Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

In October, the construction of the Futu Tower officially commenced.

Following Shen Lang's suggestion, the Ministry of Works divided the construction period into three phases.

This first stage is laying a solid foundation, which is also the most important step.

According to engineering calculations, the foundation must extend 20 meters underground to ensure the stability of the pagoda, but the Ministry of Works budgeted it directly to 30 meters.

After the relevant plans were finalized, the entire Jiangnan region and related industrial sectors immediately became busy, with various engineering projects provided to eighteen factories and more than three hundred private workshops that met the requirements.

The only issues that Shen Lang and the Ministry of Industry needed to consider were appearance design and cost.

"Your Highness, the exterior of this pagoda is modeled after Your Majesty, standing high in the heavens. But to display an emperor's portrait to the mortal world, wouldn't that..."

Li Youcai hesitated, his eyes constantly scanning Shen Lang.

"will not."

Shen Lang answered decisively.

"You don't need to worry about Her Majesty. I will talk to her personally. Just follow my ideas for the design."

In fact, Shen Lang had shown the design concept to Jiang Mengxuan in advance.

As a result, Jiang Mengxuan was very happy after reading it, and she was already looking forward to the scene of the whole world admiring her idol.

After all, the Empress was also a woman.

Every woman, no matter how perfect, has a bit of vanity in her heart, just like men's inexplicable competitive spirit. They are all genes left over from when Nuwa created humans.

Moreover, given the Empress's current status and the strength of the Great Chu, building such a pagoda would not pose any problem at all.

However, after her initial joy, Jiang Mengxuan held Shen Lang's hand with some concern and asked, "Lang, am I being too extravagant? Will the people criticize me for building extravagant projects and wasting money and resources?"

Jiang Mengxuan's concerns were not unfounded. When the Ministry of Works issued the order to build the Empress Pagoda, that group of scumbags immediately jumped out and publicly pointed fingers at the country.

The reasoning was quite sophisticated: the empress was wasting the people's resources and manpower, which was a sign of the country's impending doom.

However, these idiots weren't really against the Empress. Historically, large-scale construction projects have always led to widespread suffering, so what they said was true.

When the people heard that a pagoda was to be built in Jinling, they were filled with fear and submitted petitions to the relevant government departments, asking the Empress to abandon this project that would bring disaster to the country and its people.

Shen Lang gently stroked Jiang Mengxuan's hair and said softly, "Don't worry, the people will be overjoyed to know there's work to do. How could they possibly blame His Majesty?"

In the first two weeks, before the project even started, a somber atmosphere permeated the city of Nanjing.

But after half a month, the situation began to gradually turn around, and many people even began to support the construction of the pagoda.

why?

Shen Lang issued a policy:

All those exempted from corvée labor who wish to participate in the construction of the pagoda shall receive daily wages according to their individual abilities.

Those not exempt from corvée labor will have their wages halved, but those willing to participate in the pagoda construction for three months will have their entire family permanently exempted from corvée labor.

The imperial court will arrange food and lodging and reasonable working hours. It is entirely voluntary and there will be no coercion.

The company provided salary information for the relevant technical jobs, promised full accommodation and meals, at least two days of paid leave per month, and corresponding compensation in case of work-related injury or death.

Instantly, the people's enthusiasm soared, especially the craftsmen with relevant skills. When they saw that they could earn at least 25 taels of silver a month, with all food, drink and lodging included, they immediately rushed over.

"Ahem, since His Majesty has no objections, let's proceed with the design and planning according to the sketches."

Li Youcai coughed twice, pulling Shen Lang back to reality.

"Your Majesty, the estimated cost for the entire pagoda is twelve million taels of silver, and of course, this is only a best-case scenario estimate."

If the construction period is extended, or if there are other unforeseen circumstances, the cost could reach twenty million taels.

If there's a way to save some expenses, it would be saving His Majesty money, wouldn't you say?

The Ministry of Works had a relatively easy time this time because they didn't have to worry about any of the project funds. Li Youcai's job was to supervise the project progress and quality inspection, as well as improve the design details.

But instinctively, he still had to consider the cost.

"Understood. I will handle this problem. You just need to focus on the present."

After saying that, Shen Lang got up and walked towards the Ministry of Justice.

……

"Regent, are you kidding me?"

Inside the Ministry of Justice's main hall, Liu Wu's face darkened immediately after hearing Shen Lang explain his purpose.

"If serious offenders who are serving sentences are sent out to participate in the construction of the pagoda, and something goes wrong, who will take responsibility?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang smiled and said, "Is Minister Liu planning to refuse?"

Liu Wu replied expressionlessly, "I am afraid I cannot comply. Unless His Majesty personally approves it, I dare not take the risk."

Shen Lang: "His Majesty has temporarily entrusted me with the management of all affairs of the court, including the administrative power of the Six Ministries. Am I not even allowed to give these scumbags locked in prison a chance to reform?"

“If the Regent only needs one or two hundred people, then I can grit my teeth and turn a blind eye. But you want five thousand serious criminals at once. I really dare not do it. This is seriously inconsistent with the laws of the Great Chu.”

Seeing that personal feelings were useless, Shen Lang immediately changed his attitude: "Then may I ask Minister Liu, according to the new laws of our Great Chu, are death row inmates required to undergo labor reform before being executed?"

“Of course, it will be labor reform,” Liu Wu replied without hesitation. “But it must be for the imperial court’s projects. May I ask Your Majesty, is this pagoda project a public or private project?”

Shen Lang did not answer directly: "Minister Liu, with the recent changes to the Six Ministries, your Ministry of Justice must be under a lot of financial pressure, right?"

Liu Wu frowned: "What does the Regent mean by that?"

"The procurement of torture instruments, the construction of new prison cells, and sanitation all need to be handled by your Ministry of Justice, right? Although the imperial court has increased the annual budget for the Ministry of Justice..."

But overall it's still a bit tight, just enough to cover annual expenses, is that right?

The additional reward for the ghostwriter is also a huge expense; Minister Liu must be extremely busy dealing with it.

Liu Wu frowned even more deeply.

Indeed, since he took office as Minister of Justice, he has realized that without sufficient financial investment, he really can't do anything in the area of ​​criminal law.

Especially after the executioners came under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Justice's treasury never had more than ten taels of silver left over each month.

After all, you can't expect a group of people who can't even get enough to eat to have any lofty ideals of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism. Even if they do, they are extremely rare and not enough to affect the overall situation.

"Here's what we'll do. You send someone to me, and I'll give you five taels of silver from the Ministry of Justice every month. You don't need to worry about the food and lodging for these laborers; I'll arrange that myself. Think about the bigger picture, Minister Liu."

For a full quarter of an hour, Liu Wu sat at the table without saying a word, and Shen Lang did not press him for an answer; the atmosphere fell into silence.

"Ok."

In the end, Liu Wu compromised, but he made three more demands.

“I can release those death row inmates to build the tower, but I must have my Ministry of Justice closely supervise them, and the Regent must also bear the cost of their food and lodging during this period.”

"no problem."

Shen Lang readily agreed.

"By the way, let's also send those young masters from prominent families in Jiangnan who are still serving in the military to experience it."

"Twelve!"

Liu Wu's eyes gleamed: "Ten taels each for those scions of prominent families in Jiangnan, or this matter will be dropped."

"make a deal!"