After everyone left, Wang Can finished handling the government affairs and returned to the harem to accompany Cai Yan, Diao Chan, Da Qiao and other daughters. Although Wang Can has proclaimed himself emperor and is the supreme leader of the Nine-Five-Year Plan, Wang Can does not like the feeling of being alone, let alone being alone.
Cool days.
He prefers to be lively.
Wang Can treats all the women around him equally. In total, there are not many women in Wang Can's harem. They can basically drink a bowl of water. After a lot of fun, Wang Can and several women were in bed in the evening.
They slept together and got up early the next day for morning exercises.
This has been Wang Can's habit for many years.
Practicing Sanfu in the summer and Sanjiu in the winter are good for the body and can ensure Wang Can's physical fitness.
After the morning exercise, Wang Can washed up and had breakfast, then came to the place where the cement slabs were made. He squatted down, stretched out his hand to press the slabs, and a smile appeared on his face. At this moment, the cement slabs had solidified and were hard.
Incomparable.
With cement, Shu has another thing that benefits the country and its people.
Cement production is also income.
At this time, the chamberlain came to report that Cheng Yu, Ma Jun, Guo Jia and others had come together to see him. These people also took advantage of the time and came early, ready to have a quick look.
Wang Can ordered: "Let them come in."
"Here!"
The chamberlain received the order and went to inform him immediately.
Not long after, Cheng Yu took the lead, followed by Jia Xu, Li Ru, Guo Jia and others. They hurried to Wang Can and bowed respectfully to Wang Can.
Wang Can smiled and said: "No need to be polite, just take a look, the cement has completely hardened."
"I want to give it a try."
Cheng Yu lifted up his robe and knelt down to touch the stone slab. He pressed it hard and felt the hardness of the stone slab. His eyes widened, and with a look of shock on his wrinkled face, he sighed: "It's really hard.
It's as hard as iron, it's incredible."
When Jia Xu, Guo Jia and others touched it, they were all shocked.
After Cheng Yu stood up, he couldn't wait to order: "Fengxiao, you are young and strong. It's up to you to give it a try. You can chop with your sword and test the hardness of the stone slab."
"Okay, I'll do it."
Guo Jia took off the sword from his waist and unsheathed it.
Everyone moved away and stood aside.
Guo Jia shouted loudly, swung his sword and struck down.
"clang!"
The long sword struck the stone slab, cutting into the stone slab by an inch. Only a few pieces of fine sand and gravel were thrown out, and it could not go any further. Not only that, Guo Jia was also shocked by the force of the counterattack, which made his palms numb.
"hiss!"
Guo Jia took a breath, rubbed his sore and swollen palms, looked at the gaps in the stone slab, and sighed: "This stone slab made of cement is really hard."
After Cheng Yu saw it, he was completely convinced.
He bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I believe this. The cement produced by the Ministry of Industry is indeed of great merit. With cement, city walls built everywhere and houses built by the people will be stronger."
The rest of the people congratulated him one after another.
Wang Can also had a proud look on his face, and said unhurriedly: "Cement can be used to build city walls and houses, but in my opinion, building roads is the key."
"The official roads leading to various places are easy to drive when it doesn't rain. Once it rains, the roads are muddy and difficult to move forward. Just imagine if the main roads all over the world were made of cement. In the future, whether it is a carriage or a carriage, it will be difficult to travel.
Or it may be a war horse on the road, no matter what the weather is, it will be extremely easy.”
"The speed of travel has also been greatly improved."
Wang Can said: "It can be said that the merits of this thing are in the country and will benefit the future. It is beneficial to the country and the people."
Cheng Yu frowned.
In Cheng Yu's view, once a large-scale road construction is carried out, it will be equivalent to a large-scale construction project, and the impact will be very large. Because such a thing will consume countless treasury money. Especially when building roads, the people will have to be conquered and excessive corvee will be added.
It is easy for people to get into trouble.
