"Wei Yong, the queen has returned from Shanghu County."

When Queen Ma came back from Shanghu County, Zhu Yuanzhang called Hu Weiyong again to discuss the matter of silver with him.

"After some bargaining, the price was finally set at 600,000 yuan to buy the raw materials for the construction of the road."

"In addition to that, there are 10,000 Japanese slaves and skilled technicians who build highways."

"What do you think of all the 600,000 things together?"

Hu Weiyong silently estimated it in his heart, felt that it was still a little expensive, and said:

"Your Majesty, can this price be lower??"

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said:

"It's already the lowest price, and the initial price is a million."

"But the queen argued with reason, and only then did she talk about 600,000, which is already the best price."

"The main thing is that he provides this technician who can guide you through the whole process to build the highway."

"Even if there are other problems on the highway in the future, the technician will show up and help you solve the problem."

When Hu Weiyong heard this, he knew that this price could not be discussed, so he could only say helplessly:

"In that case, let's set the price."

"Tomorrow, I'll arrange for someone to start bidding."

"In this bidding, the total amount of silver will be counted as 600,000 taels of silver."

"Six hundred thousand taels?"

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyebrows and asked:

"You don't seem to have counted the cost of food for the daily laborers."

"Moreover, when the agricultural time is over, the people will be employed, which is another sum of money."

"How can 600,000 taels be?"

Hu Weiyong was dumbfounded, he didn't expect that the emperor really planned to take away fifty percent of the equity of the expressway without paying a penny.

He also thought that the food that was lost by the people and the daily laborers should be provided by the household department!

"The minister is confused."

Hu Weiyong's brain turned quickly, and seeing that the situation was not right, he immediately changed his words:

"I forgot about the food that I had to lose every day."

"The minister thinks that if he adds these, he will increase the amount of silver recruited to one million."

"Does the emperor think it is enough?"

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this number, he nodded with satisfaction, but he still said:

"You can make up your own mind about this matter, you don't need to ask us."

"Things have to be speeded up until your money arrives, and the slaves and technicians have the materials to get there quickly."

"Do you dare to do your best?"

Hu Weiyong left the upper study.

Zhu Biao waited until Hu Weiyong left, and then asked Zhu Yuanzhang suspiciously:

"Father, why don't we let the household department provide the food for the laborers?"

"After all, it's just food, our Ming Dynasty has been considered a country and a country in recent years, with bumper harvests every year."

"This amount of food should be fully paid."

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was calm and replied:

"Food is the foundation of a country, and it cannot be moved lightly."

"Since it was decided to use the gentry's money to build the highway, there was no need for the imperial court to interfere."

"We are responsible for putting this money on the highway, and it will be considered a success."

"As for food, whether it is the Northern Expedition to the grassland in the future, or the recent expedition of Li in and out of the Japanese Invaders, food is indispensable."

"We have to hold on to the food so that we can always be invincible."

Zhu Biao nodded thoughtfully, thinking of Li Jin's plan to go to sea, and muttered:

"I don't know how Li Jin's preparations are going!"

....

The next day, the gentry of Ying Tianfu received a message.

The tender for the expressway is about to begin.

All the gentry were excited at the moment, after all, it had been so long since they received the news and rushed to Ying Tiancheng.

And for such a long time, I just heard that the emperor is indeed going to build a highway.

And it is the highway from Yingtianfu to Songjiang Mansion, but other than that, I didn't receive any other news.

There is no specific date for bidding, and there is no indication of how much silver will be tendered.

The gentry could only stay in Yingtianfu and keep asking for news.

After all, this is a project that will benefit future generations, and it is impossible for them to give up, and some of the gentry who came to Yingtian City thousands of miles away even carried a large amount of cash.

In order to be able to grab more shares of the expressway and leave it to future generations as heirlooms.

Now it's finally time to look forward to the specific news of the bidding.

The specific bidding time is tomorrow, and the number of bids determined is one million taels of silver.

Each share is 1,000 taels of silver, a total of 1,000 taels, of course, this is the low price of the auction, and the highest price will be won on the day.

As the news spread, the gentry also began to act aggressively.

Either they are in groups of three or five and want to concentrate their financial resources, so that they can gain a lot of advantages in the auction.

Or they keep borrowing money from friends and relatives around them, hoping to borrow more money to make sure they have enough money to buy shares in the highway.

Hu Weiyong, who got the news, was ecstatic.

After all, the news of the bidding was released by him, in order to achieve a crowding effect on the day of the auction.

