Zuo Zongtang carried a hoe in the garden of the community green belt and led seven or eight elderly, middle-aged and young people to busy farm work. Now my hobby is to go to the National Library to read books, and the rest is to write my own memoirs with the help of a full-time "memoir" collator. Another important part of the work is planting flowers.

Although he did not belong to the retired founding heroes, Zuo Zongtang was not short of money, and retired public officials bought houses and were taken care of. He made full use of his provident fund to buy a duplex house in a heated community. The house belongs to the upper community with half a basement (garage) + two duplexes (four floors) and a half-story rooftop upstairs. Lao Zuo likes high places, and his seal after retirement also uses the title of "Hunan farmer". Since you are a farmer, you have to use a hoe. In addition to turning the top floor of his house into a garden, he also put a lot of thought into the green space in the community. Yaren is Yaren, Zuo Zongtang made the open-air garden and greenhouse garden in the community really exquisite, with strange flowers and plants, and fragrant.

What annoys "Jinliang" is probably only the group of bastards who pick and fold flowers and plants, but at his age, it is not uncommon to scold him, and it may not be uncommon to sue his parents. As a permanent member of the business committee, Lao Zuo also held a meeting to discuss and educate on this. But these things are far from the point where he is really angry, at this age, it is not a big deal for children to mess around. Didn't Zuo Zongtang pick flowers and plants when he was young? The difference between the present and the past is that there is a clear concept of "public property" in the city, and "Jinliang" is very serious about public property, especially the public property that he has invested his efforts to build for free.

"I think the property fee is very necessary, and it is the general trend that the public services provided by the society will eventually replace the services provided by private families. In the old days, servants were used by wealthy families to provide property and life care services for their families, why are so many people willing to go to the Grand View Garden of the Jia family in the commentary "Dream of Red Mansions", isn't it that the property and life services in it are very comprehensive? While working, Lao Zuo also talked to others about his views on the property.

"But I always feel that this money is not worth spent, why should we ask others to do what we can do ourselves?" A person next to him, who was also a retired cadre, put forward his own opinion.

In the face of this very representative view, Lao Zuo slowly expounded his opinion, "We don't look down on the property service now, that's because we feel that the property service is not professional." But we want to buy the property service, because the property service is more professional than ours. Just like this greenhouse and flowers and plants, at our current level, do you think the little maintenance funds given by the property can satisfy us? ”

As long as people tell the truth, it is easy to get everyone's approval. This group of gardening enthusiasts who don't worry about eating or drinking can't help but laugh after thinking for a moment. Indeed, at the very little salary that is now given to the maintenance staff of the community green area, these people will not accept it anyway. It would be an insult to them to take that money and do such a serious job.

Seeing that everyone's opinions were gradually unified, Zuo Zongtang held the hoe handle and said with some emotion: "Although labor is the most glorious, there is only a difference in the division of labor, and there is no difference in status. However, everyone has a scale in their hearts, and in the eyes of professionals, there is a reason for pricing. This is no joke. ”

Older and middle-aged people feel that this is a great way to see the light of day, but young people genuinely love gardening, or at least are genuinely willing to improve their gardening. The young man who took the lead said with a smile: "Governor Zuo, if we hadn't heard that you have experience here, let us learn, we wouldn't have had the opportunity to see so many good flowers." But if only you could give us this and ask him to give us a raise. ”

This is actually just a joke and a complaint, but Zuo Zongtang has rarely read the Four Books and the Five Classics or other ancient books over the years, and now he reads the most translated works of Uncle Ma, Uncle En, and European philosophers. Hearing young people complain about low salaries, Zuo Zongtang said: "If you want to raise wages, there must be a reason why you want to raise wages." In addition to being professional and able to account for labor costs and profits, you also have to figure out what kind of distribution system it is now......"

"Governor Zuo ......" A cordial and hearty shout came from afar, interrupting Zuo Zongtang's words. A group of people turned their heads to see that it was obviously a civil servant's car parked not far away, and a thin and handsome old cadre got out of the car and walked towards Zuo Zongtang while shouting.

It is not uncommon for civil servants to use cars in such high-end communities, where there are no current officials, and people who live in high-end communities may have very close ties with officialdom. Therefore, everyone has little interest in the position of Li Hongzhang and Director Li who came out of the car, this is not the Manchu era, you are just an official and you have become a member of the ruling class, and you have political power, but this power no longer has to bring the so-called etiquette requirements. In a private meeting, if you don't bird, you won't bird you. In the capital, at the foot of the Son of Heaven, there have been provincial-level cadres who have entered Beijing, calling for and trying to open the way. Then he wrote several in-depth examinations and circulated criticisms.

What everyone cares about is Li Hongzhang's attractive appearance and his demeanor and temperament. At first glance, he is a cultural person with status and status, although everyone knows that Zuo Zongtang has real culture and is a capable person with real talents, but in this community, Zuo Zongtang's greater role is to intimidate the hairy boys who destroy public property. "Jin Liang" may not be the most intolerant of children, but his lion-nosed and wide-mouthed appearance has an unmatched deterrent effect on bastard boys in this community.

