Hearing Zhao Dahu's words, the empress couldn't help but look at Lu Chen in surprise.
Is there really another mystery?
How did he figure it out?
But after a moment, she changed her mind and thought that although Lu Chen had been in the official position for less than half a year, he had not only worked in the engineering field closely related to the affairs of the Ministry of Industry for several months, but also served as the governor of the two states for a month, giving an overview of the two states. Military and political affairs, and now he is the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, who is in the third rank.
With his loyal and dedicated character, he will fulfill his duties no matter where he is and handle government affairs as properly as possible.
Having personally handled so many government affairs, his administrative abilities must have improved a lot.
He may not be able to notice details that others cannot notice, and things that can be hidden from ordinary officials may not be hidden from him.
Of course, if it were other officials, if they could shorten the construction period by so much and complete the work ahead of schedule, proving that their new regulations were effective, they would have eagerly reported it to the emperor after confirming that there were no obvious problems. Who would care about the reason?
After thinking about this, the empress looked at Lu Chen with a strong sense of appreciation in her eyes.
"grown ups."
Zhao Dahu was silent for a while, organizing his words, and then slowly spoke:
"To be honest, before you came here, although we had been working hard in Wuji Palace for more than a month, we did it very slowly because we didn't do our best every day at work."
As soon as these words came out, almost all the workers lowered their heads in unison, and at the same time glanced at Lu Chen and the Empress uneasily.
Although Xianggong Lu is a rare good official, one thing is the same. After learning that they dared to be lazy in labor matters, no one dared to ensure that Xianggong Lu would not be furious, and then handle the official business and punish them.
Under everyone's uneasy gazes, the empress frowned slightly, still looking thoughtful, but Lu Chen's eyes suddenly moved, and a look of understanding flashed in his eyes.
After thinking for a moment, he grasped a certain key point.
I see, no wonder these people seemed to have suddenly exploded into a small universe. Even if they faced those ruthless evil officials before, they were bold enough to secretly save their strength and hide their clumsiness.
The next second, as if to confirm his guess, Zhao Dahu continued: "And ordinary people like us can't see the road clearly at night, and we are always on tenterhooks on the construction site, for fear of accidentally being hit by a stone. Death would be a huge distraction, so I won’t be able to do much work at all.”
Having said this, he paused for a moment, then carefully glanced at Lu Chen and the Empress. Seeing that their faces did not show anger, but looked like they were thinking about something, he felt slightly relieved, and then Then he said:
"Your Majesty, Mr. Lu, although we used to work for a long time every day, in fact, in one day, the work we do is not as much as half a day now."
After listening to Zhao Dahu's story, the empress thought for a moment, and then asked softly: "In other words, the previous officials treated you very poorly. Not only did you have poor food and clothing, but they also often beat and scolded you. But Lu Qing treated you very well. So you are grateful and try your best to work for Lu Qing, right?"
Hearing this, Zhao Dahu and all the workers suddenly looked embarrassed.
This question is not easy to answer.
After all, the empress is the emperor. Even if she is controlled by the empress dowager as a puppet, she still stays in the palace and has no worries about food and clothing. It is impossible for her to know all about the sufferings of the world.
I just have a rough idea.
Therefore, she, who is supreme, cannot truly empathize with the poor people.
But Lu Chen was different from her. After the empress spoke, he just pondered for a moment and then sighed heavily.
"Your Majesty, you misunderstood."
He turned back, looked at the workers, and said: "The reason why they are unwilling to work hard and take time off to save effort at the risk of being abused by the supervising officials is probably because they want to live and just simply ask for help." Just live.”
The voice was light and agile, but the words he spoke were filled with heaviness.
Hearing this, the empress couldn't help but be stunned.
"Lu Qing, why do you say that?"
Lu Chen looked around at everyone.
"The imperial court conscripted laborers, and provided no other supplies except a little ration and a tattered tent that had been used for who knows how long. Moreover, even that little ration had to pass through the hands of who knows how many people and finally ended up in their stomachs. It’s just a clear soup with little water.”
"And as long as it is labor, it is almost always extremely arduous work. Now it is early spring again, the cold wind has not dispersed, and there is no warm spring. In addition, the weather has become increasingly cold in recent years. Even in the capital, some people have no food. More and more people have no food left at home. In this case, workers not only have to face high-intensity labor, but also suffer from hunger and cold. How can they survive until now with life-saving rations?”
