Chapter 66: Bounty

  The sky turned gloomy, the wind began to howl, and the clouds turned yellow. The clouds hung their heads in a limp manner, slowly rolling about in the sky with no strength.

  The harsh winter is approaching.

  Song Jiuyi bought a lot of charcoal, but the distribution was too scattered, and the teaching time was also reduced. Originally, Song Jiuyi wanted to take a three-nine holiday from February 9th to April 9th, but Yan Zhang disagreed. This winter still needs to be taught, Song Jiuyi had no choice but to buy a lot of charcoal. It seems that two coal mines were found on the Xuzhou side, but the storage volume is not clear, and it's not easy to mine either. Another problem is gunpowder, which must be produced by the imperial court. Then another problem followed, which is the system.

  New technologies will bring about a series of changes, such as iron ore must be unified smelting, can no longer move small furnaces everywhere like in the past, and private costs cannot achieve high furnace production, also including the preparation and use of gunpowder.

  Neither the "quota system" of the Song Dynasty at this time nor the later 2:8 ratio were quite suitable.

  What kind of system is still being considered by the monarch and his ministers, it depends on whether Song Jiu can really bring out good steel, in which case the system must be completely reformed.

  So the coal mine on the Xuzhou side is still under exploration.

  Some coal in Hebei and Shandong is buried deep in mountains and cannot be transported out. This winter, Song Jiucheng can only continue to use charcoal for heating.

  Several carts of charcoal were delivered, and Song Jiu yelled for the students to come over and move the charcoal into the storage room.

  A yamen runner came in and said that Zhao Kuangyi had summoned him to go to Kaifeng Prefecture.

  Song Jiulang arrived at Kaifeng Prefecture, Zhao Kuangyi received him in a side hall and first asked: "How does your Hezhou make money?"

  One painting after another was posted, on the other side of the Imperial Street. This matter caused a sensation in the capital, even more sensational than Fan Zhen's death. When Fan Zhen died, Zhao Kuangyin lamented and appointed his son, but after his death, it would trigger a series of political reshuffles behind the scenes, which was not visible on the surface. The first three paintings were from the Academy, and another three were occupied, meaning one is the dock, two is the Academy, this is to do things for the court, so as not to make some poor Confucians unhappy, looking for their own trouble.

  Still a distant view, two close-up views, but different from the private book house in the river, that is regular education, first grade six classes, each class not more than fifty people, now one class sixty-seven people, too crowded, second grade five classes, third grade four classes, considering some students can't wait for three years, issuing graduation certificates and completion certificates once a year, only marking which grade graduated, and two classes, one is undergraduate class, the other is graduate class, the former has two classes, the latter has only one class, it's a place to cultivate real scholars. Four-story building, seven rooms on each floor, the remaining houses are used as data rooms and teachers' offices.

  Not only are there classrooms, but also a cafeteria, library, dormitory, playground, ball field, some artificial hills and scenic areas, as well as a nursery and experimental area for cultivating students' hands-on skills. The area is not small, covering over 100 mu. The environment is beautiful, the scenery is picturesque, and there are some strange buildings. In short, everything is designed to be aesthetically pleasing, with all buildings blending into a bright and beautiful landscape. Even the dormitories have four beds on each floor, as well as desks for writing and areas for washing up.

  After it was built, the imperial court was worried about how to build a new Imperial Academy. Some people were so shameless that they almost asked Song Dynasty's Liu Ji to use this academy as a model and design one for the imperial court.

  But after this classroom came out, one thing can be clearly seen, glass, it's really glass, such a big piece of glass, and it's actually used as windows, still large windows, how much money does it cost?

  Now more than 90% of the people think that Song Ji is impossible to do, if it's done, they will squeeze their brains out later because they sent their children to learn.

  Then going east, the fourth painting is Jin Pu, which only painted a beautiful exterior and did not paint the interior. The Song Dynasty also had gold and silver silk shops with large transaction volumes, with a single transaction volume reaching tens of thousands of yuan, and later it will be even larger, with transactions worth tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of yuan appearing. I thought that was it, with the benefits of Bian Shui and Matou, it's a normal idea...

