Under Su Jin's order, nearly 100,000 civilians from the Northwest Fourth Route arrived at Yeluling and set up camp. Several mountains north of Gyeongju became places for collecting raw materials. 100,000 civilians dug stones and harvested wood and continuously used the waterways.
And the raw materials were sent to Yeluling by land for accumulation; at the same time, Su Jin ordered people to spend nearly a month going to the capital and various places in the south to hire plasterers at high prices, many of whom were skilled craftsmen who were proficient in construction.
After a month of preparation, Su Jin officially dug the first shovelful of soil in Yelu Ridge, kicking off the construction of the new city.
Although Su Jin is an outsider in this area, he has never eaten pork before and has always seen pigs running away. Moreover, the plan of the new city is not large. After convening the skilled craftsmen for intensive discussion and comprehensive consideration based on the existing financial resources and raw materials,
This new city is tentatively planned to be surrounded by three inner and outer rings, supplemented by the structure of Wuxiangfang City in the southeast, northwest and middle.
The ring line is circular, with an outer ring circumference of fifteen miles, a middle ring of ten miles, and an inner ring of five miles. A city of this size can accommodate up to 100,000 people and is a small and medium-sized city; because the new city is positioned as a commercial distribution center, it is
More than ten docks are planned in the outer ring on the southeast, southeast and west sides extending to the waterway to facilitate the loading and unloading of goods by ships traveling from south to north.
There are no city walls in the new city. What a commercial city wants is easy access and easy access, and it does not shoulder the responsibility of defending against enemies. Of course, this will certainly put a lot of pressure on public security in the city. Without the confinement of city gates, the people coming and going come from all kinds of religions, making it inconvenient to manage.
.
However, Su Jin had already thought of a countermeasure. He had already thought of a way to deal with it. The new city was divided into five compartments, each compartment was divided into several squares, and each compartment had its own yamen and branches nearby. The first thing that merchants doing when entering the new city was to go there.
The yamen received the official documents stamped by the yamen, and with this, they could stay, eat, and do business in the city, otherwise it would be difficult to move around; this could roughly control the identity, number, and whereabouts of the people coming and going.
Twelve broad streets extend outward from the middle compartment, named by numbers. The northernmost one is First Street, and so on until Twelfth Street. From the drawing, the whole city looks like a big
dial, and the twelve streets are like twelve hands; each street is a main commercial street, connecting shops, goods, markets, etc.
As for the construction of shops, Su Jin required all to be masonry structures, abandoning rammed earth and wood, firstly for the sake of neatness and solidity, and secondly for fire prevention; culverts and sewers were dug under each street and led directly to the main canal to discharge outside the city.
They are all paved with gravel and asphalt, the main street is more than five feet wide, and the alleys can run parallel oxcarts.
All in all, after racking Su Jin's brains, Su Jin found ways to apply some things that could be copied to this era in later generations, and these fantastic ideas in Su Jin's mind really made those who followed him responsible for various tasks.
Officials of the project were in disbelief.
The construction of Pearl City began on April 28th. After one month, one hundred thousand people leveled the land and dug the foundation. Three ring roads and twelve main streets soon took shape. The asphalt from Baoshan Refinery has long stopped being transported to other places.
After the gravel foundation is laid, asphalt is spread on it, and after it dries, the construction of the main street and ring road is completed.
The completion of the Ring Road and the Twelve Main Streets is like weaving the main veins of the entire new city. What is left is to weave patterns around these meridians, and build facilities such as markets, markets, shops, and residences along the streets. It is a weaving network.
The process is very time consuming.
Su Jin ordered Li Zhong to supervise the progress of the project here, and he took time to go to various state capitals in the Song Dynasty to lobby. Rou Niang and others carefully painted dozens of city renderings, which were just in time for exhibition. At the same time, Su Jin also
Offer preferential business conditions in order to attract merchants from all over the world to open shops in Pearl City.
Su Jin was originally a famous figure in the Song Dynasty. Officials from all over the country had heard of Su Jin's name for a long time. Now that they saw Su Jin personally urging people to do business, they were a little puzzled.
It stands to reason that he is the true King of the Northwest. It seems unworthy of his job to condescend to do this, but Su Jin knows it. Pearl City has spent nearly 4 million yuan.
Living money, other materials and energy invested by the family are no longer included, and the subsequent investment will be at least a million dollars, and all of this money comes from the deposits of Huitong Bank depositors; fortunately, there are banks
Banks in Zhuangzai, Yingtian and Jingcheng receive nearly three million yuan in deposits every year. In the past few years, the balance of deposits has reached eight million yuan. Su Jinguang took away five million yuan during the construction of the city. If this happens
When the depositors collectively withdraw their money, Su Jin immediately commits suicide by jumping off the building.
