"After the court session, I will send a report to the officials in charge of construction and order them to send over the documents required by the local government. I will definitely lead the officials of the Ministry of Revenue to examine them carefully."
After Wang Ke agreed, he added another sentence.
The other officials understood what Wang Bei meant. He wanted his subordinates to ask for money directly from the Ministry of Revenue. When it came to construction, the Ministry of Revenue could intervene. The environment was different, so the price of the materials for building bridges and paving roads was naturally different. It was difficult to determine how much a cart of stones was worth.
The most reasonable price for the Tang Dynasty was naturally the Zhengzheng Construction Group of the Zhang Family and the Wang Family. However, it was unable to monopolize all the businesses. At the same time, because it was too reasonable, some people did not intend to use it. If the price was reasonable, there would be no extra money to bribe.
Thinking that Wang Bei could gain many benefits from this, some of the officials started to get jealous. The main reason was that the money invested in the new group of Ministry of Works had been lost this year. The only gain was sitting in a very bumpy car during work and off work.
Zhang Zhong had taken out the accounts for them to look at. The records were very clear. The sales were good, especially for toothpaste and soap. Besides being in charge of sales, the group was also in charge of research and development.
The problem was research and development. The group did not research and develop the toothpaste and soap that they sold. Instead, they bought the products from another department of the Ministry of Works. The purchase price was very high. The reason was that the development of toothpaste and soap had cost a lot.
The new group did not research the products that they sold. Instead, they researched the application technology of diesel engines, such as tractors and generators. At night, all the roads in the capital had electric lights. This technology was first bought from the Ministry of Works and then redesigned to consume less diesel.
However, after generating electricity, they did not earn money. This was because the new group did not produce diesel engines and did not have diesel, let alone electric wires and lights. They had to buy them.
Thus, another problem arose. Who would pay for the lighting of the various roads in Chang 'an at night? They did not care about the people walking on the road, nor the shops along the road. They could only pay for it.
The finance took out money for the new group. The new group calculated the price of each kilowatt-hour of electricity and bought the electricity meters made by the Ministry of Works. They installed them for the rich families free of charge. Otherwise, they would not use them.
It all seemed quite reasonable. After the calculation of the electricity price was done, there was a problem when it was used. The generator had to continuously generate electricity, but the electricity it generated was not always used. This resulted in a situation where the supply exceeded the demand, and the generator lost money.
In a situation where investment and output were not proportional, the money spent on selling toothpaste, soap, and rubber-soled shoes was made up to maintain a balance. This was the result of the Ministry of Works kindly leasing the power grid. When the new group laid the power grid, they did not have enough money to buy the wires from the Ministry of Works, so they could only borrow money from the Tang Bank.
Now, the new group's power generation plant and power grid were leased to the Ministry of Works. The money received and the profits from selling other products could be used to repay the loan from the bank.
The only consolation was that they had a car to take to and from work. The officials who did not understand the details still followed the trend and invested money. Even those who had invested money before had no choice but to continue to invest money. Investing money could still maintain the operation of the group and wait for the day when they earned money to receive dividends. If they did not invest, they would go bankrupt. It was equivalent to drinking poison to quench thirst.
Everyone was not rich, so they were naturally jealous of Wang Bei's intervention in the construction of the local fortifications. They all started to plan how to get benefits from this.
Li Longji, who was sitting at the top, also knew about the little schemes of the officials below, but he could not do anything about it. He looked at Zhang Zhong and wanted to see if Zhang Zhong would object.
The others who were with Wang Bei were worried that Zhang Zhong would seize power, so they watched Zhang Zhong with Li Longji.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Zhong actually nodded and agreed. "That's fine. Minister Wang will lead the colleagues in the Ministry of Revenue to work hard."
A small portion of people were relieved, but the majority were puzzled. Was Zhang Zhong stupid? Didn't his son, Zhang Xiaobao, tell him about the inner workings?
"You really agreed?" Wang Bei couldn't believe that things would go so smoothly, so he asked in surprise.
"Of course. Oh, speaking of repairing bridges and roads, I just thought of something. My Ministry of Works has recently come up with a new model. According to the different environments, there are different inspection methods and construction materials used. If it's hot, we'll use cement, and if it's cold, we'll use asphalt. Each region can purchase the materials from the Ministry of Works, and we'll examine them according to the actual conditions of the ground."
Zhang Zhong said seriously.
