Wang Pu was already in Youzhou. In China, which attaches importance to the New Year, generally speaking, most of the imperial courts would not do anything during the New Year. But Shi Chonggui is too anxious now, and he can't afford to wait for some things!

Now the every move of the Tang army in Tiance is very eye-catching. Everyone knows that Zhang Mai is now training soldiers in Youzhou. What gathers in Youzhou is not a group of new soldiers, but rather eliminates the elderly, weak, sick and disabled, and dispatches more than 100,000 remaining troops in various prefectures and counties. Most of them have been on the battlefield and are veterans. ()

The training of veterans is naturally different from that of new recruits. With a group of elite soldiers as cores, a few months of reorganization will be enough! So what will happen after the reorganization is completed? Even a fool can guess that Zhang Mai will most likely be in Luoyang for the next step!

So Shi Chonggui couldn't wait. Although he knew that diplomatic negotiations were unlikely to achieve any results, if there was still a glimmer of hope, he had to rush before Zhang Mai took action. Therefore, Wang Pu was "ordered" to go north in danger.

Unfortunately, Wang Pu, who was ordered in danger, did not think too hard about the main thing like Zhuge Liang when he went to the Eastern Wu. There are not many people who are sincerely planning for the Shijin Dynasty in Luoyang City.

——————————

The once empty Youzhou gradually became lively after half a year, especially in the southern city, the desert in the north, the desert in the west, the Tianzhu Tianfang in the south, the Wuyue Zhenla in the south, and the Goryeo and Japan in the east. It can be seen by merchants from all over the world, and it already has the vague feeling of an international city, which surprised Wang Pu.

It’s okay for Goryeo and Wu Yue. The merchants from Tianzhu and Tianfang naturally came not after they knew that Youzhou was opened, but went east along the Silk Road early in the morning. They just happened to know that Youzhou was opened, so they came to do business.

In just a few months, hundreds of shops have been opened in Nanshi, and more than a few thousand people have been traveling. Most of these shops are renovated based on the original empty houses in this area, and some of them have set up tents on the open space. This was what Liangzhou and Lanzhou did when the market was just opened, so the officials in charge of urban planning were familiar with it.

Most of the citizens of Youzhou were plundered by the Khitan. Except for a few fish that missed the net, all the land of these houses was nationalized. Zhang Mai controlled the policies of houses and land very strictly. At the beginning, only allowed to rent them. When the New Year approached, because the commerce became more and more prosperous, and anyone could see that the prospects for this place were promising, so the land prices and housing prices rose all the way and there was no market - it was not that no one bought them, but that they had no money to buy them! Only then did Zhang Mai allow a small portion of them to be sold. As a result, no matter how old and dilapidated the houses were, these "property" were raised to sky-high prices - the income from renting and selling these houses was enough to make Fan Zhi dumbfounded.

Logically speaking, these things should not be done by Zhang Mai. Even if it is just a decision, it is suspected of killing a chicken. However, Zhang Mai is now in need of money, and Fan Zhi, who is in charge of the East Shu, is still a bit scholarly, so Zhang Mai has to interfere in his business.

When Wang Pu entered Youzhou, he encountered the first round of real estate auctions in the New Year, so the whole market in the South City was very sensational. Wang Pu also stopped when he passed by, and saw that the auction was often auctioning a two-acre vacant land. The property released by the government before was a scattered shop of one or two rooms, and it was rare to see such a whole piece of vacant land, so the atmosphere at the auction site today was particularly high.

During the Qin Western period, Wang Pu had seen this auction model of Zhang Mai's "invention" and was not unfamiliar with it. In the end, this film was sold by a Hangzhou silk merchant at a sky-high price of 80% (of course not the current land price), which made Wang Pu very shocked.

After checking in the inn at noon, I took people out to the restaurant - the rules of the Tang Dynasty of Tiance, unless there are special arrangements. Otherwise, although the inn will provide the inn and include food when coming, the food is very simple. Basically, two dishes, one soup and rice are enough. Don’t think about delicacies, one meat, one vegetable and one vegetarian dish. If the envoy is not satisfied, you can go out to buy it yourself. During the period of time, the envoy is even allowed to go out for dinner with the accompanying officials.

