Chapter 41 Section 41 Working day and night to build the Confucian Temple

Wen Qing took Zeng Guofan, Huang Zishou, the editor and editor, and a supervisor appointed by him to the Ministry of Industry to see Kuang Shilang to take orders.The Ministry of Industry has already vacated a spare room as a "temporary office for the renovation of the Confucian Temple", and Kuang Shilang has brought a group of people from the Ministry of Industry to wait for a long time.Just wait for the first and second deputy directors to arrive, then discuss and dispatch matters. "Master Wen, Master Zeng, Huang Hanlin," Kuang Zheng coughed twice, and presided over the meeting decently, "The Holy Majesty entrusted me with the important task of repairing and expanding the Confucian Temple. All adults work together to get things done, so that we can live up to the trust of the Holy Majesty."

Wen Qing said: "This matter can only be done by Mr. Kuang. I will follow suit. What can I say? Mr. Kuang just orders it." Zeng Guofan and Huang Zishou also said: "Your Excellency Wen is right, the lower officials will do their best." Wen Qing, courtesy name Kongxiu, a man with a red banner, Fei Mo, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy and a bachelor of the cabinet, was a Jinshi in the second year of Daoguang, and he was also a person who had military merits in his ancestors and no one dared to mess with him. After hearing Wen Qing's words, Kuang Zheng held hands with Wen Qing, and said to Zeng Guofan and others: "Everyone, wait a moment, and the hall of the Ministry will discuss with Mr. Wen before assigning duties." Chamber of Secrets.

After coming out, Wen Qing smiled all over his face and took Zeng Guofan and others back to the Imperial Academy. Wen Qing called Zeng Guofan into the academic office of the head of the Imperial Academy alone. "Di Sheng," Wen Qing defied the bureaucracy and took Zeng Guofan's hand to sit down. "It's rare that Minister Kuang trusts me so much. I'll have to worry about the budget. After you get down, you and Mr. Kuang sent Together with the officials, make a budget for the materials and the required silver. It must be meticulous. You might as well go to a few more businesses. Then submit it to me, and then I will submit it to Kuang Shilang, and Kuang Shilang will submit it to the superior. Just wait for the hair to be finished. Work has started. However, this matter must not be leaked to others, lest profiteers take the opportunity to drive up prices and cause the Royal Family to suffer the injustice of stealing money. Remember, remember!"

Zeng Guofan replied respectfully: "Your official, remember, I will definitely do my best." That night, Zeng Guofan moved to the temporary meeting room of the Ministry of Industry for convenience. Early the next morning, he first measured the part to be expanded with Gan Xi, a doctor in charge of geodesic survey of the Ministry of Industry, and recorded the parts to be repaired one by one; , how much sand and gravel, how much cement and so on.After finishing these, he changed into casual clothes, hired a small sedan chair alone, and went to various shops in Beijing to inquire about prices.I also found a comprador and asked for the lowest selling price of cement and foreign steel.After being sure, I began to write articles one by one.The details are detailed to the extent of who is the fairest firm in the capital, which is the lowest in cement and foreign steel in foreign firms, who is the comprador, and whose surname is.In the end, the number of taels of silver spent is calculated, which is: 6,182 taels of material silver, plus 318 taels of depleted consumption.The total amount of fee silver is: six thousand five hundred taels.Hiring and employing labor are paid separately, and Zeng Guofan is not included in the calculation. This expenditure is directly accounted for by the Ministry of Industry.It took five days to write ten pages and eight lines of paper.

Zeng Guofan returned to the Imperial Academy and solemnly presented the statement to Mr. Wen.Wen Qing took the note and glanced at the battered Zeng Guofan, and he really had infinite respect for this Sinology scholar from the bottom of his heart.After reading the report, he decided that Zeng Guofan was a man capable of doing great things, and he was by no means comparable to other Han officials. At that time, Zeng Guofan really respected and valued Wenqing. The Manchus value martial arts and despise literature.The full members of the imperial court, some rely on martial arts, some rely on military merit, and some rely on ancestral shadows.And even though Wen Qing's ancestors also had extraordinary military exploits and were conferred the title of Marquis and Boss, Wen Qing's fame was obtained through examination, so such an advancement naturally has weight.Zeng Guofan valued scholars the most, and Wen Qing was naturally higher than other Manchu officials.

