Yan Shiqi replied without thinking: "According to our estimate, the cost per kilometer is about 5,000 yuan. ”

"Kilometers? Yuan? For these new terms, Sun Chuanting was suddenly a little confused.

Yan Shiqi immediately explained: "Kilometer is the length unit of the new weights and measures, and 1 kilometer is about equal to 2 li of the old unit. The yuan refers to the new monetary unit issued by His Majesty, and one yuan is equivalent to seven coins and two cents of the standard treasury flat silver. ”

Sun Chuanting calculated for a while, and then said with some surprise: "The cost of the entire road is 750,000 yuan?" Henan Mansion wants to pay 250,000 yuan, that is, more than 180,000 taels of silver?

According to the knowledge of the lower officials, in the best year of Henan Province, the annual tax was only more than 36,000 taels. More than 180,000 taels will be raised within three years, and the lower officials think that this is completely impossible..."

Yan Shiqi cut off his words and said: "There are also several bridges to consider, so the total budget is about 1 million yuan." Henan Fu can take the 30-year rights and interests of this road as collateral, and borrow from the Daming Central Bank, without really having to come up with money. ”

"What does 30 years of equity mean? Are you going to set up a card on the road to collect money? Sun Chuanting suddenly said with some displeasure.

Yan Shiqi didn't notice Sun Chuanting's dissatisfaction, he just looked at his own thoughts and said: "Yes, after this road is completed, we will charge the freight vehicles passing through this road. Part of the proceeds is used for routine maintenance of the road, and the other part is returned to the investor. ”

"Investors? Didn't the imperial court pay for the repair of this road? It is a good thing for the people to pay for the construction of this road by the imperial court, but if the road is repaired and then collected from the people, I am afraid that it will damage the reputation of the imperial court, right? Sun Chuanting immediately objected.

Yan Shiqi was suddenly a little at a loss, he could only calculate the numbers, and he couldn't answer what Sun Chuanting said about the reputation of the court.

Li Chaoqin coughed a few times, interrupted the conversation between the two and said: "The roads built by the imperial court at the expense of the imperial court should indeed be used by the people for free.

However, my Ming Dynasty is now empty in the treasury, but the roads everywhere are in urgent need of repair, if the light relies on the imperial court to pay for repairs, I am afraid that it will not be completed in decades.

But if people can see that it is profitable, they can absorb some of the idle funds of the wealthy people to build roads.

After the road is repaired, the local people can benefit from it, the passing merchants can reduce the freight, and the people who pay can get a stable income. ”

Sun Chuanting suddenly fell silent, although he was disgusted with the way of charging past merchants after repairing the road, but Li Chaoqin's explanation made him react quickly, this is undoubtedly a good way to quickly renovate road construction, and good road facilities can undoubtedly accelerate the exchange of materials in various places.

Li Chaoqin continued: "Another advantage of building this road is that Shaanxi has been hit by disasters in the past few years, and ordinary people have no savings, and the imperial court hopes that by building this road, it can absorb some displaced people, stabilize Shaanxi, and prevent these displaced people from becoming thieves and bandits." ”

Sun Chuanting was finally persuaded by Li Chaoqin and promised to fully cooperate with the construction of this road from Luoyang to Sanmenxia.

Li Chaoqin smiled and said, "The person responsible for building this road is you, so you just need to cooperate with yourself."

In addition, Tian Langzhong, please come forward, this is the locust Langzhong personally appointed by His Majesty, and the miscellaneous family hopes that you can also cooperate with his work. ”

After Tian Wenming stepped forward to greet Sun Chuanting, he recounted his request. Ever since he received Chongzhen's orders in Guozijian, he has devoted himself to studying the habits of locusts.

Through the written records of the predecessors in the management of locusts, as well as the study of the locations where locust plagues occurred in the Ming Dynasty over the years, Tian Wenming roughly understood two things.

The first is that locust plagues often go hand in hand with severe droughts, and the so-called "locusts come after a drought" and "locusts must occur after a long drought."

The second is the breeding area of locusts, most of which come from the barren flats of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. Locusts breed twice a year, once in summer and once in autumn.

He reported his findings to the emperor and decided that in order to alleviate the locust infestation, the barren flatlands in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River should be treated.

The emperor was very satisfied with his research and gave him an official position in the control of locusts, investigating and managing the barren lands of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River.

Sun Chuanting was also interested in Tian Wenming's research, and he couldn't help but ask, "Then how do you want this government to help you?" ”

Tian Wenming suddenly perked up and said, "Before leaving Beijing, I talked to Your Majesty once. According to His Majesty's proposal, the first is to carry out afforestation activities on the barren beach land along these rivers and turn the barren beach into a forest.

The second is to turn these barren beaches into bases for poultry storage, and distribute free chicks and ducks to peasant households so that they can be stocked in the barren lands. ”

Sun Chuanting suddenly said with some hesitation: "It's easy to encourage farmers to raise poultry, but this distribution of chicks and ducks, I'm afraid it will be difficult to gather such a large number of chicks and ducks for a while." ”

Tian Wenming immediately replied quickly: "This is not to worry about the Lord of Futai, the Shanglin Yuan Supervision and Education Department has artificial incubation technology, and His Majesty has already sent two skilled hands to me when I left Beijing."

