"All the supervisory officers and soldiers come here to assemble!"
"Everyone else, please take a break and drink some water before working again!"
The fortification site became lively again. Countless civilians began to gather around buckets of clean water, and large numbers of officers and soldiers began to be called aside by Han Ju to reprimand them.
The two kings walked together, chatting casually along the edge of the construction site, followed by a large group of officials and guards.
After walking a few steps with his hands behind his back, Xiao Yuan said again: "Wang Mei wants to change the phenomenon of oppressing the people. It is useless to just purge officials. The most important thing is to change the policy."
“To put it simply, it is to abandon the concept that whatever the powerful do is right and whatever the common people do is wrong, give more opportunities to the poor people, give more possibilities to the common people to get ahead, and no longer regard family background as the foundation of the country. "
"But obviously, in Xuanguo, if a commoner wants to become an official, no matter how talented he is or has no family background, it is probably impossible because your officialdom system has been controlled by the powerful people. In other words, Xuanguo's talent supply and official quotas are all in the hands of aristocratic families."
King Xuan listened carefully and thoughtfully.
Xiao Yuan glanced at her, and the two of them continued to walk leisurely: "Of course, there are advantages to this. These aristocratic families have been loyal to the Xuan royal family for generations. The aristocratic ideals are profound. The disadvantage is that even if the children of wealthy families are mediocre, He also occupies that quota, can Sister Wang understand what I say?"
"Of course." King Xuan felt powerless.
Xiao Yuan continued: "But Wang Mei has the military and political power. With a single order, all Xuan Army troops can be mobilized, so there is nothing to worry about."
"But as Brother Wang said, in the civil service system, official positions are recommended by a group of ministers. It is easy for officials to protect each other, and this situation is unavoidable." King Xuan said.
"Excessive force will do more harm than good. Sister Wang knows that among my courtiers, some people once said that I have a military dictatorship." Xiao Yuandao.
"Oh?" King Xuan was quite interested and couldn't help but wonder: "Is there such a thing? Qin Chen really dares to say it?"
"Don't believe it, that guy has a stubbornness and a straight minister. Sometimes, he can make me mad to death. I wish I could kill him with a knife." Xiao Yuandao.
"Then this person must be talented. Otherwise, how could he let Brother Wang do this? I just don't know who it is." King Xuan was still curious.
"Liu Changqing." Xiao Yuan didn't hide it either.
"Is it him? I've heard that this is the person who handled the big case of official grain theft for Brother Wang, right?" King Xuan said.
Xiao Yuan smiled bitterly. Sometimes he disliked Liu Changqing. He felt that the man would accept death, like a stone in a latrine, smelly, hard, too upright and unreasonable, but sometimes, he had to reuse him.
Seeing this, King Xuan pursed his lips, and the two of them chatted about other topics together.
That afternoon, Zhang Jingrui rushed back as expected. In fact, he didn't know that Xiao Yuan and King Xuan were already here. After returning, he also looked in a hurry and rushed directly to the canal mouth construction site for inspection.
Han Ju was beside him. After he finished measuring, he asked: "All the fortifications were carried out in strict accordance with Master Zhang's requirements. Is there no problem today?"
"Well, just build it like this, with multiple layers of reinforcement, which is conducive to the sluice." Zhang Jingrui nodded, looked at Han Ju and said, "Master Han personally supervised the work, thank you for your hard work."
"No need, they are all doing things for the country."
Zhang Jingrui added: "But Mr. Han, I have another idea recently. What do you think about expanding the river channel by a few more feet?"
"What did you say?" Han Ju was shocked: "Expansion? If we expand further, it will already exceed the budget and construction plan."
"Of course, I will report these issues to His Royal Highness Prince Xuan first. She will nod." Zhang Jingrui said.
"Heh." Han Ju smiled: "Master Zhang, I advise you not to bother with this. I don't think the king will agree."
"How will you know if you don't try it? Maybe His Highness King Xuan will approve your proposal?" Zhang Jingrui said, "I'll write a letter right away."
With that said, he was going back to his residence.
Unexpectedly, Han Ju said lukewarmly: "There is no need to report. My king has already arrived and is about to summon Mr. Zhang. In addition, King Qin is also here."
"What?" Zhang Jingrui was startled, and then asked quickly: "May I ask Mr. Han, where are the two kings now?"
Half an hour later.
Zhang Jingrui arrived in a hurry, and when he saw Xiao Yuan, he knelt on the ground and said, "I am here to see you, your Majesty. I will be your king for ten thousand years."
"Get up." Xiao Yuan waved his hand.
Zhang Jingrui stood up, bowed to King Xuan again, and gave a deep salute. Then he showed a troubled expression because he didn't know who to report to.
Xiao Yuan understood immediately and said immediately: "This is a water conservancy project of the Xuan Kingdom. Mr. Zhang is currently the censor of the Tongzhou Canal Water Conservancy Supervision in the Xuan Kingdom. All issues must be reported to King Xuan naturally. There is no need to care whether the king is here."
"Yes." After hearing this, Zhang Jingrui felt relieved, and then said to King Xuan: "Your Highness must have inspected the construction site before, and the foreign minister has also reported in detail the route of the canal, but now, the foreign minister has another idea."
"Master Zhang, please speak." King Xuan gestured.
Zhang Jingrui said: "Using the currently planned flow route, the width of the river channel will be expanded by several feet."
"What?" King Xuan frowned.
Zhang Jingrui quickly explained: "After many investigations, the foreign minister discovered that this large canal can not only irrigate fertile farmland in several counties, but it can also become a water transportation route."
King Xuan frowned again.
Zhang Jingrui continued to explain: "If a large river canal can be used for boating, it will not only serve as an irrigation function, but also form a waterway starting from Yuzhou and passing through dozens of towns along the canal to set up docks."
King Xuan understood and said in a serious voice: "Sir Zhang, are you saying that if we expand it further to form a waterway, it will greatly improve the transportation and commercial trade in Yuzhou, Tongzhou and other places?"
"Yes, Your Highness, land transportation is not convenient. Once the waterway is formed, it will not only be faster and more efficient, but also the cargo ships can carry more goods. The large river canals can be used for both commercial and civilian purposes."
Zhang Jingrui said, and then added: "It's just... this must have exceeded the previous gold and silver budget, and the court needs to allocate funds again."
After hearing this, King Xuan couldn't help but glance at Xiao Yuan.
The latter was happy and said: "What do you think, Sister Wang, I'll just tell you, he wants money but he's still behind!"
"..." King Xuan was speechless for a while. He looked at Zhang Jingrui and hesitated for a long time before saying: "This, Master Zhang said, is indeed beneficial to the country, but I will allow this king to think about it."
Unexpectedly, Zhang Jingrui said anxiously: "Your Highness! We are at the beginning of construction and can make changes immediately. But if we put it on hold and wait until it is completed before expanding, it will be inconvenient."
