Chapter 60: Building a Pier 3/3

Li Qingzhi wrote down on paper some of the hardships that the common people faced when participating in corvée and how there were always deaths among those who participated. He also suggested an idea to Magistrate Guo.

Many people would pay money to the government to exempt themselves from corvée.

This money could be used to improve the lives of the people doing corvée. Additionally, Magistrate Guo could negotiate with the wealthy households in the city to donate money to improve the food and accommodation of the people doing corvée.

As for why the wealthy households should donate money… when the roads were repaired, a stone monument could be erected on the roadside with the names of the wealthy households who had donated money.

There was a big gap between the rich and the poor in Dazi, and the wealthy households in the city were actually very wealthy. They would definitely not mind spending some money!

He could also negotiate with the medical halls in the city to have a few doctors provide free medical consultations for the people doing corvée. Of course, the names of these doctors could also be written on the stone monument.

The people doing corvée never received wages, so they actually didn’t need to be paid. This money could be used to buy meat and grain for the common people, as what the people at the bottom lacked the most nowadays was food.

If they were well-fed, even with a smaller workload, there wouldn’t be any deaths from corvée.

After Li Qingzhi finished writing, he thought of something else and continued writing.

Actually, he felt that repairing the docks was not very meaningful. Instead… why not build a new dock?

The docks in Chongcheng County were built many years ago and were a bit small. He often saw many large ships that were unable to dock and could only block the river.

In that case, why didn’t Chongcheng County build a larger dock?

Similarly, the county town of Chongcheng County was also small.

When Daqi was just founded, the county town of Chongcheng County only had a few thousand people living in it. But now? The county town had more than twenty thousand people!

The county town was already overcrowded, with not even a slightly larger road. Many families, with several people, could only live in a small hut.

Even the Zhu family had quite small houses.

If a new dock were built outside the city, and some houses were built near the dock… many people could actually move to live outside the city.

This would not only increase the housing area for the people in the county town, but Magistrate Guo could also sell houses and land, earning some money.

This money could be used to build the new dock.

The more Li Qingzhi wrote, the more feasible he felt it was.

What he wanted to build was not a large dock by the sea, but a small dock for the county town. This would actually be quite easy to build.

In Chongcheng County, the smallest dock was the Hebutou, and even if it had a few steps, it could be considered built. The original large dock in Chongcheng County was actually quite small and wasn’t even as big as a football field.

If the newly built dock were as large as a football field, there would be two docks for Chongcheng County to use in the future, and it would definitely not be crowded.

While Li Qingzhi was writing down his plans with great enthusiasm, Magistrate Gou was interrogating Zhang Yunquan’s subordinates outside.

Many commoners came today; some were victims, while others came just to watch the excitement.

However, among these people, very few could actually see the scene, with most being crowded outside.

Fortunately, Zhu had made arrangements in advance. He had some eloquent people go to the front to watch the interrogation, then they would come back and relay the information to the commoners on the outskirts, which satisfied them.

In the eager and admiring eyes of the commoners in Chongcheng County, Magistrate Gou conducted fair interrogations of everyone, including Zhang Yunquan.

None of these people were particularly stubborn. When they were brought before the crowd and stared at by so many commoners, most of them confessed, making the interrogations proceed very smoothly.

This excited the commoners who were observing the interrogations, and they shouted loudly, “Magistrate Gou,” while the victims addressed him as “Master Qingtian.”

Facing such enthusiasm from the commoners, Magistrate Gou felt light-hearted.

He couldn’t really be considered a good person. When he came to Chongcheng County and found that there were many things he couldn’t control, he intended to not bother with anything and just make some money before leaving.

But now… his thoughts had completely changed.

Magistrate Gou was busy for most of the day interrogating everyone, and during that time he didn’t even eat anything.

He was too excited to even feel hungry!

After everything was done, Magistrate Gou walked briskly towards the back of the county office.

“Sir, the meal is ready,” said the steward of Magistrate Gou.

Magistrate Gou said, “Then let’s set up the meal. Wait, has Li Qingzhi eaten?”

“Mr. Li has already eaten,” the steward replied. He had sent food to Li Qingzhi, and Li Qingzhi had finished it all.

“He’s already eaten… Well, go and invite Mr. Li to join us for a bit more. I have something to discuss with him,” Magistrate Gou said. He was hungry, but he also wanted to see Li Qingzhi sooner.

The ideas Li Qingzhi had given him were really excellent!

And those stories Li Qingzhi had written for him… As far as he knew, the storytellers in the city had been repeating those stories over and over these days, and the people in the city never grew tired of hearing them.

The feeling of being loved and admired by the common people was truly wonderful!

Just as Magistrate Gou sat down at the table, Li Qingzhi arrived. He still had some papers in his hand, densely filled with words, and it seemed there were also some drawings.

Magistrate Gou invited Li Qingzhi to sit down and eat, then asked, “Nephew, what do you have there?”

Li Qingzhi said, “Sir, these days I’ve been moving around and found that the common people truly have difficulties…”

Li Qingzhi slowly began to talk about the issue of corvée labor.

At first, Magistrate Gou didn’t think much of it. He knew that corvée labor was very hard for the common people, and he also thought that in the future, he could raise money to improve the lives of those subject to corvée labor. But he didn’t expect Li Qingzhi to come up with so many solutions.

And… build a new dock?

If the new dock were really built, it would definitely be his political achievement!

In the past, when officials repaired river embankments, the common people named the embankments after the officials. If he built a dock, would the common people name it after him?

Although his surname didn’t sound pleasant, his given name, his style name, and the pseudonym he had given himself, were all very pleasant!

Of course, building a dock required money, but the required amount wasn’t particularly large. With a monument in place, merchants would definitely be willing to donate money!

The more Magistrate Gou thought about it, the more excited he became, and he lost his appetite!

Li Qingzhi, on the other hand, was different. He ate gracefully while talking.

Writing so much had consumed a lot of his energy, and now he urgently needed to eat to replenish it.

As Magistrate Gou talked, he came back to his senses and noticed that Li Qingzhi had already eaten a lot.

The steward had said that Li Qingzhi had eaten, but Li Qingzhi must have eaten enough earlier and couldn’t eat so much now.

During his busy time, Li Qingzhi must have been racking his brains about the dock construction, too busy to eat.

Magistrate Gou was deeply moved, and his gaze toward Li Qingzhi became even warmer.

But Li Qingzhi, having eaten his fill, just wanted to leave.

He needed to go find Jin Xiaoye.

“Sir, how about we discuss the dock construction tomorrow?” Li Qingzhi looked at Magistrate Gou with concern. “You’ve been working hard today, you should rest well.”

Magistrate Gou was even more touched—Li Qingzhi really cared about him!