Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 250 0245 [Emperor Daojun and Heavenly Father and Earth Mother]

The residential area of ​​the iron smelter has gradually taken shape. With the recruitment of workers and the dispatch of criminals, the speed of cutting down forests and leveling the land is faster, and they are all preparing to dig mines and build furnaces.

It is of course illegal to use criminals to do private work, but no one cares about it.

Even when Li Daochong was sentenced, he could only ridicule Zhu Ming's double standard, and never thought of using such a thing as an impeachment.Because the impeachment was affirmed to be invalid, the emperor would at best laugh it off.

"In Xuzhou, do you use the method of frying steel?" Zhu Ming asked.

Tu Shen corrected and said: "It's the method of frying iron, which can only produce wrought iron, but not real steel."

"They're all the same, just with different names," Zhu Ming said. "Can we improve the process and connect the iron smelting furnace to the iron frying furnace, so that the molten iron flows directly into the iron frying furnace for stirring?"

Tu Shen was stunned for a moment, thought for a while, and said pleasantly, "Why didn't I expect that? You only need to make the frying pond lower, so that molten iron can flow into it and stir it, which can save a lot of work. Unexpectedly, the prefect is good at iron smelting." !"

Zhu Ming asked again: "Steelmaking in Xuzhou, is it tempering or pouring?"

Tu Shen said: "There are all of them. To make ordinary ironware and weapons, they all use the method of pouring steel. The steel can be produced quickly and the price is cheap, but it is definitely far inferior to tempering. If you want to make a good knife and gun, you have to be tempered."

Zhu Ming carried his father out again: "My father once traveled overseas and got a new method of pouring steel from a different person."

"I heard from Daoist Shi that Zhu Xianggong met immortals overseas, so the immortal's method must be more useful." Tu Shen immediately flattered him.

Zhu Ming said: "When pouring steel, we don't use soil to seal the furnace, but use broken straw sandals to cover it. If broken straw sandals are not enough, you can use similar things. Wrought iron plates are used as materials, and molten pig iron is dripped on them, and then forged Steelmaking."

This is an advanced version of the Suzhou steel pouring method that only appeared in the late Qing Dynasty.

Tu Shen didn't want to understand, and asked, "Why don't you use soil to seal the furnace, but use broken straw sandals to cover it?"

Ju Ming couldn't explain what continuous oxygen supply was, nor what reduction reaction was, so he could only babble in ambiguous terms: "In order to keep the energy flowing into the furnace, it makes the pig iron more energetic when it melts."

Tu Shen: "..."

"Why don't you try it first? If it doesn't work, then use the old method." Zhu Ming said.

"The prefect ordered, and I will definitely do it." Tu Shen's focus was not on smelting iron and steel, but wanted to hug Ju Ming's thigh.

Zhu Ming took out another blueprint: "This kind is called a steamer furnace, which can cast iron objects weighing less than a thousand catties."

The Zeng furnace is very simple, it is an improved version of the Xing furnace in the Song Dynasty.Tu Shen understood it at a glance, and said, "This should be used in a foundry, but it won't be very useful in an iron smelting factory."

"Then save it for later use," Zhu Ming said.

Zhu Ming has already formulated a development plan, not only to develop his own iron smelting field, but also to promote the iron smelting and forging industry in Jinzhou, so that more unemployed people can find jobs.

In the early stage, iron smelting furnaces and iron frying furnaces were built and put into use as soon as possible. They mainly smelted pig iron and wrought iron, and sold them to local blacksmiths to make daily-use ironware.The connection of the second furnace and the direct frying of iron can save a lot of work. The manufacturing cost of wrought iron is definitely lower than that of the peers, and it has gradually gained a firm foothold in the Jinzhou market.

Due to the reduced cost of wrought iron, it can be used in large quantities to make iron pots, which is definitely better than the popular cast iron pots on the market.In this way, a group of blacksmith shops were cultivated, allowing them to make money by making wrought iron pots.

At the same time, it is also possible to cultivate a group of merchants who are responsible for transporting and selling Jinzhou wrought iron wares.

