first minister

Chapter 5 Swallow alone
In the back hall of the county government office, there were three people sitting, each of them had the words "burned and burnt" written on their faces.

Zhao Hongfei, magistrate of Jiang'an County, sat in the middle, with a tea bowl in his left hand and a cup lid in his right hand, unconsciously scraping the tea foam.

Then he put it down without drinking, and sighed softly, "Concubine De's concubine visits relatives, it's a great event, now it's only less than a month before Concubine De's arrival, and the high platform for viewing and banquets hasn't even been piled up yet, two adults, plan to come out?"

Sitting on his right is a middle-aged man with short stature and thick palms. He is one of the four master craftsmen who will be the prison, named Zhang Dazhi.

On his right is a beauty in palace attire who is in stark contrast to the rough man who will be a prisoner. She is 27 or [-] years old, with an elegant blue dress, bright eyes and white teeth.

Commonly known as: run.

She is from Shanggongtai, and she is a female official in the palace who is in charge of concubines. Her name is Feng Xiuyun. This time, she also came here in advance to be responsible for the corresponding preparations.

As His Majesty's most beloved concubine, Concubine De's trip to visit her relatives, the vanguard alone has a huge lineup, and the preparation work brought about by this is also heavy.

If you do it well, you will be rewarded, but if you don't do it well, your career may stop here for the rest of your life, and this is the best result of all.

"This kind of thing is Master Zhang's profession, what does Master Zhang think?"

Shang Gongtai is independent from the imperial court. Although it can't be said that its status is detached, it doesn't need to take care of so many things. Feng Xiuyun directly asked by name.

Zhang Dazhi, the general supervisor, had a bitter face, like an old farmer with a bad harvest, and rubbed his big rough hands, "I can think of some ways to build palaces and equipment, but this high platform is used for the imperial concubine to entertain the state officials and talents, and the autumn banquet. The mound must be at least a suitable height before we can talk about it?"

He snapped his fingers, "After the high platform is built, it will take ten days to level it, clear the way, move the trees, and set the scenery. In other words, the high platform must be erected within half a month."

Feng Xiuyun is a female official in the palace, and she has always acted vigorously and resolutely. After thinking about it for a while, "Magistrate Zhao, if you can't do it, let's recruit more civilian husbands."

County magistrate Zhao raised the teacup to his mouth and put it down again, shaking his head and said: "For this matter, all the criminals in the state have been brought here, and some heavy codes have been used. If you want to confiscate now, I'm afraid you have to go to the good people."

Feng Xiuyun said calmly: "Who is to be conscripted? This is something that Zhao County Magistrate needs to consider. I just suggest that more people should be sent. Otherwise, the three of us may not be able to achieve the task if we cannot complete the task."

Zhang Dazhi, like an old farmer, frowned, "This kind of work of piling up soil can only be done by manpower."

No advice was given, but advice has been given.

Zhao Hongfei rubbed the center of his brows, getting into a tangle.

If the civil servants are conscripted again, I'm afraid there will be a lot of turmoil in the county. When the time comes to file a complaint, isn't he a dead letter?

But if you don't think of a way, this matter can't be done well, and the concubine de concubine is offended, well, even if the concubine de concubine has a large number, what about the people below?Mr. State Shepherd, will Mr. Taishou also feel that he is incompetent and take off his official robe?
Zuo is also dead, and he is also dead, and he is dead anyway, and the county magistrate Zhao is entangled in how to die.

"My lord, Mr. Hu, please see me."

Zhao County Magistrate's face turned cold, with a bit of impatience, "Why is he not watching over there and running here! No way! Tell him to go back and hurry up!"

"Wait a minute." The young servant was about to leave when Feng Xiuyun suddenly stopped him.

She looked at County Magistrate Zhao, "This person is in charge of labor matters. Since he is here, why not call him in and ask about the situation, so we can have a countermeasure."

Zhao County Magistrate naturally didn't dare to refute the face of the female officer next to Concubine De, and said: "Then let him in!"

Soon, Guanshi Hu came in, seeing that the three big men were there, he pouted his buttocks and worshiped them one by one, just like worshiping the Sifang Bodhisattva in the temple.

"Hu Yi, if you don't stay in the camp, what are you doing here at the county government?"

Hearing Zhao County Magistrate's unkind tone, Guanshi Hu's heart trembled. All the words he had planned before were messed up, and he hurriedly said: "Returning to the adults, the villain accidentally thought of a good plan, which might make the high platform built as soon as possible, so I hurried to ask the adults for instructions."

!!!

The three of them instantly changed their expressions.

The county magistrate Zhao even stood up straight away, without caring about his gestures, beat his subordinates, and asked excitedly, "Is this true?"

Manager Hu hurriedly said: "You little one dares to lie to your lord. Yesterday, on a whim, I came up with a method of transporting soil with a pulley."

After speaking, he relayed the method Xia Jingyun said.

Then he took out the few pieces of paper from his pocket and handed them over, "The materials needed for this method are also very simple. You only need to prepare these things, and the installation can be completed within an hour or two, and the effect will be seen immediately."

