Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 894 The Garden Can Really Be Repaired
Rongguo Mansion,
In Rongqing Hall,

After Jia's mother had finished her meal, she returned to the warm room, and asked the maids Sanchun and Daiyu to go back to their rooms first. Only Li Wan, Wang Xifeng, and Madam You stayed there, along with Jia She and Jia Zheng, who also sat in the hall, listening to Jia's mother's mutterings.
"You two also know what happened yesterday. Do you have anything else to say about the construction of the imperial residence? This morning, the master carpenter Song Zhen took people to check it out. When he came back, it was basically done."

Grandmother Jia looked normal, and her fine Shu brocade looked much brighter at the moment. The old lady took off her gold and silver jewelry, sat cross-legged on the kang, and looked at the eldest and second sons' wives out of the corner of her eyes. She was silent, obviously having said everything she needed to say last night.

After a while,
really,

Jia She, who was sitting beside him with a gloomy face, was the first to speak.

"Mother, you have always been in charge of the affairs of the mansion, and I have nothing to say. But today, I have to say something. I have no control over the size of the garden, but I have a say in the money. There are so many properties in the mansion, and I don't have any. How can I give 100,000 taels of silver? I can't even give 50,000 taels."

Jia She had almost no room for maneuver. When he heard these things last night, he was so angry that he couldn't sleep all night. He got angry at Mrs. Xing, but he knew it was useless, so he waited until today's meeting to talk about it. When the second son was the housekeeper, the silver in the treasury couldn't just run away by itself. There was also the remaining borrowed silver, and he even used a farm to pay off the debt. These things didn't last long.

The words were spoken stiffly, and the faces of the people in the room all looked unhappy, especially Jia Zheng, whose face turned red. He wanted to speak but didn't know what to say. He sighed,
Even the eloquent Wang Xifeng lowered her head and did not dare to look up. As for the silver, she went back and looked through her box. Now there was only 5,000 taels of silver left that had not been distributed. It was the silver she had first received from the Chamber of Commerce. She had kept the money and had not yet paid the employees. If she wanted more, there was no place to get it.

Jia's mother's face suddenly became much uglier, and she asked;

"You have not been short of anything you eat, use, or take on a daily basis. You know how much money you have spent carelessly on other people over the years. As the head of the family, you cannot not take a share of such a big thing. Tell me, how much can you take?"

Knowing that Jia She could not come up with 100,000 taels of silver, and that 50,000 taels would be enough, Jia's mother simply did not ask any more questions and asked directly how much silver he could come up with.
Jia She blushed, not knowing whether it was true or not, turned his head and said:

"Not much, five thousand taels of silver is fine."

at this time,

Not to mention Lady Jia, even Wang Xifeng, Li Wan, and Madam You looked over in disbelief. How could someone say five thousand taels of silver? Madam Xing also looked in disbelief. How could the study room, which was full of antiques and paintings, be worth five thousand taels?

Even that vixen Qiu Tong got an item, which cost her three hundred taels of silver when she pawned it in the pawn shop. She knew all this.

For a moment,

The cane that Jia's mother was holding fell heavily on the ground with a bang, which startled everyone.
"Don't cry poor to me. Your house is only worth this much. Do you want to go to your house and check it out? Without further ado, you take out 60,000 taels of silver, and the second son's family takes out 140,000 taels. You two families must collect 200,000 taels of silver. This is the cost of the construction."

The old lady scolded him sternly, and made a deal without giving Jia She and Jia Zheng any chance to bargain. As for why the second house had to fill the gap, Jia's mother didn't say much, but everyone in the room understood.
When the Second Wife heard this, she stopped counting the rosary in her hand, raised her head abruptly, met Lady Jia's intimidating eyes, and finally moved her mouth, then lowered her head, calculating in her mind that the 80,000 taels of silver that she was going to give to the Wang family had not been sent because the Duke's Mansion had to repay the silver owed to the Ministry of Revenue. Then her brother led the army south, which delayed her. In addition, there were deposits left in the shops, so she had 200,000 taels of silver. Well, Yuanchun's matter was more important.

"Since the old lady has said so, daughter-in-law, just listen. Money must be paid, but there will be a lot of expenses later. I wonder if the old lady has calculated the account book for these?"

The second wife agreed, but last night she asked Zhou Ruijia for a rough estimate of how much money would be needed to build a garden. But Zhou Ruijia replied that a small courtyard in the mansion had been built. At that time, she heard that it cost 10,000 taels of silver, not counting the furnishings in the house. A larger one would be even more expensive, and it would cost more than 30,000 or 40,000 taels.

