As soon as he heard that the emperor said that he wanted to take a test of his homework, Zhao Hu immediately lowered his head and didn't even dare to speak. As his name suggests, Zhao Huren, the king of Qi, is a very sturdy child, and he doesn't like to read much, he likes to dance with guns and sticks, and his homework has not been very good, which makes the queen quite worried. Although he is only a prince, and the emperor and queen do not have as high requirements for him as they do for the crown prince, this situation still makes them very worried.

"That's it, if you don't take the test, you just want to play, how can there be such a cheap thing." The queen also echoed in unison, "Tomorrow, if anyone of you behaves badly, come to me and admit punishment!" ”

As soon as they heard the queen say this, several princes were a little apprehensive, lowered their heads to eat, and didn't dare to talk more, for fear of being scolded again tomorrow.

In order to ease the atmosphere, Wei Guogong deliberately broke the silence. "After the end of the year, the prince happened to go to the western suburbs together, where the mountains and forests were lush and there were many living creatures, which was convenient for the prince to hunt. In addition, the scenery there is very good, and the minister also has to choose a location for the palace at that time, so he will accompany the prince to the mountains and forests together, and enjoy the scenery of the lower rivers and mountains. ”

As the minister of work, he was specially recalled to the cabinet by the prime minister Wang Zhaojing of Yongguo a few days ago, and then told him that they had asked the emperor to build a palace on the outskirts of the capital and had obtained the royal approval. After his initial astonishment, he immediately agreed to the decision, as the prime minister had hoped, and demanded that he himself preside over the project, which the prime minister readily agreed to and gave him full authority for the project.

After receiving this task, the Minister of Work immediately began to prepare for this big project.

At the beginning, it was naturally a matter of site selection, and this is difficult to do, because he has been in charge of the defense projects around the capital recently, he has already stepped on all parts of the capital, and the geographical shape of each place has been well understood. So he didn't think about it for long, and he decided to put the location of the palace on the west mountain.

Around the west mountain of the capital, the mountains are stacked and green, the forest and the sea are vast, and the flowing springs are murmuring, it can be said that the scenery is very beautiful, and the situation is also very majestic, and there is the image of the emperor. And there are few people there, so you can expand the scope of the palace as much as possible, and you won't have to worry about being disturbed.

In addition, since ancient times, the royal gardens have been built for the royal families, especially the Jin Zhangzong of the Jin Dynasty. The Taiping Emperor of the Jin Kingdom likes to travel around the mountains and rivers very much, and often lingers in the Xishan area, so he has built more palaces and gardens in the Xishan generation, such as Furong Palace and other palaces. Moreover, in the pre-Ming Dynasty, many wealthy families built private gardens there, and many of them have been requisitioned by the imperial court after the change of dynasty, and now they can be taken out to rebuild, which greatly reduces the cost of building the palace.

"Leaving the palace? What is that? After hearing this word, the queen and the imperial concubine were a little surprised, and the emperor had not had time to tell them about this decision.

"It's a palace built in the suburbs." Seeing that his sister didn't know, Wei Guogong hurriedly explained to her, "The cabinet feels that the royal family has been living in a private residence and detrimental to the majesty of the royal family, and part of the Forbidden City has been given to the cabinet office, and it may be a bit undignified for the royal family to live here again, so the prime minister and the finance minister urged the emperor to build a palace on the outskirts of the capital to reassure the ......world."

"This ...... This is ......" Because it was a complete accident, the queen still couldn't react, "What do you think?" ”

Of course, the minister also thinks so, over the years, the royal family has lived a very simple life for the stability of the world, and it is of course the duty of the royal family to set an example when the world is in turmoil. But if it has been calmed down today, and the four seas are once again peaceful, the royal family should also live the life that the royal family should have, and there is no need to be too simple, otherwise it won't make me and other ministers sad? Xu Housheng said to the queen with a sincere face, "If Qingping is today, the cabinet's support has been loosened a lot, and the appropriation to build a palace can also afford it." When the palace is repaired, the royal family can move in, and the food, clothing, daily life, and summoning foreign envoys can reflect the royal style, and it deserves the national prestige of my Han! ”

Wei Guogong said passionately, which made the queen also slightly moved. Over the years, although the world has been fixed, the life of the royal family is very simple, originally for the emperor's great cause, she is also willing to sacrifice some, willing to live the kind of life that is not compatible with the identity of the mother of a country. However, now that she is getting older, she is honestly dissatisfied with the life of not being able to see her husband often. Besides, now that the children have grown up, and most of them have the titles of prince and princess, they can't keep squeezing in the house, right?

Not only her, but even the other concubines of the emperor actually thought so in their hearts, but no one dared to risk being blamed inside and outside the court to tell the emperor, and now, when they heard that the cabinet had actually unified their opinion and wanted to build a palace for the royal family, they all had a feeling of joy in their hearts, and they looked at each other.

