In Chang'an, except for some businessmen, in fact, not too many people pay attention to the affairs of the South China Sea, because there are too many phenomena in the Central Plains to attract everyone's attention, the first is the development of education, the most eye-catching, or the military academy and the royal training camp, now many young people are squeezing their scalps and want to enter these two colleges, which is even crazier than the previous imperial examination.

Many people regret not being at the beginning, when the royal training camp was established, many people scoffed at it, and at that time, the admission conditions were really relaxed, and now, it is quite strict, because there are more people who apply for the exam, so of course the best ones are taken.

Especially the newly opened military academy this year, the conditions are simply dumbfounded by many people, first of all, you must be born a military aristocracy, this alone, many people do not have any ideas, this can not be fought for.

But on the contrary, a military aristocratic group that has been sinking for many years has some signs of resurgence, and this military aristocratic group is the military aristocracy in the Guanlong group.

This military aristocratic group is actually the core of the Guanlong group, like the Dugu family, the Yuan family, and the Yang family, including the Li family, the current royal family, all of which are from this military aristocratic group. But this aristocratic group has been sinking for many years, to the era of the eldest grandson Wuji, the Guanlong group has been led by Wenchen, in today's Tang commanders, there are few people from this group, especially in the supreme commander, almost no one, Li Ji is not from this group, but the nobles in this group, that is definitely a military aristocracy, is after three dynasties, although it has decayed and sunk, but the emaciated camel is bigger than a horse, and the people who apply for the most exams are the children of this military group, They are absolutely qualified, and it can be seen that they also want to rise and reinvent their glory, but it is a very long process.

Not only that, but even the lives of the people of Chang'an are undergoing a great change, and who from top to bottom still has time to care about things thousands of miles away.

Today is a holiday, and the weather is very good, so many people come to the streets, stimulated by money, shopping has become a habit, and everything has to be bought on the street.

Zhang Wenguan and Hao Chujun also made an appointment to go around the West Market to see what they could buy, and now that the education bill has come out, they can also relax.

"Well, what's so smelly?"

Hao Chujun stopped suddenly.

Zhang Wenguan looked for incense and said in surprise: "When did there become a wine shop here?" ”

Hao Chujun heard a faint noise from inside, and said, "It seems that business is not bad, let's go over and have a look." ”

"Please."

"Please."

As soon as the two of them arrived at the tea shop, a bartender immediately greeted them and welcomed them in.

I saw that the inside was almost full, so that the two prime ministers could only sit in the corner.

"What do you want to eat?"

"What do you have to eat here?"

"The best thing in our store is the roast duck made by our proprietor, you see they have ordered it on the table, and the two guest officers can come and try half of it first."

"It turned out to be the smell of roast duck!" Hao Chujun nodded with a smile and said, "Okay, just half one, and then a pot of wine." ”

"Okay!"

After a while, the roast duck came up.

Zhang Wenguan and Hao Chujun nodded in praise while eating.

Zhang Wenguan couldn't help but ask the bartender: "Your roast duck is so delicious, why haven't you sold it before?" ”

The bartender smiled: "The guest officer doesn't know, the proprietor of our restaurant is from Muzhou, and many people in this pass have never eaten." ”

"Muzhou?"

Zhang Wenguan was a little surprised when he heard this, you have opened a store far away.

The bartender smiled and said, "Guest officer, there is nothing surprising about this now, the bear shop has been opened from Guanzhong to Guangzhou." ”

"That's just as well." Zhang Wenguan smiled and nodded.

After the bartender left, Hao Chujun said: "Shang Shuling is right, this commercial culture is indeed conducive to the integration of nationalities, and there was no such close contact between the north and the south in the past. ”

Zhang Wenguan nodded and said: "This is a good thing, if the gap between the regions is too large, once there is turmoil, it will cause secession." ”

Suddenly, someone at the next table said, "Don't say it, Your Majesty's decision to rebuild the city this time is really a wise move!" ”

"Isn't it, in the past, if you wanted to buy things and eat, you had to go to the East Market, or you had to go to the West Market, and when you came back after eating, you were already hungry, but now you have something to eat when you go out of the workshop, which is really convenient."

"Yes! We are going to open a porridge shop outside the square soon, and it will be convenient for us to have breakfast in the future. ”

"Nowadays, I see that very few people in the city cook at home, they all eat outside."

"Nowadays, everyone has to go to the workshop to work, so how can they have time to cook and eat."

......

