Chapter 419: At a critical moment, family members like Duke Wei are still reliable

At the end of the 13th year of Hongwu, the city wall of Yingtian Prefecture had gone through the vicissitudes of time.

After a violent storm, many places collapsed and were destroyed.

This city wall is an important barrier that protects thousands of people in Yingtian Prefecture. If there is a mistake, the consequences will be disastrous.

When King Zhu Gang of Jin learned about this, he was extremely anxious.

He was well aware of the importance of the city wall to Yingtian Prefecture, and he immediately made up his mind to restore the city wall to its original state to protect the safety of the people in this area.

So Zhu Gang began to run around to raise funds, and he really asked for help from everyone.

He first visited several important officials in the court, and then came to the Duke of Wei’s mansion.

Zhu Gang stood in front of the majestic gate of the Duke of Wei’s mansion and straightened his clothes.

Then he took a deep breath, walked forward and knocked on the door.

In less than half a cup of tea, the doorman came to open the door.

When the other party saw that it was His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin, he hurriedly saluted.

Zhu Gang said quickly, “Please tell him that I have something important to discuss with Uncle Xu.”

When he met Xu Da, the Duke of Wei, Zhu Gang said earnestly, “Father-in-law, you also know the current condition of the Yingtian City Wall, which concerns the safety of the people in the city.

I want to repair it, but I am short of funds. I hope my father-in-law can help me.”

Xu Da frowned and said with difficulty: “Your Highness, it’s not that I don’t want to help, but these days, every family has its own difficulties.

However, since this is a matter concerning the safety of the people, I will do my best.

But the money I can come up with is probably limited.”

Zhu Gang hurriedly thanked him, “Thank you for your help, father-in-law. This is just a token of my gratitude. I am very grateful.”

Zhu Gang then went to many other places, but the funds he raised were still very limited.

However, when the city wall repair project was halfway through, a new problem suddenly hit us like a bolt from the blue.

Due to insufficient funds, the original plan to purchase high-quality bricks, stones, wood and other building materials had to be replaced with some lower quality substitutes.

A manager in charge of purchasing construction materials walked up to Zhu Gang with a worried look on his face.

His face was filled with worry and his eyes were red, as if he had been worrying a lot about the materials in the past few days.

The manager in charge of purchasing bowed to Zhu Gang and said hurriedly, “Your Highness, this material… is really disappointing!
Look at the loose texture of the bricks and stones, and the wood is often damaged by insects.

If this continues, this project will be difficult to complete.

Look at this…”

As the manager spoke, he pointed at the pile of materials and shook his head repeatedly, looking as if the sky was about to fall.

Zhu Gang looked at the pile of materials with a frown on his face.

Then he sighed heavily and said helplessly, “How could I not know this?
But now funds are tight, so we can only make do with this for now.

Oh, these days are so hard to bear. “

At the city wall repair site, the sky was still very gloomy, as if a heavy lead plate was pressing on everyone’s heads.

The thick clouds blocked almost all the sunlight, and only a few faint rays of light as thin as spider threads struggled to penetrate the clouds.

It sprinkled on the construction site, forming dim light and shadows.

The light and shadow falling on the mountains of inferior materials made these materials look even inferior and shabby.

It was as if they were a group of dusty beggars huddled in a corner.

The craftsmen were busy shuttling between them, their faces haggard, their eyes filled with fatigue and worry. Every time they picked up those inferior materials, they seemed to be fighting against the helplessness of fate.

The cold wind blew through the construction site, raising clouds of dust. The dust flew around like a ghost with bared fangs and claws.

The construction workers had to squint their eyes and continue their work.

The dust swirled in the wind, as if mocking the difficult progress of the project.

The whistling sound of the wind seemed to be telling the helplessness and sorrow in everyone’s hearts.

A young craftsman wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and couldn’t help complaining: “Oh, this job is so frustrating!

This material is so poor that it can’t be made right no matter how hard I try.

I spent a lot of time trying, but the results are still not very good. “

An older craftsman nearby also responded with a helpless look on his face: “Yeah, there’s nothing we can do, we can only do our best.

This is the way the world is, what can we do about it? “

This not only consumes a lot of manpower and material resources, but also further delays the progress of the project.

Looking at the scene on the construction site where progress was not smooth due to material problems, Zhu Gang couldn’t help but frown, feeling helpless.

But is he the kind of person who gives up easily?
Of course not!
At this time, Zhu Gang secretly swore in his heart: “Even if I lose everything, I will repair this city wall!”

Thinking of this, Zhu Gang continued to try non-stop to raise funds from more people.

He even used some of his own personal property to fill the funding gap for the project.

One day, Zhu Gang returned to the Prince of Jin’s Mansion and walked straight into the inner room.

He looked at the room full of treasures. Although he felt reluctant, his gaze became more determined.

Zhu Gang then called Zhang Changshi and said, “Go and sell those boxes of calligraphy and paintings and some jade articles, and invest all the money in the city wall repair project.”

Zhang Changshi was shocked when he heard this, and he quickly persuaded him, “Your Highness, these are all your favorites, are you really going to sell them off?”

Zhu Gang glared at him and said, “Don’t say too much. The city wall repair is urgent. What do these material possessions mean to you?”

On the other hand, Zhu Gang went to the construction site and discussed with the craftsmen how to ensure the quality of the city wall restoration by improving the construction technology based on the existing materials.

Seeing Zhu Gang’s persistence, the craftsmen were moved by his spirit and offered suggestions one after another.

Just then, an experienced old craftsman stood up.

He stroked his beard, which was as white as frost in winter.

The old craftsman said slowly, “Your Highness, although our current materials are not as good as we planned before.

But when building walls, more attention can be paid to the splicing and compaction between bricks and stones.

This may make up for the lack of materials to some extent.”

When Zhu Gang heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up, as if he saw a glimmer of hope.

He slapped his thigh excitedly and said, “Great! This suggestion from the master is very good!

I immediately gave orders, asking all craftsmen to strictly follow this method during the construction process.”

With the joint efforts of everyone, although the restoration project of Yingtianfu city wall is still full of difficulties, it finally has a new turning point.

With everyone’s joint efforts, despite many difficulties, the city wall restoration project is still progressing with difficulty.

After months of hard work, the restoration project of the Yingtianfu city wall finally entered the final acceptance stage.

At this time, the sky was clear, which was rare. There were a few white clouds floating in the blue sky. The clouds were as light and white as cotton candy.

(End of this chapter)