The last time he came to Chengdu was many years ago, Feng Shuangli still had an impression of the gate tower of the provincial capital, but now the appearance of Chengdu is completely different from what he imagined, and there are still large buildings outside the city wall. At dusk, there were still a lot of people moving around the buildings, and they didn't look like farmers. There were no heavily armed soldiers in front of the city gate, and the guard was not as strict as the periphery of Chengdu, and a large number of pedestrians walked through the gatehouse, Feng Shuangli looked at the sunset that was about to set, and found that Chengdu did not seem to have closed the city gate. Many Jianchang people curiously asked Di Sanxi why this was, but the latter said that the last time he came to Chengdu for reinforcements, Chengdu was also going to close the city gate at night.

He invited Feng Shuangli and his entourage to his home as guests, and told the latter that the residence belonged to him privately, and that even if he was no longer the chief criminal officer of Sichuan, the imperial government would not have the right to take back He Daoning's residence.

The food that entertained Feng Shuangli and others was very rich, and King Qingyang still remembered that when Yang Youcai went to Jianchang many years ago, he was overjoyed to see the privately brewed wine, and Feng Shuangli was sure that Jianchang's living conditions were much better than those in Chengdu; But now looking at the vegetables on the table, Feng Shuangli knows that Chengdu's abundant products are far above Jianchang, and the provincial capital has returned to its old view.

"Now the land around Chunxi Road is too expensive, and it has completely become a business place, except for the Imperial Bank, all other yamen have moved from there." After hearing Feng Shuangli's question, the host replied enthusiastically: "And most of the workshops have moved outside the city wall, where the land price and rent are relatively cheap, and no one wants to spend money in vain, right?" ”

"Don't you close the gates at night?" At first, Feng Shuangli thought that He Daoning was a loser and wanted to give up the warlord inheritance left to him by his father, but now through a simple observation of He Daoning's living situation, Feng Shuangli has no reason for the other party. Even He Daoning's warlord father, Qi Hou He Zhen, is not qualified to say that he is an equal in front of King Qingyang, even if he speaks loudly, his original strength comparison is probably greater than the disparity between the county king and the marquis.

But now, as the chief criminal officer of the empire, although he is young, he has a faint dignity that Feng Shuangli needs to look up to. In addition to his identity, the other party is also full of self-confidence, and his gestures seem to reveal the power of the huge force behind him. Obviously, if He Daoning was just a small warlord in northern Hubei, there was no need for Feng Shuangli to make a special trip to visit him, and there was no need to attach so much importance to the other party's opinion.

"There are no thieves around, and there are also pavilion soldiers patrolling around the capital, and besides, the pavilions in the city are several times larger than those outside the city, even if there are thieves, they dare not come in." He Daoning replied lightly, obviously their Chengdu people have become very accustomed to the mode of the city gate being open all night, and it seems that they no longer regard the inside and outside of the city wall as a completely different area - the concept of urban area in their minds is no longer limited to the city wall of Chengdu, although the vast majority of Chengdu people are still within the city wall, but many people have to work outside the city wall, sometimes for a few days, until the day of rest before returning to the city to celebrate, now the rest day is very important to Sichuan Tongxiu, they military training in the morning, Spend the afternoon with friends. Three years ago, a commercial bank adopted a new five-day wage payment model, and some commercial houses have followed suit in recent years, which has made Chengdu's taverns thrive on their days off.

Gao Mingzhan's attack on Chengdu had no chance to get close to the city walls, and since then the Qing army has never had a chance to pose a threat to Chengdu, and the imperial government has become increasingly confident in protecting its capital. At present, the security around Chengdu is basically completed by the pavilions, and the garrison of the standing army is getting farther and farther away from the city center. There was still a standing cavalry company stationed in the city, and Liu Jinge felt that having this horse corps ready to use at any time would be enough to deal with a sudden large group of thieves - in fact, such large bands of thieves had disappeared for many years, and the brawl in front of the tavern had long since become the most serious security problem in Chengdu.

It was already dark after dinner, and He Daoning did not immediately light candles or oil lamps, he had already ordered his servants to solemnly carry out a wooden cabinet and carefully receive it on the line that was introduced into He's mansion.

Looking at the brilliance in the glass on the top of the cabinet, which was not much brighter than a candle and far from being comparable to an oil lamp, the well-informed King Qingyang was speechless in surprise, and Di Sanxi and other Jianchang people secretly suspected that this was a kind of witchcraft.

"It's called an electric light." After He Daoning showed it for dozens of seconds, he hurriedly turned it off and lit the traditional oil lamp. This kind of thing, which is almost comparable to immortal arts, can only be used by people in a few nearby residences, and their owners are either the president and vice president of the Senate, or the prefect and governor.

