Datang Nongsheng

Chapter 534
It is basically unnecessary to think about the methods used by local tyrants to deceive the court and the people. The warriors are well aware of the situation in Huangzhou and even the other prefectures and counties controlled by the tyrants. Just a little worry.

How to eradicate these local forces must be implemented with tactics if the prerequisites permit.

In the past two years, the Tang Dynasty was about to go to war, and the localities could not be chaotic. Therefore, the samurai responded to the central policy and did not move them, because even if these counties were controlled by various tyrants, they could still pay some taxes to the court every year.

Now that the external war is over, how to dig out these internal tumors depends on how determined the emperor is. If Sun Xiangfu follows the suggestion of the warrior Xun to check the account books, he will definitely be sure.

"Ying Gong, the director of state roads, should have the right to decide and govern all affairs of the state and county!"

"In terms of personnel, officials below the seventh rank have the right to recall directly. Zhongzhou governors below the fifth rank also have the right to suspend their posts first and then request their removal. For those above the fifth rank, they need to be appealed first before they can be dealt with. In the Shannan Road area, Only Jingzhou is the upper state, and the governor is concurrently held by me, and there is no long history, so, apart from me, there are no officials above the fifth rank."

"What about finances and military power?"

"Both of these two aspects can be dealt with with full authority. However, the governor of the state has refused to implement it and appealed. The strength of the local garrison in Huangzhou, as well as the people from the Public Security Bureau and the anti-riot team, I am afraid that they will only listen to the Huang family. It is urgent. , they may refuse to carry out orders from this side."

That is to say, the governor of the state highway has the power to confiscate all property, issue government orders, and mobilize the army, but the state governor who belongs to the current management can refuse to execute it, even if you suspend him from his duties, and if you do not pass the state. With the approval of a first-level official, the state road chief can't enforce his own government or military orders. He must wait for the state governor's memorial to be approved by the emperor before he can implement it according to the emperor's wishes. A limitation on the power of the Taoist.

When Sun Xiangfu served as the governor of Anbei, Li Shimin had more lenient powers. He could be directly dismissed below the fifth rank, and directly appointed under the seventh rank. Moreover, no one under his rule could refute his orders. It is much more convenient than here. After listening to the explanation of the warrior Xun, he touched his chin and thought for a while before saying, "This is not impossible to solve."

"What is Zhengming going to do?"

"With the current situation of water coming from the upper reaches, this year's floods may not be small. Huangzhou is the base of the Huang family. They will definitely not sit back and watch their fertile fields be flooded. I would like to invite you, as the chief manager of Shannan Road, to go to the Go to the governor's office in Huangzhou, and let all the garrison troops and anti-riot teams under his command follow you to the lower East Lake area to build embankments.

Then, I brought my guards into the city, dismissed the agricultural officials who were in charge of Changping granaries in various counties, and mobilized the grain from Changping granaries to the side of the paddy to prepare for floods. "

Since the food here is controlled by the Huang family, it is impossible to borrow money or sell it to the people affected by the disaster at a low price. Then, Sun Xiangfu thought of a strategy to simply transfer the food away. Two meters has begun to flood the fields along the banks of the river, so it is more appropriate to dig out the grain in the hands of these tyrants for disaster relief.

After hearing Sun Xiangfu's strategy, the warrior Xun thought for a while and said, "In this case, how can we quickly transport the grain from several counties in Huangzhou to the field?"

"Let the cargo ships of the waterway transshipment company bring their own porters, and all of them will be assembled in Huangzhou. More than 100 Wanshi ships can transport more than 100 million shi of grain in one trip. No matter how much grain there is in Changping warehouse in Huangzhou, it is impossible There must be millions of stones!"

The warrior Xun nodded and said, "This plan is feasible, but the old man is a little worried that Huang's clansmen will block the cargo ship from transporting grain."

Sun Xiangfu spread his hands and said, "Without soldiers, what can they do to stop them? In addition, they used shady means to sell the grain at a high price to Chang Pingcang. We just dismissed a few small officials and put this loss After eating it, they should be happy."

