Cultivation of chastity

Chapter 188 Construction of the Canal
Facing Li Tai, Gao Jifu knew his identity, he was the person sent by Li Shimin to supervise and assist Li Tai.

So if Li Tai made any decision that was not beneficial to him or Youzhou, he could directly oppose or refute it.

He even retreated [-] steps, reserved opinions on some decisions that Li Tai did not agree with, and wrote to Li Shimin to make decisions when he was unable to change them.

For example, the name of Tianjin City was determined in this way.

But in this case, Gao Jifu's rights all come from his superiors, at least he thinks his rights all come from his superiors.

With him like this, it would be very difficult for him to resist Du Ruhui, a high-ranking official sent from above.

In addition, some officials think that their rights and responsibilities come from the people below, and they just want to plead for the people.

Therefore, in the face of officials dispatched from above, as long as the order is unreasonable, even if they don't want the official position, they will refute it.

However, this kind of person is relatively rare, and the most famous person in the history books should be Hai Rui of the Ming Dynasty.

But no matter how you say it, for Li Tai, Gao Jifu, who needed to find a way to deal with him, had little room to speak in front of Du Ruhui, because Du Ruhui was a right servant, born to crush Gao Jifu in the officialdom.

At the same time, not long after Du Ruhui came, the imperial decree was sent to Youzhou, and the imperial court wanted to start building the mouth of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and implement the "Water Transport Plan".

The imperial decree gave Du Ruhui the right to dismiss officials below the fourth grade in coastal states and counties during the implementation of the "Water Transport Plan". He could be dismissed first and then played later, so as to facilitate Du Ruhui's implementation of the "Water Transport Plan" for the entire Grand Canal.

As soon as Du Ruhui received this task, he came to Youzhou and found Li Tai.

In front of the current Du Ruhui, Gao Jifu didn't even count as sticking to his head, but he just hit him casually.

So after Gao Jifu agreed to the corvée, Du Ruhui and Li Tai left Youzhou Governor's Mansion and came to Youzhou Governor's Mansion.

Li Tai usually doesn't come here, and mostly stays in Tianjin City. After all, the core of Li Tai's current stage is still in Tianjin.

"Thank you Du Xiang for your help, otherwise Gao Changshi is not afraid of the royal family and nobles, I really have nothing to do with him!" Li Tai said.

When Du Ruhui heard Li Tai's words, he took a sip of tea, and said, "It's a small matter, since Youzhou is already a major defense city in the North, it's reasonable for Ji Fu not to be seconded to Tianjin as a corvee. It's good that King Yan can understand Ji Fu." .

I came to Youzhou this time, wanting to use the canal in Youzhou as a benchmark, and I also hope that King Yan can help. "

"How to help each other!" Li Tai asked after hearing Du Ruhui's words.

"If the canal is all sorted out with corvees, it will really consume people and energy, and if the matter is delayed, it may become an old story of the Grand Canal.

So this time when I came to King Yan, I wanted to refer to the way King Yan managed Gaoling in the past, to operate the Youzhou section of the Grand Canal.

If possible, I plan to try the entire Yongji Canal section. " Du Ruhui looked at Li Tai and confessed.

To be honest, the imperial court was determined to open the canal, but at the beginning Li Tai helped build the entire "Water Transport Plan" on the side of the Weishui River, and there was almost no problem of paying money. No matter how Li Tai solved it, at least It was solved.

But now it's time to renovate the entire Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal from Youzhou to Yuhang, even if there are local wealthy families who are willing to contract Jinkou, the amount of money and corvee required is still a bit too staggering.

At least the current Tang Dynasty is thriving, but if it really recruits people like Yang Guang, and the people have not forgotten how the Sui Dynasty died in the second generation, I am afraid that Li Tang's soul will not be saved directly.

Therefore, the method of enlisting corvee on a large scale was directly rejected, so Li Tai's method of professional corvee was naturally proposed.

But this method consumes too much money. Li Tai can use it because Li Tai has a strong ability to come to the money, and other people can't copy it. Even if the state pays officials salaries, it's fine, but it's specially paid for corvees... I feel like I have a brain when I came up with this idea. sick.

However, Du Ruhui still agreed. First of all, he meant to wipe his younger brother Du Chuke's ass.

In addition, Du Ruhui also needed to learn from Li Tai. After all, the fact that Li Tai was a competent official was recognized and proved by the court when the Gaoling was built.

Under such circumstances, Du Ruhui judged that it would be most appropriate for Li Tai to deal with the cost of this matter.

