I'm really not King Jing of Zhongshan

Chapter 436 The Way of the King
Slightly worse.

The ghost knows how desperate Yuan An's heart was when Jia Gui said the word "slightly inferior".

——A horse bought for [-] gold is 'slightly inferior' compared to the stallions in the Lishan stable;
And each of these horses is worth 75 gold—at least a stallion worth more than 170 gold, and there are still a total of 170 horses, but they were only sold for [-] million gold, which was [-] gold.

Is this still poaching the foot of the country?

I'm afraid this can already be regarded as prying the foundation of the Zongshe.

why?
First of all, one thing I have to mention is: Why is Jia Gui's horse so expensive?

As the saying goes: Rare things are more expensive.

Perhaps on the grasslands, among the nomadic peoples, even though that horse could be considered handsome, it would definitely not be worth a thousand gold, at most it would be worth three or four ordinary stallions.

But in today's Han Dynasty where there is a shortage of horses, especially good-bred stallions, any stallion—any stallion that can be used as a stallion is of extremely high value.

The reason is simple: a stallion means a certain group of mares, and will live a happy life from one litter to another.

To put it more bluntly, it is reproduction.

A well-bred stallion can greatly increase the reproduction speed of a group of mares.

And many fine-bred stallions can ensure the genetic diversity of the ethnic group and greatly reduce the congenital disabilities of foals due to "breeding with close relatives".

From this point of view, the price of stallions is not a simple addition and subtraction, or multiplication and division.

If a stallion is worth a fortune, it is because it can foal a large herd of mares;

If the price of two stallions is three thousand gold, it is because they can try their best to ensure that their third-generation bloodlines have a chance not to breed with close relatives.

In this way, it increases exponentially until the number of thoroughbred stallions, that is, the number of stallions exceeds ten, which will be a qualitative change.

——Ten stallions almost reduced the chances of third-generation inbreeding to negligible!

And starting from ten horses, every time there is an extra stallion, this negligible chance will be greatly reduced.

In other words: Sufficient quantity and sufficient quality of stallions is the key to whether a group of horses can snowball in quantity without affecting—at least not affecting quality.

However, Yuan An's servant actually caused such a herd of 79 stallions to lose 75 of them.

And according to Liu Sheng's bold speculation, the remaining four stallions were likely to be selected and left unwanted, so they were lucky enough to stay in the Lishan stable.

In this way, the facts are very simple and clear.

The loss of the Lishan Stable cannot be measured by the more than 70 stallions, or all the poor horses and more than half mares.

What the Lishan Stable lost was not only the 75 stallions with an average value of more than a thousand gold, but also the future of the entire Lishan Stable.

——If there are those 79 stallions, it will not exceed 20 years at most, and the Lishan Stable will be able to complete the accumulation of the population base, and will continue to slaughter horses year after year, and even slaughter horses in batches!

But now, the only four stallions left in the Lishan stable, especially the old horses that are likely to be "useless", even make it difficult for Liu Sheng to make up his mind to allocate funds from the Shaofu to maintain the Lishan stable, so that The Lishan Stable continued to exist.

The more than 70 stallions are the foundation of the Lishan Stable.

And the Lishan stables, and every horse garden like the Lishan stables, are the foundation of the Liu Han Dynasty's external struggle, especially the defense against the enemy in the north...
Yuan Ang's servant is destroying the foundation of the Liu family...
"One Lishan stable is like this, so what about the other outer stables in Guanzhong?"

"Since Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, have all the funds allocated to the eunuchs for horse affairs over the years been used in the horse affairs of our Han family instead of the eunuch's human relations?"

"If I really go to investigate, can there be more than ten officials in the entire imperial servant's office, who can walk out of the court without a trace???"

For Liu Sheng's series of questions, Yuan An could not give an answer, and did not dare to give an answer at all.

The Lishan stable is like this, what about the other outer stables?

Yuan Ang can only say that it came out of one system, don't laugh at the elder brother.

Places that are closer to Chang'an, such as Lantian and Xinfeng, are fine—after all, they are closer to Chang'an, and there are always people who are worried that things will be revealed, so they restrain themselves a little.

But in the "remote areas" like Lishan Stables, where you can't wait for a superior official or a censor to inspect for ten or eight years, the eating behavior of the servants and officials is really ugly and outrageous.