"So, then you and I will work separately?"

"Well, before doing anything, I have to send someone to get the account books of the Changping warehouses in each county, so that I can know how much money the Huang family has cheated the court in the past two years."

"Then, let me wait and hang on this river for another two or three days?"

"It's also good. It happens to be able to learn more about the water flow upstream, and mobilize the people along the river to evacuate to places with higher terrain earlier."

After the two agreed, various carrier pigeons and clippers sent out orders, and the intelligence team that Sun Xiangfu would take with him wherever he went also secretly entered the territory of Huangzhou. Now, the water situation is so tense. On the other hand, he was doing all kinds of countermeasures, so he shouldn't pay much attention to the internal affairs of the yamen. It should not be difficult to steal some account books by Wu Ying'er and Qian Mian'er's methods.

Three days later, Samurai Xun's official ship docked at the wharf of Huanggang County, the governor of Huangzhou, and a group of people went straight to the Yamen of the Governor's Mansion. The government soldiers from the four counties in the prefecture, the anti-riot team in service, and even most of the government servants were recruited to build dikes and prevent floods.

At this time, there are only four counties in Huangzhou, Huanggang, Huangpo, Macheng, and Mulan, and they can only meet for tens of miles. Then he summoned more than [-] people from the prefecture's government soldiers, anti-explosion teams, yamen servants, and local young and strong people from the Huang family, and headed towards the East Lake.

In the early morning of the next day after they set off, Sun Xiangfu led his two hundred armored guards into Huanggang County, and more than a hundred ships with thousands of stones had already approached Huangzhou Wharf.

Sun Xiangfu braved the pattering spring rain to enter the city, and went straight to the Changping warehouse. In his arms, there was the Changping warehouse entry and exit account book that Wu Yinger gave him last night.

"May I ask what official position is your lord? Why did you lead the troops into the important area of ​​our Huangzhou granary?" Huang Fu, the secretary of agriculture who was on duty in the yamen of Changping warehouse, asked Sun Xiangfu and others without any panic.

In this area of ​​Huangzhou, he is not afraid of the imperial court sending officials to investigate, because all the preparations have already been made properly, and he is not afraid of the investigation at all.

"My official, Sun Zhengming, Shangshu of the Ministry of Agriculture." He deliberately lowered his head and glanced at the golden purple fish charm on his waist.

"Nong, Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture?"

Generals look at their military ranks, civil servants look at fish charms, and only senior officials of the third rank and above can wear gold and purple fish charms. Moreover, Sun Xiangfu's fish charm is a circle wrapped by two golden wheat ears, with a circle in the middle. The purple fish talisman, this is the highest-level seal of the Ministry of Agriculture. Seeing this seal, even Huang Fu, who was prepared to deal with the imperial court's investigation, was shocked.

In the past, the samurai would often send the staff of the General Manager's Mansion to the states to investigate, but basically they just asked casually, ate and drank, and then left. Today, it is the No. [-] official of the Ministry of Agriculture who came here in person. Something big is about to happen!

"My next official, Huang Fu, pay my respects to Lord Shangshu."

"Huang Si Nong is exempt from the ceremony. I would like to ask you, how much rice is there in the Changping warehouse in Huangzhou?"

Speaking of this, Huang Fu suddenly felt that his waist was much stiffer, and he bowed and clasped his fists and said, "My lord, there are 180 million shi of grain in the warehouse in Changping, Huangzhou, of which 60 shi of rice have been milled. There are 120 million shi of milled rice stored in Changping warehouses in four counties within the territory, of which Huanggang warehouse has the most, with 30 shi of rice and 80 shi of grain, all of which are now in the warehouse, and not a single shi is bad."

In a state with only four counties, 180 million shi of grain can be stored in the granary, which shows how abundant its grain reserves are. The grain alone is enough to feed a population of 10,000+ in Huangzhou for two years.

However, the grain in this Changping warehouse does not mean that the more you store, the better.

There are a lot of garrisons, but it just shows that the food of the people in the surrounding areas is concentrated in the hands of their Huang family.

