People live in the Ming Dynasty, evil spirits are soaring into the sky

Chapter 414 If you want to be rich, build roads first!

For many people, this step is already very successful.

After all, not many people could believe that one day there would be so many people willing to deposit so much silver and gold into a so-called bank, especially when this bank was dominated by the imperial court.

How many people suffered greatly from the previous currency craze caused by the imperial court? Although more than a hundred years have passed, those days still seem to be vivid in our minds. With so many tragic examples before our eyes, people have actually lost interest in paper money.

But the silver notes issued by the court today can actually attract such attention and even achieve such results within a month, which is very rare.

But for Princess Ning'an, this is just the beginning. Yes, this is just the beginning.

Chen Han's goal is obviously to allow all people to use silver notes, and they have to be ordinary people. This means that if the silver notes only make it convenient for businessmen, it is not a success. The most successful thing is that ordinary people can use them. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to continuously develop business and make business more and more developed.

Although the Ming Dynasty was still far ahead in this era, in order to allow more people to enjoy the material benefits, a very important point was to develop infrastructure.

The fact that the Ming Dynasty is now so far ahead means that it is impossible to expand foreign demand by developing business now.

The countries outside are now either in a state of hanging on the trees or in an era where gods control everything. They have nothing to export to the Ming Dynasty.

Fortunately, gold and silver can be accepted by everyone at any time and in any place.

In fact, Chen Han was very curious why people in different worlds at that time all attached great importance to gold and silver.

If this phenomenon occurs among people living in the same cultural circle, it will not be surprising. After all, having the same cultural roots will easily lead to the same beliefs and even the same world views. It is completely understandable that they attach the same importance to gold and silver.

But it is clear that transportation and information were not convenient in ancient times. Then why do people all over the world seem to unanimously regard gold and silver as very important communication products?

The reason why gold and silver are valuable is their scarcity, but no ancient document records such statistics.

In modern society, there may be proven mineral reserves, and there are specific data to support people's belief that the reserves of gold are very scarce, so rare things are valuable.

But there was no such technology in ancient times. So how did ancient people think that gold and silver must be extremely precious?
Aren’t they afraid that they have bet on the wrong thing and one day find out that the gold and silver are actually in another place, so abundant that they cannot be counted?
This is what is very strange about Chen Han.

But the specific problems of the Ming Dynasty are very simple. In fact, the outside world was very scarce in material things, and transportation was inconvenient. The Ming Dynasty wanted to develop commerce, but apart from playing with itself at home, there were not many things in the outside world that could impress the Chinese people.

It only shows that the Central Plains dynasty during this period was far ahead in terms of cultural level, scientific and technological level, educational level, and production level, so that external things could not attract our attention, which led to the fact that external products could not become commodities.

The solution to this problem is very simple: develop domestic demand.

When talking about the ancient Central Plains dynasty, everyone knows that the Jiangnan region is very rich. This cannot be said of ancient times, and is also true today.

But from ancient times to the present, there has been a very embarrassing problem, that is, unbalanced development.

Places in the west, northwest and northeast are not as good as Jiangnan.

This is due to climate reasons, and another reason is the level of development.

From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Northern Song Dynasty, the north was more developed, while the south was still in the early stages of commodity economy, providing raw materials such as rice, timber, raw silk, etc.

However, precisely because the North has been concentratedly developed for thousands of years, it is easy for all the jars and pots to be destroyed if a war breaks out in the North.

At this time, many wealthy families discovered that there was still a lot of room for development in the south, so they fled from the north to the south with their families.

When people arrived in the South, they brought with them a large amount of wealth, population, technology and cultural knowledge.

Under such circumstances, a large number of outstanding people moved to the south. The climatic conditions in the south were much better than those in the north, so it was easy to develop.

At the same time, the South was the first to come into contact with the outside world.

Many places are close to the sea.

Their minds also open up earlier.

Because of this, these people also have more brains and resources when it comes to business.

During the years of peace, this situation has become increasingly conducive to economic development.

But the situation in the north, northwest and even Liaodong was much worse.

The climate is already bad, and resources, apart from the minerals that cannot be used now, are greatly depleted in this era where the economy is mainly agricultural.

When Chen Han arrived, he wanted to break this tradition.

First of all, the biggest problem now is that the Little Ice Age is about to come. In a few decades, the Ming Dynasty will be on the decline, and then the iron hoofs of the north will crush it.

In addition, the climate in the north is getting worse and worse. What needs to be done now is not just as simple as developing the economy, but also to plunder more resources from other places to resist the coming little ice age.

The second is that since external countries cannot provide too many markets to the Ming Dynasty, it can only develop the domestic market.

Developing large-scale infrastructure is the fastest way to drive development.

It can not only create more employment opportunities, but also improve local traffic conditions, transport local goods out through transportation, and boost the local economy.

Once the traffic gets better, everything will be fine.

When he was young, Chen Han didn’t quite understand the saying “If you want to get rich, you must first build roads.” He always thought that this was just some officials trying to make money.
Maybe I was too young at that time and didn’t understand how true this sentence was.

When he was born, most areas had already been paved with cement. Even if that was no longer the case, there was already a relatively good road surface. Although you might get covered in mud on a sunny day and dirt on a rainy day, at least large trucks could pass through.

But it was not until the Ming Dynasty that she truly realized how true this sentence was, because in many places in the Ming Dynasty, there were no cement roads or dirt roads at all, and the accent changed every ten miles.

It’s not that the people don’t want to communicate or want to be isolated, but because there are no roads at all. No one knows what kind of people live in the village opposite. Some elderly people have lived in the village all their lives and have never left.

This is the status quo.

After Chen Han arrived, he realized that even if he was poor all his life, he could probably lay a good foundation for the current Ming Dynasty, which would be considered good.

