Jingming

Chapter 259 The road is getting narrower and narrower
After the rest left, Cui Yuan temporarily stayed with Zhu Houcong.

"Your Majesty, think twice!"

His expression looked worried, because Zhu Houcong revealed news that made Cui Yuan uneasy when he discussed with Zhang Fujing just now about Shandong's restructuring strategy for Linqing Chaoguan.

As a counselor and a real uncle, Cui Yuan had no choice but to raise his concerns.

Zhu Houcong looked at him for a moment, then said, "Tell me about your worries."

Cui Yuan has served as a consultant for three years, and he no longer has the idleness of avoiding troubles to live his life, but shows his ability to the fullest.

He blurted out without thinking: "From the establishment of the 42 Guards of the Yunjun in the Yongle period, through the method of support, transportation, and reformation, it became a custom in the Chenghua period. Today, the Twelve Generals of the Cao Army add up to more than 12 people."

Seeing that there was no change in Zhu Houcong's expression, he continued: "Although there are so many cavalry soldiers who are no longer able to fight, they are still in the guards, and they already rely on water transportation for their livelihood. In addition, most of the cavalry soldiers' households have fled, and they still have nothing to pay. Now, nearly half or even more than half of the ten thousand tank boats employ sailors and laborers."

Zhu Houcong added: "The grain ships are exempted from tax. In order to enable them to transport the fixed amount of 400 million grain grains to Beijing every year, during the Hongzhi period, each army soldier was allowed to carry within ten stones of soil. In fact, the grain ships carried more private goods than Official goods, each ship’s regular grain is only five or six hundred stones, and it is loaded with private goods several times. What’s more, the grain ship has a long body and a wide compartment, with more beams and wood, and it is not hesitating to drift without accepting punishment. , and all involved gentry merchants, as well as government banknotes along the canal.”

Looking at Cui Yuan, he paused and then said directly: "Get to the point."

Cui Yuan is struggling with these points: the emperor seems to have understood the evils of love very well, but he still has this meaning.

"Your Majesty, not to mention easy chaos, the chaos will eventually be quelled. But the capital cannot do without the grain transported every year. If there is no grain army, it will have to recruit civilians. It will take several years Within a few days, the amount of grain that can be transported to the capital may be greatly reduced!"

He hesitated for a moment, and then added again: "Even if it imitates the system of Huangmingji, it is too difficult to straighten out the matter of water transportation. The main reason is that it is too important, the journey is too long, and too many people are employed."

In what Zhu Houcong and Zhang Fujing said, they faintly revealed the meaning that in the future, regardless of whether it is a tank ship or a civilian ship, as long as they carry goods and sell them along the way, they will be taxed at the banknote customs.

The reason why the imperial court allowed the Cao army to bring the goods was because the cost of transporting grain for the 12 Cao army was really high, so it opened a back door for them.

If this is done now, the only possibility Cui Yuan can think of is to change Cao Jun into a giant like Huangmingji, and use the procurement method to change the nature of it as an official grain transporter into an official businessman.

But the calculation of benefits involved in this is too big, Cui Yuan is really not sure.

Zhu Houcong understood what he meant: mainly human nature.

Canals spanning thousands of kilometers and involving the livelihood of millions of people cannot eliminate the gray area.However, it is inevitable to establish the capital in Beijing and resist the food consumption in the north.

If the main artery of Ming Dynasty is to be moved, it is easy to eliminate the turmoil on the bright side physically, but there must be a safe alternative method to ensure the needs of the capital.

Zhu Houcong only temporarily calmed his emotions: "There is no rush, I am just telling you in advance about a major event that I am considering next. For the time being, what Shandong needs to do is only business law, tax law, and account law. Encouraging commerce is in line with the needs of Linqing and Shandong. I am not prepared to mobilize the Cao army now, but the disadvantages of water transportation will have to be faced sooner or later."

He glanced south and far away: "Together with the Huanghuai flood, we have to face it."

