The Royal Merchant Guild owned three hundred thousand mu of land across various counties, establishing farms. Each farm comprised five thousand mu, totaling sixty farms, with each farm housing 250 households, amounting to 1250 people.
One person was compulsorily recruited from each household, though there was no restriction on more individuals participating in the road construction team. Even so, the recruitment from a single county reached fifteen thousand, and the total number of people recruited from all farms in all counties nationwide amounted to seven million two hundred thousand.
The total population of the Yun Yue Kingdom was only twenty-five million. Seven million people already constituted nearly thirty percent of the total population! Even if these seven million people worked for just one and a half months, the expenditure for wages alone would require at least approximately ten million five hundred and thirty thousand taels.
This did not even include the costs of food and accommodation. Such a colossal expense would bankrupt the Yun Yue Kingdom, let alone afford it.
Yet, Chu Chen had done precisely this, and he had even successfully persuaded the Empress.
Time rewound to the beginning of winter, in the Imperial Study.
"What! Chu Chen, are you insane? Recruiting one person from each household of every farm as road construction workers? And from all farms nationwide? Do you know how enormous the expenditure will be? Even my personal treasury currently has a surplus of only twelve million taels! Three million of that was from last year's surplus!"
The Empress was utterly shocked, disbelieving, looking at him as if he were a madman.
"Your Majesty, your humble servant naturally knows the expenditure is substantial. But you must understand, for the Yun Yue Kingdom to truly prosper, roads must be built first. Only when the roads in all prefectures and counties are completely unobstructed can there be more flow of goods, and can people circulate more conveniently and rapidly. The benefits of doing so are not only conducive to civilian trade but also beneficial to the military, troop movements, and the transportation of military supplies."
Chu Chen said calmly.
"I naturally understand the benefits of roads, but road construction is not done like this, trying to get rich quick. Building them piece by piece, county by county, would be better, wouldn't it? The current problem is not the roads, but the lack of money! Even if all the money in my personal treasury, the imperial treasury, and even the Royal Merchant Guild were combined, it would not be enough! Do you know that?"
"Your humble servant knows, but I believe this is not a problem."
"..."
The Empress was speechless. No money is not a problem? That is the biggest problem, alright! And what is this plan of yours? Utilizing the farming off-season to become a construction powerhouse, completing roads in all prefectures and counties within a month and a half, and four lanes at that.
Are you sure you know what you're talking about? Are you sure you have enough money, enough grain, and even enough cement?
"Speak, how will you solve the problem of money and grain?"
The Empress took a deep breath. If Chu Chen had not repeatedly created miracles, she would have already ordered this babbling, madman to be dragged out and executed, to avoid further annoyance.
Chu Chen smiled slightly and asked, "Your Majesty, do you remember the money house I told you about?"
"Yes, I remember," the Empress replied after recalling.
"The so-called money house is about using nothing to gain something, using a pile of waste paper to bring real gold and silver into the imperial treasury, and it can also replace gold and silver for goods to remain in circulation, and even circulate more rapidly and conveniently."
"The problem of money and grain expenditure for road construction that I mentioned can be solved by this."
"Is that so?" The Empress frowned, contemplating.
Chu Chen had mentioned the money house to her when he established the Royal Merchant Guild, but it was not yet the right time to set it up.
Seeing that the Empress did not understand the principle, Chu Chen continued, "Your Majesty, what do you think would happen if the wages for the seven million road construction workers were paid in printed Yun currency?"
"They would likely not believe it and would think the imperial court is playing a trick, which would greatly diminish the trust the imperial court has among the people."
The Empress looked at Chu Chen coldly and said slowly.
"What if, in addition to receiving one liter of grain for every hundred wen of wages paid in Yun currency? And coupled with the trade routes the Royal Merchant Guild has already opened across the five lakes and four seas, setting up trading posts within the construction teams and promising to accept Yun currency?"
Chu Chen smiled slightly, speaking with great confidence.
"Exchanging for Yun currency to receive extra grain? Setting up trading posts to accept Yun currency!"
The Empress's mind raced, and she was utterly astonished.
This Chu Chen, possessed of such a divine strategy, could actually conceive of such a method!
With her powerful intellect, the Empress deduced that this approach seemed highly beneficial.
Yun currency was a type of paper money, banknotes made from special paper, possessing dual anti-counterfeiting measures: physical manufacturing and spiritual aura detection, making it extremely difficult to forge.
Why did the Empress consider Yun currency unreliable? Simply put, because she believed that without a mandatory measure, this paper money could not buy anything, and no merchant would be foolish enough to accept paper in exchange for goods.
However, if the Royal Merchant Guild were to undertake this task, that problem would not exist. The Royal Merchant Guild accepting paper currency in exchange for physical goods would give the paper currency value.
The Royal Merchant Guild, ostensibly backed by Princess Xin Yue, with Prime Minister Chu Chen supporting it, had its goods guaranteed by numerous novelties, had won over merchants, and had many factories supplying goods.
In just half a year, it had developed into a behemoth. With such a nationwide guild guaranteeing Yun currency, it would have transactional value.
"But what if the workers do not spend all their Yun currency during the road construction? From what I know, most common folk like to save silver. If they take the Yun currency back and find it unusable outside the construction team, how will you resolve that?"
The Empress asked coldly, frowning.
Chu Chen smiled and uttered two words: farms.
Instantly, the Empress was shocked again.
This Chu Chen, had he thought so far ahead? Inventions, the Royal Merchant Guild, farms, road construction, Yun currency, merchant trading posts, farm trading posts – everything was interconnected!
Terrifying indeed!
If they left the construction team, the farms would be responsible for accepting Yun currency and then selling goods. Although the variety of goods might not be as extensive as in cities, they could still be spent normally, thus giving Yun currency complete transactional and circulating value.
The Empress took a deep breath and asked, "Alright, since Yun currency can be used, how will you produce so much silver and grain?"
"With Yun currency, wages can be paid without silver. Silver, as the hard currency of the money house, will serve as the basis for printing Yun currency. As long as there is no bank run, it can be over-issued beyond the silver reserves. Ten thousand taels of silver can print twenty thousand taels of Yun currency."
"As for grain, the Royal Merchant Guild's goods will be exchanged for Yun currency, not gold or silver. To obtain Yun currency, one must either exchange grain from the money house or purchase it at a premium from the workers. Merchants will naturally make their own choices."
"Once everyone uses Yun currency, the Royal Merchant Guild will also use Yun currency to purchase goods produced by factories. If anyone uses Yun currency to exchange for gold or silver at the money house, let them exchange it."
"After a period of time, no one will want to carry heavy gold and silver for trade or even carry it on the street."
"..." The Empress fell silent. Chu Chen's grand strategy was truly immense.