Wait until next year to start steelmaking with the improved Su steel method.This thing is even more valuable. As long as Zhu Ming is still an official, he can withstand the exploitation of Changping Division and continue to sell it abroad.

Even get a license to build weapons and build mid-range weapons in batches.Although the quality is not as good as Bailian Weapons (it is too expensive), it is definitely better than the weapons made by Guangang in the Song Dynasty, and it should be able to become a mainstream weapon among the people.

Purchasing by the imperial court is also possible. As long as Zhu Ming is still an official, his workshop will forge weapons, and selling them to the government will definitely not suffer a loss.

By the way, let me talk about the ordnance system of the Northern Song Dynasty...

In the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, the quality of the Song army's weapons was not as good as that of Xixia, and the weapons and armor were unusable.

Wang Anshi then set up the Military Weapons Supervision to strengthen the design, manufacture, maintenance and supervision of military weapons, which immediately improved the quality of the Song Army's military weapons.

The Arms Supervision supervises ordnance across the country in name, but in reality it can only control a few large workshops set up in the Gyeonggi area for production.

As for the locality, the frontier state capitals set up capitals, and ordinary state capitals set up courtyards.Regular inspections were sent by the military supervisor to supervise and guide the capitals and institutes in various places.

Song Zhezong succeeded to the throne, Empress Dowager Gao took charge of the government, and the ordnance organization was suppressed as the result of the new law!

The number of ordnance production has dropped sharply, and officials are no longer sent to supervise and inspect.As a result, officials were corrupt, craftsmen were perfunctory, and the quality of ordnance regressed back to before Wang Anshi's reform.

Song Huizong restored the new law, and the ordnance department also received attention.

But it's already rotten, how can it be possible to recover just by saying recovery?

Take Jinzhou Zuoyuan as an example, there are not many craftsmen in sight, and all of them are paid by officials.If the imperial court issued a task to ask Jinzhou to donate how many weapons, Zhizhou could only recruit private craftsmen to make them, or directly purchase them from the private sector and use this as an excuse to levy exorbitant taxes.

Zhu Ming even came up with the idea that if the imperial court allowed him to donate armaments, he would take the opportunity to resume the production of Jinzhou Zuoyuan.

Use the money from the government to form a legal weapon production team in the name of Zuoyuan!

……

Returning to the state office by boat, Wu Mao immediately came to report: "Prefect, another imperial decree has arrived, and it is the kind of announcement to the world."

"Announce it to the world?" Zhu Ming couldn't guess what it was.

Wu Mao said: "The leader is the Taoist emperor."

Just like ascending the throne and proclaiming himself emperor, proclaiming himself the leader of the sect, the Taoist emperor, also has to go through the process, and officials have to persuade him to do so.

Now it's finally done and announced to the world.

Song Huizong first issued an order to the Daolu Academy:
"I am the eldest son of God Haotian, called Daxiaodijun. When I was in the sky, I witnessed China being bewitched by Buddhism, and believers mutilated themselves in order to achieve righteousness. I felt sorry for them, so I begged God to voluntarily descend to the earth to be the master of human beings, so that the world Back to the right way. Father God agreed to my request and let my younger brother Qinghua Dijun take over my priesthood."

"I recently had a dream, and suddenly remembered the things in the sky, and realized that I hadn't fulfilled my long-cherished wish. You Taoist priests, you can submit a memorial, and as a Taoist official, persuade me to be the leader and emperor."

As a result, all the ministers and Taoist officials came forward to persuade them to enter.

It also confirmed the identity of the Taoist emperor, the emperor of longevity, one of the five sects of Taoism.Moreover, this title is only used for Taoist official documents, and the imperial court follows the original rules.

Immediately, Lin Lingsu's hometown, Wenzhou, was upgraded to Yingdao Army (Jiedu level).

Immediately afterwards, His Majesty the Taoist Emperor gave his mother an emblem.

His father is Haotian God, but his mother has no official title.As for the heavenly father and the earthly mother, the canonized earthly mother is "the earth emperor and the land who inherit the law and emulate the great virtues and make great achievements".Short name: Houtu!