Wang Pu is naturally familiar with these rules. When he was in Qinxi, he felt uncomfortable and wanted to let foreign envoys go out. What should I do if I was spyed out if the envoy had an accident? What should I do if the envoy had an accident? Isn’t it a loss of dignity for the envoys to buy food by himself?

However, in the past two years, he has seen the changes in the world with his own eyes, and his ideas have changed. He knows that Zhang Mai dares to let the envoy go out because he is not afraid of any "fiction and reality" being seen. This is confidence in external affairs and accidents. It is to have confidence in public security and security precautions, and it is confidence in internal affairs. As for food, it is not negligent. It is actually the style of the ancients, but it is just not comparable to the various luxury after the Qin and Han Dynasties. I heard that Zhang Mai’s own food is the same.

Today, Youzhou has mostly foreign residents, but there are trades, and there are people who provide services. Therefore, there are people who provide food, clothing, housing and transportation. However, merchants come too much and too fast, and various service industries are still in short supply. Wang Pu relies on his identity as an envoy and ordered a table of wine and food in a restaurant. The owner of this restaurant is Liangzhou, and it is well-managed in the northwest, which is also considered a "time-honored brand". However, in the past two years, the middle-level soldiers with considerable consumption power have fought in the north of the Mobei region. During the war, trade expectations were unstable, and the government advocated frugality, so merchants did not dare to be extravagant, so the business in the past two years has been a bit bleak.

Since hearing that Yanjing was opened and Zheng Wei was working hard to promote it in the business district, the boss got his mind and left the store to run by his eldest son. He moved to Yanjing according to the immigration policy and ran to Yanjing to open a branch. Along the way, there was a low-priced and safe shipping provided by the Tiance government, which was fine. After arriving here, he could rent the store first. Although the store was much simpler than Liangzhou, the utensils were far less exquisite than the old store, and the guys were not as thoughtful as the old store. As a result, after opening, it was full every day, and in less than three months, he made back the money he had lost in the past two years.

When the restaurant owner came to accompany him, he talked about his experience and sighed: "I made a little money! I originally made a good deal of ready-made clothes trading next to me, but that's really a big deal! Hundreds of thousands of people on the ground of Youzhou, and the elderly, weak, sick, disabled, soldiers and slaves were removed. Who else had no rewards for those who went to Mobei? After enduring so long in Mobei, you have to buy food and clothing when you return to the Central Plains. How much can you get transported to Youzhou in the past few months? The appetite of these soldiers alone is enough to get as much food as you can transport to Youzhou and eat! Not to mention those merchants, who have the vision to come to Youzhou last year, who did not make a fortune? After making money, you either transfer the goods, and you have to reward yourself with the remaining money. So the business in Youzhou is easy to do in the past six months!"

Wang Pu asked about the price of rice and vegetables casually. The restaurant owner said, "Rice is not expensive. It has been transported from the south. The vegetables are not bad. The old and weak in the army were sent outside the city to grow vegetables and herd cattle and sheep. There are also large merchants outside the city who have been laid off and built large greenhouses with more than a thousand kinds of vegetables. Otherwise, you can eat a bite of vegetables at this time. Well, I heard that these alone support a lot of people, and many merchants make a lot of money."

After the restaurant owner said goodbye, Wang Pu thought in his heart: "Now the rice price in Luoyang is as high as one day, but the land price is as low as one day, which is the opposite of Yanjing. It seems that the king's luck has also shifted to this side."

——————————

Wang Pu lived in Youzhou for two days before he heard that Zhang Mai was not in the city, so he went to see Fan Zhi and hoped that he would help.

This is also the old friendship between Fan Zhi and Wang Pu. Otherwise, according to Zhang Mai's current temper, he would not want to pay attention to the people in Luoyang and would talk about it first. Fan Zhi is now in charge of the internal affairs of the Eastern Sect. He has a lot of things to do every day, and Wang Pu asked to come to him. It is not easy for him to meet him.

"You want to go out of the city to find the marshal?" Fan Zhi hesitated for a moment before saying, "The marshal has some impression of you. If it were someone else, I wouldn't dare to be this master." Then he called a disciple to send Wang Pu out of the city - he was the only one, and all other entourages brought from Luoyang were not allowed to follow him.