In order to show off the mentality of these people, a small power station was built next to this high-end house, and the windmill was used to carry water into the reservoir every day, and then the output was controlled by controlling the flow rate, and if any of the owners had important guests coming, they could ask the responsible personnel to give their lines electricity for a short time in advance - although it has been improved several times this year, but if it takes a little longer, their lights will still burn out.

"Electricity can be used not only to shine light, but also to see wood, boil pig iron, and drill gun barrels." Under the oil lamp, He Daoning proudly popularized the recent magic progress in Chengdu to Feng Shuangli, and he spent money to open the service today just for the current performance time. This year, the academy has just compiled a textbook on electric spells, and needless to say, the young officials in Chengdu have listened to several classes curiously in their spare time.

He Daoning also told Feng Shuangli that some people in Chengdu have proposed a plan for the construction of night lighting, one is to lay natural gas pipelines, burn the gas from the fire well to shine, and reduce the use of firewood. At first, most officials thought the idea was a great idea, an unprecedented initiative, and the owners of the taverns were also waiting to see if the cost could be reduced then they wanted to introduce pipes in their own restaurants.

But this year, after the appearance of electric lights that can shine for at least a few minutes, almost all the fashionable Chengdu officials have become electric lights, and they hope that soon mature lights will appear to make their neighborhoods stand out, He Daoning explained to Feng Shuangli, a bun of earth, that "the fire in the fire well is poisonous, and if the doors and windows are closed, it is likely to suffocate people, and it may explode." And the fire can be used to generate electricity like water, but this lamp is too expensive, and the set just now will top me for half a month, as long as the electric light can be lit for a month in the future, I will be satisfied - I can't use all the money to buy lights, right? So what do you use to buy electricity? ”

After blowing the electric method, He Daoning led Feng Shuangli to the courtyard, where another valuable toy of the highest criminal officer of the empire was placed.

"It's a telescope, and it's taken me months."

Recently, the British returned to China and brought back some of the scientific works that Deng Ming had specified, some of which were the works of professors and students at Cambridge University, which would be studied at Chengdu College and further translated into Chinese. The work of one of them, a twenty-year-old Bachelor of Arts student studying philosophy, who was studying optics and published some papers, attracted the special attention of Deng Ming. The Admiral of Sichuan instructed that the student's papers should be translated and included in the textbooks of the Chengdu Academy, and that British merchants continue to buy the student's works - in Deng Ming's previous life, when Newton received his Bachelor of Arts degree a year later, he systematically published the results of his research on the wavelength and refraction of sunlight, so now Deng Ming's information is not complete, but the Chengdu Academy has already begun to repeat the experiment.

"This magic weapon proves the conclusion of some light spells." He Daoning invited Feng Shuangli to use it to observe today's bright moon.

All kinds of magic research were very popular among the young officials in Chengdu, and even when Feng Shuangli saw the huge moon through this telescope, there was an unusual excitement.

It's just that the name of the firm that produces this equipment is too unconventional, "Caish." After Feng Shuangli looked at the moon for a long time, he returned the telescope to his master, and silently recited the name of the firm that He Daoning told him in his heart.

……

Regarding the exchange of Jianchang's land for He Zhen's territory, He Daoning and Feng Shuangli did not have major differences. Now He Zhen's territory is still basically controlled by his old ministry, and after Di Sanxi takes over, He Daoning will take his father's old ministry to Chengdu - this will also help He Daoning continue to expand his territory in the empire's political map, and he urgently needs a group of helpers to help him support the empire's judicial sky.

But on the issue of the future development of Jianchang, He Daoning and Feng Shuangli have different views, and the first big disagreement is how to deal with their auxiliaries.

It is impossible for Di Sanxi and other generals to bring all the auxiliaries from Jianchang to Xiangyang, so He Daoning will use his father's auxiliaries in exchange for the personal ownership of Di Sanxi and the others' strong men.

"I'm going to give them freedom and then get compensation from the council. The serfs of the military households in the new territory are not our problem, they are a legacy problem, and the court will pay compensation to the master, and those who have been freed will need to pay a special tax to the house in the future to pay the ransom money advanced by the house council, and this rule was originally made by my own hands. When asked by Feng Shuangli how to deal with the large number of military serfs, He Daoning replied without thinking: "I don't want a lot, five thousand or three thousand per person, and the compensation price can be obtained through negotiation." ”

Over the years, He Daoning has been in charge of the imperial judiciary, and when Deng Ming is out, He Daoning will concretize Deng Ming's plan, and he understands Deng Ming's judicial outlook better than the former criminal officer Yuan Xiang: "The empire will not recognize that Tongxiu can be raised as a domestic slave by someone, and now I am pushing for a law that stipulates that husbands cannot sell their wives, and parents cannot sell their children." King Qingyang might as well think about it, in the future, an imperial person can't even sell his biological parents, will he allow others to sell him? ”