This year's weather is really a bit evil, it's only mid-May, and the heat is already quite strong.

In the afternoon, there are almost no clouds on the head of Beijing, only the dazzling fireball is whirring and exuding a headache-inducing blazing light, the leaves on the side of the road are hanging motionless, only those cicadas lying among the branches seize the opportunity, constantly knowing and clamoring, making people even more anxious.

Such a climate is even more of a tempering for officials. Not only do they have to stay in the not very spacious public house for a long time to deal with all kinds of trivial chores, but they also have to put on their official uniforms and hats neatly, and the whole person seems to be stuffed in a big jar, and in a short time the sweat on their bodies can soak all the clothes inside.

Lu Jin's condition is also average, at this time, there is sweat dripping from his forehead, but he doesn't bother to wipe it, but he is lying on the desk and writing something.

Judging from past experience, although he, a member of the Ministry of War, has no oil and water, and he may be responsible for the blame in wartime, he is quite leisurely on weekdays. After all, it is a peaceful and prosperous era now, and there are far fewer internal and external worries than in later generations, so naturally there is no need for the staff to handle official business.

But this time, although there was no war, Lu Zhen still took on a big responsibility - to redraw the border map of the northern land of the Ming Dynasty!

Because of the leakage of the map in the military department the previous month, although the problem has finally been solved, the imperial court still does not dare to be too relieved about it. After all, this is related to the stability of the north, and even related to the overall situation of the whole world, so after that, the towns of the nine sides were busy for a while, and the garrisons were even more mobilized, in order to naturally guard against foreign enemies and understand their own defense situation.

And in this way, the relevant defense maps that exist in the Ministry of War are completely useless, and they must be replaced with new ones, and this responsibility, somehow, actually falls directly on the head of Lu Jin, a member of the department.

Although he was not too sure, Lu Zhen could still judge that this should have been specially arranged by Wang Zhen. Because the stakes are so high, if he has any problems in drawing the map, or if someone in the court later discovers something wrong on the map, then he will inevitably escape the blame. This may be Wang Zhen's counterattack and response to the previous incident.

It was much more difficult to draw such a detailed map at this time than it would have been hundreds of years later, and without the help of satellites or various advanced surveying instruments, it would be extremely labor-intensive to collect topographic features by hand, so only the imperial government could draw them.

It is precisely because maps are difficult to make and scarce that they have been top-secret documents kept secret by the imperial court since ancient times, and it is impossible for outsiders to see them except for some important ministers. Even private mapping is illegal, like Xu Xiake's later behavior of writing travelogues all over the world, at worst, it is illegal. It was only because the discipline of the imperial court had been abolished at that time that he was not really held responsible, and if it was replaced by Taizu, it would be very possible to destroy him.

Fortunately, Lu Jin's behavior is an official action after all, and there are a lot of information to check in both the military department and the palace, so he doesn't need to go outside to understand all kinds of details in person to make this map, otherwise he will be given ten years, and I am afraid that he may not be able to draw such a map.

When he first joined the military department and wanted to do something, he tried to improve the rudimentary map. But due to various reasons, it was not possible to make the trip. Unexpectedly, after a few months, this errand fell into his hands again, which can be regarded as having its own providence in the dark.

Moreover, this time, Lu Zhen was able to access several times more information than before, and the confidence he had naturally increased. It's just that in this way, he realized that there were too many problems in drawing a sketch like before, and it was impossible for either the court or the local defenders to fully exert their defensive advantages with the help of such a rudimentary map.

So during this time, he began to think about it and try it. It's just that the advanced cartography methods of later generations are too far away from the knowledge of people in this era, and he quickly gave up; After some thought, Lu Zhen finally thought of an alternative method - to replace the map with a three-dimensional sand table.

Compared with the flat and simple map, it is more detailed and intuitive, and the sand table that is clear at a glance can indeed make people understand the mountains, rivers, and cities and armies on the map. And compared to the map, this thing is completely fixed somewhere, so there won't be a theft like this.

After thinking of this, Lu Zhen was very excited, and immediately planned to start doing it, and at the same time reported this idea to Yu Qian.

After listening to his explanation, Yu Qian couldn't help but be interested in it, and immediately nodded in agreement, and promised to give him some help. Whether it is asking for people or things, the military department will think of ways to get them. It's just that before that, he has to be able to complete all the preparations.

