Nanyang let Shang Cheng into the side hall, leaving Chen Pu to talk to him, and he hurriedly went to order someone to prepare a dinner party.

Shang Cheng had the opportunity to talk to his old comrades-in-arms about things that were inconvenient for others to know.

But before he could say Yan Shanwei's autumn grassland battle strategy, Chen Pu gave him congratulations first.

This made Shang Cheng stunned. Chen Pu: Which one is this? It has been more than two months since the Spring Campaign ended, and the final commendation of the imperial court has been published in the Di Bao and the Military Newspaper; The autumn campaign is being prepared and has not officially begun, and it is difficult to accurately judge what situation it will end up in, what kind of joy is she saying at this time?

Chen Pu asked him with a smile: "Huo Gongshiqi from Yanshan Yi County, is it Uncle Ling?" ”

Shang Cheng was even more confused. He nodded and looked at Chen Pu in confusion.

"The Ministry of Industry's new methods of improving farming tools and farming in the suburbs of Gyeonggi this year are all from Uncle Ling's whimsy, right?"

Saying this, Shang Cheng remembered that there was indeed such a thing. Last summer, Yandong and Yanbei suffered from a summer drought, and the grain harvest in the affected prefectures and counties was large-scale, but Yi County not only did not report the famine, but the final harvest was barely on par with the bumper year. The incident immediately attracted the attention of the Yanshan Health Department and the Yan Bo Division of the Ministry of Industry. After conducting a field survey in Yi County, the Ministry of Industry felt that the local improved farming tools and new farming methods were highly practical, so it prepared to set aside several plots of land in Gyeonggi this year for pilot projects to verify the new farming methods and improved farming tools. It seems that the pilots done by the Ministry of Industry have been successful, at least partially......

Chen Pu's next words confirmed his suspicion. Chen Pu said: "...... In several places where the new farming method has been tried, grain harvests are estimated to be half to one percent higher than in previous years. In some places, where the new law on farmland water conservancy and the improvement of agricultural tools are being tried out, the output is much higher; The highest harvest is likely to be 30% higher than in a good year. ”

This data surprised Shang Chengdu. This year, the Yanshan Health Department is also vigorously promoting new farming methods and improved farming tools, although the response of farmers is not small, but under the influence of thousands of years of farming tradition, more farmers are still willing to continue to follow the old methods handed down from their ancestors; Especially in Yannan and Yanxi, where the natural conditions are relatively superior, there are even fewer farmers who are willing to accept the guidance of the government. In the Yandong and Yanbei regions, which are eager to improve their living conditions and pursue a full meal, the government has not had much resistance to promoting new methods and new farm tools, but it has encountered a severe drought, and many lands are facing the tragic situation of no harvest, so the effect of new methods and new farm tools cannot be reflected at all. However, even in those areas that were not affected by the disaster, it was not possible to achieve the same high benefits as in the Gyeonggi region. He was keenly aware that between the two, there must be something he didn't understand, or something he didn't realize. He decided that after returning to Yanshan, he would immediately find Qiao Zhun and other officials who knew about agricultural affairs to discuss it and see what the problem was.

While thinking about it, he asked Chen Pu: "Then your family's land has a good harvest, right?" He knows that the kind of pilot projects carried out by the Ministry of Industry are generally accompanied by a policy of income compensation, and if there is an accident in the pilot and fails, the farmers who accept the pilot will not suffer much loss. Therefore, under normal circumstances, this kind of "good thing" of drought and flood to ensure harvest will fall on some people with foresight; Princess Changsha should be counted among the beneficiaries of these "good deeds".

Chen Pu is indeed one of the beneficiaries. Not only her, Nanyang, but also many clans are all beneficiaries. However, while they all benefit, they are also different from each other. The biggest harvest is Nanyang. Nanyang not only accepted the new farming method, but also "forced" the farmers in her village to strictly follow the guidance of the Ministry of Industry step by step from the beginning of seed selection, and "coerced" the farmers to engage in farmland and water conservancy when they went to winter farming, digging ditches everywhere, and picking up all the black mud dug out of the river beach into the ground. Not only that, but before spring ploughing, the soil in the field was loosened and loosened, so that the land was as loose and soft as cotton; At that time, some people joked that the people in her Zhuangzi must want to sleep in the ground......

