I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 35: Skills Don’t Matter, Enough is Enough
Zhao Zi's statement that "you don't have to use the technology to save money on garden renovation, but you can't do without it" seemed to have briefly shaken Liang Shicheng.

However, Liang Shicheng has been in a high position for a long time. He is cautious in his actions and will not easily give way to criticism.

So after hesitating for only a few seconds, Liang Shicheng quickly regained his righteous and disdainful expression and left in anger.

The officials from the Ministry of Works who accompanied the inspection were unaware of the truth and immediately felt as if they were facing a great enemy. They all cast resentful glances at Zhao Zicheng.

It was this young man who said such shocking words that angered Lord Liang!
Liang Xianggong is so loyal to Your Majesty! Whatever Your Majesty wants, no matter how wasteful or exhausting the people's energy, we must give Your Majesty the best! No matter the cost!
It's a good thing that Lord Liang didn't punish him for saying such ignorant words!
Liang Shicheng cleared his throat with a cold expression: "Young people don't know how high the heavens are and how deep the earth is. I am magnanimous and will not bother with you this time. Remember to be careful with your words in the future, otherwise you will suffer sooner or later!"

After saying this, Liang Shicheng turned away.

The inspection ended here and ended on a bad note.

All the officials in the Ministry of Works had a bad impression of Zhao Zicheng, thinking that he had disturbed Liang Xianggong's leisure. However, since the two sides were not subordinate to each other and had no intersection, Zhao Zicheng didn't care whether these people had a good impression of him or not.

……

However, just a cup of tea later, in a recently renovated waterside pavilion in Genyue Garden that was still covered with a construction curtain.

Liang Shicheng sat upright in front of a stone table. His trusted attendant made tea for him, ordered a bowl, and then retreated to the corridor to stand guard.

Opposite Liang Shicheng stood a young man, Zhao Zicheng. Apart from him, there was no one else in the pavilion.

How could the topic of helping the emperor cut corners, save money and speed up the construction progress be discussed in public, especially since Liang Shicheng had not yet made up his mind to adopt it.

There were many people here just now, and the officials of the Ministry of Works, led by Liu Geng, were all watching. He could not bring up this topic no matter what. He had to scold Zhao Zicheng in public first.

"Tell me." Liang Shicheng didn't say much. After taking a sip of tea, he only uttered three words. His speaking style was completely different from what he had said just now when there were many people around.

It can be seen that he didn't have much expectations for Zhao Zicheng, he just wanted to listen for the time being.

Zhao Zicheng knew that this was a rare opportunity and he didn't dare to seize it, so he laid out the plan he had just thought of:
"Coming from a poor background, I've always paid attention to the craftsmanship and techniques of various trades. This dynasty has long used glutinous rice mortar for stone masonry. While in Jiangnan, I've even seen skilled craftsmen improve upon the mortar in recent years.

When building a stone wall, if stones of a special shape are difficult to obtain, mortar is needed to fill the large gaps between the stones. The mortar is poured into the bamboo mold and then built into the stone wall. If this mortar is further improved and used to replace the large-scale stone piles in rockery construction, it may have great potential.

After all, the stones used in Genyue aren't meant for building houses or terraces, but merely for constructing rockeries. Rockeries are inherently solid, so the stone's toughness isn't a concern; as long as the shape is similar, it's fine. As for arches and caves that require stone, and where the people beneath them are to be seen, it's not too late to use genuine Taihu or Lingbi stones.

This way, even if we can't completely stop the purchase of unusual stones from the Flower and Stone Gang, we can at least significantly reduce the amount of stone used. This is just my humble opinion, with no other intentions. I have witnessed too much hardship suffered by the people of Jiangnan due to the Flower and Stone Gang, and I feel compassion for them, so I'm taking the risk of making this suggestion.

Originally, I didn't dare to entertain such thoughts, but upon entering the city, I saw Your Majesty's wisdom and the severe punishment of the Taoist Lin Lingsu. I thought Your Majesty might sympathize with the people and reduce his investment in Taoism. That's why I dare to speak frankly about this strategy and offer it to you, my Lord, for your use as needed."

Since this was just the two of them, Zhao Zicheng didn't need to feign caution. If there were any technical considerations, he could just state them directly. This kind of persona actually helped Liang Shicheng lower his guard.

Zhao Zi said he was a liberal arts student before traveling through time. He had a general understanding of what cement was and how to use it. He also understood that cement seemed to require calcining and mixing certain materials. However, he didn't understand the specific formula, calcination, and processing technology.

But it doesn't matter. By the Northern Song Dynasty, the use of various mortars to build walls was already common. Glutinous rice mortar can also be used to bond bricks and stones, but the cost is much higher than cement.

But with these existing technologies as a foundation, Zhao Zi said that it is entirely possible to slowly explore improvements. Perhaps modern cement cannot be produced, but it is very easy to produce a low-cost material that can imitate boulders by making the surface antique after solidification.

If this kind of experimental and improved material were used to build a house, it would definitely cause problems. Houses are hollow, and the new material's load-bearing structure is not strong enough. In this era, there is no steel bar to increase the tensile strength.

But if it is just used for gardening, then there is no problem at all. If you look at the national standards for engineering projects in later generations, you will know that the standard requirements for gardening are much lower than those for construction projects.

After all, what Zhao Zicheng needed was something that "looks like stone after solidification", but he didn't care about its strength.

Using the Huashi Gang as a springboard for improving this technology is truly a godsend. It allows us to find an application scenario while the technology is still immature, and also accumulates experience for future research and development.

……

After Zhao Zicheng roughly explained his plan, Liang Shicheng was naturally quite tempted.

Although there are still many technical details that make Liang Shicheng confused and feel unreliable, at least Zhao Zicheng's suggestions helped him open up his thinking.

