Fu Xiaoguan, who was praised to the sky by the merchants of Wofeng City and despised by the people of Wofeng City, continued with his daily life.
As one decree after another was sent from the government office to all parts of Wofeng Road, the entire Wofeng Road began to operate like a machine.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye it was early September.
Following Fu Xiaoguan's instructions, Nangong Piaoxue and Susu left Wofeng City together and set off to return to Jinling because Dong Shulan and Yan Xiaolou were going to give birth in October.
Ning Yuchun wrote a letter home, asking his father, the old tutor Ning, to select twenty or so young officials from the Censorate. They were expected to arrive in Wofeng City in early October to fill the Inspectorate Office.
As for the construction of Wofeng Road, craftsmen sent by the Ministry of Works had already started surveying on the first day of September.
"According to the Secretariat's plan, construction on this road will begin in mid-November. The total length from Wofeng City to Jinyang is approximately 220 miles, of which over 60 miles will pass through Jinyang Pass. One hundred thousand workers will be required, and the project will take approximately a year..."
Ning Yuchun glanced at Fu Xiaoguan and continued, "According to your proposed daily wage of twenty wen for laborers, the wages alone would cost two thousand taels of silver per day. Over the course of a year... the wages would be seven hundred and thirty thousand taels of silver. Adding in mules, horses, cement, and other miscellaneous items, the Secretariat's total budget would be approximately four million taels of silver."
"This is just the road to Wozhou. According to your plan, this road should be connected all the way to Lanling County... I'm afraid it will cost a full 80 million taels of silver!"
Ning Yuchun paused, quite worried. "Although this money was raised through Daoqiao Shares, it is indeed Wofeng Road's debt! Wofeng Road's current tax revenue is unclear, but it is estimated that the annual income will not exceed 10 million taels of silver. Even if you set up checkpoints to collect fees, a single carriage carrying cargo for a hundred miles will cost one tael of silver, and a carriage carrying passengers will cost thirty cents. It's a drop in the bucket. Aren't you really afraid of bringing Wofeng Road down?"
Fu Xiaoguan drank his tea leisurely and calmly.
"Old Ning, don't be afraid! Just wait and count your money. Two years! Just two more years! When the Wofeng Road network is completed, I tell you, Daoqiao Shares' stock will skyrocket... How much did you buy?"
Ning Yuchun glared at Fu Xiaoguan and said, "Because of your bewitching behavior, I have made a huge contribution to Wofeng Dao and bought a full 100,000 taels of silver!"
"That's great, Old Ning," Fu Xiaoguan chuckled and gave Ning Yuchun a thumbs-up. "Do you know who bought the most?"
Ning Yuchun was startled. "You?"
Fu Xiaoguan shook his head. "I only bought 200,000 shares, so I can't get a number."
"Who else?"
Fu Xiaoguan mysteriously took out a note from his arms and handed it to Ning Yuchun. Ning Yuchun took it and looked at it, and his eyes immediately turned green!
Daoqiao shares were first issued in Shangjing, and the second issuance was Wofengcheng.
The first one is actually the eldest princess Yu Shurong!
She bought a full six million shares!
In other words, she invested six million taels of silver in Daoqiao Shares!
"Old Ning, we're alone here, so why do you think the princess is so kind to you?"
"……roll!"
It seemed that there was some past event that he didn't want to talk about again. Ning Yuchun was very annoyed. Fu Xiaoguan had asked him about it in Jinling before, and now he brought it up again.
Fu Xiaoguan laughed heartily. "Everyone has a youthful past. Isn't it just a secret crush? It's not something to be ashamed of."
Ning Yuchun felt very uncomfortable. "Look at yourself, do you look like a prefect? You should be doing your job! This second..."
The second person who bought Daoqiao shares was a name I had never heard of before. "Who is Wei Xu?"
"How would I know? Never mind. Road and Bridge Shares raised capital twice, Jinling City raised a total of 50 million taels, and Wofeng City recently issued 5 million shares. That's 55 million taels of silver. We need to speed up the project. I won't make any money from the cement purchases, but that's enough."
"Old Ning, this isn't actually the biggest investment."
Ning Yuchun was shocked. This guy invested 70 million taels and that wasn't the biggest investment?
Fu Xiaoguan put away his playful expression and became serious. He stood in front of the huge map of Wofeng Road, pointed his finger, and said:
"In the entire Canton of Vaud, there are over 36 million mu of fertile farmland, and over 13 million mu of prime land. You see, these fields are not fully developed... Some areas lack irrigation water, and others are abandoned due to sparse population..."
"For example, in Hanshi County, there is only one reservoir in the entire county, which is completely insufficient to meet the irrigation needs of the fields. As a result, more than half of the arable land in the county cannot be cultivated, or people have to rely on the weather for their livelihood.
There are many such places. Vaud has 67 counties under its jurisdiction, and according to the Secretariat's investigation, roughly half of them have this problem."
He turned his head and looked at Ning Yuchun, "Wozhou's grain production has been reduced by nearly half due to irrigation problems! If we solve this problem, Wozhou can truly become the largest granary of the Yu Dynasty!"
Ning Yuchun looked at it carefully. He knew this problem, but it was a common situation in all regions.
"You mean...building a reservoir?"
"What else can we do? Water conservancy is the lifeblood of agriculture! Another major task for Vaud is to develop water conservancy. This means not just building reservoirs, but also constructing irrigation and drainage canals throughout all the fields."
"Only in this way can grain production be guaranteed, farmers can earn income, and they can farm with peace of mind!"
Ning Yuchun took a breath of cold air. How much money would this cost?
Fu Xiaoguan patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "You can send someone to research this matter. It's much more complicated than building a road. I'm afraid the planning alone will take a year of meticulous work. But if this thing is accomplished, it will truly be a great cause that will benefit the present and future generations..."
"This is your political achievement. Whether you take it or not is entirely up to you."
Fu Xiaoguan did not plan to intervene in this matter himself because it took too long. He was worried that he would leave one day and if this matter was interrupted halfway, it would be a real waste of time and money.
"Actually, compared to what happened with Yan Xibai in Qingzhou, your case is nothing."
Ning Yuchun was startled. "What big deal is Yan Xibai up to?"
"Hehe, I wrote a letter to Yan Xibai, saying that Lanling County has become the largest commodity distribution center in Wofeng Road. How can those commodities be quickly sold to all parts of the Yu Dynasty? You have to think of a way. The Xima River outside Lanling County is good. If the river can be dug into a canal directly connected to the Yangtze River, then the commodities of the entire Wofeng Road will be revitalized."
Ning Yuchun widened his eyes...
You want to dig a river that can only be used to wash horses into a canal for commercial ships?
"Did he take it seriously?"
Fu Xiaoguan laughed out loud, "He took it seriously!"
This is fucking crazy!
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