Changsun Wuji smiled slightly at this time, and then said, "Everyone, please be patient. You must remember that you are the subjects of Da Qin, and you are businessmen recognized by His Majesty. Your status is unmatched before. If the king does not expect it, Well, your status may be comparable to that of scholars soon, but don¡¯t tell anyone about this, otherwise, your Majesty will no longer be prepared to do this, so don¡¯t regret it.¡± When the merchants heard this, they all swallowed their saliva. This was shocking news. In fact, Changsun Wuji did not guess wrong. Qin Yu really had this plan, but he hadn't made it clear yet. Qin Yu It is necessary to give the people of Great Qin a process of adaptation. Of course, Qin Yu will not only improve the status of businessmen, but also the status of workers. In short, scholars, peasants, industry and merchants are on an equal footing. Of course, the status of those above them will also be improved. They are the nobles, and those below them are the ethnic groups outside the Qin Dynasty. And not everyone can become a noble. Qin Yu¡¯s nobility is those who contribute to the Qin Dynasty. There is no hereditary replacement. In other words, if you want to ensure the inheritance of the nobility, you must do the work for the Great Qin from generation to generation. Of course, the contribution will not be made directly to the end, but will be reduced by one level each generation. If the descendants of a certain noble are all idlers, they will eventually leave the ranks of the nobles. And all of this is Qin Yu's way of ensuring that the Qin Dynasty is always full of vigor, instead of thinking that it is strong, self-proclaimed, and unwilling to make progress. This kind of thinking is unacceptable. Unless Qin Yu kills everyone in the world except the descendants of Yan and Huang, otherwise the descendants of Yan and Huang will If you want to stay on top of the world forever, you have to constantly strengthen yourself. Only by constantly getting stronger can you ensure your status. Changsun Wuji was naturally not worried about Qin Yu hearing this. This is not a big secret. After all, Qin Yu also said about improving the status of businessmen, but he has not specifically said to what extent. Moreover, Changsun Wuji also said a key word. Perhaps, the cunning Changsun Wuji will naturally not He would say something that was guaranteed, but the businessmen didn't hear it that way. Changsun Wuji glanced at the businessmen, and then continued. "His Majesty is the first emperor throughout the ages, and he loves his people as his own children. If you bully the people and do illegal things, how could your Majesty let you go, and he will also take back the status granted to you, your children. Don't try to get ahead in the future. Yes, do you understand?" The merchants nodded involuntarily one by one, with cautious expressions on their faces. Changsun Wuji smiled immediately when he saw this, and then told the housekeeper at the door, "Bring the map." "Yes, sir." The steward quickly bowed and responded, then ran to get the map of Da Qin. He returned to the hall not long after and spread the map on the table. Changsun Wuji immediately stood up and came to the table. Pointing to the very scrawled map of Da Qin, he then glanced at the merchants. When the businessmen saw this, they stood up quickly and came to Changsun Wuji one by one and looked at the map. Changsun Wuji pointed at the map of Daqin at this time, and then said, "Your Majesty has said that half of the Daqin Highway will be temporarily allocated to you for construction. The highway currently being built is from Chang'an to Luoyang. Most of it has been completed now, but between other cities The highway construction has not yet started, so you have many areas to choose from, but I think you should start in Gyeonggi Province. Each county has many county towns. Taking Yongzhou as an example, it has 20 county towns under its jurisdiction. What you want to build is The road between the county seat and the county seat.¡± "If you encounter people's residences or fields on the road, you should fully compensate the people and resettle the people properly. This is the top priority. Don't make the people dissatisfied because of road construction, otherwise, you will also be punished." . Hearing this, the merchants nodded seriously one by one, and then said, "We will arrange the people properly and not cause trouble to your majesty or the prince." ? This can be seen from the strict regulations of confiscating homes if one penny less is paid. Qin Yu allows them to do business and gives them status, but there is one thing that they, businessmen, cannot touch in any case, and that is the basic interests of the people. Changsun Wuji said this because the road from Chang'an to Luoyang under construction also encountered people's houses or fields on the road. This is what Qin Yu ordered the people below to do. The people's houses needed to be demolished. Full compensation requires occupying people's fields, and full compensation is also required. Changsun Wuji is also learning and applying now. When Changsun Wuji heard this, he nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "There are many areas that need to be built on the Daqin Highway. Calculate the cost, and then tell me, so that I can report it to His Majesty. The final price is set at Wherever you go, it depends on your Majesty¡¯s will, but you don¡¯t have to worry, His Majesty will not let you suffer, but you must not do anything greedy, otherwise, even if His Majesty does not punish you, I will not let you go. " . When the businessmen heard this, they quickly nodded in agreement, and then got together to discuss.When the price came, Changsun Wuji did not shy away from it. After a while, a businessman looked at Changsun Wuji and asked, "Prince Changsun, I would like to ask if the price of the cement needed to build the road will be available." In addition, will the cement plant be built elsewhere?" When Changsun Wuji heard this, he immediately understood what the businessman meant. He thought for a moment and then said, "The price of cement will not change. As for the cement factory, I will suggest that your Majesty build more cement plants." It¡¯s very convenient to build roads.