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

After noon, the carriage followed the official road and saw Wu'an County in the distance.

At this moment, there were people waiting outside the county town.

In addition to Wei Huanzhi, the transfer envoy of Hebei Road, Tianyou, the director of Changping, Wang Ding, the prison director, and Han Fang, the censor director.

There are also Yan Zhongfu, the magistrate of Cizhou, Zhang Zhaowen, the magistrate of Wu'an, and other state and county officials.

Dozens of officials, big and small, in various colors of robes stood there. They saw the procession coming slowly from a distance. They walked to the roadside and lined up, waiting there.

Zhao Jun lifted the car curtain and took a look.

Although he advocates "four no two straightnesses", he does not send notices, greetings, listen to reports, or accompany people to receive them. He goes straight to the grassroots and goes directly to the scene.

For example, after the Qingli New Deal, Lu Yushisi sent censors to various places every month for overt and covert inspections.

The central government will also send roving censors from time to time to travel around to inspect local ethics and disciplines, a two-pronged approach, in order to achieve the purpose of supervising officials across the country.

The Constitutional Yuan asked the censors to conduct surprise investigations in this way.

But the problem is that Zhao Jun is not a local patrol censor, nor is he a roving censor sent by the central government.

He is a dignified head of the national government, second only to Zhao Zhen, the head of state. His words and deeds are watched by the world, and his status and status are destined to make it impossible for him to move around in the "four non-straight" ways.

So basically wherever he goes, the local county magistrate may not know about him, but senior officials like the Lu Transport Envoy will definitely always know his movements and be ready to greet him at all times.

Soon the motorcade arrived. Wei Huanzhi and others hurriedly came up to salute and said, "I'm here to see you, the magistrate."

"Well, no gifts."

Zhao Jun got off the carriage and frowned when he saw so many people and said, "Why are so many people here? Didn't I say that everything should be kept simple and the Yamen does not need to be on duty?"

Everyone's hearts tightened.

Wei Huanzhi said hurriedly: "Please forgive me for my sin. I asked everyone not to disturb the Court, but many people want to come and admire the magnificence of the Court, so..."

"That's it."

Zhao Jun did not get angry, but just nodded and said: "Now that I have seen it, only the chief officials will be left behind immediately, and the rest should quickly return to the government office to take charge of the work."

"Yes Yes Yes."

Wei Huanzhi responded repeatedly.

Later, except for Wei Huanzhi, Tian You, Yan Zhongfu, Zhang Zhaowen and other local officials, the others were ready to leave.

Zhao Jun thought of something again and asked, "Are Cai Zhi and Han Gongyan here?"

One of these two people was the supervisor of pit smelting and cast iron when the Wu'an Iron and Steel Plant was established, and the other was the magistrate of Wu'an County and knew very much about steel smelting.

It's just that Wu'an Iron and Steel Plant was established in the third year of Qingli, and it is now in its sixth year. The two of them should have left their jobs long ago.

However, Zhao Jun knew Cai Zhi's whereabouts.

In the past few years, the imperial court established a large number of state-owned enterprises to include necessities and important strategic materials.

Including state-owned grain, oil and salt companies, state-owned steel and coal companies, etc.

The word "company" is native to China, and it first came from Confucius's "Datong" and "Liici Zhuan".

Zhuangzi also said: "The way of accumulating shortcomings and making them high, combining small things and making them big, and merging them into public things is called a 'company'."

The meaning is the same as that of later generations, gathering everyone's financial resources to create an operating organization.

But the chairman is a foreign product, produced by a Western board of directors.

Therefore, the current company's board of directors is called the "Manager's Committee" in the Song Dynasty, and the chairman of the board has naturally become the chairman of the board of directors. Private enterprises also follow the official name of the "Chief Executive Committee".

After the establishment of Wu'an Iron and Steel Group, the original manager Cai Zhi became the director of Wu'an Iron and Steel Company. Currently, he is from the fifth rank, directly under the Central Political Yuan, and partly under Hebei Road.

As for the whereabouts of Han Gongyan, Han Qi's nephew and Jia Changchao's cousin-in-law, Zhao Jun did not pay attention.

However, he remembered that these two people were very capable, so he would definitely ask about them when he arrived in Wu'an.

"Going back to the magistrate's court, Han Gongyan was transferred to the position of magistrate of Shenzhou four years ago due to his political performance. Last year, he was promoted to magistrate of Jizhou. However, before he could take up his post, his father died of illness. Now he is hanging up his crown and going home to observe mourning."

