Tang Dynasty: The poisonous scholar in the Eastern Palace, please abdicate and let the wise one take

Chapter 314: Accept All Orders and Rebuild Dangerous Buildings

The snow in Chang'an City stopped.

The Jiucheng Palace team also returned from the mountain.

However, these did not attract much attention. Compared to the team returning to the palace, the people were more excited about the appearance of the prince.

Rumor has it that after killing Li Tai and Li You, the prince stayed indoors until summoned by the emperor.

Now, the prince has announced that he will personally take charge of the mid-winter examination.

This is undoubtedly an exciting thing for countless students!
Any normal person would understand that the crown prince would soon inherit the throne, and that being in charge of the mid-winter examination this time was almost like the emperor presiding over it himself!

Once you are on the list, you will be the emperor's disciple.

If you are lucky enough to be noticed by the prince, it would be like rising to the top in one step!

Let me ask you, which scholar who has studied hard for more than ten years would not want to stand out in this mid-winter Ministry of Personnel examination and win the favor of the crown prince?
For a time, the scholars in Chang'an City wanted to read the books twice more even if they were sharpening their swords before the battle!
Prince's residence.

Xue Yuanchao stood straight, like a soldier waiting for inspection.

"Master Su."

"coming?"

Su Chen walked in from outside, saw Xue Yuanchao standing upright, smiled and waved, "Hurry up and sit down."

"Don't dare."

Xue Yuanchao shook his head.

Before, when Xue Yuanchao sat at the same table with Su Chen and the prince, he felt like sitting on pins and needles and was extremely nervous.

Now, Su Chen followed the prince into the palace and moved His Majesty to Da'an Palace. With such a vicious man in front of him, Xue Yuanchao felt that the pressure at this moment was even greater and heavier than the last time!

"Don't be so nervous, relax a little."

Su Chen smiled and waved his hand, "I called you here this time because I want to ask you about some things about the Ministry of Personnel Examination."

Xue Yuanchao: "Please give me your instructions, Master Su."

Su Chen was immediately happy. It was fine last time, but this time it became like this.

"Just a few words of small talk."

Su Chen casually asked, "How are your preparations for the Ministry of Personnel exam going?"

Xue Yuanchao hesitated for a moment, "I can't say I'm completely confident, but there's a 50% chance that I'll make the list, so I'm sure of it."

"Fifty percent sure?"

Su Chen knocked on the table, "Are you being modest?"

Xue Yuanchao smiled and said, "Most of the candidates for this Ministry of Personnel exam are talented people from all over the country, so I am not completely sure that I can beat them."

Su Chen nodded, "It is indeed a mixed bag, with dragons hiding in the sea and fish and shrimp acting as kings."

"As far as I know, Wei Zhao from Xiaoyao Gongfang is a man of some stature. What do you think?"

"The prince is merciful and will only punish the main culprit."

After Xue Yuanchao praised the prince, he said, "I have heard of Wei Zhao's name in Hedong Road. It is said that he is well-educated and has outstanding abilities."

"He studied in Xianyang for a year. His talent is definitely not inferior to mine."

"In fact, in addition to Wei Zhao, other students of the Imperial College, such as Liu Renjing and Yin Zhengren, also have extraordinary talents."

When Liu Renjing was mentioned, an image of a dark-skinned, somewhat honest scholar suddenly appeared in front of Su Chen.

Su Chen still remembers his ambition.

Grow the best crops so that people no longer go hungry.

"Just do your best."

Su Chen smiled and encouraged, "I believe that with your talent, you will definitely be on the list."

"Thank you, sir."

"Okay, go back first and prepare for the civil service exam."

"Yes."

Xue Yuanchao bowed and took his leave.

Sun Qiang whispered, "Sir, why do I feel like Xue Yuanchao doesn't have much confidence?"

Su Chen: "He is a practical man. He won't jump to conclusions without absolute certainty."

"By the way, where is the envoy from the Arab Empire?"

"We have reached the border of Qizhou. If we hurry, we should be able to reach Chang'an City in the next two days."

Qizhou.

Su Chen smiled. It would be interesting if these envoys from the Arab Empire knew that the people who defeated them were the prince's personal soldiers.

"Come on, follow me out for a walk."

