"Your Majesty, since ancient times, building bridges and paving roads is a matter for the benefit of all people, I have never heard of it, and it is said that the bridge tolls must be collected, so that the court is no different from the robbers who occupy the mountain for the king to block the road and rob, and damage the reputation of Your Majesty and the court." Suddenly, Yu Zhining jumped out and resolutely objected.

Tang Jian couldn't help frowning, and looked at Yu Zhining in surprise, didn't he hear the cost of the Weishui Bridge, it was a full 200,000 yuan, and Yu Zhining let it out so lightly, he really didn't have a backache when he stood and talked.

"Lord Yu, that's 200,000 yuan, which is enough to offset the taxes of several counties." Tang Jian reminded.

Yu Zhining snorted coldly: "So what, my Tang Dynasty is in sight, how many taxes are paid every year, 200,000 guan can be completely afforded, and spending 200,000 guan can make Your Majesty win the hearts of the people in the world, which is already worth thousands of dollars." ”

For a while, everyone was choked, everyone knew that Yu Zhining was forcibly patting the emperor's ass, but he stood above the righteousness, plus Li Shimin attached great importance to the reputation of Mingjun, plus Li Shimin had just experienced an assassination incident, I am afraid that he cared more about the people's hearts,

"Since you can win the hearts of the people by spending money, why doesn't Lord Yu suggest that Your Majesty exempt the world from paying taxes, wouldn't it be more popular with the people." Merton asked rhetorically.

Yu Zhining's face suddenly turned red, if the world is exempted from taxes, then the court will not be able to do it, I am afraid that even his money will not be able to be issued.

"The ink sacrifice wine is too arrogant, in my opinion, Mo Hou advocates the bridge toll, I am afraid that he is going astray and getting into the eyes of money." Yu Zhining scolded angrily.

Morton snorted coldly: "Lord Yu is even more cub selling Ye Tian is not distressed, the bridge that the imperial court spent 200,000 yuan to build was sent out by you with a word, you don't care about this send, then where will the money for repairing the bridge come from, even if there is a court appropriation, I am afraid that the construction speed will be greatly reduced, so that the world is blocked by rivers, the traffic is not smooth, and the people of the world will suffer in the end." ”

"In this way, the ink sacrifice wine wants to collect this passage money for the sake of the people of the world." Yu Ning sarcastically.

Merton nodded without hesitation: "Yes! ”

"It's ridiculous!" In this Ning pointed at Merton's nose and said tremblingly, even the other ministers couldn't help frowning, thinking that Merton was more reasonable.

"The Weishui Bridge cost 200,000 yuan is indeed not much, it is just a five-year tax in Mojia Village, and the imperial court can afford this money, but Lord Yu doesn't know how many Weishui Bridges need to be built in the Tang Dynasty." Merton asked rhetorically.

"Ahh Yu Zhining suddenly looked dazed and looked at Merton in puzzlement.

Merton stretched out his hand, handed Yu Zhining a book and said: "This is the newly written "Chronicles of the Kuodi" written by His Royal Highness the King of Wei, Lord Yu can study it, the span of the Weishui Bridge is only six hundred zhang, and the similar width of the Datang River needs to build a bridge, not to mention three or five hundred." ”

"Three or five hundred!" Suddenly everyone was in an uproar, the cost of a Weishui Bridge would be 200,000 guan, if there were another three or five hundred, wouldn't it be as high as 10,000,000, this is not a small amount, for a while, everyone's wind direction suddenly swayed.

"Wanwan, it's not going to be taken out at once, the court still can afford it." Yu Zhining gritted his teeth and said.

Merton sighed: "These three or five hundred Weishui bridges are easy to build, but what about the rivers in the world that are wider than the Wei River?" For every doubling of width, the cost and difficulty of construction will increase several times. From Weichen's point of view, I am afraid that at least ten Yellow River bridges will be built on the Yellow River, and eight bridges will be built on the Yangtze River to allow the world to pass unimpeded. I'm afraid the cost of this will be astronomical, and when the time comes, won't the imperial court collect bridge tolls? . ”

The ministers gasped, they didn't have to count to know how expensive it was to build a bridge on the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, but the ministers also understood that once the bridge could be built on the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, no matter how big the cost was, the imperial court would not hesitate to build it.

