Datang Nongwang

Chapter 620 Another Year

The iron material needs to be resolved, and Li Chongyuan has no choice but to wait.

Waiting for Li Shimin's reply, and waiting for Wang Ting's arrival.

And now it's almost the New Year's Eve, Wang Ting will definitely not be able to come, and this matter can only be discussed after the New Year.

The weather is getting colder and colder.

The sky has already snowflakes.

Li Chongyuan didn't bother to go to the state yamen recently, and stayed in Li village all the time.

During this time, Yu Rong and the others, who had returned from the sea trial, also began to work overtime to build a new type of mastless paddle steamer.

Time flies and it's the end of the year again.

There are still five or six days before the Chinese New Year.

Li Chongyuan finally waited for Chang'an's reply.

When Li Chongyuan got Li Shimin's letter, he was in a good mood.

"Iron ore is finally resolved, and we can start working hard next year." After Li Chongyuan received Li Shimin's reply, the stone in his heart finally fell to the ground.

Although Li Shimin did not give Li Chongyuan much iron ore, it was only enough for the shipyard.

If Li Chongyuan needs to build something else, his iron ore will have to think of another way.

But fortunately, the iron ore in the shipyard has been settled, and Li Chongyuan has nothing else to build at the moment. Even if some are missing, it doesn't have much impact on him.

Standing behind Li Chongyuan, Xingba saw that Li Chongyuan had been worried for several days, his brows finally eased, and he said happily: "Little Lang, since the Holy Majesty has allowed us to use iron ore here, then when the time comes The iron ore has to be transported from the north, so I think we have to write a letter and arrange it.”

"You're right. But the Chinese New Year is getting closer and closer. It's really not the time to write a letter now. Let's wait until the next year. It's not too late to write after the New Year. Anyway, we will stop working in two days. Besides The people at the post station have to rest and have a good year." Li Chongyuan was no longer in such a hurry when he arrived.

As the New Year's Eve was getting closer, Li Chongyuan was so generous that he asked Xiang Si to give everyone some years' money, which was also an affirmation of their success this year.

Although the money was not much, it also cost Li Chongyuan a lot of money.

Three days ago.

Li Chongyuan issued an instruction to suspend work for the New Year.

It's time for a holiday.

Although in this era, there is no so-called holiday regulation at all, there are only the court and the government.

But on Li Chongyuan's side, they will basically take a day or two off on various festivals so that they can rest.

As for the New Year's Day, for the Tang people, it can be said to be very important.

In order to enable them to have a good year, Li Chongyuan, in addition to distributing annual money, took a holiday in advance, and this holiday will last for a long time.

The holiday started three days before the first year, and it will last until the Shangyuan Festival.

of course.

In addition to the arrival of the New Year's Eve, it was also because of the cold weather.

three days later.

New Year's Eve is coming.

The officials in Yangzhou didn't know what to do, they all seemed to have discussed it, and they all ran to Li Village to pay New Year's greetings to Li Chongyuan, the governor.

All kinds of gifts can be described as endless and dazzling.

But fortunately there was no money in these gifts, otherwise Li Chongyuan would have to meet the official who gave the money for a while.

New Years was a lively, but also dull.

For others, this year is considered lively, but for Li Chongyuan, it seems very ordinary.

It was so dull that Li Chongyuan didn't even have the heart to enjoy this new year's festival.

Li Chongyuan has thoughts in his heart.

It was the first time to celebrate the New Year outside, and Li Chongyuan felt homesick.

In addition to being homesick, I am more homesick for everyone in the family.

Fortunately, Li Chongyuan's mood changes quickly. Although he is homesick, although he misses his family, his self-control quickly dilutes this melancholy.

As the New Year passes.

After the Shangyuan Festival has passed.

Li Village has started another busy day.

The state yamen had already started to deal with government affairs, but Li Chongyuan had been nesting in Li Village, not going anywhere, so he was nailed to Li Village.

The yamen has Yao Kong watching for him, and Li Chongyuan doesn't have much thought to deal with the government affairs of Yangzhou.

What's more, with Yao Kong present and Li Chongyuan's instructions, everything is proceeding step by step. With or without Li Chongyuan, it will continue as usual.

February.

The shipyard continued to be busy, and all kinds of wood were transported to the shipyard wharf along with the ships.

