my brother-in-law is the prince

Chapter 359 The big happy event

It was Yang Pu who was in charge of the railway.

As the Shaoyin of the Taiping Mansion, he is quite weak in governing the local area, and he is a bit powerless.

Therefore, Zhang Anshi simply arranged special affairs for him first.

The construction of the railway must be led by a person with a high enough level. On the other hand, this person also needs to have such a willingness to work tirelessly.

Of course, the most important thing is that Yang Pu still has a lot of administrative experience. He may not be able to handle the intricate local affairs, but he is still good at recruiting labor and supervising projects.

For Yang Pu, the railway construction is actually the river control project of this era. As long as the principle is understood, the common people are enlisted, and then divided into many sections, and some skilled people are called together, and let them take the common people to go Construction can be done.

Of course, there are still a lot of troubles, because there are too many people involved, and it is very complicated, and the difficulty of construction in different sections is different, and the steel, sleepers, and equipment ordered may not arrive at any time as scheduled. Shao Yin had to coordinate in the middle, and the complicated things encountered were countless.

Fortunately, Zhang Anshi gave enough money and food, and he has already trained a group of young engineering talents. After all, many workshops are merchants. Merchants in this era, after all, are humble, but they are not bold enough to dare to act like Yang Pu. Fu Shaoyin's head is short of weight.

So things are going well.

For more than half a year, Yang Pu shuttled around various construction sites, and he lost a lot of weight in the wind and rain.

This time, he returned to Qixia from Jing County, which is one of the counties in the Ning State Prefecture, and the terrain there is relatively complicated, so he made a special trip there.

Just returned to Fu Yin Ya.

It just so happened that Liu Ji, the county magistrate of Wuhu County, came to the mansion on business and came to visit Yang Pu specially.

When Liu Ji saw Yang Pu, he said, "Scholar Yang..."

Yang Pu was very happy to see Liu Jilai, swept away the tiredness of many days of hard work, and said with a smile on his face: "Haha, Wenchang is here. Why, what's going on in Wuhu?"

"For the approval of the mines in the county, another large mine was discovered. There are quite a lot of mines in Wuhu." After a pause, Liu Ji continued: "Just wait for the government to write down."

Yang Pu nodded.

This Liu Ji, like Yang Pu, was once a member of Zhan Shifu. Like Liu Ji, those who were able to enter Zhan Shifu were often selected from the Hanlin Academy.This Liu Ji also has another identity, that is, the editor of the Imperial Academy.

At this time, Liu Ji was still in a dusty look, and his complexion was not as fair as before.

The majestic Hanlin, the assistant official of Zhan Shifu, is actually a county magistrate in the county, I am really aggrieved.

At this moment, Yang Pu took a deep look at Liu Ji, and said, "How about it, have you learned a lot in Wuhu County?"

Liu Ji smiled wryly and said, "Thousands of things are really disturbing, and I have only just glimpsed the door until now."

Yang Pu smiled and said, "There is still a lot to learn."

"Mr. Yang, I heard that Mr. Yang has been running around recently..."

Before Liu Ji finished speaking, Yang Pu waved his hands and said, "For official business, it's not considered running around, but walking around, I saw many colleagues from Zhan Shi's mansion. They are in various prefectures and counties. , it was quite hard work.”

Liu Ji also couldn't help feeling: "Hey... When I was in Hanlin and Zhan Shifu, I always felt that doing things is easy, as long as I can do whatever I want. Now it's really down, and I don't know what I said in the temple. ...It will take countless officials to work hard for a year and a half, and it may not be successful."

Yang Pu said: "The things in the world are generally like this. Those who don't do things think that things are easy, and those who do things know that things are difficult. I heard that you did a good job in Wuhu County, and the local county magistrate was full of praise for you. Finally, we didn't embarrass Zhan Shifu."

But Liu Ji said: "Mr. Yang... your railway... I heard that you have raised a lot of debts... this... will it..."

Yang Pu looked at Liu Ji worried.

