"That's not good, you have to give money, just give it at the price of ten per person." Li Wei said softly.

"Huh? That's too much, isn't it? Jiang Quan exclaimed.

"It's not much, it's only ten times of money, and the ordinary small vendors in Beijing can still earn more than 20 times a year, and it's so hard to build a city, it's very rare to give ten times!"

Li Wei said lightly, he felt that ten guan was very few, but Jiang Quan didn't think so, ten guan per person, and 10,000 forced laborers, that is, 100,000 guan, which was far more than the total cost he calculated.

"The adults are kind to the people, and the subordinates are also very respectful, but the conscription is supposed to be, and we don't need to spend so much money!"

Jiang Quan persuaded bitterly, conscription is a tax levied by the imperial court, and it is already the grace of the imperial court to be able to manage food, and it is incredible to give money, not to mention that Li Wei has given so much!

"It's okay, we have money!"

Li Wei said magnanimously, this time he has prepared more than 500,000 yuan, and because of the positive contributions of the Yue Gu family, it basically didn't cost much money to buy the land, and now the funds are sufficient, and there is no pressure to pay the people more.

“……”

When Jiang Quan heard this, he was so choked that he couldn't speak, the cost of building the city this time was paid by Li Wei's Chamber of Commerce, and it had nothing to do with the imperial court, and the family was stupid and had a lot of money, so he really couldn't find a reason to stop it.

Just thinking of spending so much money, although it was not his own, he was still a little distressed, and hesitated and persuaded: "My lord, it is estimated that our construction of the city will be completed in about half a year, even if according to what the adults said, the lower officials think that it is enough to give two or three runs, and there is no need for ten!" ”

Li Wei thought about it and felt that it was also, sometimes it is not a good thing to give too much money, the people have earned a harvest far more than a year of farming in half a year, I am afraid that they will not be willing to work hard to cultivate land in the future, and now Daming still has to focus on agriculture, and cannot overabsorb labor to construction.

"Then give it five times."

Since it was half a year, Li Wei would pay half of it.

According to the price of buying land that he promised Yang Laosan, the people can earn about ten times a year by opening up the wasteland, and now they earn five times in half a year after the city is built, which is similar to their own land cultivation, and they also have more food.

When Jiang Quan heard him say this, he was still a little dissatisfied in his heart, but he didn't persuade him more.

Li Wei walked slowly along the canal, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Because Zhu Yuanzhang placed the capital of the salt envoy in Yangzhou, the trade here flourished rapidly, and there were merchant ships passing by on the canal from time to time, and most of the people living in the east of the city were merchants.

However, at this time, the salt merchants were not as interested as the middle and late Ming Dynasty, they had no foundation when they first arrived, and there was no comparison with the local Haoqiang of the Yuejia Gu family in Yangzhou, and the land acquisition was also extremely honest at the time, and the officials gave as much as they wanted, and even gave it for free without complaint, after all, they did not lack this money.

Walking to the east, Li Wei couldn't help but feel a move in his heart: "This east city wall along the river, let's build a few more gates to facilitate merchant ships to come and trade." ”

Yangzhou's location has great potential for development, and since it is going to be built as a city, it is necessary to think more about the future.

"Good...... All right. ”

Jiang Quan stubbornly agreed, and felt a lot of scorn in his heart, repairing the city gate is much more expensive than repairing a section of the city wall, and Li Wei's light words have to increase the cost of thousands of times.

Li Wei looked at the boats coming and going on the canal, and couldn't help but sigh slightly in his heart, Yangzhou is a good place, but this land is a little too small, not much bigger than the county seat.

Larger cities such as Suzhou, people are outside the city and inner city, and the Beijing division is four or five layers inside and outside, and the city defense of this kind of city is far better than a single-storey small county, of course, the cost is also doubled.

However, the terrain of Yangzhou is limited, and it can only be done first, fortunately, there is a canal risk, plus the city, and the city defense is not weak.

Li Wei and Jiang Quan were in front, and other officials of the Ministry of Industry followed behind, discussing a few words from time to time, and behind them, Wu Yong also led a group of guards to follow closely.

On the canal, a fleet of two or three merchant ships came slowly, and it looked no different from other merchant ships passing by, and Li Wei and the others didn't care.

However, as the distance got closer, the people on the merchant ship at the head pointed to Li Wei and the others, and said something to the partners beside them.

Wu Yong noticed this detail and immediately became vigilant, his eyes staring closely at the leading merchant ship.

After the two men at the bow had spoken a few words, one of them entered the cabin, and a moment later he saw a man in a steel helmet and a rudimentary armor with a strange horn stuck in his helmet.

And immediately after that, there is a group of bald and barefoot, shorts and shorts in black, these people have ugly faces and fierce faces, and they are not good things at first glance!

After Wu Yong saw the appearance of these people clearly, he suddenly shouted in shock: "Waka! ”

Li Wei and the others, who were walking in front, immediately stopped when they heard the movement and looked back.

"What? How can there be a pirate here? Li Wei looked at the boats in front of him and asked in surprise.

This is Yangzhou, not the coast!

Jiang Quan and other officials also saw the Japanese who were coming quickly, and they were immediately panicked.

"Don't worry about it so much, my lord, you hurry up!" Wu Yong shouted in a rough voice.

The number of these pirates seems to be quite a lot, and his guards are only a dozen or so, Li Wei's safety is very important, he must not take any risks!

However, Li Wei looked up at the rapidly approaching ship, but did not rush to withdraw, but took out a handcuff from his body, took a look at it, and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out, and one of the would-be robbers on the ship in the distance fell to the ground, but unfortunately it was not the one who took the lead.

Seeing that their companions had been killed, the would-be robbers suddenly squeaked and swung their swords, and the ships sped up.

"Beautiful!" Li Wei blew the muzzle of the gun, but he didn't expect that he would have a chance to kill a little devil in his life!

Wu Yong saw that he not only didn't leave, but also fired a shot, and immediately became anxious: "My lord, you hurry up!" ”

"Yes, my lord, let's go! Go back to the city and inform the officers and soldiers of Yangzhou Wei, so that they can exterminate these Japanese robbers as soon as possible! ”

"yes!"

Jiang Quan and others also urged them, they are just civil officials, and they must not take the lead in fighting with these widows.

As the ship approached, Wu Yong couldn't care about persuasion, and shouted directly: "Come on, quickly escort the adults back to the city!" ”

"Alright, let's go!"

Li Wei did not delay any longer after firing a shot, there were hundreds of Japanese pirates on these ships, and with his little guard, he would definitely not be able to stop them, and it would not be too late to call the garrison of the guard post to destroy these Japanese pirates when he went back.

Wu Yong also breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this, and while the Japanese had not yet landed, he hurriedly escorted Li Wei to the nearest East City Gate! (End of chapter)