prosperous age

Chapter 473 Chapter 472

"Let's go, give Yu Wang Daoxi, after betting so many subjects, I finally won once."

Yin Shizheng told them to go out, and said in his mouth: "Show the talent ceremony well, and these gambling houses should not be allowed to get involved."

Obviously, he does not support officials participating in gambling, especially the number one prize. This is a grand ceremony for the country's talents, and it should be solemn and solemn. How can it be tainted with money.

Zhang Juzheng whispered to Wei Guangde behind him: "If I had known this, I would have gambled on it."

"Exactly, exactly."

Tang Ruji also answered in a low voice.

Obviously, they didn't take Yin Shizhen's words to heart.

For officials like them, the future is bright.

But that, after all, is the future.

Now they, if they don't have family support, no outside water, just relying on that little salary and rewards, they will only live a tight life.

The Jinshi of the new department happily participated in the later honor banquet, followed by the emperor's gift of money and Xu Shixing thanking the Jinshi on behalf of the Jinshi, as well as paying a visit to the temple of the ancestors and performing the ceremony of explaining dishes. .

Wei Guangde finally had the opportunity to visit the second assistant Xu Jie and the assistant minister Yuan Wei successively to test their tone.

In the past few days, although the imperial court is still in operation and has not been interrupted because of the palace examination, some government affairs are inevitably suppressed.

Although it was delayed for a few days, it did not affect anything. In fact, the cabinet and the Ministry of War have not discussed this matter yet.

Relatively speaking, Yuan Wei's attitude is more cautious. Although it has been a little unfavorable to Mr. Yan Ge recently, after all, the emperor didn't say anything himself, and everything was just rumored by the outside court.

But Wei Guangde, who came out of Xujie's mansion, Wei Guangde still couldn't help but look back at Xu's mansion.

When discussing this matter with Xu Jie just now, although Xu Jie was still quite perfunctory in his mouth, his attitude changed immediately after seeing the 3000 taels of silver ticket offered by Wei Guangde.

Relatively speaking, Wei Guangde feels that Xu Jie seems to be more determined that Mr. Yan Ge will step down in the near future.

Thinking about the clues discovered by Prince Yu's Mansion before, Wei Guangde was even more convinced that Xu Jie had already started a series of actions, but they were very covert, and he didn't know if Yan Song, Yan Shifan and the others were aware of it.

However, these have nothing to do with him. It seems that after the war in Jiangxi was temporarily put aside due to the palace examination, it has not yet become the focus of government affairs recently, because Emperor Jiajing's attention has been diverted to the reconstruction of Yongshou Palace.

Years ago, when Emperor Jiajing summoned Yan Song and Xu Jie for questioning, because of Yan Song's inappropriate remarks, Emperor Jiajing finally handed over the reconstruction of Yongshou Palace to Xu Jie to supervise.

What the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty couldn't imagine was that Xu Jie actually rebuilt the Yongshou Palace in only three months.

Wei Guangde only heard about this by accident when he visited Xu Jie this time. Think about the beaming look on Xu Ge's face when he said this.

Thinking about it, the government of the Ming Dynasty was notoriously procrastinated. Who would have thought that the rebuilding of the Yongshou Palace would be so fast and efficient.

The matter in Xiyuan is a matter in the palace, so Wei Guangde is not easy to inquire about it, and he didn't ask Chen Ju for the reason. After entering Prince Yu's mansion the next day, he asked Li Fang immediately.

Li Fang is an eunuch, and he has the inside information of King Yu in the palace, so the news is naturally better.

"Are you talking about the Yongshou Palace?"

Li Fang smiled and said, "I only found out about this a few days ago, because it's not a big deal, so I didn't tell you about it."

"This time, why did it finish so quickly? I heard that there is no delay in moving in."

Wei Guangde asked in surprise.

"The fire in Yongshou Palace only burned down the wooden buildings, and the foundations were all intact. I heard that Elder Xu Ge supervised him closely, and the site was cleaned up in half a month.

Wasn’t the construction of the Three Great Halls completed by then?

At the beginning, many craftsmen and wood materials were recruited, and Xu Jie directly picked up a ready-made one. All the people and things went into Xiyuan to participate in the reconstruction of Yongshou Palace.

They are all craftsmen who built the three main halls, but rebuilding a palace is much less difficult than the previous project. "

Li Fang rambled about what he knew, and Wei Guangde opened his mouth wide in surprise.

Just thinking about it, it seems that rebuilding a palace seems to be troublesome, but after listening to Li Fang's detailed analysis, Wei Guangde also felt that it seems that this is not a big deal.

In the rebuilding of the three main halls, in addition to the huge project, the main reason was that a lot of time was wasted in selecting large materials.

After selecting the timber and transporting them from the south to the capital, the rebuilding started. Most of the time was spent on material selection and transportation.

Afterwards, the Ministry of Industry had another dispute over the reconstruction of the three halls. The main reason was that there was insufficient material to restore the previous grand occasion, so it had no choice but to scale down some constructions.

