Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 522 If you want to be rich, build roads first

Spending money is actually an art and a craft.

Most ordinary people think that spending money means eating well, living well, covering themselves with the most expensive quilts, wearing the most expensive clothes and sleeping with the most beautiful girls, but how much can these actually cost?
The daily expenses of the palace included food, clothing, maids and guards, and maintenance costs, and the daily cost was approximately 5,135 taels of silver.

This can be considered as top-level consumption. And this also includes various embezzlement and corruption. In a year, the expenditure is about 1.8 million taels, which is the expenditure of the entire palace.

Xia Lin built a road from Fuliang directly to Lin'an. The construction of this road started four years ago, and there are still about 40 miles to be completed. The total cost was 18.82 million taels of silver.

The budget is 24 million taels, which means that this road is truly worth every inch of land.

Of course the reason why it is so expensive is that this 600-mile road is the coolest, most advanced, and widest of this era, and it is the first road that can cut through mountains and build bridges over rivers.

The eight-lane, fully cemented road employed 20,000 people alone to build it.

But if we only consider consumption here, it would be too simplistic. First of all, this road has created jobs for 20,000 people, and has driven changes in industries and business models around this road. In addition, this world's first nearly straight road has set an example for this era, and it can also directly connect HZ, which has heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below, to connect the entire water and land transportation network.

The Grand Canal connects this road, and then spreads along the Jiujiang waterway all the way to Guangzhou and Quanzhou in Lingnan Road, completing the closed loop of the Maritime Silk Road.

More than 20 million taels were spent to revitalize a living belt, benefiting the lives of tens of millions of people, as well as the continuous flow of materials and funds brought in by trade every year.

Once the first horizontal line among the three horizontal and three vertical lines is completed, within two years everyone will understand why one must build roads first if one wants to get rich.

Of course, this is only the title of a book with ten thousand words far from Xia Lin's ultimate goal of building three parallel networks of roads, railways and waterways. But as the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning. As long as you make a start and keep moving forward, you will reach the other side one day.

Now, Xia Lin wanted Li Yuan to do the same thing, building bridges and roads, and infrastructure. These were extremely expensive things, and most of the time it was impossible to mobilize them.

But when doing things, what matters is the timing. Even if Li Yuan invited gods to be his aides, there is no way he could guess that Xia Lin actually wanted Li Yuan to spend money to complete the infrastructure construction in the northern region, right?
Of course, the more obvious thing is that Xia Lin wanted to sell materials to Li Yuan to make some money, after all, everyone gets what they need.

Is it right to say that the secret attack is a covert attack? It seems that this is the most appropriate one here.

Just as Du Ruhui said, no matter what Xia Lin's intentions are, they must first get rid of the current problems. No matter what tricks he plays in the future, if they can't even get through next spring, then what's the point of playing the game.

"Your Majesty, please be crowned emperor."

Du Ruhui suddenly raised his head and looked at Li Yuan: "I think now is the best time. Even if Emperor Jingtai is in Luoyang, it is the right time for Your Majesty to become emperor."

Li Yuan paused: "Why do you say that?"

"It's the right time, the right place, and the right people."

Du Ruhui was a man of decisive character. "I had thought that this winter was the best time, but it so happened that something happened in the northwest at this time. I racked my brains to think of how to deal with it. Now this letter has opened my eyes. If Your Majesty were to become emperor right now, it would be the best time."

"The 400,000-strong army is right under our noses!"

"I think there is another meaning in this letter, which is that the 400,000-strong army is probably just a bunch of useless people who can only retreat but not advance."

"Why?" Li Yuan narrowed his eyes, revealing his desire for the throne: "Tell me why."

"Your Majesty, I think those 400,000 people were originally refugees who lost their land. Xia Daosheng was able to rally these people so quickly because he promised them land. Otherwise, if they really wanted to fight, why didn't they take the opportunity to move forward when the northwest is in such chaos? And Emperor Jingtai doesn't seem to have the confidence to start a war, so it's better for us to make a concerted effort and proclaim ourselves emperor first."

"No." Li Yuan waved his hand: "The time is not right yet."

"Your Majesty! We can't wait any longer. If we wait until the Central Plains completely falls into the hands of others, we will have even less chance. It is better to take advantage of the fact that the other party is overwhelmed and declare himself emperor, and turn the wood into a boat!"

Li Yuan was really moved by Du Ruhui's words, but when he thought of the problem he was facing, he felt a sense of frustration in his heart, and he didn't dare...

Du Ruhui knew Li Yuan's character, so he didn't say anything more. He took Xia Lin's letter and left. Li Yuan stood there alone, thinking for a long time with a gloomy face, but he just couldn't make up his mind...

However, just three days later, something happened that no one expected: Emperor Jingtai's manifesto arrived.

The words of the imperial edict and its condescending tone revealed a sense of self-awareness between the lines, which stunned Li Yuan.

What does it mean to give up one's military power and report on one's work in the capital?
What does it mean to plead guilty and bear the guilt?
What does it mean to be a traitor and go with the flow?
No...Emperor Hongbao was a master strategist throughout his life, and he was able to keep the Wei Dynasty safe and stable for decades. Although he was known for avoiding war and escaping the world, he actually saved millions of people from the flames of war.

