After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 618 - 612: Working Hard

After walking a few steps, Zhao Hanzhang turned around and saw Ting He and two trusted aides following behind her. She waved her hand, "You don’t have to follow me."

The two trusted aides acknowledged and politely retreated, but Ting He didn’t leave. "My lady, I still need to serve you."

"Alright, you can follow me," Zhao Hanzhang didn’t want the trusted aides to know she was going to the Imperial Palace, but she wasn’t worried about Ting He finding out.

Ting He happily agreed, following her with great excitement. After walking for a while, a group of people approached from a side road. Zhao Hanzhang stopped and looked up, only to see Fu Tinghan and Zhao Erlang walking side by side. At the sight of her, Zhao Erlang’s horse excitedly jumped forward, bypassing Fu Tinghan and rushing toward her.

Zhao Erlang pulled the horse to a stop in front of Zhao Hanzhang, grinning until his eyes were squinted. "Sister, where are you going?"

Zhao Hanzhang reached out to stroke the horse’s neck and muzzle, soothing it with a gentle rub before looking up, "Just wandering around. Why are you here again? There’s no meat at home today."

"I do," Zhao Erlang lifted a plump rabbit with spread limbs from a cloth sack hanging beside the saddle. "I took people to harvest beans today and saw a rabbit. I caught it in one move. Sister, do you want to eat rabbit meat?"

Zhao Hanzhang immediately smiled, looking at him approvingly. "Erlang’s skills are getting better and better. Give the rabbit to the cook and ask him to prepare it in two ways: stir-fry one portion and stew the other with vegetables."

Fu Tinghan saw the smile on her face and also smiled. He dismounted and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Just wandering around."

Fu Tinghan handed his horse to the trusted aide behind him, "Let’s go together then."

Zhao Erlang’s eyes darted back and forth, and he also dismounted, handing the horse and rabbit to Lv Hu, "Take the rabbit back to the cook."

He ran to Zhao Hanzhang’s side, looking expectantly at them, wanting to follow along.

Zhao Hanzhang chuckled and waved at the trusted aides behind them.

The people and horses quickly left, with only Fu An remaining.

Looking at the three of them, Zhao Hanzhang decisively said, "Alright, let’s go."

As they walked forward, only half of the houses were intact; the other half were blackened ruins, remnants from the large fire before.

Except for occasional visits by people staying at the Imperial College, few come here anymore. Since the emperor left, Zhao Erlang hadn’t been here often.

He curiously looked around, noticing that many walls and yards of the houses were overgrown with weeds. Spring and summer are times when vegetation thrives, and because these houses are uninhabited and were burnt, the leftover ash seems to facilitate plant growth. At a glance, grass clumps sprouted sporadically on the walls and filled the yards.

"Sister, will the houses here remain like this?"

"No, when we have money, we’ll rebuild them."

Zhao Erlang was already quite sensible. He asked, "How much money will it take?"

He said, "We’re just building barracks. Mr. Xie tells me it costs a lot."

"Isn’t your soldiers doing the building themselves? You don’t have to pay labor fees, so where’s the expense?"

"Wood, stone, and bricks cost a lot."

Zhao Hanzhang sighed, "You’ve realized the expense of everyday necessities."

Zhao Erlang turned to ask Fu Tinghan, "Brother-in-law, can you send people to build a brick factory outside Xin’an City too?"

Fu Tinghan said, "Isn’t there already a brick factory in Xin’an County?"

"Their bricks are so expensive that I couldn’t afford green and red bricks; I had to use earthen bricks."

These so-called earthen bricks are made from vegetation and mud; their costs are much lower. Most current houses are plastered with mud, but making them into bricks makes them thicker, easier to build, and more wind-resistant.

Not only in Xin’an, but in Guy City and Luoyang, houses built outside the city mostly use these earthen bricks; they’re cost-effective and efficient.

Better-off households use slightly better green and red bricks.

