After the spring sowing in February, the weather gradually warmed up.
Prime Minister Yu Chen, who had survived the entire winter, fell ill again and did not resume his duties until late that month.
"I actually wanted to go to Jiangdong back then. If my bones go there, I'm afraid I'll get sick every day, and I'll die in a few years." In the prime minister's house, Yu Chen smiled bitterly at the visitor.
The guest came from Xingyang and was Li Ju's nephew Guo Song.
This family who was born in Pingyang has now settled in Xingyang and is a standard Henanese. And they are undoubtedly the people of Prime Minister Yu Chen, who had taken refuge with Sima Yue before.
After Sima Yue's death, Li Ju and Guo Song, the uncle and nephew, faced two choices: continue to get involved with the old people in Yue Mansion, or choose another career.
Obviously, they chose the Yingchuan Yu family.
Guo Song is now the head of Mi County. He has been working for many years, but has no way to get promoted. Every time he goes to the higher-ups for inspection, he finds that various conditions are not met, which makes him feel very aggrieved.
People with poor backgrounds like them must have someone above them to find a way to get the officials to ignore their family background, demeanor, appearance, knowledge and other points deductions, pass the inspection, and arrange a good position.
If you are a scholar, you will have much less troubles in this regard, and you can pass the normal assessment, because this system is tailor-made for the nobles.
You are not a nobleman, so if you want to squeeze into the officialdom, don't you have to be supported by nobles? This is because the conditions are relaxed now. Twenty years ago, the King of Liang had to arrest Sima Yi to check Xiaolian.
"I already know what Guangzhong is asking for." Yu Chen sat behind the mist, looking a little tired, and said: "You want to join the army, but it's a bit difficult. The Heijin Right Camp will be built next month, and the first batch of recruitment will be 3,000 soldiers.
.These three thousand people are not something you can enter, even if you are good at martial arts. If you want to force it, the capture army may be a good one.
The ministry has moved to Yanmen, and may go to Mayi next. They are recruiting soldiers and horses. But they are not recruiting soldiers. They have to herd cattle, sheep and livestock, and the court will only provide a small subsidy. If you want to go, I can
Make arrangements. If you don't want to go, isn't it better to be the commander of Mi County than to be a warrior? How many people want to be the commander but haven't had the chance."
"If you catch a new army, you will catch a new army. Please help me, Prime Minister." Guo Song said sincerely, "I am willing to lead hundreds of troops to join the army."
"Does Shihui (Li Ju) know about this?"
"My uncle also advised me not to act rashly."
Yu Chen smiled and said, "I summoned you this time because I have other things to do."
"Prime Minister, please speak." Guo chanted.
"No hurry." Yu Chen called a person from the Prime Minister's Mansion and asked him to invite another person in.
"Uncle." Jin Cao of the General's Mansion, Guangqiulu, walked in quickly and saluted.
Yu Chen pointed to a single couch in the room, asked him to sit down, and then said: "The king wants to do business with Pingcheng. Zongru, you previously traded cattle and sheep with Chief Kelan. Tell me, what's the difficulty?
where?"
When Guanqiu Lu heard that it was something in his professional field, he immediately said confidently: "Uncle——"
Yu Chen knocked on the desk table.
Guanqiu Lu immediately changed his mind: "Prime Minister, the difficulty lies in the middle."
"Cows and sheep need to eat a lot of forage when they cross the border. If they all take the same road, after the first batch of cattle and sheep cross the border, the grass will not have time to grow, and a second batch will come, and there will not be enough to eat. If they don't eat enough, they will lose weight or even die. That would be a loss.”
"Eating while walking is not enough. Even if people travel long distances and eat every meal, they also need to rest after a long time. The same goes for livestock, so there is a need for a fattening ground as a resting place during the journey. A large amount of forage needs to be prepared all year round in the fattening ground, and a lot of forage must be prepared all year round. Someone is assigned to take care of the animals and bring back the lost fat so that they can continue on the road."
"So, this is not a simple matter. So far, I have only built one road, that is, the road from Xiurong to Hedong. Along the way, I have invited tribal nobles to join and share the benefits together, so I can barely make ends meet."
Yu Chen hummed.
It is impossible to do this business without involving many people.
Guanqiu Lu was an official of the shogunate, and he probably had the tiger skin of the prime minister when he was abroad. Only then could he solve all kinds of difficulties and successfully establish a road for buying and selling livestock - this road must not be allowed to be used by others, because he is worried about other people's lives. The cattle and sheep have eaten up all the grass.
In addition to Guanqiu Lu, as far as Yu Chen knew, the guests of Queen Hui’s Yang family also established an “animal road” from Taiyuan to Pingyang. Everyone knew that Yang Xianrong was making money for the King of Liang, so no one Even if you dare to stop it, it will run smoothly.
Others are having a bit of trouble.
Many pastures are owned by owners. Even if they are not owned, locals do not like to see outsiders driving cattle and sheep to eat their grass.
Everything has value, even weeds.
"Leave the line from Xiurong to Hedong to the tribe." Yu Chen said, "Next, you go to Pingcheng."
"Pingcheng?" Guan Qiulu was a little worried.
"Don't worry, Yuandu will go with you." Yu Chen said: "Think of a way to build a livestock trade road from Pingcheng to Bianliang. Henan is actually in short supply of livestock. So far, there are not enough oxen and sheep carts, let alone horse-drawn carriages. During the spring plowing this year, more than a dozen families even shared a plowing cow, and the cow was so tired that it collapsed and died. It was simply shocking. The construction of this road can not only alleviate the shortage of livestock in Henan, but also sell Henan's goods to the grassland. Benefit from each other."
