Zhao Mengqi breathed a sigh of relief and asked again, "How many horses are there in Lin'an City, including all the royal horses, officers and soldiers."
Guo Dujian lowered his head and counted with his fingers for a while, "About seven thousand, three thousand military horses are mainly scattered among the armies of the three divisions, and there are more than two thousand royal horses, of which one thousand and three are breeding horses. , generally not used for riding, most of the more than 2,000 official horses are stage horses, and the annual losses are huge."
Lin'an, a huge city with nearly two million people, actually has less than 10,000 horses.
Zhao Mengqi felt numb. He wanted to sell the horse, but the post horse could not be moved. The royal horse might be able to make some ideas, and he had to prevent Lao Zhao from jumping.
After all this calculation, we can only decide on the military horses. Anyway, Lin'an is not the front line, and it doesn't matter if there are less cavalry.
Which army should we start with?
Soon, Zhao Mengqi's rough face emerged in Zhao Mengqi's mind, and he remembered that he had a thousand cavalry under his command.
Well, Comrade Laoqu, I can only wrong you first and make you a horseless cavalry for a while.
After chatting with Guo Dujian for a while, I realized that this guy was actually a groom, the kind who had been raising horses for generations.
Three or four generations of his family have been working as laborers in the Qunmu Division. When he came here, with his excellent horse-raising skills, he actually became the actual head of the Qunmu Division. This was simply a miracle in the officialdom of the Song Dynasty.
It was basically impossible to become a civil servant in the Song Dynasty without passing the imperial examination, either as an imperial scholar or as an imperial official. However, this guy did it.
According to himself, what he is best at is breeding, that is, breeding horses. It can be said that at least half of the new foals in the Royal Horse Court are due to him.
Hey, it’s true that people cannot be judged by their appearance. He is simply the best in the horse world.
Zhao Mengqi made a deep note of this Guo Dujian. In the future, he would need this guy to make greater contributions to the Song Dynasty's Xinma cause.
After coming in good spirits and then returning in disgrace, Zhao Mengqi left Qun Mu Si in dismay. Only then did he realize that it was no wonder that Old Zhao agreed so easily.
Once you have a target for the source of the horse, you can leave it alone for the time being. You have to build the carriage first.
As a result, Zhao Mengqi wandered around various government offices again, and none of the government offices with craftsmen under his subordinates was left behind.
He will be the supervisor and be in charge of palaces, city walls, bridges, ships and carriages, etc., as well as all civil engineering construction and other matters.
After Zhao Mengqi went there, he asked them to take out the roster and then marked it with a pen.
Regardless of the type of work, as long as it requires skills, he wants everyone who is older.
The officials who were in charge made their eyes twitch. Only when they found out that most of them were old men did they feel relieved.
Next came the Ministry of Industry, the Military Weapons Supervisor, the Shaofu Supervisor, and even the Sinong Temple.
After ordering them to deliver the selected craftsmen to Prince Yan's Mansion within three days, Zhao Mengqi left the city with satisfaction.
On the way back, I passed by Dongchi and saw that many officials and craftsmen who would serve as supervisors were already measuring data there. Calculating the time, the preparations should be done, and the work would start in about two days.
In order to complete the construction of the school as soon as possible, Zhao Mengqi planned to use maximum manpower.
Of course, it is definitely not a conscription of labor force. This is the busy farming season, so doing so will undoubtedly interrupt the livelihood of the people who were conscripted for a year.
But Zhao Mengqi has money now, and will have more money soon, so he plans to hire him with a high salary.
Money, money is what is used out. If it stays in the warehouse, it is just a pile of scrap metal.
Transferring wealth to society through engineering means is a relatively common method in later generations, and Zhao Mengqi also wanted to try the effect.
So the next day, Lin'an Mansion issued a recruitment notice, making Lin'an City even more lively.
"Have you heard that King Yan wants to be a money-spreading boy?"
"Three hundred cash a day, including food. After working for a month, you can make a net profit of nine thousand yuan!"
"The work is simple, as long as you have some strength. It's easier than walking around the streets delivering requests."
"I want to go there too, but the notice says that the priority is for refugees, especially those from the Taihu Lake area."
"The King of Yan is benevolent. Those people who settled in Taihu before were scolding the King of Yan every day."
"You can't blame them. Who allowed the rumors to spread all over the sky at that time? Didn't we believe it too?"
"Yes, yes, the blame can only be on those thieves and bald donkeys who suffered from the plague. The dawn-announcement monk in our alley used to look compassionate, but unexpectedly he had a human face and a beast's heart. He poisoned seven families."
"You said that such a person poisons, how can we prevent it? Now, no bald donkeys are allowed in or out of my workshop."
"Those dog officials have all been killed and exiled. How come they haven't killed those evil monks in Baoen Temple with a thousand knives?"
"How can they be killed so quickly? Haven't you heard? There are still many spies that have not been found. How can we find them after they have been killed?"
"I heard from my aunt and uncle that many Buddhist temples are involved with those monster monks. I think the court should investigate them!"
"I'm afraid this is not good. If the Buddhist pure land is always being entered and exited by guards, what would it look like?"
"Haha, if you don't check it, how can you tell whether it is really a pure land or a place where filth and evil are hidden? Anyway, if it hadn't been checked by the court, I wouldn't dare to believe it anymore, let alone go there to worship Buddha."
"Hey... Actually, if we check, we can feel at ease."
This public opinion among the people, under the guidance of the Imperial City Division's spies, gradually aroused distrust and disgust towards Buddhism.
Many eminent monks couldn't sit still after hearing this. They put away their previous high airs and used various methods to win back the hearts of believers.
The effect was only a little bit, but the incense in various temples still dropped sharply, and even ancient temples like Lingyin Temple were deserted.
The abbots of various temples were so anxious that if they had not lost their hair a long time ago, a large piece of it would have fallen out by now.
They joined forces and went to Lin'an Prefecture to put pressure on the government to refute the rumors, but they were told that the prefect Ma Guangzu was on inspection on the road and was not in Lin'an, so no one could make the decision.
He didn't go on inspection in the morning, he didn't go on inspection in the evening, but he went at this time. Even a fool could see that he was avoiding them on purpose.
If you can't find the rightful owner of Lin'an Mansion, then look for someone from other yamen. Anyway, there are many yamen in Lin'an City.
As soon as the abbot and the host gathered together, they all ran to the political hall. After being stopped by the guard sergeant, they showed their shameless spirit and actually started meditating on the Royal Street, which meant that they would not leave until they saw the Prime Minister.
Although public opinion has severely criticized Buddhism, the sergeants did not dare to use force to drive away these "highly respected" monks, and could only watch blankly.
Seeing that evasion was not an option, Dong Huai had no choice but to come forward to meet them.
His attitude was very warm, and he also expressed that he would try to study it as soon as possible. After all, the monks were finally dismissed.
But after two days, the monks found that there was no movement from the court, and they immediately realized that they had fallen into a trap, and Dong Huai was clearly perfunctory with them.
Just when they were thinking about asking to see the official, Huang Chengsi came to the door with a smile as bright as spring breeze.
