"My husband has been away from Liangzhou for four months. A lot of things have accumulated, right?" The next morning, Yang Ji sat in front of the bronze mirror. Xiao Ying carefully combed her husband's hair, with a pair of beautiful eyes filled with distress.
When her husband came back late last night, he handled a lot of official business related to Liangzhou in the study. When she woke up, she found that he had fallen asleep on the desk, the fire in the brazier was extinguished, and the whole room was cold. This worried Xiao Ying so much that she quickly prepared ginger soup and bath soup for him to warm up.
"Well!" Yang Ji closed his eyes and fell asleep, and said lazily: "Liangzhou has been struggling since I took office; on one side it is fighting, on the other side it is construction, on the other side it is settling the Qiang people, on the other side it is accepting new people, on the other side it is They are engaged in the slave trade again, which means that food has never been self-sufficient, and the court has to replenish it every year. I estimate that Liangzhou has a lot of headaches waiting for me to solve! To be honest, I really don’t want to Stayed in the capital."
Unknowingly, Yang Ji changed from a lazy dude to a qualified official, adapted to the role of Liangzhou Mu, worried about the soldiers and people under his rule, and worried about the foreign enemies around him... Although he shouted every day He wanted to regain his freedom and his carefree and unrestrained life, but in his heart he couldn't wait to return to Zhangye to host it immediately. However, he himself was not aware of this subtle change.
"Then just resign as the chief inspector and examiner of the martial arts examination. After all, your responsibility is in Liangzhou, not the capital." Xiao Ying advised softly.
Yang Ji smiled bitterly and sighed: "I would like to resign from all positions in the capital, but in the overall situation and in the long run, martial arts is far more important than Liangzhou in front of me. Can the saint let people go? I think it is unlikely. .”
Xiao Ying bit her thin and red lower lip gently with her teeth, and said with a smile: "I can't help it, who made my husband so outstanding! This may be what he said, the greater the ability, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility. big."
These words made Yang Ji feel proud and nodded naturally: "That's true!"
Xiao Ying looked at her husband's proud look in the bronze mirror, her eyes gradually curved into crescent moons. She thought for a while and then said: "Mr. Lang, I heard that today's morning meeting was cancelled. The saints were ordered to live in three provinces, six departments, and eleven temples." Your Majesty, the imperial censor, and the generals of the left and right military guards will go to Qianqiu Hall to hold a small court meeting."
When he heard that the officials summoned by Yang Guang actually included all the big guys in the center, both military and literary, and they had no connection with each other, Yang Ji couldn't help but be stunned, opened his eyes and stared at Xiao Ying in the mirror, and asked doubtfully: " These yamen have civil affairs, military affairs, civil affairs, and judiciary. They have nothing to do with each other. How come these people are suddenly called together? Is there anything that these yamen need to work together to do recently? "
Xiao Ying shook her head: "But you don't know?"
Yang Ji thought for a long time, and a thought flashed through his mind like a flash of lightning, and he said: "The saint has made up his mind to speed up the process of moving the capital."
Xiao Ying was confused, but she still didn't think that this matter had anything to do with accelerating the relocation of the capital. Yang Ji explained to her: "Relocating the capital involves politics, economy, military, culture, education, medical care, construction, and transportation. Not only do we have to deal with all aspects such as supervision, etc., but we also have to work hard to persuade those princes, ministers, nobles and nobles whose interests are in Guanzhong and are unwilling to move to Luoyang. The matters involved are really too wide, and it is not just a matter of adapting."
"The safest way should be to pass the court discussion and then use the power of the whole country to arrange it. If it were placed before the martial arts competition, the saint would probably do it step by step. But last year, there were two events, the Renshou Palace Incident and Yang Liang's rebellion. This major incident made the saint more determined to leave Guanzhong. He used Yang Liang's rebellion to force the ministers of Guanzhong to agree to move the capital. However, this method was not an upright and open-door approach after all, but a trick. road."
"Although the goal has been achieved, this is not because Emperor Qiangang is arbitrary, but because he does not have the ability to control everyone's opinions. This is an established fact that cannot be stopped. Now, another target has been made The sexual martial arts further intensified the conflict between the saint and the powerful people in Guanzhong, which made the saint more insecure, so he planned to speed up the process of building and moving the capital."
In fact, moving the capital is the same as moving for ordinary people. It's just different in terms of scale and considerations.
When a family wants to move to a new home, it must first build, decorate, and clean the new home. Next, it must consider whether the road to move heavy objects is clear and whether there are supporting facilities such as markets and hospitals around the new home.
