To The Land of Nevernight

After thinking about it for a while, Wang Qin figured out the whole story.

Zhao Fu went up this morning and suddenly said that he wanted to build an official road and a canal.The feasibility of this plan is really not great. From ancient times to the present, the construction of canals has been a waste of money and people.In particular, the construction of a canal to the north is unprecedented, and I am afraid that it will not be possible to exhaust the treasury!

Zhao Fu is not a faint king, on the contrary, he reigned for 28 years, controlled the political situation of the court, and skillfully balanced the relationship between political parties and ministers.From the very beginning, Zhao Fu never thought of building a canal. What he wanted was to build three official roads leading directly to the north.He first put forward a policy that seemed unfeasible, and after his courtiers refuted it, he pretended to give it up and agreed to the policy of building three official paths.

Wang Qin could see through this point, and so did the few ministers who went to the court this morning, so everyone made a concerted effort to accompany Zhao Fu in a play, which contributed to the situation of repairing the three official roads.

It's just that Wang Qin didn't expect that there was the shadow of his junior brother behind this incident.

After coming out of the Chuigong Hall, Wang Qin found Ji Fu through his connections, and after a little inquiring, he learned that Tang Shen had sent a notebook to him a few years ago.Then contacting Tang Shen's sudden promotion to the fifth rank living man recently, Wang Qin took off the white jade sachet from his waist and put it in his hand to play with.

"Jing Ze, oh Jing Ze, you really always surprise me!"

The imperial court wanted to build roads, and there were still three official roads leading directly to the north, and the entire imperial court had work to do at once.

The Ministry of Households is responsible for distributing silver, the Ministry of Officials is responsible for dispatching officials, and the Ministry of War is responsible for safety along the road...the Ministry of Industry is the busiest.The yamen of the Ministry of Industry responsible for building roads is called Yubu, which is in charge of mountains, rivers, boats, and weaving.After the emperor's edict came down, all officials of the Yu Ministry were assigned to the three official routes.Because there are three official roads to be built at the same time, the Yu Department is short of manpower, and talents are drawn from the Water Department and the Wensi Academy.

Mei Shengze originally belonged to the Ministry of Water under the Ministry of Industry. At the end of last year, the Ministry of Water had just rebuilt the Taiye Pond. Before he could catch his breath, he was transferred to the Ministry of Yu.

On the nineteenth day of the first lunar month, Mei Shengze was about to leave Shengjing for Youzhou.

"I don't know when I'll be able to come back here, and it will be next year at the earliest!" In Xixia Building, Mei Shengze got up to raise his glass, and smiled wryly at the Guozijian students present, "Everyone says I have good luck, although I didn't test it. I went to the first class, but after the official examination, I was kept in Shengjing and was not released. But everyone, I might as well be released!"

Mei Shengze was about to leave, and the students of the Imperial College met at Xixialou to see him off.

Liu Fang was also left in Shengjing and became a Beijing official under the household department.He raised his glass and said, "Brother Shengze, the three official roads are big business now."

Mei Shengze said helplessly: "It's a big business, but what does it have to do with me, a sixth-rank official?"

The crowd had no choice but to keep giving Mei Shengze food and wine. Mei Shengze kept drinking in pain, and soon passed out at the banquet.Tang Shen asked shopkeeper Lu to find him a private room with no one to rest for the afternoon. At night, Mei Shengze woke up dizzy. The students from the Imperial College had all left, and only Tang Shen was left.

When he was in the Imperial Academy, Mei Shengze had the best relationship with Tang Shen.Now that there were only two people left, he had no scruples, and vomited bitterness to Tang Shen: "Jing Ze, what kind of evil do you think I have done! Ordinary people have a bright future if they are retained as officials in the capital. Well, I entered the Ministry of Works as soon as I lifted my foot. I have just finished repairing the pool, and I have to go to build the road. I have been poor for ten years. If I knew it, I would not be a Confucianist, so I should read more Gongjia books!"

Tang Shen poured him a cup of sober tea: "It's not as bad as you said."