County magistrate Zhao looked at the blueprint for a while, then nodded slowly, "Yes, it's really good that you have such a heart. You go to Xu Xiancheng first and ask him to arrange people to prepare these things as soon as possible. As long as it is useful, I will definitely reward you!"

"Thank you, my lord! Resignation, little one!"

After Manager Hu left, County Magistrate Zhao handed over the drawings to Zhang Dazhi and Feng Xiuyun, "What do you guys think?"

Zhang Dazhi, the general supervisor, looked at the drawings, recalled the method that Guanshi Hu said just now, and said slowly: "It doesn't sound like a big problem, maybe it can be done, you can try it."

Then Zhao County Magistrate looked at Feng Xiuyun with a questioning gaze, Feng Xiuyun shook the blueprint in his hand lightly, with a half-smile, "The handwriting is not bad."

"Then prepare immediately, a dead horse will be treated as a living horse doctor!"

At night, several sheds were set up in an open space in the county seat, and a few lanterns were hung in each shed, shaking slightly in the early autumn night wind.

The light illuminated the shed brightly, and four or five carpenters were busily working with their apprentices.

A middle-aged man in an official uniform with a quail embroidered on his chest stood with his hands behind his back, watching silently.

"My lord, go and have a rest, I'll just watch over here." The confidant next to him thoughtfully helped Mr. Xian Cheng solve his problems.

Xu Xiancheng shook his head, "I have to watch and fix these things myself."

"My lord, are these things useful?"

"Useful?" The county magistrate snorted contemptuously, "If only these broken wood and ropes can be useful, why is our county lord so worried that he can't sleep every day?"

My confidant was puzzled, "Since that's the case, why is your lord?"

"Our county lord is in a hurry."

Xu Xiancheng went to the chair beside him and sat down, holding up the teacup, "If the viewing platform can't be completed on schedule, he might not be able to sit in this position, so he has to go to the doctor in a hurry. I can't let him catch a trace now, he wants me to supervise the construction as soon as possible, I will give him an overnight rush to work, sit in person, and do whatever he asks me to do. When the time comes, the higher-ups will blame me, can it be my fault?"

The confidant suddenly realized, and gave thumbs up again and again, "Your Excellency is wise! I wish you an early ascension to the position of county lord!"

The next day, when the sky was bright, the gongs for work began to strike again.

Xia Jingyun got up from the bed, ate a full meat meal, and rested for half a day. Today's condition is obviously much better.

The same is true for the father and uncle on the side. Although they are still haggard and embarrassed, their spirits are obviously better.

As for his cousin Xia Yunfei, he was still as strong as ever, and it could be seen that his foundation was really solid back then.

Without yesterday's preferential treatment today, Xia Jingyun has to go to work again.

Moreover, for some reason, today's supervisors are even more ruthless than before, urging them like urging their lives, and everyone's labor intensity is instantly full.

So Xia Jingyun was let go by the bearded supervisor, but he was too tired.

But surprisingly, after working for about an hour, he rang the gong to rest.

The people who were still surprised at the moment saw the manager who had always been aloof at the moment humbly following two men and a woman, walked through the stage, and came to the slope where the foundation was piled up, and suddenly understood that there was a big man coming!
Everyone didn't care about the identities of those people, and just hid in the shade of a tree to rest.

The father and brother of the Xia family also gathered together at this moment, looking over there.

But the bearded supervisor trotted to Xia Jingyun, took out two large oiled paper bags from his arms, and the aroma of the roast chicken spread immediately.

If there is no supervisor here, I am afraid that someone will come to snatch it immediately.

"Sir, the lord in charge said, let you and your father and brother have a good meal first, and you don't have to work any more this morning."

Xia Jingyun's eyes flashed sharply, and he nodded with a chuckle, "Thank you for your kindness, sir. Please rest assured."

As soon as the bearded supervisor heard this, he knew that Xia Jingyun understood what he meant, smiled apologetically, then stood up, looked at the people with green eyes, and said sharply: "This is a reward from the supervisor. If anyone of you dares to snatch it, I will kill him first!"

After speaking, he walked to the side and stood with his whip.

He sighed inwardly, although Xia Jingyun possessed immortal skills, he was still too innocent, or there was nothing he could do about it, how could it be possible for Guanshi Hu to give up such credit.

Maybe, after the matter is done, there will be another murderer in the future.

Do you want to find a way to help him when the time comes?
The bearded overseer fell into a silent tangle.

When Xia Jingyun handed the roast chicken to his father and uncle, the two were still immersed in the shock of the "Mr."

Xia Yunfei silently bit the delicious chicken, and said with emotion: "What did you tell them to treat us so well?"

Okay?

Xia Jingyun silently looked at the steward in the distance, who was trying to take the credit for himself, and sneered in his heart.

The other party wanted to eat it alone, but he didn't expect that he had already planted a thorn in this piece of fat.

(End of this chapter)