After the others left, Cui Yuan temporarily stayed with Zhu Houcong.
"Your Majesty, think twice!"
He looked worried because Zhu Houcong had revealed news that made Cui Yuan uneasy when he was discussing Shandong's restructuring strategy for Linqing Chaoguan with Zhang Fujing just now.
As a counselor and uncle, Cui Yuan had to raise his concerns.
Zhu Houcong looked at him for a moment, and then said, "Tell me what worries you."
Cui Yuan has been serving as a counselor for three years. He no longer has the idleness of avoiding things, but he has fully demonstrated his abilities.
He blurted out without thinking: "From the Yongle period, the forty-two guards of the Yunjun were established. After the branching, transporting, and changing methods, it became custom-made during the Chenghua period. Now, the total of the twelve generals of the Caojun is more than One hundred and twenty thousand.”
Seeing that Zhu Houcong's expression did not change, he continued: "Although so many Cao soldiers are no longer able to fight, they are still in the garrison, and they actually rely on water transportation for their livelihood. In addition, many of the Cao soldiers have fled, and they have no pay. , now nearly half or even more than half of the more than 10,000 canal boats are actually employed by sailors and laborers."
Zhu Houcong added: "Cattle ships are tax-free. In order to enable them to carry the quota of four million shi of grain to Beijing every year, during the Hongzhi period, each ship was allowed to carry no more than ten shi of soil. In fact, the grain ships carried a lot of private goods. In terms of official property, each ship of regular grain is only five or six hundred dan, and the number of private goods is several times that. What's more, the grain ships are longer and wider, with extra beams and beams. They don't hesitate to accept the penalty because they just want the profits from the trafficking of goods to be greater than the fine. These goods Well, it all involves gentry merchants, as well as government offices along the canal."
Looking at Cui Yuan, he paused and said directly: "Tell me the important point."
Cui Yuan was struggling with these points: the emperor seemed to be well aware of the disadvantages of love, but he still had this intention.
"Your Majesty, let alone chaos, chaos can eventually be calmed down. However, the capital city cannot do without the grain that can be transported every year. If there is no canal army, the people will have to be recruited to implement the method of supporting transportation and counteracting transportation. It will last for several years. Within this period, the amount of food that can be transported to the capital may be greatly reduced!”
He hesitated for a moment, then added again: "Even if we imitate the system of Huang Mingji, it will be too difficult to straighten out the water transportation problem. The main reason is that it is too important, the transportation distance is too long, and there are too many people."
What Zhu Houcong and Zhang Fujing said vaguely revealed that in the future, regardless of whether it is a tanker ship or a civilian ship, as long as it carries goods and sells them along the way, it will be taxed at the currency customs.
The reason why the imperial court allowed the Cao army to bring goods was because the cost of transporting grain for 120,000 Cao troops was too high, so it opened a back door for them.
If this is done now, the only possibility Cui Yuan can think of is to transform the Cao Army into a behemoth like Huangmingji, and use the purchasing method to change its nature of transporting grain for the official into an official businessman.
But the calculation of interests involved was too great, and Cui Yuan was really not sure.
Zhu Houcong understood what he meant: it was mainly human nature.
The canal spans thousands of kilometers and involves the livelihood of millions of people. The gray area cannot be eliminated. However, it was inevitable to establish the capital in Beijing and resist the food consumption in the north.
If this main artery of the Ming Dynasty were to be touched, the apparent turmoil it would bring would be easy to physically eliminate, but there must be a reliable alternative to ensure the needs of the capital.
Zhu Houcong just calmed him down temporarily: "There's no rush. What I'm saying to you is just to tell you in advance a big thing that I will consider next. What Shandong wants to do is only commercial law, tax law, and accounting law for the time being. Encouraging commerce is in line with the needs of Linqing and Shandong. I am not prepared to mobilize the canal army now, but the disadvantages of canal transportation will have to be faced sooner or later."
He glanced far south: "We have to face the Huanghuai floods."
