Thinking about it, Yu Rentian couldn't bear it anymore and spoke quickly.
"Your Highness, Tongzhou Zhangjiawan Pier is at least fifty miles away from Wanping County.
Spring plowing is now less than a month away. To build such a long road, at least thousands of laborers will need to be recruited, and it will not be completed within several months. This will inevitably delay spring plowing. "
Hearing this, Zhu Di frowned slightly.
Although Yu Rentian was a little incompetent, what he said was not wrong.
Moreover, after the construction of this road was completed, summer had already entered, the water volume of Tonghui River had increased, and water transportation had resumed, so this road was no longer needed.
"Guo Qing, Zhu Qing, do you have any good ideas?"
Zhu Fu bowed his hands and saluted, "Your Highness, paving roads on such a large scale wastes people and money, and I even think it is inappropriate."
Zhu Di nodded slightly and looked at Guo An again.
Guo Andao said: "Your Highness, I think the road should be built. If the road is not paved this year, water transportation will still be unavailable on the Tonghui River by this time next year, and water transportation will still be affected.
Only by building roads can future troubles be permanently eliminated! "
Moreover, it is not a good thing to place the water transport terminal in the center of Beiping Mansion.
In later generations, after Zhu Zhanji came to power, he disliked the noisy water cargo ships coming in and out of Beiping Prefecture, so he directly issued an order to move Beiping Prefecture's water transport terminal to Tongzhou.
As for now, it is also very noisy. Guo An sometimes feels noisy in Prince Yan's Mansion.
Hearing this, Yu Rentian, Zhao Jie and Dang Fu became anxious.
"I wonder if Guo Changshi knows how much money it costs to build an ordinary road?
And if we build another road that is feasible in rainy and snowy weather as Guo Changshi said, the money spent will increase exponentially. As for the recruitment of labor, it will cost tens of thousands. "
Guo An asked with a puzzled look on his face: "It's just a fifty-mile road. Why does it need to waste people and money as much as Magistrate Yu said?"
Yu Rentian's face turned red and he said angrily: "How can Guo Changshi say that? Since ancient times, building roads and bridges has been a matter of working for people and making money."
Zhu Di waved his hand in annoyance, "Okay, you don't have to argue, this road must be repaired.
Water transportation is related to the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people in Beiping Prefecture, and it must not rely on the Tonghui River. "
"But Your Highness, to build such a long road, you need to inform the chief envoy. Moreover, building this road will not only cost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, but also require the recruitment of thousands of laborers.
Now spring plowing is coming soon. At this time, paving roads has delayed spring plowing, and the official can't bear it. "
Yu Rentian looked embarrassed.
Zhu Di looked at Guo An.
Guo An smiled slowly and said, "What if this road was built by Prince Yan's Mansion?"
Zhu Di's face condensed.
"What?"
Yu Rentian and Zhao Jie had faces full of surprise.
Immediately, before Zhu Di could speak, Yu Rentian hurriedly said: "If this road is built by Prince Yan's Mansion, then the Beiping Mansion will give full support to it."
Zhu Di took a deep breath, but still said nothing, staring at Guo An closely, his eyelids kept twitching.
Guo An did not explain to Zhu Di, but asked directly: "I wonder how big the support of Prefect Yu can be?"
"this……"
Yu Rentian was stunned for a moment, and then he said with a sneer on his face, "This matter is of great importance. I need to discuss it with the officials of the Beiping government before reporting it to the Chief Envoy."
Guo An sneered and said, "What if Prince Yan's Mansion needs to purchase the land around Zhangjiawan Pier in Tongzhou?"
"That piece of land at Zhangjiawan Pier?"
Yu Rentian was startled for a moment, but then he looked happy and said, "Please rest assured, Guo Changshi, I can directly make the decision on this matter. I can sell it to Prince Yan's Palace no matter how much space it needs."
"What should the people near Zhangjiawan Pier do?" Guo An continued to ask.
Yu Rentian replied directly: "Don't worry, Guo Changshi, there are only hundreds of households. I will directly ask the Tongzhou magistrate to find a place for them, or directly compensate them with more than ten acres of fertile land for one household, and these people will Can’t wait to move.”
"I see."
Guo An was reassured. It seemed that Zhangjiawan Pier was not taken seriously by these officials.
"What about Guo Changshi?"
Yu Rentian looked at Guo An expectantly.
Guo An smiled slightly and said: "Prefect Yu, I can only advise you on such a major matter. If you want Prince Yan's Palace to pave this road, His Highness Prince Yan still needs to make a decision."
"..."
At this moment, Yu Rentian wanted to scold his mother, saying that Guo was not a human being.
However, he quickly turned his head and looked at Zhu Di with an apologetic smile, "Please forgive me, Your Highness, King Yan. I am confused."
Zhu Di glanced at Yu Rentian expressionlessly and said: "Since Guo Qing intends to pave the road, I will not object.
But regarding the land at Zhangjiawan Wharf, you should ask the magistrate of Tongzhou to handle it for me as soon as possible.
As soon as the title deed was obtained, we agreed to lay the road. "
"Your Highness is wise!"
Yu Rentian was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly, "Please rest assured, His Highness King Yan. After the official returns, he will immediately summon the magistrate of Tongzhou.
As long as Guo Changshi sets his sights on any piece of land, the Tongzhou magistrate can immediately sign the land deed with Guo Changshi...Yan Prince's Mansion. "
"Um!"
Zhu Di nodded slightly, "You can discuss this with Guo Qing."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Yu Rentian responded quickly.
Then, he turned around and slightly cupped his hands towards Guo An, "I wonder what else Guo Changshi wants?"
"Prefect Yu is too polite."
