Chapter 163 The Weapon of the State Protects Our People

The fragrant wind is gusting, and the warbler is whistling.

The garden was full of sleeves rolled up high, and exposed snow-white pink arms. The faces are as delicate as peach blossoms, the eye waves make people intoxicated, and the laughter makes people's hearts flutter.

"Official, you can come up with this method, it really makes the mourning family happy."

Empress Dowager Yang took the silk scarf from the maid's hand, wiped the sweat from her face, and her face was full of smiles.

She is sixty-two years old this year, although she is well maintained, but after all, her age is not forgiving, except for teaching the little palace maids to read floating astronomy in the Ciming Palace. This is actually a combination of the Song Dynasty and the badminton of later generations, but it is not as intense as the Keju, so the old woman can also shoot twice.

"The queen mother doesn't know, but this thing can not only be happy." Zhao Youju did not wear imperial robes, and when he was in the palace, he often wore civilian clothes: "In the past, Huatuo created five poultry plays, and his disciple Wu Pushanzhi lived more than ninety years and had smart ears and eyes. The queen mother uses this feather bow every day to move her body, and it is easy to live longer than Wu Pu. ”

"The official family will change the way to make the old woman happy." Empress Dowager Yang smiled so much that her eyes narrowed into a slit, at her age, especially now that the curtain has been withdrawn and raised, how to live a long and healthy life is the most concerned thing.

"Huh." Zhao Youju smiled faintly and his eyes drifted towards the garden.

Playing Yuju was Yang Miaozhen and a palace maid, at this time, Yang Miaozhen's face was no longer like a bird in a cage, her eyes were shining, and her footsteps were moving very quickly. In fact, in the harem, when it comes to Yuju, no one is her opponent, and her reaction speed and strength are far from being comparable to these bean sprout-like palace maids.

"The queen mother, after the son enters the palace, there is often a confusion." Seeing Yang Miaozhen's smile, Zhao Heju also smiled slightly, this is a sincere smile, but it is not the kind of smile that just dealt with the Empress Dowager Yang, but he is not the most shrewd person, and he can't find this.

Empress Dowager Yang was staring at him, and when she saw his smile, her eyes narrowed slightly, and there was a hint of cunning on her lips that caught the child and did bad things. She glanced at Yang Miaozhen and said slowly: "The official family is talented and smart, if you can't even understand the official family, I'm afraid that no one in this world can understand, what insight can this old woman from the mourning family have, don't mistake me." ”

Zhao Youju was blocked back by her, her face flushed slightly, and the Empress Dowager Yang laughed: "Okay, it's okay, it's rare to see the official family with red faces, and the mourning family will listen to you, what is the matter with you, although it is said that the mourning family is not those stubborn and rotten courtiers, and you don't need to beat around the bush." ”

Hearing that she said all the sarcastic words that she said about the ministers of the DPRK and China when she was laughing with Yang Miaozhen, Zhao Heju's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes were fixed. When Empress Dowager Yang said this, she immediately regretted it, shook her head, and said with some chagrin: "The older people get, the more they can't speak, but the stubborn stone and rotten wood are what Concubine Xian said when she spoke with the mourning family, hehe." ”

"The queen mother, the son often thinks that in the forbidden land, the yin qi is heavy and the yang qi is weak, so there are many sick and weak people in the harem, if you move more, you can get better." Zhao Heju pursed his lips: "Isn't the queen mother teaching those little palace maids to read and count?" Sitting all day is not good for the body, so why don't you let Miaozhen take them to practice Yuju for a while every day? ”

"Sure enough, I have a daughter-in-law and forget my mother." Empress Dowager Yang smiled: "What a big deal, the official family is in charge, is the virtuous concubine...... She knows her temperament and stays in the palace...... It's really a little stuffy. ”

At the end of speaking, she sighed slightly, then shook her head and said, "Even this country and society have been handed over to you, what else is not allowed to you?" ”

Zhao Heju was really moved in his heart, and heard Empress Dowager Yang say: "The mourning family knows, you are afraid of those courtiers, they are in charge of the emperor in charge of heaven and earth, and they have to manage this harem. ”

Zhao Youju nodded, this thing really made him a little irritable, the palace maids of the Song Dynasty were mostly from civil and military families, and there were a few like the Empress Dowager Yang who came from the people, and the ministers in the court were so noisy, it was a bit like they were pimping for their own women, and their purpose was to divide Yang Miaozhen and Han Yu's favor, thinking of this, Zhao Heju felt unhappy.

