Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 120: Weak Cao Army, Difficult Life for the People

To put it bluntly, the soldiers of the Dragon and Tiger Left Guard were just sailors, and many of them were not real soldiers.

They stayed south of the Yangtze River and were completely different from some of the Cao troops.

Here, they are the vulnerable group.

Now the grain chief sneered again: "You, the grain transport troops, privately modified the grain transport boats, carried more local products, and did not repair the boats even after receiving the money for repairing the boats. Who knows if you sold the good grain we handed over with great effort, and then used stale grain to pay for your duties? When you are questioned by your superiors, you can only say that the grain transport boats are old and worn out, and you may have got the money to build new boats. Now you are biting back!"

"You...you..." The deputy captain was just a soldier and could not match the eloquence of the grain chief.

"It's fine if the captain insists on checking!" said the grain officer, "Then let's wait until we transport it to the water warehouse. We need more people to be present to prevent us from passing off inferior goods as good ones!"

"The grain ships must cross the Huai River before March!" the deputy commander roared, "Didn't you put up a notice in the city saying that only people can come here to collect the grain? How can you transport it to the government warehouse now?"

"If the captain refuses to collect the crops, what can we common people do? Even if we miss the spring ploughing, it is better than being beheaded for owing land taxes. Can we still ask Lord Shen and Lord Wang to sympathize with the villagers?"

Hearing his words, looking at his sneering but fearless look, as well as the villagers in this area who were holding hoes and shovels and were obviously hostile, the captain was so angry that his chest heaved.

Isn't this clearly saying that they have a direct connection with the cabinet minister?

"Now that we are here, let's move the food!"

The transport troops under his command were ultimately helpless and could only quietly begin to load sacks of grain onto the grain ships.

The deputy captain looked at the faint wet marks on the sack passing by him, and his heart felt like it was on fire.

No matter what, he had to convince his superiors to assign them to other places to exchange for goods, even if it was as far away as Jiangxi.

Anyone who comes to this place called Susong, Changjia and Lake, where the water is so poor, will be a dog!

In the south of the Yangtze River, the grain officials who were responsible for collecting and delivering grain "forced the troops to accept the payment."

To the north of the Huai River, the prefectures in Southern Zhili had to hand over the grain to the grain transport army at the designated "Shuici Warehouse".

The so-called water level has a fixed place, and the additional consumption has a fixed quota.

When exchanging grain, the grain chiefs had to organize the villagers to transport the grain to the water official warehouse next to the canal, and wait for the grain ships of the grain army responsible for exchanging grain for their county to dock on the canal.

It is better to wait for the ship with food than to wait for the exchange with the ship.

But the grain managers and villagers who transported the grain could not see that link.

They only had to transport the grain to the water official warehouse and get the document signed and sealed by the grain official.

The grain-managing officials at the official warehouses on various waterways in the south of the Yangtze River were unwilling or unable to supervise the grain transported by the households, but the grain-managing officials north of the Huai River were the bosses.

By the canal, days like these are their happiest days.

As long as the provincial grain official or the imperial censor does not come to inspect.

They would usually only be present to supervise the exchange when the grain transport troops arrived.

The grain officials in charge of each prefecture were basically the most talented assistants in the prefecture. They were called the real "second masters" by the clerks in the government offices, although they were not necessarily the second in official rank.

There is a rain shelter in the Shuici official warehouse, and outside it is a large dirt yard covered with a large area of ​​bamboo mats.

The bamboo mat was divided into several areas, each with a large scale and a large measure.

The grain manager in the government office only needed to stay here leisurely and watch the various counties under the government transport the grain to the government office.

There were some pavilions next to the venue. On the table in front of the lawyer who helped him, his seal was placed on a plate covered with red silk cloth.

On the rugged road leading to the water warehouse, there are various types of carts lined up, piled with sacks of varying sizes, both new and old.

There were many people surrounding each cart, forming a circle to protect the grain that they had transported here with great effort.

Most of them looked tired and thin. Even the grain chief who came to exchange grain did not look as good as his counterparts in Jiangnan. Instead, he looked worried.

"Uncle." A young man next to the grain officer in a team pointed to the distance ahead, "I got whipped again."