Shang Cheng asked: "Are there still people laughing at it now?" ”

Chen Pu pursed his lips. The harvest on Nanyang Zhuangzi is generally more than two percent in normal years; Those people who used to laugh at Nanyang are now so jealous that their eyes are almost red.

Shang Cheng raised his head and laughed. Many times, Chen Pu behaves like a princess rather than a general. She lacks the pride and straightforwardness that is characteristic of a soldier; Even if she is wearing a military uniform, others will not treat her as a soldier. But the sentence "jealous eyes are red" just now has a bit of the heroic spirit of a general. The most commendable thing is that she doesn't leave an awkward impression at all when she speaks like this, and considering her background and education, tsk, this is really a great progress!

Chen Pu was a little embarrassed by his laughter. This kind of rude remark blurted out without thinking about it, and even she herself was amazed. She paused and pulled the topic back again: "At present, the success of the pilot project of the Ministry of Industry is in sight, and the commendation of Ling Shuhuo Gong is on the agenda. The opinion of the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Household was to confer the knighthood, and the Prime Minister's Office basically agreed, but the Ministry of Rites felt that it was inappropriate. ”

Shang Cheng was not too worried about Huo Shiqi's knighthood. It doesn't matter whether you are knighted or not, the key is that things must not be exposed. However, the imperial court has the intention to confer a knighthood on the seventeenth uncle, and of course he will not object. But in front of Chen Pu, he must show an attitude to show his innocence. So he said, "The imperial court should confer knighthood." If the output of land is generally higher by one or two percent, then it is unimaginable that the increase in grain production will be extended to the whole country. When the harvest in the land increases, the income of the people increases, and their lives will improve. When the material life is improved, there will naturally be more beautiful yearning, which will drive them to continue to pursue the enthusiasm for change. ”

Chen Pu didn't expect this. In this case, the words she can remember are what Guan Zi said, "Cang Liao is enough to know etiquette". In fact, the vast majority of court ministers also held the same view as her, and at all times, social stability was the first thing they needed to consider.

Shang Cheng has a different view. In any historical period in which the social productive forces are underdeveloped, the main contradiction in society is the contradiction between population and land, and in order to fundamentally improve this problem, the only way to do so is to make great efforts to develop the productive forces. The first major task in developing the productive forces is to vigorously develop agriculture. But he didn't want to discuss these issues with a princess, so he asked her, "Why doesn't the Ministry of Rites agree to the knighthood?" ”

"I didn't make it clear just now, but in fact, the Ministry of Rites didn't disagree." Chen Pu said apologetically to Shang Cheng. The Ministry of Rites also agreed to confer knighthood on Huo Shiqi, but on the specific issue of which rank to confer knighthood, the Ministry of Rites disagreed with the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Households. The suggestion of the Ministry of Rites is the founding man, but the meaning of the household department is the founder of the fifth generation; After negotiation, these two departments finally agreed to award Huo Shiqi the founding man, but he no longer inherited the favor, but Yin Yizi. However, the Ministry of Engineering did not agree to this commendation plan. The Ministry of Industry was the best for Huo Shiqi and asked him to be the founder of the country, which was also the fifth generation.

Shang Cheng opened his mouth in surprise. He didn't know that Uncle Seventeen's friendship with the Ministry of Industry was so deep that he could let the Ministry of Industry bear the pressure of the two departments joining forces to fight for him to be knighted.