As soon as you left the northern gate of Youzhou, you were desolate again. After Youzhou was migrated by the Khitan, although hundreds of thousands of people came from all over the country during the summer and autumn last year - as for the army, how much land can hundreds of thousands of people occupy on the ground of Youji? After the autumn harvest, Zhang Mai also personally called for the whole army to lead the entire army to farm. However, this northern land could not be reclaimed. Especially after just experiencing the prosperity of Nanshi, he suddenly came to this deserted suburb, and couldn't help feeling empty and deserted.

But if you come here for a modern person, you may think the environment here is really good!

Under the snowflakes, many scattered wheat fields are commonly seen, all of which are military farms of soldiers. After the early autumn harvest, hundreds of thousands of soldiers planted millions of acres of wheat. Under the lack of refined management, the fields are naturally not as neat as those of the Jiangnan where intensive cultivation and the sweet and cool farming of agriculture and animal husbandry, but looking at the snow layer protecting the wheat fields, the harvest next year is still expected.

There are clear rivers everywhere, and after they freeze, you can see the flowing water under the ice layer. The ice is like crystal, unlike later generations. Many dirty rivers are yellow and black after they freeze.

There are evergreen pine and cypress everywhere. Some rabbits and deer occasionally pop up among the pine and cypress. There are even bears far from the city. This is a feature that the natural environment has not been severely damaged. Of course, the dare of bears and deer to run out of the Yanshan Mountains to this plain area is also related to the empty population of Youzhou area last year. This is the "credit" of the Khitans.

There are lots of lakes everywhere, and the lakes are like rivers. Although it is spring, the ice layer is thick. You can see some retired soldiers fishing with ice holes. The dogwood fish heads they eat in the restaurant may be from here.

In short, Youzhou in this era had sufficient water sources, abundant land, and sparse population. Places like this in the world generally can withstand the troubles of the Chinese for more than hundreds of years.

——————————

Wang Pu rode his horse north for half a day. On the side of the scene in front of him, he suddenly came to a huge construction site. Thousands of people were leveling the land, digging kilns and burning bricks. According to Wang Pu's knowledge and previous news, he probably guessed that this was the location of Yanjing New City. People often heard that Zhang Mai was going to build a majestic new capital here. The planned city was already a bit scary. It was incomparable to Luoyang and Kaifeng. Could it be here?

Zhang Mai was also in the crowd, not wearing a helmet and armor, nor a wide robe and a relaxed sleeve. He was just wearing tight cashmere under the brown cloak and a wind hood on his head. At first glance, people who didn't know thought they were a foreman, and he and a craftsman were giving guidance to a project drawing.

Seeing this, Wang Pu sighed in his heart: "When Dayu governed the country, his hands and feet were called into pieces, his clothes were brown, and he moved to walk in the four seasons. This is probably what he was like. Unexpectedly, the style of the ancient sage king was seen today."

Seeing Wang Pu approaching, Zhang Mai said a few more words to the craftsman, then turned around and walked to a temporary shed. There was a stove in the shed, and it was warm and the outside was like two worlds. Zhang Mai took off his cloak. He sat down and drank a sip of hot tea handed over by Ma Xiaochun, and asked, "Your name is Wang Pu?"

Seeing that there was only one Ma Xiaochun in the house, Wang Pu knelt down and said, "My deputy Wang Pu, a native of Qi County, Bingzhou, was the first Jinshi in Luoyang in the sixth year of Tiance."

Zhang Mai said in surprise: "The first place in Jinshi, that's the top scholar." Then he said: "But you don't call me a foreign minister, but you're the one who earns me a tribute, and you use Tiance to be a lunar name. If you don't use Shi Jin, this tone is not very correct."

Wang Pu said: "I am a minister of China, and then I am a minister of Shi Jin. I was the first in the Jinshi class when I was awarded the first place in the Jinshi. I was happy. Looking back today, I was better off than not."

I am happy that day and regret it today. Of course, it is because the Jinshi who passed the day was a Jinshi of Shi Jin. Now the dynasty is about to change. He is young, and if he didn't refer to it on that day, he can directly enter the new dynasty and become a pure minister.

These words have been said clearly enough. Zhang Mai smiled and said, "I have some impression of you. If Fan Zhi makes an exception, I will come to see me. I think you must have something extraordinary. Get up and talk."

After Wang Pu got up, Zhang Mai asked, "What knowledge do you have to do?" Wang Pu said, "I dare not be proficient in the Four Books and Five Classics, but I can recite them."