In a corner of the place in the distance, two clerks were whipping a young man, while in front of the grain official there was an older man who kept bowing and kowtowing.

"Hey..." The grain chief squeezed the silver in his arms, "Why do we need to transport 10% more? You see it now, and everyone is listening."

He warned the villagers he brought with him in a low voice: "It will be our turn later. No matter what they say, just keep quiet. I will handle it."

In the long team, there were some grain managers like him.

There were also some people, especially those who were closer to the front, who couldn't help but have anger in their eyes when they heard the voices in front of them.

In front of the grain officer, the grain chief was still kowtowing: "Last year, the weather was dry, and then there was a heavy rain and flash floods. A lot of grain was washed away when we were drying it. We are bringing our food rations here as well. They have all been weighed, so how can there be less? We dare not mix grain with other grains!"

"Are you saying that I have wronged you?" The grain officer had already come down and was sitting there leisurely.

After all, something went wrong.

"I dare not, I dare not... Master, please have mercy..."

"There is not enough grain for the regular grain, let alone a grain for the grain transport troops. This is the imperial grain to be transported to the capital! I will show you mercy. Will the governor, governor, and grain transport commissioner show me mercy? Will Your Majesty show me mercy?"

The grain chief had no choice but to kowtow continuously.

"I won't make it difficult for you. Come and take a look. I will write you a receipt for how much grain we have collected and how much is still owed. Since you are the grain manager, you should know how to count, right?"

He wrote the note slowly.

"The soldiers of the grain transport army are here, and they won't wait for anyone. So, don't block the people behind you here. I don't care what method you use, whether you borrow, pawn or sell something, or buy something, as long as the grain is delivered, I will use my seal!"

After writing quickly, he picked up the pen and blew away the ink, then threw it forward and nonchalantly ordered: "Next mile!"

The grain manager picked up the note in the dust and recognized the words on it through tearful eyes, but his eyes were full of despair and confusion.

The villagers who were angry at the officials for kicking and beating the officials and carrying heavy weights had their backs whipped, so where could they find the more than 20 stones of grain that they still owed?

He had been appointed as the grain chief in the past few years, and the county had given him all kinds of punishments. What could he have in his family that he could pawn or sell? Was he going to sell his children?
But since his children were still alive, he could only grit his teeth and walk back woodenly with the laborers, pushing the empty cart.

Halfway through the journey, he knelt down and burst into tears: "Is there any benefactor in the village who can lend me some food? Please have pity on me and the people of my village!"

How could other grain managers, who share the same pain but don't know what they will encounter or how much extra effort they will have to make, be willing to lend a helping hand now?

If they were seen by the other side, I wonder how much stronger the force of their kicks would be.

At this time, Wang Chengxun was still on the boat to Huai'an, while Fan Yuanzhu was on the shore heading south.

With the grace of His Majesty, Changming will also compete for domestic business, and he will be based in Huai'an in the future.

Walking in the south of Linqing, he couldn't help but think of his uncle and niece who were already in the palace.

It would be great if I could gain grace, then when I act in Huai'an, others will at least give in to me.

The scenery of a canal is different in different places, but in the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, Zhu Changluo could only roughly imagine it.

"So, the exchange and rotation of the faction cannot be generalized everywhere?"

Tian Le nodded, "Of course. In places where culture and education flourish, they hope to rotate the transport troops, because they don't want any of the guards to gain a firm foothold, so that the local grain-producing families can dominate others. Huaibei and some places where culture and education are not flourishing should rotate the transport troops to prevent the transport troops from colluding with the prefectures and counties."

He looked at Zhu Changluo and continued, "When I was in Dong'e, I knew the difficulty of grain supply, which often ruined families and clans. Poor places often have better water quality; rich prefectures and counties are the opposite of poor water quality. To solve this problem, the grain transport army is the top priority. The grain transport is more than 4 million dan, which involves 60% of the people in the Ming Dynasty. The strong parts are not strong, and they only use the grain transport ships for personal gain. They travel with officials, gentry and wealthy businessmen in various provinces, and it is extremely difficult to train them."

"According to Xizhi's estimation, how many of the Cao army are actually on the list now?"

(End of this chapter)