"I'll go tell them," Zhao Hao said confidently, "This is a good thing. I believe people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will support it."

"Okay, then I'll leave it to you." Hai Rui didn't bother to be polite with him. Wasn't the reason he called Zhao Hao back just to change the situation of being isolated and helpless?

Finally, at Zhao Hao's suggestion, the number of rivers flowing eastward from Taihu Lake increased from three to six.

In addition to the Loujiang River, if we dredge the Wangyu River in Wuxi and the Taipu River in Wujiang, we will have six waterways to discharge flood water from Taihu Lake. No matter how big the flood is, we will not have to worry about it!

Of course, the cost of such a project would also increase sharply. Especially the three routes proposed by Zhao Hao, each one is more expensive than the other - not to mention the Lou River. The Wangyu River has been silted up for many years, which is equivalent to digging it again.

The Taipu River simply does not exist, and must be dug entirely by hand. This time, it is twice as wide as the previous plan, reaching 200 meters, allowing the water from Taihu Lake to flow directly into the Huangpu River.

In this way, the flow of Huangpu River can be doubled. Even if the river channel is not narrowed, it can still play a role in flushing sand.

"Let's narrow the river channel." Hai Rui thought for a moment and said carefully, "Otherwise, the water may not be strong enough to repel the sand from the Yangtze River."

"That's easy!" Zhao Hao smiled and took the chisel in his hand, drew a line on the left side of Wusongkou, and said, "We can build a long dike on the left side of Wusongkou that goes deep into the Yangtze River to block the upstream silt outside Wusongkou. At the same time, we can build a dike along the right bank of the river to narrow the width of the river mouth, which can also increase the flow rate, flush Wusongkou, and prevent silt accumulation!"

"That's a possible solution..." Hai Rui studied the map and suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, you added this sand barrier, how come Wusongkou looks like a port now?"

If the wide river is regarded as a harbor, the sand bank is actually a breakwater commonly used at docks. The two hundred feet wide river is wide enough for both banks to become docks for ships to dock, without affecting the traffic on the river.

No wonder this guy would rather spend more money to build sand dikes than narrow the Huangpu River. It turns out the key point is here!

Hai Rui looked at the port more and more carefully and found that in addition to being the seaport for the entire Wuzhong area, it was also the throat where the Yangtze River flows into the sea. Goods from Shuzhong to Huguang and from Jiangxi to Jiangnan could all be shipped here and shipped out to sea.

By the way, Shanghai is adjacent to Hangzhou Bay in the south, making it extremely convenient to travel with Zhejiang.

Moreover, this is the midpoint of the Ming Dynasty's north-south coastline. To the east, it reaches Jeju and connects to Chosun. To the southeast, it reaches Ryukyu, and to the south, it reaches Taiwan and Luzon. It is truly well connected, unmatched by the north and south!

Previously, due to the maritime ban and the siltation of Wusongkou, no one realized the value of Shanghai County. Now Zhao Hao has started maritime trade, and after dredging Wusongkou, this place is simply the natural trade center of the Ming Dynasty! It is much better than the traditional Ningbo, Fuzhou, and Guangzhou...

Hai Rui was keenly aware that Zhao Hao had been plotting this place for a long time. This place was absolutely vital to the Jiangnan Group!

"Oh, really?" Zhao Hao seemed to realize it belatedly. He tilted his head and looked at it for a while, then opened his mouth in surprise and said, "Now that Zhongcheng said that, it seems to be true!"

He praised Hai Rui with admiration: "Zhongcheng really has a keen eye. He can always see things that we mortals can't see!"

"Don't try to fool me." How could he fool Hai Rui? He sneered and said, "The land in Puxi has been bought up by Jiangnan Group, right? Kunkai Group also built the Dianpu River before. I think you have had this plan for a long time!"

"No way. If I could think of this, could I have moved the port of departure for the grain transport to Chongming?" Zhao Hao refused to admit it. "But we are indeed looking for such an excellent port. It's really a case of searching for a good place but finding it is easy."

It's not that Zhao Hao has any ulterior motives, but this matter is simply unclear! How can he explain that he has taken over the entire Pudong area in advance and also bought a lot of land along the river in Puxi?

"Hmm..." Hai Rui was also stunned by what he said. Come to think of it, how could Zhao Hao have predicted last year that he would manage the Wusong River, let Huangpu take over the Wusong River, and turn Shanghai into a river, sea and land hub?

I hadn't taken office last year.

Unless he knows the future.

"Then you bought the land in advance?" Hai Rui asked suspiciously.

"Don't I have cement? I was thinking of building a dike and growing cotton in Pudong." Zhao Hao said with a lucky look on his face, "I was originally planning to build a farm, but I didn't expect Zhongcheng to open up the Wusongkou. Our group really got a big bargain!"

Zhang Qi, who was sitting next to him, also quickly agreed, "Yes, Zhongcheng, the land in Puxi was rented to Shangkaisi by our Shanghai County based on the Kunkaisi model as a reward for them repairing the river embankment and seawall for the county."

Although the lease period of 199 years is a bit long, Chongkaisi started it, and the subsequent counties had no choice but to accept it.

However, the land rented by Shanghai County are all saline-alkali land along the river, so there is nothing to feel bad about - every winter, as the water level of the Wusong River drops, a salt tide will occur.