As soon as he saw Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang's heart was not very happy. He doesn't like Li Hongzhang, not only because the background experiences of the two sides are too different, but also because Li Hongzhang's attitude makes Zuo Zongtang unhappy. Every time he saw Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang couldn't help but recall his own origin.

As a demoted general, it is a very good thing to be able to retire as a provincial and ministerial-level cadre with real power. Zuo Zongtang is not the kind of person who will constantly regret the past and think that there can be better choices in life. However, Zuo Zongtang also has Zuo Zongtang's regrets, what he regrets is that his vision and judgment ability are too low, and he actually didn't see through Wei Ze's eloquence. This is not to say that if Zuo Zongtang thinks that history will be repeated, he will take the initiative to switch from the Manchu side to Wei Ze. Zuo Zongtang's loss to Wei Ze was a mess, which he felt a little unable to raise his head all his life. It's just that these negative emotions are far from the extent that Zuo Zongtang is annoying, so he still invited Li Hongzhang to sit at home.

At this time, it has entered the heating period, and Jiangnan is a very warm place according to reason, but the cities along the Yangtze River are wet and cold in winter, which is more uncomfortable than the dry and cold in the north. The hallmark of the upper-class community in the south is the heating, the inside of the house is more than 20 degrees, the humidity is moderate, and it feels very comfortable.

Li Hongzhang sat down in the greenhouse on the roof of Zuo Zongtang's house, looking at the delicately arranged flowers and plants, he smiled and said, "Governor Zuo, you will be blessed." ”

Zuo Zongtang was very satisfied with his greenhouse, and smiled confidently after listening to Li Hongzhang's praise. The teapot was cleaned, the tea leaves were poured on the tea medium used to cultivate orchids, and then Zuo Zongtang brewed the tea. As we go back and forth, the slightly earthy aroma of tea adds to the aroma of tea.

Li Hongzhang took a sip of tea, and then sighed: "I have always wanted to build such a community in Goryeo, but when I settle the account, I find that something is wrong. Those houses alone are nothing, but the cost is the urban supporting facilities. The cost of building such a community is no different than building a new town. It was only after this experience that I truly understood the importance of national accumulation. ”

This is a very serious sigh, and Zuo Zongtang can fully understand it. When he was the governor of Guangdong Province, he did a lot of infrastructure construction, and then he realized that those places that are invisible to the naked eye cost far more financial and material resources than they appear to be glamorous. A simple urban water and sewerage system can easily spend more than half of the budget. Guangdong is still an old industrial area, and with Wei Ze's advanced planning ability, Zuo Zongtang only needs to work on the vacant land that has been prepared for a long time. The complex issue of land ownership has long been resolved, and the construction unit only needs to work on the vacant land that has been left. Even so, Guangdong's finances have been greatly strained by the city's facilities, which are now praised and said to rival those of Nanjing and Shanghai. As for poor Goryeo, which is still an agricultural country, don't even think about such a good thing.

Regarding Li Hongzhang's exclamation, Zuo Zongtang didn't say anything. He was a little suspicious that Li Hongzhang wanted to do a big project in Goryeo, and he wanted to come and ask for advice.

Seeing that Zuo Zongtang was silent, Li Hongzhang couldn't lead Zuo Zongtang to speak according to his idea of provoking the conversation, so Li Hongzhang simply made his intention clear, "Brother Zuo, brother, the purpose of my visit here is to ask, do you think it is better to do it in the ministry or in the province?" ”

"What kind of good standard?" Zuo Zongtang asked.

This question goes straight to the core, and Li Hongzhang can only be more frank in the face of people who understand, "Brother Zuo, I envy you very much." In the past, there was a high retirement system, and I thought you were an example of what His Majesty used to do so. But Brother Zuo, you continue to be promoted, and when you retire, you will be treated as a minister. I'm just a bureau chief now. If I can't get promoted, I'll have to quit after a year or two. Now, if I go to the province, I may be promoted by half a level, and then I will be able to work for four more years. With Brother Zuo and your Zhuyu in front, I have a lot of confidence in the government of the Republic of China, but I am thin and shallow, and I am afraid that I will not be valued by the government. So I was very hesitant about this matter, but I couldn't find anyone else to talk to, so I could only go to Brother Zuo for advice. ”

Hearing this, Zuo Zongtang sneered, "Hongzhang, you are smarter than your teacher, and you are more capable than your teacher." As far as I'm concerned, you're above your teacher in every point. But I don't think you're as good as your teacher, not as good as you. Your teacher's talent and strength are actually very mediocre, but there is a little bit that ordinary people can't reach, and your teacher is firm. One way to the dark. Therefore, in the future history books, you will definitely be scolded for being a die-hard lackey of the Manchu Dynasty. There will be no record or evaluation of you, and even if there is, at most it will exist as a footnote to others. If you think something is good. I'll tell you, as long as you stand firm, everything is good. ”