Chapter 923: Prepare for a Rainy Day

While it was still early, Chen Chao strolled to the Ministry of Works. The garrison commander in black stopped in front of the door and walked up the steps. Unsurprisingly, he was stopped by two yamen runners.

"This is the Ministry of Works. Who are you looking for?"

The yamen runners were quite polite and did not make excessive remarks to this unfamiliar man who had never been in official uniform. After all, the capital of the gods was famous for its many nobles. If they accidentally provoked a noble with a bad temper, they would have to bear the consequences.

But before Chen Chao could speak, a skinny official with dark skin came out of the yamen, holding a pile of files in his hands. He glanced at the door, and after seeing Chen Chao's appearance clearly, the official was surprised and said, "Sir, the garrison commander?" Chen Chao narrowed his eyes, "Minister Wang, long time no see." Minister Wang laughed, "It's hard for the garrison commander to remember me. When did the garrison commander return to Beijing? Why didn't I see the garrison commander at the court meeting yesterday? Instead, he came to the Ministry of Works now." The second-in-command of the Ministry of Personnel was talking a lot, and he didn't pay any attention to the two yamen runners behind him. The two yamen runners were already a little at a loss. "I'm here to see Minister Du. I have something minor to tell you."

Chen Chao glanced at the file in the arms of Minister Wang and asked, "Where are you going, Minister?"

"I'm going to Bailuxu Prefecture. There are several canals to be repaired there. The Ministry of Works thought about it and decided to send me there. I'm such a busy person. I just came back from Cangzhou and haven't had a hot meal at home for a few times. Now I have to go to Bailuxu Prefecture again. Damn it, we are both Jinshi graduates. If I had known earlier, I didn't choose the Ministry of Works in the first place. I could go to the Imperial College or the Hanlin Academy. Can't I just be an idle official? "

Minister Wang asked curiously, "What big deal did the garrison commander bring to the Ministry of Works this time?"

Among the six ministries in Daliang, the one with the best relationship with Chen Chao is probably the Ministry of Works. Maybe it's because the officials here are all practical people, not the kind of rigid literati who read the books of sages, or maybe it's because Chen Chao has indeed brought many benefits to the Ministry of Works.

Before Chen Chao had time to speak, Minister Wang realized that he was about to leave the city. After apologizing, he shouted at the top of his voice, "Li Er, quickly take the garrison commander in and find Du Shangshu."

After saying this, Minister Wang hurriedly squeezed into the carriage beside him and called the coachman to set off.

Chen Chao stood there, smiling but not saying a word.

The yamen runner named Li Er looked at Chen Chao with some hesitation, and then said softly, "Sir, please come in."

Chen Chao nodded and just smiled, "I haven't made any mistakes, what are you afraid of."

As soon as he entered the Ministry of Works, a thin old man with gray hair but vigorous spirit came to greet him. Judging from the official robe on his body, it was the head of the Ministry of Works, Du Shangshu.

Du Shangshu pulled Chen Chao up and said with a smile, "Sir, the garrison commander has come to visit us. It is really a great honor for us!"

Chen Chao said helplessly, "Sir, it's useless to say nice things. I came here empty-handed this time, but I came to find fault with you."

Du Shangshu was startled, and then he understood, and asked curiously, "Are you here to ask about the swordsmiths of Jianqi Mountain? In addition, I also want to know how many craftsmen the Ministry of Works has trained now?"

Chen Chao nodded.

The situation in the north is not optimistic. The craftsmen of the Ministry of Works are the backing of the border army in the future. How strong is it now? We need to know. "The first batch of weapons of the Ministry of Works has been sent to the border army a few days ago. How many of the second batch have been made now? Can there be any improvement? This is also a question." Chen Chao looked at Du Shangshu and said with a smile, "If this is not satisfactory, then I will scold Du Shangshu." Du Shangshu looked embarrassed, "Sir, you also know that in addition to weapons, the Ministry of Works is also responsible for countless things in Daliang. The palace needs to be repaired, and the local water conservancy needs to be surveyed, maintained, and developed. The Ministry of Works has so few people. Do you think it is so easy? Let's not talk about anything else. Take the garrison envoy as an example. For example, if there was a fight in the imperial city before, wouldn't the Ministry of Works have to send people to repair it after it was damaged once?"

Chen Chao was speechless, "Does Minister Du still remember this?"

Minister Du laughed angrily, "An imperial city built in the early years of the founding of Daliang has not had any problems in the past so many years, but you, the garrison commander, have destroyed it more than once."

