Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 218

Early in the morning, Fang Chongyong walked out of his bedroom and went to the yard to exercise. He saw Gao Shang already waiting in the concierge, waiting for orders.

"Hey, Gao Canjun got up quite early."

Fang Chongyong couldn't help but tease.

"Back to the censor, I don't dare to delay your important event, so I can only wait in the concierge."

He said with an extremely humble salute.

"Let's go to Sanshui County together."

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly and said noncommittally.

Gao Shang is a bit disdainful of Fang Yanei. In fact, Fang Chongyong felt it during the conversation last night.

This disdain may come from "envy, jealousy and hatred".Gao Shang is jealous of Fang Chongyong's status and background, and hates that the other person can go smoothly without his own intelligence.

However, it is despising to be despised, but the noble body is extremely honest. He is treated like a dog and does not even care about the dignity of the officialdom. He actually looks after the concierge like a servant!In order not to miss it, I went out with Fang Yanei on business the next day!
Fang Chongyong somewhat understood why Li Qiwu, the governor from a clan background, had to strongly recommend Gao Shang.

It's really because this person is so good at licking on weekdays, and the noble way of licking is real. He is not just flattering, but also personally serving his "superior" and doing everything in front of him.

"Please ask Yushi Fang to follow the official directly to the location of the Shitan Pit.

This is faster, but Sanshui County is further north of the mine. After going there, you have to turn back and take a lot of unnecessary detours. "

Gao Shang said with folded hands and a salute, lowering his head and not daring to look at Fang Chongyong.Last night he reviewed the "small talk" he had with Fang Chongyong and found that he drank a little and talked too loudly and arrogantly.

After Gao Shang froze in the concierge all night, he became more awake and now he didn't dare to mention what happened last night.

"Yes, you are very diligent in your work, let's go now."

Fang Chongyong looked at Gao Shang with a half-smile, patted him on the shoulder and said.

"Okay, I'll go get the horse now. The horse has been fed, and Fang Yushi can ride it directly to the ferry. Now the Jingshui is frozen, so there is no need to use a boat to cross the river."

Gao Shang said with an earnest look on his face, without any trace of the arrogance that he occasionally displayed last night.

The two rode horses along the post road to the ferry on the bank of Jingshui River.

Sure enough, the river was frozen.Under the sunlight, the smooth ice surface reflects light like a mirror, illuminating the surrounding area.

Gao Shang pointed to the other side of the river with his riding crop and said:
"There are mountains on the opposite side, and there is only a road along the river. Follow this road to the northwest, and there will be a small road that leads directly to the mine. If you don't take this road, then you have to go south first. There is a The official road built by the local government leads directly to Sanshui County.

After that, we can go southwest from the county seat to reach the mine. "

Gao Shang, Fang Zhongyong, explained the "difficult" aspects of the location of the mine.

There are only shortcuts, but don't take the wrong path.If you take the official road, you must first go to Sanshui County further north, and then take the dirt road to the mine.After all, that mine is a mountainous wilderness, not a market town. The reason why there is a road to get there is just because there is a village there!

Hearing this, Fang Chongyong's heart felt cold.However, his face remained calm, and he just pointed in the direction of the other side of the river with his riding crop and said: "It's not too late, let's cross the river now."

The two rode horses on the ice of Jingshui. Fang Chongyong stared at the horses' hooves, fearing that the weight of the man and the horse would make the ice unable to bear it and fall into the glacier.If you really want to fall into the river, it will be great fun!
Fortunately, the ice in Jingshui is strong enough, so there is no problem at all.After the two of them crossed the river without any danger, they both breathed a sigh of relief.If he hadn't been in a hurry, Fang Chongyong wouldn't have done such a dangerous and unpretentious thing.

"Censor Fang, go this way, the official will lead the way."

Gao Shang said to Fang Chongyong, crossing his hands and saluting.

"Well, lead the way."

Looking at the white breath he exhaled in the air, Fang Chongyong nodded slightly and said.

The temperature around Chang'an has dropped sharply in the past few days, and winter has come very early this year. In this climate, I don't know how many poor people can't afford firewood or charcoal.

Riding horses all the way north along the Jingshui River, two hours later, the two came to a small hillside, where they could vaguely see a mountain trail carved by their feet.

"Fang Yushi, this is it."

Gao Shang got off his horse and saluted Fang Zhongyong, who was riding on the horse with his hands crossed.

That's it?

Fang Chongyong looked at the hillside in front of him with a confused expression. Why didn't he see a "road"?

"Where is the road?"

"It's right here. It's over the hillside and through the woods. It's not very far, about a few miles."

Gao Shang said seriously, not feeling anything strange at all.

"Uh...it seems that the path in a certain person's mind and the path in Gao Shenjun's mind are indeed not the same thing."

