Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 845
The young man who talked to Zhang Bo was a very capable talent Zhang Bo discovered in Hetao Seven Counties. His name was Meng Feiyang. In the past half a year, he had acted as Zhang Bo's assistant and showed great ability.This time Zhang Bo brought him to Xia Jing because he was going to recommend it to His Majesty.

Meng Feiyang also reined in the horse's head, and said: "Your Excellency is right, but in the past six months, not only Xia Jingcheng has undergone great changes, but the entire Xiangfu Kingdom has been changing with each passing day under the leadership of His Majesty and the imperial court."

The two of them didn't know that the reason why the bustling scene outside the south city has become comparable to the inner city of Xiajing City in just half a year is entirely because there are Xiangfu College and several large civilian workshops outside the south city. reason.

Not to mention that there are more than 2000 students in Xiangfu College, and most of the students have book boys. Calculated on the average of one book boy per student, there are nearly 4000 students, plus hundreds of teachers, Teachers, family members, and many students who came to Xiajing to travel or come to Xiangfu Academy to study, for the sake of convenience and savings, they also try to live near Xiangfu Academy. The population of Xiangfu Academy is just this one. There are already seven or eight thousand.And several large civilian workshops have tens of thousands of workers alone, and the family members of these tens of thousands of people, and the food, clothing, housing, transportation and other industries derived from these people at home have tens of thousands of people.

Although Lushui Village, where Xiangfu College is located, still stubbornly maintains its own agriculturalization, it is inevitable to build a large number of service shops outside a rural area in the central area.And as the housing prices in Xiangfu College gradually became almost as close to Xia Jing City, these hotels consciously expanded outwards, and even extended to the vicinity of the south gate of Xia Jing City.Now the imperial court is already discussing whether the city wall of Xia Jing should be expanded outwards, and this bustling area should be included in the protection of the urban area. If it hadn't been for the war with the Liao Kingdom, which had almost dried up the finances, the new city wall would have started building a long time ago.

Starting from the south gate, there are two concrete roads that lead directly to Xiangfu College and the civil workshop area. The difference between most houses is that most of them are red brick and cement structures.

And Xiangfu College is about to usher in the second admissions exam in March after the Chinese New Year, and it is estimated that the number of people may double.

Although Zhang Bo has been away from Xia Jing for more than half a year, he still knows about some major events in Xia Jing and even the whole country. After a little thought, he understood the reason why the South Gate has changed so much, and smiled at Meng Feiyang: "Your Majesty, indeed You are a wise king through the ages, the prosperity of the South Gate is just a microcosm of my Xiangfu Kingdom, I can imagine that in a few years, my Xiangfu Kingdom will be rich and powerful in the world."

Meng Feiyang said: "I'm afraid that this prosperity will disappear like a cloud of rain and smoke after a few years."

When Meng Feiyang said this, there was a hint of inexplicable strangeness in his expression, but Zhang Bo didn't notice it when he was enjoying the street view. He thought that Meng Feiyang remembered the war that had just ended, and sighed and said, "Yes! The Kingdom of Song and the Kingdom of Song have already formed a deadly enmity with our Xiangfu Kingdom, and they were temporarily defeated by His Majesty's wisdom and martial arts, but as long as Zhao Dezhao continues to be the emperor and Xiao Chuo is still in charge of the Liao Kingdom as the Empress Dowager of the Liao Kingdom, they will definitely not let it go."

Meng Feiyang realized that he had spoken too much just now, and he blamed himself in his heart: "This land of Xiajing is no better than the seven counties of Hetao. There are extraordinary people everywhere, so it's better to be cautious in what you say and do."

Thinking of this, Meng Feiyang said: "Your Majesty's body is very tired due to the heavy traffic and horses along the way. It's still early in the morning, so we might as well take a rest at the restaurant in front."

Zhang Bo nodded and said, "Alright, let's take a look at how prosperous this south gate is."

While the two were walking towards a restaurant not far away, Meng Feiyang hesitated for a moment and reminded: "My lord, when you return to Beijing this time, there must be colleagues waiting to welcome you in front of the city gate."

Zhang Bo waved his hand and said with a smile, "They don't know about my itinerary. Your Majesty doesn't like these empty words, so we don't need to engage in some red tape. After entering the city and settling down, we can hand out the badge tomorrow."

While the two were talking, they arrived in front of a restaurant called "Green Lake House". Immediately, several waiters came out to greet them attentively. There were nearly 50 people in this team. These waiters who were used to the world Don't you know it's a big customer?Immediately, Zhang Bo, Meng Feiyang and others were invited to the private seats upstairs, while the servants had their meals downstairs.

Zhang Bo went upstairs with a whip, and sat by the window with Meng Feiyang, talking about the essentials of the governance of the seven counties in Hetao, the scenery of each place, and watching the people coming and going on the official road, which also had a special taste.The two of them were drinking and chatting, but they heard someone outside reading something in rhythmic rhythm.The two listened to each other, but they were not storytellers, but someone was reading something. Zhang Bo became curious, so he ordered his family to remove the screen, and saw a sour scholar in his 50s, holding a sheet full of printed words in his hand. sitting at a small table, shaking his head and reading: "Your Majesty said: Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of a country."

