As soon as Zan Wanshou left, Yu Xing's envoy arrived. This envoy was once a minor official in the Sichuan Zhizhi Department. He was smooth and flattering. Within a few months of Yu Xing's appointment, he became his confidant and was promoted several levels. When Ouyang Xuan went to Bozhou to get married, he stopped at Chongqing Mansion and gave gifts to the officials and staff of the Sichuan Production Department. The envoys who were minor officials at the time also received gifts. Now that he met Ouyang Xuan, he no longer concealed Yu Xing's intention of sending him here - although the Pili Army had captured Mei, Ya and other states from the Mongols, they had to pay corresponding money to hold it in their hands.
The envoy brought two letters. The first one was an official document from the Sichuan Production and Construction Department. In the letter, Yu Xing told Ouyang Xuan that the Pili Army sent troops to help Jiading Prefecture extinguish the rebellion of Liu Daer and Cao Zhizhou, and helped Zan Wanshou defend the city. In Jiading City, the Mongolian army also had to retreat under the pressure of thunder set by Sichuan. At present, there is a shortage of administrative officials in Meizhou, Yazhou and other places, so he has asked the court to send officials to govern. In view of the economic decline in western Sichuan and the hardship of the people, he also petitioned the imperial court to restore the Salt and Iron Supervision Bureau in western Sichuan and the Tea Horse Yamen on the edge of Sichuan. The Western Sichuan Salt and Iron Supervisor was originally located in Pujiang County and was responsible for collecting salt and iron taxes from Chengdu Prefecture. The Sichuan Tea Horse Yamen was located in Yazhou and was responsible for trade with the Yi and Tibetan areas. Before the invasion of the Mongolian army, these two yamen were affiliated to the imperial transport department, and the taxes paid were also handed over to Lin'an. After the Mongolian invasion, it was not reset because it was repeatedly destroyed, but its functions were transferred to Jiading Prefecture under Yu Xing.
When Yu Xing was in charge of Jiading, he was of course unwilling to reset these two yamen, because once they were established, the profit he would gain would be much less. Now that he has left Jiading to take charge of the Sichuan Construction Department, he wants to re-establish these two yamen, making it clear that he wants to gain profits from them again. It has to be said that Yu Xing's move hit the Pili Army seven inches above. At present, the Pili Army does not levy grain taxes. All the grain it needs is purchased at low prices from the settlement points. The required finances and taxes rely on industrial and commercial taxes, of which salt and iron taxes account for a large proportion. As for the tea-horse trade, it is even more related to the life and death of the Perak Army. If Yu Xing is allowed to control it, not only will the income be greatly reduced, but the prices of strategic materials such as war horses and fire salt will also rise a lot, which will seriously weaken the Perak Army. combat effectiveness.
Ouyang Xuan handed the letter to Yang Bangxian beside him, suppressing the anger in his heart and continued to read the second letter. The second letter was a personal letter written by Yu Xing to Ouyang Xuan. In the letter, Yu Xing first said that the resettlement of the salt supervision and tea horse yamen was a regulation. He also knew the difficulties of the Perak Army. However, he was aware of the raging public sentiment in the court. Can't stand the pressure. Finally, he asked in a roundabout way about Pengshan City's summer grain harvest this year, and then asked about Mingshan City's commercial tax. It took Ouyang Xuan a long time to realize that Yu Xing was still planning to give him the share of the grain harvest and famous mountain taxation stated in the land deed. Those thousands of acres of land are remote and no one is willing to plant them. It is still a piece of grass. As for the tax share of famous mountains, it is the official revenue of Jiading Prefecture. This Yu Xing has been greedy for ink, and over time he has considered it to be his hardcore crop.
After reading the letter, Ouyang Xuan's anger surged again. This Yu Xing wants to attack the Perak Army and extract bribes at the same time, which is really shameless. Just when he was about to get angry, Yang Bangxian spoke. "At present, there are Mongolian troops attacking outside and bandits running rampant inside. The imperial court has set up these two yamen. How can we ensure safety?" Seeing that the person speaking was a young man, the messenger looked at Ouyang Xuan. Ouyang Xuan turned blue and said, "This is my wife's brother, but it doesn't matter." The messenger also knew about his marriage to the Yang family in Bozhou, so he pretended to be surprised and said: "It turns out to be Mr. Yang of Bozhou. I have long heard about Mr. Yang, a young hero, and I am lucky enough to meet you today. Mr. Yang is indeed an extraordinary man. He actually married Master Yu has the same opinion." Then there was a compliment and an explanation.