"It's been hard work, Shisheng. You'll have to oversee the work day and night when your boss speaks!" Wen Qing accepted the note, encouraged Zeng Guofan a few more words, and served tea to see off the guests. Zeng Guofan bowed deeply and withdrew, and returned to the temporary meeting room of the Ministry of Industry, waiting for the news of the start of work. After Wen Qing sent Zeng Guofan away, he read the article repeatedly, and admired Zeng Guofan's delicacy and seriousness even more.He read it over and over again, finally took out a pen, carefully changed the note a few times, and then copied a copy by himself, and then sent it to the Minister Kuang of the Ministry of Industry.Wen Qing's amended statement cost a total of 65,000 taels of silver.Wen Qing is an old master in the capital, and he keeps a step for himself in everything.According to the number verified by Zeng Guofan, if there is a false report and the money cannot be continued, how can I explain it to the above?

After the renovation and expansion of the Confucian Temple officially broke ground, Zeng Guofan did not return home for a whole month.In addition to supervising the work on the construction site, he also had to report the progress of the project to Wen Qing and Kuang Zheng on a daily basis. He also had to come forward to resolve the difficulties of the skilled craftsmen recruited from all over the place.He also knows that there are some things that he does not need to do personally, but he is still willing to do them. One afternoon, Huang Zishou advised him: "Master Zeng, your boss doesn't have to come to the construction site every day, can you let the lower officials report everything? Look at Mr. Wen and Mr. Kuang, have the craftsmen ever seen their shadows? They all know that If you go to Mr. Zeng in case of an accident, how could you think that there are two bosses above Mr. Zeng?"

Zeng Guofan smiled wryly: "Huang Hanlin, how do you know what I'm going through? Don't you realize that the job I'm doing now has merit and demerits?" Huang Zishou was a little surprised, and asked: "How do you say that, my lord? The lower officials are confused." Zeng Guofan patted Huang Zishou on the shoulder and said: "My old man, this matter went smoothly, and the one who deserves the big reward is Master Kuang Humanities. The two old people are the chief officers, so they should be the first prize; if there is an accident, the two old people He can only bear the responsibility of negligence, and at most one or two months' salary will be fined. How can the family of a second-rank official care about one or two months' salary? In fact, it is the same as no fine, just a formality. As for my official, demotion is light, dismissal will never be dismissed, and any punishment is not too much! You are a smart Hanlin Gong, why are you confused about this?"

Huang Zishou sighed: "Your Excellency has considered far-reaching, and the lower officials will have to look back for the rest of their lives!" Zeng Guofan smiled wryly: "Since I ordered the Imperial Academy, I have been sincere and fearful all day long. When will I let go of my courage and do one or two things that I am proud of?" The Confucian Temple has finally been repaired and expanded. Mr. Kuang, the right servant of the Ministry of Industry, is still spotless, but brighter. The face of Mr. Wen, the head of the Imperial Academy, is still as rosy as before, and seems to be more moisturized than before, but Zeng Guofan, a fourth-rank Imperial Academy attendant lecturer, has lost a lot of weight.Fortunately, during this period, there were no major outbreaks of ringworm. Although it was itchy every night, as long as the bleeding was scratched, I could sleep peacefully; Intermittent.

