national surname chiming

Chapter 146 Feng Shui Treasure Land
After sorting out the current status of the arms inventory, Shen Shuren also had a direction in his mind.

Early the next morning, Shen Shuren left Daye County, rode his horse and led the guards to inspect Tieshan in the north of the city.

Liu Minsheng, the magistrate of Daye County, of course had to wait on him, and he was cautious all the way, so he had to help Shen Shuren get on and off his horse.

Because of the promotion of new crops and statistics on seed lending, Liu Minsheng did not perform well at the beginning, and he was really beaten up a lot, and he was very worried.However, Shen Shuren would not be punished without teaching, so he was given a chance to correct himself.

During the recent period, Liu Minsheng put a lot of effort into handling the daily civil affairs. This time when Shen Shuren came back to check the accounts, everything was in order, so let him continue to work hard.

Tieshan is about [-] miles away from the county seat, and it takes only an hour to jog on horseback.

When Shen Shuren arrived, Tieshan's officials and craftsmen in charge of mining, smelting, and forging were all there to greet him.

Shen Shuren also caught sight of an acquaintance—the Song Mingde who pointed out his mistakes in person when he was engaged in seed loans last time.

At that time, Shen Shuren was just trying to see who was seeking truth from facts.

Song Mingde's theory that "corn is not suitable for interplanting with early rice and other spring crops, wastes the growth period. It is more suitable for interplanting with winter crops such as winter wheat in the north", which refreshed Shen Shuren and immediately remembered him.

After more than a month of persuading farmers to do polder repairs and water use, I found that this man is indeed a talented person, very scientific and technological thinking, and also seeking truth from facts.

Shen Shuren also made an exception to help him operate an eighth-rank official on his body to assist in the mining of Tieshan.

Song Mingde only had the fame of a scholar, and he couldn't even pass the Juren examination. It was already very unreasonable to give the eighth-rank official a favor. He was naturally grateful to Shen Daotai, and worked harder.

They were all acquaintances, and Shen Shuren was not polite anymore. He directly put on the posture of a superior, and while walking around Tieshan casually, he listened to the general summary of the report.

He was completely ignorant of the level of the metallurgical industry at the end of the Ming Dynasty, so he had to ask everything, not only about Daye Iron Mountain, but also about the current status of the industry and the status of other peers across the country.

Fortunately, Song Mingde is also a scholar in charge of iron mines, his horizons are much wider than those of craftsmen, and he can basically give a rough idea.

Just listen to him talk about the overall situation first: "This Daye Iron Mountain mainly produces hematite ore. It has been mined for 400 years since the Three Kingdoms and Soochow. Generally, the sooner iron ore is discovered and mined The easier it is to smelt. The Daye Iron Mountain was widely used during the Three Kingdoms period to provide military equipment for Soochow, which shows that the quality of the ore is excellent..."

Shen Shuren was listening, and when he heard something he didn't understand, he was not polite, and interrupted directly: "Oh? Iron smelting industry, has there been such a saying since ancient times? The sooner the iron ore is discovered, the better? What is this? reason?"

Song Mingde replied with a confident smile: "It's the lower official who just said that it is not accurate enough, but the sooner it can be mined, the easier it is to smelt and have fewer impurities. The iron that was discovered early but could not be smelted is the only one that can be mined." It is bad ore.

This method of steelmaking was used in the pre-Qin and Western Han Dynasties. From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties, it gradually changed to the method of frying steel, and the Sui and Tang Dynasties changed to the method of pouring steel.

It can be seen that in the pre-Qin period, those mines that could produce steel on the basis of the hundred refining method were the easiest to remove impurities.Until the end of the Han Dynasty, the development of the south was insufficient, and there were few iron mines in the land of Jingchu.

The Soochow, the Eastern Jin and the Six Dynasties lost the Central Plains, and could only maintain the court's armaments with a corner of the land, so they were forced to leave the Daye Iron Mountain.Inversely deduced from this, it can be deduced that the iron ore quality of Daye should be unfavorable for the refining method of the hundred refining method, but it can be used for the method of frying steel.

