jdhmnovel Chapter 988 Is there anyone who will speak up for me?
Chapter 988 Is there anyone who will speak up for me?
As it turned out, the local gentry and gentry of the Ming Dynasty were not very sensible.
When rumors spread that the national treasury was going to issue bonds, the local gentry and scholars of the Ming Dynasty generally believed that Emperor Zhu wanted to make money.
As you may have seen, King Nan of Zhou borrowed money to wage war, but ultimately failed and had to hide on a high platform, leaving behind the idiom "debt piled high".
As you may recall, the Southern Dynasty's Liu Song Dynasty, facing a shortage of funds for its war against the Northern Wei, temporarily "borrowed" money from wealthy merchants and monks and nuns to raise funds, ultimately leaving behind the anecdote of "Yuanjia Hasty Borrowing," a classic case of borrowing without ever repaying.
What, you, Emperor Zhu, actually manage to repay what you borrow?
As for the annual interest rate of 3%, and the redemption by the national treasury after one year?
Stop joking, you son of a bitch.
The national treasury is going to issue bonds worth 100 million guan.
However, the total annual revenue of the Ming Dynasty's national treasury was only about 20 million strings of cash.
If you borrow 10 million strings of cash but only have 20 million strings of cash in income, how will you repay it?
Do you think we gentry lords can really empty the national treasury?
We're bad, but not stupid.
We dare not believe the reputation of Your Majesty, Emperor Zhu.
Even though Emperor Zhu and Li Shanchang were somewhat prepared for this situation, they were still quite angry.
"These are all bad habits that have been fostered by our parents!"
“These bastards first made up stories about how we and Shen Wansan built the city on equal footing, and now they’re comparing us to King Nan of Zhou.”
"His heart is to be killed!"
Li Shanchang tried his best to save face for Emperor Zhu.
"Actually, this matter is mainly the fault of King Nan of Zhou and Liu Yilong."
"They were the ones who first drove the road to its dead end."
"This is why the gentry dared not spend money to buy national treasury bonds."
But Li Shanchang's words only made Emperor Zhu angrier—what did he mean? In the eyes of those gentry, was he, Zhu, the second Prince Nan of Zhou and the second Liu Yilong?
Yang Shaofeng glanced at Li Shanchang discreetly.
Look, look, this old scoundrel is really ruthless.
They quietly dug a huge pit for the local gentry.
When Emperor Zhu fills in the soil one day, who knows how many local gentry and nobles will be buried there.
but.
No matter who tries to mess with the local gentry, I, Yang, will definitely lend a hand!
Yang Shaofeng immediately bowed to Emperor Zhu and said, "Actually, Father-in-law should be happy."
Emperor Zhu glared at Yang Shaofeng, then snorted coldly, "Are we happy? Are we happy that we can build a city on equal footing with Shen Wansan? Or are we happy that we've become the second Prince Zhou Nan and the second Liu Yilong?"
Old Deng's words were a bit harsh, but Yang Shaofeng just smiled nonchalantly and said, "Although the gentry don't recognize bonds, didn't they still manage to raise the full amount of 10 million strings of cash?"
"My father-in-law's private funds amounted to ten million strings of cash."
“The noble families of the State of Han, the State of Wei, the State of E, the State of Cao, and the Marquis of Chengyi also contributed fifty million strings of cash.”
"The remaining forty million strings of cash were all bought up by the ordinary people of our Great Ming Dynasty. Isn't that something to make my father-in-law happy?"
The Emperor Zhu's expression brightened visibly.
Ordinary people didn't have much money, but by buying in batches, they actually managed to buy up all 40 million strings of bonds.
Doesn't this just prove that our old Zhu has the hearts of the people?
Although the people who bought the most bonds came from Fengyang, Ningyang and Dengzhou, the people from these three places alone bought more than 20 million strings of cash worth of bonds.
But doesn't this just prove that the people in these places are more reliable?
Yes, we should be happy.
This is also a good opportunity for the people in these three places to make money.
Emperor Zhu was in a good mood, and his gaze toward Chen Mo became more amiable. "With this 100 million strings of cash, the steam engine and railway projects can be started now, right?"
Chen Mo bowed to Emperor Zhu and said, "Your Majesty, the students transferred from Dengzhou University by the Ministry of Railways have already begun preliminary exploration."
"The steam locomotive workshops in Ningyang County are also working intensively to manufacture steam locomotive parts."
"In addition, iron smelting workshops in Ningyang County, Liaodong, and Luan County are also working hard to manufacture railway tracks."
"Once the terrain has been surveyed, the people can be relocated and the railway can be built."
After a slight pause, Chen Mo added, "Actually, the routes from Ningyang County to Jinan Prefecture and from Ningyang County to Yanzhou Prefecture do not require exploration. We can simply start construction on the land reserved by the Prince Consort when he built the cement road."
As Chen Mo finished speaking, Emperor Zhu and Li Shanchang unconsciously turned their gazes to Yang Shaofeng.
When Yang the Madman wanted to occupy a ten-zhang-wide area for road construction, almost everyone in the court ridiculed him.
Ningyang County is a tiny county town, and the roads they build are only one or two zhang wide and three zhang long. He occupies a ten-zhang wide piece of land. Isn't that just making a mess of things?
After all, many of these lands are already inhabited, and taking over land would involve relocating those people.
It's not troublesome enough, is it?
But what about now?
The two main roads from Ningyang County to Jinan Prefecture and Yanzhou Prefecture were both reserved to be ten zhang wide.
An ordinary cement road occupies only a little over one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) of land, and its widest part is now no more than three zhang (approximately 1.3 meters).
There is plenty of space available for building railways.
It does not involve relocating people.
Even some of the trees along the roadside can be felled, and the wood can be sawn, dried, and painted to be used directly as sleepers.
Then, Emperor Zhu and Li Shanchang looked at Xue Xiang, the Minister of Works, with hostility.
The Ministry of Works was in charge of the construction and repair of roads and bridges throughout the country.
Why didn't your Ministry of Works survey the terrain in advance and reserve enough land width?
Now, before building the railway, they have to consider the relocation of the people.
Isn't this a dereliction of duty by the officials of the Ministry of Works?
Stared at like that by Emperor Zhu and Li Shanchang, Xue Xiang felt completely numb.
Is there anyone who will speak up for me?
I just want to ask one question: why wasn't a ten-zhang-wide strip of land reserved before the road was built? What the hell does that have to do with the Ministry of Works?
How did the Ministry of Works know in advance that such a wonderful thing as a steam locomotive existed?
How could the Ministry of Works know in advance that the Ming Dynasty was going to build a railway?
Besides, the Ministry of Works was in charge of much more than just the construction and repair of roads and bridges throughout the country.
When Yang Dianfeng invented the harvester, the Ministry of Works went to great lengths to develop it.
When Yang Dianfeng invented the water press, the Ministry of Works went to great lengths to deploy it.
Furthermore, look at how good the reservoirs and irrigation canals are in Ningyang County; they even made the Ministry of Works work themselves to the bone to build these things.
Look how good the five small workshops are in Ningyang County! The Ministry of Works is going to work like crazy to help various prefectures and counties set up their own five small workshops.
You might as well treat the Ministry of Works like cattle and horses!
wrong!
At least cattle and horses have time to rest.
The officials in the Ministry of Works never had a moment to rest.
I'm busy like a dog all year round!