Emperor Sui Yang

Chapter 473
The prefect of Shangdang County was originally Lu Yongji. After he was convicted, Shi Huaiyi took over, but now Shi Huaiyi went to the Southwest Xingtai to be the Minister of the Ministry of War, so the position of Shangdang prefect was taken over by another man named Lu Zhang.

The prefect is Lu Zhang, the county magistrate is Cui Wei, and two Hebei natives are officials in Shanxi.

The reason why Cui Wei came to find Yang Ming was because the emperor in Luoyang had decreed that two Cui and one Lu water transport ships from Hebei Province would be dispatched to transport grain and grass to Zhuojun.

Several large warehouses in Luoyang are already full, and this year's annual grain will be collected soon, so they have to vacate the warehouses early.

As early as when Zhuojun was building the Yongji Canal, several large warehouses had been built in the counties under its jurisdiction. Of course, it was incomparable with Luoyang, so the grain shipped from Luoyang to Zhuojun this time was only 230 million shi.

Of the four major granaries in the Sui Dynasty, Luoyang occupied three, including Jiacang, Huiluocang, and Xingluocang. The grain stored in the three granaries accounted for half of the country's grain, with a total of about 800 million shi.

And all the granaries in the entire Zhuo County can store 300 million shi of grain. This is due to the need for wartime and a lot of expansion.

This year's annual grain needs to be put into storage, but the storage is full, so it needs to be transported to the north as soon as possible. Yang Guang handed over the water transportation of Yongji Canal to the three companies, so that the three companies built a large number of water ships, and even the money has not been recovered yet. , As a result, the ship was about to be requisitioned.

What Cui Wei meant was that he hoped that the imperial court would give some money for running errands, at least the boatman's food expenses would be taken care of, otherwise the three of their families would go through a series of chaos, and they would really have no financial resources to maintain the boats and support the sailors.

When the Yongji Canal was being built, all three families had invested heavily, and suffered from military disasters. The losses were indeed serious. As a result, the court reneged on their debts later, and it was a good deal to use the water transport business as compensation.

But now that the three families have realized it, I'm so fooled.

There must be boats for water transportation, so the three families invested capital and built more than 6000 new water boats. After only one year of work, the imperial court issued a decree to conscript their boats. Isn't this blood compensation?

Seeing that Koguryo is about to be attacked, Yongji Canal will inevitably become the most important water channel. Let alone transporting food, it will have to transport troops in the future.

Working in vain for a year, without any income, the total loss is unprecedented.

Therefore, Cui Wei not only hoped that Yang Ming could go to the imperial court and give them a little compensation, but also suggested that the Dugu family and the Xiao family should call for water boats to help them share the burden.

The Dugu family has a fart tank boat. They use a boat built by the Ministry of Industry when Yang Guangnan was patrolling the river. It belongs to the public and they lease it.

Do you need money for the lease?The money is for the imperial court, so how can the imperial court conscript ships that can make money for themselves?

As for the Xiao family, they had to rely on them to transport food from Jiangnan to Luoyang, and they were still relatives. The money they earned was Yang Guang's small treasury for emergencies, and it was impossible to call for it.

So this one was taken for granted by the three of them.

After Yang Ming listened to it, he remained silent all the time. It is you people who are oppressing important national affairs. Could it be possible to oppress the common people?
Besides, Yang Guang has already squeezed the common people, what happened to you being squeezed?
In fact, the entire history of ancient China is the history between the emperor and the gentry. It has nothing to do with the common people. Go share this piece of meat.

If the distribution is uneven, then change the emperor, and the change of dynasty comes because of it. Unlike later generations, the common people are the masters of their own affairs. This is the bright road.

I can't help with this, but it's not appropriate to squeeze the three families too hard. After all, the logistics of the entire army are on other people's territory. If the three of them do something wrong, it will be bad.

Because you squeeze him, he will squeeze the people underneath.

So Yang Ming pondered for a while, and said: "It should be compensated, but the whole country is trying its best to help you. You should also know that there is a food shortage in Guanzhong because of the storage of military rations."

Cui Wei looked distressed and said: "Guanzhong can still rely on Bashu for support, but we are already helpless. Most of our three families' efforts are now on water transportation. If there is no harvest for a year, we will have to stop cooking."

Yang Ming nodded and said, "Who is in charge of the water transportation of Yongji Canal?"

"Liu Su, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, is in charge of the Department of Water, and Guo Wenyi is the minister of the Ministry of Water," Cui Wei said.

After Yang Ming thought about it, he said, "Did Lu Zhang also know that you came to see me?"

Cui Wei nodded and said: "We all know that this time it was grandfather (Cui Fuli) who joined the three families to play the memorial to His Majesty, but the court did not respond. Everyone agreed that the prince is benevolent and loves the people, so he should help us, and I am in the Shangdang. The prince is near, so let me come."

Yang Ming said: "Well, let me give you a suggestion, half grain and half goods, this is up to you to figure out how to do it in total, one ship, half transports grain, half loads, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Water, I will say hello and tell them to turn a blind eye, but how to hide it is up to you.”

There is still more than a year before the war in the north will start, enough for the three families to take this opportunity to pay back a little bit, so that they will not play ghosts in the final large-scale troop transport.