"Ah?" Wang Bei exclaimed in surprise. If they followed Zhang Zhong's words, they would not be able to cut corners once they were examined. With the Ministry of Works keeping an eye on them, who would dare to do such a thing? "Can't we not use cement and asphalt?"
"Sure, but the ratio of service life to price has to be similar to that of cement and asphalt. Let me tell Your Majesty a piece of good news. This year, my Ministry of Works has produced more than three thousand diesel engines, and under the guidance of Regional Governor Zhang and Deputy Regional Governor Wang, we've turned them into small road rollers."
Zhang Zhong still had a serious expression on his face.
Wang Bei faintly felt that something was wrong. He swallowed and said, "The road rollers are used to flatten the road?"
"Minister Wang is indeed amazing. You guessed correctly." Zhang Zhong raised his thumb and gestured at Wang Bei. "This road roller is easy to use. It uses iron rollers as the wheels. Due to the problem with the diesel engine's power, it can't be made too big. However, it's definitely not a problem to flatten a normal road.
For example, if there are layers of stones and sand, it's too strenuous to push the rollers with human and animal strength. Once the road roller goes up, the road … will be flat. For example, one section of the road is not made of good stones, and the other section is made of good stones. After the road roller goes over, you can see that the road is uneven. It's very interesting. "
"Interesting. This is a good thing." Li Longji praised.
Wang Bei was dumbfounded. If they were to do it according to Zhang Zhong's words, how could they cut corners? Normally, when they were building roads, they could just put some crop stalks under the sand. It was impossible to flatten it with human strength, but once the road roller went up, a large part of the road would be dented.
"Minister Zhang, is the cost of using the road roller very high? I'm afraid that the place can't afford to use it. "Wang Bei wanted to stop it.
"It's free. There's too much oil produced this year. There's almost no place to put diesel, gasoline, asphalt, and so on. Because it's not easy to store liquefied gas, it's used to generate electricity when it's produced. It's just nice that it's connected to the power grid." Zhang Zhong said to Li Longji with a smile.
Wang Bei's eyes widened. He angrily asked, "Since there's no place to put diesel, why is it so expensive to sell it to our new group?"
"Because the production cost is high." Zhang Zhong stopped smiling and answered honestly.
"Since the production cost is high, why are you giving the road roller to others for free?" Wang Bei asked again.
"Because it can't be put down." Zhang Zhong explained.
Wang Bei blinked. "If it can't be put down, why not let the new group use it for free?"
"That's a commercial action. A commercial action considers cost and profit. It's the Ministry of Works' function to provide for infrastructure construction. It considers the people's livelihood. If there's a fee, it should be paid by the government. Then, it should be supplemented by the tax revenue generated by the increase in trade. The problem is, is your Ministry of Revenue giving my Ministry of Works money?
Actually, I'm sacrificing a department's income to promote long-term tax revenue for your Ministry of Revenue. This is the contribution of the entire Ministry of Works' officials, technicians, and production staff. "
When Zhang Zhong spoke, he raised his head forty-five degrees to look at the sky. His expression was so heroic, so great, and so touching.
"Uh! Then, then let me ask. You all have been contributing. Where did your money come from? "Wang Bei did not think that Zhang Zhong's Ministry of Works staff were wronged at all. Burning newspapers at the grave … that was a lie.
Zhang Zhong raised his sleeve and wiped his eyes. He lowered his head and said softly, "We're working with other commercial groups. Not everyone can use electric lights. Candles and kerosene lamps are much simpler. As for paraffin, you can't do without it. As long as oil is processed, it will appear. It's very annoying, so we just make it and sell it."
"In other words, your Ministry of Works and the commercial group you're working with have been making money. Why is it that the group we invested in has no money to make and is always on the verge of losing money? We have no choice but to continue investing in order to not let it go bankrupt.
You just said that your liquefied gas power generation is connected to the power grid. Is that the power grid of our group? Did you give us dividends for the money you sold? If I remember correctly, the new group is the first industry that your son participated in that lost money, right? Your Majesty, your investment has also gone down the drain. "
Wang Bei finally caught Zhang Zhong's weakness. As the Emperor had taken out the most money, he had to mention it.
Li Longji waved his hand indifferently. "I don't care."
Wang Bei was speechless. He could only stare at Zhang Zhong.
