met free Chapter 319 Where in the capital is Dengzhou better?
Chapter 319 Where in the capital is Dengzhou better?
For Wang Shaoyu and other officials in the Ministry of Works, even staying on the construction site to instruct the laborers was far better than writing a complete plan.
Instructing laborers on construction is a one-time thing, but writing a complete plan means that one's knowledge can be seen by many people. The more people see it, the more people will know it. If more people know it, is one's knowledge still valuable?
However, it was Yang who made this request... who was the imperial son-in-law.
If we refuse the prince consort this time, who knows what new tricks he'll come up with next?
Just as Wang Shaoyu and the others were in a dilemma, Yang Shaofeng laughed and said, "How about this, Physician Wang, you might as well consider my other suggestion."
Wang Shaoyu was slightly taken aback and asked, "What suggestion?"
Yang Shaofeng said, "I once read a book called 'Yingzao Fashi' (Building Standards), which was compiled by Li Jie, the Director of the Imperial Workshops of the Song Dynasty, by imperial decree. In the second year of Chongning, the emperor ordered it to be shipped throughout the world."
"From then on, who among those who saw the book 'Yingzao Fashi' did not know the name of Li Mingzhong?"
"In my opinion, Wang Langzhong and his colleagues here are not necessarily inferior to Li Mingzhong—why don't you all work together to compile a book similar to the 'Yingzao Fashi'?"
"For example, how to explore mineral deposits, how to explore the terrain for road construction, how to design cities, how to calculate the construction period, manpower, and materials, and how to carry out construction."
"If you gentlemen can compile a few books like this, I will certainly petition His Majesty to print them extensively and circulate them throughout the world. Perhaps they will even be included in the Hongwu Encyclopedia."
"Later generations, when exploring terrain, mineral deposits, or designing cities, cannot bypass the books compiled by these individuals. Aren't they even more advanced than Li Mingzhong?"
"..."
Their names will be remembered in history.
Even better than Li Mingzhong.
Wang Shaoyu's breathing grew heavier and heavier. Finally, he couldn't help but grit his teeth and stamp his foot, bowing to Yang Shaofeng and saying, "Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness. How could I not do my best?"
As Wang Shaoyu took the lead in expressing his opinion, the other officials standing beside him also bowed and said, "We will do our utmost."
Back to the capital?
Why go back to the capital?
Where in the capital is Dengzhou better?
The food and lodging in Dengzhou are excellent, and the prince consort speaks very kindly. As long as you compile a few books, you will have the opportunity to be remembered in history. Isn't that much better than going back to the capital to become an official?
However, after making up his mind to stay in Dengzhou, Wang Shaoyu found himself increasingly dissatisfied with the design plan for the city of Dengzhou.
The city wall is only 35 feet high and only 20 feet thick, with a circumference of no more than 11 li. How can such a small and dilapidated city be worthy of being the capital of Dengzhou Prefecture?
Besides, Dengzhou Prefecture is located along the coast, and Shandong is a place where Japanese pirates frequently operate. How can a prefecture city not have a few decent watchtowers and corner towers?
There's also the ridge of Zijing Mountain to the west of the water gate. This thing is close to the city and is higher than the city. If... oh my, this is an extremely serious safety hazard!
The more Wang Shaoyu looked at the original design, the more dissatisfied he became. He simply cupped his hands towards Yang Shaofeng and said, "May I ask, Your Highness, which book should we revise first?"
Yang Shaofeng hummed in agreement, secretly pondering which book Wang Shaoyu and the others should start revising from. Unexpectedly, when Wang Shaoyu put down his hand, his sleeve accidentally brushed against the inkstone. The inkstone, which was originally very heavy and could not be lifted without force, was inexplicably "brushed" over, and the ink in the inkstone flowed directly onto the original design draft.
Wang Shaoyu picked up the design draft in a panic, but the ink on it flowed more and more erratically, quickly turning the entire design draft black.
Immediately afterward, Wang Shaoyu cried out in panic, "Oh dear, what are we going to do! All the hard work of so many colleagues has been destroyed!"
Just as a clerk from the Construction and Maintenance Department said, "Doctor, don't panic," Wang Shaoyu exclaimed, "How can I not panic? There's only one set of blueprints for this city. Now we have to re-survey and redesign it, and who knows how long that will take. How can I not panic?"
Is this the only one available?
Re-exploration and design?
Looking at the other city design drawing that was pressed down by another stack of drawings, the head of the Construction and Maintenance Department fell silent.
After reprimanding the head of the Construction and Maintenance Department, Wang Shaoyu bowed to Yang Shaofeng with great regret and said, "This humble official made a mistake for a moment, please forgive me, Your Highness."
Just as Yang Shaofeng was about to speak, Wang Shaoyu continued, "Your Highness, rest assured, we will definitely produce a new design drawing, striving to make it even more perfect than the previous one."
More complete?
Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said, "It's alright. Anyway, those 20,000-plus laborers won't arrive in Dengzhou for a while. There's plenty of time."
After Yang Shaofeng left with the lame Wu, Wang Shaoyu breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at the officials of the Ministry of Works, saying, "Let's redesign it. Cut down Zijing Mountain, turn the original locations of Dengzhou Guard and Penglai County into the prefectural government offices, turn the original locations of the prefectural government offices and the prefectural school into the market, and move the Dengzhou Guard offices and Penglai County offices to the east."
"Yes, the other government offices also need to be moved. The original circumference was eight li, so let's expand it to twelve li and add watchtowers and corner towers to prevent attacks from the Yuan, Goryeo and Japan."
"Furthermore, I will petition the Ministry of Works to explain the situation in Dengzhou. After all, those 20,000-plus people are all laborers. If we are not here to oversee things, how can they be expected to put their heart and soul into building the city?"
As soon as Wang Shaoyu finished speaking, all the officials from the Ministry of Works present burst into laughter.
Yes, there is only one copy of the blueprints, there are absolutely no backups, so it has to be made from scratch.
And those more than 20,000 laborers, we should also keep an eye on them and never give them a chance to cheat or shirk their duties.
After all, there are many more people in the capital, and the books they compile will have countless names. But there are only a few people left in Dengzhou, and even if each person compiles one book, it will be enough.
The head of the Construction and Repair Office bowed directly to Wang Shaoyu and said, "Don't worry, Doctor, I will make the preparations right away."
……
Just as Wang Shaoyu and a group of officials from the Ministry of Works were working overtime to replan Dengzhou City, some of the more than 20,000 laborers that Yang Shaofeng had been eagerly anticipating were finally escorted to Dengzhou Prefecture.
Although the first batch of forced laborers brought in numbered only about three thousand, for Yang Shaofeng, three thousand forced laborers was not a small number.
First, a thousand were assigned to burn cement, then another thousand to run brick kilns, and finally another thousand to build simple houses to house the ever-increasing number of laborers.
Simply perfect!