The Great Han Dynasty: From Feng Lang Juxu to the Eternal Emperor

Chapter 382 Shocked Sang Hongyang

Early the next morning, there was a court meeting.

Today, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty gave a signal to Weining to take charge of the meeting.

When Weining announced that the Jiangnan water conservancy project would be handed over to businessmen, the entire Qilin Palace exploded.

It is obvious that Weining's thoughts have exceeded the limits of everyone in this dynasty.

Zhao Zhou immediately stepped out to retort to Wei Ning and said: "No, Your Highness!"

"How can we safely hand over such a large project to businessmen? And can businessmen in Han Dynasty do this? Even if they do it, they still need to hire migrant workers. If everyone is involved in the project, When coolies make money, who can still farm?”

"If the Han Dynasty has no one to farm, the fields will be abandoned and the entire country will be in danger! Your Highness, please think twice!"

Wei Ning smiled and asked Zhao Zhoudao: "If I were a businessman and I hired you as a coolie, would you be willing?"

Zhao Zhou said: "Of course I don't want to."

Wei Ning continued to ask: "What if we hire a farmer alone, and this farmer happens to have finished farming?"

Zhao Zhou was silent.

All the officials immediately understood what Weining meant. The Ministry of Industry was carrying out water conservancy projects in the south of the Yangtze River. To put it bluntly, it was a national project. For water conservancy projects carried out in the name of the country, they needed to requisition corvee labor.

Peasants in the Han Dynasty had to bear the responsibilities of both taxes and corvee.

Corvee labor is free, and every household and every man is obliged to work on engineering projects for the country.

But businessmen are different. Businessmen do not have the right to use farmers for free. They need to pay farmers.

Zhao Zhou was silent for a moment and said, "Aren't all the corvees hired by the merchants? What if there are war projects that need to be built but there are no corvees?"

Wei Ning smiled and said: "Now that all the barbarians in the north have been wiped out, the Han Dynasty has no natural enemies to speak of."

"The essence of the Qin Dynasty's corvee service was to repair the northern fortifications, so it was stipulated that Ding Nanfu had the responsibility of constructing corvee services for the country."

"Now that the Han Dynasty is prosperous, what is the use of this group of corvees left behind?"

"Release them all, and the people will only be grateful to the court."

Zhao Zhou said: "What if they are needed for military fortifications in the future? Is it possible to use businessmen to contract the construction?"

Wei Ning said: "Please note that Gu did not say that corvee will be completely abolished. This is only in name."

Sang Hongyang came out and said: "According to His Highness, even if we hand over the water conservancy project to the merchants, if the merchants pay the people low wages, who will be willing to do it?"

"What if the reward is too high and everyone rushes to do it?"

Before Weining could speak, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty said: "You are overthinking. Businessmen are not fools. They naturally know how to control money reasonably. You don't need to worry about these things for businessmen."

Sang Hongyang's face turned red, but he soon fell into deep thought.

It seems, it seems, you can really give it a try.

In fact, everything Weining has done is transforming the country's roots so that it no longer relies on agriculture.

There are no enemies in the north anymore. Europe is still a primitive tribe, and there are no enemies around that can threaten the Han Dynasty. Only the Western Regions have military strength that is not the same as that of the Han Dynasty.

Food is being grown in southern Xinjiang, which can be supplied to the Han people in unlimited quantities.

Now is a good opportunity for the country to transform.

Once the country is completely transformed, land annexation will disappear completely. At that time, we will not encounter any resistance if we carry out the reform of integrating government and gentry into paying grain.

With this ancestral system, future generations will be able to continue it, and the old problems that have plagued China for thousands of years will be solved.

All of this is based on the premise that the country has no enemies. If there is still war in the north, Weining will not dare to do this, because it is asking for death.

If there was no food supply and transportation and no import and export trade in southern Xinjiang, Weining would not dare to do this. All the officials fell into silence, but no one objected to Wei Ning's suggestion now.

Zhao Zhou cupped his fists and said, "I think we can give it a try."

"I'm just worried that this businessman may not be willing to accept such a project."

Zhao Zhou was naturally worried about this, because this was a policy that had never been touched upon by anyone in the previous dynasty. There was no experience to draw from, and businessmen were afraid of taking risks.

There are only a handful of businessmen in the country who have the financial resources, and they certainly dare not take the risk to take on such a large project.

Weining is not worried. He is motivated by profit, but is he afraid that no businessmen will follow him?
He handed over the bidding project of this project to Sang Hongyang of the Ministry of Household Affairs.

Sang Hongyang needs to be fully prepared. Once the businessman takes over the project, he needs to plan in advance how to collect taxes.

When the Ministry of Revenue released this news, it immediately caused an uproar among the people of Chang'an.

Not only businessmen, but also powerful people want to get involved in this matter.

The next day, Sang Hongyang hurriedly found Weining. When the news was released, Sang Hongyang didn't expect so many people to be interested in it.

"Your Highness, which project should we release first?"

Sang Hongyang suggested contracting out the Taihu Lake construction project first. This is a water conservancy project in the south of the Yangtze River. If it is repaired, it can benefit crops on both sides of the river.

Moreover, this project is not big, and you can also use it as a pilot project to see how capable the merchants are.

The original budget made by the Ministry of Industry was 3 million yuan. Sang Hongyang asked Weining: "How much will it cost for the businessmen?"

Wei Ning asked Sang Hongyang, "How much do you suggest?"

Sang Hongyang thought for a moment and said, "Two million and three hundred thousand dollars."

No matter what, the price to the merchants must be kept low. Everyone understands why the Ministry of Industry needs so much, but the merchants must not be given so much money.

However, Sang Hongyang is also seeing real benefits from Weining's policy reform.

Isn't it more cost-effective for the Ministry of Household Affairs to save so much money than to do it for the Ministry of Industry?
"Two million dollars."

When Wei Ning spoke, Sang Hongyang was stunned for a moment: "Huh? So few?"

Wei Ning said: "It could be even less."

less? !
Sang Hongyang took a breath and said, "How is that possible?"

Wei Ning said to Sang Hongyang: "When bidding, you don't have to tell them the price. You only need to tell the outside world that the court will choose the lowest price to recruit merchants."

Sang Hongyang tasted it for a while, then looked at Wei Ning in shock and said, "Your Highness asked them to kill each other?"

As long as the court does not give a clear price, they will invariably lower the price if they want to win the project.

High!

Sang Hongyang's eyes lit up, but soon he realized something was wrong and said to Weining: "What if they took it at the lowest price, squeezed the people, or used cheap materials in the construction?"

Wei Ning smiled and said, "Tell them in advance that if something goes wrong, the court will hold them accountable!"

"As for whether they will exploit the people, the people are not fools, and this is not forced buying or selling."

He said meaningfully to Sang Hongyang: "Mr. Sang, the profit margins in this are huge. Do you believe it when I tell you that the Ministry of Industry may have exaggerated the price by twice as much?"

"There is a high probability that the price given by the merchant will generally be less than two million yuan."

Sang Hongyang said in shock: "This...how is this possible?!"

(End of this chapter)