The Eighth Prince brought along Mrs. She, Dalang's daughter-in-law Hua Jieyu, and Zhou Yunjing. Maid Yang Paifeng, because Yang Paifeng has the best relationship with Bamei, Yang Paifeng thinks that Bamei can't do it at home, so she has no choice but to bring Yang Paifeng over. Wang Qinruo and Kou Zhun and their entourage rushed to Cangzhou Fangxiang. Now Mrs. She was also very anxious. She didn't know if Liu Zhiliang was telling lies and she was unsure.
Kou Zhun was the same at this time. Now facing the threat of Empress Dowager Xiao of Liao Kingdom and the attitude of Mrs. She, Kou Zhun hesitated for the Song Dynasty.
Mr. Kou once lived in Changping Township, Taigu, Taiyuan, then moved to Fengxu, and finally to Xiabang, Huazhou. Kou was born into a distinguished family. His distant ancestor Su Chasheng served as a military official during the reign of King Wu of the Western Zhou Dynasty. He was given the official surname because of his repeated achievements in great achievements. His father, Kou Xiang, passed the Jinshi A Division examination during the Kaiyun period of the Later Jin Dynasty. Later, he responded to the imperial edict and was appointed to the office of the King of Wei to join the army. Due to his repeated meritorious service, he was named Duke of the State and was posthumously awarded the post of Grand Master Shangshu Ling. Kou Ni was talented, intelligent, and studious. He had already written many excellent poems when he was fourteen years old. You can master "Spring and Autumn" at the age of fifteen.
In the fifth year of Taiping and Xingguo's reign (980), 19-year-old Kou Zhen passed the Jinshi examination. When Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty selected Jinshi, he often went to the platform in front of the palace to visit and ask questions in person. Young people were often not accepted. Someone asked Kou Ni to increase his age. Kou Ni said: "I have just prepared to embark on an official career. How can I deceive Your Majesty?" Later, he passed the exam and was appointed as a judge in Dali. He was sent to Badong County in Guizhou as magistrate. Upon completion of his term, he was appointed magistrate of An County. Later, he was successively promoted to the positions of judge of salt and iron, doctor of Shangshu Yubu, direct bachelor of privy council and other officials.
In the second year of Duangong's reign (989), Kou Zhen once acted in the palace and boldly gave advice. Song Taizong couldn't listen to the loyal advice, so he left the dragon throne angrily and wanted to return to the inner palace. Kou Zuo grabbed Song Taizong's clothes and persuaded him to sit down again and listen to what he had to say. Afterwards, Song Taizong admired Kou Ni very much and said happily: "I got Kou Ni, just like Tang Taizong got Wei Zheng."
Among the officials of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, Kou Ni was famous for his uprightness and resourcefulness. In the early years of Chunhua, the Northern Song Dynasty court handled two bribery cases. Wang Huai, who was involved in serious crimes and had stolen tens of millions of dollars, was dismissed from his post and was soon reinstated. Zu Ji, who was involved in less serious crimes, was sentenced to death. Kou Zhen knew that this was the fault of Wang Huai's brother, Wang Miao, the political advisor, and he felt very angry.
A severe drought occurred in the spring of the second year of Chunhua (991). Song Taizong summoned his ministers to inquire about the pros and cons of current affairs. Most of the officials thought it was caused by the number of days, but Kou Zhen said: "It is said in "Hong Fan" that the relationship between heaven and man responds to each other like shadow and echo. The severe drought is because the punishment is unfair." Song Dynasty Taizong was very angry and got up and returned to the palace. After a while, Kou Zhen was summoned to ask about the unfair punishment. Kou Zhen said: "I hope that the officials from the second government will be summoned, so I will tell you." The emperor ordered to summon the officials from the second government, and Kou Zhen said: "Not long ago Both Zu Ji and Wang Huai broke the law and accepted bribes. Zu Ji accepted less bribes but was beheaded. Wang Huai was the younger brother of Wang Mi, who participated in politics, and received tens of millions of dollars. He only received a cane and was reinstated. This is not unfair. What is it?" Song Taizong asked Wang Mi about this, and Wang Mi kowtowed in apology. So Song Taizong severely criticized Wang Mi and knew that Kou Mi could be used. Kou Xu was immediately appointed as Zuo Jianyi doctor and deputy privy envoy, and was changed to Tongzhiyuan, and he began to directly participate in the military and state affairs of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Kou Zhen had serious differences of opinion with Zhang Xun, the magistrate of the Privy Council. One day, Kou Zhen and Wen Zhongshu went out together. On the road, they met a madman who greeted his horse and yelled "Long live". It was judged that King Bin of Zuo Jinwu had always been on good terms with Zhang Xun, so Zhang Xun ordered him to report this matter to Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty. Kou Zhen cited Wen Zhongshu as a witness, and Zhang Xun asked Wang Bin to give a speech alone. He spoke harshly and accused each other of each other's shortcomings. Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty was very angry and demoted Zhang Xun. Kou Su was also dismissed and appointed as the prefect of Qingzhou.