He immediately understood that Liu Ji had unknowingly entered the role of the Dudu Mansion.

As Hanlin, I looked down on these things.

And now that I've gone deep into it, I probably already know the operating rules here. Although there are still people full of complaints, at least they don't hold too much hostility towards the New Deal.

Of course, there are also many people who are worried that the New Deal will be unsustainable. For example, the railway is too scary. With so many debts, the money invested was the cash income of the court for several years in previous years.

Just to fix this... what a horrible thing to do when these debts blow up.

It is unimaginable for people in an agricultural society to borrow money like this, and only those who are desperate will borrow money.

And under normal circumstances, once debts are raised, the end will be extremely miserable!
Because most of them couldn't pay back, the whole family was enslaved and exploited from generation to generation.

Yang Pu suppressed his smile and said: "Speaking of which, the old man is actually a little worried. This matter... there are many people who are worried."

Liu Ji hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Many of my colleagues in the Imperial Academy have mentioned this matter, and quite a few of them are gloating, saying that... they have never heard of a good end for them. .”

Saying that, he shook his head.

Yang Pu didn't pay much attention to these words, but cheered up and said: "In any case, we must do our own thing well. We have only glimpsed the tip of the iceberg in terms of the operating rules of the New Deal. Now that we think about it, there is another What's the use?"

Liu Ji had no choice but to nod: "Mr. Yang is right. I am in Wuhu County...but I can feel the benefits of the new policy. Speaking of which... hey..."

Yang Pu smiled and said, "Oh? Let me tell you."

Liu Jidao: "Don't talk about other things, let's just talk about these people... Finally, they have a livelihood, they have land, they can farm, and if they want to earn money, they can also work during the slack season. Now that the New Deal is booming, the wages are also rising, and the industry and commerce are thriving. There are a lot of things on the market, and to be honest, in Wuhu County, which is under the government, children and teenagers aged nine to 15, as well as students, have to reach [-]% of the enrollment, which is really unimaginable."

Yang Pu smiled and said: "If the old man remembers correctly, you had a lot of complaints about the New Deal back then."

Liu Ji smiled wryly and said: "Xiaguan's native place is Shandong, and his family has quite a few properties. When you think that they want to search and confiscate Xiaguan's properties, can you not be anxious?"

"But how do you figure it out now?" Yang Pu cheered up and looked at Liu Ji with piercing eyes.

Liu Jidao: "When I was studying, I had a brother of one year. He was a gentry in the village, but his luck was not good. When he was 13 years old, his father died early, and the family suffered another accident, so his family was in decline. , so that in the end, he was reduced to a beggar, and the officials visited him and wanted to help him, only to find out that he had died of illness."

Yang Pu: "..."

Liu Ji seemed to be a little melancholy because of the memories of the past, and continued quietly: "At that time, I only thought that his luck was bad, but now when I am in Wuhu, I think about it carefully. Who can guarantee that their family will be prosperous forever? Not to mention other things, even the many descendants of the royal family in the Song Dynasty were at the end of the road at the end of the Song Dynasty. Then Liu Xuande, who was even after Liu Bang, didn't his family also fall into ruin when he was born? "

"It can be seen that people can't just think about the wealth and honor of the present, but they need to think about what the descendants of future generations will look like when they are reduced to the most difficult time. Even if the land at home is not confiscated due to the New Deal, who can guarantee it?" , have belonged to my Liu family for generations?"

Yang Pu nodded after hearing this.

When Liu Ji said this, he seemed to let out a sigh of relief, so he smiled and said: "So, I'm thinking about it now, but it's better like this. Instead of giving the children and grandchildren a lot of land, it's better... to give it to the children and grandchildren. A poor world! No matter how difficult the family is, you can rely on farming to support yourself, so that your children can go to school and study, and they can go to the city to work, so that you don’t fall into the situation of illness and poverty. This is better than guarding some land now."

Yang Pu listened and couldn't help laughing: "You have such insight, the old man never thought... If I knew this, I would teach you to learn and teach, and specially preach the benefits of this new policy."

