As May entered the court, things suddenly became more and more common in the court. While the Ministry of Revenue was stepping up the promotion of the issuance of new coins, officials sent to various places to set up banks also began to set off in batches and go to their respective territories. The printed new coins were secretly distributed to various places under the escort of the army. At the same time, it was time for summer taxes to be collected, and June was also the time for trade between foreign merchants from all over the country to Song Dynasty. They also had to collect commercial taxes with the Maritime Bureau. Anyway, the Ministry of Revenue was so busy that they were not stuck in the ground.

At the same time, next month, recruiting new soldiers will be launched. When veterans are demobilized, the Ministry of War is also very busy. They need to determine the number of demobilized people, coordinate with the Ministry of Personnel and local governments to make resettlement, and pay compensation; in addition, they need to allocate recruitment indicators, determine training plans, and select officers to fill the gaps. The Ministry of Personnel is not idle either. This year is the third year to enter Jiangnan, and it is the year of investigation of new Beijing officials and local officials. Officials from all over the country must be reviewed, and they may be promoted or reduced according to their political achievements.

The Ministry of Rites was not idle either. Zhao Bing's biological mother was Yu Xiurong. As usual, he should have posthumous title after he ascended the throne. Because Empress Yang was still alive, he had never posthumous title for his respect. Now that he has returned to the capital, Empress Yang is also moved by the emperor's growth, and misses his old friends, so he issued an imperial edict to posthumous title and give a posthumous title. However, Yu Xiurong died in the chaos of war and was buried in the wilderness, and some of the parties involved were no longer alive. They had to find a new restraint and return to the imperial tomb, and then they had to negotiate before they could make a posthumous title.

All the things were finally concentrated on the emperor, so there were so many things below, so Zhao Bing was so busy that he not only had to issue orders from time to time, but also held a meeting, gathering discussions, discussing and deciding on the affairs of the newspapers of various departments, and he had to understand and review these in advance. The most important thing at the moment was of course the issuance of new coins. As expected, after the publicity began, there was a rush to buy several times. People exchanged the salt tickets in their hands for physical items, and naturally they were mostly gold, silver and silk with the highest value retention rate. For a time, the silver building and silk shop were emptied.

Because there was a plan, the Ministry of Revenue released some stored silk from the warehouse, and the treasurys in various places also responded to the sound and allocated materials to supplement the market. According to preliminary statistics, all localities put more than 400,000 pieces of silk into the market. In the four major trading places of Lin'an, Quanzhou, Guangzhou and Mingzhou, they put more than 30,000 taels of gold and more than 200,000 taels of silver into the market. When people found that the supply of materials was sufficient and the prices were stable, they slowly calmed down. The buying trend lasted only half a month and basically subsided, laying the foundation for the issuance of new coins.

Zhao Bing also served as the Privy Councilor, and there are still many military affairs to deal with. The rainy season has arrived, and the Mongolian Yuan's offensive this year has also been ruined, but the threat is still there. According to the information sent from various places, the Mongolian Yuan has recently started to build a large number of fortresses on the river bank and renovate the walls of prefectures and counties that have been demolished along the river. Obviously, they have realized that if the Song army crosses the river, the various units scattered by the river will be unable to resist the Song army's firearms without the protection of the city walls, and will even be annihilated before the reinforcements arrive.

Zhao Bing knew that this was Boyan's idea. When the plan to cross the river was easily crushed, he realized that the Song army was no longer the weak army at the time, and that his side was no longer the invincible force that could sweep the world. It was impossible to easily defeat Jiangnan as before. Instead, he would be threatened by the Southern Army at all times. Therefore, he changed his past offensive and turned to the defensive. He wanted to build a solid stronghold by building a city wide. When threatened, he would not be defeated by a single blow, and then he could calmly dispatch reinforcements to rescue.

Some people expressed concern about this, thinking that with the establishment of the defense system of the Mongolian Yuan Jiangbei, it would be more difficult for them to cross the river and the northern expedition, and it would be far away to recover the two Huai Rivers. However, Zhao Bing did not think so. He believed that this was a historic turning point, marking a reversal of the war situation between the Song and Mongolian sides. The decline of the Mongolian Yuan and the rise of the Song Dynasty was the general trend, and they had already overcome the most difficult time, changing from a defensive to an offensive, and the success of the Northern Expedition is just around the corner...

"I am Zhou Xiang, thanking His Majesty for your kindness!"