After all, there are only so many fields in Huangzhou. The fields under Huang's name, plus the surrounding fields that were bought and sold to them by the warriors before, are only one to two million mu. Even if the harvest is good, the output in Huangzhou is It is definitely not more than 200 million stone grains. From the autumn harvest last year to the consumption in March this year, the 600 million stones sold outside the tax, plus the food grains kept by the people and the Huang family, There is actually more than half of the grain in the Changping warehouse, which is not normal at all.

Sun Xiangfu didn't doubt what Huang Fu said, because this data was exactly the same as the data in the account book he got, and, seeing Huang Fu straightened his back and spoke, he also knew that there was indeed someone in the warehouse who said so much food.

"If I also collect grain in the market at the price of your Changping warehouse in Huangzhou, there will be 180 million shi of grain in the warehouse, let alone 800 million shi."

Sun Xiangfu's tone suddenly turned cold, but Huang Fu was stunned, and said, "My lord, what do you mean?"

"What do you mean? The price of rice in Chang'an this year is only one hundred pennies a stone, and the price of rice in the entire Shannan Road area has been maintained at less than eighty pennies and one stone since it was harvested last autumn. Your Changping warehouse in Huangzhou is priced at 160 pennies." The price of one stone is to collect grain into the warehouse, let alone rice, the price of the new grain produced by the common people is only 140 yuan per stone, but you put it into the warehouse at the price of [-] yuan per stone. Where is the household officer, check the price of the grain you put into storage!"

Hearing what Sun Xiangfu said, Huang Fu knew that this brother from the Ministry of Agriculture came prepared, but he didn't panic, and said, "So what? The rules and regulations of the imperial court said that often After closing the warehouse and autumn harvest, the grain is collected at the market price to stabilize the grain price, and there is no specific price specified. The people in Huangzhou like to sell rice for 160 Wen a stone, and millet for 140 Wen a stone, and the lower officials are helpless!"

"Do you still dare to quibble? If you want, I will find a commoner on the street to ask at what price did you buy the rice and paddy from the common people after the autumn harvest last year?"

"My lord, feel free to arrest people and ask them!"

"Hmph, even if everyone in your Huangzhou is surnamed Huang, these transaction documents for sale cannot allow you to argue."

As Sun Xiangfu said, he threw some old transaction documents on Huang Fu's head. Immediately, the guards stopped talking to him, and grabbed his arms one by one from left to right, and pressed them. He fell to the ground, and at the same time, Zhang Ke also took off the key to the granary hanging from his waist. Immediately, a tide of porters rushed into the Changping warehouse from the street pushing their carts.

As for Huang Fu, who was pushed to the ground, his eyes rolled wildly. Out of the corner of his eye, he happened to see the transaction receipts floating on the ground. They were the receipts for Huangzhou's grain sales last year. His grain store sells rice to foreign merchants at a price of [-] ren per shi, and sells a large amount of rice to foreign merchants at a price of [-] ren per shi, and the price they receive grain from the common people is probably lower than that of their foreign merchants. The price of selling grain is much lower.

With the evidence provided by the foreign merchants who harvested the grain, Huang Fu knew that sophistry was useless, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, I did do this, but I spent all the money I earned. Kill or cut, as you like."

"Hehe, based on the market price alone, you have embezzled 10,000+ grain purchases. If you calculate based on your actual purchase price and the recorded price, you have embezzled at least 20 grains. I want to know. How did Zhongzhou Secretary of Agriculture under the seventh rank spend a huge sum of 20 guan in just a few months?"

Huang Fu is just a very ordinary child of the Huang family. When the Huang family chose him to make this kind of pawn that might be discarded, they had planned a long time ago. An ordinary family member can bring 20 yuan in profit for the family. Moreover, helping the family to solve the problem of unsalable food is definitely a good deal. However, Sun Xiangfu is not here to chat with a small character like him, as long as he publicly admits that he has been corrupted on the issue of food. , I believe that those who can be the masters of the Huang family will soon know the news here. At that time, it will be difficult for him to find an understanding to prevent Sun Xiangfu from transporting the grain.

(End of this chapter)