When people in the Song Dynasty were lawless, the main text of the 283rd chapter, National Construction and Major Events, was happening. When the Liao Kingdom was watching the situation and instigating the Western Xia to test the strength of the Song Dynasty’s army, what was the Song Dynasty doing?
At this time, the Song Dynasty was doing a lot of things.
Needless to say, reforming the military is a long process.
With an army of over one million, they have to capture so many criminal officers, draw elite troops to fill the vacancies, eliminate the old and weak, and reorganize the troops.
Even many of the numbers of wings, armies, and battalions were to be cancelled, reducing the more than 2,000 battalions of the three yamen to more than 1,000.
This is a huge challenge for the Ministry of War and other departments that assist it.
However, the task has been handed down, and the obstacles from the upper levels have been dealt with. What remains is for envoys from all over the country to work together with the Censorate and the Imperial City Administration to carry out the task, and then the Privy Council will select the personnel, so the Council of Constitutional Affairs does not need to be concerned.
As stated previously, the Constitutional Yuan is responsible for the broad direction of reform and overseeing its implementation. The specific implementation guidelines will naturally fall to the executors.
On September 14th, twelve days after the Western Xia attacked Qingtang, it was already late autumn, winter was about to set in, and the weather was getting colder day by day.
Although it didn't snow, the howling north wind outside brought a bone-chilling cold.
In the Constitutional Court, many prime ministers were wearing cotton-padded clothes, warming themselves by the braziers, and flipping through the official documents below. Some were checking the performance accounts of the most recent month, some were looking at the official documents belonging to various departments, and some were marking them with brushes.
One of the twelve prime ministers is missing. Shengdu has been ill recently. Historically, he died in the first year of the Qingli period, which was 1041 AD. Although his life has been extended by three years, he is still seventy-six years old.
This illness meant that he had not attended court for more than a month and had not been on duty at the Council of Constitution, which meant that after Wang Sui died first, he would become the second in command at the Council of Constitution.
But there is nothing we can do about it.
I don’t know if it’s because all prime ministers have short lives, but in history, people like Cai Qi, Song Shou, and Wang Zeng basically died during the Baoyuan to Qingli period, which was between 1039 and 1041 AD.
They are actually not that old. Cai Qi and Song Shou are only in their fifties now. For example, Cai Qi is 56 years old, Song Shou is 53 years old, and Wang Zeng is 66 years old.
But this is people's fate, and perhaps it really does affect their lifespan.
Historically, they were exiled, depressed, transferred here and there, and eventually died of illness early.
Now he is in good health. In addition to the effect of the medicine brought by Zhao Jun, what is more important is that his state of mind is completely different, so the results are naturally different.
"Hanlong, take a look. This is the project report for the river management project for the first half of this year. I've already approved it. According to the construction schedule, we'll be able to completely resolve the river disaster before the river bursts its banks in 1048."
Jia Changchao, who is currently in charge of the Yellow River management, brought the official document to Zhao Jun for review. Zhao Jun is the busiest person in the Constitutional Court. He doesn't have to worry about small matters, but all major projects require his approval.
Zhao Jun took the document from Jia Changchao and quickly read through it. The Yellow River is now being treated on three fronts, mobilizing more than 300,000 civilians along the Hebei and Henan coasts. From Luoyang all the way to Binzhou Bohai downstream, there are more than 50 projects of various sizes.
There are projects such as dredging tributary waterways along the river, digging new canals, building dams in the Yellow River, controlling water flow and flushing sand, and so on. All methods such as draining, blocking, and dredging are implemented. Although the project volume is not as large as directly excavating the Yellow River, the cost and the entire management and repair work are definitely not easy.
"Well, the imperial court has already built a cement plant. Whether it's a steel plant or a cement plant, the technical issues have been resolved. The remaining problem is the road. In the next few decades, the Song Dynasty's national policy will be to vigorously promote infrastructure construction."
Zhao Jun finished reading the document and said, "Cement cannot be produced on a large scale for use in Yellow River management at this time. We will use primitive methods for now. Once the transportation problem at the cement plant is resolved, we can use cement to strengthen the Yellow River."
Just as steel mills need iron ore, coal mines, and roads, cement plants also need iron ore, lime mines, clay mines, and roads.
It doesn't mean that you can start production immediately once you find the cement formula.
If the three types of mines are unevenly distributed, the cost of land transportation will be very high. We can only learn from Wu'an and dig a canal and develop inland shipping first to ensure transportation.
Zhao Jun was filled with anticipation for the steam engine. He turned to Zhang Shixun, who was in charge of the Academy of Sciences, and asked, "Duke Deng, how is the steam engine research and development going?"
"That newly minted scholar named Su Song is truly a genius. He has already solved many of the problems encountered with previous steam engines."
Zhang Shixun said, "Although Your Majesty has discovered the principles of the steam engine and the manufacturing method of Watt's steam engine from history, the steam engine you have produced is always not efficient enough, and there may be some other minor problems."
"Well, many inventions in history lacked a flash of inspiration. To be frank, the technical aspects are not worth mentioning. What I can do is to make up for it, but I am not omnipotent. I only know the principles of the steam engine. I have to rely on them to explore on their own."
Zhao Jun sighed, then signed for Jia Changchao while saying, "We'll start preparing to go out to sea again this year. We need to deal with those people in the general family who need to be dealt with, and let those who need to return home return. We also have to make a gesture and not let them down."
"Are we still going to Japan and Korea first, like before?"
Wang Zeng asked.
"The markets in Japan and Goryeo are already saturated. Even if they could dig up mountains of gold and silver, the market is so small and the population is so limited. Besides, they themselves can't even feed themselves. Only the upper class has the purchasing power. Why would they buy so many Song Dynasty handicrafts?"
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