Zhao Tuo was fascinated by several memorials. He has recently received secret documents and memorials from Nanchang, Yu Qian and Anren. There is also a large map spread on the ground in front of the writing desk.
It wasn't until Lu and Zhao knelt down and kowtowed three times that Zhao Tuo raised his eyes to look at them and said, "The two Qings are of the same family." Then he walked to the map with his hands behind his back and said, "Have you been to Yugan? See you there. Let’s go to Li Sanlang, right?”
This question was so unexpected that Zhao Baogen didn't even understand which one the emperor was talking about. After all, Lu Rui was older. He immediately woke up and crossed his hands and said, "The person your Majesty is asking is the eldest son of Duke Li Wencheng?"
"Yes, that's him."
"I met him once when I took the Chen family members away."
"Please tell me carefully what happened at that time."
"According to the order." So Lu Rui honestly told what happened before sailing that evening.
"Mr. Lu, in your opinion, what kind of person is Li Sanlang? Is he impulsive and reckless, or is he honest and trustworthy?" Eunuch Liu asked for the emperor from the side.
"I think that Li Sanlang was a little reckless at the time, but he was still brave, and he was quite affectionate and responsible for Miss Chen. If time passes, he may be a leader on the battlefield. I know very little about other things and dare not make any assumptions. Add a comment."
The emperor heeded: "As you said, this Li Sanlang has now been appointed by the Raozhou Prefecture as deputy envoy of regiment training and patrol in the southern region. He is a serious ninth-grade official with two thousand regiment training under his command. He has been victorious in consecutive battles and has never been defeated. It’s indeed a good seedling.”
Lu Rui and Zhao Baogen looked at each other. They had never left the imperial city since they had fulfilled their duties faithfully. Who knew how many incidents had happened in the past few months.
"I would like to send the two ministers to Raozhou again to help Li Sanlang get into the tiger's den as imperial envoys. If you fail in this matter, you may not be able to come back. If you win, your merits will be with the royal family. , I will definitely give you a generous gift!"
After hearing this, both of their eyes lit up. Although there has always been a dispute between civil and military officials in this dynasty, military merit was the first priority. In other words, military nobility was the most respected, followed by civil nobility and civil nobility.
No soldier will give up if he has the opportunity to show off his skills! Lu Rui and Zhao Baogen knelt down on one leg without hesitation, cupped their hands and said, "I will be utterly devastated and swear allegiance to the death!"
"However, this time you cannot go out of the capital wearing the uniforms of the Winged Dragon Guards, but have to change into casual clothes." Zhao Tuo satisfactorily let them lie down and said, "Liu Daban will tell you in detail how to do and what to do. listen.
In addition, this mission is very dangerous. I have gold medals and secret edicts for you to bring as backup. These will be told to you by Chief Jiao of Jilongwei. Manager Jiao will arrange all your support on the way there and back. "
Jilongwei is a rather mysterious organization, subordinate to the Dianqian Division. But it is actually a spy agency that does not charge into battles, but focuses on people in the world, foreign envoys, foreign businessmen, cults, etc.
Their actions have nothing to do with the court and are directly responsible to the emperor. The emperor used them to help in this operation, explaining the confidentiality of the mission itself. Lu Rui and Zhao Baogen were shocked when they heard this.
There is a busy scene everywhere outside Anren South Gate.
Due to cost and workmanship issues, most of the docks in this era were along-the-bank docks (built along the river bank, which was simple and easy to operate but not highly utilized), such as the commercial deep-water dock with a stone bank outside Guanlan Gate (West Gate).
However, the area outside the South Gate is mainly formed by silt sand. You have to go further downstream to reach the deep water area outside Mengjin Gate (Southwest Gate). Therefore, originally, the Wuyi Bridge Pier outside the South Gate was mostly berthed with a lower draft. Shallow sand boats and passenger boats.
Now, in order to meet the needs of the Jinjiang Bridge construction, a deep-water dock must be opened nearby.
Therefore, using the harvested timber and bamboo transported from the downstream, a new 400-step-long Wankeqiao Pier was built outside Mengjin Gate.
This wharf uses a bamboo cage caisson as the core and is designed with four piers and bridges. Each wharf is T-shaped and can accommodate five large ships with 500 materials at the same time!
At present, four wharves have been completed and put into use. Raw materials and materials shipped from Mianshan and Yujiazhai are continuously landed from this wharf, and then transported to various places by horse-drawn carriages.
