The steam car stopped at the Hangzhou wharf, perhaps because someone couldn't stand the environment on board, or because they were like arrows. It is also possible that this action triggered a mass imitation effect, in short, passengers rushed to disembark. The decks, the gangplanks, and the docks are full of people. Everyone, you push me, I squeeze you, and it becomes a pot of porridge.

Admiral Li Yun's guards couldn't help but ask, "General Li, we can let them give way first." ”

Sitting in the first-class cabin on the lean, Li Yun had no intention of leaving the cabin. He waved his hand and said calmly: "Let them go first, I don't want to squeeze with others." ”

Seeing that the guard showed an incomprehensible expression after hearing these words, Li Yun smiled: "I really don't care about this." When I was a child, I used to like to rush to the front, and because of this, I fought with my classmates who rushed to the front. When I got home, I was taught a lesson by my father. Then I suddenly thought about it and let them go first. The road is facing the sky, and each one walks on one side. It's not good. ”

The guard couldn't understand Li Yun's state of mind at this time, but he could see that Li Yun really didn't care, and since he wouldn't be reprimanded, the guard was also relieved. When the people on the deck were almost gone, Li Yun easily stood up, and Shi Shiran walked on the empty ship. After disembarking from the ship, they went to the reception station of the army here, and met the people who were already waiting to receive them.

The carriage was already waiting outside the exit gate for military teachers, and everyone got into the carriage and went straight to the military headquarters. The next day, Li Yun attended the morning meeting according to Zhao Jiaren's wishes.

Ding Fei and Li Yun have known each other for twenty or thirty years, and walked up to shake hands with Li Yun. Seeing that Li Yun's expression was still so close, he said, "Go and sit with me when you have time in the past two days." ”

"Okay." Li Yun nodded.

The two have known each other for a long time, and they are both violent departments. After a short speech, he sat back in his seat. Wen Tianxiang looked at Li Yun's tanned skin, his straight military uniform, and the three-star general rank on his military uniform. I couldn't help but feel emotional. This tall, slightly emaciated middle-aged man is still too young.

The morning meeting was attended by important ministers, and in addition to those departments that had to be present, some people were added on an ad hoc basis. Sudden faces can easily trigger everyone's imagination.

Zhao Jiaren doesn't care about such imagination, Zhang Shijie showed his face at the morning meeting for several days after he completely switched to Zhao Jiaren, and this wordless appearance itself represents some of Zhao Jiaren's attitudes. Li Yun's appearance this time was the same, and most of the important ministers, including Wen Tianxiang, knew that Li Yun was very likely to be the chief of the general staff. Facing the chief of the General Staff, who was less than one year old and less than forty years old, Wen Tianxiang missed his youth in his heart. Li Yun still has more than ten or twenty years to experience the glory of his life, but there is not much time left for Wen Tianxiang.

Throughout the meeting, Li Yun never said a word. After the meeting, the other officials began to leave their seats, and Li Yun remained motionless in his seat. Everyone knew that Li Yun was waiting for Zhao Guan's family to receive him. Xiong Sheng couldn't help but look back at Li Yun when he left, and when he was about to give office, he felt quite stimulated when he saw Li Yun. Turning his head, he saw Li Bicheng, the minister of education, walking past him with a straight face.

Li Bicheng is impeccable in terms of personal, and he is one of the few Jinshi who has received a complete scientific degree. He is a man of integrity and has excellent abilities and insights into education. However, now everyone is not optimistic about this, because there is now a popular saying that Li Bicheng opposes the imposition of property tax and property tax. In terms of political stance, he is a person who is all the way with Lu Xiufu. Lu Xiufu has completely left the imperial court, and everyone doubts how long Li Bicheng can stay?

Looking at Li Bicheng's back, Xiong Sheng felt some emotion in his heart. In the past, the functions of the Ministry of Rites included etiquette, etiquette, research, evaluation, imperial examinations, and external affairs. The functions of the Ministry of Education were stripped away, and the functions of etiquette were gradually taken away by the imperial court and the general office of the government, and now the Ministry of Etiquette is almost only a diplomatic function.

