Fenghou

"Ask them to wait in the staff room, I'll be right there."

Chen Qing tidied up the table, got up and walked to the staff room.

In the staff room, Jiang Yanxian brought Su Peng, Order of the Construction and Engineering Department, and Tian Xun, Order of the Transit Department, to stand in front of the huge sand table. The sand table is the same every time, which means the focus of His Royal Highness King Yong's consideration recently.

In front of them was the sand table of the two lakes, Jing South Road and Jing North Road. Jiang Yanxian said in a low voice: "Have you noticed that the biggest feature of Jing South Road and Jing North Road is the transportation joint, not only from Henan Road to the south, but also from Shaanxi Road and Sichuan Road to the east, Jiangnan to the west, and Lingnan to the north, must pass through the two lakes, especially the Yangtze River water transport, and the Lianghu Road is the most important transit transportation."

"The counselor is absolutely right!" Chen Qing walked in with a smile.

"I invite everyone to come here today to discuss the establishment of a transit warehouse on Lianghu Road."

This time, Chen Qingnan toured for nearly two months, and finalized three large-scale transit warehouses and one medium-sized transit warehouse. The calculated cost was more than 150 million yuan, and these projects were finalized by him, and the money needed basically went to him. Chen Qing's internal treasury really hurt a little.

But he also knew that the money had to be spent. With a transit warehouse, resources from all over the world would flow to Jingzhao, and only then could he support his army to expand eastward step by step.

Chen Qing looked at it and said with a smile, "How many people are missing!"

"Here we come!" Zhang Miao and Zhao Kai rushed over, followed by two orderlings, one was Hong Zhuo, the order of the Second Supervision Office, and the other was Wang Yongfeng, the order of the Du Branch Office.

"Okay, everyone is here."

Chen Qing picked up the wooden pole and said to everyone: "I think everyone has heard that I plan to build three large-scale transit warehouses on Lianghu Road and Shangzhou, one in Shangluo County, one in Xiangyang, one in Hengyang, and the other in Changsha The construction of a medium-sized transfer warehouse, plus the previous transfer warehouse built in Jiangling, has four large warehouses in the Lianghu area. They are of extraordinary significance. , and it’s better, so I called everyone together for a brief discussion to see what to do?”

Jiang Yanxian smiled and said: "Let me talk first! Seeing the four orders, I know what His Highness means. His Highness hopes to form several teams. money, and then the supervision team is responsible for clean supervision.”

Chen Qing said with a smile: "Jiang Canjun is right, that's exactly what I mean!"

Zhao Kai said slowly again: "150 million guan is not a small amount. Although the money is paid by the government treasury, it is still public money, not private property. If there is no strict supervision, the waste and corruption will be astonishing. 150 guan is definitely not enough. , has to be doubled, so we must save every penny, and we must earnestly learn the lesson of Cai He."

Zhao Kai has always been worried about the Caihe project. Although the expansion was successful in the end, the overspend was 30 guan. The reason was that it was two months overdue and 30 guan was overpaid. Even if it is postponed, it will be completed one month ahead of schedule, and it will not be overrun at all.

Although Chen Qing did not pursue this matter, Zhao Kai still refused to admit it. Fortunately, the money from the government treasury was used. If the money from the temple treasury was used, Zhao Kai would directly deduct it from the money allocated by Henan Road.

Chen Qing nodded and said: "Our strict supervision is also for the benefit of officials, and we don't give them opportunities for squandering and corruption. I'm considering integrating the construction of the four transit warehouse groups for integrated management and integrated supervision. What do you mean? , that is, the design of the warehouse group, which is under the unified responsibility of the Transshipment Department. How many material warehouses need to be built, how many grain and grass storages need to be built, how many ice storages need to be built, what size, how much grain, etc., are determined by the Transit Department.

Then the construction work will be arranged by the Construction and Engineering Department. For example, if Hengyang is dredging this month, then Xiangyang will build a warehouse first this month. When Hengyang starts building warehouses, Xiangyang will start dredging the river. This is very important, and many materials and tools can be used in turn. , not every family has a set, that would be too wasteful. "

Chen Qing glanced at everyone, and continued: "Duzhi is responsible for appropriating funds according to the progress, and monitors them at all times. Once an overspending is discovered, the appropriation will be stopped immediately, and the reason for the overspending will be found out.

