The fourth year of Zhengxing is the year of Guimao Rabbit.

On the Lantern Festival, a grand celebration was organized on both sides of the Luoshui River. In addition to setting off fireworks and firecrackers, there were also ironworks.

This was a very novel performance in this world.

When Xue Bai was in Yanshi, he smuggled a large amount of iron stone from Wuyang to smelt it. Although he didn't know much about casting technology, he talked about a few general directions. After so many years, the blacksmiths learned to build blast furnaces and wind boxes, and the craftsmanship was still good.

I have made great progress, and by the way, I also have such a fancy job.

It was night, the Tianjin Bridge spanned the Luoshui River, and a flower shed with a height of more than ten feet was erected beside the bridge.

The garden shed has two floors. It looks round from a distance, but is actually octagonal.

"Do you know why this garden shed is shaped like this?"

"Why?"

"When the saint was in his dormitory, he ordered the heavenly master Li Xiazhou to make gunpowder and smelt iron tools. Therefore, the iron flower has a deep connection with Taoism. This octagonal flower shed is a gossip. It is said that one yuan gives rise to two rituals, and two rituals give rise to four images...

"

The group of people talking were all wearing the same blue robes. Their clothes were not luxurious, but they were very clean. They were traveling together.

These are junior students from various counties in Luoyang Prefecture.

They are neither the children of powerful people who can be admitted to the Imperial Academy, nor are they talented people whose talents are as high as those of state officials. Most of them are children of ordinary families who are diligent in studying and have good talents. Last year, they had an extra way out.

Yuan Zhiyuan was among them. After listening to his companions' talk, he couldn't help but ask: "Lin Ji, how do you know so much?"

Lin Ji was the youngest among the students, but he looked miserable every day. Before he could answer what he said, someone else had already spoken for him.

"Because Lin Ji also came from the 'Jimin Society' in Yanshi."

"Jimin Society?" Yuan Zhiyuan said: "How can a shed society have such a name? It must be avoided by Taizong."

He was born as a slave in a noble family. He had heard little about folk affairs, but he knew a lot about various kinds of culture.

Lin Jidao: "Although Jimin Society did not avoid Taizong's name, it was fulfilling Emperor Taizong's aspirations."

As he spoke, he pointed to a few people beside him and said: "In this child examination, several of the candidates in Luoyang Prefecture were raised by the Jimin Society. We are all children of refugees. We were originally starved to death in the wilderness.

Or we were sold into slavery, but it was the Jimin Society who raised us and provided us with education."

Yuan Zhiyuan became curious about this and was about to ask again when a burst of cheers suddenly sounded from the front.

"good!"

He looked up and saw a group of shirtless men pushing a large wind box together.

After that, the flower maker held a long flower stick in his hand, scooped up the iron juice, and quickly ran under the flower shed. The other flower maker also picked up a wooden stick and slammed it with his flower stick filled with iron juice.

Iron flowers soared into the sky.

"good!"

Yuan Zhiyuan also shouted, not loudly at first. As the sparks on Luohe became brighter, his voice gradually grew louder, and finally he let out a shout.

He felt an unprecedented freedom.

~~

In the bright hall, Xue Bai was also looking at Luo He. The bright lights seemed very close to him, but also seemed very far away.

Li Xiazhou, who was standing next to him, was wearing a Taoist robe with wide sleeves and was blown by the wind.

"With our current smelting technology, the objects His Majesty mentioned can be made gradually." Li Xiazhou pointed to the scene of iron flowers being forged in the distance, "Pindao didn't just do this flower work."

Xue Bai asked: "Is there any new progress?"

"Boiler." Li Xiazhou said: "Pindao feels that with the boiler, the steam engine may be about to make great progress."

"Um."

Xue Bai wanted to give some more advice to Li Xia on Monday, but after much deliberation, he had already said a few things about what he understood, and the rest could only be explored slowly.

I have experienced this kind of thing many times. Sometimes I feel that I am just a few centimeters away from a breakthrough, but I still can't make a breakthrough for several years.

In any case, progress is a good thing. Xue Bai knew that with his own guidance, the development of productivity would be accelerated, although many things would take a long time to see the results.

At least this gave him the confidence to make the Tang Dynasty strong during his reign. Even if he did not make changes or solve the problem of land annexation, he could still be evaluated as a wise king by relying solely on the development of productivity.

He might be able to relax and enjoy the prosperous age that will slowly come.

But whenever he thinks like this, Xue Bai feels empty and has lost his ambition.