Moving the capital is basically the same principle, but Luoyang is still a land of fields, wasteland, and small villages. Once the imperial court moves the capital, at least hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians will follow them to settle in Luoyang. This raises questions about whether the moving roads are accessible and whether the houses are enough. , whether food channels are smooth, whether the problem of eating can be solved, etc. If there is not a thorough plan in advance and the solutions are solved one by one, Luoyang will be in big trouble when the time comes.
As for how to discover and solve problems, it is the responsibility of the three provinces and six ministries, Yushitai, and Eleven Temples. Moving the capital and mobilizing the army were inevitable, so we added left and right generals.
Xiao Ying pondered for a while and then understood what her husband meant. She said worriedly: "Once the new capital is built, there will be at least more than 100,000 officials, troops, family members, and servants who will move to Luoyang. The crowds such as Zi and other people also have to go to Luoyang. Luoyang actually has an increase of hundreds of thousands of people. The housing can be made do, but the food cannot be made. Facing this sudden influx of hundreds of thousands of people, the small Heluo Plain Can you afford it?"
"We can't afford it!" Yang Ji thought for a while and said with a wry smile: "If we can't afford it, then build a canal from Luoyang to the south to shorten the journey and cost of transporting grain from the south to the north."
Yang Jian moved from Chang'an City of Han Dynasty to Daxing City because it was also done in Yongzhou, so the problem of food was not affected much, so it passed calmly. But this time, they are going to another place. Among the hundreds of thousands of people who have moved, almost all of them are people who spend money to buy food, rather than farmers with fields. If the food is not enough for these people, How can that be done?
Faced with the sudden increase of hundreds of thousands of new people in Luoyang who are waiting for food, what else can the court do if they don't build a canal with the strongest transportation capacity and the fastest speed?
After such sorting out, Yang Ji finally understood why Yang Guang in history hurriedly launched the Grand Canal; I am afraid that it was because he found that the problem of food became an urgent matter, so he forced Yang Guang to hurriedly launch the Grand Canal project.
If we had prepared properly in advance and arranged the project in an orderly manner, there might not have been the largest casualties in history.
"This move of the capital really affects the whole body at once! Once it moves, it will be out of control. There are some supporting things that you can't even think about if you don't do it." Yang Ji said to Xiao Ying: "I'll go listen too. "
After saying that, he stood up, picked up the court clothes on the hanger and put them on.
. . . . . . . . . .
Qianqiu Hall is the sub-hall of Zhonghua Hall. It is located to the west of Zhonghua Hall. Dozens of large columns with several people hugging each other stand in the main hall, supporting a magnificent hall that can accommodate more than a thousand people. The small number of daily pilgrims can hardly They are all held here.
The daily court attendance held every day is not grand, the number of people is not large, and there is no ceremony of beating gongs and drums. The people participating in the court meeting include the prince, the three divisions and the three ministers, the minister, the minister, the internal history, the secretary, The Censor's Platform, the Six Ministers' Department, and the temple supervisors were the main ones. Everyone stood in line according to their rank. In the front row were the chief officials of each department, who were also the speakers in the daily meetings.
In addition, noble officials, honorary officials, casual officials, Beijing officials and high-ranking local officials who go to Beijing on official business can also listen near the gate, and can also come out to speak when their own affairs are involved. The difference between a small court meeting and a daily court meeting is that these people are cut off. Of course, if someone wants to attend, the court will welcome them and will not object or expel them.
Since Yang Liang's rebellion was put down, Yang Guang has carried out a large-scale purge of "Yang Liang's followers" inside and outside the court, and it has not yet ended. Non-official officials such as noble officers, honorary officers, and casual officials in Beijing were worried that they would accidentally be classified as "rebels", so although today was just a small court meeting, they all came to listen, so that if they were unlucky, When implicated, be able to defend yourself promptly.
When Yang Ji arrived, he found that the people participating in the Xiaochao meeting today were no different from those in the past. When I asked, I learned that there were two topics today. One was about accelerating the construction progress of Luoyang New City as I expected. However, after several months of preparation, all aspects of the construction plans were relatively comprehensive, so this topic was just to speed up the progress of the project, so that All ministries worked hard, and it was over before he arrived; another topic turned out to be digging through the Grand Canal, which was the highlight, but today was just a preliminary discussion, not that it would start immediately.
When Yang Ji heard what the attending officials said, he knew that his worries were unfounded and his trip was in vain. However, since he came, he was content with it, so he mingled with the attending officials and listened.