"What is this? Why should I do this great gift?" After the court meeting that day, Zhao Bing had just returned to Lengquan Hall, Xiaohuangmen came forward to report, Zhou Xiang asked for a meeting and thank him. But as soon as this guy came in, he bowed three times and nine times, shouted long live, jumped him up, and hurriedly asked Wang De to help him up.

"Your Majesty, it's hard for me to express this. If I want to give up, I'll let me finish my worship!" Zhou Xiang was not affordable and still insisted on giving a full set of big gifts. He was obese and Wang De couldn't help it.

"You and I have been in power for many years, so why bother with these false conspiracies? Just have me in my heart, get up!" Zhao Bing waved his hand and smiled.

"Your Majesty is as kind as the sea, and even if you die, you will never be able to repay it!" Zhou Xiang raised his sleeve and wiped the corners of his eyes, insisted on kowtowing again before standing up under Wang De's pull.

"Master Zhou... Oh, it's time to fight, I should call Mr. Zhou!" Wang De pulled Zhou Xiang up and bowed his hand to salute him.

"The high-ranking official is so embarrassed that he killed the Sa family. It's like calling Lao Zhou and Fatty Zhou!" Zhou Xiang was indeed scared and hurriedly replied in panic.

"How dare you? This time I was promoted to the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, and I am also a third-rank official of the court. You can't just shout it out, otherwise I would say that I don't understand the rules!" Wang De said with a smile.

"Sha family and the high-ranking officials have known each other for so many years, but they still don't know how much the Sa family is. It's all thanks to His Majesty's kindness to be able to achieve today. But it's okay. Who dares to talk too much? Old Zhou goes to argue with them." Zhou Xiang still looked like a silly man.

"Go to the corridor outside to talk, it's so stuffy here!" Zhao Bing said with a lip of his lips. Zhou Xiang always talks about the train. He talks to people and talks to ghosts. But he still likes this guy who makes jokes. He has solved many problems for himself over the years, and I don't know how much joy he brings.

This time, Zhao Bing promoted Zhou Xiang to the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Works and was under pressure. First of all, he was born in the Military Equipment House and had no fame. Furthermore, he could only be considered a technical staff. It was basically the end of the day when he became a military equipment supervisor. There were few people in the past dynasties who promoted engineering and technical personnel to high-level government officials. In addition, he had been in the rear and had no military merits. Even if he served the army, it would be difficult to take the road of military capital.

However, the old people in the court knew that although Zhou Xiang had a low official position, he made great contributions to the creation and renewal of military weapons, because no matter who he was, he had to think of his contribution. Zhou Xiang's behavior was also one of the reasons for this. He looked ugly and seemed very vulgar, but he was indeed very good at doing things. He always didn't laugh or talk, and was also funny and humorous. It would be absolutely unlucky to have him making jokes.

In addition, Zhou Xiang was kind-hearted and would help anyone with any family. When he was in Qiongzhou, the conditions were difficult. Everyone could say that he was a mansion that had arrived naked. Anyone who had built a house was inevitably lacking in this or that. He was in charge of construction for a long time, so he used the "position" to help Zhang Lu and sent craftsmen to help. Therefore, officials in the court always thought of his love, both old and new.

This time, Zhao Bing promoted Zhou Xiang in an extraordinary way, and issued an order in the name of "making great contributions". Although some people expressed their opposition, his good popularity helped. Several prime ministers and ministers did not say anything, and the opponents lost their temper, allowing him to be promoted to the position of Minister of Works. This incident still caused a sensation in the court and the opposition. It was an unprecedented event for a technical official to participate in the government and was also a demonstration role, demonstrating the current emperor's mind of relegating talents without being a scholar, and also opened the era of being unable to become an official.

"Your Majesty, how did this water be brought to the mountain?" After leaving the house, Zhou Xiang accompanied the emperor to the pavilion, but he was soon attracted by the waterfall flowing down the mountain. But what attracted him was not the picturesque scenery, but he did not see how the water was sent to the water tank on the mountain. In the first place, in order to form such artificial waterfalls, water was usually transported to the mountain with manpower, or by manpower to use winches to lift water. Later, there were windmills or water wheels to lift water. However, Zhou Xiang did not see anyone picking up water to the mountain, nor did he see tall windmills or water wheels, which surprised him.

"Haha, it's really an outsider to watch the fun, an insider to see the trick." Zhao Bing smiled and said, "Someone has seen it before, but it was magical, but no one has asked how this is done. You are the first one."

