Xia Ying looked at Kong Zhang in front of him, not knowing how to react for a moment.
Of course, the other party's words and deeds were indeed shocking.
I can't believe that a prince with a silver spoon in his mouth... no, a golden body, actually doesn't like eating, drinking and having fun, but prefers squatting by the river and making water wheels???
However, this spirit is still worth encouraging. As for the Versailles issue, since coming to this dimension, the students and gentlemen in Langyun have been doing Versailles for a while, so Student Xia has developed a high enough immunity.
What really surprised him was the other party's ability.
Not only is there a huge waterwheel behind him used to irrigate the cotton fields, but he is also the director of the factory?
Even though Kong Zhang was a prince, he could not compete with the people for profit and did not get the permission of the King of Zhou, so he had the word "honor" in front of his name. However, Xia Ying knew very well that since this person said he would be responsible for the products produced by the factory, it proved that he was the person in charge of the factory.
In other words, he is the real factory director.
Although Langyun has never interfered too much in the internal affairs of the indigenous people, matters such as building factories and roads are closely related to the mission, and teachers and students of related majors must inevitably inquire about them.
Kong Zhang was able to design and manufacture this waterwheel on his own and also stabilize his position as factory director. At least this person's ability is unquestionable.
As for King Zhou wanting to take him back, that was their own business and had nothing to do with Xia Ying.
What he needed to do was to give some confidence to this "foreign student" who came to Langyun from Zhou State.
So Xia Ying smiled and said, "I hope everything goes well for you, Director Kong."
This title sounds far less honorable than "Gongzi Zhang".
However, Kong Zhang, who was fully immersed in mechanical design and manufacturing, was particularly happy, especially since it was Xia Ying who called him that. He was even happier.
Although this was not enough for him to stay in Dechang County, it at least proved that he was indeed qualified to stay.
Who dares to question what the immortal has acknowledged?
This made the young Master Zhang puff out his chest, holding his design board, and turned to look at Tan Min, thinking in his mind how to refuse this Lord Tan.
But I didn't expect that Tan Min didn't say anything.
He didn't even look at the Kong Zhang.
Through his sunglasses, he raised his head and looked at the waterwheel, at the structures on it that he could not understand at all, and then at the endless white cotton fields around him.
Soon, he looked back at Young Master Zhang. His lips, which had been pursed into a straight line, curved up, and a smile lingered in his voice. He touched his forehead with his hand and bowed solemnly. "Young Master, you are a man of great talent and wholeheartedly serve the people. I admire you immensely. I hope everything goes well for you and that you can build more and better things. I will certainly commend you for your achievements to His Majesty."
These words actually made Kong Zhang a little surprised.
It was clear that the man had a gloomy face, a rapid voice, and determination written all over his body.
But who could have thought that in just a few words, Tan Min's attitude would take a 180-degree turn.
Kong Zhang was a little skeptical: "Really?"
Tan Min smiled and said, "Of course I take it seriously." After that, he really bowed and said goodbye, then turned to look at other places in the cotton field, without any intention of lingering.
This made Kong Zhang breathe a sigh of relief, and he whispered, "I thought he would be knocked unconscious and taken away."
These words caused the guards who had been following him to unconsciously put their hands on the hilt of their swords, but there was doubt in their voices: "Why do you think so, sir? Lord Tan is a minister after all, he would never resort to such methods."
But Gongzi Zhang said firmly: "No, he dares. There is nothing in the Zhou Kingdom that he dares not do."
The personal guard was a little confused: "Sir, this subordinate is stupid."
Since this personal guard was Kong Zhang's confidant, Kong Zhang didn't hold back and said directly, "Although I don't have many connections in the capital, I know that this Lord Tan Min was able to rise to the second rank at such a young age. It wasn't just his good looks or his iron-clad brushwork that helped him rise so quickly. If it were just these superficial things, he would have been sent home to recuperate when he became blind, and he wouldn't have been able to stay strong."
As he spoke, Gongzi Zhang gathered his sleeves.
