After Gu Zuo entered the palace, Zhu Houzhao did not summon him in the Qianqing Palace.

Instead, he chose the gazebo by the lake and took him for a walk.

"Recently, there are three main things in the imperial court, one of which is that Yangzhou has arrested some salt merchants, and some of them need to be sent to Beijing, but this matter has been tried jointly by Han, Min, Wang and the British Duke, and then convicted according to the law. The crux of the matter is whether I, the emperor, can resolutely implement it. ”

"This second piece." The emperor turned to face Gu Zuo and made a 'two' gesture, "That is, after the imperial court confiscated the greedy wealth of many illegal salt merchants and officials, there were too many silver taels copied at once." Originally, I estimated that it would be five million taels, but now it seems that I have underestimated Yangzhou, as well as those salt merchants and corrupt officials, and in fact it should be more than eight million taels. ”

It's really fattened enough for them.

The wide, soft, and loose officialdom atmosphere of Hongzhi alone has raised an unknown number of huge riches.

“…… There are some words that others don't understand. But you, Gu Liqing, should understand. ”

"Yes." Gu Zuo arched his hand, "There are too many silver taels gathered by the imperial court, and if you don't get it right, there will be a silver shortage among the people." ”

Zhu Houzhao showed an appreciative look.

In fact, this matter can indeed be ranked as one of the three major events.

Others, such as the library garden and the planning of the Beijing Division, are not major events that affect the overall situation.

Even to give relief to stove households, Yang Tinghe and the general office of this matter, just take the silver and distribute the grain in place. As the emperor, he will carefully supervise the problems, but it will not cost him much energy.

"Once there is a shortage of silver, it will lead to unforeseen consequences, so the silver should be spent as soon as possible. And the third thing is moved, and the silver will come in again. ”

Zhu Houzhao reminded, "It's the salt field auction." ”

If Gu Zuo realized, he could understand it completely, "...... The imperial court has now confiscated many big salt merchants, who will the auction be auctioned to? ”

Zhu Houzhao didn't think so, "These salt merchants are too strong, and the big bullies the small and the strong bully the weak in the auction hall, which is not beautiful." Lianghuai Salt Farm is the first salt industry in the world, are you afraid that you won't be able to shoot it? ”

That's just as well.

Gu Zuo asked again: "Now that the city that never sleeps is nearing its end, I don't know where Your Majesty wants to spend the silver?" ”

Zhu Houzhao sat down and said in a relaxed tone: "What do you think of building roads?" ”

"Build roads?"

"Yes, build a wide and straight road, and as smooth as possible. In this way, the flow of goods and the flow of goods between the north and the south are promoted. Liu Xixian, the governor of Shandong, once told me that the transportation of the three eastern provinces was inconvenient, grain and crops could not be transported out in time, and merchants from outside were unwilling to enter, resulting in long-term poverty. However, the western three provinces are different, because the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal passes, the people are dense, and the trade is prosperous, which is much richer than the eastern three provinces. ”

This is a vivid and accurate example,

Actually, it's not hard to understand.

"That's why I wanted to build a big road. First connect the two capitals. From Beijing, through Jinan, Xuzhou, Huai'an, Yangzhou to Yingtian. ”

All the way are relatively prosperous big cities.

"Such a long distance must be a big project, and many civilians will be conscripted to serve. In the court, there will also be opposition. ”

Zhu Houzhao said: "First, the road construction court should also refer to the city that never sleeps, and choose the way of employment, although it will cost a lot of silver taels, but these silver are in the hands of the people, and it will not increase the burden of the people, why not?" Second, if there are many people in the court who oppose it, I will use these eight million taels to expand the army, and fight the Tatars to move westward, and to make the people ten rooms and nine empty, and become a king of great joy. ”

"Your Majesty laughed."

Gu Zuo didn't believe it, because the emperor's philosophy was that the money spent should be returned.

The political efficiency of laying down a large grassland and the Gobi is huge, and the economic cost is pure. Of course, as the Son of Heaven, these two have to be balanced.

Therefore, the imperial court is also allocating silver to the frontier.

And since there is a balance, where is the reason to spend all the money?

Besides, the military needs of the complex are supported by the open sea.

