If it is not during the corvee period, then some wages will be given, and the wages will be the same as the average wages in the local area.
In this way, road construction is a bit slow.
Because all the plaster used by the construction team was transported by the plaster workshop in Shengjing.
Moreover, he had promised Li Qiao before that the construction of the official road should focus on the Shengjing-Pingcheng official road. Therefore, after the construction team entered Jibei Province, it was divided into two, and half remained in Jibei Province. The official roads between various prefectures and counties were paved with plaster.
The other half goes south along the official road from Shengjing to Pingcheng.
Now, the construction team staying in Jibei Province has almost paved the entire official road in Jibei Province with plaster, while the construction team going south has left Jibei Province and entered Hedong Prefecture in the original He Province.
This construction team is located in a province across from Shengjing. As a result, the required plaster is still provided by the Shengjing plaster workshop. As a result, the transportation cost of the plaster greatly increases and it is also very time-consuming.
That does not work.
"Li Aiqing, why don't you, Pingcheng, just build the official road from Hexi Prefecture to Hedong Prefecture?"
"Or, teach the prefects of each prefecture how to make plaster, and let the prefects of each prefecture be responsible for road construction and this business."
Sheng Hong frowned slightly and said to Li Qiao.
In this way, Fu Ni's recipe will be leaked. If he meets a thoughtful official, he will either put the money earned from Fu Ni into his own pocket, or open the door to those close to him and make him and Li Qiao suffer. loss.
But that nightmare gave him chills all over.
Thinking about the nightmare from yesterday, he still felt chilly in his heart.
Therefore, he thought that he should not care about how much money he could earn from plaster. If there was a loss, it would be a loss. First, he should repair the official roads in various places. In this way, regardless of whether it was transporting food or providing disaster relief, the speed would be much faster.
Li Qiao didn't know Sheng Hong's worries, but he agreed with Sheng Hong's proposal.
Even if he doesn't know the situation in the next ten years or so, he will not object to this proposal, not to mention that he now knows what the big event will face next.
He couldn't agree more with this proposal.
He has been worried about his limited personal influence recently, and now that Sheng Hong has made this suggestion, it really hurts his heart.
He immediately replied: "The people of Pingcheng are naturally willing to build roads. In this way, it will be much more convenient for traders from other places to go to Pingcheng."
"As for handing over the mortar prescriptions to the prefects of various places, I have no objection. If you want to be rich, build the roads first and make them accessible. Then no matter what you do in the future, it will be much more convenient."
"But in this case, your income will be reduced. This forest is big and there are all kinds of birds. I can't guarantee that the prefect of every prefecture will be as selfless and honest as Ming Ai Qing."
Sheng Hong was very satisfied with Li Qiao's answer. However, this plaster workshop was the same as the royal pastry shop, and he, Li Aiqing, had to get half a share.
Moreover, judging from the sales situation in Shengjing, although stucco cannot be called a huge profit, it is still quite profitable.
"It doesn't matter, just donate the money. Compared with the little money lost, road construction is more important." Li Qiao answered without hesitation.
As soon as these words came out, Sheng Hong's satisfaction became even stronger.
He smiled and stretched out his hand to tap Li Qiao: "But I can't let you suffer. Let's do this. I will reward you with another 20,000 acres of cultivated land."
"……ah?"
Li Qiao looked confused.
Another reward?
He shook his head hurriedly: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. However, the farmland you recently gave to Wei Chen has already made Wei Chen burst into tears. If you give it again, Wei Chen will be really scared."
"What are you worried about? This is just to compensate for the loss of your plaster. That's it."
Sheng Hong waved his hand and changed the topic directly: "You took the initiative to get involved in the second question I asked my sons. Do you have any clue now?"
Li Qiao: "..."
He took a deep breath, lifted up his clothes and knelt down to thank him.
After thanking him, he stood up and said with a bitter look on his face: "Weichen... I don't have a clue."
This is true.
He really has no clue.
Regardless of whether it was the dock where the eldest prince and fourth prince belonged, or whether it belonged to the seventh, sixth and second princes, he had no idea.
For example, the seventh prince's Shangshu County, he carefully studied the various resources in this county, and the more he studied, the more he became confused.
This county has tea and Chinese herbal medicines. It has many hills and little arable land. However, tea and Chinese herbal medicines are not the specialty of this county. Tea and medicinal materials are produced in many places in Hui'an Province.
In this case, this feature can no longer be called a feature.
If there was an Internet at this time, he could still rely on his own influence to open a live broadcast to sell tea and medicinal materials.
But there is no Internet at the moment, and the Seventh Prince is already building roads, bridges, and rivers. Once these infrastructures are repaired, the county's tea and medicinal materials can be transported out without his help at all.
Therefore, during this period of time, he thought about all the poverty alleviation methods he knew, but could not think of a suitable one.
As for the most commonly planted fruit trees, he passed this one.
Next, I won’t have enough to eat, so what kind of fruit trees will I plant?
However, there is a large amount of limestone in Shangshu County and several surrounding counties. Limestone can be used to burn quicklime, and quicklime can be used to make cement and glass. There are many benefits.
But if limestone is used to make cement, the process is more complicated than making cement from plant ash. Now that plant ash cement is available, there is no need to use limestone.
As for glass, he hasn't researched it yet.
