In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

"It's snowing so heavily."

“Eating hot pot is indeed the most comfortable thing in winter.”

"Green ants have newly fermented wine, and there is a small red clay stove. It's snowing in the evening, so I can drink a glass of wine."

"Here, have a drink."

In early November of the eighth year of Qingli in the Song Dynasty, it snowed heavily in Bianliang.

It was the end of another year, and the Constitutional Yuan had a rare noon that was not busy, so we had lunch together in the back garden.

In fact, everyone usually does not eat lunch in the palace, because there is a two-hour break at noon, from 12 noon to 2 pm.

So everyone usually goes home to have lunch with their families, or just deal with it in the big restaurant outside Donghua Gate.

If that doesn't work, you can also ask the imperial chef to deliver food to the Constitutional Yuan, so as not to go to the backyard to eat with Zhao Zhen.

Now Zhao Zhen also has three sons and six daughters. The eldest son Zhao Fang, the second son Zhao Xin, and a new son was added last year. The youngest son Zhao Xi naturally wants to spend more time with his family.

But due to the recent end of the year, many prime ministers in the Constitutional Yuan have been very busy, reviewing all policy effects, fiscal revenue, national development, etc. from the beginning of this year to October this year.

Therefore, no one has time, so they often ask the imperial chef to deliver the meals to the Constitutional Yuan, and while handling official documents within their own jurisdiction, they can finish lunch by eating a few bites.

But today is different. Today is Yan Shu's 57th birthday. No matter how busy everyone is, they still have to take time to have lunch together. It is a rare gathering.

At noon, Zhao Jun personally made him a birthday cake and celebrated him in the backyard.

At this moment, everyone was sitting upstairs in Houyuan Jianing.

This is a newly built building in the past two years. It is made of cement. The beams and columns below are painted, and a wooden floor is laid on the cement floor. Therefore, the overall appearance is similar to the wooden building of the Song Dynasty.

The shape is that of a pagoda, with layers stacked up one above the other.

There are protruding eaves above and below the surrounding railings, and there are more than one, and some are layered on top of each other, with flying eaves and brackets, which are beautiful.

There is only a rooftop-like place on the east side of the fifth floor, which is covered by the floor slabs of the sixth floor, but is surrounded by empty railings. You can see half of Bianliang City.

Snowflakes were flying, and it had fallen all night last night. There was no ice under the eaves, but the entire Bianliang was already a world covered in silver.

Looking around, the vast white snowy sky and earth are so clean. The hills outside the city are looming in the distance, filled with mist, like gray dragons cruising around the world.

But it's different from previous years.

Once upon a time, if it snowed in Bianliang, there would be very few pedestrians on the streets. Standing on the top of a building and looking far away, you could clearly count how many people there were on a street.

This year, however, it is still lively and prosperous, with the wealthy wearing luxurious velvet coats and thick cotton coats. Ordinary families wear woolen sweaters and fleece jackets, which can still keep people warm.

At present, cotton-padded clothes and quilts are not particularly popular.

Because now only Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan are the production areas, the amount of cotton produced is still relatively small.

Therefore, cotton is mainly used by the military and civilians for making quilts.

However, thanks to the Song Dynasty's continuous trade with Xixia and Liao in the past few years, the Song Dynasty obtained a large amount of animal skins, especially wool, in very large quantities.

It directly gave birth to the development of the textile industry in the Song Dynasty.

Although in the past two years due to the civil strife in Xixia and Liao, trade volume has dropped significantly, which has affected the input of raw materials and put the originally booming textile industry into decline.

However, when the Xixia was destroyed and the Song Dynasty regained the Western Regions and put the livestock industry in the northwest and the cotton planting industry in the Western Regions on the right track, things would soon turn around.

"The fiscal revenue statistics department for the first half of this year has calculated it. For the second half of the year, it may not be until February next year, but the income for only half a year is already as much as ours for the past year and a half."

On the platform of Jianing Tower, everyone drank a glass of wine together. Zhao Zhen thought of the report he heard yesterday afternoon and said with emotion: "This year's fiscal revenue exceeded 200 million yuan, I'm afraid it's not far away."

"What is industry like? It's like unlimited people growing food without land. The more you plant, the more you plant. Once there is more food, your wealth will continue to expand."

