Half a year later, Jia Min, the principal of Ningfu Girls' School, received Xue Baochai, who was responsible for supervising the construction of Rongfu Provincial Courtyard, and his party in the girls' school office.
Xue Baochai and his party submitted a summary report on the completion of the supervision task to the mountain chief Jia Min, and received Jia Min's affirmation and appreciation.
At this time, almost seven months had passed since Xue Baochai and a group of female students accepted the task of supervising the construction of the Rongfu Provincial Family House.
That's right, after seven months of non-stop construction, the Rongfu Provincial Villa has been completed, and the subsequent interior decoration is not their business.
Even if the speed is fast, it is not fast, and if it is slow, it is not slow.
In the story of Red Mansions, the Jia family in Beijing mobilized their entire clan and spent more than one million taels of silver to build the Grand View Garden in one year.
In the construction project overseen by Xue Baochai, only the craftsmen of the Xue family were busy.
"this is necessary!"
Xue Baochai pursed her lips and smiled softly, and said with high spirits: "Since the government trusts the students, I will naturally not let you down!"
"Have a good rest, there will be more important tasks later!"
Jia Min smiled and said: "I hope you can perform well as always!"
Is there a more important task?
Xue Baochai's eyes lit up, his heart was beating fast, and he felt a rush of blood rushing to his brain.
In fact, she had a private communication with her second uncle regarding the fact that she was responsible for supervising the construction of the Rongfu Provincial Family House this time.
Uncle Xue told her that according to the request of General Jia of the Ning Mansion, the Xue family had found a large island on the Korean side as a place to stay.
Although it feels incredible, Uncle Xue guessed that General Jia of the Ning Mansion wanted to reuse Xue Baochai. Maybe it had something to do with the development of that island?
As to whether this is the case, it's hard to say.
After all, Xue Baochai is a woman and has reached the age of marriage, so she is subject to too many constraints and restrictions.
However, Xue Baochai kept it firmly in mind and secretly made a decision: If Ning Mansion Jia Rong really trusts her, she will definitely do a good job.
Who says women are inferior to men?
She feels that she is better than most men in terms of knowledge and ability. Why should she be subject to so many restrictions and unable to display her talents even if she has the opportunity?
Now, after hearing the hint from the mountain chief Jia Min, how could it be possible that my heart would not be filled with excitement?
Make a decision immediately and contact your second uncle more often after returning to learn about the situation on the islands in Korea.
There is a truth taught in women's school, that is, opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared, and she quite agrees with this.
"Has everything been handed over clearly to Rong Mansion?"
Jia Min changed the topic and asked, "Does the old lady know about it?"
"Everything has been handed over. It was handed over in Rongqing Hall!"
With a trace of regret in his heart, Xue Baochai still answered seriously: 'Everything, including the official documents from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, has been handed over!'
"How did the old lady react when she saw the specific construction costs?"
Jia Min nodded with satisfaction and asked curiously: "Even I didn't expect that the cost of building the provincial residence was just over 80,000 yuan?"
She was indeed surprised, and she wasn't lying.
Although she has been in charge of the Lin Mansion's internal affairs for many years, she is not very clear about the specific garden construction matters.
In the past, it was all left to the housekeeper of the Lin Mansion, and she only allocated the money.
It was unbelievable to her that Xue Baochai presided over the construction of the provincial residence and the cost was so low.
In my heart, I was actually quite unhappy.
It's not for Xue Baochai, but for the housekeeper and servants of Lin Mansion.
Obviously, through Xue Baochai's operation, she understood that Butler Lin and his servants had made a lot of money out of some previous projects.
It is still a so-called scholarly family with strict rules. The family still has various methods of raising children, and it is not polite at all to make money.
Later, she decided that some projects in the mansion would be taken care of by her daughter Lin Daiyu, who participated in the construction of the Provincial Courtyard this time.
Jia Min also didn't expect that some mathematics-related knowledge taught in women's schools would have such an effect when used in the construction of the provincial residence.
Before, I thought that Jia Rong stuffed some inexplicable knowledge into the hamsters of the female school, and sometimes even asked the female school to hold special courses.
Things like expense planning, checklists, etc., seemed cumbersome and unnecessary, but now I know how to do it.