Liu Ji smiled and said, "Don't dare, dare not."

Yang Pu sighed: "But having said that, it's not easy to make people think about it. Taking people's money is ultimately a matter of killing their parents, so... we must be more careful in our actions, and we must not cause anything to happen. If you make a mistake, give someone a handle."

Liu Ji said: "Yes."

Now Liu Ji bids farewell and has to rush back to the county.

Yang Pu didn't see him off. At this time, what he was concerned about was the issue of steam locomotives. The first railway in Taiping Mansion was about to be completed. This railway was convenient to build, as it connected the original Taiping Mansion and Ningguo Mansion. , connected Qixia again.

This is the first railway to pass through, and it is very important. If the purchased steam locomotives cannot be delivered in full at the moment when it is about to pass through, then the previous rush to work will be considered in vain.

The manufacture of steam locomotives is in charge of the military workshop.

The military workshop is placed under the Qixia Academy of Sciences.

This Academy of Sciences was established under Zhu Di's instruction, and gathered scholars from various disciplines, and Xu Jingchang was in charge of the steam power.

These days, Xu Jingchang thought of a way to increase the power of some steam locomotives. After repeated improvements, the steam locomotive was finally stronger than the original version.

Of course, this is also due to his strictness on various material suppliers. The higher the strength of steel, the greater the amount of steel used can be reduced.

To some extent, it also greatly reduced the weight of the steam locomotive and increased its capacity.

In addition, the boiler and cylinder were still started. After repeated experiments, the latest steam locomotive was finally finalized.

The next step is to manufacture. How to mass produce some components is another problem. This requires the mechanical workshop to improve the lathe.

Naturally, in the face of the innumerable demands at present, both workshops and research institutes are now willing to find ways to improve the craftsmanship. After all... any improvement means cost reduction and more order revenue.

Xu Jingchang spends almost every day in the Academy of Sciences. He may not be interested in these things at first, but...in the process of studying and researching...he found an unprecedented feeling from it, which is an indescribable sense of accomplishment.

After being an honored minister, relatives of the emperor, Xu Jingchang's childhood was almost spent in play.

Perhaps it was because the accomplishments of his fathers were too great, and in Xu Jingchang's view, no matter what, he couldn't stand shoulder to shoulder with them.

Since you can't compare it, then don't compare it. Isn't it delicious to eat and wait to die?

But when he started to study steam power, he suddenly began to find an indescribable sense of accomplishment. He saw this big guy moving in his hand, and then he received the envious eyes of countless people. , as if suddenly opened a box deep in his heart.

It turns out...that I...can actually...

During the past half a year, no one locked him in the military workshop anymore.

But Xu Jingchang devoted his thoughts to this almost day and night, and led dozens of students to repeat the experiment again and again.

Occasionally, he came up with a new idea, and then went to the Institute to ask for funding.

Sometimes he disliked the cumbersome speed with which the research institute approved funding, so he simply paid the money directly.

He has always taken money very lightly. After all, for a noble son who was born without worrying about food and clothing, and has countless servants and clothes forever, these belongings are not worth mentioning.

It's early summer...

On Zhang Anshi's side, he has already received a copy of the report.

The first railway is about to run through.

Zhang Anshi took the memorial and hurriedly said at the first moment: "Ask people to prepare horses and enter the palace."

This first railway is of great significance, Zhang Anshi dare not take it lightly.

Therefore, Zhang Anshi rushed into the palace to have an audience.

When he arrived at Wenlou, Zhu Di was discussing matters with various ministers.

"Minister Zhang Anshi has seen His Majesty."

Zhu Di looked at Zhang Anshi with a smile, and said with a smile, "Cao Cao Cao Cao will be there..."

Zhang Anshi's expression changed, and he said, "Your Majesty, the subject is Xun Yu, not Cao Cao."

Zhu Di laughed and said, "Look, Zhang Qing's family also seems to be good at literature and history."

Everyone laughed.