  The fifth picture after the golden pavilion is a high-end commercial district, with many beautiful shops painted, and a strange stone pavement on the ground. The entrance is clearly marked, and those who enter must wash their muddy shoes clean in the pool before entering. The gold shop is located at the end of the commercial district by the river. There are no specific small pictures. It seems that expensive goods are sold inside. Further east, adjacent to the opera house is a sports stadium. This time, a small picture was painted, also with strange architecture, dozens of strange pillars supporting a huge roof, which is similar to a warehouse roof but much larger. Below it, there were 5,000 or 6,000 seats packed with people, and in the middle, a group of people were playing cuju on the grass. The small picture depicts some high-difficulty acrobatic performances and large-scale song and dance performances, as well as other sports events such as archery, running, long jump, and other ball games.

  Here, the terrain of the riverbank is open and no longer a triangle, but an irregular quadrilateral. Between the dock and the southern entertainment district, there are large tracts of empty land, which is an ordinary commercial area, with countless shops, and a small tile that allows tourists to stop and take a break. The tile is not very big, and besides, there are many interesting things on the riverbank, so it doesn't need to be that big.

  The eighth painting is a square, to the north of the academy, with a monument in the center, a long columnar shape, on top of which stands an eagle spreading its wings and flying. On the monument are three large characters: Happy Island. There is also a square for feeding pigeons, as well as a small garden with some other animals, none of which are very big, followed by many flowers, grasses, and trees. Happy Island is not necessarily so, but the Cave of Exhaustion certainly is.

  The ninth painting is the largest area, a distant view of high-end residential areas, nearly one million square meters, with small pictures on the side, and a schematic diagram of the entire river's sewage treatment project. The daily wastewater is discharged into the Bian River or taken away by vehicles. Some things like toilets use the terrain to build pipes under the river and discharge them to the south bank of the Bian River as fertilizer for the people's farmland.

  The tenth painting is a large picture with several small pictures, including one fen, two fen, five fen, and one mu of land, four types of buildings. Regardless of size, they all have small gardens. The entire residential area is cut by the Bian River, surrounded by canals, and planted with lotus flowers and other beautiful aquatic plants. There are also public facilities and activity venues. Not only are the houses beautiful, but the scenery is even more beautiful. The large picture is a bird's-eye view of the entire river island.

  If the river state is really transformed into this, it's almost like a paradise on earth. Even the imperial palace can't compare with so many things to eat, drink and play. I don't know if it can be built, but if it can, some rich people want to buy one or two houses.

  But everyone knows that once this house is built, it will be very expensive, too expensive to imagine.

  However, some people are more aware that in reality, no matter how much Song Ji sells, he can't make much money from the house. The reason is simple: the base cost is too high. Even a luxurious mansion on one mu of land in the capital city would only be worth around 1,000 to 2,000 guan, while Song Ji has already paid the court 1,000 guan for just one mu of land. And what about the construction materials?

  Then rely on ticket sales? Or directly engage in business?

  Not mentioning the cost, just that over 40 million yuan is like a big mountain weighing on us. Zhao Kuangyi can understand why Song Jiu mentioned dredging the Bian River twice to take mud! In many places along the river, the terrain is too low, but by transporting the silt from the Bian River to the riverbank, it's not small or large, just raise the height, and there's no need to worry about flooding. But where does this money come from?

  Song Jiulang burst out laughing and said, "Second Master Wang, you've also seen those twenty pictures, right? For example, that sports stadium - it's meant to sell tickets. However, in our dynasty, entertainment venues generally don't charge admission fees. Charging too much would only lead to public discontent and criticism from scholars. They would only collect a few types of entrance fees ranging from ten to one hundred coins, with ten coins being the main price. The stadium needs maintenance, servant salaries, and rewards for participants - these ticket sales won't be enough."