The three shipwrights each have their own tasks.

Wanhong is responsible for building the medium-sized paddle steamer with mast.

Its length exceeds fifteen feet, that is, its length exceeds 50 meters.

Even its width is eight meters.

As for the height, it is not high at all, only five or six meters high, and the depth of the draft depends on the weight of the wood and the degree of loading, which is difficult to calculate at present.

Yu Rong was in charge of building a medium-sized paddle steamer without a mast, which was not much different from the one Wan Hong was in charge of, in terms of shape, length, width, etc., and basically the same wood materials.

The paddle wheels of the two paddle steamers have been redesigned.

The paddle wheel is getting bigger and bigger, so big that it is already close to the height of the hull.

but.

Li Chongyuan didn't really care, what he wanted was that when the paddle steamer was walking on the water, its speed or stability, both had to meet the requirements of its design.

Although the paddle wheel is big, it looks weird, but Li Chongyuan is a pragmatist and doesn't care about the size of the paddle wheel at all.

State yamen, as well as county yamen.

When the change was initiated last year, it has only been two months.

But in the past two months, there have been many changes. Although there are still cases of officials corrupting the law, they dare not accept large amounts of money.

And as the year passed and entered February, the yamen continued to change again and continued to move forward.

The school in Li Village also started accepting students at the end of February.

Master, he was invited by Xiang Si from outside.

There are not many masters, and only seven people have been invited.

The arrival of the seven masters also heralds the official opening of the school.

There are many students enrolled in the school, almost 500 people.

Moreover, these are only the children of the tenants in Li Village, the children of the water workers, the children of the boatmen, and so on.

This is not counting the baby that Wang Sheng and his group have yet to send.

If Wang Sheng and the others sent more babies, they would probably have reached [-] students by then.

On the last day at the end of February, Li Chongyuan was taken to the school by Xiang Si, where Li Chongyuan unveiled the plaque and offered sacrifices.

After the opening of the school, Xiang Si informed all the students to receive paper and pens that afternoon.

As soon as the pens and paper appeared, the seven masters were dumbfounded, and even more curiously observed with those hard pens for a long time.

The appearance of the hard pen made them curious.

The first day of March.

This is the day when the school officially starts teaching.

And when the master received the respect from all the students outside the school, under the leadership of Li Chongyuan and others, the masters saw a new teaching method and new tools for teaching.

Blackboard with white chalk.

As the teachers gradually got used to the way of teaching with white chalk, the seven teachers were all shocked, and whenever they had free time, they chased after Li Chongyuan to ask questions.

And Li Chongyuan didn't talk much at all, he just smiled and acted like he didn't know anything.

One step into March.

As before, everyone is busy.

However, Li Chongyuan entered a stage of headache because of the blast furnace experiment at the blacksmith's house.

The old Xu's family was even figuring out how the blast furnace could smelt hundreds of steels every day and night, and even pulled Li Chongyuan to ask various questions every day.

As for the blast furnace, Li Chongyuan only knew that there was such a thing, and he only knew the general principle of the blast furnace. If he went deeper, he basically didn't know.

The Xu family's questioning was in vain.

In the end, the Xu family had to be relied on to solve various problems in the blast furnace.

As for the coke, this thing is relatively simple, but Li Chongyuan still only knows its general principle, how to operate the coke, Li Chongyuan did not have the conditions to test it in his previous life.

and so.

If you want to get coke, you still need others to operate and experiment.

The medium-sized paddle steamer is still under intensive construction.

In the process of building the ship, Li Chongyuan couldn't help at all. He could only serve as a logistics staff and provide some things to the shipyard.

Or, make a little comment.

As for the state government and county government, it is still as usual, and the change will continue to change.

And at the same time.

Under Li Chongyuan's instruction, Yao Kong started to form a business group similar to purchasing various mountain goods, and this business group was initially opened in the name of the government, and in the end, it would be eliminated from the hands of the government. Become a private business association.

April.

Coke has been considered a successful experiment, but mass production still needs a long time.

However, the blast furnace is still being tested.

The ship is still under urgent construction.

After the water workers didn't have much to do, they helped the shipyard build ships and did some work within their ability, which also made the progress of building ships faster.

At the end of April, under the leadership of the new captain, Zhechong Mansion headed to Huayang County to deal with the bandits who came out of Zhongnan Mountain.

