After reaching the cooperation with Li Er, Xu Fenglei felt quite happy. After leaving the East Palace, he strolled around the Tai Chi Palace.
Last year he promised Qingquan, and this year he finally saw the opportunity and implemented it.
With this expansion, the bank will no longer have to worry about business volume for the next ten or twenty years. As long as it is run well, profits will blow out.
When the time comes, what will you do with the money?
Planning a grand blueprint in his mind, Xu Fenglei walked around and entered a government office without knowing it.
"See Minister."
"I've met the minister."
When everyone in the Yamen saw Xu Fenglei, they all bowed respectfully.
"Uh... I'm back to the Ministry of Industry."
Only then did Xu Fenglei come back to his senses. Seeing this familiar venue, he couldn't help but touch his nose.
Haven't been here for a long time.
"Where are the ministers and the others?"
He asked casually,
"Why not at the Ministry of Works?"
Aren't these two guys very diligent on weekdays?
Did you catch them fishing during a surprise inspection today?
"Back to the minister, the two ministers have gone to the construction site. Recently, they have been working hard to meet the construction deadline. They have food and accommodation on the construction site, and they have handled any matters at the construction site."
The doctor responded.
Xu Fenglei suddenly realized and couldn't help feeling a little ashamed.
This time he judged a gentleman with a villain's heart. The two brothers of the Yan family were diligent old scalpers. How could they be like him, fishing all day without doing anything.
"It's in the south of the city, at the school construction site, right?"
he asked.
"Yes, Minister." The doctor cupped his hands and said, "If nothing happens, Minister, you may want to go and inspect the work. Shilang Yan and the others stayed at the construction site all day long and achieved great results."
Xu Fenglei was a little surprised.
"It's quite effective? Then I'll go take a look."
He patted the doctor on the shoulder and praised,
"While I'm not here, the Ministry of Industry is in good order. You are all meritorious people."
"When the school is completed, I will definitely say hello to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Our officials in the Ministry of Works must get perfect scores in the evaluation, and no one can fall behind! Otherwise, they will be sorry for their hard work over the years!"
When the doctor heard this, his eyes suddenly showed surprise.
"Thank you!"
He said excitedly,
"Subordinates must work hard and don't dare to slack off at all!"
Xu Fenglei nodded with satisfaction.
As a leader, he can't do anything else but draw cakes.
Look, this piece of cake is enough to hold a tube of chicken blood!
…
Chang'an City, south of the city.
Craftsmen came in and out, climbed up and down, and the noise was loud.
Xu Fenglei was looking around, his eyes already attracted by the magnificent school in front of him.
No, with this scale, the word "school" is no longer worthy of it. It is not an exaggeration to call it a 'school palace'!
The entire building complex is lined up row upon row, and the planning is just right, making the best use of this small world in the south of the city!
It’s hard to imagine that this place, which used to be flat land, has now become a climate... The doctor said there was a surprise, and it was true!
Boom, boom, boom!
"Put the food on!"
As a drumbeat came, countless workers emerged from all corners and rushed to the food shed.
There were two familiar figures among them, which caught Xu Fenglei's attention.
"Old Zhang, the paint in the main hall of the school should be the best, but it should not be too magnificent. After all, this is a school, not a palace."
Yan Lide warned the painter beside him,
"The other halls should be more modest and elegant, and not too red or purple. That's not what we can do here."
"I asked the people from Qintian Prison to take a look. It will be sunny in the next few days. You have to speed up. If the rainy season comes, it will be troublesome. We must meet the construction deadline. One link is missing. The task assigned by the minister It can’t be finished.”
"Do you remember everything?"
Yan Liben followed and muttered:
"The Qintian Prison's barometer is not very accurate. A while ago, it was said that it would be sunny these two days. Didn't it rain again yesterday?"
"They said it was good rain... This rain is not necessarily good for us."
The painter looked like an honest man. He smiled innocently, patted his chest and said:
"Don't worry!"
"Even if God is not kind to us, we can still think of a way. At worst, we can dry the paint by then."
"As long as the cost is not considered, anything can be done."
Yan Lide nodded.
"That's good."
He sighed softly,
"Although the main body has been built, the really tedious thing is the interior decoration."
"Fortunately, there are still a few months until the date requested by the minister. If you hurry up and hurry up, it should still be too late..."
"Let's go, let's go get some food, I'm starving! If we go late, we'll run out of gas and water!"
Having said that, Yan Lide quickened his pace and ran towards the food shed.
"Hey, wait for us!"
The two people behind him also twitched their brows and quickly chased after him.
…
In the food shed.
The three of them were sitting on a stool, with a big ocean bowl in front of them.
