"Weichen saw the emperor, I didn't know that the holy car was coming, and I missed the welcome, please forgive the emperor." Zheng Peng saluted Li Longji.

Li Longji waved his hand: "Excuse me, let's flat." ”

"I don't know what the emperor's instructions are for this visit?"

"I just want to see what you're busy with" Speaking of this, Li Longji looked around as he walked, saw the hot scene in the factory, and nodded with satisfaction: "It's not bad, it's decent, it's not like it's nonsense, I thought you were going to retreat." ”

When I heard that Zheng Peng wanted to build a new road by himself, and this new road would have to open roads and build bridges in the mountains, and the cost would be higher than the original, in addition, it would be necessary to pave the road with expensive iron, Li Longji's first thought was that Zheng Peng was just impulsive, and it would be over after a few days of calming down, but he didn't expect that Zheng Peng not only persevered, but also did a good job, even Li Longji admired it a little.

There are not many people who just do it.

Zheng Peng is best at beating snakes with sticks, and when he heard this, he immediately said with a wry smile: "The emperor has praised it, and Weichen has the idea of retreating." ”

"Oh" Li Longji tilted his head in some surprise, but he quickly came back to his senses and quickly walked forward as if nothing happened: "Zheng Liaojia, lead the way in front and see what you are busy with now." ”

Zheng Peng replied with a little disappointment, and hurriedly followed, explaining to Li Longji the progress of the project, especially the difficulties encountered.

is really shrewd, Zheng Peng wanted to take the opportunity to raise his difficulties, as long as Li Longji showed a little bit of tone, he would hit the snake with the stick, and stretched out his hand to ask for benefits, but he didn't expect Li Longji to obviously see his intentions, he didn't accept the move, and he didn't open his mouth for a while, so he had to introduce him first.

Seeing the prosperous construction site, the strength of hard work, and the tacit cooperation between various types of work, Li Longji was a little touched in his heart, and when he saw that those strong forces were like competitions, he was even more surprised when he threw off his arms and worked hard, and couldn't help but whisper to Gao Lishi who was accompanying him: "Lux, look at this road construction site, what's so special?"

Colliers lowered his voice and said: "Everyone, this construction site gives people a very energetic and energetic appearance, which is very rare, you must know that these construction sites, especially those that use a large number of slaves and prisoners of war, are mostly lazy and lifeless, but here the opposite is true, those people seem to be as attentive as they are doing their own work. ”

"That's true" Li Longji nodded: "This Zheng Peng, he really has a set of things, in just three months, he has built nearly eighty miles of roads, which is still a high standard, amazing, faster than I expected." ”

Gao Lishi understood Li Longji's thoughts, turned his head and asked Zheng Peng, who was following behind: "General Zheng, we have a question in our family, and it is inconvenient to ask it if I don't know how to do it." ”

"Convenient, convenient, if you have any questions, just ask."

"The progress of the project is good, especially the spirit of those strong people is very good, I don't know what method General Zheng used?" Colliers asked directly.

"There is no innovation, that is, the responsibility system is apportioned, the people are divided into teams, and the team is used as a unit, so that they can complete the specified workload within the specified time limit, and they can rest if they complete it in advance, and if they choose to work without rest, there will be a reward, and the more they do over, the more rewards they will have, on the contrary, if they cannot be completed within the limit, they will be punished."

Gao Lishi said with some puzzlement: "General Zheng, our family knows that only some craftsmen on the construction site are hired, and the rest are either Tubo prisoners of war from the Tubo escort, or the house slaves in your house, you don't need to be polite to them, you don't want to work, just pump them, give them a bowl of dry rice to eat, it's a great gift, and give them a reward?" There's no need. ”

The most important thing in the Tang Dynasty is slaves, there were many prisoners of war in the early days, and now there are relatively few wars, and there are not many criminal officials, but the Tang law stipulates that the sons born to slaves are automatically classified as slaves, which is the origin of family slaves, for the master's family, domestic slaves are more cost-effective than raising livestock, so that the slave market set up in the market is so prosperous from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

Zheng Peng explained: "Gao Gonggong, a person who takes the initiative to work hard and passively pretends to work hard, the efficiency is too far apart, let's not talk about the problem of kindness or not kindness, pay attention to efficiency, how to say, you can do more with the same money, why not?" ”

"What General Zheng means, the effect of the apportionment responsibility system is good, can we understand it like this?"

