After Baker announced the compensation standards for citizens, the faces of all the petty nobles present sank...
The townspeople's attitude toward the relocation was just as Woolley had expected.
The common people would basically have no objection, because Wu Lai was actually buying the common people's houses at five or ten times the price, and also providing the common people with opportunities to make money; the small nobles were extremely resentful, because the compensation Wu Lai gave them was only twice that of the common people - 200 gold coins per household, and for households with more than ten people, they would receive an additional 10 gold coins for each additional person, excluding slaves.
The petty nobles naturally had their reasons for being dissatisfied with the compensation standard - apart from their status, their houses occupied larger areas and cost more than those of commoners, and the compensation standard offered by Wu Lai was really a bargain, not enough for them to build a similar one at a new location.
"Finally, I have one more thing to tell you!" Baker raised his loud speaker again. "According to Lord Wu Lai's arrangement, starting today, the 100 town managers of Salt Marsh Town will be officially put into use. Their duties are to deal with behaviors that affect the town's image and environmental sanitation, and to deal with buildings and facilities that do not meet Lord Wu Lai's new town construction plan and standards. These are their current responsibilities. Everyone, dismiss!"
As soon as Baker finished speaking, the training ground suddenly became noisy, and the townspeople dispersed in all directions while talking. Most of them were very excited. Saltmarsh Town had been depressed for so many years, and its former prosperity had become a legend. It was a great thing to be able to witness such a revolutionary change in one's lifetime.
The little nobles "blocked" Baker at the first opportunity.
"Lord Baker, this standard is wrong!"
"I was only reading it out according to Lord Woolley's intentions, and I can only guarantee that I did not read it wrong."
"Master Baker, this family was only compensated with 200 gold coins. My house has been occupied by six generations, and the money spent on it is not a small amount. 200 gold coins is just a small amount!"
"Come on, your house with three entrances and two doors is enough to build two with two hundred gold coins, and you still want to deceive me, Baker? I warn you, don't talk nonsense here, if Lord Wu Lai hears it, humph, you might end up in trouble!"
"But Lord Wu Lai has to be reasonable. You can't just do whatever you want, right?"
"Huh? You're getting more and more excited the more you talk. You don't take me, Baker, seriously, do you? By the way, let me tell you, it's not just you guys. Mine and Tours's all have the same standard. If you can't figure it out, you can talk to Lord Wu Lai. Lord Wu Lai has said in advance that you're welcome to give your opinions in person. But if anyone does something bad behind your back, humph, not to mention Lord Wu Lai's displeasure, even if I, Baker, would rather not be a citizen, I'd like to have a good time with him!" Baker said loudly, and with a flick of his sleeves, he left surrounded by dozens of town managers. He was too lazy to talk nonsense with these little nobles. Lord Wu Lai said that he should ask for instructions and report more often. Now that the speech and publicity were done, he naturally had to report first.
Baker's attitude made these little nobles a little confused. In their impression, Baker, apart from being a little greedy, always seemed to have a smiling face and no temper, and his speech was always lukewarm. But today he was extremely arrogant.
"Look at that face, he's planning something bad again." A little noble spat at Baker's back.
"How about we go somewhere to discuss it first? And then go find Lord Wu Lai?" suggested another minor noble.
A group of minor nobles nodded immediately. Some of them had witnessed with their own eyes the ferocity with which Wu Lai ambushed the bandits. Besides, Baker had just said that if they just barged in like this, there was a 99% chance that they would be beaten back.
That night, the Governor's Mansion held another meeting, but Tours did not attend because he went to Longvington City early in the morning. Wu Lai naturally knew what this guy wanted to do, but so what? Not to mention that he now has the support of the Supreme Council and the Temple, even the Duncan family has Niels behind them to protect him. Tours is just a small loach, what kind of waves can he cause? The main content of tonight's meeting is the planning of the new Salt Marsh Town. The consequences of acting rashly without a plan are unpredictable. With Wu Lai's temperament, he is never willing to do things that he is not sure of.
The meeting was still held in the yard. The torches in the four corners of the yard provided lighting for this simple but significant meeting. However, at the beginning of the meeting, Wu Lai did not directly propose a plan, but gave everyone a small lesson -
"As far as I know, there is no concept of 'urban planning' in the known Assyrian disciplines. But in fact, people have always been doing this, researching it, and constantly improving it. It's just that it is limited by existing concepts and conditions and has not been taken seriously."
