The merchants who jointly proposed to the Ministry of Works to contract the operation and construction of the official roads did not expect that Chu Yun would personally lead the Ministry of Revenue, and officials from the Ministry of Works negotiated face-to-face with them in the inner hall of the Ministry of Works to see if they had the ability and responsibility to contract a large section of the official roads from the capital to Tianjin.

More than 20 merchants originally thought that at most officials at the level of Minister of Works found them. At this time, they couldn't help but get nervous. The improvement of their merchant status and the beginning of trade to the whole world were all thanks to the mercantilism practiced by the man in front of them.

The merchants privately looked at each other with their own eyes and saw the nervousness in each other's eyes.

"I have already read the plans submitted by you. I am also quite interested in your plan to contract official affairs. Ji Yuyong, you are the primary proposer of this official affairs contract plan. During the Wanli period, you were an official in the Ministry of Personnel. Now you have returned to your hometown in Taixing to manage salt affairs. You have a broad vision. Tell me what you think." Chu Yun said.

"Yes!" Ji Yuyong was once an official in the dynasty, and it is not difficult to imagine that his resume was well known to Chu Yun.

"The capital is the most prosperous place in the world, and it is also the capital. Every day, there is a continuous stream of goods transported from all over the world by land, sea, and canal to the capital. Now that sea transportation is becoming increasingly developed, the connection between the capital and Tianjin Wei is becoming increasingly close, and the inlet and outflow of goods is increasing. The official road has not been repaired for many years, and it has been partially destroyed in the war. Some dirt roads are muddy during the rainy season and the accumulation of water is very serious. Carriages need to wait for the accumulation of water to be drained before they can pass. There are also sections of roads located on the side of the hillside. When rainy days or earth dragons shake, the mountain collapses and blocks the road. Once such a situation occurs, the goods are stuck, and we cannot send the goods to the seller to breach the contract. Some goods are not fresh or corrosive after they are lost."

"If we rebuild the official road, we will improve it from three aspects. One is to clear the official road, send workers to clear the blocked sections, try to raise the road surface, and dig drainage channels on both sides of the official road. The second is to broaden some official roads according to unified standards, and gradually widen the originally narrow sections to allow four or even eight carriages to pass at the same time. The third is to operate the official road on behalf of the government. Once water accumulation or blockage occurs, we will hire workers to clear it as soon as possible. If the cargo transportation volume in the future is larger, we will consider a second expansion of the official road to make the official road more spacious." Ji Yuyong described his ideas to Chu Yun.

Chu Yun listened carefully. After inspecting the road, these merchants made their own demands, which has improved a lot compared to passively accepting the government's arrangements. Moreover, the ideas and measures proposed by Ji Yuyong are indeed very close to actual road needs.

After Ji Yuyong finished speaking, he held his breath and observed Chu Yun's face. The other merchants who came with Ji Yuyong were also in a state of mind. I wonder if Chu Yun would criticize them. Although Chu Yun was regarded as a guardian god by the merchants, they had never dealt with Chu Yun and did not know what his temper was. Ji Yuyong did not even take the initiative to propose the establishment of the checkpoint to charge fees, because he was afraid that Chu Yun's temperament would change and opposed their proposal.

"Your idea is very good, and there are almost no big mistakes. But this is a plan designed from your perspective, and our government has its own opinions." Chu Yun said.

"Does the military leader think our proposal does not meet the views of the government?" Ji Yuyong saw that Chu Yun thought the plan only considered the interests of the merchants, and he couldn't help but worry that Chu Yun would reject his proposal.

In order to investigate the official road from Beijing to Tianjin, it took him a lot of time to form the current report. Moreover, it was not easy to convene more than 20 big businessmen from all walks of life to support his idea. Not everyone is willing to spend so much money to invest in a huge project like rebuilding the official road. If his idea was rejected by Chu Yun, then his efforts during this period would be in vain.

"No, considering the views of the government does not mean denying your ideas, but rather that both parties are working hard to do a better job of rebuilding the official road." Chu Yun said, "The Minister of Works will explain to you the views of the Ministry of Works."

The Minister of Works received a prompt from Chu Yun, so he spread a topographic map of the Beijing-Tianjin area on the large wooden table where the merchants were.

After Chu Yun took power, the map gave up the more primitive image painting method and used the theodolite-based painting terrain that was closer to reality. The terrain, terrain, roads, villages and towns near the capital have been surveyed and mapped in detail in recent years.

Even merchants such a detailed topographic map had never seen Ji Yuyong and other merchants, and were stunned for a moment.

"This map is very detailed, and the red line in the middle is the current official road. When the official road was built, it paid more attention to the canal transportation and despised the sea transportation. Therefore, your judgment is correct. The pipeline that was most suitable for reality in the past is now a bit unsatisfied. Now that the shipping in coastal areas is becoming increasingly developed, how to transport goods from the mainland to ports as soon as possible has become an urgent task."

"But we do not want you to only repair and widen the original section after contracting the official road. We hope you can thoroughly optimize the original official road. For example, if this section of official road can pass through these three villages in a straight manner, it can shorten the distance of ten miles and drive the development of the three villages. Our government hopes to shorten the distance between the capital and Tianjin Wei Port as much as possible, and also hope that the official road can be as straight as possible so that the road surface of the official road can be upgraded and transformed in the future."

The Minister of Works of the Ministry of Works expressed his proposal on behalf of Chu Yun.

"If we can shorten the distance between the capital and Tianjin Guards as much as possible, it is indeed a good thing to benefit the country and the people. However, for ordinary businessmen, it is already quite difficult to invest in silver to clear and broaden the original official road. Shortening the distance requires building a new, straight official road from scratch. You may need to open mountains and build bridges in the middle of the journey, and you have to go through the village to have disputes with the villagers. This cost is too high..." Ji Yuyong said embarrassedly.

The other merchants present nodded as if they agreed. They all knew that the cost of building new roads was much higher than that of widening old roads.

Regarding the issue of cost, the official of the Ministry of Revenue said: "Our government can help you to a certain extent open new official roads with shorter distances, and can also help you deal with disputes caused by roads passing through villages and farmland. The distance of the new official road is shorter, so the old official roads can be free from dredging and rebuilding, and the cost of maintaining the new official roads will be less."
Chapter completed!