Li Bicheng didn't know what the former supervisor was thinking behind the scenes, and even if he knew, he could only smile bitterly. He has a good personal relationship with Lu Xiufu, and he is naturally very sympathetic to Lu Xiufu's fate. However, the current Shangshu, ministers, and waiters of the Great Song Dynasty add up to more than 30 people, and two of them have been dismissed in just three months, and the new ones have publicly expressed their support for the Zhao official family. Even if Li Bicheng sympathizes with Lu Xiufu, he has no intention of gambling on his net worth and Zhao Guan's family to break his wrists.

Leaving in such a hurry, Li Bicheng went to see off Lu Xiufu. Sitting in the carriage, Li Bicheng wanted to persuade Lu Xiufu not to leave Hangzhou in the end. Seeing that Lu Xiufu was bad, some black-hearted guys in the ministry wanted to cancel Lu Xiufu's welfare housing. Just when everyone thought that Lu Xiufu was going to be beaten as a water dog, they didn't expect Zhao Guanjia to personally intervene and use his power as prime minister to approve Lu Xiufu's Shangshu-level house. In Li Bicheng's opinion, no one dares to make things difficult for the fifty-two-year-old Lu Xiufu anymore, can't he stay in Hangzhou and live a good life.

When I arrived at Lu Xiufu's new home, I saw a bunch of packages in the living room on the first floor of the three-story building. It didn't take long for Lu Xiufu, who was dressed in ordinary clothes, to come down from the second floor. Li Bicheng said bluntly: "I came this time to persuade you not to leave. ”

Lu Xiufu shook his head vigorously, "I have no intention of staying in Hangzhou, what else can I do if I stay here, it just makes people feel that I am staying here under the care of the official family." ”

"What's wrong with being taken care of by the officials!" Li Bicheng sighed: "Actually, if Junshi can figure it out, I'm afraid it will be reactivated." ”

was told by his friend, Lu Xiufu's face was ugly, and he said unhappily: "Hehe." That's it. I never thought of going against the officials, nor did I think of waging my tail and begging for mercy from the officials. ”

was ridiculed, but Li Bicheng was not angry, he also said with a straight face: "But have you ever thought about it." Staying in Hangzhou can actually avoid disaster. You just want to be an idle cloud and wild crane by yourself, leisurely rivers and lakes. But it's better to think about the family. ”

"Officials are not that kind of people." Lu Xiufu said bluntly.

"Of course, the official family is not that kind of person. But now there are all kinds of landlords and Jinshi families who disagree with the official family in the outside places, and there are them everywhere here. The official family is above board, but when those people jump off the wall in a hurry, everyone has to borrow them. If the people in your area know where you stand, they won't try to pull you over. At least find a way to borrow your name. When the time comes, when they have trouble with the official family, the official family will ignore them, or even bow their heads and admit defeat? ”

Lu Xiufu's face became extremely ugly. In the past few days, he has not been able to come out of his depressed mood at all, and the idea of leaving Hangzhou is just that he can't bear the depressed feelings. Now what Li Bicheng said has made Lu Xiufu finally see the situation outside, compared with the undercurrent surging, Hangzhou is very safe because the situation is clear.

Seeing that Lu Xiufu listened to it, Li Bicheng said again, "Li Yun has returned to Beijing and will probably become the chief of the general staff." The official family has made up his mind, so naturally he will not let anyone who does not support him stay in the court. ”

After speaking, Li Bicheng turned around and left. Only the silent Lu Xiufu was left.

Lu Xiufu was silent, but Li Yun was not silent. At this time, he had finished telling his business north of Yinshan, and he told some light stories.

"The officials asked us to build turrets, and this kind of stronghold is especially useful in the grassland. The built turret can be seen more than ten miles away at once, and it is useless for the Mongolian cavalry to run fast. I thought that the Mongols would hate us so the steppe. Unexpectedly, the farther north our turret was built, the more tribes came to try to defect to us. ”

"Oh?" Zhao Jiaren followed to have fun. In fact, he was not surprised at all. The living environment of the Mongolian Plateau is difficult, and the situation of 'wind blowing grass and seeing cattle and sheep' has long been gone. Grasses taller than cattle and sheep need enough water, nutrients, and light and heat. Now the climate north of Yinshan is cold, and the population is increasing rapidly, cattle and sheep have gnawed the grassland into a desert, and then turned it into a desert. Coupled with Kublai Khan's escape, the Mongol tribes who remained here could not survive, and of course they had to defect to powerful forces.

