling was quick-witted, and if there was any deep meaning in these words, she probably didn't just say them casually.It's just that with her IQ, no matter how she thinks, she can't figure out what Liu Ling wants to say.She wanted to ask, but was too embarrassed.

"My lord, what do you mean..."

"Queen, a scholar dies for the one who knows himself, and a woman is for the face of the one who pleases herself. We women don't care how men fight. We just want to present our best face in front of the one we love. It's not terrible to have shortcomings, it's terrible It’s because you dare not face it, or even take a look at it. If you dare not look at it, how can you have the courage to change it? Cover your ears and eyes, do you think it’s safe?”

The queen nodded slightly.She somewhat understood what Liu Ling meant.

For her, it is the appearance of a woman who pleases herself.With this mirror, she can better dress herself up and make herself dazzling, so that she won't be compared by those who just entered the palace.For Liu Ling and his wife, the really crucial sentence is "Scholars die for those who know themselves". If His Majesty trusts them, they are willing to go through life and death for His Majesty.If His Majesty suspects them and has no basic trust, how can they serve His Majesty?
The queen laughed silently, with three points of complacency. "That's true. You can't hide from hiding. Instead of covering up, it's better to face it calmly."

"The queen really has a clever and exquisite heart, and she can see it through."

-

The emperor lingered in the workshop, couldn't put it down for every ship model, and wished to take them all away.

However, after listening to Deng Guobin's explanation and dismantling and assembling several ship models, he also realized that Liu Ling's words were true.The exquisiteness of these ship models certainly has ingenuity in it, but more is the astonishing care.Those parts are as big as a few feet, and as small as a hair, as long as there is a little carelessness, the ship model will be out of shape.

The emperor then watched the ship model test again, watched Deng Guobin and others meticulously adjust the water flow and wind direction, record every data carefully, observe the details of the experiment attentively, and compare them carefully. He realized that, let alone three month, even if he gave the examination order three years, the examination order would not be able to make the same ship model.

Whether it is making ship models or testing, Deng Guobin and others already have a whole set of methods.Only by strictly following this set of methods can they screen out potentially useful ship types, which is impossible to do only by making estimates that are not bad.Among other things, without that caliper, who can guarantee that every part can be interchanged just by feeling?

The emperor was so moved that he reluctantly came to the hall.

"Your Majesty, are you convinced of the defeat?" Liu Ling teased.

"Hmph." The emperor put on a look of disapproval against his will. "It's just some unrefined tricks, nothing to worry about."

"Our ability to be courtiers is limited, so we can only pay attention to some small skills. The avenues such as the relationship between heaven and man should be left to people with great wisdom to study, as long as the tongue is not flashed by the wind."

The emperor was very embarrassed.It was a feeling between heaven and man again, this couple had competed with Dong Zhongshu.However, at the juncture of Shandong Dashui, he also felt that Dong Zhongshu's method was not very easy to use, it was simply a trap, and he fell into it.

"Your Majesty, have you ever grilled fish?"

The emperor's eyes rolled and his mouth crooked. "You mean to say that governing a big country is like cooking a small fish?"

Liu Ling clapped his hands and smiled. "Your Majesty is indeed very smart. As soon as I opened my mouth, you guessed what I wanted to say. However, you must have only guessed one, not the other."

"What is the first, and what is the second?"

"When you mention this sentence, the first thing many people think of is that one thing more is worse than one thing less, right?"

The emperor thought about it, and wanted not to accept Liu Ling's words, but couldn't restrain his curiosity. "Governing a big country is like cooking small fish" is a sentence in "Laozi", which is often used by veterans who believe in the ways of Huang Lao to oppose the court's troublesome actions.The one who used it most brilliantly was Cao Shen, the ancestor of Marquis Pingyang, who followed Xiao He's order without changing it.He had heard such words countless times, and he got tired of them every time he heard them.

However, as Liu Ling said, he only thought of one thing. Hearing Liu Ling's meaning, she still has a new invention, so what could it be?

"Then... what's the second one?"

"When grilling fish, you can't turn it randomly, but you can't not turn it over." Liu Ling said quietly: "If you don't turn it all the time, the fish will be burnt. When to turn it and whether the strength of the turn is appropriate, this is the real truth. Dao. Those who can do this are the real great wisdom. Your Majesty, this is the second thing my husband mentioned, do you think it makes sense?"

It was as if a flash of lightning flashed across Tianzi's mind, his eyes suddenly lit up, and his eyebrows were raised inadvertently.

It turns out that this sentence can still be interpreted in this way? !

He was educated since he was a child, and he read both Confucian books and Huang Lao books, but he prefers the aggressive Confucianism to the old-fashioned and old-fashioned Huang Lao.Huang Lao's book was read as soon as it was read, and it was mostly used for criticism, and it was not regarded as a standard of governance.Whoever mentions Huang Lao in front of him will first have a repulsive mentality, at best it won't show on his face.

Hearing Liu Ling's words, he suddenly realized that he probably didn't know much about Huang Lao.

No, it's not just me, it's the same with those masters who talked about Huang Lao back then, knowing one thing but not the other.Even including Liu Ling in front of him.The King of Huainan has talked about Huang Lao countless times, but he has never mentioned such a statement.This is indeed very similar to Liang Xiao's tone.Only someone of his unconventional, yet observant kind could come up with such insights.

Although the emperor was excited, he did not lose his temper.He pondered for a moment, with a half-smile. "Is this really what Bo Ming said?"

Hearing that the emperor had changed his title, Liu Ling let out a sigh of relief, and said half-jokingly: "Not exactly. The meaning is his meaning, but the words are mine. Your Majesty also knows that my husband is a warrior. I don't read much, so I can't say such a beautiful rhetoric." She paused, and then said: "He speaks like an archery, he likes to point directly at the target, but it is easy to hurt people."

The emperor crooked the corner of his mouth, a smile bloomed from the corner of his mouth, and his slightly frowned brows gradually flattened. "That's right, he really doesn't know how to speak. If he can read more books like his sister, be polite, follow the way, and stop at the best, then it will be perfect."

"I would like to follow His Majesty's instruction." Liu Ling bowed slightly. "I will definitely pass on His Majesty's words to him, let him study more, and be a gentle gentleman, a loyal and patriotic minister of the country."

"Okay." The Son of Heaven waved his hand with a smile on his face. "This time, apart from looking at the model boats, there is one more thing I want to ask my sister for help."
-
(End of this chapter)