The concubines did not object to this sudden surprise, all they needed to worry about was another person.

"Your Majesty...... This...... What do you think? The queen looked at the emperor with some hesitation, but she was slightly worried that he really disagreed.

"The cabinet has already agreed, and then they all ran to me to plead, how can I disagree?" The emperor replied with a smile. "Since they all say that the country's finances can afford it, then let them repair, you have all followed me for so many years, and you finally won the world, you can't still suffer with me together, right?"

"Thank you...... Thank you, Your Majesty! The queen couldn't help laughing, but immediately returned to seriousness, "It is appropriate for the ministers and Your Majesty to share weal and woe, and please don't say such things, lest the world laugh at the ministers and others......"

Then, she looked at her younger brother seriously, "Duke Weiguo, although the palace can be repaired, but don't spend too much money and mobilize too much labor, so as not to hurt the country's financial resources and make the people uneasy." The royal family needs a place to live, but it doesn't need to be too extravagant......"

In the queen's heart, she felt that after all, the dynasty was not long in the future, and even if it was necessary to repair the palace, it was better to spend as little money as possible. Besides, even if the palace is a little shabby and hastily repaired, it is also a palace after all, and the regulation and scale will not be small, which is much more magnificent than the royal family has been living in a private house, and it can already meet the needs of the royal family today.

"The ministers understand what Your Majesty means, please rest assured, the ministers and others are not frivolous Meng Lang people, they will never act recklessly, and they will never abuse the power of the people." Wei Guogong hurriedly agreed, in order to reassure his sister, "The defense projects around the capital have been completed before, many fortresses have been built, and there are many craftsmen and workers vacant. In addition, regarding the scale of the palace, the minister will also instruct the following architects to consult with them, so that they can come up with a design that can reflect the royal style as soon as possible, but will not cost too much. ”

"It's not too expensive to be magnificent, and your requirements are too high, right?" Concubine Mu Huang listened to it interestingly, and couldn't help laughing, "Come on, none of us are people who like extravagance, you just try to do it with your heart, you don't have to do it too grandiosely." ”

"Yes, yes...... Chancellor understood. Wei Guogong nodded repeatedly.

And although he agreed again and again on the surface, he didn't think so in his heart. The queen is his sister, and the emperor is his brother-in-law, how can he not do it without his heart when he builds a residence for his sister and brother-in-law? What's more, the emperor is the king of a country, and he should reflect the royal spirit, when the prime minister and the cabinet informed him of this decision, they had secretly told him to do it with his heart and not to be too afraid of spending money, and with this guarantee of the cabinet as a confidence, he had already secretly decided in his heart that he must build a good residence for the royal family.

It doesn't have to cost a lot of money now, but you can fix a foundation first, and leave room for future expansion - over time, the Han Dynasty royal

"By the way, you seem to have some Westerner craftsmen in your hands, right?" At this moment, Concubine Meng Hui seemed to have thought of something, and looked at Wei Guogong with a curious expression, "Are there any people among them who can repair Western architecture?" I've heard that the Westerners' palaces are also quite interesting, can you also refer to them when you repair the palace? ”

"Concubine Hui is right, when we are building the fortress now, we hired a lot of experienced Western craftsmen - the West is still in frequent wars, so there are a lot of relevant talents." Wei Guogong nodded and patiently answered Concubine Meng Hui's question, "These Western craftsmen are not only able to build fortress turrets, but some of them have also participated in the construction of Western palaces, so in order to learn from their experience, when designing the palace, the minister will specially gather them to consult, if the emperor allows it, the minister thinks...... The minister thinks that some Western buildings can be built to reflect the spirit of our royal eclecticism and inclusiveness."

"This is good, the new dynasty should have some atmosphere of all countries coming to the dynasty!" The queen praised it, and then still advised, "However, you must try to be economical, don't repair too much, anyway, there are only so many people in the royal family, and it won't take many rooms to live in it......"

Wei Guogong nodded again and again.

"By the way, it's not that Westerners can't use it, but you have to be careful with it." At this time, the imperial concubine remembered something again, and Zhengrong reminded Wei Guogong, "Most of those Westerners believe in their foreign religions, and some of these craftsmen want to take the opportunity to preach, you have to be careful, people can use it, but they can't teach it!" ”

Speaking of this, the imperial concubine used a rare stern tone. As a religious leader, she has always disliked the spread of other religions in the Han Dynasty, especially the Waiyi religion. Although Western scholars, military officers, and craftsmen were of great help to the Han court at this time, they could not openly demand the expulsion or detention of Westerners in the Han Dynasty, but there were always a lot of precautions behind the scenes, especially not allowing Westernism to flow into the army.