In ancient China, there was a very important system called the Grand Canal system. Before the Tang Dynasty, the Grand Canal system was very small in scale and basically stagnated during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Before the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Emperor Yang Guang, who was later condemned as a tyrant, built waterways and laid the foundation for the Grand Canal system of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

However, the canal transport system truly developed and became systematic during the Song Dynasty.

The importance of the Grand Canal to the Song Dynasty was comparable to that of major highways and high-speed rail networks in later generations—it was a national strategic deployment.

Without the Grand Canal, Tokyo could not have had more than a million people; even if it did, half of them would have starved to death.

The Song Dynasty had a special department to supervise the grain transport. The largest department was naturally the Three Offices Office of the Zhou Dynasty, which was in charge of and planned the grain transport throughout the country. There were also Transport Office and Dispatch Office. These two departments reported to the Three Offices Office, which was to say, to the finance minister of Emperor Huan of Song, Zhou Chao.

The Transport Office was responsible for preparing grain, while the Shipping Office was responsible for transporting goods. Because the roads were dilapidated in ancient times and land transport was limited, most of the grain transported to the capital region came from the Grand Canal, which is water transport.

Tokyo had four major canal transport systems, all serving the city: grain from Shaanxi Province traveled eastward along the Yellow River to the Bian River; grain from Jiangnan Province entered the Huai River via the Bian River and then entered the capital; grain from the Central Plains and Jiangling area mainly entered the capital via the Cai River and then the Bian River; and grain from Shandong Province in the Jingdong area mainly reached the capital via the Wuzhang River.

The prosperity of Tokyo could be said to have gathered the grain of the whole country. Even so, the price of grain in Tokyo had reached an absurd level, which is enough to prove that the economy of the Northern Song Dynasty was basically dead by the end of the year and the court was unable to control the economy.

In fact, as the head of the Three Departments, Zhou Chao had discovered a few days earlier that 50,000 shi of grain had been missing from the grain transported from Jiangnan, and immediately sent people to inquire about it. However, the response he received was that there had been heavy rains in Jiangnan this summer, and the fields had suffered from disasters and a poor harvest.

Zhou Chao immediately roared: "Such a stupid reason can fool even ghosts!"

It's already late September, and the weather is getting colder every day. It's harvest season, and it's time to transport winter grain to Tokyo.

At this time, grain prices in Tokyo were already ridiculously high. If Jiangnan were to do something like this, and word got out, it would inevitably lead to merchants hoarding grain and driving up prices.

The emperor had recently lost his temper over grain prices, and if grain prices were to rise again at this critical juncture, he, as the Minister of the Three Departments, could lose his head.

Seeing that the matter could no longer be concealed, Zhou Chao immediately went to the palace and reported the matter to the emperor.

At this moment, Tang Rui brought Qian Yu to the residence of Xu Churen, the Grand Chancellor of the current dynasty. Tang Rui's arrival was too sudden. Xu Churen originally did not want to see him, but then he heard that Tang Rui had brought the Qian family with him.

Upon hearing that it was someone from the Qian family, Xu Churen immediately met with the son of the Vice Minister of State Affairs.

At this time, Xu Churen was still enjoying himself at home, completely unaware of what was happening outside. The reason he was willing to meet with the Qian family was because, at this critical juncture, the imperial court had already turned its attention to the wealthy southeast. The officials were all very concerned about the Qian family in the southeast, especially Xu Churen. These days, apart from various government affairs, he was thinking most about how to implement the new policies in the south.

As the Grand Chancellor, he naturally had to share the emperor's concerns; otherwise, if the emperor asked him questions and he couldn't answer, it would be a real mess.

Xu Churen tidied himself up and came out. Tang Rui and Qian Mu stood up and bowed at the same time: "Greetings, Master Xu."

After exchanging greetings, Tang Rui immediately explained his purpose and the events of the day.

