At the beginning of May, the sun was already shining brightly in Guangdong Province. The first season of rice had been harvested and preparations for sowing of the second season of rice began.

The head of the He family and the head of the Cao family were invited to the Chief Envoy's Yamen by Mr. Song, and they were shown two strange large stones. Interestingly, these two stones did not belong to bluestone, nor did they belong to any type of stone they had seen.

, has a strange texture, and although its strength is not as good as bluestone and granite, it is extremely hard.

The two family heads stared at the stone and studied it for a long time, and asked Master Song in disbelief: "Is this man-made?"

Mr. Song raised the corner of his mouth and said: "Exactly, this thing is called concrete. I recently want to amend the official customs in Guangdong. Do you think this thing is feasible?"

The head of the Cao family touched his chin and said: "The common people have heard that the wall bricks used by Taizu to build the Jinling city wall were made of kaolin clay. Although they are extremely strong, they cost a lot. May I ask, sir, how much does this concrete cost?"

Mr. Song stretched out two fingers and said: "Twenty coins and one stone."

The two residents gasped and asked in unison: "It's so cheap?!"

Lord Song clasped his hands behind his back and smiled enigmatically: "If you two are interested in this thing, I have a recipe here."

When the two of them heard this, they thought to themselves: My daughter is not given in vain, my dowry is not given in vain!

Originally they just wanted to honor a local civil affairs chief and tell him not to cause trouble for themselves, but they didn't expect Master Song to have such a surprise waiting for them!

The next step was to talk about money. The two heads of the family stayed at the Chief Secretary's Yamen until dark before going back. They touched the sweat on their foreheads and complained in their hearts that Mr. Song would be prosperous even as a businessman if he didn't become an official.

!

The formula can be handed over to those two people, but Mr. Song himself will own 40% of the shares. In addition, 20% of the shares will be distributed to Mr. Qian, the inspector general, Mr. Liao, the governor of Guangdong, and Mr. Shen, the governor of Guangdong, at the price of 60,000 taels of silver per 10%.

Your Excellency, and Mr. Ou, the governor of Fujian, each has half a percent.

The remaining 40% is divided between the Cao family and the He family.

When the Guangdong provincial government builds roads, it will purchase them at a price of twenty-two cents per stone and sell them to other provincial government offices or merchants. The Chief Secretary's office does not care about the price.

In August, the sweet-scented osmanthus is already fragrant.

Li Zhao, the eldest son of King Su, finally came out of the clan mansion and headed to Lingnan without stopping.

After entering Zhejiang, the most common thing I heard along the way was the recruitment of workers for road construction in Guangdong and Fujian.

When we were resting at a post station near Fenghua, the postmaster was very clear about it, and said in a very stupid manner: "The young people know best about recruiting workers. Two meals a day are provided for both men and women. The daily wages are ten cents. For children, they are over ten years old.

, under fifteen years old, five cents a day, no matter how young you are."

Li Zhao raised his eyebrows: "Have new mines been dug in these two provinces? Where can we get so much money to build roads?"

The servants brought bathing water one after another. Li Zhao walked around behind the screen and had two small yellow doors to undress him. He did not ask the Yi Cheng to step back, so the Yi Cheng could only stand outside the screen and replied respectfully.

: "I haven't heard of the new mine, but I have heard that the governors of Fujian and Guangdong provinces are taking the lead in holding an investment promotion conference in Guangzhou. It is said to be related to road construction, and even merchants from Jiangsu and Zhejiang are sending people there.

"

"Well, please step back."

For such a big thing as road construction, there was no movement at all in the capital. However, just now Yi Cheng said that workers were paid for road construction. In other words, corvees were not used. Could it be that not even the state government's treasury was used?

Can it really be done?

With all kinds of doubts, Li Zhao hurriedly went to Guangzhou Mansion for the next journey. Just when he wanted to find out where the investment conference was held, he saw a huge notice at the gate of the city, which stated the time of the investment conference.

