Ancient promotion routine

"Are you still far-sighted?" Emperor Sheng Yuan scolded.

Zhang Yanjin rubbed her buttocks, and said: "My foresight is set off by Zhou Qiye's shortsightedness. Without his shortsightedness, how can I become farsighted."

Zhou Qiye, who was able to admit his mistakes, heard Zhang Yanjin's repeated insults now, and his pride all along couldn't bear it, so he knelt down again.

"Your Majesty, I would like to resign..."

Zhang Yanjin felt like cursing again. Zhou Qiye is so good this week. Originally, the emperor would not punish Zhou Qiye for his troubles, at least he would not let him put his finger on him, but now he resigned on his own initiative... In Zhou Qiye's other Things didn't go wrong, and with Duke Rui's face, the emperor will definitely not punish him again.

Zhou Qin, Duke of Ruiguo, also gave a salute: "Your Majesty, the dog is still young, and he is quite unbearable. Why don't the emperor punish him severely, so that the humble minister can lead him back to read more books, so that he can continue to improve in the future. Work for the emperor!"

Zhang Yanjin felt a chill in his heart, and glanced at Duke Rui, Duke Rui looked sincere, why did Zhang Yanjin feel a chill rising up?

Sure enough, Emperor Sheng Yuan pondered and said: "No need, Qi Ye was also the one I grew up with, and this kid is the most outstanding among you two generations. In other words, it’s no wonder that Zhang Yanjin is in charge of making the horseshoes on Qi Ye, Qi Ye, you are responsible for the preparation of other supplies, not only can you no longer interfere with Zhang Yanjin’s affairs, but also give you a lot of support, you know?”

After talking about it, Emperor Sheng Yuan's tone became thicker.

When Zhou Qiye heard this, he hurriedly saluted again, and was very touched and said: "This humble minister obeys the order, and I will definitely live up to the emperor's respect."

Zhang Yanjin also had no choice but to salute solemnly: "My minister complies with the order." But he did not hide his grievance.

Seeing that Chu Chigong and Chen Derang wanted to slap Zhang Yanjin once.

Emperor Sheng Yuan couldn't help but twitch his lips. In this world, no one dared to show such an expression in front of him.

"Okay, that's it, you go down first, Zhang Yanjin stays!"

Zhou Qin, Zhou Qiye and his son gave another salute and retreated. Chu Chigong gave Zhang Yanjin a warning look before leaving with Chen Derang.

"First I made stirrups and saddles for me, and now I made horseshoes. Tell me, what do you want me to reward you?" Everyone left, and Emperor Sheng Yuan spoke in a much lighter tone.

Hearing this, Zhang Yanjin felt relieved immediately. He took a step forward, bowed his bow and smiled and said, "These are all designed by my uncle after pointing me out. Originally, my minister didn't want any rewards, but the emperor did." Son of Heaven, the emperor said that he would reward his ministers, but he has no choice but to refuse."

"Good job Zhang Yanjin!" The emperor didn't know whether to laugh or cry, this guy looked at him with a sincere expression, but he wasn't embarrassed at all when he opened his mouth to reward him.

Zhang Yanjin dodged it with a playful smile and said nothing more.

When the emperor got his face straight, he said calmly: "Tell me, what reward do you want?"

"How about rewarding the emperor with a few mountains?" Zhang Yanjin unceremoniously took out the map from his arms, pointed at the circled place with a smile and said, "Your Majesty, I was just a dude before. It can’t be like this, wouldn’t it be like sitting on the mountain and making things difficult for Uncle, I see that the eighth-rank officials in the capital also have thousands of land at home, why don’t we give this small land to the minister at a reduced price?”

The places Zhang Yanjin painted are some places in Datong, Shanxi Province in modern times. This Datong County has a lot of coal and rich resources such as kaolin, and later generations are called Phoenix City and the coal capital of China.It's just that due to the limitation of technology in this era, even if many people know that Datong has rich coal resources, no one thinks it is a treasure.

Li Mingrui, who was beside the emperor, came out and said in a low voice, "This is located in Datong County, Xizhou, where resources are scarce and the terrain is remote."

Li Mingrui said so, the emperor understood in his heart.Datong is a barren land, the people are poor, and it is not a rich land at all.

The emperor took a closer look at the geographical location of Shanxi, but still couldn't figure out why Zhang Yanjin wanted Shanxi Datong.

"Why did you choose the barren land of Datong?" The emperor looked at the map and said calmly.

"The ability of the minister is only suitable for this kind of place." Zhang Yanjin said very honestly.

Coal is black gold, and when he masters the coal refining technology in the future, wouldn't he be rich beyond compare?Don't worry about eating and drinking for a lifetime?

