Princess Changle looked at it with a smile, and waited for the two little sisters to finish being coquettish before she spoke: "My son and Xincheng want to live in the children's house for a few days, and I ask my father for permission." ”

His Majesty Li Er was stunned for a moment, looked down at his son, and then looked at Xincheng.

"I want to go to my sister's house for a few days." The son blinked his eyes and pleaded, "I've only been there once, and I've almost forgotten it." ”

Xincheng tugged at his father's sleeve and said, "I haven't been there once, and I don't even know what my sister's house is like." ”

His Majesty Li Er smiled, although he felt that these two little girls might have other thoughts, but he couldn't bear to refuse, so he turned his inquiring eyes to Changle.

Princess Changle said with a smile: "The child was originally asking his father for peace today, but he didn't expect his son and Xincheng to make this request, thinking that he would stay in the palace and be depressed. It's better to let them go to the children's house for a few days, and the children will take good care of them. ”

His Majesty Li Er pondered for a moment and nodded in agreement. Even if he went to Lizhi's mansion, he really had no excuse to refuse, although he guessed that his son and Xincheng, and even Lizhi still had something to tell him.

Alas, staying in the palace is indeed very boring, but His Majesty Li Er quite understands his daughter's thoughts. Go out to play, there should be no problem with beautiful care, it's a big deal to send a hundred horsemen to protect it!

Li Lizhen and her father chatted for a while, and her son and Xincheng had secretly looked at her a few times, obviously impatient, which made her laugh.

Seeing that Sister Ah finally got up and retired, both the son and Xincheng breathed a sigh of relief, Xincheng was particularly excited, and he didn't know how to hide the joy of leaving his father.

Standing at the gate of the palace, watching Li Lizhen holding a little sister in one hand, talking while walking, with an intimate attitude, and cheerful laughter from time to time, His Majesty Li Er showed a relieved and cheerful smile.

"Sister, the day after tomorrow is the day of acting." A look of urgency flashed in the son's eyes, and he said, "Xiao Zhao has reserved the best box for us, and she won't be disappointed this time." ”

Princess Changle nodded with a smile and said; "That's her theater, it's not like she can stay whichever she wants. The day after tomorrow is the premiere, and I heard that it is hard to get a ticket. ”

Xincheng grinned and said, "We don't have to buy tickets, how good." Listening to Xiao Zhao, there are also singing and dancing, and I can hear Ah Ke singing again. ”

"Ake is the blind girl, right?" After Li Lizhi received an affirmative answer, she said: "I only heard that she sings very well, but I have never seen or heard of her, and this time I may have feasted my ears." ”

The son said: "Ah Ke sings well, and he plays the piano well. Father and Xu Chongrong are full of praise, and the young slave brother still wants to invite her into the music workshop! ”

Li Li thought about it and guessed: "Then she must be disgusted with the music and didn't agree?" ”

The son nodded and said, "Ake is a good person, of course I don't want to be a musician." ”

After a pause, the son took out two pieces of paper, handed them to Sister A, and said, "Sister, here you are, it hasn't been published in the "Minsheng Daily" yet, you can have a sneak peek." ”

Li Lizhi took the paper, touched her son's head dotingly, and said with a smile: "Now Sister doesn't have to guess, and she doesn't have to wait." ”

Xincheng pulled Sister A's hand, looked up and asked, "Sister, can I go to Xiao Zhao's house tomorrow to play, I've always wanted to go!" ”

"This-" Li Lizhi hesitated and didn't agree for a while.

The son blinked his eyes and said, "Sister, let's go and have a look, it's okay to stay for a while." ”

Li Lizhi nodded helplessly and said, "Okay, just go sit for a while, you can't stay too long." ”

"Yes, yes!" Xincheng is the most cheerful, and can't help but jump.

……………

In later generations, although Xu Qilin was not rich, it was a peaceful world, and food and clothing were not a problem. Wearing to the Tang Dynasty, although his family background cannot be compared with the powerful, he does not worry about eating and drinking.

It's just that after seeing the victims who flocked to Chang'an, and digging rocks with the recruited people, he realized how good and beautiful things peace and food and clothing are for ordinary people.

Yes, eating his somewhat unpalatable wheat and rice, and drinking vegetable soup with only a little oil star, as long as he is full, the people are already very satisfied. Without being beaten and scolded, and with a meager salary, the recruited people almost regarded him as a great good man.

Because of this, although Xu Qilin had not yet been officially appointed by the imperial court as an official to manage Caoyun, he did his best to change the conscription to employment.

What is conscription, it is to work for nothing; Twenty days of labor in a year, if twenty-five days of additional service are exempted, and thirty days of additional labor are exempt from all rent, and that's all.

