Time flies so fast, half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.
After Hu Weiyong received the money, he began to work non-stop between the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Of course, the purpose of being in the Ministry of Industry is to let the Minister of Industry plan a route for himself, and then send professional craftsmen to learn how to build highways.
If the construction of this expressway is completed and the effect is very good, Hu Weiyong believes that Zhu Yuanzhang will definitely build a second, third, or even more.
At that time, he didn't want to be stuck by Li Jin anymore. He wanted to have a construction team of his own.
After finishing his work at the Ministry of Works, Hu Weiyong had to go to the Ministry of Household Affairs to calculate the money and grain.
Now that all Hu Weiyong's money has been handed over to the Ministry of Accounts, he is naturally the largest customer of the Ministry of Accounts.
As long as it is Hu Weiyong's request, the Department of Accounts will try its best to fulfill it. After all, the Department of Accounts was very empty before.
Hu Weiyong's request was actually very simple. He hoped that the Ministry of Revenue could provide him with more land to supply grain.
After the slaves from Shanghu County arrive, he will start the construction of the highway. If there is no food at this time, it will not work.
The Minister of Household Affairs said that there was no problem at all. One stone of grain and one tael of silver would be deducted from the funds turned in by Hu Weiyong.
Hu Weiyong is naturally dissatisfied. Food in Ming Dynasty is not so expensive now, and everyone is a colleague, so they should help each other.
Hu Weiyong directly cut the price of grain to one tael of silver and two grain stones.
On the surface, Shangshu Hube looked extremely depressed, but in his heart, he was extremely happy.
You must know that the most important thing in the household department is food, and money is in short supply. Since Zhu Yuanzhang implemented the policy of light corvee and low tax, the food supply of Ming Dynasty has been increasing year by year.
By now, the grain in granaries across the Ming Dynasty has piled up like mountains, and most of it is grain from previous years.
No one would buy these grains, let alone one tael of silver or two stones, or even three stones.
Hu Weiyong didn't care about this. After all, it was for slaves to eat. He only knew that he saved a lot of money.
The money may be used for the construction of the second expressway in the future, so he should spend as little as possible.
After these things were completed, Hu Weiyong asked to see Zhu Yuanzhang again.
Go to the study room.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Hu Weiyong who asked to see him again and asked:
"Wei Yong, we heard that you often visit the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household Affairs these days. I wonder how things are going?"
Hu Weiyong bowed slightly and said:
"Reporting to your Majesty, the matter is almost settled."
"Then the Ministry of Industry only needs to conduct an on-site inspection and plan a construction route for the highway, and then construction can begin."
"I just don't know when the materials, technicians and slaves from Shanghu County will arrive in the capital?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang knew Hu Weiyong's intention and chuckled:
"Don't worry about this, the Queen has already left for Shanghu County."
"The queen has already set off on the day she gets your money. It will take a few days for these things to arrive."
"You need to prepare food and living tents as soon as possible."
Hu Weiyong was overjoyed. He didn't expect things to go so smoothly. He quickly bowed and said:
"I will go to the Ministry of Finance later and let the Ministry of Finance handle this matter."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, then seemed to have thought of something, and said to Hu Weiyong:
"Wei Yong, you can build more highways."
“This will speed up construction and reduce construction time.”
Hu Weiyong was stunned and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang doubtfully, not knowing why.
"Your Majesty, I wonder how this multi-point construction is going to be done?"
Zhu Yuanzhang's face flashed with pride, and he said with a smile:
"Multi-site construction means starting construction at the same time on the prescribed construction roads."
"This can greatly reduce the construction time of the highway, although the manpower will be far greater than the previous budget."
“But the time saved is immeasurable.”
"And in the final calculation, the manpower and food used are the same as those required for the original construction."
"It just takes a lot less time."
Hu Weiyong suddenly realized it, clapped his hands and praised:
"Your Majesty, only the Emperor can come up with this method."
"If it hadn't been for the emperor's advice, Wei Chen might have wasted a lot of time in vain, causing the construction of the highway to be delayed."
"Now that the emperor has given advice, Wei Chen will go to the Ministry of Industry later to discuss the specific construction direction with the Minister of Industry."
"Once we have a specific route, we can plan the next multiple construction sites and try to shorten this time to less than three months."
Zhu Yuanzhang was very satisfied and felt that Hu Weiyong was worthy of being an official.
Originally, he thought that the construction of this kind of highway would take at least two or three years, even with the so-called multi-point construction.
Zhu Yuanzhang also felt that this time should be about a year.
Now Hu Weiyong actually wants to shorten the time to less than three months, which is really gratifying.
"Okay, we just appreciate the drive of you young people."
Zhu Yuanzhang immediately jumped up and applauded Hu Weiyong loudly.
"I hope you will continue your efforts. Your mentor Li Xiang is too old, too mature and prudent, and he is now too conservative."
"We hope that you can bring a different atmosphere to Zhongshu Province and sweep away this conservative trend."
"As the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, how can we only think about the harvest and not be enterprising?"
Zhu Yuanzhang continued to belittle Li Shanchang in front of Hu Weiyong, with only one purpose, and that was to cheer up Hu Weiyong.
Let him know that he is unhappy with his immediate boss.
If he can do things better than his immediate boss, then let him take over and let his immediate boss leave immediately.
Sure enough, Hu Weiyong was greatly surprised when he heard this, and he wished he could repair the highway now.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, this matter is the responsibility of the ministers. For the sake of the Ming Dynasty and the Emperor, I will definitely go through fire and water. It is my duty to do so!"
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw that his encouraging words had an effect, he immediately smiled and said:
"Okay, if that's the case, then you should hurry up and get things done."
"Remember, this time you must show the power of your Zhongshu Province and let all the civil and military officials of the dynasty see what the prime minister system is!"
Hu Weiyong excitedly shouted "Long Live Long Live" and then slowly exited the study room.
After Hu Weiyong left, Zhu Biao frowned and asked in confusion:
"Father, do you really want Li Shanchang to go home and retire?"
Zhu Yuanzhang raised the corners of his mouth and said:
"When will we let Li Shanchang take care of himself in old age?"
"But you just promised Hu Weiyong that Li Shanchang would go home and retire, and Hu Weiyong would succeed him."
Zhu Biao stared at Zhu Yuanzhang in disbelief.
"When did we promise Hu Weiyong to succeed him as prime minister?"
The smile on Zhu Yuanzhang's face did not change, as if he was talking about other people's affairs.
Zhu Biao thought carefully about the conversation just now. Zhu Yuanzhang did not promise Hu Weiyong.
"Then my father just wanted to encourage Hu Weiyong to take care of the expressway?"
"You have no intention of letting Hu Weiyong serve as prime minister?"
Zhu Biao felt that although Li Shanchang was older, he was mature and prudent and had never made any mistakes as prime minister.
Although Hu Weiyong has good ability in doing things, he is still a little young and a little reckless.
That's why Zhu Biao seemed so surprised when he heard that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted Hu Weiyong to serve as prime minister.
Now it seemed that Zhu Yuanzhang had no intention of letting Hu Weiyong serve as prime minister, so he felt a little relieved.
"That's not necessarily the case. If Hu Weiyong does a good job, we may really let him serve as the Prime Minister of Zhongshu Province."
"ah?!"