"What Du Xiang means is that he plans to contract the Youzhou section to me, and see how I complete the construction of the entire Youzhou canal, and then he plans to learn from me and operate the entire Yongji Canal in the same way!? "

When Li Tai heard Du Ruhui's words, he said to Du Ruhui thoughtfully.

"During this period, I will suppress the Youzhou officialdom for you, and King Bin will be your deputy, who is still your partner in Gaoling.

As for the achievements after completion, you definitely don’t need them, King Yan, but these achievements are given to King Bin, and should be able to help him cross the threshold from the fifth to the fourth rank. At that time, he can also be my deputy as a matter of course! "

Du Ruhui slowly talked about the distribution of benefits in this matter, but he didn't talk to Li Tai about it.

"After all, you, King Yan, manage the canal in Youzhou, and even Cangzhou, and the will of the sage gave you back then, it makes sense.

But you can't get involved in other states and counties where the Yongji Canal flows, so when the time comes, you have to be King Bin to do the work! "

"Du Xiang, you're a bit rude, you're going to beat me!" Li Tai felt very helpless when he heard Du Ruhui's words!

As for Ma Zhou, facing the PY transaction about himself being carried out by two big bosses, he was somewhat embarrassed.

But Ma Zhou also knew that one of the two people was kind to him, and the other was giving him everything, and it was all for his own good!
"King Yan, the minister will come to Youzhou, isn't it because of King Yan's virtuousness and love!" Du Ruhui said leisurely.

"Okay..." Li Tai said, "The dredging project of this section of the canal in Youzhou has started, where does Du Xiang think to start!"

"Officials!" Du Ruhui looked at Li Tai and said, "If it's the old-fashioned corvee system, I don't need to come to you.

But the old-fashioned corvee system is not efficient, and the people are struggling, which is why the old man came to you. "

"But Du Xiang, as you know, the Gaoling corvee model is actually very expensive. Besides money, logistical support is also very important.

Not to mention that Youzhou is about to enter winter, I think I want to build a canal, and first build a hot water room.

Without sufficient hot water supply, warm clothes, and even sufficient food, it is unrealistic for the people to build canals in winter.

In addition, there is table salt, winter snow is frozen, and there is a large area of ​​salt spread, which can also speed up our work! "

Li Tai looked at Du Ruhui, but opened his mouth to explain the difficulty of this matter carefully.

"Just tell me what you want!" Du Ruhui understood, but Ma Zhou was not enough for Li Tai.

"Why don't you give me a few more mouths!" Li Tai decisively asked Du Ruhui, licking his face.

"King Yan, do you have any cash?" Du Ruhui's eyes sharpened when he heard Li Tai's words.

"There will be things like money after all!" Li Tai looked at Du Ruhui's sharp eyes without flinching.

"At the beginning, the mouth of the Weihe River was given to you too much, because you, King Yan, proposed the "Water Transport Plan", so although the ministers criticized it, they didn't say much.

But now this Grand Canal runs through the north and south of the Tang Dynasty, and its status is much more important than that of the Weihe River!

If King Yan wanted to get half of the number again, it would be impossible! "

"Then how much can you give?" Li Tai immediately became happy when he heard Du Ruhui's words, obviously the court didn't do anything!
Du Ruhui stretched out a finger, tapped it a few times, didn't say much, just looked at Li Tai.

"One? This is a beggar! I want to see Aye, see my mother, and sue you courtiers for not letting me earn even a small amount of money!"

Li Tai looked at the sincerity shown by Du Ruhui, but he did not hesitate to play a scoundrel.

"Then how many do you want, King Yan?" Du Ruhui looked at Li Tai making trouble, but said slowly.

"At least three, Youzhou, Luoyang, and Yuhang. I want to build ports in these three places!" Li Tai said frankly.

"These three? It's less than expected! The court's bottom line seems to be below ten."

Du Ruhui thought for a while when he heard Li Tai's words, and continued,
"The ports of these three cities can be given to you, but when they are built, you need to provide money and food to supply the port industry.

Then, except for these three places, you can't touch other places.

If the imperial court finds out that you are involved in other ports, impeachment by the censor will be inevitable! "

Du Ruhui warned Li Tai with a serious face.

"Uh... The port of Youzhou I'm talking about doesn't include Tianjin Port, which has just been built!"

Hearing Du Ruhui's words, Li Tai looked after Du Ruhui eagerly, feeling that he should take advantage of it.

