"Loan money to repair the river, collect fees to repay the loan?" Hai Rui was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and smiled, "Boy, you always come up with something new for me."

With Hai Gong's intelligence, he understood the trick right away - the river can not only discharge flood water, but also be an excellent transportation channel. Jiangnan Group first lent money to the government to repair the river, and then the government authorized them to set up checkpoints and collect fees to pay off the debt. This model is very simple and easy to understand, not at all profound. But the first person who thought of this method was an absolute genius.

Niu Mowang, the assistant minister of the Niu clan, had not spoken for several chapters, so he quickly chimed in: "Mr. Zhao has endless ideas, he is truly a genius."

"Don't say that," Mr. Zhao smiled and took a sip of tea, and said modestly: "I am just standing on the shoulders of giants."

"That's indeed an idea." Hai Rui ignored his usual nonsense and thought carefully for a while before saying, "It's reasonable for the government to borrow money to repair the river first, and then use the future income from the river to repay the loan."

After he paused, he looked up at Zhao Hao and said, "But what if you guys come up with the 'If you want to pass this way, you have to leave money for the passage' trick and charge a high toll?"

"Hahaha, Zhongcheng can rest assured." Zhao Hao shook his head and laughed loudly, "Jiangnan Group will never do such a stupid thing as exhausting all the resources."

After a pause, he said frankly, "In fact, we want the right to collect tolls on the river, not to collect tolls, but to collect less tolls."

"To charge less?" Hai Rui and the other two were stunned.

"Yes. Lord Hai had rectified the excessive taxes when he was in Chun'an. He should know that although the court did not give counties the power to collect transit taxes, the bad habit of plucking the feathers of passing geese has been ingrained for a long time. For all the goods of merchants and travelers passing through the border, the inspection office would take a share, and the river and lake offices would collect ship fees. And those lock officials... Anyone who can reach out to the rivers and lakes will extort money from merchant ships and civilian ships passing through the locks."

"Although each group doesn't collect much, there are many people asking for money. Freight ships from Wuhu to Shanghai via the Wushen Canal often pay more taxes and fees than the value of the goods themselves, which seriously hinders the development of Jiangnan commerce." Zhao Hao said with a sad face:

"It would be fine if the money was taken from the people and used for the people. But it all went into someone else's pocket. What good is it for the country and the people?"

After saying this, he spread his hands and said, "In this case, Zhongcheng might as well give us the collection rights. We can guarantee that, in addition to the river maintenance costs, we only need to collect 1% of the loan each year. In this way, the average annual collection for each river is less than 2,000 taels of silver. What does Zhongcheng have to worry about?"

"Really?" Hai Rui asked in disbelief, "What can you do with this little money?"

"Just make some money." Zhao Hao said with a smile, "As I said before, what we want is circulation. We want the goods to flow smoothly in Jiangnan. This is the most valuable thing for Jiangnan Group! As for the loss of Jiangnan Bank, Zhongcheng doesn't have to worry. The group will give subsidies and will not pass it on to the people of Jiangnan."

Niu Chenshi and Zhang Qi's faces turned red when they heard this. They finally understood what Master Zhao said - Jiangnan Group would rather pay the government money, just asking them not to cause trouble...

"Well, let's do it this way." Hai Rui nodded. Since it would benefit both the court and the people, he had nothing to worry about.

~~

Hai Rui had already completed his inspection of the Wusong and Huangpu projects. He originally planned to spend a month recruiting laborers and raising supplies, and start construction on the third day of the first lunar month in the fourth year of the Longqing reign.

The ability to gather more than 100,000 civilians in less than a month was mainly due to Hai Qingtian's strong appeal. This appeal came from his single-minded dedication to the people, which actually reduced the burden on the people. Since Hai Rui implemented the Single Whip Law, the corvée silver borne by the people has been greatly reduced, and various additional levies have been cancelled. "From then on, there was no biased burden on the people, and people began to know the joy of living."

The common people appreciated his kindness and knew that Lord Hai was sincerely doing good for them, so naturally, when he gave an order, people responded in droves.

Now, with the Jiangnan Group's mature recruitment system, the time for assembling laborers and supplies can be shortened by half, so work can start before the New Year.

As for the other four projects, they will be carried out according to the principle of preparing one and starting one at a time. We will strive to complete the main project of "Wusong-Huangpu-Baimao" before the end of March in the fourth year of Longqing, and complete the "Loujiang-Taipu-Wangyu" project before the plum rain, so that the Wuzhong area can be completely free from floods.

After the discussion was finalized, Hai Rui left Pudong without stopping and went to inspect the Baimao River. After that, he would continue to inspect the Taipu River, Wangyu River and Lou River. It would be great if he could go home before the New Year.

Zhao Hao also declined Zhang Qi's invitation and took a boat back to Kunshan County, where he had been away for a long time.

Perhaps it was because he had returned home, the hard work accumulated over the past year had finally burst out, making him suddenly feel extremely tired.

In order to have some quiet time, Zhao Hao asked Secretary Ma to pass on the message, asking him not to welcome or greet the guests, and to rest quietly for a few days and meet again in Suzhou on the 15th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Mr. Zhao first sent Gao Jie to Jiangnan Hospital and handed him over to Wan Mizhai and Li Shizhen for treatment. When they saw Zhao Hao, the doctors' eyes lit up and they pulled him to the laboratory.

