"Jiancheng? Your Highness, you... aren't you kidding?" County Magistrate Xie looked incredible. You know, Jiancheng is not a joke. Financial resources, material resources and manpower are indispensable. Even if all three are available, they still need to be approved by the court, otherwise even the prince will not have the power to build a new city.

"Liulang, there are many ports along the Yangtze River, and not far south from now on, there are Taizhou and Wenzhou. There are famous harbors there. Is it necessary to build another port here in Huating?" Although Li Ke was not very concerned about the political affairs here in Suzhou, he was still very clear about the surrounding geographical conditions. In his opinion, the surrounding ports are all ready-made, and there is no need to spend a lot of effort to build another one.

After hearing this, Li Yan smiled and said, "San brother, you don't know that although there are many ports along the Yangtze River, they are just river ports. In the past, whether it is sea transport or river transport, they used flat-bottomed boats, so the impact is not too great. However, now on the sea, there are new types of pointed-bottomed boats, and the ships are getting bigger and bigger. In this way, many sea ships cannot be parked at the river ports. In addition, if the goods concentrated in the ports on the Yangtze River are to go to sea, they must also change sea ships. This also requires a large sea port. Therefore, no matter from any aspect, there is a need to build a new port!"

Li Yan said this and stopped for a while and continued: "As for why we built the new city in Huating, there are two main reasons. The first is that this is the estuary of the Yangtze River. When ships along the Yangtze River arrive here, they don't have to venture into the sea anymore. They just transfer the goods to the sea boats. The second reason is also a geographical factor. In addition to the east, Huating is overseas. The other three sides are rich fish and rice towns, and it is also the main silk production place of our Tang Dynasty. Building the port here is also convenient for the distribution of goods around. If it is transported to Taizhou or Wenzhou south, it will inevitably increase the cost of goods. Therefore, in the long run, it is absolutely necessary to build a port city here!"

Li Yan's words made Li Ke and County Magistrate Xie nodded repeatedly. Li Yun and Li Zhen did not care about the reason for the construction of the city. What they were thinking about was what kind of benefits could they get from this new city after the construction of this new city was completed?

"Liulang, since that's the case, let's build a new city, but this is not an easy task. What do you plan to do?" Li Ke was also aroused at this time. This is his fiefdom. If he could really build a super-large port, not to mention anything else, his achievements would definitely be written by the historian as the city was written by the historian, and would not be called a prince.

"Haha, building a city is indeed a troublesome thing, but it is not too difficult to do it step by step. First of all, there is no need to worry about my father. After I return to Chang'an, I will explain the reason for this matter clearly, and he will definitely agree. In addition, Xie County Magistrate Xie and you local officials also need to help organize manpower. First build a dock for large ships to dock here. As for the financial and material resources required, I have asked Dengzhou to prepare and will be delivered soon. Therefore, when organizing manpower, Xie County Magistrate Xie must notify Zheng Biejia from Suzhou to prepare quickly to avoid wasting time!" Li Yan said confidently. The reason why he stopped in Dengzhou for several days was mostly arranged.

Li Yan is the governor of Suzhou. Since he has agreed, County Magistrate Xie should do it. However, when County Magistrate Xie heard that he was asked to organize the manpower, he showed a hint of embarrassment on his face. After he hesitating for a while, he said, "Report to Your Highness, can the organization of manpower be delayed for a while? Because it happens to be the season for spring planting, and with the spring famine, many people can't even eat enough. If they are transferred to be civil servants, there may be problems?"

According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, all people must perform labor service, that is, work for the country for free. Generally speaking, it will not exceed twenty days a year. This is called regular service, but this number of days is not fixed. Whenever the government has a lot of work, the court can increase the number of days of labor service at any time. This is called service. However, the combined service and service will generally not exceed fifty days. Moreover, service is considered additional labor and can offset taxes. If Li Yan wants to build a wharf, he must let the surrounding people come to work in the name of labor service. However, it is the busy spring season, and the government will not let the people perform labor service at this time, mainly because he is worried about delaying the farming season.

Unexpectedly, when Li Yan heard this, he laughed and said, "Thank you for misunderstanding. I asked you to prepare the manpower. In fact, it is mainly to help you. The sericulture industry will be in a recession in the past two years. There are so many silkworm farmers in Suzhou and nearby, and it is really difficult to support a family by raising silkworms. So when building a dock, I am going to recruit workers. Those who work can receive a reward. Although there are not many, as long as you are willing to work, it is still okay to support a few families. But you have to hire some professional talents in dock construction to make plans for this aspect so as not to renovate them in the future!"