Guo An responded slightly, "We only want 500 acres of farmland around Zhangjiawan Pier, and try not to occupy any farmland.
Most of these are wastelands, so the prices are presumably not going to be that high.
As for the relocation of the people around Zhangjiawan, it must be guaranteed, and the people must not be treated badly...
In addition, if there are people who do not want to relocate, we can also discuss with those people and let them continue to stay in Zhangjiawan after the road construction is completed..."
"Please rest assured Guo Changshi..."
Yu Rentian nodded in response.
As long as Prince Yan's Mansion is responsible for paving roads, not to mention buying a mere 500 acres of land around Zhangjiawan, even if it is given away for free, Yu Rentian can convince Tongzhou to know the state.
…
After leaving Prince Yan's Mansion, Yu Rentian's face was filled with joy. He originally thought that he would be severely scolded by Prince Yan.
Unexpectedly, it turned out that the Yan Palace came forward to pave the road from Beiping City to Tongzhou.
Zhao Jie and Dang Fu were still a little surprised and uncertain.
"Prefect Yu, my subordinates once heard that although Guo Changshi was only a young man, he had never done any business at a loss.
That man was so in love with Zhangjiawan that he even persuaded King Yan to build a road from Peiping to Tongzhou Zhangjiawan Wharf.
No matter how I look at it, I feel that something is wrong with this matter! "
Yu Rentian sneered and didn't care.
"Okay, okay, after all, Beiping Mansion is the fiefdom of His Highness King Yan. Since His Highness King Yan has paid for the construction of roads, and there is no need for me, the Yamen of Beiping Mansion, to provide money for people, why are these parents and officials like me so worried? ?
As for purchasing 500 acres of land in Zhangjiawan? This matter was also paid for by Prince Yan's Palace. Even if something went wrong and the inspector reported to the imperial court, no matter how dissatisfied the princes and His Majesty were, they would only blame His Highness Prince Yan and not us. , why should we worry about this? "
"Moreover, no matter what, even if His Highness Prince Yan does not rebuild it, but simply repairs it, it is also the political achievement of our Beiping government officials, and we should support it!"
Zhao Jie and Dang Fu were stunned for a moment, then they laughed and said, "That's right, that's right."
"Xiaoguan heard that Prince Yan's Mansion made a lot of money last year during the cold winter. He made at least more than 300,000 taels of silver just from selling glass.
There are also vegetables, woolen clothes, cotton clothes, sea fish, etc. for sale...
At least five hundred thousand taels of silver... A mere fifty miles of road is really a drop in the bucket for Prince Yan's Mansion! "
"Hiss... No wonder that Guo Changshi said that he wanted to pave the road, and His Highness King Yan actually agreed..."
"That Guo Changshi is really the God of Wealth of Prince Yan's Palace!"
"Okay, be careful what you say, be careful what you say..."
…
at the same time.
In Prince Yan's Mansion, as Yu Rentian and others left, Zhu Di could no longer hold back and stared at Guo An closely.
"Guo Qing, do you know how much money it costs to pave such a long road? How much labor is required?
Also, Zhangjiawan is fifty miles away from Beiping Prefecture. Although many water cargo ships will dock at Zhangjiawan Wharf during the dry season of Tonghui River, that place is extremely remote, so what is the value of it? "
Guo An smiled softly, "Your Highness, I forgive you, but I don't know how much money it will take to build such a road.
However, Wei Chen estimates that it will not be less than 30,000 taels of silver.
As for the purchase of the 500 acres of land at Zhangjiawan Wharf, if His Highness thinks it is expensive, Wei Chen can buy it himself. "
Zhu Di changed the topic and asked directly: "So, the main purpose of your efforts to build such a road is actually the several hundred acres of land at Zhangjiagang Wharf?"
Guo An's eyes widened, "Who does your Highness think Wei Chen is? Wei Chen really wants to pave such a smooth road."
Zhu Di said nothing, but continued to stare at Guo An.
Forced by Zhu Di's eyes, Guo An finally gave up and said obediently: "Your Highness, in fact, according to the development of Beiping Mansion, Haizi Wharf alone is far from being able to meet water transportation, and Tonghui River cannot meet water transportation.
Even now, there are often ships jammed on the Tonghui River.
Therefore, there will inevitably be many cargo ships docking at Zhangjiawan Pier, which is closest to Beiping Prefecture.
Nowadays, water cargo ships often cannot enter Beiping Prefecture due to the curfew of Beiping Prefecture, and can only dock at Zhangjiawan Pier.
However, the road between Zhangjiawan Wharf and Beiping Prefecture is really bad, and many merchants are unwilling to transport goods through this road.
If this road were paved with cement roads, wide and flat, many cargo ships would not want to squeeze into Beiping Prefecture, but would choose to unload in Zhangjiawan.
Furthermore, these merchants who came from afar to transport cargo ships were tired from traveling all the way, but they still had money left in their hands.
If we build more restaurants, taverns, teahouses, inns, large bathhouses, street food... and dozens of spacious warehouses on the Zhangjiawan Pier.
In this way, these merchants must be happy to rest and stay at Zhangjiawan Pier.
As for the shops built by His Highness, if there is no one in the house to run them, they can also rent them out, which is a huge profit.
Perhaps, by relying on the numerous inns and bathhouses at Zhangjiawan Wharf, the money spent on road construction can be earned back.
Even if all water cargo ships to and from Beiping Prefecture would dock at Zhangjiawan Wharf, then Zhangjiawan Wharf would be as busy as Haizi Wharf in Beiping City.
And the street built by His Highness next to Zhanghewan Pier will be as prosperous as Gulou Street..."
…
(End of chapter)