Wei Huanzhi said: "As for Cai Zhi, he said that he is currently engaged in some research and development and does not have time to come to greet the Zhiyuan. If the Zhiyuan wants to see it, you can go to him."

"Hahahahaha."

Zhao Jun laughed and said: "Cai Zhi is a technical official. He has three generations of iron smelting ancestors and is very capable. What kind of research and development he said he was doing really made me curious. I want to see what kind of medicine he sells in his gourd. "

As he spoke, he put his hands behind his back and walked forward.

"Yes, yes, although this guy is arrogant, he is really good at work. He often goes to work with the workers in person. He is very motivated and has lived up to the cultivation of the imperial court."

Wei Huanzhi also followed Zhao Jun with a smile and responded.

Zhao Jun raised his head, and in front of him was the city of Wu'an. Today's Wu'an is no longer the shabby small town it once was, with high-rise buildings rising from the ground.

The original narrow old city is no longer visible. The outside is full of five, six or seven-story tube buildings like those in Bianliang, with people coming and going, and it is lush and prosperous.

Although it is similar to many relatively backward and poor counties in later generations, you must know that this is the Song Dynasty.

It is very good to have such development.

It can be predicted that before Qian'an City, which has the largest steel production in Tangshan, is developed, Wu'an, as the second largest county in Hebei's steel production, will probably lead Hebei Road for a long time.

"Yes, Wu'an is developing very well."

Seeing this scene, Zhao Jun nodded with satisfaction and said: "After I crossed the Yellow River, along the way, the development of other counties was not satisfactory, but Wu'an made me very happy."

As he said that, he looked at Wei Huanzhi again: "Wei Sishuai has been serving as the Hebei Road Transfer Envoy for the third year."

"yes."

Wei Huanzhi nodded and said: "It is indeed the third year since Xianguan succeeded Lu Shilang, and I have been fortunate enough to fight Yanyun with Fan Xianggong, and now I will be resigning soon."

"Shilang Lu? Lu Gongbi?"

Zhao Jun joked: "If you have a good fortune and have a prime minister father, you can be a transporter at the age of 37 and a minister at the age of 40."

"I have read an article about the Imperial Academy in the newspaper. It said that you have to be strong in order to forge iron. In addition to being from a wealthy family, Minister Lu has top-notch talent and learning, and his ability is indeed worthy of it."

Wei Huanzhi didn't dare to joke like Zhao Jun, so he tried to smooth things over a bit: "If this is not the case and he is just a mediocre person, how can he be promoted step by step?"

he thought.

I've heard that Chiyuan is petty, and it seems to be true.

At that time, Prime Minister Lu offended the Zhiyuan.

It is said that the two often had different opinions and quarreled with each other in the Constitutional Yuan.

Now Prime Minister Lu is gone.

The magistrate occasionally teased Mr. Lu.

You are really small-minded.

What Wei Huanzhi didn't know was that Zhao Jun just made a casual comment.

Old Man Lu is gone, but the Lu family is still standing, having already paved the way for his descendants except the eldest son.

Three generations of tobacco people followed, and now three generations of prime ministers of the Lu family.

A proper political family.

If this continues, won't the imperial court still be a group of children from aristocratic families?

If the two brothers Lu Gongbi and Lu Gongzhu were not really capable, and Lu Yijian was dying, Zhao Jun would have fucked them long ago.

certainly.

That’s basically it.

Anyway, Zhao Jun's principle is that if the children of aristocratic families are capable and talented, you can rise to the top through family connections.

This can also be regarded as attracting talents for the country.

If you have no ability or talent, even a great background is of no use.

Like Lu Yijian's other sons, including the eldest son, who was not very capable, he could only be dismissed as an honorary official. It was impossible for him to ascend to a high position.

This is Zhao Jun’s philosophy.

Although people are selfish, if his son Zhao Tan is not very capable, will he consider using power for personal gain?

But this is a matter of principle. Zhao Jun has already made up his mind. If his son's ability is really not that good in the future, he will basically give him an honorary idle position.

I would rather the family be reduced to an ordinary family than a mediocre person entering the Constitutional Yuan and harming the country in the future.

Even his own descendants.

Anyway, Zhao Zhen also gave him a title and a fief, and he was equally comfortable with the high salary from the title and the income from the fief.

It's just that with Zhao Jun's historical and political status, there is a high probability that his descendants will be treated as teachers. Even if he has no rights, it is still good to have the country to support him.

