"Okay, go and bring two hundred taels with you. It's easy to do something if you have money." Gao Xi ordered Zhang Tienan again.
"Uncle Zhang, you will be the manager of my yard in the future. Everyone will call him Manager Zhang from now on." Gao Xi immediately made a decision, not to doubt the person.
Uncle Zhang drove out after receiving the order. It was convenient to have a carriage, so he quickly arrived at the Qin Mansion's house. Zhang Tienan asked the Qin Mansion's concierge: "Is the chief manager of your mansion here?" Seeing that Zhang Tienan was dressed very old, the concierge was unwilling to pay attention to it: "Go and go, don't come again with some poor relatives to fight Qiufeng. This is the Qin Mansion, and it is not something that people of your status should come."
"The villain is the new manager of the second lady in the Prime Minister's Mansion. I would like to ask you the chief executive for some things."
"Prime Minister's Mansion? Second Miss? I haven't heard of it. I have only heard of the eldest lady of the Prime Minister's Mansion. She is beautiful and talented. Where did you come from here? Is it a joke?" The concierge of the Qin Mansion looked disbelief and was unwilling to help find the head of the mansion.
Zhang Tienan didn't care about the doorman's dog eyes, so he took some silver and stuffed it to the doorman. The doorman looked at the silver in his hand with satisfaction, "Wait, I'll report it."
After a while, the chief general of the Qin Mansion came out. Zhang Tienan took the initiative to tell his identity and said that his lady had just returned from the village and that her grandfather was General Bai. After that, the chief general of the Qin Mansion believed it. Zhang Tienan asked where the craftsman came from in the garden in the General Administration.
"It turned out to be a descendant of General Bai Bai, and it was rude. Our mansion, Yuanzi, hired a craftsman from Kyoto to bring a craftsman, but the price was not cheap, it was much more expensive than other craftsmen, but many details were handled well. After the work was done, the master and wife in our mansion were very satisfied. Those who came to admire him thought it was very good."
After receiving the answer, Manager Zhang went to the outskirts of Kyoto to hire Foreman Li. Foreman Li took all the repair workers of the entire garden. Manager Zhang directly paid a deposit of 100 taels. Foreman Li received the deposit, summoned a total of twenty craftsmen, and went to the Prime Minister's Mansion in a mighty manner.
The craftsmen with tools walked into the Prime Minister's Mansion and passed through the garden of Wen and Gao Hongming. Wen and Gao Hongming saw it and felt even more upset. Gao Hongming said viciously, "Isn't it just a slope garden? Isn't it necessary to waste the money in our mansion? It's so stinking, and finally set up an inappropriate garden to see how she explains to her father?"
When Foreman Li came over, Gao Xi did not explain anything to him, because the task on the first day was to clean up the site and level the site. Only when the site was leveled out could Gao Xi plan how to do it in his head.
Twenty people, Xiao Xingtao, Cui Youyou, and Madam Bai all devoted themselves to the vast project of cleaning the garden. The weeds and garbage that were cleaned out on the first day took a lot of cars out of the house.
After several days of hard work, all the weeds and garbage that grew wildly were cleaned up. Gao Xi looked at this bare and empty space again, and a sense of responsibility that must make this place more beautiful came naturally.
"I will leave the main road here when I enter the yard gate. I will plant some trees at that time. As for what trees I plant, I can't tell you now. I won't make it complicated for the whole garden. I want to simplify it. It is also very interesting while simplifying it."
"My whole garden is a square land. When you open the door, you will be a main road. I want to make this main road bigger and wider, and have a general style, rather than a small family's delicate and delicate form. I want to carry trees on both sides of the main road. As for what trees to plant, I want to keep it secret now. This is a super beautiful tree that no one can imagine. You will know then."
Gao Xi said mysteriously again.
