Great Tang princess

Chapter 590 Lack of Copper Resources

Jiang Zheng'an's efficiency is very high. Within a few days, he has completed the required selection and sent a group of people over.

Of course, this may also be due to the hardening of the road surface, because now the cement road from Qingdao to Qingzhou is paved, and with the blessing of the four-wheeled carriage, the speed can be increased a lot.

After all, in terms of capacity, a four-wheeled carriage can completely explode two wheels.

At the same time, the airship went to Dongdu again, bringing over the soldiers who had been injured in the previous war.

These soldiers are not seriously injured, but they are no longer used to this kind of high-intensity training, so they were originally transferred to the logistics side, but now to train people who can go to sea, it is better to have professional soldiers as commanders .

A classroom has been vacated in the military academy to train those who will be responsible for going to sea at that time.

The work and rest schedule is exactly the same as that of the army, but there is not so much physical training every day. Most of the time it is skill training at sea to train them into professional sailors.

At the same time, you have to receive a lot of cultural knowledge, learn to distinguish the weather, various fish, and then wrap the chart, latitude and longitude and so on.

Li Yuechen had already asked the engineering institute to make a sextant. This thing is relatively simple, and she doesn't need to be watching it all the time, just show it to her after it is made.

In addition, they are also asked to make a compass that can be used on the ship. Considering that the ship is not as stable as the ground after all, this compass can be made into a gyroscope structure.

Skilled craftsmen of this era have been able to make gyroscopes, and their control of gravity is still very good.

In the past few days, Li Yuechen basically stayed on the other side, discussing the issue of daguerreotype photography with other craftsmen.

"Your Highness intends to wrap the copper plate with a layer of silver?" one of the craftsmen asked.

Li Yuechen nodded: "That's right, just like how you wait to make a bronze mirror, you need to polish this silver-plated copper plate to the point where the light can be seen, and the hair and beard are clearly visible."

In fact, the bronze mirrors of this era are not the kind of yellowed and hard to see people in TV dramas.

The clarity of bronze mirrors is actually not much worse than that of future mirrors, but the cost is high and the production is very complicated, so there is no way to popularize it among the people.

The production method is also simple, that is, it is continuously polished until it is extremely clear.

And what Li Yuechen wanted them to do was to polish the silver-plated copper plate to that point, in order to have a basis for making photos.

As for the others, whether it's iodine, salt water, or mercury...you can get it in this era, so the prerequisites are completely sufficient now.

One of the academicians replied: "Your Highness does not know, this silver is more difficult to polish, maybe it will..."

"Then try a few more times. Silver is softer than copper. It must be easier to polish it?" Li Yuechen replied, "It doesn't matter if you fail. In short, try a few more times first."

"Yes!" The academicians nodded in agreement.

In fact, in this era, silver may be more expensive than gold, because silver is rare in this country, which is one of the reasons why Li Yuechen asked the Wa country to pay more tribute to silver ore.

After telling them to try to polish it, other carpenters and glaziers started to make other things, such as the camera obscura, the lens and the alcohol lamp and the camera obscura and so on.

The body of the camera is actually not big, but there are many fine designs in it, which is still very challenging for craftsmen of this era.

The so-called challenge does not come from the technical aspect, but the cooperation between different industries.

In terms of technology alone, these skilled craftsmen can produce ingenious products, but the collision between different industries has only just begun under Li Yuechen.

Although both parties have the desire to communicate, it is still inevitable to quarrel when encountering some aspects that need to be changed or one of them takes a step back.

In fact, quarreling is still good, and it is not impossible to fight and fight.

But because these people's strikes are serious, and they won't become enemies because of this, Li Yuechen didn't care about it. Sometimes, the friendship between men is indeed possible to be forged through fists.

There is a big difference between men and women in this point. Li Yuechen clearly remembers that a senior in the university club once had a very bad relationship with a classmate of hers, and never spoke to each other.

At that time, she was a little curious and asked her senior sister if she had any conflicts with that classmate, and then she found out that the two were classmates in elementary school. said.

