"Happy event?" Shang Cheng asked in surprise, "What happy event?" ”

Lu Ji carefully put the handscroll on a few cases, and didn't hurry to explain first, but only asked Shang Cheng: "Yixian County Ling Qiao Zhun this person, has Zida ever dealt with it?" ”

Shang Cheng nodded puzzled. Lu Ji didn't ask knowingly. He is not only from Yi County, but also started in Yi County, how can he not know Qiao Zhun? Although the two of them have only met a few times, and they don't talk much, but the friendship is not bad, at the beginning of the year, he just took over as the fake governor, and ordered all counties in the state of Quanwei to report the situation of the displaced people, and the farthest county from Yanzhou, the official document came the earliest, and Qiao Zhun's heart and friendship he has always kept in mind.

Lu Ji took a sip of the teacup, and said with a smile: "After Zida went to Fangzhou at the end of last month, Shen Zhi from the Ministry of Industry passed Yanzhou by road and came to me to tell me a strange thing......

This strange incident happened in Yi County.

This year's drought was not as severe as expected at the beginning of spring, but the rain was noticeably less than usual in abundant and abundant years, and although the government was digging ditches and digging wells and repairing weirs and ponds everywhere in the government's large-scale water conservancy project, after all, it was implemented late, and there was no benefit in the hurry, so most prefectures and counties mentioned that this year's harvest would probably be poor when predicting the autumn harvest. However, the official document handed over by Yi County said that this year's grain output may not decline, and may be slightly higher than in previous years. After receiving the official letter from Yi County, Wei Mufu did not pay much attention. It was a very common thing for one or two counties to report the good news in a cry of bitterness, and it was common for local officials to make some fancy remarks in official documents that were not related to practical matters in order to please the officials, and naturally no one would take this matter seriously. I don't know what to do, the harvest of the disaster year in Yi County was actually heard by the people of the Yan Bo Division of the Ministry of Industry, and I went down to check, and the situation was really as the official document said, and Yi County is likely to have a bumper harvest year. Not only that, the improved agricultural tools and farming methods promoted by the Yixian Yamen in the territory have also opened the eyes of the people of the Ministry of Industry, and many new agricultural tools have not even been seen by them. The two officials of the Ministry of Industry did not dare to slack off, so they immediately wrote an official document and hurriedly sent them back to Beijing. This is terrible, even Kyoto was alarmed, and a ministry of work in Quzhou was engaged in even the Yanshan Health Department did not know, and went straight to Yi County by crossing the mountains and mountains and taking Nanzheng. It wasn't until the person who came to the Wei Mu Mansion to discuss official business after completing an inspection in Yi County that Lu Ji knew what had happened.

This is indeed a happy event!

Good news!

Shang Cheng sat up straight in his chair excitedly, looking at Lu Ji with blazing eyes. In any era, it is extremely important to let the people eat well, not to mention eating well! What could be more important to the common people than to feed their stomachs? He stood up excitedly, walked a few steps around the house, and said to Lu Ji, "This is a great thing! Qiao County Commander did something we wanted to do but couldn't! In this way, we jointly wrote a letter asking the imperial court to add officials to Qiao Zhun and disperse his rank, and to give a general order to commend him! Even if there is a knighthood, it is not too much, one by one, this credit is heavier than the field feats! As he spoke, he blamed himself in his heart: Oh, I know some things about agriculture, why don't I remember to arrange for someone to do it? He regretted his mistake. Hey, I don't know what I'm busy with all day long, and I forget such an important thing, which is really undeserved!

Lu Ji said: "The opinion of the Ministry of Industry is almost the same as yours. Shen said that after he returned, he would immediately ask the imperial court to set up a few counties around Pingyuan Mansion to try to popularize the method of Yi County, and as long as it was proved that these agricultural tools and farming methods were reliable and feasible, he would ask the three provinces to promulgate the world, and also propose that the imperial court reward those who improved agricultural tools......