"How can they, who are the backbone of a family, go back alive to serve their parents and raise their children?"
As soon as these words came out, all the people's noses suddenly became sour and their eyes gradually turned red.
At the same time, almost all of their eyes showed a look of joy.
Mr. Lu actually understands them and their difficulties!
After listening to Lu Chen's explanation, the empress suddenly understood.
"Lu Qing, what do you mean, if they don't save their energy, it will be difficult for them to survive this hard labor?"
"Exactly."
Lu Chen nodded and was about to say more when Zhao Dahu suddenly thought of something and suddenly knelt on the ground and said loudly:
"Your Majesty, Xianggong Lu is right. If we want to survive, we must find ways to save our energy. No matter what, we must survive until the end of the labor service. Otherwise, the little people, including the old and the young, will die in the Here, the families of the common people have been destroyed, and we must not only live for ourselves, but also for our parents, wives, and children, and we must try our best to survive."
At this point, his voice became choked up.
"For this reason, we risked our lives to hide it from those evil officials, and used all kinds of means to save our lives under their noses. Later, Mr. Lu came and asked me to have enough food and clothing, so that I had food in my stomach and my body was healthy. Now I have the strength to work with ease, and Mr. Lu has completely relieved my worries, so naturally we will work hard."
Hearing this, the empress completely understood.
Is that what happened?
Without worries, you can naturally move forward and create miracles.
In the final analysis, this incident is essentially the result of Lu Chen. If he had not gone against everyone's opinions and forcibly adjusted the proportion of project expenditures to reduce excess raw material costs and increase the labor costs that should have been paid, those moths would have been eaten away. The benefits were passed on to the workers, which led to the current rather incredible situation.
Thinking of this, the empress couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.
Facts have proved that Lu Chen's shocking move was not emotional at all.
Whether it was the incident of Xia Yan, the flood control turmoil in the Sui and Yu states, or the incident in Liangzhou, as well as the change of course of the Ministry of Industry, all proved his vision and foresight.
What is an astonishing talent? What is a minister who seeks the country? What is an unparalleled warrior?
This is it!
If Wang Zuo's talent is not reused, is there anyone in the world worthy of her reuse?
Lu Chen couldn't read minds, so he naturally didn't know what the empress was thinking at this time.
After Zhao Dahu finished speaking sincerely, he suddenly stood up.
"Your Majesty, even the most basic survival of the workers in the Wuji Palace was a problem before Wei Chen came over. Under this premise, who would dare to spare no effort to work and contribute to the imperial court? So."
As he spoke, his eyes lowered slightly, and at the same time he suddenly stood up and cupped his hands to the empress.
"Wei Chen believes that although these people are suspected of sabotaging their work, this matter is the fault of the court first. The mediocre officials and evil officials are unkind, so they cannot be blamed for being unjust. Not only are they not guilty, but the court should reflect on itself. Please give your Majesty a clear warning. .”
Seeing that Lu Chen actually stood up and remonstrated with the emperor for humble commoners like himself, Zhao Dahu and others were immediately moved to tears.
"Xianggong Lu"
They looked at Lu Chen's back and opened their mouths, but no words came out.
"Don't worry, Lu Qing."
The empress responded without hesitation, "I am not a foolish monarch who cannot distinguish right from wrong. Since it is the fault of the imperial court, I did not fulfill my due duty to the working people. Instead, I criticized them everywhere. The common people swallowed their anger and did not riot, so they were worthy of the imperial court. I How can you be harsh?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone immediately breathed a heavy sigh of relief, and the stone in their hearts finally fell to the ground.
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
Lu Chen raised his voice.
As soon as he finished speaking, all the people reacted immediately and hurriedly knelt heavily on the ground, bowed their heads to the empress.
"Thank you for your mercy, Your Majesty!"
The empress smiled slightly, then looked at Lu Chen intently.
"Lu Qing, it seems that in addition to the ways of the emperor, there are many things that I need to learn. From now on, I still have to trouble you, Lu Qing, to teach me more about the ways of governing the country, so that I can understand the real way to save the world."
Upon hearing these words, Lu Chen immediately bowed again and said word by word:
"Wei Chen takes orders!"
This scene of the king and his ministers enjoying each other was deeply engraved in the hearts of everyone around him at this moment.
From the Empress and Lu Chen, Wang Qi and Zhang Xuan even felt the shock that the glorious age was right before their eyes.