Mei Shengze: "It's not as bad as I said? Indeed, the construction of three official roads leading to the north is definitely a major project this year. Whether it is the transfer of folk craftsmen or the location planning of the official road, there are many ways to go inside." .”

When encountering such a big project, even if you don't need to be greedy, the officials who handle it can get a good fortune.

"But what does this have to do with me!" Mei Shengze looked up to the sky and sighed, "Why on earth did your majesty want to build an official career all of a sudden? Which goddamn lord came up with such an idea. He is so open-mouthed, we petty officials But it will be a year of exhausting work!"

Tang Shenyi said righteously: "It is inhumane to propose such an idea!" His expression was righteous and awe-inspiring, as if he really shared the same hatred.

After seeing off Mei Shengze, Tang Shen unexpectedly received several more invitations.

One of them belonged to Zhang Si, the former Wupin Living Lang.There were three living langs, Tang Shen was promoted to be living lang, Zhang Si was pushed away by him, and became a fourth rank doctor of Yubu.Originally, Zhang Si thought that this was a rising in the dark and a falling in the dark, and he was in great pain.But then the court wanted to build three official roads, and he turned around in an instant.

Mei Shengze is a minor official of the sixth grade, he can only get a little bit of oil for road construction, and the big one has nothing to do with him.But Zhang Si is different.For a while, Zhang Si was in the limelight.He entertained his colleagues and prepared to leave for Youzhou.

At the banquet, Zhang Si took the initiative to offer a toast to Tang Shen, and Tang Shen returned the wine respectfully.

Zhang Si took the initiative and said: "It turns out that Your Majesty is so far-sighted. I was narrow-minded before. I was envious of you. Jing Ze, I'm really sorry."

Tang Shen: "I wish Master Zhang a smooth journey."

If the official way is well cultivated, Zhang Si can not only make a fortune from it, but may even be promoted.

After Zhang Si left, the second person to leave was Wang Xiao.

In the 27th year of Kaiping, the number one scholar Yao Ji and Tanhua Tang Shen both entered Zhongshu Province and became fifth-rank living masters.Only Wang Xiao, who was second in the list, seemed to be forgotten by Zhao Fu, and stayed in the Hanlin Academy to compile the seventh-rank Hanlin for a whole year.Now that the imperial court wanted to build the official road, he was suddenly ordered to be promoted to a member of the Fifth Rank Yu Department, and rushed to Ningzhou to build the road today.

It was really silent for a while, and turned over in one day.

More than half of the Scholars on their list have already left Shengjing, and a small half gathered in Qianlilou.

Tang Shen and Yao Ji hadn't seen Wang Xiao for half a year, and now they saw each other again, and the three of them were filled with emotion.

Wang Xiao seemed to be five years old, and he was only [-] years old, and there were gray hairs in his temples.He toasted Tang Shen and Yao Bang, the three of them didn't say much, just drinking.It was midnight, and Wang Xiao returned home in high spirits.Three days later, he packed his bags and went north to Ningzhou.However, before leaving, there was a visitor.

Wang Xiao personally went out to greet him, he was the housekeeper of the House of Ministers of the Household Department.

Wang Xiao welcomed Wang Qin's housekeeper into the door, and the housekeeper delivered a letter to Wang Xiao, saying: "Master Shangshu is busy with business, so he can't see you off in person. He wrote this letter and asked me to deliver it. Prince Wang is going to After Ningzhou, if there is an emergency, just hand over the letter to Mr. Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Industry."

After coming to Shengjing for two years, Wang Xiao had never thought of climbing up to Wang Qin, a distant relative, but now holding this letter, he suddenly burst into tears.

"Thank you, Master Shangshu!"

After ten years of hard study, the people in Shengjing were cold for a while.

Now, he is on his way to the north, ushering in his brand new life.

The three official roads to be built by the imperial court lead to Youzhou, Cizhou and Ningzhou respectively.The three states are all at the junction of the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom, located in the northwest, true north and northeast respectively.In fact, the construction of the three official roads is false. What the Song Dynasty really wants to build is the official road leading to Youzhou.

