It snowed in the evening on the day of the Great Cold.

The snow fell intermittently for three or four days, until the Chinese New Year's Eve day, when the watch was not only not stopped, but also intensified, the wind smeared with snow, the snow borrowed the wind, and the dragon flew between the sky and the earth and the jade python rushed......

The year of Ding Chou in the summer calendar, and the twenty-second year of the Eastern Yuan of Da Zhao, came in this snowflakes flying in the sky.

Just after the first day of the first lunar month, Shang Chengcheng has already risen. Two days ago, the Ministry of Rites sent someone to inform him that he was going to attend today's Zhengdan Pilgrimage. The Zhengdan Dynasty will be the most grand among the three major court meetings, so the etiquette is also the most complicated. Even those old courtiers who can participate every year occasionally have the unintentional mistake of losing their honor in front of the king. Therefore, at this time of year, the Ministry of Rites sends someone to remind the officials. Especially for officials like Shang Cheng, who participated in the Zhengdan Dynasty for the first time, the Ministry of Rites took the trouble to describe the process and explain various matters to be paid attention to. But this court meeting is too complicated, Shang Cheng took the proclamation of the Ministry of Rites and read it for a long time, but he still can't remember it completely, but he just figured out the arrangements before and after the court meeting: the hundred officials who participated in the court meeting and the officials who were given special exceptions must be named at the time of the day, and then they lined up in the door to salute, and then entered the Zichen Hall to welcome the holy monarch at the beginning of the morning, and the court meeting will be held on time at the time of the morning; Fengli Pavilion Song Song, Inner Garden Dance, Prime Minister Congratulations, Hundred Officials Congratulations, Feudal Kingdom Envoy Congratulations, Holy Monarch Sets Up a Banquet and Hundred Officials Celebrate the New Year with the People of the World......

On the way to the Imperial City, he was still reciting these procedures in his mind.

The procedures of this Zhengdan Dynasty meeting were so complicated that he couldn't remember it at all. Fortunately, except for the final feast in the whole process, he basically didn't have anything to do, he just needed to follow the example of others. He will give up when others give up, and when others pray for the blessing of the Son of Heaven, he will recite a slogan, as long as he does not make mistakes. And he is the seventh in the military general sequence, just behind Poyang Hou Gu Shi, and when the time comes, he can ask Gu Shi to remind and correct the omissions at any time.

By the time he went out, the snow had stopped. The dense stars scattered in the inky black night sky were like a large bluestone slab covering the sky and decorated with silver nails. The walls on the streets, on both sides, the arches of the doors, the ridges of the roofs...... There are also bare trees, covered with inches of snow everywhere, shining in the starlight with a faint pale white light. There were few messy footprints on the snow, apparently someone had walked by, most of them were left by the people who were visiting relatives when they returned home; There are still a few horseshoe prints and wheel prints, perhaps they are colleagues who went to the Great Pilgrimage like him......

Now, he had come along the royal street to the small square in front of the Imperial City.

As elsewhere, there is a thick layer of snow here. But the Ministry of Rites has long been prepared, recruiting people to sweep out a large open space, and then set up more than a dozen large enclosed houses on it, the roof of the house is covered with grass to block the snow, and the four sides are surrounded by felt, and the brazier is still burning in the house, and the lanterns of each yamen are picked out at the door: Dali Temple, the Domain, the Household Department, and the Ministry of Rites...... At the end of the royal street, in front of the six pillars and five gates of the spirit star, which symbolizes the heaven, earth, mountains, rivers and seas, there are also officials of the Ministry of Rites giving guidance to the hundred officials.

According to the instructions, Shang Cheng soon found the generals' big encirclement. He hadn't come too early, and there were already several people in the huge enclosure, and the people in the room were all red. An old man he had never seen before was lying on a couch wrapped in a big fur and snoring, and the other seven Shangzhu Guozhu were divided into three groups and sat around the brazier. Yang Du has the most people around him; Poyang Hou Gushi and a Shangzhu country are drinking tea and talking; Only Xiao Jian was alone guarding a brazier at the door, sitting on a chair with his eyes closed and pretending to sleep; There were eight people in a room, and he knew only four. He estimated that the other four generals were either clan or noble, raised his arms to make a military salute, and sat next to Xiao Jian with his back to the felt door.