Hearing that His Majesty the Emperor was mentioned, Meng Feiyang lifted his spirits and turned his head to look. Unexpectedly, although His Majesty the Emperor was mentioned, the group of guests still ate and laughed softly, turning a blind eye or listening to him Listening to each other, thinking carefully, and others whispering and commenting softly, obviously this kind of thing has long been used to in Xia Jing.He thought of Zhang Bo saying that His Majesty didn't like these vain etiquettes, and he felt relieved.

At this time, some reckless people asked loudly: "Dr. Bao, what do you mean by that sentence just now? Explain it to us..." The reader responded and began to explain in detail.

Zhang Bo and Meng Feiyang looked at each other, wondering what kind of new business this was.Zhang Bo thought that he had only left the capital for more than half a year, and when he came back today, he didn't know all kinds of things. Zhang Bo's feeling in his heart was really indescribable.Meng Feiyang called Dr. Jiu and asked, "What is Dr. Bao?"

The smiles on Dr. Jiu's face huddled together, and he replied softly, "The one who reads the newspaper is the doctor."

"Aren't you talking nonsense?" Meng Feiyang scolded.

Dr. Jiu originally wanted some benefits, but he also saw that the two officials had extraordinary auras. I'm afraid they were not young, so he didn't dare to take it lightly. Yes, Dr. Bao is a person who reads newspapers for customers. Every restaurant has them, and they are usually paid for by the restaurants. The guests like this. If any restaurant does not have this, the business will not be good. They are in the restaurant, In the teahouse, he reads the newspaper of the day to the guests. If the guest doesn’t understand, he will explain it in detail, and when the guest leaves, he will give him some money. These people’s income is higher than that of storytellers.” Speaking of this, Dr. Liquor was already full of envy. Obviously, these newspaper readers had higher incomes than him.

"Newspaper?" Zhang Bo understood it, and said with a smile, "It's "Xiangfu News" and "Xiajing Express" published by the two prime ministers on the left and right? If you do this, no one will buy newspapers, right?"

Dr. Jiu said with a smile: "Where would it be? Scholars, officials and lords, who only have money, buy it by themselves. In addition, they are sent to other states through the post station. It is said that they can sell nearly 15 copies a day. These days, it is published [-] copies of the series about the victories of the army were printed. Sometimes the printing house of the imperial court could not print it, and sometimes they had to ask the business printing house for help. Those who can read, or those who don’t have time to read, just listen to it and have fun. Even Liu Lao Wu, who is a storyteller on the street, reads newspapers in the morning and tells stories in the afternoon.” Zhang Bo has also vaguely heard of the Liu Lao Wu he mentioned, and said A Sui and Tang Dynasty novel is famous, and it is quite famous in Xia Jing.

Meng Feiyang nodded, and winked at the book boy next to him, and the book boy took out a handful of copper coins and handed it to Dr. Zhang Bo. Zhang Bo smiled and said, "Please go and buy some newspapers from the past few days for me. The one who comes out is your reward."

...

...

Ever since Zhang Bo was interviewed by Ye Chen, he was reinstated by the official on the same day, and returned to the post of Shangshu of the Ministry of Agriculture.Ye Chen also left him to give a banquet that day, asking him about his views on the implementation of the imperial court's implementation of a small number of alien races to reform their native lands, and to understand the local people's conditions. He was not released from the palace until it was getting late.Such kindness, on the one hand, is Ye Chen's affirmation of Zhang Bo's achievements in the seven counties of Hetao, on the other hand, it also means that Zhang Bo has not been suspected by His Majesty the Emperor because of the espionage case.

In addition, Ye Chen, who was recommended by Zhang Bo, also gave Meng Feiyang a very high evaluation after the face-to-face interview.

"Inheritance, since the beginning of the founding of the country, His Majesty has always paid attention to practical work. No matter who it is, if it does not make certain contributions and make some achievements, it will start from the lowest position of the ninth-rank official position. Therefore, if you want to go to a higher level You have to make some achievements to let the emperor recognize your ability. The current emperor, who has the courage to do something, will not be able to impress the Sacred Heart without political achievements."

Meng Feiyang lowered his head and said respectfully: "My lord's teaching is correct, I will definitely keep your words in my heart." Before Meng Feiyang didn't have an official status, he called himself a student. Now that he has an official status, it is naturally different.

Zhang Bo nodded, and continued: "Your Majesty ordered me to set up an Agricultural Research Department, focusing on cultivating and collecting high-yield crop seeds, as well as researching and improving farm tools and water conservancy construction. Your Majesty has allowed me to come from Xiangfu College and Civil Affairs Bureau for these specific research personnel. Select from the research department, the specific affairs of the agricultural research department, I decided to entrust you to do it. You refer to the model of the weapon research department of the equipment department of the military pivot department and the civil research department of the household department, and combine the characteristics of our agricultural department to formulate various These regulations must be ensured to be precise and comprehensive."

(End of this chapter)