"I was still very strange at the time, how could they dare to surrender when we sent out cavalry to kill those tribes so hard." Li Yun still introduced.

"I think it's a little weird, too." Zhao Jiaren really felt a little bit that he underestimated the lower limit of the folk customs in Mongolia.

"I found out later when I asked. The tribe over there was killed badly, so they asked the shaman to curse us. The shaman opened the altar and kept dancing the gods to play curses. It was thunderstorm season, and thunder was common on the Mongolian plateau. Our turrets have been hacked many times. At that time, there were more than a dozen splits a day. Because of the lightning rod, the people on the turret were safe and sound. As a result, the shaman of the practice was hacked to death. ”

"Huh! Hahaha! Zhao Jiaren was finally truly amused. Zhao Jiaren had known about the lightning rod for a long time, but he forgot to remind him. After the Hebei Turret was struck by lightning several times and there were casualties, Zhao Jiaren remembered to use this. But I didn't expect it to have an unexpected effect on the Mongolian plateau.

"Official. Those Mongol tribes invited shamans, but they spent a lot of money and paid a lot of tribute to cattle and horses. The big tribes oppress the small tribes, and basically let the small tribes pay. Seeing the shaman being killed by thunder, the small tribe was already dissatisfied, and immediately thought that our Song army was strong in mana and had won the favor of the Immortal Heaven. And they tried to run for it. I took it upon myself to accept it. Li Yun said at the end, and there was some uneasiness in his voice.

Zhao Jiaren moved his sitting posture with a little effort, and then asked, "Li Yun, let me ask you a question, what is a Han person?" ”

"Those who speak Chinese and use Chinese characters are Han Chinese." Li Yun replied.

Zhao Jiaren waved his hand, "Han blood is actually not important, I remember that you have a division commander named Yeluhong under you, right?" There is also a man named Xiao Bailang in the Ministry of Industry. More than 200 years ago, on the border between the Great Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom, the Han people killed those with these two surnames immediately. Needless to say, it must be a barbarian. Now, who would have thought about whether these two people were Han or not. Five nonsense, where are the five nonsense. Tuoba himself even changed his surname. Many of those with the surname Li in the north are descendants of Wuhu back then. Where were the earlier Huns. Xia Shang Zhou, the ancestor of the Shang Dynasty, the proper Dongyi people. Therefore, the Han people are by no means a simple bloodline, the Han people are a way of life and a civilization system. So you accepted the surrender of the Mongols north of Yinshan, I don't think it's wrong. ”

What Li Yun cares about the most is actually that Zhao Jiaren doesn't say that he is wrong to accept the Mongolian tribe, and after listening to the previous words, he is very nervous. The last sentence made him feel suddenly enlightened.

"If the official family doesn't blame me, I'm relieved." Li Yun hurriedly said.

"I want to make it clear that the Han people are a way of life. If those Mongols are still the kind of people who are strong, I will follow whoever they are, and when I see something, I will grab it and leave. Then it must be extinguished immediately, and carbuncles must not be raised. ”

"This is natural." Li Yun hurriedly replied: "Official, we are also trying to teach the Mongols to eat Han food. They love the buns. ”

"Steamed bread. By the way, how about the alkali over there in Mongolia. Zhao Jiaren remembered another problem that gave him a headache.

Li Yun replied: "Official, some of the alkali over there is from the lake. However, when I sent troops to investigate, I found that there were alkali blocks on the poplar tree. So every once in a while, we send people to take alkali from the trunks of the poplar forests. ”

"Poplar trees?" Zhao Jiaren was a little confused. He had heard of the song that 'born and immortal for three thousand years, dead and immortal for three thousand years.' Zhao Jiaren didn't like this kind of literati rhetoric. Later, I agreed with the saying that 'born and not dying for 300 years, dying and not falling for 300 years, but immortal for 300 years'. He didn't know that poplar trees could still secrete alkali blocks.

"Tell me about it." Zhao Jiaren asked anxiously.