"I think everyone here has been to the city of Lovington. I believe you will have a good impression of it, but I think the city planning there is not very good. Can you recall the roads there? Do they feel too messy and cramped?"
Everyone frowned and thought for a moment, then nodded. Wu Lai was right. The roads in Lunvington seemed to be interconnected like a spider web, but they were of varying widths, and many sections were very narrow.
"But you won't find this feeling in Assyria, because when Assyria was first built, the transportation problem was fully considered. Not only that, Assyria's defense and sewage facilities are the best I have ever seen."
"Urban planning should take into full account the engineering construction, economy, society and land use layout of the city and its adjacent areas, be forward-looking and have accurate predictions for future development. It includes the regional layout of industries in the city, the regional layout of buildings, the setting of roads and transportation facilities, and the arrangement of urban projects. The main contents include spatial planning, road traffic planning, green vegetation and water planning, etc...."
"Everyone must keep in mind one concept: urban planning is the basis for urban construction and management. Without planning, there will be no construction and operation," said Wu Lai.
Baker clapped his hands vigorously. "Excellent! Master Wu Lai's words are wonderful!"
Wu Lai was startled and couldn't help but glared at him: "Baker, now is not the time to applaud, listen carefully and keep quiet."
A rather restrained laugh broke out immediately, and Baker, who had wanted to flatter but failed, blushed for the first time.
"Go on. Therefore, the construction of Yanma Town must also be well planned. We must use planning to reasonably determine the development direction, scale and layout of Yanma Town, coordinate the various construction projects, and coordinate the contradictions among various aspects during the construction..."
"Our goal is to gradually develop Yanma Town into a new town with relatively complete facilities, a clean and beautiful environment, conducive to production, convenient life, and able to meet people's growing material and spiritual needs." Wu Lai smiled slightly and his eyes fell on Baker. "Baker, you can applaud now."
Baker was startled for a moment, then he grinned and clapped vigorously. The others naturally followed suit and clapped with smiles on their faces, because today was the first time they felt that Wu Lai could be so humorous.
Wonderful, Wu Lai, are you really sent by God? Guru looked at Wu Lai with admiration. According to his understanding, no place, whether Seneca or Assyria, could teach Wu Lai so much knowledge. So, apart from God's favor, is there any other explanation?
"Tonight's meeting will be the beginning of a series of meetings, because we need to discuss a lot of things, because we not only need to determine the specific location and land use of projects such as residential buildings, public buildings, public green spaces, and roads and squares, but also the specific location and land use of projects such as salt industry and storage, as well as the location and land use of special lots and various auxiliary facilities. Before officially starting construction, the plan and elevation planning and design drawings of the Salt Marsh Town and the main roads, temples, and squares must be made first..."
Everybody listened, took notes and discussed attentively, but no one realized that Woolley’s Salt Marsh Town Conference was hailed by later generations as the “birthplace” of urban planning, and many of the things Woolley proposed at this conference became truths of urban planning. Of course, he also became the “founder of urban planning” because of this - even Woolley himself could not have imagined these.
Early the next morning, sixteen representatives of eight households of citizens came to the governor's residence. After a night of negotiations, they felt that they had found a bargaining point with Wu Lai.
But what they didn't know was that Wu Lai had actually been prepared to bargain with them, otherwise he wouldn't have set the compensation standard so low. Of course, it was true that he was willing to bargain with them, but that didn't mean Wu Lai was willing to accommodate them. He just wanted to save as much as possible, and the lower the price he lowered, the more initiative he had.
Wu Lai's office was very small, and Guru was also there, so only ten of the sixteen representatives were able to squeeze in and there was basically no place to stand. The remaining six had to stand in the corridor at the door. Fortunately, there were representatives in every household, so no one said anything.
After listening to the representatives' statements, Wu Lai frowned and pondered for a long time before speaking: "Everyone, you are obstructing the plans of the Supreme Council and the Temple. At the same time, you are ignoring the vital interests of the 4,000 residents of Salt Marsh Town and the development of Salt Marsh Town."
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. It seemed a bit insincere for Wu Lai to put the blame on others right away.
"Lord Wu Lai, we didn't think so..." a representative said bravely.
"But that's what you did!" Wu Lai immediately interrupted the representative. "Assyria treated you well, and Saltmarsh Town treated you well, but what did you do for Assyria? Who of you participated in the war? The city-state of Lunvington is located in the rear of Assyria. When the front line was fighting, what were you doing? You stayed at home, drinking, eating meat, playing with women, and living off the wealth left by your ancestors! Now, Saltmarsh Town has a chance to prosper again, but instead of thinking about how to invest in construction together with the townspeople, you only think about money, money, and money. Is money the only thing on your mind?"
