Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 596 Planning
The imperial edict of commendation was delivered quickly. As before, the court still only appointed Zhao Zhen as the official. Guan Sheng, Luan Tingyu and others were still only regarded as Zhao Zhen's private aides, and no word was mentioned about them.

It's not that no one has proposed this to Cai Jing and Gao Qiu, but after discussing it, it was left unresolved. First, they were afraid of angering Zhao Zhen, and second, Liangshan had people like Wang Jin and Lin Chong who hated the Taiwei deeply, and most of them were bandits, hunters, fishermen, butchers, and executioners, who valued loyalty the most. Even after being rewarded, it was not certain that they could be won over.

Of course, just as Zhao Zhen thought, in addition to a pair of elephants, an imperial edict, twelve ruyi swords, and only one title of Liangshan's founding marquis, they were all honors and rewards.

To Zhao Zhen, the title was nothing but an empty honor. No matter what official he was, the imperial court would just collect taxes for them.

Of course, it is not entirely without benefits. At the very least, the standards of ceremonial guards and mansions can be greatly improved.

There are two pieces of [white jade carved with the word "happiness" ruyi], two pieces of [gold filigree inlaid jade ruyi], and eight pieces of [silver-plated gilded ruyi inlaid with three kinds of precious stones]. Each piece is exquisite and you can tell at first glance that it was made by the palace's [Houyuan Workshop].

It's ridiculous to say that the court is full of empty words. In the past, there were [loyalty and trustworthiness] and [loyalty and bravery], and in the later period, there were [loyalty and courtesy] and [loyalty and respect], and now these two are called [assisting the country] and [pacifying the people].

When they came to Zhao Zhen, they naturally refused to call him by that name, and instead called him Dun Dun, Du Du, Zhuang Zhuang, Pang Pang, Tuan Tuan, and Yuan Yuan. Now there were six elephants in the elephant shed, and it was quite lively.

I don’t know what the imperial court was thinking. The elephant and the ruyi were not out of the ordinary, but this imperial edict was out of the ordinary.

The blank edict had the beginning, date and seal, but the name was left blank.

The angel said that all he had to do was fill in the name and he could take Zhao Zhen as a concubine and make her a Ruren.

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen didn't know how to start.

Just a few days after the imperial court took in the beautiful lady Fan, it was preparing to take in a new concubine...

Speaking of Fan Qi, I have to praise her.
Her eyebrows are like emerald feathers, her skin is like goat fat, her face is like peach petals, and she is covered with golden phoenix silk.

A glance and a smile make her look charming, her figure is as delicate and pretty as a young woman.

The breeze gently blows her jade sleeves, and her Xiang skirt is dragged diagonally, revealing her golden lotus.

The autumn eyes are bright and charming, and the spring body is slender and charming.

She has a beauty that can topple a country, and that's not nonsense, no wonder everyone calls her Lady Fan.

Among all Zhao Zhen's wives and concubines, Fan Qi was the most beautiful.

Zhao Zhen had never seen Fan Qi before. After Fan Qi came out of the Jiaofangsi, she and 58 other maids were staying in the north city. These maids were not bad looking. Except for the four maids, Ruizhu, Baozhu, Suyun and Biyue, who had been serving Fan Qi, the rest were moved into the inner house and supervised by Cheng Wan'er.

These few days, after Zhao Zhen came back from Xingren Prefecture, he spent some time staying at Lady Fan's Furong Pavilion.

On this day, Zhao Zhen was handling official business. Liu Huiniang held up an official document and said, "Sir, Xingren Prefecture Tongpan Gai Tianxi wrote a letter to settle the Dai Chun case. The victim was Yao Lianfeng. Since he had no family, all his family property was confiscated by the government. The shop has now been rented out, and all the items in the shop have been delivered."

Zhao Zhen heard this and asked, "What does this man do? Why does he need to deliver the things in his shop?"

"He is also a master of painting. Perhaps Magistrate Gai saw that he was a good painter and sent it to us." Liu Hui Niang said.

