Emperor Sui Yang

Chapter 230 Bargaining
After several heavy rains, the construction site in Luoyang was so muddy that it was difficult for people to walk.

Fortunately, Yu Wenkai knows engineering. When excavating the foundation of the city wall, he has reserved a water diversion channel in the city. The rainwater will gather in the channel and flow south into Yishui.

As for the rainwater from Mang Mountain, it was introduced into Luoshui.

Luoshui and Yishui are both rivers, but they are called water, because in ancient China, the term "river" was originally reserved for only one water stream, that is, the mother river of China, the Yellow River.

The mother river is the Yellow River, not the Yangtze River, because the Chinese civilization was conceived in the north, and the south at that time was still a barren land.

On rainy days, it is impossible to work, not only because people will get cold from the rain, but also because the roads are wet and slippery, people can't stand firmly, and accidents are prone to happen.

In the Sui Dynasty, if the treatment of a cold is delayed, it can be fatal.

Yang Ming doesn't care, because he has an imperial doctor here, and there is no shortage of medicines, but there is a huge gap in the medical insurance of 60 migrant workers, so no one dares to take the risk of letting migrant workers work in rainy weather.

It has been half a month since Yang Weibu was killed.

On the other side of Luoyang County, Tang Shizong, the magistrate of the county, took out the record of leaving the city and handed it over to the people in the Ministry of Criminal Justice.

However, the rumors spread, and now Luoyang is talking about it, saying that it was a part of King Qin's subordinates who attacked and killed King Qi's convoy.

For this reason, Yang Ming also approached Yang Hao, and Yang Hao was very angry, saying what kind of nonsense rumors, so as to provoke the relationship between their brothers?
What else did he say? He would never believe that Yang Ming would kill his people. The list of leaving the city was absolutely fabricated, and he asked Yang Ming to simply ask the Ministry of Criminal Justice to investigate, so as to silence those stalkers.

Yang Ming didn't bother to explain to him, because Cui Fuli came.

A King of Qin and a Shang Shuling accompanied him, which gave Cui Fuli enough face.

In name, Yang Ming invited the other party to come to Luoyang to inspect the construction site and give pointers, but Cui Fuli knew a lot about it. Even if some of the clan children he brought with him knew about fortifications, could Yu Wenkai understand?
Yu Wenkai never looked at him directly from the beginning to the end.

So Yang Ming took Cui Fuli and wandered around the construction site before returning to the prison mansion.

The things on the scene are all fiction, and the real thing is to sit down and chat in private.

At the capital's side, the letter from Prince Yang Zhao and the letter from Minister of Rites Yang Gongren were delivered one after the other, and Yang Ming probably knew it well.

Cui Fuli is more than 60 years old today. He is the cousin of the Holy Empress Dugu Jialuo. In fact, he is a very close relative. However, in ancient China, there was a big difference between the relatives of a woman’s natal family and the relatives of her father’s family. .

So Empress Dugu tried her best to support the Dugu Clan, but she didn't say a few words for the Cui family.

"One million shi of grain, three official positions, what does Mr. Cui think?" Yang Ming started.

Cui Fuli was taken aback for a moment, then frowned and looked at his nephew Cui Shiji, good guy, that's not what you told me before you came here, 100 million shi?You might as well eat me.

Cui Fuli said: "Your Majesty, the grain cellars in our family have a total storage of less than 20 shi, and those that can supply Changping are only [-] shi. If there is too much, we really can't get it out."

Yang Su frowned, apparently not believing the other party's nonsense, one hundred thousand shi of grain, is it really a beggar?
In Cui Fuli's view, a governor, a prefect, and a secretary province, are you also begging for food?

Three such positions, just want to ask me for 100 million shi of food, Yang Su and his family have a lot of knights, why don't they give out food?Take me for a fool?

Yang Ming hurriedly smiled and said, "Mr. Cui misunderstood. What this king means is to arrange these three first this year, and to have them all tomorrow and the year after. Gorgeous people, given time, the Cui family will definitely be used by the imperial court, and at that time, the scene of Cui's children entering and leaving the court is almost predictable."

Painting big cakes, purely painting big cakes, as long as this year survives, who knows what will happen next year.

Cui Fuli was completely unmoved, let's talk about next year's affairs, three positions are worth [-] shi.

On weekdays, [-] shi of grain is nothing, but right now both Yuzhou and Changping are short of food, and the rarest things are the most expensive, so Cui Fuli is very clear that he has the initiative.

Cui Fuli said: "There really aren't that many. Your Highness, you also know that our Cui family has been divided into six rooms since the old Wei Dynasty. I am only talking in the big room, and it is useful. I really can't care about the rest. .”

The Qinghe Cui clan originated from the Zhou Dynasty and was a descendant of Jiang Ziya. In the Western Han Dynasty, it was divided into two major branches, Qinghe Cui and Boling Cui.

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, these two families were known as "the door list is prosperous in the world, and the Ding family is the best in the country". In the Northern Wei Dynasty, they completely entered the heyday of the family.

It was also at that time that the Qinghe Cui family extended another six rooms.

They are Qinghe big house, Qinghe small house, Qingzhou house, Yanling house, Xingyang house and Nanzu house.

Adding up these six chambers, there were thirteen prime ministers during the Tang Dynasty.

Cui Fuli's words sound reasonable, but in fact, because the six families have separated for a short period of time, they all use the ancestral hall in Dongwucheng County, Qinghe County as their ancestral temple, and Cui Fuli, as the leader of the big house, is in charge of the family. Ancestral temple.

