The Jurchen in Jianzhou had been destroyed, and the disaster of the war in the north had been resolved. In order to control the vast territory of northern Liao, the construction of the northern Liao fortress was imperative.
Zhu Yijun was in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, reading Li Chengliang's memorial.
Currently, Li Chengliang was leading 300,000 soldiers, of which 100,000 were from North Korea. If he used these 300,000 soldiers to build the city, it would save a lot of labor…
Zhu Yijun opened the system and checked Li Chengliang's location. The Far East region was vast, and Li Chengliang was currently stationed in Yaksha City, north of the Greater Kaxing 'an Mountains.
The difficulty of building a fortress was extremely high, especially in northern Liao, where the weather was extremely cold. Even in summer, there was snow that would not melt all year round.
"Men, order Hai Rui, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, to see me.”
The eunuch left the Forbidden City after receiving the decree and went to Hai Rui to announce it.
Two hours later, Hai Rui entered the palace.
After Hai Rui kowtowed to Zhu Yijun, Zhu Yijun handed Li Chengliang's memorial to Hai Rui and said,""The various races in the northern region of Liao have already submitted. Li Chengliang wants to build a fortress in the northern region of Liao. How do you think it should be built and how much money should be spent?”
After Hai Rui received the memorial, they quickly finished reading it.
"Your Majesty, how many people are you going to build?”
"If it's a fortress with 5000 people, the cost would be around five million taels of silver. To build a stone road that leads directly to Jacques City and Ningguta would cost about two million taels of silver. It would cost a total of seven million taels of silver, 200,000 laborers, and three years…"
After Hai Rui said this, Zhu Yijun said,""What if we build a fortress for 100,000 people?”
"100,000 people…"
" This requires a steady flow of people to move there in order to build a city of 100,000 people. As for how much money it will cost, it's impossible to calculate…Your Majesty, according to the current surplus of the national treasury, a fortress of 5,000 people is the best choice…"
"A fortress of five thousand people? There are currently 300,000 soldiers and generals in the northern region of Liaodong. I will leave them there. Return to the Ministry of Works, gather 10,000 craftsmen and 50,000 laborers, and then head to the northern region of Liaodong. I will ask the Ministry of Revenue to allocate 500,000 taels of silver to you. The Liaodong treasury will also provide full support.”
Zhu Yijun stood up with his hands behind his back and said," I want to see a fortress standing tall on the northern border of Liaodong in half a year's time…"
"We will obey the divine!"
Hai Rui straightened his chest. He once again felt like he had been entrusted with an important task.
After Hai Rui received the order and returned to the Ministry of Works, they immediately mobilized 10,000 craftsmen and 50,000 laborers to set off.
……
A fortress began to appear in the northern region of Liao. This fortress was like a nail, nailing three million kilometers of land onto the territory of the Ming Empire.
Zhu Yijun checked the national treasury. After the battle, the 14 million taels of silver in the national treasury had increased to 20 million taels…
In this war to wipe out the Jurchen tribe, not only did they not lose all their money, they even gained a lot.
Who said that war would cost money? Sometimes, this war could even earn money.
Of course, the increase in silver in the national treasury was also due to the success of the water transport reform.
……
Spring passed and summer came.
In the blink of an eye, the weather gradually became hot.
The lotus flowers in the imperial garden had already bloomed.
Liao Bei Fortress had already begun to take shape. Hai Rui reported to Zhu Yijun that the construction of Liao Bei Fortress was going exceptionally smoothly. There were many rocks in the area, and mining the rocks on the spot saved a lot of trouble. The construction period could be completed a month earlier.
……
In the cabinet, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng widened their eyes.
Originally, the authority of water transport was in the hands of the Imperial Court. The Emperor requested for business reforms and boldly delegated power.
Originally, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng thought that even if the water transport was opened, there wouldn't be much change!
However, after three months of the trial, a shocking answer was placed in front of them.
When the imperial court operated the water transport, the annual tax revenue was 1.2 million taels of silver that was handed over to the national treasury.
However, after the water transport was delegated, merchant ships that could not get the right to travel could enter the water transport, which led to a sudden increase in the volume of water transport...
The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal suddenly became prosperous. Many merchants no longer rode horses, but changed to water transport.
According to the merchant ship's cargo tax, the water transport tax actually reached 3.2 million taels of silver!
In the past, the annual tax of water transport was only 1.2 million taels of silver, but now, the monthly tax of water transport had exceeded one million taels of silver.
All along, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng had thought that business was unprofitable because business couldn't produce. Without production, it was like cooking without rice...
However, looking at it now, the profits of the merchants were actually huge.
Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng looked at each other.
They saw flames in each other's eyes!
The business tax had to be reformed. Water transport was only one of the business operation modes. The success of the water transport reform made Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng completely realize that business reform was imperative.
From today onwards, the Ming Empire would completely reform the national policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce.
The strategy of establishing a country was to develop both commerce and agriculture!
With money, everything would be easier to handle!
……
The next day, morning court.
Zhang Juzheng was the first to step forward. He announced the answer sheet of the water transport reform, which shocked the government and the people.
In three months, the water transport revenue was 3.2 million taels of silver. That meant that the annual revenue was 14 million taels of silver!
Terrifying!
This was a terrifying number!
Last year, the tax revenue was only twelve million taels of silver. Now, the income from water transport alone had reached fourteen million taels.
This time, the officials in the court began to re-evaluate the merchants.
It turned out that the profits of merchants were actually so high!
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