Tiantang Splendid

It was not just Liu Li who was dissatisfied with the Foundry.

The three provinces and six ministries in the court all complained about the "gold-eating beast" foundry, and the censors wrote impeachments every now and then. Although the annual income of the national treasury has increased dramatically compared to the early years of the Zhenguan period, the empire is so vast and the people of the Tang Dynasty are so prosperous that no matter how much money there is, it is impossible to "spread the rain and dew evenly". The allocation will always be adjusted according to the national strategy, and it is inevitable that some will be allocated first and some will be allocated later, and some will be favored over others.

Under such circumstances, the foundry, which had almost "unlimited" funds, naturally became the target of public criticism.

Although the Foundry does not receive much funding from the Ministry of Civil Affairs every year, and most of it relies on its own "blood-making", others do not care about this. Since you have so much money, can't you support your brother units a little? Do you have to throw it into a bottomless pit without even hearing a sound?

Besides, what is the money of your foundry?

Is your foundry still within the Ministry of War and still under the jurisdiction of His Majesty?
In particular, the Foundry's various so-called "scientific research" has caused constant slander and criticism from both the government and the public...

Pei Huaijie was also heartbroken at this moment: "I often heard about this in Luoyang. They all said that Fang Jun was flattering to his superiors and domineering to his subordinates. He was even perfunctory about government affairs, and he only liked to tinker with those useless 'new inventions'. Even the students of the academy at that time were led astray by him. They rarely read the classics, history, and literature, and talked about natural sciences all the time... This is a traitor who brought chaos to the world! The Minister of the Central Secretariat is the prime minister of the world. Why didn't he write to His Majesty and contact the court officials to close down the foundry?"

"Uh……"

Liu Li was slightly stunned, but he did not expect Pei Huaijie to be so resentful of Fang Jun. However, since this was what he said, he could only click his tongue and said hesitantly: "Although Fang Jun is ignorant and the foundry has wasted a lot of money, there are still some results... Not to mention the paper mills that are now blooming all over Jiangnan, producing bamboo paper of excellent quality and low price, the "movable type printing" alone is an epoch-making innovation, which has caused the price of books to plummet tenfold or a hundredfold, and countless poor children can go to school..."

After saying a few words, he could no longer continue because he found that the foundry that had been a thorn in his side was not as useless as it seemed. Various inventions had even changed the current social situation.

Not to mention the Foundry's improvement of the gunpowder formula and the research, development and production of firearms, which enabled the Tang Dynasty to go from having an advantage to completely crushing the foreign Hu people.

Even the so-called "steam engine" that made all the Chang'an people complain didn't seem so hateful. The reason why people disliked that lump of iron was that it exploded every day and had long been a laughing stock. But what if one day it stopped exploding?
No human or animal power is needed, just laying a section of railroad track is enough to pull tens of thousands of pounds of cargo... If the railroad track is laid to Chencang, Jingyang, Tongguan, Lantian and other places, the sixteen guards army guarding Chang'an can reach any place in Guanzhong at the fastest speed and with almost no physical effort. The entire Guanzhong area will be united, so how could the military rebellion of Guanlong and the King of Jin happen again?
Think more deeply, if one day the railway could be laid out of Guanzhong and reach Luoyang, Hedong, Shandong, and Jiangnan...hiss!

Although it seems incredible and like a pipe dream, it is indeed possible...

Pei Huaijie was filled with righteous indignation: "Perhaps the poor children in the world will benefit from it, but Fang Jun's original intention was to make money and seek fame. This boy is ambitious and has the eyes of an eagle and the eyes of a wolf!"

"Oh, that's it."

Liu Li was somewhat dissatisfied and rebuked, "There is no doubt that Fang Jun is loyal to Your Majesty, and his loyalty to the Tang Dynasty is even more obvious! In the officialdom, our camps are opposite, and any means of suppression are right, but we cannot ignore the facts because of the opposition. Where do so many eagle eyes and wolf guards come from? My dear brother, be careful with your words!"

"Eagle-like eyes and wolf-like gaze" is a facial feature in physiognomy. The head can turn freely from front to back without moving the shoulders. The eyes are as sharp and fierce as an eagle's, as if being able to see through people's hearts. People with such facial features are ruthless and cruel, they value profit over righteousness, and are definitely extremely treacherous and evil.

Legend has it that in history books, Sima Yi, who was called "Zhuhu" by the world, had this kind of face, and eventually launched the "Gaopingling Incident" to steal the imperial power of Cao Wei and plot against the emperor with his ministers...

Where does this put the king at this time when he speaks like this?

Where will the civil and military officials in the court be placed?

Perhaps he felt that his tone was a bit harsh, so he softened it and said earnestly: "My dear brother, you have been stationed in Henan for a long time. As a frontier official, once you speak, everyone follows you. But it cannot be like this in the court. Struggle requires both strategy and bottom line. People with different political views are opponents, but not enemies. Some rules must be followed."

Pei Huaijie was a little stunned. Is this something Liu Li could say?