This is the first thing he explained when he became a Zhongshu province to participate in politics, and the emperor explained, and he had to do things beautifully.

broke with Li Shanchang on the surface, but it was actually in his arms.

As Hu Weiyong spent more time in Zhongshu Province, he found that Li Shanchang's power in Zhongshu Province could be described as covering the sky with one hand.

This made him, an ambitious man, very uncomfortable.

After all, if Li Shanchang has always been like this, then when will he be able to save his head from the Chinese book?

But fortunately, now with the support of the emperor, and Li Shanchang feels that he can completely control himself, this gives him an opportunity.

Now there are already people in Zhongshu Province who have secretly taken refuge in themselves, and when they wait until the future, they will really complete the matter of the expressway.

When the time comes, if he is appreciated by the emperor, then there will be more officials who take refuge in him, and Zhongshu Province will be able to compete with Li Shanchang himself.

And these Li Shanchang will not stop it, but will be happy like this, because he feels that he is still his obedient student.

But these are just pretending to be himself, can't he really see the emperor's thoughts?

When he said that Elder Li Shan, this sentence was not groundless, he believed that as long as he handled this matter well, then Li Shanchang's position as Prime Minister would not last long.

At that time, he will be able to replace him as the next prime minister of the Ming Empire.

Thinking of this, Hu Weiyong's face, which had always maintained a cautious and humble face, couldn't help but show a smug smile.

.....

The auction took place as scheduled.

And just as Hu Weiyong expected, on the day of the auction, the seats were full.

A huge Xingyue auction venue was filled with Ming gentry from all over the world.

There was even a small half of the people, because they came too late, so there were no seats.

Seeing this, Hu Weiyong hurriedly added many seats in the back row and in the left and right spaces, which made everyone sit down.

After everyone sat down, Hu Weiyong walked onto the auction table in front of him in a bright red three-grade official robe in the eyes of everyone.

"Be quiet, everyone be quiet, and listen to what the official has to say."

After Hu Weiyong came to power, he rushed to all the gentry in front of him, pressing his hands and quieting everyone down.

The big red official robe on Hu Weiyong's body was still very powerful, and the gentry lowered their voices one after another until the venue was silent.

"This is a major event of this dynasty, and the current emperor, in order to make it more convenient for the people, has decided to build high-speed kilometers throughout the country."

"At the same time, in order to provide better welfare for the gentry of the whole country and fulfill the original promise of sharing the world with the scholars, it was decided that the money for the construction of the highway would be raised by the gentry from all over the country."

"Correspondingly, the emperor will take out a part of the profits from the highway and distribute them to the gentry who raise money to share the worries of the country."

"This policy will always be effective, and you will retire with the country in the future, just like the relatives of the Ming Dynasty."

"As long as our Ming Dynasty still exists, then this share will be valid for one day."

"There are a total of 1,000 shares in this auction, and the reserve price of each share is 1,000 taels, and the highest bidder wins!"

"Of course, the shares we auction this time are the property rights of the expressways of Yingtianfu and Songjiang Mansion, and other expressways will naturally start to be auctioned in the future."

"Do you have any other questions? If not, then the auction is about to begin. ”

Hu Weiyong held the loudspeaker, and the sound was clearly transmitted to the ears of every gentry who came to the meeting.

After hearing this, these gentry were very excited in their hearts, but they did not expect that the news they had heard in the past few days turned out to be true.

Now Hu Weiyong is a dignified and third-grade official, so naturally he will not deceive them.

In that case, then they will get a stake in this highway no matter what they say this time.

Just as everyone was thinking, suddenly a man dressed as a businessman stood up and said to Hu Weiyong:

"The villain has a question that he wants to ask the adult."

"Dare to ask your lordship, is it true that only the gentry are qualified to buy shares in the expressway, and others are not?"

As soon as these words came out, the audience was dumbfounded.

Everyone's eyes looked at Hu Weiyong, and they kept thinking in their hearts.

Although the holy decree said that the project was for the gentry, and it was wanted to use the gentry's money to build the highway.

But it is not said that it is completely forbidden for others to buy shares in this highway.

Among these people present, in addition to the gentry, the most were merchants.

In terms of wealth, Quan Daming is still the richest businessman.

The person who stood up and asked Hu Weiyong just now was a businessman.

And next to him, there were also a large number of businessmen.

Now they are all waiting for Hu Weiyong's reply, if it is true that only the gentry are qualified to buy shares, then they will turn around and leave.