As long as the Lord Futai finds a piece of land outside Luoyang City to set up a breeding poultry farm for us, and sends people to the villages near the river beach to spread the word, and let them come and collect the chicks and ducks when the time comes. ”

Sun Chuanting suddenly said happily: "If that's the case, then there is no problem." When the time comes, I will send you a man, and if you have any requirements, you can let him tell me. But how much does it cost to set up a breeding poultry farm? ”

Tian Wenming, who had received Sun Chuanting's support, immediately said happily: "I live in the Zhounanyi in the southeast corner, and Lord Futai can send someone there to find me." As for the cost of setting up a breeding poultry farm, for the time being, His Majesty will allocate funds from the Inner Treasury. ”

Sun Chuanting was stunned for a moment, and he subconsciously asked, "Inner Treasury allocation?" ”

Tian Wenming said with a big grin: "Some officials of the imperial court feel that raising poultry to prevent locust plagues is unreliable, and they are afraid that the local government will take this opportunity to force the people along the river to forcibly feed chickens and ducks, and then take back the adult chickens and ducks at the end of the year, causing an additional burden to the people."

Therefore, they are unwilling to pay this money and ask for trouble for the imperial court. Therefore, His Majesty simply allocated money from the Inner Treasury to let me test these methods of controlling locusts. ”

After seeing that Sun Chuanting had met with both of them, Li Chaoqin asked Yan Shiqi and Tian Wenming to retreat.

After there were only two people left in the hall, Li Chaoqin took out a scroll of edict from the brocade box on the table, and then said to him: "Your Majesty also asked the miscellaneous family to bring you a will, but you can decide this will yourself, whether you want to accept it or not, this is a special gift from your Majesty." ”

Sun Chuanting suddenly stood up without saying a word, tidied up the clothes on his body, and bowed down to Li Chaoqin, who was holding the edict.

Only then did Li Chaoqin unfold the edict in his hand and read: "Since I ascended the throne, I have only understood a thing or two about the temperament of the officials in the DPRK and China. The Beijing officials in the court are accustomed to retreating when they encounter problems, or they are obsessed with trivial things. The local officials were either perfunctory or stubborn and unreasonable in response to the orders of the imperial court.

Our Ming Dynasty lasted for more than 260 years, and now it is a sinister situation of internal and external difficulties and turmoil in the world. On this occasion, when we reform the old and welcome the new, and break all the old order that imprisons people's hearts and the development of productive forces, can we win back people's hearts and survive this great change unseen in 300 years.

Henan is the hinterland of the Central Plains, and the days of peace have passed for too long, and the sergeants in the guard post are neglected in the military, and the military attache is bent on collecting money, and the military equipment can be said to be extremely deserted. If nothing happens, you can still get drunk and dream of death, and if there is something, the Central Plains will be eroded, if such a scene really happens, then I will die.

Henan has fertile land, and it is also a province with the most canonization of clans, counting eleven princes, hundreds of county kings, and nearly 10,000 clans. There are clouds in the time: the land of Zhongzhou is half into the palace of the vassal king.

The amount of land is constant, and there is no limit to population growth. After a few generations, how many small people can still be supported in the land of Henan?

Half of Henan's land belonged to the vassal clans, while the other half of the land was held by the gentry and wealthy families. These squires and wealthy families lowered the price of grain in good years, and frantically annexed the land of small people in famine years.

There are three major diseases in Henan, one is that the guards do not practice martial arts, and it is difficult to calm the place; the second is that the population of the clan is too large, relying on the identity of the clan to bully the people; Third, the gentry were arrogant and oppressed the local people.

In the past, Tang Taizong said that the people are the water, and the king is the boat. What's the use of this boat without water? What else would a king do without the people?

Yes, I hope that Sun Chuanting will treat me for these three diseases. First rectify the health affairs of Henan, and then deal with the problems of the clans and gentry in Henan Province.

These three things are all difficult things, and those who have great perseverance and wisdom cannot take on this heavy responsibility. I don't want to force it, so please decide whether you want to accept my will. ”

Sun Chuanting was stunned when he heard this, each of these three things could make him crushed. Whether it is the rectification of the guard, the clan, or the gentry, they are all three behemoths with intricate roots and blended forces for hundreds of years.

Li Chaoqin finally let out the sullen anger that had just been ignored by Sun Chuanting, he looked at Sun Chuanting, who was speechless for a while, and asked with bad intentions: "Lord Sun, do you have any intention of receiving this edict?" ”

Sun Chuanting struggled for a long time before he asked Li Chaoqin a question: "If Chuanting is dull and careless, and Henan is in chaos first, what will Your Majesty do then?" ”

Li Chaoqin was stunned for a moment, he also asked Chongzhen this question, he thought about it for a long time, and then said to Sun Chuanting according to the emperor's original words: "Your Majesty has said that if you put a fire on your own house first, then there will be nothing to burn if others come to set fire again." If you can solve these three diseases, no matter how big the effort is, it will be worth it. ”

Sun Chuanting didn't expect an answer, but the content of Li Chaoqin's answer surprised him. He no longer hesitated, and took Chongzhen's edict after respectfully saluting.

Seeing that Sun Chuanting actually accepted this edict, Li Chaoqin once again took out a holy decree and appointed Sun Chuanting to concurrently serve as the Henan Guard, responsible for the reform of the guard, and the establishment of a new guard.

In addition, Li Chaoqin also gave Sun Chuanting a surprise, that is, he could go to Yan Shiqi to withdraw 100,000 taels of silver and 200,000 stone rice grains as military expenses for the establishment of the Henan New Guard Army and other affairs to deal with other affairs. In addition, Sun Chuanting was allowed to secretly fold to the emperor.