Zhu Yuanzhang's words immediately stunned everyone, and everyone looked at Zhu Yuanzhang in disbelief.
It is obvious that they, the gentry, do not do business, so why do they still want to be taken advantage of and pay such a huge sum of money?
However, they did not dare to speak directly and offend Zhu Yuanzhang. After all, as the founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang's power had long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
No one dares to challenge Zhu Yuanzhang's authority. Even if Zhu Yuanzhang has not launched the Hu Weiyong case yet, he is an existence that cannot be provoked.
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang continued to speak:
"We ask the gentry to pay because we value them. Otherwise, such a good thing would not be their turn."
The officials below were all criticizing. Can this kind of thing be considered a good thing?
They would rather not have it than spend so much money in vain to make wedding clothes for businessmen.
"Sir, I don't understand."
As the leader of the Huaixi Group, Li Shanchang is naturally also the representative of the gentry group.
In the current Huaixi Group, there is no family that does not have thousands of acres of land. They are all wealthy families in the local area, and they can naturally be called gentry and officials.
"Although the circulation of goods is very important in the Ming Dynasty, I think the official road is enough. Why does the superior have to build a highway?"
"Highways are indeed of great benefit to businessmen, but it is time-consuming and laborious to build a highway at such a cost."
"Moreover, neither the people nor the court will enjoy the benefits. I think this matter is inappropriate. Please think again, your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, please think twice!"
"Your Majesty, please think twice!"
Li Shanchang looked down upon businessmen at all. Businessmen were just at the bottom of society.
Even though they are rich, the smell of copper is annoying.
In his opinion, highways are only beneficial to businessmen, but are not good for the country or the people.
As for whether businessmen can be considered common people? Isn’t this an insult to the people of Ming Dynasty!
After Li Shanchang stood up, as the head of the civil service, many people naturally took the opportunity to stand up and echo Li Shanchang.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his eyes narrowed slightly, the smile on his face gradually faded, he looked at Hu Weiyong and asked:
"Hu Weiyong, what do you think?"
When Hu Weiyong heard Zhu Yuanzhang's question, he suddenly felt like a light on his back.
With his mentor on one side and the emperor on the other, Hu Weiyong suddenly didn't know what to say.
Seeing that Hu Weiyong was speechless, Zhu Yuanzhang asked again:
"Hu Weiyong, let's ask you something!"
"To report to your Majesty, I believe that Prime Minister Li must have his own reasons for saying this."
Hu Weiyong had a slight cold sweat on his forehead, lowered his head and said in a deep voice:
"Since the emperor wants to focus on agriculture and suppress business, there is no need to build a highway, so I think what Li Xiang said is right."
The smile on Zhu Yuanzhang's face completely disappeared, he stared directly at Hu Weiyong, sneered, and was about to speak.
"But since the emperor said so, he certainly has a long-term plan."
Hu Weiyong hurriedly continued before Zhu Yuanzhang spoke:
"How can I understand the emperor's intention with my humble opinions? If there is anything wrong with what I said, please don't blame me!"
Zhu Yuanzhang's expression softened slightly, but he was still not satisfied with Hu Weiyong's answer.
Since Hu Weiyong was promoted by Zhu Yuanzhang, the Huaixi Group's power in the court has become increasingly powerful.
Liu Bowen was alone in the court, and it was difficult for him to withstand the attacks from both sides of Hu Weiyong and Li Shanchang.
Zhu Yuanzhang urgently needed to split the Huaixi Group.
Seeing Li Shanchang coming forward just now, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to test Hu Weiyong's attitude, but found that Hu Weiyong was still on Li Shanchang's side.
This shows that the Huaixi Group is now very united, and Liu Bowen is destined to be suppressed.
But this was not in line with Zhu Yuanzhang's expectations at all. What he wanted was balance, not one-sidedness.
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes kept turning on Hu Weiyong and Li Shanchang. Since you two insist on wearing a pair of pants, I'll kick one of you out.
Later, Zhu Yuanzhang finally revealed his original plan and said:
"You all misunderstood."
"This time, although we ask the gentry to pay for the construction of the railway, we will subsidize them."
"This expressway will become a toll road in the future. All businessmen passing by will have to pay tolls before they can pass here."