At this time, at that time, Ouyang Bijin, who was then Minister of the Ministry of Industry, naturally knew that Emperor Jiajing knew that everything must be decided by the emperor.

When Emperor Jiajing heard the news, he hesitated for many days before finally nodding in agreement.

There is not enough material to build the main hall, but the Ministry of Industry has sufficient materials to build ordinary palaces. The three main halls are not used, and they are all used in the Yongshou Palace.

Some people have expected that the natural construction speed is very fast.

"If I had known this before, I might as well have played it, so Mao recommended me to do it."

After hearing Li Fang tell the story, Wei Guangde couldn't help exclaiming.

"Who says it's not? This is not a ready-made credit, and Xu Ge Laobai picked it up."

Li Fang also agreed.

"Mr. Yan Ge is really confused. He actually forgot the project of the Three Great Halls, as well as the craftsmen and materials there."

Wei Guangde couldn't help sighing that people who are getting older still can't compare with the old and strong, this is the proof.

No way, at that time Xu Jie was secretly happy in his heart, but also worried that Yan Song would come out to claim credit for the matter of the Three Great Halls.

Wei Guangde and the others would not have known about this news if they hadn't specifically inquired about it, but the cabinet knew about it, although Yan Shifan was a little curious, and Yan Shifan never thought that Xu Jie would be taken advantage of in vain.

How did he know that Yan Shifan was thinking about perfecting the plan in his heart at that time, and his heart was not used to rebuilding the Yongshou Palace and pleasing Emperor Jiajing.

Separated from Li Fang, Wei Guangde walked back and was still thinking about it.

Now that Xu Jie's performance is in the eyes of Emperor Jiajing, I am afraid that he really doesn't care about Yan Song anymore, anyway, there is someone who can handle things and is obedient.

The news that the Xiyuan Yongshou Palace was completed in just three months quickly spread throughout the government and the public, and the officials in the capital were all surprised when they heard about it.

It's too fast.

Xiyuan, Yongshou Palace.

Emperor Jiajing was also inspecting the reconstructed Yongshou Palace at this time. Compared with the palace he lived in before, the current Yongshou Palace is completely brand new. Naturally, Emperor Jiajing nodded and was very happy.

"good, very good, excellent."

Seeing that the original appearance was maintained everywhere, Emperor Jiajing did not feel restrained at all, and the joy in his heart cannot be described in words.

Looking around, I unconsciously raised my head to look at the beams of the roof. It used to be a whole piece of wood. Although it is now carved and painted, it can be vaguely seen that it is slightly different from before.

"Artisans are here."

When Emperor Jiajing came to see Yongshou Palace, not only Xu Jie rushed from the cabinet, but also Lei Li, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, also called all the officials and craftsmen related to the reconstruction to prepare for the emperor's attention.

Huang Jin, who is the admiral of the eunuch, couldn't answer the question of Emperor Jiajing, but Xu Jie couldn't help it.

"Your Majesty, the craftsman leader Xu Gao is here."

As he spoke, Xu Jie waved his hand, and a craftsman in a gray robe behind him stepped forward to answer.

In all dynasties of China, Taoism was valued over tools, craftsman was the last job, and craftsman's service was minimal. When the gray-robed craftsman stepped forward to answer the question, his whole body was shaking, and he didn't know whether it was excitement or fright.

But Emperor Jiajing was in a very good mood at the moment, raised his finger to the beam and asked, "That place seems to be different from before, why?"

"Your Majesty, it is difficult to find beams and columns for the palace, so Xiaomin built them with building blocks as columns."

The craftsman knelt in front of Emperor Jiajing, didn't dare to lift his head, so he prostrated himself on the ground and replied.

"Building blocks as pillars?"

Emperor Jiajing muttered softly, "Tell me in detail."

Obviously, Emperor Jiajing was aroused by the craftsman's answer, so he continued to ask.

"this."

Xu Gao was in a bit of a dilemma. He didn't know whether he should tell the emperor. It wasn't that he was worried about the quality of the palace he built. In fact, he had full confidence in his skills and the house he built.

The reason why he is worried is actually because of himself. He can tell by wearing a gray robe that he is not an official, but just a craftsman in the Ministry of Industry. Although everyone calls him a master, he is a craftsman after all.

In front of the emperor, do you have the right to speak for yourself?

"Your Majesty asks, you just say it."

Perhaps seeing Xu Gao's embarrassment, Xu Jie spoke behind him.

"Exactly. You can answer your Majesty's questions carefully."

Lei Li also said afterwards.

"The so-called method of building blocks as pillars, according to some actual situations, when the top-grade materials are insufficient, a method to make up for them with middle-grade materials is actually to splice small pieces of wood together with mortise and tenon, bezel, etc. The exterior looks seamless."

When it comes to technology, Xu Gao really doesn't touch it. After all, his family has been carpenters for generations.

Xu Gao was originally from a Yangzhou craftsman family, and his family's unique skills are mainly the so-called "big wood work" in carpentry, that is, the design and construction of wooden buildings.