How come he is so confused when it comes to Emperor Jingtai?
Big brother, can you help me understand the current situation? The reason why I, the Northern Li family, did not go south to attack you is because a few monsters appeared on your side, leaving me at a loss. How dare you directly issue an imperial decree to ask me to surrender? Although I don't have the power to win, it's not something you can do like this, right? "Li Yuan, accept the decree quickly!"

The eunuch who announced the imperial edict stood there holding the edict with a serious expression, while Li Yuan also stood there looking at him with a smile.

After a while, he turned around, waved his sleeves, and left in one go. Then Li Yuan's angry voice was heard inside: "Go back and tell Emperor Jingtai that next time he comes, treat him with the courtesy of a monarch."

Before the eunuchs could react, Li Yuan proclaimed himself emperor that afternoon.

Li Yuan proclaimed himself emperor, named the country Tang, and made Chang'an the capital. Then the first thing Li Yuan did was to send an envoy from the Ministry of Rites to Luoyang and give him a manifesto...

No one knows what was written on the manifesto, because Emperor Jingtai was so angry that he tore up the things given by Li Yuan. If Mr. Zhu had not stopped him, he would have killed the messenger as well.

But that was not the end. Emperor Jingtai became angrier and angrier that night, and finally he vomited blood and fainted.

Emperor Jingtai was seriously ill and bedridden. When his advisers saw that this was not going to work, they quickly packed up his belongings and sent him on a carriage back to Jinling City...

The dream of unifying the Central Plains and the dream of riding a horse to the northwest were both shattered the moment he left Luoyang in his carriage...

By the time Xia Lin received the news that Li Yuan had proclaimed himself emperor, seven days had passed.

The whole court was in an uproar. Everyone said that it was Emperor Jingtai who forced Li Yuan to rebel. But only Xia Lin knew that whether Emperor Jingtai forced him or not, he would have proclaimed himself emperor, because if he did not, the policies in the letter would be useless, because how could one place in the Wei Dynasty impose tariffs on another place in the Wei Dynasty? Wouldn't that be rebellious against the Tiangang?

Later, I heard that Emperor Jingtai was sick from anger and was on his way back to the capital.

The seventeen golden medals issued to Xia Lin to suppress rebellion arrived before Emperor Jingtai. Emperor Jingtai was probably so angry that he completely forgot that Xia Lin was still in mourning and could not lead the troops to fight.

Around the 15th or 16th, when it was close to the winter solstice, Emperor Jingtai returned to the capital, but he did not see anyone. He just summoned Xia Lin to the palace.

Emperor Jingtai, who had not been seen for nearly a year, now looked pale and thin, with bloodshot eyes. When he saw Xia Lin, he burst into tears.

"Daosheng...Daosheng..."

He sat up tremblingly and held Xia Lin's hand tightly: "My three thousand miles of land... three thousand miles of land! ~"

Xia Lin didn't say anything, he just asked someone to quickly prepare some ginseng soup for him, then he sat on the bed and said, "What else can we do now? They are guarding the Qinling Mountains and occupying Bashu. A strong attack will only cause great damage to the vitality of the Wei Dynasty. Your Majesty, you should also know that the Wei Dynasty today is not the tiger and wolf Wei of the past. It is incomplete."

Emperor Jingtai lay there sobbing, occasionally letting out a few weak gasps.

"Come on, you should recover first."

"Daosheng, why don't you go to the battle when I give you the golden medal? Are you disobeying my order?"

"No, you are fucking sick!" Xia Lin pushed his hand away. "You are so angry that you are confused, right? Didn't I write to tell you what the current situation of the capital is? You have led the Green Forest Army for a year, don't you know that they are just a group of peasants, just bluffing? The Po Lu Army has a total of just over 100,000 soldiers, and they have to defend against the Baiyue in the south of the mountains. Li Yuan has an army of 380,000, brother! Are you willing to fight with your head? There is also Li Shimin guarding Jianmen Pass. When a fight breaks out here, Li Shimin will directly send out 5,000 soldiers to surround your capital."

"You scold me... wuwuwuwuwu... I won't live any longer, you scold me..."

"Alright, alright." Xia Lin patted him on the shoulder. "You're thirty years old, but you're still acting like a kid. You should get some rest. Think about it from another perspective. It won't be bad for you if he becomes emperor. Besides, you can't control him anyway. Besides it doesn't sound good, it will do you no good at all."

"Hmm? Why...why do you say that?"

"Since he doesn't proclaim himself emperor, we don't really have any way to deal with him. Suppress the rebellion? We can't beat him. Put down the rebellion? He's not causing chaos. He just won't listen to orders or instructions. After all, he doesn't recognize your legitimacy."

"hold head high……"

"Now, he is a neighboring country." Xia Lin clapped his hands: "Do we have other ways to deal with him? Fighting is the least cost-effective. If we fight Li Yuan head-on, what do you think will be the final outcome?"

"what?"

"Think about the Rebellion of the Eight Kings." Xia Lin sighed, "The Chinese Han people committed great crimes. Don't forget that the Turks and Tibetans have also been recuperating for many years."

"My three thousand miles of territory..." Emperor Jingtai burst into tears again.

(End of this chapter)