This surprised Li Yuechen, because when boys fight, they usually reconcile within 5 minutes after the fight. It is rare to see this kind of friendship completely broken after a fight.

All in all, Li Yuechen never cared about the fights among the craftsmen, he just told them that fighting was okay, but it was enough not to maim people to death.

To be honest, it is impossible to make the law perfect enough in this era, and it is not a bad thing to have martial arts.

Still the same sentence, in fact, the Han people can also be regarded as a fighting nation, and their folk customs are equally sturdy. Even in first-tier cities like Chang'an, the eastern capital, examples of fighting because of "what do you look at" are not uncommon.

Li Yuechen felt that there was nothing wrong with this. Although the folk customs were tough, they were also hospitable and helpful. At least for now, she didn't want to change this kind of social environment.

……

While all kinds of work in Qingdao is going on, Dongdu is no different from before.

There is a cabinet in the imperial court, so the emperor Wu Zetian doesn't need to spend every day in the busy government affairs, just reading the work report is enough.

The rest of the time is basically to get up in the morning to exercise, read books after breakfast, practice handwriting, pick up newspapers to read gossip news in the entertainment section, and poems or novels submitted by newcomers.

With the development of newspapers getting better and better, all kinds of reporters are everywhere, and all kinds of news emerge in endlessly.

What old Zhangtou entered Widow Liu's house at night, what kind of talent wrote a poem in the brothel, spent the spring night with the oiran, etc...

Compared to these, there are still many people who continue to contribute their own poems or novels to newspapers.

In the past, folk literati wanted to be famous. The first thing was to invest in bank rolls, that is, to submit their own poems and articles to the homes of various dignitaries, or to write poems when gathering in brothels or gardens outside the city.

For example, on March [-] every year, during the Cold Food Festival, different men and women will meet to go out of the city. At this time, many literati will sit together, drink and write poems, and soon attract a group of people to watch.

In fact, it's somewhat Li Yuechen's fault.

As we all know, because of her, all the women in Chang'an Dongdu have taken off their curtains when they go to the streets.

It seemed that only a face was missing, as if it was no different from before, but in fact, what was taken off was not only the veil on the head, but also the psychological one.

On the streets today, many women walk together, and when they see a good-looking guy, there are many cases where they take the initiative to speak a few words to make fun of them.

At the same time, when a woman walks on the street, the probability of being approached is also greatly increased.

Under the trend of increasingly frequent communication between people, the atmosphere of free love seems to be gradually emerging.

The imperial court naturally knew about this, but...at this point, there was no way to control it.

A few years ago, the emperor asked the children of the nobles to enter the palace to play, which is equivalent to the beginning of free love. Although the current emperor has not held similar activities, many children of the nobles still meet together every year when they go out to play. go out and play.

For example, in a family, brothers go to date men, sisters go to date women, and when they go out to play, they can still gather a large group of people.

So in the past few years, in aristocratic families or noble families, except for some eldest sons and eldest daughters who are still married, most children have already started free love.

Almost every time we hang out together, we can make several couples, and naturally more young people are willing to join in.

Even nowadays, there are quite a few people from poor family backgrounds who have begun to give gifts to build relationships. I hope they can bring me with them when they go out to play, and find a suitable partner for themselves.

The veteran nobles are also in a state of laissez-faire in this situation. In any case, the children are willing to find a partner by themselves, which can be regarded as saving them some energy as parents.

Anyway, except for the eldest son and eldest daughter born out of the first line, let them do whatever they want.

Even in some families, the eldest son and eldest daughter have the same laissez-faire attitude. After all, the circle is dead. As long as the child does not find a family with too much difference, then as long as the child likes it, the parents will let nature take its course.

So in Chang'an and Dongdu nowadays, it is normal for young couples to go shopping side by side, and married young couples usually hold hands.

In the environment of living and working in peace and contentment, it seems that everyone is immersed in happiness and happiness, but things in the world cannot be exactly the same, there are always people who are in an unhappy mood, for example, Pei Huaiyi.

During this period of time, Pei Huaiyi nestled in the White Horse Temple almost every day, doing nothing every day. After eating and drinking, he would drink, and when he was drunk, he would go crazy with alcohol, then sleep, and wake up the next day to continue.

