Speaking of the promotion of new farm tools and new practices, Chang Xiuxian sighed first. Both liquor and glass taught him to be anxious, but when it came to the hard work, these two things were not even half of the two new promotions. If new farming tools and new practices can be successfully promoted, it will not only benefit thousands of households! No matter how well the liquor sells, it is the Ministry of Industry and the Huo family that benefit from the fact that the glass is fired, and the Ministry of Industry does not have more than one political achievement; Where can they be compared to new farming tools and practices?

The tea soup has long been cold. He didn't bother to drink it all the time. He sat at the table, with a kind of sadness that is unique to intellectuals, worried about national affairs, and slowly recounted the difficulties encountered in the process of promoting the "two new": "...... Yangzhou, Jiankang, Huzhou and other places have always been production areas, and our Ministry of Industry also attaches great importance to them, and specially dispatched competent officials to supervise them. But the local state government did not pay attention to this major event of benefiting future generations in front of him. Some people say that spring ploughing is busy with miscellaneous affairs, and it will be necessary to wait until the summer tax revenue comes up to get together manpower; Some say that this is a sesame mung bean matter, and it is not worth bothering people from various counties to make a trip, so let our people go to lobby by themselves. There were also people who were active, not only recruiting the county magistrates, but even the local gentry shouting together, shouting a large number of people, but they first said the imperial court's "Complaint on Nuclear Land and Acres", and then talked about new agricultural tools and new practices. You also know what the current view of the government and the opposition is on the "Notice on Nuclear Land and Acres", and in this case, who else cares about new farm tools and new practices? The minds of these foreign officials are really ......," he said with a wry smile on his face. The thoughts of these magistrates...... Alas, it's really hard to say!

Shang Cheng didn't make a sound. He was very unaccustomed to Zhang Pu and Zhu Xuan's "Telling the Nuclear Land and Acres", and if Chang Xiu came alone, he would definitely complain in front of his friends. However, now there are not only him and Chang Xiu in the study, but also Yang Heng and Tian Xiu. Tian Xiu is not only Chen Pu's friend, but also Zhu Xuan and Chang Xiu's fellow travelers; Yang Heng is Pan'er's father; None of their relationship with him can be described as estranged. But they are all officials of the imperial court after all. Regardless of whether they support or oppose the "Complaint on Nuclear Land and Acres," he cannot casually express his opinion in front of them.

He could only wait silently for Chang Xiu to continue.

Chang Xiu sighed several times: "This is the case in Wailu Prefecture and County. They are far away from the capital, and we can't help it, the Ministry of Industry is a Qingshui Yamen, and if you want power, you don't have the right to ask for money, and no one usually takes us seriously. He grumbled a few words and got back to business. In the three Chi counties under the jurisdiction of Pingyuan Province, the fourteen Ki counties also did not go well. I found people to go to various counties to see, and the better ones were usually to post a notice outside the county office, and not even assign a document for preaching, and the people came and went before the notice, and no one stayed all day long. If you don't take hemp rope and wear the pamphlet issued by the Ministry of Works, hang it next to the notice and read it with others. In two counties, there was only one hemp rope left in front of the notice......"

Shang Cheng asked, "Have you thought of any other way in the Ministry of Industry?" For example, don't expand the area of promotion for the time being, and still do pilots in a small area? ”

Chang Xiu shook his head. The popularization of new agricultural tools and new practices was originally coordinated with the "Complaint on Nuclear Land and Acres", and if it stopped for no reason, those who were already dissatisfied would definitely take advantage of the situation to exert force, and it was very likely that the imperial court's measures to investigate the acres of land and acres would be abandoned halfway. He was already very guilty that he couldn't help the teacher, so how could he pull the teacher's back at this time. The Ministry of Industry will take back its order and then do a small-scale pilot? That's impossible!

Chang Xiu's attitude was resolute, and Shang Cheng had to find a new way. He asked again: "How many people has the Ministry of Industry sent to various places to supervise now?" ”

"There can be about a hundred and thirty or forty people."

Shang Cheng looked at him with his mouth wide open, and was surprised that he couldn't answer for a long time. How many prefectures and counties are there in Dazhao, how many market towns and villages are there in these prefectures and counties, and how many people live in these places? Scattering these 100 or dozens of people on such a vast land, do you still want to promote it in the Ministry of Industry?