Wechen just had a hunch. But in the end, it should not be too much of an obstacle. There is just one more problem. ”

Zhu Houzhao had enough patience, "You said,"

"This is also the difficulty that Wechen encountered when he was a city that never sleeps - it is difficult to manage. A city that never sleeps needs to recruit twenty or thirty thousand people, and how to manage so many people is really a headache. Fortunately, the city that never sleeps, in such a place, the road construction is different, the distance between the north and the south is long, and the need for more personnel will be very difficult, how to manage it effectively, it will be very difficult. ”

Zhu Houzhao listened, he nodded, and began to think.

“…… With so many buildings built by private merchants, are there any workshops or shops that anyone has dedicated to working with a group of people? ”

Gu Zuo thought for a while, "Yes, there is, but it's not a shop." Most of them are based on the ties of fellow villagers. For example, if a person has made a living and feels good, many fellow villagers have been running to him. So gradually, hundreds of people will move from one venue to another. ”

Zhu Houzhao thought to himself,

It seems that this phenomenon is a spontaneous one. No one else has ever thought about taking on a unified project in the name of the whole.

But this is not a problem, it is good to be a good guide as an official government.

"Liqing, after you go back, you will establish a whitelist in the Shaofu. This whitelist is not a list of individuals, but a list of workshops. After the road repair project, the Shaofu no longer directly recruited personnel, but instead selected a number of people from the white list to undertake it. For example, this section of a hundred miles of road, Shaofu is fully entrusted with the implementation of 'Mei Ji',"

"'Mei Ji' recruited people to work by himself, while Shaofu was responsible for supervision, management, and acceptance, and finally paid Mei Ji a total price, such as 800,000 taels. And pay in batches until the road is completely repaired. ”

Gu Zuo's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but stand up, "In this way, Shaofu only needs to manage a few or a dozen 'Mei Ji' along the line, layer by layer, and Mei Ji itself can also be decomposed again." ”

"Not bad. This has the added benefit of that. That is, the Shaofu can put forward some specific requirements for the white list, such as labor management should not be too oppressive, as well as the quality, speed, and even price of the project. Therefore, another purpose is also to promote the loosening groups of these fellow villagers to be more standardized. In the future, in addition to dart bureaus, restaurants, and teahouses, there will also be another form of commercial organization in the Ming Dynasty, which can be called a construction team. ”

"More critically, the Shaofu can make more specific requests, such as the materials used to build the road. Whoever has a good material formula will have a good quality of the road built, and Shaofu will entrust him to do more work in the future. ”

From direct employment to indirect employment. This is actually Zhu Houzhao, a latecomer, who helped them grow up step by step.

As for whether cement will appear and when, no one knows.

But Zhu Houzhao has established a mechanism for them to compete with each other and keep improving.

In a way, this is actually more important.

It's not that with concrete technology, roads can be built everywhere. The road is a big project, and it's not a balloon, just blow it up. Among them, the project organization, the source of funds, and the resolution of contradictions are all big problems. From a few shovels of concrete to thousands of miles of road, this is something that can be done casually with a few people.

In the final analysis, people's problems are not solved well, just a pile of concrete, it will make you a way with cracks in one foot or two.

What will happen then? This amount of money, again? How can there be so much money.

Zhu Houzhao's advanced thinking, Gu Zuo has gradually become accustomed to it. It was as if the Emperor was guiding him forward.

Through the white list, Shaofu is still in control of everything, who doesn't do what is written above, then it will be eliminated, where can I find a job when the time comes?

"With Your Majesty's method, each fellow team will be transformed according to the will of the imperial court, and the imperial court can also be like an arm and a finger, without restraint."

"Yes. You will think about this matter, I know, there is a dragon and a crouching tiger in the Shaofu, and when the thoughts are concrete, you will hand over the slip into the palace. ”

"Wechen obeys!"

Gu Zuo entered the palace this time, and he didn't mention a word about the previous incident.

In fact, Zhu Houzhao originally wanted to say something, but then felt that it was unnecessary.

And Gu Zuo only said some words of gratitude, as for the emperor's pragmatic and frank government affairs today, it is also what he likes the most.

Da Ming can only become stronger day by day in such efforts.