But now, you have to feed them first, otherwise they will stand up and threaten the court at a critical moment, which will delay the big event.

Yes, don't think that people dare not do this, you make me unable to eat, okay, if you don't pay at the last moment, I won't transport troops for you, I see what you use to fight Goguryeo.

Cui Wei frowned and said, "Isn't this too risky?"

Yang Ming spread his hands together: "Now that the whole country is mobilizing, do you think the imperial court has money for you? It's not that they don't want to give it, it's that they really don't have the money. They can't give you the rations of the soldiers in front, can they?"

"Of course it's impossible," Cui Wei hurriedly waved his hand: "We also know the court's difficulties, but the prince still values ​​friendship. Before I came here, my grandfather said that the prince will definitely help us find a solution."

I'm not serious about love, I'm just afraid that you guys will play tricks behind your back.

As for how to get half grain and half goods, the three companies will find a solution. They have been operating water transportation for more than a year, and all the yamen have already taken care of it. As long as you give me money, I will pretend that I didn't see it.

Yang Ming said: "You can do this in the first half of the year, even if it is compensation to you, but in the second half of the year, when you see the real chapter, you can't play this game for me, otherwise, you will trample my good intentions on the ground. I will not forgive you."

Cui Wei hurriedly said: "Don't worry, Your Highness, we will only earn maintenance money for the sailors of the ship. This year's major state affairs, we naturally have to share the worries of the court. As for living up to His Highness's good intentions, that is absolutely impossible, and we will never do it." Such a heartless thing."

"Okay!" Yang Ming nodded, called Chen Kui in front of Cui Wei, and asked, "Isn't Liu Su in the capital? Let him come to Hedong for a visit, and I have something important to discuss with him."

After finishing speaking, Yang Ming looked at Cui Wei again: "If you are not in a hurry, just wait for Liu Su for peace of mind."

Cui Wei was overjoyed immediately: "Naturally, we have to wait. The Crown Prince's kindness is profound, and Cui Shi will never forget it."

Liu Su has an honorary title, but it is not high. He is just a doctor. He does not have a title, because the title of this branch of his family has been abolished.

His eldest brother, Liu Ji, was originally the Duke of Jian'an County, but later this title was inherited by his son Liu Shu, who cut off the succession of their family.

Later, Liu Su's brothers hoped that the emperor would let the second Liu Hong succeed him, but Yang Guang did not agree.

Originally there were several earls and barons in the family, but Yang Guang directly reformed the system of lords, only keeping kings, dukes, and marquises, so their family is now very embarrassed, they have no titles, and they don't welcome the emperor.

So Liu Su rushed to Hedong immediately after receiving Yang Ming's order.

There are six kinds of official documents on the table in the Sui Dynasty: Zou, Biao, Zhang, Zong, Shu, and Jian, which are the official documents submitted by courtiers to the emperor.

The official documents in the table below are communicated from top to bottom, and there are also six types: system, edict, book, decree, teaching, and talisman. These six emperors can use them for their courtiers, but the last three are for high-level officials to low-level officials.

There are four types of official documents sent by lower-level officials to senior officials: petitions, details, reports, and resignations.

It was an order that Yang Ming summoned Liu Su.

Six days later, Liu Su arrived at the training ground and met Yang Ming, who also told him the general meaning.

"This is an expedient measure, Liu Shilang is a noble hand," Yang Ming said with a smile.

Liu Su must be in trouble, isn't this nima fooling the emperor?If something goes wrong in the future, who will be responsible?I don't recite it?

So Liu Su didn't say anything, and made Cui Wei anxious.

After a while, Liu Su said: "Can I have a private conversation with His Highness?"

Yang Ming glanced at Cui Wei, who retreated knowingly, but Liu Su looked at Dugu Feng'er behind Yang Ming again.

Yang Ming said, "You can talk now."

Liu Su nodded: "I know what your Highness's difficulties are. It's not impossible to do this, but should you ask His Majesty first?"

You must ask for instructions, and you can't hide it from my father, but I can't tell you, otherwise you will know that the emperor is acquiescing, but the emperor can't take the blame, even if he knows, he must not know.

"If something happens in the future, I will bear it, and you can push it all on me," Yang Ming said.

Liu Su put on a frightened look and said, "How can the prince be involved in this matter? It's not right."

"Then you take it upon yourself. If something goes wrong, I'll keep you safe," Yang Ming said.

If someone else made a big deal for Liu Su, he wouldn't believe it, but the prince is a person who keeps his promise, so he probably wouldn't cheat him.

After hesitating for a while, Liu Su bit the bullet and agreed.

Yang Ming instructed again: "You have to keep an eye on me. After July, if they still dare to do this, you sue me, and I will deal with them."

Calculated in this way, he would have to bear the risk of seven months, and it would pass after a while. Liu Su nodded and said:

"The minister must make proper arrangements here to ensure nothing goes wrong."

Yang Ming said: "This time, the yamen under the Ministry of Industry should not take their money, let them return some of their money, and as for the future, we will talk about it later."

Liu Su was taken aback, and quickly denied it: "The Ministry of Industry never cheated on corruption, please learn from the crown prince."

Yang Ming didn't speak, but sneered a few times.

Liu Su pondered for a while, then said helplessly, "This time I will definitely not make money."

Only then did Yang Ming nod his head.

(End of this chapter)