Then the Supervision Office is the most important thing, it must do things in detail, let me give two examples, one is Caihe’s overspending, because the last benefit was taken by the people, and the people in Henan Road are too poor, so I didn’t pursue it, but I didn’t pursue it. It doesn't mean that I will always tolerate this kind of thing. It takes a day and a half to finish a day's work.

Another example would be merchants who provide raw items, what is their background?Does it have anything to do with the officials? Is the price of the materials they provide much higher than the market price?In this regard, the Ombudsman should also investigate carefully.

In a word, we need to do things in a detailed and down-to-earth way, so we need to set up a temporary joint government office. On the one hand, we need to manage it in an integrated manner, and on the other hand, we need to send four teams to the four transit warehouse groups for on-site supervision. "

At the end, Chen Qing's eyes fell on Zhang Miao, "Zhang Canjun, you will lead this temporary joint government office!"

Zhang Miao nodded, "Humble job will start tomorrow!"

Chen Qing smiled again: "Let's talk about it, everyone! I want to hear everyone's thoughts."

The Construction and Engineering Department made Su Peng hesitate and said, "Should we also join in the establishment of a joint government agency?"

Chen Qing waved his hands and smiled: "You are the chief officials, Jingzhao still needs you, you don't need to join, but each department must send a deputy to participate, and maybe other departments will be involved, everything will be decided by Counselor Zhang."

At this time, Chen Qing saw that Tian Xun, the order of the Transit Department, was a little hesitant, so he asked: "What does the order of the Tian Department want to say, but it's okay to say it!"

Tian Xun bowed and said: "What I said may be out of date, please forgive me, Your Highness!"

Chen Qing nodded, "If you have anything to say, just say it."

Tian Xun pondered for a while and said: "Your Highness, during the Kaiyuan period, the Central Plains Canal was also dredged, and the Tianbao Canal was dug, so that the materials from the south of the Yangtze River could be transported to Guanzhong. The prosperity of Kaiyuan was born from this. Why didn't the goods from Quanzhou, Your Highness, go through the canal? The New Yellow River, and then from the Yellow River to Tianbaoqu, and even enter Guanzhong, why bother to transit in Shangzhou and Xiangyang?"

Chen Qing smiled slightly and said, "That's a very good question, since there is a waterway directly into the customs, why should I spend 150 million yuan to build four transit warehouses?

In fact, this involves a question of why I want to build a transit warehouse, such as the Hengyang warehouse, did I build it for Hengzhou?Of course, it is, but it is not. There are also Daozhou, Chenzhou, Yongzhou, Quanzhou, Guiyangjian, etc. They also have rivers and can sail small boats, but it is undoubtedly too uneconomical to transport a boat of special products to Xiangyang. Yes, but if it is only transported to Hengyang, it will be very convenient, and the accumulation will add up, and then several Wanshi cargo ships will be transported away. How much practical benefit will this bring to the people in the southern states?

The same is true for the Changsha transit warehouse. Do you think I only consider the convenience of transportation in Tanzhou?Of course not. In fact, Jiangling Mansion has nothing to do with South Jing South Road. The real first state of Jing South Road is Tanzhou. The rich and powerful families who have a deep influence on Jing South Road basically live in Changsha. I have to consider them. out of political considerations, I decided to build a transit warehouse group in Changsha.

The same is true for Xiangyang. Once the construction of the Xiangyang Transit Warehouse Group is completed, it will affect the entire North Jingbei Road. The interests of all local rich and powerful families will be closely related to the Xiangyang Transit Warehouse Group. I actually controlled Jinghu North Road through its influence.

This is where the hearts of the people stand. The gentry and people on Jinghu North Road and Jinghu South Road yearn for Jingzhao, not Lin'an. The Land Department orders understand! "

Tian Xun bowed and saluted, "The lowly position is short-sighted, and I don't understand His Highness's foresight, I am really ashamed!"

The first thousand and 120 chapters and six negotiations

At noon, Chen Qing invited Zhang Miao and Jiang Yan to drink tea in the teahouse first. Zhao Kai had something to do at home and went home.

The three of them sat down in the elegant room, Zhang Miao asked a little strangely, "Isn't this the Yi'an Tea House before? Why did it become the Qing'an Tea House?"

Jiang Yanxian said with a smile: "The teahouse was sold last year. Mr. Yi An is now in the real estate business. In just two years, she has owned ten pieces of land, four of which are shops in prime locations. That's amazing!"

Zhang Miao doesn't care how much land Li Qingzhao owns, he only cares whether the teahouse can still drink the old Fengcha, "Is there any Fengcha?"

"Of course, don't you look at who the current proprietor is?"

