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Now, the heads of all the families present feel that the idea of the prince is really good. Not only can you make a lot of money, but you can also engrave a monument and leave your name for future generations, you really have face! Since it has been decided to build roads, it is necessary to build long-term and strong roads, and the small roads between those villages and villages can not be repaired for the time being, but the roads leading to the two cities must be repaired!

A big road lies in its straightness and spaciousness, and its hard pavement. And in this day and age, outside the city, the best is only paved with gravel. And in the city, the best is the road paved with bluestone slabs, like the starting point town. What restricts the flow of people and materials between the two places is naturally the roads outside the city.

There are too many mountains in Fujian, and the roads in many places are not passable. For hundreds of years, people have managed to get out of this road, but they still can't meet people's needs, especially businessmen, who are particularly resentful of this. And the roads between the cities, even if they are all paved with gravel, will not work, and when it encounters rain, it will be annoying, and it will become muddy and potholes again. There are a lot of slopes, and all the stones will be washed away! As for ordinary dirt roads, it goes without saying. Now the only way to change the fundamental situation of the road is to pave the concrete road.

It has been half a year since cement was invented, and the Houyu Commercial Port under construction proves the great role of cement. There are many cement kilns in other parts of Fujian, and people in the city will choose cement if they are not short of money to build a new house, because the cement walls are stronger. And if cement is used for paving, then the quality of the road will change qualitatively.

The experience of later generations has proved that roads paved with cement concrete are not afraid of rain erosion at all, unless it is a flash flood, the cement road is basically not damaged. If the cement road is damaged, it is also because there are large trucks driving and crushing! In this era, a big cart can be loaded no matter how much it can be loaded, and three thousand catties will be dead, and no matter how heavy it is, the horses can't pull it! With this level, when will the solid road surface be crushed? So even on rainy days, the carriage can still run on it, and that's the biggest advantage.

Another huge advantage of cement pavement is that the pavement is smooth! Gravel roads are also uneven, slowing down the speed of the carriage and increasing the wear and tear of the carriage, which is not the case with concrete roads.

"Shizi, I have covered this road with the Lu family, and when I go back, I will immediately start gathering people to lay it!" In the past, road construction was a matter of the government, and if I didn't repair it, I came here like this, but I never had such an idea before, and I didn't realize that it was possible to make money by building roads. The head of the Lu family looked at this big cake and was completely moved!

As soon as the Lu family master's words were finished, the others immediately stopped doing it: "Lu family master, you are too unkind, you want to eat alone!" You're richer than us, but we can still afford to build this road. Besides, the prince also said just now that a road administration company should be set up and built by everyone at the expense of everyone, and there will be many roads to be built in the future, so why should you be in a hurry! "The grain merchant Wu is also a big businessman, not much worse than the Lu family, and he is not afraid of him if he does not do a business, so he was the first to retort.

"That's it!"

"That's it!"

The smaller families muttered, although we are not as good as you, but we are much better than you combined! If you can't take out a million taels, you can still take out 200,000 taels per family!

"Master Lu, you are in a hurry!" Geng Jingzhong also opened his mouth. "I was the first to look for you when it came to building roads! Your family's business is done, and at the same time, all the roads in Xiamen in Zhangzhou are handed over to you to build, and the establishment of the road administration company is to bring everyone together, and everyone will share what is going on. A family, or a little weaker! ”

The head of the Lu family touched his head in embarrassment, and said with a smile: "Eh, my old Lu is greedy, don't blame the world!" ”

Geng Jingzhong waved his hand. "It's okay, let's discuss it and see how much each family can contribute. First of all, I declare that I do not contribute capital and do not own shares, but I will send someone to supervise and accept. The whole road had to be built to my standards, and if it was perfunctory, I wouldn't have the smiling face I have today! In order to stimulate businessmen everywhere to invest in road construction plans, Geng Jingzhong is not greedy for these. As long as the roads between the cities can be built, he has a lot of plans to make money.

In this magical land, before Geng Jingzhong crossed, toll roads had already surpassed real estate and finance to become the most lucrative industry. The toll booths on many roads have been charging for twenty or thirty years in a row, and they are still charging after the toll period, sitting at home and counting the money! Therefore, it is absolutely impossible to invest in this area.

Of course, from a personal point of view, Geng Jingzhong is completely opposed to any road tolls. However, the present is far from being compared to the future generations, and the path of this era has severely hindered all developments. Roads, for a country, a nation, are so important. In short, without a fast road, there is no way to control the whole country.

In the former Ming Dynasty, every time the Qing army invaded, it was only after breaking several cities that the news reached Emperor Chongzhen. This is still relatively good in the north, and it is closer to the capital. By the time the armies from all walks of life entered King Qin, it would be a month later. The movement of troops, the speed of their march was greatly delayed because of the taking away of the road. It is a huge tragedy for the big trucks responsible for logistics and transportation to walk on the narrow and potholed roads!

