"I heard that many people came to Yan'an Fort today, including cloth merchants from Ganzhou. Look, the road is full of carriages and horses. I'm afraid Qinghe County is not so lively..." Wang Jianbei sat in the carriage, looking at the people on the road, sighed, then turned his head and looked at Yan Liqiang, "The road connecting Yan'an Fort to the official road is newly built, I think, it's spacious enough!"
"It is indeed newly built. The original road has been around for decades and is a bit narrow. It becomes muddy when it rains and is very inconvenient. So, taking the opportunity of the construction of Yan'an Fort, I had people rebuild the road!" Yan Liqiang replied.
The wool spinning mill officially opened today and there was an opening ceremony. Wang Jianbei, who had heard in the past few days that the Yan family could turn wool into cloth, would naturally not ignore this major event in Pingxi County. He sent someone to tell Yan Liqiang that he wanted to come and take a look today. Since the county magistrate had given him the honor, Yan Liqiang was of course more than happy to do so. So early in the morning, Yan Liqiang personally went to the dock of Qinghe County to greet Wang Jianbei, and then took a carriage with Wang Jianbei over.
Also welcoming Wang Jianbei were the magistrate of Qinghe County and several local officials. Although the magistrate was the chief official of the county, he was not qualified to ride in the same carriage with Wang Jianbei and could only sit in the carriage at the back.
"This is a good thing, and it is what the local gentry and the wealthy should do. Once this road is repaired, it will not only be convenient for Yan'an Fort, but also for several villages and towns along the way!"
"There's a saying that goes, if you want to get rich, build roads first. I wonder if you've heard of it!" Yan Liqiang responded with a smile, and naturally said a slogan that he often saw in the countryside in his previous life. "Once this road is open, transportation will be convenient, and it will be easy for merchants to come and go. Things from outside can be shipped in, and things from inside can be shipped out. With the exchange of goods and money, and the convenience of people coming and going, the lives of local people will gradually get better!"
"Yes, if you want to be rich, you must first build roads. This saying makes sense. The reason why our Han Empire is the richest in the Silver Continent is also due to the huge investment of the empire in official roads. Two hundred years ago, the famous prime minister Zhu Zichang proposed an ambitious plan. He wanted to use forty years to upgrade all the official roads of the Han Empire to straight roads that can connect all states and counties. Unfortunately, this plan was very expensive and many people disagreed. In the end, only some straight roads were built in the capital and other places. After Zhu Zichang passed away, the plan was also stopped. Although Zhu Zichang's straight road plan was not completed, the Han Empire is now the leader of the Silver Continent and is extremely rich, thanks to the official roads of the entire Han Empire that can connect all states!"
It was the first time that Yan Liqiang heard that two hundred years ago, the prime minister of the Han Empire had proposed a plan to build a straight road. That straight road, built on the basis of the official road, should be more advanced than the official road. And the name reminded Yan Liqiang of a highway. People of that era had such vision, which really made Yan Liqiang admire him.
"Building a straight road is indeed a huge project with huge consumption. However, if one day the way of studying things can be further improved, perhaps the wish of Zhu Zichang, a famous prime minister of the Han Empire, can be turned into reality!" Yan Liqiang said calmly. The steam engine has been built, but it has not been popularized on a large scale yet. When the steam engine becomes popular in the Han Empire in the future, productivity will be taken to a higher level, and steel production will be increased. It will not be difficult to build transportation tools such as trains and cars, especially trains. If such things can be really built, their use will be greater than straight roads.
"Yes, there are now two water-fired mills in Pingxi City. I've seen the water-fired mills. They are really good things, saving time and effort!" Wang Jianbei nodded slightly, looking at the green farmland on the roadside outside the window. The green farmland was planted with wheat. It was already April, and the wheat in the farmland had reached the time of heading and flowering. The breeze blew, and the wheat waves rolled in the farmland. Even if you were sitting in the car, you could seem to smell the unique and intoxicating field scent of the wheat flowering between heaven and earth. This scent seemed to remind the governor of Pingxi County of something. His eyes suddenly became deep and a little throbbing. "The dream you told me last time about the Shatu people... was it true?"
After the last trip to the County Magistrate's Mansion, Yan Liqiang thought that Wang Jianbei was no longer interested in this topic. He was a little surprised to hear him bring it up at this time. "If I don't do anything, it may be true. For me, true or false is not important. I just want to have a clear conscience. Why did you suddenly think of asking this?"
"In fact, I have been thinking about what you said to me these days. As the saying goes, one should listen to what he says and watch what he does. I found that you have already started to prepare to stockpile grain. This shows how bad your judgment of the future is. How can I turn a blind eye to it!" Wang Jianbei sighed. In the past few days, the entire Pingxi County and Ganzhou were attracted by the news that Yan Liqiang used wool to make cloth. Even countless people followed Yan Liqiang's tail and began to buy wool everywhere, enclose land, and prepare to make a fortune with Yan Liqiang. However, as the prefect of Pingxi County, he knew that Yan Liqiang's attention had already turned to grain. Tairuifeng Grain Store, the largest grain merchant in Pingxi County, had quietly begun to purchase grain from all over Ganzhou, build granaries, and stockpile large quantities of grain in Pingxi County, Lujiazhuang and Yan'an Fort.