Before he sets his sights farther south, north, and east, there are too many internal problems in Ming Dynasty that need to be solved first to have a more solid family background.
The problem of water transportation is not only about the food and clothing of millions of water workers, but also about the structure and accumulation of technical means of the entire empire.
This move will take place after the rebellion has been quelled and the new law has been implemented throughout the country.
But when the wind blows out, the accumulated contradictions will gradually intensify, and hidden contradictions will also be exposed.
It is better to solve the problem one by one than to solve it all at once.
…
In Linqing City, many people spent a sleepless night.
In addition to Jiang Guanqing and the shopkeeper Wu, there was also Qi Yuanda, the Shandong general of the Cao Army.
The Cao Army has one general, who is supplemented by one general, and under him are twelve generals.
This boss is different from the ones in the Beijing camp.
The full name of Shandong General is Shandong Dusi General, and this general is generally held concurrently by the Shandong Dusi Commander. If some provinces have a commander-in-chief, all commanders must obey the commander-in-chief's orders during wartime.
Under the Shandong Dusi General of the Cao Army, there is a gang leader, who is usually a guard commander or someone at the thousand-household level. Next, there is a commander, who is in charge of five ships and fifty troops. On each ship, there is a flag armor, and according to the rules, a team of ten people is required to transport food.
In Shandong, due to the existence of Mount Tai, the layout of the east and west sides is very different.
As mentioned before, Qi Jingtong served as a water transport commander and also served as the commander-in-chief of Shandong Beidu Division. He actually controlled more troops in Shandong.
Qi Yuanda, the commander of the Shandong capital, had his base in the Shandong headquarters of the Cao Army located along the Luxi Canal.
The Cao Army in Shandong has a total of more than 700 transport ships and nearly 8,000 troops.
Linqing is the largest cargo transshipment center in the north of the canal, and the interests of Caojun Shandong are inseparable from Linqing.
Now Shandong is also trying out a new law, and Qi Yuanda can't sit still.
Qi Yuanda was restless all night. At first, he didn't know why the emperor ordered to stay in Linqing for seven days.
Now, he doesn't know if Shandong's trial of the new law will turn over the old accounts between Caojun and Chaoguan.
But the emperor is here, the five thousand elite soldiers of the Beijing camp are here, and Zhang Fujing's model battalion was also brought to Dongchang Mansion by Qi Jingtong and stationed in the south of Linqing City.
Can't move, moving means death.
You can't move, because the blessings and disasters of not moving are unpredictable.
Qi Yuanda stayed up all night and didn't wait for any letter from Jiang Guanqing - the emperor was here, and he didn't even dare to send someone to discuss it, let alone meet him in person!
But the previously discussed countermeasures did not include the situation where the emperor wanted to try out the new law in Shandong.
In the early morning of the next day after being attacked by the emperor's decision, his soldiers hurriedly came to report: "Dutai, Li Fuzun, Tao Zhizhou, Chief Jiang, Eunuch Ma, and Yushi Luo are all going to Xingjia's side. went!"
Qi Yuanda stood up in shock, then sat down again.
As the commander of the Shandong capital, it is normal for him to have "clear ears and clear eyesight" in Linqing City.
But so early, these people all set out to drive, so naturally they got the order yesterday to go to see your majesty separately today.
The emperor called the three officials of Dongchang Prefecture, Linqing Prefecture and Linqing Chaoguan. There is no doubt that the focus is on Linqing Chaoguan.
Calm it down, calm it down...
Qi Yuanda warned himself that the emperor was prepared and must not act rashly.
All the jumpers are finished.
But Qi Yuanda couldn't suppress the fear in his heart. His mind was filled with what the emperor would ask during the journey and how Jiang Guanqing and the others would answer.
Nearly an hour passed like this before someone came to report again and they all left.
"How do you look?" Qi Yuanda asked eagerly.
"...Zhen Dutai, his expression seems to be that he is rushing to do something."
"Nothing else?"
"No."
Qi Yuanda hates this feeling.
