Tu Wenhuan brought more than a dozen followers, all of whom were big men like Deng Kui. As soon as Tu Wenhuan gave the order, someone quickly ran to make arrangements. Judging from the behavior of these people, they indeed looked like they came from the army.
Judging from the current military discipline of the Ming Dynasty, these people can be regarded as elite soldiers.
Tu Wenhuan and Su Hao walked slowly to the village together, discussing their experiences in surveying well locations. Tu Wenhuan had rich practical experience, and Su Hao was a professional geologist. The two of them talked quite speculatively. Su Hao
Su Hao's knowledge background was much more solid than that of Tu Wenhuan. Su Hao was able to explain many things that Tu Wenhuan was confused about as soon as he mentioned them. Tu Wenhuan became more and more surprised as he listened. When the two of them walked to the entrance of the village, Tu Wenhuan
His admiration and appreciation for Su Hao are like the water of the Yellow River, flowing endlessly.
Tu Wenhuan is from this village, and his house looks very spectacular. However, Su Hao can tell that the house was built about twenty or thirty years ago. It is estimated that Tu Wenhuan came back to build it after he became successful outside.
House, as for the previous situation of Tu Wenhuan's house, it is difficult to judge.
That night, the Tu family held seven or eight tables of banquets in honor of Su Hao and all the craftsmen and government servants who had done great work in digging the well. The old people in the village, the head of the village, the chief minister, etc. were also invited to accompany them and sit with the craftsmen and government servants.
Together, he was responsible for persuading everyone to drink. The wine table was crowded with people drinking wine, and it was really lively. Huang Ergou drank so much that the pimples on his face protruded. He kept talking about Su Hao with his tongue hanging out, talking about how wise and martial his master Su was.
, ushered in countless compliments.
When other government servants went to the countryside to dig wells, they were treated as official servants by the villagers. Huang Ergou was extremely devastated when he met the powerful Tu Wenhuan. Tu Wenhuan didn't even look down on the county magistrate.
The subordinate official in the yamen was even more indifferent. He pointed out a few well locations to Huang Ergou, and sent his followers to supervise, making Huang Ergou feel like he was being forced to labor. Although he did not suffer any abuse, he
It is unimaginable to receive such a generous reception as today.
Now, Su Hao just foresaw that there was no water in a well, so Tu Wenhuan lowered his head and offered to reward everyone. This made Huang Ergou not very excited.
The craftsmen and government officials were all arranged to have dinner in the courtyard of Tu's family. Tu Wenhuan specially set up a small table to entertain Su Hao in his living room. Only a few of Tu Wenhuan's personal entourage were eligible to accompany him, plus
Chen Guanyu on Su Hao's side. In fact, even Chen Guanyu and Tu Wenhuan don't like him. It's just that he has a few people here. It would be unharmonious if Su Hao doesn't allow any followers to take him.
.
After drinking for three rounds, Tu Wenhuan asked Su Hao about the origin of his knowledge. Su Hao naturally used the rhetoric about the Buddhist missionaries of Folangji to cover it up. Tu Wenhuan nodded with emotion and said: "It turns out that Brother Su learned from the Buddhist missionaries of Folangji."
The way of investigating objects. I have seen a few of the Folangji people, but I didn’t know that they had such knowledge. However, there is something unique about the firearms of the Folangji people.”
Su Hao asked: "Mr. Tu, you said you have seen several Folangji people before. Where did you see them?"
Tu Wenhuan stroked his beard, thinking deeply, and said: "Speaking of which, that was ten years ago. At that time, I was still..., well, at that time, I was ordered to inspect southern Guangdong, and Guangdong Deputy Commander-in-Chief Chen Lin accompanied me.
In Macau, I have dealt with the Franciscan missionaries. Those Franciscan missionaries were also perseverant. In the few years since they first arrived in Ming Dynasty, I have learned the Chinese language and written characters quite fluently. I have worked with several missionaries in
We talked together, but I never heard them talk about these ways of investigating things."
Su Hao said: "This is normal, not every missionary understands these things. Students are lucky enough to meet such a missionary who happens to understand these things."
"This can be regarded as an adventure for Brother Su." Tu Wenhuan said, "Brother Su, what else can you do with these Gwu Tao you have learned in addition to drilling wells? Can you tell me what it can do to open my eyes?
Woolen cloth?"
Su Hao thought for a while and said: "Actually, the knowledge students learn is called geology, which in Western words means the science of the earth. In geology, well exploration is only the most superficial application.