Now, the steel filling method has been used for 800 years. Most of the iron ores that were discovered before the Sui and Tang Dynasties but could be mined after the Sui and Tang Dynasties all had to be filled with steel before the appearance of the iron ore. It's not good enough to practice. "

Song Mingde's remarks are actually a bit far-fetched and forcibly summarized, which belong to his personal experience.

But the general idea still has a certain reference value, and it also made Shen Shuren fully realize what a valuable resource card he holds in his hand——

In a word, the quality of the iron ore here is good, and the technology 400 years ago can produce steel. Of course, the current technology is more stable.

From these words, it can be heard that Song Mingde really likes to read miscellaneous books, and he can actually extract and understand the parts about the history of science and technology in ancient history books and miscellaneous books, and even make an inventory and summary by himself. He is really a rare talent .

Shen Shuren was a little surprised when he heard this, and couldn't help asking: "Although what you said just now is not completely correct, it is quite insightful, and you must have put a lot of effort into it. How do you know so many miscellaneous things?" , It reminds me of many expositions in the famous work "Heavenly Creation" in recent years..."

When Song Mingde heard Shen Shuren mention "Heavenly Creations", his expression was solemn at first, then a little happy, but finally embarrassed, he had to hold back forcibly, and said incoherently and casually modestly:

"How can "Tiangong Kaiwu" be called a masterpiece? I am really ashamed...Shen Daotai, your "Rizhi Shijian" and "Liu Thief Lun" are the world's famous works. Who would dare not read them by the civil servants of the Manchu Dynasty? They were hand-picked by His Majesty to read."

Shen Shuren's face was serious: "Whether "Tiangong Kaiwu" should be a masterpiece, how can you speak? Huh? Could it be..."

As Shen Shuren spoke, he suddenly remembered some clues: This Song Mingde is also surnamed Song, and his ancestors are also from Jiangxi. He moved from Nanchang Mansion to Huguang to help run the iron mine...

Shen Shuren reacted quickly, and immediately followed up: "Could it be that you know Song Yingxing? Oh, I mean Song Changgeng, or are you related to him?"

Subconsciously, Shen Shuren blurted out the word Song Yingxing, and then realized that it was impolite to call his senior by his first name, so he changed his name to Song Changgeng after thinking about it.

No way, Song Yingxing's name is much more well-known, and it can be found in books related to the history of science in later generations. People will definitely report this name first without going through the brain subconsciously.

Song Mingde heard that Shen Shu's voice respected Song Yingxing, and he was also a little grateful, so he quickly changed his serious expression, and cupped his hands:

"Don't dare to do it. Duke Changgeng is an official family uncle. We are all from Fengxin County, Nanchang Prefecture. I never thought that Master Daotai would respect the family uncle so much. If the family uncle knows, he will be very pleased."

The Nanchang Mansion in the Ming Dynasty was much larger than the Nanchang City in later generations.

It is roughly equivalent to Nanchang in later generations plus Jiujiang and several counties in the northwest of Yichun.Fengxin County is located in the mountainous area added in the northwest corner, which belongs to the later Yichun City.

That place was relatively close to the junction of Hubei and Jiangxi, and it was also a mountainous area. Many people went to Wuchang Prefecture to make a living, and there was a lot of population turnover in the late Ming Dynasty.

The Song family in Fengxin County was well educated in science and engineering, so it was normal for them to go to Daye to help the imperial court open an iron mine.

When Shen Shuren heard that he had an uncle named Song Yingxing, he was also secretly surprised.

Fortunately, Shen Shuren has a city mansion, and he is used to seeing strong winds and waves. After traveling for two and a half years, he has never seen any important person, so he is not too happy to talk about it.

He just asked with a little appreciation: "Song Gong is a practical talent of the predecessors. Now that the country is in trouble, it is necessary to help the world with practical learning. I don't know where he is now as an official?"