But at this time, Song Taizong could not do without Kou Ni. After Kou Ni went to Qingzhou, Song Taizong was unhappy and often asked about Kou Ni's situation in Qingzhou. The next year, Kou Zuo was recalled to the capital and became a counselor in political affairs. In the first year of Zhidao (995), it was added to Shizhong.
At that time, Song Taizong had been in power for a long time and had not established a crown prince. This matter has always been a headache for Song Taizong. Because after the death of Song Taizu, his son Dezhao failed to succeed, Song Taizong carried out the throne as the emperor's younger brother, and there is also the mystery of the death of Song Taizu "the sound of candle shadow and axe", which means that Song Taizong is suspected of killing his brother to seize the throne. . Therefore, when Song Taizong passed the throne, he faced two choices: to establish his own son, or to establish Taizu's son. At that time, most ministers kept silent about establishing a crown prince. Minister Feng Zheng once asked Shu to establish a crown prince, but was demoted to Lingnan by Taizong. From then on, few people in the government and the public dared to discuss this matter.
Kou Ji just returned to the court from Qingzhou and went to see Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty. Song Taizong was suffering from foot disease at the time. After seeing the injury, Kou Zuo asked affectionately: "Why did you just come back to Beijing now?" Song Taizong felt a little sorry. Then Song Taizong asked Kou Xu who should be appointed as the crown prince. Kou Zhen had already guessed Song Taizong's purpose of summoning him this time, and he had already understood it, but he did not directly answer Song Taizong's question.
The statue of Kou Ni said: "To choose a king for the world, you cannot discuss with the concubines, eunuchs, or close ministers; you should choose the one who is popular and make him the prince." Song Taizong lowered his head and thought for a long time, and turned away those around him. , asked softly: "How is King Xiang?" Kou Zhen was secretly happy, so he followed suit and said: "There is no better son than a father. Since your majesty thinks that King Xiang is suitable, please make a decision." The next day, Song Taizong announced that Zhao Heng, King of Xiang, He was named Kaifeng Yin, changed his title to King Shou, and was later established as Crown Prince.
When Song Taizong and the prince returned from visiting the ancestral temple, people in the capital crowded on both sides of the road, beaming and vying to see the prince. At this time, someone in the crowd shouted "Young Emperor". After hearing this, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty was very unhappy and asked Kou Zhen: "If the hearts of the people turn to the crown prince, where will I be placed?" Kou Zhen repeatedly congratulated him and said, "The crown prince chosen by your majesty has won the hearts of the people. This is a blessing to the country." Song Taizong suddenly realized, The rewarded bandits drank together and then got drunk. After that, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty relied more heavily on Kou Ni. Someone presented a treasure to Song Taizong: a Tongtian rhinoceros. Song Taizong had people process it into two rhinoceros belts, one for his own use and the other as a gift to Kou Xi.
In the third year of Zhidao (997), Song Taizong died, and Prince Zhao Heng succeeded to the throne, namely Song Zhenzong. Kou Zuo was appointed Minister of the Ministry of Industry. Song Zhenzong wanted Kou Zuo to be the prime minister for a long time, but he was worried about his upright character. Difficult to do alone.
The Eighth Prince and his entourage came to Cangzhou, and the magistrate of Cangzhou came out to greet the Eighth Prince and his entourage. Cangzhou relied on the influence of Tianjing New City. This year, Cangzhou also underwent earth-shaking changes under the leadership of Tianjing New City. Cangzhou City also nearly doubled in size. The population has doubled as before. Merchants are also predicting that Tianjing New City is not a city of the Song Dynasty after all. Everyone is still a little worried. This will actually promote the development of Cangzhou's economy. The most important thing is that Yang Peng actually built the road all the way to the east gate of Cangzhou. This brings great convenience to travel from Cangzhou to Tianjing New City.
