Chapter 276: Compromise
The oldest fountains were simple, with water flowing from a pipe, through one or more pillars, and eventually forming a graceful waterfall.

Ou Zanghua felt that this thing could not be called a fountain, as the focus of a fountain should be on spraying.

Artificial fountains use water pumps to pump water to the nozzles, and use air pressure, gravity and the design of the nozzles to spray the water out to form a tall fountain.

Um.
If the Ming Dynasty had water pumps, it would not have been unable to survive even a small ice age.

Let's put off the troublesome things for now. If we really can't make a fountain, we can use a water curtain instead.
With Ou Zanghua's actions, all work was carried out in an orderly manner.

The Ryukyu envoy Lin Jiashan was undoubtedly the most injured. He stood at the gate of the Ryukyu Association Hall, stunned as he watched the officials of the Honglu Temple directing their men to move items.

When Lin Jiashan saw the Right Junior Minister of the Honglu Temple, Meng Zhao, he grabbed him and said, "Master Meng, I just went out to meet a friend, why did you have to do this?"

Then he seemed to realize something and added, "I am just an ordinary drinking buddy with Annan envoy Zheng Weiliao. What Annan did has nothing to do with Ryukyu. Please understand!"

Meng Zhao looked at Lin Jiashan, who was angry but also afraid, and explained with a wry smile: "Envoy Lin is worrying too much. We in the Honglu Temple just felt that your guild hall was too close to Lingyou Palace, so we changed it to a more humane location for you."

"Oh, just moving?" Lin Jiashan reacted and asked uncertainly.

Meng Zhao nodded: "Yes, just moving."

Lin Jiashan's anger and fear disappeared, and turned into dissatisfaction: "Then shouldn't you notify me first?"

"We in the Honglu Temple have always done things this way."

".You can't suddenly ask my people to move."

After the two adjacent guild halls were emptied, craftsmen from the Ministry of Works began to take action, demolishing what needed to be demolished and digging what needed to be dug.

Compared with the stingy Ministry of Works, the Honglu Temple was much more generous.

In order to increase the work enthusiasm of the craftsmen, Ou Zanghua provided real money support, provided free icy green bean soup every day, and provided three meals a day with plenty of oil and water. The craftsmen were also allowed to take away the evening meal.

Craftsmen who have families would choose to take food home. For just one cent, they could get an extra serving of rice and two dishes, one meat and one vegetable. The portions were enough to feed a family of four.

This penny was definitely not enough to cover the cost, but the extravagant Minister of the Ministry of Rites didn't care. He only pursued quality and efficiency.

Anyway, Ou Zanghua would earn back the money he spent from the landlords and local tyrants.

However, what Ou Zanghua did not expect was that after he sent the dyeing plan, Cheng Zhirou came to the capital in person and told him that there was not enough raw color fabric in the imperial farm.

"The main thing is that satin and silk are not enough, but gauze, damask and silk are enough."

Cheng Zhirou looked at Ou Zanghua and suggested, "Maybe we can take out the silk cloth as well?"

"What are the prices of various silk fabrics on the market now?" Ou Zanghua sighed and asked.

Cheng Zhirou was very familiar with this, and immediately said, "Each piece of various colored velvet silk will be exchanged for 500 strings of cash, each piece of various colored satin will be exchanged for 300 strings of cash, each piece of various colored yarn will be exchanged for 300 strings of cash, each piece of various colored silk will be exchanged for 100 strings of cash, and each piece of green velvet will be exchanged for 600 strings of cash."

Ou Zanghua thought for a while and said, "Please ask Miss Cheng to go to Tianjin Port and buy 1,000 pieces of satin and silk. We want the best quality."

"Okay!" Cheng Zhirou agreed. For the capital, this amount of cloth would only make a sound when it was dropped, so there was no need to worry about the warehouse being overstocked. Then, Cheng Zhirou reported to Ou Zanghua the current situation of the imperial farm. Since most of the staff were called to the dyeing and dried fruit workshops, there was a lack of manpower in the fields. Now some families have begun to pay farmers outside to help with farming.

After all, the dyeing factory's wages are quite high, enough for them to pay people to farm.

After hearing this, Ou Zanghua just said to let it be, because the Weiyang Palace Imperial Farm itself was meant to be an experiment.

At this time, Cheng Zhirou saw the sketch that Ou Zanghua had placed on the table. She walked over and took a closer look, then asked, "Is Mr. Ou designing a fountain?"

"Exactly,"

Ou Zanghua nodded and said in distress: "It's a pity that I still have no clue."

“It’s right to have no clue, because the direction is wrong.”

Cheng Zhirou smiled and reminded: "Mr. Ou made the fountain to make the water come alive. It is beautiful and can also take away the heat in the yard, right? In fact, you can just use the rockery to flow water!"

The so-called rockery and flowing water appeared in the Qin and Han Dynasties. At that time, there were landscape designs simulating mountains and waters in the royal gardens.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the production of rockery and flowing water reached its peak, with exquisite craftsmanship, unique shapes, and ingenious efforts unmatched in the world.

Ou Zanghua was stunned. He didn't think of taking away the heat, but simply wanted to show off his skills.
"There's no rush for this. I'll think about it again."

Eh?
Suddenly, Ou Zanghua had an idea, and immediately showed joy on his face. He bowed to Cheng Zhirou and said, "Thank you Miss Cheng for reminding me. I have an idea now."

Cheng Zhirou lowered her head and whispered, "Actually, Mr. Ou doesn't have to be so polite."

"what?"

"No, nothing!"

After seeing Cheng Zhirou off, Ou Zanghua immediately found Manager Lu and asked him if he could make a rockery and flowing water.

Manager Lu chuckled and said that he had made dozens of them, and they were just like eggs cooked by an old lady, cooked to the point of being cooked beyond belief!
Then he used the ready-made brushes and ink to draw several rockeries and flowing water for Ou Zanghua, and introduced them: "This is an imitation of the Lushan Waterfall, this is an imitation of the Huangshan Sea of ​​Clouds, and this is an imitation of the Xishan Flowing Water."

Ou Zanghua looked at it and chose the one with the Lushan Waterfall, adding some elements of other famous mountains. He said, "I need Manager Lu to reserve seven pipes. These pipes should be integrated with the rockery, buried underground, and connected to the water tank over here."

"Oh? This is very interesting!"

Manager Lu looked at the draft that Ou Zanghua had revised and said cheerfully, "Don't worry, Master Ou. This is not difficult. However, if we want to complete it within the specified time, we need to add some craftsmen."

Recently, he was helping the Honglu Temple with work. The treatment was so good that many of his old colleagues wanted to come and help. However, the number of people on the construction site was already a bit overstaffed, and Manager Lu did not dare to add more people. After all, the official position was there, and he, a small manager of the Ministry of Works, could not offend him.

But now Ni Dongqing wants to make something new, so it would be great if I add a dozen craftsmen!

Ou Zanghua smiled and said nonchalantly: "It's okay, Manager Lu, just go ahead and do it. It's a pleasure to work with you this time, and we will have many more opportunities for cooperation."

"Hehe. Thank you, Master Ou!"

(End of this chapter)