Chapter 602: Useless Mission, Furious Luo Chong (Please vote and subscribe)

Lu Xingfa's story became popular all of a sudden. He was appreciated by the chief just by two small inventions. He was directly promoted to the fourth-level Zhizuo title. He was also given a surname by the chief himself and was granted the position of the head of the Ministry of Industry. Although I don't know what kind of official this is, it sounds very impressive. What a great honor.

After a short period of heated discussion, some people suddenly became interested in his inventions and wanted to know what it was that could attract the chief's interest and get affirmation. For a time, threads and ball bearings became the new fashion in the craftsman circle, and quickly spread from the shipyard to the people, and then spread to the counties of the Han tribe through the circulation of materials, becoming a household hot topic.

Luo Chong did not comment on the impact of public opinion on this matter, or he said that this was the situation he hoped to see. As the saying goes, what the leader likes, the people will follow. When everyone knows that the leader attaches importance to inventions and creations, the people below will actively participate in the ranks of inventors. This is only good for the technological progress of the Han tribe . However, on the third day after the incident, Luo Chong suppressed a group of craftsmen in the shipyard.

Due to the popularity of public opinion, the shipyard workers only thought about inventions, hoping to get a title, promotion and wealth instantly like Lu Xingfa, and gradually began to slack off, greatly reducing the production efficiency of the shipyard. Even some workshop foremen began to neglect their main jobs, resulting in a slow completion of the brig and the delay in the launch of the new ship project.

When Luo Chong learned the news, he went to the shipyard in person and reduced the ranks of the craftsmen who were passive and lazy by one level, and deducted half a month's salary. One of the craftsmen who took sick leave and secretly invented at home was directly demoted to a commoner by Luo Chong. The third-level title was stripped to the bottom by Luo Chong, and he instantly became a civilian and had to start from an apprentice again.

He was listed as a negative example and posted on the city bulletin board and criticized.

The leader's harsh and thunderous means swept away the evil winds that had grown in the shipyard in a blink of an eye. The craftsmen started their intense work again, and no one dared to think about it during work hours.

I really didn't dare to do it. This was a real demotion. What does demotion mean? You must know that in the Han tribe, the title is not only a kind of honor, nor is it just a symbol of status, but a product directly linked to land. The level of the title directly determines the amount of land divided, and the amount of land is directly linked to economic output.

If the title was taken away, the extra land that his family had been allocated would be gone, and without land, the output would be reduced, which were all real food and money. Who dared not to take this matter seriously?

After this incident, Luo Chong summoned Lu Xingfa alone and severely criticized his behavior of showing off everywhere, but did not do anything more. He just urged him to finish the work as soon as possible, move his family to Hanyang City, and go to work early.

After dealing with these things, Luo Chong hurriedly rode back to Hanyang City, because he suddenly received a letter from Hanyang City that morning, which said that Jin Yi had returned in the morning.

Jin Yi had been appointed as the commander of the Jinwu Guard by Luo Chong long ago, in charge of intelligence collection inside and outside the Han tribe. In name, he was the commander of his own imperial guards. However, Luo Chong had sent him to the caravan traveling with the delegation, specifically responsible for the intelligence collection and transmission of the grassland nomadic forces and the Xin tribe. Now he suddenly came back. Did something happen to the delegation? Therefore, Luo Chong was eager to go back to find out, so he did not wait for the new ship to start construction before leaving.

In the early winter of October, it had not yet started snowing in the Han tribe. The wind was very strong and the air was very dry. The horses galloped at high speed, raising a trail of dust on the road. Luo Chong galloped all the way, changed a fast horse in Sitong County on the way, and returned to Hanyang City at noon that day. He summoned Jin Yi, who had returned in the morning, to the top floor of the official building.

"Jin Yi greets the leader." After Jin Yi came to the office on the top floor, he immediately knelt on one knee, clasped his hands together, and paid homage with a military general's etiquette.

"Get up, why did you suddenly come back? Is there a problem with the delegation or the caravan?" Luo Chong asked directly.

"Ah? Nothing happened?" Jin Yi suddenly said in confusion when he heard Luo Chong's question.

"Then why did you suddenly come back?" Luo Chong frowned and stared at him.