When those businessmen had money, they bought cement, bricks, and steel in Tianjing New City and began to build villas in Cangzhou according to the plan of Tianjing New City. Now all the east new cities in Cangzhou are villa areas for those businessmen. The magistrate of Cangzhou also All the streets in Cangzhou were built with cement roads, which Yang Peng gave to the magistrate of Cangzhou for free. It took some labor to build the roads. Today's Cangzhou is also a unique new city in the Song Dynasty. The magistrate of Cangzhou is also a good official and has a good relationship with Yang Peng.
Zhuang Ming, the magistrate of Cangzhou, brought the Eighth Prince and his entourage to the Cangzhou County Government Office. The Eighth Prince said, "I came to Cangzhou a few years ago. I didn't expect that you have developed Cangzhou so well in the past few years. Thank you for your hard work in the past few years." Zhuang Ming He said, "This is not my fault. The most important thing is that the goods in Tianjing New City are really attractive. That Tianjing New City is not a city in the Song Dynasty. People who go to Tianjing New City to do business all settle in our Cangzhou. The Tianjing New City also donated hundreds of thousands of kilograms of cement to us, so that we could afford to build roads and expand Cangzhou City."
Kou Zhun said, "Your streets are made of cement. Can't we make this kind of cement?" Zhuang Ming said, "No one here can do it, because no one among us understands it. People in Tianjing New City see the secret recipe." It was very tight. Last time I killed eleven people who wanted to steal the secret recipe. Because the wages in Tianjing New City were very high, few people did this. If they found out, they would kill them and all their families would be driven out of Tianjing. In the new city, there is no government anywhere, and Yang Peng is the city owner of Tianjing New City. Not to mention that Yang Peng is really good to the people. Now the people who help Yang Peng farm do not have to pay a penny in land rent, no matter what you farm No matter how many fields you harvest, it's all yours, but if you have too much grain, you must sell it to Yang Peng, and no private trading of grain is allowed. That is a hard-fought condition of Tianjing New City, and there is no reason to explain it. Now tens of thousands of people are helping Yang Peng Even though Peng was farming, the Khitans didn't dare to attack the new city of Tianjing. Yang Peng's army was too powerful. The last time the Khitans raided the grass valley and just left Yingzhou, Yang Peng and the others killed them all within a mile of a hundred men. Only two people in Peng's army were slightly injured. No one died."
The Eighth Prince said, "They are so powerful. How many people do they have in Tianjing New City now?" Zhuang Ming said, "The total population of Yang Peng's farm should be nearly 200,000. There are about 80,000 in Tianjing New City." People, the others are mainly in various villages, and there are ten towns." The Eighth Prince said, "There are so many people, and they can protect them with an army of more than two thousand people." Zhuang Ming said, "That was something in the past, now Their army exceeds 10,000, and the soldiers are paid three taels of silver a month. Now they are in Cangzhou, Yingzhou, and Mozhou. There are no beggars in Youzhou, let alone refugees. They all go to Yang Peng, who now grows two crops a year. There is no need to worry about food at all. People here also learn from Tianjing New City and have two crops a year. They even send people here to ask us to grow food."
Mrs. She felt relieved. Lin Qing'er really brought a good apprentice and brought glory to our Yang family. There is also hope that the Yang family's great revenge can be avenged. Yang Paifeng My heart has already flown to Tianjing New City.
The Eighth Prince said to Wang Qinruo, "Wang Aiqing, write a letter immediately and send it to the officials at high speed, asking the Queen Mother Xiao to come to Yingzhou for hunting. Five thousand people are not enough. It is best to send ten thousand people here. Just write it like this." The Eighth Prince also felt confident. He felt confident when he saw Cangzhou. Now after listening to the words of Cangzhou County Magistrate Zhuang Ming, he felt even more confident.
The Eighth Prince said to the old lady, "Old lady, when we get to Tianjing New City, I will ask you to intercede in front of Lin Qing'er. Because we are all Han people, I guarantee that I will give your Yang family an explanation for Qilang's matter. This is yours." Just don’t worry.”
Mrs. She said, "Eighth Prince, don't worry, Qing'er is also a reasonable person, and Yang Peng is also Qing'er's apprentice. He will definitely take the master's words seriously and fight against the Khitans from them on." It just shows the problem, but when you get to Tianjing New City, just don’t be aggressive."
Yang Peng returned to Tianjing New City. Yang Peng checked various industries again. After confirming that there were no problems, he began to invest in the development of modified rolling bearings. Bearings are indispensable in industrial production. They can greatly reduce the rotational friction at mechanical joints, improve the operating efficiency of machinery, and enhance the stability of mechanical operations. Without bearings, modern machinery would not be possible at all. This is just that Yang Peng's current bearing method is too simple and not large-scale.
