Chinese dining table

Chapter 1262 Protecting Pioneering Talents

Until July, artillery was still used to blast mountains and split rocks, and was not used to blow up people.

During this period of time, those people finally figured out the true power of artillery. Without kerosene as the explosion point, the power of artillery seemed mediocre.

This is what Taiping and Yong Wangxian think about artillery.

However, the fact that the two siblings were ignorant of artillery did not mean that the ministers in the Tang Dynasty court were useless. Even the Northern Gate scholars who came with Taiping saw the importance of artillery.

No one felt bad about the fact that the people in the workshop made such a sensational artillery at the beginning. This is how things are in the government. If you want to get things done, you must first get your superiors to pay attention to it.

Not everyone has eyes that are good at discovering things. Most officials still rely on their own experience and what they see with their own eyes to decide the success or failure of a matter. Even such officials are rare good officials. As for those officials who can find opportunities in ordinary things, they are generally either people with broad knowledge or people with a cosmic vision in their minds.

These two groups of people are a minority, and most officials are actually mediocre.

This is why the emperor had no mercy when he killed officials.

As for the famous cases recorded in history books about emperors killing ministers, we can only say that they are recorded in history books because their number is small. In fact, most of the officials killed by emperors were mediocre and corrupt people.

Generally speaking, when an emperor killed a famous minister, there were often many mediocre people who took the blame, but the historians were too lazy to write their names.

After the Steel City, the largest project, was completed, plans for the Textile City, Kerosene City, Coal City, and Horse and Carriage City were also put on the agenda by the Wu brothers.

These two brothers may not be pioneering talents, but there is no problem for them to follow behind the pioneering talents and play a driving role.

At least, when it comes to valuing pioneering talents, the Wu brothers attach great importance to them, even to the point of pampering them.

This led to many skilled craftsmen and talented professionals in Chang'an becoming very close with the Wu brothers. After all, they were royal relatives and the marquis could be on friendly terms with them, drink and chat together in medium-priced brothels, and even judge the figures and beauty of the courtesans together. This was definitely a show of respect for the talented.

Yun Chu spit out the tea leaves in his mouth, put down the teacup and said to Wu Chengsi in front of him: "Are you sure you want to set up a special market?"

Wu Chengsi said: "Every inch of land in Chang'an is worth a lot of money. It's a pity to use it as a workshop. Now it's not just these. In the future, there will be grain cities, wine cities, tea cities, cloth and silk cities, and other business formats. These cities will only conduct bulk transactions and no longer operate retail. Their business performance will appear on the running water signs, which will not only facilitate detailed management, but also prevent tax loss."

Yun Chu asked, "Then you can use the land vacated by the workshops to build residential buildings and shopping malls, and then sell them at a high price?"

Wu Chengsi said: "If possible, I would like to open up a special market to house all the government offices in Chang'an. Some common applications and approvals related to the people and merchants should be gathered in one government office to prevent the people and merchants from running around Chang'an, which will not only cost more money, but also delay the progress of things."

Hearing Wu Chengsi's suggestion of a one-stop office hall, Yun Chu stretched out his little finger to scratch his ear. This was not something he, Yun Chu, copied from later generations, but the idea of ​​the natives of the Tang Dynasty themselves.

Although supervision has not yet caught up, this is a big loophole, but it is already very remarkable.

"Land exchange will generate a lot of benefits, so the city you plan to build must be built to be worthy of the value of the land."

Wu Chengsi nodded and said, "Of course, the Textile City occupies half of the market town. Once all of them move out, they can take away no less than 50,000 lower-class people. After the residences are built, another 10,000 wealthy upper-class people can come in from other places.

The spending of a superior person in Chang'an is definitely equivalent to that of ten inferior people, which is definitely beneficial to Chang'an's economy.

Besides, Chang'an City is too crowded. If 200,000 people are removed, the city will be cleaner and there won't be traffic jams on Zhuque Street early in the morning."

Yun Chu sighed and said, "It's not a good idea to force people to leave."

Wu Chengsi said: "No, as long as the prince is willing to release the price of rice in Chang'an, when it becomes difficult to live in Chang'an, the people will naturally choose to go to Guocheng where there are jobs and the price of rice is not high.

In this way, we can rebuild Chang'an and fulfill your wish of covering Chang'an with gold foil as soon as possible."

Listening to Wu Chengsi's report, Yun Chu felt as if he was sitting in his own street office, listening to his subordinates report on the street renovation plan. There might be some differences between the two, but the difference is not that big.

Moreover, Wu Chengsi's way of reporting his work was similar to the way officials in later generations reported their work. He first talked about the benefits, then presented the facts, then talked about the importance, and finally painted a big pie for the leader and finished the job.

Of course, the benefits that allow the government to manipulate the situation cannot be stated explicitly, but only need to be expressed implicitly. The rest depends on the leader's inclination. If the leader reveals any inclination in his statement, I believe Wu Chengsi already has targeted plans in his mind at this time, and there is always one that meets the leader's requirements.