If the emperor is not here, or even if Zhang Fuking and a few people from Shandong Fantai and Zhetai are here, then Qi Yuanda will be the boss if he comes to Linqing.
But now, there are too many situations that Qi Yuanda cannot know the situation at the first time.
If the matter had nothing to do with him, could the emperor send someone to inform him?
Just when he was struggling, he saw another soldier running over in a hurry: "Dutai, here comes someone."
Qi Yuanda didn't have time to think too much and hurried to the main hall. He saw the little eunuch bowed and said: "Qi Dutai, your Majesty has summoned you."
"...I'm just dressed right now and will go with my father-in-law. Please wait a moment, father-in-law, and have a cup of tea first."
While he was wearing official uniform, he was thinking: Besides himself, who else had he summoned? Why did he meet himself just after meeting Jiang Guanqing? Was it sold?
He wanted to ask these answers after he came out, so he first handed a few gold leaves to the eunuch, and then asked with a smile: "What do you call your father-in-law?"
This is a necessary temptation. If you are willing to accept it, you can ask other questions on the way.
Seeing his move, the young eunuch hesitated for a moment, then really accepted it, smiled and said: "Our family's nickname is not worth mentioning, Qi Dutai just calls me Liang Chong."
"Eunuch Liang is so humble to be able to accompany him to the south." Qi Yuanda followed him and lowered his voice and asked, "I wonder who else your Majesty summoned?"
Having already collected the gold leaves, Qi Yuanda asked with confidence.
If I can pass this hurdle now, I will be able to have an extra line in the capital and the palace in the future.
Although Gao Zhong also received a lot of money from him, he didn't reveal anything to him this time. I don't know if he didn't know the emperor's intention to try out the new law in Shandong, or if he was deliberately hiding it.
Now, Liang Chong answered truthfully: "Your Majesty only summoned Qi Dutai."
Qi Yuanda's heart skipped a beat: "Eunuch Liang, does he know...what happened?"
Liang Chong shook his head: "I came to summon Qi Dutai on the order of Eunuch Huang. I don't know the rest."
"...Thank you very much, Eunuch Liang. I wonder where Eunuch Liang is from? His accent sounds like he is from Daming Prefecture in the near future."
Daming Mansion in Beizhili is located between Shandong and Henan, quite close to Linqing.
Liang Chong smiled when he heard this: "Qi Dutai has a good ear. I am from Qingfeng County, Daming Prefecture."
Qi Yuanda couldn't get any more information, so he just chatted with him along the way to get closer, and at the same time, he also gathered some information from Jiang Guanqing and their previous meeting.
When he understood that Liang Chong was really just a little eunuch accompanying him and was not qualified to serve the emperor, Qi Yuanda felt sorry for his golden leaf and felt a little angry at the same time.
After all, he is the commander of the Shandong capital, why is it that he is summoned by an unknown person?
When he entered the Confucian Temple and reached the Pan Palace Room, and after receiving the emperor's reply, Liang Chongcai walked up to Huang Jin and obediently took out the few gold leaves: "The ones Qi Dutai gave me are all here."
Huang Jin clicked his tongue twice but didn't say much. He just nodded: "Go and note it down."
"yes……"
Huang Jin put the golden leaf into his arms and then walked into the main hall where the emperor met his ministers. At this time, Qi Yuanda had just finished his salute.
Standing next to the emperor, the situation in the room felt a bit oppressive. Huang Jin saw the beads of sweat on Qi Yuan's forehead.
The emperor was sitting on the throne, with Huang Jin standing next to him. There were also the eunuchs from the internal affairs department and the two daily commentators who were accompanying the emperor on his southern tour, holding pens. If there were a few more officers standing on both sides holding water and fire sticks, it would look like the emperor was in the hall to ask questions.
"Give me a seat."
Qi Yuan is as great as listening to the fairy voice.
If he can sit on a small bench, it means that the emperor's attitude towards him is okay and he is not here to ask for guilt.
He quickly thanked him and said he didn't dare. He just insisted on standing and listening to the oracle.
