"The ten roads of the Tang dynasty are paved with brick roads, which are connected by crisscrossing paths." Everyone couldn't help but gasp. They had to admit that the scene described by Meton was too tempting.
"Meton, do you know what you are talking about?" Qin Qiong was shocked and shouted. He quickly turned to plead with Li Shimin: "Emperor, Mo Dun is young and ignorant. He speaks without thinking. Your Majesty, please forgive him."
Li Shimin smiled coldly and said, "I'd like to hear these words."
Meton was not convinced and said proudly, "If it was before, building brick roads would be a waste of money and manpower. But now, horseshoes have been spread all over the Tang dynasty. There is no need to worry about the wear and tear of horses' hooves. Four-wheeled carriages can't carry the heavy load of ordinary rammed earth official roads. It's okay on sunny days, but when it's rainy, it will be difficult to move. So it's time to build brick roads. "
Li Shimin sneered and said, "Then can I understand that the rammed earth official road has already restricted the sale of the four-wheeled carriages of the Mo Family Village? You tried your best to encourage the imperial court to build the road, the biggest selfish motive is to sell the four-wheeled carriages of the Mo Family Village."
All the civil and military officials looked at Meton with scrutinizing eyes. It could be imagined that once the ten roads of the Tang dynasty were paved with brick roads, the sales of four-wheeled carriages in Village Mo would increase tenfold, and Village Mo would become the biggest beneficiary.
Meton nodded without hesitation and said, "Village Mo will indeed benefit from four-wheeled carriages. But the Minister thinks that compared with the benefits of the imperial court, the benefits of Village Mo are just a drop in the bucket. "
Li Shimin was moved and said, "Then what are the benefits of the imperial court?"
"First, once the brick roads are built, they are not easy to be damaged. Once and for all, the corvee labor of the people will be reduced. Isn't it the same as the imperial court's policy of reducing corvee and taxes?" Merton said.
Fang Xuanling couldn't help but nod. Every year, the corvee labor was the biggest part of the road. If the brick roads were built, the corvee labor of the people would be greatly reduced within ten years.
"Second, once the brick roads are built, goods and materials will flow between the various roads. The imperial court's tax will certainly increase."
Wei Zheng snorted and said, "The Tang dynasty is based on agriculture. How much is the business tax?"
Modun disagreed inwardly, but he did not refute it verbally. "The tax is a small matter. The true purpose of the tax is to ensure the flow of goods across the Great Tang. I have heard that Guanzhong has always been short of grain and usually needs to be transported from outside the Great Tang. Once the brick roads are built, the cost of transporting grain will be greatly reduced. I guarantee that the price of grain in Guanzhong will not be much higher than in places like Suzhou and Wu."
Modun's words struck a chord with the officials. Guanzhong was in dire need of food, and the cost of transporting food from outside the pass each year was astronomical. Ever since Emperor Wen of Sui, whenever Guanzhong ran out of food, the Emperor would bring his court to Luoyang. Later on, the Great Tang moved its capital to Luoyang for this reason. Not to mention other places, Guanzhong must be in urgent need of such a brick road.
Meton continued, "Minister believes that there are three reasons why the Tang dynasty needs to build brick roads. The Tang dynasty has a vast territory. Take Lingnan Road as an example. It's far away, and the imperial court's documents will only arrive in a month. If there is a brick road from Chang 'an to Lingnan, it will take at most ten days to arrive. Riding fast, it will take at least five days to arrive. The imperial court's control will certainly increase.
Any place paved with brick roads will be the permanent territory of the Tang dynasty. "Meton said firmly. He threw out his biggest trump card.
Li Shimin's breathing could not help but become sluggish. In front of the Emperor, everything was empty. Only his own country was the most important. It could be imagined that once the brick road was built, once the border was unstable, the imperial court would definitely be able to get the news in the shortest amount of time and mobilize troops and horses to quell the rebellion.
In the same way, once the enemy invaded, the imperial court would be able to form an effective counterattack in the shortest time, greatly increasing their chances of winning.
