hsntnovel Chapter 2273: Change the materials, no money left.
Chapter 2273: Change the materials, no money left.
In ancient times, self-built houses in rural areas were mostly thatched houses at first, but later they gradually changed to rammed earth walls, wooden beams, and thatched roofs.
There are also some places where wood is the main material and large stones are used as the foundation.
All the necessary materials had to be transported from outside, such as soil and sand for ramming the earth, wood for the roof, and stones for the foundation.
Li Chengqian frowned when he heard Yan Lide's words. He had ignored this matter.
This is not just about building a house for one or two families. You can get materials anywhere. From the memorials, it seems that Jinzhou suffered a large-scale disaster.
More than 5,000 people were crushed to death, which is enough to show how serious the earthquake was.
Almost all the houses will collapse.
With so many people building a house together, where can we get so much rammed earth, wood and stone?
"This... do you have any good ideas?"
Li Chengqian looked at the officials from the three provinces and six ministries. One person's plan was short, while two others' was long. He couldn't figure it out, but maybe someone else had a solution.
After hearing this, the others fell into deep thought and were at a loss for a moment.
It will take more than a short period of time to provide materials for rebuilding the homes of so many people in Jinzhou.
If it were spring or summer, it would be fine and people wouldn't freeze to death, but it is already late autumn and winter will come next month. No one can guarantee when it will snow after winter comes.
"Your Highness, if we want to rebuild the people's homes in such a short time, I'm afraid..."
Yu Zhining spoke hesitantly.
"Yes, Your Highness. We can only rebuild part of the house in a short period of time. It is difficult to rebuild all of them. This is mainly due to limited materials."
Ma Zhou followed suit.
"No matter what, we must find a way to make a living for the people. Otherwise, who knows how many people will freeze to death outside this winter.
The people support the court, and in times of crisis, the court should protect the people."
Li Chengqian looked at everyone and said solemnly.
Everyone can understand Li Chengqian's current mood. They also want to save the people from dire straits, but the conditions do allow it at the moment.
The hall fell silent again, and everyone was thinking about countermeasures.
"Maybe there is another way."
At this moment, a voice broke the silence. Everyone looked over and saw that Yan Lide had a troubled look on his face.
"Lord Yan, you said there is a way, but what is it?"
Li Chengqian asked hurriedly.
"This..." Yan Lide seemed to be hesitant to speak.
"Minister Yan, this matter is of great importance. You might as well speak frankly." Changsun Wuji advised.
"Your Highness, I do have an idea, but it might be a bit expensive."
Yan Lide hesitated for a long time and finally said.
"Lord Yan, speak frankly. Even if it costs some money for the people, it is worth it as long as it can save their lives."
Li Chengqian looked at Yan Lide with encouragement in his eyes.
"Ah~~~This method is very simple. Since the materials are limited, why don't we use a different material to build a house?"
Yan Lide sighed.
"Change the material? Minister Yan means not to use rammed earth or wood?" Someone asked immediately after hearing about changing the material.
Li Chengqian was also a little curious. If they didn't use rammed earth and wood to build a house, what else could they use?
Yan Lide nodded.
“Yes, the rammed earth, sand, stone, wood, and straw used by the people to build houses are all free. They can get them themselves. Although it takes time, it doesn’t cost a penny.
But you may have forgotten that there is now something else that can be used to build houses.
It is the cement produced by Prince Ji’s Mansion.
I have been cooperating with Prince Ji's Mansion for many years. Many of its buildings are made of cement, and the construction speed is very fast.
It is also stronger than rammed earth. If it is well built, it will not collapse even in an earthquake.
It’s durable and will last for decades without any problems, but the price is… a bit high.”
"Yes, there is cement in Prince Ji's Mansion. I've seen this stuff before. It's like mud before it dries, but it's as hard as stone after it dries.
It is also very simple and convenient, and can be dried in a few days.”
Yan Lide said this and someone immediately agreed. Now the cement of Prince Ji's Mansion is no secret. Many nobles use it to build things.
The main reason is that it is very convenient. You don’t need to buy stones or wood. You can make a cement pillar and paint it without affecting the appearance.
Li Chengqian's eyes also lit up. How could he have forgotten this sharp weapon? The reason why Li Shen was able to build a city as big as Qinghai Yaoyi in two years was because of cement, right?
"May I ask Minister Yan, how much does it cost to build a house?"
Just as everyone was discussing this, as the Minister of Civil Affairs, Tang Jian attached great importance to money, and all the civil and military officials in the court said that Tang Jian was stingy.
"It will probably cost about ten strings of cash. If the population is large and more houses need to be built, the price will be much higher."
Yan Lide replied.
"A year ago, there were over 51,000 households and 170,000 people in the four counties of Jinzhou. With each household receiving ten strings of cash, the court had to pay out over 500,000 strings of cash.
Impossible, the court doesn't have that much money."
After counting on his fingers, Tang Jian immediately refused.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs is not only in charge of the world's money, but also has a Ministry of Revenue under it, which is in charge of the country's household registration, land, taxes, etc.
Therefore, Tang Jian was very familiar with the national household registration system, not to mention the household registration he had just completed last year.
Five hundred thousand strings of cash is no small sum. Although the imperial court is rich now, it has many places to spend money.
These people really don't know the value of firewood and rice until they manage the household, and they don't know the kindness of their parents until they raise children. They ask for 500,000 strings of cash right away.
"Minister Tang, this money is for the common people. Do you know how many people this money could save from freezing to death?"
Changsun Wuji turned to look at Tang Jian. The six ministries were under the jurisdiction of the Secretariat.
"Duke Zhao, I naturally know about this, but the imperial court cannot afford such a large sum of money all at once."
Tang Jian replied neither humbly nor arrogantly.
"Can't you afford it? Minister Tang, what about the 14 million guan tax revenue that year?"
Xu Jingzong asked in astonishment. Last year, Prince Ji's Mansion gave the court 14 million strings of cash.
It was more than twice the tax collected by the imperial court.
"it took."
"it took!!"
Tang Jian's two casual words shocked everyone present. That was 14 million strings of cash, not 1,400 strings of cash.
How can you spend so much money?
"It's spent on water conservancy projects, repairing bridges and roads, repairing border forts, repairing the Great Wall, military expenses, and replacing weapons.
By the way, there is also your salary. Since the abolition of rice stipend and the switch to cash payment, a year's salary has cost a lot.
All of you present here together make tens of thousands of guan a year."
Tang Jian scanned everyone's face as if the money was going into their pockets.
"But even if that's the case, we can't spend all that much money, right? Is there no money left in the treasury?"
Changsun Wuji asked in disbelief.
(My butt hurts.)