Datang Lingnan King

Chapter 19
On the fifth day of December in the eighth year of Wude, the Imperial Study Room of Taiji Palace
"Saint, Captain Feng Daiwen is asking to see you." Eunuch Huang said softly while bending over beside Li Yuan.

Li Yuan raised his head from the papers he had been grading, and said in a daze, "Oh, send him in!"

"The humble minister Feng Daiwen kowtowed to the saint, the saint Wan'an!" Feng Daiwen saluted Li Yuan and said.

"Aiqing is free of courtesy. How is the construction of Aiqing's manor? Are there any difficulties?" Li Yuan asked Feng Daiwen kindly.

"Thank you Saint for your concern. The construction of Weichen Villa is basically completed, and the road to Wannian County is almost completed. This time, Weichen came to Beijing to report the progress to Saint, and Weichen wants to fund the construction of the road from Wannian County to Chang'an. I hereby ask the sage for imperial approval, and besides, the craftsmen of my minister Zhuangzi burned a batch of high-quality porcelain, and I specially selected a batch of sages to present to them." Feng Daiwen quickly explained his purpose, and there was nothing he could not say anyway.

Li Yuan was very happy when he heard that, stood up, laughed and said: "Haha! Good! It's Wei Guoru and his son who are thinking about me, so you don't have to worry about it. Your father went to the table yesterday and brought another 10 stones of sea salt for me. 30 shi of grain will arrive in Chang'an in a short time. Grain is a good thing to reward ministers and workers.

I was worrying about rewarding objects for my ministers and workers years ago, so you sent me porcelain, move it in quickly and let me have a look. "

Feng Daiwen brought all kinds of porcelain objects this time, such as bowls, plates, basins, bottles, and stoves, all of which are of the highest grade in clear and white colors, and each object is also carved with patterns of flowers, plants and animals. There are very few porcelains in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The engraving of patterns is mainly due to the impact of war, and the artisans have not yet developed to that point.Nowadays, most of the folks are pottery bowls. Porcelain requires higher temperature and special soil. The royal family mainly uses jade and gold and silver inlaid porcelain.

"Good! Good! It's really a rare boutique, no less than a tribute." Li Yuan held a white plum blossom vase in admiration. As a child of a noble family, he has been the emperor for several years, so his vision is naturally not weak.

"As long as the sage likes it, these are all made of clay attached to Zhuangzi that the sage rewarded. Next year, when the craftsmen are familiar with it, there will be better offerings to the sage." Feng Daiwen introduced with a smile.

"It's rare that your father and son are so caring!" Li Yuan said with emotion.After all, as the emperor, he rewards other people with items. It is rare for someone to give him so many things without desire. Anyone who thinks about it will be moved, let alone an old man, a dead wife, and two sons who are staring at their position lonely old man.

"The sage is overwhelmed. This is the duty of a minister. This minister and Yuchi Baolin, Cheng Chumo intends to sell them to Western Region merchants and grasslands in exchange for cattle, sheep and horses. Please show me the sage." Feng Daiwen said modestly.

Li Yuan would be more serious when he mentioned the business, thought carefully and said: "But, this is a good thing. There is a shortage of horses in Lingnan, and the replaced horses will be left to you, and the cattle will be left in Guanzhong. The Central Plains is short of cattle. When the cattle arrive, they will gather together." Rise and cultivate domestication."

"Domestication? Aren't cows capable of plowing fields? Could it be that the saint is talking about long-haired yaks?" Feng Daiwen asked suspiciously
"It can be cultivated, Weiguo has never cultivated land." Li Yuan said with a smile.

Feng Daiwen replied with a little embarrassment: "It is true that I have never personally farmed."

Li Yuan took Feng Daiwen to the imperial garden and asked someone to find a few cows to plow. He pointed at the cows and said, "Untamed cows don't know how to plow land. They run around and have great strength. If they are uncontrollable, they must be trained from a young age."

Feng Daiwen stepped forward to observe for a while and thought to himself, "So that's the case, why are you? It turns out that cows are tied to the head of the cow with a rope like a horse. If you let a cow that has not been trained since childhood, you will definitely not be able to plow the land, but you can't pull it." It, modern people know that cattle have to wear nose rings, and plows with pointed flat bottoms are used for farming.One person is required to lead the cow in front, and the other person is required to push it behind.

"Reporting to the sage, I have a way to make all the cattle we use plow the land, and just change the plowshare so that one person can easily plow the land." Feng Daiwen saluted Li Yuan.

"This statement is true!" Li Yuan stared at Feng Daiwen in surprise and asked, the surrounding guards and eunuchs also stared at him in surprise.