He did not know the people in the enclosure, but all the people in the enclosure knew him; At least they've heard of him. Everyone looked at him with a little surprise and sat next to Xiao Jian. Ah, didn't you say that Shang Yanshan and Xiao Jian turned their faces for the Yanshan Admiral, why didn't they look like that at all; Look, Shang Yanshan is still blocking the door for Xiao Jian! Even Yang Du, everyone lowered their voices or simply stopped talking, wanting to see what Shang Cheng and Xiao Jian could talk about. The enclosure was much quieter for a while.

Xiao Jian opened his eyes and saw that it was him, and was silent for a while before saying, "I received the things you sent two days ago, which is good." ”

Shang Cheng touched left and right, grabbed the tongs set up by the brazier, and said, "You came really early. ”

Xiao Jian said: "I don't have anything good for you to give in return." ”

Shang Cheng took a few pieces of charcoal with tongs to suppress the two strong fires in the brazier, and said with a smile: "This charcoal is too heavy." He made a surprised look and said, "Won't you?" I went back to Beijing to recuperate, so I didn't move around. You don't hold a grudge against me because I didn't go to the house to pay respects, right? In front of others, I always tensed my face and pretended to be rich, and before going out, I rubbed lard on the skin of my mouth a few times, making it look like I had eaten meat at home. I won't lie in front of you......" He paused and said with a bitter face, "There is no surplus food in Yiyi County's uncle's family." ”

There was a sudden silence in the enclosure, and a burst of laughter erupted. Even the old Shangzhu Guo, who was alone on the long couch, turned over and sat up, stared at Shang Cheng for a long time, spat and scolded with a smile. Only Yang Du could hold it, put away his smile after a few laughs, and looked at Shang Cheng up and down with slanted eyes.

Xiao Jian smiled and said, "It seems that I can't keep this bit of wealth in the year." ”

"If you don't give me some money for the New Year, then I'll go to your house to eat a big family."

As he was talking, two more people came in from the felt door, both of whom were pillars with red robes and single mink tails. As soon as the two of them entered the door, they took two quick steps to report to Xiao Jian, Xiao Jian squinted his eyes and glanced at it, nodded slightly and said, "It's here." Sit them all down. With these words, the two pillars sat down.

Seeing them sit down, Xiao Jian looked at Shang Cheng's lips and squirmed, but he didn't say anything, so he turned around and said to the two people, "This is Uncle Yingxian." ”

The two generals glanced at Shang Cheng in surprise, and then looked at each other, unable to understand what the old man meant by this, and were not sure whether he should stand up and make up for Shang Cheng.

Shang Cheng said to the two pillars: "Don't listen to the old handsome, he is joking with me." He said to Xiao Jian again, "I'll go over and talk to Gu Poyang." You know, this is the first time I've participated in this Zhengdan court, and I'm dazzled by a lot of this ritual and that festival, and I didn't remember it clearly after staying up for half a night yesterday. Gu Hou was right in front of me when the procession was performing, and I had to ask him to remember to point me out twice. ”

As soon as he talked to Gu Shi, Gu Shi naturally agreed.

He came out again and went to the military headquarters next door to look for Zhenxiang. He drank too much at the banquet two days ago, and he didn't know what was going on, so he promised Li Mu to help Taishi Temple build a new observatory. He originally planned to deny this account under the pretext of being drunk, but he completely underestimated the attraction of the Heavenly Observatory to Li Mu, and forgot that Li Mu was the Shaoqing of Taishi Temple before he resigned. Taishi Temple is a poor yamen, on weekdays, it is counting the annual household judgment to live, there is no oil and water at all, not to mention what to build a heavenly observatory, that is, to temporarily repair the existing instruments to use some copper, and also have to ask grandpa to tell grandma to run to the household over and over again. Li Mu, the former Shaoqing of Taishi Temple, probably did not do this kind of "begging" earlier, and he was extremely familiar with all kinds of routines. Anyway, he didn't give him a real position for the time being, so this celebrity went to his house every day to disturb him like a slander in the market, and he also went around to advertise that he and Shang Yingbo "hated to meet each other late and became each other's confidants", teaching him to do nothing every day, not to say, and to be entertained with good tea and food. He was really afraid of Li Dingyi. There was no way, so he had to bite the bullet and come to Zhenqian to see if he could let the military department sweep some copper slag from the crack in the brick and throw it to Li Mu to deal with the matter.