At the bottom of the sea bowl is a large bowl of rice, but it is slightly yellow in color and does not look like polished rice.
The rice was covered with two spoons of hot vegetables and a lump of brown stuff.
Boom, boom, boom, Yan Lide was really hungry. Without even saying a word, he immediately turned into a rice cook, and with three or two strokes, half of the food was eaten.
He was eating so selflessly that he didn't even know when there was someone else around him.
"Dignified Minister Yan, is this all you want to eat?"
A voice came from the right.
"Hey, at the construction site... it would be nice to have these, and there is also meat sauce!"
Yan Lide responded without hesitation, and then his heart was shocked.
This voice... is very familiar!
He turned his head suddenly and saw Xu Fenglei looking at him with a smile.
Yan Lide: "!!!"
"Bu Zun! Why are you here?"
He hurriedly stood up and saluted, and said with surprise and urgency,
"Oh my god...it's the officials who are being negligent! How can you sit in this smelly food tent?"
"come!"
Yan Lide was about to ask someone to clear a place for Xu Fenglei to open a small stove, but Xu Fenglei stopped him.
"What's the point of neglect? You, the minister, can eat, but I, the minister, can't?"
Xu Fenglei patted his shoulder and said with a smile,
"Get me a copy too! Since the major corruption case at the Ministry of Works was handled last time, I haven't done any on-the-spot spot checks."
"Just to see what the food level is at this construction site now, and whether those hateful borers have reappeared."
"Come!"
As soon as he gave the order, Yan Liben hurriedly ran errands and personally gave Xu Fenglei a meal.
"Minister, no matter how good the food at the construction site is, it won't be much better. Of course, this is for you."
Yan Liben smiled and said,
"For ordinary workers, this meal is definitely better than what they have at home!"
"This rice alone is not something that ordinary places can serve, and also this dish, this meat sauce soup."
"Rice as the base and meat sauce as the topping, look at these workers, who is not devouring it? We all eat it delicious!"
Xu Fenglei listened to his introduction and sniffed lightly.
"Well, it does smell like meat."
He praised,
"I'm not a delicate person, nor do I live in fine clothes and fine food every day, chewing pearls like beans."
"This meal looks good to me! It seems that the standard of the food has indeed gone up, it's very good!"
After saying that, Xu Fenglei took a big mouthful of rice.
I have to say that the rice grains are a bit rough and the meat sauce is a bit too salty.
But even this salty taste is something most people can’t get!
The workers are doing strenuous work, they have to fill their stomachs, and they have to have a lot of salt to replenish their strength. This strong taste is just the right taste!
"As long as the minister can get used to it."
Yan Lide grinned, took a mouthful of rice and said,
"If it's not enough, you can keep adding more rice and vegetables, but there's only one spoonful of meat sauce, so no one has more."
"Otherwise, the cost will be uncontrollable."
"Of course, if you want to add more, you can add whatever you want."
Xu Fenglei mixed the meat sauce into the rice, stirred it with the cabbage, took a big spoonful and put it into his mouth.
"Come here to eat, everyone is equal, I can't break the rules."
He responded,
"One spoonful is enough."
"No more chatting. Let's all eat. After eating, you will take me to inspect."
"Okay!" The two brothers laughed and started to eat happily.
After a while.
"belch--"
Xu Fenglei burped with satisfaction, stood up and stretched his waist and said,
"I haven't eaten so happily in a long time. I like the noisy atmosphere here very much."
I miss you.
When I was studying, the cafeteria was also like this.
"You have a lot of fresh energy, but you will feel bored after staying here for a long time."
Yan Liben wiped his mouth and said with a smile,
"Minister, please, I will take you to visit."
Xu Fenglei nodded happily.
The three of them walked and talked all the way.
"Look, the one in front is the main hall. It costs the most, has the largest space, and uses the most exquisite materials."
Yan Liben introduced,
"When we first designed it, we set up three departments: small, medium and large according to the requirements of the minister. We originally thought of setting it up as a three-story structure, but the load-bearing capacity of the wood was a bit poor, and we also thought that a group of people should be eliminated when entering higher education. people, so a two-story twin building was built.”
Xu Fenglei nodded slightly.
Indeed, ancient building materials dictate that buildings that are too tall cannot be built, otherwise they will not be able to withstand the weight of the high-rise buildings.
High-rise buildings are usually buildings like towers, and no one lives on them.
In front of them are two fat buildings that look like they can accommodate a lot of people.
"This building is a place for primary school students who have just entered school to study. It is located on the upper and lower floors."
