"It was built in one day and is indestructible!" The little emperor Wanli flushed with excitement and began to show off his knowledge to his two queens: "Even the ice city in the novel is nothing more than this! Our Ming Dynasty has such a
It’s a divine thing, so why worry about the Tartars invading the territory?”
Empress Chen smiled and encouraged: "The emperor is right, this thing is really great. If you use it to build the mausoleum for Emperor Daxing, you will never have to worry about it."
Concubine Li added a key question: "My sister is right, but Emperor, don't get carried away, because according to what Gao Pragmatic said, the price of this thing is not too cheap. I heard that after yesterday, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of Works
Several yamen in the ministry are also discussing that if this... well, cement is used to build border walls, fortresses, and passes, I am afraid that it can only be used in some key places, such as Shanhaiguan.
If we want to use all cement, Wang Guoguang must resign immediately."
Wang Guoguang was the new Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs in July, replacing Zhang Shouzhi. This man was a rare hard-working minister. Historically, he was the leader and compiled the financial classic "Wanli Accounting Records" that future generations must read when studying the economy of the middle and late Ming Dynasty.
》.
Zhu Yijun naturally did not dare to go against the wishes of the two palaces, so he quickly changed the subject and said: "Mother, what the mother and concubine said is very true. I feel that since Gao Pragmatic has this intention to repay his kindness, the matter of the mausoleum work will be settled."
Right? As for the high price of cement... anyway, he said he would bear the cost of the mausoleum himself."
This time, it was Concubine Li who spoke first, and she criticized it from the beginning: "He said this, and you accepted it with peace of mind? It's your imperial examination, not his. Although he is very loyal and commendable, even the materials
, I am willing to bear all the labor costs myself, but you are the emperor, and you must know the truth that 'the emperor never lacks hungry soldiers'."
Zhu Yijun nodded repeatedly, thought for a moment and said, "Then... give me some rewards?"
Concubine Li first nodded her head in agreement, then frowned a little, and said thoughtfully: "Rewards should be given, but he is not a Jinshi after all, and officials cannot give excessive gifts..." It was obvious that she was also hesitant.
Empress Chen said: "In this case, since he is the emperor's companion and you two are familiar with it, why don't the emperor test his voice in private first to see if he has any ideas, and then we can discuss it again."
Concubine Li thought about it and felt that it was feasible. After all, she just wanted to listen first. If his request was easy to handle, that would be the best. If it was too much, she could refuse it.
The next day, Zhu Yijun came to report again and said that he had talked with Gao Pragmatic. Gao Pragmatic planned to start his own factory to make cement to avoid future need.
At the same time, because not everyone can use cement, we need to train a group of craftsmen, so we have to set up an engineering team. The members of the engineering team are easy to recruit. He has taken in many refugees in Henan and can be selected from them. But the engineering team cannot be blind.
He wanted to practice, so he hoped to take on some projects and use them as practice to lay the foundation for building passes and city defenses in the future.
Empress Chen didn't hear anything wrong. Besides, she was not in trouble and was pragmatic, so she was ready to agree immediately. However, Concubine Li thought about it and asked: "He doesn't have the idea of working for the imperial court, right? His cement is a bit dirty."
Expensive, if those major projects in the imperial court suddenly want to switch to cement, not to mention whether he can have sufficient supply here, even if he can, the cost will inevitably increase accordingly, and Wang Guoguang, Zhu Heng and the others may not agree to it by then."
Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "The mother and concubine were really worried, but the son asked at that time, and Gao Pingshi said no, he just wanted to find the project by himself, and it was none of the court's business."
"Oh, looking for it yourself?" Concubine Li said in surprise: "Since it has nothing to do with the court, what does he call asking for a reward?"
"This son-in-law has also asked." Zhu Yijun laughed: "He said that sometimes the local government will build some things, and he can take over these jobs as long as the son-in-law approves. And he also said that he will take over the work.
The quality of all projects is guaranteed, and according to different project standards and costs, he underwrites them according to the number of years."
"What does underwriting mean?" Li Guifei became more and more curious.
Zhu Yijun explained: "Gao Pragmatic said, we now have some yamen that just ask for money when building some projects, but the quality of the construction is not accurate. Some can manage it for ten years, some can only manage it for five years, and even some can only manage it for five years.
Some of them were just repaired this year and had accidents next year. This was a waste of the court's money and food! He didn't intend to do this when he took over the project. He would underwrite the quality according to different costs. For example, a city wall in a certain county was broken and needed to be repaired, and he was contacted
If he comes to repair it, he will tell the county based on how much money the county gives him, and the city wall will be under his control for a number of years after it is repaired. If it breaks down before the end of the year, he will pay for it out of his own pocket."
Zhu Yijun finished speaking with a smile, then suddenly remembered something, and quickly added: "But this is only under normal use. If the county's city wall is man-made damage, such as Tatar invasion, bandits attacking the city, etc., that
Not covered by insurance."
This is of course. Concubine Li can understand it even if she doesn't understand military affairs. Otherwise, if Gao Pragmatic builds a city wall facing the Beibei, and the Beibei invades from that place in consecutive years, he will die?
Well, in that case, it sounds pretty good.
Concubine Li nodded: "He is an honest gentleman. Although doing these things is somewhat unprofessional, it is a good thing for the court... What do you think, sister?"
Of course Empress Chen put in good words for Gao Jingshi. She smiled and said: "My sister is right. I remember that before I moved into Yu Mansion, in my hometown in Tongzhou, the city wall had to be repaired every now and then, but none of it was completely repaired.
At that time, I didn’t know how much money the local officials at that time had embezzled in it. For someone like Gao Pragmatic to take the job and clearly guarantee the service life, this is the first time I heard about it. I just hope that he will not use the soap.
It would be better if all the money earned by the factory is lost."
Concubine Li shook her head and said: "I'm afraid my sister is worrying too much about this. I heard someone say that Gao Pragmatic has never lost money in business. He even spent hundreds of thousands of taels on recruiting refugees in Weihui Mansion last year. Now,
I’m afraid I’ve earned everything back.”
Empress Chen really didn't know this, and said in surprise: "Really? How do you make money back?"
However, Concubine Li only knew this and did not know why. She could only vaguely say: "Anyway, there are some private mines and workshops opened on the left and right. My little sister didn't ask carefully."
Zhu Yijun saw that both of them seemed to have agreed, so he said happily: "Mother, concubine, if you two agree, I will go and give him a calligraphy."
Concubine Li quickly stopped him: "I agree, I agree. What's the matter with giving a word?"
Zhu Yijun said nonchalantly: "He said that if you two agree, he would like to ask Erchen to give him a name for this factory for good luck. However, he has thought of the name himself, so Erchen can just write four characters for him.
