Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 862 Steel production base and spring cattle

Yu Wen carefully picked up the sword made of steel, and then picked up an ordinary sword in the Xiangfu National Army, swung the sword violently, and with a click, there was a gap in the ordinary sword, and it extended for a long time from the gap. long cracks.Ye Chen always smiled and said nothing, but Yang Jiye, Li Junhao, Hu Sanguang, and Zeng Shangfei who were given to sit by Ye Chen stood up, their mouths were wide open, and their eyes were frighteningly bright.

Yang Jiye even took the steel knife from Yu Wen's hand. After examining it carefully for a long time, he found that it was not forged with a special hundred-forging or other secret method. It was clearly forged by the mass-produced forging method of knives in the weapon production base.

Then Yu Wen asked someone to bring up a Japanese knife that Liu Jinyuan sent from the country of Wa. The Japanese knife is the best knife in this era, and everyone knows it.Yang Jiye held a steel knife in his hand, asked a guard to hold a Japanese knife, and slashed each other vigorously several times. There was also a gap on the Japanese knife. The quality of steel knives is unparalleled in the world."

Zeng Shangfei also followed up and said: "If the swords and spear heads made of steel are equipped with all soldiers in the army, our army's combat power will be significantly improved."

Seeing that Yang Jiye and Zeng Shangfei had finished speaking, Han Xizai, Ma Wentao and others said in unison: "Congratulations, Your Majesty. You have won this country's sharp weapon."

Ye Chen nodded slightly. He knew better than anyone else the meaning of refining steel. After a little thought, he said: "The Ministry of Equipment will formulate the "Regulations on the Production and Management of Steel and Steel Products" as soon as possible, as a guideline for our country's steel industry. The basis for the management of production."

Yu Wen said respectfully: "I will follow His Majesty's will."

Ma Wentao said at this time: "Your Majesty, I suggest that the imperial court set up a special iron and steel department, one of the departments of the Ministry of Industry, to be responsible for all matters of iron and steel production."

Yu Wen cursed secretly in his heart, and said, "Your Majesty, I also suggested to set up a special iron and steel department, which is one of the departments in our equipment department. It is responsible for all matters related to iron and steel production."

What else did Ma Wentao want to say, Ye Chen interrupted it with a wave of his hand, closed his eyes slightly, opened his eyes after a little thought, and said: "Steel production is not suitable for the management of the equipment department. It belongs to the Ministry of Industry, which is responsible for all matters of steel production. The Equipment Department will hand over all the personnel involved in steel research and production to the Ministry of Industry, but the Iron and Steel Production Base, the Military Department must send troops to station, and the Ministry of Security also has a branch. The production base has a radius of [-] miles. No outsider is allowed to enter, and anyone who discloses production secrets will be executed immediately. Non-industry officials in charge are not allowed to intervene in technical matters. Otherwise, they will be severely punished. Steel products are divided into civilian products and military products, and domestic businessmen are encouraged to order from the base of the Ministry of Industry The price of agricultural products is determined by the Ministry of Households according to market conditions. The original iron and steel products are ordered by the Ministry of Equipment from the Ministry of Industry. The profits from the production base are first handed over to the treasury of the Ministry of Households. The Ministry of Finance and Industry needs to make an accounting in advance for the expansion of production and technical research and improvement, and submit an application to the Zhengshitang, and after being confirmed by the Zhengshitang and the Ministry of Households, it will be reported to me for approval."

Ma Wentao, Han Xizai, Yu Wen, Jia Xian and all the officials involved bowed and said yes at the same time.Although Yu Wen didn't want to, he didn't dare to disobey Ye Chen's will, but he also hated Ma Wentao because of it.In his opinion, it took their equipment department a year to develop steel refining, and it took countless manpower, material and financial resources to successfully develop it. When the fruit was about to be picked, it was stolen by the Ministry of Industry.You know, whoever is in charge of this matter will get a lot of credit when summing up at the end of each year.

Han Xizai said at this time: "Your Majesty, it is conceivable that the steel production base is very profitable. I think that the property of the steel production base should be independently accounted for, and its profit will become an important indicator for the state to assess the management officials of the steel production base."

Li Junhao went on to say: "Your Majesty, I ask Your Majesty to allow the Supervisory Yuan to set up a branch office in the iron and steel production base, to be responsible for supervising the corruption of officials in the base, and to conduct financial audits on the production base."

Ye Chen nodded slightly. He was very satisfied with Han Xizai and Li Junhao's pick-ups and their respective awareness within the scope of their duties: "Very good, I will implement it according to what the two lovers said."

...

...

The stars move, time flies.More than a month passed in a blink of an eye.

Beginning of spring is the first of the 24 solar terms. In people's minds, spring means the wind and the sun are warm, and the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant.Of course, more importantly, it means that all things grow and farmers sow seeds. "Qunfangpu" interprets Lichun as: "Stand up, start to build. Spring starts to build."

During the beginning of spring, the temperature, sunshine and rainfall begin to rise and increase.But all this is just the prelude to spring for Xiangfu Kingdom located in the northwest.

Compared with later generations, Lichun is just a solar festival that is often ignored by people, but it was one of the most important traditional festivals in ancient China.Since the Qin Dynasty, Lichun has been used as the beginning of Mengchun in China.

