Fenghou

At this time, Wei Ji walked in with Chen Qing, and the four of them quickly got up to salute.

Chen Qing asked with a smile: "Do you know each other?"

Yan Kuo smiled wryly and said: "Bizhi originally wanted to invite Master Li to give lectures at the Imperial Academy, but he was too busy to have the opportunity."

"Oh! There may be a chance in the future."

Chen Qing invited the four of them to sit down, and said again: "I guess none of you have had lunch. Later, you go to Qingfeng Teahouse to eat and drink tea, and put it on my account. I invite you today!"

"Your Highness is too polite!"

Chen Qing said to Wei Ji again: "You take them to dinner later."

Weiss nodded.

Only then did Chen Qing say to everyone: "The four of you are invited here today because I want to make something, to be precise, a timekeeping tool, you all know the hourglass!"

The four of them nodded, and Chen Qing said again: "The hourglass relies on the precise flow of fine sand to make the gears rotate, and then the villain accurately shows the time. If you are not careful, the amount of sand produced by the hourglass will be inaccurate, and then the timing will be messed up. The same is true for the hourglass. It is driven by water, which is troublesome and not easy to be accurate. I wonder if I can let the gears rotate accurately by themselves.”

Song Zhu said: "No matter how the gear moves, it needs a force to drive it. I think this is the key."

"well said!"

Chen Qing glanced at him approvingly and said, "When I was giving a lecture to you two days ago, I mentioned a kind of force, boulders rolling down from the top of the mountain, do you remember?"

Yan Kuo and Song Zhu nodded. They all remembered that Master Xu and Li Si were confused, but they didn't say anything.

"I call that force the attraction of the earth, or gravity. No matter how high we throw a stone into the sky, the stone will fall to the ground. It shows that the earth has a force that attracts all things to go down, so water goes down. This principle."

Both Yan Kuo and Song Zhu nodded silently, they both felt a sense of enlightenment.

At this time, Chen Qing took out a small meteor hammer. It was not a rope, but a thin copper rod. The other end was hung on the handle and could move freely. Chen Qing smiled and said, "Let's do an experiment!"

The eyes of the four were all fixed on the meteor hammer. Chen Qing pulled up the copper rod of the meteor hammer and let go, and the meteor hammer began to swing.

"Have you seen that the meteor hammer is falling downwards, and there is a force to pull it downwards, so can the gears be driven by force?"

"Yes! Exactly."

Both Yan Kuo and Song Zhu understood and nodded together. This time even Li Si also understood. He made a golden hourglass, so he understood the principle.

"Then the meteor hammer swung back from the other side and pulled the left gear as well. The left and right gears rotated alternately, driving a large gear to rotate uninterruptedly, with very uniform force. Is this equivalent to uniform water flow or uniform fine sand?"

Chen Qing saw that everyone understood, and smiled again: "But there is a major problem here, that is, the meteor hammer will stop eventually, but I want the meteor hammer to never stop, what should I do?"

Everyone shook their heads in puzzlement, Chen Qing said slowly: "Actually, there is also a way, that is, to make a kind of grabbing device, the copper hammer swings to the highest point on the left, and there is a clip to catch the copper rod, then let go, and the copper hammer swings to the right At the highest point, there is also a clip to clamp it, and then release it, which is tantamount to starting again every time, so this grabber is the key to planting, I don’t know how to make it, I need you to discuss it with the craftsman.”

After a pause, Chen Qing asked again: "Do you understand the principle of this grappling device? This is the key point. If you don't understand, I can explain it again."

All four of them nodded to show that they understood. Although shopkeeper Xu didn't know what the source of power was, he understood what Chen Qing said about gravity, and he also understood the principle of the grabbing device, which meant that he had to start all over again every time.

Chen Qing took out the drawing, spread it on the table and said, "I've explained the principle to you clearly, so you can look at this picture again!"

Chen Qing drew two blueprints. The first blueprint was the principle he just talked about, the pendulum, the gears, and the grabber. The four of them could understand it at a glance.

"Is this what His Highness just said?"

"Yes! The key is the second picture."

Chen Qing unfolded the second picture, which is a bell tower with a huge hour hand, surrounded by twelve hours, Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai, there are eight quarters between each hour.

"This is the Bell and Drum Tower. I need to make a big clock. Below is the pendulum. It is constantly swinging, driving the gear to rotate, and the gear rotates behind it, and then drives the long needle to rotate at a constant speed. See if it is long now. The position pointed by the needle is Mo Shi Mo!"

Everyone nodded together. With the explanation of the principle just now, they all understood the picture of King Yong's big clock at once. It is very simple and easy to understand. That is Mo Shi Mo.