The young master, who always looked young and naive, spoke in an unusually calm voice at this moment: "Tan Min relied on his absolute loyalty to our father, even going so far as to turn against his own family. Furthermore, he possessed a ruthless approach. Back when Lord Tan was in the Ministry of Justice, he would confiscate property and enforce the law without mercy. This is how he seized relief funds for the Zhou Kingdom, which had been ravaged by disaster. This, in turn, offended the aristocratic families and made him a completely isolated official. However, this also earned him the trust of our father, allowing him to rise to the highest position within a few years."
When Kong Zhang spoke of this, his tone was neither hurried nor slow, without any ups and downs.
But the guards could hear the turbulent waves.
He also knew that he couldn't comment on these matters casually, so he finally just asked, "Then why did Lord Tan give up trying to persuade the young master so easily?"
Kong Zhang shook his head slightly, "I don't know either," but he soon became cheerful. "But I believe that as long as Lord Tan has agreed, he won't regret it. There's no point in thinking too much. Come on, follow me to the other side and see if there's anything else that needs reinforcement."
"yes."
On the other hand, Tan Ao also had doubts in his heart.
He walked side by side with Tan Min, turning his head to look at this man from time to time.
This caused Tan Min to look back helplessly: "Brother, if you have something to say, just say it. It's scary to see you staring at me like this all the time."
Hearing this, Tan Ao no longer had any pretense and asked directly, "What were you hesitating about just now?"
Tan Minfeng said calmly, "Nothing, I was just thinking about how to quietly knock Master Zhang unconscious so we can get back to the capital."
Tan Ao: ...Okay, you are worthy of it.
Taking a deep breath, he then asked, "So what made you change your mind?"
Tan Min paused, his fingertips brushing against the cotton. The soft touch made him feel a little itchy, and he unconsciously retracted his fingertips. A smile appeared on his face, and his voice was as gentle as ever: "Because I suddenly remembered a sentence from County Magistrate Yue."
"What?"
"Whatever he does, it's for the country and the people. This statement was taught to him by books in the fairyland, so it's naturally correct."
This is what County Magistrate Yue said yesterday. Imperial Physician Tan naturally remembered it, but he couldn't figure out how to connect this sentence with what was happening now.
Tan Min didn't need him to ask and said directly, "This is different from what I learned before. Before, I only knew loyalty to the monarch and the struggles in the court. But now, it's like a kite floating in the clouds. I can't see anything on the ground. I can't see it. I don't know what the people want. Even Master Zhang can build a waterwheel, but I can't even tell what a waterwheel is."
Tan Ao frowned slightly: "But since you are an official, you are destined to be different from the people."
Tan Min pushed up his sunglasses and said softly, "Who said it was destined?"
This question stumped Imperial Physician Tan.
However, Tan Min obviously did not expect to get the answer now. In fact, after he changed his perspective, he found that some of his previous doubts were resolved, but soon he faced greater doubts.
These are not ordinary problems concerning people's livelihood and finances, but are much bigger and deeper issues that even he, the top scholar, cannot understand.
But no matter what, there is one decision that will not change.
Tan Min smiled and said, "Since you want to stay, then as a subject, I must respect you."
If it were someone else, they would not think there was anything wrong with this statement.
But the person standing next to him was the extremely upright Imperial Physician Tan, whom he had known since childhood.
So Tan Ao said slowly: "But when you said you wanted to kidnap him just now, why didn't you mention the way of being a minister?"
Tan Min still smiled: "This is a different time now. I can't force you to go back to eat, drink and have fun."
Tan Ao said, "He didn't really go back to eat, drink and have fun, there are other things going on."
He didn't elaborate on what he said next, but Tan Min knew it very well.
What else can a young man do besides the throne?
This made Tan Min laugh and said, "I didn't expect that a quiet person like you would actually calculate these things?"
Tan Ao's expression was calm: "Since you said that we are in the same boat, then I have to think about how to avoid capsizing."
Tan Min was stunned for a moment, then he started laughing.
I don't know whether I'm happy that this person has come to my senses, or surprised that this person really wants to be tied to me.
But he soon stopped laughing and said gently, "How can you be so sure that you can't make a good career by doing practical work in this county?"
Tan Ao looked thoughtful.
Tan Min continued, "Sometimes, some things cannot be forced, so it's best to be honest and down-to-earth."
Imperial Physician Tan looked up at him and said, "For example, when faced with difficulties, you pretend to be a good person?"
