At the beginning of the morning, the rooster crows.

Zhu Daolin, whose whole body was shrouded in faint purple light, opened his eyes and slowly stood up, only feeling refreshed and happy, and even the moving sound of the morning breeze sweeping over the ginkgo treetops outside the east courtyard wall could be heard clearly.

The uninhabited East Cross Courtyard of Zizhuyuan was extremely cold in the early morning of winter, and Zhu Daolin, who was in the dark main hall, subconsciously tightened the front of his robe, gently flung the crown scarf that floated to his chest behind him, and began to look at the hundreds of large and small wooden boxes stacked in the large inner room of the main hall and the two rows of side rooms on the left and right by the faint light, and was deeply satisfied with his gradually increasing perception and control.

The goods brought back this time were not only huge in quantity, but also varied, so Zhu Daolin had to carefully count and review to see if there were any omissions and damage.

Ten minutes later, the goods in the 20 wooden boxes and 12 corrugated boxes stacked in the spacious inner room at the back of the main hall were counted, 280 Polaris antique table clocks, 450 seagull antique pocket watches, 200 customized small vanity mirrors, 38 various Longquan swords, 50 sets of exquisite carved crystal wine utensils, 120 bottles of blue and white porcelain double-groove Daqu, 50 pairs of dark brown military tactical shoes of four yards, and a box of various tools, all the goods were not missing, and the appearance of the wooden box and carton was also intact.

Zhu Daolin breathed a sigh of relief, continued to go to the left wing room filled with hundreds of corrugated cardboard albums to count, quickly nodded with satisfaction, walked through the small garden in front of the main hall into the right wing, opened the boxes one by one and carefully inspected the 15 sets of ceramic bedpans that were easily damaged, 1,200 carved lemon soaps with the outer packaging torn off, and a total of 60 pieces of window glass with a thickness of 300×300×4 mm in two pine boxes.

Zhu Daolin finished counting all the goods, the sky was already bright, and Zhu Daolin, who was in a good mood, did not forget to inspect again, and closed all the windows before he completely put his mind at ease.

Just when Zhu Daolin walked along the corridor to the main hall, there was a burst of discussion outside the moon gate in the front yard, Zhu Daolin listened for a moment and turned around and walked to the front yard, and soon saw Zhao Xunting wearing a crumpled six-grade official uniform and four elderly craftsman leaders, several people around the four-wheeled carriage parked outside the heated discussion, the careful Zhao Xunting squatted next to the huge wheel with a diameter of one meter, grabbed the solid rubber tire tightly wrapped in the outer ring of the steel wheel and exclaimed: "How can this thick circle of gum be so tough?" It's incredible! ”

"Your Excellency, you see, there are three layers of curved iron plates attached to the upper end of the stainless steel horizontal axis below." The craftsman who was lying on the cold ground to inspect the underbody mechanism of the car shouted loudly.

Zhu Daolin felt very interesting, and when he saw Zhao Xunting getting under the carriage without hesitation, he simply stopped with a smile and continued to watch the excitement.

Half an hour later, a craftsman suddenly spotted Zhu Daochang, who was smiling ten steps away, and he hurriedly ran to the open carriage door and reported to Zhao Xunting, who had repeatedly checked into the carriage.

Zhao Xunting was studying the luxurious decoration and elastic leather seats in the carriage, and when he heard the report, he hurriedly got off the car, and Zhu Daolin had already come to him: "Brother Mengshan, it's been a long time!" ”

Zhao Xunting smiled embarrassedly: "When did Brother Zhu come back?" ”

"Not long after I came back, what does Brother Mengshan think of this four-wheeled carriage?" Zhu Daolin vaguely asked Zhao Xunting how he felt about the carriage.

Zhao Xunting looked at the carriage behind him enviously: "It's incredible, this whimsy alone is not comparable to ordinary people, not to mention the superb skills of this kind of stainless steel rim and rim poured at one time, except for the Francophone who is proficient in machine smelting, I really can't think of anyone else who can build such a strong and luxurious four-wheeled carriage." ”

Zhu Daolin gently pulled Zhao Xunting to the front of the carriage, pointed to the copper nameplate inlaid above the driver's back, and said with a smile: "Brother Mengshan, please look at the text on this." ”

"Tianshu Pavilion?!"