Yan Kuo smiled and said: "Your Highness made it very clear, we all understand, and we will start looking for craftsmen when we get back."

Chen Qing told him: "It's one thing to understand the principle, but it's another thing for the craftsman to make it. After you go back, you must explain the principle clearly to the craftsman. If you don't understand anything, you can ask me." !"

Li Si asked in a daze: "This kind of big clock doesn't seem to have much to do with me!"

Chen Qing smiled and said to him: "You also go to Taixue to participate in the making of the big clock and learn it thoroughly. After you understand how to make it, your task is to make a small clock that can be placed on the table. "

The first thousand and 340 chapters and the third increase in troops

After sending the four of them away, Chen Qing heaved a long sigh of relief, as if he had relieved a heavy burden. He no longer considered technology matters, but began to think about the restructuring of the army wholeheartedly.

The Song Dynasty learned the painful lessons of the Tang Dynasty's Anshi Rebellion and the separatist rule of feudal towns, and thus formulated a system in which civilian officials controlled military power, which eventually led to the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty.

However, if the Tang system is restored and military generals are allowed to hold military power, stability can be maintained in the early days of the dynasty, but once it reaches the middle and late stages of the dynasty, ambitious generals will inevitably appear. The ambition of self-reliance has been like this in all dynasties. The key is not because of the generals, but the decline of the dynasty itself.

The rulers of the Song Dynasty couldn’t see through this, and always put the blame on the generals. Why An Lushan didn’t have the idea of ​​rebellion in the early days, and it gradually emerged in the later period. It is because the military system of the government has completely disappeared, and the national strength cannot afford the huge military salary of the frontier army. , The imperial court continued to delegate government and financial power to Jiedu envoys, allowing them to raise military salaries by themselves, so that An Lushan had its own army.

Therefore, it is not whether civil servants or military generals control the military power, but whether one's own national strength can control the frontier army.

In the reform of the military system, Chen Qing still considers the establishment of three systems, one is the local state military system, one is the frontier garrison system, and the other is the Chinese military system. The military positions will be controlled at the top, and many will be controlled in the future. The biggest benefit It is to disperse military power.

But we also need to appease Yang Zaixing and Liu Cui, the early generals who commanded the army, so that they can leave the army, continue to be promoted in ranks and titles, serve as the generals of the twelve guards in Jingzhao, and set up a general's mansion. Once there is a need for war , they will lead the army to go out, this army does not belong to their army, but is temporarily dispatched and arranged by the Privy Council. After the war, the soldiers return to the camp and the general returns to the government. separate.

The key is to give them honor and status. You can imitate Li Shimin's Lingyan Pavilion and keep portraits of the heroes forever, so that they can surrender their military power with peace of mind, leave the army, and even let them serve as civil servants, such as serving in the Privy Council.

Another thing is to clarify the relationship between the military department and the Privy Council. The military department is in charge of the local state military system, in charge of recruiting and retiring soldiers, as well as pensions for soldiers killed in battle, in charge of awarding honorary officers, in charge of martial arts and military academies, as well as recruiting civilians and temporarily requisitioning civilian supplies , in charge of the real estate of the army, and also responsible for the army's farming.

The Privy Council is equivalent to the military secretariat of the emperor, controlling the frontier garrison and the central army, managing documents and files of soldiers and generals, taking charge of the attendance of soldiers and generals, military training for promotion, army mobilization, management of money and food, storage and distribution of military materials, and distribution of military salaries , war staff planning, and military intelligence systems.

Chen Qing then held a discussion with the generals, and all the generals basically agreed with Chen Qing's restructuring plan. In fact, the generals paid more attention to their own personal interests, the succession of titles, the official position and salary system, and the issue of children's shadowing officials. On the contrary, they don't care much.

In addition, Chen Qing plans to introduce an account system for the distribution of salaries. The Privy Council will establish an account for each soldier in the government-run cabinet, and deposit their salaries into the account every month. Money, so that there is no need to distribute cash money layer by layer, avoiding layers of exploitation by the boss and empty pay. This is the best measure to protect the interests of soldiers.

This has also won the unanimous support of the generals. Everyone knows that soldiers are the foundation of the army, and protecting the interests of soldiers is related to the morale of the army. This is the key to winning battles.

Now they have an army of 60, and no one can guarantee that the middle and low-level generals will not deduct the soldiers' salaries, so Chen Qing's plan won the unanimous support of the generals.

After full communication with the generals, the reform of the military system began, but this is not something that can be promulgated and implemented immediately. It needs to be done step by step, and the time for implementation is not yet fully ripe.

The most urgent task now is to take down Fujian Road.

