The prefect of Shangdang County was originally Lu Yongji. After he was convicted, Shi Huaiyi took over. However, Shi Huaiyi now went to Southwest Xingtai to serve as Minister of War, so the position of Shangdang Prefect was taken over by a man named Lu Zhang.
The prefect is Lu Zhang, and the county magistrate is Cui Wei. Two people from Hebei are serving as officials in Shanxi.
Cui Wei came to Yang Ming because the emperor in Luoyang issued an order to mobilize two Cui and one Lu water transport ships in Hebei Province to transport grain and grass to Zhuojun.
Several major warehouses in Luoyang are already full, and this year's annual grain will be requisitioned soon, so the warehouses must be emptied early.
When Zhuojun was building the Yongji Canal, several large warehouses had been built in the counties under its jurisdiction. Of course, they were incomparable to those in Luoyang, so the amount of grain transported from Luoyang to Zhuojun this time was only 230.
Thousands of stones.
Of the four major granaries in the Sui Dynasty, Luoyang occupied three, namely Hanjiacang, Huiluocang and Xingluocang. The grain stored in these three granaries accounted for half of the country's total, with a total grain storage of approximately 28 million shi.
All the granaries in Zhuo County combined can store three million dan of grain. This was because they were expanded a lot due to wartime needs.
This year's annual grain needs to be stored in the warehouse, but the warehouse is full, so it needs to be transported north as soon as possible. Yang Guang gave the water transportation of Yongji Canal to three companies to divide it up, so that the three companies built a large number of water ships, and now they have not even recovered the money.
, as a result, the ship has to be requisitioned.
What Cui Wei meant was that he hoped that the court could give him some money for running errands, and at least take care of the boatman's food expenses. Otherwise, the three of them would have experienced successive chaos, and they would really have no financial resources to maintain the boat and support the sailors.
When building the Yongji Canal, all three families spent a lot of money and suffered a military disaster. The losses were indeed serious. As a result, the court defaulted on the debt later. It was cost-effective to use the water transport business as compensation.
But now that the three companies have reacted, I was really fooled.
Ships were needed for water transportation, so the three families invested heavily and built more than 6,000 new water ships in total. After only one year of work, the imperial court issued a decree to requisition their ships. Isn't this a blood loss?
The invasion of Goguryeo is about to begin, and the Yongji Canal will inevitably become the most important waterway. Not to mention transporting grain, troops will also have to be transported in the future. It is impossible to say that this year will be spent in vain for the imperial court. This is really unbearable.
After working for nothing for a year, there was no income. All in all, the losses were unprecedented.
Therefore, Cui Wei not only hoped that Yang Ming could report to the court and give them some compensation, but also suggested that the Dugu family and Xiao family recruit water ships to help them share the burden.
The Dugu family had a crappy tank boat. They used a boat built by the Ministry of Industry when Yang Guangnan was patrolling the Yangtze River. It was owned by the government and they were leasing it.
You need to pay money for leasing, right? The money is for the court, so how can the court recruit ships that can make money for itself?
As for the Xiao family, they rely on them to transport food from Jiangnan to Luoyang. Moreover, they are relatives, so the money they earn goes into Yang Guang's small treasury for emergency needs, and it is impossible to requisition it.
So the three of them took this for granted.
After Yang Ming listened, he remained silent. You are the ones who are being exploited in state-owned affairs. Is it possible to exploit the common people?
Besides, Yang Guang has already squeezed the common people, what's wrong with you being squeezed a little bit?
In fact, the entire ancient Chinese history is the history between the emperor and the gentry, and has nothing to do with the common people. To be more precise, the common people are the fish on the eucalyptus board, and what the emperor and the gentry landlords have done for thousands of years is
How to divide this piece of meat.
If the distribution is uneven, then change the emperor and change the dynasty. Unlike later generations, everyone is the master of the country. This is the bright road.
I can't help, but it's not advisable to squeeze the three families too hard. After all, the logistics of the entire army are on their territory. If the three of them do anything wrong, it will be bad.
Because if you exploit him, he will exploit the people below.
So Yang Ming thought for a while and then said: "We should be compensated. However, with the whole country's efforts, it may be difficult to help you. You should also know that there is a food shortage in Guanzhong due to the storage of military rations for war preparations."
Cui Wei said with a look of embarrassment: "Guanzhong can still rely on the support of Bashu, but we are really helpless. Most of our efforts now are on water transportation. If there is no harvest in a year, we will have no food."
Yang Ming nodded and said: "Who is in charge of the water transportation of Yongji Canal?"
"Liu Su, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, is in charge of the Ministry of Water Resources, and the minister of the Ministry of Water is Guo Wenyi," Cui Wei said.
Yang Ming thought for a while and said, "Does Lu Zhang also know that you came to see me?"
Cui Wei nodded and said: "Everyone knows that this time it was my grandfather (Cui Fuli) who united the three families to report to His Majesty, but there was no response from the court. Everyone agreed that the prince is benevolent and righteous and loves the people, so he should help us, and I am in Shangdang, so I left
The prince is closer, so he asked me to come."
Yang Ming said: "Well, let me give you a trick, half grain and half goods. You have to figure it out yourself. How to do it together? One ship, half transports grain and half loads goods. The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Water Resources,
I will say hello and ask them to turn a blind eye, but how you hide it from others depends on you."
There is still more than a year before the war starts in the north, which is enough for the three families to take this opportunity to make some gains, so that they will not play tricks on the final large-scale transportation of troops and food.