Zhenqian listened to him finish speaking, and spread his hands and grinned: Taishi Temple wants to build a heavenly observatory, why does the military department pay for it?

Shang Cheng had thought about this reason for a long time, so he immediately said: "The Heavenly Observatory can also come in handy in the military." ”

Zhenqian pursed his mouth, obviously not believing Shang Cheng's nonsense. He asked Shang Cheng, "Have you gone to Taishi Temple to see the armillary sphere?" ”

Shang Cheng shook his head.

"That thing is cast in cooked copper, weighing more than 3,800 catties, and it almost failed to move to the planetarium when it was cast. The celestial sphere you are talking about couldn't be lighter than it. Two or three thousand catties of things, how to use them in the military? Zhen Xiang said. He decided that Shang Cheng was doing this completely to help Li Mu find money from the military department. But for the sake of his friend, he didn't mention Shang Cheng's bullshit reason to observe the celestial phenomena in the barracks.

Shang Cheng said: "We can observe the miniaturization of the celestial sphere......"

Zhen Qian snorted, smirked and said, "Things related to celestial phenomena, no matter how small can it be?" ”

Shang Cheng compared the length and thickness of the monocular with his hand and said, "...... It's that size. ”

"This is the Celestial Observatory?"

"You can also call it a 'telescope', or a 'telescope'." Shang Cheng said angrily. Why can't this really understand that this thing is useful? As for how useful it can be, to be honest, Shang Cheng himself doesn't know much, because he hasn't used a telescope or a clairvoyant mirror several times when he has sent troops. The reason for the uselessness is simple. There are very few colorless transparent crystals, and then the size does not match, and there is another reason that Yanshan Weifu does not agree to this expenditure, grinding two small pieces one by one, I don't know that the so-called crystal will cost more than a thousand, how to make such a large amount of money into the expenditure book?

He apparently forgot the original meaning of the word "mirror". Mirror Jianye, usually it refers to a bronze mirror or bronze mirror, the front side is polished and shiny to reflect things, and then the back is carved with patterns of fish and birds, which is completely different from the "mirror" as an optical instrument that he wants to describe. Therefore, Zhenqian even felt that he was holding the job of the Ministry of War, but he was helping outsiders to speak, and conspired to blackmail the money of the Ministry of War. He gave the order to evict the guest: "What is that...... I've got something to do, why don't you go back first, get some sleep and wake up?" "He's already very polite. If he hadn't had a little friendship with Shang Cheng, and he also had a little scruple about Shang Cheng, if someone else came to talk to him about this, he would have left without saying a word.

Shang Cheng was also a little angry. Isn't it just to ask the military department to pay some money to send a scoundrel celebrity, what a big deal, you really want to take up the squire shelf?

He sneered at Zhen Qian's back: "Without Butcher Zhang, I still don't believe it, so I have to eat a pig with hair!" The military department doesn't do it, does it? If the Ministry of War doesn't do it, I'll find Chang Wenshi in the Ministry of Engineering! Go back and make something good, and you can find a place to cry! ”

He was angry, and his voice inevitably became a little louder, and the officials in the surrounding enclosure all came out to see who was shouting here. It just so happened that the enclosure of the Ministry of Industry was not far away, and a fat man came out of the felt door, which was Chang Xiu, the squire and the writer Chang Wenshi. He also recognized Shang Cheng, his fat face was full of laugh lines, and he arched his hand and said, "It's Zida." What are you looking for from me? ”

Shang Cheng entered the encirclement of the Ministry of Industry and described the matter from beginning to end, and asked: "Zhenqian has no vision, and the Ministry of War is reluctant to pay money to invest, what about your Ministry of Industry?" ”

The Ministry of Industry Shangshu and the right attendant glanced at each other, and they both felt a little regretful, they should have found an excuse to slip away after saying hello to Shang Cheng just now! Shang Shu lowered his head and muttered, as if he was thinking about the gains and losses of the matter, but quietly gave Chang Xiu a look from the corner of his eye. Chang Xiu immediately said: "Zida, let our Ministry of Industry come out with this money, there is no problem at all......