Before he set his sights further south, further north and east, there were too many problems within Daming that needed to be resolved first, so as to have a more solid family background.

The problem of water transport is not only the food and clothing of millions of water workers, but also the structure of the entire empire and the accumulation of technical means.

This move will be made after the rebellion has been quelled and the new law has been truly implemented throughout the country.

But when the wind blows out, the backlog of contradictions will gradually intensify, and hidden contradictions will also be revealed.

It is better to solve it round by round than once.

……

In Linqing City, many people spent a sleepless night.

In addition to Jiang Guanqing and the shopkeeper Wu, there is also Cao Jun Shandong General Qi Yuanda.

The Cao army has a commander-in-chief, supplemented by a member of the general, and under it are twelve generals.

This general is different from the general in the Beijing camp.

The full name of the General Manager of Shandong is the General Manager of the Shandong Metropolitan Government, which is usually concurrently held by the commander of the Shandong Metropolitan Government.If there is a general army in some provinces, the commander must obey the orders of the general army during wartime.

Under Cao Jun's Shandong Capital Division, there is a gang leader, who is generally served by the commander of the guard or someone at the level of a thousand households.Next, there are armor chiefs, who are in charge of transporting five ships and transporting 50 troops.On each boat, there is a flag armor, and according to the rules, a small team of ten people is used to transport food.

In Shandong, because of the existence of Mount Tai, the pattern on the east and west sides is very different.

As mentioned earlier, Qi Jingtong served as the general of water transportation and the commander of the capital of Shandong Beiwadu Division. In fact, he has more troops in Shandong.

The base of Qi Yuanda, the commander of the Shandong capital, is the Shandong General of the Cao Army located along the Luxi Canal.

Cao Jun Shandong has a total of more than [-] ships and nearly [-] troops.

Linqing is the largest cargo transshipment center in the north of the canal, and the general interests of Cao Jun Shandong are inseparable from Linqing.

Now Shandong is going to try out the new law, Qi Yuanda can't sit still.

Qi Yuan was fidgeting all night. At first, he didn't know what the emperor ordered to stay in Linqing for seven days.

Now, he doesn't know whether the old accounts of Cao Jun and Chaoguan will be overturned after Shandong tries out the new law.

But the emperor is here, the five thousand elite soldiers of the Beijing camp are here, and Zhang Fujing's standard battalion was also brought by Qi Jingtong to Dongchang Mansion and stationed in the south of Linqing City.

If you can't move, you will die if you move.

If you can't move, you can't predict the fortune or misfortune.

Qi Yuan stayed up all night, but he didn't wait for Jiang Guanqing to send someone to send a letter—the emperor was here, and he didn't even dare to send someone to discuss it, let alone meet him in person!

However, the countermeasures discussed before did not include the situation that the emperor wanted to try out the new law in Shandong.

In the early morning of the next day after being attacked by the emperor's decision, his personal soldiers rushed to report: "Dutai, Li Fuzun, Tao Zhizhou, Chief Jiang, Eunuch Ma, and Luo Yushi are all going to Xingjia." went!"

Qi Yuanda first stood up in shock, and then sat down again.

As the commander of the Shandong Capital, it is normal for him to have "clear ears and clear eyes" in Linqing City.

But so early, these people all went to drive together. Naturally, they got the order yesterday to meet with His Majesty today.

The emperor called the three officials from Dongchang Zhifu, Linqing Zhizhou, and Linqing Chaoguan. There is no doubt that the focus is on Linqing Chaoguan.

Be quiet, be quiet...

Qi Yuanda warned himself that the emperor came prepared and must not act rashly.

All the jumpers are finished.

But Qi Yuanda couldn't restrain the fear in his heart, his mind was full of what the emperor would ask during the drive, and how Jiang Guanqing and the others would answer.

In this way, nearly an hour passed before someone came to report again, and they all left.

"How do you look?" Qi Yuanda asked eagerly.

"...In Dudutai, if you want to talk about his expression, it seems that he is rushing to do something."

"Nothing else?"

