This kind of dispute is always inevitable in such discussions. Different judgments and emotional closeness of each person will become factors in recommendation and rejection.
This was the first time that Feng Ziying and Lian Guoshi had seen the daily discussions of the top leaders in the Northland scholar community. In the past, neither he nor Lian Guoshi were qualified to participate in such discussions.
"Jun Yu, did you find it eye-opening when we met today?" Feng Ziying couldn't help lowering her voice and laughing when she saw that Han Xu and Zhou Yongchun were arguing about whether Sun Chengzong should be transferred back to lead the army, and even got a little angry.
"Silence!" Lian Guoshi glared at Feng Ziying and said angrily: "Why are you still so willing to make sarcastic remarks? The situation is so dangerous, so you're not worried?"
"Is there any use in worrying?" Feng Ziying curled her lips, "I have already told Master Qi and Master Qiao, and even talked to Official Master and Chai Gong, but did they listen? Everyone felt confident. , calm and relaxed, he is fine now. Zhang Chengyin was imprisoned for a month and was finally released. The dignified commander-in-chief of Xuanfu Town has no vigilance at all. In vain, the emperor and the cabinet had high hopes for him, but the result has long been He became the target of others' tricks, but he coaxed us enough and almost caused a catastrophe."
Practicing state affairs is also speechless.
The chief soldier of Xuanfu Town was originally the trump card used by the imperial court to deal with Niu Jizong. He was equivalent to an undercover agent assigned to Niu Jizong. Unexpectedly, he had been suspected by Niu Jizong for his careless behavior, and he was ignored quietly.
However, he was unaware of it and thought that he had the wisdom to fight back at the last moment and achieve great success. The result was that the Xuanfu Army's eastward advance was completed in one go, and Niu Jizong almost succeeded.
If it weren't for the desperate resistance of He Huchen's troops and You Shigong's desperate advance of troops, the consequences would have been disastrous.
"I can't blame him entirely. I can only say that Niu Jizong was so cunning that he deceived everyone..." Lian Guoshi couldn't help but sigh, "The matter is over, and there is no point in worrying about Mr. Zhang's fault anymore." , but how to deal with it now? You always have many ideas and have been making arrangements for a long time. I have visited the granary over Yuguan, and the scale is bigger every time, far beyond my expectation. Have you considered it a long time ago? "
"How about not thinking about it? There is a severe drought this year, and the situation in Yongping Mansion is not good, but it is much better than that in Shanxi. Your government should consider it in advance, right?" Feng Ziying did not hide the state affairs. He had already mentioned it to Lian Guo Shi earlier, but the scale had expanded several times compared to what he originally imagined. No wonder Lian Guo Shi was surprised.
Lian Guoshi nodded, "I learned from you and prepared for a rainy day. I have made arrangements in advance. It shouldn't be a big problem. I originally planned to take your idea, but I also know that you are probably preparing it for the capital, so I have to do it myself. Yu Guangang is now growing in size, and there are many southern ships transporting iron and cement, so we hit it off, but I asked them to transport it to the mouth of the Hulu River, and then use river ships to transport it to Luanzhou and Lulong."
"Oh? Have you dredged the Hulu River?" Feng Ziying naturally knows the situation of the Hulu River. The Luan River bifurcates at Yuepo Port. The west branch is Dingliu River, with a slightly smaller flow, and the east branch is the Hulu River, with a larger flow. , but because after the Luanhe River bifurcated, the water volume was much smaller and the water depth was not enough. Even if the river boat wants to go straight to Luanzhou and Lulong, it should be difficult.
"After several sections of dredging, we can barely pass the boat this autumn. We will have to organize manual dredging after the water dries up this winter, otherwise it will not be useful next year." Lian Guoshi nodded: "The roads from Qian'an and Lulong to Funing have been repaired. Well, it just so happens that these refugees can also be picked up, which can be regarded as finding another job for them to fill their stomachs."
Last year, about 100,000 refugees brought by the Mongolian invasion to the south were transferred to Yongping Prefecture. In addition to the coal and iron complex absorbing part of it, a considerable part was used as work-for-relief to build roads from Qian'an, Lulong to Funing and Yuguan. In order to facilitate the large quantities of iron materials and iron products from Qian'an and Lulong to be transported through Yuguan.
But tens of thousands of refugees cannot be easily digested at once. After the construction of these roads is completed, in addition to the increasing cement plants that can absorb some of them, a considerable number of them can only be settled through the construction of water conservancy projects. But this also brings about a big problem, that is, Yongping Mansion simply cannot support the consumption of these refugees.
No matter what, if you ask people to build canals, dig rivers and pave roads, you have to feed the family. This is also a big expense. Wei Guangwei and Lian Guo also have a big headache. They have to find people from several prefectures and counties in the government. The gentry sought some help, but it was far from enough. The idea could only be reached by businessmen from Shanxi and Shaanxi who were vigorously developing the land.
Wei Guangwei and Lian Guoshi also knew that these Shanshan and Shaanxi businessmen had an unusual relationship with Feng Ziying, so they naturally asked Feng Ziying to help make peace. Feng Ziying never tried to shirk the blame, and could always make the Shanshan and Shaanxi businessmen complain with some money and food to help.
