Rebirth of Wu Ba Spring and Autumn

Chapter 133 Building Bridges and Paving the Road
As the saying goes, if you want to get rich, build roads first.

Qing Ji wanted to attract merchants from all over the world to gather in Wu. If the transportation was inconvenient, or there were dangers everywhere, it would be difficult for merchants to enter Wu for business.

After all, the gains outweigh the losses!
However, Qingji wanted to vigorously build bridges and pave roads in the state of Wu to connect the Central Plains. How easy is it?

Dazai Ji Zha had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "Your Majesty, the construction of the official road bridge leading to the Central Plains is an exceptionally huge project. The manpower, material and financial resources that Wu State will invest in it are immeasurable!"

"If your majesty hadn't waited for a few years until the national treasury is sufficient, then build official roads and bridges, there should be no danger."

"Wait a few years?"

Qingji couldn't help but chuckled, and said, "Dazai, what is the number of years? It's not that I can't afford to wait, but please tell Dazai that Wu is implementing new laws, and everyone in the world is looking at me and Wu!"

"If the roads of the Wu Kingdom have always been so difficult and dangerous, with no access to the Central Plains, and only waterways are feasible, wouldn't it be ridiculous and generous?"

"Those business travelers who intend to enter Wu for business will be disappointed and will not enter Wu again."

After a pause, Qingji said again: "Furthermore, what is most valuable in the great project of the Wu State is manpower. Last year, the State of Wu captured more than [-] people from the Chu army. They can be used as labor labor. They are only given food, not just money."

"As for financial resources, the people of Chu pay a thousand yi gold or equivalent, which is enough for one use. As for material resources, they can be obtained from the ground, and it only takes time to move around!"

Qingji thought everything into consideration!

Manpower, material resources and financial resources, the three are actually not lacking in Wu State now.

The more than [-] soldiers of the Chu army can serve as free labor and pave the way for the Wu State to build bridges, as long as they are given a full meal.

In terms of financial resources, there is the war indemnity from Chu State, and there is no need to talk about material resources!

The ancients built roads by relying on mountains to eat mountains and water, and most of the ground was compacted with loess.

In some places, mellow soil and rice milk are used to burn the soil again, so that insects and grass will not grow.

The main road of the city is basically paved with big stones!

There is no shortage of materials such as mellow soil, rice milk, gravel, etc., as long as there are manpower to move them.

Seeing that he couldn't convince Qingji, Ji Zha could only sigh, and said with lowered hands: "Since Your Majesty insists on building bridges and paving roads, the old minister must obey."

"However, the [-] soldiers from the Chu State are opening up mountains and forests in the south, and they have achieved results. If we give up halfway, I'm afraid that all the efforts we have made before will come to naught!"

Hearing this, Qingji thought secretly in his heart.

What Ji Zha said is correct, the more than [-] soldiers of the Chu army have been resettled to the southwest of Wu State to open up wasteland and farmland.

The southwestern part of the state of Wu, that is, the area around Anhui later, is still a barren and undeveloped place, with high mountains, dense forests, and swamps everywhere!
There are hundreds of miles around, not to mention inaccessible, but there are only scattered villages, not a single decent city!
Qingji naturally needed manpower to develop such a barren place.

More than [-] soldiers acted as vanguards, but Wu Guo overcame the thorns and developed the barren land.

Judging from the existing productivity, they have achieved little, but they are not without results!
At this time, if they are all brought back to build bridges and pave roads, all previous efforts will be wasted, and the southwest of Wu State will still be that deserted scene.

"Thirty thousand, the widow only needs thirty thousand civilian husbands."

Qing Ji said in a deep voice: "The rest of the people will still stay in the southwest to reclaim wasteland and farmland. Fan Li, build official roads and bridges to connect the Central Plains, and I will leave it to you to handle it!"

"only!"

Fan Li, the internal history of millet management, immediately agreed.

It is already a very huge project to invest [-] manpower to build bridges and pave roads.

After all, in this era, many small countries don't even have a population of [-]!
Even though Qingji urgently wanted to complete the official road bridges in Wu State as soon as possible and invested more manpower for this, the development of the southwestern area of ​​Wu State still cannot be ignored.

That place is vast and sparsely populated, and it is barren, almost occupying half of the territory of Wu!

Half of the Wu Kingdom is like this, how can Qingji accept it?

At this moment, Prime Minister You Ji Ran frowned, and finally said: "Your Majesty, I have something to say, I don't know if I should say it or not?"

"But it doesn't matter."

"Your Majesty ordered the soldiers of Chu to become peasants, reclaim wasteland, farmland, build bridges and pave roads. The project is huge. However, the prisoners of war will inevitably get tired, and then they will be passive and slow down. It is not convenient for our national policy of Wu to recuperate!"

Hearing this, Qingji nodded slightly, expressing his agreement.

A person who works for years and months, and works without pay, is like a walking dead, and it is inevitable that he will be passive and sabotage.

So what is the solution?
"What do you mean?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I believe that the government can make regulations. All the prisoners of war who have served the Wu country can be free after five years of labor. They are Wu Lishu."

"Afterwards, the government will allocate houses, farming tools, farm tools and other daily necessities so that they can settle in Wu and survive without any danger!"

Qing Ji quite agrees with Ji Ran's proposition.

However, before Qingji could speak, Shaofu, who was sitting beside Ji Ran, snorted and said, "Prime Minister You's words are wrong."

"Is it too lenient to let the prisoners of war serve Wu for five years and then give them back their freedom?"

"It should be noted that prisoners of war are also equivalent to slaves. If a slave has served five years of hard labor, can he also be released from slavery and become a concubine of our state of Wu?"

Obviously, Beli has already seen the way.

In this era, the status of prisoners of war is not high, they are often just like slaves and prisoners. If there is no accident, they will have to serve hard labor to death all their lives, and they are still lonely!
Some prisoners of war were even used as slaves and sold to various places by the government in order to earn enough property.

What's more, they will also serve as sacrificial offerings, adult martyrs, and some princes and nobles will be buried with them!
Therefore, during the mere five years of hard labor, the state of Wu had to release those prisoners of war, and also allocated them houses, farmland, and farm tools so that they could survive without any danger.

This really confuses the old people such as Bei Li and Shen Xi!
If you just release those prisoners of war, and don't guarantee that their lives are okay, then the prisoners of war will become homeless "savages", and then they can be captured by the officials and officials, making them their slaves...

How could Qingji not know about the idea of ​​being separated?

However, Qing Ji did not expose the beli face to face, but instead set his sights on Ji Ran.

Ji Ran immediately said with a smile: "What the Shaofu said is inevitably biased."

"A prisoner of war is not the same as a slave, or the same as a prisoner. In the laws of my country of Wu, there is also the saying that criminals should serve hard labor to pay off their crimes. Since prisoners can serve hard labor to pay off their crimes, why can't prisoners of war?"

"This……"

Li was stunned for a moment, and said again: "A prisoner is a prisoner, and a prisoner is a prisoner. How can the two be confused? Prime Minister You, you must know that the prisoner is from Wu, and the prisoner is from Chu!"

(End of this chapter)