Suddenly, the "Chronicles of the Kuodi" in Yu Zhining's hand became extremely hot, but he still did not give in.

Merton sighed: "Even if the imperial court can still afford this money, but no one in the world is willing to do a loss-making business, Datang needs to use money in countless places, and it is inevitable that the money will not be in place at that time, and the bridge that should have been built in a short time will probably drag on for a long time in the end, and the traffic in the world is not smooth, and the damage can only be Datang." Therefore, collecting bridge tolls is the only option, even if His Majesty decides not to collect this bridge, one day, Datang will also collect bridge tolls to recover losses, but by then it has been delayed for too long, and the only ones who will be damaged are Datang and the people of Datang. ”

"I have heard for a long time that Mohou is the God of Wealth in the Tang Dynasty, and when I saw it today, it really deserved its name, and it seems that this official wants Mohou to ask for more advice in the future." Tang Jian bowed his hand to Merton, he also thought that Merton was talking nonsense at first, but when he heard that Merton cited the number of bridges that the imperial court needed to build, he immediately supported Merton with a clear banner, if these bridges had to be paid by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, it would be better to kill him, it would be easier.

Merton replied: "Lord Tang is polite, Mo's move is also to reduce the burden on the court, and let the people of the world no longer suffer from the blockage of the river." ”

"The ministers support the ink sacrifice wine and collect bridge tolls not for their own selfishness, but for the world to build more bridges as soon as possible, I believe the people will understand." Zhang Liang, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, also jumped out to support Merton, and if there was no money, the speed of building the bridge would be greatly reduced, which would also affect the interests of the Ministry of Industry.

Li Yun couldn't help but be moved, and all the civil officials in the direction were voicing to let the Weishui Bridge pass for free, but Merton strongly advocated the Weishui Bridge to be charged, and it was the imperial court not far from the 200,000 yuan that built the Weishui Bridge.

Now that the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Civil Affairs are here, the Ministry of Industry has agreed to support tolls in order to build more bridges, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs will certainly support tolls in order to maintain bridges with bridges.

In this way, the cost of repairing the bridge was solved, and there was much less resistance to building the bridge in the future.

"Red flowers, white lotus roots, green lotus leaves, the three veins turned out to be one." Li Yun suddenly felt a little more, and Merton did not hesitate to support the collection of bridge tolls, although there is the meaning of using bridges to support bridges, it also indirectly allows the Xiangfu clan to have more bridges to repair, which is self-evident for the benefits of the Xiangfu clan.

"But we are the imperial court, how can we compete with the people for profit and use the Weishui Bridge to make money!" Yu Zhining muttered to himself, still unable to accept the bridge toll. Not only that, but even Li Shimin may have a tangle on his face, on the one hand, his reputation, and on the other hand, real interests, which makes him very embarrassed.

Merton naturally understood Li Shimin's psychology, and said in his heart at the moment: "Your Majesty's use of the world's taxes is to take from the people for the people, and it can also be understood the other way around, it is used for the people to take from the people, the 200,000 yuan bridge repair fee, even if it is paid in advance by the imperial court, and then collected from the bridge toll in 20 years, once the capital is collected, His Majesty can order the suspension of the bridge toll of the Weishui Bridge, so as to ensure that the imperial court will not return to the capital, and will not let the people think that the court and the people are competing for profit. At that time, His Majesty ordered the exemption of bridge tolls, which also won the hearts of the world. ”

The ministers' eyes lit up suddenly, so that the imperial court could recover the cost and use it to build the new bridge without losing the hearts of the people, wouldn't it be the best of both worlds.

