Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 751 Weapon Equipment Production Base
In Xiazhou in May, the greenery on the roadside is getting thicker and thicker, and the weather is getting hotter every day.

Pedestrians on the road also began to avoid the noon when the sun was the strongest, but even though it was mid-afternoon, the weather was still a bit hot.

A team of chariots and horses was driving on the official road from Xiazhou City to the military factory under the scorching sun. Except for a carriage in the middle, there were guards riding tall horses and wearing black armor on the front, back, left, and right sides.

Even though there was no flag and no support, the passers-by on the side of the road quickly knelt down deeply, all of them looked in awe from the heart.

With black cavalry as guards, in Xiangfu Kingdom, apart from the emperor Ye Chen, only three empresses in the palace have such qualifications and powers.

It has been many days since the queen disappeared. A few days ago, Shangguan Bingyun told Ye Chen that he had finally found the trace of Yu Daoxiang in Shangjing, Liao Kingdom, and that Yu Daoxiang was safe for the time being. But the next steps are unclear.

Concubine Han Guifei is the complete opposite of Yu Daoxiang. She is gentle and quiet, living deep in the palace, dedicated to raising the little princess Ye Yu, and personally taking care of the daily life of His Majesty the Emperor.

And the other Concubine Yu Gui who is qualified to let the Black Knight serve as a guard is also different from the Empress and Concubine Han. She likes the way of investigating things and the art of medicine Qihuang, and she used to be the envoy of the Weapons Department of the Huaxia Weifu. The palace was so quiet that I thought about moving, so I went out of the palace to inspect the Lushui Lake Xiangfu Academy.After the inspection, he disregarded the objections of Manchao civil and military, and with Ye Chen's permission, became a visiting professor of two courses of physics and biology in Xiangfu College.

This incident naturally caused a sensation in Xiangfu Academy and even the entire Xiangfu Kingdom. People have mixed opinions. Although Concubine Yu only attends a class once a week, most people think that Empress Yu should not show her face, but because His Majesty also supports it. Yu Qingyan served as a visiting professor at Xiangfu College, so no one dared to speak about it publicly.As for the students of Xiangfu Academy, they were happy and worried. They were happy that they had such a distinguished figure as Yu Guifei to teach them, but they were worried that they didn't know how to get along with this noble concubine.

And just half a month after Concubine Yu became a visiting professor of Xiangfu College, Xiangfu College notified Tianxia Xiangfu College to establish a women's branch through the government of Xiangfu country, recruiting girls from 12 to 21 years old all over the country, and concubine Yu condescended to be the professor in person. Dean of the Women's College.

Therefore, only His Majesty the Emperor and Concubine Yu Gui are the only ones with the black cavalry guards outside Xiazhou City.

However, it was His Majesty the Emperor who went out of the city to the military factory under the sun today. Ye Chen was able to take time out of his busy schedule because the military factory finally made a major breakthrough in hydraulic machinery research.In Ye Chen's opinion, this kind of breakthrough is enough for him to condescend to come to the military factory to inspect it in person.

...

...

"It's hot enough today."

Ye Chen was sitting in the carriage. Although the windows were open and there were ice cubes around the specially made carriage, the temperature in the carriage did not drop much.

Ye Chen's special carriage was very large, besides Ye Chen, Yu Wen and Zhang Bo were also sitting there.Ye Chen likes to ask ministers to ride with him in the same car. Among the officials of Xiangfu Kingdom, there is no panic at the beginning, and he has gradually gotten used to it.

It was Yu Wen's duty to follow Ye Chen to inspect the military factory, but Zhang Bo, as the minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, also went to the military factory, but it happened that he was summoned by Ye Chen to the palace to discuss the construction of a batch of farmland near the newly reclaimed farmland in the Yellow River Basin. The latest waterwheel invented by the Research Department is used to irrigate farmland and turn all dry land into paddy fields.This matter required the military factory to send a group of craftsmen to assist and guide, so Ye Chen called him along by the way.

In the past few years, Yu Wen has put on a lot of weight. He is of medium stature. He made more noise when getting on the car than Ye Chen, which shows that he has gained weight. After sitting all the way in the stuffy car, he was already sweating profusely.Hearing Ye Chen say it was hot, he wiped the sweat off his forehead with a towel, and echoed, "Your Majesty is right, it's only May and it's so hot, I don't know how hot it will be in June and July." hot."

Ye Chen smiled slightly. At any rate, before it was summer, a drop of sweat disappeared before it hit the ground. Now at least it can still fall to the ground.

With the change of status and status, both Ye Chen and Yu Wen have undergone great changes, let alone Ye Chen, the current him is very different from the him who just arrived in this era four years ago.And Yu Wen has been an official for a long time, and now he has learned to flatter.In Ye Chen's view, it is normal for subordinates to flatter their superiors to a certain extent, but it should not exceed that level.The most important thing is that compared with three or four years ago, the ability of Yuwen is not the same as it was three or four years ago. Regardless of whether he was in charge of the Weapons Department of the Huaxia Weifu before, or he is now the head of the Equipment Department of the Xiangfu National Army, he is now able to handle the big and small things he is responsible for. Dealing with it in an orderly manner, showing a strong ability to manage affairs, this is what Ye Chen values ​​most.