……

At present, Fujian Road has been driven into a deep nail by Chen Qing. That is Quanzhou. After several years of governance, Quanzhou has become the state with the largest population in Fujian Road. Due to low taxes, cheap prices, and many opportunities to earn money, A large number of people from Fujian Province poured into Quanzhou, bringing sufficient labor, making Quanzhou's shipbuilding, tea making, cotton rolling, textiles, oil pressing, sugar pressing, porcelain making, and various planting, commerce, storage, Overseas trade and other industries are showing a thriving scene.

Of course, Chen Qing did not dare to take it lightly. In order to prevent the imperial army from repenting and taking Quanzhou, Chen Qing sent troops to Quanzhou three times. At present, the garrison in Quanzhou has reached 3 people, and the chief general is Hu Yantong.

The imperial court's army on Fujian Road has 2 troops, led by Liu Ziyu, the comfort envoy of Fujian Road. Liu Ziyu also serves as the governor of Fuzhou, and the [-] troops are stationed in Fuzhou.

It is actually easy to seize Fujian Road, defeat Liu Ziyu's army and capture Fuzhou, then the entire Fujian Road will be at your fingertips.

This morning, a huge ship appeared in the sea off Quanzhou. It was an army of [-] soldiers heading south from Shandong Road, led by Liu Qiong and Tang Qian. Chen Qing originally wanted Gao Ding to lead the army south to capture the main general of Fujian Road Liu Qiong asked for orders again and again, and issued a military order. He would never miss the military affairs just because Liu Ziyu was his uncle.

Chen Qing considered again and again, and finally appointed Liu Qiong as the general who conquered the South, Tang Qian and Hu Yantong as the left and right deputy generals, and led an army of [-] to capture Fujian Road.

One after another the big ships came up to the pier, groups of soldiers dismounted from the big ships, and lined up quickly on the pier. At this time, Liu Qiong and Tang Qian also got off the big ships. Hu Yantong rushed to meet them, cupping his fists and saluting: " Refer to the general for the humble position!"

Although the two had a deep friendship in martial arts back then, but now it is a formal occasion, with so many soldiers watching, Hu Yantong still has to meet each other with the etiquette of superiors and subordinates.

Liu Qiong smiled slightly and said: "Brother Huyan, it's been a long time, it seems to be darker a lot!"

Seeing Liu Qiong's relaxed tone, Hu Yantong also relaxed his emotions, and said with a smile: "Quanzhou is by the sea, and the sea breeze blows every day, so of course the skin is easy to darken. I don't believe it. After a while, my virtuous brother will realize it."

"Men! Black spots don't matter. Where is the barracks? Let the soldiers go to the barracks to rest first. On the way here, the sea is relatively rough, and many soldiers are seasick. General Tang and I also vomited in the dark."

"The big camp is three miles ahead. You can see it when you walk straight ahead. Let the soldiers go first! The two generals also go to rest."

Liu Qiong turned around and shouted: "The soldiers of the first battalion will go to the barracks to rest after they line up, there is no need to wait."

Basically, the soldiers of a large ship are a battalion, led by a commander, and [-] soldiers follow the commander to the camp to rest, led by special soldiers.

Liu Qiong was also really seasick and mentally weak, so she went to the camp with Tang Qian to rest.

At this time, on the mountain a few miles away, a middle-aged man led a few young men who looked like clerks and watched the soldiers of the Western Army disembark and line up, and the teams were marching to the camp. They counted the number of soldiers , At this time, a fellow ran up the mountain and said to the middle-aged man, "I found out that the leader of the Western Army is Liu Qiong."

The middle-aged man nodded, "Ready to send the pigeons to Fuzhou!"

The first thousand and 340 chapters and four divorces

In the official school of Minxian County, Fuzhou, the sound of reading was loud. Liu Ziyu, the magistrate of the state, was inspecting the official school at this time. A boy in his teens stepped forward and saluted, "My child sees the adoptive father!"

Liu Ziyu nodded and smiled and asked, "You're still used to studying here!"

"Reporting to foster father, I am very used to it!"

The boy was the famous Zhu Xi in history. His father Zhu Song and Liu Ziyu were close friends. Zhu Song died of illness at the beginning of the year. Before he died, he entrusted his son Zhu Xi to Liu Ziyu. Liu Mianzhi and other great Confucian scholars were teachers, and at the same time, they also donated their fields to Zhu Xi's mother, Zhu Shi, so that she had a source of income.

Liu Ziyu often came to inspect the state school, and visited Zhu Xi by the way.

"If you have time, you should visit your mother. Reading is important, but filial piety must not be forgotten!"

"I understand, I will visit my mother tomorrow, but..."

Seeing that Zhu Xi hesitated, Liu Ziyu asked with a smile, "What do you want to say?"