At the location, there were soldiers at the city gate standing in front of the notice board, beating gongs and shouting to promote this investment fair.

Li Zhao took a closer look and found that the relationship investment fair was not just one event, but several dozen in a row!

There have been five shows now, and there will be fifteen more to come, one every three days, at Yonghe Restaurant, the largest restaurant in Guangzhou, and there will be one in two days.

Li Zhao, who didn't want to alarm the state officials, wanted to find a hotel to rest, but he couldn't find a place for a while. The better restaurants were all booked, so he had no choice but to go to Guangzhou Yamen to find the new prefect.

He really didn't want to face Mr. Song, after all, he kidnapped his daughter without saying hello beforehand, but he would never admit that he was half-hearted about such a thing.

The newly appointed governor of Guangzhou Prefecture, Lord Peng, was recommended by Duke Xu of Wei State.

The Duke of Wei's Mansion is Empress Xu's natal family, and the meaning of Duke Xu is also the meaning of East Palace.

Originally Lord Song recommended Lord Gu to His Majesty as the magistrate of Jianzhou Prefecture, but now that the East Palace has plans, Lord Gu just made a horizontal transfer and became the current magistrate of Guangzhou Prefecture.

Today, His Majesty is very skilled in the art of checks and balances. He also likes to write tender and disgusting letters to his sons and grandsons, making the princes mistakenly think that they are extremely favored and valued by their father. His grandfather is not afraid of the future.

The sons fought more fiercely.

Li Zhao thought about these troublesome things, shook his head and fell asleep with a long sigh.

On the day of the Investment Promotion Fair, he took a leisurely stroll around Guangzhou after having breakfast. It was best to go shopping in the morning or evening during this season, as the sun at noon and afternoon was so strong that it could dry people.

When the sun was rising, Li Zhao finally arrived at Yonghe Restaurant with a yellow door and two guards. The investment meeting had already begun. The lobby was filled with wealthy businessmen from all over the world, but there was no noise at all. Everyone was whispering.

Several road sections for bidding today have been posted, as well as the starting prices for these sections. The map is posted on the right. The deadline is quarter to three, which is approximately 4:30 p.m.

Before that, everyone here can walk around, talk, or even walk around and have fun together, as long as the bid is submitted before three quarters of the application time.

You only need to write down the road section, price and the number on the number plate you get when you enter the tender.

The latest quotation will be updated every quarter of an hour on the notice board in the center of the lobby, and the one with the highest price will win.

There were people from the Chief Secretary in the restaurant. When they saw Li Zhao's clothes and the embroidery on his clothes, they immediately took him to the private room on the second floor.

The shopkeeper of the restaurant personally came to serve food and pour wine, and the officials of the Chief Envoy Si Yamen were also alarmed. However, they all knew that their leader, Mr. Song, had a grudge against Prince Su, and no one dared to be too fawning to Li Zhao.

Li Zhao didn't care. He was holding tea, leaning on the railing and looking down at the notice board. He found that the road section for auction included not only official roads, but also some unknown rural roads. The one with the highest starting price was the notice board at the gate of each state capital.

"The sign at the city gate is also auctioned. What does this mean?" Li Zhao asked.

The shopkeeper who was serving tea immediately said: "As far as I'm concerned, Prince, this auction is not about the route, but the notice boards along the route."

"Billboard?"

"Yes, whichever company takes photos of a road section can set up signboards along that road to promote its business name. It can even open a hotel next to those sections of road, and it can also give priority to the nearby farms along the road."

Li Zhao hummed lowly and squinted at the road sections on the signboard. Among them, he had an impression of the road section from Sanming County to Wenshui County. The group's trip was delayed due to rain that day, so they had to find a place to sleep in the Tutu Temple.

One night.

But it would be great if there could be a hotel between these two villages!
Chapter completed!