Guanqiu Lu thought for a while and said, "It seems a little long."
"It is indeed long, but you can think of ways, such as building a pasture in the middle. There is a lot of wasteland anyway." Yu Chen said: "Go south from Yunzhong County, pass through Mayi, Yanmen, Xinxing, Taiyuan, Shangdang, Hanoi, and Xingyang Eight counties, and finally arrived at Chenliu." At this point, Yu Chen looked at Guo Song and said: "Guangzhong, that's what I'm calling you for today, Xingyang needs your help."
Guo Song suddenly realized that this was what happened! It made him think that he was favored by the prime minister and was going to be promoted.
Then he said: "I obey my command."
Yu Chen looked at Guanqiu Lu again and said: "There is a piece of wasteland in Hanoi, near the entrance of Taihang Pass. I can lend it to you temporarily, but you have to raise the manpower yourself. Xinxing, Yanmen is a vast land with few people, so I can give it to you." You have found wasteland for pasture, but in Shangdang, Taiyuan, Chenliu, Mayi, and Yunzhong you still have to find a way."
Guanqiu Lu thought for a while and said: "We have to recruit Liu Runzhong to join the team, and we have to find someone else in Taiyuan. As for Mayi, there are some difficulties in Yunzhong. There is really no one we know well."
"So I asked Yuan Du to accompany you on a trip." Yu Chen said: "This is a big matter, and the king is very concerned about it. Especially in the Dai Kingdom, if we can get a few more nobles and high-ranking officials to join the team, they can also share the benefits. , this matter will be settled. Don’t focus on money, give in a little more profit appropriately, even if it is just enough to save capital, it doesn’t matter. Your Majesty will reward you with an official title. The important thing is to maintain this trade route."
Guanqiu Lu understood somewhat, but he was still puzzled: "If someone rebels, he will not be hindered by such a small gain."
"Of course you can't just rely on this trick." Yu Chen said: "The king wants to tie the nobles of the country tightly, and this is just one of the ropes. But don't underestimate the benefits of mutual trade. There are many mediocre people in the world, and they can give it up decisively. Those who have immediate benefits are definitely not ordinary people. It is true that money is not easy to use against such people, but there are other ways. In short, this matter must be done as soon as possible without any hesitation."
"Yes." Guanqiu Lu responded.
After talking about this important matter, Yu Chen seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and looked even more tired.
"Uncle." Guan Qiulu looked at Yu Chen's increasingly thin face and hesitated to speak.
"Don't worry about being a Confucian." Yu Chen smiled freely and said: "Everyone will have this day. The Yu family has flourished in my hands, and it is as prosperous as it is today. It is to go to the quiet land under the spring to face the ancestors. Zong, I have no regrets. What I am worried about now is nothing but my children."
Guanqiu Lu was a little moved and a little sad.
"Zongru, you have to help me." Yu Chen said.
"Okay!" Guan Qiulu felt as if something was blocked in his throat, which was extremely uncomfortable.
In February, the angel came to Pingyang again.
My cousin Wenjun has been canonized as queen. Once applied, the ceremony is the same as that of a queen.
Yuan Gui served as the governor of Xuzhou. Although he had no outstanding political achievements, he did not have any major problems. It may be called mediocre, but for the Yu family, it is worth celebrating if he makes no mistakes, and they do not need Yu Liang to make any great achievements.
The other Yu clan members each have official positions.
With such a powerful family, my uncle felt pressured and even a little pessimistic, which made Guanqiu Lu very uncomfortable.
Guo Song also vaguely noticed something. He didn't dare to speak, he just lowered his head and said nothing. He secretly thought that the powerful prime minister also had many worries, and was even more troubled than little people like them.
"Guangzhong, if you want to join the army, then go and catch the new army." After Yu Chen was silent for a while, he said to Guo Song: "Take care of the affairs of Xingyang Pasture first, and then I will transfer you there. Mayi is not Taiping, if you have time, you can help take care of it."
"As ordered." Guo Song responded.
After Yu Chen finished speaking, he asked Guo Song to go back and prepare. Guo Song bowed, turned around and left the Prime Minister's Mansion.
When I came to the street, I felt a little emotional.
Once upon a time, he and his uncle Li Ju made their fortune by fighting barbarians, but now they have to cooperate with barbarians.
The trade route established by Guanqiu Lu was actually quite profitable.
According to the Prime Minister's method, the Xingyang Li family and the Guo family should be able to share the benefits, although it may only be a little bit.
But this is a long-term business. The income is limited in one or two years, but what about ten or twenty years? That’s a lot of income.
But how can I put it, this is actually not what he is pursuing.
He would rather serve in the army, be rewarded for his meritorious service, and be promoted to a higher rank. He would be much better than the Mi County Magistrate who can see his end now. If nothing happens, he will be an official at this level for the rest of his life and will never be able to get promoted. , it is even possible for him to be dismissed from office in a few years.
There are not many opportunities now. Shengle's rope head is an opportunity, and the Xiongnu in Chang'an is also an opportunity.
As for Jiangdong, he actually didn't want to go. Since the Han Dynasty, the number of soldiers killed by epidemics in the southern expedition was probably no less than those who died on the battlefield.
This kind of incompatibility really makes people in the north change their minds when they hear about it. If there is no other way, who would be willing to go south?
As the sun set, Guo Song left the city and planned to go back to his hometown to see if he could recruit some people who were skilled in bow and horse to join the army.
Chapter completed!