Chapter 641 The Canal is Officially on the Agenda
After noon, Cheng Wanwan went to the flower garden.
The construction of the flower garden here is becoming more and more perfect. Various flowers are blooming in succession. There are rockery pavilions among them, and there are flowing wine cups and winding water. The scenery is extremely beautiful.
Cheng Yuanyuan carefully watered the flowers and removed the insects, completely immersed in it. Although she was tanned, she exuded a kind of tranquility that came from the peaceful years.
Whether a person is living a good life or not can actually be seen from their demeanor.
Cheng Wanwan once again felt that letting her elder sister divorce that scumbag was the best choice.
"Wanwan, why are you here?" Cheng Yuanyuan stood up and wiped the sweat from her head. "You've been tired for so long, why don't you get some more sleep?"
"Big sister, let's sit for a while." Cheng Wanwan put her arm around her and sat down in the pavilion. "I'm here to tell you something important."
Cheng Yuanyuan listened attentively.
“There was a huge flood in Nanyang, and all the crops were destroyed. By the time things settled down, it was past the season for planting grains, so I thought I’d let them plant flowers.” Cheng Wanwan took a sip of tea and continued, “When it comes to planting flowers, if you’re second to none, no one would dare to claim to be first. I’d like you to take some time to go to Nanyang and teach the farmers there how to plant chrysanthemums and orchids.”
Cheng Yuanyuan is in charge of this flower garden. Naturally, she knows that there are not enough flowers. Not only do they need to be provided for tourists to admire, but they also need to be picked in time to supply the skin care workshop. A season of peach blossoms cannot produce too many finished products. The flower garden urgently needs to be expanded. However, she did not expect that Wanwan actually wanted to expand the flower garden in a place as far away as Nanyang.
She thought for a moment and said, "It's no problem for me to go there, but Nanyang is so far away. If I wait until the flowers are in full bloom before transporting them to Dahe Town for processing, the flowers will wilt. Will that affect..."
"Don't worry about this, big sister." Cheng Wanwan said with a smile, "Big sister, please hand over the flower garden affairs. In about half a month, big sister will take the seedlings to Nanyang."
After making arrangements with Cheng Yuanyuan, she had someone invite Old Master Qian over.
However, Grandpa Qian went to the provincial capital in the afternoon and only returned the next day. As soon as he got home, he rushed to Dahe Town.
The two chatted briefly about things in Nanyang before getting down to business.
"Didn't Mr. Qian always feel that the daily production of the glycerin workshop was too low?" Cheng Wanwan said with a smile. "Although we have expanded the workshop, it is still somewhat in short supply. The main reason is the limited availability of raw materials. Therefore, I plan to plant various flowers extensively in Qing'an County, Nanyang. However, Nanyang is too far away from us. After the fresh flowers are purchased and transported here, a lot of them will be wasted... I was thinking, could we build a flower processing plant in Qing'an County to process the flowers into semi-finished products and then transport them to Dahe Town for final processing? What do you think?"
Old Master Qian's eyes lit up. "Mrs. Gong's idea is really great. As long as the supply of flowers can be increased, producing thousands of bottles a day will not be a big problem. Leave the construction of the processing plant to me. The Qian family also has business in Nanyang, so we can just send someone there to handle this matter."
Cheng Wanwan was waiting for him to say this. The Qian family does business everywhere and has connections everywhere, so it would be best to let Old Man Qian be in charge of this matter.
After explaining the flower planting matter clearly, Cheng Wanwan asked Cheng Jia to drive to the county government office in Ping'an County.
County Magistrate Wei came out to greet her respectfully: "Greetings to Lady Sui. Your safe return is a blessing to our Ping'an County. Please come in quickly. Someone, serve tea to Lady Sui."
The advisor immediately poured a cup of fragrant tea and served it to him.
Cheng Wanwan took a sip of tea and before she could explain her purpose, County Magistrate Wei spoke up, "I've heard all about what's happening in Nanyang City. Lady Sui's move will not only help the victims of the disaster in Nanyang, but will also allow for the early completion of the canal in Dahe Town. If I were there myself, I wouldn't be able to come up with a solution that would achieve both. I have so much to learn."
“Lord Wei is still young. He will naturally grow after a few years of experience in office,” Cheng Wanwan said with a smile. “Youth is a person’s greatest asset because it allows for endless learning. I am very reassured that Lord Wei is in charge of the canal project.”
"You flatter me, Lady Sui." Magistrate Wei cupped his hands in greeting, then took out the canal map. "This is a canal map I commissioned to be drawn. Lady Sui, please take a look and see if there are any areas that need improvement?"
Cheng Wanwan took it and looked at it carefully. Because of the limited manpower and funds, the length of the canal was also limited. It runs directly from Dahe Town to Hekou County in the north. Wherever Hekou County can go, Dahe Town can go directly. In addition, it connects to Qingzhou in the south, making it more convenient to go to the south in the future. Even if only two canals are built, the budget is astonishingly high, at least 50,000 taels of silver.
“Previously, we planned to start excavation in the fall and winter, recruit 8,000 laborers, and complete the project in three months. But now, we have more people, so we can extend the construction period. Therefore, I think we can open another canal.” Cheng Wanwan’s finger landed on Yangzhou in the east. “This is the most prosperous Jiangnan region in the entire Dayu Dynasty. If we can open this canal, Dahe Town can truly become a commercial center.”
County Magistrate Wei gasped, "Mrs. Sui's idea is indeed good, but the journey from Dahe Town to Yangzhou is several hundred miles, and we need to add at least another 100,000 taels of silver to the budget. Even if all merchants contributed generously, it would be impossible to raise that much silver."
The original two lines would have required at least 50,000 taels of silver, and with the third line, the total would have reached 150,000 taels of silver, which was a huge sum of money.
Cheng Wanwan also knew that this was a large amount of money. Converted into modern currency, it was equivalent to more than 10 million yuan, and this was when labor costs were very low in ancient times.
But since we're going to do something this important, let's get it done right the first time, because we might not have such a good opportunity again.
She said slowly, "The entire project is divided into three phases. The money raised from merchants will be used to build the first and second phases. I will make up for the shortfall. As for the funds for the third phase... don't worry, there will always be a way."
County Magistrate Wei opened his lips, not knowing what to say.
He's just a newly appointed official of the seventh rank, and he doesn't understand many things. He should just obediently follow in Lady Sui's footsteps.
He said, "I will draft a notice to raise funds now. Please wait a moment, Lady Sui."
He hurriedly had someone prepare pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, and began to write diligently. In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the public notice for fundraising was finished.
Cheng Wanwan checked it over and found no major problems. She asked Magistrate Wei to write another copy and take it back to Dahe Town so that Tiezhu could post it.
Dahe Town has built a bulletin board where all matters concerning the town are posted. As soon as the notices are posted, many people come to watch.
"Build a canal?"
"Fundraising?"
"Dahe Town is actually going to build a canal? How much money and manpower will that take?"
"If this canal is really completed, won't our Dahe Town be just as prosperous as Hekou County?"
"Your vision is too narrow. Once this canal is operational, Dahe Town will immediately surpass Hekou County and all other prefectures to become the number one port in Yunnan Province!"
"Wow, that's impressive! I'll donate two taels of silver then!"
"..."
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