Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 871 Finance is the foundation of governance
After reporting layer by layer, the Qingzhou government’s use of talents in the government to take over the Zihe Reservoir project, and to invent and use new production tools in it was reported to the cabinet by the Secretary of the General Administration, and at the same time, the double-stack basket cart came. Drawings, and data comparing the efficiency of the old and new carts.

Shuntian Mansion was ordered to test the samples of new carts and old carts made according to the blueprints, and confirm that Qingzhou Mansion’s report was correct. Within a few days, the cabinet issued a commendation document from the capital to Qingzhou Mansion.

The document fully affirmed Qingzhou Prefecture’s bold use of professional talents, named and praised the chief official of the prefecture, and specifically named Li Jianye’s name, encouraged him to act bravely, and encouraged him to continue to work hard in his current position. To achieve another success, the Ministry of Industry will also arrange water conservancy experts to visit the construction site in due course.

The officials of Qingzhou government guessed rightly. Now there is no one in the water department of the Ministry of Industry. Almost all water conservancy experts are supervising the construction in various parts of Daming. As long as the department has drawn up the construction drawings, the Li family can just play the role of a professional supervisor.

The officials who were commended by the cabinet were all in high spirits, and the supply of food and materials in the government warehouses was stepped up to tilt the construction site.

They never thought that because of a local water conservancy project, their name could be heard directly, and it was done in such a grand way, which is a good thing that money can't buy.

This move means that as long as there are no major accidents, the Zihe Reservoir will be successfully completed and put into use in the future, and my seat is likely to be moved up.

Ever since, under the direct care of the adults, a large amount of materials are flowing from Qingzhou Mansion to Zizhou every day, and a lot of silver coins from the official warehouse are also scattered to purchase various materials needed for construction from the private sector.

This huge investment has also greatly promoted the production and circulation of materials in related industries in Qingzhou Prefecture and surrounding areas.

Merchants with a keen sense of smell also gradually gathered to the construction site, bringing all kinds of commodities that could be sold to the huge construction site. Suddenly, the location of the originally remote reservoir became the most lively place in Zizhou.

Since the wages of more than [-] young adults are settled on a daily basis, many migrant workers with good families and ample money will buy some favorite goods from the stalls of the merchants while they are resting. This kind of consumption has also greatly stimulated the growth of the local economy. develop.

Don't ignore the spending power of young adults.

Zhu Youjian has always advocated the concept of allowing laborers to obtain greater benefits, and it has basically been implemented in various parts of Daming, especially in official investment projects.

The wages of artisans and laborers vary according to the type of work. The low wages are about 150 copper coins per day, while skilled craftsmen can get [-] to [-] copper coins per day, or three to four silver coins per full moon. As much, this is quite a high income, although not all year round.

On the whole, the wages of the more than [-] young and strong laborers alone amounted to more than [-] silver coins per month, and this was not counting the free meals and the various raw materials needed to build the reservoir.

Therefore, the construction of water conservancy is of course a good thing that benefits the country and the people, but the investment is also quite huge.

That is to say, Daming is rich now. If in the original history, even if they only cared about food, the young and old would be free labor force conscripted by corvee, which is not affordable by the finances.

The rulers of the past dynasties are not lacking in wisdom. Although many people have realized the crux of the problem, almost no one can solve the knot of financial scarcity.

Both Wang Anshi and Zhang Juzheng tried, but unfortunately failed in the end.

The imperial court was short of money and food, so how could it have spare energy to develop productive forces.

But there is no money to invest in people's livelihood projects. In the event of long-term natural disasters, due to the lack of water conservancy projects, the fields will be unevenly drought and flooded, which in turn will cause large-scale production cuts and no harvests, resulting in disaster victims everywhere. In the end, countless people will rise up and deal a serious blow And shake the rule of the dynasty, and even change the dynasty.

The fundamental problem restricting the lifespan of the Huaxia Dynasty was money and food.

The well-fed people are not interested in trading their lives for illusory glory and wealth. As long as they are not forced to have no way out, as long as they can eat enough and survive, most of the people are still very docile. 18 years later, it is another heroic statement, which must be uttered by someone who is hungry and red-eyed.

Of course, Li Jianye and the main members of the Li family were more excited and excited than the prefectural officials.

I didn't expect that the result of forcing this time would be so unexpectedly good, especially Li Jianye's seemingly inconspicuous move, which attracted the attention of the big bosses in the court. As long as he works hard, the Li family is likely to You can go up a level.

In order to be able to live up to the trust of the imperial court and to further the glory of the family, Li Jianye also worked hard.

After a detailed topographical survey of the upstream and downstream, Li Jianye discussed with several cousins ​​several times, boldly revised the main drawing of the dam originally drawn by the director of the Ministry of Industry, and made the main gate to the east of the dam. In order to move over a long distance, the main spillway is also extended to the easternmost part of the mountain.

In this way, the gate body of the main gate will save a lot of materials. Without affecting the quality of the entire project, it will save time, labor and materials, and also make the role of the main spillway more prominent. The dam will be completed and stored in the future. Finally, even if the upstream encounters a once-in-a-century flood, the main gate does not need to be opened easily, and the excess water can be released from the main spillway on the east side.

The huge water flow released from the spillway will flow along the ditches built with solid rocks downstream, and after a few miles of direct discharge, the kinetic energy is greatly reduced, and then continue to flow along the newly repaired winding river, and will be diverted again by several channels ditches to irrigate the fields.

Because it is still far from the completion of the main project of the dam, in line with the principle of prudence, the chief officials of Zizhou and Qingzhou prefectures sent the new map drawn by Li Jianye to the capital again, in order to be safe.

After the cabinet received the report from the Qingzhou government, it immediately arranged for Dushuisi Langzhong, who supervised the construction of the reservoir in the Gyeonggi area, to review the blueprint. You can enter the capital water department to work.

With the approval of professionals, Li Jianye's construction plan was approved smoothly, and his name was once again paid attention to by the bosses.

In the end, the Zihe Reservoir was officially completed and put into use in the spring of 20 in Chongzhen after more than four years of intermittent construction, and it ushered in the test of the first major flood a year later. The dam stood tall and the spillway flood diversion effect was excellent. It has effectively guaranteed the safety of hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land downstream.

After two years of smooth operation of the Zihe Reservoir and its supporting water conservancy projects, the fertile fields downstream of the reservoir have achieved bumper harvests year after year. The food, life and property of the people have been effectively guaranteed.

As a result, the chief officials of Qingzhou Prefecture and Zizhou were promoted one after another. Li Jianye was exceptionally promoted to the prefect of Zizhou from the sixth rank under the instruction of Zhu Youjian because of his outstanding contributions.

(End of this chapter)