When Han Du built the house, he originally wanted to build it into a residence for officials of the fourth, fifth and sixth grades. But after calculation, I found that if I built it this way, I would not have much land to build a house.
Therefore, Han Du simply built the original house into a three-story building like this. In this way, the overall area is no smaller than that of a house, and it can also greatly save space.
"This is built after careful calculation. Your Majesty, it may not look big from the outside, but it is extremely spacious inside." Han Du explained with a smile.
Lao Zhu glanced sideways at Han Du and asked with some disbelief: "Oh? Is this really the case?"
Han Du quickly bowed and stretched out his hand to indicate, "The emperor will know as soon as he goes in."
Lao Zhu nodded and walked into the small building first.
Lao Zhu walked in the door and was instantly shocked by the scene inside. The floor was covered with shiny tiles, and the large windows on the wall were not traditional paper-carved wooden windows, but transparent windows inlaid with glass.
The refreshing feeling made Lao Zhu feel a little jealous. None of his palaces were as transparent and bright as this small building. Although the floor is also paved with precious wood and cleaned every day by palace maids, it is not as spotless as here.
"So, is this the porcelain piece you made?" Lao Zhu subconsciously squatted down and took a closer look. He had heard Han Du talk about this thing before, but this was the first time he saw it.
Han Du quickly stepped forward and explained, "Your Majesty, this is indeed the tile I mentioned, but it is different from the previous ones."
"Oh? What's the difference?" Lao Zhu looked at the flat and shiny tiles and couldn't help but reach out and touch them.
Han Du continued to reply: "At the beginning, I just had a whim. I thought that since glaze is fired on clay vessels, smooth and beautiful porcelain can be obtained. Then if porcelain is made into pieces like this, wouldn't it also be possible? Burning? Later, I asked someone to try to bake some."
"But the ones fired at that time were not so good. They were either uneven or dull in color. Only some of them could be used reluctantly, so I gave them to the craftsmen of the Paper Bureau to use in the houses they built themselves. "
"Later, I set up a reward to let the craftsmen continue to improve their skills. Thanks to the emperor Hongfu, they actually fired it."
When Lao Zhu heard this, he stood up with a sigh, patted Han Du on the shoulder, and said, "You kid, are you going to get rich again?"
Han Du's heart skipped a beat, it was over, he had almost exposed his base just now. It seems that Lao Zhu is interested in this thing about himself.
After laughing awkwardly, Han Du covered it up and said, "That can make you rich. I just set up a small workshop. I plan to bake some and see if anyone will buy it."
Lao Zhu suddenly laughed, clapped his hands and said, "Since you said it yourself, it is my great blessing that this thing can be fired. Then if this thing makes money in the future, don't forget my blessing."
Han Du looked at Lao Zhu blankly, and he was indeed becoming more and more shameless. In the past, when Lao Zhu encountered something like this, even if he wanted to get a share of the pie, he would pretentiously take out tens of thousands of coins and pretend to be a show-off.
It's good now, Lao Zhu has stopped pretending at all? You don’t even want to spend a penny, so you just want to be free?
Before Han Du came back to his senses, Lao Zhu glanced back and forth in the room and said in a deep voice: "Isn't it too extravagant to give such a small building to those officials? What if it fosters their extravagant style?" , that’s not good.”
"It should, it shouldn't, right?" Han Du felt wronged. As for why he built this small building so luxuriously, it was because it was prepared for rich people. If he didn't make it extravagant, how could he defraud... bah, sell them money?
But Han Du really didn't expect that Lao Zhu would actually think that because the house was so good, it would bring luxury.
"No? Huh!" Lao Zhu snorted coldly and said: "Don't do evil because it's small, don't do good because it's small." King Zhou ordered someone to cut a pair of ivory chopsticks, and Zizi warned him. With ivory chopsticks It must not be paired with earthenware, but a rhinoceros horn bowl and a white jade cup must be compensated. The jade cup must not be used to hold wild vegetables and whole grains, and can only be matched with delicacies. After eating delicacies, one will no longer wear rough kudzu shorts and live in thatched huts, but will want to be dressed in beautiful clothes. , ride in fancy cars, live in high-rise buildings.
Isn’t this the case with the greed of people in the world? There is no end to the goal of making further progress and looking towards Shu. By allowing them to live in such a gorgeous small building, aren't you trying to push them towards being greedy step by step? "
Han Du swallowed his saliva. He really didn't think so much. It was just a small building. Why did it become an online building?
"Your Majesty, I don't think so."
Lao Zhu's face suddenly darkened, he turned around and stared at Han Du, and asked: "Then what do you think? Tell me, and let me hear your opinion."