"No clue?" Sheng Hong couldn't help but be surprised after hearing Li Qiao's words: "Don't have any clue at all?"
Li Aiqing, who has always been full of ideas, wants to take the initiative to get involved, but she doesn't have a good idea?
It’s a bit incredible!
Li Qiao looked ashamed: "How about planting some chestnut trees at the wharf of the seventh and sixth princes? There are many hills there, which is suitable for growing chestnuts."
Chestnut is a cash crop and can also be regarded as food. Moreover, although the yield per mu of chestnut trees is not as high as that of high-yielding crops such as sweet potatoes and corn, it is higher than that of wheat.
All in all, growing chestnuts is more cost-effective.
"Chestnut?" Sheng Hong frowned: "What if the common people grow too many chestnuts?"
"Weichen bought them all."
"Huh? You bought them all?"
"Weichen plans to open a new shop that specializes in making various snacks. Chestnuts can be used to make chestnut cakes, fried chestnuts, moon cakes, and dishes. They have many uses."
"Of course, chestnuts are just one of the snacks in this new shop. Weichen will also make other snacks and sell them together."
Li Qiao explained in detail.
There are many brands that specialize in selling snacks in later generations, and they are quite popular, such as Eight Little Squirrels, Liangjia Shop, etc. If he opens a similar store in this time and space, as long as the taste is good, the business will definitely be good.
However, his snack shop can currently only purchase chestnuts from Shangshu County. It can only be said to be better than nothing in terms of improving the economy of Shangshu County.
After hesitating for a few seconds, he added: "There is a lot of water over there, so you can plant some lotus roots and make lotus root powder."
"Lotus root starch? What is this?"
Sheng Hong couldn't help but ask.
There was no lotus root starch in this time and space. Li Qiao explained: "During the Chinese New Year, Weichen found that the water after washing lotus root slices was a little turbid, just like after washing sweet potatoes and potatoes. So Weichen thought that since sweet potatoes and potatoes can be used to make starch, then maybe Lotus root is fine too.”
"So Wei Chen made this lotus root starch using the same method. The lotus root starch itself is light red in color and becomes thick after being rinsed with water. Add some honey and nuts and it tastes good."
"That's it..."
Sheng Hong suddenly realized: "Then you send some to the palace so that my father can have a taste."
Since it's sweet, his father might like it.
"Yes." Li Qiao agreed, and said with a wry smile: "We have little talent and little learning, and all our talents lie in eating. After thinking about it for so long, I finally returned to eating."
Therefore, he was embarrassed to say it at first.
"You can't say that, Li Aiqing, making people rich has been a big problem since ancient times. It's normal that the miracle of Hexi Mansion cannot be repeated. Miracles can't happen every day."
"Both chestnuts are good. They can satisfy your hunger and can also be exchanged for money. Just grow chestnuts. And that lotus root powder should be good too. After all, lotus roots are also good."
"I'm looking forward to your snack shop. It will open soon."
Sheng Hong said with a smile, with appreciation and encouragement in his tone.
In the past, he never would have thought that small snacks could create miracles.
Don’t underestimate the delicious food.
Therefore, Li Qiao's trip to the palace today was a fruitful one. Not only did he get another 20,000 acres of farmland, but he also had a small temporary solution to the problems of the seventh and sixth princes.
After leaving the palace at noon, he went straight to the gate of the inner city and asked Li Man to go home and get some lotus root powder.
When the lotus root powder was delivered, he entered the palace again and made the lotus root powder with his own hands in the Qiuxian Hall. After getting Sheng Hong's approval, he left the palace again.
This time, when he returned to the household department, he began to select farmland.
Now, he has a total of 80,000 acres of farmland to choose from. The 20,000 acres of newly acquired farmland today will be placed in Jibei Province.
For example, Zunhua Mansion, where Li Dao's family is located, is close to Shengjing, so it is very convenient to go back and forth.
There is also Tangshan Mansion, which is further away. Tangshan Mansion is also close to the sea, and the coastline is longer than Cangzhou Mansion.
Now these places are paved with cement and the transportation is convenient. They are all good places!
Within two days, Li Qiao was rewarded with 80,000 acres of cultivated land by Sheng Hong, which caused huge waves in the court.
It's an exaggeration, it's really an exaggeration. Li Qiao's treatment as a courtier is actually comparable to that of a prince.
This holy love is so strong that it makes people’s eyes red!
The dignitaries who used to be able to deal with each other calmly now really couldn't sit still. Not only did all kinds of greetings and invitations fly into the Li Mansion like snowflakes, but some matchmakers also visited the house frequently.
In the past, the noble families who came to propose marriage could only be regarded as second-rate nobles, and the most noble ones were earls.
These noble families really look down on juniors like Li Ershan, Li Yuning, and Li Xiaolan. Although these juniors are also literate, they grew up in the village and are completely incompatible with the noble Earl's Mansion. .
But at this time, even people from the Hou Mansion came.
And the person who had a good relationship with Li Qiao a long time ago was smiling toothily.
For example, the Fan family.
Fan Yuanyuan, the fifth daughter of the Fan family, had frequent contacts with Li Ershan. However, Fan Yuanyuan was too embarrassed to come to Li Mansion, so she always went to the duck shop to find Li Ershan.
After the two families got engaged, they only came to Li Mansion once during the Chinese New Year.