Of course, this kind of labor can't get any benefits for the common people, and they don't even have any enthusiasm to work, and they are pulled down after 20 days.

The same is true for Caoyun, which is also a very heavy burden for the people. Especially in the direct transportation method, it often takes half a year to go back and forth, and the shipwright and the people along the way carry it, all of which belong to hard labor.

Therefore, Xu Qilin began to think about changing this situation. It not only makes the people happy to work, but also improves efficiency, and the cost of the court is not too much.

After the excavation of the land route to bypass the danger of the pillar was completed, the work of transporting grain from Luoyang to Guanzhong began, and Xu Qilin's new measures were also implemented.

From Luoyang to Jijin Cang, take the land route to the salt warehouse, and then transfer from the salt warehouse to the Taiyuan warehouse in Shaanzhou, and finally arrive in Chang'an by Weishui. These four sections of shipping were opened first, and Xu Qilin also began to organize four fleets to divide the water and redeem the transportation.

Directly reaching out to the imperial court to ask for money, changing labor to employment, this is estimated to be not accurate. Xu Qilin took a detour and used the profits from the trafficking of Hedong salt to the south to pay his wages.

Regardless of whether the imperial court allowed it, whether the people could be paid to actively transport grain, the most important step of the Caoyun reform was completed.

After dispatching the ships for four sections, Xu Qilin handed over the management to his officials and took the boat down the river to Xin'an County, west of Luoyang.

Xin'an calendar is the ancient capital of the Nine Dynasties Luoyanggi and the western gateway, the ancient road of the Han Pass, the east of Zhengbian, the west of Chang'an, since ancient times for the Central Plains fortress, military powerhouse. In later generations, there were also Longhai Railway and Lianhuo Expressway that traversed the east and west, which were important passages connecting Northwest, East China and North China.

It has been more than a month, and the work of the exploration personnel transferred by the Ministry of Industry has also gained some eyebrows, and Xu Qilin feels that he can speed up the progress even more by pointing fingers.

For mineral exploration, the ancients had their own methods, and there were already many regular summaries.

For example, "Pipe? The "Several Chapters of Land" records a dialogue between Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor, the ancestor of Chinese civilization, and his minister Bo Gao more than 5,000 years ago: "Those who have dansha on the top have gold below. He who has a stone on it has bronze and gold on it. There is a mausoleum stone on the top, and lead, tin, and red copper under it. There is ochre on top, and iron below. ”

As the earliest exposition on the distribution of mineral resources discovered so far, its scientific validity is very impressive.

Some ancient pit sites prove that China's ancient mining methods have been very mature, and the room-pillar method has been used for mining in the Tang and Song dynasties.

The excavation of coal mines in Weinan has undoubtedly added a lot of experience. After all, the Tang Dynasty did not attach much importance to coal, a mineral, and its application was not widespread.

After Xu Qilin arrived in Xin'an, he listened to the report of the personnel and learned that he had not only found coal, but also found "Mountain no Glory", that is, the seedlings of iron ore.

It is said that Xin'an's coal mines and iron ore are of high quality and easy to mine, and Xu Qilin also thought it was true after seeing the data.

Superficial mineral deposits, on the other hand, were the most suitable and easy to explore for the production tools and mining techniques of the time.

The other two kinds of mineral deposits quartz stone and baux-vanadium earth, Xu Qilin is not in a hurry, first do a good job of coal and iron, which is the vast source of wealth.

Therefore, Xu Qilin just took a short break, and rushed to the place where the coal mine was discovered, and carefully inquired about the specific situation of the explorers.

"About ten meters under the soil, it is the coalcoal." The official introduced Xu Qilin that it was a rather large place, "Based on the several mines dug so far, it should be the case for the underground within a radius of 30 zhang." ”

Xu Qilin looked around, slightly bowed, only from the surface of the soil and rock excavation can be mined coal, not only easy, more safe.

"There are hundreds of workers who will be transferred today, and the weather is getting colder, so we should be able to catch the peak sales season in winter." Xu Qilin estimated it and nodded quite confidently.

The shortage of labour will be long-term, and it will certainly not be enough for the prisoners in prison alone. The only way to solve this problem seems to be to plunder the population. The Goryeo people in Liaodong, the fangs in the south, the nomads in the north, and even those small countries in the Western Regions.

Xu Qilin felt that he was degenerating into a criminal feudal slave owner, and his performance might advance the Tang Dynasty's foreign wars, and it might also reduce the death of prisoners of war.

What to behead thousands, it's really a waste. All of them are caught to work and contribute to the construction of Datang, which is more cost-effective.