Thinking of the current name of the teahouse, Zhang Miao suddenly came to her senses and said with a smile, "Your Highness bought the teahouse?"

Chen Qing smiled, "My wife bought the teahouse, it has nothing to do with me!"

Chen Qing then ordered three simple meals and a pot of Fengcha.

Of course, the teahouse also provides lunch, but it is not as varied as the restaurant, and there is no wine, a bowl of rice, a main dish, two or three dishes of side dishes, and a bowl of soup. It is relatively simple, so it is called simple food.

Its characteristic is that it is fast, serving food quickly, and eating quickly. It takes at least half an hour to have lunch in a restaurant, and it can be solved in a quarter of an hour here, and then drink tea and chat. This is very suitable for officials and civil servants working in government offices. , Business is booming.

Soon, several similar teahouses opened around them, and gradually began to be stratified. The guests who came to Qing'an Teahouse were basically high-ranking officials. The pot needs a hundred guan, which is really not something ordinary people can afford.

The three of them drank tea, and Chen Qing said slowly: "Let me tell you a piece of news first, the war on the grassland is over, the Mughal tribe was defeated and accepted the canonization of the Kingdom of Jin, which means that the main force of the Kingdom of Jin can return to the Central Plains. The country's military resources will also expand accordingly. In addition, the grassland nomadic tribes will also cooperate with the Jin country to fight, going south from Datong Prefecture, and even attacking Lingxia Road, so I am also planning to start expanding the army by 300, at least [-] million a year. It’s too late to make money for military pay, so I’m going to issue clubs.”

"But Your Highness..."

Jiang Yanxian worried: "The meeting will cause prices to skyrocket, and it will be copied by the court to plunder our wealth."

"I'm not worried about the sharp rise in prices. What I'm worried about is the imitation of the imperial court. So I consider issuing more than [-] guanzi, real-name huizi, restricted area use, and trading in counters. This will prevent the imperial court from imitating and reduce The circulation of large quantities of copper coins has made the copper coins in the hands of the people abundant, but to prevent price rises, the key is to have sufficient goods and stable rice prices, so it is very important to strengthen the transportation and circulation of goods.”

Chen Qing went around in circles, and Jiang Yanxian and Zhang Miao realized that Chen Qing was urgent to several large transit warehouse groups, and wanted to transport the abundant materials from various places to Guanzhong, and even a large amount of overseas materials.

Zhang Miao nodded, "Understood, I have finished handling the matter in hand this afternoon, and will start to set up a temporary government office tomorrow, and will rush to Shangluo and Xiangyang in three days. In addition, I will send a monitoring team to Hengyang first. "

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "When Counselor Zhang returns triumphantly, I will treat Counselor Zhang to eat the freshest pumpkin and drink the corn and pumpkin porridge I cooked myself."

……

In Lin'an, the negotiation between Hu Yun and Zhao Yan, the minister of rites, went on for two more rounds. This time, Zhao Gou learned his lesson and stopped making unrealistic demands, and the two sides negotiated more smoothly.

In the Imperial Study Room, Emperor Zhao Gou listened to the reports from Xu Xiantu and Zhao Yan while looking at the map on the table.

Most of the consensus between the two parties has been reached. The imperial court recognizes that Jinghu South Road has been merged into the jurisdiction of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu Envoy, and also recognizes that the agreement signed the year before last to exchange the six states for the late emperor's statement is valid. In return, the Western Army agrees that Bianliang belongs to the imperial court in name. , hand over the palaces, ancestral temples, altars and imperial tombs to the Lin'an court for actual control, and the court can send people to manage them.

This made Zhao Gou quite satisfied, but the other party's conditions were rather harsh. They were not allowed to garrison troops, and they were only allowed to hire local martial arts gyms as guards. This put an end to Zhao Gou's previous idea of ​​using soldiers to pretend to be warriors.

Xu Xiantu suggested: "Your Majesty, in fact, we can also open a martial arts gym in Bianliang, and then arrange soldiers to be students. This is also a workaround."

Zhao Gou shook his head, "This kind of trick can't be put on the table. Since the palaces and mausoleums are actually controlled by me, of course I have to send troops to protect them. Only when my troops are stationed can they be called actual control. The number of people can be smaller, but it must be controlled." There must be an army."

Zhao Yan sighed and said, "It's not impossible for His Majesty to garrison troops, but he has made concessions in other aspects, such as Xiangzhou. The other party insists on actually controlling Xiangzhou."

