Daming: My boss Zhu Yuanzhang

Tian Qing said calmly: "Why are you asking so many questions? We just need to be careful and serve you!"

Zhang Cheng smiled noncommittally: "The prefect is right."

Tian Qing glanced at him, his face a little unhappy.

He was a prefect who was transferred from another place and was not familiar with the place. However, Zhang Cheng had been here for many years and had a deep foundation and close connections with local powerful people. Although he was only a deputy, sometimes his words were more effective than his prefect.

Li Wei and Wu Yong, as well as officials from the Ministry of Industry, followed the petty officials and conducted a general exploration near Yangzhou City.

The water system in the south of the Yangtze River is developed, especially in Yangzhou. There are many lakes, ponds and rivers in the surrounding area. The place where Li Wei disembarked is very close to the south gate, and to the east of the city is the canal.

It's just that the Shandong section of the Grand Canal was blocked at this time, and water transportation was impassable. During Xu Da's last northern expedition, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Xue Xiang to supervise the construction of sea ships to transport grain and grass to the north by sea.

However, although the canal does not reach Peiping, the southern section is still in use, and merchant ships often transport goods.

The canal came from the south, turned east when it reached Yangzhou City, and then turned north again. This left a large area of ​​land to the east of the current Yangzhou City, where many foreign merchants and people lived. If you don't enter the city, you will build houses and settle here, scattered in this open space.

Li Wei led the officials after exploration and found that this area was the most suitable. If a city was built here, it would be surrounded by canals on both sides in the southeast and the old city in the west. All it would take was to dig a moat in the north to connect the canal with the old city. Just connect.

Such a geographical location is undoubtedly an excellent place to build a city. Li Wei even suspected that Zhu Yuanzhang set aside this open space for future expansion.

But the only thing that dissatisfied him was that this area was not very big. It was less than 5,000 acres in total. It was only three miles wide from east to west. If the north and south were built like the current Yangzhou City, it would only be four miles. It was only three square kilometers at once, much smaller than the size of the ten thousand-acre city he had expected.

If you add the current Yangzhou City, it will be almost the same. However, this small Yangzhou City was only built 20 years ago. It will definitely not work if it is demolished and rebuilt. It will be a waste.

After exploring the surrounding area, Li Wei returned to the temporary residence Tian Qing prepared for him. He thought for a long time with the sketches drawn by the craftsmen, but could not come up with a better solution.

"Hey, just make it smaller, just to test the waters."

Li Wei sighed and said to himself.

That's okay. Let's try building a small city first. If possible, we can build a big city somewhere else later.

And this makes it easier. There is not so much financial pressure. Hundreds of thousands of dollars can be obtained even if they are all transferred from the Chamber of Commerce.

While Li Wei was making a decision, Wu Yong knocked on the door and came in, respectfully reporting:

"Sir, Zhang Cheng, our colleague from Yangzhou, would like to see you."

"Huh? What is he here for?"

Li Wei was a little confused. The prefect Tian Qing didn't come to see him, so why did his deputy Zhang Cheng come?

Wu Yong shook his head to express his ignorance. Li Wei pondered for a moment and then said, "Let him come in."

He had just arrived in Yangzhou and didn't know much about the situation at this time. It would be good to have the opportunity to chat more with local officials.

Wu Yong raised his hand and said yes, and led Zhang Cheng in after a moment.

"I am lowered to the post of official Yangzhou colleague Zhang Cheng to pay my respects to Mr. Li!"

Zhang Cheng was carrying a paper bag. After entering, he immediately bowed his hands deeply and showed great respect.

Li Wei raised his hand and said: "No need to be polite, please sit down."

"Thank you, sir!"

Zhang Cheng straightened up and followed Li Wei's instructions and sat down on a chair nearby.

"Master Zhang, what do you want from me?" Li Wei asked straight to the point.

"Oh, I'm just here to see if Mr. Li can use me for anything." Zhang Cheng said respectfully: "Although Xiaguan is not very talented and has little moral character, he has been an official in Yangzhou for many years and is still very familiar with this place. If Mr. Li, please give me any instructions if you can find them useful!"

Li Wei was immediately moved when he heard this. He needs this kind of person now.