Unexpectedly, Jia's mother looked at Wang Xifeng and asked:

"How much money is left in the Rongguo Mansion's account?"

"To answer the old lady, we originally had 40,000 taels of silver, including the repayment from the East Palace. The banquets in the past few days also cost 10,000 taels of silver, but there were also gifts and congratulatory gifts from the Luo Yun Marquis's Mansion, and each family paid back. The remaining money is added together, plus the congratulatory gifts from various mansions. If we sell some of them, it will not be a problem to collect 100,000 taels now."

Wang Xifeng's face was rosy as she spoke softly, lowering her beautiful eyes slightly. She had anticipated these things long ago, so she had kept an account book of all the gifts and gifts sent by various mansions, and estimated them. In particular, the 10,000 taels of silver sent by Marquis Luo Yun was used to offset the expenses of the banquet.

"Oh? How did you make up for it?"

Grandmother Jia was very surprised. What gift was so valuable?

"Madam, the gifts and gifts from the Marquis are all in cash, a total of 10,000 taels of silver. After I saw it, I used it for the banquet first."

Wang Xifeng beckoned and asked Ping'er to bring over a book of accounts. After opening it, she asked her to show it to the old lady. With the light from the east window, Jia's mother took a quick look and saw that almost everyone from every household had come.
Calculated this way, the 60,000 taels of silver given by the East Palace, plus the 100,000 taels given by Yu'er and Baochai, plus these, total more than 500,000 taels of silver, which should be enough.

"Okay, then use it. In that case, Feng girl, you will still be needed to take care of the construction of the garden. In the East Palace, thanks to Madam You and the daughter-in-law of the Zhu family, the 60,000 taels on the account were paid by me. I will round it up for you and give it to you. Save as much as you can. As for the extra expenses in other places in the palace, stop them first. You can do whatever you want. No one can touch the money in the public account."

Grandmother Jia gave Wang Xifeng some respect. The money in the public account could not be touched, and it did not refer to the first and second masters. Wang Xifeng did not back down now. She would make a lot of money by building the garden.
"Don't worry, old lady. No matter how the money is spent, there are accounts to be traced. There are so many people serving in the Duke's Mansion. From now on, let them be patient. Except for the young lady and the young master, the people in the main family will remain unchanged. The rest of the people will have their monthly wages reduced by half. In this way, the monthly wages saved will be enough for the food and drink expenses of the mansion."

Taking this opportunity, Wang Xifeng dared to speak up. Not to mention that in the past, the Duke's Mansion had only a hundred people serving. Now, there are more than two hundred people, including servants, maids and waiters, not to mention the guards. This month's monthly salary is enough to cover the expenses of the mansion for several months.

Grandmother Jia paused for a moment, then nodded and said;

"You can do whatever you want,"

inside the house,

A gloomy atmosphere surrounded them. There was only the sound of the door curtain fluttering, and a woman outside shouted:
"Madam, Master, Second Master, Master Song is here."

A shout,
To clear away the heavy atmosphere in the room, Wang Xifeng quickly spoke up.

"Please."

There was a sound of footsteps outside the screen, and Song Zhen and other masters from the Marquis's Mansion came in one after another. When they arrived at the house, they bowed deeply to the old lady present.
"Greetings to the old lady, gentlemen."

"Master Song, please get up quickly. Someone, bring a chair over here."

"Thank you, old lady,"

Afterwards, the maid brought a few chairs and placed them there. Song Zhen and the others thanked them and sat down on them.

Grandmother Jia was only thinking about repairing the garden as soon as possible. Before they were seated, she asked,

"Master Song, how did you check the garden this morning?"

But Song Zhen looked very happy, took out the drawing in the book in his hand, and said with a smile;
"Thanks to the old lady's blessing, the map has been roughly drawn up between the two mansions, as well as the Ningguo Mansion's West Garden and the several courtyards to the east of the Rongguo Mansion."

Tearing off a piece of paper, Song Zhen drew a sketch on it, then stood up and handed it to the old lady. Jia's mother hurried over and took a look, but couldn't understand it clearly. However, the general outline was there, and it covered a large area, which was quite grand.

Jia She, who was standing beside him, stretched his head to look, and saw only a few random strokes, and could not make out anything. What he was most concerned about was how much money it would cost, so he asked;

"Master Song, how much money will it cost to build a garden like this?"

