"Have you inquired clearly from the Chang'an County Magistrate?" Changsun Wuji asked.
"I have inquired clearly. The King of Shu has decided with Chang'an County to block the western section of Zhuque Heng Street in two days." The servant bowed.
"He didn't place an order with you over there?" Changsun Wuji looked at Zheng You and others and asked.
"No! I have inquired about all the bricks and quarries, but King Shu did not purchase any related materials. I was even worried and checked all the purchase records for the entire last year, but there was no purchase record from King Shu."
"Not only that, I have investigated all the quarries and masonry factories within a hundred miles of Chang'an City, and there are no relevant records." Zheng You shook his head.
There is no need to investigate if it is more than a hundred miles away, and the transportation costs are too high, especially for stone slabs, which are very difficult to transport. If transported from such a distance, it will be more expensive than buying it from a quarry near Chang'an City at double the price. expensive. Mainly the quantity transported at one time is too small.
Changsun Wuji frowned tightly, this is wrong! What is Li Ke playing? He has read today's "Datang Weekly". Li Ke actually raised the monthly salary to five times the previous monthly salary. If this monthly salary is calculated by 30,000 to 40,000 people, Li Ke's salary for one year alone is It will cost hundreds of thousands more!
Even if the businessmen he recruited had no choice but to donate part of the money, a donation of one to two million guan at most would be enough, and the total would only amount to more than 3 million guan. Why did he spend so much money? ! Who gave him the courage? !
"But I have the latest news." Zheng You said again.
"What's the news?" Changsun Wuji raised his head and looked at him.
"Li Ke seems to have mobilized a large number of ships. They should start transporting things through the canal outside Jinguang Gate from tomorrow." Zheng You said.
The canal is a canal dug manually, which serves as water transportation and supplements the drinking water source of Chang'an City.
There is a canal outside Jinguang Gate. Water transportation in ancient times was much more developed than land transportation, mainly because the volume of goods transported was larger.
"Is it possible that he really transports raw materials from a long distance?" Changsun Wuji had a headache thinking about this. This guy didn't follow common sense. Think about Li Ke's temper, even if he lost money, he wouldn't send them to them. Money is not impossible.
"It doesn't seem so. I heard that these ships are concentrated not far away, and the main materials they transport seem to be river sand, gravel, etc." Zheng You shook his head.
"Aren't these just foundation materials? Is it possible that he is only going to lay the foundation again without replacing the bluestone slabs on it? What about the damaged roads? What about the large number of masonry roads?" Changsun Wuji was a little confused. In ancient times, road construction also required a foundation layer. For example, the Forbidden City built in the Ming Dynasty had fifteen floors of bricks alone!
Although Daming Palace and Taiji Palace are not so luxurious, they still have thick foundation layers and brick paving layers, such as underground drainage systems, which are underneath these cushion layers.
"I don't know. Judging from the current situation, he has not taken the path we expected. The current situation is, if he does not buy our stones and masonry, what should we do?" Zheng You had a headache.
Because they announced an increase in monthly wages a few days in advance, their brick factories and quarries recruited a large number of nearby villagers and people to work. With so many people coming to work, of course the output will increase. , otherwise what should we do? Let them eat dry food? !
Ordinary people simply cannot afford to buy high-quality bricks, stones, and slates like this. Who do they sell them to? Even if some wealthy families maintain it, the quantity used is too small. The main building of His Majesty's Daming Palace is basically completed, and the materials required are not much.
Changsun Wuji froze for a moment, and a bad premonition surged in his heart. The point is, they have to hire these workers for at least a year! This is a pure loss. The combined losses of these powerful families are close to one million a year!
If Li Ke also suffered losses, or suffered more losses, they would admit it, but now it is possible that Li Ke did not lose money, but they lost money... This is unbearable.
Doesn't this mean they are a bunch of idiots? !
"For now, this is all we can do. We have done what we need to do. If it cannot affect him, there is no other way. I heard that he is not even short of food?" Changsun Wuji asked again.
"There is no shortage. Judging from the current situation, he seems to have stored a large amount of food. It is also possible that he has thought of today's step." Zheng You shook his head and said, "And Sikong should have heard about the situation outside the city yesterday. Having said that, many people in Chang'an City would rather work for Li Ke without the high monthly salary, and his reputation among the people is evident, so I'm afraid we have no way to continue targeting him at the moment."
"If we continue to target people, if it arouses the excitement of the people, I'm afraid it will be a recurrence of the Suzaku Gate incident not long ago." Zheng You added.
"I understand. Let's maintain the current situation for the time being in other aspects. We will see how successful he is. As for the issue of reputation, don't worry. Sometimes the higher his reputation, it may not be a good thing! What's the point of him tossing all this? Use it?" Changsun Wuji sneered twice, "You go back for now, I have something to do in the afternoon."
"Yes." Zheng You cupped his hands and left directly.
Changsun Wuji took a deep breath. It seemed that he had to take some time to visit his nephew. In fact, their eldest son's family also suffered a lot of losses. Currently, all the blacksmith shops were short of manpower. Li Ke directly offered ten times the monthly salary at the blacksmith shop. Almost all the apprentice craftsmen in the Chang'an City blacksmith shop ran away.
Changsun Wuji also transferred some people from the mansion to barely hold on, but Li Ke had obviously made this preparation for a long time, and reported to Li Shimin in advance to buy out all the servants of the tooth shop in Chang'an City! They want to buy people from here to fill the gap, but they can't find anyone.
…
In the Taiji Palace, Li Shimin was also a little surprised. He did not call any ministers today. Instead, he and Chang Lin were in the palace to check the news found by the outside world. Li Shimin was also amazed by the news that the Tang Dynasty Weekly was selling 100,000 copies a day. Facts It proves that Li Ke does have a gap in his chest.
Moreover, Li Shimin has not figured out Li Ke's method of renovating Chang'an City. Doesn't Li Shimin know the methods of the family members? Know! But Li Shimin wouldn't move until Li Ke came to ask for help. He wanted to see how Li Ke would do it.
But judging from the current situation...it's obvious that Li Ke has other back-ups. I just don't know what his back-up is. Is it possible to transport materials from farther away by river? With Li Ke's strong head, this possibility is also very high.
After all, these aristocratic families have begun to injure the enemy by one thousand and lose themselves by eight hundred. With Li Ke's character, he can definitely do it by injuring the enemy by eight hundred and losing one thousand by himself.
"Chang Lin, prepare to draft the edict." Li Shimin thought for a while and suddenly said something.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Chang Lin had no expression on his face.
Chang'an City seemed very calm, but in fact the eyes of Chang'an's powerful people and merchants were all on Li Ke. They wanted to know how Li Ke would break the situation in two days.
