In the early morning of the 17th day of the first lunar month, just one day after the imperial meeting to impeach Qian Mingyi, Zhao Yang, who had been reinstated, was finally able to leave the palace again.
After exchanging pleasantries with several imperial guards on duty at the palace gate, Zhao Yang asked Wei Tao and Bao Rong to go to Nancheng to invite Fan Chunren, while he took Wang Zhongzheng and others straight to the Ministry of Industry and Industry Headquarters of Shangshu Province. .
Compared with the first time, Zhao Yang was more familiar with the journey this time. He said hello to the clerk in the department who came to open the door, and then went straight to the office of Yang Yi, the bill inspector of the Ministry of Industry.
I saw Zhao Yang standing outside the door of the class room and took a look. I saw Yang Yizheng sitting behind the desk and immersed in reading the case files. He raised his hand and knocked on the door and said hello: "Mr. Yang, are you available?"
Yang's envoy raised his head and saw Zhao Yang. He quickly stood up and came forward: "Master Zhao, please come in, please come in... Someone will serve tea quickly."
After a while, the clerk in the department served tea, and Zhao Yang took a sip out of courtesy. Just as he was about to ask, he saw Case Envoy Yang finding a roster and proactively mentioned: "After that day, the humble official contacted me. The craftsmen from Bianjing who were affiliated with our Ministry of Industry, as soon as they heard that Mr. Xiao was in need of manpower, expressed their willingness to help."
"Oh?" Zhao Yang smiled, and he just listened to Yang's politeness and believed it. After all, he thought he didn't have such fame and prestige yet.
However, when he opened the roster, he was a little surprised, because there were quite a few names recorded on the roster, and they were classified according to masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, etc. It can be said that they were listed very carefully.
Seeing Zhao Yang's surprised look, Yang Case hurriedly explained: "Because Yuan Wai Lang did not specifically mention the specific craftsmen needed that day, I made my own decision and picked 20 people each from the roster of our Ministry of Works. , visited and asked one by one..."
"You all agreed?" Zhao Yang said in surprise.
"Fortunately, I did not disgrace my life." Yang Jianchang bowed his hand humbly.
Zhao Yang looked at Mr. Yang for a few times in surprise, and praised him in his heart. He was worthy of being an old official of the government office for more than ten years. Who said that the efficiency of the government office of the Song Dynasty was low with such ability? The key lies in these government offices. Officials want to do it carefully or not. And the Yang case in front of him wholeheartedly hopes that the Ministry of Industry can be revitalized, so he will naturally do his best.
As for Bi Sheng and Shen Kuo, Yang Case has not been found yet, and Zhao Yang is not surprised. After all, it is not easy to find them in such a huge crowd.
After thinking for a while, Zhao Yang tactfully hinted: "Thank you for your hard work, Commander Yang. ... Our technical department is just starting out, and it is the time to hire people. If we can have an experienced official like Commander Yang to coordinate the planning..."
Yang was overjoyed when he heard this and hurriedly saluted and said, "Thank you, Shangguan, for your support."
In view of the fact that Zhao Zhen had previously obtained permission, Zhao Yang's "Technical Department" was under the name of the Ministry of Industry of Shangshu Province and belonged to the "Division" level. Zhao Yang took the title of "Divisional Envoy" on his own, and all his staff were appointed and dismissed by Zhao Yang. , so the biggest position he could promise Yang Enshi was "Deputy Envoy".
Of course, this is not an official title, but a mission, but there is no shortage of salary and allowances.
As for why he handed over the position of deputy envoy to Yang Case, whom he had just met for the first time, Zhao Yang also considered it: Since Bi Sheng, Shen Kuo and other historical celebrities have not yet been found, Yandu, the son of Yanlongtu Yansu, We are still managing rivers in Hebei, and may not be willing to call in help, so why not choose an old official who has been with the Ministry of Industry for a long time to build the framework first?
As for the future, let’s talk about it later.
After receiving the new assignment, Ambassador Yang, or Deputy Envoy Yang, became more and more excited and proactively asked, "Do you have time to meet those craftsmen today?"
"convenient?"
"It's convenient, it's convenient. The envoy will take a rest for a while. I'll call for help right now." Deputy envoy Yang Si nodded repeatedly and hurriedly summoned the craftsmen.
