1656 Journey, Imperial Teacher Regent

The Ninth Prince understood the importance of roads without Feng Qingchen telling him. It’s not that he had never thought about building roads, but this kind of road is not easy to build.

In this age where everything depends on manpower, road construction is a very time-consuming and labor-intensive task. Even if a huge amount of manpower and material resources are consumed, the road may not be completed.

When the Ninth Prince heard Feng Qingchen say that coal slag could be used to pave roads, he was not very excited, because there were not so many roads for him to pave. But as Feng Qingchen described, the Ninth Prince gradually became serious.

If this can be accomplished, the Kyushu continent may become a new landscape.

"Blow up the mountain? Use thunder bombs to blow up the mountain?" The biggest obstacle to road construction is the mountain. The story of Yugong moving the mountain can only be regarded as a legend. If one really wants to move a mountain with the strength of one family, it will take hundreds of years to do it.

Feng Qingchen nodded repeatedly like a chick eating rice, grabbed the Ninth Prince's arm and ran to the study: "I have a map, I'll show you, I want to build a road to Shandong."

She has people on her side, so she doesn't need to pay them. She just needs to provide them with food and she can get them to build roads. Once the road leading to Shandong is built, the small place she occupies today will become the center of Kyushu continent tomorrow.

Just thinking about it, Feng Qingchen was excited. Regardless of whether the Ninth Emperor listened or not, Feng Qingchen enthusiastically described the blueprint in his mind to the Ninth Emperor one by one: "When that day comes, the Kyushu Continent will be connected in all directions. No matter where you go, there will be a road to take. Merchants from all over the world will come and go, so there is no need to worry about the people not getting rich. Wherever there is a rebellion, the army will arrive immediately, so there is no need to worry about the rebellion of the bandits. Wherever there is public opinion, it can be transmitted, so there is no need to worry about the people being uneasy."

Feng Qingchen was well aware of the importance of convenient transportation. In this era, many people never stepped out of their village in their entire lives. They were completely self-sufficient and lived an extremely hard life.

If the roads could be repaired so that ordinary people could trade what they grow for the necessities of life, wouldn't it allow more people to live better?

She is a selfish person, but if she can make life better for the people of the world within her power, she will do it without hesitation.

"Ninth Uncle, this matter will benefit the present and future generations. It will be extremely beneficial to the country and the people. You can't not do it just because it's difficult." Seeing that Ninth Uncle had a blank expression, Feng Qingchen's excitement subsided a little.

Building a road is not a matter of overnight. If you really want to do it, it may take decades to complete. If you can't persist, all the previous efforts will be in vain.

"Yeah." The Ninth Prince responded heavily. He was a calm person, but he couldn't help getting excited when he heard the picture described by Feng Qingchen.

Bustling traffic, well-connected roads, people living and working in peace and contentment, and a unified world, isn't this exactly what he wants?

The Ninth Prince's heart moved, and he stood up suddenly: "This prince wants to go to the palace."

"Ah..." Feng Qingchen stood up in surprise, but only saw a piece of clothing, and the figure of the Ninth Prince had long disappeared.

Feng Qingchen didn't have the ability to get excited, but her words just hit the nail on the head about what the Ninth Uncle was thinking. The Ninth Uncle was not a person who did things on impulse, but today's incident gave him the chance to act on impulse.

The Ninth Prince went into the palace and summoned the three ministers, Wang Jinling, Fu Lin, and the prime minister. Before they arrived, the Ninth Prince wrote down Feng Qingchen's method of building the road and told everyone a different way of saying it.

The Ninth Prince did not discuss the matter with them, but told them that he wanted to build a road in Dongling and flatten the mountains that blocked the army's advance.

The benefits brought by road construction are so great that even these old ministers can imagine them without the Ninth Prince mentioning them. As for the benefits of road construction, there is no need to mention them. Once the roads mentioned by the Ninth Prince are built, the army can save at least half the time when moving from north to south.