Ouyang Xuan heard that there was something in his words, so he ordered someone to send a box of jewelry. This jewelry was given to one of Liu Da'er's concubines. The messenger accepted the benefit and simply made his words clear. It turns out that what Yu Xing said in the official document is not false, but Sichuan is prone to frequent wars. Whether it is re-dispatching officials to Meiya and other states or restoring the Western Sichuan Salt Railway Supervision and the Sichuan Tea Horse Yamen, the Sichuan Production and Construction Department has extremely Big right to speak. Who will serve as the new magistrates of Meiya and other states? When will it come? How to set up the two yamen? When is it set? These are all very particular. It is not uncommon for the war to be delayed for a year and a half, and it is even possible for the war to be suspended for two or three years. The progress of the matter depends entirely on Yu Xing's wishes. Ouyang Xuan had already understood at this time that Yu Xing was taking the opportunity to extort money again. In order to prevent Ouyang Xuan from submitting, he used court regulations to put a tight spell on the Pili Army.
If you know what Yu Xing wants, things will be easier to handle. It's just that Yu Xing has a huge appetite. Not only does he want 20% of the Pili Army's salt and iron tax, but he also wants the land deed for 10,000 acres of fertilized land in western Sichuan. Moreover, whether these 10,000 acres of land are cultivated or not, the Pili Army must pay the land rent. . When the messenger said this asking price, Yang Bangxian was frightened to the spot. He assisted Ouyang Xuan in handling daily affairs, so he naturally knew what this asking price meant. As one of the main sources of income for the Pili Army, the salt and iron tax in Qiongzhou alone can be equivalent to more than one million taels of silver every year, and 20% is equivalent to 200,000 taels of silver. High-quality cultivated land is calculated based on the tenancy fee of fifty kilograms of grain per mu, and ten thousand acres is five hundred thousand kilograms. This Yu Xing is really insatiable.
Ouyang Xuan did not dare to agree to such a large amount, so he had to find the top brass of the Pili Army to discuss it. When everyone heard this, they were naturally filled with indignation, and the impatient Cao Ergou even shouted that he would have a showdown with Yu Xing. Ouyang Xuan was really unwilling to be blackmailed in this way, so he simply sent Cao Ergou to negotiate with Yu Xing's envoy. At the same time, he wrote a personal letter to Li Kaipeng of Liuqiu Company, ordering him to increase his operations in Lin'an and try to prevent the imperial court from re-sending magistrates from Meiya and other prefectures. It would be best if he could appoint himself as the governor of Western Sichuan Town. . As a semi-independent official, the governor not only had the right to recommend the main officials of the territory, but also had complete fiscal and taxation powers. Naturally, he no longer worried about being taken away from the power of salt, iron and trade affairs. Of course, the top brass of the Pili Army have also reached a consensus. If Yu Xing wants to deliberately embarrass him, he is not afraid of breaking up. Without the nod of the Pili Army, no one can even think of entering Mei, Ya and other states.
When Yu Xing's envoy negotiated with Cao Ergou, it was obvious that "when a scholar meets a soldier, he can't explain why he is right." Cao Ergou acted as if he would meet with soldiers if the negotiation was not successful. His attitude was very tough and he even took the envoy to the martial arts field to conduct the negotiation. Watching it is really a naked threat. After a few days of this, the envoy couldn't stand Cao Ergou's mental torture, so he came to bid farewell to Ouyang Xuan with a sad face. Ouyang Xuan did not try to persuade him to stay, but just told him that since the formation of the Pili Army, the court had not given him any money except empty official titles. Although the family has a big business now, there are also big holes. Fighting the Mongolian army requires money and food, resettling the refugees requires money and food, and developing production requires money and food. There is really no extra money and food.
Although the envoy is an official, his conscience has not been completely wiped out. He was a little moved after hearing Ouyang Xuan's words. In addition, these days he also knows that the Thunderbolt Army makes collective decisions. With many high-level officials opposed, Ouyang Xuan can't agree. Otherwise, Yu Xing's conditions would not be able to be explained to the soldiers who fought bloody battles and the hardworking people. Therefore, after accepting the property from Ouyang Xuan, he promised to do his best to be in front of Yu Xing. In order to prevent the envoy from returning empty-handed and causing Yu Xing to completely fall out, Ouyang Xuan used the seized box of jewelry and jade as Mingshan City's tax share and tenant farming fees, and asked the envoy to bring it to Yu Xing.