Tan Min coughed lightly and stopped looking at him. He just kept muttering in his heart: Senior brother is good in everything except that he is becoming less and less respectful to his elder.
Alas, the morals of the world are going downhill, and I am deeply saddened!
After watching in the cotton fields for a while, when the auspicious time was almost up, the two of them went with the students of Langyun to watch the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the textile factory.
Thanks to the strong support from County Magistrate Yue and the early preparation of talent, the textile factory got on track quickly from that day on and soon produced finished products.
Cotton cloth, which was previously made entirely by manual spinning and weaving, now uses equipment in textile factories. Even without steam engines, the efficiency is already amazing.
The price of cotton cloth stabilized immediately, and caravans that heard the news flocked to Dechang County, hoping to get this fresh clothing material as soon as possible.
After all, we are all businessmen and we know very well that scarcity makes things valuable.
If you get the cotton cloth business early, you can resell it to a distant place and get a good price.
Otherwise, once the output of the textile factory increases significantly, the charcoal pencil incident in Fenghe County of Qi State will be repeated, and the price will drop sharply. At that time, we can only make small profits but quick turnover.
What? You said cotton is a new crop and its price won’t drop so quickly?
Why don’t you see who started planting it!
This is Dechang County. The county magistrate here is named Yue, who has "Serving the country and the people with integrity all his life" engraved on his forehead.
From the day he started building the factory, he was probably thinking about making cotton cloth cheaper and even cheaper.
Therefore, the caravans set their sights on this gap before the factory could speed up its operations and came in droves, hoping to finalize the contract as soon as possible.
Even if the price cannot be raised in the future, we can still maintain good relations with Dechang County.
If something good is developed here, they can get it later.
This directly led to Dechang County suddenly becoming lively.
And in the midst of the hustle and bustle, many more people came to seek refuge.
Among them were some people wearing strange clothes.
The weather is obviously getting warmer now, and ordinary people only need to wear a single piece of clothing, but these people are wearing leather clothes, wrapping themselves tightly and looking exhausted.
They looked like they were seeking refuge, driving a car, but there was no luggage in the car. They simply carried their bags on their backs.
The cars were full of sheep, and some people in the team were holding lambs in their arms, bleating all the way.
Among them, the leader was a tall and strong woman named Tana.
Her skin was not as fair as that of ordinary women, and she did not wear any makeup or flowers, but she looked particularly healthy without makeup, and her eyes were black and bright, and extremely beautiful.
But at this moment, those originally beautiful eyes were filled with worry.
Her tribe was not big, but they lived well on the grassland. However, they were suddenly attacked and after a fierce resistance, less than fifty people escaped.
Now they are fleeing with their last possessions, heading to a strange country and an unknown future.
This made Tana's face full of sadness.
The middle-aged man who was following closely took two steps forward, looking to both sides and said, "Chief, if we continue forward, we will reach the border county of Zhou State. If we really reach it, there will be no turning back."
Tana looked puzzled: "Where do you want to go back to?"
The middle-aged man was silent for a moment before he said, "The grassland originally belonged to the barbarians. Although our tribe was robbed by the barbarians this time, the barbarian country is also very divided. As long as we join another group of barbarians like other tribes, at least we can have grassland and land. But if we go to Zhou State..."
"how?"
"I heard that the Zhou people's land is barren and unsuitable for grazing, and they don't even have the ability to retake the grasslands. It would be dangerous for us to come here."
After these words were spoken, the other people accompanying him also looked hesitant.
But Tana said firmly: "No, we can't choose the barbarians under any circumstances."
The man was puzzled: "Why did the leader say that?"
Tana's eyes swept over her people, and after taking a deep breath, she spoke, "I don't care what the barbarians are like. As long as they've bullied us, we can't give our future to them. I will never allow myself to become a slave who surrenders without a fight. Besides, our ancestors have said countless times that the grasslands belong to the Zhou Kingdom. We are Zhou people. When we encounter danger, we must naturally seek help from the Zhou Kingdom. We can't be fools who recognize the enemy as our father."
After saying that, she pulled out a whip from her waist and looked at the man.
When he spoke again, his voice was cold: "Turn around."
The man was honest and knew he had said something stupid. He turned around obediently and carefully took off his fur coat, revealing his strong back.
“Pah!”
Two whips hit his back directly, and it soon became swollen.
