White-robed Minister

Chapter 138, Section 0136: [The People Know Who the Good Officials Are]

The city walls haven't been repaired for over ten years; this refers to those county towns.

Yingtianfu City has not been repaired for fifty-one years! During this period, only a few damaged bricks have been replaced sporadically.

Fifty-one years ago, Yingtianfu was upgraded to Nanjing, and the city walls were expanded to meet the standards of a capital city.

The city also boasts "Imperial Roads," 15 meters wide and paved entirely with blue bricks. The city walls' foundations are even more formidable, exceeding 30 meters in thickness!

The county towns under the jurisdiction of Yingtian Prefecture were all just rammed earth walls. The prefectural city, however, was made of rammed earth covered with bricks.

The renovation of the prefectural city was personally overseen by Xu Lai, with the magistrate of Songcheng (the county attached to the city) merely assisting.

Some materials had already arrived on site, and the sheds had begun to be set up, so Gong Dingchen finally thought of inquiring about it.

Xu Lai presented the complete construction plan to Gong Dingchen, explaining, "Yingtian Prefecture City is simply too vast to be completely repaired. However, the southern city wall borders the Bian River, and its foundation has been repeatedly submerged by floods over the decades. Therefore, this repair of the city wall will primarily focus on the southern side facing the river."

"Starting in September of this year, I asked the fortified village officials to lead a team to inspect the walls. Some sections of the wall showed signs of loosening and needed to be repaired using the dry-laying method. One section of the foundation also needed to be reinforced. To prevent future erosion by rainwater and river water, I plan to add a protective wall at the base of the wall."

"After the repairs, it won't need to be repaired again for fifty years."

"This time, we need to recruit 12,000 laborers, who will be rotated in seven batches. For each laborer, the longest term will not exceed 25 days, and the shortest term will be only 10 days. We will try our best to minimize the impact on their normal lives."

"Winter snowfall may extend the construction period, so construction will continue until February next year, before spring planting. It is specifically divided into a preparation period,..."

Repair period, finishing period, and acceptance period.

「总计预算：物料钱3500贯、半雇半征工匠200贯、杂费和预备金1000贯、民夫和工匠口粮3600石。再给民夫、工匠弄些油水肉食300贯。总计足钱5000贯、杂粮米麦3600

stone."

Gong Dingchen exclaimed in surprise, "A total of 12,000 laborers were conscripted, and even the craftsmen had to be paid half their wages. You also had to provide them with rations, and all the materials were purchased by the government. Is that all the money and rations? The south city wall is several miles long!"

At that time, the perimeter of the Guangzhou city wall was even shorter than the side length of the southern city wall of Yingtianfu!

"That's enough," Xu said. "My result is based on the plan devised by the fortified village official, and I've done detailed calculations. There might still be some left over."

Gong Dingchen read through the details of each budget item in detail, occasionally glancing up at Xu Lai, finding it hard to imagine why only such a small amount of money and supplies were being used.

Xu Lai said, "I plan to purchase the required rice, wheat, and other grains from the government treasury."

"No," Gong Dingchen asked, "where did you get so much money?"

Xu Lai said, "In the case of the confiscation of property, more than twenty clerks in various counties had their homes confiscated. They were quite wealthy, and with the officials recovering the stolen goods, it was enough to repair the city walls. I even plan to allocate some of the money from the confiscated property to repair the city walls of those counties."

"That needs to be handed over to the Three Departments!" Gong Dingchen's expression changed immediately.

After Wang Anshi's reforms, if an official's property was confiscated, it would remain directly with the local Ever-Normal Granary, and only a small portion would need to be handed over to the Three Departments.

However, at this time there was no Ever-Normal Granary. Of the officials' property confiscated in the county, a small portion remained in the county government, a small portion was handed over to the treasury, and the majority had to be handed over to the three central government departments.

The confiscated and recovered assets from the various counties of Yingtian Prefecture are currently all stored in the prefectural treasury and will be transported to the capital for submission after the autumn grain harvest is completed.

Xu Lai actually planned to intercept the money that was to be handed over to the three departments!

