Chapter 91: Future Planning

“A shrine?” Mei Lin was a bit confused. There were many architectural enthusiasts among the transmigrators. Some wanted to build a Palace of the Soviets, some a parliament building, and others their own vacation villas, manors, castles, museums, palaces…

But no one wanted to build a shrine. The transmigrators were not interested in this symbol of a patriarchal society. Perhaps some among them wanted to become “gods,” but simply being an “ancestor” was not attractive to them.

“This… what is the shrine for?”

Zhao Yigong said with a solemn expression, “Of course, it is to worship the ancestors of my Great Song.”

“I understand,” Mei Lin said. He understood that Zhao Yigong was preparing to solidify his identity as a descendant of the Zhao-Song imperial family.

He had originally planned to build this shrine, which would worship the “ancestors,” by the West Lake, but it was not realized due to the price of land and the Foreign Intelligence Bureau’s disapproval of such a high-profile move.

“I don’t know much about ancient architecture. The shrine must be built according to the ancient style, otherwise it won’t look solemn. There’s also the problem of exceeding the regulations. The Phoenix Mountain Manor will definitely have to use local craftsmen. Don’t get yourself reported,” Mei Lin said with some concern.

Zhao Yigong said, “I’ve already had someone draw up the design. Don’t worry, it definitely won’t exceed the regulations. I’ve had the people from the historical research office of the Great Library and Master Wang and the others look at it.”

Mei Lin agreed. After all, he was only responsible for building the house. However, he immediately made a counter-condition: he asked Zhao Yigong to intervene and keep Zhou Dongtian for a while, to wait until he had finished his work before setting off. He wanted to go to Nanjing with Zhou Dongtian.

“We’re already in Jiangnan. It would be a pity not to go to Nanjing. I must go and see how Nanjing is ‘a dragon coiled and a tiger crouching’…”

Zhao Yigong, of course, knew what he was thinking and said with a subtle smile, “I will definitely try to persuade Old Zhou.”

Zhou Dongtian was indifferent about taking Mei Lin to Nanjing. Hangzhou was also very comfortable. He could stay for a few more days, eat, sleep, and do some internal political review work on the side. The population of the Hangzhou station had increased a lot. Besides the children, many servants had also been hired. These people all needed to undergo appropriate secret investigation and evaluation.

Without the other party’s knowledge, it was obviously impossible to take on an interrogative posture—otherwise, the news of a few strange people coming to the Zhao residence would definitely spread like wildfire. The inspection team was staying under the guise of Zhao Yigong’s friends, and their actions could not exceed the scope of friends. Zhou Dongtian had been trained in body language. By just saying a few casual words and observing the other person’s expression and movements, he could get a general idea.

As a “consultant” for the General Political Security Bureau, he had contacted and observed every servant, especially looking for any special actions. A spy, once they started their activities, would inevitably reveal some unusual clues.

A few days later, he confirmed that there were no spies among the native personnel recruited by the Hangzhou station. As for the reliability of the native personnel, it was impossible to judge in a short time. However, apart from the sedan chair bearers who had a slight air of the underworld, most of the servants were honest and loyal people. It would be relatively easy to form a common chain of interests with the Hangzhou station. As for how far their reliability could develop in the future, it would depend on Zhao Yigong’s own ability to win over and manage his subordinates.

But loyalty first required the formation of a community of interests. Zhou Dongtian believed that no matter how strong a person’s ability to manage his subordinates was, he could never become the “queen” or “mastermind” of a hive. Whether it was real or illusory interests, loyalty still had to be built on the basis of common interests.

Zhao Yigong’s main method was to start with the children. Besides the orphans he had taken in from the streets and the human market, he also organized all the children of his servants.

These children ranged in age from five or six to thirteen or fourteen. Zhao Yigong instructed Sun Wangcai to give all the servants’ children pocket money and to have them study at the family school in the abandoned garden. He also planned to have all the children live together in a dormitory after the Phoenix Mountain Manor was completed, living a completely collective life: eating, living, studying, and working together, to thoroughly educate them in culture and outlook on life.

It was not easy to change adults, but children were blank slates. How they were drawn was entirely in Zhao Yigong’s hands. By first grasping the children’s minds, their parents would not be able to escape. Their parents, who were servants, were basically illiterate and could not have any influence on their children. They would only be grateful for the master’s actions.

Among the servants Zhao Yigong had taken in, about half had children. He preferred families who came to him over single servants. People with children had greater pressure to survive and more to worry about. Such people, once given a safe and stable environment, would not have too many other thoughts. A little kindness and favor could make them loyal to the death. And for most people, children were the most effective hostages.

The land preparation for the Phoenix Mountain Manor was quickly completed. Sun Wangcai and Cai Shi bought more than two thousand mu of land on Phoenix Hill at a low price. Most of the land was barren mountain land. The land by the river at the foot of the mountain was mostly sandy soil and sometimes at risk of flooding. Both government and private land were not very valuable. The entire purchase and deed transfer cost less than five hundred taels of silver.

