Compete for the Song Dynasty

Bao Zheng, the adoptive father who loved him, passed away. Although Wang Pang knew that this was an avoidable natural law, he was still very sad.He couldn't accept the fact that Yuexia died too, Yuexia's kindness and tenderness were always like a warm current, whenever Wang Bang thought of Yuexia, it would surge in his chest.

Even though Wang Pang knows the past and the present, he is so helpless in the face of life and death. He can't be more ordinary than ordinary. He can't change history, and at the same time, he can't change the sky.Maybe he understands that there is another reason why he will not return to Bianjing for the time being: that is, he has a vague escape in his heart. officialdom.

These thoughts flashed through Wang Pang's mind, and Wang Pang was a little disheartened and depressed.Although there were some small twists and turns in coming to the Song Dynasty, but after all, with the love of Emperor Renzong, the care of his adoptive father Bao Zheng, the care of his biological father Wang Anshi, and his identity as the son of Wang Anshi, it is possible to have the opportunity to go to the chrysanthemum feast with his father and recognize Bao. The prime minister is a righteous father, so he worships Di Qing as a teacher, and he marries his wife Yuexia.And all of this will bring Zhao Shu jealousy and the traitor's frame.

No matter how entangled Wang Pang was, he had to face what he had to face. Wang Pang stayed in Liangshanbo for a few more days, and his wounds were almost healed.On this day, Ruan Xing came to the inn excitedly, and asked the shopkeeper as soon as he entered the door: "Is Wang Shilang in the inn?"

The shopkeeper pointed his finger upstairs, shook his head in a low voice and said, "Go and have a look, Wang Shilang is using wine to drown his sorrows again!"

Ruan Xing heard that he strode up to the second floor of the inn, opened the door and saw that Wang Pang was pouring himself a drink: "Isn't it boring to drink alone? I'll have a drink with Wang Shilang!"

Wang Bang saw Ruan Xing coming in. He had just drank for a while, his mind was in a mess, and he was looking for someone to talk to: "Don't call me Wang Shilang, my servant is not a name, come, sit down and talk to brother Take two sips."

Ruan Xing knew that Wang Pang was depressed, and no one could persuade him when encountering such a thing. He sat down opposite Wang Pang, poured wine and said, "I came to tell Prince Wang some news. The officials have all left, it seems that the gust of wind has passed, this is how the court works, and what the prince said is right!" He said toasting the king with a glass of wine.

Wang Pang twitched the corners of his mouth, he wanted to laugh but only the corners of his mouth twitched: "Don't worry, the imperial court is robbing the rich and killing big families this time, think about it, who dares to be richer than the imperial court when the imperial court has no money? , you guys will be fine." Wang Pang said so, but he understood in his heart that the so-called big family, the big head is himself.Wang Pang smiled wryly in his heart, his feigned death really let the court breathe a sigh of relief.

Ruan Xing raised his thumb: "Young Master Wang is right, this matter is closed for the time being. But this year, I agreed to buy coal from the prefect of Dongping Prefecture. I think we can talk about it next year. There will be no need to burn coal in a month or two." Yes, this winter has been really sad."

According to the amount of coal produced by Jinxiang Mansion, if the supply is normal, even if it is a little tight, it will not be completely impossible to buy. If the court wants money, it can wait for me to go back and then discuss the tax increase issue.Right now, what the imperial court wants is not only the so-called tax issue, but also the land and the resources on it.It's a pity that Yingzong's court didn't understand the concept of resources at all. Resources are not just coal or mines.Resources also include people who can turn coal and mines into money.

But these kings couldn't tell Ruan Xing, so he could only frowned and said, "Brother Ruan, the situation in Jinxiang Mansion is a bit complicated. I have to go to Jinxiang Mansion in person about the coal matter. Now, since the court does not care about the land, After investigating, I think my brothers have also been appointed, and I will leave for the capital in two days."

"So soon?" Ruan Xing heard that Wang Pang said he was going to leave, and he said naively: "My lord, I also heard that there are people in your family who go to you because of your reputation, and now you have sent everyone around you away. I will follow you back to the capital, and accompany you to Jinxiang Mansion, okay?"

"Hey! Jinxiang Mansion may not be mine, and you may not be able to get coal if you go with me!" Wang Pang sighed and took a sip of his wine.

Ruan Xing poured wine for the king, and said in a sincere tone: "Young Master Wang, my family property is all left by my ancestors. I wish I could learn some skills from you. We also have land here. If we go to Jinxiang Mansion to study , maybe we can produce coal ourselves.”

Wang Pang's heart moved. Yanzhou Coal Mine and Zi Mine are relatively large coal mines discovered by later generations. Yanzhou forms a triangle with Yuncheng and Jeju, but the matter at home has not yet been resolved, so how can I feel that way.Seeing Ruan Xing's expectant face, he said: "It's not a problem for you to follow me. There is a lot of knowledge in coal mining, and it might be a waste of time, and it may hurt people's lives. Besides, the imperial court's land investigation has just happened. In the past, it was better to be safe."

Ruan Xing nodded: "Young master said, I will listen to you in the future, and even if I want to deal with the coal producers, I don't know how to do it, and I don't have the ability. I think if you don't go back to the capital, you can stay in Liangshan." Okay, what are you doing and what can you do here?"