Looking at the golden fields in the distance beside the road, Ye Chen said spontaneously, "It would be great if the weather is like this in the next month."

"Is your Majesty talking about Xia Harvest?" Zhang Bo became a little cautious after getting into Ye Chen's carriage. thing.At this moment, Zhang Bo was looking in the same direction as Ye Chen, and saw a farmer harvesting ripe wheat in the field. In front of them was the unharvested golden yellow, and behind them there was a dim Earthy yellow, the two colors are distinct.

Zhang Bo said with emotion and not without pride: "For thousands of years, the food in the Northwest has not been self-sufficient. Since your Majesty established the country and proclaimed himself emperor, at least half of the food used by the army and the people came from the Song and Liao countries through commercial channels. Bought it, although the household department has been doing a good job, but now both Song and Liao are the enemies of our Xiangfu country, and they have begun to restrict the sale of grain to our Xiangfu country. Fortunately, the Yellow River Basin is now ahead of the spring planting More than 200 million acres of land have been reclaimed. Although the first planting, the output may not be much, but as long as there is no war this year and the army does not move out, it will be enough for our Xiangfu country to be self-sufficient. Otherwise, if the problem of food and clothing for the army and the people cannot be solved, it will be It is the top priority of my Xiangfu country."

Ye Chen nodded slightly, expressing his deep opinion of Zhang Bo's words, and said: "Zhang Aiqing is right. In this matter, Aiqing led the Ministry of Agriculture and made great contributions. I decided to give my Xiangfu the state-owned The meritorious minister can be knighted, and the meritorious service of loving you should be knighted."

Hearing the words, Zhang Bo thought of something, his body trembled slightly, and after a moment of stupefaction, he said, "Thank you Your Majesty, these are all matters of the minister's duty. Um... only when the wheat in front of me is put into the warehouse, can I feel at ease."

This is the time for the wheat harvest.The sunny and dry weather is a good thing for the harvest.If the next ten days are sunny, until the dried wheat is stored in the warehouse, the court will be relieved, at least Xiangfu Kingdom will have no worries about this year's summer tax.On this point, it is the same whether it is the two big countries of Song and Liao, or the Xiangfu country. Every year in summer and autumn, the emperors and courtiers of all countries will pray for good weather and a bumper harvest in the farmland.In this matter, they are no different from ordinary farmers.

During this period of time, the weather in most parts of Xiangfu Kingdom was very good, the sky was bright and clear, and there were no problems except for a little heat.At least this first year of Xiangfu country should have a good year.

The horsewhip in front rang twice, and there was a crisp tinkling of bells. The carriage immediately turned in one direction, got off the official road, and turned to another road.

Compared with the last time I came to the military factory, this official road has changed from a dirt road to a cement slab road. It has just been repaired in less than seven days, and the traffic is very smooth.Looking out from the car window is Yimapingchuan. The scenery on both sides, except that there are fewer houses on the roadside, is still full of harvest yellow.

After another five or six miles, Yu Wen, who was wide and fat, had already soaked his towel with sweat. Zhang Bo was thinner, but the closer he got to the military factory, the hotter he seemed to be, and the sweat on his forehead was no less than that of Yu Wen. .On the contrary, there was no trace of sweat on Ye Chen's body.

At this time, I finally saw a fortress that was much higher than the plain ahead.

The camp is next to a forest, and on the other side is the Yinshui River.The wall facing Ye Chen is nearly a mile long. After more than five months of continuous expansion and improvement, the scale of the Xiangfu National Military Factory and the workers' living quarters can already be compared with a small county town.

You can hear the booming sound from a distance, and besides the sound of most of the hydraulic machinery, you can also smell the smoke of the gunpowder factory if you get closer.

This is the weapon production base of the Equipment Department of Xiangfu National Defense, which is comparable to the imperial palace today.There is even a brigade of troops stationed here to perform guard and defense tasks.

Ye Chen narrowed his eyes, looked at the fort which was still more than a mile away, and said: "The scale of this weaponry production base will continue to expand, because the military factory will continue to expand, and there will be more and more craftsmen. family, this place will become a city sooner or later. The equipment department must think about this in advance, and consider it in advance in terms of planning."

Yu Wen was panting from the heat, and said quickly: "I would like to obey His Majesty's will."

As soon as the carriage stopped, a group of people greeted it.

Several officials in charge of managing the military factory, the brigade generals stationed here, and the master craftsmen of each military factory had been waiting for Ye Chen and his party at the gate of the village more than an hour ago.The soldiers who sent the message also sent out several soldiers, and when Ye Chen's chariot and horse turned around from the official road, he immediately led the officials who could spare their hands in the village, and went out of the village gate to meet the inspection of the great emperor.

In fact, if the officials of the entire Xiangfu Kingdom knew that His Majesty didn't like this nonsense, they would definitely go further.

(End of this chapter)