Chapter 158 Chapter 158 People's Park
During the four years since Lin Si ascended the throne, Da'an has enjoyed good weather and abundant harvests.
Today, Anjing's development has long caught up with Lingzhou and Li County, but the original people of Lingzhou and Li County still retain a bit of pride in their hearts.
Speaking of Anjing, his tone was filled with disdain. "Speaking of Anjing, it's only gotten better in the last two years because of the schools built there. Before, the children of officials in Anjing had to come to Lingzhou and Li County to study, and spots there were hard to come by."
"That's right, thankfully Li County and Lingzhou wait until all the local students are enrolled before giving them a place. Otherwise, our local children would have almost gone without school!"
"Anjing is just taking advantage of the capital. How can the people of Anjing live as comfortably as the people of Li County?"
This is what Fan Ying hears most often when he goes home during the holidays.
As the only college student in the alley where she lived, Fan Ying made Fan Li and Song Pan very proud. When she went out to buy groceries with her mother in the morning, the men and women asked her:
"Besides the University Hall, are there any new and interesting things in Anjing recently?"
Fan Ying thought about it and finally came up with an idea. "I heard they were going to build a park."
The people in Li County had never heard of the park and were busy asking Fan Ying what this new thing was.
Fan Ying didn't know either. This was the first time she heard the word "park".
Fan Ying honestly said that she didn't know either.
"How could I not know? College students should know everything."
"Yeah, yeah, he's still a college student."
"It seems that college students don't know everything."
Fan Ying: ……..
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The construction drawings of the park were naturally provided by Lin Si, and the construction idea was also proposed by her.
She felt that the people needed a public and free place for leisure, walking and socializing. Now she could build one in Anjing to test the effect and see the people's reaction.
The Ministry of Works took on this task and carefully selected a site. It could not occupy farmland, nor be too far from the urban area of Anjing, and the area could not be small.
Although it was the first time that Yao Niang heard the word "park", after looking at the blueprint, she understood that this park was a combination of the garden landscape and manor in a wealthy family's house.
After selecting the site, the Ministry of Works arranged for construction to begin.
This time, all the roads in the park are paved with cement, and green areas are specially planned with benches for people to rest.
In addition to some craftsmen, the workers who built the park also included ordinary people.
Although Anjing was the capital, it also had ordinary people. Working for the court was a highly sought-after job these days, and with the pay and daily wages, everyone was eager to take it.
Even if you apply, you may not be selected.
Chen Huang is the youngest son in the family. Since he signed up for the park construction, he has been praying at home every day to be selected.
After His Majesty ascended the throne, An Jing recruited common people to do work several times. He enviously watched his neighbors and his elder brother go out early and come back late every day. As soon as they got home, they took out and counted their daily wages. If counting once was not enough, they would count again.
He kept muttering to himself, "This must be true. I get paid for working for the court. If I do this work for a month, I don't know how much money I can save."
Chen Huang stood aside, looking at the copper coins, feeling very depressed.
Because he was under the age of fourteen, he was not even eligible to register.
He also wanted to earn more money for his family. The gate of the yard was broken down by the gangsters under the thief Zhuo. Fortunately, he and his brother were on guard with shovels, and with the help of the army under His Majesty, there were no casualties in the family.
In the end, my brother used the money he earned from work to replace the door.
Chen Huang kept waiting like this until he finally reached the age and the court finally recruited people to work again.
When Chen Huang received the notice, he was so happy that he ran around the yard twice.
Chen Huang didn't understand what a park was, nor did he understand why His Majesty built it. He only cared about the daily wages.
Therefore, he worked extra hard. Since he was a novice, he was arranged to learn while working under a man who had done the job before.
The young man who was in charge of teaching him told him, "This job must be done well. Building things for the court has a deadline. After each deadline, the officials from the Ministry of Works will come to inspect. If the inspection fails, it will be a disaster!"
Chen Huang nodded. This was an opportunity he had finally gotten, so he naturally cherished it.
During breaks in their work, the common people and craftsmen gathered in groups of three or four to chat, all wondering what the park was used for.
The craftsman said, "This must be the garden palace that His Majesty built for himself, where he would come to escape the heat and enjoy himself in the summer."
The others all agreed. "That's very possible."
"This garden covers a large area. If Your Majesty wants to go for a stroll, it should be enough."
"Exactly, I think it could be even bigger!"
