The most arrogant in history

Chapter 388: Public Complaints.

The mining officer nearby reported to Ye Kun:

"The coal mine in the southern part of Lingshan County is already using this kind of train to dig tunnels. In half a month, it will be able to produce coal stably. Two small iron mines have also been discovered here in Fenghuang Mountain, and their mining value is being studied."

Ye Kun nodded and continued to inspect forward, evaluating the gains and losses of Hanzhong Avenue.

Ma Zhengyang whispered, "The lord has spent too much money and grain on the construction. The people won't be able to rest and recuperate, so I'm afraid they will complain."

In fact, there are already complaints among the people.

Because Ye Kun was always busy building roads and bridges, mining and smelting iron, which required a large amount of manpower, the people had no rest.

Although I can eat my fill, I feel very tired.

Some people are lazy and don't want to work too hard as long as they are not starving to death.

"There is no other way. We can only let the people and our soldiers suffer."

Ye Kun pointed to the road under his feet and said: "If you want to get rich, you must build roads first. Only when the roads are smooth and convenient can the people live a good life. People are complaining about me now, but they will thank me when the roads are smooth."

Ma Zhengyang thought for a while and said, "I suggest that after the construction of Hanzhong Avenue is completed, we should suspend the large-scale projects and turn to the people to build some small roads, bridges, canals and ponds to reassure the people and facilitate the people."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "This is a good suggestion. I agree."

Ma Zhengyang and others breathed a sigh of relief.

Ye Kun also ordered to strengthen the care for the civilians, improve their food allowances, give them part of their wages and bonuses, pay attention to hygiene, and provide them with medical treatment if they are sick.

At the same time, their working hours are reduced, and some singing and dancing, consolation and cultural education are occasionally arranged.

There will be many large-scale construction projects in the future, and we need to form a sustainable labor system so that people can work willingly.

By November, the technology of rapid-fire muskets had become very mature.

The original design required ten rounds in a row, but after repeated research and experiments, Pang Jia and others found that eight rounds in a row was the most convenient and efficient, so they changed it to eight rounds in a row.

It can be operated by two people. It can be carried in battle or placed on the battlefield to wait for an opportunity.

Ye Kun tried the gun and ordered to stop the production of the first generation of muskets and mass-produce eight-round muskets. At the same time, he continued to research small muskets and manufacture portable individual firearms.

After one or two years of hard work, the political center and scientific research center built by Ye Kun in Xiangyang are finally on track.

Chengdu, Yizhou, became a sub-center.

At the end of November, Xiahou Chang sent an envoy in the name of the imperial court to deliver a batch of special products from the Central Plains to Ye Kun, intending to seek peace and hoping that each side would defend its territory and turn hostility into friendship.

Come and don't go indecent.

Ye Kun also sent envoys to the court and Xiahou Chang, delivering a batch of iron pots, porcelain, glassware, and some Shu brocade, telling Xiahou Chang to treat the people well, otherwise he would deal with him.

He also sent several globes with Greater Siberia circled out, hoping that Xiahou Chang would expand his territory northwards and herd cattle in the north.

Ye Kun had made arrangements for the future of Xiahou Chang and Xiao Dequan.

One goes to the prairie to herd cattle, and the other goes to the south to raise monkeys, which enables the Chinese nation to flourish, which is pretty good.

Xiahou Chang read Ye Kun's letter and was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

He knew that Ye Kun had not given up his ambition to fight for the Central Plains!

After the successful construction of Hanzhong Avenue, Ye Kun also accepted the suggestions of Ma Zhengyang and others and stopped launching large projects, but turned to small projects for people's livelihood to win the hearts of the people.

Time flies, and it's the end of the year again.

Looking back on this year, it was the most peaceful one, there was not even a war!

There was a bumper harvest of sugarcane in Chongqing and southern Yizhou, producing millions of kilograms of brown sugar.

Ye Kun formed a caravan and dumped his own porcelain, sesame oil and brown sugar to the Central Plains and Jiangdong, in exchange for steel and bronze, as well as livestock such as pigs, sheep, cattle and horses.

Ye Kun has no shortage of other things.

With the development of business, Ye Kun discovered an unexpected surprise, that is, the silver coins he issued had a very high credit and could almost be circulated throughout the country.

Xiahou Chang and Xiao Dequan also followed Ye Kun's example and issued silver coins of one liang, half a liang, and one qian, gradually recovering the copper coins from the people and using them for other construction.

In this way, the amount of coins minted is greatly reduced, saving materials and labor, and it is also more convenient for merchants to carry them and facilitate circulation.

Even in the Western Regions and the Huns, Ye Kun's silver dollars had strong purchasing power.

Wu Qiong suggested to Ye Kun that the silver content of the silver dollar should be reduced, and some copper materials should be mixed in to make profits from the outside world.

Ye Kun rejected Wu Qiong's proposal and said:

"Monetary stability means political stability and stable prices. The silver coins we issue are actually credit currencies, and our credit is behind them. If we reduce the silver content or reduce the weight, it means we are not keeping our word, and the people will become alienated and oppose us."

Historically, when Liu Bei ruled Yizhou, in order to get money for war, he implemented currency reform in Shu and issued coins worth 100, also called Zhibai coins.

What is Zhibaiqian?

It means re-minting a copper coin, and it is strictly stipulated that its value is equal to one hundred coins in the hands of ordinary people!

Then he used one copper coin to exchange for one hundred copper coins from the common people.

This is a money grab.

Fortunately, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang had strong credit, and they used the value of Shu brocade to compete with Zhibai coins. They first promoted it among the wealthy class and gradually succeeded in sucking their blood.

Even so, many scholars in later generations criticized Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei, saying that they were not genuine.

Before his death, Liu Bei said to his son, "Your father was of low virtue," probably expressing his remorse and self-blame for this matter.

Ye Kun felt that he might not have the ability of Zhuge Liang.

If this goes wrong, the entire monetary system will collapse.

Yizhou produces silver, so silver coins are used as the main currency in circulation, with copper coins and gold as supplements, which is a good thing.

Wu Qiong suggested: "The iron production of our own iron ore has also increased significantly. I think we can stop purchasing steel from Dongwu."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "Ironware is also a consumable item and will rust. So the more steel reserves, the better."

The demand for steel is endless.

In the future, as population and productivity grow, the consumption of steel will increase significantly.

The Chinese New Year is here in a blink of an eye.

Wei Caiqin also rushed to Xiangyang to make a big reunion.

It just so happened that the small town of Rome was also built, so Ye Kun took everyone to visit it.

The architectural art of the Romans is indeed commendable. That small dome palace is built entirely of stone and is very solid.

There are also Roman columns, which look very beautiful.

Tan Bamao looked at the stone wall of the town and asked Ye Kun:

"Godfather, look at other people's castles, they are all stone walls, very solid, why don't we try it? Our rammed earth and brick walls look a bit shabby."

There were very few stone city walls in the Dading Kingdom. Most of them were made of rammed earth and covered with bricks inside and outside.

"You know nothing." Ye Kun rolled his eyes and said:

"The widest stone wall of the Roman Empire is only six feet. But the worst wall of our Great Ding Empire is only one or two feet, and cars can drive on it. Do you know how thick the wall of Chang'an is? More than ten feet!

In terms of strength, the rammed earth walls can absorb energy when hit and never collapse. Even the stone walls of Rome and Qin would be breached by our heavy artillery after just a few shots.”

The city walls of China are not just for show.

In the later era of guns and cannons, the Japanese cannons could not hit the city walls that were dozens of meters wide.

Tan Bamao smiled and said, "So, we can take our cannons and take down Rome and Qin!"