After drinking, a few people came to the car and boat to feel this new thing.

Tao XVII was extremely excited, walking around the boat, not letting go of every detail. He tossed the steam engine for several years, and finally made a big car, which turned out to be just a plaything. Today, I am very encouraged to finally see the practical steam engine.

Listening to the dull roar of the machine, Du Zhongxiao said to Han Jiang: "This sound is too loud, it is really annoying. In the future, it will be done with greater strength, and the ship will be built bigger, and it will be better to be far away from the machine. ”

Han Jiang nodded again and again: "To be known, there are still a lot of places to change this ship." However, the greatest use is to transport goods, not people. The boat is not fast, and a man is not as fast as a horse. ”

Looking at the big boats coming and going from time to time on the Bianhe River next to him, Du Zhongxiao's heart suddenly moved: "Zirong said that when it comes to transporting goods, this boat is too small. However, the usefulness of this ship is not all about the size of the ship, but about using machines to provide assistance to the ship. Have you ever tried to tow other ships with this boat? ”

Han Jiang was stunned: "Tug the boat with a boat?" I haven't tried it. ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "If you are free, Zirong can try the method of using a boat to tug the boat." Make the machine bigger, and the rest of the boats are arranged together according to the outline, and the front is towed by cars and boats. Dozens of boats are interspersed, going up along the Bianhe River, saving both slender men and boatmen. ”

When looking at the boats passing by, Du Zhongxiao remembered the shocking scenes he had occasionally seen in the canal in his previous life. There is a power ship in front, and several or even dozens of boats are pulled behind, slowly moving forward, like a long train. Now the power of the steam engine is still small, and it is somewhat insufficient to pull a train, but it is enough to pull a boat on the canal. It is still too expensive to make a separate vehicle and ship to transport goods. If used as a tugboat, it is much more useful.

This is the strong point of the canal, and the boats inside are different from the sea boats. The water flow is smooth, the draft is very deep, the water condition is single, and it only takes a lot of power to move forward. And once it moves, it doesn't consume much power.

Han Jiang was very interested in Du Zhongxiao's proposal, and sat on the side and thought about it carefully. Once this method is feasible, a large number of boats in the Bianhe River can be used, and the use of steam as power can greatly reduce the number of slender men on both banks. And there are many ships together, and even the boatmen are much less.

In fact, there is another advantage of a large number of ship formations, the back ships are behind the front boats, and the water surface is separated, which greatly reduces the resistance. It's a way to make the most of power, even after a thousand years, the canal ships are doing the same thing, the equivalent of a train on the water.

The more Han Jiang thought about it, the more he felt that this method was feasible, and he couldn't help but get excited. There is not only one Bianhe River in the Great Song Dynasty, but almost all the water systems north of the Huai River are connected by canals. If this method is feasible, the transportation of goods in the north will be taken to a higher level.

Several people went on a day of sightseeing in the Bianhe River, and they did not disperse until it was nearly evening.

Du Zhongxiao returned to his residence, thought about what he had seen and heard today, and was more sure in his heart that he thought that it was correct for the steam engine to be used on the ship first. Not to mention that it is not easy to make trains, it is even more difficult to build railways after the trains are built. At this time, the iron production was not enough to support the construction of the railway, and with the mountainous terrain in the north, there was no engineering reserve for opening mountains and building roads. Boats are different, not only do they require less power than trains, but they also have a large number of ready-made canals, which are equivalent to trains running on water if they are grouped together.

However, these are the problems that Han Jiang faces next, and it is really done, and it is also his merit. Du Zhongxiao's mind is still to be put on Hedong Road as an official, how to make political achievements. The state can not be compared with Yongcheng County, not only the natural conditions are inferior, but there are many different places. For example, there are a large number of garrisons, the consumption is huge, it is located in the border area, and there are many troubles.

Five days later, Du Zhongxiao came to the imperial city early and waited in front of the vertical arch.

waited for more than an hour before I saw Yang Riyan of Kaifeng Mansion and Su Anshi, the judge of the household department, come out, one with joy on his face, and the other with indignation. The two glanced at Du Zhongxiao and walked quickly to the front.

In the past few days, Du Zhongxiao has also heard that Ouyang Xiu has an accident, and it is these people who are trying it. The reason for the incident was that Ouyang Xiu had a younger sister who married Zhang Guizheng and died not long after, leaving a daughter born to his ex-wife, who was raised by Ouyang Xiu's sister. After being raised, Ouyang Xiu was the master and married one of his nephews, Ouyang Sheng. I didn't want this woman to be inappropriate and fornicate with the slave, so she was found out and sent to prison in Kaifeng Mansion.

At the time of Qingli's new policy, Ouyang Xiu served as an advisor, and he was full of spirit, and the music was almost constant, and he didn't know how many people he had offended. Taking advantage of the opportunity of someone in his family to commit a crime, many people took the opportunity to retaliate, and the official Qian Mingyi impeached Ouyang Xiu for having an affair with the Zhang family based on rumors. The imperial court specially sent Su Anshi and Wang Zhaoming to try the case together. The end result is that there is no substantiated evidence, and the rumors are fabricated. Because Ouyang Xiu had impeached Yang Riyan before, he resolutely did not recognize the result of Ouyang Xiu's innocence, and he often entered the palace to argue with Su Anshi in the past few days.

Looking at the expressions of the two, Du Zhongxiao knew that Ouyang Xiu was only afraid that he would be demoted. A few days ago, the privy deputy envoy Han Qi went out to know Yangzhou, and all the leaders of the Qingli New Deal were demoted from the two governments, and when it came time for others to settle accounts after the autumn, how could Ouyang Xiu not be implicated?

