In this way, once cement roads become popular and travel becomes more convenient, the benefits will be obvious.

After all, the slogan "If you want to get rich, build roads first!" is not for nothing.

Once road transportation becomes convenient, even if the means of transportation is still the ancient horse-drawn carriage, the transportation between the two places will not be affected by the weather or other factors, and the transportation of goods will become stable, which will naturally promote the development of business.

Of course, this requires some business reforms first.

However, there is no need to be too anxious about this matter for Zhu Zhanji.

After all, the first cement road in Ming Dynasty has just been built.

So after hearing Zhou Chen's explanation, Zhu Zhanji nodded.

On the other hand, Zhu Gaochi on the side was a little excited when he heard Zhou Chen's words.

"So, wouldn't it be faster to transport money and grain? If a cement road from Yingtian to Sunchon is built, how much time can be saved to transport a truck of grain?"

When Zhou Chen heard Zhu Gaochi's question, he immediately said: "Back to the Crown Prince, cement roads can indeed save a lot of time than dirt roads, but how much time can be saved specifically? Since the first cement road has just been built, the Ministry of Industry has

The specific data has not been measured yet, so there are no concrete results."

"What's the cost?"

Yao Guangxiao on the side couldn't help but interrupt when he heard this. Before Zhou Chen could speak, he added another sentence::

"The poor monk said that if we build a cement road from Yingtian to Shuntian, just like the cement road in front of us, how much food will it cost?"

"this………"

Zhou Chen couldn't help showing a little embarrassment after hearing this.

It is not difficult to calculate the cost of a cement road, but for the cement road from Yingtian to Sunchon, although the distance between the two places is known, there are too many variables, and it is impossible to give a figure without specific measurements.

After all, whether it is digging mountains or building bridges, the costs involved are simply incalculable.

Seeing Zhou Chen like this, Yao Guangxiao probably guessed what Zhou Chen was thinking. He paused and asked, "How about the money and food spent on the cement road in front of you?"

This question was obviously on a different level than the previous question. Zhou Chen couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this and immediately said:

"The distance from Yifengmen to Jiangbian Pier is about four miles. A total of fifty craftsmen were used, including measurement and repair. According to the skill proficiency of each craftsman, each craftsman's daily remuneration is about two

One hundred coins, it took six days in total, and all the craftsmen were paid sixty taels of silver."

"In addition, there are more than 200 civilian husbands hired. Each person's daily salary is about fifty taels of silver. It lasts four days in total. The total compensation of all the civilian husbands is forty taels of silver."

"In addition, the cost of sand and gravel is not taken into account. The cost of cement is about 20 cents per stone, totaling 1,600 dan, which means a total of 32 taels of silver. In addition, there are various compensations such as land expropriation, and there are also more than 100 taels of silver.

Two taels of silver, so the cost of this cement road should be about three hundred taels of silver."

"Three hundred taels of silver?"

As soon as this and the numbers came out, not only the monk Yao Guangxiao held his breath, but Zhu Gaochi on the side was also slightly stunned for a moment, and then said in disbelief:

"In this way, if we do not calculate other costs, such as building mountains and building bridges, the cement road from Yingtian to Shuntian is about 2,000 miles, and the distance from Yifengmen to Jiangbian Wharf is four miles, and the four miles is 300 miles.

Two taels of silver, which means the cost of the cement road from Yingtian to Shuntian should be 150,000 taels of silver."

Zhou Chen smiled bitterly when he heard this. He couldn't nod or shake his head for a moment. After all, if this account could be calculated so easily, he wouldn't have been unable to give an answer when Yao Guangxiao asked him just now.

Zhu Zhanji was speechless when he saw that his silly father was stuck on the cement road from Yingtian to Shuntian.

I don't know how much resentment my grandfather brought to this stupid father when he moved the capital. Now that he has discovered the benefits of this cement road, he is completely devoted to this matter.

"Dad, aren't you making things difficult for Zhou Chen?"

Zhu Zhanji pulled Zhu Gaochi's arm and reminded him in a low voice:

"This is not your calculation. If you think about the distance from Yingtian to Shuntian, it is two thousand miles. Naturally, it is impossible to rely on one cement plant, right? When the time comes, cement plants will be built in some places along the road. These costs are

Don’t we have to calculate? Two thousand miles, even if it is two hundred miles per night for a cement factory, it would still take ten, and the construction cost of a cement factory would not be less than a hundred taels of silver."

"This does not include the cement factory that is one or two hundred miles away, the cost of transporting cement, and building bridges and digging mountains. Such a long distance cannot be built in a short period of time just by letting craftsmen plan it.

It will take at least two or three years!”

Zhu Gaochi is naturally not stupid. He is just concerned about chaos. After all, if there is a cement road from Yingtian to Shuntian, the benefits it will bring will undoubtedly be a big deal for people like him who oppose moving the capital.

A great good thing.

After all, the reason why he opposed moving the capital was because after the capital was moved, Shuntian would need to rely entirely on the south for support. Long-distance transportation of money and grain would undoubtedly cause a lot of losses, so the annual losses would not be a small amount.