Neither the emperor nor Li Mingrui thought that Zhang Yanjin would say that, and the emperor was even more delighted. He took the cinnabar pen handed over by the eunuch, drew a circle on the map and said, "I will reward you for the hundreds of miles around here." Yes! But the due tax, you kid, don’t try to escape!”

Zhang Yanjin said with a smile: "Don't worry, your majesty, humble ministers are the most loyal, and you can guarantee a lot of taxes every year!" After saying that, he knelt down and thanked the emperor, and then waited for the emperor's documents to be sent to Shanxi for the officials there to hand over the land deed.

Seeing this, Emperor Sheng Yuan's heart suddenly thumped, as if he had been cheated of tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Coming out of the Forbidden Palace, Zhang Yanjin first went back to Ningguo Mansion and told Zhang Zhongqian what happened in the palace.

When Zhang Zhongqian heard that Zhang Yanjin asked the emperor for a reward, the joy on his face gradually disappeared, but when he heard that Zhang Yanjin asked for the land in Datong, Shanxi, he fell silent.

"It's good to have the place of Datong." Zhang Zhongqian is well versed in the way of being an official. Thinking that Zhang Yanjin only needs the barren land of Datong, he thinks it is a good thing, but if he wants to come to the emperor, he will not take Zhang Yanjin to heart , I didn't say any more.

"Uncle, don't worry, my nephew will do a good job in the back camp, and try to equip all the horses for the western expedition with horseshoes as soon as possible." Zhang Yanjin didn't tell the truth. If he really told him, he felt that Zhang Zhongqian would definitely force him into the palace immediately. go.

Only then did Zhang Zhongqian nod his head and said, "You really have grown up. In the past, I was worried that you would act inappropriately. Now it seems that I can rest assured."

Zhang Yanjin was a little guilty and didn't say a word. When he mined coal in Datong, Shanxi, the emperor would definitely know about it. At that time, coal, as the main firepower in the smelting industry, would definitely be popularized in a large area. At that time, the emperor came to his senses, and I'm afraid it won't be as it is now. Do you think he has a proper way of doing things?

I'm afraid that at that time, his uncle will have to help him carry the thunder.This is not tens of thousands of taels of silver, it is estimated to be tens of thousands of taels, the emperor wonders if he will prick his villain!

"Uncle is painstaking, nephew understands." Zhang Yanjin said with a guilty conscience.

It was already evening when Zhang Yanjin returned to the back camp of the supply chain. He found that Zhou Qiye had not yet returned to the rear camp of the supply chain. Thinking that Zhou Qiye would stay in the Ruiguo mansion to discuss matters with his father Zhou Qin, he went to the iron workshop first.

"Zhou Fangyuan, it was Zhang Lushi who asked us to smelt iron here. If you come to our iron smelting workshop to make trouble while Zhang Lushi is away, aren't you afraid that Zhang Lushi will come back and blame you?!" Ruifu's stern voice came from the iron smelter. It was passed out in the workshop.

Zhang Yanjin knew that Zhou Fangyuan was the supervisor next to Zhou Qiye, a distant relative of the Zhou family, who came to join the Zhou family and was brought into the back camp by Zhou Qiye to serve as the supervisor, relying on his name as Zhou Qiye's relative all day long Domineering in the rear camp of the baggage.

Previously, he and this Zhou Fangyuan would meet several times.A whip almost hit Zhou Fangyuan, and he used the whip to drag his saber around Zhou Fangyuan's nose, thinking that Zhou Fangyuan held a grudge this week, and wanted to make trouble in the iron-making workshop while he was away, and was caught by Rui The Fu brothers were blocked.

Zhang Yanjin stopped the soldiers behind him and gave them a silent gesture.

The soldiers wanted to see Zhang Yanjin take care of Zhou Fangyuan because of Zhang Yanjin's identity and because they had been bullied by Zhou Fangyuan all day long.

"Zhang Lushi? Isn't it the Zhang family's Erlang Zhang Yanjin? If his uncle is Zhang Zhongqian, who is Zhang Yanjin?" Zhou Fangyuan pushed Ruifu away and was about to lead people into the iron-making workshop.

The workers in the iron-making workshop also stopped, holding tools and looking at Zhou Fangyuan and the group of people behind Zhou Fangyuan vigilantly.

They have just worked hard here for a few days, and their pay is measured by the number of workpieces they make. They have just gained momentum in their days. At this time, someone is coming to destroy them. How can they not fight against the enemy?

"Zhou Fangyuan, this is the iron-making workshop that our Erlang has set up. If you dare to make trouble here today, then don't blame me, Ruifu, for being rude!" Hearing a crisp sound, Ruifu pulled out his long knife.

"Ruifu, Zhang's dog!"

