Zhao Zhen remembered that he and Zeng Gongliang were talking about strengthening the border wall, but how come it suddenly got involved with the Princess of the Song Dynasty.
There is no necessary connection between the two.
If it had nothing to do with the reinforcement of the city wall, it would have been Lu Yao's entry into the Hall of Wende that made Zeng Gongliang change his mind.
Could it be that Zeng Gongliang saw what happened to Lu Yao and his princess?
Zhao Zhen had to think too much and pointed at Lu Yao and shouted loudly: "Lu Yao, if you don't hurry up and recruit me, what have you done to Fukang?"
What is this?
Lu Yao didn't know what to recruit. He just came to the palace to give money. How could he be related to Princess Fukang? He had even seen this princess today.
Zeng Gongliang felt that Zhao Zhen had misunderstood what he meant, so he coughed and said: "Lu Xianzi did not meet with Fukang, but I thought that the official family should not accept Lu Xianzi's hundreds of thousands of coins to avoid being exposed.
"
Zhao Zhen understood what Zeng Gongliang said, and his face became a little gloomy, "Zeng Qing doesn't think I'm selling my daughter, right?"
Zeng Gongliang said anxiously: "The officials must not set such a precedent."
Zhao Zhen was so angry that even though he had such a good temper, he couldn't help but yell at Zeng Gongliang, "Zeng Gongliang, you are so bold! When did I think this? You are damaging my princess's reputation for no reason."
Zeng Gongliang knelt on the ground and shouted: "If this were not the case, why would Mr. Lu have sent so much money to the palace? It is not an exaggeration to say that he spent all his family wealth."
Zhao Zhen almost laughed out loud at Zeng Gongliang. He made random guesses here without knowing the cause and effect of the past, "Do I need to inform you about my investment in Lu Erlang's business?"
"Business? This... this... so much money is dividends from the business?" Zeng Gongliang was a little incoherent. He had never thought about business, and he didn't dare to imagine that it was dividends. There was really too much money.
Lu Yao returned to Bianliang for only two months. What kind of business could make such money? Even Lu Yao's wine and newspapers couldn't make so much.
And the lottery prizes are over a thousand dollars every day, but it doesn't make any money! Could it be that Lu Yao has some unknown business?
"That's right, it's business dividends. Do I still need to deceive you?" Zhao Zhen glared at Zeng Gongliang and said.
Hearing Renzong's affirmative answer, Zeng Gongliang fell to the ground and bowed down. This time his speculation caused a big disaster, "It's all the fault of the old minister, please punish me."
"In the meantime, I see that you are working hard and have a good rest at home for a few days." Zhao Zhen said his decision.
Zeng Gongliang knew that Zhao Zhen was temporarily deposing him from his official position in Shizhong, and he would be reinstated in a few days. However, being dismissed for a few days was enough to make him uncomfortable. If nothing else, some of his subordinates coveted Shizhong's position.
People will definitely applaud.
But this was a mistake he made, and he accepted the punishment, "Thank you, officials."
Zhao Zhen waved his hand, "You can go down first. I still have something to discuss with Lu Yao."
Zeng Gongliang bowed his hands and saluted, and before leaving, he said: "The reinforcement of the city wall needs to be decided by the officials early. Border matters cannot be dealt with by common sense."
"We will discuss this later after you have rested."
Zeng Gongliang hesitated to speak, and finally stepped out of Wende Hall.
Zhao Zhen knew that Zeng Gongliang was interested in the money Lu Yao had brought over.
He had told Zeng Gongliang before that the decision would be made after taxation next year, which meant that the treasury had no money now, and even if he agreed, there would be no money for repairs.
Now Zeng Gongliang asked him to make a decision early. Where would the money come from? It could only come from his internal funds.
This old thief, before I even had enough money to cover my head, I started to worry about him.
Lu Yao felt that Zeng Gongliang did it purely on his own. He was just thinking about nothing. He had a mouth so he couldn't ask more questions.
Zhao Zhen regained his smile when he looked at Lu Yao, "What happened just now was indeed my fault. I hope Lu Erlang will not blame me."
"No blame, no blame." Of course Lu Yao didn't dare to blame Zhao Zhen. Who said he was the emperor and he was the biggest.
"I heard from the king's servant that you transported 400,000 guan to the palace. Is this true?" Zhao Zhen asked.
"Of course I don't dare to deceive the officials. The 400,000 yuan has been put into the official's internal funds. Here is the account book. Please take a look at it." Lu Yao said and placed a thick account book in front of Zhao Zhen.
Zhao Zhen opened the account book and looked at it carefully. After burning a stick of incense, Zhao Zhen closed the last page and couldn't help but sigh: "I didn't expect the lottery to make so much money. This is all your credit. Tell me, what do you want?"
What reward do you want?"
Now Zhao Zhen has money in his pocket, and every word he speaks is rewarded.
Lu Yao said: "It is the duty of a minister to share your worries with you. Besides, I have already received 20% of the profit, so I don't dare to ask for any more rewards."
"You deserve that 20%, but I followed you and took advantage. This reward is indispensable. What do you think about keeping this reward and taking it out when you get married?"
?”
What else can I do, I can only say, "Thank you, officials."
Zhao Zhen took the money and wanted to take a look. He didn't want to keep Lu Yao too long, but Lu Yao still had something to say.
"Guardian, I just heard that you and Zeng Xiang were talking about strengthening the city wall?" Lu Yao thought that the cement he had just produced could be used to repair the city wall, and he might be able to make a lot of money.