  Zhao Kuangyi nodded, and indeed he had thought of it.

  The ones that can really make money are probably the regular stores and amusement parks. The shops either rent, with rents worth a fortune, or operate on their own, but doing business doesn't necessarily mean making money, and the capital is even bigger, which is why it's hard to understand.

  "Two big kings, but what if they open gambling?"

  "What lottery?"

  "It's about letting the competing teams win or lose, attracting the masses to place bets."

  "Scholarly pursuits have been reduced to nothing!"

  "The two great kings, what is this cultured sweep of the land? It's just a way of doing business. Without it, the common people would still be indulging in all sorts of gambling, just like Yan Doctor and Zhang Doctor, those upright men who occasionally even open up small gambling dens to gamble for small stakes. The only difference is that it commercializes gambling and will eventually become taxable revenue for the imperial court."

  Song Jiulang's idea was spread through Zhao Kuangyi's mouth, knowing it would make money, and people would invest in stocks. With the money, buildings were slowly built up, and houses could be sold, and the capital came back. Anyway, there was no rush, with ten years' time, enough to complete the construction of Hezhou. There is another background, that is, many Song Dynasty officials engaged in business and gambling, although the court had banned it before, but it didn't work. When the court issued a ban on gambling, Prime Minister Zhang Dexiang gambled with Yang Yi and Li Zongjin, losing 300,000 yuan in one night, winning back a large sum of money the next day, and losing again on the third night. The biggest gamble was between Zhao Dan and Zhao Kun, who gambled on ball games. Zhao Dan lost, continued to implement new policies, Zhao Dan won, stopped changing policies. As a result, Zhao Dan lost, and continued to change policies. It can't be banned.

  Song Jiuzi said that the business district, paying taxes is an excuse, in fact it is to make it public, legitimate, anyway can't be banned, might as well guide them. Make money for oneself, and the court also gets money. For now, there is still no ban on gambling.

  Zhao Kuangyi felt very uneasy and paced back and forth.

  Song Jiudao said, "Two great kings, is it better to dredge or block the water? I am just a humble official, and during this time, I have been exhausted. It's not just for my own benefit, but more so for the court's gain. If you want me to be like Fan Xiangong, that would be difficult."

  This is the key point, if Song Jiu had no motivation at all, how could he be so desperate?

  Zhao Kuangyi's face turned gloomy and he lost his smile, saying: "I heard that the research on that side is almost done?"

  "It's about right."

  "The location of the test has been finalized, in the northwest of Chenliu County, only a few dozen miles away from Dongshuimen. When are you going over?"

  "Let me pass, the court must prepare some supplies," Song Jiudao came with pen, ink, paper and inkstone, wrote down a string of supplies and quantities, and then said: "Also give me a few more days to prepare, this time will be very long, I need to prepare some teaching materials for the students to study on their own."

  "Learn to ride a horse, it's not far, there is an official road, and riding an official will be very fast."

  "It's just horse riding, I also need to learn for a few days, otherwise I won't be able to ride."

  "Alright, I'll give you a few days, but this is a serious matter and can't be taken lightly," Zhao Kuangyi looked at the list again, furrowing his brow as some of the materials on it would cost a lot of money.

  "I know." Song Jiu retreated, but in fact, Zhao Kuangyi didn't urge him to hurry up. Once it cools down, the others are insignificant, and that high furnace can be forgotten. The court attaches great importance to it, and various materials are constantly being transported to that salt alkali land. However, Song Jiu had people post several notices in front of Xiangguo Temple and Panlou, looking for a kind of treasure stone. The description was vague, only saying it was very transparent, and then wrote a symbol, which was that it could be used to easily scratch open glass. If there is one, they are willing to buy it at a price equivalent to ten times the value of the treasure stone. Many people didn't think that glass had anything hard, only a few people thought of it, this is scratching, not smashing. This thing seems to have been produced in China as well, but now it's definitely gone, if there is one, it would be from Tianzhu, and if not, the next part won't be very fun.