Chapter 88: I Don’t Want Their Thanks
Chapter 88: I Don’t Want Their Thanks
The wind and rain sent the spring back, and the snow arrived. It is already a cliff of ice, and there are still beautiful flowers.
Before leaving the palace, Zhu Zaigui saw a winter plum blossom in full bloom between the rockery and steep rocks in front of the palace's screen wall. Its black branches were weighed down by last night's wind and snow, but it still couldn't suppress its proud beauty.
The dark red buds that were about to bloom broke through the snow covering the branches, as if they would bloom at any time to create their own beautiful moment.
"Meng Daban, do you think this plum blossom will be in bloom when we return?"
Zhu Zaigui tightened his cloak, looked at the winter plum blossoms in front of the screen wall, and said to Meng Chong.
Meng Chong followed Zhu Zaigui's gaze and saw the winter plum blossoms in front of the screen wall.
Meng Chong said: "Looking at the appearance of this flower bud, it should bloom in one or two days."
Zhu Zaigui said, "Okay, when this branch of plum blossoms blooms, you pick two branches and send them to the West Garden and the palace. It has been a long time since I have fulfilled my filial duty to Your Majesty and my mother. Then, convey my thoughts to them and wish them a new spring in the midst of auspicious snow and a good harvest."
Meng Chong sighed, "I'll remember this."
Zhu Zaigui withdrew his gaze, walked along the cleaned stone pavement in the courtyard, and came to the carriage in front of the palace.
Before getting on the carriage, Zhu Zaiqi asked again, "Has the charcoal from Mr. Hai been delivered?"
Meng Chong replied, "I sent it to the prince early in the morning while he was exercising in the courtyard."
"Did he accept it?"
Zhu Zaigui asked another question.
Meng Chong said: "Your Majesty is really as good as a god. Mr. Hai accepted it, but he also prepared silver and money as Your Majesty expected. I followed Your Majesty's instructions and did not refuse, and accepted the silver and money."
Zhu Zaigui nodded, "That's right. You count the days. When he runs out of charcoal, you can send another batch over. Don't let him get frozen. A Qiongzhou person who grew up in the far corner of the world has never experienced the extreme cold of the north. I will find a time to suggest to His Majesty whether the Spring Examination can be postponed to March so that these candidates can avoid the coldest months of December and January."
When Meng Chong heard Zhu Zaigui's words, he couldn't help but compliment him, "Your Majesty is a kind person. If the emperor can adopt your advice, the scholars of the world will also thank you for your grace."
Zhu Zaigui chuckled, "I dare not accept their thanks. I just feel sorry for them for coming to Beijing to take the exam in such a cold weather. If they really want to thank me, then I won't suggest it. I am still young and want to live a few more years."
Zhu Zaigui's words also made Meng Chong look embarrassed. He thought he was flattering his own prince, but he didn't expect to flatter the horse's hoof.
Our prince was indeed thoughtful. Given the current court situation and the emperor's ambiguous attitude, if the prince really stood up to speak for the scholars, he might really stir up a hornet's nest.
So, it’s better to be content.
Meng Chong licked his embarrassed smile and said, "Your Highness is thinking about it. I am stupid and didn't think of such a deep problem."
Zhu Zaiqi glanced at Meng Chong and said, "How are you stupid? Didn't you just remind me? I feel at ease with a loyal person like you following me!"
Zhu Zaigui also did not forget to give Meng Chong a sweet treat, which made Meng Chong very happy. He replied excitedly: "Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I am so loyal to you!"
After PUAing Meng Chong, Zhu Zaiwei also got on the carriage. After swaying for more than an hour, Zhu Zaiwei finally arrived at the Shunyi Industrial Park. When he arrived at the industrial park, Zhu Zaiwei asked Meng Chong to call Teng Xiang and Zhang Tianci over.