Song Zhen smiled and clasped his fists.
"Old lady, Master, to be honest with you, if you want to build a garden like this in the capital, it will cost at least one million taels of silver. One is for the main house, the other is for the wood and stones needed, and the labor costs, which account for the bulk of the cost."

Everyone was shocked when they heard this, especially Jia She, who stood up and said in surprise, "Is it to frame me?"

"How can I lie to you, sir? You can go to the Ministry of Works or the Ministry of Internal Affairs to ask. The price of wood and stone has doubled now, but sir, don't worry, the garden of the Duke's Mansion won't cost that much."

Song Zhen pointed to the school seat on the west and the Huifang Garden seat on the east on the blueprint. Grandmother Jia was moved.
"I wonder what Master Song has to say?"

Song Zhen's face straightened, he bowed in the direction of the Marquis' Mansion, and replied;

"Old Madam, I am grateful to the Marquis for taking care of me and saving my life. The Marquis asked me to come to the Duke's Mansion to draw the map, so I will naturally do my best. The guest house doesn't actually need such a large area. Since the old madam has drawn the scope, I know what the old madam meant, and I can save money."

He pointed to the location of the school and said;

"The most expensive place in the imperial residence is the main hall. I looked at the land of the two mansions. The main hall of the school in the west mansion and the ingenious Huifang Garden in the east mansion are located in front of the water bridge between the two mansions. I will combine the two into one and renovate the main hall in the style of the school. As for the others, by demolishing so many courtyards, we can save on stone and wood. If the mansion can also provide workers to build the wall and save on labor costs, I can control the silver spent on building the garden to about 400,000 taels."

Song Zhen's eyes lit up. These jobs were something that ordinary craftsmen could do. As long as the main hall was completed, the remaining expenses would be minimal.
Grandmother Jia was overjoyed when she heard this, especially Jia Zheng, who was in charge of the Ministry of Works. The reason why he didn't say anything today was because of this garden. No matter how he calculated it, the mansion couldn't afford to build it. He never thought it would be like this.
I remembered what the Marquis said yesterday. This favor is so great.

"Okay, okay, thank you for your trouble, Master Song. Here's the reward."

Yuanyang, who was behind him, also put the hundred-liang silver note that she had prepared long ago on the table. This was something that Grandmother Jia had never given her before.
But Song Zhen refused to accept it.
"Old Madam, the reward money has already been given by the Marquisate, so how can I ask for more? Many things are my job. Now I just need to gather the workers. The more people we have, the faster the progress. We will start the construction of the wall and the hall at the same time, and the deadline is three months."

"What, so fast?"

Jia She asked in a lost voice, not believing it at all.
But Jia's mother's eyes lit up and she asked again,
"Can you guarantee it?"

"Nothing can go wrong,"

Song Zhen clasped his fists and bowed again, agreeing immediately.
"Okay, Feng girl, go and tell the clan to invite all the free people to come to the mansion to work. Each person will be paid three taels of silver per month, with food provided. Anyone who can come can come."

"This is the old lady."

Luoyunhou Mansion,

Zhang Jinyu ate his meal in the house and walked out of the East Garden into the front yard. He actually found the two nuns Shuiyan and Shuiyue, who were leading everyone to meditate and chant scriptures. Miaoyu was sitting in the front, and she was so sincere that she didn't even hear clearly what the scriptures were being read.
After watching for a while, he knew that this ritual could not be stopped for a while, so he moved his steps and walked towards the mansion gate. Just as he left the mansion, a carriage came towards him and stopped in front of the mansion gate.

An old man came down with a few servants, holding the visiting card and stepped onto the threshold, looking a little anxious, and asked;

"May I ask if the Marquis is at home?"

The doorman was about to reply when he saw the Marquis behind him and clasped his fists.
"May I ask who is coming?"

"I am the steward of the Wu family. My master has something to ask of you."

The Wu family's housekeeper, Wu, bowed his head and spoke respectfully. He was obviously from a wealthy family. Zhang Jinyu walked closer and took the visiting card. He was also curious about which Wu family would ask him for help.
I opened it and saw that the name on the visiting card was from the Imperial Academy of Beijing, Wu Shiyuan. Why did this name sound familiar?

Hanlin Academy, Wu Shiyuan and the Wu family, aren't they the maiden family of Concubine Wu? Wu Shiqi, the co-governor of the West City Military Department, seems to be from this Wu family. It was he who got Xue Pan arrested that time.
What do you want to do?
Looking at the somewhat plump old butler in front of him, he asked;

"I wonder what Lord Wu wants to talk to me about?"

