Emperor Sui Yang

Chapter 436 Local forces
At the court meeting the next day, Yun Dingxing took the initiative to stand up and asked to be exempted from the purchase of tools by the peasants. He roughly calculated that it was more than 60 guan, maybe more.

Wei Jin, the servant of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, stood up and said: "Others talk about it, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has a broken leg, more than 60 yuan, if you say it is free, it will be free. Does Yun Shaoqing think that the money in the treasury belongs to your family?"

Yun Dingxing said: "After a few big inquiries, it seems that the treasury has a large surplus of money. The north has been employing workers for years, and the people are exhausted. Some measures to benefit the people should be supported by Duke Wei."

"The Ministry of Civil Affairs is in charge of the national treasury, and every sum of expenditure and income does not dare to make a slight difference," Wei Jin said: "When we move the abacus, every particle must be carefully weighed and thought over. Yun Shaoqing opened his mouth. It’s 60, isn’t that a big deal?”

In the early days of the Sui Dynasty, the calculation tool was called Suanchou, which was calculated by placing small wooden sticks in a certain shape, like this: 〣, 〦, 〨, 〨.
Yang Ming thought it was too rough, so when he was very young, he used a pile of small stones in front of his teacher, Dr. Xiao Gai from Guozijian, to show the appearance of the abacus and how to carry it out, deliberately for Xiao Gai to see.

As a result, Xiao Gai, together with Taishi Ling Zhang Zhouxuan, Dr. Liu Zhuo, Wang Xiaotong, Zhen Zu and others who were the secretary of the province, really invented the abacus.

The abacus that just came out has a bottom plate on the back, and the carry method is very backward, so Yang Ming secretly wrote down the formulas of abacus addition and subtraction on the back of the bottom plate. It was written, but there was too much trouble later, so Liu Zhuo was dismissed from office.

Therefore, the abacus has existed for 15 years in the Sui Dynasty, and the folks have also begun to popularize it.

When Wei Jin finished speaking, he looked at the other two big men from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Shangshu Cui Zhongfang, and Pei Yun who was a doctor and servant.

Cui Zhongfang kept his eyes on his nose and his heart, while Pei Yun was expressionless.

Yun Dingxing was left alone by the crown prince last night, Cui Zhongfang knew about it, but at the court meeting today, Yun Dingxing came up with such an idea, needless to say, it must have been instructed by the crown prince, so why should I get involved?
As for Pei Yun, he was more cautious. He still couldn't understand what was going on right now, so it was better not to speak.

Wei Jin felt that something was wrong. I am not alone in the Ministry of Civil Affairs. You two are pretending to be deaf and dumb. What do you mean?
At this time, Yun Dingxing continued:

"In the matter of road construction, the loss of tools is a huge number. A pick and a shovel are nothing to the court, but they are things that the people rely on to make a living. I think that reducing this item can show your majesty and the prince's benevolence. Love the people."

After saying this, Wei Jin looked at Yang Ming, observing the change in Yang Ming's expression.

At this time, Yang Ming also looked at Wei Jin and asked, "How much is the current balance of the treasury?"

Before Wei Jin could speak, Cui Zhongfang took the lead and said:

"To the crown prince, the treasury is currently saving 120 million guan. After throwing away all the budgetary expenditures that have been reported this year, there should be a balance of 450 million guan. According to the system, 700 million is the treasury's emergency reserve. If you can't move it, then you can use it." The balance is 740 million guan.”

Yang Ming nodded and said, "Then, is it appropriate to allocate 60 to Taifu Temple to make up for this shortfall?"

"Of course it is appropriate," Cui Zhongfang said, "The crown prince is sympathetic to the common people, this money should be spent."

Wei Jin wished he could go over and kick him over, old man, have you heard some rumors in advance?Why don't you say hello to me, just wink?

So he also hurriedly turned the rudder, stood up and said: "The benevolence of the prince is really a blessing for the people."

"Then it's settled," Yang Ming looked at Yun Dingxing and said, "You should discuss the specific matters with the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The most important thing in everything is to reduce the pressure on the people. Experience the suffering of the people."

One hand and one demote.

Wei Jin's heart skipped a beat, knowing that Yang Ming was scolding him.

Taking the opportunity, Cui Zhongfang hastily said some good things for the family, probably those two sentences, what to relieve the king's worries, cherish the common people and so on.

After the dispersal of the court, the three leaders of the Ministry of Civil Affairs left hand in hand to discuss the allocation of funds on the road.

Not long after Cui Zhongfang returned to Beijing, he asked the two people beside him:

"In my opinion, although the crown prince is at a young age, he is rigorous in handling affairs, mature and capable, resourceful and good at making decisions. It is a blessing for the country that the crown prince is here."

You haven't seen the ruthless side of others, you just came back, let's learn more slowly, Pei Yun nodded and said:
"But it's not an ordinary person. The prince entered the court and participated in the meeting. He seems to be 15 years old?"

Wei Jin shook his head and said: "No, at the age of 15, he only participated in the court meeting sporadically. He officially participated in the meeting at the age of 17. The prince went to Jingzhou as the general manager as soon as he became an adult. After almost two years, he came back to serve as the minister under the door and concurrently served as the right leader. General, he is 23 now, and the prince has done a lot of great things in six years."

