Chapter 11

Li Shimin was admiring the flowers in the imperial garden, and when he heard the eunuch say that the Qin Mansion was a loser, he stared at the eunuch before he could react.

"It's Qin Huaidao! I heard that he is now rebuilding houses for those villagers, all of them are blue brick houses, and he said that he would build hundreds of them, which would require a lot of money, and the entire Qin Mansion was sold, which may not be enough! The eunuch hurriedly explained to Li Shimin!

"What? Qin Huaidao! How can this be reasonable, does he want to lose all the little property of Shubao? How many more to build? Li Shimin stood there, a little angry, not knowing what Qin Huaidao thought.

"Yes! It is rumored outside, saying that after Yiguo Gong leaves, the Qin Mansion is estimated to be finished! The eunuch continued to speak,

When Li Shimin heard it, he didn't say much, but walked with his hands behind his back until he reached the imperial study.

"Where's Cheng?" When Li Shimin arrived at the imperial study, he asked!

"Back to Your Majesty, here!" In the dark of the imperial study, Cheng stood up, he was the captain of Jinwuwei and needed to protect Li Shimin, today he was on duty in the imperial study, and he needed to hide in the dark.

"Come here, I have something for you to do!" Li Shimin said that he went to the top of the soft collapse, his face full of unhappiness.

"Yes!" Cheng heard it and stepped forward.

"You will go to the Yiguo Mansion and ask Qin Huaidao, what does he want to do? Do you have to be willing to defeat the inheritance that Uncle Bao has saved for him? Go ask him! Li Shimin said in a very unkind tone, eager to pull Qin Huaidao in front of him and slap him a few times.

"Your Majesty, what the hell has Pepin done? As far as I know, in addition to going to Zhuangzi, he is reading books and practicing martial arts at home! Cheng was a little shocked, and he didn't know what Li Shimin was angry about because of what Qin Huaidao did.

"Didn't you hear rumors outside the city? Qin Huaidao actually wants to build a blue brick house for the Zhuang households, and he wants to build hundreds of them, is it enough for their family's little family business? Is it really necessary to scatter all the wealth? Li Shimin said very dissatisfied, very disappointed with Qin Huaidao.

"Your Majesty, this minister knows, Your Majesty, you have misunderstood!" Cheng Zhiji immediately arched his hand to Li Shimin and said.

"Misunderstanding? Could it be that the rumors are false? Chang'an City knows it, and even the palace knows it, can there be a fake? Li Shimin pointed in the direction outside the city, still dissatisfied.

"No, it's really a house, but it doesn't cost much! The Qin Mansion will spend a maximum of 500 guan! Cheng hurriedly explained.

"How much?" When Li Shimin heard this, he didn't react, and stared at Cheng Shihei and asked.

"500 Guan, Your Majesty, now the minister's family, as well as the family of the Duke of Eguo, are also preparing to make blue brick houses for the villagers! It is estimated that it will take more than 1,000 yuan, although it is a bit much, but once it is winter, it will continue to snow, so you don't have to worry about disasters.

Therefore, my family and the Eguo Mansion are also ready to grit their teeth and build blue brick houses for the villagers! Cheng Chusi clenched his hands into fists and lowered his head to report.

"You bluff, I don't know how much it costs to build a brick house? Are you still trying to shield that kid from this bad behavior? Li Shimin was angry, stood up directly, pointed in the direction outside the city and said.

"Your Majesty, the minister doesn't dare, what the minister said is true, please listen to the minister's explanation!" Cheng Chusi hurriedly said.

"Okay, come, explain to me, I'll see how you explain, a few hundred houses, a few hundred is enough?" Li Shimin sat down angrily and stared at Cheng Chuhei very dissatisfied.

"Yes! Your Majesty, those green bricks were burned by Qin Huaidao himself! One kiln can burn 50,000 yuan at a time, he has dozens of kilns, hundreds of people working there, all of them are his households, almost no wages,

After all, since the heavy snowfall last year, those farmers have been raised by the government, and now the government is building houses for them, that is, they will not ask for wages! Cheng Chusi reported.

"Burn 50,000 bricks at once? How can it be? When Li Shimin heard it, he still didn't believe it, but when he heard Cheng Chuji say this, he was a little shaken.

"Your Majesty, think about it, if you build a brick house at the current price of green bricks, such as the house over in Qinzhuang, you need 50,000 bricks, plus other timber and tiles, you need 20 yuan, and there are 700 households in Qinzhuang, you need 14,000 yuan.

And the Qin Mansion, it is impossible to come up with so much money, I believe that Qin Huaidao will not be so stupid, when the minister heard this rumor, he also went to the mansion to find him, after listening to his explanation, the minister also went to the brick factory to see it in person, it is indeed as the minister said,

Also going with Yu Chi Baolin, now the three of us are discussing that all of us will be replaced with blue brick houses! Cheng explained to Li Shimin.

"Well, really?" Li Shimin's face was much better at the moment, and then he looked at Cheng Zhihei who stood up and asked.

