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

Chapter 435 Building a Bridge
There was a heavy rain in Chang'an in Nianguan. The heavy rain lasted for a whole day, causing the water level of the Wei River to continue to rise.

All the wooden bridges on the Wei River were washed away by the flood, and all the people in Chang'an City were trapped today. Sang Hongyang and Lu Chongguo led craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry to the north side of the Wei River.

The water level has increased and the current has become turbulent. It is not easy to repair the bridge now.

But today is New Year's Eve again, and these people who came to Chang'an City to buy new year's goods have to go home no matter what.

After Weining heard the news, he immediately came to the north side of the Weishui River. After looking at the rapid river and the anxious faces of the people, he immediately asked the Ministry of Industry to arrange ships to escort the people across the river.

During the Chinese New Year, we must not prevent people from returning home no matter what.

When all the people were sent to the other side of the river, Lu Chongguo found Weining and said, "Your Highness, the water level is too high. If you want to build the bridge, you have to wait until tomorrow."

Wei Ning looked at the wooden bridge and fell into deep thought. He asked Lu Chongguo, "Can we build a stone bridge?"

Lu Chong National Highway: "The Weishui River is too deep and there is no point of support, so the stone bridge cannot be repaired."

Today's craftsmen still have traditional thinking. If you want to build a stone bridge, you need a fulcrum. It is best to wait until the river water level drops before starting to build the lower fulcrum.

But the problem is... the water level of the Weishui River has never been lowered, and it is difficult to build a fulcrum below.

That's why Lu Chongguo said there was no way to build the bridge. Weining thought about it and asked, "Is it possible to build the bridge without a fulcrum below?"

what?
Lu Chongguo said in astonishment: "How can we repair without a fulcrum?"

"Isn't the stone bridge prone to collapse?"

Wei Ning said: "Where is the arch bridge?"

Lu Chongguo asked in confusion: "What is an arch bridge?"

Nowadays, the craftsmanship of Han Dynasty is still very backward, and they don't even know what an arch bridge is.

The heavy rain was still falling, and Wei Ning said: "We won't do any repairs tonight, let everyone go back and have a good New Year."

"You guys should go back too."

Lu Chongguo nodded and said, "Here."

……

Early the next morning, Weining came to the Academy of Sciences and found Dade.

When Weining proposed the arch bridge concept, Dade's reaction was exactly the same as Lu Chongguo's.

Naturally, he didn't know what an arch bridge was, and it was even more difficult for him to imagine how the stone bridge could support the bridge deck without pillars under it.

After Weining showed the arch bridge model to Lu Chongguo, Lu Chongguo still felt that this was not feasible. He felt that such a bridge would still have the possibility of collapse.

It may not be as flood resistant as a wooden bridge.

Wei Ning knew that it was difficult for him to understand, so he just left the drawings at the Academy of Sciences without saying anything more, and went to find Lu Chongguo alone.

When Lu Chongguo saw the model of the arch bridge, his reaction was exactly the same as that of Dade. He asked worriedly: "Your Highness, can this bridge be built?"

"There's no fulcrum below, so it can't bear much weight at all."

Weining didn't explain it to Lu Chongguo. He didn't know how to explain the force of the arch bridge, so he could only let Lu Chongguo build it according to this drawing.

Sang Hongyang of the Department of Revenue saw the drawings and was a little worried. According to Weining's budget, repairing the stone bridge would cost at least 300,000 yuan.

But Sang Hongyang felt that building the bridge was undoubtedly a futile effort, and that it would waste so much money and raw materials, and the gain would outweigh the loss.

Weining was not qualified to ask Sang Hongyang to do these things. He was not the emperor yet, and he needed Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's nod to use the Ministry of Finance.

So Sang Hongyang found Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, cupped his fists and said, "I see your Majesty."

When Sang Hongyang informed Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty about Weining's plan to build the bridge, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty said: "Since the prince wants a million dollars to build the bridge, just give it to him." "Why do you need to ask me for permission on this matter?"

Sang Hongyang said: "Your Majesty, it is a good thing that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to build a stone bridge, but this stone bridge has no fixed support points. I am just worried that if the money is sent out, it may be in vain."

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was silent for a moment, looked at Sang Hongyang, and said: "Nothing will succeed from the beginning."

"There is a real need to build a stone bridge over the Wei River on the north and south sides of Chang'an."

The previous wooden bridge outside the south city of Chang'an undoubtedly greatly damaged Chang'an's image.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also considered what Sang Hongyang said. As he said, Weining's stone bridge idea seemed immature, both in terms of flood resistance and load-bearing capacity.

But Dahan's craftsmanship needs to be developed, and every development requires failure, so just try it a little bit, and send some money to buy experience.

After getting permission from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Sang Hongyang quickly left Weiyang Palace.

The Ministry of Revenue has a sufficient budget, so three hundred thousand dollars will not put the Ministry in trouble.

Sang Hongyang immediately allocated 300,000 yuan to the Ministry of Works. Of course, in addition, he also allocated 100,000 yuan to the Ministry of Works to build a wooden bridge for the people on both sides of Chang'an.

Sang Hongyang is an old minister who considers everything comprehensively.

Lu Chongguo didn't hesitate after getting the budget. Since it was Weining's order, he would try it regardless of whether it was right or wrong.

Lu Chongguo immediately began to personally arrange for officials from the Ministry of Industry to recruit craftsmen to build the stone bridge. As for the wooden bridge, he directly contracted it to the construction merchants of Chang'an.

The construction of the wooden bridge was very fast. It was completed in just half a month, and the people on both sides of Chang'an have resumed traffic.

As for Stone Bridge, the project process needs to be carried out slowly.

On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month of the first year of Yuanfeng, the government office of the Ministry of Household Affairs also began busy tax planning work.

On the same day, the Ministry of Household Affairs issued orders to all parts of the country, requiring household officials across the country to start rectifying business phenomena.

All businesses need to register with the Ministry of Household Affairs.

As for individual small shops, such as small merchants who set up stalls or sell in the city department, each stall needs to charge a fixed fee as tax.

At the same time, various places also started urban planning and rectification.

There is no rush for this reform, and the businessmen don't know what the court is going to do.

It's just a matter of going to Hucao to register. Naturally, they have to go there one after another, otherwise they will be caught and have to pay a lot of fines, which is not worth the loss.

The Ministry of Revenue has not taken the next step yet, and their tax planning work has not been completed yet.

It was not until May in the summer that the Ministry of Revenue showed all the tax plans to Weining.

Weining carefully reviewed and filled in the gaps. Sang Hongyang did a good job this time and took many things into consideration.

In June, Weining personally went to the Ministry of Revenue and met with all the officials involved in tax planning.

After all, it is a tax planning at the national level, so it is natural to be cautious.

This taxation involves all aspects and has basically covered the tax rate issues of all industries.

Yes, the tax rates for each industry are different, and businessmen need to clearly state what kind of business they want to open when they go to register.

Then taxes are levied on profits according to the tax rate of this industry.

In mid-June of Xia, the imperial court held a large court meeting, where all officials discussed the issue of tax rate reform.

(End of this chapter)