At least in the future, the Song Dynasty will complete the Eastern One-Pole Strategy, and its national strength will definitely far exceed that of Emperor Mold and Big Brother Mao Xiong at their peak in later generations. It will be easy to support a few idlers by providing salary subsidies every year.

Therefore, Zhao Jun is still very open-minded about the future. It is best for future generations to have talent and learning. It doesn't matter if they don't have talent and learning. It is enough for him to do what he should do in his own generation.

He said: "Okay, I just want to express my appreciation for the large number of talented people in the Lu family. I have no other meaning and don't take it to heart. Show me Wu'an."

"yes."

Wei Huanzhi nodded hurriedly.

A group of people surrounded Zhao Jun and arrived outside Wu'an City.

Since Wu'an is currently the largest steel production base in the Song Dynasty, there are many businessmen coming and going.

Worried that entering the city would cause traffic jams, Zhao Jun looked around outside the city.

In ancient times, county towns were not big, usually only two or three square kilometers. Now Wu'an has expanded to at least five or six square kilometers, which looks pretty good.

Zhao Jun made a rounds, affirming Wu'an's current development and pointing out some of the problems the city is currently facing.

For example, pollution problems caused by industry, urban planning issues, future development issues, etc.

Strictly speaking, Zhao Jun is not a talent in this area.

However, later generations have been influenced by their ears and eyes, and they are much better than the ancients in terms of knowledge and ideas.

Moreover, emerging industrial cities like Wu'an were at the forefront of the Song Dynasty. The ancients had no experience in building modern cities and basically solved problems only when they encountered them.

Zhao Jun not only has the experience of future generations, but also has the experience summary of Bianliang's urbanization development, so he can naturally help them make some forward-looking opinions.

In this way, Wu'an can also avoid the minefields and obstacles that many later counties encountered in the process of urbanization.

At the same time, these experiences will be accumulated to help other cities across the country also implement urbanization development.

The group finished watching Wu'an Construction and then headed to the steel plant in the northeast of the city.

The steel plant is several miles away from the city. The Wu'an Steel Plant now is completely different from when it was first established.

Everyone arrived near the steel plant. Looking far away, they saw a series of factory buildings surrounded by walls. They heard that many thieves entered the factory in the middle of the night to steal steel.

Various steams were rising from inside, and gases mixed with coal ash that were unevenly burned were also spurting out.

There was soot everywhere on the ground, and the smell of coal filled the air.

He raised his head and looked at the sky. The clouds in the sky seemed to have given off a gray haze.

Zhao Jun frowned slightly, but didn't say anything.

That's what heavy industry is like.

polluted environment.

But there is nothing we can do about many things.

Britain was the first to start the industrial revolution, and London became a foggy city.

Rust Belt industries also polluted the Great Lakes.

This is also the case in the Northeast region of our country in later generations.

This is a hurdle that must be overcome in the development process of human history.

It cannot be said that we should not develop industry for the sake of green mountains and clear waters, or give up scientific progress just because we want to breathe fresh air.

What is the difference between this and "not caring about the rise of great powers, only caring about the dignity of small people"?

So even if there are sacrifices, it is inevitable.

"Zhiyuan, they are coming."

Wei Huanzhi pointed ahead.

In the distance, the east gate of the steel plant is Mingshui River, which was later called Nanming River.

At the beginning, Zhao Jun asked to build a canal, which would connect this water, then connect to Handan and Cheng'an in the southeast, and finally connect to the Yongji Canal.

In this way, Wu'an's steel can be transported in large quantities through the canal, which is much more cost-effective than the land route.

At this moment, ships are coming and going on the Mingshui River, and the maximum load capacity of the canal is only 2,000 tons. For example, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is of this level.

The flow of Mingshui is not large, so the load capacity is more than 1,000 tons, which means that only ships with a load capacity of about 1,000 tons can be sailed, which is far behind compared with later generations.

But it's pretty good nowadays. Many of them carry hundreds of tons of steel and are transported to various places through canals. Steel sales are far ahead.

Their location is to the south.

There is a wide road connecting Wu'an City to the south. There are also many fleets of vehicles on the official road, all transporting scattered steel to the city for processing.

At the end of the road in the distance, a group of people hurriedly came out, walked quickly to Zhao Jun, cupped their hands and said, "I have seen the magistrate."

The leader was probably in his forties, his hands were very rough, and he stood there awkwardly with a flattering smile.

Wei Huanzhi introduced: "This is the current factory director Liu Dagui. He is a worker, but he has a flexible mind and has solved many technical problems. It was Cai Zhisi who reported for promotion. Speaking of which, the Constitutional Yuan ordered him to be specially promoted and become a special employee. The current factory director.”