Fang Chongyong said with a pun. He was not sure whether Gao Shang heard the implication of the words.

"What kind of path did Fang Yushi find?"

Gao Shang asked doubtfully.

"That's naturally the way to transport the coal to the river."

Fang Chongyong said seriously.

The coal mine was found, and then it actually had to go around a long way to be transported to the ferry on the Jingshui River, and then it could be shipped from this ferry to the ferry on the outskirts of Chang'an... If it was so complicated, it would be better to find the coal mine in Yongzhou. Woolen cloth!

"Okay, let's go over the mountain and talk."

Fang Chongyong sighed softly and said, at this moment, he found that it was really difficult to do something practical, but it was not difficult for the officialdom to punish people.

It’s just that everyone is teasing each other, so who will really do things?

This question is not easy to answer, or even impossible to answer.

Gao Shang tied the horse next to a tree by the river. No one would steal the horse in public here. They were all government horses, and they had been stamped with the official seal with a branding iron, so there was no need to steal them.

Fang Chongyong followed Gao Shang's footsteps and walked on the path in the mountains.To be fair, this mountain can only be regarded as a "hillside". The road is very smooth and not high, so it is not difficult to climb up.There's just one problem, that is, the length of this road seems to be much farther than Gao Shang said!

Sure enough, after the open terrain, we entered a gap between two mountains, only as wide as an adult's open arms.No wonder Gao Shang didn't choose to ride a horse. It turned out that there was such a place to go and it was really inconvenient to ride a horse.

Fang Chongyong followed Gao Shang silently. It had to be said that the person in front of him was really careful and took everything into consideration.The ability to handle government affairs is much stronger than that of ordinary officials.

For example, Gao Shang is now carrying a wooden box on his back, which contains the hemp rope from the mine.

The two walked on the mountain road for no less than five or six miles, and finally the front opened up.

Although the autumn harvest has long passed, nothing can be seen in the fields.But Fang Chongyong can still easily see that this is the farmland outside the village, which is the key to the local people's livelihood.

The mountain road they took before was the shortcut for the villagers here to go to the Jingshui River.In other words, without this shortcut, the villages would not be distributed here.

Entering a small forest in a field, Gao Shang pointed to a deep pit surrounded by a wooden fence in front and said, "This is it."

Fang Chongyong thought about the copy from the Ministry of Works. It clearly said "Everywhere is open and grassy", but why was there a forest in front of him?

"Are you really not looking for the wrong place?"

Fang Chongyong looked puzzled and continued to ask: "The documents from the Ministry of Industry clearly stated that the place where the mine was discovered was grassland."

"That copy was from the time of Zhenguan more than 100 years ago. At that time, this place was still a wasteland, so it was not surprising that it was open all around. After the construction of water conservancy later, there were more water sources, so mulberry trees were planted. This was a great change."

Gao Shang sighed.Those rubbish from the Ministry of Industry, they know nothing.More than 100 years have passed, and the documentation has not been updated.This is what happens when you are an official. If something is not beneficial to promotion, no one will do it.

It was like this in the Zhenguan period, and it’s still like this now in Tianbao!

Cynical and noble, he thinks these people are just useless people.

"Okay, do you want to go down and take a look? You can help me pull the rope up there."

Fang Chongyong asked.

Upon hearing this, Gao Shang immediately became excited and said:
“The mines are always dangerous, how can we let Yushi Fang go down there!

Let the official come down to explore the pit and wait until we understand the situation inside! "

Gao Shang made a salute to the other party with folded hands.

"Since you insist so much, let's make this arrangement."

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly and said.

A gentleman doesn't stand a dangerous wall, and he and Gao Shang haven't gotten to know each other well enough to give each other their backs.The test he just made was to test Gao Shang's attitude towards work.

I have to say that Gao Shang is really a dog licker.

The two of them worked together to tie the hemp rope to the roots of a thick mulberry tree near the mine. Fang Chongyong tied the hemp rope to Gao Shang and warned: "There may be water in the pit. If it doesn't work, just shout and I will kill you." Pull it up."

"Your Majesty understands."

Gao Shang swallowed, suppressed the panic in his heart, and slowly walked towards the mine, then turned around and grabbed the ground, slowly exploring the way down.

He knew very well that jumping into the pit this time would be the watershed for whether he could be recommended by Fang Chongyong.If the thing is done, it is not difficult to do it; but if the thing is failed, then you will be lucky in the following things.

Kuhaha, who was born in a noble family, also knew very well that he might not have many opportunities in life, and it was even possible that God would only give him one chance.

If you catch it, you will become famous.

If you can't catch it, you will eat vegetables and grass until you are old.

Every inadvertent risk may be the last chance to change your destiny.