Zhao Gou pondered for a moment, then asked Xu Xiantu, "What does Mr. Xu think?"

"Weichen thinks that Xiangyang has actually been annexed by Chen Qing, and he has good reasons. It's not that he sent troops to occupy, but the garrison surrendered. Weichen thinks that if we continue to entangle Xiangzhou, it will be the same as Jiangling Prefecture and Ezhou. It's going on, not only can't get back to Xiangzhou, but also can't get Bianliang, your majesty might as well let go of Xiangzhou, fight for the right to garrison Bianliang, and at the same time fight for some rights in other areas, such as Fangzhou, Jingmen Army, and Guanghua Army land."

Fangzhou, Jingmen Army, and Guanghua Army are currently in a gray area. What is a gray area? That is, they have actually been controlled by the Western Army, but the officials have not changed. They are still officials appointed by the imperial court. Then they belong to the Western Army , It still belongs to the imperial court, it is hard to say, so it is called a gray area.

For example, the Guanghua Army is located between Dengzhou and Xiangyang. Needless to say, it must be under the actual control of the Western Army. There is also Fangzhou, which is separated by Xiangzhou. The Jingmen Army is located between Jiangling Mansion and Xiangzhou, and is also under the actual control of the Western Army. It is impossible for the imperial army in these three places to pass, but the imperial court can still intervene in the three states, such as appointing and dismissing officials.

"Your Majesty, if we let go of Xiangyang, at least Fangzhou, Jingmen Army and Guanghua Army can gain certain control rights, and there will be more opportunities in Bianliang."

Zhao Gou pondered for a long time. In fact, what Xu Xiantu said was right. If he continued to struggle, he would repeat the same mistakes again.

Zhao Gou was really helpless, so he had no choice but to nod, "Yes, I can give up Xiangzhou, but I must win the greatest rights and interests for me."

……

After the emperor agreed to give up Xiangzhou, the subsequent negotiations will be much easier. Hu Yun immediately agreed to the other party to garrison troops in the palace, altar, ancestral temple and imperial mausoleum, but the total number of troops should not exceed 1000. In addition, these garrison soldiers must abide by the According to Bianliang law, there is no right to immunity from crime. Once a crime is committed, it must be handed over to the government for strict trial.

In addition, regarding Fangzhou, Guanghua Army, and Jingmen Army, Hu Yun did not make too many concessions. After all, these three places are already under the actual control of the Western Army, and they are completely within the territory of the Western Army. In the end, the two sides negotiated. In the model of Sichuan Road back then, these three prefectures belonged to the imperial court in name, and the imperial court could appoint and remove state officials, while county officials were appointed and dismissed by Jingzhao.

In Suizhou, Yingzhou, Fuzhou, and Hanyang, the two sides also reached an agreement that these four state capitals belong to the imperial court, and the appointment and removal of officials and tax revenue belong to the imperial court. Yun also promised that the Western Army would not enter these four state capitals.

In addition, the imperial court withdrew its troops from Suzhou and Pizhou and restored the borders before the imperial court's northern conquest. This, the emperor Zhao Gou, readily agreed. financial burden.

After nearly half a year of repeated see-saw, the two parties finally reached an agreement. The imperial court regained Tokyo Bianliang in name, renamed it Beidu, and appointed Li Hui, the privy secretary, as the left-behind of Beidu.

The first thousand and 120 chapters and seven real estate speculation

In the blink of an eye, it was September. During this time, Chen Qing turned into a farmland, plowing his part of the corn field in the backyard every day. The corn had already set ears, and two corns grew on each stalk, dragging golden corn silks.

Fertilizing, watering, and removing insects, he carefully took care of hundreds of tall corns, and these corns did not live up to his expectations and grew vigorously.

Of course, it was not only the corn that made him worry, but also the pumpkins. The two vines bore more than a dozen big pumpkins, all of which were bigger than watermelons, with golden yellow in the green, and several of them even grew on his roof.

In the afternoon, the whole family went to Chen Qing's courtyard to admire his crops.

"Husband, why is it called corn?" Lu Xiu held her daughter A Bing by the hand.

"Mom, I know! I know!"

Bing'er excitedly said: "Peel off the clothes layer by layer, and inside are small jade-like fruits. Daddy said that the rice is made of jade, so it is called corn."

"Have you seen Bing'er?"

"I've seen it!"

Bing'er ran forward, stretched her neck to search for a moment, then suddenly pointed to one of them and said: "That's it, the clothes are all peeled off."