"I just want to ask someone about something. Since Mr. Zhang is so familiar with Yangzhou, I just want to answer it for you." Li Wei said.

Zhang Cheng looked delighted and immediately said: "My lord, feel free to ask, I will tell you everything I know."

Li Wei nodded lightly, thought for a while, and asked, "Whose family owns the land in the east of the city, do you know?"

"I know, most of them belong to the Yue family and the Gu family. There are also some foreign businessmen who have purchased some scattered plots of land to build houses there, but there are not many." Zhang Cheng replied.

Li Wei nodded lightly and asked: "What about the north of the city?"

"There are the temple fields of Beining Temple and Beilai Temple, as well as part of the Dong family and Fan family's fields." Zhang Cheng answered fluently and knew these situations well.

Li Wei frowned slightly when he heard this. To be honest, he didn't have a good impression of these monks. In his mind, those who believe in Buddhism and seek Taoism are just people who have nothing to do and have nothing to do. They seek comfort from gods and Buddhas after doing too many bad things. Occasionally, they are in poverty. If people can't live anymore, they will only be deceived and lose their lives and wealth if they pray to God or Buddha.

"Yes, I understand." Li Wei nodded slightly and began to think deeply.

Zhang Cheng hesitated for a moment, then tentatively said, "Does Mr. Li want to expand Yangzhou City to the east of the city?"

"I..." Li Wei opened his mouth to say, but suddenly paused.

He thought of the collusion between officials and businessmen in later generations and the use of inside information to buy land in advance. Although it was ancient times and there were many people and few land, if the news of city construction leaked, someone might deliberately grab the land in advance.

Li Wei's eyes narrowed and he said calmly: "I don't know yet, let's take a look and talk."

Zhang Cheng smiled when he heard this: "Okay, sir, if there is any need to send an official to you, feel free to do so!"

Li Wei stared at him, feeling a little suspicious that this guy was here to find out the news on purpose! "Master Zhang, the construction of the city is related to the interests of the imperial court. This news must not be leaked out!" Li Wei warned seriously.

Zhang Cheng's face suddenly became solemn, and he said solemnly: "Don't worry, sir, I will keep my mouth shut and will never let this matter leak out!"

Li Wei nodded lightly, but he still had doubts about him in his heart.

"It's getting late. If there's nothing else, I won't leave you alone." Li Wei said calmly.

"Then I will resign!" Zhang Cheng stood up and handed over his hands knowingly. Then he seemed to notice that he was holding something in his hand and said, "Oh, by the way, this is a new tea produced in Xiaguan's hometown. Please be careful. I hope you won’t dislike it, sir.”

With that said, Zhang Cheng handed the paper bag forward.

Li Wei took a quick look and saw that the paper bag was tied with hemp rope. It looked heavy. If it was really tea, he was afraid it might be mixed with gold or silver leaves or something.

"I don't drink tea!" Li Wei said softly.

"You are joking, sir." Zhang Cheng glanced at the half-empty tea bowl in Li Wei's hand and laughed softly.

Li Wei lost his patience, his face darkened, and he said coldly: "Take it back!"

Zhang Cheng's smile suddenly froze, and he took back the "tea leaves" in embarrassment: "Yes, I will resign first."

Li Wei waved his hand impatiently.

Zhang Cheng bowed and exited the room. Li Wei's brows suddenly furrowed and he secretly said trouble.

The next day, Li Wei called Tian Qing over and asked Zhang Cheng again. To be cautious, he asked about the land in the east of the city and other places in general as a cover-up.

Tian Qing was obviously not as familiar with Yangzhou as Zhang Cheng, and he had to read the documents several times before he could tell him the exact answer.

After comparing the answers of the two people and seeing that there were no discrepancies, Li Wei immediately ordered people to talk to these people.

In fact, he can also directly use the name of the government to conscript it. Now, unlike in later generations, the government is not so easy to talk to. It will take your land if it says it will take your land, and you will have to give it to you even if you don't want it.

However, Li Wei still wanted to solve the problem in the gentlest way possible. After all, it was not easy for the people.