The original Wuyiqiao Pier has been built with two new shallow lanes.
The wooden structure jetty extending in the water has almost doubled the parking capacity here!
Behind the pier are two houses with wooden walls and bamboo tiles. One has a door with "Disembarkation" written on it and has a ticket gate and a waiting area for receiving the boat. The other has a "Board" door with a ticket entrance and boarding waiting area.
Between the two large buildings is the Shuiguan inspection room and interrogation office. Inspectors can enter both sides through two doors in the corridor.
A young man who had just got off the boat stood on the dock bridge and stared in amazement. At this time, a Shuiguan patrolman came over and stopped five or six steps away from him. He raised his hands and said politely:
"Sir, please go under the trestle and watch slowly. You standing here will make other people inconvenient."
"Oh, I'm sorry! Please forgive me, Master, I was distracted for a moment." The young man turned around quickly and called to his followers: "Chang Hu, grab your things and let's go down." The patrolman smiled and made a gesture of invitation. As he walked he said:
"Young master, as a scholar, please don't call me 'jun ye,' we don't like this here in the Qing Shirt team. When you see the officers and soldiers, you can call them like this. For us, we only need to call the soldiers 'brother' and the officers, 'sir'." "
"Really, but how can I tell which of you is a soldier and who is an officer?" The young man followed him and asked curiously.
"Well, those of us with the rank mark on the left arm are soldiers. If the rank is on the shoulder, collar, or cuffs, then we are officers." The patrolman said, diligently reminding him to pay attention to the wooden steps under his feet.
"And the ones on the cuffs? It's very complicated!" said the servant Chang Hu, who was carrying a book on his back and a bamboo drawer (made of bamboo for storing stationery, with two or three upper and lower drawers) in his hand.
"It's not complicated." The patrolman shook his head: "Those with the logo on their sleeves are all governors. They are the most fair, kind, and knowledgeable people who know the rules and are the best at fighting. If you have difficulties, you can't go wrong with them!"
"Brother, I think you are wearing brown clothes, not green clothes. So are you also a member of the blue shirt team?"
"Forget it!" The patrolman puffed up his chest: "We used to be a rogue in the city, trying to stand up for others.
Later, when the Qingshan team captured Anren, we followed Mr. Zhou. Master Li sent some of us to the district militia squadron and the rest to Xie Dutou (Xie Guiting, deputy inspector of the inspection branch). , the people below used to call him Dutou, and the inspection was nominally Zhou Qin's subordinate.
We are familiar with things on the dock, so we came here to serve. "
"Is it because you are good at fighting?" the young man said jokingly.
"Oh, I don't dare to do that now!" The patrolman waved his hands hurriedly: "To tell you the truth, you get six cents of silver per month to work here. Food and drink are still in charge of the team leader, and uniforms, boots, and weapons are given out. Who will fight if you are doing well? To be cruel?
Let's talk about those who violate military discipline. There are three major military disciplines and eight points of attention. If you violate one of them, you will be expelled from the Qingshirt team and will never be hired. It's not a joke! Because we have a wife and children, and my old father has a bad leg and can’t live without me, I came to be a patrolman.
Otherwise, when the soldiers are captured, rewarded for their merits, and dividends given to the family, the fool will not be willing to go. Seeing as you are a foreigner, if I tell you this, the soldiers of the Green Shirt Team will die after a battle, and the whole family can live on pensions and dividends for more than ten years!
This time we are fighting against the lake bandits. I heard that the soldiers have nothing to do, but they can still earn three taels of silver by guarding the city wall! "
Listening to his chattering, the young man was very interested. He looked up and found that he had arrived under the "Disembarkation" plaque. "Young master, are you here to visit relatives and friends? Is there anyone to pick you up?" the patrolman asked.
"Oh, there should be one, right?" The young man looked out and replied uncertainly: "I asked someone to deliver the letter here in Yugan, but I didn't say when it would arrive."
"Oh!" The patrolman said with an "I understand" look on his face: "In this case, you show your ticket to the patrol inspector, and he will cut it and you can leave the customs. If you don't see anyone coming to pick you up, you can hire someone outside to pick you up. The carriages from the carriage house enter the city.
On the front of their carriages is a driving license plate issued by the inspection department. You can look for the Jiangdongxing brand and say it was introduced by Ding Laosi, the inspection department. The coachman will take good care of you and the price will be the most reasonable! "
"I see, then thank you Brother Ding
Brother. "The young man smiled and thought to himself. It seems that Ding Laosi and Jiang Dongxing have an agreement. No wonder he is so attentive to me.
