bestfiction Chapter 240: King Chen's Efforts
Chapter 240: King Chen's Efforts
Chapter 240: King Chen's Efforts
Ye Wenyan opened her eyes dazedly. Xiangdong lifted the curtain and sat beside her couch, whispering, "Today, the inner city of Lin'an officially began to be rebuilt, and many craftsmen from the outer city have arrived. The little official outside the gate conveyed the meaning of the prefect, saying that the fourth young lady has made great contributions in this turnaround, and both the inner city and the outer city are grateful for the fourth young lady's kindness. Today, the inner city is being rebuilt, and I hope the fourth young lady can walk on the street and take a look at the inner city being renovated."
Ye Wenyan nodded. It was time for her to go out, not only to check out the post-disaster reconstruction, but mainly because she had to go to Lin'an Prefecture to ask how much the six mountain deeds given by the Third Prince were worth so that she could give the silver.
So she got up, washed and changed her clothes, and Xiangdong combed her hair. She ate the breakfast that Zhuier brought in. Then she heard Xiangdong say to Zhuier, "You and Madam Ji, go out with the young lady! I'll stay and look after the house."
Ye Wenyan thought for a while and said, "Let's go together! There's nothing to do at home." Xiangdong was very happy.
There was a carriage waiting outside the mansion gate. It was the carriage of the Lin'an government office. Seeing Ye Wenyan coming out of the mansion with three servants, the little official immediately came forward and saluted her with a smile: "I greet the fourth young lady and say hello to her."
The Ye family's doorman also came forward and asked her if she wanted to take the mansion's carriage.
Ye Wenyan said, "Remember to tell my mother that I'm going to go for a walk on the street, and ask her not to worry about me."
The concierge responded immediately and with great respect.
The official invited her to the carriage, and he followed the carriage outside. Ye Wenyan lifted the curtain to talk to him, and asked: "How many craftsmen came from the outer city? Did they come this morning?"
The officer replied, "They came early in the morning. There are more than 300 people here. Another group will come in two days. In this way, the inner city will be in order within ten days."
"How do you calculate the wages of the craftsmen?"
The little official laughed when he heard this, "The prefect said that Sister Sibu would definitely ask this question. Don't worry, the wages of the craftsmen will be paid by the court, but it is limited to restoring the houses to their original state. If anyone wants to take this opportunity to extort money from the court, once discovered, they will be demoted and expelled from the inner city, and will never be allowed to enter again."
She nodded and said, "That's good. Craftsmen can't work for nothing." As for the loss to the national treasury, since it was not up to Guiyue Kingdom, there was no need to feel sad.
The inner city was being rebuilt, and the carriage could not move fast, so it stopped not far away. The official said, "Fourth Miss, please get off here. There is work going on ahead, and the carriage cannot go in."
Ye Wenyan got off the carriage with her servants and walked forward with the official. Along the way, she met many acquaintances, some of whom were the injured in the outer city who had been treated by her, and some were relatives of the injured.
When people saw Ye Wenyan coming, they stopped what they were doing and wanted to kowtow to her. She waved her hands to stop them and told them, "The court paid you to come to the inner city to work. Doing your job well is the right thing to do. There is no need to thank me again and again. When you see me, nod and smile, that is the best etiquette for me."
People were very happy and changed their kowtows to bows, and Ye Wenyan accepted them one by one.
The little official said, "These craftsmen got up early and have been working for almost two hours. At first, the people in the inner city looked down on them, thinking that the people in the outer city were poor and born to do hard labor. But later they found that the craftsmen in the outer city were fast and skilled in building houses. They were also honest people. They didn't play tricks or play tricks. They only wanted to build a solid house and speed up the progress so as not to let the court spend too much money. Gradually, the people in the inner city changed their impression of them."
As he spoke, he walked forward with Ye Wenyan. Passing by the gates of several official residences, he pointed and said, "Look, Miss Fourth, these official households have taken the initiative to boil water in their mansions and bring it out. Some have put tea leaves in it, and some have put sugar in it. Whether you work in your own house or in other houses, you can take a bowl to drink when you are thirsty. Some families have made snacks and steamed eggs. Although the government has set up tents to manage the workers' meals, people are still willing to prepare some for themselves so that those who are hungry can always have a bite to eat."
A craftsman on the roadside heard this and said with a smile: "The noble mansion has made sugar buns, which are especially delicious."
The official also laughed, and then said to Ye Wenyan: "This is all the credit of the fourth young lady. If the fourth young lady had not punished the Li family and the fifth-rank official who went to the Ye Mansion to make trouble, I am afraid that the people in the inner city would still be grateful to the Li family for their false benevolence and righteousness, and they are all putting on airs, thinking that they are noble and people from the outer city are not worthy of talking to them. And the injuries I suffered when the earth dragon turned over, it was because the fourth young lady gave me the pills that I recovered so quickly. Although the pills were obtained by the emperor from the general's mansion, the emperor also said that it was the fourth young lady who cared about the world, so she took out the pills regardless of past grudges."