"Guihua, ask someone to bring this over." Zhao Zhen ordered.

Guihua responded, and soon someone brought two boxes.

Rose and Buddha's Hand saw it and went forward to open the box. Rose said, "Sir, they are all paintings."

As he said that, he opened an axis.

With a "ah" sound, Rose dropped the painting in her hand.

Zhao Zhen was startled and asked, "Why is it that this painting bites your hand? Why is it so irritating?"

Rose blushed and said, "Sir, this guy is not a good person. He only draws things that are immoral."

Zhao Zhen heard this and stood up to look. He unfolded three paintings in a row and saw the same thing. Zhao Zhen laughed and said, "They are just some erotic paintings. What's the big deal? This guy's painting skills are pretty good."

While watching, he didn't forget to tease.

After hearing this, Liu Hui Niang spat and said, "Put it all away. It's not decent to look at this in the hall. If the master wants to see it, just send it to the back house. Concubine Fan can use it."

Zhao Zhen heard this and said awkwardly, "Hey, Fan Qi has no relatives, so it's inevitable that I've been to her place a few times in the past few days. Let's go to my wife's Xuexiang Tower today."

After hearing this, Liu Huiniang blushed and asked, "What's rare?"

Zhao Zhen coughed and said to Rose, "After all, it took a lot of effort, and the painting is really good. It would be fun to send some to all parties."

Liu Hui Niang smiled and said, "It seems that the master has seen a lot of erotic pictures, and he knows the good and the bad."

Zhao Zhen did not reply, but turned over the two boxes. In addition to many erotic paintings, there was also a set of carved plates made of pear wood, including the cover, a total of 25 plates. Zhao Zhen took a quick look at the cover plate and saw four large characters engraved on it: "Flower Camp Brocade Array".

Zhao Zhen smiled and said, "It seems that this painter Yao is quite good at business."

Zhao Zhen had also secretly read this book in the main world, and he and Lu Sanlang and others had also read it. This was the first time he had seen it since getting married. Although it was not as good as these hand-painted scrolls, it had great prospects.

Zhao Zhen held a carved block in one hand and said, "Send this carved block to Jin Dajian and ask him to have someone print some and sell them."

After hearing this, Liu Huiniang advised, "Sir, how can you trade this filthy stuff openly? It's corrupting the morals, so it's better to destroy it as soon as possible."

Zhao Zhen listened and said thoughtfully: "My lady is right."

Without waiting for Liu Huiniang to be happy, Zhao Zhen continued, "Rosewood, tell Jin Dajian that this book is indeed not easy to be printed by the official workshop. Ask him to open another workshop to print this. Well, you can also recruit some painters."

After saying this, Zhao Zhen looked at the stunned people and said, "Forget it, it's not right for you to tell him. I'll tell him myself."

Having said that, Zhao Zhen took action and put the carved plate somewhere else.

Others did not know, but Zhao Zhen knew that this erotic painting was not originally sold to poor people. Anyone who had the leisure to buy this would not be short of a few taels of silver.

Most painters paint to make a living. There are quite a few who paint erotic paintings. Although this engraving is not as good as the others, it is cheaper and some people like it for its novelty.

That night, Zhao Zhen naturally stayed at Liu Hui Niang's place. The two of them also played around with the paintings on display. They only saw from a distance that the scroll on display was inscribed with the words "Danxue Fengyou".

On the second day, Zhao Zhen left Liu Huiniang's place in a refreshed mood. After having breakfast together, Zhao Zhen said, "Sanniang, you guys go and practice the female cavalry. Today I have called Pei Xuan, Jiang Jing and others to go and place the [Heart Stone]." Cheng Wan'er heard this and said, "Sir, since you are going to place the [Heart Stone], we can go and see it together. The last time I saw a world appear out of thin air, I still can't forget it."

When everyone heard this, they all applauded.

Zhao Zhen heard this and said, "Okay."

