After several light snowfalls, a heavy snow finally fell on the land of the Great Tang.
The cement road in Chang 'an was restored to its original appearance the next morning. Li Longji didn't have the snow melting agent, but he had salt. The inferior salt shipped from Jili Province was not used for the consumption of the common people. Most of it was sent to the Ministry of Works to be used as industrial raw materials. It was not a problem to use a small portion of it to melt snow.
The morning court session was still held in Xingqing Palace. Unlike previous years, when the officials had to prepare their own hand stoves in the cold, Li Longji had the Ministry of Works build a heating system this year.
According to the distance between the steps, pipes were made to deliver hot water. An iron box was installed at the position where each official was to stand. When their feet were warm, their bodies would not be too cold.
All of the officials knew that the Emperor would not be so idle as to casually do such a thing. He definitely had a purpose to achieve.
As expected, when the morning court session started and the officials were feeling the warmth of winter, Li Longji opened his mouth.
"Do you know what is under your feet?"
The officials were stunned. What is it? Is there a need to ask? It's a heating system. Which official didn't have one in their house? The Ministry of Works fixed all of their houses for free. A thing called a boiler was installed in every house. Those who were not used to sleeping on kang could still sleep on their beds.
Although they thought so, the officials knew that the emperor must have something to say about the heating system. They tacitly looked at the emperor and waited for him to explain.
Li Longji didn't wait for others to ask and said directly, "This thing is a heating system. Everyone has one in their house. You don't lack it, right?"
Some nodded and some shook their heads. Nodding meant that they had one in their house. Shaking meant that they did not lack it.
Li Longji didn't care about the different body language of the officials and continued, "Of course, you have one in your house, but the common people don't. I can't be comforted. I can't sleep at night. How will the common people survive in winter?"
The officials didn't believe the emperor. If they died without a heating system, how did the people in the past survive? They were all wondering what the emperor was trying to achieve and continued to remain silent.
"I heard that there is a thing that can generate electricity, make lights, and produce heat. It's killing two birds with one stone. I'll let the Minister of Works, Zhang Zhong, be in charge of it. What do you think?"
Li Longji followed his words and said Zhang Zhong's name.
The officials immediately understood. It seemed that the thing that needed to be repaired would cost a lot of money, and they were afraid that they would object to Zhang Zhong being in charge of it, so they took a big detour.
"Your Majesty, I have a question. How much does that thing cost?" Zhang Jiuling stood up and asked.
"This … It's not a lot of money. I estimate that it's around ten million or so. However, heating is relatively easy, but generating electricity is difficult. It needs to be tested first, and it might not be possible within a few years."
Li Longji's words clearly lacked confidence.
When the ministers heard this, they were secretly surprised. Ten million, that was definitely not money, but strings of string. If they took out that much money, they might not succeed. In the process, it was very likely that Zhang Zhong would have too much power. No wonder the Emperor took a big detour.
At this moment, everyone began to consider whether they should agree to Zhang Zhong taking charge of this matter or not.
In the end, it was Zhang Jiuling who spoke, "Your Majesty, this subject thinks that Minister Zhang is a good choice to take charge of this matter. After all, Minister Zhang's family is more well-to-do, and I believe that they won't interfere with the research costs. However, I don't know if Your Majesty will take out this much money all at once, or give it bit by bit. How will it be managed? "
When the others heard Zhang Jiuling's words, they also felt that giving the money to Zhang Zhong was more reassuring than giving it to others. The so-called well-to-do could be considered as having wealth that could rival an entire country, and they wouldn't be greedy for money. Perhaps this was one of the benefits of having a rich family.
Li Longji glanced at Zhang Zhong, who was standing beside him, and continued, "I plan to turn on the heating first. The Ministry of Works has already made a lot of pipes, and the power generation will take some time. Naturally, the money will be given to the Ministry of Works bit by bit. As for the location, I plan to mark out a piece of land in the capital, and I won't allow any unrelated personnel to get close to it. Perhaps, I will use some of the people's houses."
Understood. This time, the officials completely understood. The most important thing was not the money, but the location. Perhaps the location would be related to some official's family, and when the time came, they would have to give it up.
The Emperor was worried that if Zhang Zhong chose a good location and the people there did not want to move, they would look for a court official with connections, or spend money to send gifts, and obstruct Zhang Zhong in every possible way. This would make things difficult for Zhang Zhong.