As for these situations, Yuan Ang, who is in charge of the world's horse administration in name, is actually mainly responsible for driving the imperial chariot for the emperor Sheng, occasionally intervening symbolically in horse administration, Yuan An really feels that he is suffering and cannot tell...

what happened?

It was actually very simple: after Yuan An became a servant, some old friends who had been in contact with him over the years came to the door with their own gifts, and shyly expressed that they had something to ask Yuan An.

After asking, I found out that this group of boys teamed up to set up a caravan. If they don't do business, they are responsible for transporting goods for merchants;

From Guanzhong to Guandong, walking back and forth once a year, everyone can make a living without worrying about food and drink, and even have enough food and clothing.

For this group of old guys, especially those old friends with a street-like and knight-errant look, Yuan An certainly wanted to get them back on the right track and do some serious business.

Hearing that the old folks started express delivery, Yuan An was overjoyed immediately, and thumped his chest: Tell me!Is there anything I can do to help!

As long as I can help, I will definitely help you!

Then, one of them stood up rather shyly, saying that the newly established express company wanted to rent some rough horses from Yuan An's servant to haul goods to and from the Kanto.

At the beginning, Yuan An was still wary of this: How can public equipment be used privately?

But after a while of persuasion from that person, Yuan Ang finally chose to write a letter to the servant officials under his command, borrowing some rough horses from the servants to the old guys.

——No one can refuse their proposal!
According to them, the servants' poor horses were left alone, not to mention a waste of feed, and they could not create any value.

Rather than doing this, it is better to rent it out. Not only can it generate an extra income, but it can also allow the tenant to bear the feed, and reduce the expenditure for the servant.

In this way, the choice will not be difficult.

——If you don’t rent, you are raising these poor horses for nothing, paying for the feed expenses, but without any income;

——If you rent it out, you can not only save on feed expenses, but also earn a rent calculated on a daily basis!

The most important thing is that if the horses are killed or injured, they will be compensated three times the market price.

That's it, who wouldn't be tempted?

What Yuan Ang thought was precisely the plan of "renting is a win-win situation for all parties", so he acquiesced to some actions of his subordinate officials.

It's just that I didn't expect that a momentary mistake would cause such a catastrophe...
"Ugh······"

"I knew it earlier..."

"—Yuan An, Yuan An;"

"—If I knew this earlier, why did I do it in the first place?"

Almost at the same time, Yuan An, who was kneeling on the ground, and Liu Shengjun, who had a gloomy face, both had these words in their hearts at the same time.

I knew this, why should I be at the beginning?
It's just that since all this has already happened, no matter how much Yuan Ang regrets, no matter how much Liu Sheng regrets, they will never go back...

·
"Yuan Ang, I'm getting old."

In the early morning of the next day, Liu Sheng unexpectedly appeared in the Changxin Hall of Changle Palace and reported yesterday's events to his grandmother, Empress Dowager Dou.

As for the reason why Liu Sheng did this - the reason why he came to report so early in the morning is actually very simple.

The Lishan Stable Order who sold 75 stallions but only recorded "revenue of 170 million yuan" is Dou...

"Dou Wan..."

"Emperor, what are you going to do with it?"

Sure enough, as Liu Sheng expected, after he said the news of "Yuan An is retiring", the attention of Empress Dowager Dou still did not shift from her nephew to other places.

Even though Yuan An was an old friend and buddy of Empress Dowager Dou, he still failed to change this reality.

In this regard, Liu Shengzi also has his own set of arguments.

——A set of argumentation system tailor-made with Empress Dowager Dou as the target audience.

"Grandmother should remember that Emperor Taizong Xiaowen wanted to build a pavilion in Weiyang Palace?"

As soon as these words came out, the probing look on Empress Dowager Dou's face suddenly disappeared, and the brows were instantly filled with sadness.

"Remember~"

"Remember······"

Seeing that his grandmother was really attracted by the memories, Liu Sheng also nodded slightly, and continued: "Back then, Emperor Taizong Xiaowen wanted to build a gazebo, so he asked the officials and craftsmen of the Shaofu: How much food would it cost to build such a gazebo?"

"The craftsman replied: Hundred gold."

"Therefore, Emperor Taizong Xiaowen turned pale with fright, and hurriedly said to his left and right: One hundred gold, that is all the money of ten middle-class families, but it is used to give me this man who has no merit or fame, but is subject to the people of the world. Did the stupid king who made offerings build a gazebo?"

