Fu Bi had excellent riding skills. He quickly caught up with Su Jin. He leaned over and grabbed the reins of Su Jin's horse. He gasped and said, "You are too impatient. Before I finish speaking, you
Gone."
Su Jin said anxiously: "It's so ridiculous. This road is obviously not smooth, but we still let her go first. What should we do if something goes wrong?"
Fu Bi smiled and said, "What's going on? There are seventy or eighty people protecting her, and each of them is a good hand. No two hundred bandits can touch her? You don't care about your niece as an adult, are you the most concerned about it?"
?Look, if we run away like this, the adults will definitely be confused."
Just as he was talking, a bodyguard rode up and said, "Sir Fu, the three ministers sent the younger ones to ask why they suddenly galloped away."
Fu Bi smiled and said, "Go back to my lord. Mr. Su is a little frustrated and wants to whip up his whip and gallop around. It's nothing serious."
The soldier went to reply, but came back after a while, clasping his fists and saying, "Your Excellency, I would like to invite Mr. Su to have a talk. Mr. Su, please."
Su Jin originally wanted to rush to the front to join Yan Biyun, but naturally he did not dare to refuse Yan Shu's invitation, so he turned his horse's head, returned to the middle of the team, came to Yan Shu's cart, and said loudly to the purple curtain: "
Su Jin has been ordered to come here."
Yan Shu stuck his head out and ordered, "Get in the car and talk."
Su Jin dismounted and got into the car. The car was very spacious. There were several boxes on both sides. They were full of books and papers. Yan Shu pointed to the soft seat opposite him with a booklet in his hand and said: "Sit down, I have a seat."
Let me ask you."
Su Jin sat down as he was told, and Yan Shu smiled and said, "Do you feel a little stuffy? The calf is full of energy. Don't you feel uncomfortable if you don't have some fun?"
Su Jin thought: What are you talking about? With such a way of traveling, I don’t know how long it will take to reach the capital in the year of the monkey and the month of the horse.
"You see, I am studying the imperial court's rice grain and fiscal revenue in recent years. I can tell you some figures so that you can understand."
Su Jin said: "The emperor will not ask me this, it has nothing to do with me."
Yan Shu said calmly: "If you are running an errand, you should know the truth and falsehood. For example, the number of fields that I, the General Manager of the Song Dynasty, have, what is the yield per mu? What is the annual income? What is the population? What is the consumption? With the help of these numbers, we can draw conclusions about the folk figures."
How much grain has not been circulated, and based on this, we can roughly deduce the amount of grain stored in Jian Shang. Since we have to do this job, we naturally need to know to what extent we can solve the current crisis. If we blindly push or relax, wouldn't it be wrong?
Are you walking blindly at night?"
Su Jin smiled and said: "Don't be upset, sir. Just give these figures to me in private. What I said is that the emperor will not ask about these, and I will not take the initiative to tell you. According to my guess, what the emperor wants to know most is what we will do."
What methods should be used to confiscate these grain crops?"
Yan Shu said: "In your opinion, how should we proceed?"
Su Jin said: "Su Jin just listens to your lord's arrangements. The specific strategy to be adopted is up to the emperor and your lord to decide."
Yan Shu said solemnly: "When did you become so tactful? I'm afraid you don't know the importance of this mission. If you can't make a contribution this time, the people will be displaced and turbulent, and even the army will run out of food."
, do you know what serious consequences this will cause?"
Su Jinxin said, no matter how serious the consequences are, they are beyond my control. Why did you go there earlier? There is a severe drought in the south. Even us merchants know that there will be a famine. We have to prepare for a rainy day as early as May and June. Let’s stop it now.
Loopholes, of course, I'm in a hurry.
"What do you have in mind, sir? Can you tell me about it?"
"Of course I have to tell you that this time I can only be behind the scenes. If I move, the news will be leaked immediately, and nothing can be done by then. This is what I think. The imperial court has already made clear the crime of hoarding. In the second year of Emperor Taizong Duangong's reign,
It was stated in the imperial edict that merchants were allowed to bring grain into the official warehouses: "Anyone from a wealthy family or a wealthy person is not allowed to fight with others or ask for money. Anyone who violates this rule will be reported to the official and executed by the chief official."
, I was removed from the position and demoted. I still appointed Yushitai to investigate. No matter how much the dendrobium was produced, it was rewarded by the person who complained. The chief official can report it himself and be exempted from guilt. The rules of the person who complained are also implemented.
.It is forbidden to accept courtiers and envoys under the supervision of others, and those who violate it will be expelled and demoted.'; This article was later regarded as a law and incorporated into the Song Dynasty's Xingtong, and it has been more than forty years now."
Su Jin asked: "I understand Shilu's family, but what is a situation person?"
Yan Shu glanced at him strangely, as if he was blaming him for not understanding this, and said: "The so-called family with good salary and good status refers to the family of officials and gentry, who may have power or land.
In the process of entering the Zhongguan warehouse, there was fraud that harmed the public and enriched private interests."
