"Do you mean that although you have designed a lot of works in the past, they are nothing more than changes based on your predecessors?" Li Xiang said.

Vitruvius nodded, "If I had designed the world's first public bath, it would have been a leap in my life." ”

Li Xiang nodded.

Vitruvius continued: "Now that I am in my sixties, I have not many opportunities left, and if they pass me by, I will regret it for the rest of my life, and perhaps even die." ”

Li Xiang thought to himself: There is no need to say such an exaggeration.

Vitruvius went on to say: "'A man has left a name, a goose has left a voice', and who doesn't want to leave something in this world!" ”

"What you said is not bad at all, people should leave a name, geese should leave a voice, you and I are like-minded, I finally decided to leave the design of the public bath to you to complete."

Vitruvius said movingly: "Thank you very much for this opportunity for me, and I can do it in my lifetime." ”

Li Xiang thought to himself: When my large public bath is completed, I am definitely qualified to be called the 'ancestor of the big bath', if people in the future want to know about the world's first public bath, I will proudly tell them that its designer is the architect Vitruvius, and the investor is me, Li Xiang.

Vitruvius continued: "In order to protect everyone's interests, let's sign a commissioned design contract!" ”

Li Xiang looked at Vitruvius with strange eyes, and thought: I really didn't expect that the architects of ancient Rome were more like businessmen than me, admire, admire!

***

After dinner, Li Xiang was called by Octavian to his study.

"Li Xiang! For quite some time, we didn't have a good conversation! Octavian said.

"Yes! In the past few months, I have been busy with ball games, and recently I have been busy preparing for business. ”

"It is said that you plan to invest in the construction of a large communal bath?"

"I can't hide anything from you, yes, I'm going to build a large public bath in the city of Rome."

"Your way of doing business is very different!"

"'Rare things are expensive', everyone is doing business, and there is generally no big profit margin, and I definitely won't do it."

Octavian nodded and said, "How big will this big bath of yours be when it's built?" ”

"It should be quite large, covering an area of almost 8,000 square meters."

"'8,000, square meters'? How big is that? ”

"Oh! It's almost the equivalent of a small castle that is nearly 5,000 fathoms long and wide. ”

"Isn't it going to be bigger than a normal arena?"

"Much larger than it, in addition to being large enough to accommodate nearly 2,000 people bathing at the same time, it also includes some other places for leisure and entertainment."

"Wouldn't that be a lot of investment?"

"My original budget was 7.5 million to 8 million sesters, but today Vitruvius made a rough calculation and said that the budget would have to be increased by at least 50 to 70 percent."

"Since it is such an atmospheric building, the interior decoration must not be too sloppy, and the floor of the bathroom must at least use high-quality mosaics, which are non-slip and beautiful."

Li Xiang smiled and said, "I really didn't expect Augustus that you are also very good at studying architectural decoration. ”

Octavian smiled and said, "I just know a little bit about it." ”

"You are too modest, you have any other good suggestions, and I can communicate with Vitruvius in time."

"I think so! Although it is only a bath, it is big enough, big enough to be worthy of being a landmark in our Rome, and most importantly, it is a public bath open to the whole people, in addition to solving the problem of bathing hundreds of thousands of people, and more importantly, it can give people another good place to relax and entertain after the end of the competitive celebration. ”

"Listen to your tone, you support me in building a large communal bath?"

"I'm not just verbally supporting, but also financially."

Li Xiang looked overjoyed, "I really don't know what to say!" ”

"Do you think the treasury should pay for it, or should the government pay for it?"

"If you ask me for advice, that is, not let the treasury pay for it, and don't let the government pay for it."

"Huh?" Octavian was inevitably puzzled.

"Today's finances are relatively not very rich, such a big country, there are too many places that need money, let the finance pay to build a dispensable big bath, it must not be a wise move, if the future is tight, there will be officials and veterans pointing to the big bath to turn over the old accounts, making irresponsible remarks."

Octavian nodded.

Li Xiang continued: "If the government pays for it, of course, no one will object, but you will only think that you are generous, but the construction of a large bathhouse is only the beginning, and the operation, management, service, maintenance and other miscellaneous expenses after the completion are quite huge expenses, so will this continue to be paid by the government?" Even if you are rich, you will not be able to use up your money for ten lifetimes, and you spend a lot of money every day just to ask people to take a bath, so it is more meaningful to use this money to help the poor. ”

"Your analysis is very, very reasonable."

"The large communal bath is open to the whole people, but it is not welfare, but a business, a good business, I hope you can lead the elders, we all joint venture to do this business."

"That's a good idea."

"Then you have to lobby the elders!"

"Don't worry! It's just a one-word thing for me. ”

"I knew you would help me."

Octavian smiled and said, "This is a win-win thing, all parties can get benefits, and I am just doing a favor!" ”

Li Xiang thought to himself: Originally, he was worried about what excuse he was looking for to explain to the elders that he had made them shareholders of the 'development of the empire' by making his own ideas 'compulsory', but now that the 'emperor' has come forward, everything will naturally fall into place.

If people are lucky, they really want to come to what, just like people who have never rubbed mahjong much, they can make a big four joys with a handful, and then they can make a big three yuan, and they can have a nine lotus treasure lamp.

At this time, Li Xiang actually recalled that he had rubbed mahjong with Boss Xu in Guangzhou, Boss Ma in Hangzhou and Boss Ma in Shenzhen at Boss He's house in Macau, although he was not good at this, only with peerless good luck, he actually put the handle out of the big cards, what four dark carving, small three yuan, small four joy, Qing Qi nine, thirteen unit, even seven pairs, green one color, big three yuan, big four joy, nine lotus treasure lantern, four bars, so that the three bosses were stunned, lost is dizzy, and finally, Li Xiang ended the game with a pair of Tianhu.

At the end of the checkout, the expressions of the three bosses were far more ugly than their own stocks being shorted in "muddy waters", because the hundreds of millions of promissory notes they carried with them were not enough to lose.

In desperation, Boss Xu used a large piece of land located overseas to pay off the gambling debts, while the two Ma bosses were both engaged in the Internet, and the company had no land to be developed, so they had to use the shares they held to pay off the gambling debts.

Every time he thought about it, Li Xiang would smile from ear to ear.