As a local official, Wang Jianbei naturally paid special attention to the flow of grain, an important material for stabilizing people's livelihood. Tairuifeng's grain purchasing action in Pingxi County was very careful and hardly caused much fluctuation in grain prices. The reason why Wang Jianbei noticed Tairuifeng's actions was the news from the Governor's Office. This year, Tairuifeng purchased far more grain than before in other counties of Ganzhou, which attracted the attention of the Official Affairs Department of the County Magistrate's Office. Then the news was passed on to the Pingxi County Magistrate's Office for attention. Wang Jianbei asked someone to check and found out that the Lu family in Huanglong County and the head shopkeeper of Tairuifeng were in-laws. One of Mr. Lu's daughters was Tairuifeng's eldest wife, and Yan Liqiang provided a large amount of silver behind the scenes through the Lu family, and cooperated with Tairuifeng to allow Tairuifeng to start stockpiling grain.
It would be fine if other people were hoarding food, but Yan Liqiang had told him about that bloody and terrifying dream before, so Wang Jianbei couldn't help but feel nervous. Except for a few places that suffered natural disasters, food was not scarce in peaceful times, and there was no need to hoard it in large quantities. Only when the world was in chaos would people hoard food in large quantities, and the preciousness of food could be reflected. In prosperous times, one ounce of gold could buy a few carts of food without any problem, but when it came to war and chaos, one ounce of gold might only buy a few steamed buns.
Yan Liqiang's face was calm instead of panicking. He looked into Wang Jianbei's eyes frankly. "This Pingxi County is just a place for you to serve as an official. It is a point and a process in your career. If you leave Pingxi County, you can be a county governor anywhere and may even be promoted in the future. But for me, this Pingxi County is the place where I was born and raised. The mountains and rivers here, the folks here, are all connected to me by blood and cannot be separated. I will never allow anyone to turn this place into a dead zone. Since I have the ability now, no matter whether the dream I talked about with you will appear or not, I will make the worst plan in advance. After the autumn harvest this year, Tairuifeng will increase its grain purchases, and will continue to increase next year and the year after. Even if all the money spent on grain purchases is wasted, it doesn't matter to me. I can afford it..."
"Even if I don't agree, you are going to prepare to deal with the Shatu people, right?" Wang Jianbei asked, staring into Yan Liqiang's eyes.
"Your Excellency has the final say on what happens to the Shatu people in Pingxi City, but if something happens to those Shatu people after they leave Pingxi City, it will have nothing to do with Your Excellency!"
"If I am willing to help you drive the Shatu people out of Pingxi City, how are you going to clean up the mess left in the Shatu gathering area of Pingxi City? Now the Pingxi County Governor's Office does not have much surplus after deducting various expenses from annual taxes, and can't afford so much money to clean up that mess!" Wang Jianbei suddenly asked.
"If you can drive the Shatu people out of Pingxi City, I am willing to buy the mess where the Shatu people gather in Pingxi City for two million taels of silver!" Yan Liqiang said firmly.
"Two million taels?" Wang Jianbei asked immediately.
"Two million taels!" Yan Liqiang nodded.
"Okay, deal. The mess of the Shatu people in Pingxi City is now handed over to you! Wang Jianbei suddenly smiled and said considerately, "It doesn't matter if you don't have that much silver at the moment. I'll tell the governor and you can use the future income from the salt field as collateral!"
"Sir, how can I regret it?" Yan Liqiang rubbed his nose and looked at his palm with a strange expression, "Why do I feel that I and those Shatu people in Pingxi City seem to have been tricked by you, sir? I paid the money, and you sold those Shatu people in the city to me in packages for dozens of taels of silver each,... Wait... Was this idea proposed by the governor..."
"Ahem... Ahem... The Shatu people are indeed a great threat to our Han Dynasty!" Wang Jianbei's old face flushed slightly, "I just talked to the governor about your idea..."
Yan Liqiang stared at Wang Jianbei for a long time, and suddenly said, "I heard that the county magistrate of Qinghe County will retire in a few months due to his age. How about I recommend a new county magistrate for you?"
Wang Jianbei was also stunned for a moment, "Just one?"
"Two, the magistrate of Qinghe County and the lieutenant of Huanglong County Patrol Office!"
The two people in the carriage looked at each other for a few seconds, then raised their palms together and clapped each other...
make a deal!
"I'd like to ask, who is the magistrate of Qinghe County you want to nominate?" Wang Jianbei, the county lieutenant of Huanglong County, was too lazy to ask. It must be someone from the Lu family. He was just curious about the candidate for the magistrate of Qinghe County that Yan Liqiang wanted to nominate. Even if Yan Liqiang pushed his father out, to be honest, Wang Jianbei would not be surprised. If Yan Liqiang wanted two positions of county magistrate, to be honest, Wang Jianbei might have hesitated and would have been unhappy. But a county magistrate plus a county lieutenant was just within his acceptable range. It was a way to get a deal and to appease Yan Liqiang.
"Don't worry, sir. That person's qualifications and prestige won't make things difficult for you!"
Wang Jianbei nodded...
The carriage had already arrived at Yan'an Fort, and at this time, the entrance to Yan'an Fort was completely blocked...
(End of this chapter)