Zhao Xunting suddenly turned his head after identifying it repeatedly: "Could it be the overseas Tianshu Pavilion that Brother Zhu talked about before?" ”

Zhu Daolin nodded: "It is this Tianshu Pavilion, all the master craftsmen and ordinary craftsmen there, like you and me, all have black hair and black eyes, and use the same words, although they speak with slightly different accents, but it does not affect mutual communication, their children there not only learn the Four Books and Five Classics, but also learn arithmetic, geometry, Gewu and painting, and those from wealthy families will also learn music and a variety of musical instruments, which is why I entrusted Brother Meng Shan to transform half of Zizhuyuan into a righteous school, and I also want our children to get the best education." and be able to surpass them in the future. ”

Zhao Xunting was moved by Zhu Daolin's broad mind, and just as he was about to give Zhu Daolin a deep salute, Zhu Daolin preemptively held his hands.

"Brother Mengshan, don't be like this, please come with me to see a few things I thought you mentioned before, and if a few masters are interested, come along."

Zhu Daolin and Zhao Xunting, who looked happy, walked in side by side, and the four old craftsmen looked at each other for a moment and then followed, and no one wanted to lose the opportunity to open their eyes.

Zhu Daolin took Zhao Xunting and the four masters into the right wing, and came to the five large wooden boxes that had been uncovered: "Brother Mengshan, this is the ceramic bedpan I mentioned to you, a total of 15 sets, of which 15 bedpans are packed in these three boxes, and the other two boxes are respectively connected to the ceramic elbow and drainage pipe under the bedpan. ”

Zhao Xunting nodded to show that he understood, and several masters couldn't help but go up to check, and they discussed with each other in a low voice, very dedicated.

Zhu Daolin walked to a row of cardboard boxes in the middle, brought a box and opened it in front of Zhao Xunting, took out a piece and handed it to Zhao Xunting, and a burst of lemon fragrance quickly wafted in the air:

"This is the carved brand soap made by Tianshu Pavilion, which is easier to use than the pancreas and soaphorns that are used on the market, it is convenient and clean, and you can move a box back and try it later."

Zhao Xunting did not hypocritically refuse, but put the square pale yellow soap under his nose and sniffed it, and thanked Zhu Daolin happily with his eyebrows.

Zhu Daolin saw the four masters looking over following the aroma, so he simply went to bring another box, sent it to the arms of one of the masters, and politely sent the master who was very grateful away, so that he could talk to Zhao Xunting alone.

The two walked on the corridor, Zhao Xunting began to report the progress of the project without Zhu Daolin's inquiry, and after talking about the priority of the construction of Yixue, Zhao Xunting said apologetically about the demolition and reconstruction of the West Cross Courtyard:

"The foundation of the West Cross Courtyard has been laid, and the 800 stone strips needed have all arrived, because the scale of Yixue construction has expanded exponentially, and it needs to be extended to the edge of the Oolong Pond, which occupies nearly eighty percent of the manpower and material resources, so the construction of the West Cross Courtyard is relatively slow, I originally wanted to add another 30 craftsmen and 200 strong laborers, but you are not there, I dare not make a claim, you see ......"

"How many craftsmen and labourers are there today?" Zhu Daolin asked.

"820 people, including 120 experienced craftsmen with high skills." Zhao Xunting replied quite apprehensively, the more Zhu Daolin trusted him and delegated power, the more careful he became.

Zhu Daolin shook his head: "It's not enough, it's not enough to double it, even if there are 3,000 more people, it's not too much!" Brother Mengshan, you don't need to have any worries, you can do what you think you want, you don't need to save money for me, Zizhu Garden should be built as soon as possible before the beginning of spring, if you can't find so many people for a while, go to the treasure gate where the displaced people gather to find it. ”

"There are also bricks, wood, stone and other materials, it doesn't matter if they are expensive, you can buy as many as you can, you can't use them up and transport them to the side of the Shogunate Mountain, how many of the manors in the west of the Ziyang Temple can be used, and when you are busy here, I will ask you to go to the foot of the Shogunate Mountain to help me build a large dock, a shipbuilding workshop and an ironwork workshop."