Zhang Mai waved his hand and said, "You are the top scholar, and these Confucian classics are definitely fine. What I asked about is practical talent. Classics are empty-minded. If you don't manage classics, you will not be able to look at problems. But you can't just empty-minded things when doing things, you have to have a skill."

Wang Pu pondered for a moment before saying, "The 19 kinds of "Real Learning" issued by the Marshal, and all the ministers can speak."

Zhang Mai attached great importance to cultural construction as early as the Shule era. For more than ten years, he would continue to summarize his works when he had the opportunity to do so. These works were published and revised locally, and basically formed a preliminary scale three years ago. They were a series of books including general knowledge of arithmetic, general knowledge of astronomy, general knowledge of geography, general knowledge of physics, general knowledge of chemistry, general knowledge of medicine, general knowledge of administration, general knowledge of law, general knowledge of war, general knowledge of agronomics, general knowledge of architecture, and other knowledge of knowledge of science.

Some of this series are oral narratives by Zhang Mai, Li Bin, Fan Zhi, Wei Renpu and others have helped organize them, such as arithmetic, astronomy, geography, physics, chemistry, medicine, law, etc. Some are sorted by professionals, such as agronomics, architecture, war, etc. Some are translated and recreated by Greek and Roman classics bought from Taisie. All of them are manuscripts after reading them. Although these nineteen books are basic knowledge, they are still worth millions of words and are accompanied by a large number of pictures and texts.

Zhang Mai stared at him and said, "Can you recite it?"

Wang Pu's face looked ashamed: "It's really impossible to say word by word, but if the marshal asks, Wang Pu will be able to repeat it."

Zhang Mai thought that if you can memorize a million-word book, then there will be ghosts. What's so shameful about not memorizing it? Let Ma Xiaochun bring a book called "General Knowledge of Architecture", read it casually, nodded, and Wang Pu talked endlessly about that chapter. He could draw the pictures when he encountered the pictures, and he could also understand the similarities and express his own opinions when he encountered the places that were similar to humanities.

After listening for half an hour, Zhang Mai interrupted, "Enough is enough! I met another genius. No wonder Fan Wensu looked down on you." He thought for a while, and ordered Ma Xiaochun to take out a large picture and say, "You have read the general knowledge of architecture, come and help me see what this plan is like."

Wang Pu stepped forward and looked at it. He understood that this was a planning map of the capital and said in a trembling voice: "This...is this the future Beijing?"

"Yes." Zhang Mai said: "This is my idea. The veterans who are able to prepare for the camp are looking for a good place. The master craftsman held more than a dozen meetings to make sketches, and then read it to Xue Fu Fu Yanqing, Fan Zhi and Wei Renpu and others, and changed it to a revised version. Then he sent Yang Yi and Zheng Wei to give feedback, and finally it was revised to this. Well, I have sent one to Feng Dao, and he also replied to some opinions. Guo Luo was too far away and didn't send it to him."

Wang Pu didn't expect Zhang Mai to make such a big deal with him and Wen. He couldn't help but feel excited and thought: "It turns out that Mr. Feng is also with Wen. No wonder he has such a gesture in the court!"

In fact, he was thinking too much. Zhang Mai did not act secretly about building the city. At that time, he even thought about making a secret thought about the world. However, later he considered that such a major event might not be the better the more people participated, so in the end he just asked the site selection of the camp and the master of the master's plan. Then he asked the generals such as Yang Yi and Xue Fu who were proficient in war, Feng Dao and Fan Zhi and other civil officials who were proficient in rituals, and Zheng Wei Naibu and other elites who were proficient in business to participate. He even asked his wife Guo Fen to see what their women needed. Then he gathered together into this large plan map.

However, it was not just Wang Pu who thought too much. Feng Dao was so excited when he received the pattern that Zhang Mai secretly sent him. This was the construction of the capital. No matter whether Beijing is the capital or not in the future, who would have heard of such a major event? Besides, Feng Dao was still a "foreign" prime minister at that time. So after getting the sketch, Feng Dao was so excited that he was moved. He spent countless nights thinking about this matter and did his best to keep it confidential. He was the fourth to know about it except for the most trusted disciple and the most reliable son.