But now, you have to let them eat first, otherwise they will stand up and threaten the court at the critical moment, which will delay the big event.
Yes, don't think that people don't dare to do this. If you make it hard for me to eat, fine, if you don't pay at the last moment, I won't transport troops for you. I'll see what you use to attack Goguryeo.
Cui Wei frowned and said, "Isn't this too risky?"
Yang Ming spread his hands: "Now that the whole country is mobilizing, do you think the imperial court has money to give you? It's not that I don't want to give it, but it's because I really have no money. I can't give you the military rations of the soldiers at the front, right?"
"Of course it's impossible," Cui Wei hurriedly waved his hand: "We also know the difficulties of the court, but the prince values friendship. My grandfather said before I came here that the prince will definitely help us think of a solution."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! I am not sentimental, I am afraid that you are playing dirty tricks behind your back.
As for how to get half grain and half goods, the three companies will find a solution. They have been operating water transportation for more than a year, and the various government agencies have already taken care of it. As long as you give me the money, I will pretend I didn't see it.
Yang Ming said: "You can do this in the first half of the year, even if it is to compensate you, but when it comes to the real chapter in the second half of the year, you can't play this trick on me, otherwise, you will trample all my good intentions on the ground.
I won’t spare you.”
Cui Wei hurriedly said: "Your Highness, don't worry, we will just earn the maintenance money for the sailors of the ship. Naturally, we will share the worries of the imperial court for the major state affairs this year. As for letting down His Highness's good intentions, that is absolutely impossible, and we will never do it."
Such a heartless thing.”
"Okay!" Yang Ming nodded, called Chen Kui in front of Cui Wei, and said, "Isn't Liu Su in the capital? Let him come to Hedong and discuss anything important with him."
After saying that, Yang Ming looked at Cui Wei again: "If you are not in a hurry, just wait for Liu Su for peace of mind."
Cui Wei was immediately overjoyed: "Of course we have to wait. The prince's kindness is profound, and Mrs. Cui must not forget it."
Liu Su has a title, but not a high one. He is just a serious official. He does not have a title because the titles in his family have been abolished.
His eldest brother Liu Ji was originally the Duke of Jian'an County, but this title was later taken over by his son Liu Shu. Liu Shu cut off the family's inheritance.
Later, Liu Su's brothers hoped that the emperor would allow Liu Hong, the second son, to ascend the throne, but Yang Guang did not agree.
Originally, there were several earls and barons in the family, but Yang Guang directly reformed the system of nobility, retaining only kings, dukes, and marquises. Therefore, their family is now very embarrassed, without any title, and they are not even invited to see the emperor.
Therefore, after Liu Su received Yang Ming's order, he immediately rushed to Hedong.
There are six types of official documents in the Sui Dynasty: memorials, tables, chapters, statements, essays, and notes, which are official documents reported to the emperor by ministers.
The official documents in the table below are reported from top to bottom, and they are also of six types: system, edict, book, order, teaching, and talisman. These six emperors can all use them on their ministers, but the last three are used by high-level officials on low-level officials.
There are four types of official documents from lower-level officials to senior officials: pleadings, details, reports, and words.
Yang Ming summoned Liu Su and gave the order.
Six days later, Liu Su arrived at the training ground and met Yang Ming, who also informed him of the general meaning.
"This is an expedient measure, Mr. Liu is so generous," Yang Ming said with a smile.
Liu Su must be in a dilemma. Isn’t this the emperor of Hu Nong? If something goes wrong in the future, who will take the blame? I won’t take the blame?
So Liu Su didn't say anything and made Cui Wei very anxious.
After a long while, Liu Su said: "Can I have a private conversation with His Highness?"
Yang Ming glanced at Cui Wei, who took the opportunity to retreat, but Liu Su looked at Dugu Feng'er behind Yang Ming.
Yang Ming said: "You can say it now."
Liu Su nodded: "I know what your Highness's difficulties are. It's not impossible to do this, but should I ask His Majesty for instructions first?"
You must ask for instructions, and you can't hide it from anyone, but I can't tell you, otherwise you will know that the emperor is tacitly approving it, but the emperor cannot take the blame. Even if he knows, he must not know.
"If anything happens in the future, I'll take the responsibility, and you can blame it all on me," Yang Ming said.
Liu Su suddenly pretended to be frightened and said, "How can this matter involve the prince? It's inappropriate."
"Then just take this matter on your shoulders. If something happens, I'll keep you safe," Yang Ming said.
If someone else was trying to make a big deal for Liu Su, he wouldn't believe it, but the prince is a man of his word, so he shouldn't cheat him.
After hesitating for a long time, Liu Su bit the bullet and agreed.
Yang Ming added: "You have to keep a close eye on me. If they still dare to do this after July, you can sue me and I will deal with them."
Calculating this way, you only have to bear the risk for seven months, and it will be over after a while. Liu Su nodded and said:
"I will make sure everything is properly arranged here to ensure nothing goes wrong."
Yang Ming said: "This time, the various yamen under the Ministry of Industry should not make money from them. Let them return to their roots. As for the future, we will talk about it later."
Liu Su was stunned and quickly denied it: "The Ministry of Industry has never engaged in any corruption or corruption. Please tell me, Prince."
Yang Ming didn't speak, just sneered a few times.
Liu Su pondered for a long time and said helplessly: "I will definitely not make any money this time."