"Built in a day, indestructible!" The little emperor of Wanli was so excited that his face turned red, and he began to show off his profound knowledge to his two queen mothers, "Even if it is the ice city in the romance, it is nothing more than that!" I have such a divine object, why should I worry about the Tartars violating the realm? ”

Empress Chen smiled and encouraged, "The emperor is right, this thing is indeed good, and it is used to build a mausoleum for Emperor Daxing, and it will not be worried for eternity." ”

Li Guifei added a key question: "Sister is right, but the emperor, don't get carried away, because according to Gao Pragmatic, the price of this thing is not too cheap." I heard that after yesterday, several yamen of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Households, and the Ministry of Industry are also discussing, if this cement is used to build border walls, fortresses, and passes, I am afraid that at most it can only be used in some key places, such as places like Shanhaiguan. If he wanted to use all cement, Wang Guoguang had to resign immediately. ”

Wang Guoguang only took office in July, replacing Zhang Shouzhi. This person is a rare practical minister, and he led the compilation of the Wanli Accounting Record, a financial classic that can not be read in later generations to study the economy of the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yijun naturally didn't dare to disobey the meaning of the two palaces, and hurriedly turned the topic back, saying, "The queen mother and the concubine are very right, and the sons feel that since Gao Pragmatic has the intention of repaying his kindness, the matter of Linggong is approved, right?" As for the high price of cement, anyway, he said that he would bear the cost of the mausoleum. ”

This time, it was Li Guifei who spoke first, and as soon as she opened her mouth, she criticized, "He said so, and you accepted it with peace of mind?" That's your imperial exam, not his, although he is loyal and commendable, and even the cost of materials and labor is willing to take care of himself, but you are the emperor, and you must always know that the emperor is not a hungry soldier. ”

Zhu Yijun nodded again and again, thought for a while, and said, "Then give some rewards?" ”

Li Guifei first agreed, then frowned a little, and said in a deep voice, "The reward should be given, but he is not a jinshi after all, and the official can't give it indiscriminately" It can be seen that she is also a little hesitant.

Empress Chen said, "In this case, anyway, he is the emperor's companion, and you two are also familiar with it, so the emperor will first probe his tone privately to see if he has any ideas, and then we will discuss it again." ”

Li Guifei thought about it and felt that it was okay, after all, he just listened to it first, if his request was easy to do, it would be the best, it was too much, and he could refuse.

The next day, Zhu Yijun came to report again, saying that he had already talked to Gao Shishi. Gao Pragmatic plans to start his own construction to make cement in case it is needed in the future.

At the same time, because not everyone can use cement, it is necessary to train a group of craftsmen, so it is necessary to set up an engineering team. The engineering corps is easy to recruit, and he has taken in many refugees in Henan, from which he can be selected. However, the engineering team can't do optics without practice, so he hopes to take on some projects to do and practice them, so as to lay the foundation for repairing passes and city defenses in the future.

Empress Chen didn't hear anything wrong, and besides, she wouldn't be embarrassed and pragmatic, so she was ready to agree immediately, but Concubine Li thought about it and asked, "Does he have the idea of doing great work in the imperial court?" His cement is a bit expensive, if those big workers in the imperial court suddenly want to switch to cement, not to mention whether he can supply enough here, even if he can, the cost will inevitably increase, and Wang Guoguang and Zhu Heng may not agree at that time. ”

Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "The concubine is worried, but Erchen asked at the time, Gao Shishi said no, he just wanted to find the project by himself, and it was not about the court." ”

"Oh, find it yourself?" Concubine Li Guifei was surprised and said, "Since there is no matter of the imperial court, what is he calling for a reward?" ”

"This retainer also asked." Zhu Yijun laughed, "He said that sometimes the local yamen will also build some things, and he can take these jobs as long as his sons and ministers approve him, and he also said that the projects he receives are guaranteed to be of quality, and according to the different project standards and costs, he underwrites according to the number of years." ”

"What does it mean to underwrite?" Li Guifei became more and more curious.

Zhu Yijun explained, "Gao pragmatic said, we now have some yamen, when building any project, they will only ask for money, but the quality of the construction is not accurate, some can be managed for ten years, some can only be managed for five years, and even some have just been repaired this year, and there will be an accident next year, which is a waste of the court's money and food!" For example, if the city wall of a county is broken and needs to be repaired, and he is found to repair it, then he will tell the county according to how much silver the county gives, and the city wall will be under his control for many years after it is repaired, and if it is broken before the end of the year, he will pay out of his own pocket to make up for it. ”

Zhu Yijun finished speaking with a smile, and then suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly added, "But this is only a normal situation, if the county's city walls are man-made, such as Tartars entering the city, bandits attacking the city, etc., that is not covered by insurance." ”

Of course, Li Guifei can understand even if she doesn't understand military affairs, otherwise if Gao Pragmatic takes over the city wall facing the Beiyu, and as a result, the Beiyu enters the prison from that place for many years, and he has to die?

Well, that sounds like a good idea.

Concubine Li nodded: "He is a sincere gentleman, although doing these things is a bit unprofessional, but it is a good thing for the imperial court, what does my sister think?" ”

Of course, Empress Chen said good things for Gao Shishi, she smiled and said, "My sister is right, this palace remembers that before entering the Yudi, in Tongzhou's hometown, the city wall had to be repaired every three or five days, and it was not completely repaired, and I don't know how much silver the magistrate was greedy for ink in it at that time." Like Gao Pragmatic, who took the job and clearly guaranteed the service life, this palace heard of it for the first time, and I only hope that he will not lose all the money made by the soap factory. ”

Li Guifei shook her head and said, "I'm afraid my sister is too worried about this, my little sister has heard that Gao Pragmatic has never lost money in business, and even last year he spent hundreds of thousands of taels on collecting homeless people in Weihui Mansion, and now I'm afraid he has earned it back." ”

Empress Chen really didn't know this, and said in surprise, "Yes, how can you earn it back?" ”

However, Li Guifei only knew what it was, and didn't know why, so she had to say vaguely, "Anyway, the left and right are opening some private mines and workshops and the like, and the little sister didn't ask carefully." ”

Zhu Yijun saw that the two of them seemed to have agreed, so he said happily, "Queen Mother, Mother Concubine, if you two agree, Erchen will go and give him words." ”

Li Guifei hurriedly stopped him, "Agree, yes, what's the matter with giving words?" ”

Zhu Yijun said nonchalantly, "He said that if you two agree, you want to be lucky again, and ask Erchen to give him a name for this factory, but he has thought of the name himself, and Erchen will help him write four words." ”

"What four words?"

Zhu Yijun said: "Jinghua Infrastructure. ”