I will never be Renzong

Chapter 50 Curious Liu E

The rivers and mountains are beautiful in Chiri, and the spring breeze is fragrant with flowers and grass.Swallows fly in the mud, mandarin ducks sleep in the sand, and before you know it, you have entered the spring of March.

"A little higher! A little higher!"

"Yes! That's right there! Be sure to make it firmer for me!"

Outside Funing Hall, Zhao Zhen is directing the artisans of the Ministry of Industry who installed lightning rods on the roof. The principle and production of lightning rods are very simple, and it is easy to make them with the craftsmanship of the Song Dynasty.

When Liu E and Yang heard that Zhao Zhen was going to add a huge "embroidery needle" to his bedroom, they couldn't help being curious, and they all came to watch.

"Official! What kind of embroidery needles are you putting on the roof? What kind of monster are you?"

Liu E looked at the craftsmen who were busy on the roof, and couldn't figure it out. Adding such a big embroidery needle to the well-built roof not only affects the appearance, but also seems to be useless.

And Zhao Zhen has not been idle in the past two months. Apart from listening to politics and studying, he always likes to go to the Ministry of Industry. In the past two months, the Ministry of Industry has been tossed a lot, but he has also made a lot of new things. For example, Zhao Zhen directed the Ministry of Industry to make a simple wooden bicycle. Although it broke after riding it twice, it was finally built.

Yang Shi was no stranger to Zhao Zhen's mind full of strange thoughts, she was standing aside waiting for Zhao Zhen to explain to her.

After the craftsman installed the lightning rod, Zhao Zhen came to Liu E and Yang.

"Big empress! Little empress! What I installed is a lightning rod, not an embroidery needle."

Zhao Zhen really wanted to issue an edict to convey the whole Song Dynasty. After all, he installed lightning rods for the buildings in the palace today, and the people in Kaifeng should know about it tomorrow, and then after dinner, they would talk about how the current officials are thinking. It's not a joke, but a huge embroidery needle is installed in the building.

"Lightning rod? Could it be used for lightning protection?"

Liu E asked curiously.

Zhao Zhen smiled and replied: "Ma'am, although it is true that this thing is called a lightning rod, it is not used to protect against lightning. To be precise, it is used to receive current. If there are buildings in the palace, then the lightning rod will transmit the lightning current to the ground through its own grounding conductor, thereby protecting buildings, tall trees, etc. from lightning strikes."

"What is electric current? What the officials say are all new things that the Ai family has never heard of. I don't know where the officials heard about it, and where did they see it?"

Liu E frowned deeply. The Zhao Zhen in front of her made her more and more incomprehensible. She was never late for listening to politics. Always able to analyze things logically and give the best solution.

The imperial court’s tea trade has been implemented, so far, the effect is still good, presumably this year the imperial court’s income from tea classes will definitely increase significantly, Liu E sometimes feels that Zhao Zhen is not like a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy, On the contrary, he is a scheming middle-aged man.

But sometimes Zhao Zhen likes to mess around, doing some silly things, and looks like a playful child.

"I don't understand what electricity is flowing, but the building is equipped with this thing called a lightning rod. Does it mean that you will no longer be afraid of lightning strikes since then?"

Yang asked hurriedly.

"Yes, my lady! In fact, there is another method, that is to install an upturned dragon head on both ends of the roof. The dragon's mouth spits out a twisted metal tongue, which stretches up to the sky. The root of the tongue is connected with thin iron wires, leading directly to the ground. If the lightning strikes the building, the current will flow down from the Dragon Tongue to the ground, which will not cause any damage, and can also achieve the effect of lightning protection, and at the same time, it will not affect the beauty of the building!"

Many people think that the lightning rod was invented in the [-]th century, but in fact, Chinese palace architects had mastered lightning protection measures two centuries earlier.

"Then why didn't the officials adopt this method? After all, in the eyes of the Ai family, it's really unsightly to install such a big embroidery needle in such a decent palace!"

Liu E kept shaking her head.

"Ma'am! If you switch to the second option, the construction project will be expanded and the cost will increase. The court's finances are not abundant at the moment, so I don't want to go to war. Anyway, it's all for lightning protection. Which method is the most economical? Use whatever method!"

The buildings in the palace have been around for some years, and adding lightning rods rashly is indeed a bit unsightly, but it must not be demolished and rebuilt. As the saying goes, if you are not in charge of a family, you don’t know how much firewood, rice, oil and salt are. , A few days ago, Liu E asked people to count the inner treasury. After the inventory was completed, all the items in the inner treasury together amounted to only 2000 million guan. You must know that when Song Taizu was in power, he saved at least 500 million guan in a year. The profligacy of the two emperors of Zhenzong left less than 2000 million guan.

You must know that Da Song's annual tax revenue is nearly 4000 million guan, and the inner treasury only has such a small amount of money. If there is any emergency, it will be difficult to deal with it.

"The government knows that it is good to be considerate of the people's feelings and to be thrifty. However, the government has been torturing the officials of the Ministry of Industry recently. The officials of the Ministry of Industry have often complained in front of the Ai family. The government should also pay attention to the impact in the future. The common people It needs to be sympathetic, but to put it bluntly, the courtiers are also common people, and they also need to be sympathetic, can the officials understand?"

Liu E knew in her heart that although Zhao Zhen's troubles were trivial, the Ministry of Industry was not a private department of the royal family after all.

Zhao Zhen was a little unhappy when he heard it. Although he was not a great inventor like Edison, he was a modern person after all. Unexpectedly, the first thing he invented when he returned to ancient times was the toilet, because even if he was an emperor, he couldn't stand the torment of the ancient toilet, let alone the evil toilet chips.

Zhao Zhen turned his attention to Yang.

Yang understood it and said: "Sister! There is a Cuju team in the palace, but my officials don't like the Cuju team. It's a waste of money and food to keep it for nothing. It's better to disband the Cuju team and give the money saved to the officials in the palace. There is a small Ministry of Industry here, so it is convenient for the officials to make some small inventions! Sister! After all, the officials are young, and young people must have some hobbies to pass the boring time, right?"

What Yang didn't say was that Liu E has been holding onto power all the time, and the officials hardly deal with government affairs. In this way, if you want to deprive him of some harmless hobbies, it will inevitably be a little unreasonable.

"Well! The official family can select a few craftsmen to enter the palace to serve the official family, but the Cuju team does not need to be disbanded. After all, it has been raised for so many years. Once it is disbanded and spread, the people outside will laugh at it. The majestic Zhao royal family can't even afford to support a football team. Wouldn't that make people laugh? Officials must understand that no matter how difficult the government is, the people of the world can't see it! Everyone has deep feelings, and I hope the officials Take it easy!"

Liu E finally agreed to Yang's proposal, because Zhao Zhen was not obsessed with female sex. For such a long time, there was only one Liu noble in the harem. Compared with the lust of the Zhao royal family, Zhao Zhen was an alternative.

"Eldest Empress! I want Xuan to enter the palace alone. If there are no accidents, I will solve a huge problem for Elder Empress soon!"

Liu E asked in puzzlement, "I wonder who the officials want to call?"

"This person's name is Bi Sheng. He is a commoner. He should be living in Hangzhou right now!"

Zhao Zhen replied hurriedly.

(End of this chapter)