Zhang Anshi said: "The minister occasionally reads..."

"Speaking of which, what are you talking about today?"

Zhang Anshi said: "Your Majesty has been on the throne for twelve years, and the government is well-organized and the people are harmonious. Now I have a great joy to play..."

Hearing that there was a happy event, Zhu Di raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "What happy event?"

"The railways in the counties of Taiping Mansion... have been completed! This is the first railway in the world since the creation of the world by Pangu. The whole of the Right Commander's Mansion is grateful to His Majesty's kindness. Therefore, for the construction of this railway, everyone has worked hard and died. Now... …The completion of the railway is a blessing for the common people, a blessing for all the people, and a proof of His Majesty’s great rule of the world.

After Zhu Di heard this, he also regained his spirit: "Then you are serious about laying the steel on the ground...and spread the iron to the counties?"

Zhang Anshi said: "Your Majesty has seen the railway with his own eyes, how can he say that the iron is laid on the ground?"

Zhu Di said: "It's nothing, it's just that someone... also appeared in the memorial..."

Zhang Anshi then said: "I don't know what memorial is it?"

"They said that what I did was... imitating Emperor Sui Yang."

Zhu Di didn't hide from Zhang Anshi either.

Zhang Anshi looked surprised: "Emperor Sui Yang...your majesty...this...what is this allusion?"

Zhu Di said: "It seems that you only read half of your mother's books. There is an allusion that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty used to wrap a tree with silk to show the prosperity of the Sui Dynasty. He wrapped a tree with silk, but I spread iron on the ground. It is meant to ridicule me for being overjoyed."

Zhang Anshi said heartily: "Your Majesty, since you know that they are mocking you, why don't you go and kill them?"

"This..." Zhang Anshi said: "Your Majesty, these people...have no knowledge, they only know how to find chapters and excerpt sentences, and show off the so-called literary words.

Zhu Di said: "I didn't pay attention to it...but..."

Zhu Di deliberately mentioned this matter, which actually has a hinting meaning.

You know, steel is a luxury in this era, and using steel to pave roads makes even Zhu Di feel heartbroken. Thinking that Zhang Anshi borrowed the money, he is even more worried, and even sleepy for a few days no.

It's fine if you borrow money, even if you give me the borrowed money.

Now hearing Zhang Anshi's response, Zhu Di couldn't help but smile: "Since the railway is completed, it should be completed, but...how much did it cost?"

Well, this is what he wants to know the most.

"This railway?" Zhang Anshi asked.

Zhu Di nodded.

"If there is only this one, the total length is 430 miles, and the cost... is probably between 290 and 320 million taels."

After hearing this, Zhu Di immediately took a deep breath.

Yang Rong and the others were obviously taken aback by this number.

This is just one... and it cost so much?

Zhang Anshidao: "But this is the first one. On the one hand, the construction period is overdue, and on the other hand, it is not yet proficient, so the initial cost is huge. In the future... if you continue to build, these costs can be spread out. getting lower."

Zhu Di hummed, holding back the pain in his heart.

He saw that Zhang Anshi was in high spirits, so it was not easy to pour cold water on him: "Your work, I can rest assured."

"I came here to hope that Your Majesty will promulgate the auspicious date for the opening of the traffic. At that time... I plan to hold a grand opening ceremony on the auspicious day of the opening of the traffic, so that everyone in the world will know such a feat. If Your Majesty can go to Qixia to watch the ceremony in person In this way, the officials, merchants, and civilians who are building the railway this time will definitely be able to boost their morale when they see His Majesty's great love."

Zhu Di glanced at Yang Rongren and the others and said, "What do you think? Forget it, let the Jin Qing family make up their minds about such things. The Jin Qing family is good at such pretentious things."

Jin Zhong: "..."

Jin Zhong felt a little speechless, His Majesty seemed to have misunderstood his major.

But right now, he was indeed in a bit of a dilemma, so he said: "Your Majesty, is the opening of the railway a happy housewarming, or a relocation, or opening a market, praying for blessings, or opening a warehouse?"