"The mourning family felt that this matter was up to them." Empress Dowager Yang shook her head: "Lest they be entangled, in the coming day, they will be ordered to send the candidate women into the palace, and the mourning family will choose them together with Concubine Xian and Ayu...... The official family will leave this matter to the mourning family. ”

Seeing a sly smile on Empress Dowager Yang's face, Zhao Heju was stunned at first, and then suddenly, respectfully saluted her: "Thank you, Queen Mother." ”

"You and my mother and son, although there is no flesh and blood, there is flesh and blood." Empress Dowager Yang sighed, and smiled with satisfaction: "In Shi Miyuan's life, he has made great contributions to the election of you to my ancestors and ancestors of the Great Song Dynasty and the Jiangshan Society. The official family is diligent day and night, and some trivial matters will be blocked by the mourning family for you, so that you can have more time to accompany the virtuous concubine and Ayu, and the mourning family still wants to see the emperor and grandson as soon as possible. ”

The queen mother's choice of palace maids for the official family quickly spread throughout the country, and the ministers of the court recommended women one after another. But this also has a benefit, she was originally an extrovert, and she dealt with these alternative women all day long, at least she didn't feel depressed.

Zhen Dexiu left Lin'an on September 20 to take up his post, and he had already left when Li Shimin returned, so Li Shimin was full of doubts, but there was nowhere to solve them.

"Brother Manqing, it's a pity that you and I are only shallow in learning, and I can't solve the confusion in my heart, I intend to go to Chuzhou to ask Zhengong for advice, but the road is far away, it takes time to come and go, and there are many obstacles." On this day, when he was drinking at the Heroes Meeting, he complained to Zhao Jingyun: "It would be nice if there was a way to fly north and south overnight." ”

Huo Chongcheng, who accompanied the two of them, laughed after hearing this: "You two have been wandering for a long time, you must not have read the newspaper in Lin'an, right?" ”

"Newspapers?"

The two of them had not been back to Lin'an for a short time, so although they had read the newspaper, they had not yet developed the habit of reading it all in the future. Huo Chongcheng called a guy, and after a while, the guy brought two copies of the latest "Great Song Times Weekly", flipped to the "National Style" column, pointed to a message and said, "Take a look." ”

The two picked up the newspaper, only to see that what was written on it was a news, there was a new shop in Lin'an, and the name of this shop was extremely strange, called "Great Song Steamship Merchants Bureau".

"Why did this newspaper even report the opening of the shop?" Li Shimin complained: "Ridiculous, people's hearts are not ancient, people's hearts are not ancient!" ”

Huo Chongcheng smiled slightly, the author of this news is himself. Although Zhao and Ju did not hold an official position with him, they still entrusted him with important responsibilities, and promised that when the court was suitable in the future, he would be given a birth and posthumously given to his father. Zhao and Ju explained what new things were in Lin'an City, and after he collected them, they were polished and published in the "Weekly" under the name of "Liang School".

Zhao and Ju's intention is very simple, when people who read books every day can see new things in the newspaper, they will naturally not be so conservative, and their tolerance for new things will increase. At that time, some institutional reforms will be implemented, which will alleviate some of the resistance.

In order to promote change in this country, he can be said to have spared no effort.

"You two continue to watch, don't rush to make a conclusion first." Seeing that Li Shimin and Zhao Jingyun were staring at him, he smiled.

The two looked at it again and found that the main function of the "Great Song Steamship Merchants Bureau" was to carry out canal freight. Before crossing to the south, the Grand Canal was the key point of north-south traffic, and the sails on the river were like clouds and oars like rain. After the Jingkang Change, the two Huai became battlefields, and there was no longer so much water transportation, and the Yellow River was diverted, so the section of the canal between the two Huai was not only in disrepair and silting, but also the shipping was far less than in the past.

"The real prince went to Chuzhou, and the official family recovered Huaibei again, and I wanted to come to this steamship China Merchants Bureau because of this." After going to Liuqiu, Li Shimin's eyes gradually opened, and he was no longer as pedantic as he was at the beginning, he praised: "The name of the true prince can be seen from this, and the affairs of the official family and Huainan are really discerning!" ”

Zhao Jingyun continued to look down, and saw that the passenger and freight delivery contracted by the ship China Merchants Bureau was not only from Lin'an to Chuzhou, but also to Xuzhou - now Xuzhou is still a war zone, and it is said that the Jin people are mobilizing troops and horses to prepare to retake Xuzhou.

Later, they all noticed the following text: On October 1 of the first year of Baoqing, the steamship China Merchants made its maiden voyage to Xuzhou, and the taxi charged, if it was all the way to Xuzhou, each person would be charged ten times, and to Chuzhou, each person would be charged five times.

"That's an expensive ship." Both of them are staggering.