Since then.

Su Chen was just like the prince and never went out.

of course.

He was not feeling guilty about the deaths of Li Tai and Li You like the crown prince, but because there were too many people coming to visit him.

Li Chengqian took over the Prince of Wei's Palace and captured the Prince of Wei alive. He then led his troops to the Prince of Qi's Palace and captured the Prince of Qi. The two sides gathered outside the Xuanwu Gate.

It was his signal that attracted the "heavenly soldiers and generals".

It was he who handed the knife to Li Chengqian, who killed Li Tai and Li You, and it was he who first spoke up and asked His Majesty to move to Da'an Palace.

All this is enough to prove that the relationship between Su Chen and the prince is far closer than what is rumored by the outside world!
It was a foregone conclusion that the crown prince would be the future emperor, but the crown prince had shut himself up in the East Palace, never leaving the main gate or the secondary gate. So even if they wanted to request a meeting with him, there was no way for them to do so.

But Su Chen is different!

He lives in Taiziju near the West Market and is a businessman!
In comparison, the possibility of visiting Su Chen is much greater than visiting the prince.

From court officials to West Market merchants, everyone was eager to fill up Su Chen's Prince's Residence with gifts to show their enthusiasm.

Even Sun Qiang and Jin Yong, who were in charge of reception, had their mouths grinning wider than their belts.

Although Su Chen did not show up to meet them, he accepted all the gifts, big and small, sent by these people!

Especially as Su Chen's status improved, the status of Sun Qiang and Jin Yong also rose accordingly.

They were already overwhelmed with red envelopes of all sizes.

Su Wang made a rough calculation and found that during the few days that Su Chen stayed indoors, he had received various treasures worth nearly 100,000 taels of silver. Together with those who gave him gold and silver directly, the total was almost 300,000 taels of silver.

It’s enough for Li Chengqian to fight another battle in Songzhou.

As for banquets, outings, poetry gatherings...

None of my business?

silver?

Gift?

Did I ask you to deliver it?

Did I, Su, take it? Brick factory.

When Lu Yuanzheng learned that Su Chen was coming, he immediately put down what he was doing and walked out quickly to greet him.

"Master Su!"

"Master Lu."

"Don't dare."

Lu Yuanzheng waved his hands repeatedly, "In front of Master Su, there is no such thing as being a gentleman or not."

Su Chen smiled and asked, "How is the brick production in the past two days?"

Lu Yuanzheng said in a deep voice: "Because we need to rebuild Xuanwu Gate, we have increased production. Now that the work on Xuanwu Gate has been completed, we still have nearly a thousand cubic meters of red bricks, which we are going to send to West Hutong."

The reconstruction of Xuanwu Gate was arranged by Gao Shilian, and the Ministry of Works took immediate action on the matter.

With the cooperation of a large number of craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry and the rapid solidification of lime, the destroyed area was renovated in just a few days.

The houses in West Hutong have been demolished, and hundreds of residents have moved to temporary housing prepared by the Ministry of Industry. The next step is to rebuild West Hutong.

Su Chen nodded. "The reconstruction of the dilapidated buildings was decided when the Crown Prince was regent. Now that His Majesty has retired to Da'an Palace and the Crown Prince is in charge, there must be no carelessness."

Lu Yuanzheng said with a smile: "Don't worry, Master Su. This is a matter concerning the Crown Prince's reputation. How dare we be careless?"

Rebuilding dilapidated buildings is an achievement of the prince before he ascended the throne, and judging by the current trend, it is very likely to be fully promoted.

If any negligence occurs, the prince will be held accountable.

Not to mention that he, Lu Yuanzheng, was just the head of a small brick factory, even the Minister of Works could not face this matter.

Seeing that Lu Yuanzheng knew what was going on, Su Chen smiled. Accompanied by Lu Yuanzheng, he walked around the brick factory, chatted for a while, and then left with Sun Qiang and the others.

On the way to the Ministry of Works, a horse quickly passed by Su Chen and the other two and headed towards the direction of the imperial palace.

"Postman?"

"What happened?"

Su Chen looked at him with a doubtful look on his face.

Could it be that what the prince did has caused a local rebellion?
But no message was received.

