Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

When Du He heard that Li Chengqian had something to discuss with him, his expression paused slightly, then he waved his hand and said.

"Go back and report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I'll be there soon."

Because he couldn't come back quickly after going to the Eastern Palace, and as the Minister of Works, he had to go to the Ministry of Works first to see if there were any important matters that needed his attention.

By the way, he should also inform Yu Chang, the Minister of Works, to at least let him know where he is going so that he can send someone to find him if there is any emergency.

"As ordered!"

The prince's personal guards saluted respectfully with their fists clasped, then walked quickly towards the East Palace.

After Du He entered the Ministry of Works, he first called Yu Chang and the doctors of the Fourth Department to his office and asked them directly.

"What important matters do you have that require my review?"

"I have to go to the East Palace later, and I won't be back to the Ministry of Works until the afternoon at the earliest. If there is something urgent now, please speak up."

After a few moments of silence.

Xiao Kai was the first to speak: "Minister Du, in addition to instructing the Chief of Works to build the fire pit and prepare a large amount of firewood and charcoal, the remaining thing is to innovate the straight plow."

"These tasks have been issued and do not require additional review."

At present, the Tang Dynasty's ability to mine coal is still relatively weak. It basically relies on burning wood to make firewood and then refining it into honeycomb coal.

Therefore, for the Yu Department, burning paper, firewood and charcoal is the most tedious and labor-intensive job.

As for the innovation of the straight plow, Xiao Kai simply ordered his subordinates to tinker with it without spending too much energy and time.

After Xiao Kai finished speaking, Xie Rongxing from the Ministry of Works and Feng Jian, a doctor from the Ministry of Military Farms, also stated that they had no other important government affairs to deal with recently, and instead wanted to focus on developing the curved plow.

Xie Rongxian whispered, "Minister Du, I think the innovation of the straight plow cannot be completed overnight. We need to calm down and develop it slowly."

“If we want to improve the straight plow compared to the previous one, it will be difficult to achieve the desired result without sufficient time for trial.”

Yesterday afternoon, the people from their Ministry of Industry stared at the long straight-beam plow and the short straight-beam plow for a long time, and in the end everyone said they had no idea where to start.

After all, most of the people in the Ministry of Works are clerks. They are mainly responsible for handling the internal affairs of the Ministry of Works and are not good at craftsmanship.

Xie Rongxing even swallowed his pride and asked a good friend from the Production Supervisor to come over and ask him for help and advice.

When his good friend, who was the Chief of Works, learned that the Minister of Works Du He was leading the people of the Ministry of Works to innovate the straight plow, and that it would be completed in just 5 days.

He immediately said sarcastically without mercy.

"Brother Xie, if the straight plow is so easy to innovate, why did we take so long to come up with it?"

"How can it be your Ministry of Industry's turn to take such a huge credit?"

"Don't even mention giving you 5 days. Even if I give you 5 years or even longer, you still won't be able to figure it out!"

Then his good friend told him that the Chief of Construction had been trying to innovate the straight plow over the years, but in the end there had not been much improvement.

He also advised Xie Rongxiang to give up as soon as possible and not to fool around with Du He, the young Minister of Works.

If this matter were to spread to the court, people from other departments would definitely laugh at their Ministry of Works.

Seeing his friend leave with a gloomy face, Xie Rongxing also began to back out.

Immediately afterwards, Feng Jian, a doctor from the Tuntian Division, also stood up and spoke.

"Minister Du, since our Ministry of Industry wants to innovate the straight plow, I think we should go all out and make some achievements."

"Otherwise, the time for development will be too short and we won't be able to come up with anything in the end. I'm afraid our Ministry of Industry will be laughed at by others."

From the words of these two people, it is not difficult to hear that they want to extend the time for the innovation of the straight plow.

But Du He didn't expect them to make the curved plow, or even to make a new plow that was better than the curved plow. He just wanted them to get involved.

Now that they know more about the structure of the plow, it will be easier for them to build the actual curved plow later.

Du He pretended not to understand what they meant and encouraged them instead.

"Just go ahead and do it. With this minister backing you up, you will definitely be able to innovate the straight plow."

After hearing Du He's arrogant words, Xie Rongxing and Feng Jian looked at each other, without any trust on their faces.

They seemed to see in their minds how their colleagues in other departments would mercilessly mock them when they found out about their nonsense.

Mediocrity is not scary, what is scary is doing stupid things.

Now, spending five days to innovate the straight plow seemed stupid to them.

Du He and Xiao Kai are two dissolute young men with a mixed reputation. Even if people know that they are fooling around, the audience will just laugh.

But for these four people who care about their reputation, being laughed at by their colleagues is a very shameful thing.

Yu Chang saw what they were thinking, so he frowned and gave them a warning.

"You two don't need to ask any more questions, and don't have any thoughts in your mind. Just follow Du Shangshu's orders."

"Haven't you seen what Du Shangshu is capable of?"

As Du He's deputy, Yu Chang maintained full trust in him and carried out all the orders he issued.

Seeing that Yu Chang looked a little unhappy, Xie Rongxing and Feng Jian quickly stood up and responded.

"As ordered!"

Du He didn't care about their little actions, and he could understand the worries in their hearts.

Because something like the curved plow was beyond their imagination, they had no idea what it was, let alone how to make it in such a short time.

Or even if they were given several years, they might not be able to convert a straight-beam plow into a curved-beam plow.

After everyone quieted down, Wang Hongzhi, the doctor of the Water Department who had been silent, slowly stood up and spoke.

"Minister Du, Cangzhou Governor Xue Dading has submitted a memorial, requesting that the Wudi Canal be repaired, a waterway wharf be built, and the sea be opened to promote grain transport."

"After the Wudi ditch is properly managed, it will not only benefit the fishing and salt production, but also irrigate millions of acres of fertile farmland on both sides of the ditch."

Local officials who wanted to build large canals and open waterways and docks had to consult the court and obtain permission before they could carry out the plan.

Because to carry out such a large project, in addition to mobilizing thousands of laborers and spending a large amount of silver, it also requires people from the Water Department and the Capital Water Conservancy Bureau to provide guidance.

Moreover, it would be impossible to build a navigable canal without several years.

"Repair Wudigou?" Du He raised his eyebrows slightly, and then asked in a deep voice: "What is the situation of this ditch? Please tell me in detail."

"promise!"

Wang Hongzhi clasped his fists respectfully in response, then began to introduce them aloud.

"Wudigou runs across the entire territory of Cangzhou and flows eastward into the sea. It is an important waterway."

"In recent years, the Yellow River has flooded and changed its course several times, causing a large amount of silt to accumulate in the Wudigou waterway, which not only makes it impossible for commercial ships to pass through, but also easily causes floods."