"It's been less than a year since I left Zhao State, and Zhao State has changed so much."
Lu Buwei stood outside Yecheng, looking at the straight cement road in front of him, heading north from Yecheng, disappearing at the end of the earth, and murmured.
Before coming to Zhao State, Lu Buwei always felt that no matter how powerful Zhao Kuo was, it would be impossible for Zhao Kuo to develop Zhao State to a point comparable to Qin State in just half a year.
But since entering the State of Zhao, Lu Buwei clearly felt that the State of Zhao was much richer than the State of Qin, and there were many more smiles on the people's faces. There were still a bunch of people paving the road with gray-white mud and stones, and from time to time they would A group of people carried tools to the registration location to sign up and look for jobs.
"Excuse me, are you building roads?" Lu Buwei walked to the roadside, found a group of road construction workers, leaned over and said.
"Can't you see? You have such big eyes for nothing." A man said impatiently.
In less than half an hour, seven or eight people had already asked them, and they were almost bored to death.
The man really didn't understand, what's the point of asking such a simple question?
"Sorry to bother you." Lu Buwei took out a handful of copper coins from his arms and put them in the man's hand.
"If this noble man has anything you want to ask, just ask. I, Hu San, promise to know what to say." The man grabbed the copper coins, showed a long-lost smile on his face, and patted his chest and said.
There is no problem that cannot be solved with money. If there is, it must be because there is not enough money!
"What is this? I haven't seen it before." Lu Buwei pointed at the cement and said.
"This is cement, used for paving roads. It is said that the Mo family made it, mixed it with yellow sand, and then put stones on it to pave the road. The road paved with cement can be walked even on rainy days, and the road surface is very smooth. It doesn't bump up and down, and it's very easy to use." The man said proudly.
"Mo family..." Lu Buwei pondered secretly in his heart.
There are Mohists in the State of Zhao, and we also have the Mohists in the State of Qin. The Mohists in the world are one family. There is no reason why the Mohists of the State of Zhao can produce it, but the Mohists of the State of Qin cannot.
Lu Buwei decided to write a letter to the King of Qin later, asking him to order the Mohists in Xianyang to develop cement.
He didn't know how much pain this move brought to Qin Mo. In King Qin's opinion, if Zhao could create it, it shouldn't be difficult, so he only gave Mo Mo three months...
Qin Mo almost drove Qin Mo crazy and failed to make cement. Some Mo people chose to flee Qin in order to avoid being squeezed.
"Isn't this road repaired? Why is it still being repaired?" Lu Buwei said, pointing to the cement road.
The road surface is wide and flat, and can accommodate at least two six-horse carriages traveling side by side. This is just Yecheng. It is conceivable that the roads in Handan must be wider.
"This is only half of the repair, and there is still half that has not been repaired." The man shook his head and said.
In order to open it to traffic as soon as possible, Zhao Kuo specifically ordered that one side of the road be built first, and then the other side be built after it was repaired.
"I see." Lu Buwei thought for a moment and understood the benefits of doing so.
"Can everyone take this road?" Lu Buwei asked.
In the Qin State, the middle part of the official road was reserved for the King of Qin, the two sides of the middle were reserved for nobles and officials, and only the outermost part was reserved for civilians. However, the cement road in front of us did not seem to be like this. Lu Buwei saw all kinds of people walking on it.
"Hmm... No, if you just walk, it's free. If you drive, you need to pay. But it's not expensive. For example, on this road, from Yecheng to Handan, each carriage only charges 20 yuan." Hanzi explained.
"Instead of collecting money from common people, we will collect money from nobles." Lu Buwei was a little surprised.
There are no civilians who can drive around these days, and the worst are down-and-out nobles like Lu Buwei.
Twenty dollars is not a small amount for a commoner. You may not be able to earn that much money after a hard day's work, but it is nothing for a noble.
"Thank you brother for clarifying my doubts." Lu Buwei took out some more copper coins and put them in the man's hands. "This is the money to treat the brothers to drinks."
"The noble man is so generous. He will definitely become the prime minister of a country in the future." The man said happily while holding the copper coins.
"I really don't know how the State of Zhao can feed so many people." Prince Zhu got off the carriage and murmured as he looked into the distance.
Originally, Lu Buwei planned to come alone, but later Fan Ju told Qin Wangji that at this time, half of the world's famous doctors had returned to Zhao. It would be better for Prince Zhu to serve as deputy envoy and come to Zhao with Lu Buwei to see if they could find famous doctors.
If you can find a famous doctor, you will have a share of the credit.
If he failed to find a famous doctor, even if the King of Qin could not say anything, he would be disappointed in Lu Buwei, who accompanied Prince Zhu to the Kingdom of Zhao.
If something happens to Prince Zhu on the road, Lu Buwei will be even more implicated.
After Lu Buwei learned about this, he readily agreed. He had already been favored by Qin Wangji and Yiren, but there was also Taizi Zhu between them. If he could make friends with Taizi Zhu again and win the appreciation of three generations of his ancestors and grandchildren, his future would be better. The position is completely stable.
The avenue was busy with traffic, and there was an endless stream of merchants coming and going. Whether they were going out of the city or entering the city, the cars were full of goods, most of them grain merchants, and they were driving towards Handan in a steady stream.
Zhao Guo has been purchasing grain at market prices since half a year ago, and it has never stopped.
Grain merchants from all over the world flocked to Handan. Although the price of grain in Handan was slightly lower than that in other places due to the excessive number of grain merchants, grain merchants still continued to transport grain to Handan.
The profit is a bit low, but it is guaranteed!
With the government in charge, there would be no loss at all, and the State of Zhao had preferential treatment for grain merchants. As long as the merchants entered the State of Zhao from other places, the entry tax into the city was completely exempted, so it was not considered a loss.
Even other merchants, in order to save some city entry tax, began to think of ways to bring some grain to Zhao to sell while selling goods.
"Master, have you noticed the passing merchants? Less than half of them are transporting grain." Lu Buwei pointed at the passing merchants and said.
"You mean that Zhao bought grain from other countries and distributed it to the working people?" Prince Zhu said in surprise.
That's right, in his opinion, Zhao State just distributes food, because other countries never spend money to recruit labor.
Lu Buwei nodded.
"But where did Zhao get so much money to buy food?" Prince Zhu said.
With so much food every day, not to mention the State of Zhao, even the State of Qin cannot support it.
"This... my subordinates don't know either." Lu Buwei shook his head.
He has been doing business in the Central Plains since he was a child, and even stayed in Handan for several years, so he knows the Zhao State very well. After the battle of Shangdang, Zhao State was depleted and its people were exhausted. Even the nobles were in a situation where they were living on wheat. He really couldn't understand where King Zhao got so much money.
Could it be that King Zhao knew how to make money?