Li Yun introduced. Poplar trees grow next to saline soils and secrete sap from the knots and cracks of the trunk to form white or yellowish lumpy crystals, known locally as 'poplar tears'. Because the shape of the crystalline is similar to a sycamore leaf, it is also called 'sycamore tears' in some places. Of course, there is a more straightforward name for 'pocyline'. This kind of 'poplarine' is very good, and it can be directly used to neutralize the alkali block of the steamed bun, but it contains salt, so the steamed bread will be a little salty.

After Zhao Jiaren heard this, he immediately asked the secretary to come over, "Go and take the Ministry of Works...... The director of the Ministry of Industry, the director of the Department of Chemical Industry, the director of the Ministry of Agriculture, and the director of the Forestry Department were all called. ”

Li Yun was stunned, he didn't expect Zhao Jiaren to make such an arrangement. When the secretary left, Zhao Jiaren immediately changed the topic and asked directly: "Your father wrote to me the year before last, saying that he bought some land in Quanzhou, and I don't know if he can be the landlord of the land." ”

It sounds like a homely thing, but it's not. A few months ago, Zhao Jiaren appointed Lu Xiufu, whom he trusted very much, as the head of the household department. In just three months, Lu Xiufu resigned. Fortunately, Lu Xiufu was not too hypocritical, Zhao Jiaren gave him a three-story villa according to the level of Shangshu, Lu Xiufu still accepted it honestly, and even wrote a thank you. Although Zhao Jiaren felt that he no longer lost money Lu Xiufu, the feeling of loss was inevitable.

Li Yunnai is Li Hongjun's junior, and both generations have worked for Zhao Jiaren. Li Yun was also one of the first young cadres under Zhao Jiaren to receive formal education. It stands to reason that Li Yun should be loyal to Zhao Jiaren. It's just that with Lu Xiufu Yin Jian in front, Zhao Jiaren no longer dares to be blindly optimistic.

"Go back to the official's house. I also just learned that my father had sold all the land in Quanzhou. He is going to Hangzhou to spend his old age. ”

"Huh?" Zhao Jiaren felt that his news was too far behind.

"The land in Fujian is not good, and now the grain from Jiaozhi and Guangnan East Road is being transported, and there are no people farming. What remains in Fujian is only to grow tea, lacquer, and bamboo. In the early days, the officials were all Fujian soldiers, and now the population of Fujian is about 100,000 left, and they are all in various coastal ports. It is said that there are still a few people left in the mountain, as for how many there are. The Fujian soldiers in the army said something different. Li Yun recounted what he knew about the situation in Fujian.

Zhao Jiaren also knows some, but he hasn't had big news about Fujian for a long time, so he doesn't care much. There is a feeling of being unable to leave the homeland in various places, but in Fujian, such a mood is most lacking. Whenever possible, everyone should leave barren Fujian.

"Official, my father said that now there are fewer and fewer people farming in Fujian, and he himself feels that he can't be a landlord at all, let alone making money, it's good if he doesn't lose money. So he sold his land and went to Hangzhou to drink tea and eat with his brothers. He also misses the official family very much. After Li Yun finished talking about his father Li Hongjun, he closed his mouth and waited quietly for Zhao Jiaren to speak.

Zhao Jiaren felt a sense of regret in his heart. Gatherings and meals must be in the mood for leisure. He really has no leisure and no mood right now. After being silent for a while, Zhao Jiaren continued to ask: "How could your father run to the point of losing money?" ”

He said that he wanted to operate like a nautical guild, and plant whatever could be sold at a high price. But he couldn't hold it all the time. Tea, lacquer, silk, there are always people who sell it at a lower price than him. When someone else's is sold out, the acquisition share will be full. My dad saw that he really couldn't do this, so he just bought the land. ”

Zhao Jiaren didn't expect Li Hongjun to withdraw decisively because he couldn't compete. Although this proves that Li Hongjun does not have the talent to operate land, this decisive exit and stop-loss practice is quite affirmative.

"Have you read a recent article about landlords?" Zhao Jiaren finally began to ask the core question, with Li Yun's qualifications and military exploits, there is no problem as the chief of the general staff. Those don't matter at all.