"You have only seen the price of the ship, but you have not seen the ship." Huo Chongcheng said with a smile: "This ship is newly developed by the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, with dual use of sail and oars, the speed of the ship is extremely fast, and there is a stream of sailors on the way to escort the escort team, so you don't have to worry about the safety of the trip, it is inevitable that it will be more expensive." ”

"Seeking the Guardians?"

Zhao Jingyun and Li Shimin saw the power of the Liuqiu escort with their own eyes, and they were surprised and delighted when they heard this, Zhao Jingyun asked, "They actually escorted this merchant ship?" ”

"That's natural, didn't you go to the country to beg, didn't you go to the escort training camp?" Huo Chongcheng, who had never been to Liuqiu, seemed more familiar than those they had been: "There is a monument in that camp, and on it is a sentence written by our official family!" ”

Zhao Jingyun and Li Shimin glanced at each other, they were a little embarrassed, and the two of them were overwhelmed when they were begging, and they didn't go to see the escort barracks at all. When he heard that there was an official royal pen on the stele, he asked, "What is the sentence?" ”

"The weapon of the country, protect my people." Huo Chongcheng smiled slightly.

"The weapon of the country, protect the ...... of our people" is not a new saying, but it has an unusual meaning when it is combined with the escort team to escort merchant ships.

"I'll pay for the boat for you, you just need to be able to take a leave of absence in Taixue." Huo Chongcheng smiled slightly, Zhao and Ju made him befriend these Taixue leaders, firstly, so that he could understand the dynamics between the scholars from them, and secondly, he hoped to influence them, and then influence the young Confucian scholars, after all, young people, compared to Zhen Dexiu and others, are more receptive to new things.

Li Shimin and Zhao Jingyun both knew that he was bold, so they were not polite to him, and thanked him immediately.

The next day, Huo Chongcheng sent someone to send them a ferry ticket, Li Shimin originally only went alone, but it happened that Zhao Jingyun had nothing to do, and he had extra tickets, so he also went.

Early in the morning of October, the two came to the wharf outside Wulin Fang, and saw that the wharf was crowded, and there were thousands of people who came here to see the excitement. The two of them finally managed to get out of the crowd, and when they looked up, they saw a huge wooden sign with the words "Steamship China Merchants Waiting Office" written on it. On the side of this wooden sign, there is a shed that has been erected, which can give people shelter from the wind and rain.

The two of them took the ticket into the wooden shed, and there were still people bringing tea, they only felt strange, and then looked at the tea shed, there were not many guests like them, thinking that this was because of the first voyage, and the excitement was far more lively than the number of people who participated.

It's not that the people of Lin'an haven't been to the Grand Canal by boat, in fact, this canal still plays an irreplaceable role in the transportation of materials in the Great Song Dynasty, but this is the first time that it has been publicized with such fanfare. Moreover, the ship of China Merchants is different from ordinary ships, it is not the kind of small Wupeng boat, but a large ship with two floors, which is somewhat similar to the painting boat in the West Lake, and is more beautifully decorated. However, there are two more differences than the painted boat, one is that it has sails, and the other is that it is equipped with a paddle wheel behind the tail rudder, and the hull is also extremely long, almost close to a small sea boat, but because it is a flat bottom, the draft is not deep, which is conducive to navigating in inland rivers.

This ship was developed by Hu You and his grandfather Hu Ke after returning to the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, and of course, they also got the drawings provided by Zhao and Ju as a blueprint. Zhao and Ju originally wanted to get on the propeller directly, but under the human pedaling, the effect of the propeller was not as good as that of the paddle wheel. Some time ago, Zhao Youju had ordered Hu You's Freshwater Manufacturing Bureau to study with Xiao Bolang how to install Xiao Bolang's steam engine on the ship to provide power for the ship.

"It's a beautiful boat, but I don't know how fast it is." Seeing the beautiful red paint on the hull, Zhao Jingyun exclaimed.

"It's no wonder that you have to collect ten times...... If you don't collect ten times, you don't know when you can earn it back. Li Shimin also sighed.

After waiting for about half an hour, the bell rang, and then a man came up to greet him, and invited all the guests who were waiting in the shed to the boat. As soon as they were on the boat in the morning, Li Shimin and Zhao Jingyun felt a little cordial, because the clothes of all the personnel on the ship were quite similar to the uniforms of the Liuqiu escort they had seen.

After these few months, the people of Lin'an Zuo have become somewhat accustomed to the costumes of the Liuqiu people, and they only say that all the Liuqiu people are like this, but Zhao Jingyun and Li Shimin know that the vast majority of the Liuqiu people are still the same as the Song people's clothing, but the escort team and some workshop personnel will wear this kind of uniform for the convenience of movement.