One

During Xu Zhihe's tenure in Shengzhou for several years, he has made remarkable achievements in supervising the construction of warships, defending cities, and governing Shengzhou. When Xu Zhihe came to Shengzhou, Xu Wen had already said that he planned to rebuild Shengzhou City and then move the capital here, and Xu Wen now handed over this matter to Xu Zhihe without hesitation. Xu Zhihe knows that this is his adoptive father's trust in himself, and it is also a greater test for himself, if he does a good job, he can obtain greater political resources from his adoptive father, and if he does not do well, he will lose his adoptive father's trust, and it may also affect his career.

Now that the city has been officially put into action, Xu Zhihe does not dare to slack off. He convened the officials in charge of the construction of the city wall to discuss the matter, and after a brief greeting, he went straight to the topic, learning in detail about the current situation of the city wall and the overall plan for the construction of the city wall, how much is to be repaired, how much is to be rebuilt, how thick and high the wall is, how to arrange the wall structure in different sections, how much is the budget, how much manpower is needed, and where are the craftsmen, Xu Zhihe asked very carefully, and the people around him were very surprised, everyone looked at Xu Zhihe, and Xu Zhihe ignored it. He continued to ask where the bricks for repairing the wall came from, how many processes each brick has, how much it costs, and whether it was transported by water or land.

Xu Zhihe came to the city wall to understand the specific situation of the scene, there were craftsmen on it who were repairing, and he saw that some of the city walls were indeed seriously damaged, broken and ruined, and some even collapsed directly, which was caused by the war. He stood by the city wall and stared at the Yangtze River, it was like a moat lying in front of Shengzhou, the vast Yangtze River was magnificent, the river was rolling eastward, galloping, no wonder Shengzhou was a place where soldiers fought for since ancient times, there was such a natural danger, it was really easy to defend and difficult to attack. At this time, Xu Zhihe sincerely admired his adoptive father from the bottom of his heart, with a unique vision, a long-term vision, and a good plan for the overall situation, no wonder the generals who had been on the battlefield for so long admired him. Xu Zhihe and everyone discussed while walking, telling precautions from time to time, and people kept saying "yes, yes" in the back.

Xu Zhihe devoted all his body and mind to the construction of Shengzhou City, which led to a significant reduction in the time spent with the two ladies, for which Song Fujin also said coquettishly:

"It's only been a long time since you've started to avoid us, is it tiring you to be with us?" Xu Zhihe knew that it was deliberately angry, so he immediately hugged her and said:

"Building a city and ascending to the state is my adoptive father's plan to govern the country, I can't be careless, I must always keep an eye on it, so I've been a little busy lately." Then he pinched her face and said, "But I can never get enough of your face, because it has already stolen my heart." ”

"Nasty, Flim Flam." Song Fujin snuggled in his arms and said coquettishly.

The so-called speed is not reached, just when Xu Zhihe was satisfied with the progress of the city repair, the problem appeared. Someone came to report that the newly repaired city wall had fallen, and Xu Zhihe was shocked when he heard it, and said to himself "It's fallen". So he immediately went to the scene to check and found that there was indeed a collapse in the city wall, although it was not very serious, but it was enough to attract Xu Zhihe's attention. He asked the reason, but no one answered, so Xu Zhihe asked the supervisor, and the supervisor said:

"My lord, this is the same as before, the height and thickness of the wall have not changed, we have strict requirements, how many bricks and how much clay, no cutting corners!"

He asked some craftsmen, bricks, etc., but the supervisor still said that there was no change, the craftsmen were still the same as before, and the source of materials had not changed. Xu Zhihe listened to these words similar to what the supervisor said when the hull leaked last time, he pondered, squatted down and looked at the bricks that fell to the ground, some of the bricks were cracked, and some were even broken, he didn't ask anything more, just rubbed the scattered sand a few times with his hands, he felt that there was a problem here. Xu Zhihe touched the city wall, he thought that if his adoptive father knew, he didn't know what he would think of him, but no matter what, he had to complete the construction of the city wall on schedule, and he must not mess up the things assigned by his adoptive father, otherwise it would affect his adoptive father's trust in him. Xu Zhihe planned to solve this problem according to the idea of solving the leakage of the hull last time, so he said:

"Temporarily suspend work first, find out the problem clearly and then start work." Some of the officials around him looked at Xu Zhihe, and some looked at each other. After returning home, Xu Zhihe said to Zhou Zong: "I suspect that there are ghosts here, you go and investigate, especially those bricks and clay." ”

"Do you suspect there's something wrong with the bricks?" Zhou Zong asked.

"I'm not sure now, it's just a gut feeling, that supervisor doesn't look like he's lying."

"Okay, I'll take someone to check."

"Wait," Xu Zhihe hurriedly stopped Zhou Zong, "It's best to go to the brick kiln factory to have a look, maybe you can find a problem there." ”

Zhou Zong looked at Xu Zhihe, "Well, I know, don't worry, wait for my news." ”

Two

A few days later, Zhou Zong came back, and he said to Xu Zhihe excitedly: "I really let you say it right, it's about bricks and clay." ”

"Tell me, what the hell is going on?" Xu Zhihe asked anxiously.

"The bricks used to be made from the official kiln of Shengzhou, and the bricks of the official kiln were of good quality, but they were expensive. In the past, when the city wall was built, the price of bricks was just a verbal talk between the buyer and the brick factory, so there was oil and water to be fished here. But now you have a hard grasp of the price and freight of each brick, so that someone can't get oil and water, what should you do? Just make a fuss about the bricks. ”

"Something wrong with the bricks?" Xu Zhihe asked.