Chen Pu hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice: "The Ministry of Industry not only got a new farming method and improved farming tools in Yixian County, but also a new type of harness. ......Although there were only two people in the side hall, she was still unusually cautious, and out of the corner of her eye, she paid attention to the two maids outside the door who were bowing their heads and hanging their hands, and said more softly, "...... When the Ministry of Industry inspected the new law in Yi County, it inadvertently discovered the art of wrought iron of the two Han Dynasty that had been lost for nearly a thousand years, and it was verified that it was also from the handwriting of Ling Shu Huo Gong. ”

Shang Cheng was stunned for a moment. What is wrought iron?

But he reacted immediately. In ancient times, wrought iron often referred to steel; The so-called wrought iron technique is mostly a method of steelmaking. As for how this wrought iron technique came about, he didn't care that the investigation of the Ministry of Industry had already reached a conclusion, it was the handiwork of Uncle Seventeen!

He said more and more frankly: "Then you should reward people even more!" ”

Chen Pu smiled and whispered: "This wrought iron technique is a sharp weapon of the country, how can you take it out?" Even in the Ministry of Industry, not many people know about it, and they dare not publicize it everywhere. Therefore, the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of Rites resolutely disagreed with the granting of Huo Gongguozi, and the Ministry of Industry could not tell the difference, and now the Prime Minister's Office did not stand up to speak, so the matter had to drag on like this first. But she immediately comforted Shang Cheng again, "But don't worry, this matter won't last long." You'll see it as soon as the autumn harvest is over! Moreover, a few days ago, my father already knew the ins and outs of the matter, and he specially asked me about Uncle Ling yesterday. The Son of Heaven heard that Huo Gong had been a guide to lead the elite soldiers to attack the village, and he praised it a few times. I think that even if the imperial court finally confers the title of the prince of the open country according to the recommendations of the two ministries of household rites, the Son of Heaven will definitely have another gift. ”

Shang Cheng let out a noncommittal "oh". That's pretty much the end of the conversation, and I can't talk about it anymore, lest the vines accidentally lead me to myself. He took a sip of water, and was about to talk to Chen Pu about military matters, Chen Pu sneered and laughed: "Let me ask you about my sister one by one, why does she call you a 'sir'?" ”

Why does Nanyang keep calling himself "sir"? Not to mention Chen Pu's confusion about this, even Shang Cheng himself has not figured it out yet.

He knew almost nothing about Chen Pu's sister, except that she was a big calligrapher. So far, he and this princess have met once in Chen Pu's princess's mansion. The situation of that meeting was very bad, when he taught the mad monk who was all the way with Nanyang, and swept Nanyang's face by the way. He certainly wouldn't take it seriously himself; But as far as Nanyang is concerned, no matter how you look at it, you should hate him; Even if he doesn't dare to retaliate blatantly because of his identity, at least he has to take an opportunity to teach him a small lesson and let him eat a fly before it's over. In fact, when he met Nanyang on the slope in front today, he had this expectation, and he was ready to accept Nanyang's revenge. He thought, he is a big man, he doesn't know like women, and he will take a small loss to expose that skirmish. But what happened next was much more than he expected. Nanyang changed his arrogant style when he met before, and wanted to give him Zhuangzi at one time, and then wanted to give him an Arabian horse, and his respect for him was even more to the point of being overwhelming, one by one, one by one, "Mr.", and those who were highly evaluated, which made him a little ashamed. In front of such respect, he even felt that even Nanyang's father, Emperor Dongyuan, was afraid that it would be rare for him to be treated like this here, right?

Now, thinking back to what he had just done, Shang Cheng's heart suddenly had a very ridiculous thought: Could it be that Nanyang's performance today was not actually designed to retaliate, but sincerely wanted to please him? It's just because of a lack of understanding of him that he can't prescribe the right medicine, so all his intentions are regarded by him as a trap and a trap......

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this absurd idea was probably the true way things were. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why Nanyang was so good to him.

However, why did Nanyang treat him so well?

He couldn't figure out why a princess who had nothing to do with him should be so good to him? Moreover, this princess is also the most beloved daughter of Emperor Dongyuan, and she is also a great scholar in the world, so why does she need to please a fake admiral who only knows how to train soldiers and fight......