After all, Zhou Fangyuan was still a little afraid of Ruifu's appearance of admitting death. He didn't dare to step forward, so he could only curse: "You should have seen it this morning, right? The leader of the imperial guards next to the emperor personally came to arrest Zhang Yanjin and enter the palace. Zhang Yanjin wantonly hurt the army horse, he has already thanked his eight generations of ancestors for being able to leave the palace alive this time, do you still want to see him here?"

"Zhou Jianjun, Zhou Jianjun, Zhang, Zhang Shi is here..." A supervisor next to Zhou Fangyuan inadvertently saw Zhang Yanjin coming out from behind the wall, and was so frightened that he couldn't speak.

Because his voice was too low, Zhou Fangyuan didn't realize it for a while: "What did you say?"

When Zhou Fangyuan felt a thorn in his back, when he looked back, he saw Zhang Yanjin's face flashing past, and then, a black sole flew towards him, hitting the bridge of his nose.

Zhou Fangyuan staggered back a few steps, fell to the ground, and sat down on the upright iron stand.

With a scream, he jumped up from the ground, clutching his buttocks and screaming again and again.

Accompanied by the tingling pain on his buttocks, the soreness on his nose could be said to be straight to the sky, and two clusters of hot nosebleeds came out of his nostrils.

"Didn't you ask who I am?" Zhang Yanjin came over, grabbed Zhou Fangyuan's collar and said, "I am the second in my family, so I can't stop me from beating you!"

Zhang Yanjin's iron fist landed on Zhou Fangyuan's body one after another, causing Zhou Fangyuan's nose to be bruised and face swollen, and he didn't know what to do.

The surrounding supervisors who followed Zhou Fangyuan and came to make trouble saw the two wars and did not dare to make a sound, let alone run away.

"Zhang Lushi, Zhang Lushi, I know I'm wrong, I know I'm wrong, I don't dare to do it again..." Zhou Fangyuan cried and begged for mercy.

"Do you know Fangyuan?" Zhang Yanjin asked, staring at Zhou Fangyuan's black eye circles.

Although Zhou Fangyuan didn't understand what Zhang Yanjin meant when he said that, but to him, what Zhang Yanjin said at this moment was what he meant. He nodded like a chicken pecking at rice and said loudly: "I know, I know!"

"Okay, since I know the rules of Fangyuan, I won't argue with you anymore." Zhang Yanjin waved his hand.

Just when Zhou Fangyuan heaved a sigh of relief, rolled his eyes, and almost fainted, he heard Zhang Yanjin say: "Zhou Fangyuan wantonly caused trouble in the army, ignored military discipline and military law, pulled him down, dealt with by military law, and beat the army stick fifty times in public , as an example to others!"

Zhou Fangyuan was so frightened that his nose and tears flowed down together, and he cried, "Zhang Yanjin, you villain!"

"It seems that you still don't understand the rules?" Zhang Yanjin raised her fist.

Zhou Fangyuan was about to explode with anger, Zhang Yanjin clearly pretended that this was bullying you, what could you do to me.

"Zhang Yanjin, if you dare to hit me, aren't you afraid that Zhou Changshi will come back and punish you?!" Zhou Fangyuan was dragged out by the soldiers, pressed on the bench and shouted.

Zhang Yanjin deliberately shrugged his shoulders and said, "So what? Who is afraid of whom?"

He commanded the two soldiers: "If you dare to make trouble in my iron workshop and delay the process of refining horseshoes, hit me hard. If anyone dares to delay refining horseshoes in the future, it will be the same fate!"

Zhou Fangyuan bullied the soldiers a lot on weekdays. Now that everyone has the opportunity, how can they not take the opportunity to retaliate?There were a lot of Fifty Army Sticks at once, and the soldiers who carried out the Army Sticks would change to another one when they were tired. Zhang Yanjin pretended not to see it when he saw it, and asked the soldiers to actually beat Zhou Fangyuan's Fifty Army Sticks. The supervisors dragged away the dying Zhou Fangyuan.

The cold moon was like a hook, wild geese flew south, the autumn wind was rustling, and horses hissed, but there was a warm-blooded atmosphere gradually pervading in the rear camp.

Ever since Zhang Yanjin put the veterans into the tents and promulgated a new rule in the iron smelting workshop, after the payment was calculated according to the number of workpieces, many soldiers envied the workers in Zhang Yanjin's iron smelting workshop, but they were hindered by the supervision of the army. Whip, no one dared to say.

Today, Zhang Yanjin beat the supervisor Zhou Fangyuan angrily again, and gave a big sigh of relief for the soldiers who had been bullied, and made Zhang Yanjin an official who was respected and feared by the soldiers.