…………
As expected, the completion acceptance was passed without any surprises.
Moreover, the acceptance results were much better than the prescribed standards.
Immediately afterwards, the news that Wuji Palace was completed ahead of schedule spread quickly.
In the court hall, Wu Yue, who was the Minister of Household Affairs, had no expression on his face, but his heart was overturned and he was shocked.
This Lu Chen is really amazing! !
This guy is really not an ordinary evil sect.
He naturally knew about the project of Wuji Palace and was quite familiar with it. After all, he had carefully confirmed the amount of the project funds for the renovation and Xinyuan Ceremony, and approved them after he had basically controlled the expenditure to the limit.
Obviously there was no increase in the budget, nor was the Empress asked for help. She just adjusted the cost ratio and was able to complete the project ahead of schedule, and the quality was impeccable and perfect.
This deal is really worth it!
This also gave him the feeling of opening the door to a new world.
As the court's moneybag, he was extremely sensitive to the state's money and food receipts and expenditures. Seeing Lu Chen's brilliant performance after the Ministry of Industry implemented the new regulations, various ideas suddenly emerged in his mind.
At this young age, he even had the urge to ask Lu Chen for advice.
After Lu Chen's ability to turn decay into magic was once again verified, Wu Yue suddenly felt an ominous premonition in his heart.
It suddenly occurred to him that since Lu Chen rose to prominence, his judgments had always been extremely accurate, and he could accomplish whatever he wanted to do. No matter how unreasonable things were, once he got his hands on them, they would become natural.
In this case, then charcoal...
When he thought of this, he thought of the Black Mountains found in almost every province in Daxia. There were countless and inexhaustible coals buried under the Black Mountains.
In an instant, he shuddered involuntarily.
Probably...no...
Of course, Wu Yue was not the only one who was shocked that Wuji Palace was completed ahead of schedule due to Lu Chen's change of tune.
Almost all the courtiers were shocked by this incomprehensible fact.
And just when the courtiers had to slowly digest this incredible fact, a silver-white figure quietly came to Taihe County, which was only more than 300 miles away from Luojing.
"General."
In the Taihe County government office, the county magistrate Li Yongcheng looked at the sudden visit of the Shenwu General Gu Simiao in front of him with a look of surprise.
"Have you really decided to make Wujiacun, Lujiacun and other villages near Heishan your food town?"
Li Yongcheng deliberately mentioned the word "Black Mountain" to remind Gu Simiao that those villages were not a good place. It could even be said that those villages were the poorest in the entire Sili land.
He didn't want Gu Simiao to find that there was no grass growing there, regret that he had made it a fiefdom, blame him for not making it clear, and come to settle the score with him.
The wrath of General Shenwu was something that a small subordinate like the county magistrate could not bear.
However, Gu Simiao nodded expressionlessly.
"Um."
Such a straightforward performance immediately put Li Yongcheng out of control.
"Not only that."
Before he could respond, Gu Simiao spoke again.
"This general will also turn the entire Montenegro into a fiefdom."
There was a hint of coldness in his voice, which was completely different from the soft tone he used when talking to Lu Chen in Luo Jing.
She took the time to come to Taihe County today, naturally for the sake of fiefdom and food.
It was her plan to choose Montenegro as a fiefdom.
It's not that she has unique vision, it's just that Lu Chen's Tiangong Division is studying coal. No matter how others question him, she will show her attitude with actions.
She had been away from Luo Jing for a while. Naturally, she didn't know that Lu Chen once again turned decay into magic and shocked all the courtiers. The news of Luo Jing would not have spread to the proper subordinates in Taihe County so quickly. and other counties.
When he heard this, Li Yongcheng was completely shocked.
"General, do you want to stop thinking about it?"
Gu Simiao shook her head and said, "Don't think about it, just go through the formalities and issue the documents immediately."
After a pause, she said impatiently: "I have to rush back to the military camp later. I would like to ask Magistrate Li to help me complete the procedures as soon as possible. It is best to complete it within today."
Hearing this, Li Yongcheng was speechless.
Do all the big shots these days have such weird tempers?
He had heard of Gu Simiao.
After slaying the demon, he was a great hero in eliminating traitors for the country. He was awarded a title for his official duties, but he refused the position of county governor for no reason, and then chose a poor place like Taihe County to be a county governor.
Now Montenegro is chosen as the fiefdom.
Could this girl have been kicked in the head by a donkey?
(End of chapter)
