Go to ancient times and engage in construction

Xihou's old illness relapsed and lay down on the bed. After Jiang Gui examined Xihou, he shook his head expressionlessly, expressing that Xihou's end is approaching, and Zheng Yuming should be mentally prepared.

Xihou's only son, Sheng, became the crown prince of Wu after Xihou succeeded to the throne.Ever since Xihou fell ill in bed, Prince Sheng stayed around day and night, and ignored anyone who tried to persuade him.Prince Sheng's mind is so stubborn, the expression on his face naturally doesn't know how to hide it, he clearly expresses the fear and sadness that his father may die, he doesn't understand that their father and son identities have changed, and he still only regards his father as a loving father, life and death. rely on.

Prince Sheng's every move before his father's sick bed was watched by the nobles of Wu Kingdom who came to visit.Xihou's deep reluctance to his son, Prince Sheng's extreme attachment to his father, and the natural and undisguised exchange of affection between the two moved them.

"Your Majesty! You can recuperate in peace of mind. The Kingdom of Wu is still waiting for your Majesty to build it." Hushi General comforted Xihou with red eyes.

No matter how much Yi Ji's bones were crushed by his axe, it would not be able to bring back the lives of more than 300 people in the General's Mansion. The eight children and twenty grandchildren of the General Hussars had all left him forever.In the renovated General's Mansion, there are only three lonely masters left.The look of father and son caring for each other in front of him seemed to see the scene of his two surviving grandsons mourning in front of the bed when he died in a hundred years in the future.

When the General Hussars was young, he followed Wu Wang and his son to the battle. Although he had wives and concubines for a long time, he did not spend a long time with them.His legitimate son and concubine son were born one after another from then on.When the sons of the Hussar General can run all over the place, there will be children and grandchildren of the same age as the Hussar General.General Hussar had children because he was old, so he doted on his children more than others.The catastrophe of genocide on the night of chaos in the royal city made the general of the hussars feel unbearable, so that he often had nightmares at night.

General Hushi was deeply touched by Xihou's reluctance for his son. He understood Xihou's love for his son better than others.

Xihou's skinny hand gently patted the depressed old general in front of him, expressing silent comfort.After the king's capital was settled down, Zheng Yuming sent craftsmen to renovate Hushi General's Mansion, recovered and returned the money and goods stolen by Dr. Jiang and his accomplices, and selected more than 90 servants and maids from the palace to take care of Hushi at the General's Mansion. The forty or fifty servants who survived the night of chaos in the royal capital returned one after another.With [-] to [-] people living in the Grand General's Mansion, it has regained its popularity, but it is not as lively as before.

When Xihou and Hushi General were sighing at each other, Zheng Yuming came in holding the good news.

"Your Majesty! The Tang army surrendered and signed a compensation contract." Zheng Yuming saluted Xihou and Prince Sheng, and then exchanged salutes with General Hushi, who returned Zheng Yuming's son's salute.

Above the royal court, the Hussar General's rank is equal to that of Zheng Yuming's Prime Minister, but he does not have the real power in his hands like Zheng Yuming.The Hushi General could have bowed hands to his colleagues, but in his heart Zheng Yuming was a real son-in-law, and the Hushi General had always insisted on bowing to Zheng Yuming.The Hushi general took the lead, and all the ministers of the Wu court followed suit.

"Read it to Gu." A smile appeared on Xihou's face.Seeing the smile on his father's face, Prince Sheng immediately smiled foolishly.

Zheng Yuming read out the contents of the contract one by one, and explained the purpose behind these four contracts.

"It turns out that the black fuel is produced in the Tang Kingdom." Xihou nodded, and the palace where he was lying built a warm wall to ensure that the temperature inside the palace was more than ten degrees.The heating fuel used in the warm wall is coal smuggled from Tang.

"Except for coal, the land ceded by the Tang State is too barren. It's too cheap for that stupid lord. You should ask the Tang State to cede the salt field." Hushi General hated Tang Wang very much. Knowing that Wu's energy is not enough, Hushi General hoped that Wu's army could annex Tang in one fell swoop.

Zheng Yuming didn't like Tang's salt farms: "The concentration of sea water near Tang's salt farms is not enough. That place is not suitable for building salt farms. If we bring those salt farms over, it's better for us to change the way of salt production on the coast of the East China Sea and increase the production of salt."

"Change the way of making salt?" General Hussar was stunned. After the Su Sha family of Yandi created the method of boiling salt with seawater, people have been using it to this day. In the whole Daqin, there is no second choice except to use fire to boil seawater to consume water to obtain salt. A way to get salt.

