Capital, the official office of the King of Qin.
Fang Xuanling took the lead and said, "The last report received by the Ministry of Industry said that the canal will be completed in late September. It is already September 23rd. It seems that the completion is imminent, so it is time for us to finish the work."
Yang Ming sat on the main seat, nodded and said: "Since this period of time, all the reports in Hebei, including administrative documents of local officials and personal letters, have been sorted out. I will submit them directly to His Majesty when the time comes."
When these files are put together, it can be said that they are piled up like a mountain, all of which are Yang Jian's numerous crimes. They are not only Yang Jian's reminder, but also Hebei's strongest counterattack after this catastrophe.
Eleven of the eighteen counties in Hebei complained. Five county magistrates died in the Hebei rebellion.
Yang Ming was unable to obtain the accurate number of casualties in Hebei this year, and could only rely on reports from local officials to estimate.
These county guards would not tell the truth about the real number. There were too many deaths, and they were not exempt from the blame. But from the current point of view, a number can be roughly inferred.
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The Ministry of Civil Affairs reported that the number of deaths in the canal was 110,000. This is simply nonsense. Judging from various sources, the number of deaths in the canal should be between 300,000 and 400,000.
Then the death toll of local people due to food shortages and wars is roughly between 200,000 and 300,000.
Judging from the results, at least 600,000 people died in Hebei this year, not counting those in Shanxi and Henan.
It has to be said that the Chinese nation is too tough and its ability to withstand pressure is too strong. More than 600,000 people died before a substandard Gao Yingnian emerged.
Do you want to wait until Dou Jiande, and more people will have to die?
Du Ruhui said: "Should Your Highness send people from Sili Tai to Hebei to inspect the specific number of casualties? The Ministry of Civil Affairs blatantly falsified the truth, which is really abominable."
Yang Ming shook his head and said: "This matter is not easy to investigate. Even if it is to be investigated, it is not right now. Now you ask the people from Sili Terrace to go down, but they don't dare to go. If we investigate the facts, there will be people below who will let them die. No If they are pursued, the court will not let them go. This job requires a larger inspection team, not those Silibijia."
Du Ruhui frowned and said, "If it continues like this, someone will inevitably cover up the truth, and I'm afraid it won't be possible to find out even if we want to."
"Everything is not up to one's own control," Yang Ming said with a smile: "Some things cannot be done as we want. We must take the current situation into consideration and wait until His Majesty comes back to discuss everything."
Fang Xuanling continued: "His Royal Highness discussed with the ministers some time ago whether he should add some additional subsidies to exempt Hebei from taxes for three years. If it is just tax exemption, I'm afraid it won't solve the problem."
"Just tax exemption may not be passed," Yang Ming said: "Your Majesty exempted Yangzhou from taxes because of the situation. With the Tongji Canal, goods from the south are constantly arriving in Luoyang and then sold to various places. Jiangnan can make up for this deficit with trade. Yes, but Hebei is exempted from taxes and there is no place to make up for it, so it will be extremely difficult."
"Is it difficult to get tax exemption?" Fang Xuanling was dumbfounded: "If Hebei does not introduce effective appeasement policies, how difficult will it be for the people in the next three to five years?"
Yang Ming nodded and said: "So we have to think of another way."
Everyone was immediately dejected.
They had originally thought that besides being tax-free for three years, there were other ways to appease Hebei. But now that Yang Ming said it, it seemed that the possibility of tax-exemption was unlikely.
Yang Ming was helpless. Didn't he want to give tax exemptions to the people of Hebei? Of course he wanted to, but he also knew that he was taking it for granted.
Considering the overall situation, in the Sui Dynasty, forty-four states under the jurisdiction of the old Yangzhou were already exempted from tax. If Hebei was exempted again, the state treasury would not be able to collect money in the next three years.
Once there are natural or man-made disasters in various places, the national treasury will not be able to allocate money for disaster relief. Moreover, the north-south canal is already under construction and has debts to pay in the coming year. Yang Guang may not agree to exempt Hebei from taxes at this time.
Then the people of Hebei definitely still need to be appeased, so they can only make decisions about the aristocratic family.
Today, the policy of exempting slaves from conferring farmland is only implemented in a few counties in the south of the Yangtze River, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan. However, it has not yet been implemented in Shu in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and in Jingzhou, a heavy taxation area.
If these two places can also implement it, it will be enough to supply Hebei.
As for Southwest and Lingnan, we can give it a try for the time being. If the local reaction is too great, we need to take it back in time. After all, rebellions are common in these two places.
Mainly because of this policy, Yang Guang supports it.
Anyway, Yang Ming now understands that if he insists on confronting his father, he will definitely not be able to go around in circles, so he can only go along with it as much as possible.
The meeting was not over yet, Xu Jing came in and announced that the eldest princess hoped that Yang Ming could go to her place if he had some free time today.
There was nothing in the current discussion that required his approval. Besides, Yang Ming knew that Yang Lihua would not come to him for no reason, so he left the official office directly.
On the way, Yang Ming bumped into Chen Shuyi's motorcade.
Good guy, I have finally seen you, so Yang Ming immediately ordered Chen Shuyi to get in the car and said directly:
"You still know how to go home?"
Chen Shuyi smiled sheepishly and leaned towards Yang Ming like a baby, but Yang Ming pretended to be angry and pushed her away again and again.
"Grandma is old and in poor health. As my direct granddaughter, I have to serve her, right?"
