The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 143 Manufacturing

It was still around three or four in the afternoon when Jia Rong returned home.

When they arrived at the door, the servants took the horses to feed them and then told Jia Rong about what had happened that day.

"Master, Jia Yun came to ask if he could get a job."

The Jia family has many members, and now they are building a house, so naturally they have to have some profitable businesses.

As the clan leader, Jia Rong does have to arrange jobs for clan members.

"Let him be responsible for purchasing rice and flour, and ask Xue Ke about it. We will set out in the next two days. While the waterway is still passable, we should buy some ordinary rice from the south for the servants to eat. It should be easy to preserve and can last for a year."

"Yes!"

The servant quickly went to give the order.

When Jia Rong went to the front yard, he found a Taoist nun in a simple Taoist robe cleaning the yard.

She is Wanyu, the Taoist nun from the Zhen family who was rescued before, and the mature and corrupt version of the cold and aloof Taoist nun Miaoyu.

When Wanyu saw Jia Rong coming in, she hurriedly said respectfully, "Master."

Jia Rong came over and said with a smile: "Don't speak loudly when you see me. You have been here for more than a month. Are you used to it?"

Wanyu said politely: "I adapt. Thank you for taking me in."

Jia Rong walked over and lifted Wanyu's chin with his hand, looking at this nervous woman who dared not resist with her head lowered and submissive look.

"You will be my maid from now on. Although you are old, I will still let you serve me. You don't want to live a hard life of freezing, starving, being beaten and scolded anymore, right?"

Wanyu had already been completely convinced, and she forced a smile and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Master!"

Jia Rong withdrew his hand and said, "Wear this dress from now on. You are older than a girl. Since you are a Taoist nun, wear the clothes of a Taoist nun."

Wanyu had no idea what kind of hell scenes she had seen, but now that she had returned to the human world with the help of Jia Rong, she seemed to cherish the good times ahead of her.

"Yes, sir." Wanyu is actually a nun with hair, not a Taoist nun.

But Jia Rong didn't care about these things, and she herself didn't care either.

Wanyu didn't need to explain all this. She was a maid and slave now. Whether it was Buddha or Heavenly Lord, they were not as useful as the master.

Miaoyu thinks that she is a person practicing cultivation, while Wanyu now just thinks that it is better for her to be a human being.

Jia Rong quickly went into the house to change his clothes, and Wanyu continued to sweep the floor.

Ping'er was chatting with four maids in the room. When they saw Jia Rong come in, they stood up and served him.

Ping'er smiled and said, "The master doesn't know when he will leave court. I heard that others always report on time, and the people at home also wait outside the courtyard gate at about the same time."

Jia Rong said: "I don't really want to work in the government office. I just want to be a free person."

Jia Rong feels that he is such a person.

Ping'er smiled, "Master only said that when he was busy. If he really let me stay idle at home, I would think of finding something to do."

Jia Rong felt that what Ping'er said made sense and that he was indeed that kind of person.

After changing into casual and comfortable clothes, Jia Rong went out to check the progress of the construction.

In addition to renovating the garden, Jia Rong plans to remodel Ningguo Mansion.

Living room, study, outer study, meeting room, gatehouse, warehouse, Buddha worship room, ancestral hall, temple, theater, laundry room, kitchen, tea room, toilet and other rooms.

"We also need to build a cellar specifically for storing food." Jia Rong touched the blueprint and instructed the architect on new things.

Qin Ye has not finished get off work yet. Today he found a side job for his son Qin Zhong to make some money. He is responsible for finding someone to mix cement.

Qin Zhong doesn't need to do the work himself. He just needs to take the money to hire people and then pay them.

The Ministry of Industry is the only department among the six departments that does not have high academic requirements, and can also accommodate a lot of helpers.

Qin Ye is not the only one doing the same thing, many other people are also doing it.

This applies to all projects. First, put aside the core business that must not be touched, take out the money-making business that is specifically assigned to subordinates, and then distribute it according to demand.

Qin Ye has been busy here all the time because he is doing things for his son-in-law and also to enable his son-in-law to better support his son.

Qin Ye looked at the building that Jia Rong pointed to.

"It's okay to build a cellar here. How big does it need to be?"

Jia Rong said: "It is equivalent to a small warehouse, which can store rice, flour and some beans for long-term preservation."

Qin Ye felt that it was difficult to handle. "It's not difficult to build this thing. Everyone who should know how to do it will know how to build it. It's just that it's hard to say how to build this kind of thing."