Although the officials were puzzled, they still had to give face. Everywhere they went, the officials would gather businessmen from the local chamber of commerce. Su Jin naturally recommended the new city's preferential investment policies.
The investment policy of Pearl City is indeed favorable. First of all, the use of shops is free for one year. If you want to do business here the next year, you can have priority to purchase shops or pay rent; the second point is the tax preferential treatment, which is very important.
Although the official tax rate in the Song Dynasty varied according to different commodities, it was roughly between 2/100 and 5/100. Su Jin claimed that the Northwest Fourth Road had the power of the emperor to set its own tax rate by decree, and the overall tax rate was set at 1/100.
Between two and two, the tax rate has been greatly reduced; the third preferential policy introduced by Su Jin is even more peculiar. Anyone who has been doing business in the new city for five years and has a good reputation will be awarded the title of honorary citizen by the government and
He can recommend one of his sons to become an official.
The three preferential strategies are based on profit and face, which are indeed more tempting. Su Jin understands the thoughts of merchants. Pursuing profits while hoping not to be despised is their common thought. Su Jin takes advantage of their contradictions.
psychology.
In addition, most people are very interested in the color pictures of the city that Su Jin took out. From the pictures, the trees are lined, the streets are open, and the shops are spacious and beautiful. They give people a strange feeling and are so perfect that they can't help but
I believe that Su Jin has naturally noticed this and sincerely invites everyone to visit the new city in August. Those who are satisfied can sign an agreement and receive the shops on the spot. Those who are not satisfied will be sent home respectfully.
After three months of construction, with the sweat of hundreds of thousands of people and tens of thousands of troops, a brand-new city stood on the northwest land. Su Jin took the lead and moved the Lushi Yamen to the new city. Once the chief official came, other subordinate officials and Yamen
They could only move in one after another. Su Jin had already reserved a place for them, and the middle compartment was specially built for the relocation of the Yamen.
As supporting government offices at all levels were relocated one after another, the family members and guards of these people also followed.
In early August, invited merchants from all over the country arrived in the new city. Su Jin personally went to the pier to greet them, led five to six hundred merchants around the new city, and acted as their guide to introduce various facilities in the new city.
This group of people had not closed their mouths since they entered the new city. Everything they saw in front of them made them feel like they were in a dream. The wide and straight streets exuded a strange smell. The dark road surface felt a little elastic when they stepped on it, which made them unable to move forward.
, for fear of falling into it.
"Mr. Su, what is the pavement on this road? Why does it smell weird and a little soft?"
"This is an asphalt road. It is paved with a kind of oil residue called asphalt. Although it feels soft when you step on it, this kind of road is not slippery in snow, does not sink in rain, and is dust-free in sunny days. It will last for at least ten years.
It will definitely not become bumpy, and it is a hundred times better than the official road. If you don’t believe me, you can try it." Su Jin said with a smile.
Sure enough, some merchants got a bucket of water and poured it on the road, and then they pulled their horses and stampeded on it. After making a fuss for a long time, they didn't see anything strange on the road. They stretched out their hands and touched it. The water was water and the road was road. There wasn't even a black mark.
, they are basically two things that are not sticky.
"This... is really amazing." The merchants were stunned.
"Follow me, everyone, the magic doesn't stop here." Su Jin walked proudly, striding forward.
"Did you see that? The two-story building next to the road is a shop, and there is a yard behind it that can be used as a home or warehouse. These houses are made of blue bricks and bluestones, and are painted with white mud on the outside. Isn't it beautiful?" Su Jin pointed.
asked the house on the roadside.
"This...is this a shop? I thought it was a government office." An old man with few teeth opened his mouth wide with a look of disbelief.
Su Jin smiled and said: "How come there are so many yamen? They are all shops prepared for you. Are you satisfied?"
Everyone was speechless, and Su Jin didn't need them to answer. Their expressions had betrayed their hearts, and there was no need to answer at all.
The surprises continue, whether it is the isolation strips lined with flowers and trees along the street, or the empty large wooden barrels used to collect garbage placed every few dozen steps, all make people sigh that this new city is unique.
When it was almost dusk, the wooden poles standing on the roadside that Su Jin had never explained to everyone came in handy. More than a dozen oxcarts loaded with wind lanterns approached, lit the wind lanterns, and hung them one by one on the wooden poles with long hooks.
On the street, the dark streets suddenly became brighter. People walking on the brightly lit streets felt like they were walking in paradise. They were all amazed and praised without hesitation.
Some of the people accompanying me had read books for several years. After marveling at the poems and essays, the ink was rolling in their stomachs. They had a strong impulse to create, so they said in front of everyone: The clocks in the sky and the earth are beautiful, and the human power weeps the ghosts and gods; the Yunxiao Palace in the sky, the pearl underground.