"The following is a review of the Southern Grand Canal that diverts the Yellow River to the Huaihe River!" The hall was very quiet, with only Yang Guang's voice echoing in the cleverly designed hall: "Since ancient times, the center of gravity of the Central Plains dynasty has been in the central areas of the Central Plains and Guanzhong. In our country Before the Sui Dynasty, except for the Southern Dynasty, which established itself in the south, no dynasty really paid attention to or developed the south. In addition, most of the monarchs and ministers of unified dynasties such as the Qin, Han, and Jin were northerners, and there was a serious lack of attention to the south, so not many people knew about it. Huge potential in the South.”
"I have been in Jiangdu for ten years and have traveled all over the states and counties in the north and south of the Yangtze River. I finally have a new understanding of the south. I finally know that the south is a place with fertile land and rich products. In the south, you can even get two or three crops. What’s more rare is that the vertical and horizontal water network in the territory naturally regulates drought and flood disasters, making it almost immune to severe droughts and floods. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a treasure land. If the south is properly developed and utilized, it will only be the Yangtze River and the Yangtze River. If we are familiar with the two states, we can make the world rich."
"However, inconvenient transportation has always made it difficult for products from the south to go north. The Gyeonggi area has always been a place with a large population and a dense army. A huge amount of food is consumed every day. Once the food supply is insufficient, it will cause unrest in the people's hearts, and the people will listen to the rumors. It's just rain. Whenever there are any rumors, people will rush to buy it, which further intensifies the turmoil. Therefore, I believe that the transportation of goods from the south to the north is the top priority for the stability of the Sui Dynasty and the strengthening of the Sui Dynasty."
"In addition, the people of the north and the south have not interacted with each other for hundreds of years, and have been hostile and hostile for hundreds of years. To this day, a large number of southerners still think that the northerners live a life of eating hair and drinking blood, and a large number of northerners think that the southerners are barbarians who refuse to accept the king's rule. , in order to eliminate this deep-rooted misunderstanding, official propaganda alone is not enough. Even a lot of official propaganda, instead of providing correct guidance, has been misunderstood as deliberate beautification, deepening the misunderstanding between both parties, so the best way It is to encourage people on both sides to walk more, see more, speak more, and listen more. The effect of this kind of non-governmental exchange is far better than the unilateral propaganda of the government. However, since the Sui Dynasty unified the world, the northerners have never gone south or south. People never go north, because the transportation is inconvenient. In order to integrate the north and south of the Sui Dynasty and resolve the grievances that have lasted for hundreds of years as soon as possible, I am determined to dig the Grand Canal and benefit it for generations to come."
When Yang Guang said this, he paused. He felt that everyone had absorbed his intentions and opinions, and then he said to the quiet ministers: "If you have different opinions, you can put them forward here, and then everyone will discuss them one by one." Discuss and resolve, I don’t want the court to make a final decision and then cause a wave of opposition and a storm in the city.”
"Sage, I have a few words I would like to say." At this time, Gao Jiong, who was the Minister of Taichang Temple at the time, came out to salute.
Yang Guang raised his hand and signaled: "Gao Qing, please speak."
"Here!" Gao Jiong said with cupped hands: "The veteran also believes that the construction of the Grand Canal can benefit the people, prosper business, increase the income of the court, and resolve the grievances between the north and the south. It is an unparalleled great achievement that will benefit the present and the future. The veteran only hopes that the new canal will benefit the people and prosper commerce. After the capital is completed, it will take another ten years to build a grand canal that runs through the north and south and will benefit future generations."
Although Gao Yan had not stayed in the south as long as Yang Guang, he was equivalent to the chief of staff of the Sui Dynasty when he destroyed Nanchen. He had a good understanding of the mountains, terrain, hydrology and temperature in the south, and he was very in favor of building this grand canal connecting the north and the south, but the prerequisite Don't start work immediately.
His views represent the views of most courtiers. Whether they know the south or not, they all know that Yang Guang's intention to open the canal is very good, but the big projects of Luoyang New City and Changqian with two million people have only just begun. If the Grand Canal is dug immediately, it will definitely be a tyranny that will benefit the future and harm the present.
"Sage, I second the proposal!" Pei Ju, the minister of Huangmen, also came forward and said: "I also know the south relatively well and strongly support the construction of the North-South Grand Canal. However, Luoyang New City and Changqian have just been built. If the Grand Canal is dug at this time, It will inevitably cause resentment among the people. I am worried that our government will not benefit from the canal, but will be harmed by it. In order to make it a great cause that will benefit the present and benefit the future, we should slowly plan for it. I also ask the saint to think twice."