"Your Majesty can send someone to check it out! It's still being done over there, and it's estimated that it will all be built, and it will be in the autumn! Cheng nodded and said affirmatively.

Li Shimin sat there, pondering for a while, and then said: "You accompany me to have a look, I also want to know, if it is true, many of my imperial villages also need to be rebuilt!" ”

"Ah, yes, do you need to inform Pepin?" Cheng said in surprise.

"He's worried, it's gone, no need to notice, just go and see! In addition, with the addition of Fang Servant's shooting, I want to go out of the palace with him! Li Shimin thought about it for a while and instructed Cheng Zhihei.

"Yes!" Cheng Chuji heard it, nodded quickly, and then went out to make arrangements.

Half an hour later, Cheng took Li Shimin and Fang Xuanling to Xia Qinzhuang, at this time, about 30 houses had been built here, and a large number of people worked here!

"Your Majesty, these women and children are all farmers here, and most of the men here are former homeless.

This time, the Qin Mansion hired 100 homeless people, including food, and paid them 1 penny a day, and these homeless people rushed to come and work.

Our Cheng Mansion and the Eguo Mansion have also hired more than 200 people to work since a few days ago, that is, to tidy up the land and dig the foundation.

Because the men of the Zhuang family have to go to work in the brick factory, the minister suggested before that he hoped that Peping could sell bricks to make some money so that he could restore the family business, so the brick factory was all Zhuangzi's people! Cheng Chusi stood there and reported to Li Shimin.

"That's good, let's go, I'm going to take a look inside the house!" Li Shimin heard Cheng Chuhei's words, and didn't say much, but walked straight to the built house.

The old men of the Zhuang family also saluted when they saw them come in, they didn't know Li Shimin, but they knew Cheng Chuhei, and they knew that he was the eldest young master in the Lu Guogong Mansion.

"Your Majesty, you see, they are all six rooms, and if the floor is tightened, people can also live on it, but this house can't be managed, after all, it takes a lot of time and money to tighten the floor, so you can only let the villagers figure out their own way in the future!" Cheng stood there, pointing to the houses and explaining to Li Shimin.

"Your Majesty, this, this is better than many houses in Chang'an City!" Fang Xuanling was shocked and said,

He didn't believe what Cheng Chuhei and the emperor said before, but just now, he saw so many green bricks on the edge of those foundations, and he couldn't help but believe it, but now he can't believe it when he sees the built houses, which are so spacious.

"Yes, the layout is also good, the people live and work in peace and contentment, there will be a large number of children, Pepin can take into account such a distance, good!" Li Shimin nodded with satisfaction.

"Your Majesty, Qin Huaidao can really make a large number of green bricks fired?" Fang Xuanling was a little tempted at the moment, thinking about whether his Zhuangzi was also built like this?

"Well, those green bricks stacked outside can't be faked, and there are not so many green bricks in the Ministry of Industry!" Li Shimin nodded, and then went outside with his hands behind his back,

I saw a lot of women in the distance, leading horses and oxen, dragging carts with bricks on them, and one or more children behind them.

"Where is the brickyard?" Li Shimin pointed in that direction and asked.

"Yes, there are almost 3 miles of land, it is a barren mountain, Peping bought it, and then because our two houses also want to burn, so we bought the back mountains! The mountain is all clay and is suitable for burning bricks! Cheng nodded and said.

"How much did it take?" Li Shimin asked.

"It didn't cost much, the barren mountains are not worth much, the barren mountains here are only 300 yuan per acre!" Cheng said to Li Shimin with a smile.

"Well, yes, let's go, let's see, by the way, what is this?" Li Shimin just wanted to leave, when he saw someone mixing mortar, so he asked.

"Lime, I didn't know at first, it was Peping who told me that it was mixed with sand and was a brick that bonded the wall, by the way, Your Majesty, you came here, this lime still has a great effect!" Cheng Chuji said, and took Li Shimin to the first house.

When they arrived at the first house, they immediately saw that the inside of the house was all white and pure.

"Your Majesty, it's good-looking, it's just that there is lime painting, in the future, those dealers are estimated to be painted, this is also what Peping told everyone, how beautiful it is!" Cheng looked at the white walls and said in admiration.

"Uh-huh, well!" When Li Shimin saw it, he also walked in quickly, touched the white wall, and found that it was smooth and very touchable.

"This lime is also fired by Pepin, and it is very useful!" Cheng Chusi spoke.

Li Shimin heard it and nodded again and again.

After looking around in Zhuangzi, Li Shimin rode to the transfer side, and before he arrived at the brick factory, he saw a large number of people busy there, Li Shimin was very interested.

After arriving, Li Shimin immediately dismounted and watched those people work, some were leading the cattle to step on the mud, some were making brick embryos, some were carrying those brick embryos to dry, some were building up the dried brick embryos or directly moving them into the brick kiln, and some were dragging out the burned green bricks from the brick kiln with a plate truck, which was very spectacular!