Everyone gathered around and took a closer look. Chen Qing smiled and separated the peeled coating, revealing the crystal clear and plump corn meat inside. Everyone exclaimed, "It really looks like jade."

Zhao Qiaoyun asked: "Officer, when can we harvest?"

"It will be ready in a few days. I plan to use all of this batch to make seeds and plant them outside the city next year. The poles can be used as green fodder, or they can be used as fertilizer after rotting. The corn cobs inside can be dried and burned, or Make fodder."

Chen Qing pointed to the corn silk again and said: "Don't underestimate this beard. It is a kind of medicine. You can use it to boil water and drink it, which can cure body swelling. It can be said that it is a treasure all over the body, and it is useful."

At this moment, Yu Ying asked puzzledly, "What's the use of the officials planting this kind of corn?"

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "It has only one function, and that is to increase the population."

Everyone was stunned, but the eldest son, Chen Ji, reacted quickly. He asked, "Dad, did you mean that it is an agricultural product with a high yield?"

Chen Qing nodded with a smile, "That's right, I have planted almost 100 corns per plot here, and the harvested corn kernels are estimated to be about [-] catties, and one mu can produce at least [-] to [-] catties of corn, while wheat At most, it can only produce [-] catties per mu, and the yield of corn is only more than [-] catties per mu. If you think about how big the gap is, with corn as food, many poor families can have enough to eat, and they will raise a few more children, and the population will gradually decrease. up."

"Father, pumpkins are the same!"

"That's right. A mature old pumpkin can be used as food in a famine. Its biggest advantage is that it does not take up much space. It can be fully utilized in the field, in front of the house and behind the house. A big pumpkin can be placed in a dry and ventilated place. place, it can be stored for a year."

"Father's going to go all out on corn and squash?"

Chen Qing nodded, "I want to promote it comprehensively. I plan to use it to replace corn and annual wheat, but I have to do it step by step. There are not enough seeds now. After five years, I guess I will be able to plant it on a large scale."

"Father still wants to grow cotton!"

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "Cotton will not be planted on a large scale. There is cotton and wool. If the cotton production is sufficient, then I will use the hemp land to grow corn. Food is still the most important thing."

"Father, Master said that if we all rely on the cotton from Ryukyu Island, I'm afraid we can't support so many people's clothing."

"Then does your master have any good suggestions?" Chen Qingxiao asked.

"Master suggested that my father take Zhanzhou and Leizhou, which are also big islands, and plant cotton on a large scale there, and the problem of clothing can be solved."

Zhanzhou and Leizhou are Hainan Island and Leizhou Peninsula. This suggestion is not bad, but cotton is also commonly planted in mountainous areas on Fujian Road, and wood cotton is also produced in Luzon Island. The production of cotton is enough, and there will be a surplus if there are more varieties. Zhanzhou Over there, sugar cane gardens can be developed, sugar mills can be built to squeeze sugar, and the production of sugar will increase, and many industries will gradually prosper.

The same is true in Luzon, where sugar cane can be grown in large quantities.

At this time, the housekeeper came to urge dinner, and everyone went to the dining hall...

After dinner, Chen Qing went back to his study. Although he cared about his crops, in fact, Aunt Wen did most of the work. She knew how to grow vegetables and melons, which was exactly what Chen Qing needed most.

At this time, his wife Lu Xiu opened the door and came in and brought him a cup of tea. It was late autumn and September, and the night was a little cold, so Lu Xiu brought him a cup of hot tea.

"My lady, I have something to ask you!" Chen Qing smiled and called to his wife who was about to leave.

"What else is there, husband?"

"Your master should have bought a lot of land and houses! Last time I heard that she has more than [-] pieces of land?"

Lu Xiu shook her head, "Master, how can there be so many? She sold a lot of land before, and then concentrated her financial resources to buy houses. She now has three five-acre houses in the city, and a shop along the street next to Nandawazi, which also covers an area of ​​five acres. She plans to build a big Yi'an restaurant on a huge land of [-] acres, but there is not enough money, so I invested [-]% and Qiao Yun also invested [-]%."

"I actually heard what the magistrate of Chang'an said. Could the magistrate still make mistakes?"

Lu Xiu pursed her lips and said with a smile: "The magistrate may have counted all the real estate we invested in to Master. Adding up ours, there are more than twenty pieces of land and houses."

Chen Qing said helplessly: "I have [-] mu of land in Xinnan City, which is enough. You still need to buy real estate yourself. Hey! I don't even know what to say?"