When the official said this, he remembered something: "The stone lions at the entrance of the general's mansion haven't been replaced yet, right? This is a big deal. I'll give the order to make a new pair quickly." Ye Wenyan thought about it and said to Zhuier: "Remember, the money for the stone lions at the general's mansion cannot be paid by the court, but by the fifth-rank official. You go and do this, and make sure to get the money for me."
The officer laughed when he heard this, "Fourth Miss, you have a really good personality."
Ye Wenyan also laughed when she heard this, "People always call me a witch, but few people say that I have a good personality."
The group continued forward and turned onto a new street, then they heard someone talking loudly ahead.
He seemed to be an adult, about 45 or 46 years old, standing in a pile of new bricks and talking to a group of craftsmen: "Everyone has his own strengths and different divisions of labor. As long as you contribute to Northern Qi, you are worthy of respect, regardless of your status. Although you came from the outer city, you are here to help the people in the inner city restore their original living order faster and better. We took the initiative to ask for help from the outer city. I heard that you worked day and night in the outer city to help us as soon as possible, so you can come here in such a short time. For this, every one of us in the inner city is grateful. I am the right prime minister of the current dynasty. Today, on behalf of all officials in Beijing, I would like to thank you."
People all applauded, and the craftsmen kowtowed to the Right Prime Minister excitedly. The Right Prime Minister stepped forward to help them up one by one: "You don't have to kneel before me. I have said that we are all equal. Today you are the ones who are respected."
The craftsmen in the outer city were very happy to hear this, and the sensible officials and their wives in the inner city also expressed their opinions, saying that everyone was the same.
Of course, there are still many people who look down on people from outside the city, but they dare not offend the Right Prime Minister in person, so they can only smile and thank the craftsmen from outside the city for working for them.
The Right Prime Minister exchanged a few more pleasantries with the craftsmen before retreating from the brick pile. He turned back to look at Ye Wenyan and gave him a friendly smile. Ye Wenyan bowed and saluted, saying, "Greetings, Right Prime Minister. Hello, sir."
The Right Prime Minister took a few quick steps forward and extended his hand to support her. "Fourth Miss Ye, please don't be polite. I came out to inspect on behalf of the court. I had a few more words with the craftsmen. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Fourth Miss."
Ye Wenyan said quickly: "Your Excellency Right Prime Minister, you are embarrassing me by saying this. I am just a little girl, and you are the Prime Minister. It is natural for you to say these words. There is no question of whether you are amused or not."
The Right Prime Minister waved his hand, "No, no, with the status of Prime Minister, he can say whatever he wants to the people. But today we have such a situation, the outer city can recover so quickly, and the inner city can become orderly and stable after a short period of chaos. Everyone knows that this is the credit of Fourth Miss Ye. I am just saying a few polite words to show my credit. It is really not worth mentioning."
"Your Excellency is too modest and thinks too highly of me." Ye Wenyan did not dare to take credit for it. "Even if it is just polite words, it is best for you to say them. Your position is there, and only you can represent the court, inspire people, and calm down those officials and their wives who have other ideas."
The right prime minister still waved his hand, "Everyone has their own duties. Miss Four, please!" He made a gesture to invite her forward. Ye Wenyan bowed politely and walked forward first. A group of servants and the small official followed behind. The right prime minister walked side by side with her, saying as he walked, "The incident of the earth dragon turning over caused a lot of uproar. At first, there were all kinds of rumors. Some people said that the new emperor was not a legitimate son and ascended the throne, which was unlucky. Others said that it was Miss Four who danced the Fire Phoenix Dance at the New Year's Eve palace banquet and angered the heavens. But none of these were as convincing as the second earth dragon turning over at the gate of the First-Rank General's Mansion. The court took this opportunity to punish a group of officials. This was done by the Fourth Prince. He was swift and showed no mercy at all."
He smiled bitterly at this point, "There is really no need to talk about personal feelings. The Fourth Prince has been away from the capital for many years and has few friendships with any family. The Emperor chose him to do this, and I believe he saw this in his eyes. However, this will lead to a sharp decrease in the number of officials in the capital. In addition to those who were seriously injured at the palace banquet and those who were injured when the earth dragon turned over, there are only a few who can attend the court now. Miss Four, is this a good thing or a bad thing?"
Ye Wenyan's face was calm, and no emotion could be seen. When the Right Prime Minister asked her, she answered: "It's good that the emperor can hold on. If he can't hold on, it's not necessarily bad." "Oh? What do you mean? Why is it not necessarily bad if he can't hold on?"
She continued, "If we can't hold on any longer, we can only ask the regent to come out again, so what do you think is a good or bad thing, sir?"
The Right Prime Minister was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Yes, if it holds out, the emperor will rule the country personally, which is naturally good for some people. If it doesn't hold out, we can only ask the regent to return, which is also good for others. Both sides are 50-50, so no matter how you look at it, this matter can't be considered bad. This Prime Minister and General Ye have known each other for many years, but I only knew that the fourth lady's personality is quite similar to your grandfather, and I didn't know that you, a little girl, have such insight."