Xu Lai laughed and said, "It's not like I'm intercepting everything. I'm only taking a small portion from the Three Departments, and the rest will be drawn from the portion left in the prefectures and counties."

"You're incredibly audacious!" Gong Dingchen exclaimed sincerely.

This is nothing compared to what Xu Lai has done; there are many who are far bolder.

Historically, after Gong Dingchen left office, the next prefect of Yingtian was Zhang Gui.

Zhang Gui was truly remarkable. When he served as the transport commissioner, the imperial court was short of funds, and Emperor Renzong of Song ordered local governments to hand over any surplus. Huainan Circuit, a region of significant revenue, saw Zhang Gui hand over only nine qian of gold, arguing that the people were suffering and unwilling to pay more.

Nine coins, less than a tael, disgusted Emperor Renzong of Song. Surprisingly, he was later promoted to Imperial Edict Drafter and Compiler of Daily Records.

Xu Lai said, "Yingtian Prefecture is the birthplace of the Song Dynasty, and the prefectural city was built according to the standards of the capital. It has not been repaired for fifty-one years, and the southern city wall is severely damaged. Shouldn't it be repaired? The Emperor and the prime minister should be able to understand."

It is indeed understandable, and we must understand, that this is to repair the ancestral land of the Zhao family!

If a minor procedural oversight is made and the decision is made without prior consultation, the court will at most issue a few criticisms. As long as the cost is not high, the benefits will certainly outweigh the drawbacks.

Gong Dingchen said irritably, "Just make it into an official document and bring it to me for my signature. I'll have Magistrate Zhuang sign it."

Even within the mansion, Xu Lai's actions were tantamount to acting first and reporting later.

The first batch of laborers had already begun moving materials and building sheds, but the prefect and the sub-prefect had not yet formally signed their approval.

Gong Dingchen and Zhuang Gongyue had always thought that Xu Lai was only doing simple repairs, but they did not expect that even the foundation needed to be reinforced and a protective wall needed to be built at the base of the south city wall.

Now that the die is cast, Gong Dingchen has no choice but to accept it.

Moreover, he had to accept it gladly, because repairing the city wall of Yingtian Prefecture was considered a relatively outstanding political achievement. He was the primary beneficiary, and Zhuang Gongyue was the secondary beneficiary.

"Is this how it's being repaired?" Zhuang Gongyue was also surprised when he saw the document.

Gong Dingchen chuckled and said, "Sign them all."

Zhuang Gongyue was both amused and exasperated, yet he signed and stamped the document with remarkable efficiency. How could he refuse to sign when he was about to receive a share of the political credit?

After signing, Zhuang Gongyue said, "He made such a big fuss, and not only did he provide rations for the laborers, he even left 300..."

They consistently provide oily and meaty meals. Is this amount of money and grain really enough?

"Anyway, he's said enough," Gong Dingchen said.

Zhuang Gongyue found it hard to understand and even developed a curiosity, wanting to learn how Xu Lai operated.

Xu Lai is now very familiar with his job, and he can finish handling a day's administrative affairs in half a morning. When he encounters any questions, he directly hands them over to his subordinates for discussion.

He spends most of his time wandering around the construction site and personally checking each expense.

Xu Lai even personally tasted the food provided to the craftsmen and laborers.

This gave the officials in charge a real headache.

-

After discussing with the officials in charge of the fortified village, he divided the project into several parts. Each part was assigned to a specific person, with rewards for good performance and punishments for poor performance.

"Judge Xu is here again. Stay alert! Anyone who slacks off, I'll kill him!"

Chaos erupted at the construction site.

Officials, craftsmen, and laborers all worked diligently, resulting in extremely high construction efficiency.

Following Xu Lai, the fortress commander Kong Zhen pointed to a construction site and said, "The rammed earth in that section of the city wall is a bit loose. We need to clear away the loose rammed earth first, then set up the formwork (wooden molds) and backfill with new soil—"

"What material is this rammed earth made of?" Xu Lai asked.

Kong Zhen explained in detail: "It mainly consists of loess and quicklime, mixed with a mixture of three parts loess and seven parts quicklime, and also includes gravel..."

