Chapter 169: A lot of help for the right person, but little help for the wrong person
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Zhao Zongquan also spent a lot of money this time. You must know that these elite troops of the Forbidden Army are basically in the hands of some veteran nobles. Zhao Zongquan has not yet fully obtained the support of these nobles. This is already the most effective force he can control.
Team up.
Qin Hao also specially requested an order to transfer two warships and a thousand naval troops from the Mingzhou Navy. The Jiangnan Road canal is well developed, and most of the local navy has been completely infiltrated by the Cao family. If he wants to carry out the salt tax reform, he must investigate the illegal activities.
Salt, it will definitely not work without the support of the navy.
"History of the Song Dynasty" Volume 93 "History of Rivers and Canals Bianhe" records: The Bianhe River transports 5,000 Huai meters and 7 million dendrobium every year. This shows the importance of the Bianqu. In the Northern Song Dynasty, it was even called the Bianqu.
For: the foundation of the country.
Because there are 1.5 million people living in Bianjing City alone, and nearly 800,000 forbidden troops are stationed nearby, and most of the food is transported to Bianjing City through the Bianhe River.
Once there is a problem with the Bian River, the entire city of Bianjing will starve. Coupled with the presence of 800,000 forbidden troops, once these people are extremely hungry and start a mutiny, the Song Dynasty may have to change its dynasty.
King Huan Zhao Yingce said to Qin Hao with some emotion: "This is the lifeline of our Song Dynasty."
Qin Hao shook his head secretly. Zhao Yingce was definitely considered an outstanding person in ancient times, but his vision was still a bit narrow. In fact, from a historical perspective, Bianjing was not suitable as a capital.
On the one hand, there is no danger to defend here. There is no Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures in the north as a barrier. Once the northern nomads move south, they will face the danger of national subjugation. On the other hand, the terrain of Bianjing is too low. Without sufficient water conservancy facilities, once the northern nomads move south,
The waterlogging in Bianjing is extremely serious due to the bursting of the embankments or continuous heavy rains.
But it's no wonder that moving the capital is not a decision that can be made easily. Since the Qin Dynasty unified and established the feudal dynasty system, it seems that the only person who successfully moved the capital during the non-turbulent period of the dynasty was Zhu Di.
Only a decisive and confident emperor like Zhu Di could withstand the pressure of his ministers and complete the move of the capital. Zhao Zongquan and Zhao Yingce did not have Zhu Di's ability, let alone his courage.
After Zhao Yingce sighed with emotion, he said seriously: "This salt tax reform is of great importance. Where does Zihan think we should start?"
In fact, this is the main reason why Zhao Zongquan did not choose Gu Tingye, who was more trustworthy, but handed over the important task to Qin Hao.
When it comes to bravery, Gu Tingye is naturally good at it, but when it comes to intelligence, Gu Tingye is far behind Qin Hao.
After Qin Hao thought for a moment, he put tea on his hand and wrote two words on the table: "Yan Yin."
Zhao Yingce was a little confused: "What's the explanation for this method?"
Qin Hao smiled and said: "His Royal Highness King Huan, why do you think the Cao family can control the official salt business?"
Zhao Yingce suddenly realized: "Zihan means to cancel the official salt monopoly?"
Qin Hao nodded and shook his head: "It's not cancellation, but sharing. Your Highness might as well think about it. The Cao family has always controlled the official salt business. Isn't there anyone who is greedy?"
"To put it bluntly, it's just that with the support of the Queen Mother, others don't dare to offend. Now that the government has issued a decree to carry out salt tax reform, some people are bound to be tempted, and what we have to do is to intensify the conflict between them and the Cao family, and put these
People are drawn into our camp.”
"If there is a good way, there will be more help, but if there is no way, there will be little help. In this way, the Cao family's monopoly on official salt will naturally be destroyed!"
Zhao Yingce's eyes lit up and he praised: "Zihan really has a lot of clever ideas."