It is estimated that half of the people in the venue will leave.

Hu Weiyong thought for a moment and felt that the primary goal now was to raise enough money to build the expressway.

As for whether the money belonged to the gentry or the merchants, Hu Weiyong felt that there was no difference.

"Haha, that's a good question."

"Today's Holy Emperor is gracious, and he treats everyone equally."

"Whether it is a gentry, a merchant, or a commoner, as long as there is money and wants to contribute to the country, the official will not refuse."

Hu Weiyong's words instantly made the businessmen present excited.

After all, although they are rich, they have a low status in Daming, and no matter where they are, they are inferior everywhere.

Especially when they sat there just now, there were contemptuous glances from the surrounding gentry, as if they had a copper smell on them.

Now Hu Weiyong treats them equally, which makes them very excited.

But the surrounding gentry did not do it, a gentry with a famous reputation, Huo Ran got up, and said to Hu Weiyong:

"My lord, the student is a person from Huoqiu County."

"The students would like to remind the adults that it is written in the decree that the gentry are entitled to buy shares in the expressway."

"Other than that, others simply don't qualify. A businessman is even more unqualified for such a lowly profession. ”

After the man finished speaking, he glanced at the merchant beside him with disdain.

The merchant was so despised by this man that his face instantly turned red, but he did not dare to say a word.

Although it is not said that the Ming Dynasty is not divided into three, six, nine and so on according to the rank, but under the public, the status of the gentry is indeed much higher than that of the merchants.

Seeing this, Hu Weiyong was not in a hurry, and took out the holy decree from his sleeve.

The contents of the decree were re-read, and this time after everyone heard it clearly, there was no restriction at all that only the gentry were eligible.

It is just that the emperor's grace is vast, giving the gentry a chance, and not limiting other occupations.

After all, the amount of money needed to build a highway is too much for ordinary people to afford.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought that the gentry had silver, which was just right to build a highway, but now businessmen also want to invest, so naturally the more the merrier.

The lifter wanted to say something more, but was directly interrupted by Hu Weiyong and said:

"The emperor's grace is vast, and you and others are treated equally."

"What we are doing is to enable you and others to work together for the benefit of the people."

"Now you have repeatedly blocked it, what is your intention? If you dare to delay the hour again, this official is bound to tell the emperor and degrade you to a concubine. ”

Hu Weiyong's voice is very strong, at this time, it is necessary to show the authority of the imperial court.

Some people are afraid of power but not morality, if this person is allowed to mess around, I am afraid that this auction that has been held with great difficulty will think that this person has made a tiger and snake.

The lifter was taken aback by Hu Weiyong's sudden momentum, and he didn't dare to say anything more, so he could only sit sullenly in place.

Hu Weiyong's gaze skimmed over this person and swept towards the other gentry who still wanted to speak just now.

The gentry, who was swept by Hu Weiyong's cold gaze, hurriedly sat upright, staring ahead, not daring to move again.

"Guys, who has a problem?"

Hu Weiyong saw that no one was looking for fault anymore, as if his face had changed, his face suddenly became kind, and even his tone became gentle.

"Since you have no problem, the auction is about to begin, and I hope you can buy the shares you are happy with."

After speaking, Hu Weiyong left the stage with his hands behind his back, changed into a cheongsam, looked very mature and charming, and walked up.

After the beautiful host came to the stage, she did not come up to auction the shares, but told a few jokes, which drove the atmosphere of the audience.

Half an hour later, the host saw that the atmosphere was gradually warm, and finally the first auction of the session began:

"Then came the most exciting part."

"You have come from far and wide to gather together for the shares of the highway, and now the share auction has officially begun."

"According to Lord Hu's request, the price of a share is 1,000 taels of silver."

As the host's voice fell, the two funeral ladies slowly walked up with a square mahogany gift plate, and ten bamboo slips were placed on it.

It was so far away that no one could see what was written on it.

However, the host pointed to the bamboo slips on it and introduced loudly:

"Here is the share certificate issued by the imperial court, a total of ten shares, with a reserve price of 10,000 taels."

"Each increase in price shall not be less than one hundred taels, and now the auction has officially begun."

Only then did everyone know that this bamboo slip actually represented the shares of the expressway.

After hearing that the auction had begun, some people couldn't wait to open their mouths directly:

"Eleven thousand taels!"

"Thirteen thousand taels!"

"Thirteen thousand one hundred taels!"