Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Li Mo jumped down into the tunnel full of residual ice and melting snow, carefully inspecting the upper and lower edges.

The tunnel is very large, the upper circle is lower, and it is so deep that you can't see the end at a glance.

The bottom, side walls and top of the pit are all bricks, densely packed and extremely thick.Especially at the bottom, three layers were built with bricks staggered, and simple anti-leakage measures were taken.

Li Mo held the torch and continued to move forward, checking section by section.

The walls are full of criss-cross lines, some of which were painted by Li Mo himself, and the craftsmen stacked bricks according to the positions of the lines.

The tunnel was extremely silent, only the sound of dull footsteps.

Occasionally, I met a few masters and craftsmen, and they all shrank aside respectfully.

Construction personnel, construction personnel who can almost determine their life and death-this is no exaggeration, if the quality of the project is not up to standard, then they have to rework, in this cold and damp underground, they may fall down while doing it.

After walking for a while, there was a sudden light.Li Mo looked up subconsciously, but saw that he had reached an inspection port.

The so-called inspection port is the opening reserved during the construction for the slaves to come down and dredge the silt.

Li Mo checked the facilities near the inspection opening, and then continued to check the tunnel meticulously.

Obviously, this is a sewer.In today's Luoyang, not only the imperial city and the palace city have sewers, but also every lifang is building sewers one after another to discharge sewage.

Building sewers is a thankless task.It is underground, invisible and intangible to ordinary people, and it cannot add luster to Shao Sheng, which he advocates to build, but it is an indispensable infrastructure for the operation of the city.

Whether it is domestic sewage or the sudden increase in rainwater during heavy rains, it can be collected through the sewer, settled in the sedimentation tank outside the city, and then discharged into Luoshui.

This is a huge project, not even inferior to the construction of Miyagi.When the sage made a decision, he aroused a lot of opposition from the beginning, because it was suspected of abusing people's power.

However, the officials who had experienced groundwater pollution in Chang’an finally agreed at Shao Sheng’s insistence, and the Ministry of Industry took the lead and contracted each section. For each section, a construction engineer admitted to the scientific examination had to produce design drawings, and then track the progress of the project.

Li Mo is in charge of Tonglifang.

There are many high-ranking officials and nobles living here, and it is especially important that the land is close to the market, so he dare not be sloppy, and often goes down to the well to check.

"Good job." After more than an hour of inspection, Li Mo climbed up along the inspection hole, smiled at the masters in Xin'an County who were in charge of this section of the project, and said, "After the inspection by the Ministry of Industry passes, you can You can go back to your hometown. At that time, there will be rewards, and each person will receive two buckets of millet and a piece of woolen cloth to reward everyone for their hard work."

"Thank you for the reward from the imperial court." The leaders who led the masters thanked each other.

"Oh, it's not easy." Li Mo sighed, and said, "When the Ministry of Industry came to inspect, I might not be here anymore. There are still some work to do, so you can do it yourself and don't cut corners."

"No, no." Everyone responded one after another.

At the same time, it is a bit of a pity that everyone has already found out the background of this construction scholar, and he is actually the grandson of Li Yanling, Duke of Jiyin County.He came from such a prominent background, but he still behaved so kindly, without any pretensions, which made people feel very emotional, and felt very sorry for his departure. …

The reason for the pity is not only because he is easy to talk, but also because there is such a big Buddha standing here, which can help them avoid many unnecessary troubles - Li Mo is the second son of Li Yanling's second son Li Xin, although he is a concubine He is a concubine in the middle school, but he can speak up in front of Jiyin County Duke, and his influence must not be underestimated.

After Li Mo left the construction site, he went straight home.

The house is not big, and there are no extra people, just a few servants and maidservants, who will be dismissed in a few days.

He has already entrusted this house in Shangshanfang to a friend, asking him to find a good tenant and rent it out.As for him himself, he is indeed leaving, in February next year, and his destination is Anton Mansion.

Anton Mansion is very short of talents, from all walks of life.Constructors like them are even more in short supply, because the Anton Mansion is full of waste, and there are so many projects in cities, ponds, ditches, bridges, houses, wharves, etc. Wood)
People (old) talent (brother).

To be honest, Li Mo was not very willing to go to that ghostly place.

Although many people are boasting that the land in Andong Mansion is good, you can get a lot of oil if you hold it, and you can get a good harvest if you sprinkle some seeds indiscriminately.But Li Mo knew that it was all nonsense. The six counties of Anton Prefecture only looked like Lushun, but they were still far behind the Central Plains counties.If a construction worker like him goes there, he will have nothing to ask for, let alone an ordinary person.

But the situation is pressing, so it’s impossible not to go.

He was driven to live in this small house, so what else can he say? After his mother died of illness, his days really plummeted. He was able to finish his studies in the Imperial College and pass the entrance examination for a military officer. Divide talent and learn.

Forget it, it would be a waste to vote for Du Guang! Li Mo carefully took out a letter of introduction written by his grandfather Li Yanling, and sighed.That's all the family can do to help.The way forward can only be walked by yourself.

"Don't be discouraged." Li Mo put the letter away.How many people want this kind of recommendation letter and have no way out? Although he is the second wife of the Li family, he still surpasses most people.With this advantage, if you still can't act like a human being, how can you be so embarrassing?
There was a burst of laughter in the courtyard next door, and after a while, someone came to invite Li Mo to the banquet, but Li Mo declined with a smile.He doesn't know his neighbors very well, and he doesn't like to join in the fun, but he doesn't mind having a chat.

"Mr. Zhang is from Quanzhou?" Li Mo was a little surprised that he was actually a scholar under the rule of the military governor Wang.

