The most arrogant in history

Ye Kun nodded: "The walls of the small county town can be destroyed by our new cannons in just a few shots. They have no defense power. I dare to conclude that in a few hundred years, places like Zhuo County, Chang'an, Luoyang, and Jinling will no longer need city walls.

Because hundreds of years later, human weapons of war will be airplanes, missiles with a range of thousands or even tens of thousands of miles, and atomic weapons of terrifying power. A single bomb will be able to destroy a city with millions of people.

Cities in later generations did not have city walls.

Only tourist cities will retain old city walls in order to protect historical sites.

Ye Kun advocated the demolition of the county wall for the sake of development.

Before this, the county town’s city walls also required regular maintenance, which was a waste of time and money.

At that time, China had just ended a chaotic war and supplies were scarce. The city walls were demolished and many houses were built using the bricks, which solved the urgent problem.

But now, the population has exploded, and the population of many small counties has increased several times. Without demolishing the city walls, they cannot accommodate so many people.

Only the five major capitals and other county-level cities still retain their city walls.

The newly built cities in Jiaozhi and Tianzhu Continent both have strong city walls.

After all, those places have not been fully digested yet and need to be treated with caution.

He Tiantian said: "Your Majesty, except for the five major capitals and strategic locations throughout Kyushu, the city walls of other places can actually be demolished."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "As for the remaining cities, let nature take its course. As the population increases, cities will have to be expanded or new cities will be built in various places. Whether to build city walls or not is up to the local officials and people to discuss."

There are many benefits to demolishing the entire city wall, but there is also one disadvantage.

It’s a public security issue that has become complicated.

The murderer can easily escape after killing someone.

If a thief steals something, he can easily retreat.

According to data compiled by the Ministry of Justice, in the past ten years, more than 3,000 murderers have fled their hometowns and have never been heard from again.

In ancient times, criminal investigation technology was underdeveloped, criminal investigation forces were insufficient, and the cost of pursuit was too high.

These escaped murderers often get away with it and disappear without a trace.

Ma Zhao had some complaints about this matter and believed that the city wall should be retained to facilitate public security.

Ye Kun, however, believes that individual vicious cases are inevitable and cannot be solved by building walls.

The county town has a city wall, but the countryside doesn’t.

There is no city wall on the road.

Murders and arson can happen anytime and anywhere.

The root of public security issues lies in the refinement and strict enforcement of laws, in improving productivity, in the dignity of the people's lives, and in resolving conflicts in a timely manner...

After years of governance, the incidence of serious cases has dropped a lot.

The population has increased, but the number of cases has not decreased.

Gradually, it was the twelfth lunar month.

The New Year atmosphere is here again.

The school has already gone on winter vacation, and the streets and alleys are filled with children playing happily.

The clothing company proposed by Ye Kun and run by Qiao Nu has been operating for more than half a year.

Business is good and money is rolling in.

There was a main street in the outer city of Zhuo County, which was taken over by Qiao Nu and turned into the "Royal Commodity Street".

The street runs east-west, is 1,500 meters long, and is lined with three-story buildings on both sides, specializing in wholesale and retail of Royal Company's products.

Mainly cotton products, clothes, hats, shoes, bed sheets and quilt covers.

There are also daily necessities, such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, laundry detergent, matches, kerosene, etc.

Garment factories use mechanized production and high-speed textile machines, which are highly efficient and therefore bring down prices.

The cloth, clothes, bed sheets and quilt covers produced here are in great demand because of their low prices and good quality.

Ye Kun came to the Royal Commodity Street, where Qiao Nu was counting the accounts.

"Your Majesty, you are here?"

Qiao Nu caught Ye Kun and said with a low laugh, "I have good news for His Majesty. In half a year, all the money we invested in the factory and the commercial street will be returned to us."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "I was right about you. I knew you were a genius in business. I've been spending money lavishly over the years, and it's all thanks to you."

To be honest, the business managed by Jiao Nu did make a lot of money for Ye Kun.

Small commodities such as fireworks, toothpaste and toothbrushes, soap and laundry detergent, matches, clocks, toilet water, wind oil... etc. were all monopolized by the royal family.

These little gadgets have huge profits.

With sales of 300, there is a net profit of 150.

Jiao Nu smiled and said, "Your Majesty is praising me. I heard that our Royal Bank and Royal Railway are the ones that make the most money."

Ye Kun nodded and said, "The total profits of the Royal Bank and the Royal Railway are about the same as the total profits of Xiaori Chemical. Our Royal Railway is just the Western Railway. The bank has a lot, but there are also bad debts."

The Royal Bank has more than 30 branches across the country, in cities with a population of over 100,000.

However, Ye Kun intended to control profits and lend money out at an annual interest rate of only 7 or 8 percent.

Deposit money in with an annual interest rate of 5%.

After deducting the bank's management and operating costs, there is actually not much profit.

It was only because of the existence of the Imperial Bank and the Royal Bank that private usury could no longer survive, which brought convenience to the people and slowed down the process of polarization between the rich and the poor.

There are also some customers who cannot repay the loan or who die, and the debt becomes bad debt.

The Western Railway is quite profitable. It connects Luoyang and Chang'an. Both passenger and freight traffic are huge and are still increasing steadily.

Qiao Nu said: "In two years, our cotton spinning and clothing business will expand to Chang'an, Jiangnan and Yizhou, and we will make more money. At that time, it will exceed the total profit of the railway.

I plan to go to Yizhou, Jiangnan, and Chang'an after the Spring Festival to open new factories and wholesale markets. Let's make more money while we can."

“You can make money, but don’t forget to pay taxes.”

Ye Kun smiled and said, "The royal family has many invisible privileges, so we should do everything we can to achieve success. We have taken advantage, but we should be aware of this. We cannot spend all the money we earn, so we should give back to society. Paying taxes truthfully is a support to the court and a contribution to society."

Jiao Nu rolled her eyes: "Our factory and commercial street are supervised by special personnel from the tax department. Every time I pay taxes, I am the most active. This year, the top ten taxpayers in the country were selected, and I ranked fifth.

The total tax payment this year is 3.1 million taels of silver. On average, we pay 10,000 taels of silver in taxes to the court every day."

"We have such a big business, but we are only ranked fifth? Who are the top four taxpayers?" Ye Kun was astonished.

"The first is the Royal Western Railway, the second is the Jiangnan Silk Company, the third is a boss in Chang'an City, and the fourth is a boss who does Shu brocade business. The silk industry is the most profitable." Qiao Nu listed them all.

Ye Kun smiled bitterly: "I didn't expect silk to be so profitable. By the way, the tax revenue from the Grand Canal should be even higher!"