Coal will enter Chang'an, Luoyang, and even the surrounding households this winter, and once the advantages over firewood are accepted, it will become the first choice for living fuels, and the demand for next year will also increase significantly.

Not only for heating and cooking, but also for steelmaking and ironmaking, the advantages of coke will also be reflected, and the ordnance supervisor and private iron workshops will also buy a large number of them.

Xu Qilin looked at the hundreds of Turks who were working with shovels and pickaxes, groaned for a while, and said, "Let Sun Sixin come over, and tomorrow will carry out surface blasting to speed up the production progress." ”

Since gunpowder is available, it is necessary to make full use of it, which can not only improve production efficiency, but also increase the experience of use. Xu Qilin wants to be fast, he doesn't want to stay here and be a coal boss.

After finishing the inspection and guidance of the coal mine, Xu Qilin had just returned to his residence to rest when someone sent a letter. Some were written by the family, some were written by the son-in-law, and there was even Feng Zhidai.

Xu Qilin pondered for a while, and first opened Feng Zhidai's letter to read. The words were very respectful and polite, mainly to tell Xu Qilin the approximate yield of sugarcane harvested this autumn, as well as the development of that piece of land in Gaozhou, etc.

Obviously, the expansion of sugarcane cultivation will not begin until next year, and this year's output has been determined, and sugar is still a straining commodity. As for the Gaozhou base to try to grow pepper, I don't know what year it will be successful, but it is definitely feasible.

Putting down Feng Zhidai's letter, Xu Qilin opened the little sister's again, looked at it, and couldn't help but smile. There are thoughts between the lines, and there are even more childish inquiries, the little girl still hasn't traveled anywhere, and she hasn't even sat on a boat, and she is full of curiosity about the outside world.

After spending a long time outside, I can't suppress the desire to go home. Lying comfortably in his yard, the maid serving diligently, and the little sister playing with a smile, how good the scene and feeling.

Xu Qilin sighed softly, thinking that it would be another month or two before he could go back.

At that time, the imperial examination was also over, and my brother's future was almost decided. As for the little sister, she also has to wear thick clothes and stay at home honestly, and she will not go to any mountain villa to enjoy the winter scenery.

How old is Lao Tzu, so busy and worried, really-

Xu Qilin lamented that his life was miserable and he couldn't live a happy life of eating and waiting for death, and finally opened the letter from Her Royal Highness the Princess.

Hehe, as expected, the idea of being similar to the little sister is childish! Xu Qilin smiled bitterly and shook his head, the princess of the golden branches and jade leaves, it's not strange.

It's a pity that he can't watch the first performance in his own theater, Xu Qilin actually has some regrets, and even he feels strange. In later generations, what movies and television, what haven't you watched, will it be rare to watch nondescript broken dramas?

There was a knock on the door outside, interrupting Xu Qilin's emotion and sigh. A petty official pushed the door in and presented a handwritten letter from His Majesty Li Er.

The report has just been sent away, and it is impossible to get a reply so quickly! Xu Qilin didn't read the letter, and he knew that what His Majesty Li Er wanted to explain was not what he wanted.

Luoyang temporarily set up a boat office, with Xu Qilin as the main official, and the degree branch sent officials to assist, and at least 2 million stones of grain will be transported before the autumn of next year; The freight will be paid according to ninety percent of the previous year, and if there is any surplus, the court will reward it.

Xu Qilin saw the back and laughed. His Majesty Li Er was afraid that he would not work hard, so he said in advance that he would be named the county prince of the Great Wall.

In this case, I am afraid that I will really have to work harder, go through the road of Caoyun, implement various reforms, and reduce freight to the minimum.

Xu Qilin thought for a while, and began to write a reply, telling His Majesty Li Er that he would set off by boat as soon as possible and complete all the arrangements before the river froze in winter.

Segmented transportation will certainly save a lot of freight, but the transport vessels on each leg may not be sufficient. Because in the past, boats ran from beginning to end, and there were not too many boats on the Yellow River, Weishui, and Luoshui.

Now, almost all the ships on the Yellow River have been transferred to transport Luoyang's grain, which is barely enough. Once they are allowed to undertake longer voyages, it is clearly not enough.

Would it be feasible to set up a shipping company, presided over by a businessman, to maximize efficiency through the rational transfer of vessels?

Xu Qilin frowned slightly, falling into a long thought.

The question is not whether it is an official movement or a democratic movement, as long as the task is completed and the cost is minimal, then it is good. But whether to commercialize Caoyun, Xu Qilin was a little undecided.

The market may be a panacea for solving economic problems, but the establishment of a perfect market system may not be a matter of one day, can feudal society be used as a guarantee for the market economy? Xu Qilin expressed deep doubts.