But having a cement road will undoubtedly reduce this loss by more than half. In this case, even if there is still loss, it will undoubtedly be reduced a lot compared to before the cement road was built.

So when I heard my son say that it would cost so much to build a long-distance cement road, I couldn't help but hesitate.

After all, he built the cement road to reduce losses. If the cost is too high, it is hard to say whether the cement road is still worthwhile.

Zhu Zhanji saw that Silly Dad was a little disappointed, and felt that Silly Dad could not completely give up his idea of ​​building a road, so he smiled and changed the topic: "But although it costs a lot more, once the cement road is completed, it will

In the future, the benefits will be very obvious.”

"For example, for merchants from the north and south, it will definitely be more convenient for them to transport their goods!"

"merchant?"

Zhu Gaochi frowned when he heard this. Although he did not reject business, he even supported many of Zhu Zhanji's business-related matters.

But when talking about businessmen, Zhu Gaochi still frowned.

This has nothing to do with the status of merchants or the class relationship between scholars, farmers, industry and merchants.

He grew up next to Emperor Taizu, and heard too much about the unjust acts of merchants, and even some treacherous things. He naturally had no good impression of merchants, let alone such things that facilitated merchants to do business.

.

For him, it's good if he doesn't suppress it, so how can he make it easier for businessmen?

Zhu Zhanji knew Silly Dad very well, so he lowered his voice and said:

"Dad, the current Ming Dynasty is not the Ming Dynasty of Great Grandpa's time. During Great Grandpa's time, we had to fight Zhang Shicheng and Chen Youliang in the south, and we also had to guard against Fang Guozhen who was driven to the sea. We needed money and food, so those big businessmen had

Money, we are short of money, so naturally we will fight if we fight, and we will rob if we rob, but it is different now."

Zhu Zhanji's voice was so low that the people next to him could not hear it. Seeing the prince, grandson and father and son talking quietly, although they were curious, smart people naturally stayed away consciously.

Seeing this, Zhu Zhanji continued:

"Although the Ming Dynasty seems to be powerful now, in my opinion, it is not considered prosperous and powerful. It can even be said that it is full of waste, so the value of businessmen is reflected at this time!"

Zhu Gaochi frowned when he heard this: "Businessmen have been only interested in profit since ancient times. Seeing small profits and forgetting the great righteousness, where is the value?"

"Dad, why can't you kill a bunch of people with one shot?"

Zhu Zhanji rolled his eyelids when he heard this. Although he actually agreed with Zhu Gaochi's words, he had to say that there were indeed some good businessmen among the businessmen.

When Zhu Gaochi heard what his son said, he said:

"Line all the merchants in a row and kill every other one. There will be nothing wrong!"

Zhu Zhanji: "..."

There’s nothing wrong with that!

"If you want to say that, then I have nothing to say!"

Zhu Zhanji curled his lips, paused, and then said:

"But one thing, you have to understand, if there are no merchants, what kind of consequences will it have for the people, or for the court?"

"The food grown by the people all year round will be piled up at home until it rots if it cannot be eaten because there are no merchants to buy it, or it cannot be exchanged for goods by merchants."

"There are also hunters and some other people. The prey they hunt so hard can only be eaten by themselves. What is not eaten will be wasted."

"These are just for the common people, but the officials in the court and the court itself are even more serious. Many officials have hundreds of acres of fertile land in their homes, and there are also poor people who live on their salaries, but no matter who they are,

The former needs to sell grain, and the latter needs to buy grain, both of which require merchants to make turnover."

"And the imperial court itself said that it would open China to France. If the imperial court did not use salt as a reward, how could the food on the front lines be transported so quickly?"

"this……"

When Zhu Gaochi heard what his son said, he didn't know how to refute it for a moment. Although the businessman was in the middle of everything to make profits, he had to say that no one could live without the businessman nowadays.

He hesitated for a moment before saying:

"But even so, how do merchants have anything to do with the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty? The profits these merchants seek are nothing but the hard-earned money of the people. The richer they are, doesn't it mean that the more blood they suck from the people?

?”

"That's true, but have you ever thought about how many risks these businessmen have taken that originally belonged to the people?"

Zhu Zhanji shook his head and said: "When the common people grow food, and merchants buy it, they will sell it at a higher price, but not to mention the transportation cost, just the fluctuation of food prices will bring losses to the merchants."

It brings great risks. If the purchase is made at a high price, and the price of food plummets after the purchase, for them, the loss will not eliminate the risk for the people."

"this……"

Although Zhu Gaochi is not really stupid, he is even very smart many times.

But some things have to be said, which are deeply influenced by some inherent thinking concepts since ancient times.

After hearing Zhu Zhanji's explanation, I suddenly realized something, but I subconsciously felt that this idea was refuted by the world.

When Zhu Zhanji saw Zhu Gaochi's reaction, he realized that his silly father had almost figured it out.
To be continued...