Although everyone thought that Lin Sixiu was doing this for his own amusement, no one thought it was ridiculous and extravagant.
Lin Si’s achievements are there. As long as the people can have enough food to eat and make money, they are willing to build three more gardens!
Chen Huang also felt that it made sense, and he was very grateful to the current emperor from the bottom of his heart.
The people and craftsmen had their own guesses and worked even harder.
Until one day, a craftsman made a suggestion. "Isn't this path a bit too circuitous? This is a garden dedicated to Your Majesty, and it shouldn't be designed so circuitously."
An official from the Ministry of Works who came to inspect the park replied, "This park isn't just for your Majesty to enjoy. It was built for the people."
The official's voice was not loud, but it was loud enough for several people and craftsmen around him to hear.
Their eyes widened instantly, their mouths opened wide, and they were speechless for a moment.
After a while, the craftsman who asked the question finally uttered a few trembling words. "Is this built by Your Majesty for the people?"
The official nodded. "Yes, His Majesty said this park will be a place for the people to relax, play, stroll, and socialize. The planned benches and pavilions will be places for the people to rest."
This caused an uproar. Everyone thought that Lin Si built this for himself, and they were nitpicking about it, saying that His Majesty should not be allowed to walk so far.
It turns out this was built for them!
This place covers such a large area and consumes so much manpower and material resources, but it was built for the people?
Chen Huang blurted out, "So, how much does it cost to visit this park?"
"Your Majesty has already said that there will be no charge. Everything is free for the people to enjoy."
Now everyone was completely shocked into silence.
When Chen Huang returned home, he was still shocked.
Until his mother, father and brother asked him what was wrong, and it turned out that he was scolded for not doing his work well today?
Chen Huang took a gulp of water and said something without thinking. "It was built for the people to enjoy."
"What? Why are you talking nonsense?"
Chen Huang finally came to his senses, "That park was not built by Your Majesty for your own amusement, but for the people to enjoy, and it's free."
The Chen and Huang families were also shocked. "Oh my god! Am I dreaming?"
"How could I possibly meet such a good emperor in my lifetime?"
"So much cement and so many other materials were used, and they built it just for us?"
"It's incredible, it's really incredible!"
"Why am I so excited? No, I have to go talk to the lady next door!"
"Why are you looking for Madam Wang? Just stand at the door and tell everyone!"
"Then after this park is built, we must go and have fun!"
This matter spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred, and soon many people knew about it.
The people were naturally moved, and they ran to the construction site to see it.
Therefore, Chen Huang often heard such sighs.
"This park is so big, we can walk around and have fun as much as we want. I heard there are benches designed for people to rest after a long walk."
"What was the name of this park?"
"It's called People's Park."
"People's Park, what a good name! What a good name!"
During the first one or two days, Chen Huang was deeply moved and excited, and he couldn't help but say a few words in reply during the breaks.
But now more than half a month has passed, and his ears are already callused. These people making noise will only affect the progress of their construction.
After Chen Huang finished his work, he said to them during a break: "We are currently working on the project. Please do not linger here, gentlemen and ladies."
Unexpectedly, the men and women were not discouraged by these words at all. Instead, they enthusiastically asked Chen Huang about his feelings about working here.
"Sir, we are students from Anjing University. We are here to write an article for the newspaper regarding Your Majesty's construction of People's Park. The article will include a paragraph about the construction workers' reflections on their work. Could you please answer a few questions?"
Chen Huang looked at the man in front of him, who was about the same age as his father, with a beard and looked to be in his thirties. "You said you were a college student? The age doesn't make sense."
Chen Huang had heard about this before, that the college students in the university were all very young.
Several other young university students stepped forward to help. "We are indeed university students. We even have our student IDs. Please see, sir."
Chen Huang had been forced to attend night school before, so he could read. After he found out that it was really a student ID card, he believed it and answered their questions.
The college students asked again, "Could you please point out to us where these benches will be built in the future?"
Chen Huang: "There are benches and pavilions for people to rest in not far away. I guess they are there to prevent people from getting tired."
The college students asked some more questions and then left. Finally, they said to Chen Huang:
"If you're interested in newspapers, you can buy the next issue of the Li County Monthly. You might find what you just said in it."
Chen Huang scratched his head. Could his words really appear in the newspaper? How could an ordinary person like him be in the newspaper?
Forget it, I'll buy it next month and try it out.
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