After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 1078 Modification of Design
Jin Jiashu's design drawing of the villa was quite detailed.

Judging from the picture, the land he bought from Wu Ke was not very regular, but it had the advantage of flat terrain, not far from the main road, and running water nearby. It was a location with convenient transportation and a quiet location in a bustling city.

One corner of the plot is next to the back garden of the Wu family, which happens to be the location of the former lotus pond of the Wu family. Although the pond is now almost dry, the old waterway is still there, and the quality of the project is very good. It only needs a little cleaning and repair before it can be used again. Even if the Wu family does not plan to rebuild the back garden for a while, Jin Jiashu can repair the waterway on his own land by himself, so that they can form an independent small cycle and add a landscape with clean running water to his private garden.

Haitang is quite satisfied with this. Although there is a pond in the back garden, it may attract mosquitoes, but in the hot summer, the running water can lower the outdoor temperature and make life at home a little cooler.

Since the plot of land was irregular in shape, when Jin Jiashu asked someone to help design it, he obviously did not follow the common quadrangle courtyard layout. Except for the front yard near the gate, which was a regular three-way two-entry quadrangle courtyard, the other courtyards were almost all designed according to the terrain, scattered everywhere, connected by corridors and arch bridges, and dotted with many pavilions, towers, flowers, trees, lakes and rocks. Based on Haitang's experience, if the villa can be built according to the drawings, it will definitely be an exquisite residence with beautiful scenery.

Haitang imagined the scene and was looking forward to the day when she could move in.

However, just because the blueprint is well designed doesn't mean there are no other problems. Haitang thought she had seen a lot of the world. In her previous life, she had seen several gardens in the inner courtyard of the imperial palace, as well as the back gardens of many princes' and dukes' mansions. In her previous life, she had visited many famous gardens and scenic spots, so she had some experience in garden design. Although the blueprint sent by Jin Jiashu looked good, some parts were a bit dull and boring. There were also several pavilions, towers, rockery and lake stones, and the cost was probably a bit inflated. In fact, if you want to achieve a similar effect, there are more cost-effective options.

Haitang studied it herself and drew two or three drafts according to her own ideas, which were the modification plans she thought could be considered. Afterwards, she showed the drawings to Lu Bainian and asked him to help him to discuss which plan was better.

Lu Bainian was in charge of the design of the school he opened with Xie Wenzai and Cao Gengyun. He had visited many gardens of gentry families in Chang'an over the years and had some experience in garden architecture design. He was also very good at controlling budgets. He quickly found a few flaws in Jin Jiashu's design draft and chose one of the revisions Haitang had proposed. He appreciated it very much: "This is a good approach. You don't have to spend a lot of money to buy some rare lake stones, but you can still create the effect of winding paths. You just need to be more careful and work harder. How much money can you save?!"

There was no need for the verandas and water pavilions to be decorated with gorgeous carvings and paintings. People who built gardens in the capital were used to being rich and noble, but Jin Jiashu was not a wealthy man, and he did not want to build a permanent residence, but a separate courtyard for studying behind closed doors. As a residence for scholars, a separate courtyard should retain a fresh and simple atmosphere, which would be more beneficial than harmful to the reputation and future of the owner.

The only thing that made Lu Bainian hesitate was that Haitang hoped to replace the windows of several main residences in the villa with glass windows, rather than following the traditional way of pasting white paper window screens on the lattice windows. Although there are glass workshops nowadays, the output of glass in the capital is still very limited. To install such a large number of glass windows in the villa, the cost would not be much lower. But Haitang believes that this expense cannot be saved: "Glass windows are brighter than paper windows, and they can block wind and keep warm in winter. Brother Jin goes to the villa to facilitate his studies, so naturally he should sit in a brightly lit room to read and write. If Grandpa Lu thinks that glass is too expensive and the cost is too high, then only install glass windows in the upper room and study of the main courtyard, and use old-style windows in other places for now. It will not be too late to replace them with glass when needed in the future."

Lu Bainian had actually experienced the benefits of glass windows, so he stopped objecting. He smiled and said, "There is a glass workshop in Chang'an. If we can find someone to deliver Chang'an's glass to the capital safely, Jiashu's expenses for glass windows in the villa can be reduced a lot. But where can we find a suitable caravan now? Even if there is a caravan willing to transport it, and the loss on the way is not too big, the price of the glass will not be much cheaper. The caravan also needs to make money!"

Haitang blinked, thinking of Jiyuan, which had just found a backer and might be planning to expand its business...

Didn't Jiyuan give Wu Ke a dividend? Wu Ke had lived in Chang'an for a few years and was a relative of the Zhou family, so he would be willing to help, right? Although it was not easy to transport glassware over long distances, if it was transported together with cotton, cotton cloth and other Northwest specialties, and good protection was done, it was possible to reduce the damage to the glass caused by road bumps...

Haitang kept this matter in mind and discussed the revised design of the villa with Lu Bainian. She planned to show the drawings to Jin Jiashu when he came to visit the next day or the day after tomorrow and ask for his opinion.

After discussing the design of the other courtyard, Lu Bainian took out the design of the school. He felt that Haitang had studied calligraphy and painting with him for several years and had copied many ancient paintings. She seemed to have a good understanding of garden design, so he wanted her to help study the design of the school to see if there was room for improvement.

When he was designing the blueprint, he thought that he, Xie Wenzai and Lu Bainian had limited savings. Even if Hai Xiya was willing to provide financial support, they did not want to spend too much and bring a heavy burden to the Hai family. Therefore, they tried to save money and effort as much as possible when designing the school. They planned to build a medium-sized school first, leaving room, and then consider adding houses when there were more students in the future. But later, when the news of the three of them opening a school spread, many old friends of Wumen who had been exiled to the northwest together generously donated money to help them build this school.

After returning to Beijing for several years, everyone paid close attention to the academic performance of their children and grandchildren, hoping that there would be a few more good seedlings among the descendants, so that they could pass the imperial examinations and become officials, and make up for the regrets of their elders who failed in their official careers and delayed their careers for many years. However, they were busy with official duties and had no time to teach their children and grandchildren in person. They could only invite teachers to their homes to guide their children's homework, or send them to other people's private schools. Those who could enter the Tao family's private school were already very lucky, and most people could only accept the teaching of teachers with varying levels of quality. Everyone was very worried, not knowing when their children and grandchildren would be able to receive a better education.

Now Xie, Cao, and Lu are going to open a school, which just solves their worries. These three are well-known for their teaching skills, and the students they teach are not ordinary people. In the past, they lived in the northwest and had to assist the border troops in military affairs. They could not teach wholeheartedly, but they could still teach a few scholars in a few years. Now that they have returned to Beijing to settle down, are they still worried that they can't teach students more attentively? !
These three are all our own people. They share the same political views and positions as the old students of Wumen. Their personalities and temperaments are all very reliable. If our children and grandchildren study under them, would they still be afraid that they will be led astray by their teachers and fail to understand the political views of their fathers and elders?
Therefore, everyone was very enthusiastic about supporting the school of Xie, Cao, and Lu, and they took the initiative to express their willingness to donate their home collections of books, and even the writing brushes, inkstones, and furniture and supplies for the school. This made Xie, Cao, and Lu feel much more relaxed, and the budget in their hands became more ample. Lu Bainian was thinking about modifying the design and building a few more schoolhouses!