"I came back to report the recent situation to the leader. There are too many things to say, and it is not easy to write in the letter, so I came back specially and sent some livestock back to the tribe.

Oh, I forgot to mention this. I left the team and came back early. There were dozens of people from our caravan on the next two days. We specially escorted a batch of livestock back. There were more than 2,000 cattle and horses, most of which were cattle.

The current grassland forces are a bit chaotic. I am not very confident about this escort mission, so I came back with them and reported the situation to the leader. It was not until I left the grassland and entered the mountainous area that I left the team and came back early." Seeing Jin Yi frowned twice, he hurriedly began to explain.

Luo Chong nodded after listening to them, and did not express any opinion on their arrangement. The caravan was sent by Luo Chong to provide logistical support and military support for the delegation, but it was still a caravan after all, so it was inevitable to trade with the local nomadic tribes. What were they trading? Naturally, it was cattle and horses and other livestock.

After there were too many of these livestock, they could not raise them themselves. After all, the caravan also had the task of logistical support. It was impossible to drive these livestock to graze every day, so of course they had to send a batch back to the tribe, and then transport some logistical materials and goods to the grassland to replenish the consumption of the caravan outside, so it was normal for them to come back.

However, when Luo Chong heard Jin Yi say that the situation on the grassland was a bit chaotic, he asked calmly.

"Did Maodun and Suritu fight again?"

Jin Yi was very surprised to hear Luo Chong's question, and asked back in surprise: "Ah? I haven't told you yet, how did the chief know?"

Luo Chong glared at him dissatisfiedly, "Huh, you still know you didn't tell me? The commander of the Jinwu Guard is responsible for intelligence collection and transmission, but I heard such important information from someone else, and you, the commander, still have the nerve to say it?"

This was a direct expression of dissatisfaction with him. Seeing the chief suddenly angry, Jin Yi was so scared that he quickly stood up from the other side of the tea table and knelt on the ground.

"Chief, calm down. It's my fault that I didn't do well and disappointed the chief."

"Why didn't you send back any information for so long?" Luo Chong also stood up and paced with his hands behind his back and asked.

"Chief Rong, the journey of our caravan and the delegation was not smooth. It took two months to reach the secret bridge of the Xin tribe. We also encountered harassment from Maodun's forces on the way. However, the ambassador and I both knew the importance of the delegation and did not punish Maodun. We only warned him. Fortunately, he also knew the strength of our Han tribe and did not openly become our enemy. There was no conflict between the two sides.

However, it was precisely because they delayed us for a few days that we did not catch up with the good opportunity of the tide to cross the bridge. We could only camp on the coast, which wasted a month in vain. It was not until the beginning of the next month when the tide was low that the ambassador and I proposed to cross the bridge immediately to the Xin tribe.

However, the leader of the Xin tribe who was accompanying us said that if we went directly, the leader of the Xin tribe might mistake us for enemies who had robbed us. So he proposed to go back first to report the delegation's mission and test the attitude of the leader of the Xin tribe. If the leader of the Xin tribe agreed, he would come to pick up our delegation.

As a result, the guy was gone for two days and did not come until the tide rose again in the bay . We had no choice but to wait for another month until the second tide fell and the bridge was exposed. The guy came from Zhudao and said that the leader of the Xin tribe agreed to our mission. Then he led the delegation to Zhudao. However, things

did not go smoothly after the delegation landed. The ambassador wrote back saying that the negotiations between the two sides on the permanent residence of the delegation were progressing very slowly, especially on the allocation of a piece of land for the use of the delegation. The leader of the Xin tribe was unwilling to agree.

He agreed to let our delegation stay permanently, but only gave us a few bamboo buildings for our delegation to live in. At the same time, our delegation was restricted from going out, and our delegation was not allowed to trade on Zhudao Island, which restricted our scope of activities.

Therefore, the spies planted by the Jinwu Guard in the delegation could not go out to carry out intelligence gathering and long-term undercover plans.

I was worried that the leader would blame me for my poor performance and remove me from my position, so I kept dragging my feet and wanted to wait until there was new progress on the side of the delegation, and then give the leader good news.

"Jin Yi is wrong, please punish me, leader."

