The ministers of infrastructure knelt down and begged the scientific research boss to be enthroned

Chapter 161 Iron

The meaning of Shangshu of the Ministry of War can't be heard in the letter. Wei Chenrui also knew that he would be missed. He had already explained in the letter: "Master Shangshu, I'm afraid this will disappoint you. Your Highness specifically explained that this weapon is of great importance. , the lethality is extremely strong, and it may be missed by those who care about it, so it cannot be handed over to the Ministry of War to make it, but His Highness can only send people to make it secretly."

Wen Shuxin said so, the Minister of the Ministry of War could not just believe it, and asked tentatively: "I don't know what kind of weapon makes His Highness so careful?"

If you don’t reveal anything, the Minister of the Ministry of War will definitely not believe it. If you don’t do it, the relationship will become tense. According to Wei Chenrui’s request, Wen Shuxin revealed a little bit: “The sharp weapon for attacking and defending the city is placed on the city wall. Keep the enemy's merits and prevent them from entering."

Minister of the Ministry of War still had some disbelief, and of course it might be pretending: "Can I let this officer see and see?"

Wen Shuxin smiled and shook his head: "Your Highness attaches great importance to this weapon, and I only know about it. Please forgive me for being helpless."

Knowing that there is no hope for this matter, the Minister of the Ministry of War is quite regretful: "Your Majesty, you can't trust me!"

Wen Shuxin shook his head: "Master Shangshu's words are wrong. His Highness actually trusts you very much. You must have heard about the fact that His Highness sold a few officials in Zhongzhou. It's just ten carts of iron mines. Find those companies. They can still make it together a little bit, and they won't ask for a higher price, and His Highness can fully afford it."

"If it wasn't for my trust in you, my lord, I wouldn't have disclosed the matter of the weapon to you. To tell you the truth, in the entire Zhao Kingdom, anyone who knows His Highness's research on this weapon can be counted with a single slap."

"Except for those around His Highness and His Majesty, the rest are you and me!"

The Secretary of the Ministry of War still believed this. I really didn't hear any news about such a big matter, which is enough to see that Her Royal Highness is very cautious about this matter.

Believe me, I still have to get the benefits I want: "I am a little flattered, but if I give out such iron ore, it is not easy for me to explain to the people under my hands!"

The meaning in the words, Wen Shuxin, who has been an official for several years, can naturally be heard: "Don't worry, Your Highness has already made arrangements, and will not make things difficult for Lord Shangshu."

"I wonder if Master Shang Shu knows anything about iron ore smelting?"

This Minister of the Ministry of War has worked in the Ministry of War for more than ten years, and he also climbed up from the bottom little by little. He is still clear about the smelting of iron: "This official is not like Pei Qianhuo who relies on women to get promoted. Now this position, I have taken it step by step, and I don’t know everything about the military department, it’s almost inseparable.”

Wen Shuxin nodded: "Does your lord think that smelting iron will take a lot of effort?"

It is impossible for this letter to mention this for no reason. He must have some intentions when he said so. Suddenly, the Minister of the Ministry of War had a flash of inspiration: "Could it be that Your Highness has developed a more labor-saving method of smelting?"

Wen Shuxin nodded: "That's right, not only that, His Highness has also researched ways to make iron stronger."

"Can this method be sold to the Ministry of War? The price is up to His Royal Highness, as long as the Ministry of War can offer it, His Highness will be satisfied!" The Minister of the Ministry of War showed a look of certainty.

Wen Shuxin shook his head with a smile: "Your Highness is not short of money, Lord Shang Shu, you know that."

Thinking it was a refusal, the Minister of the Ministry of War was discouraged all of a sudden, and said with a wry smile: "Is your highness deliberately teasing me? Let me know the news, but I can only watch."

Wen Shuxin knew that he had been misunderstood by the Minister of the Ministry of War, and quickly explained: "My lord, don't worry, I haven't finished my next sentence. Your Highness is not short of money, but your Highness is short of iron!"

The Minister of the Ministry of War understood now, and he didn't have the energy to argue with Wen Shuxin: "You are really... Forget it, I don't care about you!"

"Your Highness, what do you mean by these two things in exchange for ten loads of iron?"

Wen Shuxin nodded: "Yes, in this way, it will be easier for the adults to explain to the people below!"

Minister of the Ministry of War still has no doubts about the authenticity of the method, he believes that Wei Chenrui has this ability.So, he nodded in satisfaction: "Indeed, but ten carts of iron is not a small amount. If something goes wrong in the middle, it will not end well. Those who are caring will probably be able to guess His Highness's intentions!"