The so-called "a year's plan lies in spring", and the beginning of spring has been a traditional festival since ancient times.Both the government and the people attach great importance to it. From the beginning of the Han Dynasty, at the beginning of spring, the son of heaven personally led the three princes and nine ministers, princes and officials to the eastern suburbs to welcome the spring and pray for a good harvest.This tradition has not changed due to the change of dynasties, or the troubled times of the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and it is still the case in the Song Dynasty today.

Although Ye Chen has been trying his best to develop industry and commerce, and Xiangfu Kingdom has become rich and powerful because of this, everyone including Ye Chen still thinks that Xiangfu Kingdom is the same as Song Dynasty, and agriculture is still the foundation of the country, especially It is that Xiangfu Kingdom is now enmity with Song and Liao. If one cannot be self-sufficient in food, it is tantamount to handing over one's lifeline to the enemy.

Therefore, persuading farmers in the beginning of spring, the emperor's residence in the fields, officials whipping cattle, and praying to heaven for the safety of this year's farming are the most important events in the agricultural society in a year. This tradition is carried on.

On this day, from the palace to the prefectures and counties, up to Ye Chen, and down to the small officials in the prefectures and counties, none of them could escape their seats at will.As the king of a country, Ye Chen must take the lead in this matter.

The beginning of spring in the second year of Tianding is on January 21 of the lunar calendar.
Maoshi sunrise, also known as breaking dawn and rising sun, refers to the time when the sun just shows its face and rises.In the early morning of this day, a two-foot-tall spring ox made of clay and painted with paint was placed on the square in front of the imperial city vividly and vividly. There were also various clay sculptures of farmers and farm tools beside them. .Ten feet away, 240 people who were on the list of benefactors last year but were not rebels, and most of them were wealthy businessmen and gentry, have the right to snatch the spring cattle that are sacrificed by the Son of Heaven today.This was Han Xizai's suggestion, and Ye Chen felt good about it, so he accepted it.In fact, this move made the 240 people ecstatic, and made all the people in the world envious to death. Han Xizai said at the Xiaochao meeting three days ago that this was the first of its kind. Catching spies and fugitives will inevitably work harder.

When the morning sun just emerged from the east wall, Ye Chen, wearing the emperor's dress, led all the civil and military officials, and walked out from the main gate of the palace.

Ye Chen personally read the sacrificial oration made by Xu Xuan, lit the incense candle, then picked up the colorful stick wrapped with five-color silk, circled the spring cow, and finally twitched three times behind the spring cow's buttocks. It's Li Cheng.

Below, Han Xizai, Ma Wentao, Yang Jiye, and Li Junhao led the civil and military officials and judicial officials who were in Xia Jing to come up, lined up and waved their whips in circles.

During this process, a group of bands played cheerful tunes, but Han Xizai notified half a month in advance that not all of the 240 people who rushed to Xiajing no matter how far away they were came in person, but sent There are strong people in the family, and there are even some martial arts masters.At this time, these people are gearing up and staring at Chunniu, with a burning green light that seems to be like a hungry wolf looking at a sheep, and the atmosphere is becoming more and more tense, as if the thunderclouds that have already occupied half of the sky in summer will appear in the next moment. Storms, thunder and lightning.

Ye Chen was not unaware of it when he was in the Song Dynasty. He knew that the people in this era were extremely devout to sacrifice. In order to fight for a piece of soil from the spring cattle, so that the family field can have a good harvest this year, so that the disaster will not last for a year, I am afraid. They will all exert all their strength in feeding.Especially the spring cow that he personally sacrificed in front of him, I am afraid it will drive these people even more crazy.Ye Chen could tell at a glance that some of these people had practiced martial arts, so he called Lian Jicheng and asked him to bring a few hidden guards to watch over them, so that the people in front of him could not let the extreme joy turn into sorrow, and injure people during the robbing process, leading to tragedy .

After the last official whipped the bull, the ceremonial officer loudly announced the accompaniment of the music class, which also came to an abrupt end amidst the soaring high notes.

Immediately there was a loud bang, and the 240 "wolves" surrounding the spring ox swarmed up, like the waves of a long river, immediately covering up the colorful clay cow. In the blink of an eye, the spring bull disappeared, and the place that was originally used for sacrifices has become an arena where many people fight.
The scene after whipping the cow was not much different from what Ye Chen had seen in the Song Dynasty, and it was even crazier. At the beginning, they were still fighting for the spring cow mud that could lead to a good harvest in the field, but after the end, some people got angry After coming up, they all forgot the purpose at the beginning, and really started fighting with their opponents.

However, such a fight would not continue, as soon as some of them saw blood, Lian Jicheng sent people to rush up and disperse the strong men who were still fighting.

Competing for the spring ox means that the end of the ceremony of the beginning of spring is already the end of the beginning of spring. According to the calendar, winter has passed.

It was also on this day that more than [-] Liao people led by Yelu Hanye and Yelulu of the Liao Kingdom began to reclaim land and build villages and towns on a piece of land a hundred miles northeast of the Seven Counties of Hetao under the organization of the Xiangfu Kingdom court. Build a city and cast a village.

(End of this chapter)