Especially since the founding of the Sui Dynasty, they have been suppressed excessively, so they are united together to overcome difficulties.

Now that Yang Ming gave him such a good opportunity, Cui Fuli was of course tempted, that's why he came all the way to Luoyang to meet him.

Negotiations, it is impossible to reach an agreement all at once, it takes time.

On Yang Ming's side, he was unwilling to make concessions, so the negotiation on the first day ended without a problem.

In the evening, Yang Ming and Yang Su chatted while eating,

Yang Ming said: "Yang Gongren clearly stated in the letter that these three quotas are already the maximum he can do. No matter how high they are, he dare not recommend them for fear of causing dissatisfaction."

Yang Su nodded and said with a smile: "Indeed, the Yuan family alone will not agree. The Yuan and Cui families are sworn enemies. It has been more than 100 years, and the two families still cannot resolve their feud."

The Yuan Family is the Yuan Clan of Luoyang, the former Tuoba Clan of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

At that time, there was a man in the old Cui family, named Cui Hao, who was the second official among the three masters and three masters, Situ of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and presided over the compilation of the history of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Those who did not fall were written into the history books and engraved into inscriptions.

The most sensational thing was that Cui Hao encouraged the then emperor Tuoba Tao to exterminate the Buddha. This is all right, and the nobles and common people were all offended.

So Tuoba Tao destroyed Cui Hao's nine clans.

At that time, Cui Hao was related by marriage to the Lu family of Fanyang, the Guo family of Taiyuan, and the Liu family of Hedong, and these three families also suffered.

However, the content of the national history compiled by Cui Hao at that time has been leaked out, so that the scandal of the Tuoba family is known all over the world, and it is still being circulated today.

The Tuoba clan, which is now the Yuan clan of Luoyang, the glory of their ancestors has been discredited by the surnamed Cui, and this feud has been settled.

Therefore, in the entire Henan area, except for Boling Cui, there is no official from the Qinghe Cui family.

Today, Yang Ming took Cui Fuli to inspect the construction site in Luoyang, and the back molars of Lao Yuan's family were almost gnawed.

Especially Yuyang County Gonggong Hongsi, this person used to be Yanrong's deputy, the governor of Youzhou, Shi, who killed Yanrong, and later took over the post of governor of Youzhou for a short time, and is now named Tokyo by Yang Guang. The civil engineer is the general manager, not the director. Dou Yan and Liu Su are the directors.

A strong dragon does not overwhelm a snake, and Yang Ming also has to be cautious about the emotions of the Yuan family, so before that, he had already greeted Yuan Hongsi to tell him not to mess around.

"Cui Fuli is bargaining with me. It seems that he thinks he has a small bargaining chip?" Yang Ming laughed.

Yang Su smiled and nodded: "They can definitely scrape together 100 million shi of grain, this old slicker also wants to get more, but the imperial court should not change, when we talk about it tomorrow, we still can't make any concessions. "

"The matter needs to come to a conclusion sooner, Changping can't wait," Yang Ming frowned and said in a deep voice, "I'll think about it tonight."

The next day, the two sides still negotiated.

On Cui Fuli's side, he brought six people with him, all of whom were quite prestigious elders in the clan.

Yang Ming refrained from gossip and straight to the point: "In five years, Qinghe County (big house and small house), Qingzhou (Qingzhou house), Yingchuan County (Yanling house), Qi County (South ancestral house), the The list of candidates belongs to you.”

Xingyang County is missing here, because the old Zheng's family in Xingyang will not agree.

As soon as these words came out, Cui Fuli began to discuss in low voice with several other people.

As for Yang Ming and Yang Su, they also put on impatient faces. If their attitudes were good, Cui would even bargain.

After a while, one of the old men surnamed Cui said:

"May I ask Your Highness, can the recommended person be a Jinshi?"

"I don't care what I say," Yang Ming said lightly, "Jinshi is selected by His Majesty himself. There is no fixed amount. If you are really knowledgeable, you will definitely be admitted. It depends on Your Majesty's will."

The words were not said clearly, but the meaning came.

As long as you give more food, if His Majesty is happy, it is not impossible to give more Jinshi.

The old man surnamed Cui nodded, and then discussed with the others in a low voice.

Seeing this, Yang Ming said in an impatient tone: "You guys had better come to a conclusion quickly. Changping is still waiting for the grain to be used, and the construction period in Luoyang has been delayed. Not to mention Jinshi, there are no Juren."

Yang Su also cooperated and said: "Your Majesty's edict has been issued. It won't be long before the magistrates of the states and counties will arrange for candidates to enter the capital for examinations. It also takes time for us to say hello, and it will be too late."

After repeated urgings, the Cui family was finally persuaded.

After integrating everyone's opinions, Cui Fuli nodded and said:
"Since this is the case, we are willing to send grain. It takes time to prepare 100 million shi. I can send people back to Qinghe to prepare the first batch of 20 shi. It will be delivered to Changping within half a month, and the rest will be in half a year." deliver."

"Okay, that's it." Yang Ming changed his face, walked down the steps with a smile, and said, "Qinghe Cui's family has relieved the country's worries. It is worthy of being a famous family in Hebei. Your Majesty will be very happy to donate generously today."

"It's my duty to relieve the country's worries," Cui Fuli and others replied with a smile.

Well, the transaction is negotiated, and everyone is happy.

(End of this chapter)