Lao Zhu said: "Everything else will work, but the cost and size won't work. You do the math. You need to build 1,500 rooms, plus walkways around the middle, a room for the invigilator to rest, and leave space for If expanded in the future, the area will be nearly 20 acres. It’s too big and a waste.”
Zhu Bai: "What should we do?"
Lao Zhu patted Zhu Bai on the head: "Young man is usually very clever, but why did he suddenly get stuck? Just make the room smaller. Three feet long and two feet wide will do. You can sleep sitting down, it only takes a few days. If If you can't bear this little hardship, how can you serve the imperial court in the future?"
Zhu Bai frowned: "I'm sure I'd like to be smaller, because it saves money. But the candidates are going to scold me. They also have to make up that I'm a vampire, a 'little king of hell' or something like that."
Lao Zhu smiled: "There are too many lice and they won't bite you. You're already famous, what's more? Besides, the turbid will become turbid and the pure will become pure. Even if you are the Guanyin Bodhisattva who saves people from suffering, there will still be people who don't worship you. What?"
Zhu Bai smiled: "Yes."
As an official of the Ming Dynasty, you really can't be too squeamish and weak.
After all, there are still many hardships ahead.
Lao Zhu said: "Let's just change it to red bricks, which will save more money."
Zhu Bai sighed: "Sir, that's not how you save money. The Ming Dynasty will last forever. This room will last for a long time. If it falls down after a few years, won't you have to spend money to repair it?"
Lao Zhu: "Okay, I don't feel bad about spending your money anyway. The stronger it is, the better."
Zhu Bai couldn't laugh or cry: Lao Zhu's abacus was really good.
Zhu Bai reduced the size of the room and redrawn it for Lao Zhu to see.
Lao Zhu nodded: "Yes, let's do this."
"Okay." Zhu Bai was about to pick up the drawing and leave.
Lao Zhu held down the drawing and said, "Sir, tell me. You can't even write a word in a crooked way. How can you draw such beautiful construction drawings? We have seen the drawings from the Ministry of Works, but they are not as clear as you." It’s clear.”
Zhu Bai sighed: "Father, as long as you have money, you can naturally hire good craftsmen. I just talk, and those people will draw the drawings. They will make the changes as they want, and they will do it quickly and well." "
Lao Zhu muttered: "I don't know where you, a traitor, found the craftsmen. When the Great Prayer Hall was being built, I just asked your people to draw the drawings."
Zhu Bai twitched the corner of his mouth: Lao Zhu has always been a small farmer. He wants to get things done, but he is reluctant to give up his money and wants to use it up.
This is killing the chicken to get the egg, and it won't last long at all.
Fortunately, he is the emperor, and others have to be squeezed by him in order to save their lives, otherwise they would not be able to continue.
-----
At this time, Lan Yu, Deng Yu and Mu Ying were fighting the Mongols in two groups.
The two groups received frequent reports of success. Lan Yu not only captured Xinghe, but also captured a large number of former officials of the Yuan Dynasty and beat the Mongols until they saw him and ran away. Deng Yu and Mu Ying killed and drove away all the old Yuan Dynasty troops east and north of Ningxia.
There was only one thing left unfinished, which was to deal with Wang Baobao.
Moreover, let alone defeating Wang Baobao, the three of them could not find him.
This person was like a sharp thorn stuck in Lao Zhu's throat. He couldn't spit it out or swallow it, which made him very uncomfortable.
Lao Zhu wrote a letter asking Zhu Xi if he had seen any trace of Wang Baobao near Xi'an.
Zhu Ping wrote back and said that since he arrived in the fiefdom, no Mongolian soldiers had invaded.
Lao Zhu felt more and more strange: Wang Qiuyue was in Xi'an, and Wang Baobao couldn't completely ignore her.
What is this Wang Baobao planning?
Lao Zhu thought about it and called Fei Ju into the palace.
Fei Ju was also a founding hero who followed Lao Zhu in revolt early on, and was one of the twenty-four generals of Huaixi.
After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, he was granted the title of Marquis of Pingliang, with a salary of 1,500 shi.
Lao Zhu also planned to reuse him. After killing Wei Guan, he regretted it very much and sent Fei Ju to appease the soldiers and people of Suzhou.
In the end, Fei Ju was lucky. When he went there, he visited all the brothels without doing anything serious, which made the soldiers and civilians of Suzhou even more angry.
Lao Zhu had no choice but to recruit Fei Ju back and send Li Heng, a diligent and gentle man, to quell public anger.
Lao Zhu was so angry that he caught Fei Ju and whipped him several times. He said that he was brave and foolhardy and could not be used in a big way, so he dismissed his official position and sent him home to rest.
Thinking that he had been neglected for several years now, Lao Zhu decided to give him another chance.
Lao Zhu asked Fei Ju, who was standing below, kindly: "Master Fei, how have you been these days?"
Fei Ju glanced at Lao Zhu with red eyes, and kowtowed aggrievedly: "If I can see the emperor again, my death will be worth it."
Lao Zhu clearly knew that he was flattering, but he still felt very comfortable after hearing this.
Lao Zhu sighed: "Compared with those who were recruited just after the founding of the dynasty, we still trust the old guys who started the trouble together. But if we want to use you, you must be able to support the work. This time, I will give you more It’s just a job for you, so don’t let us down again.”
Fei Ju kowtows: "I will go through fire and water to do the things that the emperor has entrusted to me."
Lao Zhu said: "That Wang Baobao has always refused to surrender. Only a few generals have seen him, and you are one of them. So we want to send you to persuade him, make sure he surrenders to us, and pull out this nail. "
Fei Ju: "I will go to Xi'an immediately. I will not come back until Wang Baobao is persuaded to surrender."
Seeing that he was so motivated, Lao Zhu was naturally very happy: "Okay, we will reward you well when you return home."
------
When Zhu Ping arrived at the vassal territory, the palace was many times larger than the one in Yingtian before. No one cared about him. He was really happy.
At first, he occasionally discussed government and military affairs with the prefect and the commander-in-chief.
But this diligence only lasted for more than half a year, and he began to feel tired.
At first, Zhou Bin often tried to persuade him with a few words of persuasion.
After several attempts to persuade him, Zhu Xiang refused to listen, and Zhou Bin didn't bother to persuade him.
Lao Zhu would not like him to complain. This is a thankless job with a dilemma.
Wang Xiaoyue got even worse. Every time before she opened her mouth, she would be scolded by Zhu Feng with a cold face. She could only sigh and shake her head.
Now only Hongyuan, the monk who followed him to join the feudal vassal, took the trouble to persuade Zhu Cang.
On this day, an envoy from Xifan came to see Zhu Ping and said that he had important matters to discuss with him.
These envoys and so on have always been received, negotiated and settled by the Administrative Envoy. If the problem cannot be solved, report it to Lao Zhu.
When Zhu Ping first came to Xi'an, he had assisted the chief envoy in handling these matters, but now he had long lost interest.
Zhu Feng was playing archery with Deng Zhiqiu at the moment. He was interrupted and became very impatient. He waved his hand to the concierge who came in to report: "Let them find the Shaanxi Chengxuan political envoy."
The porter said: "The guest asked the villain to give this box to His Highness, and His Highness will definitely meet him."
Zhu Xi took the sandalwood box that was half a foot long and three fingers wide.
Deng Zhiqiu grabbed it and said, "Ah, what a good thing? Let me see if it is as magical as he said."