After Zhou Qiye got the news, he hurriedly left Ruiguo Mansion and galloped to the back camp of the supply chain. It was already late at night. Most of the soldiers in the army had rested, only the sentries and scouts were still standing firm.

He quickly entered the tent where Zhou Fangyuan was recovering from his wounds, looking at Zhou Fangyuan, who was no longer recognizable from his original appearance, and kept moaning, his forehead was throbbing with veins.

No matter what, Zhou Fangyuan was the one he brought in this week. Zhang Yanjin just hit Zhou Fangyuan in front of the whole army. Isn't this a slap in the face of Zhou Qiye?

It's not that Zhou Qiye thinks too much, but that he has been immersed in the officialdom with Zhou Qin since he was a child, and he has long developed the way of thinking in the officialdom.Think about everything and seek the root.

Zhang Yanjin had just gained some good looks in front of the emperor today, and returned to the barracks in the afternoon to deliberately find an excuse to beat Zhou Fangyuan.The hateful thing is that Zhang Yanjin is in the limelight now, and he can only endure it for the time being.

With a lamp like a bean, Zhou Qiye sat withered in the huge tent and clenched his fists tightly. When did Zhou Qiye suffer such humiliation in the court today and tonight?

But he quickly figured out that Zhang Yanjin was just a flea jumping around.A man can bend and stretch, let him make this rogue flea proud for a few days!

What Zhou Qiye never imagined was that the incident that happened this afternoon was completely unexpected, and Zhou Fangyuan himself ran into it.

"It's inconvenient to recuperate the wounded in the back camp. I've already arranged for a carriage. You can go back to your residence to recuperate for a while, and wait until you recover. I'll take care of the military affairs myself." Zhou Qiye instructed Zhou Fangyuan in a deep voice.

Originally, the soldiers in the back camp of the supply chain thought that Zhou Qiye would come to the rear camp of the supply chain overnight and would definitely ask Zhang Yanjin Xingshi for his crimes.

But what everyone didn't expect was that Zhou Qiye didn't have it that night, nor the next day. It seemed that he had never heard that Zhou Fangyuan was punished by Zhang Yanjin in public. It was the same as before, and he didn't ask at all.

Zhang Yanjin was also happy to be idle, except after poaching some skilled craftsmen from various workshops, he spent all day in the iron-making workshop.

Seeing the charcoal in the ironmaking blast furnace, Zhang Yanjin took out a blueprint and handed it to the craftsman he had carefully selected.

He has to speed up the process of making the horseshoes. After the horseshoes are finished together with the Ministry of Industry, he can get rid of the idle things on his body and concentrate on digging and refining coal in Datong to accumulate wealth of rough stones, right?

"Recorder, this is..." Rao, a craftsman who is proficient in making crafts, looked at the stick figure Zhang Yanjin drew on the blueprint, and was also at a loss.

The stick figure was quite clear and three-dimensional, but he didn't know what it was, so he really didn't dare to do it.

Zhang Yanjin pointed out patiently: "This is a bellows. Pulling the handle of the bellows can blow air into the blast furnace and increase the firepower."

This place is far away from coal resources, and it is impossible to dig coal for a while, but he can use other methods to increase firepower and temperature.

The bellows is based on the principle of increasing the contact area between firewood and air. He doesn't know when the bellows was invented. Now he wants to speed up the process of refining horseshoes. The bellows are the easiest to make.

The craftsman looked at it carefully for a long time, his eyes lit up.

Zhang Yanjin smiled lightly, put his hands behind his back and said, "Go ahead and do it, we have two ironmaking blast furnaces, and you can make two matching bellows."

After the craftsman took the order, he took the tools and prepared to make them, but the two Ruifu brothers warned them not to leak them out, so they went to make them.

In less than a day's work, these craftsmen made a bellows together.

After everyone connected the bellows to the vent of the ironmaking blast furnace, the flame in the blast furnace instantly became much brighter.

The soldiers in charge of the iron-making blast furnace immediately re-smelted the iron and lit a stick of incense to count the time.

After the first sponge iron was smelted, the soldier in charge of the iron smelting ran up to Zhang Yanjin excitedly and said, "Zhang Lushi, the time for iron smelting has been reduced by a quarter of an hour!"

Zhang Yanjin quickly calculated in his mind, and it took a quarter of an hour less time to smelt each time. Although not much time was saved each time, the amount of iron smelting was larger, and the accumulated time was still quite considerable.

"Okay, increase the firepower immediately, the more you do, the more you will be paid!" Zhang Yanjin said with a smile.

As soon as the words fell, the atmosphere here suddenly rose.

Zhou Qiye, who was far away, heard the sound of cheers, and his eyes sank.

Although Zhou Qiye didn't come to trouble Zhang Yanjin on the surface, he was secretly competing with Zhang Yanjin.