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In the Palace of Qianqing, Qin Mu drafted a decree with a red pen, stamped it with a seal, and handed it to Han Zanzhou, saying: "Immediately send someone to pass the decree to Ou Wanchun, the chief envoy of Sichuan, and ask him to organize manpower to mine asphalt mines. Jiang Yun returned to Nanjing."
"My slave obeys the order."
"Wait a minute, send someone to summon Song Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry and the two ministers to the Jianjia Palace. I will summon them there."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Jianjia Hall is located in the southwest corner of Qianqing Palace, with a door leading to the front court. Because of the quiet and elegant environment, with ever-new flowers and trees, Qin Mu usually liked to handle government affairs, read and write ink, and summon ministers in Jianjia Hall.
Although today is a day of rest, the emperor summoned Song Yingxing and his left servant Zou Chengfang. Naturally, his right servant Wei Yuan did not dare to neglect and hurried into the palace to the Jianjia Hall.
"See Your Majesty."
"Without any courtesy, I will sit down and serve tea when someone comes."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Song Yingxing is a scholar-like official. Most of his time is actually spent on various scientific researches in the Ministry of Industry. The government affairs of the Ministry of Industry are actually more managed by two ministers, especially the left minister Zou Chengfang, who has very outstanding abilities. .
After the three people sat down, Qin Mu asked the young eunuch to place the half sack of asphalt in front of the three people, and then said: "This kind of asphalt produced in Longmen Mountain, Sichuan, is boiled in a large pot, then mixed with gravel and spread on the road. , after the asphalt is cooled, the effect is excellent. Rain will not cause potholes, and the traffic will not raise dust. It can become a prosperous road. If the roadbed does not collapse, the road surface will not be damaged for decades. You can take these half bags back to the Ministry of Industry later. , let the craftsmen try it.”
Qin Mu comes up with some novel things from time to time, and even steam engines have been seen before. Although Song Yingxing and others are curious about the appearance of this kind of asphalt, they are not surprised anymore, and they are somewhat immune.
Seeing what Qin Mu said so well, Song Yingxing immediately asked: "May I ask Your Majesty, is it difficult to mine asphalt? How much is the reserve?"
Qin Mu said: "You don't care about this. The reserves in Guangyuan, Sichuan alone are very rich. I'm looking for you today because I intend to build an official road with asphalt starting from Changsha, passing through Guiyang, and reaching Kunming. Strengthen the imperial court's rule over the southwest.
I can tell you that this road will be an important part of our ten-year strategic plan. This road will be built to Kunming first, but this is by no means the end point. It will be built when the country becomes stronger in the future. It will continue to extend southward. "
Song Yingxing, Zou Chengfang, and Wei Yuan looked at each other in shock.
Zou Chengfang immediately said: "Your Majesty, it is a long way from Changsha to Kunming, and there are many mountains, rivers, and cliffs along the way. It is not easy to build a straight road. It will not only cost tens of millions of dollars, but also require hundreds of thousands of labor. It is possible to complete it. At present, the Qin Dynasty is full of waste and cannot afford such a huge expense. I ask your Majesty to think again."
"Your Majesty, please think twice." Song Yingxing and Wei Yuan also stood up to persuade him.
Qin Mu waved his hand and asked them to sit back. He said with a smile: "I understand, you probably now regard me as the First Emperor who built the Great Wall."
"I don't dare."
"Am I not clear about the lessons learned from the First Emperor's mistakes? I can promise you now that we will build this road. It will not cost a penny of domestic money, and will not require a single labor force from the country. How much money is needed, the Royal Navy will bring it back to you. How much labor is needed? , the Royal Navy will retrieve it for you.”
"Your Majesty..."
After hearing what Qin Mu said, Song Yingxing's three big eyes stared at him, speechless. If Qin Mu had said this before, they would definitely not believe it;
But this time, the Royal Navy quietly opened up a province for Daqin and got back nearly two million taels of property. It is difficult to estimate the subsequent output.
By analogy, it is not impossible if the Royal Navy can capture a few more places and bring back tens of millions of taels of silver. If there is free labor, then building this straight road does not necessarily cost tens of millions.
However, doing this... Song Yingxing and others always felt that something was wrong. They felt that it was too unconventional and a bit beyond their own understanding. It just felt awkward anyway.