You don’t have to worry about me, I still have many years to live. Yang Ming snorted coldly:
"It is said that a married daughter throws water away, but it doesn't seem to apply to you. How can you behave like an old woman who always runs to her parents' house without knowing how to care for her husband or children?"
Chen Shuyi stuck out her tongue and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, I understand. Why don't you make sure you don't go out when you go back this time?"
"What have you been doing over there for so long?" Yang Ming asked with a frown.
Chen Shuyi shrugged and sighed: "It's not just some trivial matters in the clan. Now the uncles and children in the family are coming to me for help. If they go to the palace to find me, it will get you into trouble if word spreads, so I just stay with my grandmother." There, it will be more convenient to discuss things."
At present, the children of the Chen family have placed their hopes on three women, Mrs. Xiurong Chen Fei, Mrs. Chongyi Chen Ting, and the concubine of the King of Qin Chen Shuyi.
They couldn't see the first two, so they could only place their hope on the third one, similar to how the Lanling Xiao family all counted on Queen Xiao, but not everyone could see Queen Xiao.
"Aren't most of them already arranged?" Yang Ming asked.
Chen Shuyi said: "Some people are high-spirited and are not satisfied with the status quo. They hope to rise to a higher level. I know I don't have this, but I still have to step in to help them."
Good guy, are you also playing tricks? Yang Ming was stunned.
Chen Shuyi stuck out her tongue playfully: "Okay, okay, you go get down to business and come see me again in the evening."
"Let's go, let's go," Yang Ming waved his hand impatiently.
Chen Shuyi came over to him with a playful smile and tapped him on the cheek, then got out of the carriage like a gust of fragrant wind.
The eldest princess's mansion.
Yang Lihua is in a very good mood recently, because Li Jingxun's cough and asthma are completely cured.
Yang Ming also knew that he was a blind cat who ran into a dead mouse, and it was all about luck, but at least he stopped Yang Lihua from continuing to run around with Child Li.
People in Guanzhong just stay in Guanzhong. Only the water and soil in Guanzhong can nourish you.
The soil and water support the people.
After Yang Ming arrived, Yang Lihua dismissed the others directly. After looking Yang Ming up and down, she smiled and said:
"It's good to be young. There was such a big commotion at Jingzhao'an that day. Afterwards, I went to the wooden house to have a look. Tsk tsk... the bed boards were actually broken. It was really terrible."
Yang Ming was stunned and smiled sheepishly. How could he have thought that Yang Lihua would tell him such a thing.
We are aunt and nephew, so we should not talk about such things, right?
Yang Lihua laughed and continued to joke: "After you left, many nuns there smelled the fishy smell and went to the vegetable garden. You, you, don't know where to go when doing things."
"I couldn't help it at the moment," Yang Ming said cheekily.
Yang Lihua suddenly trembled. After a while, she gasped and laughed:
"Okay, okay, let's stop joking and get down to business. The Hebei Rebellion is over and your opportunity will come. But there is a problem right now that you must solve in advance."
Yang Ming asked curiously: "What's the problem?"
"Who is the official wife?" Yang Lihua changed her tone and said solemnly: "General Yin must be reset as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences will be unpredictable. Pei Ju will not give up. When you enter the East Palace, once the position of Crown Princess is established, you will It is difficult to change it. If this problem is not solved now, the dispute between Yang and Pei will be right in front of us."
Yang Ming sighed: "There is no suitable opportunity. I fought for it at first, but my father seemed unmoved. I really don't know what he was thinking."
"What else can you think of? Of course it is to check and balance the Yang family," Yang Lihua said:
"Your father succeeded you as the crown prince. The Yang family has put in a lot of effort and naturally knows many secrets. Now that Yang Su has passed away, it is imperative to suppress the Yang family. But the current court can help your father solve the problem. Only Pei Ju has this problem."
After that, Yang Lihua continued: "Su Wei is tactful and unwilling to do such a thing. Niu Hong doesn't have that ability. Gao Jiong is not reused. Do you expect Yu Wenshu to be able to defeat the Yang family? So, your father clearly knows This will get you into trouble, but it has to be done."
Yang Ming frowned and said, "Is it true that only Pei Ju can suppress the Yang family?"
"No, you should think so," Yang Lihua said: "Only the Yang family can suppress Pei Ju. These two families are like two sides of a scale. Whoever is tilted up must be let down."
"But I just married the daughter of these two families," Yang Ming said distressedly.
Yang Lihua smiled and said: "You have gains and losses. If you can get the full support of these two families, you should naturally bear the burden of these two families on you. Now that Yang Su is dead and Pei Ju is in power, this is not a good thing. Yang It's hard to get into the house if you're good at plotting, so I have a way for you to consider."
"What method?" Yang Ming asked.
Yang Lihua said: "Now Pei Ju on this side of the scale has tilted up and was shot by the right servant of Feng Shangshu, so you have to help the Yang family. Yang Wensi, the Duke of Luochuan County, is a great talent. When Emperor Gaozu was the emperor, he was He has already made many achievements, and he can have a position among the six ministers. I can help with this matter."
In Yang Lihua's eyes, the first wife is the first wife. The first wife cannot be abolished and must be restored. Once this gap is opened, it will not be a good thing in the future.
She wanted Yang Yinjiang to be the crown princess, otherwise how embarrassing would the situation of the crown prince Yang Rui be?
The restoration of Yang Yinjiang can not only ensure that Yang Guang checks and balances the court, but also minimizes the conflicts between the Yang and Pei families. If Pei Shuying is the one in charge, the Yang family will definitely be destroyed.
Yang Ming pondered for a long time and said with a headache: "I will consider it."