Zhao Yigong hired a “wood cabinet”—what was called a construction company in ancient times, specializing in construction projects. The head of the wood cabinet was a carpenter from Dongyang. He did not understand the architectural drawings that Mei Lin produced. It was not that the ancients did not have architectural drawings, but that craftsmen who built houses rarely used them. Moreover, the buildings designed by Mei Lin were “not in accordance with the style” in their view. When building a house, carpenters followed the Yingzao Fashi (Treatise on Architectural Methods). There were certain patterns for the structure, dimensions, and appearance of various types of houses.

The carpenter looked at Mei Lin’s drawings for a long time before saying, “It’s not difficult to build the house, but it would be strange for the house to be built in this way. Do they all build houses like this in Guangdong?”

Mei Lin himself felt that the house he designed was still in the “ancient architectural style,” just that the structure and spatial arrangement of the house were designed according to modern architectural principles. He didn’t expect the other party to find it strange. If that was the case, wouldn’t a star fort be even stranger?

He said cautiously, “We build houses like this in Sanshui. I’ve heard that some styles were introduced from overseas.”

“What an eye-opener,” the carpenter muttered as he looked. “Sir! I advise you to still follow the style. If you build a house like this, people will probably laugh at you…”

The two had a small argument on this issue. The carpenter felt that building such a unique “Guangdong-style” house would be laughed at. Of course, Mei Lin had to insist on his own architectural philosophy. After all, the houses in the manor were for practical use and could not be compromised for the so-called “style.” Ming and Qing architecture was of course beautiful and had a certain charm, but it was very poor in terms of comfort and space utilization. Since he had come to this era, he naturally had to insist on the direction of advanced architectural technology.

In the end, it was built according to Mei Lin’s drawings. The construction project of the Phoenix Mountain Manor was not small, and it was a big business for the wood cabinet. No matter how attached the old carpenter was to the Yingzao Fashi, he would not go against money.

What surprised the old carpenter the most were the underground drains and the water supply system in the design. Of course, he was not unaware of this. Many small towns and even villages in Jiangnan had complete and reliable drainage systems, but he had never seen one designed so “luxuriously.” In his opinion, since it was just a mountain manor, there was no need for a very complex drainage system. A few stone-lined underground drains in the courtyards of the residence would be sufficient. There was no need to dig such large ditches that a person could almost walk in. As for the water supply, a few wells in the courtyard of the manor would be enough. There were originally several mountain springs on the foundation. After dredging and building a wellhead, they would be ready-made wells with good water quality, and the water supply would be sufficient. Why bother building such complex drainage ditches and water storage ponds on the hillside?

Bricks, tiles, and lime were supplied by local kilns, and timber was transported from Dongyang, Quzhou, and other places. The ruins on Phoenix Hill also provided a considerable amount of building materials, especially stone.

When clearing the broken bricks and tiles, a large number of Song Dynasty tile-ends and glazed tiles were found. Zhao Yigong instructed people to collect and pile them all up. He planned to use these materials to build the Zhao-Song imperial family’s ancestral hall. Of course, those that clearly violated the regulations could not be used and could only be kept for now.

The progress of the project was not fast. Mei Lin’s architectural concepts and methods were too different from those of this era, and he had to spend a lot of time communicating with the people from the wood cabinet every day. The procurement and transportation of building materials were also very slow. It had been two weeks since the start of construction, but not much had been done. Mei Lin was used to the efficiency of Lingao and was very unhappy with the slow pace here. He was also afraid that he would be delayed on the project for too long and that Zhou Dongtian would leave without him.

“In the future, I must bring my own construction team to do the work. The natives can only be laborers,” Mei Lin complained every day after coming down from the construction site. “They always think our methods are too strange. They keep telling me that doing it this way is a pure waste of money. Some people simply treat me like a fool!”

Zhao Yigong comforted him, “This is the generation gap of the era. Wasn’t it the same when you were building houses with the naturalized workers?”

Apart from these, in general, the layout of the Phoenix Mountain Manor designed by Mei Lin was still of a traditional style. The main residential building of the manor was located on the slopes of Phoenix Hill, facing Taizhou Bay and backed by Wansong Ridge. The manor itself was built in the style of a common rural fortress of this era, with a certain defensive capability.

The residential building of the manor itself was enclosed by a wall, with a building area of 8 mu and multiple courtyards. It included the Hangzhou station headquarters, Zhao Yigong’s residence, the Hangzhou station guesthouse, the residential cluster for the Hangzhou station staff and servants, the school and dormitories, warehouses, and so on.

Outside the residence, several mu of land were reserved for future construction—to be used for building a quarantine camp, factories, and several residential areas to house the workers of the farm and factories. They were at a certain distance from the manor residence, but connected by roads and shared the same drainage and water supply system.