In mid-December of the first year of Zhongping, something happened in Luoyang.
The emperor is preparing to repair the Nangong Palace and carry out large-scale construction projects.
Originally, this was nothing. Luoyang officials had long been accustomed to the emperor's absurdity. In previous years, billions were spent on repairing the West Garden. Now they just repair the palace. I heard that it only costs a few dollars to replace the wooden floor.
Therefore, even the former Taiwei Yang Ci, who was invited back from the Imperial Academy to serve as the Imperial Servant by the Emperor, did not write a letter to admonish him for this matter.
But what Luoyang officials didn't expect was that the palace renovation was not just as simple as replacing the wooden floor. It was said that something would be buried under the floor.
The emperor was mysterious and secretive. He only revealed it to the three ministers and nine ministers at the small court meeting. Later, when word spread from the palace, some people said that gold and silver had been buried, some said that treasures had been buried, and some said that the emperor planned to bury gold and silver.
It is said that the jade seal of the state was hidden in the ground, and rumors were passed down. There are different opinions.
In this case, Yang Ci had to go into the palace to see what the emperor was up to. After all, with the death of the emperor's other teacher, the original Sikong Zhangji, only the emperor could be disciplined in the name of his master.
Only him.
Yang Ci's father was Yang Bing, who was born in 92 AD, and his son Yang Biao was born in 142 AD, a difference of 50 years. There is no record of Yang Ci's age in history books, but even if the middle average value is taken, Yang Ci is already 20 years old this year.
He is nearly seventy years old, he has a bright head and a green beard, he is getting old, and his body is not as good as before.
Therefore, the emperor granted permission for him to ride in a carriage when entering the palace.
Liu Hong, who was watching the installation of floor heating equipment in Yutang Hall, heard that Yang Ci had entered the palace and had to go outside the palace to greet him in person.
The Han Dynasty ruled the world with filial piety. This filial piety meant not only being filial to parents, but also respecting teachers.
In those days, if someone insulted someone else's parents or teachers, a scholar would pull out the sword from his waist and fight with the person. Even if he killed the person, the government and local people would praise him for his filial piety, and the emperor would have to give him an official title.
Officials like Dong An, Yang Qiu and others did this. After killing people, they were promoted as filial and honest. There was no violation at all.
Liu Hong left the palace and saw Yang Ci getting off the carriage. He walked over to help him and said with a slightly distressed tone: "Master, it's so cold, why did you come outside?"
He could ignore others, but Yang Ci had been his teacher since he entered the palace at the age of twelve and had always been respected by him. Even if Yang Ci argued with him in the court and accused him in person, he would only dare to
He was dismissed from the official position given by Yang and did not dare to be exiled like Cai Yong. This shows that Liu Hong still respected this teacher very much.
Yang Ci smiled and said: "As a teacher, can't I come and see your majesty as a student?"
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty had no choice but to help him walk into the palace.
When Yang Ci went in, he saw that the Yutang Hall was under construction. Pieces of wooden floors had been removed. The craftsmen dug out a hollow layer about 20 centimeters deep from the ground under the original hall. It looked like it was going to be buried.
something.
Because if the first floor is dug down twenty centimeters and the floor is laid directly, then the height inside the temple will be lower than the height outside the temple. This will make people very uncomfortable when entering the temple. I have never heard of this.
The ground inside the house is lower than the ground outside, so some filler must be used. Instead of soil, what should be used?
Seeing this scene, Yang Ci frowned, but he did not immediately accuse or question, but asked in a normal tone: "Is the emperor building a palace again?"
Liu Hong actually guessed that he was here to ask questions. If anyone in the civil and military circles of the Manchu Dynasty dared to argue with him, the only one was Emperor Shi Yang Ci. However, this matter was not a bad thing. According to Chen Mu,
It is a good thing to benefit the country and the people, so he immediately replied: "Master Yang, please see, this is for the millions of people in Luoyang."
"oh?"
Yang Ci asked in confusion: "Can a palace be dug for the sake of the people?"
"yes."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty saw that the craftsmen in the palace had hollowed out the palace, and under the command of Bi Lan and Song Dian, rows of pipes began to be laid.
A few days ago, Chen Mu ordered craftsmen to build a small floor heating equipment. When he was experimenting in Beigong, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty was shocked. How could he have imagined that when the boiler boiled water and added cold water, it was clearly located in a high position.
The water pipes actually drained the water from the low-lying boiler. I don’t know what kind of magic was used.
The siphon effect involves physical knowledge of air pressure and water pressure. Chen Mu was too lazy to explain it to Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, but providing work-for-relief was simple economics. He could discuss this with Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.
