Just when the court, the family, and the vassal king were making a lot of noise over that letter, the prince's subordinates who were far away in the new city were also making a lot of noise about it. Especially Du Xi and Jiang Tong, they were very dissatisfied with the fact that the prince hid his private recital. Sima Shu couldn't do anything about this, so he had to apologize again and again.

In the recital, Sima Shu sharply analyzed the current malaise and proposed a series of solutions: for example, the land equalization system proposed for the land problem; In response to the tax issue, he proposed measures such as 'one whip law' and 'the official gentry paid grain in one piece,' and even Sima Shu proposed some improvement measures on the issue of the military system.

These are the essence of what he has refined after absorbing the experience of the reforms of later dynasties and dynasties. In order not to cause other trouble, Sima Shu concealed Jiang Tong and the others, played the court in his own name, and wrote a letter to Zhang Hua, the servant, explaining in detail the reasons for his actions.

Sima Shu also planned to try to implement the new policy in a small area, such as the Imperial Village. This was done in order to accumulate experience in the future large-scale promotion in the new city, although some of his ideas, especially those rules and regulations against the family, were strongly opposed by Du Xi, Jiang Tong and others, but they were all suppressed by Sima Shu with a tough attitude.

"This palace knows what you're worried about, isn't it just a lack of family support? If you don't put it in your eyes, what can those families do except be arrogant and lascivious and oppress the people? I've been in Xincheng for so many days, and I'm sure you've seen how miserable those ordinary people living at the bottom are, but you can turn your heads and see how those fat-headed and big-eared families live!? ”

"It's really Zhumen's wine and meat stink, and there are frozen bones on the road!"

Sima Shu's words immediately dispelled the opposition of others, and even resonated with the poor family officials, among whom Sima Ya strongly expressed her support for the crown prince.

"Your Highness said it so well! I come from a poor family, and I know the suffering of ordinary people. They live in this world without a glimmer of hope. Even if they are full of wealth, they still have no way out, because all the doors are occupied by the big families. If the children of the poor want to get ahead, unless they are attached to the wealthy and the vassal king. In addition, to say another disrespectful word, why those princes and kings are ready to move, on the one hand, is because the central force is weak, and on the other hand, I think it has something to do with the provocation of some ambitious poor disciples! ”

Sima Shu was stunned when he heard this, he didn't expect Sima Ya to have such a deep understanding of real problems. Although his statement is not comprehensive, there is some truth to it. For example, in addition to natural and man-made disasters, many turmoil in history is that some ambitious and unsuccessful children of poor families hope to change their fate through fierce riots.

For example, Zhang Jiao, the leader of the Yellow Turban Uprising, do you think he doesn't want to be an official and really wants to be a Taoist priest! Later, he saw that the people of the world were full of resentment towards the rulers of the Han Dynasty, so he skillfully took advantage of this situation and became the leader of the rebel army in one fell swoop.

"Alright, let's stop arguing. Now we just need to consider what we need to do if the imperial court agrees to let Gu implement a new policy in the new city. This matter will be handed over to Lord Jiang, you gather some more people, and you have to plan well. ”

After Sima Shu finished instructing Jiang Tong, he turned to the other subordinates present and said, "The palace estimates that there should be some time before the imperial court issues the decree, and we can't be idle during this period. Now that there is enough cement stored in the warehouse, the palace plans to rebuild all the water conservancy, roads, and bridges in the imperial village. ”

"Come here, y'all!" Sima Shu instructed Xiao Dengzi to put the map on the table and unfold it, and asked the others to get closer.

"You see, the Yishui River passes through the east side of our Huangzhuang, and if it is used well, it can irrigate the surrounding farmland and relieve the worry of drought!"

"Your Highness, but this river is very deep, the water surface is also very wide, and the amount of water is too large, and it is prone to flooding! If you can't stop it with a dam, it's probably not easy to use it for irrigation! The second steward shook his head and said.

"The dam must be repaired! Otherwise, it is prone to flooding in the future. Only by using the dam to store the water can the problem of drought and flood be completely solved! Gu once asked the old people in Zhuangzi, they said that many years ago there was a dam built here to store water, the palace also went there to carefully inspect, the old site is still there, if the dam is built, it can form more than 500 acres of water surface, and the surrounding villages do not have to worry about the problem of water in the fields. In addition, we can also use the surface of the water to raise fish and ducks to increase our income! ”

"Your Highness, if we build a dam, we need a lot of manpower, but where are we going to recruit now?" The third steward asked again.

"This lonely person has also thought about it, there are more than a few thousand people in the entire Zhuangzi, plus the people in the surrounding villages, there are probably nearly 10,000 people. Just after the New Year, it is estimated that some families have not been able to open the pot, plus there is no spring yet, many of them have nothing to do, as long as we offer the right price, I think they will not refuse. And we can also pay them a month's salary in advance, which not only solves their urgent needs, but also solves our problems! This idea is a common cash-for-work variant used in later generations, and both parties can benefit.

