The official road in the south of the city.
It had long been crowded by the citizens of Chang 'an City who came in droves.
Looking at the endless blue brick road in the south, they couldn't help but click their tongues.
"How much do you think Mo Jiazi spent this time?" Many people were jealous and guessed.
"I heard that this brick road was built all the way to the Mo Family Village, at least 50 miles. The price of the blue bricks is …" A scholar dressed as an accountant counted with his fingers and was shocked.
"At least 10,000 strings of cash!"
10,000 strings of cash! Everyone knew that building a brick road must be an astronomical figure, but they didn't expect it to be so much.
"Your Majesty, the Mo Family Village spent a total of 23,000 strings of cash to build the road!" Li Shimin and I went up the tower and looked at the blue brick road stretching into the distance. He couldn't help but ask about the cost. Meton answered respectfully.
All the officials in the imperial court were shocked. They all guessed that Mo Jiazi must have spent a lot this time, but when the real cost was reported, they were still shocked.
"More than 20,000 strings of cash, but only 50 miles of the official road was built!" Li Shimin raised his eyebrows and laughed angrily. "No wonder people in Chang 'an say that Mo Jiazi is a spendthrift."
All the officials in the imperial court looked at Meton with strange eyes. Mo Jiazi was getting more and more extravagant in terms of money recently. First, he squandered money at the Western Regions Conference.
Not long after, he treated bricks as treasures. The blue bricks of the official road were exchanged for gold, which was more than double the gold that Mo Jiazi squandered at the Western Regions Conference.
"Your Majesty, the Tang dynasty has always advocated frugality. Mo Jiazi squandered money and indulged in extravagance. This trend can't be allowed to continue. Your Majesty, please punish Mo Jiazi severely and ban this evil trend." Wei Zheng stood out and said tremblingly.
The Tang dynasty had always advocated thrift in governing the country. Li Shimin, who had just inherited the throne, used history as a mirror and warned the ministers, "In the past, Yu dug the mountains to control the floods, and the people did not have any slanderous critics. Qin Shihuang set up his palace, and the people resented him for being a traitor, and the patients did so for their own benefit. Men are beautiful and rare, and their desires depend on their desires. If they do not indulge in them, they will be in danger. Zhen wants to set up a palace hall to stop the Qin Dynasty. Your Highness, please accept my intentions. "
With the lessons learned from the demise of the Qin and Sui dynasties, the Tang dynasty regarded frugality as extremely important. Even Li Shimin set an example. Most of the officials in the imperial court also pursued frugality. At least on the surface, the officials in the imperial court did not even dare to wear luxurious silk.
Mo Jiazi, on the other hand, was like a mudslide in the clear stream of the imperial court. With a wave of his hand, he earned tens of thousands of strings of cash.
Not to mention the effect of Meton's brick road, Mo Jiazi's extravagant spending of money was simply contrary to the imperial court's practice. Wei Zheng could not help but feel angry.
"Your Majesty, please punish Mo Jiazi severely!" Many ministers instantly followed suit.
For a moment, the ministers were furious, as if Meton had committed an unpardonable crime.
"Hehe! Old Man, how come you don't see how Meton is extravagant and extravagant? Meton is spending money to serve the corvee and build roads, not for personal enjoyment. "Cheng Yaojin smiled and did not deny.
"Uh! … "
The ministers' anger suddenly stopped. Although Meton spent a lot of money, it was not for personal enjoyment. Using extravagance and extravagance was indeed a bit too much.
Fang Xuanling stroked his beard and said, "Although nephew Mo has repeatedly done things unexpected, most of them have a deeper meaning. I wonder if Marquis Merton can explain it to everyone."
Qin Qiong and the others also spoke up for Meton. Even the officials of the Guanlong family spoke up for him.
Meton immediately cupped his hands gratefully to everyone, then turned to Li Shimin and said, "Your Majesty, the Minister did build the brick road out of selfishness. Your Majesty, please punish me."
As soon as Meton said this, the ministers were in an uproar. No one expected that Meton would take the initiative to admit his guilt. Fang Xuanling and Cheng Yaojin could not help but feel angry. The two of them had just spoken good words for Meton, but they did not expect that Meton would turn around and destroy his own platform.
Li Shimin was so angry that he laughed and said, "What selfishness do you have? Tell me quickly, so that I can punish you!"
"The Minister has made a military order in the Chang 'an county government. In the future, every year, Mo Jiazi will be responsible for the official road in the south of the city. The Minister is whimsical and wants to solve the problem once and for all. He wants to solve the problem of ten years of corvee in the Mo family's village. So, he hastily paved the brick road. "
Li Shimin's expression changed and said, "Ten years of corvee?"
Meton nodded and said, "The green bricks are extremely wear-resistant and not easily damaged. At least in ten years, there will be no major repair. Even if the brick road is damaged after ten years, it will only be a small part of it. It's just a matter of filling a few more bricks."
"Just a few bricks!" The ministers could not help but twitch their mouths. Looking at Mo Jiazi's carefree appearance, they felt that they should beat him up.
However, they had to admit that Mo Jiazi did have a long-term plan. Once the brick road was built, the Mo family's village would be able to solve the problem of ten years of corvee in one day.
Dai Zhou laughed and said, "Marquis Merton, don't change the concept. The Mo family's village's ten years of corvee is not much. I'm afraid it's not even ten percent of the cost of the road!"
Li Shimin suddenly understood. That's right! The problem could be solved with a little money, but Mo Jiazi had to pay ten times the price. How could ten years of corvee be explained?
Meton smiled bitterly and said, "What Mr. Dai said is right. The Mo family also wanted to pay the corvee, but didn't it arouse public anger?"
Many officials could not help laughing. The Mo family's village paid the corvee and was jointly reported to the Chang 'an county government by the villages in the south of the city. The officials had all heard about it.
Li Shimin held back his laughter and said with a straight face, "So, you were forced to build this road."
"That's right!" Meton could not help but feel wronged and said, "If the Mo family's village paid the corvee, it would definitely offend the villagers. But if the Mo family's village did corvee work, it would cost them nearly one month every year. Ten years is nearly ten months. "
Mr. Dai is right. The cost of the road was indeed ten times of the corvee. However, the value of the Mo family's village's village in ten months was more than ten times of the corvee. "
Meton did a simple calculation of the account, and then everyone realized that the Mo family's village seemed to spend a lot of money now, but it would win in the future. So much money was naturally too much for ordinary villages, but for the Mo family's village, it was a good deal.
Dai Zhou laughed and said, "That's what I said. The Mohist family is a great mathematician. How could they not be able to calculate such simple accounts?"
The officials were silent. This matter was shocking to ordinary people, but after Meton's analysis, they could understand Meton's behavior.
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