"It is to build salt fields by the sea to dry salt, which can increase the output by more than ten times." Zheng Yuming does not plan to use seawater beach to make salt. The production cycle is long, the output is not high, and the benefit is low.This is not the optimal way to make salt.Zheng Yuming is going to send people to explore the coast of the East China Sea to find underground brine and open wells to extract brine and dry salt. This method is the well-beach sun-dried sea salt production method in the 21st century salt field.

Brine comes from seawater and is formed in the regression stage of the transgression period. It is formed through evaporation, concentration, accumulation, and land-sea change and burial.The underground brine is distributed in the coastal area of ​​the coastal level, forming a large-scale ore belt around the coast, which has the characteristics of universal distribution.

If the underground brine on the coast of the East China Sea is shallow, ordinary wells can be dug, and if the brine is deep, Zhuotong wells can be dug.

"Can it be increased by more than ten times?" Not only did the Hushi general gasp, but Xihou's face was also moved when he was lying on the bed. The output of salt has increased by more than ten times, which means that the revenue of the national treasury has increased by more than ten times.

Zheng Yuming thought about it, and felt that the multiple he said was a bit conservative.

"Yu Ming will stay and have dinner with Gu Gu tonight." Xi Hou lost his energy to talk anymore, he needs to sleep for a while, but he has a lot to discuss with Zheng Yu Ming, and he wants to talk to Zheng Yu Ming when he wakes up, so he goes Leave a message before falling asleep.

"Here!" Zheng Yuming and Hushi General saw that Xihou closed his eyes and rested his mind, they hurriedly said their goodbyes and withdrew.

"My lord, now that the country is pacified, those feudal lords who were killed by Yi Ji will choose their heirs to inherit from their offspring?" To stabilize the throne, he killed many aristocratic families and lords, and these people were often exterminated.The exterminated nobles all had fiefs, and their close relatives were killed by Yi Ji. Now they have been rehabilitated and have no direct heirs.The offshoots of the nobles were very excited about the fiefs of their distant relatives, and wanted to get the right to inherit, so they found ways to move around the royal court. The mansion of the general Hushi was the place where they were most active.

"This matter has to be decided by the king." Zheng Yuming frowned, he would not find owners for those fiefs that have no owners.

Not only will the fiefdoms of these dead masters not be confiscated, but he will also deprive many living fiefdoms, such as Dr. Jiang, Yiji's remaining party, and his accomplices, the younger brothers of King Wu.

The bloody change of regime caused Wu to die and abolish half of the feudal lords. After that, the land directly controlled by the Wu royal family reached more than three-quarters of the total area of ​​the country.

General Hushi thought that Zheng Yuming was unwilling to make decisions without authorization, so he stopped mentioning this matter immediately.He didn't really want to help those aristocrats with connections, but he was so annoyed that he couldn't get away so he went to Zheng Yuming to talk about it.Generally, the feudal lord has no direct heir, and whether the fief is inherited by a side branch depends on the king's mood.

"Wei Wenzai still refuses to leave Lord Ulsan's coffin." Zheng Yuming once asked General Hushi to comfort Wei Shen.

Wei Shen was named the king's court minister by Xi Hou, but Wei Shen had no interest at all. He waited in front of the coffin of Young Master Guang all day, preparing for the funeral of Young Master Guang's coffin.The day after tomorrow is the day when Prince Guang's coffin will be buried in the royal tomb. On that day, Doctor Jiang, Xi Sima and the rest of Yi Ji's party will be executed before Prince Guang's burial.

"Don't try to persuade him again in the future." Zheng Yuming lowered his eyes.Wei Shen is blaming himself just like him, blaming himself for not exposing Yi Ji's conspiracy earlier, and thus giving Yi Ji the opportunity to poison Gongzi Guang.

"General Chu should be back by now." Seeing the gloomy atmosphere, the Hushi General changed the subject and brought up Zheng Yuming's joy.

"Well, Zhou Cheng led [-] soldiers to take over the land compensated by the Tang Dynasty. General Chu and the two Sima led the army back to the capital. They should be there in a day or two." Mentioning Chaohui, Zheng Yuming's face unconsciously brought Happy color.

"Zhou Cheng..." The hussar general wanted to say that Zhou Cheng was just a slave, and his status was too low to be a general stationed on the border.However, the victory of Wu's civil war was achieved only by the bravery of these slave soldiers. Without the existence of slave soldiers, the king would not be pacified so quickly.Thinking of this, the Hussar General held back his tongue.

