Empress: Your Majesty, please respect yourself, I don't want to be promoted

He is just an ordinary poor man, and there are not many people in his generation. His father died of exhaustion while doing hard labor, and his two brothers served in the military. There has been no news for more than ten years. They probably died somewhere. On the battlefield, the mother's eyes were blinded by crying, the mother-in-law had a high fever and her brain was burned out, sometimes she was awake, sometimes she was crazy, a pair of young and ignorant children...

After he was forced to serve hard labor, his family now relies on his married sister to help him at the risk of being beaten and scolded by his husband's family.

If he, the mainstay, died here, their family would be completely finished.

The empress's benevolence spared not only his life.

How could we not kowtow a few more times for such a great favor?

However, just as he was enduring the pain and preparing to hit the third one, the Empress suddenly stretched out her hand.

The next second, a golden brilliance flashed, and the horse-faced man's head hit directly into a ball of golden light.

shuh~

With a soft sound similar to a stone falling into the water, the man's forehead finally did not fall to the ground and was blocked by the golden light.

Immediately afterwards, the golden light suddenly exploded, turning into countless brilliance in an instant and pouring into the man's bruised forehead.

The horse-faced man only felt his body warm up, and at the same time, the severe pain from knocking his head began to subside, replaced by a tingling feeling of comfort.

"Your body, hair and skin are the ones you receive from your parents, so you should take good care of them."

The queen said softly.

"Besides, you have done nothing wrong, you have not wronged anyone, and you have not violated the king's laws. Instead, you have contributed to the court. Lu Qing said that anyone who has contributed to the court is worthy of respect, so you should hold your head high and chest out. You shouldn't be so humble, you don't have to thank me, I just did what I should do, and I have nothing to do with you."

Hearing this, the eyes of the horse-faced man suddenly turned red.

Your Majesty, with his wealth of gold, actually cares about a commoner like him.

As the saying goes, a man does not flick his tears lightly.

But when he thought of the hardships he had suffered since he was conscripted by the imperial court until he met Lu Xianggong, the Qingtian lord, those mediocre officials who did not treat them as human beings at all, treated them like cattle and horses, or even worse than cattle and horses He couldn't help but get a sore nose during that period of life that was simply not human.

Is this... the end of all the hardships?

In the court, there is a great husband like Xianggong Lu who really treats them as human beings, and the current emperor is a good emperor who loves his people like his own son... How can it be unreasonable to have such a wise king and virtuous ministers in Daxia?

Similar thoughts slowly emerged in the minds of the people.

At this moment, everyone's eyes changed.

In the eyes that peeked at the Empress, besides the instinctive fear of the Supreme Being, there was also a deep reverence from the heart.

A prosperous age can be expected... They were... born at a good time...

Lu Chen suddenly bowed heavily to the empress, and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty is unparalleled in virtue and virtue, blessing the world, please accept my humble servant's worship."

As soon as the words fell, Wang Qi and Zhang Xuan on the side also bent down at the same time, while the surrounding people knelt down again and bowed heavily to the empress.

"Long live Your Majesty!"

Looking at the scene of all the subjects in front of her worshiping from the heart, feeling the respect of everyone who does not seem to be fake, the empress could not help but lightly clenched her fists.

At this time, she had an inexplicable feeling that the prosperous age was within reach.

After a while, the Empress slowly exhaled a foul breath, then suddenly turned her head, her eyes resting on Lu Chen again.

"Lu Qing, as the saying goes, people have self-knowledge. I can be sure that although I was not stupid before meeting you, I was definitely not a benevolent king. You taught me the way of government, Lu Qing. , when the people are the foundation and profit for the people, only then can the country be rich and the army strong, and create a prosperous world.”

Having said that, she paused inexplicably, and then said with emotion:

"If there is no Lu Qing, even if I can rejuvenate the Great Xia, it will probably be just a flash in the pan in the end, but now, I have seen the foundation of the eternal world and stepped on the brilliant road, so I should thank Lu Qing for your teaching That's right."

Saying that, before Lu Chen could react, the empress bent down to Lu Chen who was bowing to her, and bowed.

One monarch and one minister, one man and one woman, just like this, head to head, hands behind hands, bowing down to each other.

It's like some kind of ancient and solemn ceremony that has continued from ancient times to the present and is held almost every day.

The next second, the moment Lu Chen noticed the red dragon boots in front of him, he hurriedly dodged, and then looked at the empress in front of him with some astonishment, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

After a while, the empress straightened up naturally, facing Lu Chen with a subtle smile on her face.

"Be flat."

she spoke softly.

"I just came here today to check on your situation, and I'm a little curious about how you managed to finish the work ahead of schedule. I don't have any other intentions. You don't need to be so polite."

Everyone got up as promised.

After hearing the empress explain her purpose, the eyes of the common people became a little complicated for no reason.

Both proud and sad, both excited and apprehensive, all kinds of expressions mixed together, making their expressions strange for no reason.

Among them, there is still a trace of hesitation.

However, after glancing at the empress and Lu Chen, this slight hesitation began to dissipate inexplicably.

Chapter 196 Long-term vision

After a small episode, the empress and the others soon came to the Ministry of Industry to embezzle the money originally used to purchase the so-called Longquan Lingshi, and set up camps for the laboring people.

The tents of the laborers are still simple and simple, except for some change of clothes and a large quilt shared by several people, there are only long tables, benches, braziers and other things.

Basically, except for things related to food and clothing, there are no extra utensils.

Conditions were still quite crude.