"There are two ports in Youzhou, do we need so many?" Du Ruhui looked at Li Tai and asked doubtfully.

"If Koryo is willing to cross the open trade port with me, then it's not too much. If not, just buy three and get one free!" Li Tai looked at Du Ruhui and said very sincerely.

"Okay, remember to take out the money and food when the time comes for the construction, otherwise don't blame me if you cancel the qualification.

In addition, these ports are time-limited, and they will all be owned by the imperial court after 30 years. "

Du Ruhui added another sentence!
"Who thought of this?!" Li Tai was a little surprised when he heard Du Ruhui's words, because in the feudal era, there was a time limit for the ownership of this kind of ferry, which was really surprising.

"Xuan Ling proposed it!" Du Ruhui said here, sighing, "The Wei River water transport is getting faster and faster.

If these ports have been held in private hands, I am afraid that something will happen in the future, so Xuanling is your suggestion.

Of course, these are mainly aimed at the aristocratic family. With the words of King Yan, you should understand the suffering of the court! "

"So up to now, you haven't recruited any aristocratic family to join in!" Li Tai looked at Du Ruhui and said.

"If it weren't for my Jingzhao Du family being too far away from the Grand Canal, the Du family would actually be willing to invest money!"

Du Ruhui looked away a little, obviously for many aristocratic families, they are now more or less on the sidelines.

After all, there is an essential difference between leasing and buying the whole thing directly, which is also an important reason why Du Ruhui came to find Li Tai.

As long as Li Tai was the first to invest in the construction of these ferries, then these aristocratic families would naturally be willing to invest.

After all, even if the lease period is 30 years, as long as the tolls are collected during this period, the profit is still extremely rich.

"As expected of being the number one Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty!" Li Tai lamented Fang Xuanling's long-term vision.

For the aristocratic family, 30 years is a long time, whether it is long or short, which makes these aristocratic families who pay money feel very uncomfortable.

After all, I contributed my own money and efforts, and in the end, the money would still be collected from the imperial court. Who could bear it!

Therefore, the aristocratic family is still waiting and watching, and a person will appear first to see how his harvest is.

After all, for the aristocratic family, they won't be able to eat the first bite of meat, but it is quite good to have a sip of soup with peace of mind.

"Okay, I probably know it!" Li Tai glanced at Ma Zhou who was smiling wryly, and said,

"Let's first release the news about the dredging of the Grand Canal in Youzhou.

Along the Grand Canal, set the area where the corvée live, stockpile charcoal cotton, and build storage to get things ready before it snows.

If all these are completed, the winter can still catch up with the progress, otherwise I am afraid that the work will not start until the ice and snow melt in the spring of next year! "

When Li Tai said this, he said to Ma Zhou, "This matter needs the assistance of Chunfeng. His mathematical calculation ability and his familiarity with the terrain of Youzhou can help us determine the most suitable place for corvee to live in the shortest time. , you are coming to Youzhou today, let's get together."

Hearing Li Tai's orderly arrangement, Du Ruhui couldn't help showing a somewhat happy smile.

Although relying on Fang Xuanling's thinking simulation and Du Ruhui's own quick judgment, it can be judged that Li Tai is the most suitable person to break the situation.

But before they came to Youzhou, Du Ruhui and Fang Xuanling were somewhat worried about whether Li Tai would have any resentment for leaving Chang'an.

Now it seems that Li Tai is indeed the prince of Xianda, as long as it involves the affairs of the country, he will eventually step forward to take on the heavy responsibility.

To some extent, as long as the crown prince continues to be so intelligent and King Yan continues to be so loyal to the emperor and the country, at least the clan of the Tang Dynasty will be much more stable.

In the construction of the opposite family world, the clan is actually a very important part.

Neither Fang Xuanling nor Du Ruhui wanted Li Tai to win the heir, but they hoped that Li Tai could become Li Tang's Zong Zhengqing and the mainstay of Li Tang's royal family.

The most important thing is that King Yan is a civil servant, not a general, but Zongzheng's natural candidate.

Li Tai didn't know what Du Ruhui and Fang Xuanling were thinking, but Du Ruhui's arrival gave him the right to dispatch the resources and power of the entire Youzhou to start the entire Youzhou section of the Grand Canal, which was something Li Tai could not have wished for.

Immediately, a group with Ma Zhou, Wang Zhenru, and Li Chunfeng as the core was established.

I also began to put all my thoughts into the construction of this Grand Canal.

(End of this chapter)