Chen Chao waved his hand and soothed, "Okay, okay, Minister Du, why is he like a woman, holding a grudge so much?"

Minister Du glanced at Chen Chao, and the meaning was self-evident, that is, you, the garrison commander, knew to raise an army to punish the culprit as soon as you opened your mouth, that's not okay.

Chen Chao sighed and said, "Du Shangshu is still good at doing business. I was going to tell Du Shangshu later, but there is no other way. I will tell you now. I have negotiated another business with Jianqi Mountain. About one hundred people will go to the capital this month."

Du Shangshu's eyes lit up, "Okay, the governor is indeed the pillar of the country!"

Jianqi Mountain did not dare to show goodwill to Daliang in a high-profile manner before, because they were in the outside world and many things they could not do so obviously, but now, Daliang has already suppressed the outside world, so Jianqi Mountain does not have to worry so much.

"Since the Lord Guard has revealed such news, let me also reveal some information. The Ministry of Industry has produced 100,000 new knives for the second batch of ordnance. Compared with the first batch, it must be somewhat improved. We During the forging, some other things were added. Anyway, they are definitely more comfortable to use than the first batch, and they are definitely more damaging to the demon clan. As for the Ministry of Industry, they have been recruiting craftsmen, thanks to the efforts of His Royal Highness. With support, the Ministry of Revenue gave up and took a lot of money. In the spring, there were already two thousand more people, and one thousand of them had almost left the army. "

Du Shangshu looked proud.

Chen Chao didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Du Shangshu, you have been prepared for this, just to take advantage of me?"

Du Shangshu narrowed his eyes and smiled and said, "Of course you have to do your best when working for the imperial court. His Majesty cares about the border troops, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Governor also care about it. There must be a reason. Sitting in the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry, it is natural that he is If you want to be careful, you can't wait until a war breaks out. The guard envoy comes to ask for weapons, and the subordinates can't get anything, right? To put it bluntly, if this is the case, one day the country will be destroyed. Aren’t officials the culprits of the country’s subjugation?”

Chen Chao nodded and said with a smile, "Du Shangshu is really knowledgeable."

Du Shangshu glanced at Chen Chao, thought for a while and said, "Taking a step back, with better weapons, how can there be fewer deaths in the north? They are all raised by father and mother. If one person dies, there will be one less person." When a person loses his husband or his father, a lower official will definitely be able to figure this out.

. And why do they want to go to the north? When they are young, it is for their parents, wives and children, and when they are older, it is for us, Liang. Sitting in this seat, the subordinate wants to turn a blind eye, but his conscience can't bear it. "

Chen Chao gave a thumbs up and said that Du Shangshu was great.

But no one expected that Du Shangshu quickly changed the subject and asked with a smile, "Can the Lord Guardian find more swordsmiths from Jianqi Mountain? These one hundred people are not enough."

This time it was Chen Chao's turn to laugh angrily, "Du Shangshu, do you think this swordsmith from Jianqi Mountain is a cabbage on the street?"

Du Shangshu narrowed his eyes, "Other subordinates know that they are not capable of this, but if you are the guardian envoy, then this matter will not be difficult."

Listening to the praise from the Minister of Industry, Chen Chao had no choice but to tell the truth again, "There is no hope for Jianqi Mountain. Firstly, it is because among these hundred people, there are really a few great swordsmiths, similar to Mount Tai. People like Beidou. Secondly, it is because they have to cast a batch of flying swords, and there are a lot of them, so it is difficult to get more people. "

Du Shangshu was keenly aware of the unusualness here and asked curiously, "These new swords are not made for us, are they?"

Chen Chao nodded.

Du Shangshu asked doubtfully, "Do we have that many sword cultivators?"

Chen Chao shook his head and said, "No."

Just as Du Shangshu was about to speak, Chen Chao revealed the secret, "We don't have that many sword cultivators, but there are a lot of sword cultivators in this world. I want to take these flying swords to the north, and I also want to spread the word." , As long as all the sword cultivators in the world are willing to fight side by side with me, Daliang, in the north, they will all have a flying sword from Jianqi Mountain."

Du Shangshu's eyes widened, obviously he didn't expect that Chen Chao would do this.

It is self-evident what a flying sword cast from the Sword Qi Mountain means to sword cultivators in the world.

This is destined to be something that most swordsmen are willing to risk their lives on.

"Also, I couldn't find a swordsmith from Jianqi Mountain for Du Shangshu, but in Huanglong Prefecture, I asked about five hundred decent swordsmiths to come to Shendu."