As a city owner and product designer, Yang Peng's bearing production is considered a basic skill. Yang Peng had understood the principles of bearings from the beginning, and had also looked up some simple ways to make bearings, and now he just put them to use. Yang Peng selected ten blacksmiths who were good at processing steel tools from the gunsmith apprentices. He selected the ten most honest people and called them to stand in a specially built workshop. The workshop was divided into ten rooms, and each room had a furnace for forging iron and burning steel.
Yang Peng first educated them on the confidentiality regulations: "I'm looking for you to make a new thing. After this thing is made, your monthly salary will be increased to three taels per month, and you will have three meals as usual." After hearing Yang Peng's words, the craftsmen All very excited. The city lord is making something new again? This time I have found myself, and I am going to make a fortune!
Yang Peng made the craftsmen excited for a while, and then said slowly: "But I will give you a high salary, but I want you to strictly keep the secret. If I find that anyone leaks the secret of producing this thing, it will be a death penalty!" He looked at it coldly for ten Looking at the blacksmith, Yang Peng said: "The thirteen traitors in the glass workshop are a precedent. You don't want to make the same mistake again, right?"
The ten craftsmen were not happy for a while, but they became frightened and nervous at the words of the city lord. Wu Tietou, who was chosen as the head craftsman, quickly replied: "Can the city lord still not trust me, Wu Tietou? Even if the knife is placed on my neck, I will not reveal any secrets!" The other craftsmen also replied: "Sir, We are all honest blacksmiths and we will not reveal secrets!" "Sir, we all do things honestly and will not reveal secrets."
Yang Peng nodded and said: "This new workshop implements a joint sitting system. If one person leaks secrets, ten people will be punished together! The leaker will be beheaded, and the others will also have to deduct a year's wages. So if you see others stealing secrets, please Go up and stop it and report it!" Wu Tietou patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, sir. I, Wu Tietou, will be the first to get in trouble with anyone who steals secrets!"
Yang Peng looked at the blacksmiths and saw that they all looked serious and shocked, and then said: "The thing I want to make is called a bearing! I want to make eight steel balls from good steel, and polish and round them. Then. We also need to cast two steel rings, one large and one small. Leave two tracks for the steel balls, one inside and one outside. Then let the eight steel balls rotate on the tracks of the steel ring. Finally, make two iron sheets. The cage fixes these steel balls inside the steel ring so that they do not collide. You also know that we have the best steel factory here, and Da Song does not have the ability to make such good steel."
After hearing what Yang Peng said, the ten blacksmiths were a little confused. They had never seen rolling bearings, and they had no idea what Yang Peng was talking about. Yang Peng began to teach them one by one. Yang Peng divides bearing production into five processes. The first step is to make two steel rings, one large and one small. The second process is to cut the steel rod into small sections as raw materials for making balls. The third step is to heat the ball material, and then use the high-temperature soft ball material to beat on the steel mold, and beat the small steel rod into the ball. The fourth step is to use a good porcelain clay grinding wheel and a fine steel grinding disc to grind the balls, eliminate burrs, and polish the steel balls. The last process is to use iron sheets to make two cages, clamp the balls on both sides, and fix the steel balls to the predetermined position of the track.
Yang Peng divided the ten craftsmen into five groups to operate different processes. Yang Peng asked the craftsmen to only focus on their own processes and not to learn about other people's operations. Then Yang Peng took out the drawings he drew and showed them to the five groups of craftsmen in each process. After looking at the drawings, the ten craftsmen had some idea of what they should do.
Yang Peng guided the craftsmen step by step in building the bearings from beginning to end. The first step is to cast the steel ring, which is quite simple. Just make a mold with sand and pour the molten steel into it. However, in order to reduce the honeycomb of pores on the steel parts, Yang Peng asked the blacksmiths to use the cast steel rings to make iron molds, and then use the iron molds to cast the steel rings.
Then, a round steel rod is heated until soft, and then placed on a simple cutter to cut out a small section of steel material as the raw material for the ball. Put the raw materials for rolling balls one by one in a furnace and heat them until they are red hot. Then take out the raw materials one by one and place them on a steel block with a semicircular hole. Use the head of a stick to also have a semicircular hole. The steel rod is pressed against the ball material, and the steel rod is hammered with a hammer to squeeze the material into a spherical shape.