Talking to smart people is to save effort, Zheng Peng said happily: "Gao Gonggong is really talented, yes, this method works very well, when apportioning responsibilities, he has made an estimate in advance, making full use of his labor, but leaving them hope, let them work hard, for example, leveling a piece of land, it normally takes ten days to complete, when he only took eight days to complete, you can save two days of rations and wages, and give him half of this ration and wages, this is the knife cutting tofu on both sides, both are good, of course, It's impossible to divide it evenly, but it's good to be able to divide him into three or two. ”

"Yes, a person grinds like a lazy donkey and works as hard as his own work, the difference is too far, it is good to do this, and the atmosphere is harmonious." Colliers said with a look of approval.

Li Longji also nodded and said, "Zheng Aiqing still has an idea, and he has calculated everything." ”

Is this praise or sarcasm? Zheng Peng didn't know what to say for a while, but said with a sneer: "The emperor praises falsely." ”

As he spoke, the group walked to Tiger Roaring Ridge, Li Longji looked at the tunnel mouth marked at the foot of the mountain to be excavated, and said with some surprise: "Zheng Aiqing, it seems that this is going to dig a tunnel?" ”

"The emperor's eyes are like torches, and he can see at once that a tunnel has indeed been dug from this Tiger Roaring Ridge, and the preparations have been completed."

Li Longji frowned lightly and said: "For such a big mountain, digging a tunnel is not a simple matter, and the cost must be huge, why don't you choose to bypass it, is there a problem with land acquisition, or like the Black Mountain Pass, blow up this mountain?" ”

Zheng Peng explained: "Your Majesty, Tiger Roaring Mountain is different from Black Mountain Pass, it is much more than Black Mountain Pass, if you choose to blow up the mountain, I don't know how much gunpowder it will cost, it is not cost-effective, and now is also a sensitive time, before you prove your innocence, you should be a little more restrained; As for the detour, this detour is more than twenty or thirty miles, too far, and it is not in line with Weichen's original intention. ”

"It's good to know to avoid suspicion, I still think that you don't care about it at all, if you don't want to take a detour, you won't give in, then you have to take more money, Zheng Aiqing, your little family background may have to be folded on this road." Li Longji suddenly sighed.

The road of more than 700 miles is still of high standard, even if the imperial court does it, the household department and the Ministry of Industry also have to fight for a few years, and prepare for a few years before it can be done, Zheng Peng insists on repairing it by himself, and even Li Longji also looks at Zheng Peng differently.

"It's already folded on it, don't hide it from the emperor, build the road until now, take out almost 10 million yuan, and even use the clumsy dowry, and after a while, the housekeeper will go home and sell the goods to raise money." Zheng Peng said pitifully.

Li Longji said angrily: "?? As soon as I arrived, I was very attentive, and I knew that I had other intentions, and now the fox's tail is exposed. ”

Zheng Peng led the topic to money several times, how could Li Longji not see it, he just deliberately did not answer the topic, and saw that Zheng Peng insisted on digging a tunnel under the Tiger Roaring Ridge when he was not financially sufficient, and he was secretly moved in his heart and relaxed slightly, and Zheng Peng immediately hit the snake with the stick.

"The emperor is wise, and the ministers are honest and honest, so they point to that little money, the property in their hands is not big, and the expenses on weekdays are large, so they can only ask the emperor for help with a cheeky skin." Zheng Peng said with a smile.

Changluo Road cross has not yet been a hand, there are too many places to spend money, but the money saved in his hand is not much, and it is difficult for his income to increase all at once, if he does not raise a sum of money as soon as possible, he can only suspend the construction of the road, and wait until he has money to continue, you must know that Zheng Peng is an acute child, and he can't do what he wants to do in a day, and he is uncomfortable in his heart, and he naturally refuses to let go of this opportunity when he sees the most powerful and richest person in Datang here.

Li Longji groaned for a moment, and quickly spoke: "Say, how do you want me to help you?" ”

The Prince's Mansion was attacked, Li Longji suspended Zheng Peng's post under the persuasion of Yang Chongli and others, and he didn't feel anything when he gave the order, he only thought about the harm of gunpowder leakage to the Tang Dynasty, and faintly blamed Zheng Peng's lax management of gunpowder.

I wronged Zheng Peng before, so I naturally wanted to make amends, so I asked Zheng Peng what he wanted.

"Your Majesty, the cost of building the road is too great, and the money in hand is not enough now, please ask the emperor to reward one million, no, three million is enough." Zheng Peng said very realistically.

It was rare for Li Longji to open his mouth to let himself put forward conditions, and Zheng Peng was not polite, and asked for a huge sum of money when he opened his mouth.

Li Longji nodded and said, "Three million is not much, let Lux arrange it later." ”

"Your Majesty, it's not three million guan, it's three million taels of gold." Zheng Peng corrected it with some embarrassment.

