Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy after hearing Li Jin's explanation.
Because he can build roads all over the country. At that time, he will be the one who benefits the most.
As long as all the roads across the country can be built, the annual tolls alone will be a lot of money.
Moreover, with the help of local gentry, road construction will no longer be a burden to the Ming Dynasty, but will instead be a boost to the Ming Dynasty's treasury.
Zhu Yuanzhang was smiling in his heart, but his face was expressionless and he said:
"It actually costs hundreds of thousands of taels to build this road. It's really too expensive."
“The amount of money spent shows the real quality of this road.”
Li Jin replied:
“This road is all made of asphalt, how can it not cost a lot?”
"And this expressway connects Shanghai County and the port, and it will definitely become a commercial route in the future."
"If the roads are not repaired, I'm afraid they will be damaged before long."
Queen Ma nodded after hearing this and said:
"Master Li is right. According to Master Li's estimation, how much money can this road collect in a year?"
"I'm afraid it won't be less than one hundred thousand taels."
Li Jin pointed to the passing merchants and said:
"Madam, please look, the people here are all businessmen. In the future, we will really open the sea here, and I'm afraid there will be more businessmen here."
"By then, the annual tolls collected will probably double."
When Queen Ma heard this, she beamed with joy.
I didn't expect that just investing in a road would bring me one hundred thousand taels of silver a year. I was really overjoyed.
After listening to Li Jin's words, Zhu Yuanzhang fell into deep thought.
As Li Jin said, if the sea is really opened, then the trade routes in Shanghu County will really be opened up.
And the road here will also become a golden channel.
Since Li Jin can build roads, why can't he build roads himself.
Zhu Yuanzhang decided that after returning, he would contract all the roads connecting Shanghu County to various prefectures and counties.
When the time comes, no matter how much money Li Jin can make, he will eventually work for himself.
After all, Li Jin only has one line here, and it's not far away, so he can't charge much at all.
And if you want to cultivate yourself, it can be anywhere from a few hundred miles to a thousand miles.
In addition, he also built many roads by himself. With these roads alone, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that he could just lie down and collect money.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang actually had the urge to return to the court immediately and start implementing the road construction immediately.
However, Zhu Biao's words brought Zhu Yuanzhang back to reality.
"Master Li, I just heard you talk about your road, but what about your boat?"
"Didn't you say you were going to sea? And the shipyard has been open for so long, why haven't I seen the ships you built?"
Zhu Yuanzhang only reacted at this time.
Li Jin vowed to go to sea a few months ago, but since he came here, he has not seen even a hair on the ship.
"Li Jin, do you want to deceive us? Steal all our money?"
Li Jin said angrily:
"I do business with integrity. How could I lose my integrity because of such a small amount of money?"
"The ship has been built a long time ago, but now it has been placed in a secret place and is being trained secretly."
"Xuda and Lan Yu sent by the emperor are all there!"
"Do you want to go take a look?"
Only then did Zhu Yuanzhang remember that Xu Da and Lan Yu had never sent any news to him since they arrived here a few months ago. Could it be that something had delayed them?
"Of course we're going to see it!"
"By the time you save it, we don't even know where you have taken our money?"
Li Jin nodded and said:
"Okay, then let's go with me."
After Li Jin finished speaking, he led a few people to the carriage.
.....
Zhoushan Port.
Originally this was just an uninhabited island, but now, this island is full of camps.
At one end of the island, there is a port, which looks quite large. It is the naval port specially built by Li Jin for the purpose of training the navy.
Zhu Yuanzhang stood on the shore and looked at the island not far away. There were constant ships coming and going. Although they were all small boats, they were indeed full of people.
The small boats were criss-crossing the sea, and they didn't look like landlubbers at all. Instead, they looked a bit like a powerful naval force.
Zhu Yuanzhang pointed to the boat on the sea and asked with some surprise:
"Li Jin, is this the Beijing camp brought by Xu Da and others?"
Li Jin nodded and said:
"It's them."
"Right now, they are not yet proficient in water skills, so they can only train on a small boat first."
"When they can use the small boat freely and adapt to the bumps on the sea, they can go to the newly built warship and start training."
Zhu Biao looked at Li Jin in disbelief and said:
"They don't think they are familiar with the properties of water?"
"Look at them flying around in the boat. How can they look jerky?"
Zhu Yuanzhang also looked at Li Jin with doubts. It was not like he had never seen a powerful naval force. At first, Chen Youliang's navy was known as the best in the world.
At most, it looks like this. Doesn't this still fail to meet Li Jin's requirements?
Li Jin shook his head and said:
"People with good water properties can stay in the water for seven days and seven nights without being damaged. They can be compared to fish."
"And these people are extremely fast across the water. They can even run faster in the water than on land."
"I heard that some people, when they paddle across the water, flash past like a white stripe. They are called white stripes in the waves."
"Although our requirements are not that high, we can't go too far."
Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were both numb.
Idiots in the waves? Why have they never heard of this statement before?
And can such a person still be called a human being? More like a mermaid!
We want to see how strong Li Jin's navy can be if he boasts so much!