Zheng and Chu have not rewarded the generals for their meritorious service. Zhou Cheng is still the slave and domestic servant of Zheng and Chu. A little political status.In the eyes of the ministers of the royal capital, Zhou Cheng was like Chu Chaohui's housekeeper, managing the army instead of Chu Chaohui.

Zheng Yuming understood the meaning of what the General Hushi didn't say, but he pretended not to hear it.The slave status of Zhou Cheng's gang of slave officers in the valley is a problem that Zheng Yuming must solve.

That night, Xihou drank some ginseng to refresh himself, and when he felt refreshed, he called Zheng Yuming to him.

Zheng Yuming entered the inner hall together with Crown Prince Sheng, and Prince Sheng accompanied Zheng Yuming to have dinner in the outer hall following Xihou's order.Prince Sheng used to have a good appetite, but after Xihou fell ill, Prince Sheng was so sad that he didn't want to eat. His chubby body lost a lot of weight, and the skin on his face became loose.

As soon as Prince Sheng entered the inner hall, he moved to Xihou's side and nestled next to his father without moving.

Xihou stroked his son's hair, raised his eyes and looked directly at Zheng Yuming: "Zheng Yuming, you must remember our agreement." Xihou did not call Zheng Yuming Gong Ziming this time.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, as long as Yu Ming is here, the Crown Prince will be safe."

Xihou believed in Zheng Yuming's character very much. Everything Zheng Yuming did in Ulsan was praised by people, and the kindness of the Ulsan army to the captives highlighted Zheng Yuming's kindness.

"Sheng'er, you have to listen to Ming's words in the future. Ming means being a father, do you understand?" Xihou seriously confessed to his son, and he changed the name of Zheng Yuming back.

"Well, Sheng'er understands, Ming is like a father and king." Prince Sheng nodded foolishly.

"..." A black line appeared on Xihou's forehead again, but he patted his son's head and did not correct Prince Sheng's wrong statement. I hope Zheng Yuming can keep his son happy and safe for the sake of his innocence.

Xihou suddenly remembered what the feudal witch doctor said before he died, saying that his son's fortune was the number one in the Great Qin Dynasty. Now it seems that the witch doctor's words seem to be corrected step by step.

"Ming, Gu has already engaged Sheng'er three years ago. She is the eldest daughter of a noble family named Tian in the fiefdom. The Tian family is gentle and gentle. She was planning to get married at the end of this year, but now it seems too late." Xihou said here, After a pause, Zheng Yuming quickly nodded and agreed that after a hundred years from Xihou, he will help Xihou hold the wedding ceremony for Prince Sheng.

"If the Tian family gives birth to a son, don't beg for the crown prince in the future. Having a son is enough." Xihou continued to explain.

"Yes!" Zheng Yuming agreed. Xihou himself was a concubine and suffered from neglect. The bloody battle for the throne between the sons and sons of Wu State intensified Xihou's idea of ​​not wanting his son Naji.Xihou himself has no Naji, only two regular wives.After his first wife died in childbirth, he remarried Sheng's mother.

Xihou's reluctance to Na Ji was influenced by his childhood life. The status and treatment of the concubine and the legitimate son were completely different because of their status.Xihou didn't want such a difference between his sons.

"If there is any embarrassing thing, I will help you all while I am alone." Xihou put Zheng Yuming's hand and his son's hand together.

"Your Majesty..."

Zheng Yuming suddenly felt that Xihou's eyes were a bit like X-rays, which could penetrate people's hearts. He had to do a few things with Xihou's hands.

The author has something to say: Zhuotong well is a small deep well. When drilling the well, the “single-shaped” drill bit is used to smash the rocks by impact, and the cuttings and water are pumped out with bamboo tubes by injecting water or using groundwater.The diameter of Zhuotong well is only the size of a bowl, and the well wall is not easy to collapse.The ancients also removed the joints of the big Nan bamboo, socketed the end and the end, wrapped the hemp rope outside, coated with putty, and lowered it into the well as a casing to prevent the wall of the well from collapsing and fresh water from immersing.When taking brine, thin bamboo is used as a brine extraction cylinder, which is inserted into the casing. The bottom of the cylinder is used as an opening and closing valve.

The appearance of Zhuotong well marks the maturity of deep well drilling technology in ancient China.Since then, the depth of the salt well has continued to increase.In the 15th year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty (1835), the Shenhai Well, the first deep well over a kilometer in the world at that time, was drilled in the Zigong Salt Area of ​​Sichuan.