Li Yun immediately replied, "I see." I firmly support the view of the government that this land is for people to plant, not for people to use for prestige. ”

"Really?" Zhao Jiaren asked a little subconsciously. He has also come into contact with many people these days, and every time he asks this question, many of them also express their firm support for Zhao Jiaren, but they are hesitant to oppose the privileged class. It can be seen that most people still want to maintain their privileges, so they oppose the abolition of privileges.

"Officials, some people have their own reasons. I have also argued with people that in this matter, I agreed with the official family from the beginning, and I did not agree with the official family from the beginning. My family was born poor, and if it weren't for the official family, our family would still be poor in Fujian. So what the official family wants to do, I will support the official family. What's more, I think the official family is right, the vast majority of soldiers in our army are ordinary people, and many are tenant farmers. The reason why they want to be soldiers is because after becoming a soldier, they can make a good life for their families. ”

Zhao Jiaren nodded slightly, but he didn't know what to say. If Zhao Jiaren is now determined to maintain the previous land system, Lu Xiufu will firmly support Zhao Jiaren. Many landlords and jinshi who resolutely disagreed with Zhao Jiaren at this time will also firmly support Zhao Jiaren. In a sense, without their firm support, Zhao Jiaren would not have had a chance to become an official in the cheers of the crowd.

Until now, Zhao Jiaren does not think that most of the former supporters followed Zhao Jiaren just because they wanted to follow Zhao Jiaren and Huang Tengda. Those people agreed with Zhao Jiaren's policy and concept of running away from Mongolia and saving the Great Song Dynasty. That's why he defected to Zhao Jiaren without hesitation.

Now that times have changed, what Zhao Jiaren needs is comrades who support the land policy. Judging from Li Yun's statement, he is probably a comrade in this regard. In the end, Zhao Jiaren did not particularly encourage, he said: "You go to the military department first, and I will give an order on the matter of the post." ”

Not long after Li Yun left, people from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Agriculture arrived. The Ministry of Industry and the Department of Chemical Industry are one department, sitting on Zhao Jiaren's left hand. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Forestry Department belong to the same department, and sit on Zhao Jiaren's right hand. Zhao Jiaren told these people about the poplar tree that Li Yun talked about. After speaking, Zhao Jiaren asked again: "Can the Forestry Department investigate the distribution of poplar forests?" ”

“…… No. When answering the question, the director of the Forestry Agency said that there was regret in his voice.

"Then send someone to investigate immediately."

"Official, is the source of this alkali block reliable?" There was both expectation and anxiety in the voice of the Ministry of Works.

"Logically, it should be reliable. Collected regularly every year, a person can collect ten tons a year. The alkali content in it is only half, and 50,000 people is 250,000 tons of soda ash. The chemical industry of the Great Song Dynasty did not lack a source of alkali blocks. Zhao Jiaren began to imagine numbers.

The four ministers did not agree with this irresponsible and materialistic attitude. Alkali clumps growing on trees sound a bit nonsense. But they couldn't object, if this matter was true, it was really a stable source of Da Song alkali block. Without waiting for these people to say more nonsense, Zhao Jiaren asked, "Do you all understand the importance of alkali blocks to the Great Song Dynasty?" ”

"Yes!" All four replied immediately.

"Then go all out. As fast as you can! Zhao Jiaren ordered.

After letting the four important ministers leave, Zhao Jiaren himself immediately started to do it. He personally commanded and ordered the collection of information, and three days later, the garrisons in Gansu, Lingxia, Shanxi and other places sent telegrams back. It means that there are large poplar forests in these areas, and 'poplar woods' can be found in most of them. According to the news from Lingxia, in the land near the salt pond, the poplar forest is very lush. There is a lot of chrysine on the tree.

After reading the telegram, Zhao Jiaren closed his eyes. He didn't expect that there were so many amazing plants in the great rivers and mountains of the motherland, which could meet the various needs of the Chinese people. I didn't expect that before the indiscriminate felling destroyed the northwest environment, there were so many treasures here. When he opened his eyes, Zhao Jiaren asked the secretary to take the appointment letter appointing Li Yun as the chief of the general staff of the Song Army to sign and seal it.