"No."

Qi Yuanda hated this feeling.

If the emperor is not here, or even if Zhang Fujing and a few people from Shandong Fantai and Jintai are here, then Qi Yuanda will be the boss if he comes to Linqing.

But now, there are too many situations where Qi Yuanda cannot know the situation at the first time.

If the matter has nothing to do with him, why would the emperor send someone to inform him?
When he was struggling, he saw another soldier hurried over: "Dutai, please come here."

Qi Yuanda didn't have time to think about it, so he hurried to the main hall, only to see the little eunuch saluted and said: "Qidutai, His Majesty summoned you."

"...I just need to dress right now, and I will go with my father-in-law. Please wait a moment, my father-in-law, and have a cup of tea first."

While wearing his official uniform, he was thinking: besides himself, who else had he summoned?Why did you see yourself just after seeing Jiang Guanqing?Was it sold?
He wanted to ask these answers after he came out, so he first handed a few gold leaves to the eunuch, and then asked with a smile: "What is your father-in-law's name?"

This is a necessary temptation. If you are willing to accept it, you can ask other questions on the way.

Seeing his actions, the little eunuch hesitated for a moment, then he really accepted it, smiled and said: "Our family's humble name is not worth mentioning, Qi Dutai calls me Liang Chong."

"Eunuch Liang is humble enough to be able to drive south with him." Qi Yuanda asked in a lower voice as he walked out with him, "I wonder who else His Majesty has summoned?"

Having collected the gold leaves, Qi Yuanda asked with confidence.

If you can pass the current test, you can have another line in Beijing and in the palace in the future.

Although that Gao Zhong also took a lot of money from him, but this time he didn't reveal anything to him.I don't know if he didn't know what the emperor meant to try out the new law in Shandong, or if he deliberately kept it secret.

Now, Liang Chong replied truthfully: "Your Majesty only summoned Qi Dutai."

Qi Yuanda's heart skipped a beat: "Eunuch Liang knows... what's going on?"

Liang Chong shook his head: "I was ordered by Eunuch Huang to summon Qi Dutai, and I don't know the rest."

"...Thank you, Eunuch Liang. I don't know where Eunuch Liang is from? The accent sounds like he's from the nearby Daming Mansion."

Beizhili Daming Mansion is located between Shandong and Henan, quite close to Linqing.

Liang Chong smiled when he heard the words: "Qidutai has good ears, I am from Qingfeng County, Daming Prefecture."

Qi Yuanda couldn't get more information, so he just chatted with him along the way to get closer, and at the same time collected some information from when Jiang Guanqing and his majesty met before.

When he understood that Liang Chong was really just a young eunuch accompanying him, and was not qualified to serve the emperor, Qi Yuanda felt sorry for his golden leaf, but at the same time felt a little bit annoyed.

Anyway, I am the commander of the Shandong capital, so why is the person who came to summon me an unknown person?
After he entered the Confucian Temple to the Pangong Room and got the emperor's reply, Liang Chong walked up to Huang Jin first, and obediently took out the few golden leaves: "The ones Qidutai gave me are all here."

Huang Jin clicked his tongue twice but didn't say much, just nodded: "Go and write it down."

"Yes……"

Huang Jin put the gold leaf into his bosom, and then walked into the main hall where the emperor met his subjects, at this time Qi Yuanda had just finished his salute.

Standing next to the emperor, the situation in the room felt a bit oppressive, Huang Jin saw beads of sweat on Qi Yuan's forehead.

The emperor was sitting on the throne, with Huang Jin standing beside him, and there were also the eunuchs of the Internal Affairs Department and the two daily life commentators who were now accompanying the emperor on his southern tour, holding pens.If there were a few more guards standing on both sides with water and fire sticks in their hands, it would look like the emperor was going to ask questions.

"Give a seat."

Qi Yuan is as big as listening to fairy music.

If there is a small bench to sit on, it means that the emperor's attitude towards him is not bad, and he is not here to question him.