Emperor Daojun had parents, so he couldn't just care about his own happiness, so he announced the good news to the world, and asked local officials to sacrifice and celebrate.

After reading the imperial decree, Zhu Ming felt a headache and said to Wu Mao, "Take five copies of the imperial decree and send it to the county government, so that the magistrate can post it all over Jinzhou."

Wu Mao asked, "How does the eunuch arrange the sacrifice and celebration?"

"Keep everything simple," Zhu Ming said, "Let the counties also keep things simple, so that they don't waste money and people."

It's simple enough, and too simple.

The sacrificial place is located in the Yaowang Temple, after all, this is the largest Taoist temple in Jinzhou.

Zhu Ming served as the officiant as the prefect, and the abbot of Yaowang Temple served as the master of ceremonies.

Pigs, cattle and sheep are indispensable, but Zhu Ming was reluctant to slaughter the cattle, so he bought an old and sick cattle from the market to make up for it.

The prefects of other state capitals have to repair the Taoist temple first, build the altar very high, and plant flowers and trees near the altar.The common people were asked to offer congratulatory gifts, the officials took the opportunity to blackmail the rich, and the subordinate officials took the opportunity to blackmail the small people.

But Zhu Ming simply built a small earthen platform, and it was strictly forbidden to disturb the people. The sacrifices were extremely shabby except for the three animals.

Jishi chose one at random, and finished the matter quickly before the hungry people gathered.

The sacrificial article was also written by Wu Mao, and Zhu Ming read it once during the officiant.

The general content is: Thank God Father and Houtu Mother for giving birth to a good son and descending to earth to be the emperor, so that all people in the world can be happy and happy.I am the prefect of Jinzhou, entrusted by the Emperor, to represent all the people of Jinzhou, and today I will offer sacrifices to the Empress Dowager... blah blah blah.

After tossing for a long time, I finally got it done.

As a general judge, Li Daochong naturally had to participate in the whole process.

This guy returned to the Judgment Hall, immediately wrote a letter to complain, and seemed extremely excited.

Listed Ju Ming's top ten crimes, and wrote more than 1000 words in an eloquent manner.

The first crime is that the altar is only three feet high and only nine feet square, which completely fails to show the solemnity of the ceremony.

The second crime is that he did not carefully select the location of the sacrifice. The altar is at the entrance of the Yaowang Temple, and he just messed around with any flat ground.What if you don't choose a geomantic treasure?
The third crime is that the best auspicious day of the year is only in July, but Zhu Ming held sacrificial activities in advance.

The fourth crime is that although the sacrificial personnel are ordered to fast and bathe, Ju Ming's supervision is not strict, and some officials' speech smells like garlic.

The fifth crime is to use old and sick cattle to sacrifice to the emperor's mother and father, which is extremely disrespectful to the emperor's parents.

The sixth crime is that there are too few people watching the ceremony, and many people don't know about this event.

The seventh crime is that Zhu Ming ridiculed the emperor in private, saying that the emperor is a faint emperor who does not care about people's livelihood (this accusation is purely framed).

The eighth crime is that Zhu Ming not only made perfunctory sacrifices by himself, but also asked the county officials to make hasty sacrifices.

The ninth crime is that the prefecture and county officials wanted to enter Huashigang, but Zhu Ming not only prohibited it, but also took Huashigang for his own use (detention of alluvial gold).

The tenth crime is oppressing Taoist officials and Taoist priests, and enslaving Taoist priests to go to the mountains to collect medicine (in fact, to preach), which resulted in most of the Taoist priests in the Yaowang Temple not being able to participate in this sacrificial activity.

Li Daochong showed it to Song Ning, who joined the army and watched it, and said happily: "If the officials know about these ten major crimes, the surname Zhu must be in trouble!"

"Several more officials can be impeached, and the crimes should be slightly different." Song Ning suggested.

Li Daochong said: "That's exactly what I mean."

These two guys secretly joined forces, coerced and lured officials to write complaint letters, and they really quietly collected more than a dozen letters.

(End of this chapter)