Speed ​​is of the essence in war. What does half the time mean? It means that you can directly attack the enemy's city when the enemy is unprepared, and destroy the enemy before the enemy mobilizes its troops.

"I fully agree with what the Regent said. The Sky-shaking Thunder is too murderous. If it can benefit the people, it will be a great benefit." The old ministers and the prime minister had no objection to anything that was beneficial to Dongling.

The Ninth Prince is willing to do practical things, which is better than fighting for power all day long. As old ministers, they would rather see Dongling become stronger than royal brothers fighting for power.

As core officials of Dong Ling, they naturally knew that Dong Ling had the Sky-shaking Bomb, and what they claimed to have destroyed it was just a lie to deceive the world.

"People all over the world will remember the kindness of the Regent." Fu Lin's words did not contain any flattery; he completely agreed with it from the bottom of his heart.

As a representative of the poor, Fu Lin knew very well how many people died of starvation and cold every winter. If the Ninth Prince ordered the construction of roads and it was necessary to recruit workers, even though there would be no money to pay, it would allow these poor people to have enough to eat. Fu Lin would certainly not object.

As for Wang Jinling? He knew something was wrong when he heard the palace servants calling him. As expected...

Seeing everyone discussing enthusiastically, Wang Jinling secretly groaned in his heart, knowing that he would be extremely busy in the next few years.

If he had known that the Ninth Prince was so stingy, he would not have teased Qingchen in Zhufeng Tower. Apart from causing himself a lot of trouble, he did not get any benefit at all.

"What? The Imperial Master disagrees?" The Ninth Prince suddenly interrupted the Prime Minister and looked at Wang Jinling with interest in his eyes.

It is never too late for a gentleman to take revenge. The Ninth Prince never considered himself a gentleman, so when he had a grudge, he would take revenge as soon as he found an opportunity, so as not to depress himself to death.

The Ninth Prince's words drew attention to Wang Jinling. Fu Lin raised his eyebrows and asked, "Lord Wang, do you have a different opinion? How about you tell us so we can discuss it together?"

"No." Wang Jinling shook his head lightly.

"Then what does Lord Wang mean? Lord Wang seems unhappy. Why? Lord Wang doesn't want the road to be built?" Fu Lin asked aggressively, with an arrogant tone, never forgetting to express his dissatisfaction with Wang Jinling.

In fact, he didn't want to be like this, but he had no choice. He and Wang Jinling had to be political enemies. No matter how much he agreed with Wang Jinling, he had to show that he was not on good terms with Wang Jinling and target Wang Jinling everywhere.

Can you imagine the eldest son actively looking for trouble?

No way.

Therefore, only Fu Lin could do this kind of proactive provocation. Otherwise, if they lived in peace, no one above or below would be happy.

No matter what the two of them thought in private, they would definitely act like they were not getting along well in front of others. Wang Jinling naturally understood Fu Lin's intentions and would not undermine him. He would fight back from time to time, giving outsiders the illusion that the conflict between the two was intensifying.

Wang Jinling smiled gently and replied sarcastically, "The road needs to be built, but where will the money come from? Lord Fu doesn't think that building a road is just a matter of opening his mouth, right?"

"The money for road construction can always be squeezed out. I will have to squeeze it out even if I can't. I can't let some people delay such a good thing that benefits the country and the people for their own sake." Fu Lin even brought the matter to the opposition between the poor and the wealthy families. Wang Jinling was not polite in his irony. The words between them were sharp but there was no gunpowder smell. Both sides presented facts and talked about methods, trying to find the best solution.

So the following discussion became a debate between Fu Lin and Wang Jinling. Both of them were calculating how to get the matter done with the least amount of money and how to prevent the other party from gaining much benefit.

Whether it is Wang Jinling's side or Fu Lin's side, if they want to implement their own political views, they will have to pay some price. Generally speaking, the final result of the dispute is that the Ninth Prince or the Emperor will benefit the most, and this is exactly what the Ninth Prince would like to see.

With Fu Lin and Wang Jinling around, it wouldn't be difficult to build the road to Dongling.