After some inquiring, he finally found out the price of these lands. They were only two or three dollars per acre, which was much cheaper than he expected.

Think about it, it is the early Ming Dynasty. Years of wars have caused land to be abandoned. It is an era when there are fewer people and more land, so land is naturally cheap.

It's quite interesting to talk about this. It has been more than 1,500 years since the Qin Emperor unified the country. However, the population of China has been hovering around tens of millions, and it has not changed after more than a thousand years of reincarnation.

At this time, there are more people and less land, and land is cheap, but after the Ming Dynasty develops steadily for a hundred years or so, it will definitely increase many times. If we start hoarding land from now on, we will definitely develop into a powerful family in a hundred years.

Of course, Li Wei himself didn't have this idea. After all, the cycle was too long, and he didn't lack the money.

At the Jiangdu County Government Office, Zhang Cheng was sitting in the main seat, while Jiangdu County Magistrate Wuxing was standing, respectfully reporting to him the movements of the officials sent out by Li Wei.

Jiangdu County is a county directly under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture. The capital of Yangzhou Prefecture is built in Jiangdu County, and the county and government offices are all in the city.

"The price they gave was very high, three guans per mu of land. Many ordinary people signed the deed immediately after hearing the price. The Gu family also agreed, and the Yue family were also very excited!"

The news that Wu Xing was about to get came slowly. Zhang Cheng squinted his eyes slightly. After listening carefully, he couldn't help but smile: "Oh, this prince-in-law, yesterday he told me to take a look before talking about it, but the next day he couldn't wait to send someone." People have gone to reclaim the land because they are afraid that I will deliberately leak the news."

"Then let's keep it a secret for him?" Wu Xing asked tentatively.

"Of course not! Go and tell the Yue family and the Gu family right now that they are not allowed to sell their land. Not only will they refuse to sell it, but they will also rush to buy other people's fields. Then they will sell it to our prince-in-law for several times the price. Can’t you just make a fortune for nothing!”

Zhang Cheng said without hesitation.

After hearing this, Wu Xing couldn't help but feel a little uneasy, and cautiously advised: "Sir, I have heard that this prince-in-law is not easy to deal with. Since entering the court, several ministers have been dismissed from office and imprisoned, and even lost their lives. His majesty has won the trust of the emperor." Heavy, otherwise we would still..."

"Humph, what are you afraid of? The Ming Dynasty law does not stipulate that we are not allowed to buy land, and if people from the Yue family and the Gu family come forward, he will not know that we are behind it!"

Zhang Cheng interrupted him unhappily. After speaking, he turned to a Confucian scholar sitting beside him and asked, "What do you think, Mr. Jingju?"

The Confucian scholar was dressed in a green shirt and had passed his destiny. Hearing Zhang Cheng's words, he smiled elegantly and said softly: "What Mr. Zhang said is absolutely true. Everything we do is lawless, so there is no need to worry."

After hearing this, Zhang Cheng couldn't help but smile. This Confucian scholar was not a simple person. He was a great talent, the only remaining one of the Four Great Masters in Wuzhong.

"You heard it, Mr. Jingju said there is no need to worry, so you can rest assured." Zhang Cheng said with a smile.

When Wu Xing heard this, the worry on his face did not disappear. He had been an official for so many years, and he knew that it didn't matter what the law was or was not. What was important was the position of power. If you messed with powerful people, no matter how law-abiding they were, they would still treat you the same way. .

Seeing him like this, Zhang Cheng also put away his smile and said angrily: "Don't worry, when this matter is completed, your share will be indispensable."

"Thank you, sir!"

Wu Xing sighed inwardly and thanked him respectfully.

Zhang Cheng nodded slightly.

Thinking of Li Wei's expression when he refused to give him "tea leaves" yesterday, his eyes couldn't help but become gloomy.

He has been operating in Yangzhou for many years. Not only are his people in the government office, but there are also military attachés in the guard station who have a close relationship with him. As the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot suppress local snakes. He can easily take over the prefect Tian Qing, so he will not be afraid of newcomers. Li Wei.

Of course he wouldn't dare to confront him head-on, but as long as he used some secret tricks, he could easily fool the prince-in-law into a fool. (End of chapter)