The so-called salt tide is when the seawater flows back into the river during high tide, turning the freshwater river into a saltwater river, causing the river banks to become salinized and even the groundwater to be affected, making it difficult for people to drink water. The land along the river in Shanghai County was severely affected by this, so no one cultivated it.

I just didn't expect the changes to come so fast. The saline-alkali lands on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are actually in great demand! Stores, warehouses and warehouses can be built on saline-alkali lands. And saline-alkali lands are good, they are cheap and do not occupy arable land.

Zhang Qi could only sigh that Master Zhao was really assisted by God, and he could only cling to Zhao Hao's thighs. The future development of Shanghai County depended entirely on the ability of Jiangnan Group. As for his official career, it was all up to Master Zhao to help him.

"Uncle Zhang, don't worry. We can't let the county suffer a loss, right? I'll go back and tell Kaisi that no matter how the original contract stipulates, we will start paying rent to the county as soon as Shanghai opens as a port." Zhao Hao said with a smile, returning the favor.

"Well, let's stick to the contract." Zhang Qi declined a few times, then happily changed his words and said, "I feel unworthy of it."

This way, all aspects can be explained, which is naturally the best, so that no one will gossip behind your back.

~~

In fact, Hai Rui was just talking about it and had no intention of investigating the issue of Zhao Hao buying the land in advance.

"Originally, it would have cost about 130,000 taels of silver to repair the Huangpu and Wusong Baimao alone. This year, the Single Whip Law was implemented, so the Governor's Office should have more money on hand, but it was all spent on disaster relief and relief, so it could only come up with 70,000 to 80,000 taels. The rest is planned to be borrowed from various prefectures and counties, as well as the Military Preparation Office, and then repaid after collecting taxes next year." Hai Rui looked at Zhao Hao and said:

"Now you have added Loujiang, Wangyu and Taipu, and you want to build a sand dam at Wusongkou. I'm afraid the cost will quadruple."

"Yeah." Zhao Hao nodded and said, "All the projects I proposed are very expensive."

We should be thankful that this "Extraordinary Six Plus One" project can be completed with one million taels of silver.

Therefore, Hai Rui, who was very careful with his budget, had never considered the options proposed by Zhao Hao before.

"Where does this money come from?" Hai Rui's pupils shrank slightly, and he asked Zhao Hao expressionlessly, "You paid for it?"

"Why not?" Zhao Hao took a sip of tea from his big bowl, patted his chest and said generously: "This is a great thing. Jiangnan Group and Jiangnan are like fish and water. After the 'six plus one' is completed, the flood control, drainage, water diversion and shipping of the entire Suzhou and Songjiang areas will be taken to a higher level, and the group will definitely benefit in all aspects. How can we just sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor?!"

He then changed the subject and said weakly, "But the chancellor knows me, the two adults know me, but the people of the world may not know me. We must not forget the lesson of Shen Wansan. Being too aggressive will bring disaster."

"So what do you mean?" Hai Rui nodded. It was indeed too eye-catching to ask Jiangnan Group to pay directly.

"Let's copy the Kunshan model and subcontract the project to development companies in each county." Zhao Hao said seriously: "For example, Baimao River will be given to Changkai Company, Wangyu River will be given to Wukai Company... As for the main project, Kunkai Company and Shangkai Company can work together to complete it."

"That's no problem." Hai Rui had studied the model of Kunkai Company carefully, and he still trusted their ability to organize manpower and material resources and ensure the quality and quantity of the construction. "I will give you 70,000 taels of silver later, and you must help the 200,000 disaster victims survive the spring famine."

"Just keep the silver." Zhao Hao waved his hand and said with a smile: "Not paying the victims is already too much, how can the group not even provide them with food?"

There are about 200,000 disaster victims in Jiangnan who need relief this time. 200,000 may seem like a lot, but if you divide it by "Extreme Six Plus One", each project can only have less than 30,000 people. Although it is definitely not enough, we have to hire more refugees.

But with the availability of 200,000 free laborers, the cost of building the embankment would be greatly reduced.

"Cement and stone materials have to cost money, right?" Hai Rui was very principled. Brothers have to settle accounts clearly. Even if he and Zhao Hao share the same ideals, they have to be clear about the public accounts, without any ambiguity. "Although this project is large, there won't be much land to rent to you. I'll check the difference later and ask the two capitals for it!"

"Where does the imperial court have money?" Zhao Hao sneered and said, "It's better to ask Jiangnan for money."

He was too embarrassed to say that Emperor Longqing had to rely on him for help even to make a talisman porcelain...

There is no way. Given the stupid financial and taxation system established by Emperor Taizu, it would be strange for the court to have money.

"Then how should the Governor's Office pay?" Hai Rui asked persistently.

"This is easy." Zhao Hao smiled and said, "Eight words: borrow money to build roads, and collect tolls to repay the loans."

"Build a road?" Hai Rui frowned slightly.

"I made a slip of the tongue. It's about loans for 'river repairs.'" Zhao Hao corrected himself without changing his expression. "To put it simply, the governor's office used the future toll collection rights of these waterways as collateral to borrow money from Jiangnan Bank to pay the various development companies that contracted the projects."

"Then the toll collection rights of these six waterways will belong to Jiangnan Bank until the fees collected can pay off the principal and interest." He paused and finally said, "Of course, the annual maintenance cost of the waterways must be deducted first."