Thinking that Nanyang was still a big scholar, his nerves, which had been a little relaxed, suddenly tensed again. Great calligrapher, calligraphy, "63 stickers"...... A few events immediately drew a line in his mind, and everything suddenly became clear! Nanyang must have learned from somewhere that the "63 Post" collected by Ouchi was the note he left to Gao Xiaosan in Yixian County; She must also know that Yixian Shangcheng Shangzida is actually a shortage of Shangcheng businessmen......

It must be so! He told himself with certainty. It must be that Nanyang already knows that he is the person called "Yu Missing" at the check-in office of "63 Post"!

He couldn't figure out where the news had leaked out for the time being. There are so many possibilities. He is not the kind of cautious character who is vigilant and cares about anytime and anywhere, so he usually does not deliberately hide his love for calligraphy. At least the calligraphy and painting connoisseur Lu Ji clearly knew that "Yu Lack" was his watch number, and under the banner of exchange and learning, he took five or six characters from him before and after. Of course, Uncle Seventeen not to mention, not only took a few characters, but also forced him to write another regular script of "Thousand Character Text" under the guise of "ugly characters can't see people and need to learn a lot of characters". is the well-known and generous man Zhou Xiang, who also peeked out some ways from the fact that he and Lu Ji were close, so he invited him to his home for a drink a year ago, and when he was drunk, he took the opportunity to invite him to pick up the pen, and the title given turned out to be Li Bai's "Shu Dao Difficult"! Fortunately, he was not drunk that day, and he came to his senses after only half of writing. Later, Zhou Xiang also deliberately let him see the framed words and stickers at a glance, and Mr. Yu's handwritten book "Shu Dao Difficult (Fragment)" was missing, and the Zhou family's collection of several generations of half of Cao Mengde's "Duguan Mountain" authentic work "The two and two are just in contrast to each other, which can be described as a momentary beauty"...... In addition, his usual official documents and private messages may also reveal his identity. In the eyes of others, the official documents and private letters he writes are meticulous in small letters, but after years of calligraphy, even if he writes a few words, as long as he does not restrain himself, the skeleton of the strokes of the words will immediately reveal the original shape; Moreover, in front of everyone who writes calligraphy like Nanyang, even if he deliberately hides the brushstroke, it has no effect, as long as people pay a little attention, they can immediately identify whose handwriting it is from......

He judged that Nanyang must have obtained his own letter or official document, and then judged that he was Mr. Yu Que who signed the money on the "63 Post". He further deduced that most of the letters came from Chen Pu; Because there are only a few Shangjing officials who have correspondence with him, except for Chen Pu, Nanyang is unlikely to go to other people's homes. Moreover, most of this letter was taken by Nanyang from Chen Pu without telling him, and Chen Pu still does not know why her sister calls herself "sir", which shows that she has no idea about her other identity. He even judged which letter Nanyang had in his hand. There is no doubt that he wrote such a letter to Chen Pu when he left Beijing last year, and he only wrote such a letter to Chen Pu, and he still wrote back......

Since Nanyang already knows that he is short of business, then everything that follows, like why Nanyang's attitude towards him has changed 180 degrees, is easy to explain. The Wei stele he is good at is the same calligraphy art as the calligraphy, and there is a saying that "the south goes to the north and the north stele"; What kind of situation will his broken words be in the eyes of everyone in Nanyang's calligraphy? He stood in front of Nanyang, could Nanyang not respect him as "sir"?

Nanyang respects him as a gentleman, and he is ashamed. Because he is not a real gentleman, Wei Bei is not his founder; He's just a calligraphy enthusiast. Wei Monument, which was the creation of northern folk artists during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, is the high crystallization of folk culture, whether it is him or others, do not dare to take this glory for themselves......

But at the moment, he can't explain to Nanyang.

He had bigger problems to solve.

Wait a while for Nanyang to arrange dinner and come back, what should he do if he is asked to write a few words?