This point, Wei Chenrui really ignored it, sending the railway from the capital to the northwest, the journey is long, and it is indeed easy to make mistakes.

Wen Shuxin thought for a while and said: "His Royal Highness has not explained this matter. I don't know if it was intentional or unintentional. Please discuss it with His Highness!"

Wei Chenrui is in Zhongzhou at this time, and this discussion lasted for less than ten days and a half months. It is estimated that the discussion will not yield a result. Why did the Minister of the Ministry of War want to wait so long: "It is time to discuss with His Highness. Can the smelting method be given to me first? official?"

Wen Shuxin shook his head: "This is not possible, His Highness has an explanation, and the iron is handed over, and the method is handed over with the other."

Minister of the Ministry of War will not give up easily: "Ten carts of iron, I can hand them over to you, but you can't transport them away now, so you can't blame me!"

The letter thought about it. It was a waste of time to write this letter back and forth. In addition, the journey was long and it was transported to the Northwest. There were indeed too many accidents in the middle. The current situation in the Northwest cannot withstand such accidents.

Gritting his teeth, he decided to make a decision for His Highness first: "How about this, I won't send the iron away, as long as the adults give ten carts of irons, one approval slip for each cart, so that His Highness can pick up the irons along the way."

It’s just an approval note. The Minister of the Ministry of War doesn’t even need to say hello to the people under his command. How could he refuse? He was afraid that the letter would go back on his word, so he quickly found a pen and paper and began to write an approval note. After a while, he finished it and stamped it with a big seal: " The approval note has been written, when will the things for this officer be delivered?"

The Secretary of the Ministry of War was so happy, and the letter was still a little uncomfortable. He was a little stunned and said: "I didn't bring it with me, and I will send it to my lord in a while."

The Minister of the Ministry of War can be said to be very anxious now, how can he wait: "No, no, you are easy to be suspected by others, why don't I go with you to the [Technology Development Bureau]."

"I remember that the house has been built. It just so happens that at your invitation, I will go over to visit and send some utensils customized by His Royal Highness."

This idea is really good, and Wen Shuxin has no reason to refuse: "So, it's hard work for you to make this trip!"

Minister of the Ministry of War waved his hand indifferently: "No hard work, no hard work, let's go, let's go!"

After finishing speaking, he led the way and walked to the warehouse of the Ministry of War.

When it comes to sending utensils, naturally you can't empty-handed, you have to bring something there anyway.

Just like that, the two of them took a few carts of things and walked towards the [Technology Development Bureau].

Wei Chenrui ordered the utensils at the Ministry of War, and he did not hide it. Most people in the capital knew about it. The move did not attract attention, and it went smoothly. The Minister of the Ministry of War happily took away the letter with the smelting method.

After sending the Minister of the Ministry of War away, Wen Shuxin hurriedly sent a letter to Wei Chenrui, in which he roughly wrote out what happened, and also pleaded guilty for his own assertion, and put all ten approval notes into the letter , sent together.

When Wei Chenrui received the letter, he realized that he hadn't considered this issue and almost made a big mistake. When he replied to the letter, instead of blaming Wen Shuxin for making his own decisions, he praised him greatly.

As for how happy Wen Shuxin was after receiving the letter, that was not Wei Chenrui's concern.

After being reminded by the letter, Wei Chenrui also knew that these irons could not be purchased at one time, they had to be purchased in batches, and they had to be leak-tight so that no one would see anything wrong.

After thinking about it, Wei Chenrui decided to make use of the newly appointed county magistrates. The iron had to be mixed with the grain so that it could be safely sent to the northwest.

Although food is important, it will not be targeted by all forces, but iron is different. It is the key to making weapons. No force will let it go easily, and it will definitely interfere. Wei Chenrui invited to deliver food People in the rivers and lakes will inevitably have their hearts moved, so even the people who deliver the food have to hide the matter of iron.

After having a definite idea, Wei Chenrui called Jiang Zongda over: "Master Jiang, there is a very important matter here in this hall, which I want to entrust to you."

How could Jiang Zongda dare to refuse what His Majesty told her: "Your Majesty, just give your orders, and I will definitely do my best."

"You send someone to call the newly appointed county magistrates. We have an important matter to entrust to them. It must be kept secret at this time. Therefore, Master Jiang needs to find a different name to call people over." Wei Chen Rui said frankly as always.