Chang Xiu also felt that this number was really out of reach. He explained: "There was not enough manpower in the Ministry of Works, so there were no more people in the Ministry of Works, and there were ...... in making machinery, making tools, river work, and roads These places need to be taken care of. It is these more than 100 people, and we gritted our teeth and squeezed them out. Besides, it is said that there are more than 100 people, but in fact, it is not enough, and the officials generally have followers around them......"

Shang Cheng didn't know what to say at all. He looked Chang Xiu up and down for a long time, and said, "Wen Shigong, the roster of your Ministry of Industry can't be filled with the names of these people, right?" ”

Chang Xiu also knew that he had said something wrong. He blushed and said embarrassedly, "How can it? How could it be......"

It seems that there is no way to solve the problem from the hands, and Shang Cheng can only change the direction. He asked again, "You should have prepared a lot of brochures for promotion, right?" He thought, if it really doesn't work, he will print out hundreds of thousands of pamphlets, and distribute one to each village, even if the whole village can't find a literate person, looking at the illustrations can copy seventy or eighty percent, right? Anyway, the new farm tools and new methods are not very complicated things, even the pictures and words are counted, and it doesn't cost much to print more than 100,000 copies of 20 pages in the sky. Comparing this amount of money with the benefits brought by the promotion, it is simply not worth mentioning!

This time, Chang Xiu didn't say it so confidently: "A total of seven hundred copies were printed...... "He looked at Shang Cheng and reported an imaginary number. In fact, there are less than 500 copies. In border areas like Yanshan and Bohai, the Ministry of Industry never thought of promoting it at all, not to mention Baiyue, a bureaucrat in the southwest and southeast, who would go to those places?

Shang Cheng didn't want to speak at all. He didn't know how many people Da Zhao really had, but it should be at least sixty or seventy million. With a population of 70 million, 700 booklets, and only 100,000 people can share one book, who should be allowed to read it? Just ordering books and brochures, it is good for a person to get a little paper foam, but Chang Fat still wants to do promotion, and he is still complaining about the short-sightedness of local officials...... He said to Chang Xiu: "You should print more than 100,000 copies." Just give it to the local state and county, and let them send a copy to each village, no money, free of charge! ”

Chang Xiu was taken aback by his arrogance, and said after a while: "A set of engraving can print four or five hundred copies at most." If there is more, it will have to be remade. Printing more than 100,000 copies, the wages for engraving plates alone are several thousand. And that's not even counting paper and manual ......"

"Who made you engraving and printing? Letterpress printing! ”

"What version?" Chang Xiu didn't hear clearly.

"Letterboard! Letterpress printing! ”

Chang Xiu was confused, and he didn't know what Shang Cheng was talking about. Tian Xiu and Yang Heng, who were sitting next to them, were also at a loss.

"Letterpress printing!" Shang Cheng said it again with certainty. Last year, when the Yanshan Weifu was collecting new folk crafts, he did not see movable type printing in the registers and files, so he added this technique by making up a random name. Later, the Ministry of Industry received hundreds of innovative processes from Yanshan Weifu, including movable type printing technology. But he couldn't figure it out, why Chang Xiu seemed to hear of such a thing for the first time at this moment?

He suddenly figured it out. The Ministry of Industry has received hundreds of new processes, and it is not necessarily necessary to digest hundreds of new processes. Especially considering that the Ministry of Works' attention was entirely on liquor and glass, he could have imagined the end of movable type printing, and estimated that those pieces of paper were still lying in some dusty file bag, and if it weren't for Chang Xiu today, maybe they would have stayed there for a long time......

He let out a long sigh and said, "Last year, your Ministry of Industry received this craft from Yanshan. Go back and look for it, you should be able to find it. It can definitely help you a lot. ”

Movable type printing. Chang Xiu remembered the name. But whether it's printing or hundreds of thousands of pamphlets, it's all a matter of going back and thinking about it. The top priority is to solve the promotion of new agricultural tools and new practices! Even if it can be promoted in one state capital. At least it gives people hope, it gives people some confidence.

However, Shang Chengzhen couldn't help. Even the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Industry have nothing to do, what can he, a general who is idle at home, do?