Su Jin thought for a while, shook his head slightly and said: "I'm afraid this article will be revised. The terms in Taizong's reign have become chronic. I think it is because of this article that it is too strict, and officials and gentry are hoarding large amounts of grain and not entering the official warehouse."
, today’s situation may not have arisen from this article.”
Yan Shu smiled and said: "What you are thinking is reasonable, but it is not the whole story. When Emperor Taizong issued this strict edict, it was because these powerful people with land and property took advantage of the opportunity to enrich their own pockets. To put it simply, these people
With huge financial resources, they formed forces in local prefectures and counties to control the price of grain and rice. The imperial government's official warehouses had a price for grain every year. For example, during the Taizong period, the price of grain for the imperial court was 400 wen per stone. However, when new grain came on the market,
When the common people were selling grain, these people controlled the market, lowered the price, and borrowed the name of the court to collect grain at a price of 351 shi or lower; taking advantage of the people's eagerness to sell grain, they earned income at a low price and entered the official warehouse at a high price.
Make the difference.”
Su Jin clicked his tongue and said: "It turns out that there are these tricks in it. No wonder Taizong issued an edict not to let these officials and powerful people interfere in this matter. These powerful people are really sophisticated. These people are not just powerful people."
Human beings."
Yan Shu sighed: "Isn't that so? Emperor Taizong delegated this power to the merchants. I'm afraid it had an effect at that time. In addition, the punishment was severe. It was reported that many people who risked their lives for money were punished, but the good times did not end.
Long, there are other tricks coming out.”
Su Jindao: "That's natural. There are policies from above and countermeasures from below. No matter how perfect the policy is, there will always be loopholes taken advantage of by those who are interested."
Yan Shu said: "This sentence sums it up well. It is exactly like this. The power of entering the country is delegated to the merchants. On the surface, officials cannot interfere. In fact, secretly, the officials and merchants collude and play many tricks. The local officials use the power of supervision to not only
They were still able to control the price and later passed it off as inferior goods, withheld and hoarded it, mixed it with sediment, and took advantage of the opportunity to accept bribes during the contracting process. In short, they had so many tricks up their sleeves that it was difficult for people to detect them.”
Su Jin's heart felt cold. These guys were so lawless. No wonder he, a small and powerless businessman, was hoarding food and was safe and sound. It seemed that everyone had the mentality that the law should not be held accountable. If you take something from me, I will take it from you and live in peace.
Even if this kind of case is reported, it will probably be backlogged layer by layer, and I am afraid that all the joints will benefit.
Yan Shu continued: "In recent years, officials from various places have been fired because of this matter. However, in recent years, the food harvest has been bumper, and gradually even the emperor does not care much about such things. I have talked to the emperor twice, but nothing happened; I also
We know that once the famine years come, such things will become a cancer that shakes the foundation of the society. It is a pity that people only regret not making early plans when they are in crisis. If the current situation is said to be caused by businessmen colluding with the government, I am afraid it is one-sided.
Ci, fundamentally speaking, should be the responsibility of the imperial court."
Su Jin admired Yan Shu for daring to tell such a truth. She had just blamed him for not making preparations during the severe drought. It seemed that she had wrongly blamed him. Yan Shu must have reported the matter, but it did not attract Renzong's attention.
"Whenever interests are involved, some people will always take risks." Su Jin sighed.
Yan Shu remained silent, feeling deeply sad.
"Sir, there is something I don't know whether to say or not."
Yan Shu waved his hand and said: "That's it, this is a private discussion, not above the official court, or I want to talk about everything."
Su Jin coughed, rubbed his brow and said, "I would like to ask, what is the emperor's wish at this time?"
Yan Shu said: "What do you mean?"
Su Jinxing let go and said: "I mean, according to you, whether the emperor has made up his mind to deal with it. After all, this matter may involve a large number of people. If it is just to deal with the current situation, it will be a headache."
If you treat your foot painfully, you must leave room for future actions, otherwise you will have no hesitation and take this opportunity to eliminate this stubborn disease."
Yan Shu looked at Su Jin blankly, and then said after a while: "Of course I mean the latter. As for the emperor's wishes, it is not clear yet, but this is the direction you and I want to promote. Some words will be discussed when meeting the emperor.
You might as well talk about it."
Su Jin felt a chill in his heart. At this moment, Renzong's attitude was actually unclear. What should he do about this errand? What was going on in the emperor's mind?
Su Jin is not a politician. He doesn't know that some things are helpless. Things in the world are often inextricably linked. If this time during the food control, he pulls out the radish and brings out the mud from the whole vegetable bed, it will bring
The turmoil is definitely no less than that of famine refugees; if key personnel are involved, you need to be more careful, otherwise it may be an administrative and political catastrophe.
This is a time when political wisdom and courage are tested, and it is really not easy to decide how to choose.
The carriages and horses were sparkling, and the team advanced silently. An old man and a young man sat alone in the carriage, each with their own thoughts, looking at each other speechlessly.dd