lied to Kangxi

Chapter 1031 New official way

After leaving the third town stationed in Seoul and Ganghwa Island, Yuzhu returned to the court smoothly.

Yuzhu took a royal boat, passed Wusongkou, and arrived at the official ship wharf of Wuchang Mansion unimpeded all the way.

"Congratulations to Sheng'an!" Zhou Quan and Zhang Tingyu, who were staying in Wuchang, led the six ministers and servants to the pier to welcome Yuzhu.

"That's all." Yuzhu was in a good mood, walked up to Zhou Quan, and said with a smile, "Brother Zhusheng, thank you for your hard work!"

When Yuzhu was not around, he didn't engage in the practice of the prince supervising the country, but Zhou Quan was the leader to preside over the government affairs of the court.

Except for the mobilization of troops and horses, which must be approved by Yuzhu, Zhou Quan can approve all memorials on his behalf.

Throughout the ages, only Yuzhu dared to grant such great power to his subjects.

Yuzhu's employment of people has always been used by suspicious people, relying on the system to restrain the gradually expanding power.

Zhou Quan presides over the overall situation in the country, Zhang Tingyu assists from the side, and the two sign together, which can be regarded as a legal government affairs instruction.

Moreover, Yuzhu never allowed Zhou Quan or Zhang Tingyu to get involved in military power from the beginning to the end.

As long as the military power is firmly in Yuzhu's hand, anyone who dares to act rashly will be seeking death.

"It's really hard work for the emperor to personally go on the expedition." Zhou Quan thanked him with a long bow, not daring to accept the praise for his hard work.

"Hengchen, you've worked hard too!" Yuzhu felt that Zhou Quan and Zhang Tingyu were a perfect match for handling government affairs together.

Zhou Quan is good at making decisions, dares to make decisions, and has the courage to do things.

Zhang Tingyu is thoughtful and careful, and has never made a big mistake in his work.

The two joined hands to preside over the overall situation of the court. Even though Yu Zhu was far away in North Korea, he was at ease.

"Your Majesty, you have achieved a lot in this imperial expedition." Seeing that Yu Zhu was in a good mood, Zhou Quan took the initiative to mention the gains of North Korea.

Yuzhu pursed his lips and smiled, and said: "If the Eastern Kingdom is in my hands, then the entire eastern sea area will be safe. When North Korea is completely pacified, the Wa Kingdom must be included in the pocket, which is the best policy."

"Your Majesty, I believe that you must never conscript yourself again. You are the lord of ten thousand chariots, and you must not allow any mistakes." Zhang Tingyu took the opportunity to persuade.

Yuzhu asked Zhang Tingyu very seriously: "The merit of destroying the country is bestowed on the ministers, how can we use it in the future?"

Zhang Tingyu had already thought up his speech, and said calmly: "Back to the emperor, Tang Gaozong ordered Su Dingfang to destroy the country, and his mind is very good."

Yu Zhu laughed out loud, Zhang Tingyu dared to say this, if someone else, he would never dare to be so bold.

Today, Yuzhu is not yet 40 years old. His idea is to completely fix the territory of the Chinese Empire in his lifetime.

After the homeland is safe, the conquest of Southeast Asia will begin.

There are quite a lot of small countries in Southeast Asia, and when the time comes, it will be just right for the princes to lead their troops to practice their skills.

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty, apart from the Taizu and Taizong who founded the country, rarely had people who knew how to fight.

It is unreasonable for a prodigal like Ming Baozong to regard military affairs as a child's play.

Unlike Kangxi, after returning from an expedition led by Yu Zhu, he didn't like to engage in those fancy welcome ceremonies.

Yuzhu led the important officials of the imperial court, and set up a few tables of banquets in the Huxin Pavilion of the imperial palace, which was regarded as a celebration party.

Before the banquet was over, Yuzhu got the good news that a foreign miner had found a large limestone mine near Luanzhou.

Limestone is one of the necessary resources for cement production, and its strategic significance is extremely important.

Yuzhu was very happy, and pulled Zhou Quan to drink three cups.

Zhou Quan drank a little too quickly, choked his throat, and coughed repeatedly.

"Your Majesty, I almost forgot that the experimental cement road has already been repaired." Zhang Tingyu took advantage of Yuzhu's joy and hurriedly reported another happy event.

"Heng Chen, don't tell me sooner." Yuzhu pulled Zhang Tingyu again and drank three glasses of wine in a row.

Zhang Tingyu's alcohol capacity is actually very good.However, he was very cautious and never got drunk.

After the banquet was over, Yuzhu led Zhou Quan and Zhang Tingyu to see the newly built cement official road together.

The experimental concrete official road was built next to the imperial palace, with a length of two miles and a width of eight lanes in both directions.

The car here naturally refers to the carriage.

Yuzhu got into the carriage himself and ordered the driver to gallop with his whip.

I saw that the carriage was driving on the wide concrete official road, and you could run as fast as you wanted, and you no longer needed to worry about the unevenness of the loess road.

Yu Zhu said with a smile: "The cement official road is very good and fantastic. However, the cost is also astonishingly high. I plan to collect tolls for passing horse-drawn carriages. What do you guys think?"

Zhou Quan and Zhang Tingyu looked at each other in blank dismay, it was unheard of for them to take the official route and charge tolls.

"I've already figured it out. In the future, the newly built cement official road will charge one penny for every mile, and ten pennies for ten miles. For caravans, if they want to deliver goods in a hurry, they have to pay. No If you are in a hurry, you can also take the free official road. As for the money collected, it will all be used for road maintenance." Yuzhu talked eloquently, Zhou Quan and Zhang Tingyu were stunned as if they were listening to a scripture.

Zhou Quan did some calculations in his mind, and it was really not expensive for a penny and a mile.

It's just that the cost of sending people to collect fees will also rise accordingly.

After Zhou Quan expressed his doubts, Yu Zhu raised the corners of his mouth and said, "There are no toll booths along the new concrete official road. You only need to buy a pass when you leave the city, and you can drive on the official road."

Zhang Tingyu thought about it carefully and felt that something was wrong, so he quickly reminded: "Your Majesty, if there are profiteers who sneak away to pay the toll, what should we do?"

Yu Zhu had already thought about it, and said calmly: "Just send mobile patrol officers and soldiers along the official road. The profiteers can escape ten thousand times, and I only need to catch it once, and I will be fined ten thousand times. Ah, to recover the arrears with interest.”

Loans to build roads, and fees to repay loans, this is Yuzhu's very familiar slogan.

In fact, the highways in many places, because the tolls are too high, no one is willing to pass by, and there have been serious losses on a large scale.

In addition to the necessary road maintenance fees, one of the main reasons for the loss is the overcrowding and overstaffing of the toll collection company, with too many officers and too few soldiers, resulting in a seriously excessive labor cost.

Anyway, it's the country's fault.No matter how big the loss is, he will not lower the price.

This creates an endless cycle. The tolls are high, no one is willing to leave, the losses are serious, and there are places to look for subsidies. And the more losses there are, the more related households are recruited, and the cycle repeats.

Yu Zhu is an old bureaucrat. He knows better than anyone else that every benefit of the court will turn into a disadvantage for the local government.

Therefore, Yuzhu simply did not set up a special toll station, and changed to a random inspection system.

Under the spot check system, the net must not be too dense, and fish will inevitably slip through the net.

However, as long as there is a heavy penalty system, most caravans are forced to pay the toll honestly, which is negligibly lower than the cost of setting up a toll booth.

As the saying goes, it is good to make a profit and reduce its disadvantages!
(End of this chapter)