Jiang Zongda nodded again and again: "Don't worry, Your Highness, the lower officials will definitely settle this matter and never let any news out."

That being said, Jiang Zongda didn't have any suitable name in mind to call someone over, and when he was worrying, he received a letter from Deng Huawu.

Due to his outstanding performance in disaster relief, Wei Chenrui promoted Deng Huawu to the county magistrate, and took over the county he had taken over from Jiang Zongda. This letter is mainly to discuss the issue of food distribution quotas for the victims.

The population of each county is different, and the grain in the granary is also more or less. There may be uneven distribution and chaos. The distribution still needs to be discussed by the counties, and the distribution will be made after the unified quantity, which is safer.

When I fell asleep and met the pillow, and was worried about not having a name, this letter from Deng Huawu arrived, which relieved Jiang Zongda's urgent need. He started writing letters and invited county magistrates from all over the country to discuss the distribution of disaster relief food.

This is a big event, and it is also the most important thing at the moment. Several county magistrates didn't dare to delay, so they packed up their things and rushed to Fucheng after receiving the letter.

After everyone arrived, Jiang Zongda summoned them to the meeting hall of the government office. After everyone was seated, Jiang Zongda said: "This time, let a few adults come over to discuss the distribution of disaster relief food. Your Highness has orders."

"Your Highness is busy with other things right now, so I won't be here in a while. Let's discuss the distribution of disaster relief food first!"

"My lords, first tell me about the amount of grain and population in the granary in your county."

For this official position, several county magistrates still attach great importance to it, and they naturally do their best. Although they have only been in office for a few days, under the permission of Wei Chenrui, the helpers are all used by themselves, and they naturally do things smoothly. After these few days, I have almost figured out the situation in my county. Naturally, the population and food are also clear. Knowing the key points of this discussion, it is natural to have a good account book.

Hearing Jiang Zongda's question, they opened their account books one after another and began to report.

"Wuling County has a population of about 8000, including [-] children under the age of ten, and the granary has about [-] deniers of grain."

"Shangyang County has a population of about 1, including [-] children under the age of ten, and [-] deniers of grain."

"Quyang County has a population of about 7000, including [-] children under the age of ten, and [-] deniers of grain."

The county magistrates were reporting the counts, and Deng Huawu, the county magistrate whose granary was already empty, was in charge of counting and working out the ledger.

Regarding the accounting, Wei Chenrui specially taught it. Deng Huawu learned it very carefully, and it happened to be used at this time. The speed of accounting is very fast. After all the county magistrates have reported their numbers, the general ledger has already come out: "Master Zhifu, together with those from Xiaguan and Fucheng, has a total population of 7, of which there are 1 Xiaoer under the age of ten, and a total of [-] deniers of food."

"If these grains are divided equally, adults can get about half a den of grain for each person, and children can get about three buckets of grain."

Jiang Zongda calculated in his mind that the grain, mixed with some wild vegetables and the like, should still be able to last until the next season's harvest, so he said: "We will distribute it according to this average distribution. Do you have any objections?"

These newly appointed county magistrates all have rich families, so naturally they would not be greedy for the life-saving food of the people at this critical juncture, and they have no objection to this.

If the opinions are consistent, things will be easier to handle. If there is a lot of food, it will be sent to the place where there is little food.

In fact, it was sent to Deng Huawu's county and Jiang Zongda's prefecture, and the granaries in these two places were empty.

During the discussion, Wei Chenrui had already arrived, but he didn't want to disturb them, so he waited outside, and only walked into the meeting hall after they finished their discussion.

After Wei Chenrui walked in, Kai greeted all the maids and servants who were serving inside, and closed the door.

After receiving Kai's nod and confirming that everyone had gone far away, Wei Chenrui said: "The adults also know that our hall is busy with affairs in the northwest recently, so we specially designed a powerful weapon for defending the city." , and asked the Ministry of War for a lot of iron for this."

"However, those irons are easy to be missed by others. Fearing that something will happen, under the suggestion of the Minister of War, the irons were replaced with batches, and the irons were purchased in batches, and then secretly sent to the northwest."

"In this regard, the hall has decided to give you a few approval slips, and your family will come forward to buy iron, hide the iron in the grain, and transport it to the northwest together."

"Of course, this hall will not let you suffer. This hall will not give you any less money. If you need iron, just explain the purpose to this hall to ensure that it will not pose a threat to the imperial court and this hall. This hall can distribute it appropriately. Some of you."

(End of this chapter)