Yan Lide introduced,
"The building at the back has middle school students below, college students above, and a place for teachers to rest. The building at the back is probably going to be idle for a long time. After all, enrollment has just started this year, and there are still many years before entering higher education."
Xu Fenglei nodded.
"This layout is very reasonable."
He said,
"We are recruiting students this year. We will recruit both nobles and civilians. We will recruit them all! The number of students will not be small."
"Total all of them together, we need to allocate classrooms in a building. If we go to middle school, half of them will be eliminated, and if we go to university, we will have to eliminate more! If they can graduate from college, I want to give them the qualification to directly participate in the imperial examination. of!"
"So the farther back you go, the more waves wash away the sand, leaving behind only a few but beautiful elites."
Yan Liben's eyes lit up.
"Participate in the imperial examination directly? Is it the imperial examination that Changsun Gong has been preparing for?"
He continued,
"I heard that those who can participate in the imperial examination and are selected will be awarded the title of Jinshi and can directly become candidate officials of the Ministry of Civil Affairs!"
"In order to grab the qualification to participate in the imperial examination, all the wealthy families are trying their best to show off their talents and send their best children to Chang'an!"
Xu Fenglei frowned slightly.
"Are they all descendants of aristocratic families?"
He wondered,
"Are there no children from poor families, or ordinary people?"
Yan Lide curled his lips.
"How can ordinary people have this knowledge? It is rare to know a few words. Only those from aristocratic families and those with family education can be knowledgeable."
He responded,
"It is difficult for a child from a poor family to have a noble son, unless he is truly a genius, and such geniuses are obviously very few."
"I guess, although this time is called the imperial examination selection, it is still an arena for the children of aristocratic families. But in comparison, it is still fairer than the previous examinations and recommendations."
"Minister, if our school students can really graduate, will they take the imperial examination? This is the national official election!"
Xu Fenglei sneered.
"Reviving the imperial examination system of the former Sui Dynasty was originally proposed to His Majesty by me, and I am also the person in charge."
He waved his hand and said,
"Changsun Wuji is just my deputy."
"The purpose of the school is to cultivate talents. If you excel in your studies, you will become an official. If you succeed in your studies and don't serve the country, then what are you studying?"
"As long as the college students who graduate from my school are good enough, I will open up the bridge and let them compete with the children of noble families and take the imperial examination."
"You don't have to worry about this."
After all, the imperial examination system in the Tang Dynasty was still in its infancy. It was not like the later Ming and Qing Dynasties, which had a complete system of provincial examinations, general examinations, and palace examinations.
What Changsun Wuji is busy with is actually investigating and accepting recommendations from his subordinates.
This makes it difficult to meet rural sages, but there is nothing you can do about it... you have to eat your food one bite at a time.
What Xu Fenglei is thinking about at this moment is to let Datang take a different path to higher education than the Ming and Qing imperial examinations...
"Then I guess there will be more people competing for admission qualifications..."
Yan Lide smiled bitterly and said,
"Recently, people often come to inquire about the progress of the school's construction, including many high-ranking officials from the DPRK."
"They should also do it for the children at home... Speaking of this, Minister, I have a merciless request..."
He looked at Xu Fenglei with a bit of hope and a bit of embarrassment in his eyes.
"Do you want your son to come to the school to study?"
Xu Fenglei said with a half-smile.
"Yep……"
Yan Lide lowered his head, scratched his head and chuckled,
"My incompetent boy will definitely have no future if he is at home."
"If you can think about it in the school, maybe it can be used..."
Yan Liben also cupped his hands and said:
"Minister, I also implore you to give my child a place!"
Seeing how disgraced these two people were because of the project, Xu Fenglei wanted to play a trick on them.
"That's not possible. If you want to enroll, you have to pass the entrance exam. Unless you, like E Guogong and others, donate money to the construction of the school, then your children can enter without taking the exam."
Xu Fenglei pretended to be serious,
"Otherwise, everyone's children will want to be crammed in, and building ten more buildings won't be enough! I won't be able to hire that many gentlemen."
When the two brothers heard this, they immediately grimaced.
"Minister, you also know that our salaries are not high, and we usually don't have much external wealth. This..."
"If you don't establish your foundation, you will suffer, so you can do more paintings and go to Chang'an to sell them. Your paintings are good and can be sold at a high price. Brother, I can't..."
"That's all we can do..."
The two of them started to calculate bitterly, making Xu Fenglei laugh.
"Come on, come on, I'm going to have to act like a showman if I can stand up!"
He waved and said,
"I won't tease you two anymore! If it were anyone else, I wouldn't give this face."
"But I see how hard you two have worked so hard to build the school! Your children can enter without taking the exam!"
(End of chapter)