"I dare not." Han Du bowed quickly, then raised his head to look at Lao Zhu, and replied seriously: "People eat whole grains and have seven emotions and six desires. It is natural for people to have greed. I still say the same thing. , whether it is greedy or greedy, it can only be sparse but not blocked. Perhaps when officials live in such a small building, they will indeed become as the emperor said, making every inch of it possible to see Shu, and becoming insatiable step by step.
But I think there are other possibilities. "
"What's possible?" Lao Zhu's eyes narrowed and he asked calmly.
Han Du straightened up and said seriously: "I believe that there are still a majority of people in this world who are content and happy, and only a minority are greedy. For people who are content and happy, such a small building is something they have never dared to think of before. . Now they are able to move in, all because of the emperor's grace, and their current salary is enough to support the whole family, and there is still a little leftover. I believe that such people will not only not be greedy, but will become more and more honest."
After listening to this, Lao Zhu thought carefully about Han Du's words. After a moment, I had to nod. The same rice raises the same people. There are not all good people in this world, and certainly not all bad people. Judging from the imperial examinations over the years, Lao Zhu still knew that the Jinshi he selected had no major moral problems.
As for those officials who are greedy, they are either inherently greedy or greedy. Or, as the prince said, he is forced by life and has no choice but to do so.
"Continue to talk about what is different about this house." Lao Zhu changed the topic, turned around and pointed at the entire room.
Han Du immediately knew that Lao Zhu had listened to his words. A human being cannot stop eating because of choking. You can't just beat all the officials to death with a stick just because there are corrupt officials, right? Don’t be afraid of corrupt officials, as long as you gradually stabilize officials with qualified conduct. When a corrupt official appears, just deal with him.
Han Du took Lao Zhu along the wooden stairs to the second floor and came to a small room. A mirror one foot five inches wide and two feet high was hung on the wall.
As soon as Lao Zhu walked in, he saw his own figure in the mirror. "You also put a mirror?"
Mirrors are expensive, but Lao Zhu still knows that.
Han Du had no choice but to step forward and explain, "Your Majesty, since Mingjingzhai collected the old treasure banknotes, I have asked the workshop to greatly increase the production of mirrors. Now the price of mirrors has dropped again and again, and it is no longer expensive. Like The market price of the mirror in front of me is only ten guan."
Of course it's not expensive for ten strings, Lao Zhu couldn't help but nodded. You know, in the past, Handu would sell hundreds or even hundreds of mirrors like this.
“But if the price drops, won’t you make less money?”
Han Du smiled and explained: "Your Majesty, that's not how the account is calculated. The price of mirrors in the past was too high, and you could indeed make a lot of money by selling one piece. But with such a high price, few people can afford it. Out of a hundred people, maybe only one person can afford it, or not even one person."
"But after the price of the mirror was reduced, although the profit dropped. But among a hundred people, maybe a few dozen people could afford it. Not only did I not suffer a loss, but I made more. I made more money, and there were more people. If more people can use mirrors, isn't this the best of both worlds?"
After hearing this, Lao Zhu suddenly understood and a smile appeared on his face.
No matter what, Lao Zhu was quite happy that Han Du could take the initiative to lower the price of mirrors. This at least shows that Han Du still thinks about the people, rather than focusing on money.
"What is this?" Lao Zhu saw a brass pipe with a button, and subconsciously reached out and twisted it.
A stream of white water as thick as a finger suddenly flowed out.
"Huh? Where does this water come from?"
Lao Zhu turned around and looked at Han Du with surprise.
Han Du pointed toward the middle window.
Lao Zhu looked in the direction, his eyes widened suddenly, and he asked in confusion: "Why did you move the big water tank to the roof?"
Han Du smiled and explained: "When I was building the house, I laid copper pipes in the house and connected it to the water tank outside. From now on, people in this house will not need to use basins to fetch water. Just turn on the switch and a steady stream of water will flow out for them to use.”
Lao Zhu frowned, pointed at the large water tank, and said, "The water in your water tank will not be endless, right? What if the water in it runs out?"
"When you're done, just ask someone to carry the water up and fill the water tank." Han Du said calmly.
Han Du also wanted to make tap water directly, but unfortunately there was no water pump and there was no way to pump the water from the flat ground into the water tank. Therefore, although the water pipes in the small building can be easily laid, the water can still only be carried upstairs through manpower. Fortunately, Handu specially built the place where the water tank is located as high as possible, so that he can jump up to the water without having to climb too many steps.
Lao Zhu glanced at Han Du and said speechlessly: "In the end, you still need someone to carry the water up. Didn't you take off your pants and fart multiple times?"