So during this period of time, Lu Zhen threw himself into the errand of making sand tables every day, almost to the point of forgetting to sleep and eat. Even when I go home, I will still lock myself in the study after a hasty meal and continue to work hard. This made both girls complain a little.

After more than half a month of sorting, coupled with Lu Jin's advanced experience in drawing maps, he not only drew a defense map similar to the previous one, but also completed the preliminary work of making the sand table.

When Lu Zhen finished writing the last stroke, breathed a long sigh of relief, raised his hand to wipe the dense beads of sweat on his forehead and raised his head again, he found that the sky outside had darkened unconsciously.

Immediately, Yu Qian's voice of concern and appreciation came from outside the door: "Shansi, you are really a pillar of the country, and for the sake of the court's official affairs, you can't even take care of eating." ”

As soon as Lu Zhen saw him coming, he quickly stood up, and then his stomach rumbled in protest, which made his face suddenly red: "It's my lord, you are smiling." ”

"How dare you laugh at you, even the official has to admire you for three points. How, looking at you, it seems that the errand has improved a lot? Yu Qian said that he had walked to the front of the desk, picked up an ink-drenched paper and looked at it, and after a while, he frowned slightly: "What are some strange symbols on this?" ”

Although after integrating into this era, Lu Zhen has been trying his best to change his writing habits. But how can the habits developed in more than ten years of student life be so easy to change? Especially when he was engrossed in writing, some Arabic numerals and English abbreviations unconsciously flowed out of the pen. And when these things fell into Yu Qian's eyes, they became a heavenly existence.

"This ...... It was some marks that the lower officials made up blindly in order to write faster, which made the adults laugh. Lu Zhen quickly found an excuse to explain.

Yu Qian didn't dwell on this matter, and quickly brought the topic back to business: "It seems that you are already confident, so what do you need this official to prepare for you?" ”

"Don't you want to hear more from the lower officials?" Lu Zhen asked in some surprise. The other party asked him to finish all the preliminary work before, why did he say so now?

"I believe in your abilities, and I can see that you have indeed spent a lot of effort on this matter, and it is more important to watch your actions than to listen to your words." Yu Qian said with a smile.

"Thank you for your trust. In this case, then the lower official is not welcome, what I need now is a few skilled craftsmen, as well as all kinds of earth, wood and other objects......" As he spoke, Lu Zhen had already taken out a material request that he had written down from the pile of papers on the desk, and handed it over with both hands.

Looking at the dense and wide variety of needed things on the top, Yu Qian was a little frightened: What kind of sand table do you want to make, or do you want to build a house?

However, this did not change his trust in Lu Jin, and after a little thought, he nodded and said, "Okay, then wait until tomorrow, and this official will arrange all this for you." Go back and wait for news. ”

"Thank you, sir." Lu Zhen thanked him again, but his heart was full of joy. After that hot air balloon, I can finally use the knowledge of later generations to create something different for this era.

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Yu Qian really speaks the truth, although Lu Zhen wants a lot of things, and the requirements for craftsmen are quite high. But he still let people ship the relevant people and things one after another the next day. And specially asked someone to open up a vacant courtyard for Lu Zhen in a corner of the military department, only for him and related people to be busy inside.

In this regard, the people of the Yamen of the Ministry of War were a little puzzled, and they really didn't know what these carpenters and masons were busy doing in that small courtyard every day. But no matter how curious they were, under the strict orders of their bosses, they could only hold back the questions in their hearts for the time being, and they didn't even knock on Lu Jin's side.

This summer is destined to be busy for Lu Jin. Because this thing needs to be as detailed as possible, especially to reflect the relevant details, so that people can understand at a glance, so the project of making the sand table becomes extraordinarily huge. Under such a busy day and night, even the scorching summer of June has slowly passed.

It wasn't until the middle of July that the weather began to cool a little, and the sand table that drew the entire nine towns of the Ming Dynasty was really presented in front of Lu Jin.

When they saw this sand table, which was much more detailed and vivid than the map, stood there, not only those craftsmen cheered, but even Kuang Butang and Yu Qian, who heard the news, were stunned for a while.

After a while, Kuang Yu said a few good words, and then looked at Lu Jin: "Shansi, you really made something amazing." The old man has an idea, and the half moon is the Birthday Day, and you can give it as a congratulatory gift to the Son of Heaven. Your Majesty will be delighted! ”