Chapter 156 Dare to Be the First in the World

Zhou Xing accelerated the execution of prisoners.

In the past, there was one kill a day, but now, there are five kills a day. This gives many prisoners a precious opportunity to avoid the strong sunshine at noon and get a good opportunity to be ghosts.

Really, what these prisoners hope most right now is not to be killed at three quarters of noon...

Although in Yunchu's view, there were many, many people in the prison who deserved death, he still stopped Zhou Xing's massacre on the third day.

Zhou Xing, who was neither in prison nor in the position of prison officer, did not look like a devil at all. On the contrary, his many years of official career had long cultivated him into a honest and elegant gentleman.

Yun Chu pushed the tea cup in front of Zhou Xing and said, "There are endless kills."

Zhou Xingdao: "Kill one and save the other. Also, don't use the excuse of being good for me to dissuade me. That will make me look down on you."

Yun Chu nodded and said, "Indeed, you have no way out."

Zhou Xing stood up, relaxed his chest, and said with a smile: "Thinking about how arrogant, domineering and cruel these people were in the past, and then watching them excrement, urine, saliva, and kowtow on the execution platform, my blood boils. I can’t help myself with the joy.”

Yun Chu knocked on the table and said, "This is your good time."

Zhou Xing smiled and said: "Even if I die tomorrow, I have no regrets. Speaking of which, can't you give me another five days? You should also know that His Majesty also wants these people to die."

Yun Chu sighed and said: "A genius-like young man died. I think this is a warning from God to the Tang Dynasty for excessive killing."

Zhou Xing frowned and said, "Is this the Wang Bo who wrote, 'The falling clouds and the solitary owl fly together, the autumn water is the same color as the sky.' Prince Ann?"

Yunchu sighed and nodded.

Zhou Xingdao: "If you die, you will die. There is nothing to be curious about."

Yun Chu said: "Currently, scholars in Chang'an claim that a prince was born only every hundred years and died at a young age. This is because God feels that the Tang Dynasty at this time is not worthy of such a talented person."

Zhou Xing was stunned for a moment and said: "To me, this person is a prisoner. He joined the army in Guozhou and was good at killing official slaves. He should be punished. If he is pardoned and expelled, it is already his destiny. Even he His father was also sent to Annan for crimes. Such a person became a rare talent in a century just because he wrote some good poems and composed good poems. Then, the official slave who was casually killed by him was Do you really deserve to die?"

Yunchu said with a smile: "Anyway, Chang'an will soon launch a vigorous memorial ceremony for Wang Bo and Wang Zi'an, among which poetry and prose are the most important. I heard that it is not only the beauties who have won the title, but also Qian Guan. Cheng Yi gave me a gift."

Zhou Xing took a breath and said, "How grand is it?"

Yun Chu said: "The whole city participates."

"Wasting so much effort just to cover up the bloody atmosphere in Chang'an these days?"

"There is no way. The only thing that can cover up this overwhelming smell of blood is the fragrance of pen and ink."

"Who started it?"

"Ji Wang Shen and other members of the royal family."

"The prince has sent King Yong Xian away. It seems that he is preparing to reach out to the army?"

"No, I never care about military matters."

"Then, who cares?"

"It's not me anyway!"

Zhou Xing was silent for a long time, nodded, and finally said to Yun Chu, "Don't let anything happen."

Looking at Zhou Xing's leaving figure, Yun Chu felt that the man in front of him had changed, at least he was different from the man recorded in the history books. In the history books, he was just a hyena that specialized in eating carrion.

It's different now. He is a person who has the world in mind and hates evil as much as he hates it.

Of course, his nature of torturing people and killing people has not changed much.

Lu Zhaolin, Yang Jiong came over excitedly to receive the errand, Wang Bo fell into the water and died of fear. The most important thing is that not long ago, he also wrote the eternal famous "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng".

In fact, such a person is no longer a human being, but a specific cultural symbol. Chang'an City must commemorate this bright cultural symbol and eliminate some of Chang'an's murderous atmosphere.

"People throw rice dumplings into the river in the hope that the fish in the river will not eat Qu Yuan's body. People eat rice dumplings to commemorate Dongfang Shuo, eat rice cakes to commemorate Wu Zixu, and eat dumplings to commemorate Zhang Zhongjing. The lower official thinks that in commemoration of Wang Bo's It’s time to eat noodles, which means longevity, what do you think of the county minister?”

Yun Chu frowned and said, "The noodle workshop in Chang'an pays the most?"