Isn't the emperor gold at every turn? When he told him about gold, he understood it as copper money?

"What, three million taels of gold?" Li Longji was startled, and quickly said with a straight face: "Zheng Peng, you don't want to be crazy about money, the money of the imperial court is used for the people of the Tang Dynasty, not for you to squander alone." ”

It's three million when you open your mouth, it's still gold, it's really not polite, Li Longji let Zheng Peng be happy.

Zheng Peng said a little embarrassed: "Your Majesty, this is a railway, an epoch-making railway, a railway that has never been in the Tang Dynasty, it is normal for the cost to be larger, please rest assured, this money is not all at once, it can be given in batches, Weichen can guarantee that all the money will be used to repair the road, if there is a penny in my pocket, there will be five thunderstorms in the sky." ”

It's rare to have the opportunity to open his mouth, Zheng Pengyi is not polite, besides, it is the prosperous era of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, and the treasury of the Tang Dynasty is very rich, otherwise, Li Longji will not be able to raise thousands of musicians for him to enjoy.

"No, this amount is too big" Li Longji categorically refused: "Moving the treasury to build private roads, this matter is what I promised, and the civil and military officials in the court will not agree, if everyone asks the court for money at every turn, even if the court has gold and silver, it is not enough." ”

Zheng Peng has made a lot of meritorious contributions and contributions, and is the lucky star of the Tang Dynasty, Li Longji has great expectations for Zheng Peng, you must know that Zheng Peng rarely asks for it, and if it is not an excessive request, you can consider it, but three hundred taels of gold is too big, and you can't agree to it.

"I don't know how much the emperor can support?" Zheng Peng asked cautiously.

"Three million, if there is more, it is not enough to figure it out by yourself." Li Longji's old face twitched, and he said impatiently.

This Zheng Peng is simply lawless, other courtiers see themselves, which one is not respectful, but Zheng Peng is good, but bargains with himself.

In the Tang Dynasty, Zheng Peng is the only one, of course, a courtier like Zheng Peng, who can be literate and martial arts and can make immortal achievements, is also the only one.

It's only three million, that is, it lasts for three or five months, and after three or five months, he has to find a way to get money, Zheng Peng feels a headache when he thinks about it.

Seeing that Zheng Peng was a little disappointed, and Li Longji on the side had a tense face, obviously both sides were not satisfied, Gao Lishi hurriedly persuaded: "General Zheng, you must know that the treasury of the Tang Dynasty is rich, but the money has to be paid, the war costs money, the road construction costs money, the river dredging costs money, the reception of envoys from various countries requires money, the maintenance of the post house requires money, the natural disaster needs to be funded, and a part of it is set aside as a reserve fund, which seems to be a lot, but in fact, it is shared, if the emperor rewards you, even if the emperor agrees, the ministers of the court will never agree." ”

After a pause, Gao Lishi added: "Even the three million yuan promised by the emperor will not be allocated through the household department, but from the inner treasury of the palace, the emperor has to be frugal for a period of time for the sake of the general, the emperor's grace is vast, general, why don't you hurry up and thank you?" ”

The treasury is rich, but even Li Longji can't use it as much as he wants.

Zheng Peng paused for a moment, thinking that it seemed to be the case, and hurriedly saluted Li Longji to thank him, and opened his mouth after opening, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he still didn't say it.

Li Longji has been paying attention to Zheng Peng's every move, and immediately asked: "Okay, there are no outsiders here, don't talk about it, just say anything." ”

"Emperor Xie" Zheng Peng's eyes rolled, and he quickly said: "It's really not a family that doesn't know the price of firewood and rice, it's Weichen too ideal, of course, blame the emperor, please forgive the emperor, in fact, Weichen is not very short of money, or the lack of money is only short-lived, Gao Gonggong is right, the Tang Dynasty is so big, and the expenses must be more, so let's do it, as long as the emperor agrees to Weichen's two small requests, even if Weichen borrows it from the emperor, he will definitely return it to the emperor with interest later." ”

"Say, what a request." Li Longji asked directly.

Zheng Peng raised a finger: "The first request, the money in Weichen's hand is insufficient, and the wages of those slaves in the military department will delay some settlement, and it is best to wait until I have enough money to settle it." ”

"Yes, the second one."

Isn't it the wages of the slaves? There is no money, and besides, the knotted slaves were all caught by Zheng Peng, so it is no problem to give them all to Zheng Peng.

"The second is simple, Weichen wants to raise funds, simply put, he wants to borrow the spare money in the hands of the people of Datang to use, of course, this money will not be borrowed in vain." Zheng Peng said with a serious face.