After changing his clothes, adding a few forehead lines on his face, and trimming his eyebrows and corners of his eyes, the middle-aged scribe transformed into an experienced master craftsman.
He came with the merchants from the county, and with a simple and upright smile, he talked to Ah Xuan: "I heard that you are recruiting craftsmen, so I came to try my luck."
Ah Xuan saw that he looked very serious, so his attitude became a bit polite: "What do you know, sir?"
"A certain person is good at cartography. His ancestors were generals and supervisors. This is a craft passed down from family to family."
Ah Xuan looked at him differently at that moment.
Masons and carpenters are not difficult to find, but master craftsmen who can draw are rare, not to mention the descendants of the master craftsman who will be the supervisor.
"Is it a general from the previous dynasty who served as prisoner?"
"Yes." He took out a small wooden box from the bag, which contained thick drawings, and showed it to Ah Xuan, "You see, these palaces were painted by our ancestors. My craftsmanship is not as good as my ancestors, but I can still build it." Garden.”
The general is a yamen who specializes in building palaces. Building cities and palaces is not a problem. What's more, the previous dynasty was extremely extravagant and achieved great success in this regard.
I didn’t expect that this small county in the northwest would actually have such a talent hidden in it.
Ah Xuan called a few craftsmen who had some experience in this field. After a few words, they surrendered. Ah Xuan knew that the other party had real skills.
Very good! They can build the house as they like, but they can't build the castle without a master craftsman and supervisor. He made the decision on the spot: "Sir, please stay for now. As for the salary, you can ask for it."
The other party burst into tears with gratitude: "To be honest, in this Gaotang area, certain skills are of no use. If you go to those big cities and have no reputation, you can only do small jobs. There is no chance to build such a big house. The owner is willing If you stay, I will be satisfied."
Ah Xuan did not dare to say that what they wanted to build was not a big house, but a castle. He only said: "As long as your husband is capable, he will be given the treatment he deserves. My young master is not a stingy person."
The other party asked cautiously, asking for a separate room that would be cleaner so that he could draw more easily.
Ah Xuan admitted everything.
While eating dinner, Mingwei heard that the person stayed and nodded: "It seems that he is not the leader, but also an important person."
Ah Xuan was shocked: "Is there something wrong with him?"
Ming smiled narrowly.
Ah Xuan was hesitating whether to fire him, so she heard her say: "Let's see if he can really supervise work. Where can we find such a talent in this poor place?"
"Miss Ming..."
"Make the best use of everything." Ming Wei said meaningfully.
Ah Xuan glanced at his young master and found that he had no objection at all. He sighed helplessly: "Okay."
I hope those robbers will stop sending people here. If this continues, the racecourse will become a den of thieves.
…
Life in Gaotang Pastoral Superintendent was very leisurely.
With Ah Xuan as a coolie, he basically started everything.
Ah Wan was not willing to stay in the house because she was not on good terms with Ming Wei, so she helped Ah Xuan with the work.
Duofu and Xiaotong were either out in the wild or thinking about making something delicious.
Ning Xiu is just a doorkeeper. With his grace and temperament, no matter where he goes, no one dares to speak loudly.
Yang Shu was also very busy. After leading his generals to practice every day, he would think about how to infiltrate the Hu area or get news from the Northwest Army.
Mingwei said that the eight tribes of Beihu were attacking each other. To find the right time, they had to understand the situation there.
In comparison, Mingwei was just a free agent. Even the surveillance work was done by the little white snake. She had nothing else to do except bask in the sun and eat and drink.
The great craftsman Hou, the one in disguise, took out the drawings within a few days and presented them to Yang Shu.
Yang Shu lazily leaned on the small table in the main room and kept finding faults: "There are too few houses. How can there be enough room for so many people? In the future, I will raise a lot of people, from grazing to weaving to growing vegetables...
…It’s too little, too little, so we have to add three to five times more.”
So Master Hou went back, worked all night, and drew new drawings.
This time Mr. Yang was a little satisfied: "This looks pretty good, but the house is too short. I want to build a tall building, one that can be seen from afar, you understand? Well, let's build a few more."
Master Hou raised the house again and added several tall buildings in the front, back and left.
Young Master Yang touched his chin and said, "It doesn't look good like this! I always feel like something is missing."
As a good subordinate, Ah Xuan immediately said: "Sir, there are too many houses and they are big. The courtyard wall can't be too short, right?"
Mr. Yang clapped his hands: "That's right! It doesn't match the situation."
Master Hou's mind suddenly changed. It seems that this young master likes to show off, so okay, let's change the courtyard wall into a city wall!
Young Master Yang was a little satisfied after listening to his suggestion: "I heard that Wubao was popular in the previous dynasty and was built like a small town. It is very beautiful. Why don't you just build it like that!"
Master Hou is really good at building Wubao. Among the drawings left by his ancestors, there are ready-made architectural plans for Wubao. He showed it to Young Master Yang, changed the parts that were not beautiful enough, and added a few things, and finally settled on it.
.
He breathed a sigh of relief and took the drawings to supervise the construction.
When Mingwei came out of the room, Yang Shu had already put away his dissolute expression and looked thoughtfully at the place where Mr. Hou left.
"He is really capable." He said to Mingwei, "I don't understand architecture, but I have learned how to defend a city. The few suggestions he made are on point."
Mingwei poured herself a cup of tea and said, "It's not easy for such a talented person, isn't it?"
Yang Shu muttered unhappily: "You obviously have the ability, why do you take this path? How can you be a thief when you are a beautiful woman?"
"Being capable and doing bad things are two different things. There are many treacherous ministers in history who are considered to be great talents. Maybe their ambition is to be a robber?"
Yang Shu was speechless: "Yes."
"However, if he has the ability, he is lucky." Ming smiled, "If you don't have the ability, just kill him. If you have the ability, it doesn't hurt to stay and use him."
Yang Shu held the tea cup and said viciously: "It's okay to stay, but he must get rid of his traitorous nature!"
Ming Wei smiled.
Speaking of which, she and Yang Shu are actually two extremes. He seems to be a playboy, but in fact he has been taught very well by the eldest princess. And she seems to be selfless in what she does, and is really informal about small details. People like Master Hou,
She was too lazy to correct him, she would only think of ways to control him and let him use her for her own good.
Half a month passed like this, and the foundation was almost ready.
Mr. Yang said: "I don't want to live in this shabby house for too long. What's important is that it's quick and easy to make money!"
As word spread, nearby merchants knew there was money to be made here, and they kept delivering goods.
For a time, Gaotang Racecourse quickly became a more prosperous place than the county seat.
Feng Yi, the county magistrate, found out about this and felt very complicated.
The passing of the caravans invigorated the local economy, and the poor people also had a place to earn wages. For a time, Gaotang County became prosperous.