He quickly thanked him and said he didn't dare, and insisted on standing and listening to the oracle.

"When I said yesterday that there are many thieves in Shandong, I saw that you looked very nervous. After thinking about it, I called you to ask, but what's the inside story?"

"Back... back to Your Majesty, I'm just... just very panicked, worried that I will lose my reputation and have no way to defend the land." Qi Yuanda said quickly, "If you talk about the plague of bandits, although I haven't been able to eliminate them, I can't It's still... a big problem."

Zhu Houcong smiled slightly and said, "Oh? At that time, Marquis Wu Ding asked for orders to suppress the bandits on both sides of the North Zhili Canal. After listening to his report, several groups of bandits fled to the border of Shandong. He didn't get the order to leave Beizhili, so he had to give up. I haven’t heard that these gangs of bandits have been wiped out from Shandong memorials. But in the past two years, there have been quite a few cases of robbery of ships transported by Cao Jun’s Shandong General and Zheyang General’s report in Shandong.”

The beads of sweat on Qi Yuan's head grew bigger, and he quickly knelt down and said, "I am ashamed. The bandits come and go like the wind, and they often hide in the mountains of Shandong after they succeed. However, the extravagance is quite expensive, but the water transportation is heavy, so I have to be more vigilant."

"Water transportation is indeed a serious matter." Zhu Houcong looked deeply at his lowered head, "Now the General Manager of Shandong is still responsible for transporting new grain from Shandong to the south for disaster relief. Don't be targeted by bandits again and robbed."

"...The minister will do his best to never let the relief food go wrong!"

"Get up."

Zhu Houcong talked about the robbery of the grain ship by the bandits in Shanxi from the bandits in Shandong, and also mentioned the disaster relief food transported in the south. Although Qi Yuanda was frightened, he felt a little more relaxed.

Since there is still something that needs me, I will naturally not go through any old accounts to investigate myself at this juncture.

Unexpectedly, the emperor suddenly said again: "I heard that the head of the Dushui Division of Linqing Weihe Shipyard has a brother-in-law friendship with you?"

Daming also had several shipyards along the canal. This was the shortage of tank boats that Zhu Houcong asked Li Nai when he came here.The Weihe shipyard here in Linqing is supervised by the promotion department of the internal minister system, and the Ministry of Industry has set up a capital water division here, and arranged a master to manage the construction, repair and inspection of tank ships.

Qi Yuanda was faced with a new question, so he could only answer in a nonchalant manner: "I hope that after the chief takes office, Xu Xian is indeed his wife's younger sister."

Zhu Houcong smiled slightly, and asked again: "I heard the name of the Huang family in Dongchang Mansion earlier, and I heard that the head of the Huang family has believed in a Protestant religion in recent years. There are also many believers."

Qi Yuan's thigh softened, and he didn't know how to answer for a moment.

It's too scary, does the emperor know so many things?
Luo Qing, who was born in Jimo, created this Wuwei Teaching only ten years ago.The emperor has many eyes and ears, so it is not too strange to know that this kind of Protestantism exists, but how does he know that the head of his wife's family believes in this religion?

Qi Yuanda had just stood up not long ago, and now he looked up at the emperor tremblingly, only to see his half-smile eyes.

Afterwards, I saw that Eunuch Huang's hanging palm spread out, and then made a gesture that he couldn't understand.

The emperor said again: "Qi Yuanda, it's not easy for you to be a commander in Shandong, but today I summoned you just to tell you to pay attention to the suppression of bandits and water transportation, and to take care of your family. Why are you so afraid? Send Gao Zhong a gift It's more than three thousand taels of silver, and today it's another five gold leaves."

Qi Yuanda's legs were completely weak, and he fell to his knees with a plop: "Chen...Chen..."

"This has always been the case, understandable." Zhu Houcong narrowed his eyes slightly, "But Shandong is about to implement a new law, what are you going to do?"

Qi Yuanda knelt on the ground, feeling that the road was getting narrower and narrower.

(End of this chapter)