Now I know that although the preliminary preparation is a bit cumbersome and requires collecting a lot of information from all aspects, as long as the preparation is proper, the effect of reducing costs is really obvious.
Jia Min knew that in order to avoid trouble or gossip among the Jia clan, Xue Baochai did a lot of side jobs, and the expenses involved were definitely far beyond the standard.
But that's it. The construction cost of the entire provincial residence was just over 80,000 taels. Not to mention others, Jia Min himself was shocked.
Earlier, officials from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs came to inspect and accept it, and Jia Min also went over to take a look. The Provincial Family Courtyard was absolutely beautiful, without any compromise.
How Mr. Shan Ziye planned it, Xue Baochai supervised the construction.
"The old lady was very surprised!"
Speaking of this, Xue Baochai's face showed a funny look unconsciously, but the scene at that time was quite funny.
When the old lady saw the construction cost list, the surprise on her face was not concealed at all, and she was obviously quite shocked.
Mrs. Wang is in a similar situation, but her eyes are a little dark and she doesn't know what she is thinking.
You know, when the provincial government's villa was originally planned to be built, the Rong Mansion was so noisy that almost the entire capital knew about it.
When raising construction funds, it was like a lion opening its mouth.
Ning Mansion, Dafang and the Lin Family each felt that one hundred thousand taels was not enough, so they made up all kinds of gossip in private.
The Xue family even took out two hundred thousand taels of silver in one go. Now the construction list that Xue Baochai came up with was simply a slap in the face.
Of course, since all the money has been given, no one will take it back.
However, in the future, if there is any explanation from the empress in the palace that requires a lot of money, there is basically no need to expect relatives to contribute.
Of course, Mrs. Wang also has reasons to deal with possible rumors.
In the past, the area of the Provincial Family Courtyard was more than ten times larger than it is now.
If the cost is calculated based on the building area, it should be 800,000 taels, which is not much different from the initial estimated cost.
These words can only hide the common people outside. How can any family with some energy not understand the loopholes in Mrs. Wang's words?
As for the relatives in Rongfu, they were even more scornful.
The area where the Provincial Courtyard was previously planned to be built was all Fuzhong Garden.
Either the garden on the Rong Mansion side or the garden on the Ning Mansion side is basically filled with flowers, plants and trees, so it’s not too easy to clean it up.
It's basically violent cleanup, with no secondary use considered at all.
As for the demolition of the courtyard here at Lixiangyuan, all the materials that could be preserved were preserved intact. The degree of care and the amount of money spent were naturally very different.
By the way, there are many gardens in Rongfu, and the various flowers in them are not cheap, and some are even expensive and precious varieties outside.
For example, in the garden of the East Courtyard where Mr. Pardon is located, the flowers planted outside are all very popular.
When Xue Baochai was building the Provincial Courtyard, she had already discussed it with Master Pardon and moved a lot of flowers from the garden of the East Courtyard.
Not only the flowers in the garden of the East Courtyard, but also the public gardens in the mansion and the gardens behind Rongqing Hall have transplanted flowers into the Provincial Family Villa.
Even if Mr. Pardon is a fool, he transplants the flowers in the garden of the east courtyard, but he still doesn't know how to collect money. Isn't that a slap in the face?
Both Mrs. Wang and the old lady are like this, and the cost here is basically negligible.
But in The Story of the Red Mansion, just purchasing various flowers for the Grand View Garden costs at least ten thousand taels of silver.
There are some things that you really can't delve too deeply into, otherwise it will feel like the Rong Mansion is like Dasha, allowing all kinds of moths to poach crazily.
Even if you have a solid family background, you can't withstand such troubles.
Fortunately, Xue Baochai completed the task perfectly this time when constructing the provincial residence.
As for what the old lady and Mrs. Wang are thinking, that's not something that a bunch of little girls want to understand.
After everything was handed over, the little girl, whose practical experience had soared, returned to the girls' school to continue her studies.
There have been several group activities, and they don't even have much interest in going out to socialize or making handkerchief friends.
It feels like they are no longer thinking in the same frequency band as those of their peers who still live in the back house.
Apart from helping with some things at home, I didn't know what to do, so I had no choice but to go back to the girls' school and continue to improve myself.
Jia Min's feeling is very clear. After her daughter Lin Daiyu's experience in supervising the construction of the provincial residence, she has become more capable.
