"Your Majesty, you mustn't. Since ancient times, building bridges and paving roads has benefited the people. I've never heard of a bridge fee. If you do that, wouldn't the court be no different from robbers occupying a mountain and robbing people? It would damage Your Majesty's and the court's reputation." Yu Zhining suddenly jumped out and firmly opposed.
Tang Jian couldn't help but frown and look at Yu Zhining in surprise. Didn't he hear the cost of the Wei River Bridge? It was a full two hundred thousand strings of cash, yet Yu Zhining was giving it away so easily. It was really easy for him to say that.
"Lord Yu, that's two hundred thousand strings of cash. It's enough to cover the taxes of several counties." Tang Jian reminded.
Yu Zhining coldly snorted, "So what? My Tang dynasty's prosperity is just around the corner. The Ten Dao's annual taxes are so high that we can easily afford two hundred thousand strings of cash. Spending two hundred thousand strings of cash to let Your Majesty win the hearts of the people is already worth it."
For a moment, everyone choked. Everyone knew that Yu Zhining was flattering the Emperor, but he was standing on the side of righteousness. In addition, Li Shimin cared a lot about the reputation of a wise ruler. In addition, Li Shimin had just experienced an assassination, so he probably cared more about the hearts of the people.
"Since spending money can win the hearts of the people, why don't Lord Yu suggest that Your Majesty waive the taxes of the people? Wouldn't that win the hearts of the people even more?" Meton countered.
Yu Zhining's face immediately turned red. If the taxes of the people were waived, then the court wouldn't even be able to pay him a salary.
"Mo Jiu is too arrogant. In my opinion, Merton's insistence on paying the bridge fee is because he's going down the wrong path and has his eyes on money." Yu Zhining angrily rebuked.
Meton coldly snorted, "Lord Yu is even more heartless. The court spent two hundred thousand strings of cash to build the bridge, and you're giving it away so easily. It's fine if you give it away, but where will the money for the bridge come from? Even with the court's funding, the construction speed will be greatly reduced. In this way, the people will be separated by rivers and traffic will be blocked. In the end, the people will be the ones to suffer."
"So, Mo Jiu's taking the bridge fee is for the good of the people?" Yu Zhining mocked.
Modun nodded without hesitation, "That's right!"
"This is ridiculous!" Yu Zining pointed at Meton's nose, his voice trembling. Even the other ministers couldn't help but frown, believing that Meton was trying to twist the truth.
"Spending 200,000 strings of coins on the Wei River Bridge is indeed not a lot. It's only the tax of the Mo Family Village for five years. The imperial court can definitely afford it. However, you don't know how many Wei River Bridges the Tang dynasty needs to build." Meton retorted.
"Ah!" Yu Zhining suddenly looked at Meton with a blank face.
Meton stretched out his hand and passed a book to Yu Zhining, saying, "This is a new book written by His Highness Emperor Wei, Kuo Di Zhi. Official Yu can study it. The span of the Wei River Bridge is only six thousand feet. In the Tang dynasty, there were at least three to five hundred rivers of the same width that needed to be built."
"Three to five hundred!" Everyone was in an uproar. The cost of a Wei River Bridge was already 200,000 strings of coins. If there were another three to five hundred, wouldn't it be as high as ten million strings of coins? This wasn't a small sum. Everyone was swayed.
"Ten million strings of coins isn't something that needs to be taken out immediately. The imperial court can still afford it." Yu Zhining gritted his teeth.
Meton sighed. "These three to five hundred Wei River Bridges are easy to build, but what about rivers wider than the Wei River? Every time a river is twice as wide, the cost and difficulty of construction will increase by several times. In the Minister's opinion, at least ten Yellow River Bridges will need to be built, and eight Yangtze River Bridges will need to be built. The cost will be astronomical. When the time comes, won't the imperial court collect the bridge fee? "
All the ministers gasped. They didn't need to calculate to know how expensive it would be to build a bridge over the Yellow River. However, they also knew that if a bridge could be built over the Yellow River, the imperial court would build it without hesitation, no matter how expensive it was.