"I was just staying in the workshop so stupid. When I saw something strange, I always wanted to figure it out. I guess this was also done by Your Majesty!" Zhou Xiang said with a polite manner.

"When I saw that the water was transported to the water tank on the mountain by the eunuchs. It was very hard, and it was not suitable for installing water trucks here, so I thought of a way to design a water lifter, so I asked the general to make one according to the picture. I didn't expect it to run very smoothly. I was thinking of promoting it while the military weapon supervisor was relocating to improve efficiency and reduce the labor intensity of the craftsmen." Zhao Bing said as he sat down in the pavilion and ordered the small yellow door who was accompanying him to take the model of the water lifter in the study.

"Your Majesty, is this the thing?" Xiaohuangmen quickly placed a ruler on a table. Zhou Xiang looked up and down, but he couldn't understand the mystery, and asked in confusion.

"Come on the basin of water!" Zhao Bing asked Xiaohuangmen to carry the basin of water again. He put a section of the long tube into the basin and rotated the other end of the shaking handle with his hand. A stream of water sprayed out from the opening. As the speed of the shaking handle increased, the flow of water became larger and larger.

"This..." Zhou Xiang saw this and pointed at this thing in a daze, stuttering and didn't know how to express his surprise.

"Stop making a fool, I'll take it apart for you!" Zhao Bing glared at him, knowing that he had seen many of his inventions and should have been immunity long ago, but he still enjoyed his exaggerated expressions, which could make you feel proud. And this is his ability, and he can always find ways to make you feel very comfortable.

"Haha, please give me advice!" Zhou Xiang was called out by the little emperor, and he didn't feel embarrassed, but just said with a smirk.

"It's actually very simple. There is only one spiral rod in this tube. After stirring the shaker, you can use it to lift the water up!" Zhao Bing broke the water lifter he made in a few seconds and spread it on the table.

In fact, this thing is called the Archimedes spiral water lifter. It is called the first water pump in history to transfer water from low places to high places. It greatly saves people running up and down to transport water, and saves effort. It is a machine used for irrigation. It is generally believed that due to many inventions and discoveries by the ancient Greek philosopher Archimedes, this machine has been practically used in Egypt and parts of Europe in modern times.

However, recent research shows that the spiral water lifter was used as early as the "Air Garden" period of ancient Babylon in the seventh century BC, which made it seem like it was a celebrity. Its principle is also very simple, which is to use the centrifugal force generated by mechanical rotation to generate speed and rotate upwards along with the pipe wall. When the water rushes to the pipe wall, the pipe wall will continuously thrust towards the water, causing the water to climb from low to high, and achieve the purpose of lifting the water to high. Zhao Bing just copied it again.

"Your Majesty is really a god. You can lift water to a height with just such a simple object, which is much simpler than a water truck." Zhou Xiang said sincerely after looking at each part one by one, "I think Your Majesty combines this water lifter with the water truck, and uses the power generated by the water truck being impacted by the water flow to activate the spiral shaft to rotate, so that the lake water can be lifted to the sink on this peak without manpower, forming a waterfall."

"Well, you can learn from it now. I just listen to my brief explanation and understand the principles!" Zhao Bing nodded and said, as he used the water flowing into the lake as power to lift the water.

"I have been taught by Your Majesty for many years, but I have only learned a little bit of fur. I am so ashamed!" Zhou Xiang said with a shameful look on his face.

"You are very good!" Zhao Bing smiled. Seeing that Zhou Xiang is over forty years old this year, and his head is full of bright hair. It is also amazing that he can understand the mystery of machinery through his senses and practical practice without understanding the principles.

You should know that after so many years of development, the military weapon supervision has gradually transitioned to mechanization. Not only has hydraulic-powered forging machines, lathes, drilling machines, planing machines, boring machines, etc., it has also gradually transitioned from simple wooden machinery to all-metal machinery. As a result, the processing accuracy has been greatly improved, making the weapons manufactured more accurate and durable. In addition to his own "creative", Zhou Xiang is responsible for organizing and producing and transforming them into practical applications. In this process, he has also become familiar with all the equipment in the workshop.

"Your Majesty has been criticized, but where is your Majesty's fault?" Zhou Xiang looked calm and said seriously, "Your Majesty also begs His Majesty to bring the water lifter back and let the craftsmen imitate it for production."

"This is completely fine, but there is a wonderful function. Have you ever discovered it?" Zhao Bing raised his hand and asked him to politely.
Chapter completed!