"Oh, I remembered, I specially approved this matter."

Zhao Jun smiled and said: "It's good to know technology. The imperial court needs such talents who understand technology. We are just starting now. We have to explore and learn many things by ourselves. Those outsiders come to command the experts. Isn't that nonsense? From now on. Ah, important positions like these are better filled by technical talents.”

"Yes Yes Yes."

Wei Huanzhi nodded repeatedly.

They don't know much about steel plants either. Anyway, they can do whatever the court approves.

Liu Dagui scratched his head and said with a naive smile: "Back to the Academy, I actually don't know any skills. I just fumbled around and did whatever I thought was suitable. As a result, the blind cat ran into a dead mouse."

"Hahahahahaha."

Zhao Jun laughed and said: "This thing is still in its infancy stage and no one understands it. If you figure out the technology, it will naturally be an innovation. There is no need to be modest."

As he spoke, he added: "But one thing should be noted. If there are workers below who have developed good skills, they must not be suppressed and must be realistic. You have trained good workers and you have merit. Don't be jealous of talents."

Liu Dagui was anxious and said hurriedly: "How can it be possible? I, Old Liu, are famous for being trustworthy in front of the workers, so everyone obeys me. If I am jealous of others, others can't hurt me. The Zhiyuan can't be bad." My reputation.”

"That's not what Zhiyuan meant."

Wei Huanzhi said: "Zhiyuan is asking you not to be stingy with technology and to cultivate more talent backbones."

"Yes, you will be rewarded for cultivating talents, and you will be rewarded for developing new technologies. The imperial court will reward you greatly."

Zhao Jun also made up for it.

In fact, he was mainly alerted after seeing a lot of intrigues in the officialdom, and people enriching themselves for the sake of profit.

What if Liu Dagui became the director of a factory by engaging in technology, and once he gained power and forgot his original intention, what if he was afraid that others would also engage in technology and take his position and suppress him?

So take precautions in advance.

Now I can see that he has a good personality, and his villain's heart can make a gentleman's heart. At the same time, it means that he did not approve the wrong note and selected a talent for the court.

After all, the situation now is similar to the first industrial revolution in Britain in later generations.

After the first industrial revolution in the UK, various inventions and technologies appeared frequently. Is it really because the UK did a good job in basic education and had a high popularity of mathematics, physics and chemistry?

Not really.

Henry Bessemer, the founder of the Bessemer steelmaking method, did not read a day and figured out this technology by his own exploration.

Watt didn't go to school much, and his mother taught him the basics at home.

Edison was evaluated by his teacher as an imbecile and was kicked out of school after only attending elementary school for a few months. From then on, he taught himself entirely by himself.

It’s not that you don’t need to study to make inventions, but for many technologies, it’s not that theory comes first before practice, but practice first, and then people come up with the theory of why this is the case.

Just like when Faridberg discovered saccharin, he only knew that he had not washed his hands before eating, but today's meal was extremely sweet. After making sure that his wife did not add sugar in the cooking today, he realized that he seemed to have invented something incredible. Same.

Theoretical knowledge is important, as it allows people to understand why this is the case.

But many inventions and creations had no theory at all before that. There is not even basic calculation, it is simply created accidentally by scientists, or figured out by front-line workers using their brains.

So in this era of industrial infancy, it is very useful to train more skilled front-line workers. Who knows, some of these workers may come up with something amazing?

"Okay, take us to visit."

Wei Huanzhi saw that Liu Dagui wanted to say something, so he interrupted and said, "The director also wants to see your achievements."

"Yes."

Liu Dagui agreed.

Then he led everyone into the steel plant.

The steel plant was very prosperous, and the converters were constantly running, and sparks of molten iron could be seen from time to time.

Many officials who had never seen these exclaimed repeatedly even from a distance.

Zhao Jun was very satisfied and praised them frequently.

Under the leadership of Liu Dagui, they visited the iron smelting workshop, steelmaking workshop, quenching workshop, rolling workshop, etc.

In the afternoon, they arrived outside a large factory building in the northwest corner of the steel plant. There were a lot of steel materials piled up in the shed here. Liu Dagui said it was some waste materials.

Originally, these waste materials might be taken back to the furnace, but Cai Zhi said that they could be used for small-scale refining and to create some inventions.

I saw Cai Zhi and several workers in the factory hammering something. It was a machine about one person tall and one meter wide, with various pipes connected on it and a small boiler at the back.

Although I don't know what this machine is used for, the only thing I know is that it is powered by steam.