Chapter 739 Prank

"Later, I held the Jinmingchi Banquet with him. Su Tanhua accompanied Yu Shi and won the prize. Oh, by the way, His Majesty was there that time."

Zhao Xu remembered: "Yes, that time Su Mingrun declined the imperial gift from Emperor Renzong. Counting the goldfish bag, this was the second time."

Li Shunju said: "So with Su Mingrun's temperament, there is a possibility of stealing his name? And in terms of time, it seems that Su Mingrun's lyrics should have come out before Na Shizi's music, right?"

"The two short poems are private letters he wrote to the Junjun. If the Junjun had not been weak in literary talent and asked Princess Wei to read them, the name of Tanhualang's poems would not even have spread to the public."

"If you really want to be famous, the quality of the song "Congratulations to the Bridegroom" alone is enough. "Who can be more diligent and thin than the Jade Belt." With such a good line in front of her, does Su Tanhua need to add to it?"

Zhao Xu thought about it and realized that this was true.

As a eunuch who could write articles, Li Shunju was quite advanced. He continued his analysis: "And the scholar didn't say that his music was stolen by Su Mingrun. He just asked the Kaifeng Mansion to return his reputation.

It was misunderstood by someone with good intentions, and then the people believed it to be true."

Zhao Xu asked: "I heard that the scholar was still guarding the armory door and was ugly in appearance? Now he doesn't even have a place to stay in Beijing. The landlord is unwilling to rent to him anymore and has kicked him out?"

"Uh..." Li Shunju was stunned for a moment: "This veteran really doesn't know."

Are you kidding? Gossip is gossip, but I am your Majesty's inner chamberlain, a provincial eunuch who cannot be expelled unless you are over 50, and a watchdog of a small arsenal. I will let him die!

Zhao Xu secretly smiled: "What do you think if this person is assigned to Su Mingrun as a cook?"

Li Shunju was so frightened that he waved his hands repeatedly: "Your Majesty can't help it. How can a person who oversees the armory door listen to Mu Tianen? This will shock the world!"

Zhao Xu laughed and said: "Zeng Bu and Lu Jia asked. They were beaten badly in the court and went to Liangzhe Road. They simply risked their lives."

"I don't know what kind of medicine Su Mingrun gave them. Lu Jia asked Ren March. In March, he almost didn't leave the office, and spent all day running around the Taihu construction site under the scorching sun. Zeng Bu even exaggerated, directly doubling the output of several copper supervisors, and out of

The money has more than doubled! Both of them have become ministers!"

"I really look forward to what people like Zheng Xia and He Zhu will become when they arrive in Zhejiang..."

Li Shunju smiled and said: "It's true, but it doesn't need to be so flattering. Aren't you from the military weapons supervisor? Just let Zhang Jixiang find an official to issue a transfer order and send him to the case over there to continue guarding."

Zhao Xu was looking forward to his prank: "Then go tell Zhang Dun and ask Shen Kuo to come see me."

Shen Kuo is discussing with Lu Huiqing the registration of vehicles in Kaifeng Mansion. This matter is Zhao Xu's order.

There are many carriages and horses in Kaifeng Prefecture today, which was caused by Su You's satellite city and Wang Anshi's horse protection method.

Wang Anshi introduced the Horse Protection Law. Su You believed that if the people only paid without income, the horses would only become blinder as they were raised. Horses must be turned into production tools so that the people would be motivated.

So we vigorously developed chariots and horses. Sure enough, the implementation of the horse protection law was different in Kaifeng Prefecture and other places.

However, this is also based on the rapid economic development of Kaifeng Prefecture and the rigid needs of satellite cities, while other places are suffering from the Ma Ma Law.

No one knew what Zhao Xu's purpose was, and the people were disturbed and frightened.

Shen Kuo rushed to the reception hall and asked, "Your Majesty, are you calling me a minister?"

Zhao Xu asked: "Do you know about the car?"

Shen Kuo nodded: "I just learned that I am discussing this matter with Gong Zheng."

Zhao Xu said: "What do you think of this method of vehicle registration?"

Shen Kuo asked: "I don't know what the purpose of your Majesty's registered vehicle is?"

Zhao Xu said: "I heard that horses were used to win in the north. After thinking about it, I realized that it would be difficult to resist without chariots."

Shen Kuo rolled his eyes secretly in his heart: "Your Majesty, chariots have existed in all dynasties. The wizard taught Wu Zi to use chariots to fight, and then he dominated China; Li Jing made biased antlers to use them to fight birds."

