Qing Yao

Chapter 193 Mr. Futai left a meal
Dry!
Who says Manchuria lacks talent!

The governor before us is truly a man of exceptional talent!
Zhao An was particularly excited by the Governor's exemplary enthusiasm. When it comes to getting things done, you have to go all out and dare to think and act!

I want to do what others dare to do, and I also want to do what others dare not do!
In short, just do it!
With the administrative center and prestigious schools relocating, Suzhou is definitely poised for the rise of a new district.

The phrase "daring to take a gamble" best describes the governor's desperate gamble.

With that kind of courage, he could definitely be considered the most outstanding governor in the fifty-fifth year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign.

Mr. Lü then raised another question: where would the funds for the relocation and construction of the new academy come from?

The province doesn't have that kind of money, and the governor is dirt poor; he can forget about getting any funding from the imperial court.

Without money, how can this be done?

Even if you build a house on barren land where it's free, you still have to pay in cash for building materials, labor, and transportation costs.

Leaving aside the governor's office, just building a new prefectural-level academy would require at least two or three hundred thousand taels of silver, and could easily cost five hundred thousand taels.

Adding school district housing, roads, and other supporting facilities, the entire project would probably cost no less than one million taels of silver.

There's no way around it, everything is expensive in the Jiangnan region.

"Huh, this?"

When it comes to specific problems, the governor's old problem resurfaces: he knows the problem, but he just doesn't know how to solve it.

Otherwise, how could he have served as a second-rank official for eight years and still be in debt to loan sharks?

To put it kindly, it's because the governor was too strict with himself and refused to compete with the people for profit; to put it bluntly, it's because the governor was completely incompetent in his official duties.

You're already a second-rank governor and you still owe money? Do you even know how to be an official?
But this time, the governor immediately turned his attention to the young genius, Committee Member Zhao.

For some reason, the governor suddenly had a lot of confidence in Commissioner Zhao's intelligence.

Sure enough, Zhao An lifted his buttocks and said something particularly pleasing to the governor: "Sir, Mr. Lü, it's not that we don't have money, but that we have plenty of money."

"Oh?"

The governor subconsciously got up from his seat and came to Committee Member Zhao, looking eager to hear more.

Mr. Lü was also very curious, wondering where all that silver the newly appointed school inspector was.

Zhao Andao said, “Sir, since we are going to build a new academy, the old academy should be sold, and the proceeds should be used to build the new academy. In this way, the province will not have to contribute a single penny, the education administration will not have to contribute any money, and the governor will not have to worry about it.”

Leaving aside the value of the old governor's yamen land, just considering that the Suzhou Prefectural School, as the top school in Jiangnan and second only to the Confucius Temple in Qufu, is the second most prestigious academy in the world, it would be a disservice to these two honors if it didn't sell for several million taels of silver.

If we don't sell it, can't we just turn it into a park?

Zhao An continued, "Your Excellency can spread the word that the Suzhou Academy is for sale, and invite wealthy merchants from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to bid for it. Whoever offers the highest price will get it."

These days, wealthy people love to build gardens. The gardens built by salt merchants often cost millions of taels of silver. If they were asked to spend about the same amount of money to buy a ready-made "luxury mansion" that is considered the best in Jiangnan, they would probably fight tooth and nail to get it, and the final transaction price could exceed ten million taels of silver.

The second-best academy in the world can sell for tens of millions of taels of silver, but what about the first-best Confucius Temple in Qufu?

How much can the old man's house be sold for?
I can't think about it, because it gets exciting.

Mr. Lü shook his head after hearing this and said, "The Suzhou Confucian Temple is too big. Which wealthy merchant could afford to buy it?"

"If we can't buy the whole school, then we can divide it into two or three parts and sell them separately."

If all else fails, we can just turn it into a small villa complex.

Anyway, the scenery is already there, and the location is top-notch, so there's no fear of not finding buyers. If he didn't work outside of Suzhou, Zhao An would have bought one for himself.

After saying that, he looked at the governor and said, "You can have the buyer pay a 30% deposit first. Your Excellency can use this deposit to build a new academy and school district housing. I think that should be more than enough."

"Makes sense."

The governor nodded, then asked with a hint of doubt, "What about the remaining 70%?"

"."

Zhao An remained silent, while Mr. Lü's eyes flashed with a sharp light.

This isn't just a business worth a million taels; it's probably worth tens of millions of taels!

There are four ancient, vast, and scenic academies in Jiangnan alone, waiting to be sold.

Especially the one in Jiangning, which was formerly the Imperial Academy and Chaotian Palace of the Ming Dynasty!
It can be said to be the pinnacle of Jiangnan's cultural heritage.

If it were put up for sale, wow, even the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital would be tempted.

Um.
The governor did not continue on this issue, but instead raised a more technical question: the sale of the old academy would take time, but the construction of the new academy needed to begin immediately, creating a time lag between the two.

In other words, there was no money to build a new academy until the old one was sold.

Professional issues should naturally be solved by professionals.

Zhao An, that little genius, offered the governor another ingenious plan: to contract the construction of the academy and school district housing to a wealthy merchant, but the merchant would have to pay for the construction himself. Once the construction was completed, the school district housing would be sold to the merchant as a package deal, and the governor would pocket the money and walk away unscathed.

The houses would be sold by wealthy businessmen, and the price they received would be their business. Alternatively, the wealthy businessmen could be given some school district properties to offset the construction costs, with the remaining amount settled after the old school palace was successfully sold.

In short, the entire project could have been completed without the Governor contributing a single penny.

Completely getting something for nothing.

"This"

The governor's gaze toward Committee Member Zhao could only be described as terrifying, and Mr. Lü was equally astonished by this idea.

Shocked, Mr. Lü asked doubtfully, "Can businessmen really do things without paying upfront, as Committee Member Zhao said? That's no small sum."

The implication is that businessmen might be hesitant to take the risk of investing too much upfront capital.

After thinking for a moment, the governor said, "I will try to raise some money first, so that the merchants won't worry about delaying the construction schedule again."

Zhao An shook his head and offered the governor a wise saying: "Your decisions are like real money, and your official robes and hat are the biggest guarantee in the Liangjiang region. With these two things, how can merchants worry about not getting paid? They will only worry about not getting a share of the pie in the construction of the new academy."

What does it mean for the administrative center and prestigious schools to move to a new location? Zhao An, who has lived two lives, knows, but what about the shrewd businessman?
Actually, there was a solution he didn't mention, which was to have the general contractor subcontract the work.

However, regardless of the year, there is always a subcontracting process for construction companies; it's just that the terminology may differ.

Zhao An himself planned to select several thousand people from the canal workers to switch to construction teams. This would not only solve the livelihood problems of some of the canal workers, but also create an engineering corps that met his standards through this construction team.

Like Yang Xiuqing's charcoal burner.

After all, the scale of a million canal workers is too large, and even a long canal cannot support them all. We must find more ways for the canal workers to make money.

What was the governor's attitude towards this idea? He didn't say anything, but simply waved to the servants waiting outside the door: "Go tell the kitchen that I want Commissioner Zhao to stay for dinner today."

(End of this chapter)