But the man gritted his teeth, said nothing, quickly put on his fur coat, saluted Tana, and then returned to the team.
Tana put the whip back on her waist and said in a deep voice, "Keep going forward and follow me to meet the leader of Dechang County."
But before she could see the gate of Dechang County, she was stopped by the guards.
One of the guards stepped forward, his sharp blade drawn, and asked in a sharp voice with a vigilant look on his face, "Who are you?"
Seeing him draw his sword, the people from the grassland quickly became alert and each held the weapon in their hands.
But Tana stepped forward first, folded her hands in a salute, and then said in the somewhat awkward Zhou official language: "We are from the grassland, and they are all my people."
The guard was slightly stunned when he heard this and exchanged a glance with his companions. It was obvious that this was also the first time they had encountered visitors from the grassland.
But this did not lower the vigilance of several people.
Then the guard asked, "Then why did you come here?" He looked back and asked, "Are you selling sheep?"
Tana sighed and told them everything about how they were plundered by the barbarians without hiding anything.
Although her language was not fluent and her vocabulary was relatively poor, the simpler the description, the more one could hear the misery and helplessness in it.
In addition, when Tana took out the iron plate belonging to the Zhou people and passed down from generation to generation by the leaders of the grassland tribes, the guards believed it a little more.
Then comes sympathy.
However, he still didn't let them go, but his tone was much gentler: "You all carry sharp weapons. If we are not absolutely sure, we can't let you into the city. After all, there are only unarmed civilians in the city, so we must be cautious."
Although Tana grew up on the grassland, she knew how to read and write, and knew when to advance and retreat. She nodded in understanding, "I understand. I just don't know how you can be sure of it."
The guard thought for a moment and said, "How about this? You wait here first. I'll go report back to the prefect."
Tana showed gratitude: "Thank you."
The guard was young and less wary at the moment, and when he was praised by such a pretty girl, his ears suddenly turned red.
But at this moment, they suddenly heard a "click".
The sound was not loud and no one noticed at first.
But soon there was a "bang" sound.
When everyone looked back, they saw that the sheep on the car had crashed into the guardrail of the car. The moment the wooden fence fell to the ground, a sheep jumped down, bleating and rushed out!
His whole body is covered with "Mee Mee is hungry, Mee Mee wants to eat"!
This scared the guards.
You know, the reason why they set up people to intercept here is because there is a cotton field not far away, and the cotton fields are all the treasures of Dechang County today.
And because the cotton variety given by the immortal is not even waist-high, these sheep can bite it just by stretching their heads.
Although I don’t know whether sheep will eat cotton, what if they do? Even if they just damage it, it will be troublesome!
So the guards hurriedly said, "Quick, stop those sheep!"
Tana also saw the other party's anxiety, but many times, animals are not as easy to manage as humans.
I don't understand what you're saying...
So Tana immediately shouted for someone to stop them and ran forward herself.
As a result, I didn’t run far before I saw a white ocean.
It is harvest season now. The white cotton is hanging there, and the stalks and leaves have turned dark. Under the soft cotton bolls are hard dead leaves that look like thorns.
They had never seen a crop like cotton, and there was no such thing on the grassland. Now all they saw was white, and Tana was stunned.
But she quickly came to her senses.
Although I don't know what this is, judging from the guard's reaction just now, it is obviously something very important.
They originally came here to seek refuge. If they destroyed other people's things before entering the city, it would be even more difficult for them to integrate into the city in the future.
So Tana hurriedly shouted in the language of the grassland: "Hurry up, drive them all back!"
But the sheep was obviously faster than her.
The lead sheep saw the same white cotton. Although they were curious why this strange thing looked like them, they were too hungry to be picky.
Open your mouth and start chewing.
Finally, after taking a bite...
"Mee!"
The sheep that were about to run in just now stopped in their tracks and subconsciously stepped back after being shouted at.
The head sheep quickly turned around and ran towards its owner. When Tana squatted down, it dived into her head, feeling very aggrieved.
Tana was a little confused. She reached out to hold its head and kept asking, "What's wrong, dear, what's wrong?"
After all, the leader sheep is not a human being, so he cannot understand or speak.
But if it could speak, it would bleat loudly:
Those white things have thorns in them! They prick your mouth!
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