"Where, where, dare I ask you your surname?"
"My surname is Sun."
"When Mr. Sun returns, there is a ticket office on the right side of the boarding gate. It is the place where return tickets are sold. Mention my name, Ding Laosi, and you can get a 30% discount or a free upgrade to one class."
"Okay, okay!"
"Nading Laosi is here to see the young master off. I wish you a happy stay in Anren!"
"Thank you, Brother Ding. Farewell!"
Mr. Sun led his servant to the ticket gate. Chang Hu took out two printed tickets from the bamboo drawer and handed them over to the inspector.
The name of the ship's company and the appearance of the ship were printed on the side of the ticket stub. The ship's number, cabin, and number of people were written in a font they didn't recognize in the blank space. The departure and arrival docks, as well as the names of the passengers, were also written in block letters. and sailing date and time.
On the other side of the couplet, the blank space in the pattern frame records the passenger's name, gender, age, place of origin, as well as the reason for the visit, appearance and other information. .
The inspector checked the authenticity of the ticket, checked two or three questions based on the records such as their names, characteristics, and reasons for their visit, then cut off the couplet with scissors, handed the ticket stub back to them and said:
"Both of you, please keep it. This ticket stub has the same effect as the road ticket. You can show it to the other party when you encounter questions while walking in this county."
"But..., it doesn't say what we look like?" Chang Hu frowned and asked, "How do people know we didn't pick this up or steal it?"
"They will write down your ticket number and report it to us, and here is your record. The ticket number on the coupon is the same as the ticket stub in your hand." The inspector replied with a smile, obviously he has answered it more than once This is a question.
The young man followed his finger and discovered that there was a number printed in cyan ink in the blank space on the couplet. It used the strange writing that he had seen many times before. Looking at the ticket stub in his hand, he saw that there was indeed a blank space. There is also a series of numbers like this.
"What word is this? I've never seen it before. It's not Tatar or Western." The young man shook his head in confusion.
Fortunately, they were the last ones on the ship to leave the station. The inspector was very patient and answered with a smile:
"It's Arabic numerals. Look, this is zero. This is two, nine, three, seven, four. You'd better learn it, sir. It's not difficult. It's used in more and more places here. If you don't know it, you'll know it later. Very troublesome.
"The inspector told him kindly, but unexpectedly this sentence led to another question from Mr. Sun: "Who is Arab? Is he very knowledgeable?"
"Ha, are you asking Arab? What does the patrol do? A soldier! Just ask me!"
When Mr. Sun and Chang Hu found the carriage from Jiangdong Car Shop, the bearded carriage driver with his nose hairs turned up in his nostrils saw them pointing to the hot-engraved bamboo sign under the eaves of the carriage shed. When he was curious about the words on it again, he shouted loudly. Said proudly.
"What? Do you know this stuff?" Chang Hu's eyes almost popped out of his head as he sat next to the coachman. He almost said, "My young master doesn't even know this." He looked back at the master and tried his best to read the words behind He swallowed it back into his stomach and curled his lips with an "I don't believe it" expression on his face.
"Arabia, that's not a person, it's an overseas country. It's said that it's very far to the west. It takes a month to travel from Tianzhu by boat!
The people there are good at being merchants, and many of them sail to China to trade. I heard that there are many in Quanzhou.
They brought this kind of numbers in. We heard from the shop owner of the car dealership that it is very convenient to use these numbers for accounting, accounting and calculation. We write four or five pages of paper and don't understand it clearly, but others remember it clearly in half a page. "
"Really or not, how can it be so powerful? I, the Chinese treasure, don't believe there is someone better than us." Chang Hu bared his teeth and objected.
"My little brother, you haven't seen many miles before!" the coachman sneered. At this time, they were heading to the construction site of Jinjiang Bridge as requested by Mr. Sun. The coachman tapped the shaft of the coach with his whip pole:
"Let's just talk about this car. Let me tell you that I have registered this car and want to donate it to the Green Jersey team for transportation. If they hadn't given priority to the homeless, I wouldn't have done it right now.
Got some work done here. "
"Why? Isn't it good to make money in peace this way? Why do we have to go to war?" Chang Hu looked back at his master and asked.
"Li Sanlang said: Everything is for the front line!" The coachman pushed his fat palm forward with great force.
"When did you say that?"
