Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 652
As far as whether Xiuwu County or Hanoi County is more prosperous, there is no dispute at present. Hanoi County is richer, after all, it is a state city.But if it goes further, it's hard to say, because the Xia Palace has really invested a lot of resources in Xiuwu County.

Shao Sheng took his "concubines, princes, and officials" to the east again, and after crossing Qinshui, he went straight to Xiuwu.

Tens of thousands of troops, including the Iron Forest Army, Feilong Army, Yumen Army, Guards, and Yinshan Fanbu, arrived in Xiuwu County on August 29th.

Before entering the city, a small episode happened.

Luo Hongxin from Weizhou secretly dispatched an envoy, and Shao Shude asked Pei Tong to receive him.

It shouldn't be a big deal, Luo Hongxin wouldn't take refuge at this time.In fact, he has no ambitions, no desire to expand externally, and everything he does is just for self-protection.

This year, the Flying Dragon Army "borrowed" Weizhou twice to cross the south of the river, and people recognized it with a pinch of their noses, as if nothing had happened.Wei people are not so stupid as to take chestnuts from the fire for Zhu Quanzhong, sacrifice themselves, and illuminate others.

This was just a simple show of favor, and Luo Hongxin should also be very worried that the Xia army would directly invade Weizhou.

Xiuwu County can't accommodate so many people, so the army is stationed outside the city.

"Zhao Cheng is good." Shao Shude put down the watch in his hand and praised.

Zhao Yu sat quietly on the bed, combing her hair.

She is already over forty years old, so it can be said that she is old and decrepit, but she has served King Xia for at least one third of the nights during the trip.

Shao Shude cherished her very much, and except for a few times when he couldn't help it, he was very careful most of the time, trying not to let Zhao Yu get pregnant again at this age.

Pei Zhen walked in lightly, followed by four female historians.

Because his identity cannot be cleared, even though he has given birth to a pair of sons and daughters for King Xia, Pei Zhenyi can only continue to be a criminal without knowing why.

At present, she is taking the position of Shang Fu in the palace, which is a position added by Shao Shude himself, and it is also beyond the system.

According to the system, Shangfu belongs to the palace officials (female officials), and is one of the two principals of the Shangfu Bureau.

The Bureau of Shangfu, "is in charge of the number of chapters collected for offerings and clothes, and is in charge of treasures, clothes, decorations, and battles."

In short, there are several functions.First, to keep the seal for the emperor, and establish a file for use, "Zhu Shumark"; second, to control imperial clothing and jewelry;

Originally, there should be Si Bao, Si Yi, Si Shi and other subordinate female officials under his command, but Shao Shude's ostentation is not that big, so he only needs one person, Shangfu, and four other female officials as assistants.

Well, in more modern terms, Pei Zhenyi is a personal assistant, a personal secretary and so on.

Of course, Shao Shude's ostentation is also slowly increasing.

His "life assistant" is obviously more than one.

No, Du Shi and Wei Shi walked in together, followed by several female historians.

Du Shi held the post of Shangyi, in charge of books, paper and pen, music, Chen cloth, banquets, court meetings and so on.

Webster is still in bed, and he is in charge of the bed, the laying of curtains, mats, lamps and candles, etc.

The Xiao family is a meritorious person, in charge of tailoring, jewellery, goods, food, firewood, etc.

Basically, they are official positions under the imperial court system. The emperors of the country really liked to use female officials. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, eunuchs were basically in charge of the field. At this time, at least half of them used female officials.

Pei Zhenyi commanded Nv Shi to change Zhao Yu's clothes with a complex expression.Who asked people to "be courteous to Princess Concubine", even Concubine Zhe was very polite to Zhao Yu, calling her "Sister", who would have the face of other concubines?

Mrs. Du put a stack of seals on Shao Shude's desk, and the female history stepped forward, and began to polish the ink.

Webster personally took the female secretary to tidy up the bed, curtain and couch.The little girl had a childish face, with a little baby fat on her face. When she saw the stains on the bed, she blushed up to her ears.

"My lord, Zhao Cheng's business is getting bigger and bigger, I'm afraid it will cause criticism, and I'm worried..." Zhao Yu said while arranging the dress himself.

"No problem." Shao Shude said: "If anyone is dissatisfied with sending 15 horses, [-] cows, and [-] sheep to Heyang, ask him if he can do it?"

Being able to send such livestock to Heyang at one time, or from a place as far away as Longyou, showed Zhao Cheng's ability.

The supply of hay, grain and beans, the rest of the fattening land, and the official support are impossible for people without energy, let alone a lot of money and food. Transporting livestock from Helong to Heyang, From a commercial point of view, it is not profitable at all, and may even be loss-making.

Of course Shao Shude is aware of the joint.Zhao Cheng did this purely to show his favor and flatter him.

This is a businessman with winks and political sensitivity, and Shao Shude appreciates it very much.

"Du Rangneng of Liangzhou will send a batch of livestock next month. Here in Heyang, it's like a bottomless pit." Shao Shude sighed and said, "I don't know how many livestock will be needed to fill the hole."

When Du Shi heard the word "Du Rang Neng", his expression subconsciously tightened.Shao Shude patted her hand, telling her not to be too nervous.

"It's better to let Zhao Cheng come to Xiuwu County." Zhao Yu suggested: "Your Majesty wants to build Jiafang and Goudun in Xiuwu University. There is a lot of money to spend. Why don't you let him come here so that he can share some of the pressure."

"The bonus that Zhao Cheng distributes every year, but I leave it to you two." Shao Shude stretched out his hand to caress Zhao Yu's face, and said helplessly, "Besides, what can he do here?"