"It's in Jinjiang County, Quanzhou." Zhang Sheng said, "It's a small place, not worth mentioning."

Li Mo smiled and said: "Traveling thousands of mountains and rivers, Mr. Zhang has a wealth of experience, far surpassing us, I really admire it."

"The place is not peaceful, and there are many bandits and bandits. This is not a good experience." Zhang Sheng said with a wry smile.

"I came to Luoyang this time for the scientific examination next year?" Li Mo asked.

"Exactly." Zhang Sheng replied.

"Which subject?"

"I was full of ambition and wanted to be a Jinshi in high school." Zhang Sheng sighed: "But after communicating with my peers, I found that my talents and studies are too poor. I will try to take the exam this year. If I fail, I will take the Mingjing and try my luck."

"Why is Mr. Zhang so discouraged?" Li Mo persuaded, "Go around more, see more, study more, and you will always pass the exam."

"Thank you for your good words." Zhang Sheng finally had a smile on his face, and asked again: "I heard that Li Jun was admitted as a construction scholar?"...

"Exactly." Li Mo said, "I studied construction in the Imperial College, and I was lucky enough to pass the construction examination this year."

Zhang Sheng was in awe.

Among the sources of scientific research, the study of various countries is a major source.Is it ordinary people who can enter the Imperial College? That is the lair of noble children.

Zhang Sheng's eyes glowed with eagerness, and he repeatedly invited Li Mo to the banquet next door, only to hear him say: "They are all fellow villagers in Fujian, and Muluo is a beautiful city, and they just want to meet scholars from the capital."

Li Mo smiled, and asked without answering, "Are there many candidates in Fujian?"

"A lot." Zhang Sheng thought for a while, and said, "There are seven people with me, and I heard that there are several other groups of people. The number of people who came to Beijing with the court envoy is the largest. There are about [-] people. , Quan, Ting, and Zhang prefectures all exist.”

The court meeting of the first lunar month is approaching, and the court envoys from all states have rushed to the capital ahead of time to start communicating with each other.As a Fujian town that nominally surrendered to Daxia, even if it was pretending, the prefectures had to send people to Beijing to offer gifts and participate in the court meeting.

The students who came to Beijing with the envoy of Chaoji can naturally eat and drink with public funds, and the transportation they take is also the best, which is much more comfortable than going to Beijing alone.

"Students from Fujian are also willing to study in Luoyang?" Li Mo asked.

He was really curious, because Fujian is too far away.Wang Shenzhi was acting like a local emperor behind closed doors again. He was a little surprised that Fujian students went to Beijing to rush for the exam.You know, this is already the Great Xia Dynasty.

If it was still the former Tang Dynasty, Li Mo would not be surprised at all when students from various feudal towns entered Beijing to take the exam.Because the former Tang Dynasty was founded in 280, it was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. So far, many remote places still don't know that the Tang Dynasty has perished.With this kind of prestige, it is completely understandable for students to want to get a fame in the former Tang Dynasty.

But is Daxia's fame gradually gaining popularity now?
"Where can we go if we don't come to Luoyang?" Li Sheng asked in amazement, "The new dynasty in the southern suburbs sacrificed to the heavens, and the weather for the founding of the country is also very good. Our Jieshuai is also a servant of the Great Xia, why don't you come?"

Li Mo felt relieved when he heard this.

He knew that there was nothing wrong with the founding procedure of Great Xia.The sage first confers back to the sky, then creates loyal and upright heroes, and then confers the marshals of all Taoist soldiers and horses, then resigns three times, and finally sacrifices to the heavens in the southern suburbs, ascends the throne and proclaims himself emperor. He is a hero of ZTE.

The king of the previous dynasty has said so, the scene is really done well, very decent.

For this reason, the orthodox image of the new dynasty is very clear. Perhaps this is the main reason why a large number of Fujian students came to Beijing to take the exam? If it is a grass-roots team, it will be despised by the world, but there may not be so many people coming, at least in the short term. No, they have to wait and see to see if this grassroots team will be over soon.

"Jinshi is not so easy to take the exam." Li Mo said: "I am not good at poetry, so I gave up decisively. Finally, I still have some talent in mathematics, so I took the exam by a trick. If Zhang Junruo thinks Jinshi is difficult, Mingjing is also good. "

"It's not easy to get an official after taking the Mingjing test." Zhang Sheng said with a wry smile.

In the early Tang Dynasty, when students from other towns came to Beijing, they basically went for Jinshi.Miscellaneous subjects such as Mingjing, to be honest, do not have a high gold content. It is very difficult to get an official in Chang'an, and it is also very difficult after returning to the hometown. They cannot compete with literati from local powerful backgrounds.

Fanzhen is actually a highly localized military and political group.Local tyrants have natural advantages because they weave a dense network of relationships.Unless you use your Jinshi status to use your strength to break the trick, you have no chance.

Moreover, it is best to be a Jinshi of local origin.Otherwise, even if you are appreciated by the nobles and hired you as a powerful official such as Jieduzhang secretary or shogunate judge, you will be left behind.

After the Anshi Rebellion, many celebrities moved between multiple feudal towns, and their lives were not well-off.It's not that they don't want to stay in one place for a long time, it's really hard to compete with local powerful literati.When the benefactor dies or is transferred away, they often lose their jobs. The reality is so cruel.

"Actually, in some places, Mingjing can still be an official. The chances are great."

Li Mo said suddenly.

"Where?" Zhang Sheng asked with bright eyes.

"Anton Mansion." Li Mo said, "After the Lantern Festival, I packed my bags and got ready to go. Mr. Zhang might as well think about it, there is really a shortage of people there."