He had also heard about the government affairs. This Zhongshu Ling had always claimed to be the leader of the civil servants. He did his best to suppress the military, especially Fang Jun, one of the military leaders. He would use every possible means to do so. He would oppose all Fang Jun's proposals, simply for the sake of opposing.

Now you are reminding yourself that there must be a bottom line in the struggle?
Then your bottom line is too low, right?

But he could only pretend to be listening and learning: "What the Minister of the Central Secretariat said is very true. I have been in the local government for too long and am very unfamiliar with the government affairs. I will need your advice and help in the future."

Now that I have arrived at Liu Li's mansion today, there will inevitably be slanders from the outside world, so I might as well lower my posture.

Liu Li was naturally satisfied with Pei Huaijie's performance. Although Pei Huaijie did not have any outstanding achievements during his years in Henan Prefecture, and was even a bit disgraced when he returned to Chang'an, he was a high-ranking official after all, and had close ties with Henan's aristocratic families. He was an extremely high political resource in himself, and being able to use him for his own benefit was of extraordinary significance.

"There is no need to give any suggestions. You are too kind. However, we, the civil officials, are in charge of government affairs. We must serve the public wholeheartedly and never allow those arrogant and domineering people in the military to cause wars everywhere, anger the heavens and the people, and waste the vitality of the empire in meaningless wars. This is the foundation of our lives."

Hearing Liu Li's words, Pei Huaijie nodded repeatedly, but he was extremely confused in his heart.

On one hand, it is said that Fang Jun’s military system reform is necessary, and on the next hand, it is said that the military should be suppressed as much as possible. Which one is true and which one is false?
*****
Rows of chimneys are neatly arranged along the river. The waterways made of cement and blue bricks make the water flowing out of the Kunming Lake more turbulent. The water flows over the impellers arranged in the waterways, driving various water conservancy devices in the houses on both sides.

The weather was getting hotter, and countless craftsmen were working in workshops all over the place, sweating profusely. They were delivering all kinds of raw materials to various places by horse-drawn carriages or large carts with rails. No matter they were craftsmen or laborers, everyone was filled with visible excitement and concentration, and the whole foundry was bustling with activity.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion in the distance, and even the road beneath my feet seemed to tremble a few times...

Fang Jun, who was inspecting the foundry accompanied by Liu Shi, remained calm. He looked into the distance and saw a column of black smoke rising from behind the stacked workshops. He asked, "Are there any more casualties?"

Liu Shi hurriedly said, "There are basically no deaths, but injuries are inevitable. However, whether it is death or injury, the steam engine test has not made any progress. I am ashamed."

The steam engine manufacturing workshop was the top priority of the entire foundry, gathering the best craftsmen and giving them the best treatment. However, even if it could occasionally run for a short period of time, the ultimate result was always an explosion.

This directly led to heavy casualties among the craftsmen, and was also one of the main points of criticism and impeachment by civil officials in the court.

It is strange that the civil servants who have always regarded craftsmen as slaves are now vigorously advocating that "craftsmen are also human beings, and are also citizens of the Tang Dynasty, and cannot be sacrificed worthlessly under the crazy fantasies of some people...

However, after Liu Shi improved and updated the test process and implemented it resolutely, the number of casualties was greatly reduced.

However, the experiment had not made any progress, and there were constant criticisms from the outside world, which made Liu Shi feel that he had failed Fang Jun's trust and he was under tremendous pressure.

Every year, millions of strings of cash were thrown into the river without making any sound. This was truly astonishing. If Fang Jun had not been able to come up with a result that could shock the world, it was easy to imagine how much people would laugh at him...

Fang Jun didn't care about it. He patted Liu Shi on the shoulder and comforted him, "Every failure is a step closer to success. You must insist that the path you are taking is right. As long as you persist, you will succeed one day."

Throughout history, scientific research has always been the most difficult path.

It would be fine if you just spent countless amounts of money, but the problem is that the money spent may not be valuable. Once you take the wrong path, it is impossible to achieve the desired results.

Fortunately, although Fang Jun doesn't know anything about materials science, he knows how to go this way. As long as he keeps moving forward along the established route, he will succeed sooner or later...

The two continued to move forward, occasionally stopping into roadside workshops to inspect, chatting with the craftsmen, understanding the research and casting progress of various inventions, and proposing some ways to improve them, and they never got tired of it.

Returning to the official residence set up by the river, Liu Shi drove away a group of officials, personally poured tea for Fang Jun, and then said with concern: "Now the court and the public are extremely unfriendly to the Foundry, especially Liu Xiangdao and his censors, who have repeatedly impeached the Foundry for having too many steel furnaces and heavy smoke, which affects the environment around Chang'an and causes bad air. I hope it will be banned..."

Fang Jun took a sip of tea, looked up at the black smoke rising in the distance outside the window and lingering for a long time, feeling a little helpless.

Although Fang Jun did not have the wild idea of ​​industrializing the Tang Dynasty, the output and quality of steel were able to rapidly promote the development of productivity. In particular, the changes in social structure caused by this new thing would put the entire society in a state of active exploration and enterprising spirit, completely destroying the foundation of Confucianism's "ruling by inaction". This was a more important progress than the successful research of firearms and steam engines.