Although most of the palace is still under construction, the gardens in the palace and several palaces for His Majesty the Emperor to rest have been completed. So after finishing the things in the hall, Ying Zheng returned to the harem with the pair of sisters who came with him.

Zhao Gao, as a close confidant of Yingzheng, does not need to follow the emperor all the time. When His Majesty the Emperor followed the two princesses to rest, there was no need for Zhao Gao to serve by his side at this time.

Afang Palace is very large, almost occupying half of Lishan, many palaces have just been completed, but the things inside are not yet ready, but it does not delay a few people to talk about things inside.

In a side hall, there are only a few low tables in the hall, and some furniture that has just been made. Zhao Gao, Zhao Yu, and the official who was in charge of the construction of Afang Palace were all sitting here.

A few people lit incense in front of them, because the palace had just been built, so there was a strange smell in the room.

Zhao Gao leaned forward, put his head close to the incense burned on the table in front of him, and fanned the curling smoke rising from the incense burner with his palm, savoring the fine incense.

"Is this incense the 'ambergris' from the Chu Kingdom?" Zhao Gao asked.

The official in charge of building the Afang Palace replied when he heard this: "Lord Hui, exactly." This ambergris used to be the exclusive tribute of the palace of the king of Chu, and the annual output was very small, only enough for the palace to use. Since the state of Chu was destroyed by my Great Qin, this ambergris incense was sent to the palace and was appointed by His Majesty to be used as incense in the palace. ”

"Our family has been with His Majesty the Emperor for so many years, and we are very familiar with the special fragrance of ambergris. It is said that the smell of this incense can last for 9981 days, and this smell is very good, but unfortunately the production is too small in a year, otherwise I would like to put such a piece in my own home. ”

Zhao Yu said to Zhao Gao: "This is not easy, it is said that in order to eliminate the smell in Afang Palace, His Majesty has brought all the ambergris stocks stored in the palace over the years to Afang Palace, and the amount of ambergris that I want to come here should be quite a lot, and it would be good to let Lord Liu send it to the house for you when the time comes." ”

"Lord Zhao is right, as long as the government orders the adults to need it, the villain will send a few pieces to the adults' mansions, what do the adults think?" said Lord Liu.

Ambergris was originally a rare spice in production, and the agarwood used to make ambergris was only available in a small mountain village in the original Chu State, so whether it was in the Chu State or the current Great Qin Empire, ambergris was used as an exclusive spice in the palace. Even Li Si and Meng Tian's mansion is only a small piece, not as big as a fist, this is all rewarded by Yingzheng, and other Daqin officials do not have this treatment.

Zhao Gao sat back on his seat, he looked at the two people in front of him and said, "This ambergris matter is not in a hurry first, the most important thing now is the progress of the construction of Afang Palace." Lord Liu, you have made a guarantee for His Majesty the Emperor, if this Afang Palace is not built on His Majesty's birthday a month later, it will not be for me to help Your Majesty cure the crime at that time. ”

Lord Liu was a little embarrassed, the progress of Afang Palace has always been neither fast nor slow, although there are so many people on the construction site who are building the palace every day, but no matter how many people there are, this brick and wood must be built up piece by piece. Again

In more than a year, the construction of Afang Palace to today's state is already very fast, if it is not for the bricks and wood to build Afang Palace need to be transported from Shudi, the progress of Afang Palace can be faster.

"Well...... To be honest, it is indeed difficult to build all the remaining palaces within a month, but it is not impossible. Just ......"

"Just what?" Zhao Gao asked.

"It's just that there are many factors in this, and everyone knows that the current season is mostly rainy weather, and once it rains, the construction period will inevitably be affected. Although it is said that there are so many people on Lishan Mountain, if God does not want to be an adult, I am afraid that it will not be able to fulfill His Majesty's entrustment. Lord Liu said.

Zhao Yu said on the side: "Then what's there to worry about, you have so many people under your command, just let them continue to work in the rain." I don't believe that hundreds of thousands of people are here, and even a few small palaces can't be built?"

Lord Liu looked at Zhao Yu, and he said, "My lord, you can't say that, when the Wuji Palace of Wei was built last month, the beams on the roof fell and killed a few people who couldn't dodge. Of course, it's not a big deal, but it has to be solved, and if you don't solve it, those people won't want to continue working. There are so many people on Lishan, and there are old and young, these people can't do much work, although there are not many, but according to the estimates of the lower officials, there are nearly one-third. ”

"So many people?" Zhao Gao didn't know about the recruited people, he originally thought that these people were all young adults, but he didn't expect that there were so many old people and children among these people.

Lord Liu nodded, as the second official responsible for the construction of Afang Palace, his predecessor was delayed because of the lax supervision, and finally was sent by His Majesty the Emperor to the people to build Afang Palace together. Coincidentally, the girder of Wuji Palace collapsed, just crushing him to death below.

