My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 522 Perfect Closed Loop
Of course, until they sat down at a restaurant at the dock in Kuizhou County, no one knew that the scale that had been swirling in Wei Dong's mind was this large.

Li Erfeng could roughly estimate that the cost of paving the path with flat stone slabs would be around tens of thousands of yuan.

This is because it involves hiring migrant workers from the countryside, and the wages are calculated using the work points system still used by the commune and production brigade, which is a dual-track calculation method compared to construction work.

Moreover, since last year, the fundamental reason for the tight monetary policy is actually a problem with the overall financial order, which is actually due to the large-scale issuance of banknotes and their devaluation.

City dwellers seem to feel that while wages are rising, prices are also skyrocketing.

It started last year, and it began to sprout this year. It will become more and more obvious in the future, letting Weidong know that new banknotes will be issued next, with the Kuimen Gate printed on the banknotes.

Those netizens who witnessed the US's massive money printing later on probably understand the situation.

But very few people will realize this at this point.

The response was even slower in rural areas.

So it's like using banknotes that are depreciating now to still pay for work based on the previous work points.

These mountain trails, which only require leveling and compacting the ground and paving stones at intervals, are very inexpensive.

The elevator manufacturer quoted the major shareholder a price of about five million yuan per kilometer for the chairlift passenger cableway. This was their first time doing it, and they probably needed to calculate the funding for technical research and development.

Once this product category is established, costs can definitely be further reduced.

The terrain is undulating; it's about ten kilometers along the mountain road, or three or four kilometers in a straight line.

So after the tour, even Dong Xueqing, who had signed the agreement, didn't take it seriously.

My family also helps out in rural areas, much like my sister and brother-in-law used to help transport sand and gravel to these riverside towns.

It's not like they're opening up any new track. Qin Yuye, who hates it most when his older brother is always starting new projects, doesn't care at all.

The law enforcement boat can comfortably carry ten or so people, but it becomes noticeably more strenuous to go upstream for two or three kilometers.

After mooring the boat at the shore, Wei Dong naturally invited the captain and sailors to have lunch together.

They were also asked to recommend restaurants near the pier.

As a result, the familiar captain and sailors led the way to an inconspicuous, simple teahouse with a somewhat dilapidated cloth awning and bamboo frame.

They sat on a half-height, shiny bamboo chair, surrounded by a bamboo table that was about knee-high.

The mere sight of the Qutang Gorge and the Yangtze River in the distance is enough to broaden one's mind.

Order various foods like takeout.

Smoked beef, crispy flower cakes, fermented bean rolls, lamb offal soup, poached chicken, steamed beef and mutton with rice flour, Mapo tofu, roast meats, three-ingredient soup, sesame balls, crispy fried dough sticks, steamed rice cakes, and baozi (stuffed buns)...

It uses only inexpensive, local ingredients, yet it has an excellent reputation. It is said that most of the ingredients are from century-old brands, and they will deliver the food to you with great enthusiasm.

There are about ten kinds of plain noodles, including da da noodles, lard noodles, yellow cold noodles, tofu noodles, vermicelli noodles, minced meat noodles, cured meat noodles, and wonton noodles.

Despite being a remote and impoverished place, this port, which guards the gorge, has been a gathering place for military and commercial personnel for thousands of years. As a result, it has developed a playful lifestyle where people spend their free time in teahouses and eat and drink everything there.

Even Xiaodie got two colorful clay figurines of Sun Wukong and sugar figurines of dragon and phoenix, her beady eyes shining brightly as she looked at them.

The girls just happened to love trying new things and were curious to try everything. Anyway, they could give any leftovers to Weidong.

Hong Kong girls are not used to giving leftovers to men, but seeing that Dong Xueqing and Shen Cuiyue do it as a matter of course, they overcome their psychological barriers and also stuff a bowl into their bowls.

Even though Li Erfeng could have finished the whole thing herself, she could only reluctantly leave a little bit to make up the number.

Xiaodie also held up the sugar figurine and leaned closer.

Wei Dong was actually talking about the city with the captain, the crew, the herb gatherers, and his new employees.

Because the entire town is built on the riverbank, with city walls facing the river, the small county town built against the mountain is very impressive.

It's obvious that a sudden rise in water level could flood everything!
Of course, this is not a time of war, and all kinds of stilted houses, illegal buildings, and brick and tile buildings are growing wildly inside and outside the city walls.

There are old bamboo strip houses built before liberation, as well as several-story brick-concrete buildings constructed in recent years.

Only the stone brick buildings of the city gate, which cannot be concealed, reveal the vicissitudes of time that once made it majestic.

Even at the teahouse outside the city gate, you can see the mottled brick walls.

Although the herb gatherer was a farmer from the countryside, he often went to the city to sell his goods. He put away his pipe and started eating with his chopsticks: "There's plenty. There are also four city gate towers. Originally there were seven, but three were demolished. However, many sections of the city wall are still there, but they've all been covered by these houses, so they've borrowed the city wall as their own..."

The captain, more knowledgeable than others, said, "You've seen the documentary 'Hongyan,' right? In it, Sister Jiang's husband was killed by the reactionaries, and their head was hung on this city gate tower. She fainted when she saw it. There's still a martyrs' monument in the city now..."

The new employees must have come from the county to attend middle school, just like Wei Dong did back then, and are also familiar with the legends and gossip: "Actually, Liu Bei entrusted his son to the emperor not in Baidi City in the scenic area, that was a military camp. Baidi City was built later by the Song Dynasty. It was actually a palace in this city. Lady Gan died and was buried there, but it is said that Liu Bei entrusted his son to the emperor and died here. To avoid grave robbing, they said it was Lady Gan who was buried."