"And half of this toll will be taken out and fed back to these gentry as compensation."
"Now let me ask you, do we treat the gentry the most favorably?"
Shocked, absolutely shocked.
All civil and military officials were completely shocked by Zhu Yuanzhang's remarks.
Since ancient times, although it is often heard:
I opened this mountain and planted this tree. If I want to live from now on, I will leave words to buy money for the road.
But those were all things done by bandits. They had never heard of any country's court charging fees for the official roads they built.
Moreover, this kind of thing was brought up by Zhu Yuanzhang, who always loved the people like a son. This is really unbelievable.
"Your Majesty, I feel that this matter is really inappropriate. How can there be any reason for the imperial court to collect tolls from the people while building roads?"
Lu Chang, the Minister of Household Affairs, was the first to object.
Although the money will be received by the Ministry of Revenue in the future, Lu Chang feels that this matter is too ridiculous and he cannot accept it at all.
But this time, no one agreed with Lu Chang. All officials were thinking about the feasibility of this matter.
As a surrendered minister of the former dynasty, Lu Chang also came from a poor family. He naturally did not think about the interests of the gentry when doing things. In his eyes, he only saw the common people.
Otherwise, he would not have chosen to surrender to Zhu Yuanzhang. He just felt that Zhu Yuanzhang could calm the world and save the people from fire and water, so he chose to surrender.
However, Lu Chang was reduced to a lonely minister in the Ming Dynasty. After all, the fact that a surrendered minister could reach the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue has proven his ability.
Zhu Yuanzhang also admired Lu Chang very much, but at this time Lu Chang seemed to be alone, and no one spoke for him at all.
After Li Shanchang thought for a moment, he went out to Zhu Yuanzhang again and said:
"The superior is indeed far-sighted and not beyond our reach."
"I didn't expect that the superior would have such wild and unconstrained ideas, and I suddenly realized it."
"Borrowing the gentry's money to benefit the people of the world, and then using the collected money to return the gentry's money, is really a wonderful move."
"It's simply wonderful. Only the superiors can think of such a method. We ordinary people can't even think of it."
"Yes, the emperor is truly the most holy king in the world. He cares about the people wholeheartedly, which puts us to shame."
"Your Majesty!"
All the civil servants below also changed their tune.
If they can stand in the position of Fengtian Palace, it is natural that they are all human beings.
Otherwise, he would not have been favored by Zhu Yuanzhang and chosen to enter the Fengtian Palace.
You must know that the officials of Fengtian Palace are all dressed in red and purple, and the lowest one is a fifth-grade official.
Their minds were spinning very fast, and they considered the pros and cons of the matter in just an instant.
If, as Zhu Yuanzhang said, he is willing to give half of the highway fees to the gentry, then the gentry will definitely make a lot of money.
Even if each person only accounts for one thousandth, it is still a huge amount of money.
And this huge amount of money can be passed down to future generations.
If there really is a prodigal son among the future generations, as long as the expressway's shareholding remains unchanged, there will be a large amount of money available every year.
With the development of the Ming Dynasty, commerce will inevitably become more prosperous in the future, and accordingly, highway tolls will naturally increase.
This is really a one-time investment, a lifetime return, and it’s a massive return.
Almost at the same time, all the civil servants quickly changed from the initial opposition to wait-and-see status to agreement, and they were eager to participate immediately.
"May I ask Your Majesty, when will the construction of the highway start?"
"You must know that businessmen are still in dire straits. Their cargo transportation is too slow. I still can't wait to build highways for them to ease their transportation pressure."
The Minister of Industry and Industry stood up and reported to Zhu Yuanzhang.
After all, if highways are really built in the future, it will naturally be the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the civil and military officials with shining eyes, the smile on his lips rose again, and he asked Liu Bowen:
"Bowen, do you think this is feasible?"
"Your Majesty, I feel that this matter is not feasible!"
Liu Bowen's words successfully attracted the attention of civil and military officials and everyone.
But this time, it was hatred and hostility.
Even the officials under his Zhejiang East Group looked at Liu Bowen in confusion, not understanding what Liu Bowen meant.
After all, blocking someone's way of making money is like killing your parents.
If Liu Bowen does not give a reasonable explanation at this moment, then Liu Bowen is likely to be punished after going to court.
