The first poisonous scholar in Daxia, starting from the abdication of the prime minister

Chapter 341: Grand Canal...

Emperor Xia couldn't help but marvel at Gu Jingzhi's brilliant ideas.

However, he was still a little worried: "Gu Qing, your idea is very good, but I wonder if the officials will agree to it. For them..."

"Your Majesty has increased the salaries of all officials. Why would they disagree?"

Gu Jingzhi laughed strangely and said, "Could it be that they have so many books on sages?"

"..."

Yes! I'm going to increase their salaries, why would they disagree?

Emperor Xia muttered to himself, then smiled and said, "Let's not talk about this anymore. I saw that your report still involves the issue of tax losses, which is a major problem that has been difficult to solve throughout the dynasties. I wonder what solutions you have for this, Mr. Gu?"

"Your Majesty, this food loss is primarily due to transportation. If you want to find a solution... I do have a few!"

Gu Jingzhi smiled slightly, then bowed and said, "I dare to ask Your Majesty to grant me the Daxia feng shui map!"

"what?"

Emperor Xia laughed dumbly: "Are you offering me advice or commanding a massive army to fight?"

Having said that, he still signaled the eunuchs below to present the map.

When a complete map of Daxia was hung before the two of them, Gu Jingzhi pointed at the land and said, "Your Majesty, this is the location of the capital. If we talk about the places where grain production in Daxia is relatively concentrated..."

"Mainly the South, Central Plains, Xichuan and Guanzhong!"

Gu Jingzhi pointed to a few places on the map, then circled the South and West Sichuan. "Among them, transporting grain to the South and West Sichuan is the most difficult! The former is too far away, and the latter is due to road problems!"

Emperor Xia nodded slightly and sighed, "Yes, these two places are both rich and prosperous. The taxes in Great Xia are heavy, but the annual loss of grain transportation is also extremely serious!"

Gu Jingzhi nodded and said, "That's why I want to build four large granaries in Qinzhou, Cangzhou, Dongzhou, and Jiangzhou!"

He pointed to a few places and said, "Qinzhou is located in the north of Xichuan. To the east is the capital, and it can also be directly connected to Ningzhou by water. If we build a granary here, whether we need to mobilize grain to the capital or respond to border emergencies, we can provide food and fodder as quickly as possible!"

"Cangzhou is located in the Central Plains, only ten days' journey from the capital. To the north, it's the border between Daxia and Beili, only fifteen days' journey! Its role... is the same as Qinzhou!"

"What about Dongzhou and Jiangzhou?"

Emperor Xia looked at the two places and said, "South of Great Xia is barren land, but it does offer less trouble on the border. Why did you build these two granaries?"

"Your Majesty, Dongzhou and Jiangzhou are connected to the Yangtze River, and the roads to the north are entirely overland. Speaking of which, the most expensive way to transport grain from the south is along the roads from these two places to the capital!"

"Although there are no border threats in the south, floods occur frequently. Therefore, these two granaries can be used for disaster relief in the early stages!"

Disaster relief?

Emperor Xia nodded slightly. This was a good idea. However, he noticed the implication behind Gu Jingzhi's words and asked, "What do you mean by 'early stage'? Do you have other considerations?"

"Look, Your Majesty!"

Gu Jingzhi placed his fingers on the several bodies of water between the two places. "Linjiang, Qingchuan, Hengjiang... Linjiang surrounds the capital and is a natural barrier. Qingchuan and Hengjiang run almost across the center of Daxia. These three are considered the largest bodies of water in the heart of Daxia!"

"The area south of Hengjiang connects the waters of Dongzhou and Jiangzhou..."

"If the imperial court issues an order to break through the barriers between Linjiang, Qingchuan, and Hengjiang, connecting the three waterways, and then connecting Dongzhou and Jiangzhou, it would be equivalent to opening up the waterway from the capital to the entire south!"

"what?"

Xia Di suddenly stood up, walked to the map, stared at it blankly, and kept gesturing with his fingers. The more he gestured, the brighter his eyes became, and his fingers even trembled in the end!

As an emperor, what he saw was more than just transportation.

If this water area is opened up, it will be equivalent to connecting the entire north and south. In this way, Daxia's control over the entire south will be further strengthened. This is the top priority!

"Gu, Mr. Gu, opening up the northern and southern waterways would cost an untold amount of money and supplies... is it really feasible?"

“Of course it’s possible!”

Gu Jingzhi smiled slightly: "If the new currency is successfully promoted, the court's tax revenue will increase several times compared to before. As for food, it will be even simpler!"

Gu Jingzhi's method is actually to open the canal, but this cannot be started overnight.

The opening of the canal would not be accomplished in the short term. He proposed this method only to solve the subsequent problem of granary.

According to his idea, it would be best to settle local taxes with money in the future so that there would be no need to worry about losses, but this is not realistic!

Of course, the decree to use money instead of food must be issued, and money will occupy a large proportion in the future. In this way, there will be less food, and the loss will naturally be reduced.

When Gu Jingzhi brought up this matter, Emperor Xia's eyes lit up.

"If what you're doing is feasible, then food losses will be greatly reduced! But I don't understand why the people can't just pay half in money and half in grain."

"Your Majesty! I'm afraid this won't work!"

Gu Jingzhi smiled bitterly and said, "If the amount of money and grain is fixed, then when the people pay their taxes they will have to sell grain to make up the money. Then the grain merchants in various places will definitely lower the grain prices, and the people will be hurt!"

"Let the people choose freely. If they have money, they can pay; if they don't, they can pay grain. This way, we won't give others an opportunity to take advantage of us! And this is the purpose of my building the granary!"

"Using local granaries to collect the taxes paid by the people can be used for emergency response at the border and disaster relief! This is especially true in the south. If Great Xia decides to build a Grand Canal in the future, the southern granaries will be perfect for consumption!"

"Besides, it will take time to promote this currency. Once it is fully implemented throughout Daxia, I think the people will get used to using money instead of grain. Even if they still choose to pay grain, the loss can be minimized with the Grand Canal!"

He built the granary only for the sake of early stage considerations. It was unrealistic to use money when the currency was not fully issued.

But the food stored in the granary cannot rot there.

If it is transported to the capital... it will also consume a lot of food. In this case, the significance of building a granary will be greatly reduced. It would be better to directly open a canal to consume the food!

When Gu Jingzhi thought about these things at the time, he felt a little amused and helpless.

In order to reduce food loss, they actually came up with such a huge project as building a canal. However, history has proved that building a canal is beneficial to national unification, so this is not putting the cart before the horse!

Emperor Xia had never expected that he only asked Gu Jingzhi to solve the taxation problem, but ended up leveraging such a huge project.

The emperor and his minister chatted in the imperial study until the palace gates were about to close. Emperor Xia's face was full of fatigue, but he still seemed to be reluctant to leave.

He sighed, "I never expected it would have come to this. Gu Qing's ability to govern...is unmatched in Daxia. His talent is enough to make him a prime minister!"

"His Majesty!"

Gu Jingzhi immediately bowed and said, "My greatest wish is to join the cabinet and become the Prime Minister..."

Become Prime Minister...

I don't want to die!

You know, his first move after entering the court... was to depose the prime minister!