"When I told you yesterday that there were many thieves in Shandong, I saw that you looked very nervous. After thinking about it, I called you to ask, but what's the inside story?"
"Back to... Your Majesty, I am just... just very scared, worried that I will betray my holy hope and be unable to defend my territory." Qi Yuanda said quickly, "As for the dangers of bandits, although I have not been able to eradicate them all, they are still... It’s still… unlikely to cause serious trouble.”
Zhu Houcong smiled slightly and said: "Oh? At that time, Wu Dinghou asked for orders to suppress bandits on both sides of the North Zhili Canal. According to his report, several groups of bandits fled to the border of Shandong. He was not ordered to leave North Zhili, so he had no choice but to give up. I have not heard from the Shandong Report that all these gangs of bandits have been wiped out. However, in the past two years, there have been several robberies on ships in the Shandong section of the Cao Army Shandong General Office and Zheyang General Report."
The beads of sweat on Qi Yuan's head became bigger, and he knelt down quickly and said: "I am ashamed. Bandits come and go like the wind, and after they succeed, they often hide in the mountains of Shandong. If all the troops can go into the mountains to suppress them, they will be able to achieve full success." However, the expense is quite large, and the water transportation is very heavy, so I have to be more vigilant."
"Water transportation is indeed an important matter." Zhu Houcong looked deeply at his lowered head, "Now the Shandong President is still responsible for transporting new grain from Shandong to the south for disaster relief. We must not be targeted and robbed by bandits again."
"...I will try my best to never let the disaster relief food go wrong!"
"Get up."
Zhu Houcong talked about the thieves from Shandong and the bandits from Shanxi who robbed grain ships, and also mentioned the relief grains from the Southern Transport. Although Qi Yuanda was frightened, he felt a little more relaxed.
Since there is still something that needs me, I naturally won't dig into old accounts to investigate myself at this juncture.
Unexpectedly, the emperor suddenly spoke again: "I heard that the head of the Dushui Division of Linqing Weihe Shipyard is your brother-in-law?"
The Ming Dynasty also had several shipyards along the canal. This was what Zhu Houcong asked Li Hao about when he came here about the shortage of canals. At the Weihe Shipyard in Linqing, the construction of ships is supervised by the Lifting Department of the ministerial system. The Ministry of Industry has set up a Dushui Division here and arranged a director to be responsible for managing the construction, repair and inspection of water ships.
Qi Yuanda was faced with a new problem, so he could only reply slowly: "I wish that after the chief takes office, the extension will indeed be that of my wife and sister."
Zhu Houcong smiled slightly and asked again: "I have heard about the name of the Huang family in Dongchang Prefecture. I heard that the head of the Huang family has been quite devout in a new religion in recent years. What is the Wuwei religion? This religion is among Caoding and Caogong. There are also many believers.”
Qi Yuan's thighs felt weak and he didn't know how to answer for a moment.
It's too scary. Does the emperor know so many things?
Luo Qing, who was born in Jimo, founded Wuwei Cult only about ten years ago. The emperor had many eyes and ears, so it was not too surprising to know that this kind of Protestant religion existed, but how did he know that the head of his wife's family believed in this religion?
Qi Yuanda had just stood up, and now he looked up at the emperor tremblingly, only to see his eyes that were half-smiling but not smiling.
Then, he saw Eunuch Huang spread his hands with his hands hanging down, and then made a gesture that he couldn't understand.
The emperor then said: "Qi Yuanda, it is not easy for you to be the commander of Shandong Province. But today I have called you here just to tell you to pay attention to the suppression of bandits and water transportation, and to pay attention to your family. Why are you so afraid? Send Gao Zhong something. There are more than three thousand taels of silver, and today I sold five gold leaves."
Qi Yuanda's legs were completely weak and he fell to his knees: "Chen... Chen..."
"This has always been the case. It's understandable." Zhu Houcong narrowed his eyes slightly, "But Shandong is about to trial a new law. What are you going to do?"
Qi Yuanda knelt on the ground, feeling that the road was getting narrower.
(End of chapter)