"But, how can we win over these people? After all, they themselves have a competitive relationship, right?"
In fact, most people don't hate monopolies. What they hate is that they are not the ones monopolizing.
Qin Hao smiled faintly: "It's very simple. We divide the salt supply into regional sales. The Song Dynasty is divided into thirteen channels. We can use this as a unit to distribute salt supply. Only one merchant is allowed to sell official salt in one area.
, and at the same time severely crack down on illegal salt sales and illegal sales, so that everyone benefits and will naturally be on our side!"
I have to admit that the Cao family is indeed powerful and has even monopolized the salt supply across the country. After so many years, you can imagine how much money the Cao family has made.
It’s no wonder that the salt tax reform became a flashpoint in the conflict between Zhao Zongquan and Empress Dowager Cao.
"Haha, with Zihan here, this trip will be worry-free." Zhao Yingce thought about it for a moment and understood the powerful relationship.
There are two advantages to doing this. On the one hand, it can attract other forces to cooperate with him. On the other hand, selling salt by region can not only ensure a certain monopoly, but also allow them to form a competitive relationship and avoid collusion with each other.
The court expired.
But Zhao Yingce's good mood soon disappeared. On the third day after leaving Bianjing, he was warned and a crossbow arrow was nailed to the bow of his boat.
Zhao Yingce broke off the crossbow arrow with a livid face, gritted his teeth and said: "What a courageous dog, I want to see what they can do to me."
Qin Hao was also wary and sent people to strengthen security overnight.
However, in the next few days, everything was calm. As they were approaching Jinling City, a group of water thieves suddenly attacked the fleet.
This group of water thieves were all well-equipped, and even had eight-niu crossbows. Qin Hao quickly pulled Zhao Yingce and hid in the cabin. This was not the time to show off as a hero. The eight-niu crossbows at this time were equivalent to mortars in later generations.
It basically hung up.
After a fierce fight, the Mingzhou navy defeated the enemy. Seeing that the water thieves were helpless, they did not fight to the death. They jumped into the river one by one and tried to escape.
However, in terms of water properties, the Mingzhou navy was a force that could fight through waves in the sea, so they would not let them escape easily and captured a dozen water thieves who were half drowned.
Those who were injured on the boat all bitten the poison and committed suicide. Zhao Yingce gritted his teeth when he saw this scene.
"They actually used dead soldiers. This Cao family really wants to get rid of this king and make the queen faster!"
However, Qin Hao felt that something was wrong. If he really wanted to assassinate Zhao Yingce, he would not attack so blatantly, and only sent so many people. It was obviously impossible to succeed.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Cui Zhi."
"Master Hou."
"Put these people down and interrogate them individually!"
"promise."
The remaining half-dead soldiers who were drowned became the key to the breakthrough.
After two days and two nights of torture, someone finally spoke up, and the answer they got surprised Qin Hao and Zhao Yingce. It turned out to be Manichaeism!
The purpose of the Manichaean assassination of Zhao Yingce was also very simple, which was to explode the conflict between Zhao Zongquan and the Queen Mother, so that they would both lose in the fight and take the opportunity to overthrow the Song Dynasty.
Zhao Yingce didn't know for a moment whether he should believe the confessions of these dead men, and even suspected that it was arranged by the Cao family in advance to remove suspicion.
Qin Hao knew that the Manichaeans in all dynasties had the ambition to subvert the political power, and they were actually allowed to do it in the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, Zhu Chongba was not a master who kept his promise. After the founding of the country, the Manichaeans were immediately
That is to say, Mingjiao locates the evil cult and carries out encirclement and suppression.
In this way, the situation becomes more complicated. In addition to the Cao family, we also have to beware of Manichaeism.
Along the way, Qin Hao once again strengthened his vigilance. Every day's meals and drinking water were tried by others before they were given to Zhao Yingce. This also directly led to Zhao Yingce always eating cold dishes and cold rice. Fortunately, it was not necessary in the hot weather.