The capital city is as important as any other place. Court officials can save money at home, but they cannot save too much food, let alone weapons.

Jia Rong explained: "It's nothing. I just came back from the palace. The emperor asked me to repair the garden. Just do as I said. It won't be a problem if no one reports it."

Qin Ye had no choice but to nod when he heard Jia Rong say this. Jia Zheng heard Jia Rong playing with fire again and knew that he could not persuade him.

"What's the point of building this kind of warehouse to store food? You can just buy it when you need it. Why store it?"

Jia Zheng didn't want to be reported.

Jia Rong is not afraid of being reported.

"Many times, assassins come out at the end of the year. We can't be sure if there will be any problems this year, but if the city is closed again by then, it would be more reassuring if we have some food at home."

"Just think of it as stocking up on New Year's goods in advance."

Jia Rong had nothing to say, and he was not sure when he would go out and find something to do.

"Just in case, it's better to prepare in advance."

Jia Rong said seriously.

Jia Zheng and Qin Ye also felt that what Jia Rong said made sense.

We have all experienced the situation where the emperor ordered the city to be sealed off to capture the assassin. At that time, food prices and other prices in the city soared, and many people could not afford to eat.

There are so many people in Ningguo Mansion now, we should indeed store some food.

Jia Zheng and Qin Ye both nodded in agreement to the proposal.

Jia Rong suggested, "Build a smooth cement road in my yard, from the front yard to the Tianxiang Tower in the back, so that I can drive my carriage there easily. Otherwise, it would be too troublesome to walk or take a sedan chair."

Jia Zheng asked doubtfully, "This isn't far, is it?"

Not far, just five or six hundred meters.

Jia Rong said, "Get better soon."

While they were talking, Xue Ke came in from outside.

"My Lord, when the caravan returned from the south, they brought back some gifts from the coastal chambers of commerce. They are all parked at the back door."

When Jia Rong heard this, he said, "I'll go over and take a look. You go over first."

"Yes!" Xue Ke went over quickly.

Jia Zheng smiled and said, "You go ahead, we'll just watch from here."

Jia Rong nodded and said, "Thank you for bothering me, Master Zheng, please get ready. Today the Emperor told me that the post of the Governor of the Capital Camp is still vacant and asked me if I had anyone to recommend. I didn't think about it at the time, so I said no."

Jia Zheng and Qin Ye listened attentively, and many people from the Ministry of Works nearby also listened quietly.

Jia Rong continued, "The emperor thought of you and asked me if the son of Duke Rong Jia Daishan would work. I said, sir, you know nothing about that kind of thing and you wouldn't be able to be a good official even if you were given a high position. He also said that you were helping me build a house, so the emperor said that you should start as a doctor in the Ministry of Works."

Qin Ye quickly smiled at Jia Zheng and said, "Congratulations, Mr. Jia!"

Jia Zheng said hurriedly, "I have been idle at home for so long that I have almost forgotten about the Ministry of Works."

Jia Rong said, "Take your time. We are all old acquaintances in the Ministry of Industry. I will go and get busy first. Father-in-law, you two can chat."

Both fathers-in-law nodded with smiles on their faces.

Jia Rong quickly went to the backyard to supervise people moving several carts of gifts in.

The back door is located on the street in the north of Ning Mansion. There is only one back door here. After entering, there are the group rooms built by the servants nearby.

It's like after entering the courtyard, you can see three large courtyards where people live in a row, and there is a wide road in front of the courtyard gates.

This is just a small corner of Ning Mansion.

Rongguo Mansion covers an area of 22,000 square meters, with a construction area of 4,700 square meters, 212 rooms and 102 corridors.

Ningguo Mansion is slightly larger, and now the two places are connected into one, so it will take even more time to walk back and forth.

It’s fun to go out for fun, but it takes up a lot of time to find people or deal with things.

Jia Rong looked at the workers moving boxes and decided to buy some carts for the work.

Current technology cannot make a bicycle, but it should be possible to make a hand-held scooter, so that the maids can walk faster in the yard in the future.

A trolley can make moving things easier, freeing up more time for other tasks.

Hand scooters can help maids save time on their journeys, especially a message-delivering maid like Xiaohong. If they have a very safe hand scooter, their movement speed can be more than doubled.

And it can be used for playing, and both women and children like it.

It's boring to stay in the house all the time, so it's just right to go out and exercise.

Jia Rong took his people to store all the gifts, and then he went to make a hand-held scooter by himself.

For a man who had single-handedly made a pistol and a bomb, making a children's toy was a piece of cake.

(End of this chapter)