Zhao Xunting finally put his mind at ease: "Don't worry, I will do it within three days." ”

Zhu Daolin took his arm and walked out, and said in a low voice as he walked: "One of the five carriages outside is for you, but you have to find the coachman yourself, Brother Ying also has one, one each from Ziyangguan and Chaotian Palace, and the rest is mine...... Don't worry, listen to me, you are busy running around for me, and you have to go back to the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry to show your face at the end of three days, how can you do without your own carriage? ”

"Besides, before I came back, I had ordered 500 sets of steel wheels from Tianshu Pavilion, including the transverse axle of the carriage and the steering machine equipped with ball bearings, which could be shipped back within three months, and within half a year at the latest, we would be able to imitate this sturdy and fast four-wheeled carriage, so don't look at the freshness of this carriage now, it will be running all over the streets in half a year."

Listening to Zhu Daolin's words, Zhao Xunting was very moved: "Okay! I took it. ”

"Is there enough money?" Zhu Daolin asked with concern.

"There's still more than half left, not enough for me to ask you for in advance." Zhao Xunting was no longer polite, his face was full of confidence.

Zhu Daolin continued Zhao Xunting to discuss the construction style of the West Cross Courtyard, took him back to the right wing again, opened the lid of the box, and pulled out a piece of bright square glass, hoping that Zhao Xunting could design the windows of the West Cross Courtyard according to this size, and shocked Zhao Xunting on the spot, carefully took the glass left and right, and looked at the front and back, and was unwilling to let go for a long time, Zhu Daolin had to find someone to notify the big shopkeeper by himself.

In less than half an hour, the big shopkeeper Ying rushed to the East Cross Courtyard in a hurry, and saw Zhu Daolin sitting at the table of the Eight Immortals in the main hall, holding the book with his feet crossed and reading it very attentively.

The shopkeeper was very curious, and after a little hesitation, he stepped forward quickly, snatched the book in Zhu Daolin's hand and looked at it carefully, and soon became speechless with excitement: "Oh my God...... Sure enough, it is embroidered like "Golden Vase Plum"! It's so vividly painted, so delicately and luxuriously bound......"

Zhu Daolin pretended to frown: "Look at you like this now, it's just sweeping the floor, like words?" It's a good person! ”

Ying Da Shopkeeper didn't care what he was doing, pinching the album and lying on the table of the Eight Immortals: "Tell me how much to bring back?" ”

Zhu Daolin took out a more delicate royal blue satin box from under the incense case behind him, and put it in front of Ying Da Shopkeeper together with the remaining 11 albums: "This set of "Golden Vase Plum" has a total of 12 volumes, and the one in your hand is the first volume, you can take a look at it first, and tell me after reading it, how many taels of silver can be exchanged for such a set?" Then I'll tell you how much to bring back. ”

The shopkeeper Ying immediately opened the royal blue box printed with the golden seal of Tianshu Pavilion, and urgently took out all the albums inside and flipped through them one by one: "It's so beautiful, it's too clear!" It's a treasure in the world! I swear it's a blast when it's launched! ”

Zhu Daolin couldn't cry or laugh, knocked on the table and reminded loudly: "Put down the book first and get down to business." ”

The shopkeeper Ying slowly put down the book, took a deep breath and arched his hand to Zhu Daolin: "Brother Xian, please forgive the foolish brother for not being able to reply to you now, the foolish brother must take this book home, everything can only be decided by the father." ”

Zhu Daolin was slightly surprised, and after thinking about it, he stood up: "In this case, just bring back one piece of each of the other goods, and ask my brother to tell Ling Zun on his behalf: Junior Zhu Daolin obeys his old man's orders in everything!" ”

The shopkeeper Ying was grateful: "Thank you, brother Xian!" The foolish brother will definitely bring the words of the virtuous brother word for word, please wait for the good news! ”