"It's a simple matter, just go to the craftsman's workshop for half an hour." Feng Daiwen said confidently.

"Let's go together, I want to see it in person and set up the carpenter's workshop." Li Yuan ordered impatiently.

A group of people came to the craftsman's workshop. At this time, the master craftsman of the craftsman's workshop was Yan Lide. Many people had never heard of Yan Lide. Yan Liben should be familiar with him. Yan Liben is Yan Lide's brother. The first famous painter. "I have seen a saint." Yan Lide was surprised that Li Yuan came here in person, and quickly saluted.

"Aiqing is not polite, this is Captain Feng Daiwen, and he wants to use a craftsman as a supervisor, please introduce him." Li Yuanxu introduced with a helping hand.

Feng Daiwen cupped his fists and saluted, "I've met Master Yan, but I just borrowed the blacksmith's stove. I came here because it's inconvenient to go outside, so I'm in trouble." As for Yan Lide, he couldn't be rude to other craftsmen, Feng Daiwen called Yan Lide a master craftsman It's about respecting Yan Lide, not looking down on him.

"Feng Duwei is polite." Yan Lide also felt the respect in Feng Daiwen's tone.

"I didn't expect Feng Duwei to know how to forge. Here I invite a sage, Feng Duwei." Yan Lide said to Feng Daiwen after returning the salute.

"Just a little understanding." Feng Daiwen replied modestly.

Half an hour later, Feng Daiwen forged a few iron rings and a plowshare with a pointed tip and a conical bottom, and ordered some untamed cows to be brought in, and several guards to control the cows. The iron rod was aimed at the cow's nose and passed through, and then put on the iron ring. Feng Daiwen took out the golden sore medicine from his bosom and applied the medicine to the cow, "Go back to the saint, it's that simple, just wait for the cow to have a few days for the nose to heal, and put it on the iron ring." Tie the rope so that the cow can walk as it pleases." After speaking, Feng Daiwen replaced the plowshare and asked someone to try plowing.

This, this,,,, in the open space of the craftsman's workshop, a guard plowed with a new plow for a while, and said with incredible excitement: "Return to the saint, this new plow is very labor-saving and can easily plow the land without pushing it."

Li Yuan looked at it and said in admiration: "It's really good, it saves effort, and it can be plowed deeper. If it is tilted, the soil will automatically go to one side."Li Yuan has plowed the land himself, so he can understand it at a glance.
"Okay! Okay! Aiqing has done a great job." Li Yuan patted Feng Daiwen on the shoulder excitedly and said.

"With this thing, the people in the world will be much more relaxed. Just looking at this thing, you can know that the nose ring of a cow is also feasible. In this way, I will never be short of cattle after the Tang Dynasty. Well, it is really good!" Li Yuan was excited It is beyond words, although he founded the country and won the Great Tang Dynasty, but after all, he was an official of the Sui Dynasty, and with this, no one in the world can deny his achievements.

"This is a sage who cares about the people's sentiments. It is an object made by a sage with advice from a sage. This is all the work of a sage. I dare not be greedy for credit." Feng Daiwen naturally understood the truth and replied respectfully.

"Well, haha, yes, I didn't raise the issue of cattle today, and there will be no inferior products. This product will benefit all people, so let's call it a Huimin plow. It will be built by the craftsman as soon as possible, and it must be built before next year's spring plowing. "Li Yuan laughed happily and ordered.

"Decree, Duwei Feng Daiwen has made great contributions and made General Feng Daiwen Dingyuan special in Sheji. He has 300 personal guards and can recruit 5000 troops to guard Wannian County. He will give ten thousand gold and 100 pieces of silk." After saying this, he patted Feng Daiwen on the shoulder again. He sighed: "Ai Qing is really my lucky general",
"Thank you sage, I am very grateful." Feng Daiwen hurriedly thanked him. 5000 soldiers and horses, which means that they can recruit troops openly.

Yan Lide looked enviously at Feng Daiwen, an 18-year-old de facto general. The saint himself took the word, which means that the future is boundless.

"This plow, the closed-loop concept is ingenious, and the humble minister can't do it!" Yan Lide shook his head in admiration while everyone was carrying the bridal sedan chair.

"The master craftsman has won the prize. This nose ring has long been recorded in ancient books, but it was lost due to the chaos of the war, so we don't know how to do it." Feng Daiwen replied modestly.

"That's right, many wars in the past have indeed been lost!" Yan Lide replied with a distressed frown.

"I believe that there will be better things in the world in the future with all your lovers." Li Yuan comforted the two and said that today's harvest is huge, and he is already very satisfied.

"I will definitely not let the saint down!"

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(End of this chapter)