Xie Changshi was genuinely surprised that the young prince had thought of the Xinliang Iron Mine so quickly. He was both astonished and deeply gratified: "Your Highness is right. We can mobilize manpower from the iron mine."
His Highness's decision to have the released people from the Xinliang Iron Mine develop Xinliang is perfectly reasonable and legal. Even if that person knew about it, he probably wouldn't think much of it.
Thinking of this, Xie Changshi's eyes darkened slightly.
Those people have suffered long enough in the iron mine!
The carriage moved slowly along the narrow mountain path, and after another night, the group finally saw the outskirts of Xinliang City.
The outskirts were the first to be built, with the aim of providing a place for the people who had migrated to Xinliang to live.
Meanwhile, a considerable distance of the official road from the outskirts to Xinliang City has been constructed.
Gu Yuzhi craned his neck to look outside, but after a while he still couldn't see the city wall. He couldn't help but mutter, "As expected, we still don't have enough manpower. They haven't even repaired the city wall yet."
How can a city be without city walls?
Gu Yuzhi recalled the first time he told his mother that the place of his fiefdom was Xinliang. His mother was particularly worried. She kept saying that Xinliang was not only desolate, but also too close to Quanzhou. If the Northern Di people knew that he, a prince, was in Xinliang, they might attack Xinliang with all their might next time they invaded.
It was from that time that Gu Yuzhi learned that every city needed to build sturdy city walls.
Now there's not even a trace of the city walls of Xinliang...
Xie Changshi couldn't help but sigh. Yes, the task of developing Xinliang was indeed too arduous!
Given the Emperor's previous two acts of financial assistance, Chief Secretary Xie felt that the Emperor must know about such a difficult matter!
Chen Dianyi had received news of His Highness's impending arrival in Xinliang long ago, and was currently waiting with his guards at the designated city gate. When he saw the carriage, Chen Dianyi could not hide his joy.
"Your Highness."
He jogged forward, saying, "Your Highness, you've finally arrived safely."
Gu Yuzhi pushed open the car window and looked out. Compared to last time, Chen Dianyi had obviously lost a lot of weight, and his beard had grown quite long. However, he looked much more energetic than when he was in the mansion.
He jumped off the carriage happily: "Chen Dianyi, I brought a lot of pastries made by Granny Xu, as well as smoked meat and other things."
Gu Yuzhi scratched his head, somewhat disappointed, and said, "It's just that the weather is hot, and it's hard to carry the dishes that Granny Xu makes. Otherwise, I would have packed more dishes for you. Chief Secretary Xie said that you especially like Granny Xu's dishes."
Chen Dianyi was almost moved to tears by His Highness!
Who would have thought that His Highness, who used to doze off during his lectures, would actually remember to bring him food?
Chen Dianyi wiped his slightly moist eyes: "Your Highness, I also miss you very much. I look forward to your visit to Xinliang day and night, so that you can feel the changes in Xinliang."
Of course, he would be even happier if His Highness brought him pastries made by Granny Xu when he came to visit!
Upon entering Xinliang City, Gu Yuzhi truly felt the earth-shaking changes that had taken place.
Unlike the gravel roads outside the city, the roads inside the city were mostly paved with bricks, and the main roads, which were planned late, were paved with bluestone bricks. Although the distance was not far, it really looked like a city.
Chen Dianyi held a map in his hand. This map was drawn by Xie Changshi and was a plan of the entire city of Xinliang.
As they walked, Chen Dianyi told Gu Yuzhi where they were on the map. Looking at the bare ground, Gu Yuzhi found it hard to imagine what Xinliang would eventually become.
After entering Xinliang City, Wen Shu and his companion could not hide their excitement, especially Wen Xiuzhu.
Shu Xiaohan's agricultural development will show results by the end of this year, but Wenxiu bamboo's commercial development has already encountered a bottleneck.
If Xinliang City fails to develop, Wen Xiuzhu's business plans will be difficult to implement.
Looking at the map in Chen Dianyi's hand, he even began to plan what kind of shops should be opened in which places and what methods should be used to attract merchants from the south to do business.
If only the whole prefecture could open a trade market, he would guarantee that Xinliang could replace Changzhou and become the most prosperous city in the northern desert.
Thinking of this, Wen Xiuzhu felt as if his breath was about to freeze.
After a long pause, he solemnly said, "Your Highness, we must increase the population of Xinliang quickly. A rate of a thousand people per year is far too slow; we must think of other ways."
Shu Xiaohan nodded and said, "Manager Wen is absolutely right. Adding one or two thousand people a year is very detrimental to Xinliang's development. Let alone land reclamation, even the city's basic infrastructure will be difficult to complete."
Increasing birth incentives can increase the population, but children still need care, so where will the labor force come from?
The development of cities still depends on young and middle-aged people!
Shu Xiaohan brainstormed ideas about future conveniences such as healthcare, schools, and elderly care, and couldn't wait to tell Gu Yuzhi everything.
Looking at Gu Yuzhi's adorable profile, she forcibly suppressed her desire to speak now and decided to prepare a good proposal so that Gu Yuzhi could use it to recruit more people from all over the northern desert to settle in Xinliang.
Gu Yu was happily following behind Chen Dianyi towards the Prince's Mansion, unaware that Shu Xiaohan had already planned to give him an exceptionally difficult task.
Chen Dianyi said, "Because His Highness wants to build a reservoir first, the construction of the Prince's Mansion has only just begun. At present, only the foundation of the entire mansion has been laid, and the front yard is under construction."
The matter of building the reservoir was discussed for a long time with Chen Dianyi. It was decided that the largest reservoir would be built not far from the Xinliang Iron Mine, because the largest river in Xinliang, the Heihe River, is located there.
Upon hearing the words "Black River," Gu Yuzhi instinctively asked, "Why is it called the Black River? Is it because the river water is black?"
What a strange river!
"If the water is black, will it cause any problems if people drink it?"
Chen Dianyi explained patiently with a smile, while Xie Changshi's lips twitched.
For some reason, those memories of the blue building suddenly started attacking him.
The group of people did not take the carriage again, but walked slowly around the main road of Xinliang City. After a while, Gu Yuzhi noticed that drainage ditches had been dug on both sides of the main road, but they had not yet laid bricks on the drainage ditches.
Seeing these details, Gu Yuzhi couldn't help but smile, calling out to Shu Xiaohan in a cheerful tone, "Teacher Shu, Teacher Shu, look! Chen Dianyi has done a great job on what you told me about paying attention to the city's drainage."
Teacher Shu said that urban drainage is very important. Although Gu Yuzhi did not understand, he still found an excuse to talk to Xie Changshi about the drainage ditch.
At the time, Xie Changshi didn't say anything, but now he realized that the drainage ditches Chen Dianyi built in Xinliang were far more numerous than those he had seen in Changzhou.
Unlike when he was nobody in the palace, he felt like he was being valued!
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