Emperor Sui Yang

Chapter 751 Fifteen Ways

The war that plagued the whole country in the 13th year of Daye has finally ended, so the aftermath of the end is very complicated.

This is like a house that collapsed and you need to repair it. Repairing a house is more troublesome than building a new one.

There are a lot of bad debts all over the country, but Cui Zhongfang, who is the best at managing accounts, is dying.

Pei Yun is now the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Yang Ming knows that the other party's business ability is not outstanding. Pei Yun's strengths are his perceptive mind and strong political sense, but there is no way. He can't change it for the time being. It will easily irritate the old Pei family. .

Then the two ministers of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Feng Deyi and Wei Jin, will have to share more.

At the court meeting on the fifth day of the first lunar month, Yang Ming took the lead and said:

"Henan was relatively stable last year. The cotton cloth produced by several weaving workshops is now being hoarded in the treasury and cannot be sold. After all, the people have no money, but the treasury has no money. Your Ministry of Civil Affairs can think of a way to sell these as soon as possible. The cotton is sold.”

Pei Yun frowned and said:
"The Ministry of Civil Affairs has been trying to sell it to the private sector, but the results have been limited. Now that food prices are still high, it is unrealistic to expect people to use the money they spend to buy rice to buy cotton cloth."

"So there's no way to keep food prices down?" Yang Ming frowned.

Pei Yun nodded and said: "It can't be suppressed. Scarce things are more valuable. Nowadays, there is a shortage of food everywhere, which has created a situation where all industries are declining, but the price of food remains high."

"Let Wu Hua go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and serve as the Minister of Cangbe. Food is the foundation of the country, and the price must not be high. This is a matter of people's livelihood," Yang Ming said: "Keep the price of food down, increase the price of handicraft goods, and encourage private breeding within three years. Livestock, control the number of slaughters in various places to alleviate various problems caused by food shortages."

In ancient times, livestock were mainly fed by grazing. If there was no feed, they would basically not be fed with food, including pigs. Pigs ate pig grass, such as flowerweed, amaranth, and herringbone.

At present, it is unrealistic for the Sui Dynasty to introduce high-yield crops such as potatoes and sweet potatoes, because these two crops are in the Americas, and today's navigation technology cannot support them.

Raising the prices of handicraft products also allows a large amount of currency to flow back into the hands of the state, making it easier to control the market.

Any goods need to be at a reasonable price due to the needs of the situation. Nowadays, people have no money. They must first solve the problem of food and clothing, and then they will spend money to buy other daily necessities.

In other words, this policy is to protect your life first, and then use your extra money to fill the national treasury. As for those who have no spare money, of course it is ineffective. Promoting domestic demand is originally focused on those who have spare money.

In ancient China, there were too many famines, so people developed the habit of saving money, which was actually to cope with crises.

How to take out people's spare money and flow it into the market requires creating demand.

It is winter now and we need to keep warm, so the main goods are coal, firewood, and winter clothes.

Only the rich can afford coal, so the price can skyrocket and draw blood from the rich.

Firewood is not in short supply for the people in the countryside and they are self-sufficient. Only people living in the county town need it, so this price can also be mentioned to protect the livelihood of the people in the countryside. They can sell firewood into the city and increase their income. extra income.

As for the winter clothes and cotton clothes, after Wu Hua entered the palace, he proposed to sell them to the military government to pay for the military salary.

This works, but is somewhat forced.

So Yang Ming said: "This depends on personal preference. It cannot be forced, it must be voluntary."

In fact, he also knew in his heart that what he said was voluntary turned into being voluntary.

There is no way, who made the national treasury poor? I can't get this bad reputation, let the people below take the blame.

Yang Ming continued: "When the country uses troops, the emphasis is on the military government. When the country recuperates, it depends on the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Industry. In the next few years, you will have a heavy burden. The Farming Division of the Ministry of Industry has come up with a way to use the power of the country. , check the land in the world, and the imperial court will formulate policies for areas that are suitable for cultivation, and all localities will implement them conscientiously. The newly cultivated fields will be granted to the people. If anyone dares to steal it for me, you can use it as fertilizer. "

Pei Ju nodded and said: "Opening up wasteland and farming is a major national event that requires the coordination of various departments. Sili Tai still needs to keep a close eye on it. I'm afraid Yang Xun won't be able to do it."

Yang Xun was Yang Yue's younger brother. After Yang Yue's death, he took over Sili Tai.

To be honest, this person is really not good, but Pei Ju's intention is too obvious.

Yang Xuangan suddenly frowned and said: "Jurong is well versed in government affairs and is impartial. He is the best choice to be responsible for supervising the farmland. As for supervision, just keep a close eye on him and don't show favoritism. That's all."

Pei Ju smiled and said: "Local governors are mostly from Hongnong Yang, or they are attached to your family, so it is better to avoid suspicion."

"There are quite a few in your family," Xuangan said.

Pei Yun, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, raised his eyebrows and said: "If it weren't for Xuangan's annexation of land in Shandong back then, there would be nothing wrong with leaving it to Yang Xun. Now, I'm afraid that he will steal it."

"You want to talk to me about this, right?" Yang Xuanzong, the second child, said hoarsely, "Then do you want to know what happened to our fields in Shandong?"

Later, Yang Ming took it away and gave it to Zhang Xutuo to appease Shandong.

Pei Qantong grinned and said, "So, Xuanzang admitted it? You are indeed working in Shandong?"