"This incident aroused a lot of material theory back then. There were different opinions in the streets and alleys, and there were even some malicious remarks that slandered Emperor Taizong."

"But Emperor Taizong said: The common people are ignorant and uneducated, so let them say what they want to say."

"So the "Defamation Order" was removed, and the common people without official positions in the world were allowed to spontaneously talk about all the things they wanted to talk about."

"Up to now, whether it is the unbuilt pavilion or the removal of the "Defamation Order", it is evidence of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen's benevolence and holiness."

"These things, the imperial grandmother should not be ignorant..."

Of course Empress Dowager Dou knew.

You must know that the reason why Empress Dowager Dou is Empress Dowager is precisely because Emperor Taizong Xiaowen is the husband of Empress Dowager Dou, and Emperor Xian Xiaojing is the son of Empress Dowager Dou.

As for the legal source of her status as the "Emperor Empress Dowager", the Empress Dowager Dou naturally values ​​it more than anything else.

It's just that at this moment, Empress Dowager Dou really didn't understand: she was talking about the servants and the order of Dou Wan in the Lishan stables, so what did Liu Sheng suddenly bring up these past events.

"The grandson said this to remind the emperor's grandmother: the gazebo that was evaluated by Emperor Taizong Xiaowen as 'too expensive, so extravagant people would spend a hundred gold to repair this thing', but it only needed a hundred gold."

"And every stallion kept in the Lishan Stables was obtained by successive servants of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen and Emperor Xian Xiaojing through the way of Marquis Chang'an and the mutual market at the border. "

"——a gazebo worth a hundred gold, Emperor Taizong would rather be scolded as "small family", "have never seen the world", and "country man" are not willing to repair it;"

"—Each stallion in the Lishan Stable is worth more than ten such gazebos."

"As for the stallions like this, each of which is worth at least ten pavilions, Lishan Stable Order sold a total of 75 stallions..."

He mercilessly exposed Dou Wan's fabricated lies - "I was greedy for a small amount of money, His Majesty seems to want to kill me". Hearing this, Dou Wan lowered his head.

When Liu Sheng was about to become the crown prince, Emperor Xian Xiaojing used the matter of stabilizing grain prices as the final test before Liu Sheng was established as a reserve. Liu Sheng and Dou Wan also had a brief experience of working together.

Speaking of it, it can be regarded as a half acquaintance.

But no matter how familiar he is, Liu Sheng can't tolerate anyone squandering himself like this—wasting the accumulation of years of hard work by the two generations of Wen and Jing emperors.

My grandfather and my father planted a tree for me, and it was about to bear fruit, but a distant relative of yours wanted to chop down the tree and sell the wood?
I can fuck you! ! !
"Oh······"

"The price of the stallions in the ten gazebos, the stable order, sold a total of 75 horses..."

The Empress Dowager Dou's cold words made Dou Wan break into a cold sweat. He was about to get up to say something more, but was stabbed in the main artery by the eunuch Ling Xiaque's knife, and completely lost the last sliver of vitality.

"The old slave is a palace man, so he shouldn't speak nonsense, and His Majesty has repeatedly explained to the old slave not to tell the empress dowager."

"But old slave, I really can't stand it..."

"—not only the 75 stallions, but also nearly a thousand mares in the Lishan Stable, and more than half of them were sold by the stable order;"

"Thousands of poor horses are also rented out at a price of [-] cent per day, but the Lishan Stable is still responsible for the feed."

"As for those who leased the poor horses from the Lishan stables, they just brought the poor horses out of the Lishan stables, and they sublet them to others on the way before they even got out of the Lishan stables."

"The rent is 150 yuan per day, and the feed and food are calculated separately..."

Under Liu Sheng's intentional or unintentional acquiescence, Xia Que finally tore off Dou Wan's last fig leaf.

And the consequences of doing so are undoubtedly very serious...
"At first, I thought that the emperor added the crown and pro-government, and he was going to take my Dou family under the knife."

"Is it possible that I, the Dou family, have such a stupid person to ruin the reputation of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen?"

After speaking, Empress Dowager Dou stood up leisurely, and took a last look at Dou Wan.

"Go to the ancestral hall and kneel down."

"When will the horses in the Lishan stable be ready and when will they get up?"

After saying that, Empress Dowager Dou walked towards the back of the palace, and she did not forget to say hello to her back as she walked: "The emperor comes with me."

"We, grandpa and grandson, haven't talked properly for a long time..."

(End of this chapter)