Simple, crude, and straight to the heart, this is what Wu Chengsi learned from Yun Chu in Chang'an.

There are 814,675 people living in Chang'an City. After today, about 950 babies will be born. The original market town has long been overcrowded by the new population.

And that’s not even counting the wealthy people from other places who are flocking in.

Of course, there were more poor people coming to Chang'an, as Chang'an needed a large number of servants. However, they were not counted as the population in Chang'an. It was said that in the remote markets near the city walls, even the former chicken coops were now occupied by people.

In a city that is as large as a pancake, it is impossible to construct hundreds of stories high buildings to house people. In this situation, Wu Chengsi's suggestion seems particularly advanced.

The Tang Dynasty today has no external enemies. Except for a few places where there are stubborn bandits, pirates on the water, and horse thieves, there is basically no major resistance force in the country.

Although there was a severe drought for ten months last year, it seemed very merciful. It started after the summer harvest of the previous year and ended in the spring of the following year.

In previous years, many people would have died in a year like this. However, the severe drought last year did not seem to cause any waves, except that the high-ranking officials were frightened by the glacier theory proposed by Yun Chu. They carried out a few insignificant drought relief measures, which stopped after the spring rains began. From then on, the glacier theory proposed by Yun Chu became a big joke.

There was no foreign invasion, no war, and floods and droughts were particularly mild. The number of newborns in the Tang Dynasty increased like bamboo shoots after the spring.

Yun Chu could fully understand this massive population growth. Come to think of it, even his Yun family did not have any special nighttime programs at night and had to go to bed early. The same was true for those servants and farmers who had no money. After a long and unbearable night, the only thing they had left was to do that little thing on the bed.

Yun Chu brought Wu Chengsi's suggestion to the remaining meeting. He originally thought that the royal family and the aristocratic families would agree to this disguised method of driving the poor out of Chang'an City.

As a result, they were unwilling to do so.

Many people would rather live in a market town with a bunch of poor people than live in a market town full of rich people.

Although Yun Chu knew very well that people's sense of superiority comes from comparison, for them, without poor people they cannot show their wealth. Those luxurious mansions, tall gates, gorgeous carriages, and beautiful wives and concubines will have nothing to show off, which will cause the rich people's sense of happiness to drop sharply.

In other words, the poor not only have to help them make money, but also have to provide them with high emotional value.

The meeting was finally passed with one person in favor and nine against.

The one who agreed was Yun Chu, the Tang Dynasty's Chang'an governor, and those who opposed were the nine Tang Dynasty's deputy governors.

When they came out of the garrison office, Lu Zhaolin, who was following Yun Chu with the documents in his arms, asked in confusion, "Your Excellency could have made the decision on your own, why did you bother to inform those people, causing them to disagree? This will damage your prestige."

Yun Chu stopped and said with a smile: "I informed them to show my humility, and opposed their opposition because of my unique considerations as the chief officer, and also to tell them that you can oppose, but I can ignore your opposition.

That's what power is like. You must use it when you need to. Even if it looks like taking off your pants to fart, you still have to take off your pants and fart once. It's good for them to smell it."

Lu Zhaolin hesitated and said, "The Wu brothers are becoming more and more domineering."

Yun Chu smiled and said, "Chang'an today lacks good officials who dare to fight and fight."

Lu Zhaolin's eyes lit up and he said quickly, "Although the steel drill used for drilling rocks is hard, it will eventually wear down if it comes into contact with the rock for a long time, and finally become useless."

Yun Chu smiled and said, "So, you must have a heart that allows others to shine."

Lu Zhaolin thought for a moment and said, "I think the Wu brothers need someone to supervise them when they are doing such a big thing."

Yun Chu said: "Are you going there to provide escort?"

Lu Zhaolin smiled and said, "Of course it is. After all, the Wu brothers are now eager to take over Chang'an. I can find them a few more hard rocks to break through. "

Yun Chu nodded and said, "You must not hinder the progress of the project, nor hinder the Queen's wisdom."

Lu Zhaolin nodded and said, "No, but we still need to start from scratch. If things go too smoothly, it will not be in line with the dignity of the queen."

Yun Chu sighed and said, "If jade is not carved, it cannot become a useful object."

After returning to the county government office, Yun Chu gave the document that had just been approved to Wu Chengsi.

Wu Chengsi looked at the nine obvious "no"s on the document and said, suppressing his anger, "Why do they disagree?"

Yun Chu pointed at the word "OK" he had written and said, "Didn't it pass?"

Wu Chengsi gritted his teeth and said, "They can oppose such a good plan that benefits everyone..."

Yun Chu stood up, patted Wu Chengsi on the shoulder and said, "They look down on you."

Wu Chengsi calmed down, his eyes were clear, and after a long while he forced a smile and said to Yun Chu: "Yes, these are all words of wisdom. I still seem a little impatient."

Yun Chu nodded and said, "Don't think about revenge, that's the stupidest thing to do."

Wu Chengsi laughed and said, "No revenge, no revenge..."

(End of this chapter)