Hand over the jade seal first [Infrastructure]

Chapter 348

Everyone could see that His Majesty did this on purpose, so that they would not object to Xiu Chang'an.

Although everyone was a little dumbfounded about this, they didn't dislike the emperor's carefulness, and even welcomed it. Anyway, if the emperor wanted to buy them, he had to give them money or titles.

The Minister of the Household Department came out and asked, "Your Majesty, how will corvee be collected?"

In fact, the matter of expropriation and issuance of corvee is not at all qualified to be moved to the Xiaochao meeting for discussion, but the problem is that the world is initially determined, and the standards implemented by the Northern Wei Dynasty are different from theirs, and because the climate is different, the time for collection is also different. These are all things to consider, so they need to be negotiated.

Xiao Zirong thought about this question a long time ago and said directly: "I heard that before the Northern Wei Dynasty, the people's corvee was increased. Since the world is amnesty, then this year's corvee will be exempted."

Everyone was slightly taken aback: "Exemption from corvee? Then... the construction of the city..."

Xiao Zirong said simply: "Hire them! You don't need too much money, just give them something to stutter."

Xiao Zirong sighed as he spoke: "After the war and the epidemic, the grain harvest in the North has been poor, and the people may not have surplus grain in their hands, and winter is coming soon."

He didn't say the rest, but everyone could understand that many people with no family background might not be able to survive this winter.

We must know that although the war did not last for a long time and did not involve many places, the epidemic has been going on for three years. Talk about those who received injections to treat their family members.

There's not much you can do in winter in the North, and even organizing caravans is dangerous, let alone maritime trade.

What's more, Xiao Zirong had to worry that if the supervision over there was not strict enough, the maritime trade would easily bring the plague back, wouldn't that be cheating.

So it is necessary to give these people some income, and building a city is the way he thinks.

On the one hand, it is to satisfy his own idea of ​​moving the capital, on the other hand, at least give these people a place to eat, and give them some wages, so that they can survive this winter and sow smoothly in the next spring.

It's not that Xiao Zirong didn't want to give them more money, it's just that he gave them more money this time, what will happen next time he does a project?What's more, if you give too much, so many people affected by the disaster, even if his small coffers are full, he can't bear it.

Xiao Yan asked with some doubts: "But even so, only the people around Chang'an can benefit, so what about other places?"

The area of ​​the Northland is not small, so the people here can't manage it, and other places can't care about it, right?

Xiao Zirong raised his head and said, "In order to make the construction of the city smoother, all the roads need to be repaired before the construction of the city!"

There are too many things needed to build a city, ranging from earth materials, stones and wood to tools used in the process of building a city, all of which need support from other places.

Especially for the transportation of heavy materials such as stone and wood, if the road is not smooth enough, it will really get twice the result with half the effort.

Therefore, Xiao Zirong had already prepared the money for road construction at the beginning, and he only proposed it after confirming that the road construction could still support the construction of the city.

Of course, the money in his hands is not enough to support so many sieges in one go, but his business is still making money, the lower limit is there, even if it is calculated according to the lowest profit, according to the current construction progress of the Northland, it is nothing to support it question.

Only then did everyone suddenly realize that the people around Chang'an built cities to make money, while the people in other places built roads.

Of course, the construction of roads is definitely not as long as the construction of cities, but it was supposed to allow them to barely survive the winter. If funds are really allocated, who knows if the money will reach the hands of ordinary people by then.

If you wait until next year to continue, you will be called for corvée.

Xiao Zirong had planned the roads to be built long ago, and he carefully chose the most important roads as cement roads. Most of the remaining roads were repaired and compacted from the original rammed earth roads.

After all, some roads are used to transport heavy materials. The heavy cement roads may be scrapped in a short time. It is better to use rammed earth roads.

Xiao Zirong is a veteran in engineering, and a group of experienced people under his command can't refute the plan they come up with.

Even one in the imperial court counts as one, and there is almost no one who can compare with him in this regard.

So the courtiers sitting in the main hall listened to the emperor discussing with them one by one, and there was always an illusion that they were not here to discuss political affairs but to learn from the emperor.

Everyone really learned a lot, and it was the first time for many people to see the delicate and thoughtful side of this young emperor.

After everything was almost confirmed, Xiao Zirong looked around and said: "According to the previous habit, all parts of this matter should be handed over to the local county magistrate to watch over, but the situation in the North is special now, so I am going to set up A temporary department."

As for why it is special, everyone is clear in their hearts, because the officials in the Northern Land have basically been changed up to now, and most of the people who were used in the Northern Wei Dynasty are still those people now.

These people may be for the sake of performance, but they are also conscientious during the epidemic prevention.