Sun Qiang only took a glance and recognized the other party's origin at a glance, "It seems to be a postman from Liangzhou."

Jin Yong asked in surprise: "Just from the back, you can recognize that this person is from Liangzhou?"

Facing Jin Yong's doubts, Sun Qiang straightened his back and said with a bit of pride, "Don't forget, I survived the battle of Liangzhou!"

"..."

Jin Yong slapped his forehead and said, "I actually forgot about this."

"But why did the postman from Liangzhou come to Chang'an City? Did something happen in Liangzhou?"

"Never mind, let's go to the Ministry of Industry."

Ministry of Industry.

Duan Lun felt both happy and sad.

The good news is that after the Xuanwu Gate Incident, the Ministry of Works demonstrated strong working ability and completed the restoration of the Xuanwu Gate in a very short time.

For this point, who among the civil and military officials in the court did not admire and give a thumbs up?
But the sad thing is that they are too efficient!

Prime Minister Fang said lightly, "The Ministry of Works is so efficient, so the reconstruction of the dilapidated houses in West Hutong should be completed before the prince ascends the throne, right?"

Then, Duan Lun exploded.

In West Hutong, there were hundreds of residential houses, including the Xuanwu Gate, which had a corner destroyed by the bomb.

How can the reconstruction work be compared with Xuanwu Gate?

"Master Duan, you first assigned a construction team, then got the lime formula from Master Su, and fired red bricks. The construction speed is obvious to the naked eye. It's just a few hundred houses, it won't be difficult for you!"

Listen.

Is Dai Zhou speaking human language?
Duan Lun was so angry that he almost punched Dai Zhou in the face.

We in the five departments are all so busy that we have no time to spare, but you, on the other hand, are in charge of such a huge Ministry of Revenue, and you don't have to do anything at all. How dare you add to my difficulties?
Finally, after being persuaded by Fang Xiang and others, Duan Lun had to bite the bullet and say that he would do his best, but he could not guarantee that the matter could be resolved smoothly before the prince ascended the throne.

"Sir, Master Su wants to see you."

"Su Chen?"

"Please!"

Duan Lun was delighted and quickly stood up, "No, I will go to meet him myself."

Duan Lun walked out quickly and greeted with a smile: "Mr. Su, why didn't you tell me when you came?"

"Please trouble Lord Duan to come and greet you personally."

Su Chen bowed and said, "I just wanted to move after being quiet for a long time, so I looked around and didn't expect to come to your Ministry of Industry."

"It's more than just walking around, right?"

Duan Lun laughed and pulled Su Chen into the main hall. The two sat down. Duan Lun poured a cup of tea and handed it to him, "If you have something to say, just say it."

"Yesterday the prince told me about the transfer of muskets and gunpowder."

Su Chen pondered and said, "I thought that Du He's business could be transferred over, but the prince said that he would invite all the blacksmiths in Du He's blacksmith shop to work in the Ministry of Industry..."

Duan Lun nodded, "The prince told me this morning that Duke Du has already arranged for all the masters to work in the Ministry of Works."

"But Mr. Su, the drawings they have are not perfect."

"It's natural."

Su Chen smiled and nodded, took out the prepared drawings and handed them over.

It not only contains detailed production and assembly drawings of muskets, but also the formula of gunpowder and various precautions.

Duan Lun only took a glance and understood how serious it was.

Although Du He had the drawings in his hands, they were not complete. To be precise, without someone who was proficient in this field, even if all the components were made, it would ultimately be just a pile of scrap metal.

But if it falls into the hands of someone who is proficient in this art, it will become a deadly weapon!
"Mr. Su, please come here in person. Please wait for a moment."

After checking it, Duan Lun apologized and walked into the inner room with the drawings, probably to keep them.

After all, the importance of this thing is self-evident.

"Mr. Su, you came at the right time today. Minister Fang and others have given me a big problem."

After Duan Lun put away the blueprint, he returned to his seat, looked at Su Chen and sighed, "I don't want to trouble you, but it's really difficult to complete the construction of the hundreds of houses in West Hutong before the crown prince ascends the throne."

"so……"

“So, you need this.”

Su Chen smiled and took out another drawing and placed it in front of Duan Lun.

"This is?"

"Commercial housing."

(End of this chapter)