, In addition to well exploration, geological knowledge is more commonly used in mine exploration, engineering construction, natural disaster prevention, etc., and is of great use."
"So Brother Su also knows how to prospect?" Tu Wenhuan said curiously.
Su Hao said modestly: "The student can only be said to have a basic understanding of it."
Tu Wenhuan said: "Prospecting is a great science. If you master this science, you can enrich the country and strengthen the army. If you retreat, you can live in peace and contentment. According to my experience in the Ministry of Industry, throughout our world, there are few people who can master this science."
There are only a few. The country spends a lot on mining every year, but often gets twice the result with twice the result, all because of the lack of prospecting talents."
Su Hao said: "In the final analysis, this is still a question of orientation."
"What is guidance?" Tu Wenhuan asked.
Su Hao said: "In the Ming Dynasty, we rely on articles to get official positions. As long as we can write splendid articles, we can be named on the gold medal list and honor our ancestors. Technologies such as mining and well exploration are often denounced as strange and cunning skills and are not considered to be popular in the world."
Yazhitang. Over time, who else will study such knowledge?"
"It is true." Tu Wenhuan sighed, "Now the imperial court is filled with rotten scholars who are obsessed with studying. They are full of sages and sages, but have no ability to govern the country."
When Su Hao heard what Tu Wenhuan said, he asked: "Mr. Tu, I just heard you say that you were ordered to inspect southern Guangdong. You must be a capital official, right? Are you coming back to Fengcheng this time to visit your relatives?"
As soon as these words came out, the expressions of Tu Wenhuan's followers at the table changed slightly. It seemed that Su Hao was asking a very sensitive topic. Tu Wenhuan made a gesture to everyone to calm down, and then smiled at Su Hao
Said: "What I just told Brother Su happened ten years ago. To be honest, at that time, I served in the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War, and was highly regarded by Mr. Zhang Taiyue at that time. What happened next, Brother Su,
You should be able to imagine it, right?"
"That's it." Su Hao nodded slightly.
The Zhang Taiyue Tu Wenhuan mentioned was Zhang Juzheng, the chief assistant from the first year of Wanli to the tenth year of Wanli. When this man was in power, he had great power, and even Wanli had to look at his face to act. Tu Wenhuan was valued by Zhang Juzheng at that time.
It is also very beautiful. But things are unpredictable. One year after Zhang Juzheng's death, Wanli ransacked his home and almost destroyed his family. As a person related to Zhang Juzheng, Tu Wenhuan's situation should be imagined.
Zhang Juzheng has had mixed reputations in history, but one thing cannot be denied, that is, he was a person who wanted to do some practical things, and he did do some practical things. Before Zhang Juzheng, during the Jiajing period, Yan Song and his son controlled the government.
Corruption and perversion of the law brought the entire country to its deathbed. After Zhang Juzheng came to power, he reorganized the political agenda, consolidated national defense, and especially implemented a whip law to restore the country's financial resources. This gave the Ming Dynasty another few decades of vitality.
As a leader who wants to do things, he will naturally pay special attention to his capable subordinates. Tu Wenhuan must have been favored by Zhang Juzheng for this reason.
"So, where is Mr. Tu's current job?" Su Hao asked again.
Tu Wenhuan said: "The old man is already a useless person, and he still talks about whether he is high or not. In the past few years, the government was investigating the remaining members of the Zhang family, and many people were dismissed from office, or even imprisoned or exiled. Because of my relationship with Zhang Taiyue, I
I didn't have many personal relationships, so I survived, but I could no longer do the job. I was also more sensible, so I went to the court to beg for an official position, and got the imperial court's permission. Therefore, I am now a commoner.
"
"But..." Su Hao glanced at the few followers of Tu Wenhuan on the table, and cast a suspicious look at Tu Wenhuan. As a senior official, he had so many followers who were obviously from the military.
, seems somewhat unreasonable.
Tu Wenhuan chuckled and said: "Brother Su, are you talking about these brothers? They are actually soldiers under the command of General Deng Wuqiao, the deputy commander-in-chief of Yunnan. This Deng Wuqiao is from Dengjia Village not far away, and I have been friends since childhood.
After I became an official, I was bored, so I went to him to work as an aide and ask for a bowl of food. This time, I returned to my hometown to visit my relatives. Wuqiao was afraid that I would be unsafe on the road, so he sent Deng Kui and more than a dozen personal soldiers.