Suddenly, Yu Zhining's "Kuo Di Zhi" became extremely hot, but he still didn't give in.
Meton sighed. "Even if the imperial court can still afford it, no one in the world is willing to make a losing deal. The Tang dynasty needs money in countless places. When the time comes, it's inevitable that the money won't be enough. The bridge that should be built in a short time will be delayed for a long time. The traffic in the world won't be smooth, and only the Tang dynasty will suffer. Therefore, collecting the bridge fee is the only choice. Even if His Majesty decides not to collect the bridge fee, there will be a day when the Tang dynasty will collect the bridge fee to recoup the loss. However, by that time, it will have been delayed for too long, and only the Tang dynasty and the people of the Tang dynasty will suffer. "
"I've long heard that Merton is the God of Wealth of the Tang dynasty. Today, I see that you really live up to your reputation. It seems that I'll have to consult Merton more in the future." Tang Jian cupped his hands to Meton. At first, he also thought that Meton was talking nonsense. However, when he heard that Meton raised the number of bridges that the imperial court needed to build, he immediately supported Meton. If the Ministry of Civil Affairs had to pay for these bridges, it would be easier to just kill him.
Meton returned the salute. "Lord Tang, you're too polite. I'm doing this to reduce the burden of the imperial court, and also to let the people of the world not suffer from the obstruction of the river."
"I support Mo Jiu. Collecting the bridge fee is not for my own personal gain, but for the sake of building more bridges as soon as possible. I believe the people will understand." The Minister of Works, Zhang Liang, also jumped out to support Meton. Without money, the speed of building the bridge would be greatly reduced, which would also affect the interests of the Ministry of Works.
Li Yun couldn't help but feel moved. All the civil officials wantonly advocated for the Wei River Bridge to be free of charge, but Meton strongly advocated for the Wei River Bridge to be charged. Back then, it was not far away from the imperial court that provided 200,000 strings of coins to build the Wei River Bridge. Meton had no choice but to propose using the taxes of the Mo family village to build the bridge, which allowed the Wei River Bridge to be built smoothly.
Now that the Minister of Works and the Minister of Civil Affairs were here, the Ministry of Works agreed to support the charge in order to build more bridges, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs agreed to support the charge in order to use the bridge to maintain the bridge. Meton's move could be said to have convinced two out of the three provinces and six ministries.
In this way, the problem of the cost of building the bridge was solved, and the resistance of the Xiangfu family to build the bridge in the future would be much smaller.
"Red flowers, white lotus roots, and green lotus leaves, so the three families are one family." Li Yun was instantly enlightened. Modun's unhesitation in supporting the idea of collecting bridge tolls was, of course, using bridges to support bridges. At the same time, it would indirectly allow the Xiangfu Clan to have more bridges to build. The benefits to the Xiangfu Clan were self-evident.
"But we're the imperial court! How can we compete with the people and use the Wei River Bridge to earn money!" Yu Zhining muttered to himself, still unable to accept the bridge fee. Not only that, even Li Shimin's face was probably conflicted. On one hand, it was his reputation, and on the other hand, it was real profits. This made him feel very troubled.
Meton naturally understood Li Shimin's thoughts, and immediately said, "Your Majesty, the purpose of the world's taxes is to be taken from the people, and used for the people. Similarly, it can also be understood the other way around, that is to be used for the people, and used for the people. This two hundred thousand strings of strings of coins will be paid by the imperial court in advance, and then collected from the bridge fee over twenty years. Once the capital is collected, Your Majesty can order the Wei River Bridge to stop collecting the bridge fee. In this way, not only will the imperial court not recover the capital, but the people will also not think that the imperial court is competing with the people. When the time comes, Your Majesty can order the bridge fee to be waived, and also win the hearts of the people."
The eyes of the officials immediately lit up. In this way, the imperial court could recover the capital used to build the bridge, and also not lose the hearts of the people. Wasn't this the best of both worlds?