Sometimes he seemed to be able to see that one day he would rule an extremely powerful Tang Dynasty. He even had pictures in his mind of trains crossing the vast territory and the poems of the Tang Dynasty being sung thousands of miles away.

But if the intensifying class contradictions are not resolved, and a powerful dynasty does not have an appropriate system, it will be like a bomb that gets bigger and bigger. When it explodes, it will fall apart...

"Bang!"

A ball of fireworks exploded in front of Xue Bai, scattering light all over the sky.

The Lantern Festival passed like this.

The young emperor ushered in his fourth year on the throne.

In the past few years, the stable environment that should have been established has been established. Things such as recuperation and recuperation, and agriculture that focus on people's livelihood have been done. The development of productivity is in a gradual process... The time for change has gradually matured.

It just depends on whether Xue Bai still wants to make drastic changes.

~~

Shouan County.

Lao Yuantou squatted beside the hundred acres of land allocated to him by the government, feeling a little worried.

This land is not considered good, in fact it is considered wasteland, far inferior to the fertile fields that the Cui family asked him to cultivate.

Of course, he can do it if he wants to, but after some calculation, renting cattle, buying farm tools, digging canals to divert water or carrying water for irrigation is a big burden for him.

After thinking about it, he thought of the Chun Miao Loan that Du Wulang had told him.

Although he was worried that if he borrowed more money, he would encounter a bad year and repeat the misfortune of the past, he still gritted his teeth and decided to do it.

The next day, Lao Yuan got up early and set out for the county seat before dawn.

When he arrived at the county government office, he saw many farmers squatting on the street opposite the gate, so he went over and asked, "Are you here to borrow a spring seedling loan too?"

"Yes, originally there was an official in the county who said that we could get it at Fenghui Branch, but he wasn't here and we didn't know what to do."

"Who's coming?"

"Shao Wenyuan, it is said that he had an affair with the little widow and was raped in a pig cage by his husband's family."

"Then let's go to Fenghui?"

"I went there yesterday and was told that the county office would send people to various villages to work with the cattle."

Just as he was talking, the door of the county office finally opened, and some officials came out shaking their heads. Seeing many people gathered here, they stepped forward and scolded: "What are you doing here? Are you going to cause trouble?"

"Master Chai, we want to ask about Chunmiao Loan..."

"I told you! Everyone is waiting in the countryside. The county will send people to pull cattle and farm tools to each village. Who told you to come to the county office?!"

After saying this, everyone started to disperse.

Upon seeing this, Lao Yuantou followed them and dispersed, preparing to go back to the village and wait.

After walking a few steps, I met a sedan swinging towards me. A follower next to me stepped forward and said, "Old Yuan Tou, why are you here?"

"The villain is here to borrow spring seedlings."

"Wait."

The attendant then returned to the sedan chair to talk. Old Yuan Tou looked over and saw that it was Zong Han, the chief bookkeeper.

Zong Han gave a few instructions, and the attendant responded and said to Old Yuan Tou: "The chief secretary is concerned about you and asked me to take you there."

"Thank you, by the way, is it true that the annual interest rate is one cent? The villain's fields are very uncultivated, and I'm afraid that if something happens..."

"The annual interest rate is one cent or two cents. It depends on the land area. Just follow me."

"Okay."

Old Yuan Tou also followed the other party to Fenghui Bank in Nancheng of the county.

The entourage entered and said, "The sect leader asked me to come. This is from Xiangshui Village. I want to borrow Chunmiao Loan."

"The Xiangshui Village County Office has paid out the money and distributed it to each household."

"He was late in dividing the land, so it's not his. Oh, he returned home and settled in last year."

"Tian Deed."

When Old Yuan asked for the deed to the field, he felt that this scene seemed familiar. He looked at the hand extended by the other party, worried that he would not be able to pay it, and would lose the field again, so he asked: "Is it really a one-cent annual interest?"

"The annual interest rate is one cent, which is levied with the autumn tax. It is paid in full at the end of the year. In case of floods or droughts, there is an extension of one year."

The clerk from Fenghui Bank said solemnly, without much expression on his face. But if Old Yuan Tou didn't understand, he would say it again, and finally let Old Yuan Tou put his fingerprint on the deed.

Not long after, Lao Yuantou left Fenghui Bank holding a bag of money.

Following what others told him, he returned to Xiangshui Village and waited for two days. Sure enough, the government sent someone to rent out cattle, farm tools, and spring seedlings.
To be continued...