Chen Chao laughed at himself and said, "If Du Shangshu doesn't say enough, I have no other choice. My abilities are limited, and that's all I can do."

Du Shangshu asked curiously, "What price did the guard pay for this matter?"

Chen Chao shook his head and said, "What's the price? It's just to tell them that the swordsmith of Jianqi Mountain can give them some advice occasionally. As for how much they can get, it all depends on themselves. Of course, besides that, since they are here, If you are in the capital of God, you have to concentrate on forging weapons for Daliang. You can't be lazy in this. Du Shangshu will have to worry about this. "

Du Shangshu nodded, but then asked a question, "Which side of the north is it that the guardian envoy spends so much effort on doing this kind of thing?"

Chen Chao looked at Du Shangshu, who was actually ranked second in the rankings back then, but chose to do something practical for the people instead of choosing the Ministry of Works, which scholars were not willing to choose. He has been working as an official in the Ministry of Works until now, and said softly, "Soon!" There will be a war like never before."

The reason why we are doing so much now is because we are running out of time, so we have to be anxious even if we don’t have to be in a hurry.

Du Shangshu was silent for a moment and asked, "Can you win the battle?"

Chen Chao shook his head, "I don't know, but you have to fight to find out. And you have to win even if you can't win."

, if we lose, it’s hard for me to imagine what Daliang will be like. "

Whether his uncle was disappointed or not, it wouldn't matter at that time. The displacement of the people of the entire Liang Dynasty, the destruction of the mountains and rivers, and even the destruction of the human race. Everything was not what Chen Chao wanted to see.

Du Shangshu sighed with emotion, "The burden on the guard envoy is very heavy, so you must take care of yourself. After all, a great Liang Dynasty cannot lack you."

Chen Chao joked, "Old Minister, why do you say such harsh words?"

Du Shangshu laughed it off, and then smiled leisurely, "If I had known this, I would have gone to practice martial arts. What kind of book should I study?"

Chen Chao said nothing and just left the Ministry of Industry Yamen.

This trip back to the capital of gods, I said I could stay here for a longer time, but in fact, there are still many things to do, such as these rainy day preparations, which have been pushed forward when I was not in the capital of gods, such as the business in Jianqi Mountain and the business in Jianzong.

After returning to the capital of gods, many things actually need to be implemented.

It is difficult to really take care of nothing when you say you are resting.

Born to be a hard worker, that is how Chen Chao describes himself.

After strolling out of the Ministry of Industry, Chen Chao had some free time, so he slowly strolled towards the academy. It seemed that he had not been to the academy for a long time. Apart from other things, the acting dean of the academy is now Zhou Gouqi, so he should go and see him. He was the neighbor across the street for so many years before. Speaking of it, he missed her a little when he could not see her.

However, when he passed by a candied date shop, he could not help but think of the girl named Zhu Xia. It had been a while since they met last time.

But now, in fact, he and Zhu Xia should see each other less if possible. After all, he can not have any thoughts, but Zhu Xia, that girl, may not.

Rubbing his face, Chen Chao muttered, there is nothing he can do about her beauty. After that, he bought a portion of candied dates and put a few in his mouth to chew. He still felt a little sweet. Women like this kind of sweets, but he really doesn't like it.

However, Chen Chao was distracted by thinking about things along the way, and did not notice that there were more and more people around him. After half an hour, Chen Chao suddenly bumped into a soft ball, and subconsciously said sorry, but when he looked up, he suddenly found that he didn't know when a lot of women gathered in front of him.

Chen Chao was stunned in place, looking at the group of beautiful women.

Then the next moment, there was a chattering in his ears, a group of women, a Chen Zhenshou on the left, and a Zhenshou on the right, which made Chen Chao feel overwhelmed.

After finally getting out of the siege, Chen Chao looked down and saw that there were many handkerchiefs and other things in his arms.

With a sigh, Chen Chao looked around and was about to destroy these things, but by chance, a voice sounded in his ear, "Chen, all right, all right, you are stepping on these seventy, eighty, ninety... countless boats, are you worthy of my little sister?"

Chen Chao raised his head and looked at the middle-aged man who almost became his cheap brother-in-law, and said, "Zhou Gouqi, Zhou Gouqi, you are a saint, why are you still full of dirty words?"

After saying this, the man opposite did not refute for the first time, and the two just smiled at each other.

Damn, meeting a good friend again, no matter what, I feel comfortable.