Zhao Zhen smiled and said, "This is a national event. You are still young. It is not your turn to worry about such things. Go back to study hard and try to get a good reputation. It will not be too late to worry about these things when you become an official."
.”
Lu Yao said: "I have a new building material. The city wall it can build is dozens of times stronger than the current one, and the construction price is definitely lower than the current city building price."
"Oh? Is there such a good thing?" Zhao Zhen asked curiously. What Lu Yao said was like a fantasy, and he had never heard of it.
The current border city walls are not made of stones and clay like Bianliang. Most of them are made of rammed earth.
If the wall were made of Lu Yao's cement, it would be dozens of times harder, and it would not crack even if it was fired several times from a Qing Dynasty cannon.
Coupled with steel bars and the like, it would be absolutely impossible for the enemy to collapse the city wall.
Another thing is that rammed earth city walls cannot be built very high, as they will collapse at a certain level, but unlike cement, you can build them as high as you want.
Don't you Liao soldiers like to attack cities with ladders? Then I will build you a wall height that will make you despair and see how you attack the city.
Lu Yao smiled and said: "Of course there is. Now it has entered the experimental stage and it will be produced soon. If the officials don't believe it, they can go to Su County and take a look."
When it came to leaving the city, Zhao Zhen instantly became interested.
His father was relatively free, and he also went to Mount Tai to undergo Zen practice.
It was precisely because the scholar-bureaucrats in the Manchu Dynasty were frightened by Song Zhenzong's act of conferring Zen.
When he arrived at Zhao Zhen, the court officials restricted Renzong's travels. He had never been to places other than Bianliang in his life.
In the past, there was an autumn hunting event once a year that allowed people to go out to the palace to play. In the fifth year of Qingli, farmers' crops were trampled on by hunting.
The scholar-bureaucrats jointly signed a letter to cancel the autumn hunting and give the people peace.
In the end, Qiu Lie was gone, and Zhao Zhen no longer had the chance to leave the palace even once a year.
Now is indeed a good opportunity. Taking advantage of the aftermath of Zeng Gongliang's dismissal, maybe we can go out and have some fun.
Anyway, going out by myself is not for fun, but for border security and a proper business trip.
There is no way you can refuse this.
"In this case, I will take the courtiers to Su County the day after tomorrow to see if the material you mentioned is as hard as you said."
"Wei Chen will be waiting for the official in Su County the day after tomorrow. If there is nothing to do, Wei Chen will leave first."
What Lu Yao wants is this effect. When the ministers know the usefulness of cement, they can build houses, roads, etc. Don't look for him.
He has wanted to be a contractor for a long time. What could be more profitable than construction, and as long as the Song Dynasty continues to develop, this will be an iron rice bowl.
He is the only one who understands how to make cement, and others cannot even imitate it. Don't be too happy if you are alone in the business.
After Lu Yao left the palace, he asked his guards to return the ox cart and ran to Su County.
The emperor's trip was a big deal, and he had to build a road and a wall with cement before tomorrow, so that Zhao Zhen could see it. If he didn't build it, he would be cheating the emperor.
Seeing Lu Yao coming, Lu Qiu hurried over, his clothes stained with a lot of mud, "Thirteenth brother is not good, something happened in the mine."
"What happened?" The thing Lu Yao least expected to see happened happened. The one thing he didn't want to see happen was the mine, but he didn't expect that something happened anyway.
"The inside of the mine collapsed a little, and two people were trapped inside and could not be rescued."
Lu Yao rushed to the entrance of the mine. Several young and old people were lying in the mine crying bitterly, shouting the names of the dead.
"What's going on? I didn't say hello. Every two feet dug must be fixed with wooden boards. Now you know the effect of cement. Why does it still collapse?" Lu Yao couldn't bear to see these old and young people crying.
His son's father could have lived a good life, but he died because he helped him mine, which made him very sad.
Lu Qiu explained: "The thirteenth brother is not to blame for this. Originally, the mine was to be fixed with wooden boards. Who knew that two miners said that it would be okay to dig more. They had dug more before and there was no collapse.
, who knew that a large-scale collapse would occur before they dug even a foot away. A few of the ones buried close to each other were dug out, but the two that were buried deep were not rescued."
"Why don't you do what I asked? Now that someone has died, I also think about your lives. Why don't you cherish your own lives?" Lu Yao looked at the disgraced miners angrily.
The two of them lowered their heads and did not dare to look at Lu Yao. This was an accident that happened because of their fault, and it was not Lu Yao's fault.
It can be said that those two people died in vain. Even if Lu Yao didn't want to pay compensation, they had nothing to say.
"People must dig them out and bury them properly." As he said this, he knelt down and helped the old and young people up, and said softly to them: "Don't worry that you have no one to support you, I will provide money to support you.
.”
An old woman cried and said: "I can't live for a few more days. I'm just worried that my grandson will have no one to take care of him."
"You and I can also raise them." Lu Yao said with certainty: "If there are elderly people in the families of those who died in work accidents, I will raise them in the Lu family, and if there are children in the family, the Lu family will raise them until they reach adulthood. The due pension will not be less, two for each person."
Bai Guan. Don’t worry, if something happens to me while working for Lu Yao, I will never let it go. If you do the same."
The miners collectively knelt down and cried out in tears: "There is no way I can repay my kindness."
Lu Yao said: "As long as you work according to the safety regulations I wrote, protecting your own safety is the greatest reward for me."
This sentence was completely embedded in the hearts of these victims. Even if Lu Yao asked them to die, they would not frown.
Because they know that they have nothing to worry about, even if they die. Their mothers, sons, and wives will have enough to eat, and that is enough.