This makes Jia Min very satisfied, as the eldest daughter of the Lin family should be.
I don’t know why, but even though Lin Daiyu has a cheerful personality, she always has the aura of a scholar who is sad about spring and autumn.
It's not that this kind of aura is bad, it's just that Lin Daiyu looks like a weak willow supporting the wind, and with the aura of sadness for spring and autumn, it gives people the feeling that her body is weak.
This is not a good impression!
Jia Min wanted to help Lin Daiyu adapt it, but always felt unable to start.
When it comes to academics, Lin Daiyu works very hard. She seems to be born with a talent for reading and is very enthusiastic about reading.
Sometimes, when I study too hard, I forget to eat, and I have to be reminded by Jia Min.
Under the influence of Lin Daiyu, the eldest sister, even his younger brother Yu Geer became more conscious and active about reading.
Jia Min can say without exaggeration that although Lin Daiyu has not yet reached the hairpin level, her knowledge is definitely at the level of a master.
Whether she was planning the design of Jinmen Port, or studying the reconstruction of Zhuangzi later, or supervising the construction of the Provincial Courtyard before, Lin Daiyu learned not only what she learned from books, but also improved her practical skills.
It's just that I always feel that Lin Daiyu is not particularly concerned about so-called secular affairs.
This is also the main reason why she can only act as Xue Baochai's deputy instead of acting alone.
Even Jia Min, a mother, sometimes feels confused and helpless and doesn't know what to do.
But to say that Lin Daiyu has a negative attitude is not the case.
When making suggestions and providing various materials and information, Lin Daiyu's performance was amazing, like a human-shaped library.
The entire women's school, even the most outstanding Xue Baochai, is quite inferior in this aspect.
It's not that Jia Min is competitive, but that she has an inexplicable feeling in her heart.
Brother Ningfu Rong seems to be playing a big game of chess.
Just because he values the performance of female students, I believe he will make good use of the abilities of female students to accomplish certain things.
Otherwise, given the social environment in Daqian, who would take such a huge risk to hand over such an important matter as the planning and design of Jinmen Port to a group of female students?
Who will be fine? Let the female students improve the farmland water conservancy facilities in the farm?
Not to mention, he had the audacity to hand over the palace concubine’s provincial residence to female students to supervise the construction. If he did not do it well, he would make a big joke.
One by one, it's like training the abilities of female students.
Jia Min didn't know what was going on, but she felt quite uneasy in her heart.
It doesn't mean there's anything unsettling about it. With Ning Fu Rong's style of acting, he won't do that kind of despicable thing to pull people into trouble.
But for some reason, even though he didn't know Brother Rong's specific plan, Jia Min was willing to cooperate. I think the female students thought the same way.
For no other reason than Brother Rong's attention and trust, neither Jia Min nor the female students will neglect him easily.
In this era, the constraints on women are too strong and the requirements are too harsh.
There is moral oppression at every turn. Anyone who makes a little mistake will be brutally killed if they are more aggressive.
Like a pond in the countryside, there are countless women lingering with their unwilling souls.
Every time he heard the news that a clan in the countryside resorted to lynching and drowned a woman in a pond, even with Jia Min's demeanor, she couldn't help but feel chills in her heart.
She didn't know why Jia Rong valued female students and even wanted to entrust her with important tasks, but Jia Min was happy to see it happen.
In fact, if possible, she did not want Lin Daiyu to be tied up in the back house and unable to move after getting married, surrounded by her husband and children all day long, and fighting with concubines.
Just thinking of such a scene, and thinking of Lin Daiyu's impeccable temperament, Jia Min felt a panic in her heart.
No matter how you think about it, Lin Daiyu is not a virtuous wife in the traditional sense, and she may cause a lot of conflicts.
The social atmosphere in Daqian was not as good as that of the Northern Song Dynasty. Lin Daiyu was quite talented as lay scholar Yi An, but she did not have the relaxed living environment she had.
Thinking about how Yi An lived a free and unrestrained life, Lin Daiyu would never learn from it.
It's better to use Brother Ningfu Rong's hands to help train and improve him, and at least he can improve his survivability a little bit more.
Poor parents in the world, Jia Min was already thinking about Lin Daiyu's future. The more she thought about it, the more worried she became, feeling that something was wrong...