After all, the imperial government conscripted and dispatched laborers to let the people come to work, not to let them come to enjoy life, so it is naturally impossible to let their residences be the same as the inn outside.

Even if Lu Chen wanted to help them, he would not put the cart before the horse, he would just make up for the treatment that the court should give them, and at least get something for their work.

So don't expect the tent to be that good.

But even so, the labor camps at this time are still different from before.

If you take a closer look, you will find that the tents here are extraordinarily strong, no matter how the cold wind blows outside, there is no sign of swaying, and it will be blown down immediately when the wind is slightly stronger than before, and there are air leaks everywhere Compared with the camp tent, it is completely different.

Moreover, the inside of the tent was clean and tidy, and there was no rancid smell from previous tents that had been used for unknown lengths of time.

Clothes are washed every three days, and the bedding is no longer a thin layer. At least it is not like before. The only way to survive the cold night is to rely on these big men holding each other to keep warm.

After arriving at the camp, the empress walked directly to a bench. She didn't mind that this was a place where the working people usually eat and rest. She didn't care whether the surrounding area was dirty or not, and sat down directly holding the hem of her clothes.

"Lu Qing, everyone, please sit down too."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Lu Chen nodded, and sat directly under the empress.

Naturally, no one dared to sit at the other place directly opposite the empress, so Zhang Xuan and Wang Qi honestly joined Zhao Dahu and dozens of other people who were assigned to this tent, found some benches nearby, and sat on the ground one by one. Morning back.

Naturally, thousands of workers cannot all be crammed into one tent.

After paying homage to the empress, except for the workers in this tent, the other workers went to do their own things.

"Tell me, how did you do it?"

The Empress looked at the people behind Lu Chen with a gentle smile on her face.

"Why did you work for nine hours a day? According to the original schedule, it would take a few days to complete the project. However, Lu Qing's new regulations have reduced the working hours by half. It is reasonable to say that the progress of the project should be greatly affected. Even overdue, why did you finish the work ahead of schedule?"

Lu Chen also turned sideways, looking at Zhao Dahu and the others, with obvious doubts and inquiries in his eyes.

He was also a little confused.

Sufficient food and normal work and rest, after the recovery of physical fitness, coupled with gratitude to him, the work efficiency will definitely increase, but according to their previous performance, or based on the previous judgment of the human limit of the working people, no matter how they break out, It shouldn't be so outrageous.

This was completed several days ahead of schedule.

Under the questioning eyes of Lu Chen and the empress, the people did not speak immediately, but collectively looked at the worker closest to Lu Chen, Zhao Dahu from Taihe County where Lu Chen's fiefdom was located.

Obviously, Zhao Dahu is not just an ordinary worker among them.

At least he is at the level of a group leader.

Being watched by so many people, Zhao Dahu suddenly became a little nervous.

After a while, he took a deep breath, and then slowly said: "Returning to Your Majesty, the reason why we were able to finish the work so quickly is actually all thanks to Mr. Lu."

As he spoke, he clearly couldn't read the big characters, but he clearly uttered the regulations in the new regulations formulated by Lu Chen one by one. While talking about the benefits of these regulations to them, his words were full of gratitude.

Ever since Lu Chen left Wuji Palace that day, almost all the workers had started working desperately. Even if the mediocre officials and evil officials did not supervise them, none of them was lazy, not even a trace of slack.

Everyone wanted to work hard to repay Lu Chen's great kindness to them.

Even if Lu Chen hadn't strictly stipulated that the working hours should not exceed four and a half hours, those petty officials would drive them out of the construction site and not let them work. They didn't even want to leave the construction site until they couldn't move.

No matter what, Lu Xianggong cannot be held accountable for not completing the project on time. A rare and good official like Lu Xianggong deserves to be promoted to a nobleman by his prince.

As long as Lu Xianggong is promoted and remains in a high position, it will definitely benefit ordinary people like them.

All they could do for Mr. Lu was to work hard and finish the project as soon as possible.

So, with this in mind, almost everyone can’t wait to go to work every day. Even if there is no supervision, they will go to the construction site in advance, and the time for eating and toileting should be shortened as much as possible, cherishing every minute and every second of working. time.

Abundant physical strength supports their high-intensity work. Every time they go to work, almost all of them are breaking through their limits.

Especially craftsmen.

Lu Chen attaches great importance to skilled workers and treats craftsmen very well. In addition to the same basic treatment as ordinary farmers, he also pays extra wages to workers, and has also established a reward and punishment system and a performance system. The better the craftsmanship of the craftsmen, the better the workmanship. The more exquisite things come out, the greater the quantity, the more money you get.

So the craftsmen soon became harder than ordinary laborers.

All kinds of things, all the people who were conscripted into labor labor worked together, and the project of the Wuji Palace came to an end soon.

After listening to Zhao Dahu's narration, the empress gradually revealed a clear expression after thinking about it for a while.

And she finally understood how clever the new regulations formulated by Lu Chen, which many people regarded as extremely profligate and childish, were.

In fact, the reason is very simple.

If you want a horse to run, you cannot stop it from eating grass.

This truth is taken for granted by most monks. After all, if there is no benefit to them, why should these powerful beings work for your Jiang family?

But it is not necessarily the case for labor, or people who are essentially prostituted by the court.

In the minds of many Daxia courtiers, the common people should submit to labor and work for the court for free.

Through the system of labor service, the court was able to save a large amount of financial expenditure every year. Anyway, the laborers were allowed to work without paying them, and they only needed to provide them with some rations.

But the Empress was keenly aware that doing so apparently saved money and would be beneficial to the imperial court, but in the long run, it was not necessarily so.