"After walking the main road, there is a big round pond at the end of the main road. After the pond is finished, plant lotus flowers. In summer, the lotus can bloom all over the pond and dig lotus roots to eat. A small corridor extends from the edge of the pond to build a pavilion. You can try to build a pavilion as large as possible, so that I can enjoy playing. Build an orchid garden on the left side of the pond and a leisure area on the right side of the pond. There must be a swing, a chess table, and a table for musical instruments. A small rockery can be built from the pond to the leisure area. You can make a water feast at that time."
"I don't need to create extra hills and pavilions in my garden. Too many rockery are annoying to see. There are rockery in the leisure area, and it's almost like there is a pavilion in the lotus pond. If you create more, it will be aesthetically exhausted and complicated, and it won't make people feel novel. What I want is to make good and practical. Don't make me those fancy things that have no effect at all. Take this rockery for example. If you create more, if you hide a few bad people here, I won't dare to sleep at night." Gao Xi said these words again, which made Foreman Li laugh. This lady from a wealthy family also has such funny characters.
Foreman Li gradually realized that his boss is not an ordinary boss, and he has different requirements from other people's houses. She has her own style and characteristics. Overall, her requirements seem very simple, but in fact, if these are combined, they will feel a sense of indescribable comfort and comfort. This may be a major challenge and innovation in his career in gardening.
Foreman Li looked at the fat and dark lady in front of him, and inexplicably admired her. This was different from the ladies he had seen before. In the past, the requirements of those ladies were as exquisite as they were, and they were not like the ladies in front of him. Her requirements were generous and simple.
The design and workmanship of the garden are mostly exquisite and cumbersome, with many meanings. Poetry and scenery should be combined. In the past, it was labor-intensive and tiring, but it was still easy to do here. Therefore, the workers were very energetic and always felt that as long as they could work hard, they could complete the task happily and well.
Gao Xi also gave money to Manager Zhang, asking him to buy meat and eat it for these craftsmen, making white rice at noon, and matching it with some vegetables. The craftsmen were very happy when they had lunch. They originally relied on their skills and physical strength to make their meals. Only by eating enough can they have the strength to work. In the past, they brought their own dry food at most, including some coarse grain steamed buns and pickles.
Now they have eaten real meat and white rice here at Gao Xi. They are as happy as a child. While they are extremely grateful to Gao Xi, the workmanship is more meticulous and attentive, and there is no need for Foreman Li to supervise and discipline. As long as it is time to start work, the craftsmen come earlier than the agreed time, and the time to go back to work is later than the agreed time. Gao Xi used another meal to convince the stomachs of these twenty workers, making them happy to exert more effort and spend more time on their work.
Working here is different from other mansions in the past, and Gao Xi did not scold the craftsmen. If she felt something was wrong, she would go to Foreman Li, discuss with Foreman Li, and ask Foreman Li to remind them. In the past, when working in other mansions, those high-ranking officials would shout and scold them when they saw something bad, as if they were just slaves who sold themselves to theirs, and they would not dare to say anything, and they would not retort, feeling extremely aggrieved, and the workmanship would naturally be greatly reduced.
At Gao Xiyou, they felt respected and were happy to do things. Gradually, everyone's face was naturally happy, without a numb and painful expression, and they endured pain for life.
Foreman Li has been working with these craftsmen for many years, but he has never seen such natural expressions and happy work scenes from the bottom of his heart. He has seen all the hard work of being forced by noble people by life. He also feels rare, so he has to admire Gao Xiyou, who is a person who is trying to win over the people who work for her. After all, no one is willing to spend extra money to buy meat and rice for people of lower classes to eat. The money spent on buying rice and meat is a lot, but the meticulous and responsible workmanship may not be bought. At the same time, it also avoids the cutting corners of some craftsmen. No one will do this again because they feel respected.
The main road when I opened the door was originally a mud road, but it would be extremely muddy and slippery on rainy days. Every time it rains, Madam Bai was in great pain and could not get up even if she fell down for a long time. After all, she was a little older, so Gao Xi paved the ground with a layer of blue bricks, so that she would not slip on rainy days. She was simple and generous, and she looked comfortable.
