The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 345

Xu Tian was speechless. It seemed that Qin Xian was unreliable and he would have to rely on Master Dongfang. He immediately gave him a flirtatious wink.

Dongfang Tingyun was taken aback at first, then stepped forward and said, "Do you know that the current Minister of Rites, Lord Chen, is a friend of the Prince? You are trying to implicate Lord Chen like this, do you think we will let you off the hook? Do you think Minister Chen will let you off the hook? Magistrate Chen, I think you are not truly repentant, but are instead courting death."

Xu Tian couldn't help but give Dongfang a thumbs up in his heart. This woman was very clever. In this way, she was essentially telling Magistrate Chen a secret.

One cannot stumble twice in the same place. Even if one is to embezzle, one should not implicate the Ministry of Rites, because using the same excuse twice will seem very fake.

Since Magistrate Chen knows it's fake, he can spit out even more. Just recruiting people doesn't seem to be of much use to Xu Tian. The only way is for him to return the silver so he can finish this matter more quickly and build a chain of academies on the border.

However, seeing Magistrate Chen's timid and hesitant demeanor below, it seemed he had no intention of revealing the matter.

Xu Tian immediately stood up in anger.

"I will leave this matter to His Majesty for judgment."

Unexpectedly, just as Xu Tian was about to leave, Magistrate Chen immediately went up and hugged Xu Tian's leg, kowtowing and admitting his mistake with a sincere expression.

"Your Highness, please release me. This was truly forced upon me by Chen Shuda. Here is a silver note for ten thousand taels." He said, trembling as he took out the silver note and stuffed it into Xu Tian's hand.

"This humble official is incompetent and unworthy, and will now hand over the official task of constructing the chain of academies to General Qin Xian. I only ask that Your Highness not report this matter to the Emperor."

Xu Tian's relatives felt some sympathy for Chen County. The emperor was currently negotiating with Tibet, while the Eastern Turks were colluding with Goryeo to plot the occupation of the Hexi Corridor.

Before Li Er could even deal with these external enemies, a corrupt official suddenly appeared.

It is easy to imagine that a person in power at this time is beset by internal and external troubles and wishes he could be in two places at once to handle state affairs.

Of all times, someone jumps out and ruins your mood.

How will the Emperor handle this? If he doesn't behead him, he'll exile his entire family, and his name, Xu Tian, ​​will be written backwards.

Xu Tian didn't say anything. Instead, Qin Xian walked over and kicked Magistrate Chen aside. Xu Tian then went back to drawing blueprints.

The terrain of the Pamir Mountains differs from that of the Northern Mountains, so there's no need to transport materials like in Chang'an. However, depending on the environment and even the climate, different materials with varying properties are needed to achieve the effects of cold protection, heating, insulation, and cold dissipation.

Each and every one of these tasks is extremely detailed, requiring Xu Tian to complete this massive project by himself. In other words, it would take anywhere from one month to half a year.

Dongfang Tingyun knew, of course, that Xu Tian had been drawing design drafts day and night these past few days, and hadn't even been able to get proper rest when he was sick.

Dongfang followed and gave instructions to the steward beside him.

"Then we'll go to other tribes and hire architects who understand architecture at high prices."

The housekeeper was a little embarrassed.

“Miss Dongfang, nowadays, various tribes harbor ill intentions towards our Great Tang. If we were to hire someone like this to devise a plan, I'm afraid they wouldn't agree.”

Unexpectedly, Dongfang Tingyun was speechless, then glared at the steward and said, "Steward, are you out of your mind? The tribes are short of food and money."

Such a lucrative position. Wouldn't it be great if someone with the ability were recruited? After all, it's just a school, not a military base.

The steward's eyes lit up immediately, but he then said with difficulty that he usually had to take care of Xu Tian, ​​who didn't even have a maidservant by his side. Now, Xu Tian was also sick, and there were a lot of things to do inside and outside the house. If he wanted to hire someone, he would have to go to the Western Turks or other tribes. Just finding people to distribute leaflets along the way would be a big problem.

After thinking for a moment, Dongfang Tingyun asked the butler to take charge of recruiting people, while he stayed behind to take care of Xu Tian.

The next morning, Xu Tian had just woken up when he heard a knock on the door.