The Government Hall is located in the southwest corner of the Imperial City, opposite the Privy Council to the west. Therefore, one is the east and the other is the west.

There is not much surprising place in terms of architecture, neither as magnificent as the palaces in the palace, nor as beautiful as the pavilions in the forbidden area, and even far from being as good as the Fan Tower outside the imperial city, where the flying bridge is like a rainbow and the fifth floor is connected.

But this complex of more than 20 pavilions is the indispensable center of the Great Song Dynasty. The Son of Heaven is only one person, and he is as diligent as an ancestral dragon, and he can only review a few weights of rulers at the end of the day. And the official documents that are presented to the door of Zhongshu every day, how many tens of millions? ! Without the help of his ministers, the Son of Heaven would not be able to govern a country that is thousands of miles away.

Looking out of the office of the governor, the sycamore outside the window was bare, and there was not a single green leaf. After the sycamore, there is a courtyard wall, which has not been renovated for many years. The lime on the wall has long since faded, revealing the mottled masonry inside. It's not so much ancient as it is broken.

The scenery of this courtyard is not even as good as the public hall where the Chinese book is checked, and there are still a few plums in that courtyard, which are already blooming in the wind at this time.

But the scenery from above is just different.

Lu Huiqing still remembers that when he was in the township, he often liked to climb the back mountain in the township. said to people that sex likes landscapes, but what Lu Huiqing really likes is the pleasure of standing on a high place and looking down at the bottom. Standing on the mountain rock, the village is inhabited, the city and the river are in full view.

Now he is standing in the position of participating in politics, looking down on the ministers and hundreds of millions of people in the world. Open up the cool umbrella, such a pleasure is incomparable even if the title of the gold list is incomparable. I don't know what it's like to sit in the prime minister's seat.

Retracting his gaze, the officials who came here to intervene were still chattering, but they talked a lot of nonsense, but they didn't get to the point at all. asked him about the local customs and customs where he was an official, and he was stammering, and the donkey's head was not in the horse's mouth.

Lu Huiqing felt impatient in her heart, how can this generation be called? After saying a little soup, he issued an eviction order.

ordered soup to send off guests, Lu Huiqing got up and sent it to the front of the hall - in the past, the prime minister greeted and sent off guests, it was enough to just get up from the chair, and the ruling only needed to send two more steps. But when it came to Fu Bi's appearance, he was all courteously delivered to the door. Fu Bi's move was well received in Shilin, and then it has been followed and has now become a rule.

According to the fixed number of officials who need to meet today, this is the last one

Lu Huiqing sat back, watched the little official in the yaya come up and remove the cup, and looked at the time, it was already dusk, and the dusk drum was about to ring soon. Today is not his duty, Lu Huiqing is going to clean up and go home. At home tonight, there are still some officials and scholars who want to meet. The guests who met at home were not like the one who was arranged to interfere with the rulers according to the system, but Lu Huiqing really had the intention to recruit and drive them.

was personally packing up the copywriting to take back, when he saw his younger brother Lu Shengqing walk in.

Today is the day when Lu Shengqing serves the Son of Heaven, and as soon as Lu Huiqing sees him, he immediately asks: "What did the Son of Heaven say at today's banquet?" ”

“…… It's not a big deal. Lu Shengqing tried to fool the problem over.

Lu Huiqing smiled, she must have been asked by the Son of Heaven again, and she didn't answer in time, relying on Shen Jichang's help. Seeing the embarrassment on his younger brother's face, Lu Huiqing sighed secretly. There is really no way to lack Jiecai, it's not that I can't answer, but I can't think of it for a while.

Lu Shengqing laughed dryly twice, and turned his head to look outside, "The short Beijing official who just came out of the city is here to do it?" How did I see him scolding and leaving the hospital. ”

"Really?" Lu Huiqing immediately picked up the pen and swiped diagonally behind the list on the table, ticking off the name of one person. Resentment, whether it is the Son of Heaven or the ruler, they don't want to see officials who have anything to do with these two words.

Seeing the movement of Lu Huiqing's pen, Lu Shengqing hesitated, "It doesn't have to be like this......"

"This generation is mediocre and short-sighted, how can it be driven? Empty food is not as good as a layman in the township. Lu Huiqing looked down on this mediocre person at all.

Lu Shengqing would not argue with his brother about this, and sat down: "It's lively outside now, and I just saw the concubine go to the Great Xiangguo Temple to pray for blessings and come back." The Empress Dowager's condition seems to be really a little bad. ”

"A few days ago, the Son of Heaven recruited Zhiyuan into the palace and prescribed a few doses of decoction, but it has not had any effect until now. However, the Empress Dowager has her own gods and Buddhas, so she doesn't have to worry too much. Lu Huiqing's heart is the same, and he is really not worried at all. If there is no empress dowager, there will be one less constraint in the palace, but it will be a happy event.

"However, the Empress Dowager is already close to her sixtieth birthday, and her body is indeed getting weaker day by day. It can't be said that in a few years, the main part of the inner palace will be replaced by Baoci Palace. ”

"Don't say much about it, let it go."

Even if the stubborn Empress Dowager Gao presides over the harem, Lu Huiqing is fearless. Today's emperor is pure and filial, but between his grandmother and biological mother, he is closer to the empress dowager. The Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager have not wavered to the point that the Son of Heaven insists on changing the law, if there is only the Empress Dowager Gao left, how can she still do it? Unless the Son of Heaven does not live as long as his mother, and the new emperor who succeeds him is young, he can sit back and relax.

