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

After leaving the construction site, Shen Lang hurried to the recruitment site to inspect the situation.

At this moment, a dense crowd had gathered in front of the huge recruitment booths of the Ministry of Works.

These are all ordinary people who came to work after receiving the news.

"What's your name?"

"Wang Tiezhu".

"What can you do?"

"I... I don't know how to do anything else, all I know is farming."

Are there any military personnel in your household?

"No."

"Then you'll be in charge of moving this. After three months, your entire family of five will be permanently exempt from corvée labor. Your current salary is four taels of silver per month."

"After three months, when the decree exempting you from corvée labor is issued, your salary will return to eight taels a month. Are you willing to do it?"

"Of course I'm willing."

Wang Tiezhu happily accepted the work badge from the clerk in the Ministry of Works and affixed his seal to the employment contract.

The clerk glanced at the contract, nodded, and continued, "Now I'll tell you about the benefits and related regulations."

In addition to your monthly salary, you also have two sets of work clothes to rotate, and you must wear them to work.

The project team will arrange your accommodation and meals, ensuring you have plenty of oil and nutrients in your three meals a day.

The daily workday is approximately four hours. Overtime will be announced in advance, and overtime pay will be double.

In addition, you are entitled to three days off per month. During these three days, you can do whatever you want as long as you don't break the law, and your salary will not be deducted.

If you don't want to rest, you can work as long as your physical condition permits, and your overtime pay will be doubled.

Your team foreman will inform you of the specific shift schedule.

Payday is from the 5th to the 9th of each month.

In addition, each person will receive one bar of soap, one bar of sulfur soap, and one bottle of shampoo per month for personal hygiene.

Furthermore, if you are injured or fall ill during work, just let the foreman know in advance, and someone will arrange for your treatment, all of which will be free of charge…

Wang Tiezhu nodded vigorously. He had never imagined that the working conditions would be so good. The job included food and accommodation, medical treatment, and generous wages. He silently resolved to work hard.

"next."

After Wang Tiezhu left excitedly, the clerk called over the next person to be selected for employment and began to repeat the previous steps tirelessly.

Recruiting doesn't require any grand pronouncements, and it's much smoother than recruiting prisoners. As long as the recruitment criteria are met, everything can be negotiated with words.

However, most of those who came this time were unskilled laborers with few special skills; there were not many skilled trades, especially blacksmiths and stonemasons.

In many places, craftsmen still adhere to the principle of keeping their skills secret, fearing that their livelihood skills will be stolen on the construction site.

However, many skilled craftsmen still decided to break away from tradition and come here to recruit workers to make a living.

The test for skilled workers is not as simple as an interview; ultimately, it requires witnessing it firsthand.

Shen Lang walked into a skilled worker recruitment area and saw a bricklayer skillfully building a wall at top speed under the supervision of an official from the Ministry of Works.

After completion, the construction staff immediately used professional tools to measure repeatedly and found that it was so flat and had no risk of collapse that they nodded in approval.

"Come over and sign the contract. The salary is tentatively set at thirty taels a month, with four hours of work a day. If you do well, there will be extra bonuses. Do you think this is acceptable?"

The bricklayer, who knew a few words, glanced at the contents of the contract and couldn't hide his excitement. He quickly signed and stamped it.

There is still a significant difference in treatment between skilled workers and ordinary workers, which is something Shen Lang specifically mentioned.

If skilled workers are treated the same as ordinary people, who will learn skills in the future?

The future development of the Great Chu will be inseparable from the involvement of skilled workers.

Overall, Shen Lang was satisfied with the progress made by the recruitment office.

Just then, someone from the Ministry of Works hurriedly found Shen Lang and said, "Your Highness, His Majesty just sent Qingwen with an imperial decree saying that the design must be changed."

"Huh? Change it?"

Shen Lang was somewhat confused. Hadn't they already agreed on this? Why did they suddenly want to change it again?

"Don't rush, check the foundation work first. I'll go back and ask His Majesty where improvements are needed."

After speaking, Shen Lang went to the palace to ask Jiang Mengxuan for the reason...

Inside Shuixuan Residence.

"Ah Lang, don't blame me for being impulsive. I've thought about it carefully these past two days and I realize that I've been too selfish."

Jiang Mengxuan grabbed a handful of fish food and scattered it into the fish tank.

At this moment, two palm-sized ornamental red carp were swimming back and forth in the fish tank.

Upon seeing the feed being scattered, they immediately began to flutter about.

Shen Lang was puzzled: "Selfish?"

He immediately understood: "I get it, Xuan'er means this project is too extravagant, right?"

Actually, whether something is extravagant or not isn't calculated that way. First of all, this is Xuan'er's own money; she didn't spend a single penny of the imperial court's money.

Secondly, all laborers, even the prisoners, were paid; they didn't work for free.

No one can describe it as a waste of time and money, especially since Xuan'er has never done anything for me in all these years.

Building a pagoda to pray for the people is no big deal these days; you don't need to make a big deal out of it.

Jiang Mengxuan shook her head and said, "That's not what I meant. I just felt a little sorry for you seeing how busy you've been these past few days."

"I, the Empress of Great Chu, seem to have been receiving your assistance and gifts ever since I came into your life, yet I have never truly considered anything for you."

Shen Lang was taken aback at first, then smiled and replied, "Do we, as husband and wife, need to talk about such things? Xuan'er, don't overthink it. You've already considered more than enough for me."

Jiang Mengxuan: "No, Alang, I actually know that the Great Chu's current state is all thanks to you."

Without you, the best outcome for me, Jiang Mengxuan, would be to flee to a foreign land and become a fugitive monarch. And this time, the construction of the Pagoda was once again all your doing.

I feel guilty whenever I think about it.

"Be careful."

Seeing that Jiang Mengxuan seemed a little agitated, Shen Lang quickly stepped forward to support her and carefully helped her to sit down on the recliner.

"But I was only thinking of myself, only enjoying this inexplicable vanity, and forgot about my husband who loved me and was willing to give everything for me."

"When you suggested using me as a model to construct the shape of the pagoda, I didn't even think of sculpting you in it first. I was really too selfish."

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang was immediately overwhelmed.

“Xuan’er, listen to me, I don’t really care about this kind of thing, you know I don’t care about…”

"Ah Lang, don't explain anymore. I know you must have some prejudice against me, right?" Jiang Mengxuan's eyes welled up with tears. "You must be blaming me for not considering you, right?"

"I swear I really didn't!" Shen Lang held up three fingers. "I'm really not interested in this kind of thing."

Jiang Mengxuan: "No, this really won't do. I feel terrible about it. We have to change it. The pagoda will be made to resemble the shape of my husband and me."

"Absolutely not!"

Shen Lang was really anxious.

The saying goes, "Pregnancy makes you stupid for three years," and Jiang Mengxuan is exactly like that now.

Standing alongside the 88-meter-tall statue of the Empress in the capital? That would likely draw immediate criticism from those with ulterior motives.

After all, although the Great Chu has undergone many changes, it is still an imperial society in general, and there are some bottom lines that must not be crossed.