After being decadent for a while, Pei Huaiyi now gained two full circles of weight, and his eight-pack abs had also condensed into a large one. His stomach looked bigger than Li Xian's.

Two pieces of fat protruded from the face, and the whole head looked like a round ball.

The cassock on his body was also loose, as if it would slip off his shoulders at any moment.

Since the emperor had Zhang Changzong, he was called into the palace almost every now and then, but he seemed to be forgotten and ignored him.

Even if he went to the palace to ask for an interview, the emperor said that he didn't have time, and asked him to wait at the White Horse Temple, which lasted for several months.

Pei Huaiyi was lying on the bed with a wine jar in his arms, his cheeks flushed, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, wondering why he suddenly became like this?
Now those who used to flatter me have not come to give gifts for a long time, and the emperor has not given any rewards, and it seems that they will soon be unable to survive.

He has always spent money lavishly, and has never had the habit of saving money. In the past, the emperor gave various rewards every now and then, plus many people fawned on him, so he never worried about money.

But now the emperor doesn't pay attention, and no one is flattering him, and this White Horse Temple has never had any pilgrims... These practical problems are finally standing in front of him.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, Pei Huaiyi didn't agree, but the door was already opened, and the loyal younger brother who was always by his side came in.

"Master, two more people ran away today... Now basically everything that can be sold in the temple is sold, this..." The younger brother's expression was tangled, as if he was organizing his words, trying to speak out the matter smoothly.

Hearing the younger brother's report, Pei Huaiyi gritted his teeth, and sat up suddenly: "Get water to wash, I'm going to the palace today!"

……

In Jixian Hall, Wu Zetian, who took a nap, was in good spirits, drinking tea and playing chess with Shangguan Wan'er in the hall.

The two played dozens of moves back and forth, nearly half of the criss-cross chessboard was covered with black and white pieces, entangled with each other but incompatible, like two armies at war.

Ordinary people can't see the way, but if someone who knows Go is watching from the side, they can find that the white stones used by Shangguan Wan'er are even better.

The two chatted while playing chess, and the atmosphere was extremely relaxed and pleasant.

As Shangguan Wan'er's confidant, in front of her, Wu Zetian didn't have the same indifferent and expressionless face as usual, but relaxed, even with a little smile.

"Tell me, if the telegraph invented by Chen'er is spread all over the country, will it be able to completely eliminate the influence of the family?" Wu Zetian asked casually.

"Returning to the sage, this servant thinks that this is incidental. If this thing really spreads all over the country, the news will be spread quickly, whether it is a newspaper or a military event, it will be able to arrive quickly, so that a quick response can be made...the benefits are countless."

Wu Zetian nodded slightly: "It's just that, judging from the memorial given by Xuancheng, the cost of this item is really high. Even if the finances are abundant now, it may not be possible to make it."

While saying this, his tone was full of regret.

Shangguan Wan'er replied: "Speaking of finances, Your Highness once said that nowadays money and silk travel together in the country, and in some places bartering is even more difficult, which is not conducive to the circulation of currency..."

Money and silk go together, a policy established during the founding of the Tang Dynasty. Because there is not enough copper, there is no way to mint so many coins. Therefore, in terms of national policy, precious fabrics such as silk are allowed to be used as currency.

But with the development of the country, it will definitely not be like this in the future. Among other things, there are Jenny looms, looms, and even sewing machines in the palace. Protect the existing economic system.

Otherwise, all kinds of silk and silk will become worthless at that time. Once the actual value of copper coins exceeds its own value, it will cause the phenomenon that the money is too valuable, resulting in fewer currencies in circulation on the market.

"Coins also need a lot of copper, and telegraphs also need copper..." Wu Zetian grinned suddenly, "Now I want to see how this girl will be solved in the future."

Shangguan Wan'er also laughed: "Your Highness must have a solution!"

While chatting, Zhang Chengxin's report suddenly came from outside the hall: "Saint, Pei Huaiyi is asking to see you."

(End of this chapter)