"I don't know the prince very well, and I will rely on you two in the future. When it's urgent, remember to remind me more," Cui Zhongfang said with a smile.

Remind me of the size of the mud horse, have you reminded me at the meeting today?Wei Jin smiled and said, "That's natural."

At this time, a servant came over and called Pei Yun away, saying that the prince had invited him.

Cui Zhongfang hastily pulled Pei Yun's sleeve, and said in a low voice: "If the crown prince has any important orders to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Dr. Pei must inform you in time."

Pei Yun smiled and nodded, then followed the servant.

"I said, you write," In the hall, besides Yang Ming, there was also the new Minister of Internal History, Wang Zhou.

Yu Shiji always held back Lu Chu, making the latter's internal history difficult, so Yang Mingzuo invited his father to kick Yu Shiji out, and replaced him with Wang Zhou, who was born in the Langya Wang family.

After Pei Yun came in, she didn't interrupt, but listened quietly.

"Military equipment is the most important weapon of the country, and it has suffered a lot of wear and tear over the years. The Taifu Temple has been flickering and moving around to meet the needs. However, the refining kiln is old and the bottleneck of the process is difficult to overcome. The treasury is difficult. Please privately raise the refining kiln Yu Wenxi , to dig mines in Zhongtiao to make up for the lack of inventory and prepare for future needs.”

Pei Yun was listening and probably understood.

Private placement, Wenxi, Zhongtiao, this should be the purpose of the prince calling him here.

After Wang Zhou finished writing, he handed it to Yang Ming for reading, then sealed it and sent it to Luoyang.

"Sit down, don't stand up," Yang Ming called Pei Yun to sit down, then asked Nei to serve tea, and said with a smile:

"Pei Gong is not here, there are some things that need to be discussed with you."

Pei Yun nodded and said, "But what about the private placement of kilns that His Highness just said?"

"That's right," Yang Ming said with a smile, "I always need to say hello to you."

Pei Yun quickly waved her hand: "Your Highness is too far-fetched, the Pei family is terrified of you, you can do whatever you want in Wenxi, and the Pei family must fully support you."

The daughters of the head of the family are all married to you. You are the son-in-law of our Pei family. If we don't support you, who will we support?

Yang Ming knew that what the other party said was just a matter of appearances, and the interest thing had to be made clear. Besides, Pei Yun's status in the Pei family was not good at all. He was not even as good as Pei Xizai's status in the family, and even worse than Pei Renji.

It was a matter of family interests, so Pei Ju had to think about it.

Yang Ming said with a smile: "Some things still need to be clarified. I built mines and kilns for private placement, so I intend to let the Pei family participate. I heard from Ayun that you have many mines in Wenxi?"

Pei Yun nodded and said: "To tell you the truth, Your Highness, there are, but I don't know exactly how much."

Yang Ming said: "How about this, you discuss it with the people in the clan, you raise 50 yuan, and I will prepare the rest, including Dugu Huai'en, the three of us will cooperate."

How do you count him?What kind of onion is he?Pei Yun asked curiously, "General Dugu also has this intention?"

"He proposed the matter, and I also intend to let him participate. Of course, he is in an important position and cannot go to Hedong," Yang Ming said with a smile: "This kind of matter should be left to the experts. It’s just funding.”

Pei Yun nodded and said: "Okay, I will discuss it with the people in the clan as soon as possible, and give His Highness an answer as soon as possible."

"Okay, then go ahead," Yang Ming raised his hand.

Zhongtiao Mountain in the Hedong area is the closest to the capital and also where the largest mine veins are distributed. Along the entire Zhongtiao Mountain, Taifu Temple has at least ten mines, but Wenxi has none.

Why?The old Pei family obstructed it.

What the imperial court wants to do in the local area, it is useless if the local clans do not agree.

People's obstruction is not on the bright side, but behind the scenes. For example, a mine has just been built, and the bandits come to make trouble every three days. They will burn your barracks and kill your craftsmen. You send officers and soldiers to arrest you, eh~ ~~ Still can't catch it.

After a long time, the mine in that place will be abandoned. Once the Pei family takes over, there will be no bandits.

This is local power.

Officials who have always been in Hedong, no matter how big or small you are, if you have no acquaintances in Pei, Liu, and Xue, you are not even as good as a fart, unless you are a royal family like Yang Ming.

Even for a foreign relative like Dou Qing, in his first year as the prefect, he first had to visit the clan leaders of the three families to establish a good relationship with them.

Just like this, if it makes people feel a little bit uncomfortable, Dou Qing, the prefect, will not be easy to do.

But Yang Ming has no problem. As Pei Ju's daughter, Pei Shuying was born in Wenxi.

And now Yang Ming has completely controlled the Hedong Army Mansion. Who of the three families dares to make trouble is definitely itchy.

After dealing with some government affairs, Yang Ming returned to the East Palace to visit Chen Shuyi.

This girl, along with Yang Yinjiang and Pei Shuying, are the three most important women in Yang Ming's heart. Now she has no children, so Yang Ming is very happy about her pregnancy.

Let's have a daughter, I really don't want to have another son, now it seems that one more son means one more trouble.

Chen Shuyi's grandmother, Liu Jingyan, also came. This old lady was born in the east family house of the Liu family in the east of the river. By the way, there are many three masters and three masters.

Liu Shu's branch is the Xijuanfang.

(End of this chapter)