——————————

At this time, Wang Pu looked at this capital planning map again. Traditional Chinese capital architecture has certain regulations. As the saying goes, "A craftsman is in the country, with nine miles in the square, three gates next to it, nine meridians in the middle of the country, nine meridians in the middle, nine meridians in the middle, nine meridians in the right, and the left ancestral society is facing the back market."

The same is true for the basic regulation concept of this new city, but the specifications have been expanded dozens of times! In addition to the retro ritual planning, it also takes into account all aspects of the life of citizens including transportation, drinking water, and sewage discharge. It pays special attention to the planning of the commercial market part. In addition, the construction of the city is phased, leaving enough expansion space on the periphery, and expanding outward layer by layer.

After seeing that there was a meal, Wang Pu couldn't help but sigh and suddenly said, "It's just such a huge project. I'm afraid... it hurts the people's strength..."

He said it very cautiously, for fear of angering Zhang Mai.

Zhang Mai smiled and said, "Didn't you look at my installment? I heard that Emperor Yang of Sui built the new Chang'an in nine months, but I am not as impatient as him. The first phase took three years to start, which is enough for the time being. Then, in ten years, the entire system of this picture will be completed, which will take about thirty-three years. You will definitely see it, so I have to exercise well."

Wang Pu said: "If it takes 33 years, no matter how big the project is, it may not necessarily damage the people's strength. Marshal Shengren!"

Zhang Mai said: "Don't talk, you can tell me if there are any loopholes in this plan."

Wang Pu said: "This picture collection of the wisdom of the great wise men is almost perfect. I am young and shallow in my studies. I felt very shocked for a moment and dare not argue with it."

Zhang Mai smiled and said, "Okay, if you think of anything wrong in the future, you can write to me."

This is leaving a passage for himself to reach the heavenly hearing. Wang Pu was overjoyed and wanted to thank him but stopped him. He was so excited that he almost scratched his head.

Zhang Mai put down the planning map and said, "Then let's talk about Luoyang. You come from Luoyang, so you have something to do."

Wang Pu's mind became tight, and he quickly calmed down his mind, and his posture returned to rigorousness. He said, "Yes, I have two things, one is to represent Shi Chonggui, and the other is to represent Changle's old man."

Zhang Mai said: "Shi Chonggui, well, does he want to seek peace or surrender?"

This is overbearing, but it points out the key in one breath.

Wang Pu leaned over and said, "Please seek peace."

Zhang Mai laughed and said, "Do you think it's possible?"

Wang Pu sighed softly and shook his head.

Zhang Mai said: "Then there is no need to talk too much. I will not be polite to Shi Chonggui. Go back and tell me that I am not an unreasonable person, but in this situation, everyone knows that seeking peace is impossible. However, Shi Chonggui did not make any big mistakes, and I will not do anything to him in the future. Shi Jingtang's country is not upright, and his throne is obtained from Shi Jingtang. The country is not long, and I do not plan to get him a happy man to restrain him. He can become a free man in this country. As for other conditions,

He can mention that I thought I could agree. I had only one goal, try not to fight, because I don’t want people to die in the Central Plains. The lives of the people are very precious. These lives should be used to expand territory, to Xuansi’s works, to music art, to invention and creation, to enjoy life, and not to waste it on such meaningless internal wars. This is what I mean, how to tell Shi Chonggui back, you can figure it out yourself."

Wang Pu was very impressed and said, "I understand."

Zhang Mai said again: "What are you going to do there over Feng Dao?"

Wang Pu said: "Old Changle means that it is the same as the marshal. Duke Feng also hopes that the world will stop fighting and killing and return to peace and unification as soon as possible."

Zhang Mai smiled and said, "That's great. When you go back and tell Changle, I'll ask him for the Luoyang affairs. I believe that with his wisdom, I will definitely not let my expectations down. In another month or two, when the weather gets warmer, I will lead a large army south, mobilize millions of people to siege Luoyang..."

Wang Pu was stunned: "Marson, didn't you say... won't fight?"

"It seems that you are a little tender, the top scholar." Zhang Mai smiled faintly and said, "People are very cheap. They don't give up until the Yellow River, and don't look back if they hit the wall. If I just show it to leniently, this matter will never be finished. Only by raising a large number of troops can there be a possibility of going down without fighting!"
Chapter completed!