Worried about eating bad stomach.
When they arrived at Jinling City, Qin Hao did not relax his vigilance and immediately reorganized Jinling's naval forces. Zhao Yingce was somewhat courageous and was not afraid of the assassination. That night, he hosted a banquet for Jinling's nobles, civil servants and big businessmen.
At the banquet, Zhao Yingce hinted that the salt quota would be redistributed, which immediately aroused the interest of many distinguished merchants.
What's more interesting is that Qin Hao also met Sheng Wei, the head of the Sheng family, at the banquet. Being able to appear at a banquet of this level is enough to illustrate Sheng Wei's strength.
"It turns out he is Zecheng's uncle, so there is no need to be so polite. Just call me Zihan."
Sheng Wei was greatly flattered when he heard this and said quickly: "Master Hou has broken the villain."
When the people nearby saw that Sheng Wei was actually able to establish a relationship with Marquis Jinghai, they immediately looked at him with admiration and planned to talk to him after the banquet.
After the banquet, Zhao Yingce also curiously asked Qin Hao: "Does Zihan recognize that merchant?"
Qin Hao smiled and said: "This man is Sheng Changbai's uncle. At that time, the Sheng family was in decline. He can stand firm in the ups and downs of the business world, which is quite a talent."
"Zihan means..."
"Sheng Wei is indeed a good candidate. Your Highness also saw the people in Jinling City today. They are still afraid of the Cao family. If we don't put some pressure on them, they will not take any action.
!" Qin Hao said seriously.
"Moreover, Sheng Wei has a weak foundation and can only rely on His Highness to keep Yanyin. He will definitely serve His Highness wholeheartedly in the future."
Zhao Yingce was moved. As King Huan, although he had a fiefdom, as the future prince, the income from the fiefdom was not enough for him to spend. A penny would stump a hero, and Zhao Yingce was no exception. If nothing else, he wanted to make people
If you work for him, you should be rewarded, right? If you have no money and just write bad checks, your subordinates will inevitably feel disappointed after a long time.
That night, Sheng Wei was invited by a group of guards to the place where King Huan Zhao Yingce was staying. Looking at the dazzling swords and guns, Sheng Wei felt palpitated and his legs felt weak.
But after entering the room, Sheng Wei breathed a sigh of relief. Qin Hao was also in the room, playing chess with Zhao Yingce.
Zhao Yingce suddenly dropped the chess piece, stood up and said to Sheng Wei who was kneeling on the ground: "No courtesy."
The corner of Qin Hao's mouth twitched, this was too obvious, he had obviously lost.
Sheng Wei stood up timidly, not daring to raise his eyelids for fear of offending Zhao Yingce.
Zhao Yingce stepped forward and patted Sheng Wei on the shoulder, comforting him and said: "The second brother of the Sheng family became an official, and the first brother of the Sheng family did business very well. The ancestors of the Sheng family are indeed very discerning."
Sheng Wei smiled bitterly when he heard this: "I dare not deceive Your Highness. Back then, my father spoiled his concubine, killed his wife, and took a girl from a brothel into his house, which caused the family to fall into ruin. Thanks to the old lady of the second wife's justice, it was not in ruins."
This kind of thing that damages the image of the ancestors is usually not told to outsiders. After hearing this, Zhao Yingce was very satisfied with Sheng Wei's confession.
"So, you are quite capable?"
Sheng Wei quickly bowed and said: "I don't dare to boast, but I still have some business ability."
Zhao Yingce tapped his fingers on the table and said casually: "Oh? Then what would you do if you got the salt guide?"
Sheng Wei's mind exploded with a "buzz". He naturally knew that Zhao Yingce was busy with affairs, and calling him here was definitely not just a joke. He also knew very well the risks and opportunities involved.
If this step is taken correctly, the Sheng family will be under the scrutiny of the future prince. If it is taken wrongly, the entire Sheng family may be affected.