When Magistrate Xie heard Li Yan's words, he felt his eyes lit up. It was indeed worthy of the work of His Highness King Qi. In this way, it not only solved the manpower problem of dock construction, but also solved the food problem of silkworm farmers near Suzhou. However, the cost is really a bit high, and it is estimated that only Li Yan, who is rich and powerful, can take it out.

However, Li Yan's money was not for nothing, and the construction of a port city could not be built with just a wharf. This was just the foundation of the early stage. Next, Li Yan proposed to open a shipyard and a food processing plant in Huating, and to recruit fishermen and set up a fishing team in Dengzhou. All of these were required by the magistrate Xie in front of him to provide assistance in land and manpower.

County Magistrate Xie is not a fool. He knew that if this new city was built, Huating would definitely prosper and the lives of the people would definitely be better, at least he would not have to worry about famine anymore. In addition, as the waters rise, he would not be just a Huating County Magistrate. Even if he could become a big port like Wenzhou, Huating might be able to be promoted from a county to a prefecture. With this political achievement, his career would definitely have a bright future.

It was precisely because of the above that County Magistrate Xie couldn't help but feel hot. This new city not only concerns the lives of the local people, but also his future. Therefore, in public and private, he has to help build the new city with all his strength. It is precisely because of this that he naturally agreed to all the conditions he put forward to Li Yan. Besides, there is also Li Ke next to him, who is the governor of Suzhou, that is, the immediate superior of County Magistrate Xie. Now Li Ke also agrees to build the new city, so even if there is any problem, he can't blame him. He just needs to follow Li Yan's instructions.

After the city construction was agreed, County Magistrate Xie asked Li Ke and Li Yan to decide the name of the new city. This was an extremely important thing in the eyes of the ancients. As a result, not only did Li Ke start to think about the name of the new city with great enthusiasm, but Li Yun and Li Zhen also came to join in the fun. After all, if the new city was with the name they thought of, it would be a very glorious thing.

Li Yan was very domineering in this regard. He waved his hand and copied the name of Shanghai in later generations. It was said that this name would not appear until the Song Dynasty, but he was suddenly ahead of it hundreds of years. Li Ke and the other two were not convinced at first, but Li Yan took out his killer weapon because the funds for the construction of the wharf were all paid by him, so he naturally had the right to name the name. Now he finally decided on the name, and Li Yan also directly named the plan to develop the new city "Greater Shanghai Plan". He hoped that the extremely prosperous Shanghai in later generations would be born in his own hands one day.

Li Ke burst out with great enthusiasm for building a new city. He discussed with Li Yan that he would not go to the mercy and stayed in Suzhou to supervise the progress of the project. If he encountered any problems, he would also solve them on the spot. County Magistrate Xie naturally agreed with this proposal. After all, with a prince behind his back, it would be easier to do anything.

However, Li Yan disagreed. He told Li Ke that building a city is not a matter of one day or a night. It takes a long time to build a wharf. After the wharf is completed, Li Yan can invest in and build a factory here and slowly attract popularity. Only when the popularity is enough can the city planning be officially started. It is estimated that it will not be possible to accumulate within a few years of accumulation during this period, so it is useless for Li Ke to stay here now. It is better to go and ask for a look as planned.

Li Ke thought for a while and felt it was right, so he stopped insisting. He wrote a letter to Zheng Biejia from Suzhou, explained Li Yan's plan to Shanghai clearly, and handed it to County Magistrate Xie for help and handed it over. Then he left Old Man Sun's shop and boarded the big boat to continue south.

However, just a few days after Li Yan and his friends left Huating, the fleet was caught by the Clippers who came to Dengzhou to report the news. The messenger was sent by Lu Hong, and the news that Li Yan had prepared for a long time was finally fighting.

The incident happened a few days after Li Yan and his friends left Dengzhou. The Queen of Silla gave birth in advance. Baekje, who had already prepared at the border, immediately launched an army. Prince Fuyuzhang led his troops and pointed directly to the hinterland of Silla. At the beginning, Silla was caught off guard and was captured several dozen cities one after another. However, it is worth mentioning that in the eyes of the Tang Dynasty, the cities of Silla and Baekje were actually small villages, and dozens of families were also called one city, which sounded shabby.

Although Silla was defeated at the beginning, its strength was stronger than Baekje after all. Therefore, after exchanging space for time, general Kim Yo-sun organized his troops to start a counterattack. To be honest, Kim Yo-sun was still capable. In this unfavorable situation, he could still block Baekje's offensive and even won several battles. For a while, Baekje's morale was frustrated and he dared not attack easily. The battlefield suddenly became a stalemate.
Chapter completed!