"The people of the world are in dire straits. Ten copper coins is not worth mentioning to the Mo Family Village, who is the richest in the world. I'm afraid there are still many people who can't afford the ten copper coins to cross the bridge." Yu Zhining's face was full of hardship, and he still didn't give up.
Meton countered, "Since that's the case, then the Wei River Bridge's bridge fee is only for horse carriages. Anyone who crosses the bridge on foot or on foot will be free of charge. The Minister feels that if a person can afford a horse, then paying the ten copper coins to cross the bridge wouldn't be a burden. Not to mention, the Wei River Bridge can save people from taking many unnecessary detours. Just the time and cost saved far surpasses the ten copper coins. "
Li Shimin's eyes lit up. People who owned horses naturally couldn't be called poor. It was easy to pay the bridge fee, and the poor could also enjoy the convenience of the Wei River Bridge for free. This was indeed a way to get the best of both worlds.
"Of course, there are also some things that need to be waived. For example, the imperial court's relay station, military carriages, yamen runners, the Fire Dragon Division, and even the hospital's ambulances can all be waived." Meton added. This move had won over many departments. In a short period of time, many officials had switched sides and supported the collection of the bridge fee.
"What if someone purposely uses manpower to replace horsepower to exploit the loophole in the bridge fee?" Minister of Civil Affairs Tang Jian frowned. If the bridge fee wasn't collected, the Emperor would waive the fee in twenty years out of respect. The Ministry of Revenue's hole still wouldn't be filled.
Meton said confidently, "Don't worry, Lord Tang. The Wei River Bridge has five li of gently rising road. Adding the five li on the other side, that's more than ten li. If they use manpower to exploit the loophole, then they don't need money to hire labor, not to mention the time wasted on walking ten li and the trouble of using horses on the other side. All in all, it's probably more worth it to spend ten copper coins to cross the bridge. I've said before that the construction of the Wei River Bridge is for the benefit of the world, not for bandits who block the road and collect money. Even if there is a way to cross the bridge for free, I think that more people are willing to spend ten copper coins to cross the bridge."
"Merton is wise. The Minister agrees with Mo Jiu's words!" Tang Jian said in sincere admiration. This was his first time interacting with Meton, and he was immediately won over by Meton's methods.
"This subject also agrees!" Zhang Liang chimed in.
"This subject also agrees!" the other officials chimed in.
This time, even Yu Zhining had no reason to object. After all, those who had money would fork out money, and those who didn't would put in effort to cross the bridge. This would allow the Imperial Court to break even and allow His Majesty to win the hearts of the people. This was the best plan.
Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "Since that's the case, we'll collect the bridge fee as Meton proposed. We'll engrave it on a stone and announce to the world that the bridge fee will only be collected for twenty years. After twenty years, the Wei River Bridge's fee will be waived."
"Your Majesty is wise! If Your Majesty wishes to win the hearts of the people, I believe that the bridge fee from Chang 'an to Luoyang can already be waived. I believe that we should break even now, "Meton reminded. He was not surprised by this result. After all, the Imperial Court's money did not grow on trees. He was not worried about the Imperial Court collecting the bridge fee, but that the Imperial Court, having tasted the sweetness of the bridge fee, was unwilling to give up on the two hundred thousand strings of string of cash after breaking even. After all, with the arrival of the golden age of the Tang dynasty, the Wei River Bridge would only become busier, and the bridge fee would only increase.
Tang Jian couldn't help but feel his heart ache. After all, the road from Chang 'an to Luoyang was one of the busiest in the world, and the toll collected every year was no small sum. Tang Jian was truly reluctant to give it up, but in the end, he tacitly accepted this fact.
Seeing that the matter of the bridge fee had been settled, Li Yun stepped forward and reminded, "Your Majesty, the auspicious hour has arrived. Should we cut the cloth?"
"Good! Such a great matter that benefits both the country and the people cannot be delayed. "Li Shimin was delighted to receive both fame and fortune from the Wei River Bridge.
As the scissors closed and the red silk fell, the Wei River Bridge that had been prepared for five years was officially opened to traffic.
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