"The people of the world are in difficulty, and ten cents is not worth mentioning to Mojia Village, which is rich in the world, and I am afraid that there are still many people who can't afford the bridge toll of ten cents." Yu Zhining looked like the people's livelihood was suffering, and he still didn't give up.

Merton saw the trick and said: "In this case, the bridge toll of the Weishui Bridge is only for carriages, but all people who cross the bridge or walk are free, Weichen feels that if a person can afford to buy a horse, I am afraid that there is no burden on paying a bridge toll of ten cents." Not to mention that the Weishui Bridge has saved it from taking a lot of unjust roads, and the time and cost saved alone have far exceeded the bridge toll of ten cents. ”

Li Shimin's eyes lit up, people with horses naturally can't be called poor, it's easy to afford the bridge toll, and poor people can also enjoy the convenience of the Weishui Bridge for free, which is indeed a way to get the best of both worlds.

"Of course, there are still some that need to be exempted from bridge tolls, such as the post station of the imperial court, the military carriages and horses, as well as the government officials, the fire dragon division, and even the ambulance of the hospital can be exempted from the bridge toll." Merton added that the move had wooed many departments, and for a while, many officials had defected in favor of the collection of bridge tolls.

"What if someone deliberately uses manpower instead of horsepower to get through the bridge toll loophole?" Tang Jian, the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, frowned and said, if the bridge toll cannot be collected for a long time, His Majesty will be exempted from the bridge toll after 20 years because of his face, and the hole in the household department will still not be filled.

Morton Zhizhu said: "Lord Tang rest assured, the Weishui Bridge is a full five miles of slowly rising pavement, plus five miles on the other side, it is enough for ten miles, if you use manpower to drill loopholes, then it does not need money to hire labor, not to mention the time wasted on walking ten miles, and the trouble of using horses on the other side, counting, I am afraid it is more cost-effective to spend ten dollars to cross the bridge, Mo said, the construction of the Weishui Bridge is beneficial to the world, not a bandit who blocks the road to collect money, even if there is a way to pass the bridge for free, I think more people are still willing to spend the 10 cents on the bridge toll. ”

"Mohou is smart, and Weichen agrees with what Moxian Wine said!" Tang Jian sincerely admired that this was the first time he had contact with Merton, and he was immediately impressed by Merton's methods.

"The minister agrees too!" Zhang Liang also echoed.

"The ministers also agree!" The ministers chimed in.

This time, even Yu Zhining has no reason to object, after all, those who have money can pay, and those who don't have money can cross the bridge, and they can keep the court and collect the hearts of the people, which is already the best plan.

"In this case, then collect the bridge toll according to Merton's words, and engrave the stone to remember, and tell the world that the bridge toll will only be charged for 20 years, and after 20 years, the bridge toll of the Weishui Bridge will be exempted." Li Shimin waved his hand.

"Your Majesty is wise! If Your Majesty wants to win over the people's hearts, I think the toll from Chang'an City to Luoyang can be waived, and I think it should be back now. Merton reminded. He was not surprised by this result, after all, the money of the imperial court was not blown by the wind, what he was worried about was not that the imperial court collected bridge tolls, but that once the imperial court tasted the sweetness of the bridge toll, after collecting the capital of 200,000 yuan, he was unwilling to give up this rich interest, you must know that with the arrival of the prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty, the Weishui Bridge will only be busier, and the bridge toll will only be a lot more.

Tang Jian couldn't help but feel a pain in his flesh, you must know that Chang'an City to Luoyang is the most prosperous section in the world, and the money and tolls collected every year are not a small amount, and he was really reluctant to give up suddenly, but he finally acquiesced to this fact.

"Your Majesty's auspicious time has arrived, but it's been cut." Li Yun saw that the matter of the bridge toll had been settled, so he stepped forward to remind.

"Good! Such a great thing for the benefit of the country and the people cannot be delayed. "Weishui Bridge has gained fame and fortune, and Li Shimin is happy.

As the scissors were closed, the red silk fell, and the Weishui Bridge, which had been in preparation for five years, was officially opened to traffic.