Shang Cheng slapped Chang Xiu's leg and praised loudly: "Good! I knew it was still your friend Chang Wenshi! ”

Chang Xiu smiled frankly and continued: "...... However, if we do this, it is actually the Ministry of Industry to pay to help Taishi Temple build achievements, which is not easy to explain. "It's okay to pay the money, but the question is what happens after the money is paid? It is a trivial matter for the Ministry of Industry to pay a thousand copper coins of 2,000 yuan, but it can't always be paid for people, but in the end, it is not relied on at both ends of the political performance, right?

Shang Cheng smiled and said, "As long as you can make the Celestial Observatory, then the Ministry of Industry will wait to count the money!" ”

The Ministry of Labor Shangshu and the two squires laughed together. Where does the Ministry of Industry go to make money? At the beginning, Taishi Temple made an armillary sphere, and thousands of catties of copper were used without counting the salary, but it made people count down for several years, and Li Mu's resignation was not unrelated to this matter. Now what kind of hellish skygazing instrument is being created, and the Ministry of Engineering is not so bad that it can't even recognize itself?

Shang Cheng thought for a while and said, "Old Chang, let's not talk back to each other, you still don't believe me?" At the beginning, Zhang Shao was reluctant to allocate money and grain to make liquor, but what was the result? Now I'm going to say that as long as I can build a celestial sphere, the Ministry of Industry can sit at home and collect money all over the world. ”

Chang Xiu and his boss and colleagues glanced at each other, and they all had some ideas in their hearts. At present, the Ministry of Industry and the Yanshan Huo family are cooperating in the liquor business, and the Huo family has the guidance of a master behind them, and signed a 67-page document with the Ministry of Industry - "On the Authorized Production Contract of High-Purity Alcoholic Beverages (i.e., Huo's Liquor)". The Huo family only took away the liquor sold in the prefectures and counties along the way from Yanshan to Shangjing, and it seemed that the Ministry of Industry had taken a big advantage, but the Huo family didn't pay any money, didn't go out of the land, didn't have people, and didn't care about transportation and sales, so they didn't have to do anything, lying on the kang and waiting to divide the profits of the Ministry of Industry according to the output. Although the Ministry of Industry earns many times higher than the Huo family, where is there anyone else who makes money so comfortably?

The three of them made eye contact, and Chang Xiu asked, "Zida is so sure?" ”

Shang Cheng nodded impatiently. No matter how hard the Ministry of Industry struggled, he still went back to find the truth. He didn't believe it, with such a large military department, it was impossible not to even take out a thousand copper coins, right?

"How much money does it cost to make this celestial sphere?"

Shang Cheng pondered for a moment. He was afraid that he would talk too much about investment and scare Chang Xiu and them into retreating. But it's hard to say about the glass, maybe it's done all at once, maybe it's not a play for half a day, and after thinking about it, I said: "Take a thousand taels first, it's not enough." ”

Chang Xiu was about to say whether 1,000 was a bit much, but the Ministry of Industry Shangshu interjected next to him: "1,000 is not enough, let's go out of 5,000 first." But there is a condition, if you really burn the kind of transparent glass that Ying Bo said, our Ministry of Industry will account for the majority of the process technology. Craftsmanship and technology, these are the two things he values most after carefully studying the document with Yanshan Huo. Although he has not thoroughly understood the precise meaning of these two words, this does not prevent him from picking up these two sharp "weapons". If he can really drum up a new glaze, maybe he can also go to the first few yamen in the six departments to make a scholar.

"Okay, you can discuss this matter with the people of Taishi Temple, and I will pull a line for you." Shang Cheng said happily. Whoever pays for it benefits, he doesn't want to care who the process technology ultimately belongs to. Now that this matter has finally been implemented, I will break off my friendship with this guy after telling Li Mu back!