The most important thing is to build a good framework for future generations to follow. He has no guarantee that he can make the Ming Dynasty a certain way, but the part he has completed now is already pretty good.

So after listening to Li Hai's report, Princess Ning'an thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you ask the businesses in the city if they are interested in setting up a business to build roads?"

Li Hai was a little surprised when he heard this. "Princess, what do you mean by this? Can we set up a business to build roads?"

Li Hai didn't quite understand what this meant. In his mind, building roads was something the imperial court did, and it didn't require much money to initiate corvée labor.

The laborers had to provide their own food and materials.

So now that Princess Ning'an has proposed to pay for road construction, it sounds quite fresh.

When Princess Ning'an first heard Chen Han say this, she found it very new, because she also felt that there would not be so many troubles. As long as an order was issued, the local government would organize its own labor service to build the road.

I just want to cry for the local people.

At first, she also thought this method of road construction was very convenient.

But after listening to what Chen Han said, she felt that what Chen Han said made sense.

Especially now that she has heard that many businesses are finding it very difficult to transport goods, she has come to realize that Zhejiang has a large water area but a relatively small land area, and most of it is mountainous, so transporting goods is actually not very convenient.

Although it is close to the sea and can be transported by sea, there are not many seaports along the way for large ships to dock. That’s not all. The most important thing is that there is not so much concentrated cargo to transport, and the most common thing is to transport grain to major cities in the north.

But such bulk cargo transportation only happens a few times a year, so apart from the imperial court, there are no private merchants to engage in sea transportation. You can't do it either, because there are many islands and Japanese pirates on the sea.

Therefore, in order to facilitate the transportation of small quantities of goods, it should still be developed, and land transportation must be developed.

As for what method to use to build the road, Princess Ning'an heard Chen Han talk about this issue when she was leaning on his chest.

At that time, Chen Han said, "You are still thinking of using the people to repair the city and conscripting corvée labor, so that the government can save money and trouble."

Princess Ning'an nodded after hearing this: "Of course, this is a method that has been used since ancient times."

Chen Han replied: "But have you ever thought that building roads in this way without unified planning is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also lacks unified standards.

Some counties along the way were rich, while others were poor; the corvée they imposed on them was either more or less.

The length of roads to be built varies. Places with large populations may not necessarily have to build very long sections of road, while places with small populations may have to build longer sections of road. This is the situation we have to face in reality.

In this case, it is inevitable that there will be rough lines and some will be bad at road construction.

In fact, because the workers themselves are not professional, and the people do not come to build the roads voluntarily, and the labor service is limited, every citizen just wants to get by. Who wants to build the roads properly? How can the road surface built in this way be good?
The road surface is trampled by people, cars, cows and horses over the years, and who is responsible for its maintenance is another issue. Most of the time, after a long time, the road is completely unusable.”

After Chen Han made these remarks, even the knowledgeable Princess Ning An thought that they made a lot of sense, and even felt that this method was wrong.

So she asked: "Maybe many people have also seen the bad side of it, but it's too late to change it."

Chen Han nodded: "It's not that I can't change it, but it's inertia?"

Princess Ning An asked: "What is inertia?"

Chen Han explained simply: "It's like if you push someone down a hill, the person will run forward involuntarily and can't stop at all."

Princess Ning An understood this explanation. This so-called inertia probably means that people cannot control and do things in the direction of this force.

"People think the same way. Once you get used to doing something, you will always do it that way because you know that your predecessor did it that way and if you do it the same way, there will always be no big mistakes. This also avoids a lot of unnecessary trouble and responsibility, especially for officials."

Princess Ning'an agreed with this.

Officials in every dynasty have a bad habit: they would avoid taking responsibility if they can. As long as the official hat is still there, they don't care about anything else.

Chen Han said: "So I thought if I could set up a company."

"What is a company?" Princess Ning An asked again.

"It's a trading company!" Chen Han explained.

Oh!
Chen Han continued, "If we can set up a new business that specializes in this industry, invests in road construction, and maintains it uniformly, wouldn't that make unified standards a reality?"

"This is the road surface. What's the point of repairing it? If business people can't make money, who would be willing to do such a thankless job?" Princess Ning An said.

"So this kind of thing can only be done by the court. The court will provide money and manpower!" said Chen Han.

Princess Ning'an was even more confused. "The imperial court is a big business. If there is no money to be made, the officials in the court will not agree. This is the tax paid by the people. If the road can be built without spending money, the officials will definitely be the first to stand up and oppose it. They must have a big reason, which roughly means that the people's taxes are used to do something useless."

Princess Ning'an is not only a princess, but also a very ambitious woman. She was surrounded by many officials who relied on her for a living, so she knew very well what those officials were thinking.

Those officials who only care about the people under their rule should do nothing, and it would be best if nothing happened.

In this way they can report to their superiors. As for how the common people live, they will not worry too much. In their hearts, official career is the first priority, and as long as the common people do not cause trouble, that's enough.

The more you worry, the more mistakes you will make, and you might even lose your official position, so it is better to worry less.

Chen Han said: "Of course the court cannot fully advance the funds, it can also cooperate with local businesses."

Princess Ning An asked, "But who would do something that has no benefits? We can't ask people to pay tolls along the way, right?"

Chen Han shook his head: "This method is a stupid one. It is very easy to get the merchants involved and give them some benefits. For example, we can give certain discounts to those who are willing to participate in repairing the road and participating in maintenance. We can also give priority to the business rights of shops along the way, etc. There are still many ways.

In fact, the imperial court could have made good use of the taxation issue to mobilize the enthusiasm of the businesses.”

Recalling the conversation at that time, Princess Ning An wanted to give it a try now...

(End of this chapter)