Yingtianfu Ya is located on the side of Dazhong Bridge, south of Gongyuan and Fuxue, east side is densely set up six departments and divisions. Because of the high status of Ying Tianfu, the grade of each governor is far higher than that of all the prefectures in the world except Jiujiang, and he has three ranks, which can be regarded as an important minister in the court.

The waiter of the Ministry of Works, Yin Wang Zongyi of Yingtianfu was meeting guests in the Yahua Hall of the Mansion, and he met with Zhao Ran, who had just assumed the post of abbot of Xuantan Palace. Before receiving Zhao Ran's visit, he had already thought about it, no matter what this abbot Zhao, who had become famous in recent years, wanted to do, he would keep a certain distance, not far or close, neither offended this archmage-level immortal chief, nor would he return the power of general affairs in his hands.

Do you want to interfere with the operation of Yingtian's government? I'm sorry, but I don't obey my fate.

But Zhao Ran's performance was a little different from Wang Zongyi's expectations, he did not make any requests to interfere with the power of the government, but said a miscellaneous matter, he asked if the Guanyao Village, located at the foot of Jubao Mountain, could be restored.

At the beginning of the founding of the country, there were official kilns all over the south of the Yangtze River, producing a large amount of bricks and stones for repairing palaces and city walls, and the huge Yingtianfu city wall was built at that time. The gathering place of these official kilns is called Guanyao Village, the largest of which is located in the Guanyao Village under the Jubao Mountain outside Yingtianfu City, there are more than 200 kilns at the peak, with an annual output of more than 2 million green bricks.

But hundreds of years have passed, the demand for green bricks and road stones is only less than one-tenth of when the city was built, a large number of official kilns have been abandoned, and only a dozen official kiln villages at the foot of Jubao Mountain are still firing to maintain the most basic housing needs.

So Wang Zongyi asked: "Does the abbot need to buy a large number of bricks and stones? Where do you plan to build the Dao Palace? Or does he just want to repair the Xuantan Palace? If so, what is produced at present is sufficient." ”

Zhao Ran said: "It's not that I want to repair the Xuantan Palace, I see that the green bricks and road stones on the road surface of the capital have been damaged a lot, and many streets and alleys have been exposed to the soil. ”

Wang Zongyi pondered for a moment, and said in his heart, this initial appointment, it seems that he wants to show it, I don't want to lose his face, and renovate the two or three main streets in the city, just see it, and the matter of only one hundred and ten taels of silver will be borne by the government and the Ministry of Industry on both sides, and this matter can be done in half of the time.

So he smiled and said: "The abbot is worried about the people, and the official admires it so much, and it is also the official's negligence." In this case, the officer immediately ordered the officials of the workshop to inspect the streets to see which streets and alleys need to be repaired, and which ditches need to be dredged......"

Zhao Ran took out a handbook and handed it over, which listed the names of the streets in the city that needed to be renovated, row by row, there were dozens of them.

Wang Zongyi was not very happy in his heart, according to this method, Ying Tianfu would not do anything this year, not to mention that the silver would have to be spent for more than three thousand taels, where would this silver come from?

was considering the words and sentences, and planned to remind Abbot Zhao that this was the government of the house, and it was best not to point fingers in the Xuantan Palace, but he heard Zhao Ran say: "I have prepared a special fund here, which is the accumulation of charity funds, so I mean that the bricks and stones purchased from our official kiln are used to repair the streets and ditches, and the relevant manpower is also carried out in the form of recruitment, and there is no levy for forced labor. In addition, Wang Fuyin also needs to come forward to help me recruit the master craftsmen of the Ministry of Works, and I will also pay this amount of silver, and the entire construction period will be within three months..."

Wang Zongyi blinked his eyes and asked, "Abbot Zhao...... The charity money you are talking about is the charity fund of the practice ball lottery?"

Zhao Ran nodded: "Exactly." ”

Wang Zongyi leaned back, and while beckoning Zhao Ran to drink tea, he calculated, if Zhao Ran renovated the road surface in the capital with charity money, this would be a political achievement, and how much profit could he share in this political achievement?

I also heard Zhao Ran say: "Through this renovation of the pavement, I also plan to see how the level of bricks and stones made by the official kiln is now, and if it can really meet my requirements, the purchase volume will rise significantly in the future." ”

Wang Zongyi asked, "How many bricks and stones does Abbot Zhao plan to purchase?"

Zhao Ran said: "It doesn't take much to renovate the pavement, it is fired according to the pattern of the city bricks of the Ministry of Industry, one foot three inches long, six inches wide, and three inches thick, such green bricks need 400,000 pieces, and I will buy them according to one or two silver and two thousand bricks." ”

"400,000 yuan?" Wang Zongyi was a little disappointed.

"After confirming that the standards are met, the next step is to purchase 200 million pieces, and there are millions of stones. ”

Wang Zongyi was stunned for a moment: "200 million green bricks?1 million stones?" This is at least 200,000 taels of silver!

Zhao Ran said: "Maybe more." ”

Wang Zongyi asked cautiously: "Even if Jubaoshan Guanyao Village is fully restored, I am afraid it will be difficult to complete it in a hundred years." ”

Zhao Ran said: "Guanyao Village is just a standard, with this as a standard, I plan to purchase from the private sector, which brick kiln can meet the standard, I will purchase from whichever one." Wang Fuyin is right, the output of Guanyao Village will not be able to come up with so many bricks and stones in a hundred years, but if more kiln and stone workshops can be driven to do it together, I believe it will still be possible. ”

"That's going to be more than ten years......"

"The current kiln method is not good, we have prepared a wheel kiln method, which can increase production tenfold, and in addition, in order to cope with the large-scale use of fuel by the wheel kiln method, we are ready to make it mandatory for each kiln factory to use coal as fuel. There are many coal mines around the capital, such as Qingqiu Mountain, Purple Mountain, Meishan and so on, and I know that there are many small coal mines producing coal. Of course, the Purple Mountain cannot be moved, and my plan is to use the coal of Qingqiu Mountain and Meishan Mountain. In order to encourage everyone to use coal for burning, my plan is to subsidize one tael of silver for every kiln of masonry. ”

Wang Zongyi is a waiter in the Ministry of Works, although he is not a special minister, but he has also studied the construction method, and if you roughly calculate, this is another 100,000 taels.

A total of 300,000 taels of silver business, of which the Guanyao Village in Jubaoshan can swallow 30,000 taels to reach the sky, and the remaining 270,000 taels must be purchased from various private workshops and mines. Especially in the mines, although they are all from the imperial court on the surface, he is a member of the Ministry of Works, and it is easy to get two documents for opening the mine in advance.

By the way, we have to take advantage of the fact that the news has not leaked out and quickly recruit potters, otherwise there will be no one to use even if we want to open a kiln! If we set up a kiln factory, open two mines, and share the profit of 20,000 or 30,000 silver in it, it will not be a difficult task.

"Is the wheel kiln method mentioned by the abbot a means of the immortals?"

"Don't worry, although it is a method developed by my Sect Sacred Hall, ordinary people can also use it, and there is no need for monks to participate in it. Whichever kiln factory meets the standard of the official kiln in advance, this secret method will be passed on to which one first, only five will be transmitted, and no more will be transmitted. ”

Wang Zongyi finally asked, "When is the abbot going to start working?"

Zhao Ran said: "Of course, the sooner the better. ”

Wang Zongyi immediately agreed: "Yes, it is February now, and in two months, the rainy day in the capital is coming, and we can't let the people spend this rainy season with one foot of mud and one foot of water." ”