A person like him who has mastered the skills of big woodwork is also doing very well in Yangzhou, a place where rich businessmen gather. The reason why he was called to the capital is also because of his superb skills.

In the 36th year of Jiajing, the three core palaces of Fengtian, Huagai, and Jinshen in the Forbidden City, together with some other auxiliary buildings, were all burned down in a fire caused by a major lightning strike. Naturally, the facade of the imperial court needs to be fully restored, but this national This remarkable project faces many practical difficulties.

In order to rebuild the Three Great Halls as soon as possible, the imperial court and the Ministry of Industry ordered skilled craftsmen from all over the world to gather in the capital to offer suggestions for rebuilding the Three Great Halls of the Imperial City.

It was under such circumstances that Xu Gao came to the capital from Yangzhou.

In fact, the wooden building itself is not difficult to build, but this time the reconstruction of the three halls has to face a very difficult problem, that is, there is insufficient large timber, and it is impossible to restore the grandeur of the past.

As a last resort, Xu Gao took out his housekeeping skills and tried to save large materials for the roof girders, while using smaller wood for the columns and so on, and solved it by using building blocks as columns.

This time, he completed the design and construction of the new three halls in front of skilled craftsmen all over the world, which earned him enough face and the title of "Master Craftsman" in front of the officials of the Ministry of Industry.

In front of the officials of the Ministry of Industry, even the high-ranking Rulei Li, they still call him Master Xu.

He thought that after the completion of the three main halls, he would be able to leave Beijing and return to Yangzhou, but unexpectedly, he was sent to the cabinet by the Ministry of Industry and accepted the task of rebuilding Yongshou Palace as soon as possible in front of Mr. Xu Ge.

Projects like the Three Great Halls can be done, so rebuilding the Yongshou Palace is naturally a no-brainer.

Knowing the scale of Yongshou Palace, he already knew that the reconstruction can be completed with only the remaining wood from the three main halls, even if there is little difference, the Ministry of Industry should be able to easily solve the problem of materials in the capital, and it does not have to be taken from the deep mountains It has become an aniseed material for the year.

Master Xu, the reconstruction of the Yongshou Palace was naturally fast, and it was successfully completed in just over two months.

Officials from the Ministry of Industry have checked it all, but they didn't expect to come today, even the emperor came in person.

After that, Emperor Jiajing called Xu Gao to his side, and while wandering around the Yongshou Palace, he asked Xu Gao how to build the Yongshou Palace. Xu Jie, Lei Li and Huang Jin could only follow Xu Gao.

By this time, they also saw that Xu Gao had entered the eyes of Emperor Jiajing by virtue of this skill.

No way, who told Emperor Jiajing to be so obsessed with the art of Xuanhuang, and even to Taoism, he would order to build Taoist temples and pavilions from time to time, so professionals like Xu Gao were naturally needed.

How many palaces and Taoist temples Emperor Jiajing built during his reign is hard to count, but since the Ming Dynasty moved its capital to Beijing, the projects of Emperor Jiajing are probably less than that of Beijing City built by Emperor Yongle. Looking forward to his neck.

The Dagaoxuan Hall and Daguangming Hall were built in Xiyuan, and the Sun Temple and Moon Temple were built on the basis of the Temple of Heaven and the Temple of Earth built by Emperor Yongle, as well as the outer city wall of Beijing City. These projects passed down to later generations were all built in Jiajing towards.

As for the buildings built outside the capital, such as Yuanyou Palace and Huaying Mountain, there are countless of them, and it was directly early on that the Yan family, the chief assistant of the dynasty, was determined not to let go of the handicraft department easily.

Hearing that Xu Jie always referred to Xu Gao as a "master craftsman", Emperor Jiajing naturally used this title and said with a smile: "The master craftsman is skilled, so stay in the capital and share my worries."

Then, without waiting for Xu Jie, Xu Gao and others to respond, Emperor Jiajing said to Xu Jie: "The draft decree, the Longevity Palace will be completed, and the Duke Zhu Xizhong, Gu Huan's son-in-law, Xie Zhao Bo Fang Chengyu, and the scholar Xu Jie will report to the south. The second shrine of Taimiao in the northern suburbs."

"According to the order."

Emperor Jiajing had made such an arrangement countless times, so Xu Jie would naturally not make irresponsible remarks on this issue, but it was just a matter for the Ministry of Rites to arrange.

Rebuilding the Yongshou Palace is actually nothing, but with the emperor's attitude, Lei Li, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, could not continue to stand behind, so he had to come out to thank him.

"Lei Aiqing is dead."

Emperor Jiajing was in a good mood at the moment, seeing Lei Li and thinking of the three halls he had already seen, he was also very satisfied with this Shangshu.

Then he came up with the idea of ​​grace, this time grace, of course not because of the Yongshou Palace project, there are three halls, it might as well be rewarded.

With this thought in mind, Emperor Jiajing continued to say: "I am serving the ministers and assistant ministers Xu Jiejia as a young teacher and a secretary's salary."

(End of this chapter)