Compared to the earthy yellow earthen bricks, Zhao Erlang prefers green bricks, though red bricks would suffice too. So, he proposed to Fu Tinghan, "Brother-in-law, please open another brick factory in Xin’an. It can give me a discount then."

Fu Tinghan shook his head, "The workshop has limited manpower, and their brick prices are within reasonable limits. We shouldn’t compete with civilians for profit."

Zhao Hanzhang asked, "How much more expensive?"

Fu Tinghan laughed, "Each brick costs just half a copper coin more, but they, unlike us, need to pay a portion of money to the local county government for the land they use."

That indeed is not expensive.

Fu Tinghan said, "I’m planning to raise our workshop’s brick prices soon to avoid competing with civilians for profit."

Zhao Hanzhang contentedly patted Zhao Erlang’s shoulder, "Good job realizing how to save money; don’t be wasteful anymore."

She added, "It’s not easy for civilians to run businesses, especially doing hard labor like smashing bricks; you shouldn’t complain and must not delay their payment for bricks."

Zhao Erlang acknowledged, "Although Mr. Xie says it’s expensive, I do have the money."

He casually picked out a gemstone from the spoils of war, changing it into copper coins, which was nearly there. Just... "Sister, our jewelry isn’t selling; have you sold yours?"

Zhao Hanzhang felt frustrated, "No."

The siblings sighed together.

Fu Tinghan shook his head with a smile, and looking up, they had already arrived at the base of the Imperial City. He asked puzzled, "What are we doing here?"

"Going in for a walk."

The Imperial City gate was guarded by soldiers, not many, just two, mainly to prevent thieves from sneaking into the palace to steal things. There were patrols in the city, and though it seemed quiet, people still sneaked in through various holes into the palace during this period.

However, whether they could steal anything was uncertain.

Zhao Hanzhang wanted to go in, and though the guard soldiers were puzzled, they immediately opened the door to let them in.

Technically speaking, she shouldn’t be allowed in, but in reality, there was no place in Luoyang City she couldn’t go. Even beggars could sneak in, let alone her.

Inside the gate was a spacious straight path, with towering walls on both sides. After walking about a hundred steps, a fork led off. Zhao Hanzhang introduced to the curious Fu Tinghan and Zhao Erlang, "On both sides is where the court officials work: the Ministry of Personnel, Central Secretariat, Imperial Secretariat, and Secretary General all have offices here."

Zhao Hanzhang said to Fu Tinghan, "My granduncle is the Chief of Staff, the head official of the Ministry of Personnel. The Ministry of Industry, now divided into the Water Department, Ministry of Agriculture, etc., is all managed by the Ministry of Personnel. I’m planning to subdivide functions, creating a prototype of six ministries, with the Ministry of Industry assigned to you."

Fu Tinghan asked, "What about the Ministry of Revenue?"

He wasn’t familiar with the Winter Official and Water Department, but he knew about the six ministries from high school history classes, so even though he rarely interacted with that knowledge afterward, he remembered it well.

Zhao Hanzhang said, "The Ministry of Revenue is assigned to Ji Yuan."

"However, the Ministry of Revenue is significant, and with the court still present, everyone’s watching me, so it’s not announced yet; only part of its responsibilities are given to him."

Ji Yuan had always been involved in such matters, so Fu Tinghan nodded. He looked around and asked, "What are we doing in the Imperial City?"

Zhao Hanzhang walked to the wall, placing her hand on its solid and thick surface, sighed, "I’m feeling down, too poor, so I came here to unwind, to see the buildings inside..."

Imagining one day she won’t need to fret over office space and can work directly inside here. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

It’s like giving herself a motivational boost, encouraging herself a little.

She sighed, "It’s probably like how people who are trying hard to save for a down payment often go see the properties they fancy, to motivate themselves to work harder and save more."

Fu Tinghan couldn’t help but laugh out loud.