After Teng Xiang and Zhang Tianci came over, Zhu Zaigui asked Teng Xiang about the militarized management in the industrial park and the Chinese New Year in the twelfth lunar month. After all, the Chinese New Year was coming soon, and the workers who had worked for the industrial park for several months should also receive a year-end bonus.
Therefore, Zhu Zaigui was still very concerned about the workers' mood during the New Year. Although the year-end bonus was not much, it was at least a reward and a gesture, allowing them to feel the care from their employer.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I have already prepared rice, flour, grain, oil and other New Year's items for the workers in the industrial park according to your instructions. I have also distributed one month's year-end bonus to them according to Your Majesty's instructions. After receiving these benefits, these workers were all moved to tears and thanked Your Majesty for your grace."
Teng Xiang carefully followed Zhu Zaigui and explained the situation.
Zhu Zaiqi hummed and said, "Giving them benefits is certainly a gift from this king, but it is also what they deserve. The industrial park can be put into operation so quickly, in addition to your efforts, it is also inseparable from their active cooperation. So this king will naturally not be stingy, and will give them what they should give, so that when you manage strictly, they will have fewer complaints."
Teng Xiang patted his chest and assured: "The welfare benefits in our industrial park are so good, they will never complain!"
Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "That's good. Then you should not let your guard down and train them strictly according to the training system of the Imperial Horse Administration. After all, we have a large family and many people here. If we don't use a military management strategy, it will be difficult to manage such a large industrial park to the point of being able to use it as one's own arm."
"Therefore, no matter what method you use, you must train these workers to be obedient and united. Let them have the awareness that if the industrial park prospers, they will prosper, and also feel that if the industrial park fails, they will fail. For those who refuse to obey management and have an indifferent attitude, they must be ruthlessly dismissed. Don't let a rat ruin my pot of good soup!"
Teng Xiang patted his chest and assured, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I'll be watching closely. If there's any troublemaker who doesn't obey my instructions, I'll make him suffer the consequences of the East Factory in no time!"
"East Factory?"
Hearing these two words, Zhu Zaigui couldn't help but feel a little nervous?
Teng Xiang quickly explained, "This is someone that Eunuch Huang assigned to help me and Li Fang. Eunuch Huang said that there are many people in the industrial park, and the people from the East Factory are careful and courageous, but they can detect any disturbance at the first time. So he assigned several capable people from the East Factory to come here to assist us in management."
When Zhu Zaiqi heard that it was Huang Jin who arranged this, he couldn't help but get nervous, but in the end he just said calmly, "Huang Jin is really thoughtful. He has thought of things that I haven't considered."
At this point, Zhu Zaigui's heart was tangled. If the people from the East Factory were here, would they be discovered immediately if he did something else? This also gave Zhu Zaigui a headache.
It seems that we still need to separate them and not put all our eggs in one basket.
Then Zhu Zaigui looked at Zhang Tianci and asked, "How is the progress of the second phase of construction?"
Zhang Tianci said, "It was almost completed, but the snowstorm these days has stopped construction. After spring, the second phase of the project will be completed as scheduled. By then, it will be able to accommodate 6,000 people, and these workers will no longer have to work in shifts, affecting production proficiency."
Zhu Zaiqi hummed, "We must complete this task to a high standard. Next year, I will build a new production line, and by then we can start planning for the third and fourth phases."
Zhu Zaigui then patted Zhang Tianci on the shoulder and said, "I believe in your ability. You are the most capable person in the Ministry of Works. Otherwise, I would not have poached you."
Zhang Tianci was also excited by Zhu Zaigui's praise, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will not let you down and will definitely plan and build the Shunyi Industrial Park to the best of your ability according to your wishes!"
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Huhu, two updates are completed, please vote and reward.
Regarding the update time, February wants to ask for your opinions again. Should we still update twice a day at 9:30 am, or split it up into chapters at : pm? Or should we update twice a day at noon?
Give me some advice. . If you keep your originality, you will get 1 point, if you update separately, you will get 2 point, if you update at noon, you will get 3 point
(End of this chapter)