Cheng Yu advised: "Your Majesty, if you want to build roads, I think you have to do it according to your ability. Conquering the people to build official roads will easily increase the burden on the people. The world has just stabilized, so we can't go to war."
Wang Can laughed.
Cheng Yu looked puzzled and asked, "Why is Your Majesty laughing?"
Wang Can replied: "Gong Zhongde, to build roads, it is not necessary to allocate money from the national treasury, nor to conquer the people. In my opinion, this can increase the income of the national treasury, and is also beneficial to the people, allowing them to earn money to support their families."
"
"What does your Majesty mean by this?"
Cheng Yu was a little confused.
He believes that building rivers and roads, etc., are extremely huge projects that will put a huge burden on the people. It is true that these projects are beneficial to the people and benefit the country and the people, but if they are not careful, they will put the people into trouble.
, increasing the burden on the people.
Wang Can explained: "To give a simple example, suppose that the official road from Hulao Pass to Luoyang, if I arrange it, I will not be led by the court, nor will I conquer the common people, but will summon the wealthy businessmen of Luoyang and let them
Pay money to buy the right to build this section of the official road."
"impossible!"
Cheng Yu answered directly without thinking.
Jia Xu stroked the beard under his chin and said: "Your Majesty, businessmen are not stupid. They know that this is His Majesty's arrangement. Perhaps because of Your Majesty's face, they will bite the bullet and buy it."
"But there are so many official channels in the world, and it is impossible for businessmen to spend their money to buy the right to build roads."
"Especially when it comes to building roads, the project is huge. Without the imperial conquest of civilian workers, they have to use money to buy materials and cement, and they have to use money to hire people to do the work. It's too expensive."
"The imperial court built roads and opened mountains by conquering civilians and assigning them to the people in the form of corvees, which did not cost money. But businessmen are different. They hire people to build roads, but they have to use money."
Jia Xu said: "I also think that the merchants will not agree."
Guo Jia, Li Ru and others all agreed.
Wang Can smiled and continued: "Listen to what I have to say. It is true that buying the right to build the official road costs a lot of money. Even building the road and hiring people in the later period will cost a lot of money."
"However, they can make money."
"I promise that within this distance, I will give them the right to sell cement and let them become the only merchants selling cement. They can make money by buying cement at a low price and selling it."
"In addition, I allow them to set up checkpoints and charge fees within a certain period of time after the official roads are repaired. Ordinary people will not be charged fees if they do not bring commercial goods to cross the customs. As long as merchants bring goods to cross the customs, they are allowed to charge appropriate fees."
"Just imagine, there are countless businessmen from all over the country, all involved in the transportation of goods. As long as they go through the official road, they can make money. Whether it is the sale of cement or the charging of goods, they are all profitable."
Wang Can said: "What do you think?"
Cheng Yu thought about it carefully, and a light flashed in his cloudy eyes. He had already figured it out, and he said with sincerity: "Your Majesty's clever thinking is extremely exquisite. It does not cost the court a cent, and does not increase the burden on the people.
You can build roads, and I admire you."
Jia Xu said: "I understand."
Guo Jia and others are very smart. After Wang Can suggested it, they all understood the way to admire Wang Can one by one. According to Wang Can's suggestion, this is definitely feasible.
Wang Can smiled and said: "I am just a suggestion, a general direction. There must be some incomplete considerations and loopholes in this. You should start making preparations according to this direction. Start with Chang'an,
Starting from Luoyang, we will spread out in sequence."
"I obey the decree!"
Jia Xu and others bowed in response.
They left the palace in a hurry to discuss the matter.
Wang Can looked at Ma Jun and ordered: "Ma Qing, the Ministry of Industry must increase its efforts and create more inventions. I hope that the Ministry of Industry can produce more good things like cement."
"I am determined to live up to His Majesty's high expectations."
The horses all alighted, and they said goodbye and left.
Wang Can returned to the palace and thought about the next step. Before he went south to attack the Japanese country, he had to straighten out the domestic affairs and then lead his troops to fight with peace of mind. (To be continued)