"Oh?" Shang Cheng immediately heard that there was still something in Lu Ji's words, and frowned slightly and asked, "Listening to your tone, it seems that the person who improved the farm tools was not Qiao Zhun?" "It's not Qiao Zhun, who else could it be? Could it be......

Lu Ji smiled slightly and nodded, "It's really not Qiao Zhun." That's why I said that this is a happy event, one is to make Uncle Huo Gong. Qiao County's order is just to popularize Huo Gong's improved farm tools and farming methods, and it is Huo Gong who really makes meritorious contributions to the court and benefits the people. ”

Shang Cheng opened his mouth wide and glared at Lu Ji. The things that Qiao Zhun promoted for a long time were the things he did when he helped Uncle Seventeen's family serve the crops! It's strange, almost everyone in Huojiabao knows that they were the ones who instructed the blacksmith to beat the farm tools and harnesses at that time, and they were the new methods they came up with when they were tending to the crops in the fields, why didn't the people in the Ministry of Industry even hear about this? Forget it, no matter what, he doesn't want this credit. It is best to credit the credit to the name of Uncle Seventeen, so as not to see any clues from a careful person like Lu Ji. The people from the Ministry of Industry went to Yixian County to inquire about Huo Shiqi but didn't know him, obviously Qiao Zhun had done a lot of maneuvering in it.

Thinking of this, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but show a smile. Qiao Zhun's sense of smell is not ordinarily sensitive, and he is also very thoughtful in doing things, in order to eliminate the grudge he had with Huo Shiqi earlier, he actually went around such a big circle, and quietly sent a great credit to Uncle Seventeen, and even earned enough official reputation and popularity for himself, this intention is too deep. And this person probably also saw that his origin was unclear, and he was afraid of patting the horse's ass on the horse's hooves, so he simply went to marry Huo Shiqi, this person's vision and wrist are amazing, no wonder he can enter the office as a lifter, and he has been the Taizun of Yixian County in three or five years, and he easily cleaned up the two brothers of the Huo family so that they couldn't even lift their heads.

Of course, Lu Ji didn't know what he was thinking, so he stroked his hand and said with emotion: "...... It's really unthinkable that Huo Gong is such a talented person. To tell the truth, when the first son of the emperor did not avoid his relatives and recruited Huo Gong to do things for the imperial court, I still had hesitation in my heart Although Huo Gong has been in the public gate for more than ten years and is familiar with the official documents, after all, he is not from the right path, and he has no officialdom experience, so he is always afraid that he will make a mistake in doing things. Who knew that Huo Gongcai was so talented that he was able to do it, and his dexterity and flexibility were beyond the reach of ordinary people, leaving aside this new farm tool, just a swallow water boat, I don't know how much labor consumption was saved for the imperial court. Some time ago, I also listened to Wen from Zhouxue, Huo Gongzhi's talent is far more than that, not only proficient in practice, but also reads a lot of books, and every time he has feelings, it is always refreshing......"

Shang Cheng couldn't comment on the words of Wen Xueyu, who took the initiative to cheat in the examination room, so he had to grin dryly.

Lu Ji sighed and said regretfully: "It's that Huo Gong is worried about government affairs and is unwilling to go to Beijing to take the exam, which always makes people feel melancholy. With Huo Gong's talent, he can't be named on the gold list on the shore of Bihu, which is a fly in the ointment. ”

The matter of entering Beijing to catch the exam is also at a loss. It's not that he hasn't persuaded Huo Shiqi, even if it's a big luck, he should always try it, right? But Uncle Seventeen doesn't agree, what good can he do? He can't take a rope and tie Uncle Seventeen and escort him into Beijing.