Chang Xiu's face was full of disappointment. He didn't suspect that Shang Cheng was coaxing him. He and Shang Cheng have not known each other for a day or two, although they have not dealt with much, he feels that he still knows this person well. He knew that Shang Cheng was a very straightforward person, and if he could help, it would be impossible for him not to reach out. Since Shang Cheng has repeatedly admitted that he can't help, he can only accept this bad result.

But he was a little unwilling. As far as he knows, it seems that it only took a long time for Yi County to promote new farming tools and new practices. Could it be that what can be done by a county yamen in a single county, the Ministry of Industry can't do it?

Shang Cheng shook his head and said, "The Ministry of Industry really can't do it. ”

In the winter of the year before last, because of the failure of the imperial court's northern expedition, the Tuqi people took advantage of the situation to ravage Yanshan. As an important town in the Yandong region, Yi County was also attacked by the Tuqi people, and nearly half of the people were displaced. Although the Tuqi people were eventually expelled from Yanshan, the battle severely affected the spring ploughing in the second year of Yixian. The government not only had to pay for the tens of thousands of victims in the first winter and the spring and summer of the following year, but also provided them with seeds and grain for spring ploughing, large livestock, and farm tools. It was under this circumstance that Qiao Zhun was determined to promote new farming tools and practices throughout the county. It should be noted that when Qiao Zhun promoted the "two new", he clearly pointed out on the government's notice that the people who accepted the "two new" would be given priority to receive rations and seed grain. Obviously, the promotion he was engaged in in Yixian at that time was enforced.

"That's why I said that the situation in Yixian County is a special case, and your Ministry of Industry can't copy it." Shang Cheng said. He smiled bitterly and preached to Chang Xiu, "You are in the capital, and you only see that the new farm tools and new methods in Yixian County have achieved results. But you don't know that in the entire Yanshan, only the promotion of new farm tools and new practices in Yixian County has been completely successful, and other places are not to mention it. "With the exception of Yixian, the two new promotions in most areas of Yanshan have not been successful. Otherwise, why did he recommend Qiao Zhun as a Jinshi, and even recommended Qiao Zhun to Duanzhou as a magistrate in a private message? It's because Qiao Zhun has experience in agriculture! He was able to promote new farming tools and practices. In the central and northern regions of Yan, as well as in the western part of Yanxi, the promotion of the "two new" is also difficult. The side is not a topic, but a new farm tool makes him very nervous. Yanshan is a border town, and the imperial court has strict control over pig iron, and the price of pig iron is more than twice as expensive as that of the Central Plains, and there are clear restrictions on the amount of pig iron imported each year. Just to get the court to agree to give more pig iron, he almost didn't wear out the skin of his mouth. But the pig iron is available, and no one buys the cast farm tools. The people of Yanshan are so poor that many families can't afford to buy new farm tools; It's not because of road traffic, they can't buy new farm tools, even if they are so poor that they only have their strength left, and the money for their feet must be counted...... In the end, they took advantage of the opportunity of building water conservancy projects in the local government to subsidize the government's money in the name of subsidizing it, so that some localities could be replaced with new agricultural tools......

He told Chang Xiu all these situations, and finally said: "So you can only pilot the promotion of the 'two new'." It has been piloted on a large scale in the Gyeonggi region to make people gradually aware and accept it. Another way was to print pamphlets in large quantities and distribute them to various places through the government. I think that there are hundreds of states and counties in the country, with a population of tens of millions, and there will always be people who dare to be the first in the world, right? If there is a first, there will be a second; If there is the first village, there will be the first market town, and there will definitely be the first county. Maybe in a few years, this matter that is very difficult for us at the moment will become a cloud of smoke. ”

Chang Xiu, Tian Xiu, and Yang Heng, all three of them were a little stunned. The Shang Cheng in front of them made them feel strange. Looking at his sparkling eyes, listening to his sonorous words, and his bold predictions and assertions, they seemed to understand something. Perhaps, this is the demeanor of the real Admiral Yanshan......

After leaving three guests to eat at noon, Shang Cheng sent them out of the gate, and when the guests got on the horse and got on the car, Shang Cheng suddenly remembered something. He patted his forehead and said to Tian Xiu:

"Look at my memory! Wait, wait, I have something to ask you for! ”