"But your Majesty must consider one thing. What the ancients called a chariot was a light chariot with five warriors rotating on it, which is convenient."

"Nowadays, the carriages used by the people have heavy vertebrae and are pulled by oxen. They are used to pull goods. They can't travel more than thirty miles a day, and if there is a little rain or snow, they will go even slower. So this kind of carriage is called a Taiping carriage. Although it can

It can pull heavy loads, but it must not be used in combat."

"Nowadays, there is a kind of light carriage with one or two horses, which was made by Su Mingrun. It is quite convenient. The horse owners can only keep one or two horses, so this kind of carriage can be considered as adapted to the situation."

"The ride is comfortable, but the car body is light and thin, making it impossible to withstand spears and even bows and arrows."

"Therefore, it is difficult for civilian vehicles to be used in the military, and they can only be designed and built separately."

Zhao Xu asked: "How much does a chariot cost?"

Shen Kuo said: "Let's not talk about the car body. If we want to use a new type of vehicle chassis wheel hub, it will definitely need to be thickened and reinforced to cope with the cruel battlefield."

"So the cost should be about eighty guan. If we want to set up a royal board that can effectively protect against bows, arrows, spears, and spears, cover it with a skin, partially reinforce it with iron shields, and install offensive iron awls, I estimate that...

One hundred and fifty strings."

"Such a chariot requires at least four horses to pull it. Adding thirty guan for each horse, thirty guan for the vest, and a chariot with equipment, the total price should be around four hundred guan."

Zhao Xu felt a little sore after hearing this, waved his hands and said, "Forget it, it's too expensive."

Shen Kuo cupped his hands and said: "But your Majesty's idea is a good one. Now that we have the Fulu Cannon and the Thunderbolt Cannon, if the Shenji Battalion can lead the light cavalry, and at the same time be equipped with artillery carriages that can move quickly with the cavalry, it will of course be even more powerful."

So Zhao Xu felt that he could float again: "It seems that my idea is still useful?"

Shen Kuo nodded: "Your Majesty is wise. There is also the matter of registering the vehicle, which is actually quite good."

"There are more vehicles in Kaifeng Prefecture now. Before Su Mingrun left the palace, although the roadbed had been repaired, the road construction had not yet been completed."

"Road damage is mainly caused by vehicles carrying heavy loads. So before I came, I discussed with the government officials whether to register the vehicles entering and exiting Kaifeng Prefecture, and charge corresponding road maintenance fees according to the vehicle load levels for road construction.

?”

Zhao Xu hesitated: "Are you collecting money again?"

Shen Kuo said: "This is also a helpless move. Once the roads are repaired, the vehicles can make more money, right? There are also eye-catching signs on the vehicles. Once an incident such as injury occurs, it will be easier to find the person responsible."

Zhao Xu was very happy: "The ministers have said that no one can talk about this, which is good. Then we will write to the Zhongshu to discuss the matter of the artillery carriage and let the Ordnance Supervisor establish the project."

Shen Kuo cupped his hands and said, "My lord, I obey the order."

Zhao Xu asked again: "There is still a discussion in the court today that the salt industry in Sichuan is booming, but the court has not gained much practical benefit. Some ministers have suggested that all private wells in Sichuan should be closed and the official salt from Jiechi should be used to supply Shu.

In this way, the imperial court can gain greater benefits, what do you think?"

Shen Kuo shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, the minister who proposed this suggestion must be a very pedantic person."

Zhao Xu asked: "Why?"

Shen Kuo said: "Sichuan salt is now the connecting link between Shaanxi, Minzhou, Yizhou and Dali, and plays a decisive role in the stability and prosperity of the southwest."

"What's more, the private well in Shu paid the purchase fee, so the imperial court did not make a profit."

"In addition, due to the flow of commercial goods brought about by the circulation of Shu salt, the imperial court also collected traveling and sitting taxes."

"If nothing else, the current commercial tax in Sichuan is half beneficial to the world. Compared with 20 years ago, when several major salt supervisors in central Sichuan were run by officials and salt households fled the economy and the economy was in decline, the tax has increased by 20% in the past 20 years.

Times, it can be said that the economy is booming. So how can we say that private salt wells in Shu are not beneficial to the court?"

"Since all the private wells agree to sell them, how can private transactions be prevented? If all the private wells are blocked and the salt is transported to the government for sale, it seems that it can save a lot of management trouble and gain some economic benefits.

benefits. But compared with the new troubles and lost benefits, do the benefits really outweigh the disadvantages?"
Chapter completed!