After a pause, Lu Ji asked, "Did Zida hear about these things that Huo Gong did in the local area?" ”

Shang Cheng knew that he was talking about agriculture, so he said, "It's not too clear. You know, I left Yixian the summer before last, and before this summer, I had only been back once in two years, and before I had said a word to Uncle Seventeen, I rushed back to Ximazhi in a hurry. It seems that these are all the methods he figured out during the time when he was studying behind closed doors. ”

Lu Ji also thinks so. Although he was suspicious of Shang Cheng's origin, he did not associate this matter with Shang Cheng. In fact, he only suspected that Shang Cheng had probably lost his degree, or offended someone, so he had to run to Yanshan to join his relatives and avoid trouble. In his opinion, it is not surprising that a great monk like Shang Cheng works for a short time in order to make a living, but to say that Shang Cheng will also serve the crops, it is obviously unlikely that he will have the strength to do it again and again, and he may not be able to manage the life in the field. He smiled and said: "It seems that a little ups and downs in life are not necessarily all bad. If Huo Gong hadn't been wronged, I'm afraid he wouldn't have had time to calm down and ponder these things, let alone make such a performance inadvertently. If the new methods and new farming tools are used, I am afraid that everyone in the world will be grateful to Huo Gong...... It's a pity that Huo Gong is now presiding over Ge Ping's new library, so he can't ask him for teaching from time to time. ”

Shang Cheng took the tea soup sent by Tian Xiaowu at the door of the study, came over to change the tea cup and poured a bowl for Lu Ji, and said, "In these two days, Huo Gong will come back." ”

Lu Ji took a pod of hot tea soup. Huo Shiqi is now the transfer envoy of Geping Daku, no longer under the direct jurisdiction of the Admiral's Mansion, and he is about to return to Yanzhou when he speaks, why doesn't he, the Wei Mu, know anything about it? Thinking of Shang Cheng just coming back, he plunged into the Wei Mansion and didn't see anyone for a few days, and asked in a deep voice, "There is another war?" ”

"Almost." Shang Cheng sat down, took two sips of the already warm tea, and said, "This is a confidential military matter that has just been decided, and I will inform the heads of the major yamen of the Health Department in the past two days, but since you are here, I will tell you first." The Wei government decided to send troops to the grassland in the early part of next month. Sun Zhongshan's six battalions attacked from Liuzhen, and Fan Quan's four battalions dispatched troops from Ruqizhai. This morning, a letter was sent to the Ministry of Military Affairs, giving a detailed account of the plan and arrangements for this troop dispatch. ”

As soon as he heard that he was going to send troops to release the horses, Lu Ji's heart immediately pounded, and he didn't even hear Shang Cheng's words too clearly. He also hated the Tu people to the bone, and Shang Cheng sent troops to crusade against the grassland, and he absolutely supported it unconditionally. But everything has to be prioritized, now that the situation in Yanshan has just improved, will it be a bit hasty for Shang Chengcheng to make a big move? It's mid-autumn now, and it's winter when you talk about it, and it's freezing on the grassland, how can the army survive the winter and fight? Even if these are not considered, logistics supply is also a big problem, the autumn harvest is imminent, grain harvesting and storage is the most urgent thing at present, and where to recruit the people? He frowned and thought nervously about this series of questions, and only after a long time did he say with some hesitation: "Commander, the subordinate officer does not know much about military affairs, and some words may not be right...... According to the shallow knowledge of the lower officials, the army went out in September and autumn, I'm afraid it's out of season, right? ”

Shang Chengzheng poured himself tea, and when he heard him say this, he couldn't help but smile and said, "You didn't hear me clearly." He briefly told Lu Ji about the plan of the Wei Mansion, and said, "It's not a big army operation, it's to send some people into the grassland to harass us, so that the people of Tuqi will be busy, so that we don't have to worry about whether they will come to deal with us before winter." In previous years, we guarded against them, but this year we changed them and let them taste the taste. One by one, without being rude. ”

He has always spoken straightforwardly, and it is rare to quote a scripture allusion, and at this time, a sentence suddenly came out, Lu Ji couldn't help but be stunned, and immediately laughed, and the anxiety in his heart couldn't help but decrease a lot. He understood the meaning of Shang Cheng's last sentence, but the words he could quote were quite fallacious. The original words of "Qu Li" in the "Book of Rites" are "If you go and don't come, it is incivil; It is also rude to come and not to communicate. ”