All the wives and concubines went back to their rooms to prepare. Zhao Zhen also called Zhao Yuanli to give him some instructions. The carriages and guards were ready. All the wives and concubines, either riding horses or sitting in carriages, left Bai Shi Manor together under the escort of a group of female riders and personal guards.

Golden gourds, silver clubs, banners, flags, pennants, banners, peacock cloaks, goose feather cloaks, chicken feather cloaks, peacock fans, small round fans, square fans, yellow flags, crimson flags, and black tortoise banners were all displayed, which was indeed extraordinary.

When they arrived, Pei Xuan had already set up the altar. Zhao Zhen saw it and burned a piece of paper to offer sacrifice to heaven and earth. Then he used his luck to enlighten the [Heart Stone] in his hand and threw it out. The Heart Stone fell to the ground, and a piece of yellow land appeared in front of everyone.

[Heart Stone] Zhao Zhen has used it many times, and every time he uses it, he still feels shocked.

Traveling between the fantasy world and the foggy world is not as good as moving a place here out of thin air like the Creator.

Looking at the yellow land, Pei Xuan came back to his senses from the shock and said, "Sir, there are quite a lot of land here. You can hardly see the dead trees and mountains. But there is not much vegetation. It's just yellow soil."

Zhao Zhen saw a piece of yellow land suddenly appearing between the green grass, blue sky and blue lake, and said: "This place is close to the lake, with abundant water vapor, and grass and trees will grow this year."

After saying that, he raised another [Boundary Heart Stone] in his hand and said: "These two [Boundary Heart Stones] were obtained by Dai Zong brothers from Tian Hu. I'm afraid this one is also from the same yellow earth world."

Looking at the new land with flying sand, Zhao Zhen couldn't help but hesitate.

Pei Xuan looked up and looked around. He saw that besides himself and Jiang Jing, there were Zhao Zhen's wives and concubines. He said to Zhao Zhen, "My husband, this is a good idea. The Baishi Manor where you live is elegant but not grand enough. If this bare yellow land is used, it would be just right to build a palace, with offices in the front and a lake in the north. It would be great to build a palace and connect the Baishi Manor to the east. Besides, this piece of yellow land can be used to make bricks and tiles."

Zhao Zhen listened and asked in confusion: "Build a palace?"

Seeing Pei Xuan nod affirmatively, Zhao Zhen said to Pei Xuan: "Building a palace will cost a lot. Just firing bricks and tiles and collecting wood and stones will take a lot of time and effort."

Jiang Jing said, "Sir, how could you forget that there is no shortage of wood? The wooden beams and pillars that were obtained from other places are all stored in the warehouse. There are also some bricks and stones left. Although it takes some effort to mine the stones, we can do it at the same time. We also have ready-made workers for large and small carpentry, carving, and painting. It's just that we need to expand the [Repair and Construction Army]."

Pei Xuan continued, "Besides, it will take quite some time to build it to a certain scale. By then, my husband will be free from restrictions. This palace can be put to use."

Zhao Zhen listened and nodded. He said to everyone: "You should also remember that there is no need to be too hasty in building this place. In addition to the [Repair Army], do not recruit too many men and strong men to waste the people's strength. If this is the case, I would rather not build this palace."

Pei Xuan said: "Don't worry, sir. We will take care of it. Besides, this palace will be built sooner or later. Now we are just preparing for it."

At that moment, Zhao Zhen did not hesitate any longer and threw down another [Boundary Heart Stone].

Another large area of ​​yellow land was formed. Originally, the yellow land was only level with the military camp in front of Baishi Valley, but it protruded a lot to the south. In this way, after the palace was built, Baishi Manor looked more like a back garden.

Cheng Wan'er and the others who were nearby heard this, and no one knew what they were thinking, their beautiful eyes were all rippling.

After putting down the [Boundary Heart Stone], Zhao Zhen and his party returned home.

