hsntnovel Chapter 2274 is a bit expensive.
Chapter 2274 is a bit expensive.
Everyone looked at Tang Jian with suspicion, even Li Chengqian.
I've only been regent for a few years, how can you spend so much money now?
You should know that he had reviewed all these projects, especially the issue of salary payment, which he proposed to reform.
He also deliberately increased the salaries of officials to prevent them from embezzling money and accepting bribes.
The annual salary is indeed not small, but it is not that much money to spend.
"There is indeed money in the treasury, but that will be used in the future. Everyone should be prepared for danger. We have money now, but what if there is no money when we need it in the future?"
Tang Jian argued.
"Didn't Prince Ji's palace send another batch of money at the end of the year? Last year it was 14 million strings of cash, and this year it should be at least the same amount.
Minister Tang is worrying too much," Xu Jingzong retorted.
Tang Jian glanced at him and snorted:
"Humph, this money was sent by His Royal Highness Prince Ji to help His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince solve their problems.
It’s not money that must be handed over.
What if one day His Royal Highness Prince Ji encounters difficulties and refuses to give this money to the court?
What will the court do then? Will they try to rob Prince Ji’s palace of his money? The court is not a bandit.”
"this....."
Xu Jingzong was speechless immediately after being told this. Not only him, but even the others were taking the money handed over by Prince Ji's Mansion for granted.
I thought that Prince Ji's Mansion would send money in the future, and I never thought that Prince Ji's Mansion would not give money.
You know, as a noble, Prince Ji does not need to pay taxes.
"Lord Tang, this involves the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians, and this matter cannot be taken lightly.
I think the court should pay for this."
Seeing the dull silence, Li Chengqian spoke up. Five hundred thousand strings of cash was indeed a lot, but it was worth it for the people.
“Your Highness, even if we use the national treasury to pay for it, Prince Ji’s Mansion may not be able to come up with so much cement.
And building a house requires not only cement, but also bricks.
Where can we find so many bricks?"
Since the prince was asking a question, Tang Jian couldn't just answer directly, so he threw out another question.
There are more than 50,000 households, so how many bricks are needed?
"This..." Li Chengqian was also stunned by the question.
"Your Highness, instead of guessing here, we might as well ask Prince Ji." Ma Zhou suggested at this time.
"But Prince Ji is far away in the Anxi Protectorate, and it will take him half a month to return."
Tang Jian said.
"Prince Ji is not here, but the steward of Prince Ji's mansion is still here. Moreover, I heard that Prince Ji does not do much on weekdays.
It would be better to ask the steward of Prince Ji's mansion than Prince Ji." Changsun Wuji also joined in.
"Okay, come, send someone to Prince Ji's mansion and tell Princess Ji to send a steward over and say that the court has important matters to discuss."
Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian immediately shouted outside and someone went to pass on the message.
Then a few people started discussing other things about disaster relief.
Less than half an hour later, the eunuch came in from outside:
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, the Chief Treasurer of Prince Ji's Mansion, Wang Hongfu, and the Military Officer Pei Mingli are waiting outside the palace."
"Hurry up and call them in." Li Chengqian didn't expect Princess Ji to send two people over.
A moment later, Wang Hongfu and Pei Mingli were brought in.
Pei Mingli has now taken over part of the Ji Wang Mansion's industries and is responsible for management and sales.
The palace is very familiar with all the industries of the Ji Palace, including market trends.
Originally, Wang Hongfu could come alone, but Wang Hongfu had never been to the palace, and Lu Dingniang was afraid that Wang Hongfu did not know the rules and would offend the prince.
So Pei Mingli was also sent here. After all, Pei Mingli had been an official.
After the two came in, they began to salute at the door:
"I, Wang Hongfu, pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and all the distinguished guests."
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, is here to see you."
"No need to be polite, come forward and talk." Li Chengqian was quite familiar with Wang Hongfu, as he had had many contacts with him due to Li Shen's relationship with him.
Moreover, any gifts would usually be delivered to the Eastern Palace by Wang Hongfu himself.
As for Pei Mingli, Li Chengqian also paid attention to him and wanted Pei Mingli to make money for the court, but they only met a few times.
"Thank you, Your Highness." The two men bowed and came forward.
"I called you two here today because I have something to ask you." Li Chengqian said.
"Your Highness, please give your orders."
"A major earthquake struck Jinzhou, killing countless people, injuring them, destroying their homes, and displacing them.
It is now late autumn. If reconstruction is not carried out in time, many people will freeze to death this winter, so the court decided to help the people rebuild their homes.
But now they are facing difficulties, insufficient materials and unable to complete the project on time. The Minister of Works mentioned the cement from Prince Ji's Mansion.
So I came to you to ask you some details in detail."
Li Chengqian spoke directly to the point.
"Your Highness, I don't know what you want to ask about He Shi. We will tell you everything we know."
Pei Mingli made a statement on behalf of the delegation.
"Okay, first of all, I want to ask about the price of cement. Lord Yan just said that it costs ten strings of cash to build a house.
I don’t know if it’s true.” Li Chengqian asked.
Pei Mingli was not aware of this issue, because Wang Hongfu was responsible for the construction of the manor house of Prince Ji's mansion.
Wang Hongfu saluted and replied:
"Your Highness, that is indeed the case. If we were to build a brick and tile house, ten strings of cash would only be the basic expenses, not including the interior decoration."
"So expensive?" Li Chengqian was a little surprised. He thought it wouldn't cost so much money.
Ordinary people in the Tang Dynasty could earn about one or two strings of cash a year. If it was ten strings of cash, it would take more than ten years to save up enough to build a house.
"Your Highness, this is actually not expensive. A brick house requires a lot of materials, and it also includes the cost of labor.
The people of the imperial farm can build one in three or four years at most, and most people in the village can build one in one or two years."
Wang Hongfu hurried to explain.
"That's because all the people working in the farms of Prince Ji's mansion are working in the workshop, and His Highness Prince Ji pays them high wages.
Ordinary people in other places can’t earn that much money in three or four years.”
After hearing this, Xu Jingzong spoke with a hint of ridicule in his tone.
Pei Mingli immediately looked over:
"Minister Xu is wrong. The people of the Tang Dynasty are now living and working in peace and contentment, and workshops have begun to be built in many places.
During the slack season, people would find some temporary jobs to earn some money.
This is no longer the case.
It shouldn't be too much for ordinary people to save up for a few years to build a house, right?"
Pei Mingli is now a member of Prince Ji's Mansion, so naturally he has to protect Prince Ji's Mansion.
In the past, he would have to bow and nod when he saw the Shangshu, but he was a real third-rank official.
But now it’s different. Standing behind him is Prince Ji, the invincible god of war of the Tang Dynasty. What else does he have to be afraid of?
Even others have to be afraid of him.
“Yes, it’s true that the money that ordinary people save for several years to build a house is not much, but right now, for disaster relief, the court has to spend hundreds of thousands of strings of cash at once, which is a bit too much.
I wonder if there is a way to lower it a little bit?"
Li Chengqian agreed that it was worth it to build a brick house in ten years.
(Save money to build a brick house ten years ago, and now save money to buy a house.)