Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

If those who were doing light labor were jealous, they could also join in the labor of clearing canals and repairing city walls and receive a small amount of wages.

Yu Chang frowned and said, "Minister Du, even though giving the people 2 copper coins a day may not seem like much, if you add in the free meals, the cost is not low!"

"If we conscript 5 people, we will have to pay them 10 coins a day, plus food, that would probably be 12 coins!"

"If I work 30 days a year for 5 years, wouldn't it be..."

Thinking of this huge arithmetic, Yu Changwei raised his head and started calculating in his mind.

Du He said softly: "The total is 1800 million coins, about 1 strings of cash!"

"Calculate so quickly?" Yu Chang said in astonishment.

He was quite talented in arithmetic, but he didn't expect that Du He, an uneducated boy, actually had such ability.

After all, arithmetic requires real learning and training, and cannot be calculated by blind guessing.

Du He continued, "Minister Yu, it costs less than 2 strings of cash to manage a large canal. If the court is a little more frugal, this amount of money can be easily squeezed out."

"And if the canals are well managed and navigation is allowed in the future, we can collect commercial taxes and make back the money."

Not to mention how much Li Shimin and other princes and nobles spent, Li Chengqian alone spent more than 1 strings of cash every year to support the spies in the Eastern Palace.

Therefore, as long as the imperial court has the intention, this amount of money can definitely be provided.

Yu Chang asked tentatively: "Minister Du, are you planning to ask the court to pay the people who repaired the Wudi Canal?"

Du He nodded: "That's exactly what I meant."

Dynasties with heavy corvee labor are most likely to cause chaos when there is a change of imperial power or when there is foreign invasion.

Such dynasties often have a short lifespan and can easily lead to rebellion among the people.

Since he is now in charge of the Ministry of Works, he should make this harsh policy that oppresses the people a little more humane.

Otherwise, no matter how prosperous the Tang Dynasty was, the lower-class people would not be able to enjoy it at all, and the country would not last long.

Although Yu Chang did not agree with Du He's suggestion in his heart, seeing that Du He's attitude was quite firm, he had no choice but to support him as a subordinate.

He made a bitter face and whispered: "Minister Du, when you make suggestions to the Ministry of Chancellery or His Majesty, you have to consider His Majesty's attitude."

"If Your Majesty agrees, that would be great. If Your Majesty objects, we should also know how to back off."

I didn't expect that the Minister of Works Du He was so capable of stirring up trouble. Just over a month after taking office, he started to take action on something that should not be touched, such as corvee labor.

If it was because of the recurrence of corvee labor, it would be fine for Your Majesty to summon the court officials to discuss it. But nothing has happened now, and Minister Du is just looking for trouble.

Du He smiled and said, "Minister Yu, relax. We are just making a suggestion to His Majesty. We are not doing anything bad."

"Let me take care of this matter. You just supervise the people in the four departments to innovate the straight plow."

For people like Yu Chang, they would rather not achieve any credit, and they don't even need to leave a good reputation. They just hope not to make mistakes.

Du He neither agreed nor opposed their way of being an official.

Yu Chang nodded quickly and said, "Yes, sir!"

Since the Minister of Works Du He took the blame on himself, he had nothing to say. He had already said all he needed to say.

Besides, Du He has strong connections, so if he wants to do something, let him do it.

Just then, there was a gentle knock on Du He's office door.

"Knock knock knock."

Then, a middle-aged voice came.

"Minister Du, Censor Cui Shenji, and Deputy Supervisor of the Sino-Agricultural Temple Wang Jingzhi are here to request an audience."

Hearing that these two guys were coming together, Du He's brows twitched slightly, and he also knew why they came.

Today is the wedding day when their good friend Xiao Kai takes a concubine, and the three of them are preparing to attend Xiao Kai's banquet together.

Du He said softly, "Tell them to wait for a moment, I will leave soon."

There is still about half an hour left before the end of the shift. I didn't expect that the two of them were so brave that they actually sneaked away so early.

Cui Shenji was not a big deal as he was the Censor-in-Chief. No one would say anything if he was involved in investigating illegal activities. However, Wang Jingzhi was just a small deputy supervisor of the Sinong Temple.

If his superiors gave him trouble, he would probably have to find many excuses to explain.

Du He shook his head slightly, then stood up and said to Yu Chang.

"Minister Yu, I have to go out for something important. I will leave the Ministry of Works to you."

"Give your subordinates some confidence and let them know about the transformation of the straight plow, and you will definitely be rewarded!"

Since taking on the task of innovating the straight plow, the officials of the Ministry of Works have lost their usual smiles on their faces in the past two days.

The reason for their pessimism is that they have no confidence in the direct plowing of innovation.

Du He continued, "Regarding the order of building the kang for the minister's home, you must coordinate well and not cause any conflicts!"

Yu Chang quickly stood up and responded, "Please rest assured, Minister Du, I will coordinate it."

As the weather gets colder, the kang, which has excellent effects, is also popular among officials.

In the past two days, many elderly ministers have come to Yu Chang, the Minister of Works, and they all want to have a kang built in their rooms first.

Especially Duke Lu Cheng Yaojin, he directly kidnapped the person responsible for building the kang and took him to Duke Lu's mansion, and refused to let him leave until the work was finished.

Du He nodded, then quickly walked out of the office.

In the lobby.

When Cui Shenji and Wang Jingzhi saw Du He coming out, they hurriedly went up to him and saluted with solemn expressions.

"Meetings, Mr. Du."

Du He waved his hand and said, "Let's go."

Although these two guys are not very reasonable, they all know that in a place like the Ministry of Works, they must give the Shangshu Du He the respect he deserves.

After all, friends are friends, and you still have to pay attention to the differences in your positions when you are on duty.

After the three of them sat in the same carriage and left the imperial city, Cui Shenji and Wang Jingzhi resumed their playful smiles.

Cui Shenji said with a sly smile: "Brother Du, do you know how exaggerated the figure of Brother Xiao's ninth concubine is?"

"Hehe." Wang Jingzhi laughed evilly and echoed, "Brother Du would never have imagined it!"

Seeing these two guys looking so mysterious, Du He curled his lips speechlessly.

"The concubine that Duke Song chose for Brother Xiao can't be too fat, right?"

In the Tang Dynasty, fat was considered beautiful, but this did not refer to women with broad shoulders and thick waists, but rather people with graceful figures.

For example, the most famous Yang Yuhuan, who was shy of flowers, was about 1.65 meters tall, weighed about 120 kilograms, and had a beautiful face.

This kind of slightly plump beauty is the beauty that everyone pursues.

Cui Shenji covered his mouth and laughed, "Brother Du, you will know later!"