Song Mingde saw that there was something going on, and he was also willing to speak well for his uncle, so he quickly clarified:

"The uncle of the family is nearly sixty years old. He originally served in several counties in southern Jiangxi, and he only served as a teacher. Later, he went to Tingzhou, Fujian as a pusher. At the end of last year, he used his advanced age as an excuse. Impatient with the heat and heat in Fujian, and unaccustomed to the climate, he has resigned and returned home."

Song Yingxing's accurate age this year should be 57 years old, and it is not wrong to say that he is nearly [-] years old.

He can only raise people for fame, so being a teacher in the county and promoting officials is the limit, and he can't rise too high.After he resigned this time, it was not until the 16th year of Chongzhen that the imperial court took the initiative to invite him to be an official, but he actually failed to take office——

Two years later in history, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong had smashed all the Jiangbei prefectures in Nanzhili, and most of the local officials were killed or turned into thieves.

For the sake of face, the imperial court appointed Song Yingxing to be the "prefect of Bozhou" when he was seriously ill, and went to the doctor randomly, but in fact Bozhou was already in the enemy-occupied area, and it was impossible to take office.

From this point, it can also be seen why in the 16th and 17th years of Chongzhen, the official position of Daming depreciated very quickly.A person who could only be an eighth-rank low-level official could become a fifth-rank prefect directly after three years of returning home.

Basically, as long as they are willing to continue to be loyal to Daming, as long as they are not officials in the capital, they can be promoted to some extent during the last year of Chongzhen.

However, it is only 14 years since Chongzhen, and the official position has obviously not yet begun to depreciate greatly.Shen Shuren heard that Song Yingxing was originally an eighth-rank petty official who didn't bother to be an official, so he could naturally use chips to attract these great sages.

Shen Shuren didn't show politeness to Song Mingde, and directly offered him a price to help make connections: "Uncle Ling is only promoting an official, which is really a shame. You are only a scholar, and this official can use you as an eighth-rank and assistant Tieshan.

If Uncle Ling can write "Tiangong Kaiwu", isn't it more than enough to find a local military and kiln metallurgical department in charge of Yu Hengqing, the Ministry of Industry?He is a person who has been an official, and it is easy for the official to support him. First, he will start from the seventh rank, and it will be easy to advance after he has achieved results. "

In the Ming Dynasty, the Ministry of Industry had four major clean-up departments. The chief officer of the Yuheng Department was a fifth-rank "doctor", and there were several departments below.

Because the officials in charge of military industry and metallurgy in the central government are only of the sixth rank, and when they go to the local government, they can only manage the military industry and metallurgy of a province, at most they are only the seventh rank.

Therefore, it's not that Shen Shuren is stingy, but that he can only give Song Yingxing a transition from the seventh-rank position at present, so as to convince the public.If it is the seventh grade, it has to be recommended by Fang Kongxuan's nod, and the procedures are a bit more troublesome. It is better to entrust the relationship after making the grades.

Song Yingxing was originally a teacher in southern Jiangxi, and they were all eighth-rank officials. When he was an official in Tingzhou, Fujian, he had barely been to the seventh-rank. This time, when Shen Shuren approached him, he could only be regarded as equal to his level before he resigned. .

But being an official in Wuchang is quite different from being an official in the mountainous areas of southern Jiangxi and northern Fujian. After all, Wuchang is close to home, and the living conditions are good, so I don’t have to worry about tropical diseases.

The most important thing is that this kind of work can develop personal interests and hobbies.

Song Mingde heard the conditions offered by Mr. Daotai, and immediately realized that it was very sincere and should be very attractive to his uncle, so he immediately expressed his willingness to help matchmaking.

Shen Shuren also added openly: As long as Song Yingxing is willing to come, he can choose what kind of work he will be responsible for in the future, and he will not be allowed to actually open the iron mine.If you want to engage in machinery, agricultural tools, guns, gunpowder... you can do anything, as long as you are interested, he can provide the working environment and experimental funds.

(End of this chapter)