Qin Ming officially took office on the third day of February, and after taking office, he only did three things.
The first thing to do was to find Duan Lun, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and sign an iron lease contract with the Ministry of Industry on behalf of the Qin government to make up for the shortage of iron tools when building cement roads.
The second thing was to go to the palace and ask for an audience with Li Shimin. Somehow, he hired someone from Li Shimin's staff to serve as the left deputy director of the Road and Bridge Department. After all, there must be someone in the government office who can do practical things, right?
The third thing is to find something to do for Li Tai, the King of Yue who has been making noises all day long and wants to make some achievements.
The rest of the time, apart from drawing drawings of construction vehicles, he would drink tea and chat, and then get off work at that time.
It's three o'clock.
A middle-aged man in his thirties, wearing a green official robe, strode into the main hall of the government office, raised his hands to Qin Ming and the King of Yue and said:
"Your Majesty has met Director Qin, Yue...Deputy Director Li."
Qin Ming raised his head when he heard this, smiled, opened his palms towards the visitor, pointed to the seat next to him and said:
"It turns out that Deputy Secretary Ma is back. Please take a seat. I have told you so many times. We are now brothers who work in the same rice cooker, so you don't have to be so polite!"
Li Tai, who was immersed in writing, raised his head and said "Thank you, Deputy Ma, for your hard work", then lowered his head and started writing again.
The middle-aged man had long been accustomed to the behavior of this Yue king, so he cupped his hands towards Qin Ming and said:
"Thank you, Director."
After saying that, he sat on the chair.
This middle-aged official named Ma was none other than Ma Zhou, the supervisory censor under the eighth rank at the time and the future prime minister of the Tang Dynasty.
Qin Ming picked up the teapot on the table, stood up and walked towards Ma Zhou. Seeing this, Ma Zhou quickly took the teapot and poured himself a glass of water.
"Deputy Secretary Ma, how did things go?"
Ma Zhou put down his teacup, sighed and said:
"Hey, I have a great trust from the director. Now there is still no one from the court who has come to the government office to apply for the contract of cement road near Chang'an. What will the director do if this continues? Don't we have any other options?"
Qin Ming felt very happy when he heard this. He was worried that someone would apply for the right to contract the cement road.
If you don't have talent, don't waste these days in vain. Let Zhang Wenyuan spread all over Chang'an City to build cement roads that are costly and difficult.
He patted Ma Zhou on the shoulder and comforted:
"It doesn't matter, just do your best."
"By the way, the construction of the cement road will officially start tomorrow. Supervisor, have you made all the arrangements?"
Ma Zhou nodded when he heard this and said:
"Don't worry, Director. The subordinates have made arrangements. But Director, starting from tomorrow, do we really not have to come to the Yamen Office to order anything? What if a courtier comes to apply for the right to contract the cement road?"
Qin Ming folded his sleeves and said with a smile:
"Don't worry, I have already told His Majesty about this. The most important thing now is to repair the Changlan cement road in the shortest possible time. We will deal with the contracting after the road is completed."
"There is also Changlan Cement Road, which is the first cement road official road in Datang. This is not only related to the face of the court, but also related to the future development and construction of cement roads after Datang."
"So you must account for the small officials in the department and supervise the people working on the construction site. As for your main responsibility, you must keep records of the cement road construction process."
"Especially the various precautions during the construction of cement roads and the handling of some emergencies must be recorded. With these, we will have a basis for reference when building other cement roads after Datang."
Upon hearing this, Ma Zhou immediately stood up and bowed:
"Your Majesty, I will remember it."
At this moment, a crisp loli sound came from the door.
"Brother Qin Ming."
Then I saw a small figure carved in pink and jade, wearing a red palace skirt, rushing into Qin Ming's arms like a gust of wind.
Qin Ming leaned over and picked up Xiao Sizi, pinching her little nose.
At this time, Princess Changle's voice came from the door.
"Sizi, you are disobedient. You can't run so fast next time!"
Princess Jinyang stuck out her tongue at Qin Ming, then turned to Princess Changle and said:
"I understand, Fifth Sister."
Ma Zhou was already used to this. He bowed to the visitor and said:
"The lower official pays homage to Princess Changle, Princess Yuzhang, and Princess Jinyang."
"No gift."
Ma Zhou said to Qin Ming:
"Director, there's nothing else to do. I'll go back and get busy first."
Qin Ming nodded when he heard this and said:
"Well, you go and do your work first."
After saying this, Qin Ming held Xiao Sizi in both hands, bowed to the two princesses who had just entered the door, and said:
"The lower official has met Princess Changle and Princess Yuzhang."
Princess Changle saw this and said quickly:
"Mr. Qin County, please get up."
Qin Ming stood up and said to Princess Jinyang in his arms:
"Sizi, brother Ming brought you pea yellow and donkey rolling today. Do you want to eat some?"
Princess Jinyang's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she nodded her head vigorously.
Qin Ming smiled, and then said to Changle and the others:
"Princess Changle, Yuzhang, do you want to eat some too?"
The two smiled and nodded.
At this time, the Yue King Li Tai suddenly raised his head and said dissatisfied:
"Brother Ming, are you going too far? Didn't you tell me this morning that you didn't bring any cakes?"
Princess Jinyang heard this and said to Li Tai:
"Fourth brother, brother Qin Ming must be saying this for your own good. I said last time that with your current figure, fourth brother, you are not suitable for eating cakes and will easily gain weight. Right, brother Qin Ming?"
Qin Ming smiled, pinched Princess Jinyang's nose, and said with a smile:
"Sizi is right, your fourth brother really can't eat too many sweets with his figure. But we, Sizi, are different. You are growing now, so it's okay to eat more sweets."
Princess Jinyang heard this and smiled and winked at Li Tai, as if to say, just tell me what you think.
Princess Yuzhang and Princess Changle acted as if they had just seen Li Tai, and quickly saluted Li Tai and said:
"I've met Fourth Brother."
Li Tai rolled his eyes and snorted:
"You girls, why do you still have my fourth brother in your eyes?"
Upon hearing this, Princess Changle and Princess Yuzhang immediately sat next to Li Tai, acting coquettishly.
Princess Changle's eyes inadvertently glanced at the paper on Li Tai's desk and asked with a smile:
"Fourth brother, are you doing math problems again?"
As Princess Changle reached out to pick up the paper, Li Tai immediately stretched out his hand to hold down the paper on the table, then smiled awkwardly at Li Lizhi and said:
"Fifth sister, you are wrong, this is not an arithmetic problem!"
.......
