Yun Lie stood beside her, his tall frame shielding her from the slanting autumn sun, his handsome, resolute, light bronze face full of determination.
"I'll try to talk to the major local families about the money."
He knew very well that wealthy families elsewhere would never risk offending the future crown prince by providing financial assistance to Linchuan. At present, it seemed that there was no better way than to rely on local gentry to contribute.
“Although the local prominent families are all wealthy gentry with land and property, they are ultimately commoners. Their perspectives and views on things are different from yours,” Luo Cuiwei shook her head at Yun Lie and smiled faintly.
Although Yun Lie was not favored since childhood, he was born as a royal heir and had led the army to protect this place for many years; he felt a sense of responsibility towards this land and its people.
Therefore, for Yun Lie, rebuilding the six cities of Linchuan is his ambition, his aspiration, and his lifelong wish that he would never turn back from, no matter how many times he faced setbacks or even death.
But the glory and grandeur of this benefiting future generations were too abstract for the local gentry and powerful families; it was simply a trivial matter that had nothing to do with them.
Luo Cuiwei traveled all over the country with her father from a young age, and later managed the family business and mingled in the business world for several years. She was used to seeing all kinds of people and was most adept at putting herself in other people's shoes and weighing the pros and cons.
Although she had not met with the major local families, she could understand their wait-and-see attitude at this moment.
“These local wealthy families are not hereditary nobles; their wealth is accumulated generation after generation through the collective efforts of their clans. How could they be willing to easily spend it on something for which they cannot immediately see a future?”
Therefore, no matter how you negotiate, it seems unlikely that the money will be agreed upon.
****
The six cities of Linchuan are jointly managed by Yun Lie and Luo Cuiwei. Naturally, her thoughts on what kind of future the Prince Zhao's Mansion will lead the six cities of Linchuan to are of great importance.
With Yun Lie and Song Jiuyuan listening attentively, Luo Cuiwei explained her thoughts one by one.
“We were originally going to build a royal palace, and the establishment of a vassal state requires the promotion of education, so official schools and academies also need to be built, right?”
She took two small wooden houses from a box on the table and casually placed them into the sand table. "The money for these two houses can be taken from the treasury of the Prince Zhao's mansion right now."
She had previously deposited a sum of money in the Luo family's money shop in the capital, and now, half a year later, it had grown considerably. At worst, she could take some more from her dowry to cover the costs; she wouldn't be short of money to build two houses.
In the model representing the new city of Linchuan, two small wooden houses stood alone, looking rather desolate.
“There are 30,000 soldiers from Linchuan in the defense zone. Although there are military doctors, they often lack medicine, right?” She looked at Yun Lie, then at Song Jiuyuan.
"If we put the business of supplying medicines to the Linchuan Army out there, it's impossible that no one will take it. We'll select two or three of the best ones, preferably well-established century-old brands like Jishetang with strong financial backing. We'll set conditions that they must have a shop nearby so that they can easily pick up medicine or seek medical advice at any time."
Song Jiuyuan stared at Luo Cuiwei in astonishment, while Yun Lie smiled knowingly.
“To show their sincerity in cooperating, the Prince Zhao’s Mansion allocated land to them at a low price,” she said calmly, taking out two more wooden houses, shaking them in her hand, and smiling with a hint of cunning. “They will build the houses themselves.”
Two more houses have appeared on the previously empty sand table.
“We can create all sorts of things using this approach, including the clothing, food, medicine, soldiers, and armor needed for the 30,000-strong Linchuan army.” Luo Cuiwei blinked and casually placed a few more small wooden houses into the sand table.
The 30,000 soldiers of the Linchuan Army were the capital that attracted capital from all directions to the new city.
Song Jiuyuan gave her a thumbs up: "Your Highness, you truly are..." a shrewd businesswoman.
Right now, what they have in abundance is land, but what they lack most, and what they urgently need, is the money to build houses on this vacant land.
Following Luo Cuiwei's suggestion, the land was allocated to merchants from various trades who wanted to do business with the 30,000-strong Linchuan army. This not only solved the army's supply problems but also restricted them to building houses only in the locations originally designated for the Zhaowang Mansion.
This is clearly designed to make people willingly pay out of their own pockets to help Prince Zhao's mansion build a new city!
"Yesterday, Your Highness met with the head of the Fu family of Tongshan," Luo Cuiwei said, taking out five more wooden huts and placing them inside. "The Fu family is a large local clan with a large population. Even if they don't immediately move all the members of the clan to the new city, they must have enough space for these few houses, right?"
Yun Lie smiled, stroked his chin and nodded, suddenly understanding his wife's thinking: "If at least a dozen or twenty new houses are built in a short time, there will be a shortage of manpower."
“Smart,” Luo Cuiwei snapped her fingers, her eyes crinkling with laughter. “Weren’t you worried about how to bring the scattered people to the new city? If there are jobs to do and people can earn money to make a living, then it’s impossible for no one to come.”
The local government offices have long been ineffective, and their decrees have no appeal to the people. However, the tangible benefits of "having work and earning money" are so real that they don't need any decrees. As soon as the news spreads, many landless and propertyless people will flock here in search of a place to make a living.
"But what if there's no work to do after the buildings are finished? Won't these people leave again?" Song Jiuyuan voiced his question.
Luo Cui smiled and shook her head, pointing towards the mountain: "Once they finish their work and have some money, we'll still give them land at an outrageously low price. For example, fifty copper coins will get them a piece of land. They can clear the land themselves, and they can choose to farm or build houses as they please. Wouldn't you be willing to do that?"
Song Jiuyuan really wanted to kneel down before her.
“With more people, merchants from all walks of life will not miss the opportunity to make money. Once goods are transported between the north and south, the whole city will come alive,” Luo Cuiwei raised her chin and clapped her hands back and forth. “At that time, we won’t need to beg; people from all walks of life will come begging us to allocate land and build houses.”
The construction funds, which had previously left everyone at a loss, were now broken down and "divided among households" by Luo Cuiwei.
"I understand now. The reason we were struggling so much before was because we kept thinking that the money for building the city should come from one or two companies," Song Jiuyuan said with a sudden realization, "but we didn't expect there was this trick of 'the wool comes from the sheep'!"
After drinking the warm tea in her cup in one gulp, Luo Cuiwei laughed and said, "Isn't that the point? Always trying to catch one or two sheep and fleece them, but those sheep aren't stupid."
She's an expert at doing things piecemeal.
Yun Lie stared curiously at the wooden houses in the sand table, pondered for a moment, then looked down at Luo Cuiwei with a smile.
"So, your method is equivalent to us spending the money for only two houses and slowly building up a city."
Luo Cui smiled and nodded at him, then proudly handed him her empty teacup.
"Why aren't you serving tea to the clever and capable Princess Consort?"
"Yes, ma'am." Yun Lie smiled as he took the teacup, not only pouring tea for her himself but also feeding it to her lips.
Thinking that Song Jiuyuan was still sitting at the opposite table, Luo Cuiwei felt a little embarrassed and wanted to take the teacup from him, but Yun Lie refused to give it to her and insisted on feeding her himself.
This situation left Song Jiuyuan, who was sitting opposite him, extremely embarrassed.
Your Highnesses, could you please restrain yourselves a little?! We're discussing serious matters here!
****