I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 36: Using the Studebaker Principle Without Paying

Zhao Zi said that he could not take on too much responsibility directly, so as not to be regarded as a mere craftsman by Liang Shicheng and forced to stay in Bian Jing.

But he also had to deal with Liang Shicheng's doubts and make Liang Shicheng believe the feasibility of this matter.

This forced Zhao Zicheng to change his angle and prove his vision from the side.

Fortunately, Zhao Zicheng can do something that seems incredible to ordinary people.

Zhao Zicheng took a deep breath and responded calmly, "Please give me a chance, sir. I will prove my eye for craftsmanship. I may not be able to come up with a usable technique directly, but my vision has always been very accurate, and it is worth your while to invest some manpower in the Supervisor of Works to try it out."

Liang Shicheng had lost all his patience and gave him a cold and emotionless look, telling him to do as he pleased.

Zhao Zicheng said goodbye and went out, found Yang Zhi who was still waiting outside, and after spending a cup of tea, he hurried back.

Liang Shicheng was already getting a little impatient, but he saw Zhao Zicheng handing over a Suzhou embroidered satin jacket with both hands.

Liang Shicheng was suspicious, but he still took it. The moment he got the thing in his hand, he showed a little surprise.

"What is this? It looks cumbersome, but it is so light. Is it for winter wear? Is it warm enough?" Even though Liang Shicheng had seen a lot of things, he couldn't help but feel a little curious when he saw something he had never seen before.

"This is called a down robe. I made it when I was in my hometown in Jiangnan. I saw that many people raised waterfowl just for the meat, but discarded their feathers like dirt, disdaining their stench and rotting nature. Poor people couldn't afford silk cotton, so in winter they could only stuff reed fluff into their clothes and quilts to keep warm."

The students studied hard and, inspired by the method of boiling cocoons and reeling silk, they weighed the pros and cons and applied it to processing down. Finally, they came up with this product, which not only removes the fishy smell and perishable nature of down, but also retains its lightness and warmth. In winter, it can be used as clothing and quilts, and it keeps warmer than silk cotton.

I came to Bianjing this time, bringing these local specialties with me. I was initially concerned about the cold weather in the north, and was planning to seek a partnership with a wealthy merchant in Bianjing who could appreciate the value of these products. I present these items today to demonstrate that while I may not be born with any innate knowledge of craftsmanship, I certainly have a good eye for detail, and am particularly adept at drawing inferences from one instance.

If the 'cement imitation stone' method can be successfully used, it will greatly benefit the country, the officials, and the people. Why not allocate some personnel and skilled craftsmen from the Ministry of Works to give it a try?

Liang Shicheng touched the down robe in his hand and gained more confidence in Zhao Zicheng's abilities.

It seems that although this person cannot directly come up with a secret method that can be called "auspicious", at least his vision is very sharp.

Now, in Liang Shicheng's mind, Zhao Zicheng's character is like that of a "successful serial entrepreneur" in later generations.

Although you don’t know whether his next project will be successful, at least he has a successful precedent and has proven himself.

Such serially successful entrepreneurs will naturally have more confidence and trust in front of investors.

"This boy was able to draw inspiration from the silk reeling method and come up with the secret method of processing down feathers. Who knows if he can be inspired by the ordinary mortar bonding technique to figure out the secret method of 'cement imitation stone'?

It wouldn't take much manpower to give it a try, but it's not a good idea to directly instruct the supervisor to do it. After all, I haven't planned to use this method to save money yet, so I'm just trying it out first. If too many people know about it and it gets to His Majesty in advance, it won't be a good thing..."

Liang Shicheng was worried like this in his heart, and in fact, this was the main reason why he hesitated just now.

Even if he had developed cement imitation stone, he had no plans to use it right away. To put it bluntly, it was a matter of "you can use it if you don't want to, but you can't live without it." He had developed it first, just in case.

However, if Zhao Zicheng had not directly provided the technology, but required the cooperation of others, there would have been a problem of early leakage. If he had secretly developed these technologies, and someone had reported to the emperor in advance, saying that "Prime Minister Liang was thinking about cutting corners in the construction of Genyue," then his favor with the emperor might have been weakened.

Although this kind of betrayal is very rare, and he is confident in his ability to control his subordinates, he still has to be on guard against even the slightest possibility.

Although Zhao Ji was a foolish ruler, he was very good at checking and balancing imperial power.

He had been emperor for decades, and he was very skilled at instigating his subordinates to fight each other.

Otherwise, Cai Jing wouldn't have been dismissed and reinstated several times. Lin Lingsu, a sycophantic minister who enjoyed the emperor's favor yesterday, was removed today without warning. It was truly unpredictable what the emperor was doing.

Liang Shicheng knew His Majesty's temper very well, so he would never dare to be negligent in this regard.

He then criticized Zhao Zicheng in a very tactful way, and Zhao Zicheng immediately understood the subtext behind it.

"It turns out he'd been planning to do this for a long time, but he didn't want people to think he was the one who ordered it. That way, if the technology was leaked before it was used, the emperor wouldn't blame him for 'cutting corners in advance.'"

After Zhao Zicheng understood this, he changed his mind and took the initiative to propose: "Since this is the case, based on my observation today, the Chief of Construction, Jia, seems to be quite knowledgeable about construction and craftsmanship. I will go and discuss it with him. As long as we allocate manpower, materials, and time, I believe that Chief of Construction, Jia, will be able to produce results.

This matter was a private matter that I discussed with Master Jia privately. It has nothing to do with my duties as the Chief Secretary. Naturally, Lord Liang is unaware of the inside story."

Zhao Zi said that this suggestion was a direct copy of Yu Zecheng's Stupunk Principle.

When Yu Zecheng helped Station Master Wu to collect Studebaker, what was the station master most afraid of? He was afraid that his actions would be exposed when he collected the money and released him, and that he would be bitten back.

Therefore, Yu Zecheng had to find a good reason for the stationmaster to let him go: it was because of Captain Xu's contributions to the War of Resistance Against Japan that he was let go, and it had nothing to do with anything else.

As for the collection of Studebaker, it was done by gang members, who would then hand it over if nothing happened. If anything went wrong during the collection process, it was gang members impersonating the station owner, and it was the gang members themselves who were extorting money, not the station owner.

Today, Zhao Zicheng and the Chief of Construction, Jia Zhubu, jointly developed a technology to imitate cement stone. Before the success, it was just their hobby and personal interest, and they never thought about what they would do with this technology after the success.

Lord Liang was completely unaware of this, and it was even less likely that Lord Liang had instructed them to develop and prepare shoddy materials for future garden construction for His Majesty.

After the research and development is successful, if one day His Majesty urges the completion of the project and is impatient to invest more in the Chongdao cause, Lord Liang must rush to complete the project.

Then this technology will naturally emerge and be used by him.

But before that, it had nothing to do with him.

"What a good idea." Even though Liang Shicheng was a cunning old man, he felt very comfortable for a moment.

This Xiao Zhao is really good at doing things.

Liang Shicheng's mood at this moment was exactly the same as Stationmaster Wu's mood when he received Stepunk.

(End of this chapter)