Qin Mu said slowly: "You don't have to worry about the money and people to build the road. What you have to do is to send people to conduct field surveys as soon as possible, select the route, design the bridges, and formulate an overall construction plan. , calculate the budget amount of the project, etc.”
"Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance. Should we hand it over to the court and let all ministers discuss it together before making a decision?"
Song Yingxing still felt uneasy. Although this project was huge, it was not comparable to the Great Wall, but if it was not done right, it could also lead to unpredictable serious consequences, and it might even bring down the newly established Great Qin.
"Don't worry, Minister of the Song Dynasty, this matter will naturally be submitted to the court for discussion. However, there is no need to worry too much, Minister of the Song Dynasty. Everything must be done according to one's ability. I know this well;
This road will always be built correctly. No matter how much money we have, we will build it as long as we can. If we are unable to do so, we will temporarily stop working. In fact, I am confident this time that the Royal Navy will be able to solve the problem of money and manpower for road construction;
As long as the Royal Navy can do this, building this road will not only not affect the domestic livelihood of the people, but also stimulate domestic demand... Well, do you understand what stimulating domestic demand means? "
Song Yingxing and the others could probably guess a few things, but they couldn't figure out their thoughts for the moment and didn't know how to answer.
"Let's put it this way, the Qin Dynasty has just established its position in the ruins, the people's lives are not yet comfortable, and the overall purchasing power is not strong. A country's economy is mainly driven by consumption;
For example, if a workshop produces cloth, if no one buys it, the workshop will close down. On the contrary, if more people buy it, the workshop will prosper, which will lead to the rise of more workshops, the market will prosper, and the country will get more from it. taxes;
Now that the people have just settled down from the war, they are not rich and have no money to spend, what should they do? At this time, the court had to invest, spend money, and consume various commodities, so as to promote the rise of domestic industries;
If you want to be rich, build roads first. Once the road is open, business can flourish and people can communicate more smoothly. Therefore, if the court wants to consume, it is most cost-effective to invest in building roads. Once the road is built, in the long run, the court can get a steady stream of benefits from this road;
When building roads, the court invested huge amounts of money. As long as they were not forced to do labor, the people along the road could benefit a lot from it. They could even make money by carrying water and baskets of wild fruits to the construction site.
Therefore, building this road will not only not put a heavy burden on the people, but also stimulate the development of the northwest's economy and people's livelihood. In the long run, after the road is built, it will help the court strengthen its control over the southwest, and it will be much easier to change the land and return it to the east. In the longer term, it will complete the major strategic steps of the Qin Dynasty and pave the way for the future of the Qin Dynasty's power to move southward. A broad avenue is extended. "
Qin Mu's long speech benefited Song Yingxing and the others a lot. In terms of economics and people's livelihood, they were not as knowledgeable as Xu Yingjie from the Ministry of Household Affairs. Xu Yingjie and the others understood these principles without Qin Mu's explanation.
Now Song Yingxing and the other two people also understand that if the navy can bear the cost of building roads as Qin Mu said, this will indeed be a thing that benefits the country and the people.
The three of them stood up together and saluted: "Your Majesty is wise, wise, and far-sighted. I have learned my lesson and will go back and start preparations."
"Well, you must keep in mind that this road is related to the major strategies of Daqin in the future. What I want is a real broad road. At the narrowest point of the asphalt road, we must ensure that three cars can run parallel. If some big rivers cannot When building a stone bridge, build an iron cable bridge first. In places where there are no rocks, cement and steel piers can be used to tie iron cables. In short, even an iron cable bridge must be able to pass horse-drawn carriages. "
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The reason why the Central Plains dynasties of all dynasties were unable to rule the southwest had to adopt a policy of restraint and allow the local chieftains to govern themselves. What was missing was a way.
If the southwestern provinces are not well controlled and want to expand further south and extend the territory of Qin to the Indochina Peninsula and the Indian Ocean, it will be tantamount to wishful thinking.
Although this can be achieved at sea, if the land route is not accessible, it will still be difficult to completely control the interior of Indochina. So it is very necessary to build this road.
What's more, road construction itself can stimulate domestic demand and develop the economy
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ps: I just found out that I was surpassed by Soldier Soul again, and my ranking dropped one place. Brothers, please give me your support and let me rush up again! Asking for a monthly ticket! (To be continued...)
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