The two of them went away, and the guide guard crossed his hand to Du Zhongxiao: "Comment, this will follow me into the palace." ”

As the guards entered the vertical arch and walked along the verandah, Du Zhongxiao didn't know where he passed, and it took a long time to reach the outside of the Chongzheng Palace.

The proclaimer saluted loudly, and a small yellow door came over and led Du Zhongxiao into the hall.

In the past few days, Han Jiang, who knew the Taichang Rite Academy, had already sent his right-hand men to teach Du Zhongxiao the etiquette of going to the palace. Du Zhongxiao remembered that everything was as good as a ritual and entered the hall. With the voice of the proclaimant, he stepped forward to salute.

After saluting, Du Zhongxiao stood at the foot of the steps, did not dare to raise his head, and waited quietly to ask.

I vaguely heard a small yellow door from above whispering himself. When was he promoted to the rank of sergeant, what kind of official he was, what his political achievements were, why he was summoned, and where was the next one. Be concise and make your resume clear.

Hearing this, Du Zhongxiao couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He also thought that he was valued by the emperor, and he must have already been familiar with his political achievements and how he was governed in the local area, so he was summoned. When summoned, you may have to ask some about how to govern the country. Now, it seems, is not the case at all. It's probably because his political achievements are too prominent, so he reported it below, and the emperor just saw it ceremoniously.

It wasn't until the little yellow gate introduced himself that Du Zhongxiao heard a gentle and dignified voice: "You have been an official in Yongcheng for three years, promoted the camp and field affairs, opened more than 1,000 hectares of land, and collected more than 10,000 stones of grain. In recent years, Yingtian has not had such achievements, which is very rare. ”

Du Zhongxiao bowed and saluted, not daring to say anything.

The above said: "Yongcheng Zhixian has been in office for two years, and his performance is the first. The tax is paid in full, and the balance of the month is paid, which has never been seen before. Let me ask you, if the county still has money and food to spare, why is there no surplus? ”

Du Zhongxiao said respectfully: "There are accounts to follow for taxes, and according to regular taxes and miscellaneous money, it is not enough to hand over to the state and county." There is a commune in Xinglai County, which was built by public officials and servants to pool money. When there was a shortage of money and food, they were all taken from the commune. The money of the commune, which was used for the distribution of public officials and the repair of bridges and roads, was useful and not superfluous. It is full of money and food, but there is no envy. ”

The above was silent for a while before he said: "The commune you built is neither an official property nor a private property. If the name is not right, the word will not be good, and if the word is not good, it will not work, and it will not be the right way. The ministers of the DPRK and China have discussed many times and do not know how to deal with it, what is your opinion? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The minister thinks that the good thing about the commune is that it is neither government-run nor private, and vague has its own vague benefits." If it is governmental, it will inevitably be taken by the state and county. If the county has no money to spare, the officials will not be willing, and even the collusion inside and outside the county will inevitably not be able to do it. If it is owned by the people, the official will take it to embezzle the people's wealth, and it cannot be used in the county. The so-called commune is naturally owned by the people of the county, in order to prepare for the shortage of officials and civil disasters. As usual, the position is closed by taking official goods to prepare for civil famines, and the commune is to use the people's power to prepare the county government for use, and to make up for the lack of taxes, there is almost no difference. ”

The above was silent for a while before he said: "Although what you said makes sense, it is not the right way in the end. The corrupt can get their hands on it, while the incompetent are bound to lose money, but it will not last long. It is rare that you can come up with this method, which is convenient for officials and convenient for the people, but it still needs to be complete. ”

Du Zhongxiao said yes.

The above asked: "This is to go and merge the state, and sign the judgment for one state, and it is not comparable to the land of one county." There are many soldiers and people under the rule, and they are in the border areas, and the responsibility of raising soldiers and reassuring the people is extremely heavy, so what should we do? The border land is not as good as the Central Plains, and the old law is not feasible. ”

Du Zhongxiao sorted out his thoughts for a while, and said in a deep voice: "The affairs of the world, whether military and civilian, are all about money and food. The minister didn't know what the border was like, but he only knew that as long as the money and food were sufficient, there was no shortage of military use, and he could not disturb the people, he would be able to rule greatly. ”

"Money? What is lacking in those places is money and food? The party has rebelled, the war has lasted for eight years, the treasury has been empty, and the place is ruined. What can you do to ensure that there is no shortage of money and food? ”

"To collect money and grain, the first thing is to control production. Chenwen Hedong Road is vast and sparsely populated, and there are many open fields, so he should follow the method of Bozhou camp and recruit people to cultivate crops to make up for the shortage of military rations. There are many carboniferous iron ores in the east of the second river, and there are a lot of smelting and casting, as long as you are good at using them, you can collect money extensively. This one worker and one farmer is the method of over-harvesting. There are many soldiers and civilians under his rule, and he does not produce, relying on the transfer of merchants. The imperial court entered the Chinese law on Hedong Road, and many of them were overestimated, and the ministers heard about it, and those who overestimated it nearly ten times disrupted the price and corrupted the money law. When the imperial court set up a market, the merchant does not try to take advantage of it, but only wants to remove its disadvantages. ”

In the words of Du Zhongxiao's previous life, if the economy is corrupt, then we should grasp production with one hand and trade with the other, develop production, and boost the economy in addition to low circulation costs. As for what measures to take, we can only wait until we arrive.

After saying this, there was no response for a long time, thinking that it was considering the feasibility of what Du Zhongxiao said. After waiting for nearly a cup of tea, he waited for a sentence of "reluctance", and it was sent out.