"There's always something to do." Zhao Yu said, "As soon as the Huaizhou Metropolitan Academy was established, there were so many craftsmen and their families. There were also many miners and brickmakers who always needed food, cloth, household items, and utensils. The Wei family and the Ye Li family They are all here, so Zhao Cheng should do his best."

Shao Shude nodded slightly.

The Huaizhou Metropolitan Academy is located in Xiuwu County. It was opened by Shao Shude's order a few months ago. Craftsmen were recruited from all over the country, and some apprentices were recruited to make weapons nearby in Huaizhou.

The Weicai family and the Yeli family came here to open mines and set up blacksmith shops, and they were also called by Shao Shude. To put it bluntly, they were all for the future war.

The two were forced to compete by Shao Shude, and they had indeed made some progress over the years.

First of all, the leather bellows have basically been eliminated and replaced with wooden push-pull bellows, which greatly improves the blowing efficiency.

Secondly, Shao Shude once asked the craftsmen why some "iron" can be melted at the same furnace temperature, but some "iron" cannot be melted?
Interrogated by such a soul, the craftsmen realized that maybe something else in the iron caused the difference in melting temperature.

Shao Shude told them it was called "alloy".What they smelt is not pure iron, but various iron alloys, so the melting points are completely different, and the craftsmen have accepted this fact.

This is a great place to start acknowledging this before trying to go a little deeper.The most important thing is to rise to the theory, not to rely on practice and experience alone, as progress is always limited.

One more thing, Shao Dashuai's "technique stops here", he can't even remember the melting point of pure iron, he only knows that it is impossible to melt pure iron with the technology at this time.

He was able to issue that soul torture mainly because of his own vision.

Datang's iron smelting, swords and swords were basically obtained by using block iron smelting technology.That is to take iron ore with complex composition, put it in a crucible with charcoal, and then heat it outside, and finally break the crucible, select the available sponge iron from a large number of objects with suspicious composition, and forge it repeatedly, While removing impurities, create the desired sword.

The solid block ironmaking technology is like this. Shao Shude has reason to believe that the composition of liquid cast iron is also very complicated. The craftsmen can't figure out what is in the so-called "hot metal"-the iron ore you brought, Is it really just iron?
This is the reason why the Noli family's Chashan sword is of better quality than the Wei family's imitated Chashan sword!

Everyone was confused and didn't know what was in the so-called "iron" forged under their hands. Wouldn't that just be luck?Shao Shude guessed that the tea mountain iron ore in Ye Lijia contained manganese, but he was not sure, it was just a guess.

The third advance is complementary to the second.

The craftsmen admitted that iron ore may contain more than iron, and there are other things, so a question was naturally deduced: how to remove other things in iron ore?Shao Shude asked them to raise the furnace temperature first, and then said that it is impossible to melt pure iron with charcoal, but the composition of charcoal is more complex, and sulfur can easily make iron brittle, and Ye Lishi has suffered a lot from this.

Shao Shude believes that obtaining high temperature may require redesigning the furnace and increasing the blast efficiency. Most importantly, coke may be needed, but he is not sure, let alone how the coke comes from.

But maybe try it with anthracite?The Jiaozuo Coal Mine was mined by the British in the late Qing Dynasty. The anthracite is of very fine quality and was used by the British Royal Palace.And this coal mine is located in Xiuwu County.

Xiuwu's anthracite can be mined and used by Huaizhou Duzuoyuan, Yeli's, and Wei's. Shao Shude just wants them to have competition, and he wants to find a way to promote technological development.

I am not an inventor, how can I have so much energy to do this?What I want to establish is a system, and I don't understand the specific details, so I can only let the craftsmen come by themselves.

Most importantly, we must not stop at experience, we must rise to theory.

For this reason, he donated his salary (3600 yuan) from the title of Shuofang Jiedushi and named it "Xia Wang Reward".Whoever promotes technological progress and has theoretical guidance can take the 3600 coins if he is recognized, and can be awarded an official position, and the meritorious service will be passed down to future generations.

Everything that can be done has been done, and the rest is up to the craftsmen.If there is no progress, there is nothing he can do.

"Find a time to check on Zhao Cheng." Shao Shude said: "He has made a lot of money selling horses these years, and he has made a lot of money doing business with the Western Regions. What's the use of building a house in the countryside and buying a courtyard ? Do something down to business."

Zhao Yu nodded, got up and went outside for dinner.

Shao Shude continued to read the official documents.

After Webster's busy work, he bowed and took his leave, and Pei Shi stood quietly aside with Nv Shi, waiting for Shao Shude to change clothes.

"Du Shangyi, your father has done a good job in Liangzhou. The cows in Zendan Ranch have greatly increased their milk production. They are capable officials." When the word "milk production" was mentioned, Shao Shude's eyes fell on the upper edge of Du's chest-length skirt .

Du Shi gently knelt down.Shao Shude's hand stretched out behind Du Shi's back, and the peach petals were slippery.A woman from an aristocratic family, her development is good since she was a child.

"Brother Ling has been working by my side for some time. Puzhou Shao Lun recognizes me as a adoptive father, and I have promised it. How about sending Du Guangyi to Puzhou?" Shao Shude asked softly in Du's ear .

"I don't know." Du Shi trembled.

"Go and call your brother here." Shao Shude twirled his fingers and chuckled.

Du's face was as red as blood, he got up and left, staggering slightly.

"Puzhou..." Shao Shude closed his eyes, and the map appeared in his mind.

"It's separated from Wei Bo." He sighed.

(End of this chapter)