Naturally, he alone could not summon dozens of craftsmen in a short period of time. Fortunately, everyone within the Ministry of Industry and Commerce was willing to help, including the perpetrators of several other cases. After all, these people also knew that only that person Only the young man who dotes on the official family can change the current embarrassing situation of marginalization in the Ministry of Industry. Not to mention selling a favor, even if it is based on the consideration of both prosperity and loss, they are willing to provide help.
About half an hour later, Wei Tao and Bao Rong led Fan Chunren to the main office of the Ministry of Industry and met Zhao Yang.
Zhao Yang stood up to greet him and said with a smile: "I'm going to delay Chunren's studies again..."
Fan Chunren laughed and said, "If I just study harder before the exam, how can I face the exam in Beijing?"
It can be seen that he is very confident in his knowledge, and he is worthy of being the son of Fan Zhongyan.
"As expected of you, Brother Chunren." Zhao Yang smiled and invited Fan Chunren to take a seat.
"Thank you." Fan Chunren thanked him, and then he couldn't help but ask about his own notes. Zhao Yang did not hide anything, and told Fan Chunren exactly what he had experienced on the day of the court meeting on the 15th, and the latter was very excited.
After all, it was the first letter in his life, and it was also the letter to impeach a high-ranking official such as Qian Mingyi, the official of Kaifeng Prefecture. As a student, if he were not Zhao Yang, how could he represent the public opinion? A chance to impeach a high-ranking official?
While he was excited, he couldn't help but feel a little worried: "The official...do you know it was me who wrote the letter?"
"I know, and you asked me if it was written by Chunren."
"Ah? This..."
"An Xin, the official didn't say anything. He even praised Brother Chunren for his good writing and asked me and Brother Chunren to learn more." Zhao Yang was telling the truth.
Fan Chunren breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, an official's letter must be written by the official himself by default. It is a crime to let others write for him. The crime can be light or serious. It all depends on whether anyone reports it and whether the official will reduce the crime. Under normal circumstances, not only the official will lose his official position. , ghostwriters will also be punished, and students waiting to take the exam will lose their qualifications for the exam.
Fan Chunren was also well aware of the stakes. He agreed to ghostwrite that day, mainly because he was young and energetic, and he drank some wine, and then he was seduced by Zhao Yang.
Fortunately, both of them belong to the category of "Jian is in the emperor's heart". If the officials don't blame them, nothing will happen.
Immediately, the two chatted about the technology department that Zhao Yang was planning to create. Zhao Yang talked about the results of Deputy Envoy Yang's work in the past few days and said with a smile: "Because I didn't explain it clearly that day, I didn't expect that Deputy Envoy Yang would contact me. A large number of people, in addition to the necessary officials, there are also masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, etc., which saves me a lot of effort..."
Fan Renchun couldn't help but be surprised: "Do we need so many different types of craftsmen?"
Zhao Yang nodded, got up and walked to Deputy Ambassador Yang's desk to get a pen and paper. While recording, he explained to Fan Chunren: "Carpenter, I intend to let them improve the crossbow. As far as I know, although I, the Song Dynasty, have There are firearms, but I estimate they are not very powerful and cannot replace the powerful crossbow, not to mention the application of the two is completely different..."
Fan Chunren couldn't help but be surprised. Although he had already guessed that this young gentleman must have wanted to achieve something by establishing the Technology Department, he never expected that Zhao Yang would improve weapons as soon as he opened his mouth. This is a major event at the national level.
"What about the masons and blacksmiths?"
"Masons, I'm going to let them be responsible for burning bricks, um, and leave the cement to them as well. ... As for blacksmiths, they will be responsible for casting iron and steel. Only when this is up to standard can real cannons be cast. Any city wall in the future It cannot stop the bombardment of artillery... In addition, the improvement of gunpowder also requires a lot of manpower..."
Looking at Zhao Yang who was talking eloquently, Fan Chunren's face became more and more surprised.
As the son of Fan Zhongyan, Han Chuang has studied hard for more than ten years. He prides himself on being extremely intelligent, but now he feels that he can barely keep up with the thinking of the person in front of him.