"Your Majesty, this subject agrees." At this time, Wei Shu also stood up to express his support. Recently, he wanted to write a book on the development of science and technology, so he often went to the Ministry of Works. He knew that even if the Ministry of Works had a lot of unfinished research, he would be able to get more advanced technology by interacting more with Zhang Zhong.
Therefore, he had a good relationship with Zhang Zhong. After the Emperor, he was the second person to know that the radio had already appeared. He wanted to see how the power plant generated electricity and how useful it was.
After one person stood up to support, several other people also stood up to support. Some of them did not have any other property in the capital, and some of them did not have a high official position and did not have much real power. It was good to have a good relationship with Zhang Zhong. The main reason was that his son had a lot of power. Although he was an official, he was in charge of a large area of land.
Except for these few people, the others did not make a sound. They wanted to wait for others to express their views. There were very few people who responded to the request for land.
At this time, Zhang Zhong had to stand up and announce, "Those who are occupied can send people to manage the Bohai Provincial Governor's area or a hundred times the size of the land. They will definitely have a harvest. They can also directly get money to buy ten times the size of the land."
"This subject agrees." Yu Wen Rong jumped out. It was good that it was not for free. With money, they could buy a bigger piece of land in other places, or go to the northern part of Hebei Province and ask for a hundred times the size of the land. It was not bad, especially the northern part of Hebei Province. Zhang Zhong had just said that there would definitely be a harvest.
This credibility could be guaranteed. Although his son, Zhang Xiaobao, always liked to lie, he had never taken the initiative to lie to any of the court officials. If he said that there would be a harvest, then it would definitely not be bad.
After Yu Wen Rong spoke, more and more court officials began to follow suit, expressing their support for the Ministry of Works to occupy the land.
Li Longji sat there, looking very unhappy. If there was no benefit to be had, then no one would speak up. Seeing that most of the officials had agreed, he said, "Since that's the case, Minister Zhang, you must do your best."
"This subject asks Your Majesty to rest assured." Zhang Zhong replied. He knew what the Emperor meant. It was not a power plant or a heating system, but a radio station, or a place to receive and send signals. It had to be built in the most secret place, covering at least a radius of a hundred miles around the capital.
Li Longji and Weiwei nodded. This was exactly what he meant. Because after knowing that Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan's so-called assassination was fake, they followed the vine to the melon and found out that the other people used a radio. They were still working hard to make wires, which made them feel very unbalanced. In the end, under the threat of punishing them, they obtained very useful information.
At the research site in Jili Province, they were making something called a 'semiconductor', also known as a 'game box'. A lot of things were placed in a large box, and then a certain kind of signal could be received, which was then converted into sound and transmitted.
Li Longji knew that this was a kind of leap forward. If it was done well, it could be used for communication around the capital. When the time came, people who were still dissatisfied around the capital would find the capital and let them see it. It would definitely have a great deterrent effect.
"Now that the snow has fallen, are there disaster documents sent from various places?" After finishing the most important thing, Li Longji began the morning court meeting.
*****
"Xiao Yuan, come here and look at the snowman I made. This snowman is called Xiao Bei, which is me. What do you think the one next to it is called?"
The area covered by the snow was not small, and there was also a thick layer of snow in Jianan, which was even thicker than in the capital. Xiao Bei, who was listening to the story halfway, could not resist the temptation of the snowy scenery outside and rushed out with the children's group to make a snowman.
With the help of a few people, the two snowmen that had just been made ran to Xiao Yuan, pulled him to the snowman he made, and asked.
Xiao Yuan was a smart person. He did not even think and directly answered, "Is there a need to ask? The other snowman is naturally called Xiao Yuan, which is me. "
"Wrong, how can it be you? Go and make your own snowman. The other one is called Xiao Bei No. 2, do you know? Xiao Bei has many clones, the very powerful ones. "Xiao Bei shook his head and denied Xiao Yuan's guess.
"Then why did you pull me here?" Xiao Yuan was unwilling.
"Because your snowman is faster than mine. Look, the person who helped you build the snowman followed you here, and my person has been building it all along. Now, he's faster than you."
Xiaobei answered Xiaoyuan's question sincerely.
Xiao Yuan looked up at the sky and appeared very helpless. He sighed again and said, "Old Kong was right. As expected, it's hard to raise a little person."
"You dare to scold me? I'll tell Sister, unless you let your people help me build a snowman. "Xiao Bei felt that he had something on Xiao Yuan and threatened him.