Wang Pang shook his head: "I want to do something I haven't done before. Let me ask you, there is Liangshan here, but is there Liangshan County or Gaoliang County?"

Ruan Xing stared at Wang Pang suspiciously: "This place is called Liangshan, Liangshan County? Gaoliang County??" He scratched his head thinking.

Wang Pang drank wine and said to himself, "I once promised my beloved wife that I would use the loess from Gaoliang County, Liangshan County, to build a brick house with red bricks and green tiles for my beloved wife. There are a lot of loess lands, and when I return to the capital to settle my family affairs properly, I will return to this place to build a brick kiln and burn bricks to build a house!"

After listening to Wang Pang, Ruan Xing also remembered: "My lord, you made a mistake. We have two Liangshan Mountains in the Song Dynasty. One is in our Shuibo Liangshan, and the other is in Wanzhou. The one you mentioned Gaoliang County is Liangshan County in Wanzhou, not our place, but Mr. Wang does not have to look far away when it comes to burning bricks. Where is the loess not burying people? We also have loess here, and our soil can burn both red bricks and blue bricks!"

One kind of soil burns two kinds of bricks?This Wang Pang is not clear, but thinking of fulfilling his promise to Yuexia, Wang Pang felt a little impulsive: "Mr. Ruan, how do you burn this?"

Ruan Xing smiled, and he winked and said: "Actually, I also found out by accident, Mr. Wang, you don't know. Everyone in the eight villages around ten miles knows that our Ruan family is a big family, but it is necessary to manage the government. We have It is a small brick kiln. Once I built a private house for a county magistrate and fired some blue bricks. That time, the young man made a mistake and forgot a process, so the bricks fired were useless. I feel sorry for them. I went to the back garden of my house, would you like to take a look?"

"Okay! Please ask Mr. Ruan to take me to see how it is!" Wang Pang put down his wine glass. This was the first time in so many days that Wang Pang felt that there was something more interesting than drinking to relieve his worries. [

Ruan Xing was also very happy to see that Wang Pang raised his spirits. If Wang Pang could do some business here, the people near Liangshanbo would also become richer.Ruan Xing brought Wang Pang to his mansion. This house is considered a big family in the local area. Ruan Xing talked all the way. It turns out that he has always worshiped Wang Pang. So many businesses lead everyone to make money, but all he does is A small business is not as good as the big business between the king and the court.

"What's so good about doing business with the imperial court? It looks good, but there are dark tides in the imperial court. Like the new emperor ascending the throne, some things may change!" Wang Pang said indifferently.

"Change, no matter how you change, the common people are not afraid, as long as the more you change, the better it will be, but the Emperor Yingzong's reform, isn't it killing the chicken to get the egg?" Ruan Xing said angrily.

Wang Pang stopped talking and followed Ruan Xinglai to the garden of his house. There were a few red square bricks piled up in a corner of the garden.Sure enough, the color was a little different from what Wang Pang wanted. "Which process is missing?" Wang Pang asked while touching the brick.

Ruan Xing said truthfully, "Young master, the place where the soil was unearthed is also special. The soil is near Xiaohuangshan. That place used to be where blacksmiths often quarried stones. It is strange when the soil nearby is burned. If the bricks are burnt and water is added If it cools down, it will become blue bricks, if it cools down naturally, it will become this color when it cools down."

Wang Pang knew that there was iron in the soil itself, and the oxidation effect was different when water was added or not added during cooling. These were naturally explained clearly by the ancient methods hundreds of years ago.But this discovery is enough to add a little sunshine to Wang Pangbi's gloomy mood. Perhaps this thing is not done to make a profit, but to promise to build a brick house for Yuexia.

"Okay! I'm leaving tomorrow, Mr. Ruan, if you want to go with me, make preparations." Wang Pang decided to go back to Bianjing and face him!

On the second day, the two of them traveled together, and three or four days later, Wang Pang returned to the capital.It is still the familiar Bianjing city, the familiar city wall, Wang Bang took a detour to the northwest water gate, and the coal yard outside the northwest water gate of Jinxiang Mansion, which was full of boats and boats, is now empty.There are no boats on the shore, and there are no busy workers on the shore, and the entire simple coal shed is also empty.

Cross the Baihu Bridge and walk through the Jinshui Gate to enter the inner city. The streets are still the same, and there are few pedestrians on the streets.Wang Pang lowered his bamboo hat, and continued on his way, passing through the city to the East Street, the gate of Yunxuan was closed, and the dust piled up on the porch, it seemed that people had been operating it for a long time; when he passed the Jinxiu Building to the south, he could only see that the doors were empty and deserted .

Wang didn't stop much, his heart was already cold, and the situation in front of him was not much different from what he expected, but he felt more and more depressed when he saw it with his own eyes.

There was no scene of broken walls and dilapidated buildings after the fire in front of the Meyer Mansion, but Wang Pang didn't know that this was the result of Zhongzhen's urging to speed up the repairs.The gate of the mansion was closed tightly, and a white lantern was hung on the door, which made people feel chills.

Wang Pang stepped forward, and the door was closed.When the Meyer Mansion is busy, the gate is never closed, alas!Thinking about it, Wang Pang patted on the door.