Zhang Zhong sighed and said, "Yes, it means that my son Xiao Bao is not completely invincible. There are times when he fails. The group's losses are accounted for. I didn't embezzle. The power grid is rented by the Ministry of Works. The liquefied gas power generation is not collected from the grid.
Moreover, it is connected to the grid, but it doesn't directly generate profits from electricity. Instead, the Ministry of Works continues to invest in the capital to improve the power grid. Perhaps this year's Spring Festival will see results. "
"I can prove that Minister Zhang is right." Li Bai, the director of the Ministry of Revenue, stepped forward and agreed. He had just been promoted a month ago. He was fifth rank and could stand in court. Even though he was busy with work, he still persisted in publishing a book of poetry and made a lot of money.
"You go to the side." Wang Bei glared at the Immortal Poet and asked Zhang Zhong, "Since it can't make money, why did the Ministry of Works connect the liquefied gas power generation to the grid? Where did the electricity go?"
"We have so much liquefied gas that we can't use it all up. Of course we have to use it to generate electricity. We also sell some of it to people who don't like to burn firewood, coal, and methane. We can't sell the electricity, so we use it to pump water. We built a big reservoir on the mountain in the eastern suburbs of the capital. There used to be only a few streams there, but now it has become a lake."
Zhang Zhong pointed to the east and explained to Wang Bei. He then turned to Li Longji and said, "Your Majesty, with that artificial lake, we can generate some electricity when there is no electricity. When there is a shortage of water, we can use the water to irrigate. It is winter now and there is ice on the surface. Many people go there to skate. Plus, we have fish, so the income is not bad."
"Good, very good. We don't waste resources," Li Longji praised.
Wang Bei couldn't take it anymore. He raised his voice and asked, "Minister Zhang, you are using the power grid to make money. Why do you say that there is no profit? Where are the dividends of the group? "
"When we make money, we also spend money. We break even," Zhang Zhong replied confidently.
"How do you spend the money?" Wang Bei asked again.
"You need land to build the lake, but you don't need to spend money on the land?" Zhang Zhong asked back.
"Who owns that land?" Wang Bei asked again.
"The Ministry of Works." Zhang Zhong's voice wasn't soft either.
"Your Ministry of Works rented the power grid of the group to generate electricity and built the lake on the mountain of the Ministry of Works. How can you lose the money you earned?" Wang Bei looked around and waited for the officials who had also invested money to agree.
"The Ministry of Works paid rent to rent the power grid. The Ministry of Works rented the mountain of the Ministry of Works independently. Didn't the Ministry of Works pay for the technology of the new group? Since they paid, why didn't the Ministry of Works rent the other Ministry of Works? I break even. I have accounts. "
Zhang Zhong didn't wait for the others to speak before he replied.
"But what about the subsequent profits?"
"That is the business of the other Ministry of Works. What does it have to do with your new group?"
"I … you … he …"
"Master Wang, forget it. We can't win against them. Their son is Zhang Xiaobao, an existence that is above the list of billionaires. Just like what you said just now, other than the losses of the new group, have you ever seen him lose money?" Someone beside him pulled Wang Bei and persuaded him softly.
Wang Bei's eyes were red. He pursed his lips and said with grievance, "Didn't Zhang Xiaobao say that he wouldn't play tricks on the people of Tang Dynasty? There are so many people overseas. Why do you have to bully us?"
"He said that he wouldn't play tricks on the people. How did we stop the Ministry of Works? We forced Zhang Zhong to not be able to eat well and sleep well. Xiao Bei and the group of children retaliated at that time. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan didn't move. They were waiting for this moment. Sigh ~! Who said that the two of them had become kind? "
The person who persuaded him also had a sad expression.
Li Longji, who was sitting there, also felt that Wang Bei and the others were quite pitiful. He sighed and said to Zhang Zhong, "Are there a lot of fish in the lake? It's the New Year. You should eat and play, right? "
Zhang Zhong understood and quickly said, "That's right. Other than the fish, there are also freshwater crabs. They are all made into drunken crabs. Minister Wang, I will send 500 pounds of crabs to your family first. I will also give you 1,000 ice skating coupons. It's free and you can play as much as you want. Next year, we will continue to work hard and make the group as profitable as possible. What do you think?"
"Didn't the Ministry of Works say that there are electric heaters? It's colder this year. "Wang Bei knew that it was useless to force them, so he could only settle for the next best thing.
"Yes, each family will be given ten of them first. The electricity will be waived. Consider it a bonus." Zhang Zhong agreed.
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