Jin Yi said in one breath, and buried his head in the ground, not daring to look up at Luo Chong again.

Luo Chong did not speak, nor did he let Jin Yi get up. He just paced silently in the room, quickly analyzing the information in his mind.

From the Han tribe to the south, it takes more than a month to get out of the mountains and reach the grassland. It is easier to walk on the grassland, but it takes more than half a month to reach the southwest end of the mainland. On the way, they encountered harassment from Maodun. However, it took the delegation two months to reach the other side of Zhudao. In terms of speed, it is relatively fast. There is nothing to complain about it. It

's just that the delegation wasted two months because of a small matter, which made Luo Chong very dissatisfied. Why did they have to inform the Xin tribe in advance? Not to mention that they didn't catch up with the low tide when they just arrived at the place, they shouldn't let the leader go to inform first when the second low tide came, but they should directly land on Zhudao and let the delegation go to the Xin tribe in a strong posture.

Let the other party inform first, and then go out after getting permission. The momentum of the delegation has been reduced, as if our Han tribe is inferior to the Xin tribe. Being a guest in your home is giving you face, you should feel honored and feel that you are honored. What's going on now? Before you even reach the door of someone's house, you are already inferior.

Besides, when Niu Wei ran to the Han tribe and clamored to go on a diplomatic mission, did he think about the need to inform in advance? The Han tribe agreed to their mission at that time, which was the demeanor of a great country. What kind of people are you, the Xin tribe? Our Han tribe, a great country, came to your small family to teach you technology, but you actually have to inform before entering the door?

Luo Chong became more and more angry as he thought about it. This Jin Yi and Shou Ya simply made the Han tribe lose face. Don't they know how powerful the Han tribe behind you is? They actually lowered their status and waited on the shore for a month in vain. Maybe the top leaders of the Xin tribe on the opposite side are treating them like fools.

And they were asked to report in advance, which gave them time to prepare. In a month, who knows what the leader said to the leader of the Xin tribe? Maybe they have already discussed how to deal with the delegation. The fact that the negotiations after the delegation landed have not been smooth is proof of this. The Han tribe did not show any flaws on the surface. All actions were to help the Xin tribe to build. Why did the other party keep dragging their feet and not agree? They must have planned some countermeasures in advance.

It took two months on the road, two months on the shore, and two months in the negotiations after landing. Now it has taken another two months for the caravan to send cattle and horses back. It has wasted more than half a year in total. In the end, nothing was accomplished and so much money and food was wasted in vain.

Thinking of this, Luo Chong suddenly asked, "What about the carriages we sold to the Xin tribe? Have they given them the carriages? Have they paid for the goods? There are thousands of carriages, and the payment alone is more than two thousand cattle and horses. Why did you only bring back more than two thousand cattle and horses this time? Where are the payments?"

Jin Yi's body, lying on the ground, suddenly trembled and he stuttered.

"Replying to the chief, those cars have been sent to the Xin tribe along with the delegation. The Xin tribe also agreed to the price we offered and promised to pay for the goods with cattle and horses. But someone from their side said that the Xin tribe could not afford so many cattle and horses, and their livestock were all exchanged for sea salt from the grassland tribe.

Their people said that the sea salt trade of the Xin tribe has now been fully entrusted to Maodun, and the cattle and horses exchanged have not yet been transported to the Xin tribe, so they asked us to go directly to Maodun to ask for the cattle and horses as payment for the goods.

But when our caravan went to Maodun to ask for the cattle and horses, Maodun said that the white salt was commissioned by the Xin tribe to sell, and the cattle and horses exchanged should be given to the Xin tribe, not to us. But when we went back to the Xin tribe, the Xin tribe once again claimed that there were no extra cattle and horses on Zhudao, and asked us to ask Maodun, so, so..."

Luo Chong was immediately furious when he heard this. He kicked Jin Yi, who was kneeling on the ground, and made him roll several times, cursing.

"You are useless. You can't even handle such a small matter. You are treated like fools. You have brought shame to our Han tribe. Can't you see that they are shirking the responsibility by blaming each other? You are really a bunch of idiots. What use do I have for useless people like you?"

(End of this chapter)