When Yang Guang saw that Gao Jiong and Pei Ju supported the construction of the canal, he was not unreasonably opposed to it. He did not feel unhappy in his heart, but said: "I am not saying that the canal will be opened immediately, but the exploration and determination of the direction of the river course, land acquisition and relocation of people , craftsman skills, accounting for money and food, etc., are all a very long project. What I mean is to settle these things first, and then we can discuss how and when to start when we have detailed drawings. "
"Sage, can you wait until Luoyang New City is completed before conducting preliminary exploration?" Niu Hong, the Minister of Civil Affairs, knew Yang Guang well.
As early as when Yang Guang was still the king of Jin, Niu Hong and Yang Guang admired each other because of each other's literature, art and talents, which made him realize that Yang Guang was impatient and his style of doing things was always to prepare and act at the same time, just like Changqi and Xindu. It was obviously said that one thing would be completed before another, but the long trench had just begun, and the new capital began to be constructed. The emperor was so impatient and believed in the principle of "soldiers are wiser and faster" in everything he did, which really made the ministers feel helpless and anxious.
If Yang Guang had arranged the preliminary preparations today, he would have sent a large number of surveying craftsmen to survey today, and then given these people a death order, instructing them to determine the direction of the canal in the shortest possible time, and then start construction while relocating the people. So the best way is to prevent early exploration work.
However, Niu Hong's suggestion made Yang Guang very unhappy. He said coldly: "I understand the difference between exploration and construction. If the new capital is not completed, the canal will not be dug. This matter has been settled. The great craftsman Yan Pi will listen to the order!"
Yan Bi was originally a young eunuch and a governor of Yan State. He was very capable in water control. Since the work of building the Yellow River embankment was in Sheji, after Yu Wenkai was promoted to minister of the Ministry of Industry, Yang Guang appointed him as a general master craftsman. Since Yang Lun could not leave Yanzhou, he was asked to go to Beijing as Yanzhou's envoy to report on his duties. He has not yet returned. At this time, when the emperor called him, he quickly went out to salute: "I am here."
Yang Guang said calmly: "I appointed you as the canal exploration envoy. You will go to the Central Plains to inspect the conditions of the rivers along the way, and make a plan for the excavation as soon as possible."
"Wei Chen obeys the order!" Yan Pi didn't agree very much in his heart. On the one hand, the Yellow River embankment that he and Yang Lun were responsible for has not been repaired yet, and on the other hand, he didn't want big projects to come one after another. But the holy decree has been given, and I can only accept it helplessly.
Yang Guang's tough attitude caused a deathly silence in Qianqiu Palace.
Although he promised to dig the canal after the completion of Luoyang New City, in order to dig the canal as soon as possible, he is very likely to double the manpower and material resources in Luoyang. As long as the construction period in Luoyang is shortened, the time for canal digging will not be consistent with what he has in mind. The time is actually the same.
The hearts of the ministers are as heavy as the red clouds in the sky. From this section, we can see that the saint is more arbitrary than the late emperor. What is even more frightening is that the late emperor likes to act in a kingly manner and submit to others with principles. Since the saint ascended the throne, His behavior is almost all deceitful. If he is just a minister or a general, that's it, but he is the emperor!
Moreover, in such a short period of time since he ascended the throne, he has done all major projects that are rare in history. If he continues to carry out several major projects in this way of calculating his subjects instead of discussing them, there will definitely be widespread resentment among the people and the world will be in disarray. rather.
Yang Ji was also very heavy in his heart. In fact, all civil and military officials in the dynasty opposed the immediate opening of the canal. However, everyone was worried that their past pigtails would be used by Yang Guang, so they were silent collectively. Gao Jiong, Pei Ju, and Niu Hong first agreed and then raised their differences. The action of expressing opinions is actually a tactful way to oppose and delay the construction of the Grand Canal.
This abnormal and unhealthy phenomenon of collective silence also made Yang Ji realize that the twelve carts of criminal evidence he brought from Bingzhou became Yang Guang's weapon to eliminate opposition voices, so that the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty did not care whether Yang Guang was right or wrong. , no one dared to speak. I really don’t know whether the things I brought here are good or bad.
Yang Ji himself did not dare to object to the big proposal of the Grand Canal. It did not mean that he had any evidence or evidence in Yang Guang's hands, but that this was the most glorious moment for Yang Guang since he ascended the throne, and he could not sweep it away. His happiness.
Even if you want to persuade, you can only choose a moment when no one is around.