When Hao Chujun heard this, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "I have always thought that the people are quiet and the country is safe, but now it seems that this is not the case, and now the population flow in Chang'an is very large, even in the middle of the night, Wuzi is brightly lit and lively, but the crime is much less than in previous years, and it is very stable." ”

Zhang Wenguan nodded and said, "Nowadays, everyone is running around for life, where is there any time to think about other things." I remember two days ago, I was writing an article at home, and when I was writing very devotedly, I suddenly found that there was no paper, and it was already night, which was so melancholy, I thought I had to wait for tomorrow to write, and then my entourage told me that there was a paper shop outside the workshop, and it took less than a while to buy the paper. ”

Hao Chujun sighed: "I can't imagine that our lives have changed so much. ”

He is right, although the construction in the city has not yet been completed, but the lives of the people have changed, the number of stores alone has increased by more than 100, but those are some very small stores, closely related to life, which is specially arranged by the imperial court, the opening of the market along the street, is necessary to be within the planning of the imperial court, the two cities have not declined because of this, but have become more prosperous, because many large commodities, valuable goods, can only go to the two cities to buy, and the big restaurants are all in the two cities, the two cities are also Chang'an's entertainment and commercial centers.

Consumption is also increasing day by day, because convenience will definitely stimulate consumption, and when consumption increases, the number of stores will increase, which is a virtuous circle.

After eating, Zhang Wenguan and Hao Chujun each took out some vouchers and paid for the wine, because the mainstream culture at the dinner table in the Tang Dynasty was also a separate meal system, unless someone invited a treat, otherwise, everyone went out to eat and was still AA system, especially literati, this gentleman's friendship is as light as water.

As soon as I got out of the door, I suddenly saw the people on the street, and suddenly they became hurried, and they were all running to the West Market.

At the same time, the guests in this wine shop also walked out of it quickly and went straight to the West Market.

"Little brother, what are you going to do?"

Zhang Wenpu was full of curiosity, so he stopped a young man who had just come out of the store and asked.

The young man hurriedly said, "I'm going to the West Market to see the clock tower." ”

"Clock Tower?"

Hao Chujun said suddenly: "I think about it, it seems that a craftsman invented a tool that can keep time more accurately, called... It's called Qiu Mozhong. ”

"I've heard about it, too."

Zhang Wen said: "Then let's go over and have a look." ”

"Please."

When the two of them came to the West Market, they didn't need to ask where the bell tower was, and they could find it at a glance, only to see a dense crowd of people standing in front of a tower, looking up at it.

But seeing that the tower is about ten zhang high, it is really a view of the mountains in the west market, and there is a huge white disc on the top of the tower, with a black pointer on it, black and white, which makes people see very clearly.

Zhang Wenguan was surprised: "When did such a tall tower be built here?" ”

Hao Chujun shook his head and said, "I don't know very well!" ”

A young man dressed as a bartender beside them smiled and said: "You don't know, this tower was built in less than three months, don't talk about you, we stay in the West Market every day, and I feel very surprised." ”

"So fast?"

"Hey! It's fast to have money these days! It is said that this tower was designed by the Ministry of Industry Shangshu himself, and it was built by the construction team of Fengfei Tower, which is not happy. ”

"I see."

Zhang Wenguan nodded.

They were still traditional literati, and they were not so interested in inventions, and although they had heard about it, they were not in the mood to learn about it.

As he spoke, he heard a bell ringing.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The crowd erupted in cheers, and everyone seemed very excited.

Even the bartenders around them cheered loudly.

Zhang Wenguan looked confused again: "What's going on?" ”

The bartender was a little surprised and said, "You two don't even know this?" ”

Zhang Wenguan shook his head.

The bartender pointed to the big disc on it and said: "Two guest officers, please look at the bell, when the bell rings, the pointer points directly above, which means that noon has arrived, and this bell tower will sound at the hour, noon, and unitary time, and this is not a person knocking on it, it is driven by a mechanism, but it is amazing." ”

He said with a smile on his face, and now a lot of new things have popped up, and they are very interested in it.

Zhang Wenguan nodded and said, "I see." ”

In the restaurant opposite the bell tower, I saw a small group of wealthy merchants dressed in silk costumes standing on the balcony and congratulating each other.

"Lao Jia, Qiu Mo, congratulations, congratulations."

"Thank you, thank you."

"Lao Jia, Qiu Mo, how about we build this clock tower in the new market? Everyone can pay this money together. ”

"That's a great idea! It is best to build it in a place where the workshop can also be seen. ”

"Well said, well said."

Jia Fugui arched his hand and smiled, his face full of spring breeze smugness.

The money of this bell tower is all from him, he really made a bloody investment this time, but he is a businessman, if it is unprofitable, of course he will not do it, and now this Qiu Mo has not yet formed a commodity value, because it is too big, and the cost is also very high, but he knows that there are endless profits in it, and it is a matter of time before it is commercialized, but if you want to promote this Qiu Mo clock, first of all, you have to let the people adapt to this Qiu Mo clock, be familiar with this clock, and even can't do without it, and wait until the goods come out. Then everyone will come and buy it.