Besides, isn't the saying that the emperor is far away because the road is impassable? If the road is not passable, then there is no control of remote areas, Fujian is full of mountains, there are no roads, how can we talk about control of places? There are less than five years left before Kangxi cuts the domain! Without an extensive transportation network, he can't even control his hometown, Fujian Province. If all the concrete roads are repaired, the Marine Corps can be quickly mobilized at any time, and logistics and transportation can also quickly keep up. In this way, whoever wants to invade Fujian, he can quickly fight back.

To build so many cement roads, it is obviously impossible to let Geng Jingzhong repair them by himself, he doesn't have so much energy, let alone so much financial resources. Therefore, it is necessary to mobilize private funds. And in order for these big businessmen to contribute, they must be allowed to get enough benefits, so Geng Jingzhong decided not to take a single share. Sure enough, the enthusiasm of these family heads was immediately mobilized.

"Hey, people in this era have too narrow horizons!" Geng Jingzhong sighed in his heart from time to time. "If I hadn't carried the memories of the afterlife, I'm afraid it would be the same as everyone here." When it comes to transportation, they don't realize the importance of transportation at all. They are better merchants, but as for the scholars and doctors in the court, the speed with which they accept new things is really tangled. What they like to sit on the most is the sedan chair carried by people, because that can better show their identity! The scholars and doctors never thought that building roads would not only promote economic development and exchanges between the people in various places, but also strengthen the jurisdiction and control of the localities more effectively.

It's already noon, Geng Jingzhong, who originally wanted to leave, didn't leave in the end, and the heads of the family were very warm, and they all wanted to be close to His Royal Highness the Prince. The banquet was full of joy for the guests and hosts, Geng Jingzhong drank a lot of wine, and went back to sleep in a daze! Geng Jingzhong has already said everything that should be said. The rest is left to the merchants themselves, and they are to discuss how to distribute the cake.

These merchants really don't drink enough! After participating in the banquet for many years, I have practiced a good amount of wine. The little wine that accompanied Shizi was like rinsing his mouth with a sip of water!

"Come on, come on, the son of the world has gone back, let's continue to drink! If we want to get together, it's hard! "The head of the Wu family is in the grain business, and he has basically dealt with everyone here, and he took the lead in shouting.

Another cotton cloth merchant, the head of the Lin family, also echoed: "Come, continue to drink." His Royal Highness only found twenty-one of us, which shows that the prince can afford us. After drinking, let's discuss the specific matters of preparing for the road administration company. Let's do this first! ”

Everyone also knows in their hearts that they will be partners in the future, and they will also be a group tied together, and they may compete for business with small groups in other places in the future, so it is better to be united!

After everyone toasted, the head of the Lu family said with a smile: "If you talk about it, I am really throwing myself to the five bodies that the prince admires now." I am still a shareholder of Shizi's Ocean Trading Company, but I didn't go to the last auction in Fuzhou, and I missed a great opportunity to meet Shizi! ”

"Also, did you see the huge fleet that docked in Moon Harbor a while ago? I've never seen a ship that big, with its rows of guns, hey, but it's scary! ”

"That's the son of the world, and now there is no one in Fujian who doesn't know that the prince defeated the bandits twice and cleaned up the Zheng family's fleet last year. The current Fujian sea is all up to the prince! Let's not talk about those, let's talk about the present, how to build this road? ”

"It's not difficult!" The other head of the house said. "I use all the cement in the new yard of Jiuhu, this thing is so good. Mixed with sand and stones, that what, plastering the ground on concrete, then it is as smooth as this tabletop. It's hard and easy to walk! ”

"I've never seen this before, but if that were the case, it would have been easier to run the wagon when the road was repaired! Hey, I'll have to be Lao Liu, you have a carpentry workshop specializing in making zuò carriages, right? Well, the carriage will have to trouble you then! "The grain business of the head of the Wu family is the one that runs around most often, and no matter what is lacking in any city, there can be no shortage of food.

The Liu family is mainly engaged in the business of precious wood and wood products, which he is most familiar with: "Lao Wu remembers clearly, if the road is really so smooth with a tabletop, we can use a four-wheeled carriage in the future!" ”

"Four-wheeled carriage?!"

"Yes, four-wheeled carriage! On a good road, the carriage runs faster and pulls more goods! ”

Seeing that everyone had adopted this article, the head of the Liu family said happily: "It is not difficult to build this four-wheeled carriage, but if the road is not good, the four-wheeled carriage is not as good as a two-wheeled one." I've used a horse-drawn carriage a few times, and it can transport two or three times as much as a regular horse-drawn carriage. As long as the road is repaired in the future, the efficiency of land transportation will also be improved several times, and it should not be much worse than water transportation, and our cost will be greatly reduced! ”

"Good! When the time comes, all the carriages on this road will be provided by you, Lao Liu. But the prince said that he also needed a lot of luxuriously decorated carriages, which were made for us people. When the time comes, remember to send the light to the prince! "The head of the Lu family agreed loudly, he has a specialization in this art industry, and asked him to be a salt worker to make a carriage, and it is estimated that he will not be able to run!

"Do you need to talk about that? Let's discuss how much money this road administration company will come up with first! ”