Pei Xuan and Jiang Jing led their men to start the preliminary preparations. They expanded the [Repair and Construction Army], built earthen kilns to burn bricks and tiles, ordered the quarry to dig suitable stones, and the caravans also went out to buy various suitable materials.

Of course, the cover for the project was to build a mansion, government office, temple, and school. Such a large-scale project would naturally not be kept secret from everyone. The palace walls were built first, followed by small houses. The most important hall would take more than a year to complete, which was enough to cover up the project for a while. By then, the roof shape, color, ridge beasts, etc. would no longer need to be concealed.

In addition, the first step is not what I have said, but to dig a moat around the loess, first enclose this area, and then mobilize a group of soldiers to garrison.

As a result, outsiders who want to explore the construction site will encounter many more difficulties.

But after Zhao Zhen returned to Baishi Manor, he dismounted and went to the meeting hall. Just as he was about to sit down, he saw Cheng Wan'er and the others walking in.

When Zhao Zhen saw it, he asked, "Madam, what is this?"

Cheng Wan'er and Tong Jiaoxiu, who were in the lead, looked at each other, and it was Tong Jiaoxiu who spoke first: "Master, do you want to build a palace?"

Zhao Zhen nodded and shook his head, saying: "Although Wu Yong, Pei Xuan and others have long advised me that Baishi Manor is not suitable for my current status. But I never thought that I would be able to build this Baishi Manor in the northernmost place. Although a piece of [Boundary Heart Stone] was used in the south, the essence has not changed. It is just a place for the soldiers to stay. Living on the mountain is cramped after all."

"You have seen the two new boundary stones that were laid down today. They are all loess and sand. Apart from building houses, it will take a lot of effort to do anything else. The newly-appointed marquis will simply be built into a new mansion. When the mansion is completed, the White Stone Manor will be the best place to enjoy the garden."

Tong Jiaoxiu said: "But we sisters clearly heard that we were talking about building a palace?"

"We are a small and powerful country, so what if we exceed the rules a little? Besides, we don't have any construction masters here, we are just peasants, relying entirely on the guidance of the "Construction Methods", so what if we make mistakes?" Zhao Zhen replied.

Tong Jiaoxiu continued, "There are officials and their wives and concubines in the room, why do you need to hide it from us?"

Seeing that everyone was looking at him eagerly, Zhao Zhen could only say, "This matter has not been finalized yet. Hui Niang is always by my side assisting me with official duties, but I have never told her about it."

"That's all for today. It's okay to tell you to wait, but don't speak carelessly."

Seeing everyone nodding, Zhao Zhen continued, "I now have many soldiers and generals under my command. Apart from me, the court has not appointed anyone else to any official position. This also tacitly acknowledges that my place is a restricted place."

"So, the scholars and others asked me to plan to make myself a king and set up my own government, so that I can have a name and stabilize the soldiers under me."

Everyone heard this and remained silent.

Only Liu Huiniang shouted, "I understand. Your Excellency is doing this for the sake of your descendants. After you are crowned as queen, all the lands under your rule will be yours, and they can be passed down to your descendants."

Seeing Zhao Zhen nod, Tong Jiaoxiu, who had been asking questions, said coquettishly, "Master, you should have said it earlier. Other servants can't help, but I can ask my father for some good wood and stone."

The others were also happy after hearing this.

After Cheng Wan'er and others left, Zhao Zhen continued to handle official business sent from various places, but he never held out any hope of being crowned king.

Not only was there not enough time to plan, but the court had to be so foolish to do such a ridiculous thing.

Apart from a few kings of different surnames at the beginning of the country, there have been no kings of different surnames in the past hundred years. I only heard that Emperor Shenzong left a will before his death: "Anyone who can recover Yanshan can be crowned king even if he has a different surname."

Zhao Zhen would have to be crazy to stay away from Jingdong Road to conquer Yanyun. Zhao Zhen was not sure about other things, but he could guarantee this matter. If Zhao Zhen really launched an expedition to the north, he could take Jingdong Road back as soon as he entered Yanyun.

(End of this chapter)