After the rough balls are obtained, the balls are screened through multiple ball screens to remove balls that are too large or too small. Then use a grinding wheel and abrasive disc to deburr and polish the ball. After obtaining a smooth ball, the ball is tempered and heated, and finally poured into heated oil for quenching to increase the hardness of the ball. After the balls are ready, arrange the balls in a row into the outer ring of the bearing. After installing the inner ring of the bearing, slide the balls to different positions. The balls and the inner and outer rings will be integrated and will not fall off.
Finally, an iron sheet is used as a cage, fixed with steel nails, and the balls are wrapped from both sides so that the eight balls are evenly distributed inside the steel ring without collision and friction. Yang Peng guided different blacksmiths step by step, making tools, operating production, and finally spent fifteen days to make the first rolling bearing of this era. Yang Peng added some oil to the bearing, put the bearing sleeve on his hand and turned it hard. The bearing turned four or five times and stopped.
The blacksmiths were amazed to see the final effect of the bearing. Wu Tietou, the head craftsman, said: "Lord City Lord, this circle can roll so many times on its own, so smooth! Sir, what is this used for?" Yang Peng did not answer Wu Tietou's words, wondering why the bearing was not Easy to use? You can only turn four or five times? Although this is much better than without bearings, it is obvious that the bearings designed by Yang Peng should not have such an effect. After thinking about it, Yang Peng felt that the inner and outer rings of the bearing were probably too rough, and the friction coefficient was too high, causing the balls to stop after a few turns.
It seems that the inner and outer raceways of the bearings also need to be finely polished. Yang Peng added another process to the entire production - orbital polishing of the inner and outer rings - after the steel ring is cast, use a good porcelain clay grinding wheel and a fine steel grinding disc to grind the burrs and polish the orbit. It took another three days for Yang Peng to lead the blacksmith to make polishing tools and polish the ball track. The bearing was remade and oiled, and Yang Peng took it in his hand and turned it hard. The bearing did not stop this time. It turned and turned for a long time, at least more than ten times, and then slowly stopped.
Such bearings can already meet Yang Peng's needs, and Yang Peng is very satisfied. Feeling happy, Yang Peng said loudly: "The bearing was successfully manufactured. Each of the ten craftsmen will be given three taels of silver as a reward!" The craftsmen were overjoyed and said loudly one by one: "Your Majesty, your kindness!" "Your Majesty, the City Lord is so proud!" "Thank you. More than an adult!"
After completing the trial production of the bearings, the bearing workshop began mass production of bearings. There are ten craftsmen in the bearing workshop. These ten craftsmen work together and can produce ten rolling bearings a day. By June 29, the workshop had produced more than one hundred bearings. These more than one hundred bearings are the treasures of Tianjing New City and must be used in the most critical places. Yang Peng hired several carpenters to equip these bearings on the catapult, replacing the original wooden shaft frame of the catapult.
In the past, the mechanical crossbow required a horse to drag it to move. When defending the city, the space on the city wall was narrow and it was difficult for horses to maneuver. It was also inconvenient to move the crossbow on the city wall. With the bearings, the friction on the crossbow axle is greatly reduced, making the crossbow much easier to move. Six mechanical crossbowmen can pull a 175-kilogram crossbow for short distance movement. Therefore, the crossbow can be quickly transferred on the city wall and support the enemy's main attack side at any time. This is a great benefit for city defense.
If the crossbows could not be moved, the three hundred crossbows would be evenly distributed on the four walls, and less than a hundred could be arranged in each direction. Nowadays, the ballistae can maneuver quickly and can concentrate most of the powerful crossbow arrows in the direction of the enemy's main attack to design the enemy. However, Yang Peng is still worried about the city defense. The Khitan people are very ambitious now, and Yang Peng can only feel confident if he arranges the Tianjing New City more tightly. In March, he hired a thousand people from the nearby area to dig numerous large and small holes one or two hundred meters outside the city wall. These pits are two or three meters deep, small ones are ten meters long and wide, and large ones are dozens of meters wide. They have several levels from the outside to the inside, and are dotted outside the city wall. By June, the potholes were complete.
If the enemy infantry attacked, these holes would force them to take a detour. Within the range of a flintlock rifle, every additional meter the enemy goes around will bear a little more pressure of death. If the enemy builds chariots to attack the city, these holes can directly stop the chariots. Only by filling up these ravines can the chariots continue to move forward. For the infantry who left their chariots to fill the ravines, flintlock rifles on the city walls would become a nightmare.
If you want to know what happens next, let’s look at the breakdown in the next chapter.
