Chapter 54 To Get Rich, Build Roads First

The next day, Chu Chen walked downstairs feeling refreshed and in high spirits.

He saw Wang Defa sitting on the large sofa in the living room, chatting amiably with Liu Damei.

"Uncle Wang, you're up so early. What brings you here?"

Chu Chen stepped forward and greeted Wang Defa.

"Nothing much, just came to let you know that the road widening project in Mashan Village is scheduled to start today."

That was quite fast. It seemed Wang Defa had rather high working efficiency.

"Then I must thank you, Uncle Wang. I didn't expect you to move so quickly."

Wang Defa smiled sheepishly, as if he were holding something back.

After a long pause, he finally spoke: "Well... the work is starting fast, but the meals for the laborers—men and women, young and old—as well as the ox carts and materials for quarrying and hauling stones, all of these require..."

Hearing this, Chu Chen understood the purpose of his visit and quickly spoke up.

"Do you have a budget, Uncle Wang? Roughly how much is needed? I will cover all of it."

"Oh, thank you so much, young man Chu! I roughly calculated it. Just give me one hundred liang first, and if there's any surplus, I'll return it to you."

Upon hearing this, Chu Chen turned around and walked back to his room.

When he came back out, his hands held fifteen silver ingots, each weighing ten liang.

"What are you saying, Uncle Wang? Here is one hundred and fifty liang. If it's not enough, I'll add more. But the road must be built sturdily, with drainage ditches left on the sides, and everyone must be well-fed and eat properly."

Wang Defa gladly accepted the silver and immediately said, "Eating well and being well-fed is no problem at all. But as for those drainage ditches and such, you'll probably need to lend a hand, young man Chu."

Chu Chen thought for a moment and said, "No problem. I'll go over after the work starts. Later, I'll draw a blueprint and give it to Uncle Feng Wu; he is an expert in this field."

"That would be wonderful! Well then, I won't disturb you any longer and will take my leave."

Despite saying this, his eyes kept glancing toward the kitchen. Damn it, having money was truly great; there was already the aroma of meat early in the morning.

"Why the rush? Sit down and have breakfast before you leave."

Chu Chen pulled Wang Defa down to sit and instructed Xiaofang to set an extra pair of chopsticks and a bowl.

At this moment, the people in the house were waking up one after another, all enthusiastically greeting Wang Defa.

This made him feel extremely welcome and valued.

"Good morning, Uncle Wang."

"Good morning, Young Master Zhou."

As soon as Zhou Heng woke up, he began chatting with Wang Defa.

Zhou Heng held a rather favorable impression of this village chief and quite appreciated his ability to rally the people.

***

"What? Mashan Village wants to repair its road? Isn't there already a road?"

As they chatted, Zhou Heng suddenly raised his voice.

He found it very strange. Since there was already a road that could accommodate ox carts and carriages, why on earth waste such financial resources and labor on expanding it?

"Ahem, Brother Zhou, don't make such a fuss. Mashan Village will only get better and better in the future. As the old saying goes: if you want to get rich, build roads first. The uses of a road are immense."

Chu Chen couldn't help but chime in.

"But to widen an already perfectly good road like this—isn't that just a waste?"

It seemed that someone from the imperial family lacked practical vision, Chu Chen thought to himself. Through the interactions of the past two days, Chu Chen was now certain that this fellow undoubtedly belonged to the royal family.

"Let me ask you then, what is the price of rice in the capital?"

Chu Chen asked with a smile.

"Twenty to twenty-five wen per sheng. What does that have to do with this?"

Zhou Heng asked with a puzzled expression.

"Ha, the south produces rice, and when ordinary people harvest top-quality rice, the absolute peak price is ten wen per sheng. The difference of ten to fifteen wen in the middle—at least three wen of it goes purely toward transportation costs. Along the way, it has to go through numerous manual transportations, changing vehicles between village roads and official highways, plus water transport and so on."

"However, if there is a road wide enough for large wagons that leads directly to the capital, do you think it would still cost three wen in transport?"

With that, he ignored Zhou Heng and quietly resumed eating his breakfast.

Meanwhile, Zhou Heng muttered inwardly: "If you want to get rich, build roads first... If roads were connected everywhere in our Great Xia..."

Suddenly, as if he had discovered something profound, a brilliant light shone in his eyes.

After the meal, Chu Chen spent half an hour sketching a rough draft of the various components of the road.

Then, he walked toward the head of the village.

Seeing Chu Chen head out, Zhou Heng immediately followed behind him.

Chu Chen didn't mind this at all. If he wanted to follow, let him follow.

"Uncle Feng Wu, those drainage ditches are absolute musts!" Chu Chen shouted to Feng Wu at the construction site.

"Young man Chu, what brings you here? And what on earth is a drainage ditch?"

Chu Chen handed over the blueprint—a design he had copied from the bookshelf space within his mind.

Asking him to explain it verbally would be too vague, so handing over the diagram directly was best.

To his surprise, after Feng Wu looked over the blueprint for a moment, he exclaimed excitedly, "Brilliant! Why didn't I think of this? With these drainage ditches and slanted surfaces, there won't be any water accumulation on rainy days, which drastically reduces the chances of the road turning into a muddy mess or washing out."

"Tell me, young man Chu, how on earth are you so smart?"

***

Chu Chen chuckled foolishly. Smart my foot, I just copied it.

At that moment, Zhou Heng snatched the blueprint away and began to slowly puzzle out its logic.

He then turned to Chu Chen and said, "Brother Chu, would you be willing to gift this diagram to me?"

"Ahem, Brother Zhou, since you are staying at my house, we are brothers. Between brothers, there is nothing to hide, and we must be sincere."

"Since you want it, what harm is there in giving it to you once Uncle Feng Wu understands it thoroughly?"

After saying this, Chu Chen gave him a meaningful glance.

A flicker of tension struck Zhou Heng's heart. It seemed he still couldn't hide his identity from this man.

However, this was hardly the place to talk, so he nodded and began studying the blueprint alongside Feng Wu.

Chu Chen had never assigned Feng Wu any specific labor tasks, yet he paid him a monthly wage.

This man was the key to the entire construction of Mashan Village—a technical talent who also adapted quickly to new things.

"Uncle Feng Wu, following these requirements, how long will it take to complete the road?"

Chu Chen stepped forward and asked.

"Young man Chu, I'm not boasting, but as long as everyone pulls together, finishing it before the New Year will be no problem at all."

Hearing Feng Wu's assurance, Chu Chen exchanged a few polite pleasantries and then headed back home.

Meanwhile, Zhou Heng closely followed at Feng Wu's heels to observe the exact operational details.

As for this studious young master from a wealthy background, Feng Wu didn't mind him at all and let him tag along.

And so, the road renovation and expansion project of Mashan Village officially began in full swing.

Wang Defa was so busy every day that his feet barely touched the ground, yet he was utterly delighted.

While ensuring production quotas were met, the workers from the workshop also participated in the road construction project.

Ever since the first round of wages was distributed and people had spare money in their hands, their lives had undergone a heaven-shaking transformation.

Although they didn't have feasts of fish and meat every day, the phenomenon of going hungry had completely vanished.

Furthermore, the workshop covered the daily meals of those working there, allowing their disposable income to be used for purchasing other household goods.

At this moment, Chu Chen was sitting leisurely on a large boulder on the back mountain.

He gazed out at the dry farmlands of Mashan Village and fell deep into thought.