He must catch it, even if it involves great risks.

Seeing Gao Shang boldly descending into the mine, Fang Chongyong couldn't help but nod slightly, sincerely admiring this kind of ruthless person who was willing to go out of his way.

Grassroots people like Gao Shang do not have good fathers, grandfathers or uncles. In order to get ahead, they must be more ruthless than others.

In a world without the halo of the protagonist, everyone is the protagonist, and they can seize the opportunity to change their destiny, or they can seize the favor of God.

Only by fighting with all their lives can they become masters!
Although Fang Chongyong does not agree with this kind of "improvement", he can still understand what similar struggles are for.

In his previous life, many people liked to talk about "poverty and happiness".Let’s not comment on what happened at the time, but in the Tang Dynasty where people cannibalize people, as long as someone is poor, he will definitely suffer, even until death.

Even if it is happiness, it is nothing more than taking pleasure in suffering.

When a person works in the fields for a year, but in the end can only make ends meet, that person will feel disgusted or even resentful of such poverty. How can he be happy?

The king's hegemony is just a pie painted by the ruling class; the prosperity of the people and the suffering of the people are the reality of the world.

Fang Chongyong sighed softly, imagining in his heart that it would be great if he could light up a cigarette and smoke it now, which would relieve his worries.

Suddenly, he found that the rope he was holding on to, which was still tight before, was now soft!

Either the rope broke and Gao Shang fell into the pit, or... Gao Shang had already stepped on the bottom of the pit!

"Fang Yushi, I'm at the bottom of the mine. There's a little water, but it's not deep!"

Gao Shang, who had already descended to the deepest part of the mine, shouted at the top of his lungs.

"If there is any coal, grab some and bring it up!"

Fang Chongyong also shouted at the top of his lungs.

After a while, Gao Shang shouted from below: "Fang Yushi, pull me up, we have already mined coal!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Chongyong quickly pulled him up to the mine pit.Gao Shang took off the wooden box on his back, which contained a lot of water-stained coal.

"Xiaoguan doesn't know much about this, but this thing should be charcoal, and there can't be charcoal in the mine."

Gao Shang pointed to the contents of the wooden box and said.

This mine will slowly seep water into the ground. Otherwise, if this mine has existed for 100 years, it would have turned into a deep pool.Precisely because water seeps quickly, pebbles can be collected.Of course, if you want to open a mine, that's a different story.

The so-called mine is to set up a wooden support structure around the mine and leave a passage for people to go up and down.

Then when mining coal, holes are dug at certain sections around the pit, and the holes are dug deeper and the supporting structure is built while digging.For similar technologies, the Yubu Division of the Ministry of Industry has a very mature plan, although they are operating iron ore mines.

Of course, this only talks about the discovery of coal mines and mining methods.

But to actually mine it and transport it to Chang'an, a lot of manpower and material resources still need to be invested, and a lot of infrastructure construction needs to be done in the early stage.

Otherwise, there is no way to correct it.

Therefore, the small step that Fang Chongyong has taken now is indeed of great significance.Saying it is meaningless is just like all fitness plans are meaningless if they are not implemented.

After looking at the surrounding environment, Fang Chongyong said happily: "It's all flat and there are no mountains and rivers blocking it. This is good news."

This is good news, but it's one of the few good news.

On the way back to Pizhou Fucheng, Fang Chongyong was thinking of a solution.However, when they came to the Jingshui River, they found that the horse had been stolen!
Two ropes hung alone on the tree trunk, as if mocking Fang Chongyong.As a capital official, I went to a local place for business, but I had to report to the official because I lost my horse. This is so shameful!

"The public security in Pizhou is really bad. It seems that it can't be improved unless it is rectified."

Fang Chongyong couldn't help but sigh.

"Fang Yushi, actually the public security in Pizhou is not bad, the only bad thing is Sanshui County.

The magistrate of Sanshui County must give an explanation for this matter, otherwise, where will Fang Yushi's face go?

Please ask Fang Yushi to go back to the government office to rest, and Xianguan will go to the county government office of Sanshui County to negotiate with the county magistrate. "

The noble opponent Zhongyong crossed his hands and saluted.

"By the way, what is the crime of stealing horses?"

Fang Chongyong suddenly asked curiously, because he had never encountered such a stupid thing before, so he didn't pay much attention to the punishment in this area.

“He who steals cattle is in the yoke, and he who steals horses dies.”

Gao Shang said solemnly.

"I understand. You can go to the Sanshui County government office now. I can go back to the Pingzhou government office by myself."

Fang Chongyong said feebly, finding such a strange thing happened in a coal mine. Didn't history books say that households were not closed at night in the prosperous Tang Dynasty? How could someone steal the government's horse during the day?
His heart was a little broken.

(End of this chapter)