After the entire garden was covered with a layer of blue bricks, it solved the trouble of walking and falling on rainy days. Madam Bai was happy when she looked at the clean and tidy blue bricks. She felt that her lady was getting smarter and smarter, and she could always catch the most critical place when doing things.
While laying the floor tiles, Gao Xi also considered the issue of ground drainage. To guide the drainage of the entire garden into the pond, the ground must be made with some invisible in the naked eye. The ground near the pond must be shorter than other places. In this way, as long as it rains, the water flows to the lower part, so that the water can be discharged into the pond smoothly without staying in the yard, water is full of bumps and pits, which is very uncomfortable. At the same time, drainage ditches must be made, and Gao Xi pays great attention to this drainage question.
The problem with the question and the ground was because she encountered such an annoying thing when she was in Zhuangzi. The ground in the countryside was not covered with blue bricks, and it would become very muddy once it rained. It was common for people to fall into dogs at home. If the accumulated water could not be discharged, it would cause puddles in the yard, and mosquitoes would also grow in the puddles. This vicious cycle made Gao Xi feel since he was a child that if he had his own yard in the future, he would have to solve the problem of ground and drainage, otherwise it would be very annoying to live on himself.
It takes a path from the edge of the pond to build a pavilion in the middle of the pond. Gao Xi started to think about this path again. How can this path be made more unique? Then refer to other people's wisdom. She also makes a pebbled path, which is beautiful and can exercise. Taking off her shoes and walking the pebbled path can stimulate the acupoints in the soles of the feet and speed up blood circulation, which is of great benefit to her weight loss. However, what she wants to do on this path is different from what others do. When Gao Xi told Foreman Li about her thoughts, Foreman Li was shocked. No one had ever done such a wonderful idea before, but after listening to her plan, Foreman Li expressed his eagerness to try. This path should be very interesting after completing it.
Because Gao Xi remembered amber again, the amber was transparent, and the rosin was wrapped in various plant leaves and strange small insects. Gao Xi didn't want to use ordinary stones to lay a pebbles. Amber was extremely numerous and overprone in Kyoto, and the price was very low, so Gao Xi sent Manager Zhang to pull a cart back.
Foreman Li asked the workers to pave the Amber Road, and the whole road became translucent, which was still very dazzling under the sun. Foreman Li admired Gao Xiyou's wonderful ideas very much. He estimated that once this Amber Road came out, the price of amber should increase. If other mansions want to pave the same Amber Road, the cost of paving the same Amber Road will definitely increase. After finishing the work of Gao Xiyou's garden, he would also stock a little amber, and he might make a fortune. This is all a story.
After the path extending to the middle of the pond is ready, it is the pen of Heavy Industry, the pavilion in the middle of the lake. Gao Xi plans to make the pavilion very large and unique in shape. She whimsically wants to make the roof of the pavilion into a blooming lotus shape, and then color the blooming lotus. The petals on the outside are hung down so that the rainwater can flow down the outermost petals on rainy days, which is beautiful and solves the drainage problem of the roof. The pink lotus, coupled with pink gauze, is exactly the scenery that girls like. Gao Xi also likes this idea.
Foreman Li also appreciated it. This idea is both beautiful and practical, which also broadened his mind for some ideas.
"I have renovated the roofs, those roofs, all the rooms. There are nine rooms in my yard, one main room, one living room, one study room, one servant room, and five guest rooms. I helped me change one of them into a kitchenette. Sometimes when I get tired of the food cooked in the big kitchen in the mansion, I can cook something in the kitchen myself."
"I agree, I agree, I agree." Xiao Xingtao, who was beside him, danced happily when he heard this, and followed the lady and had some delicious food.
Seeing Xiao Xingtao so happy, Gao Xi also laughed happily, "You are such a greedy cat, but you can't eat as fat as I am now. Be careful that you can't get married, so you can only follow me forever. You don't think I'm annoyed, I still think you are annoyed."
"I just want to rely on the lady for the rest of my life. I don't want to get married. I just want to grow up with the lady. Watch the lady get married and take care of the baby for the lady, hehe."
Chapter completed!