Xu Churen's expression immediately changed. Holy crap! This is a truly earth-shattering incident! If I hadn't been careful, the Qian family would have come all the way to the capital to court disaster, dragging along a bunch of ministers from the two prefectures!

Qian Mu said, "Master Xu, Qian Yu's words and actions were neither the old master's nor the head of the family's intention. The old master had no intention of opposing the court; it was all due to the instigation of others."

What do you mean by that?

Qian Mu then explained the current situation in the South to Xu Churen, who felt even more troubled after listening.

He had anticipated strong resistance to the new policies in the south, but he hadn't expected it to be this severe. Almost all the major families and powerful forces had united and were vehemently opposing the new tax and commercial tax laws, seemingly determined to fight the court to the bitter end.

The fact that a fool like Qian Yu was sent to Tokyo to court death is enough to prove how unstable the Qian family is now. They were even able to be infiltrated and have their choice of personnel sent to Tokyo affected. Once the Qian family is completely opposed to the imperial court, they will inevitably be purged, and commerce in the southeast will suffer a severe blow.

Xu Churen frowned. This was a real headache. Given the current emperor's temper, he would surely have to mobilize troops again.

The South rarely experienced war. From the Northern and Southern Dynasties onwards, large-scale battlefields were concentrated in the Central Plains of the North. Even during the An Lushan Rebellion, the main battlefield was still the Central Plains. The Five Dynasties were affected, but the Southeast was preserved.

The South is prosperous, as can be seen from its annual tax revenue. Two-thirds of the Song Dynasty's tax revenue came from the South, and two-thirds of the revenue for today's major cities comes from the South.

If a major war were to break out in the south, it would inevitably affect the entire Song Dynasty.

No, we absolutely cannot let war break out in the South. Xu Churen sighed, “I will go to the palace to see the Emperor immediately. The Qian family is the pillar of the Southeast and cannot fall. We must not let war break out in the South either.”

Qian Mu immediately knelt down and bowed: "Minister Xu is very righteous. I accept Qian Mu's bow."

"Don't bow to me yet. I'm not sure if I can stop the emperor from mobilizing the army."

Xu Churen was determined to dissuade the emperor. He believed that at this point, apart from the emperor's few lackeys, no minister would agree to the emperor launching a war, because the cost would be too high.

Unexpectedly, Xu Churen ran into Wang Kuian as soon as he stepped out the door.

"Lord Xu, His Majesty has summoned the two Grand Secretaries to the Wende Hall for a meeting."

Xu Churen was slightly taken aback. It was rare for Wang Kuian to personally come and invite him. He had a bad feeling.

When all the emperor's important ministers arrived, the emperor's expression was as cold and somber as a winter cloud.

"Wang Kui'an, show the memorial from the Zhou Dynasty to everyone present."

Xu Churen was completely confused. Wasn't the discussion supposed to be about the Southeast? How did it get involved in the memorials from the Three Departments?

Xu Churen glanced at Zhou Chao, who had a miserable and helpless expression. When the memorial reached Xu Churen, his expression changed drastically upon reading it, and he almost jumped up.

This is outrageous!

These people are incredibly audacious! They actually dared to embezzle winter rations! This is tantamount to rebellion!

Zhao Huan frowned deeply and declared loudly, "I will not allow the price of grain in Dongjing to rise even a fraction more! I will not allow anyone to dare to oppose the court or the people of the world! I will not allow there to be another court in the south!"

The atmosphere in the Wende Hall seemed to freeze as soon as the emperor said this. Almost every point he made was directed at the south. Xu Churen and Tang Ke had originally planned to stop the emperor from launching a war, but now the emperor had blocked their way.

Alright, the Emperor has made his stance clear; now it's up to you gentlemen to put on a show.

I have summoned you here not to discuss whether or not to fight, but to discuss how to support Yue Fei, how long we can provide logistical support, who will be in charge, and how to control prices in Tokyo.