Bianjing was located on a plain, with no hills or mountains around it. Large stones had to be transported from far away, which is why the Flower and Stone Gang was so expensive. If the need to transport some of the stone for the construction of Genyue could be reduced, even by half, it would save the country a huge amount of money and grain.

Liang Shicheng didn't care about money and food, but he was concerned about the construction progress of Genyue and didn't want to be strangled by delays in the supply of various raw materials.

If one day the emperor suddenly changed his mind and was no longer so interested in Taoism, and urged him to complete Gen Yue as soon as possible, he would have this backup plan in mind so that he could speed up the construction progress.

After thinking this through, Liang Shicheng was already inclined to invest in this "home-made cement" project, even though he didn't know its name yet. However, just before he made the decision, Liang Shicheng suddenly remembered something else and felt a little apprehensive.

He then playfully teased Zhao Zi and said, "It's a good idea, but you're Zhu Jie's man. Aren't you afraid of offending Zhu Jie?"

Liang Shicheng asked this verbally, but in fact he certainly didn't care whether Zhao Zicheng would offend Zhu Zhen.

What he cared about was whether Zhao Zicheng was a traitor.

A person who has no loyalty cannot be reused, no matter how capable he is.

Zhao Zicheng helped him with advice and although he made technical contributions, it was, in any case, digging into Zhu Zhen's base and weakening his power.

Liang Shicheng could easily imagine how angry Zhu Zhen would be once he knew that the person he sent to the capital had such a unique skill and could dig up the roots of the Yingfeng Bureau.

Liang Shicheng was much more powerful than Zhu Jie, and he himself was not worried about or concerned about Zhu Jie's future. But Zhu Jie still paid him at least tens of thousands of strings of cash every year, or even more.

Zhao Zicheng also knew that this issue was very important, but fortunately he had already prepared his speech.

He took a deep breath and said frankly, "I am not Zhu Jie's man. I was just involved in the case by chance. In order to prove my innocence, I had to contribute to this matter.

The student himself has no personal interest in promoting the cost-saving method of 'cement-made stone'; it is simply that seeing the suffering of the people of Jiangnan has moved me with compassion. He is not my ruler, and I am not his subject, so how can I offend him?

The corner of Liang Shicheng's mouth twitched slightly. "So, you're helping me because you care about the people of Jiangnan? And you're not planning to pledge allegiance to me?"

Zhao Zicheng gritted his teeth and said, "If you have the people in your heart, I will certainly do my utmost to help you. If you feel this is not enough, with your authority, there are many people in the world who are willing to serve you wholeheartedly. I am not short of one more."

But even a fool may make many mistakes, but sometimes he can get it right. Even if you don't use me, you can still use this strategy. There is no good or bad strategy. As long as it works, why should we care who came up with it? "

Liang Shicheng frowned. He hadn't expected this young man to be so blunt. It seemed he was being treated like a knife. Just don't trust him or use him too much.

To put it in a modern context, people like Zhao Zicheng can be used as tools.

At least that's what Liang Shicheng thought.

"Then, can you study and implement this 'cement stone making' method as soon as possible?" Liang Shicheng decided to formally give the other party a chance.

Zhao Zicheng was not quite sure. "I only have some knowledge and experience, and I'm just pondering and thinking about it. Construction methods are not my forte, so I naturally need the cooperation of the master craftsmen who supervise the construction. Only through time and experimentation can I gain something."

Liang Shicheng was a little displeased when he heard him speak so cautiously: "It's just a scholar's fantasy. How can I expect you to slowly experiment with such a big thing?"

Zhao Zicheng insisted on not saying anything. He had a reason for saying so, because he didn't want to be retained by Liang Shicheng as an official in Beijing.

Even if he is already 70% to 80% sure, he has to pretend that he doesn't understand much and only provide creative ideas, while giving the credit for the final touch to a white glove who will be the supervisor.

Otherwise, if he performed too well in construction and had the value of "sustainable utilization", he would be kept in Bianliang until the Jingkang Incident. Wouldn't that mean the situation was hopeless?
Zhao Zicheng had already made up his mind. For him, the best situation would be to return to Suzhou and Hangzhou to serve as an official, to lay out his base there a few years in advance. Because after the Jingkang Incident, that place would become the core of the future Southern Song Dynasty. Only by managing it well there could he suddenly expand his influence during the Jingkang Incident.

But now Suzhou and Hangzhou are Zhu Zhen's base camp. If I don't find a more powerful person who can check and balance Zhu Zhen, even if I return to Suzhou and Hangzhou to be an official, I will be suppressed by Zhu Zhen.

If he did not cooperate with Zhu Jie at that time, he would be framed and suppressed by officials, and would not be able to carry out his work.

If I cooperate with Zhu Jie, it would be too disgusting, harmful to the people, and would also ruin my reputation.

But if he jumped ship temporarily, secretly obtained Liang Shicheng's temporary protection and checks and balances, and at the same time avoided being left in Bian Jing by Liang Shicheng, then the situation would be much better, and it could even be said to be the best solution.

With Liang Shicheng's help, Zhu Zhen couldn't do anything to him, and he could also explain that it was just a coincidence that Liang Xianggong took a fancy to him.

Although Liang Shicheng was also one of the Six Thieves, the county magistrate was not as good as the current one. As long as he returned to Jiangnan, he would be thousands of miles away from Liang Shicheng. Even if Liang Shicheng wanted to order him to help him do evil, he had plenty of ways to delay it.

This way you can avoid harming the people and not be dragged into the Six Thieves.

Even if you have to temporarily feign agreement with one of the six thieves, you cannot choose the one who is right at your doorstep.

Be sure to choose one that is farther away and cannot directly control you.

(End of this chapter)