So when Chen Mu explained this economic principle to Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, he almost understood why once a small wealthy family in Luoyang City started building construction projects, the victims of the disaster in Luoyang would have food to eat.
In fact, it is to create jobs. The disaster victims cannot be left idle every day. They have to find jobs for them. Moreover, if this policy continues, Emperor Han Ling can still make a lot of money.
During the Han Dynasty, there was a monopoly on salt and iron. Although private salt and iron operations were opened during the Han Dynasty, the output of iron ore was still in the hands of the court.
Floor heating equipment requires the use of a large number of iron pipes. Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty would probably be able to make a lot of money just by selling iron. In addition, boiling water requires a lot of firewood and charcoal, so the charcoal sellers and woodcutters can also make a fortune.
Although this is not conducive to environmental protection, the scale of tree felling during the Eastern Han Dynasty was not like that of modern times. You must know that there were countless mountains outside any city at that time. In the mountains and forests, there were tigers, jackals, leopards, and even rhinos, elephants and other wild animals in the south. It can be seen that today
The natural environment is very good.
Luoyang is surrounded by mountains. There are countless mountains. There are countless tigers and wolves on each mountain. If he wants to cause large-scale environmental damage and soil erosion, unless Chen Mu invents a chainsaw, he can't do it in a day with the ax in the hand of a woodcutter.
Several trees.
What's more, coal had been developed and used during the Eastern Han Dynasty, but coal contained a lot of impurities and would produce toxic carbon monoxide when burned. Therefore, it was generally used by ordinary people. Rich people still used charcoal.
However, the boiler is outside the house, so even if carbon monoxide is generated, it cannot flow into the room. Therefore, if the main consumption is coal, it is less likely to cause damage to the environment.
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty deliberately showed off a little, and proudly told Yang Ci this truth in front of him.
Yang Ci is now the only upright minister in the imperial court. Although Liu Kuan is also one, Liu Kuan is too loyal and too old to care about anything. Now only Yang Ci can confront Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.
But after hearing Emperor Ling's explanation, Yang Ci rarely criticized him for his extravagance and waste as before. Instead, he pondered for a long time and nodded in approval: "This method is really a good strategy."
"In this way, the victims of the disaster in Luoyang have a home, and the princes in the court will no longer be cold in winter. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty smiled brightly and said to Yang Ci: "When the place warmer is installed in Yutang Hall, I will hold a big court meeting and let all officials from Luoyang, big and small, come over to experience it. I will also ask Master to tell me when the time comes.
Just say something nice."
"It's natural."
Yang Ci nodded: "Your Majesty, I wonder who made this thing?"
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty turned to a little Huangmen and said: "Go and call Chen Yilang over."
Chen Mu was checking the boiler at this time to see if there were any problems with the operation of the equipment. Installing small floor heating in a small house and installing large floor heating in a large palace are two different concepts.
The area of the Imperial Palace of the Han Dynasty was five times that of the Forbidden City, but most of the area was squares and complex roads, and the housing area was much smaller than that of the Forbidden City.
But there are too few houses to support the Luoyang Imperial Palace. The two palace complexes of Nangong and Beigong combined only have more than 50 palaces, which is far behind the more than 8,000 houses in the Forbidden City.
Therefore, even though the actual residential area is not as large as the Forbidden City, each palace is extremely grand and huge. Take the smaller Yutang Hall in Nangong as an example, it is 52 meters long from east to west and 28 meters wide, and its indoor area is equivalent to half a football field.
To lay such a large site, hundreds of iron pipes need to be used. The boiler for boiling water alone must be three meters high and must hold at least seven or eight tons of water.
Moreover, the pipes are also ingenious. It took dozens of Luoyang's top blacksmiths to finally complete these hundreds of pipes. Each iron pipe is connected with a U-shaped interface, and the principle of circular rotation of the inclined plane is used to connect the iron pipes.
The principle of circular rotation of an inclined plane sounds complicated, but it is actually just tightening a screw.
In an era like the Han Dynasty, when there was no mechanical technology and only manual work, it was difficult to make striped bevels on both ends of iron pipes, but it was not easy to say it was easy.
Just use clay mold casting technology and make the mold in advance.
Including iron pipes, molds are also used to pour molten iron into them and wait for cooling and solidification.
Don’t underestimate the wisdom of the ancients. Even iron towers, iron lions, and iron bells weighing several tons can be made with this technology, not to mention long iron pipes weighing dozens of kilograms.
Chen Mu checked around and conducted several tests on the fire to make sure that the boiler was not damaged. The siphon effect does not require absolute sealing. As long as the boiler does not leak, the equipment can be guaranteed to operate.