Yang Xuanzang was stunned for a moment and looked at his brother Xuangan. Xuangan's face was already livid. He was not angry at his brother for talking nonsense, but he was reminded of himself back then.At that time, he was talking nonsense in the court, and his uncle Yang Yue wiped his butt. Now that he has stopped talking nonsense, Xuanzang started to talk nonsense.

Although the prince also knows this, you can't admit it in front of so many people.

Yang Ming smiled and helped to relieve the situation: "Okay, okay, there is nothing to argue about. Your opinions are different from mine. There are too many things involved in the farming matter. In order to ensure that it ends up in the hands of the people, you guys It's a big cause and it's not suitable for anyone to go. If you don't take it, you can't guarantee that someone in the clan will take it. Pei Gong's concerns are still right. This matter must be avoided to avoid suspicion. Gu's intention is to divide the world into fifteen realms and set up supervisors in each realm. One envoy will be directly managed by the province."

Yang Gongren frowned and said, "Which fifteen?"

Yang Ming waved his hand and asked Du Ruhui to take out a map and spread it in the center of the hall for all the ministers to read.

This is modeled on the Fifteen Dao of the Tang Dynasty to divide the fifteen major regions. Of course, there will be no Jiedu envoys, only supervisory envoys. Their task is to supervise the land conditions in the areas under their jurisdiction for the country.

Food is the foundation of the country, and this level must be controlled. Whose fields belong to whom, and Yang Ming does not want the military system to decay so quickly.

After all, the reason why the military system was withdrawn from the stage in history was because land annexation was too serious.

The fifteen roads are Hebei Road (including Northeast and Goguryeo areas), Guannai Road (Guanzhong), Hedong Road, Longxi Road, Henan Road (including Shandong), Gyeonggi Road (Jingzhao area), Duji Road (Luoyang area), Shannan East Road, Shannan West Road, Jiangnan Road, Huainan Road, Jiangnan West Road, Lingnan Road, Jiannan Road, and Qianzhong Road.

The supervisory envoys of the [-]th Road are equivalent to the leaders of the inspection teams sent by the central government to the local areas. They cannot be controlled by the local governments, and neither can the provinces.

Yang Ming just sent them to the Menxia Province, but in fact he directly managed these fifteen people.

This kind of position cannot be permanent, and it must be replaced frequently, otherwise it will be easily corroded.

In other words, within a year, they have to come to the capital to report on their work during the New Year months, and stay in the local area for most of the remaining year.

The Fifteen Roads were not a new administrative division in the Sui Dynasty. They only existed for the supervision of farmland.

Yang Xiu was dumbfounded: "A supervisor can't control such a big place, can he?"

Yang Gongren smiled and said: "There must be officials, and the number will not be small."

"Then who is the right person to send?" Cui Junsu frowned.

Now many people can see that this is a top-notch fertilizer company, which manages acres of land. There is no greater asset than acres of land.

Yang Ming smiled and said: "There are fifteen people, seven of them you recommend, and the other eight will be chosen from among the Jinshi every year."

"They can't do it, right?" Wei Kuangbo asked doubtfully: "They have just become Jinshi and have no experience in handling government affairs. If they are allowed to go there, newcomers like them will probably be in a mess."

Yang Ming said: "Xuangan also said just now that this job is easy to do, the requirements are not high, he must be impartial and trustworthy, and he can serve the court sincerely."

As a supervisor, it sounds like it's easy to do it, just keep an eye on it. The people in charge are the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Industry, but it's not easy to keep an eye on it.

Because we have to be considerate of human nature, for example, if you go to the county magistrate's office and want to check the land grant files, they find excuses not to show them to you. What can you do?Report it to the province, and ask the prince and the province to support you?
Menxiasheng is not so free, but will blame you for not doing things well.

And why Yang Ming chooses Jinshi is because they are young, fledgling, not so sophisticated, and not the kind of sophisticated old foxes. Improving the workplace relies on young people.

Just confront them. Let me see the local officials below. Which one dares to touch you?

Yang Xuangan is now completely following Yang Ming. Whatever you say is what he says. Just listen to him:
"You didn't understand what the prince meant. Jinshi are all children from poor families. They have just received grace and are focused on pursuing political achievements. Naturally, they work harder than you, and they are not greedy."

Pei Yun sneered: "Your explanation is too far-fetched, so according to your opinion, the other seven people arranged by the prince will be greedy?"

Yang Xuangan retorted: "What? Are all our officials in the Sui Dynasty corrupt? Can't we choose seven upright people?"

"Stop arguing," Queen Xiao interrupted the conversation between the two and said, "It's the Lantern Festival soon. Are you ready for the Lantern Festival in Dongdu?"

A woman's starting point is different from that of a man. Empress Xiao only thinks about how to celebrate the festival.

Yang Ming hurriedly said: "I have given Xiao Yu the responsibility for this matter. Although the treasury is empty, we still want to make the mother and queen live comfortably during the Lantern Festival."

Queen Xiao nodded, looked at Xiao Yu and said: "Keep everything simple and don't increase the burden on the country."

This is still an empty talk. She said that she would be simple, but when it came to Xiao Yu, she would no longer be simple.

Don't listen to what the leader says. You have to know what the leader thinks.

Xiao Yu said with a smile: "Queen, don't worry, it won't be a grand event, and it will definitely be lively and grand."

Women like to celebrate festivals, and this has been true since ancient times.

(End of this chapter)