Yes, there used to be no railways. From the concept of auspicious days, I have never heard that the railway should be connected.

But it is wrong to say that it is a housewarming, because this thing can move.

But if it's about relocation...it's not right, as for the opening of the market...it seems a bit out of date, you can't pick a day that is suitable for getting married, right?

All of a sudden, everyone was in trouble.

Zhu Di frowned and said, "Are you asking me this?"

Jin Zhong thought for a while and said: "The ninth day of the next day is the day when Yi's bed will be installed. I think this is the same as setting up the bed. Setting up the bed is the last step before the housewarming, the new house is fixed, and the housewarming is the last step. The railway is running through... Then, the second quarter of the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. It is an auspicious day for the zodiac."

Zhu Di said: "That's how it is, what does Zhang Qing think?"

Zhang Anshi said: "That's very good, Duke Jin is indeed a professional, but... since Duke Jin chose this auspicious day, then tomorrow's mansion newspaper, please ask Duke Jin to write a handwritten announcement to announce to the world?"

Jin Zhong's face was very ugly, do you really regard this old man as a character tester?
He said seriously: "I am the Minister of the Ministry of War, how can I do such idle things in a grand manner."

Zhang Anshi said: "It's okay, it's okay, let's take the next best thing, let me find someone to write on behalf of me, and then only add Jin Gong's name, so as not to bother Jin Gong."

Jin Zhong: "..."

Zhang Anshi said again: "I implore your Majesty to go to Qixia in the future and preside over the piercing ceremony in person. Your Majesty... this is a first-class event in the world, and it will surely last forever. It's a pity to be absent..."

Zhu Di was a little hesitant. He still feels sorry for the silver, but in the end, he still said: "In any case, after spending so much money...how can I not go? I have approved this matter."

Seeing that Zhu Di agreed, Zhang Anshi was overjoyed, and Zhu Di was a little tired, so he ordered all the officials to leave.

When Zhang Anshi left the Wenlou, the Wenyuange scholar had to go to Wenyuange to be on duty, while Zhang Anshi and others went outside the palace.

Jin Zhong looked depressed.

As for Jin Chunren and others, Zhang Anshi was not very familiar with them either.

However, Zhang Anshi muttered to himself seeing Xia Yuanji also put on a bad face.

So he walked side by side with Xia Yuanji unhurriedly, and said in a low voice: "Duke Xia, your complexion is not good."

Xia Yuanji raised his head and forced a dry smile: "Mmm..."

Zhang Anshi said again: "Isn't he sick?"

Xia Yuanji couldn't help it: "You are the one who is sick!"

Zhang Anshi was shocked.its not right.In his memory, Xia Yuanji has always been a modest gentleman, why is he acting like a tiger and wolf today?
So Zhang Anshi said innocently: "Gong Xia... what's wrong with you, I'm kind..."

Xia Yuanji frowned, as if trying hard to hold back something, and said, "It's nothing, don't ask."

Zhang Anshi said: "If you have any difficulties, just tell me, don't worry, I, Zhang Anshi..."

"There is one difficulty." Xia Yuanji looked at him seriously, and said, "I'm just afraid of this matter... Will Duke Wei really be willing to solve it?"

Zhang Anshi patted his chest and said: "What are you talking about, Xia Gong said, I, Zhang Anshi, will go through fire and water..."

Before he finished speaking, Xia Yuanji said: "The thing is like this, I don't know if the emperor's grandson was ordered by some wicked guy whose ancestral graves are smoking, to sell the land by force. My son happened to be on duty in the young army , was actually bought dozens of acres according to the head, Wei Guogong, you know this old man... old man..."

This time, Xia Yuanji didn't finish his words, Zhang Anshi's face tensed, and he hugged Xia Yuanji and said, "Wait a minute, Mr. Xia, I just thought that the soup fire at home has not been extinguished, so I have to go home and turn off the fire, and say goodbye!"

(End of this chapter)