Broken bricks and tiles — should be tamped down in layers, each about a foot thick, until they are firmly bonded to the old wall —

Xu Lai was also learning, taking the opportunity to familiarize himself with all the processes and details of building the city.

As they walked and talked, they arrived at another section of the city wall. Kong Zhen continued to explain, "There are cavities inside the wall there. We don't need to tear up the old soil and rebuild it. We can fill them using a grouting method. The grout is made from lime mortar, glutinous rice paste, and other ingredients."

"How's the progress?" Xu Lai asked.

Kong Zhen said, "Based on the timing of the first snow in recent years, we should be able to finish more than 70% of the work before the snowfall. Even if the snowfall comes early this year, we can still finish the main part before spring plowing. The rest can be done at any time, even if we hire people."

Kong Zhen added, "The supervisor personally oversees the work every day, and those who do a good job are rewarded, so the progress is exceptionally fast. The laborers are also very motivated, not only because they are well-fed every day, but also because they work in shifts, and those who do a good job and work quickly can go home early. Unlike the old days when they served as laborers, many people would slack off and do their job if the supervisor wasn't watching."

"Not bad," Xu Lai said with satisfaction.

Kong Zhen smiled and said, "Especially the laborers who were conscripted to carry materials into the site, they put in all their strength. As long as they finish carrying their share, they can go home to reunite with their families in less than half a month."

Xu Lai then wandered around the work sheds in the suburbs. After inspecting only a few, he asked with a dark face, "Why is there no charcoal? The weather is so cold. Won't the laborers get sick from the cold if they don't have charcoal for heating at night? Who is in charge?"

The accompanying official quickly explained, "The charcoal ships haven't arrived yet; they might have been delayed en route."

Yingtian Prefecture City has a very large population, and it is essential to ensure the residents have access to charcoal without causing prices to skyrocket. The charcoal needed for the construction site is supplied directly by merchants via special ships.

Xu Lai said to the clerk following behind him, "Requisition a batch from the charcoal fields outside the city. Tell them the new charcoal will arrive in a day or two, and I will replenish it for them then. Also, tell the charcoal shops inside and outside the city that they are not allowed to use the excuse of shortages to sell to the people at high prices. Anyone who dares to raise prices arbitrarily will be unable to obtain supplies in the future!"

The coal yards outside the city were state-run institutions that purchased coal transported from other places, stored it, and distributed it to local shops.

The shops obtained their goods from the government-run charcoal yards and then resold them to ordinary people. If any shop dared to raise prices, Xu Laizhen had ways to prevent them from getting their goods, leaving them only able to watch other shops make a fortune.

"yes!"

Xu Lai then said to another clerk, "Once the charcoal boats arrive, deduct money according to the number of days they are late. We won't pursue it before that, but starting today, for every day late, we'll deduct 10%!"

"yes!"

Although many coal mines are state-owned, the transportation is handled by private businesses. Xu Lai had allowed ample time when signing the contract, yet he's still late; he has to be penalized for it to be effective.

After wandering around the workers' shed for a while, it was almost time for their meal break.

Xu Lai then went to check the diet.

The multigrain pancake, made with flour, has a layer of oil on its surface.

There was also a meat broth made by boiling soybeans and vegetables together, but you couldn't see much vegetables or meat; there were quite a lot of bones that had been repeatedly stewed in it.

But it must be ensured that everyone gets some soybeans.

Xu Lai took a sip of soup and stirred the soybeans at the bottom of the bucket: "Not enough salt, and not enough beans. Also, why are these multigrain cakes getting smaller and smaller? If they're like this again tomorrow, I'll definitely check if someone's skimping on the quality!"

The officials who accompanied him throughout the inspection were now completely speechless.

How can you not cut back on food rations?

They really don't let the officials get any benefits at all!

But the artisans and laborers had a much different impression of Xu Lai. Even the residents of the prefectural city were no longer the same; very few people called him "Tiger Xu" behind his back.

Because Xu Lai inspected the construction site every day, he tried his best to ensure that the craftsmen and laborers were well-fed, and even ensured that they could burn charcoal for heating at night.

They had never seen an official like this before.

They know very well who the good officials are.

>