And Zhu Shengzhi, the other driver of the state yamen, went with him after asking Li Chongyuan for instructions.

May.

Finally, with the efforts of Xu's family, Mian Mian Qiang Qiang was considered a successful experiment.

Moreover, after the Xu family tested it, the small amount of steel they produced was comparable to [-]-year-old steelmaking.

As soon as the furnace of steel came out, the Xu family couldn't wait to invite Li Chongyuan over, excitedly asking Li Chongyuan for credit.

The output of steel represents the progress of the times.

At the same time, it also means that the Xu family may be rewarded by the court.

Although the appearance of such an advanced method of steel production is due to Li Chongwu's credit, but without Xu's family's day and night experiments, this furnace of steel would not have appeared.

but.

Li Chongyuan was not eager to claim credit for the Xu family from the imperial court, after all, everything here belonged to him, Li Chongyuan.

Li Chongyuan needs to produce a large amount of steel. Only when he is satisfied, will he write a letter to Li Shimin for the Xu family, asking Li Shimin to reward the Xu family.

and so.

After Li Chongyuan explained it to the Xu family, the Xu family never thought of being rewarded by the court. They knew that without Li Chongyuan, whether it was a blast furnace or coke, it would have been impossible for them to appear.

June.

The blast furnace continues to improve, and the coke refining method also continues to improve.

Under the leadership of two shipbuilders, the two medium-sized paddle steamers are almost completed, and they can be installed on the paddle steamers after the Xu family makes gears, pulleys and other things.

The bandits in Huayang County were also appeased by Biejia Zhu Shengzhi, and they were placed in various places, assigned to fields, and received relief food from the government.

Regarding the fact that the bandits in Huayang County were willing to come out of the mountains, all the officials in the government and the generals have been unable to think of a reason.

As for this matter, Li Chongyuan was well aware of it.

Years ago, after Li Chongyuan ordered the Qingfengzhai brothers who were imprisoned in Huayang County prison to be released, Qingfengzhai began to lobby everywhere, persuading the bandits hidden in Zhongnan Mountain to get out of the mountain and settle down.

July.

The ship has been built, only gears and other things are left.

After five months of teaching in the school, the students also learned a lot of characters and even learned arithmetic.

The blast furnace was finally tested and formed under the Xu family's unremitting efforts, and under their command, a taller and larger blast furnace was built, ready to be used to produce steel.

current month.

Li Chongyuan asked Xiang Si to supervise the construction of a workshop for the production of white chalk and hard pens.

August.

Don't let Zhu Shengzhi come to Li Village once in a while. After seeing the large-scale construction in Li Village, he saw a tower-like column with white smoke rising from it. He was very puzzled.

And Li Chongyuan didn't explain much, and made up an excuse that he was burning charcoal.

In the same month, under the nod of Li Chongyuan, Zhu Shengzhi wrote a memorial to report to the imperial court the matter of recruiting bandits in Zhongnan Mountain in Huayang County.

And the government business group formed in Yaokong also began to transport various mountain goods from Yangzhou to Chang'an, Luoyang and other places.

People in various counties in Yangzhou, after selling mountain products and getting their hard-earned money, all said that they would go to Xixiang to deliver various food to Li Chongyuan, the governor.

September.

The two medium-sized paddle steamers have been completely built, and the gears and pulleys have basically been installed on the two paddle steamers.

After consulting Li Chongyuan, the two craftsmen who supervised the shipbuilding began to drag the ship out of the dock and started the first trial voyage.

Li Chongyuan felt a sense of accomplishment in his heart as he watched the two paddle steamers, which cost tens of thousands of dollars, be towed out of the dock for sea trials.

Such a large paddle steamer sails on the river, and it is easy to arrive.

But Li Chongyuan knew that this was only a medium-sized ship, and if it was bigger, its length would be hundreds of meters.

In Li Chongyuan's heart, what he most wanted to build was of course the kind of ship from his previous life.

But before the steam engine was produced, Li Chongyuan could only think about it.

but.

Li Chongyuan already had a plan in his mind.

The treasure ship of the Ming Dynasty is what Li Chongyuan needs to build next.

As for whether it will be successful or not, he, Li Chongyuan, will not start to implement it until the construction of the large paddle steamer is completed and he can go to the other side of the ocean.

(End of this chapter)