"Well, Your Highness has a good idea, we have built a dam and dredged the canal, and the inferior fields in the past can be turned into high-grade fields that can be harvested in drought and flood, and they will not be able to leave at that time, and we can also attract more people!" The chief steward stroked his beard and said approvingly.

Sima Shu then talked about his next step, which was to build two roads, one horizontal and one vertical, along the main canal, build two bridges, connect them with the official road, and then choose four new villages on higher ground on the side of the road to allow all the tenants to move in.

"Your Highness, why do you want to build roads and relocate, now the tenants can still make do with the places where they live, and the roads can be walked!" The archsteward asked suspiciously.

"This palace said to look a little farther, don't just look at a little bit on the tiptoes, we have to do big things, the road is repaired, the things we grow are convenient to transport out, the things we need are transported in, we not only have to build roads, but also to build docks on the riverside, as the saying goes, 'if you want to get rich, build the road first'!" Sima Shu explained, "The same is true for the construction of new villages, the tenants live, except for some of the tenants' tenants, and some of them are built on their own vacant land, which is either in disrepair or leaking through the wind and rain, if you are allowed to live in such a place, will you stay at ease?" ”

"Your Highness said, I understand, we are going to plant a good plane tree to attract the golden phoenix!" The second steward said suddenly.

"Your Highness, it will cost us a lot of money to pave roads, build bridges, build dams, and dredge trunk canals!" The chief steward smacked his teeth and said.

"The money that should be spent must be spent, don't feel distressed!" Sima Shu smiled and said, "And since we want to do it, we have to do it well, I don't understand these things, and I want you to worry about it more, but the standard can't be low." The trunk canal should be widened and deepened, not to be rebuilt in less than two years, the width of the road should ensure that two large cars can run in parallel, the road surface should be paved with stone slabs, trees should be planted on both sides of the road, and the road should be built between the fields. ”

Several people were dumbfounded when they heard it, His Royal Highness made a big move, but the next words surprised them even more, "The new village palace is planned to be built here, here, and here, which is not only convenient for the villagers to go to the fields and farm, but also convenient for the villages to go back and forth!" Sima Shu nodded on the map and said: "Each village should be able to accommodate 500 households, the layout should be reasonable, easy to enter, each house should be able to accommodate at least six people, and 20 households should have a common well...... That's all for now, let's go down and discuss the details! ”

"Your Highness, if we build roads and build villages, first, we may not have enough manpower, and secondly, we are afraid that we will delay the agricultural time!" Du Xi secretly calculated and said.

"Hehe, we can start work according to the priority, the agricultural time can't be delayed, let's build the dam first, dredge the canal, build a new village can be slowed down, and then start construction after the summer harvest, but you can secretly release this news! Moreover, it is also to lay the foundation for a new deal in the future. Sima Shu said with a chuckle.

"Now, we must do two things well: the second manager you work hard, immediately find experts who understand water conservancy and road construction technology, make calculations, see how many people are needed, how many work, how long it can be done, and at the same time purchase tools and materials, complete these works before the start of construction, do not delay; The chief steward, you will take people to each village tomorrow to recruit people, you must be kind, with cash, whoever signs up immediately registers for the advance salary, this must not be ambiguous! ”

"Yes!" "Yes, we'll arrange for someone to do it right away!" The two nodded in agreement.

"In addition, the palace also plans to distribute the land to the tenants of the Imperial Village, as well as the surrounding homeless people!"

"What!? Your Highness, if you give the land to those common people, how will we live in the future? "Manager Liu heard that the prince was going to divide the land for the common people, and his face turned pale, this, this prince is too loser! This is tens of thousands of acres of land, how can it be said that it will be divided!

"Chief, this palace knows what you are worried about, although after the land is divided, we can't collect field rent, but we can collect taxes! And these lands are not given for nothing. Sima Shu knew the truth of Dou Mien's promotion of rice hatred, "We can sign an agreement with those tenants, and in the next five years, as long as they pay a certain amount of money, they can buy the land in their hands from the prince's mansion." ”

"And the most important thing is that in this way, we will attract more people to Huangzhuang, as long as there are people, what are we afraid of! In the future, it will be the most prosperous place in the new city. ”

"Yes...... However, wouldn't His Highness do this to offend the local heroes of Xincheng? Manager Liu is still a little worried.

"Hehe, if you offend, you will be offended, anyway, it won't be long before the news of Luoyang spreads here, even if you don't want to offend them! And this palace has no excuse to clean them up, as long as they dare to think crookedly, this palace will never be soft, it must be killed or buried! ”

Early the next morning, the stewards of the palace each led a team to set off, busy doing the things that His Royal Highness explained, several people were full of confidence, now as long as there is money, there is nothing that cannot be done, since the prince is tens of thousands of yuan, things are much easier.

"Chief steward, which Zhuangzi should we go to first?" Out of the house, the driver who drove the car asked the chief steward through the curtain.

"Well, let's go to Dachen Village first, the people there are poor, and they are sad for years, let's send money and we will definitely recruit people in the morning!"

The chief steward patted the bags of copper coins sitting under his buttocks and said with a smile that he didn't believe that if a lot of copper coins were scattered, no one would come to work.