Some people did a good job, and Xiao Zirong admired them very much, but some people made Xiao Zirong want to replace him immediately.

You can say that he is dereliction of duty, no, he is very serious every day, but his frequent tricks make people wonder if his brain is full of brine.

Under such circumstances, such an important matter must not be handed over to those people, which would be very troublesome. Xiao Zirong didn't bother to distinguish who is an upright official and who is a corrupt official, so he simply set up a department without using the people there. .

Minister of the Ministry of Industry is a puppet, but it is not a fool who can be placed in this position by Xiao Zirong. Although he can't get in the way of making things, this person is strong in interpersonal relationships.

None of Shangshu's subordinates disliked him.

Originally, he thought that such a large project must be undertaken by the Ministry of Industry, but now when he heard that a department was to be re-established, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry rolled up his sleeves and began to fight for the benefits of his subordinates.

He directly stood up and asked, "Your Majesty, what is the explanation for the new department?"

Xiao Zirong immediately said: "The new department is under the Ministry of Industry and directly under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry. In fact, it is equivalent to sending everyone out on business trips."

It is to bypass local officials and prevent the local official system from intervening.

The Minister of the Ministry of Industry was relieved when he heard it, but he immediately asked again: "What if the progress is not smooth?"

These things were originally supposed to be the responsibility of the local officials, but in the end, the directly subordinate personnel were sent down from above. Some people would always be unhappy. As the saying goes, a strong dragon does not suppress a local leader, and it would be very troublesome if they tripped them or something.

Of course, as imperial envoys sent by the imperial court, they must have the right to ignore each other or even fight back. Now the minister of the Ministry of Industry is asking how far they can fight back.

Xiao Zirong said very happily: "Don't worry, there will be Jinling Guard and Xueziying to escort everyone."

Anyway, those officials were originally Wei people, and many of them were Xianbei people. For many people in the court of Qi State, those people were the descendants of their enemies.

It's just that they fought back to the world with great difficulty. For the sake of peace in the world, these people didn't plan to fight and kill their enemies. The big deal is to see the truth in the court. Swords are never the only thing that can kill.

After listening to the emperor's words, the big bosses all exchanged a tacit smile, and they knew that the emperor would definitely not tolerate those people.

All of a sudden, many people hoped that those people would not have too long eyes, and it would be better if they offended Jinlingwei or Xueziying, then they could justifiably fix these people.

It's just that there are not many fools who can make a name for themselves under Yuan Ke, and even survive the troubled times and the epidemic safely.

Except for some low-level county magistrates who will show up, those county guards are very knowledgeable with their tails tucked between their tails, let alone dissatisfied, and they will even cooperate with the people sent by the court to specialize in engineering, for fear that these uncles will pass. If they don't want to file an imperial complaint, they will stop cooking.

It would be fine if they were just dismissed, but it's not that they haven't figured out the emperor's temper. What if the other party has a bad temper and beheads them directly?

For the sake of my own life, what is it to be wronged?

What's more, the arrival of these engineering teams can be regarded as a solution to their urgent needs. Not all officials care about the life and death of the people, and many officials who have received Confucian education also have the world in their hearts.

They were already worrying about how to spend the winter, the grain in the granary was not enough, and the most important thing was that they did not dare to make the decision to release the grain.

If the higher-ups did not order them to release food without permission, it would probably be a crime at that time.

But the problem is that the common people are really going to be unable to hold on anymore, does the emperor really not plan to control them?

Fortunately, the emperor did not disappoint them. Under such circumstances, any official with a bit of conscience would not insist on troublesome imperial envoys.

The smooth progress of the projects in various places also made the court relieved. The amnesty had already made the common people overjoyed, and the recruitment of workers later made it possible for them to survive.

Xiao Zirong even heard that someone wrote poems praising him for this purpose.

It's a pity that Xiao Zirong doesn't seem to be from the Xiao family in this respect. As long as everyone he knows with the surname Xiao is more literary, no matter it is literature or other arts, they will always be good at it.

Only he is good at engineering, and his head grows big when he hears poems, and he can fall asleep every minute after hearing these people studying allusions.

Xiao Xuan was very puzzled: "Who did this follow?"

Although his elder brother is called Emperor Wu, he was also a cultural person back then. Why is this kid not enlightened at all in this regard?

Xiao Zirong felt very guilty about this, originally... Even if he is the Xiao family, he is also a descendant of the Xiao family for countless generations.

The reconstruction of Chang'an City is more like the existence of stabilizing the North than moving the capital.

It's just that no one expected that in Xiao Zirong's plan, a city that was more advanced than Jinling and larger than Jiankang would be built to the point where it could be put into use in five years.