Of course, Han Yi also gave a lot of help to this tower, otherwise, it would not have been repaired so quickly.

However, Han Yi was not here at this time, he went to the steel mill in the western suburbs with Yuan Peony today, and the steel mill was actually next to the cement factory, because there was a big iron mine here.

"Shang Shuling, Li Taishi, look at this steel ingot."

But I saw an old craftsman with a wrinkled face, holding a few small steel ingots and handing them to Li Chunfeng, Han Yi, and Yuan Peony respectively.

Li Chunfeng took it and looked at it, and said in surprise: "This steel ......" ”

Yuan Peony on the side was curious: "What about this steel?" ”

Li Chunfeng said: "Mrs. Han doesn't know, this steel is much better than the steel we refined in the Sixth Sage Academy!" ”

Yuan Peony was pleasantly surprised: "Really? ”

She wasn't a professional after all, and she wasn't familiar with it at all.

The old craftsman took out another steel ingot and said, "Madam, this is the steel ingot we made in the Sixth Courtyard of the Sage, take a look." ”

Comparing the two, it is obvious that the steel that has just been smelted is much better.

Han Yi smiled happily: "Academician Cao, it seems that you have made a great breakthrough again!" ”

The old craftsman hurriedly said: "Returning to Shang Shuling, this is the reason why the lower officials invited you to come, we have not made any breakthroughs, this equipment and technology are the same as our in the Sixth Courtyard of the Sage, there is no difference, and we don't know why this steel is better when it comes out." ”

Han Yi couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this.

Li Chunfeng was surprised: "There is such a thing? ”

Yuan Peony said suddenly: "Is it because of coal, or because of ore?" The Mouhe iron ore in my house was all transported from Lelang Prefecture. ”

The old craftsman said: "Actually, we have also smelted coal and iron from Lelang Prefecture in the Sixth Courtyard of the Sage, not only that, but we have tried coal and iron ore all over the world, and the steel smelted from some iron ores is indeed much better, but it is not so much better, it should not be a problem in this regard." ”

Li Chunfeng said: "This is really strange. ”

The old craftsman said, "Could it be related to this steelworks, this is the only difference." ”

Li Chunfeng waved his hand and said: "This is impossible, since the raw materials are all the same, then the problem must still lie in the smelting process, let's go and see." ”

A few people followed the old craftsman and followed the smelting process.

After a round of turning, they came to the edge of the steel-making furnace, Li Chunfeng frowned and said: "Strange, this steel-making process is no different from our Sage Sixth Academy!" ”

Han Yi suddenly stared at the blower and said, "No, I think it's still a little different." ”

Li Chunfeng hurriedly asked, "What's different?" ”

Han Yi walked to the blower and said to the craftsman who operated the blower, "You stop first." ”

The craftsman hastily stopped.

"Look!"

Han Yi pointed to the front of the blower.

A few people stared at it, and a cloud of white dust was faintly visible.

Li Chunfeng's eyes suddenly widened, and he said, "Could it be ......." ”

Han Yi immediately said, "Let's go over there and talk about it." ”

Li Chunfeng was slightly stunned, and then nodded.

A few people came to the side again.

Yuan Peony looked curious and said, "Husband, what do you mean by that?" ”

Han Yi pointed to the table by the window and said, "This may be the reason." ”

Yuan Peony looked at the desktop, except for the dirty, there was nothing, and said, "I still don't understand." ”

Li Chunfeng stroked his beard and smiled: "It's lime." ”

"Lime?"

"Not bad."

Han Yi nodded and said: "This steelmaking plant is next to the cement factory, there must be a lot of lime powder flying here on weekdays, and blowing into the steelmaking furnace through the blower, I think it must be some kind of reaction between this lime and molten iron, so as to make the smelted steel better." ”

Li Chunfeng smiled: "This is really incredible. ”

"It would be great if that were the case." Yuan Peony was excited, as soon as the steelmaking plant opened, it made the steelmaking technology to a higher level, and it was effortless.

Li Chunfeng said: "Whether this is the case or not, it can only be determined after repeated verification." ”

Han Yi said: "But this matter should be kept secret, there are too many steelmaking technologies. ”

At this moment, an entourage walked in and said, "Qi Shang Shuling, there is a person outside who claims to be an official of the household department, saying that he has an urgent matter to see you. ”

Han Yi was stunned for a moment, and then said to Li Chunfeng: "I'll lose my company first." ”

"Please."

After a while, Han Yi walked in and said, "I think I have to go back to the household department immediately." ”

Yuan Peony asked, "What's wrong?" ”

Han Yi sighed: "It is said that there have been disasters in Henan, Hebei and other places. ”