"Chen Yilang, His Majesty has asked you to come over."
Just as he closed the furnace door under the boiler, he heard someone shouting not far away.
Chen Mu turned around and saw the familiar Xiao Huangmen, so he walked over.
Hearing that it was Liu Hong calling him, he followed Xiaohuangmen to the main hall. Liu Hong took shelter in the back room of the side hall with more than ten people in his party.
Zhang asked Zhao Zhong to wait on Liu Hong, Wang Jun was also there, eunuchs and maids were standing, but an old man with white hair sat down below.
Chen Mu didn't know this person. When he went in and bowed his hands, he heard Liu Hong introduce: "Master, this person is Chen Mu and Chen Zigui."
Yang Ci looked him up and down, and saw that the man in front of him had a handsome face, extraordinary appearance, and spirituality in his eyes.
Chen Mu used to be seventeen years old, but now it has been a year since he left home, and he has grown taller. He used to be 1.7 meters tall, but now he is 1.74 meters tall. It will not be a problem to grow to 1.78 meters in two years.
Seeing his appearance, Yang Ci nodded with satisfaction: "Yes, he is a talented person. I heard he is the queen of Qu Nihou?"
Although Yang Ci was dismissed from office at the beginning of this year, as the head of the Hongnong Yang family, Yang Ci's prestige was much higher in the minds of scholars than a villain like Yuan Wei.
And whether in the court, among the people, or even in front of the emperor, Yang Ci was extremely important.
After he was dismissed from office, he fell ill for a period of time and went to teach at Taixue for a period of time. At the end of the year, Liu Hong personally went to Taixue to invite him back and respected him as the third elder of the country, which shows Yang Ci's status.
When Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty called him Master, Chen Mu immediately realized who this person was, and he immediately raised his hands solemnly and replied: "Chen Mu of Puyin has met Bo Xiangong."
"Did you think of this?"
Yang Ci asked.
Chen Mu replied: "It's just an ordinary hobby of Mu."
Yang Ci asked again: "Do you also want to use this thing to save the victims of Luoyang?"
Liu Hong looked ugly at the side. He had never said that the work-for-relief method was from Chen Muxian. He wanted to show off in front of the teacher, but he didn't expect that the teacher saw through it at a glance.
In fact, Yang Ci has been Liu Hong's teacher for more than ten years. What kind of skills does Yang Ci not know about him?
It's crazy that Liu Hong could come up with such a good idea.
As for Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others, haha, if Yang Ci didn't know that the emperor had no money and really needed people like Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong to help the emperor collect money, Yang Ci would have tried his best to get rid of these people.
Apart from taking bribes and selling out their positions, how can these people give advice that benefits the country and the people?
So Yang Ci quickly guessed that Chen Mu was in charge of all this.
Chen Mu glanced at the emperor's face. Although he didn't know what the emperor had said before, he could vaguely guess it, so he just smiled and replied: "So that Duke Bo Xiang knows that Mu is just an inventor and just came up with some ideas."
, in the general direction, it was the emperor who added the details, and it is all his majesty’s credit.”
Yang Ci glanced at Liu Hong in surprise. Liu Hong looked proud like a student who was praised by his teacher.
"Very good. Compared to your ancestor Qu Nihou, it's about the same. Would you like to enter the Imperial Academy?"
Yang Ci's words directly caused Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong's expression to change suddenly.
How did Chen Mu go to Hongdu School in the first place?
Didn’t you cut off Lu Zhi’s Hu?
Originally, Lu Zhi recommended Chen Mu to go to Imperial College, but with a casual move, Zhang Rang transferred Chen Mu's lineup to their eunuch faction.
What is Yang Ci doing now?
They were doing the same thing as Zhang Rang and others.
However, Lu Zhi could move, but Yang Ci couldn't.
When Yang Ci impeached Wang Fu, Cao Jie, Lesong and other favored ministers of the Han Ling Emperor, and Cai Yong was exiled, Yang Ci had nothing to do with him.
Even when he argued with Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty in the court at the beginning of the year, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty had nothing to do with him. He could only dismiss him but could not convict him. You can know that Yang Ci is really fearless.
The power of eunuchs comes from the emperor, but Yang Ci is the emperor's teacher, a person who the emperor should pay filial piety and respect, and his status is comparable to that of Empress Dowager Dong.
Therefore, by the end of the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, Yang Ci was dismissed from office countless times at most. And it would not take long each time before he would be invited back by Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty to continue to serve as the Sangong and Nine Ministers. If other ministers dared to act like him
Wow, the grass on the grave is three feet high.
Because of this, there was really nothing Zhang Zhong and Zhao Zhong could do against him. There was no way at all.