Emperor Daoguang happily summoned more than a dozen officials above deputy supervisor, including Kuangzheng, Wenqing, Zeng Guofan, Huang Zishou, who were in charge of the renovation and expansion of the Confucian Temple, in the Hall of Qinzheng. At the end of the ceremony, Emperor Daoguang said: "The Confucian Temple is the holy tower in the hearts of my students in the Qing Dynasty. It is the foundation of all generations. Although it costs 300,000 taels of silver, it is still used for current affairs." A royal reward of Kuangzheng's yellow mandarin jacket, 1,000 taels of silver, handed over to the Ministry of Officials; a royal reward of Wenqing's snuff bottle and a finger puller, worth 800 taels of silver, handed over to the Ministry of Officials; a royal reward of Zeng Guofan's bamboo fan On it, there is the word "Liangyi" inscribed by Emperor Daoguang himself, five hundred taels of silver, and handed over to the Ministry of Officials for Xu You; officials below Huang Zishou and others also have different degrees of rewards.It's true that everyone has a share, and everyone is excellent.Although more than half of China was affected by the disaster at that time, and the household deposits were limited, Daoguang still squeezed out some silver taels to reward these meritorious ministers.

Kneeling to thank him, Zeng Guofan took Huang Zishou's hand and asked the old Tongnian: "I have been very deaf lately. The emperor said how much money was spent on repairing the Confucian Temple?" Huang Zishou smiled and stretched out three fingers, and said, "It's only three hundred thousand taels!" Zeng Guofan was stunned for a moment, speechless, but he was greatly surprised. How dare he know about civil engineering and construction, but only one thing? Instead of going back to the Hanlin Academy, he went straight to the Confucian Temple.The officials in charge of the Confucian Temple were already very familiar with him, so they didn't stop him right now, allowing him to look around the renovated halls and newly built houses. The materials used are still the ones in my own budget, not only did not increase, but there was a reduction, the white marble was not purchased one more piece, and the quantity of cement was basically the same. Could it be that foreigners have secretly raised the price of foreign steel?It seems that the difference cannot be more than fifty times.Fearing that his memory might be wrong, he rushed to the official office of the Imperial Academy again, found out the original statement of the budget from the desk, and read it again. It was accurate and accurate, including the silver consumption. That's not bad at all. Zeng Guofan put this Chen on his sleeve and went straight to Mr. Wen.He was afraid that once the superiors became serious in the future, he would not be able to get rid of the responsibility. When Zeng Guofan went to the duty room, he asked Tong to report that Zeng Guofan, a bachelor of attendant lecturer, wanted to see Mr. Wen.The duty officer will come to send a message later, saying that Mr. Wen is welcome.Zeng Guofan was led by someone to see Wen Qing. When Wen Qing saw Zeng Guofan walking in, he grabbed Zeng Guofan's hand and prevented Zeng Guofan from saluting.Zeng Guofan struggled, but did not break free, so he had to let it go. Wen Qing called out "Come..." first, and then the subordinate on duty came in holding tea. Wen Qing said, "Please use the tea for Tisheng. This is the hair tip soaked in spring water from the next year, and it was sent from Taiwan." Seeing the subordinate on duty withdrawing, Zeng Guofan said: "The reason for this lower official to see you is because of the budget of the Confucian Temple..." Wen Qing took the lead and said: "When it comes to the Confucian Temple, you are the one who has made the most of your hard work. I have already drawn up the paper, and I will hand it in when I see the opportunity. I am going to recommend my brother to fill the lack of Zhan Shifu in Zhan Shifu. Do you agree?" how?" Zeng Guofan immediately bowed deeply and said: "Thank you for your cultivation, sir! But the budget and actual silver consumption of the Confucian Temple..." Wen Qing said with a smile: "The Confucian Temple has been handed over to the Ministry of Rites. I don't think there will be any mistakes in the matter undertaken by Kuang Shilang, so I don't want to ask about it. Besides, you and I are supporting roles in this matter. We can do this This level is already second to none in the world. My brother, this is the Royal Confucian Temple, which is not as good as our ancestral hall. We can buy a basket of chickens for a tael of silver, but the palace buys chickens for a tael of silver. Brother should understand this time, right?"