Lu Zhaolin said: "No, Zou's family also pays a lot of money for the meat-filled wontons. There are also sellers of yellow steamed buns and snacks who also want to make money. However, their food is not easy to promote, and it is not easy to promote them. Long-lasting, Li's noodles have strong promotion characteristics, and they are relatively easy to produce. Although they are labor-intensive, hiring more people and giving more people job opportunities is not what our government wants. ”

Yun Chu looked at Lu Zhaolin and laughed and said, "You are from a wealthy family after all. Now, you talk about noodles, wontons, yellow steamed buns, and snacks all day long. Doesn't your grandfather have any objections?"

Lu Zhaolin said with a smile: "My ancestors are happy to see the success, but Zhuo Jing always dislikes me for being rustic and it's hard to go to bed at night."

Lu Zhaolin made fun of himself, which immediately made the officials who came to report official work burst into laughter. Yun Chu looked at Lu Zhaolin and was very emotional. In the past, this man was also one of the prodigies of the Tang Dynasty. In the past few years, his career as an official has already He changed from a noble young man to a qualified official who could truly stoop down and fight for the interests of the people.

After everyone's laughter ended, Lu Zhaolin continued to say to Yun Chu: "County Master, dried noodles are really a good thing. As long as they are properly stored, they are the best food for travelers on the road. Think about it, merchants walk all day, and in the evening, they boil a pot of water, cook a bowl of noodles, and throw some wild vegetables in the wild, and then dig a piece of lard, some salt, and a big bowl of hot vegetable and meat noodles. It can comfort the dust on the way."

Yun Chu smiled and said: "Dried noodles are of course a good thing, but the problem is that you have bad intentions."

Yang Jiong immediately replied: "The reputation of the four great talents is not good for official careers. If Wang Bo is promoted, we will be forgotten by everyone. It's just right for us to have a good official career and contribute to the people of the world."

Yun Chu turned his head and looked at Yang Jiong and said: "If it's for official careers, Wenrou wants to take you to Luoyang, why don't you go?"

Yang Jiong said: "No Like Luoyang. "

Yun Chu laughed and said, "I heard that you like military affairs and want to serve at the border. Do you want me to tell Lao Cao of Anxi Protectorate that you can serve as Protector of Hanhai? That is a fifth-rank official position. "

Yang Jiong said, "I like Chang'an."

Yun Chu suddenly retracted his smile and said to Yang Jiong, "Don't get involved in the affairs of the Sixteen Guards in Chang'an. There are few people who can withstand the thunder and lightning there. If you are struck by thunder, you will be shattered to pieces. Even I can't put your flesh and blood together again."

Lu Zhaolin laughed awkwardly on the side and said, "County Master, it's just a noodle!"

Yun Chu said, "Huh, you'd better say it's just noodles."

Next, the heads of the key factories in Chang'an reported to Yun Chu one by one on the operation and development of the factories in the past three years. Among them, the most dazzling achievements were the first and second textile factories in Chang'an.

To be honest, the materials in Datang are still in short supply now. When these two factories really opened up the sales channels, the products in their factories were in short supply. It seemed that no matter how many textiles were produced, they were not enough for the market to digest.

According to the previous practice, Yun Chu would definitely keep the heads of these two factories to have dinner together in the back hall. This time, Yun Chu did not do so. For the first time, Yun Chu kept the head of the iron factory to have dinner together.

When he was the director of the street before, Yun Chu knew clearly that the director of a street or village with many heavy industrial categories in the jurisdiction was far more valued by the superiors than a street or village with only light industry.

Although the environment of those heavy industrial locations is generally poor, when it comes to awards or promotions, the directors of streets, villages and towns where heavy industries are located are obviously more advantageous. Generally speaking, important awards and important promotions come from these areas.

The foundation of Chang'an Iron Factory comes from Changsun Wuji's family.

The iron smelted, in Yunchu's opinion, is not even as good as the later earth furnace steel. The iron here is fine for casting iron pots, but it is too bad to use it to make farm tools and weapons.

Yunchu got the steelmaking technology of the Western Regions from the craftsmen of the Western Regions. Unfortunately, after so many years, there is still no eye-catching results. Although there are many magic weapons and sharp blades from time to time, Yunchu is still very dissatisfied.

Magic weapons and sharp blades can be used to fool officials and fool the emperor, but they can't fool Yunchu.

A single magic weapon is useless. What Yunchu wants is to see the steelmaking technology of the Tang Dynasty get a qualitative leap.

Iron and steel are two completely different things. What Yunchu wants is steel, definitely not a pile of cast iron.

Some things make me angry when I think about them. The steelmaking technology has appeared in the Tang Dynasty a long time ago. In the past, craftsmen used iron tools to stir steel in the furnace. Now craftsmen still use iron tools to stir steel in the furnace manually.