"Well, I found that there are many folk kilns near Shengzhou, mainly burning bricks used by people to build houses, which is definitely not as good as the official kiln, but the price is cheap! Therefore, some people take the bricks of the official kiln as a model, and let the kiln burn according to the appearance of the bricks of the official kiln, and the size and shape of the bricks fired are very similar to the appearance of the official kiln, and then they mix it with the bricks of the official kiln to be shoddy, but settle the settlement according to the price of the bricks of the official kiln to earn the middle price difference. ”

"How can this be reasonable," Xu Zhihe slammed the table with his hand after hearing this, "How did you find out?" ”

"There is a folk kiln twenty miles east of the city, I went there to check, and they said that the official family has bought more recently than before, and their sales have also increased than before."

"How did you find out about that kiln?" Xu Zhihe asked curiously.

"The craftsmen who built the city wall told me that they said that the bricks of the private kiln are very similar to the surface of the official kiln, and it is difficult to distinguish them by eyes alone, but because the process of firing the bricks, the materials used, and the heat are different, the weight and texture are different, and they say that this is not a secret, and the mason can distinguish it by measuring it with his hands."

"In addition, we use a special clay that keeps the bricks tightly bound and not loose, so that the walls are strong and strong for a long time. But now it's also miserable, those bricks and clay can't be bonded well, and it's the rainy season in Shengju, so it led to the collapse of the city wall. After listening to Zhou Zong's words, Xu Zhihe was furious, he knew that the officials under him were all spoiled, but he didn't expect to be so bold.

Three

Soon Xu Zhihe called all the people responsible for building the city wall together, some were responsible for buying bricks, some were responsible for transportation, some were responsible for bookkeeping, some were responsible for building walls, and some were responsible for supervision.

"Everyone has worked hard during this time, and I thank you in advance. I have said before that the rebuilding of the Shengzhou city wall is related to the safety and future of Huainan, and the DPRK and China attach great importance to it from top to bottom, especially Lord Xu Wen, who treats the construction of the city wall as a top priority, asking people to give people, asking money to give money, and only looking forward to completing it one day earlier. But in this case, the newly built city wall actually fell, whether it was a natural disaster or a man-made disaster, someone should understand in their hearts. If the problem is not solved, it can collapse in one place this time, and it may collapse in two, three, or even all of them next time. ”

"Lord Xu, it is rainy and rainy in Shengzhou every year at this time, which is caused by rain, which is a man-made disaster!" Someone said.

"Shengzhou is an ancient city, the capital of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms, and some of the city walls are still standing after seven or eight hundred years, is it that there are still fewer wind and rain?" Xu Zhihe retorted loudly.

"Lord Xu, we all build the city wall according to the requirements, how many bricks, how much clay and how much water are used, there are regulations, and they can't be caused by man!" Someone else said.

"As I said earlier, whether it is a natural disaster or a man-made disaster, everyone should know in their hearts. I called you here today, not to hold anyone responsible, but to remind the big guy that if the Shengzhou City Wall cannot be completed on time, none of us will be able to escape. Some of the people lowered their heads, some looked left and right, and no one made a sound, Xu Zhihe continued:

"I didn't expect this to happen before, and I'm responsible. But I put the ugly words in front of me, I hope this is the first and last time, I don't want to see a next time, otherwise I will not be spared, and don't blame me for being ruthless and unrighteous when the time comes. Even if my head is cut off, I must bring the black sheep to justice and give an explanation to the court and Lord Xu. Xu Zhihe reprimanded loudly in a loud voice, he looked at everyone with resolute eyes, and deliberately raised the three words "Lord Xu" too high. Everyone saw Xu Zhihe's resolute attitude and cold expression, and thought of the huge backer behind him, so they replied in unison, "We will do our best." Xu Zhihe looked around and felt that it had already had a deterrent effect, so he accepted it and said, "Then there is labor, everyone, we will continue to work tomorrow." ”

The so-called "eat a trench and grow a wisdom", Xu Zhihe formulated detailed regulations this time, and put the responsibility on the people to ensure the quality of the follow-up bricks. It is clearly stipulated that the bricks can only be used in the official kiln, and the name of the kiln factory is engraved on the bricks, as well as the date of firing and the name of the person who fired it. On the one hand, it prevents officials from cheating, and on the other hand, it is also convenient to quickly find the responsible person once something goes wrong. In addition, Xu Zhihe asked Zhou Zong to tell several nearby kilns that they were forbidden to sell bricks to the official family, otherwise the government would seize them. After a series of rectifications, there was no more city wall collapse, and Xu Zhihe was finally at ease. Later, Zhou Zong said to Xu Zhihe:

"Guess what's going on in those guys' minds?"

"What do you think?" Xu Zhihe asked.

"I guess those people are looking forward to your departure right now."

"Oh, why?" Xu Zhihe asked curiously.

"You think, you are now like an iron rooster, and you have set a lot of rules to restrain them, how can they still get the slightest benefit!"

"I hope that if I go and change someone, they will have the opportunity to continue to enrich themselves." Xu Zhihe said.

"That's right," Zhou Zong said, "They have all been used to being faulty from above before, and the atmosphere that has been cultivated for a long time can be changed if they can be changed." But fortunately, your strength is strong enough, and with Lord Xu as your backing, these people don't dare to come nonsense again, otherwise they won't be easy to deal with! Xu Zhihe nodded, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, the reason why these people didn't dare to make bigger things was not unrelated to their own efforts, but the important thing was to be afraid of the power of their adoptive father! Xu Zhihe once again felt the deterrent power of power.