"I heard that a war might break out, and I'm a little worried about the safety of my mother in the country. Do you want to take her into the city?"

Liu Ziyu smiled slightly and said: "Don't worry, the opponent is the Western Army, even if there is a war, ordinary people will not be harmed, and most of the crops on the land will suffer a little loss, but if you are worried, you can also send your mother to her hometown for a temporary stay. Youxi County is much safer!"

"The child understands!"

"Go read!"

After Zhu Xi saluted and left, Liu Ziyu asked the soldiers next to him, "What's the matter?"

"Report to the pacifier, Quanzhou sent an urgent pigeon letter!"

The soldiers presented a pigeon letter to Liu Ziyu. Liu Ziyu opened the pigeon letter and read it quickly, his expression changed slightly. The Western Army sent 4 to [-] troops to Quanzhou, and thousands of horses. The leader turned out to be his nephew. Liu Qiong.

Are uncles and nephews going to fight each other?

……

Jingzhao, the news that Lu Wei is about to become the Minister of the Ministry of Industry has spread throughout the official circles. The Minister of the Ministry of Industry is the former capital supervisor. He was renamed the Minister of the Ministry of Industry at the beginning of the year. Shangshu and Sima, the second official, were promoted to ministers. Except that Chen Qing did not ascend the throne as emperor, everything else was no different from the dynasty.

This is a typical strategy of boiling frogs in warm water, so that people in the world can adapt a little bit.

Colleagues and friends came to congratulate him one after another. In the evening, a wretched and thin man appeared in front of Lu Wei's mansion. The man was Lu Hang. He was ridiculed by his colleagues, scolded by his superiors, and deducted money because of his lack of performance. He had no money and hadn't eaten all day. He really couldn't bear the hunger, so he had the audacity to ask Lu Wei for help.

"Please report to your master that his brother Lu Hang is begging to see him outside the door!"

The butler was new, and had never met Lu Tong. He heard that he was the master's brother. He didn't dare to neglect, so he asked Lu Tang to wait in the gatehouse, and immediately ran to report to his wife.

"He said his name is Lu Hang?" Li Mei asked.

"Exactly! Excuse me, madam, do you want him to come in?"

Li Mei hates this Lu Hang the most, who has been haunting her and came to harm her husband again. Her face darkened and she ordered: "Kick him out, I won't see him!"

The housekeeper didn't know what happened, so he quickly agreed to retreat. At this moment, Li Mei called him again, "Forget it, go and inform the master! His brother is here."

He is really the master's brother, the housekeeper hurriedly went to inform the master Lu Wei.

It wasn't that Li Mei showed kindness on the spur of the moment, but she suddenly remembered that her husband had told her that if Lu Hang came, he must be notified. This was an order from His Highness King Yong. Just now, she was so angry that she almost forgot about it. .

……

In the study, Lu Wei looked at this little uncle who was the same age as him wolfing down his meal. It seemed that he was starving.

Lu Wei found that Lu Tang had become haggard in body and spirit, and his whole body seemed to have lost his soul, like a walking dead.

Lu Wei secretly sighed, indulging in brothels for more than ten years, this person was completely ruined.

After eating enough, he drank the tea in one gulp, and Lu Ang hiccupped happily, eating to his heart's content.

"How did you get so miserable?" Lu Wei asked with a frown.

"Hey! I'm so poor that I can't get valuable information, I'm often scolded, my status is very low, everyone looks down on me, I have no money, and even food is a problem."

Speaking of this, Lu Xian couldn't help crying, "You are high-ranking officials and prime ministers, but I'm going to starve to death on the street. I'm all from the Lu family. Why is it so unfair?"

"Can anyone else be blamed for this? I arranged for you to be the secretary before. If you don't leave, you will be promoted to join the army now, at least an eighth-rank officer. You have a house and a salary. If you don't cherish it yourself, who is to blame?"

"Brother, help me again and give me another chance. I promise not to mess around."

"no!"

Lu Wei refused straight away, "It's not that I won't help you, you have a criminal record with the Western Army, and it's impossible to be hired again."

"Then what should I do? Brother just watch me starve to death on the street?"

Lu Wei really hated this little uncle. His father's decades of accumulated wealth had been wiped out by him. His father died of illness at the beginning of the year due to poverty. He would not go back to see his father's funeral. Greedy and lustful, full of lies, despicable villain, as my grandfather said well, he is a cancer of the Lu family, and will kill everyone sooner or later.

If His Royal Highness King Yong had not ordered, Lu Wei would have kicked him out long ago.

"How do you ask me to help you? I can only give you a few taels of silver at most. You know that my wife is in charge of the money."

"No! I don't want your money, as long as you give me a useful information, I will get a reward."