Seeing that Lu Huiqing didn't want to mention the Empress Dowager, Lu Shengqing said: "By the way, just now at the banquet, the Son of Heaven also mentioned Han Gang's "Buoyancy Tracing the Source", and asked me if I had heard it. It's just a new theory that has just been released, and it has spread all at once in the past few days, and even the Son of Heaven has heard about it. ”

"Han Gang is already quite famous in Beijing, and it is normal for his new theories to spread faster." Lu Huiqing asked her younger brother, "How did you answer?" ”

Lu Shengqing coughed and said, "There seems to be some truth." Shen Jichang said that Han Gang had nothing to do with Jingyi Avenue, but was just talking about ordinary things. ”

"What is the reaction of the Son of Heaven?"

"I didn't say anything more, I shouldn't have taken it very seriously," Lu Shengqing said, "If the Son of Heaven really cares about this matter, why don't you recruit Han Gang into the palace to ask?" ”

Lu Huiqing shook his head, "It's that Han Gang didn't apply to enter the palace, not that the Son of Heaven didn't want to." The Son of Heaven did plan to recruit Han Gang into the palace for detailed inquiry, but today Feng Jing preemptively pouted two sentences, which made the Son of Heaven dispel his mind. ”

"What?! Feng Dangshi didn't even say Han Gang's, didn't he?! Lu Shengqing said in surprise.

"What does he dare to say about Han Gang again? Don't see Yang Hui's experience? Lu Huiqing snorted coldly, "Now when it comes to Yang Hui, everyone in the capital treats him as a joke, and he may not have the face to re-enter the court as an official in this life." What's more, what Han Yukun said does have some truth, it does not involve the scriptures, but it is in line with the way of nature. What Shen Jichang said, the Son of Heaven definitely didn't listen to it. ”

Lu Shengqing's doubts have not yet been explained, "But why did Feng Jing ask the Son of Heaven to recruit Han Gang into the palace to ask?" ”

"How can an iron ship be so easy to build? Although Han Gang made the truth public and had his own calculations, his success may not be able to suppress the mouths of the people. It's not so easy to build an iron ship. Is there any craftsman who has this experience? And what craftsman can make an iron plate the size of a ship's plank? What should I do if the iron ship rusts after it is launched? What should I do if it's too heavy to drive? And how much does an iron ship cost? How about wooden boats? ”

After questioning one sentence after another, Lu Huiqing took a sip of tea and moistened his throat, "In "Buoyancy Tracing the Source", it only said that gold and iron things float on the water, but it didn't say that the iron could not rust, nor did it say that the iron boat could fly fast on the water, let alone that the iron boat was cheap. If it was just a bulky thing that could float in the water, just the word useless, Han Gang's hard work would be in vain. ”

Lu Shengqing frowned, his brother said so much, but he still didn't think about what it had to do with the Son of Heaven not summoning Han Gang, and what Feng Jing's plans were.

Lu Huiqing looked at his younger brother's face full of confusion, sighed and continued to explain, "Now Han Gang just came up with the theory of buoyancy, and did not explicitly say that he could build an iron ship, that is, everything is undecided. Even if he misses, it's just a joke. But if he opened his mouth in front of the king and said about the iron ship. If it doesn't work, what kind of crime will it be? As he spoke, he smiled coldly, "The Son of Heaven doesn't accept Feng Jing's words, he must have seen through his character...... Plainly loyal and simple, secretly deceitful! ”

"What are you going to do, big brother?"

"Of course, I fully support it, if the iron ship is really useful, it can be used in water warfare."

Lu Huiqing, who had been sentenced to the prison of armaments, knew best that such a major event as building an iron ship could not be achieved simply by doing so, and he did not think that Han Gang's smelting and building of iron could outperform the craftsmen who had been immersed in iron for decades. Even if he fully supports himself and does not let the ordnance prison set up obstacles, it will be difficult to see results in less than a year and a half.

But then again, if you really see the iron boat running on the Bianhe River, it will definitely cause a sensation in the entire Kaifeng City.

The porcelain bowl at home floats on the water, and no one notices. Copper basins and iron pots can float on water, and no one has thought carefully about it. Han Gang's idea is ingenious, and even if the iron ship he built has little practical use, it can prove that his creative vision of the four words of Gewu Zhizhi is in line with the Great Dao, and he can get twice the result with half the effort by popularizing Qi learning.

It's just that...... With Han Gang as a talent, is it really that simple?

Respect for the teacher and respect the four words, Han Gang has already sat down. Standing in the snow at the door of Cheng's house for more than an hour. In order to push Zhang Zai, he turned his face with his father-in-law, who was the prime minister. Now he has given up the advantages and disadvantages in the middle book, and has just grabbed the ordnance superintendent, just to promote Hengqu Qixue. Speaking of Han Gang's conduct in respecting the teacher, everyone has to give a thumbs up.

But Lu Huiqing always felt that something was wrong. Seeing that Zhang Dian didn't mention this matter much these days, he must have some doubts in his heart.

If you put your expectations completely on the iron ship, it is really too inconsistent with Han Gang's consistent style of acting carefully and thoroughly. But to say that Han Gang has a plan, but he can't think of it.

What exactly is he planning? Lu Huiqing was puzzled.