After a barrage of criticism, the representatives' faces all looked a little ugly.
Seeing Wu Lai's eyes sweeping over him intentionally or unintentionally, Guru smiled slightly and said, "Master Wu Lai, it is reasonable for everyone to make some requests. Although they have not made any decent contributions to Assyria, their ancestors have shed blood and sweat for Assyria. Considering these feelings, I think it is understandable to take appropriate care of them."
The representatives nodded quickly, thinking that the treasurer was a sensible person and not as overbearing as the consul.
"Gulu, do you think so too?" Wu Lai asked.
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“Yes,” replied the Guru with a smile.
"Okay then." Wu Lai nodded and looked at everyone, "What do you think the compensation standard should be?"
"Lord Wu Lai, we have actually discussed this before we came here. We all hope that in addition to helping us build a house of similar size at the new location free of charge, each household can also receive 2,000 gold coins as compensation. As for the population, we will not consider it." A representative said nervously.
"Free?" Wu Lai frowned.
"Yes, it's free." Since the matter had already been brought up, the representative simply backed up, "It's free for civilians, isn't it?"
"For civilians, it will be distributed according to need. In other words, the new houses will belong to the town instead of the civilians themselves." Wu Lai said, "Of course, if you can accept this, I have no objection."
"It's not our own?" The representatives looked at each other in bewilderment. What does it mean to have something that is not our own? If it is not our own, does it mean we may be driven away at any time?
Seeing that the situation was a bit awkward, the guru beside him said with a smile: "Lord Wulai, it seems that Lord Baker did not fully explain your intentions yesterday. How about I supplement it for a few citizens?"
Woolley nodded.
"Dear citizens." Gulu looked at the representatives. "The new town will be rebuilt by demolishing the old one. This has been agreed by the Supreme Council. The two million gold coins that Lord Wu Lai raised with great effort may sound like a lot, but Salt Marsh Town needs everything and needs to build everything. The most important thing is that after the town is divided into different areas, the construction of the commercial area will require a large amount of money, which may not be enough in fact. Moreover, according to Lord Wu Lai's plan, citizens who obey the arrangement can rent shops first. I think everyone understands what that means. It's a pity that Lord Wu Lai has expressly prohibited the officials of this town from doing business in the town. Otherwise, I will also rent a few shops."
Shops? Are there any shops available for rent? The attention of several representatives shifted again.
"What Treasurer Gulu said earlier makes sense. You are all citizens, the best of the Assyrian territory, and you should be taken care of in certain ways." Wu Lai took over the conversation, "I can promise now that as long as you follow the town's plan, the compensation standard for each household will be doubled. In addition, you will have priority in renting shops, and the rent will be waived for two years."
The representatives exchanged glances and saw the hesitation in each other's eyes.
"How about we go back and discuss it first?" suggested a representative.
"Yes, yes, let's go back and discuss it first." Two representatives immediately echoed.
"Okay!" Wu Lai knocked on the table. "It's the same time tomorrow. Come over and tell me whether it's okay or not. Besides, my conditions won't change."
"Well, Lord Wu Lai, we will come to trouble you again tomorrow." The representatives said as they retreated.
After everyone left, Wu Lai smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying to Guru, "It seems that we miscalculated. These guys seem to be only interested in the store, but not yet enthusiastic."
"That's because they are short-sighted and can't see the future." Gulu smiled and asked, "My people have already set out and should be able to send the news back to the family within ten days. I won't say any more polite words. The Kochi family is your Grindor family's eternal friend."
"You are being polite. It's nothing. If Salt Marsh Town wants to develop, commerce and service industries are essential. The Koch family and the Seneca Kiwanis Alliance will take the lead in entering the town and lay the foundation for the commercial district of Salt Marsh Town. Although the town has a small population base and many things cannot be seen yet, I believe that within three years, the prosperity here will be no less than that of a city."
"I believe it, too," said the guru. "Just tell me what you need me to do, such as asking me to persuade the citizens."
"No need." Wu Lai shook his head. "I really don't care whether they are willing to do it or not, because whether they are willing or not, I will do it according to my schedule. Besides, I still have a hundred towns to manage."
Guru was about to answer when he heard a soft knock on the door, and then a very pleasant voice came in: "Master Wu Lai, I am Nivea."