Li Shimin's breath suddenly quickened. It was obvious that he was very tempted. It could be imagined that once the brick roads of the Tang dynasty ran rampant, the imperial court's control over the land would be like an extension of its arm, and the Tang dynasty's country would be stabilized.
Seeing this, Wei Zheng suddenly stood up and shouted, "Your Majesty, please reconsider. Have you forgotten the lesson of the Grand Canal?"
"The Grand Canal!" Li Shimin's eyes suddenly regained a trace of clarity.
In the previous dynasty, Emperor Yang of Sui recruited millions of people to build the Grand Canal. In the end, it directly shook the Sui dynasty.
Wei Zheng pointed at Meton and shouted angrily, "The tyrannical Sui Dynasty died because of the abuse of the people's power. Meton, you actually have ulterior motives, tempting the emperor to walk the path of Emperor Yang of Sui."
All the civil and military officials looked at Meton with unfriendly eyes. The amount of work to build brick roads in the Tang dynasty was not much less than building the Grand Canal.
Qin Qiong and the others also looked at Meton with worried eyes.
Meton laughed and cupped his hands toward the ministers and said, "When the Minister was building the road, he also sighed with emotion at the Grand Canal. He wrote a poem, please have a taste."
If Qin Huaiyu and the other two were here, they would definitely lament that Mo Jiazi began to write poems without saying anything.
At this moment, all the civil and military officials in the imperial court showed an expectant expression. Meton's poems alone were one in a million. Most of the ministers in the imperial court were also poetry masters, so naturally, they also wanted to see Mo Jiazi's good poems.
"Ten thousand dragon boats and green silk, carried to Yangzhou and did not return.
It should be the Bian River opened by the Heaven Sect, more than a thousand miles of land without mountains.
The Sui Dynasty died because of this river, so far thousands of miles have been connected.
If it was not for the matter of the dragon boats of the Water Hall, it would not be much to discuss the merits. "
After Meton finished reading the poem, all the civil and military officials in the imperial court sighed in their hearts. Mo Jiazi was indeed overflowing with talent. The Sui Dynasty died because of this river, so far thousands of miles have been connected. This sentence would definitely become a famous sentence in history. Meton's poem pointed out the reason for the fall of the Sui Dynasty, and it could also be regarded as a correct name for the Grand Canal.
"Since the opening of the Grand Canal, dozens of cities on both sides of the river benefited from it. Countless rice from the south were transported to the north by boat every day and many people survived. Although Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was tyrannical, I can say that the achievements of the Grand Canal will definitely benefit China thousands of years later." Meton said decisively.
"The Minister can say that a brick road is equivalent to half of the Grand Canal." Meton said without hesitation. With the capacity of the brick road and its unhindered characteristics, its transport capacity was not much inferior to that of the Grand Canal.
The role of the Grand Canal could be said that without Meton saying more, the officials in the imperial court also knew that the Grand Canal had brought innumerable profits for the Tang dynasty every year. If the Grand Canal could be compared to the Grand Canal in the Tang dynasty, the benefits could be said to be enormous.
Meton continued, "Moreover, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty's Grand Canal caused the people to leave their homes and even serve the corvee for more than a few years. However, the brick road is different. Not to mention that the difficulty of building the brick road is much lower than the Grand Canal, the people don't need to leave their homes. They only need to conscript the people along the official road."
After Meton finished speaking, the officials immediately nodded in their hearts. Compared to the Grand Canal, the risk of building the brick road was indeed lower and the benefits were greater.
In fact, it was not only Li Shimin, many officials were persuaded, and the military couldn't wait.
Wei Zheng snorted coldly and said, "The 50 li official road of Village Mo cost a total of 23,000 strings of cash! The ten roads of the Tang dynasty are more than ten thousand li connected. That's nearly 4.6 million strings of cash. Where did the imperial court get so much money? "
"4.6 million strings of cash!"
As soon as Wei Zheng said this, everyone sucked in a breath of cold air.
At this moment, the Tang dynasty had just been established and had taken over the mess of the Sui Dynasty. There were many things waiting to be done. How could there be so much money? Li Shimin and the others' faces immediately darkened. The brick road seemed to be good and the risk was low, but just the buying of bricks was enough to make people shrink back.
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