The First Auxiliary Road from the Imperial Examination

Sheng Yuan, if it sounds good, he has high self-confidence; if it sounds bad, he doesn't know how to worry.

Of course, this is mainly related to her perspective on the problem.

No matter how difficult the problem she is responsible for, her focus is only on the process of solving it.

As for the final result, she does care about it, but she is not overly obsessed with it.

Just like now, now that she has received the mission to go out of the capital to provide food relief to the people, she has already begun to prepare for the next work before the imperial edict is implemented.

"My parents were right before. The goal of providing food relief to the people is to provide enough food to appease the people. Therefore, the top priority is to raise as much food as possible." Sheng Yuan sat in the study, holding an abacus with one hand and writing on the booklet with the other. Record.

Anyu next to him was holding the map of Kun Yu and pondering: "Forget about the nearest twelve counties of Qizhou. The last time they raised food, they not only allocated the food to be handed over to the court, but also some of the food they kept for themselves. We have also saved money for assistance. If we let them think about it again now, I'm afraid it will be difficult for them. "

When Sheng Yuan heard about the twelve counties of Qizhou, she narrowed her eyes unconsciously, but soon, her attention was attracted by Anyu.

"Pengzhou is too far away. Even if we can allocate food separately, water from far away cannot quench our thirst, not to mention there will be a lot of losses in transporting it all the way there." Anyu gestured on the map with a pen, "As for the way to the south, Go to those prefectures and counties... last year's rains were too abundant, which affected grain production. For this reason, the imperial court specially reduced their grain tax by 30%. It seems that it is not enough for the local people, otherwise the price of grain there would be too high. It can’t rise like this.”

Although the price of food in those places is high, the local gentry may not have no food in stock. If they plan carefully, it may not be able to solve the food crisis in the south.

Sheng Yuan is extremely experienced in handling the local wealthy gentry, and he has everything he needs to know.

It's just that Yang Wennong fell into the water and disappeared not long ago. Sheng Yuan didn't want to push the big players too hard. Only with the right scale can he be able to do it with ease.

But how can we solve the food shortage problem in the south without asking for food from big households?

"Buy!" Sheng Yuan looked at several vassal states outside of Da Chu.

"Buy?!" Anyu was stunned.

"Yes!" Sheng Yuan drew a road on the map with her finger, "If you purchase grain, you can transport it directly back through this trade route."

The trade routes she mentioned were actually official post roads, such as paying tribute and doing trade in daily life. They basically took this road.

Although the price of using this official road is slightly high, the key is that there are troops stationed here, specifically responsible for maintaining public security and ensuring the safe movement of goods on this post road.

"If something like Shilang Yang really happened here, then the inside story will be clear."

Sheng Yuan smiled, feeling that if the Internal Guards and the Sanfa Division knew her plan, they would just hope that the robbers would succeed again. In that case, it would be much easier to confirm the robbers' motives and behind-the-scenes instructions.

"What's more important is that I am an official from the Ministry of Revenue! As the saying goes, those closest to the water get the moon first, and the government's grain depots cannot squeeze out allocated grains. The Ministry of Households must allocate enough grains."

"Yes, if someone else goes to the Ministry of Household Affairs, An Shangshu will probably cry and complain that the number of rats in the grain depot has decreased." An Yu couldn't help but joke about the "famous" "An Lao Di" An Shangshu.

Sheng Yuan sneered when she heard this, but when she had laughed enough, she said two fair words: "Who said the national treasury's grain warehouse inventory is limited! It's not easy for An Shangshu to have more people and less meat." Money and Grain Inventory Book It is limited, and there is still spare money and food left to deal with wars and disasters. How can the rest satisfy the requests for money and food from all departments?

"If you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are, those who ask for money and food and those who give out money and food have their own reasons. If An Shangshu hadn't managed it well, I'm afraid the imperial government's finances would have been stretched long ago."

"If An Shangshu didn't have some skills, he wouldn't have been able to sit in the position of Hubu Shangshu for so long!" An Yu thought, thinking that this gentleman would only sit in the position of Hubu Shangshu until he reaches old age.

"Don't let him hear what you say, otherwise Mr. An will probably cry secretly."

Sheng Yuan thought about how An Shangshu often lamented that work was not easy, and when Jian Tianer looked forward to retiring early, she really wanted to laugh and sympathize.

"But the Ministry of Accounts allocates funds. I'm afraid we will have to pay some in advance in the end." Anyu took the abacus in Shengyuan's hand, dialed it a few times and came up with a number, "Of course, this money sounds like a lot, but for us To me, it’s nothing... Even if the entire food payment is made, it’s not a big sum of money to us, but the key is not to do this.”

"Let the caravan do the purchasing of grain. As for the balance..." Sheng Yuan felt that the wealthy squires in the south had the responsibility to tide over the difficulties together with the people of the court.

Efforts to tap the potential of the wealthy gentry and make full use of the advantages of large households are the policies adopted by most officials in the officialdom when managing local government affairs, and Shengyuan is no exception.

Normally, there is a lot of looting from the people, but now it is necessary to give back to the place, which is natural.

"If we can dig out a few big rats among the officials in Nandi Prefecture and County, we may be able to enrich the court's finances." Anyu, as a family member of an official in the Ministry of Household Affairs, is also very concerned about the court's financial issues.

The two discussed the key issue of food relief for a while, and then brought up the disappearance of Yang Wennong.

"At that time, our troops will be divided into two groups and meet in the south." After Sheng Yuan heard that Yang Wennong fell into the water and disappeared, she sent her guards to make up and leave the capital to inquire about the news in the south. Judging from the time, she should have left the capital before she left. I can get a reply.

She does not need to confirm who is responsible for the Yang Wennong incident, she only needs to confirm whether there is any problem in Nandi.

"Don't worry, I'll hit wherever you point me, and I'll take care of it so that this food relief to the people can be completed properly."

Anyu patted his chest and promised that he would definitely let Nan Shang take the lead in cooperating.

……

"Secretary Sheng." An Suiyun looked at the application letter submitted by Sheng Yuan with a look of embarrassment on his face, "Ordinarily, the household department is responsible for purchasing grain, but the treasury has run out of money that can be randomly transferred... I can give it to you. Approval of a part of it is due to our friendship as we are also officials of the Ministry of Revenue. No matter how much, I can't help you... Otherwise, how about finding a solution elsewhere? "

"???" Sheng Yuan didn't expect that An Shangshu would even discount the applications of colleagues from the Ministry of Household Affairs. Isn't this old man too particular? !

"Cough, cough, cough!" Probably because Sheng Yuan's accusing expression was too obvious, An Shangshu was stunned for a rare moment: "It's not like a clever woman can make a meal without rice!"

"Last year's tax revenue was divided into the national treasury and the emperor's internal funds. It is indeed quite generous, but the problem is that there are too many people asking for money! The national treasury is not an internal fund. The Ministry of Accounts is everywhere asking for money. Our household department just pours money and food from the left hand to the right hand, and it is impossible to conjure it out of thin air. How much more can we get if we use this?" An Shangshu cried out and winked at Sheng Yuan, signaling Sheng Yuan to ask the emperor for it. The intention of money is simply not too obvious.

Sheng Yuan: "..." Compared with these official circles, she is still too kind. (End of chapter)