Youzhou official road was personally supervised by Yuan Mu, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry.

Youzhou is the most important checkpoint for the Song Dynasty to defend against the Liao army. A direct official road to Youzhou was built for the convenience of conveying military information in ordinary times, and also for the convenience of sending the general food to the front line at a faster speed in the future when the two countries fight.

Tang Shen just made a suggestion in the memorial, suggesting that Zhao Fu could "build plank roads in the open and cover Chencang in secret", build three official roads with the false and the real, and use the other two official roads to cover the Youzhou official road that he really wanted to build.However, he did not expect that Zhao Fu's third official road was to lead to Ningzhou.

Ningzhou is located in the northeast of Song Dynasty, and Luohe Town is in the north of Ningzhou!

Ningzhou official road is the best and the shortest.In this way, even if Xixialou fails to develop its own channels this year, they will still be able to transport mutton and beef through official roads at the end of the year, without having to look at the face of Liao businessman Yeluqiu.

Knowing that the imperial court wanted to build roads, Yao San and shopkeeper Lu were overjoyed.

In March, Yao San planned to go to Luohe Town to find out about the situation of repairing the official road.Tang Juan stayed in Shengjing for half a year, and was very bored, so Yao San must take her there.Yao San couldn't resist, so he could only take Tang Juan on the road together.

In April, the two returned from Luohe Town.

Yao Sandao: "Little Master, the Ningzhou official road has been built really fast! There are no mountains and rivers on this road, and most of them are plains. Now it has been repaired along the way. I looked along the road and at least one-sixth of it has been repaired. I think it will be completed by the end of the year. It will definitely be fixed!"

Tang Shen, as the living man, also heard reports from many officials from the Ministry of Industry when he was recording the emperor's daily life, and the progress of the project was similar to what Yao San said.The official road to Youzhou is the most difficult to build, followed by Cizhou, and the best one is Ningzhou official road.

Don Juan: "Actually, there have always been official roads to the north in the Song Dynasty, but the three new ones are different. The three new ones lead directly to the north without any detours, and the roads are wider. In places where it is easy to rain, even And gravel paving."

Only then did Tang Shen look at Don Juan.

He has been in this world for four full years, and Don Juan has changed from a nine-year-old girl to a 13-year-old girl now.

Ordinary girls like to be kept in the boudoir, embroider and paint flowers, but after Tang Juan came to Shengjing, he often went to Xixia Tower.

This time Tang Juan was going to Luohe Town, Tang Shen originally wanted to stop him, but seeing his sister's resolute expression and her not-so-white face, which was completely different from other girls, she didn't stop her.

The common people are not allowed to have a country map, so Don Juan took a piece of rice paper and drew a rough sketch on the rice paper according to his memory of going all the way north.She said: "The trade between the Liao Kingdom and the Song Dynasty is mostly in Ningzhou. Ningzhou's official road can be repaired by the end of the year at the latest. In this way, unless it is extremely bad weather, Ningzhou's goods can be delivered in one day Arrive at Shengjing. Then look south."

The little girl used her not-so-delicate hands to draw a zigzag line to the south: "To the south of Shengjing, there is the Grand Canal. Ordinary passenger ships can arrive at Qiantang from Shengjing in half a month. But this is a slow, slow journey. Be steady, if you want to hurry up, you can go from south to north in five days at most."

Tang Shen looked at his younger sister and said seriously, "So?"

When asked suddenly, Don Juan was stunned. She opened her mouth and turned into a 13-year-old girl again.

After thinking for a long time, Tang Juan said hesitantly: "Brother, I just think that with such good transportation conditions, there seems to be something I can do... Didn't you say that the biggest advantage of our Xixia Tower and Zhenbao Pavilion in Gusu Mansion is not soap , but Tang's Logistics."

Tang Shen looked at Tang Juan seriously, and after a long time, he smiled and said, "You're right, such a good condition, if you don't take advantage of it, it's a waste of money!"