"We have made a lot of new discoveries this year. You should take a good look at them!" Li Shizhen said with excitement, his face flushed. "They are all great discoveries, enough to overturn medical books!"

"Let me rest for a few days and catch my breath." Zhao Hao hurriedly broke free. Let these three hold him back and don't think about going home before dark. "I will be in Suzhou for the whole next year, so these few days won't make a difference."

After much persuasion, the three men let him go.

~~

When they returned to the boat, they saw that the wind outside was warm, so Zhao Hao and Zheng Ruozeng stood at the bow, watching the ships coming and going on the Xiaozhai River and the increasingly prosperous situation on both sides of the river.

In addition to the Jiangnan Hospital, cotton spinning mills, woodworking mills, farm tool stores, blacksmith shops, rice, flour, grain and oil stores, livestock markets... nearly a hundred shops and dozens of businesses were built on both sides of the river, forming a town that stretched for several miles.

This was not brought by Jiangnan Hospital. In fact, in order to prevent environmental pollution, no factories were allowed to be opened within one kilometer of Jiangnan Hospital. Moreover, the hospital's procurement standards for materials were extremely strict, and these shops in towns outside the city could not produce them.

At first, it mainly served several nearby farms. The farms were centrally managed, and farm tools, oxen, and farmyard manure were purchased in a unified manner. In fact, the completely self-sufficient small peasant economy was broken, and a large amount of external demand would be generated.

Where there is demand, there is a market. The people in the south of the Yangtze River, with their keen sense of smell, naturally would not miss this business opportunity. Factories, shops, and markets emerged in the town of Xihe. Farmers and farm workers also wanted to sell surplus agricultural products such as beans, wheat, vegetables, chickens, ducks, goose eggs, lotus roots, water chestnuts, and handicrafts such as rattan weaving, coarse cloth, and bamboo utensils.

Farmers and workers had money in their hands and needed to buy furniture and daily necessities. So this place further evolved into an exchange market for agricultural and sideline products, handicrafts and daily necessities, which then attracted people from all over the country to come here to trade and make Xiaochanhe another emerging town in the south of the Yangtze River.

Industrial and commercial towns are one of the important signs of the developed commodity economy in Jiangnan. These towns, large and small, scattered outside the major cities in Jiangnan, are the link between cities and rural areas. They are often located on both sides of important rivers and on the banks of cross-river bridges. They can take advantage of the convenient shipping and are not bound by the four-sided city walls, so they can develop freely.

In addition, there is less harassment from government offices outside the city, and being close to the countryside means convenient access to agricultural products and raw materials. Therefore, in the south of the Yangtze River, there are many towns and cities with dense populations, prosperous streets, thriving markets, and developed industry and commerce. The level of prosperity is even not inferior to that of cities.

For example, Shengze, Pingwang, and Weiting in Suzhou; Nanxiang in Jiading; Nanxun and Wuzhen in Huzhou; Wangjiangjing and Puyuan Town in Jiaxing, etc.

Although compared to those famous Jiangnan towns, this town on the Xiaozhen River can only be regarded as a younger brother, but its emergence from nothing is a sign that Kunshan's economy has finally begun to flourish!

"There was nothing on both sides of the river before." Zheng Ruozeng, a native of Kunshan, was naturally full of emotion. "Such a prosperous town has appeared in our Kunshan."

"Yes, the people of our Ming Dynasty are the most hardworking and intelligent in the world." Zhao Hao nodded with a smile and said, "As long as we give them a relaxed and safe environment, they will live a prosperous life on their own."

"Oh, I'm so ashamed." Zheng Ruozeng sighed. It's easy to say that it's easy and safe, but this is the first time that it has happened in Kunshan County in so many years.

"It's all thanks to my parents and the young master..." He bowed deeply with sincerity.

"Hey, we're home now, so don't be polite." Zhao Hao smiled and waved his hand. Zhengjiazhuang was in front of them. "Mr. Kaiyang, go home and rest early. We'll be going to Suzhou again in a few days."

"Thank you for your trouble, young master." Zheng Ruozeng smiled and nodded, "Young master, you should go back and rest early."

Soon after Zheng Ruozeng got off the boat, Kunshan County came into sight.

However, the journey into the city which normally takes a quarter of an hour took Zhao Hao a full hour.

Because the Lou River, which flows through the south of the city, was blocking boats...

"What's going on?" Looking at the river ahead that was clogged with traffic, Zhao Hao felt inexplicably irritated. This feeling of having a home but not being able to return was really unpleasant.

"Sir, calm down." Xiong Dianshi, who had come to the county to welcome him home, explained helplessly, "Since the opening of sea transportation, the river has been jammed like this from time to time. The river is too narrow, there are too many ships going east and west, and there are also ships entering and leaving the city. It would be strange if there were no jams."

After a pause, he added: "It's been very congested these past two days."

"Oh." Young Master Zhao nodded, somewhat realizing that this was actually his fault. "It seems that widening the Lou River is imperative."

The straight Lou River runs from Loumen in Suzhou through Kunshan and Taicang to the Yangtze River. It was originally a very busy waterway. After the grain was transported by sea, the number of ships passing through it suddenly increased several times. It would be strange if it was not congested in a place like a county town where there are a lot of people coming in and out.