¡± When the businessman heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked, "Prince Changsun, I wonder where the specifications of this highway are. Is it built according to the highway from Chang'an to Luoyang, or is it?" Changsun Wuji smiled slightly, and then said, "The highways between counties naturally do not need to be built according to the specifications of the Chang'an to Luoyang highway, only three meters on the left and right." When the businessmen heard this, they glanced at each other. A businessman bowed and said, "So, based on the profit calculation of one foot and ten coins, I wonder what Prince Changsun thinks?" The businessman didn't say much about the price, but directly said how much he could earn per foot, which was a bit beyond Changsun Wuji's expectations. After being slightly stunned, Changsun Wuji couldn't help but frown. Although these businessmen proposed to contract the road, it can be said that It doesn't make sense after all. Now that I'm here, it doesn't seem like much, but Daqin is not a small country. If highways are built in the north and south, these businessmen will not earn a few dozen guan, let alone tens of thousands of guan. That's It costs tens of millions of dollars. It is a pity to give so much money to these businessmen for nothing. It is better for the court to send people to do these things. However, after thinking about it, the court does not have so many people to call on. If the officials are sent to build roads, there will definitely be setbacks in the operation of the Qin Dynasty. , and the money is not all taken out at once, road construction is not that fast, and in a month, these businessmen can only get a few or dozens of guan at most. Thinking of this, Changsun Wuji suddenly calmed down. After a while, Changsun Wuji looked at the merchants and said, "Since you are unwilling to raise the price, I will give you ten cents per foot of profit as you said. I will go and report it to Your Majesty. When Your Majesty nods, you will Road construction can begin.¡± When the businessmen heard this, they all bowed and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Lord Changsun. We can't thank you enough." As Changsun Wuji thought, these businessmen really shouldn't raise prices randomly. If they raise prices, Qin Yu will be unhappy. If they raise prices lower, they will lose money. After all, no one has built a road, and no one knows what is going on. How much did it cost, and finally came up with this not-so-solution, which seemed quite small, but Daqin was big enough, and there were many roads to be built, so they only needed to send people to do these things, and they didn't need to take action. , all that's left is to wait to collect the money. This is a long-term job. The longer the road is built, the more they earn. Of course, none of these businessmen dare to be careless about this matter and deal with it. , unless they are impatient with life and want to go to the West to see Buddha as soon as possible. In fact, they have not lived enough yet, so no one dares to do anything wrong. Basically, the behavior of these businessmen is equivalent to the managers hired by Da Qin, and the profits are their wages. Changsun Wuji smiled and nodded, and then said, "Okay, you each choose a road first, and then start preparing to build the highway. I will send someone to send you the news soon. As long as His Majesty nods, you will Road construction can begin.¡± "Yes, Prince Changsun." The businessmen bowed and worshiped one by one, and then began to choose the highway between the county towns in Gyeonggi Province. There are many merchants. Although there are not many prefectural cities in Gyeonggi Province, there are many county towns. When the last merchant took over the construction task, the distribution was completed. Changsun Wuji immediately ordered people to get pens, ink, paper and inkstones, and ordered the merchants to sign a contract document. The price was naturally ten yuan per zhang of profit, in duplicate. It also recorded which road section, as well as the regular payment of money to them by the court every month, etc. The merchants have all signed, but Changsun Wuji has not yet signed. After all, Qin Yu has not nodded yet. However, Changsun Wuji feels that Qin Yu will not object. After all, the price is not very high. Of course, compared to using slaves to build roads, this price is Still expensive. Who told Qin Yu to prepare to increase some income for the people of Da Qin? This can be regarded as a disguised form of work-for-relief. With money, the lives of the people of Da Qin will naturally get better and better. This is for sure. After the housekeeper collected the contract documents one by one, Changsun Wuji looked at the businessmen and said, "In this case, you go home first and wait for the news, and prepare for the construction of the road." "Yes, Prince Changsun, I will take my leave." When the merchants heard this, they bowed down one by one and left the Changsun Mansion.