When Wei Dong inquired about the imperial palace, it was indeed there; it's now a teachers' college, and it's been well-preserved overall.

The main point is that during the War of Resistance against Japan, the Japanese army took off from Echang to bomb Jiangzhou, the wartime capital. However, most of them were intercepted by fighter planes or anti-aircraft artillery after passing the Three Gorges. In fact, most of them were just perfunctory bombings...

As a result, the ancient buildings that had been preserved since the Song Dynasty were severely damaged by bombing. The current urban area is basically the scale of reconstruction after the victory of the War of Resistance against Japan and during the Republic of China period. So apart from a few core buildings such as Liu Bei's Palace and Baidi City, which were restored to their original state, the rest are buildings from the Republic of China period onwards. The city walls and towers are the most historically significant.

Wei Dong was also slowly weighing the options in his mind; if there were too many impurities, then there was no point in enclosing and protecting it.

On the riverbank between Shangzhou and Jiangzhou, there is a famous pagoda built against the mountain, which would normally be submerged by the reservoir.

However, because Baoyin Mountain is indeed as straight as a stone seal, a dam was built around it, thus preserving the more than ten-story wooden pagoda and the small mountain, making it a spectacular sight in the middle of the river.

On the contrary, it is a very distinctive tourist attraction.

The cost is definitely a bit high.

If this model doesn't work, then we'll tear down the city walls and rebuild them elsewhere exactly as they were?
This job sounds like it would cost more.

They could demolish only parts of the city, choosing only the gate towers and ancient city walls they wanted to rebuild.

The technical difficulty and cost are much simpler than simply enclosing the entire area to resist water levels.

The key is to find the right time; if we don't demolish it now, the costs will definitely be extremely high.

Instead, they wait until the entire city is confirmed to be flooded and is about to be abandoned before standing up to protect the ruins with righteous indignation; they might even receive government subsidies.

Of course, our family doesn't care about this little bit of money; if we take it, we'll be bossed around.

But demolishing it back then was not only cheaper, but it also brought prestige.

Moreover, the reason Wei Dong was made to do such strenuous work was to make the famous Kuimen scenic spot have more to offer visitors.

There's nothing around now, so we have to create something from scratch.

Compared to the ghost town's constant expansion into various underworlds, this place should be built around the theme of the Three Kingdoms.

Such construction often takes more than ten years to see results, so they "deposit" their earnings here.

When this place becomes a gold mine, it won't be so rare and unusual for billionaires anymore.

This is the strategy that allowed Wei Dong to accumulate wealth quietly.

They have been investing in the development of their hometown, and have even been able to eliminate most of their taxes.

With this kind of mindset, one naturally eats whatever comes their way without a care.

Even the clay figurine of Sun Wukong that Xiao Die handed over was bitten by the head. The little boy was stunned, and his usually blank expression slowly turned to tears!

Just after the meal, the captain and his crew started smoking, so Wei Dong quickly covered the child's mouth and nose and got up, saying, "It's alright, it's alright, we'll go buy some more..."

I suddenly realized I was so full that I could barely straighten my back!

This immediately made the girls who were secretly observing and marveling at his appetite burst into laughter.

He was too lazy to bother with them, so he invited the captain and the others to wait there for tea, while he took the new employees for a walk in the city to digest their food.

The girls naturally followed along under the attentive care of the female employee, but only Stone followed the guards, while Mao played with the three dogs in the teahouse. He was used to this kind of place with all sorts of people.

Sure enough, there wasn't much to see in the city. A large number of new buildings constructed in the 1960s and 70s were mixed in without any planning, completely destroying the ancient building complex. There were no old streets to be seen.

It doesn't have the same level of completeness as the cluster of buildings on West Second Street.

Occasionally, ancient buildings such as Qing Dynasty barracks and government offices appear sporadically, but they are completely altered by adding cement walls here and asbestos tiles there.

Wei Dong thought with great regret, "Is the only option to dismantle some railings and wooden door panels and piece them together in the new town...?"

Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck me: since we're just scraping together resources anyway, why bother searching in this city? The entire Shangzhou region has ten counties and cities, hundreds of communes, which is over a hundred towns.

Every town has quaint old buildings. Taking advantage of the fact that the villagers don't have a sense of historical sites, they go there under the guise of tourism development companies to build new houses and replace them!
If you replace the original ancient buildings with new ones and then piece together an ancient town near the scenic area, wouldn't that be perfect?

In fact, for those who admire the 318 National Highway and dream of "traveling the world with a sword," Wei Dong believes that the best tourist attractions should be places like Lijiang Ancient Town and Dali Ancient Town.

Living in an ancient town full of charm, with unparalleled scenery outside the window.

During the day, you can hike and enjoy the scenery; at night, you can listen to music and eat barbecue at bars. The road sign reads "I'm waiting for you at Kuimen," creating a sophisticated and bourgeois atmosphere.

There are also high-speed airships from Jiangzhou that can regularly transport tourists here!
It only takes three or four hours to get back to Jiangzhou by plane or high-speed rail. Later, a high-speed rail line was also built here, as well as the Three Gorges Airport.

In addition, by promoting the Qutang Gorge to the level of Guilin's landscape and the Five Sacred Mountains on Zhuan'ertai, the entire business loop is complete.

Others are afraid that their business won't make money, and they all want to make quick profits.

Wei Dong was exactly eager to keep a low profile and invest all his wealth in long-term preparations without drawing attention to himself.

These days, the solution to Wei Dong's shock at the hundreds of millions of yuan in wealth has become so clear.

(End of this chapter)