The importance of steel to the Tang Dynasty society is now very urgent. It is not that the Tang Dynasty army needs so much steel to make weapons, but that the people of the Tang Dynasty need more steel to make farm tools in the environment of large-scale land reclamation.

In the canteen of the county government, Yun Chu put the head of the braised carp on the plate of Wei Wuyong, the manager of the iron factory, and said to Wei Wuyong: "Find a way to increase the output of steel. Soon, we will need a lot of steel."

Wei Wuyong looked at the fish head on the plate and whispered: "Military use?"

Yun Chu shook his head and said: "Agricultural use."

Wei Wuyong said in disbelief: "Agricultural steel?"

Yun Chu smiled and nodded and said: "Your name has the word Wuyong, which should be taken from the Qianlong Wuyong in the "Book of Changes". In the future, you don't need to follow the word Wuyong, but should follow the spirit of Feilong Zaitian to make more steel. Let me tell you, the world is about to change greatly, and even the spirit of Shenlong Zaiye is not enough to cope with the next era of mass production."

Wei Wuyong left Right glanced and whispered: "County, if too much steel is made, it will be worthless."

Yun Chu smiled and said: "Are iron farm tools comparable to steel farm tools?"

Wei Wuyong said: "All the farm tools used in my family's farm are steel farm tools."

Yun Chu raised his hand and slapped Wei Wuyong on the head and said angrily: "Damn it, good things are only used at home, right? Can you be so hard-hearted as to watch those farmers use iron sheets to cut wheat, and they will be worn out after a few cuts... and can you bear to see them holding cast iron hoes to hoe the land?"

Wei Wuyong whispered: "County, they all pull wheat with their hands..."

Yun Chu also whispered: "If you meet my expectations, I will send you to the Ministry of Industry next year."

Wei Wuyong's face turned red in an instant, picked up the fish head and started eating, not willing to let go even the fish bones.

For some reason Lu Xiu came over with his own plate, sat between Yunchu and Wei Wuyong, and started to attack the food on the table. He almost ate the whole fish body, and then took out his handkerchief to wipe it. Wiping his mouth, he asked, "Is there anything that a lower official shouldn't know?"

Yun Chu said disgustedly: "You just eavesdropped, and you came over to ask. I'm losing a fish."

Lu Xiu said: "It involves ironware, so I have to ask."

Yun Chu casually pointed to the clear sky outside the window and said: "Spring has begun, so just follow me and work hard."

Lu Xiu nodded and said, "You don't have to be afraid of working in a lower official position. The problem is that you heard the county magistrate and Chief Wei say that you need to make more steel?"

Yun Chu nodded and said: "Yes, in the coming year, Chang'an will need a lot of steel, a very, very large amount of steel. We will also take this opportunity to leave a few more heirlooms for the farmers in Chang'an."

Lu Xiu said with a bitter face: "As long as the county magistrate does not want to leave a few more heirlooms to the soldiers of the Sixteenth Guards of Chang'an, I will definitely support him fully."

Yun Chu looked at the frightened Wei Wuyong and said, "Be brave. The drought has been going on for more than half a year. If we don't pay attention, no one will be willing to think about the people."

Wei Wu nodded through gritted teeth...

When Wei Wuyong left, Lu Xiu whispered: "For so many years, the imperial court has been suppressing the use of steel among the people. I thought the county magistrate knew about this."

Yun Chu smiled calmly and said: "Folk smelting of iron and steel, let's start with me."

When Lu Xiu heard this, he couldn't help but bow his head.

I admire Yunchu for his courage and integrity.

What he didn't know was that in Yun Chu's eyes, the imperial court had long been a smelly mountain of shit. It was a towering mountain of shit piled up from a series of successful or failed policies.

For a long time, no one in the imperial court was willing to use pure steel tools to dig out this mountain of shit, because as long as the tools were moved, the mountain of shit would emit a stench that could penetrate into human bone marrow. Therefore, all the court could do was to continue digging. Use new policies to cover up this mountain of shit. Unfortunately, policies that treat the symptoms but not the root cause will inevitably end up joining the same trend and becoming as smelly as the mountain of shit.

Now, Yunchu wanted to dig a shovel into the shit mountain, and at least let farmers use steel farm tools that were harder, sharper, and less labor-intensive.

Put an end to the perverted policy that the government would rather suppress steel production than provide farmers with more useful farm tools.

I don’t know what they are afraid of?

Could it be said that farmers holding steel hoes and shovels can chop off their heads?

What a weird thing.