Zhao Jun was still holding the wine glass in his hand, his face was slightly red, and he said with a smile: "There is no upper limit in industry. As long as the goals are clear and the cycle is repeated, the national treasury will never be empty. In our future generations, this is called sustainability." sexual development.”

"Well, over the years, we can indeed feel the changes in the country every day."

Yan Shu sighed: "It's a pity. I'm going to be sixty soon. I don't know how long I can live. I don't know if I can see a more powerful Song Dynasty in the future!"

"That's what your guy said."

Zhang Shixun said dissatisfied: "I am already 84 years old, and you are not 60 yet. You can't even see the more powerful Song Dynasty. Then I will die soon?"

"Eh."

Seeing that Zhang Shixun was really unhappy, Zhao Zhen quickly smoothed things over and said, "It's a big day today, so don't make it so unpleasant. Come, I'll have a drink with you all again."

Yan Shu's face was full of embarrassment. In fact, he couldn't drink too much. The main reason was that he thought that he was one year older and felt sad for a moment.

But he forgot that there were several old men in their seventies or eighties on the field.

"Come, come, drink, drink."

Zhao Jun also hurriedly picked up the wine pot, poured a glass of wine for Zhang Shixun himself and said: "The mountains and rivers are stable, the country is peaceful and the people are safe. It is time for us to be happy."

"Yes, yes, I was confused. I will punish myself with a drink."

Yan Shu also raised his cup.

The unhappiness soon passed. Faced with Yan Shu's kindness, Zhang Shixun quickly brushed it off and raised his glass with a smile.

After all, although Yan Shu said something wrong, it is an indisputable fact that he is not yet 60 years old.

On the contrary, he is 84 years old and will probably not have many more years to live in the future.

Compared with a prime minister who is about to die and a prime minister who can live for more than ten years, the latter is naturally more important.

After everyone had another drink, Zhao Jun put the beef on the table into the hot pot and changed the subject: "By the way, brother, what research are you doing recently? Now that electricity has been generated, are you going to do something else?" ?”

"Oh, my little secret will be taken away by my grandson."

As Zhao Zhen said this, the smile on his face never stopped. He looked so proud that his grin almost turned into a flower.

"Brother, have you really invented another great invention?"

Zhao Jun originally asked casually, but when he saw Zhao Zhen's appearance, he was surprised and said: "You are Doraemon."

"What is Doraemon?"

Zhao Zhen was puzzled.

"Nothing, just a fat blue guy who can come up with all kinds of weird inventions."

Zhao Jun responded casually, and then immediately said: "Brother, tell me, what new thing have you come up with recently?"

"telegraph!"

Zhao Zhenle said: "I am even trying to make a phone using wires and some metal reeds."

"Very good."

Zhao Jun was so happy that he almost jumped up and said: "Finally, remote communication can be completed."

The principle of telegraphy is actually very simple, and the solution is also very easy.

Historically, Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction in 1831, and for the first time humans could generate electricity independently.

Then in 1837, the British invented the telegraph and officially established the world's first telegraph line in 1839.

From the discovery of the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction and its rapid use in telegraphy, it can be seen that its technical difficulty is not high.

But just because it's not difficult doesn't mean it was invented easily.

Because it does not have much meaning and effect for ordinary people.

Not only is the cost high, but the practicality is very low.

Ordinary people can't just set up a telegraph station at home and send telegrams to each other for fun.

So no one in the private sector will study it.

It exists only for official remote communication purposes.

If the official does not promote this aspect, I am afraid that no one will independently research this thankless technology.

Now that it is finally done, the Song Dynasty has truly begun to enter the era of long-distance communication.

"Pity."

Zhao Zhen licked his lips and said: "I know that after the invention of electricity, many things were quickly discovered, because the technical content of these things is not very high, such as telephones, tapes, recordings, and those that can take pictures. The cameras were all invented during that time, which shows that as long as science reaches a certain level, many things can come naturally. "

Then he sighed again and said: "But I am only one person, and there are only more than a thousand people in the Academy of Sciences. Even if there are some talented people, even if there are notebooks that provide me with shortcuts, I am only one person after all."

This is what regrets him the most.

Looking back on history, after the industrial revolution, technology entered an era of explosion.

Only two years after Watt had completed all the improvements in the steam engine, the French used his steam engine to invent the steamship.

Thirty years later, the first train appeared in the world.

The hand-operated DC generator was invented the year after Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction.