Lord Liu didn't want to follow in his footsteps, so after he took over, he took Zhao Gao's line. As we all know, how can there be tens of thousands of gold, silver, money and grain needed to build such a large palace as Afang Palace, that is, after the Qin State unified the world, the taxes of the world were concentrated in Xianyang City, which was enough to build such a big project as Afang Palace.

That is to say, Afang Palace is very money-burning, and it is a big expense to eat and wear hundreds of thousands of people every day, as well as the materials needed to build the palace, etc., everything needs money. And this money needs to be allocated by Zhao Yu, if the relationship with Zhao Yu is not good, how can he give out the gold and silver in the treasury so neatly? Therefore, after Zhao Yu allocates a huge amount of money to the construction site, Lord Liu will intercept some of it and secretly send it to Zhao Yu's mansion.

With the benefits, of course, Zhao Yu would not embarrass this person with good eyesight, so soon the two became allies. And behind Zhao Yu is Zhao Gao, and Zhao Yu will naturally not forget Zhao Gao when he gets the benefits, so he took out seventy percent of his share and sent it to Zhao Gao. With Zhao Gao's assistance, Lord Liu is very easy to talk to His Majesty the Emperor.

"Since so many people don't work, don't give them food, and leave it to the people who are working. Anyway, keeping them will only consume our food for nothing, and let them fend for themselves here. "Zhao

As the person in charge of money and food, Yu also knew something about these things, and after learning that so many people couldn't work after eating, he said coldly.

"This ...... Is this good?" Lord Liu asked, although this is a solution, but after all, it is tens of thousands of people, if they are allowed to die here, I am afraid it will be difficult for the families of these people to explain.

Zhao Yu looked at Zhao Gao, Zhao Gao didn't react to his words, so he continued to say to Lord Liu: "What are you afraid of, if these people dare to make trouble, drive them away and let them go to repair the tomb of the king." Anyway, there is also a need for manpower over there, and Meng Yi is in charge of that side, so let him worry about this kind of thing. ”

Zhao Gao nodded in agreement when he heard this, this is a good way. Meng Yi was a literati and an important minister in the court of the Qin State, and he would never let these people starve to death in vain.

Seeing that Zhao Gao also agreed, Lord Liu said, "Okay, then the next official will do it tomorrow." ”

"Tomorrow, the taxes of Shu County will arrive, you can send someone to me tomorrow, with this money, it should be enough to support the completion of the palace." Zhao Yu said.

"Xiaguan Xie, Lord Xie. Lord Liu was overjoyed, "Don't worry, my lord, it's still the old rules, and the villain remembers it." ”

"It's good for you to remember, but don't go too far, this is a special period, and the emptiness of the treasury has aroused the suspicion of His Majesty the Emperor. He had already sent Meng Tian to investigate the matter, although he should not have any action between now and His Majesty's birthday, but he should be careful. Zhao Gao told him that he didn't want to be exploited by Meng Tian in this matter, it was really not easy for him to get to where he was today.

"The lower officials know, please rest assured. ”

Meng Yi had been very busy since he was appointed by His Majesty the Emperor to be in charge of the construction of the royal tomb, so it was only the next night that he learned about the assassination of his eldest brother by a killer on his way home. After getting the news, as soon as he returned home, Meng Yi went to the eldest brother's house next door to visit the eldest brother's injury.

"Big brother, how are you?" Seeing the eldest brother sitting on the bed, Meng Yi asked as soon as he entered the room.

Meng Tian beckoned his younger brother to sit down, and said, "It's not a big deal, it's just a small injury, don't worry." ”

Meng Yi looked at the sister-in-law on the side, Zi Yanran nodded to Meng Yi, and Meng Yi was relieved.

"By the way, didn't you say that you have been busy on the construction site of the royal tomb all this time? Why, why did you come back today?" Meng Tian asked, Meng Yi was appointed by His Majesty the Emperor to be responsible for the construction of the royal tomb, and he knew it.

Meng Yi took a cup of hot tea handed over by his sister-in-law, took a sip and said, "Didn't I hear that you were assassinated, how could I not come back to see you if something so big happened." ”

"Good brother. Meng Tian loves his younger brother very much, although both of them are already over half a hundred years old, but the relationship between the two has not changed at all because they have rarely gotten together over the years.

Meng Yi looked at the wound under his eldest brother's ribs, and he asked, "Have you found out the origin of these people, is it the enemy or what?" In addition to the enemy family, there must be someone who is plotting to kill Meng Tian, so he will send someone to assassinate him, but Meng Yi did not say it.

Meng Tian nodded to his younger brother, and it just so happened that he also had something to ask Meng Yi to confirm the conjecture in his heart.