"My Lord, I dare not neglect you. My master wants to ask you for help. Can you please lend me the master craftsman from Lord Qin to draw some blueprints? As for repairing the garden, there are some craftsmen in the Ministry of Works who can do it."

Butler Wu also observed Marquis Luo Yun's expression. He was dressed neatly, obviously going out and waiting for the return of the Marquis. He didn't know when the return would be, so he could only make a decision on his own and tell the matter first, fearing that he would get a reply from the master of the main household.

Zhang Jinyu stopped. Someone from the Wu family actually came here to ask for help. Although there were no big craftsmen in the Ministry of Works, there must be many people from Prince Zhongshun. However, he did not refuse deliberately. This matter could be done, but the last time,
"Go back and tell your master that it can be done, it's just a drawing, but I remember that the several master craftsmen from the Ministry of Works who were there to build the mausoleum were only on loan. They should be able to come back now, so let's take a look."

He waved his hand, saying that some things should not be said now. Once the word was passed on, the people of the Wu family would know. Then he waved his hand, got on the carriage, and headed east, leaving behind the butler Wu who was still confused. Seeing the marquis leave, he had no choice but to say goodbye.

At the Wu family's residence,
They had already started to tidy up the courtyard, cleaning it inside and out. Especially Wu Shiqi, who had just returned from Prince Zhongshun's mansion after hearing the news, came in excitedly and shouted;

"Brother, brother, Prince Zhou has relented and said that in a few days, he will have three master craftsmen from the Ministry of Works come back. We can assign one to our mansion. We just need to prepare the things."

He walked quickly and spoke quickly.

We talked all the way, but we didn't see our elder brother Wu Shiyuan in the inner hall. It was not until we walked into the inner cabinet that we saw our elder brother sitting in the main seat drinking tea. The old housekeeper was standing next to him, and he seemed to be talking about something. After seeing this, we slowed down our steps, sat down one by one, and listened to the conversation.

"Master, I don't know whether the Marquis's Mansion has agreed or not. I just told you what I just said, saying that we should take a look at it for now."

"Haha, Marquis Luo Yun is also a wonderful person. It seems that Marquis Luo Yun wants to talk because of what happened before. Well, after all, the misunderstanding must be resolved. As it happens, your mansion has the finest Shu brocade from Shu. I will send a box over. I hope that the Marquis will be flexible and invite someone to come over to draw the picture first."

Wu Shiyuan chuckled and said that they were all minor issues and he still had to give the Marquis some face.

"Yes, sir, I will do it right away."

Steward Wu lowered his head, bowed and retreated, thinking that the master had really invested a lot of money. The Shu brocade from Shu was extremely rare in the capital. Even if there was any, only a few pieces were used as gifts. The rest could only be worn by the people in each household. The rest were all used for expenses in the palace.

In the Wu family, there were quite a few Jinshi who passed the imperial examination in the same year and were employed as officials in Shu. In this way, the master could send back several boxes of Shu brocade from Shu every year.
Since it was not enough for himself, he gave it to Luo Yunhou. It was a box of ten pieces of Shu brocade, which was prepared for the Empress in the palace.
After everyone left,
Wu Shiqi came in without saying a word, but the man sitting next to him also understood. His elder brother was going to ask Marquis Luo Yun to borrow someone, but before that, he asked him to go to Prince Zhongshun's mansion with a visiting card to borrow someone. It's not the right way to ask two people for the same thing.

This is, I had doubts in my heart and asked;

"Brother, there aren't many Shu brocades in the mansion, so why should we give them to Marquis Luo Yun? Besides, as for borrowing people, didn't you ask me to go to Prince Zhongshun's mansion to borrow people? Why should I go and ask for help again?"

What if both sides agree and all the people come? I have never seen it done this way. Is my brother so anxious? The imperial concubine is visiting her parents, and there is no time limit.

As Wu Shiqi's voice rang out, Wu Shiyuan put down his tea bowl, shook his head, and asked;
"Since you are going to the palace, has the master carpenter borrowed the people back?"

"Well, that's not the case. According to the prince, this person needs to wait a few days and rush back from the mausoleum. After returning to the capital, he can come to the mansion to draw the picture."

Wu Shiqi smiled awkwardly. How could he bring the person back when he hadn't returned to the Ministry of Industry? Besides, it was just a picture. Whoever he found would be the same.

"Ahahaha, second brother, you also said that we need to wait for a few days. How long is this few days? Is there a specific number?"

The long and lingering voice, with deep connotations, made Wu Shiqi's face change immediately. What did the eldest brother mean?
(End of this chapter)