Two years later, Americans built the first electric car. Six years later, the British invented the telegraph. Thirty years later the German Siemens invented the generator.

There are a large number of other scientific products that appeared in those short decades and enriched the lives of people around the world.

It can be said that the inventions and principles laid down in those decades are still being used even in the 21st century technology, which has benefited people a lot.

Now the Song Dynasty seems to have made some achievements, but in fact it is just the efforts of the whole country to invent some more important things.

For example, steam engines, spinning machines, power stations, etc., a large number of other technologies have not been realized at all, and the progress can be said to be seriously behind.

You must know that although these things were invented after a gap of twenty or thirty years in history, many of them have a certain level of technical content and need to be developed step by step. It is not something that can be done just by thinking about it.

But Zhao Zhen is someone who knows the general direction of the future, and he also has a huge empire with a population of 100 million. There is no shortage of population and wealth, but he has not improved their technological level at all, nor has he immediately leapfrogged the country to the industrial level. As a powerful country, this is undoubtedly unacceptable.

Zhao Jun knew the reason.

In the final analysis, basic education has not been widely popularized, and the people's ideological concepts have not changed.

Confucianism, which has existed for thousands of years, is deeply ingrained and cannot be reversed overnight.

Even if mathematics, physics and chemistry knowledge were added to the imperial examinations in recent years, it could only be done step by step and it would be difficult to completely beat Confucianism to death with one stick.

What's more, the Song Dynasty had a population of 100 million. Even if it worked hard to develop education, how could it be possible to perfect such an idea in just over ten years to the point where it took others hundreds of years to complete?

Therefore, industry has started, but the thinking has not caught up for the time being. There is not such a large population base engaged in industry, and naturally it is impossible for technology to explode so quickly.

Zhao Jun comforted him: "Brother, you don't need to have too much psychological burden. It took more than two hundred years for the West to transform from a feudal society to a modern system. After the liberation of the mind, more people invested in science. Only then did The popularization of scientific concepts led to the industrial revolution and the birth of the electrification era. We are still in the initial stage, and our thinking has not changed. It is already good to achieve the current results. "

"Yes, Han Long once said that before the 16th century, science and development in the West were far behind those in the East."

Fan Zhongyan also said: "It wasn't until they went through the three major ideological movements of the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment that they finally devoted themselves to scientific development. It took hundreds of years to surpass the East. It has only taken us more than ten years to make it. The whole country has begun to develop science and technology, and there is still a long way to go.”

"Let's take it one step at a time. As Han Long said, if you take too big a step, it's easy to get stuck. It's not easy for us to achieve what we have today."

"It can be said that the officials are using their own efforts to counter the decades of achievements of the West. Isn't this great?"

"Yes, the official family is already very powerful, so we can't belittle ourselves."

Many prime ministers also persuaded them one by one.

Zhao Zhen became happy again and asked, "Am I really that powerful that I can fight against the West on my own?"

"That is."

Zhao Jun glanced at Xia Song, who just said this, and thought, "How dare you, an old boy like me, secretly learn my unique skills of flattery?"

"Well, if that's the case, I'll be relieved."

Zhao Zhen breathed a long sigh of relief, and then said: "I still hope to change people's minds as soon as possible, so that the concept of science first can be deeply rooted in people's hearts."

"Don't worry, brother, this matter will be taken slowly. From now on, the Song Dynasty will definitely be the world's number one scientific and industrial power!"

Zhao Jun smiled.

He wished it was so.

The Confucian idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor is too profound.

In the future, we will gradually break these shackles and change people's ideas.

At that time, only patriotism will be promoted and the idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor will be gradually eliminated. This will also dilute the influence of the royal family.

"His Majesty!"

At this time, Wang Shouzhong hurried upstairs, bent down and bowed and said: "There is an urgent performance."

"What's the matter?"

Zhao Zhen was in high spirits and turned around to ask.

Seeing that he was very happy, Wang Shouzhong smiled and said: "Northwest sent back the battle report. It only took half a month for Prime Minister Di to wipe out the entire Xixia. Now Xixia has perished!"

Xixia died?

And it only took half a month?

When Zhao Zhen heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahahahahaha."

He smiled so happily, as if he was only happy these days.

It seems that since Zhao Jun came.

good news.

It’s always one after another.

Zhao Zhen was thinking about it.

I am afraid that I will die one day.

They are all so happy and excited after hearing some great good news.