Feng Ziying has also considered that among the Yonglong 5th year students of Qingtan Academy, he and Lian Guoshi are currently the only ones who can get ahead. The others are still too immature and it will be difficult to get ahead without three to five years of experience. Wei Guangwei, the prefect of Yongping Prefecture, is also from the North. The backbone of the scholars is connected with the two mansions of Shuntian and Yongping. It can be said that one is prosperous and the other is damaged.
If he can make some contributions in this turbulent situation, not to mention himself, Wei Guangwei and Lian Guoshi can also be promoted, especially Lian Guoshi, who has similar aspirations to himself, it will be of great benefit to him, so he Only then will they spare no effort to help with state affairs.
"Jun Yu, this year and next will be difficult, but after getting through next year, I think the situation will be completely new, so it is only good for us to be more fully prepared in advance." Feng Ziying whispered: "We can only give advice to the court. He said, we don’t have many hands to do what we want to do. We are in Yongping and we are in Shuntian. We have to do our job well and let the princes in the court take a look. We Yonglong Five Those who study this subject can still do something.”
Practicing state affairs is also a bit far-sighted. During the year in Yongping Mansion, Feng Ziying basically continued Feng Ziying's routine, purging the White Lotus Sect, appeasing the gentry, stabilizing the refugees, and then using the great development of the coal and iron complex to promote the absorption of labor, and then let Yu Guangang has prospered rapidly. It can be said that except for the fact that the White Lotus Sect is deeply rooted and cannot be eliminated in a short while, everything else is going smoothly.
In particular, the prosperity of Yuguan is beyond imagination. The scale of cement production in Funing continues to expand, not only satisfying the needs of the local area and western Liaoning, but now more than half of it is exported to Shandong, Songjiang, and Ningbo. The commercial tax revenue has increased sharply, and it has become a festival of the Ministry of Industry. This is the main area that Shenku is keeping a close eye on.
Cui Jingrong, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, had summoned him to come here today. If Wei Guangwei hadn't gone south to tour Leting and Changli, then Wei Guangwei should have come here.
"Don't worry, I know it well. I still have Brother Xianbo (Wei Guangwei) supporting me here in Yongping Mansion. You are different. Shuntian Mansion is no better than Yongping Mansion, and Mr. Wu may not have the patience to take care of these chores. ." Lian Guoshi chuckled, "You should be the one to worry about it. Just wait and see, when it comes to the issue of money and food later, Duke Youfu (Wang Yongguang) will definitely ask you for advice. The household department of the imperial court is so difficult now. If we find another way , the next military action will definitely be impossible."
As Lian Guoshi expected, after the military action plan has been roughly considered, the more difficult problem is how to support such a series of military actions, which requires a lot of money and food.
"As of now, there are still 2,860,000 taels of silver in the Ministry of Household Affairs, and 1,300,000 taels of silver in the Jieshen Treasury of the Ministry of Industry. It seems that the number is not small, but this does not take into account the money that will be given to the border army towns. In the case of food and salary allocation for this winter and next spring, we originally considered paying the autumn taxes from Huguang, Jiangnan and other places before December, but now..."
Wang Yongguang, who was the left minister of the household department, looked very ugly. He felt nervous when he heard that the Northwest Army might have to dispatch more than 120,000 troops, and that most of them would go eastward to fight in Henan and Shandong.
Just such a large amount of expenditure is overwhelming, and this does not include the basic expenses of each town.
In addition, the Northwest Army is going to fight, and the replacement of firearms may also be on the agenda.
This point was reported to the Ministry of War long before the Iron Network Mountain Incident, and the Ministry of War also forwarded it to the cabinet, waiting for funding from the Ministry of Household Affairs. However, the situation has become more urgent now, but financial resources are even tighter.
"The current silver treasury and Jieshen treasury may only be able to meet the needs of the Northwest Army's eastward march and preparation for war, but the needs of the other towns this winter and next spring will not be able to support it. This should be supported by the Qiu Fu of Huguang and Jiangnan, but this has not yet been done Counting other expenses for this winter and next spring such as relief, official salaries, etc.,..."
"What did Mingqi (Huang Ruliang) say?" Qi Yongtai glanced at Li Sancai with a heavy expression on his face.
Huang Ruliang was the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, but Fang Congzhe was in charge of finance. Li Sancai was in charge of the Ministry of War, but he had no control over the issue of money provided by the Ministry of Household Affairs.
"Ming Qi means to borrow from Haitong Bank first, but there may be some problems with the loan amount and the collateral, because this is not a small amount. King Zhongshun..." Wang Yongguang hesitated for a moment, and then glanced at Feng Ziying. : "I'm afraid we need to talk to Ziying and King Zhongshun."
The clan headed by King Zhongshun is the largest shareholder of Haitong Silver Village. If it is one to two hundred thousand taels, or even three to five million taels of silver, it may be easy to say, but if it is millions, then it may be necessary to communicate with King Zhongshun, that is Jia Qiang and Feng Ziying cannot decide at will.
And the key point is that this kind of loan is not enough just once, and there may be more loans. If not, it will become a bottomless pit. The clan members are not stupid and will not make such an opening easily, especially in the current situation. It's easy to say, even the imperial court is not optimistic about it.
If you really want to borrow it, it might be wasted. If Prince Yoshitaka wins, he will definitely not recognize this debt.