"At the conference, we celebrated the establishment of Anren's fundraising committee."
"Wait, raise funds? What funds are you raising?" Mr. Sun couldn't help but ask, this Anren... there are so many things that people can't understand!
"Revitalize Anren, support the Green Shirt Team, and protect the country and the people!" The bearded man grinned: "It's not just us, Yu Gan is also doing it. Have you heard from Yu Gan?"
"We went to visit the Yamen in Yugan and didn't go anywhere except to sleep at home. My young master has traveled before, but he has never traveled such a long distance in such a hurry." Chang Hu said with a resentful glance at the owner who was smiling bitterly behind him.
"Can you tell me more about this fund? Are you paying the green shirt team?"
"Where! I don't want to exploit the people." After speaking, the coachman briefly explained to them the role and main rules of the fund-raising committee.
"Hey, do you understand? So whether to give money or how much to give is decided by the committee members after deliberation. It is not what the Blue Shirt Team wants." The bearded man pointed in front of him with his hand:
"For example, for the Jinjiang Bridge, the Qingshirt team said it would cost ten thousand taels. Then Yu Gan could decide whether to invest or not, and so could Anren.
I heard that after it is built in the future, pedestrians crossing the bridge will be charged 1 yuan, vehicles will be charged 5 yuan, and boats crossing the bridge will be charged 10 yuan for every 100 materials, and the amount below 100 materials will be free. The money recovered will be returned in proportion to the investment from both parties. To Yu Qian and An Ren.
Similarly, in the future, carriage factories, transportation companies, smelting plants, and blacksmithing plants will be built in Anren, all using the same method. Mr. Zhou, the county magistrate, said this is called... taking it from the people and using it for the people.
Those of us who contribute capital can not only receive dividends, but we can also give priority to sending our children to technical schools and apprenticeships and work in these factories. From now on, there will be many ways to make money to support the family, and it’s not necessarily just farming or driving a car! "
"Why, your family also contributed money?" Chang Hu asked curiously: "How much money does this cost? Are there any rules?"
The coachman suddenly realized that he had gone astray and said quickly: "I'm going too far. I just said that I want to donate this carriage. Hey, this is a contribution. The carriage, horses and people can be exchanged for money."
My car, the mule and the villain as the driver are worth twenty-one taels of silver in total. The condition is that I work in the Qingshirt team for half a year. If cars and livestock are lost within half a year, they will be compensated according to the price, and if there are casualties, they will be compensated according to the standards of the auxiliary soldiers of the Green Shirt Corps... "
Listening to his eloquent introduction, Mr. Sun was shocked and asked hurriedly: "If the compensation is based on the price, should it be paid in cash or a new car?"
"Heh heh heh..." The bearded man laughed happily, and both of them were puzzled by the smile: "Young Master is really awesome, he got to the bottom of the matter right away." He didn't look back, gave a thumbs up behind him, and then told him mysteriously: "This is the matter. I don’t even have to think about it, of course I want a new car!”
"Of course? Why?" Chang Hu looked around and said, "I think your car is pretty good. It must have been used for a few years, right?"
"Hey, does this guy seem to know his stuff? It's been less than two years since I bought this car. Our current Mr. Zhou is a good official, so I was able to save up the money to buy this car.
You guys from other places don’t know that our Anren coachmen are all staring at a carriage these days! That was the car Li Sanlang built for his husband. It had four wheels, two horses, and could seat six people!
It runs fast and light, and sitting in it is as comfortable as being in a nine-layer quilt! I heard that the journey from here to Yugan County takes two days. The carriage leaves in the morning and arrives in the afternoon. It can go back and forth in one day!
There is also a large-scale passenger car with three rows of seats in the front and rear, which can accommodate eight people. The roof can also store luggage and is driven by a horse.
This new carriage was made using many Thai and Western construction methods. It is different from our old Chinese style. Getting on and off the carriage is from the side and has a door.
We have all heard that in the future we will have our own carriage factory to build new carriages. A car costs twenty-two taels of silver.
I can trade this car for half, and then go to the battlefield to earn half. Buying a new car is not a big problem. Besides, when they retire, the Green Jersey Team can provide low-interest loans to veteran players. For loans of less than 20 taels, the annual interest rate is only 1.5%!
"I'm just looking forward to buying a new bus. It would be better if I could earn a lot of money," said Song Daqi Passenger Manager. "Isn't this a great name? Hey, I plan to pass it on to my son and grandson!" The coachman danced in admiration. With.