This time, Xiao Yuan did not compromise. He ordered his people to quickly build the snowman and was pulled to his brother and sister by Xiao Bei.
"Brother, Sister, Xiao Yuan scolded me." Xiao Bei was the first to speak.
Zhang Xiaobao was discussing with Wang Juan that they would not return to Beijing during the New Year this year and would instead take Xiao Bei and the others on a trip. When he heard Xiao Bei complain, he asked, "How did he scold you?"
"He said that little people and women are hard to raise." Xiao Bei seemed to have learned a little and understood the meaning behind Xiao Yuan's words.
Zhang Xiaobao looked at Wang Juan, then at his younger brother and sister. He smiled and nodded. "That's right, Xiao Yuan is right. Little people are naturally children, and it takes a lot of energy to raise them. Have you seen Pan 'er and Jun' er? Do you have to wait on them?
Of course, women are also hard to raise. Marrying a wife, eating a wife, dressing a wife, and eating a meal. With our family's business, are clothes and accessories mostly for men or women? "
"Ah? You can explain it like that? " Xiao Bei was stunned. He looked at his brother with eyes full of worship. His brother was indeed talented. He nodded and said, "Yes, I know. Women have a lot, and men need to buy all kinds of things for women. Xiao Yuan, did you hear that? Help me build a snowman later. "
"Why should I?" It was Xiao Yuan's first time hearing such an explanation. He was thinking about it when he heard Xiao Bei's request and asked in dissatisfaction.
"Because of what you just said. Humph, if you don't help me, I won't be your wife when we play house in the future. I won't let you marry me when we grow up."
"I don't care for it."
"Trip rope."
"Don't scare me. I … I'll do it. I'll go out and get someone to help you … help you build a snowman. This is called a gentleman does not stand on a collapsing wall. A wise man submits to circumstances." Xiao Yuan had a look of awe-inspiring righteousness.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan looked at each other and smiled. He said to Xiao Bei and Xiao Bei, "Have fun today. Sleep early tonight. I'll take you out to play tomorrow."
"Where are we going?" When Xiao Bei heard that they could go out to play, he immediately forgot about the snowman.
"Ulan Bator. Oh, it's called Yan Ran's Commander-In-Chief Manor. We're going to see the grassland scenery." Zhang Xiaobao pointed to the northwest.
"Then can we still build a snowman?" Xiao Bei thought of the snowman again.
"Yes, the snow on the grassland is more convenient to build a snowman. Go and play." Zhang Xiaobao rubbed his sister's head.
After Xiao Bei left happily, Wang Juan looked at the map carefully. "There's a lot of resistance if we fly there. The cold current of Siberia is blowing in this direction. It's too cold to fly."
"What's there to be afraid of if it's cold? Prepare more warm supplies. There are many mines there and large grasslands. I plan to raise tens of millions of cows and sheep there, the kind that doesn't need artificial chemical feed. If I don't deal with the Turks, I'll always feel like there's a thorn in my heart. Agent Que is really too annoying.
Seeing that the Great Tang's national strength is getting stronger day by day, why can't he just quickly submit? Why does he have to play tricks and run north? Won't he have a conflict with the locals? Oh, there are very few locals. That's enough to freeze them to death. According to our calculations at that time, the place they're hiding in is ten degrees colder than the winter they were in before.
This is not a matter of 20 degrees or 30 degrees above zero. They'll definitely find a way to come back and block them. We'll take advantage of their low morale to take them down in one fell swoop. "
Zhang Xiaobao used his hand to draw a rough area on the map. He estimated that the Turks would run to that place to survive the winter.
Wang Juan looked carefully. "Then how many people are you going to bring? We only brought two people when we came. "
"I'll bring four hundred people. Fifty people from the Children's Regiment and three hundred and fifty people to protect Xiao Bei and the others on the periphery. Now, I'll send a message to Jili Province and ask them to send some of the hot air balloons over and bring all the supplies."
Early the next morning, Zhang Xiaobao set off with his brothers and sisters.
The hot air balloons from Jili Province had not been sent over yet. Now, they had to walk. Xiao Bei also had a gun in her hand. The gun was very weak, and its effective range was only ten meters. This was to let her familiarize herself with it.
On the third day after Zhang Xiaobao and the others set off, a fleet suddenly appeared in Jili Province, or more accurately, in the outer seas of Silla. The people on the ship looked travel-worn. One of them was holding something like a stick in his hand. There were grains of food growing on it. This person took a bite from time to time.
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