11 Chapter 011
Killing Two Birds with One Stone
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Yang Kejian redrafted the document, accompanied by Lu Lian, who ordered the Lijingsi to copy and stamp it.
The Minister of Experience refused to transfer the document on the grounds that "the grain team has not arrived, the government is not trustworthy, and it may cause the people to mutiny."
Lu Lian held the imperial edict in his hand, read it out, and ordered the Ministry of Experience to issue the document, otherwise he would be punished for disobeying the imperial edict.
All the officials in the Ministry of Experience immediately knelt and shouted "Long live the emperor!" They copied and stamped the document, and ordered the soldiers to rush it to various prefectures.
After the teaching in Wenhua Hall ended, Xie Mingzhuo received intelligence from Henan. After reading it, he couldn't help but sneer.
With just a small experience, he dared to disobey the order of the governor. I don't know where he got the confidence from.
"Your Highness, Mr. Lu wants to see you." Feng Caiyu walked into the room and reported.
I just submitted the plan yesterday, why are you here again today?
"Send him in."
After a while, Lu Fang walked in respectfully, wearing a military uniform that was convenient for him to wear, and bowed to the ground when he saw Xie Mingzhuo.
"Your Highness, the Princess, beseeches your good health."
Xie Mingzhuo raised his hand and asked him to stand up: "What's the matter?"
"Your Highness, I went to the former pig farm in the eastern suburbs today to plan how to rebuild it, but I was surprised to find it had already been occupied."
The government-run pig farm is in an excellent location. Not only is there abundant water and grass around it, but it is also close to several oil presses. The cake produced by the oil presses is a very good pig feed.
Lu Fang had visited there before, and all that was left there were abandoned pig houses and half-human-high weeds, so he decided to go there.
Xie Mingzhuo was surprised: "Even if the pig farm is abandoned, it is under the jurisdiction of the court. Who occupied it?"
"Today, I went over and saw someone demolishing a piggery. I went over to ask and learned that this piece of land was already on Zhang Gao's radar last month."
"Zhang Gao?"
Lu Fang lowered his head: "He is the prince of Jingguo."
It is not impossible for a private individual to buy the abandoned land of the government and renovate it, but it happened too coincidentally.
Xie Mingzhuo asked, "Does he have the deed to purchase this place? If so, he can choose a new location."
"I asked them to produce the land deed, but they refused. I then went to the Shuntian Prefecture government office to inquire, but was driven out by the clerk in the official office."
“…”
He knelt down suddenly, feeling extremely guilty: "I have failed to perform my duties well. Please punish me, Your Highness."
There was a hint of sob in his voice.
Lu Er was born into a noble family, and was loved by his parents and brothers. He devoted himself to his hobby of pig farming and was "valued by the court". He was full of enthusiasm and planned to carry forward the pig farming business, but he was poured a basin of cold water on his head at the very beginning.
The one who poured cold water on him was the Prince of Jingguo, who had a grudge against his family. It was understandable that he felt wronged.
However, Xie Mingzhuo couldn't bear to see him being depressed because of such a small matter.
"Do you still want to continue raising pigs?"
"Yes!" Lu Fang raised his head, his eyes red. "Your Highness, I want to continue raising pigs."
Xie Mingzhuo said calmly, "The pig farm has been unreasonably occupied. What do you think we should do?"
"If he can't produce the land deed, the land doesn't belong to him." Lu Fang's thoughts gradually became clear. "I can drive them away in the name of the Shanglin Garden Supervisor."
"But you've already alerted the enemy. What if they take advantage of this opportunity to re-apply for paperwork? What will you do?"
“…”
Lu Fang racked his brains and said slowly, "The pig farm was originally managed by the Shuntian Prefecture Government. The land does not belong to the Shuntian Prefecture Government. If the old site of the pig farm is to be sold to a private individual, it should be approved by the Ministry of Revenue."
"That's it," Xie Mingzhuo advised him. "First, go to the Shanglinyuan Prison and ask the principal to write an official document. Then go to the Ministry of Revenue and get the deed to the old site in the name of the Shanglinyuan Prison."
Lu Fang's eyes lit up instantly: "As you command!"
Originally, the Shanglinyuan Supervisor was in charge of the imperial gardens and could allocate any plot of land he pleased, without having to apply for a land deed from the Ministry of Revenue. After all, the entire empire belonged to the emperor. Furthermore, this land was originally a government-run pig farm. Even if it had been abandoned, as long as it remained unchanged, it would still be a pig farm.
However, Xie Mingzhuo did not want to use imperial power to oppress others, nor was he too lazy to personally argue with others, so he planned to use "procedural justice" to make the other party give up.
When Lu Fang stood up, she casually threw an apple over and said, "It's almost noon, eat something to satisfy your hunger on the way."
Apple was previously called Pinellia. Later, a great scholar used the word "apple" in his travel notes, and it became widely known.
Lu Fang took it neatly and held it carefully in his hands, "Thank you for the reward, Your Highness!"
After he left the palace, he suddenly felt hungry. He held the apple to his mouth, but paused, rubbed his stomach, put the apple in his arms, and quickly walked to Shanglinyuan.
For Xie Mingzhuo, this matter was just a small episode. As long as Prince Jingguo was in good shape, the pig farm could be built quickly.
What she cared more about was the situation in Henan and the defense capabilities of the capital.
The situation in Henan still needs intelligence, and she has not yet thought of a suitable way to test the actual strength of the Beijing camp.
You can't just call the Minister of War to ask him, because that will only give you false and superficial answers.
In the afternoon, Xie Mingzhuo came to the martial arts field as usual to practice riding and archery.
An arrow hit the bull's eye.
"Of course you are. It's only been two days since we last met, and you've already become a sharpshooter." Xie Mingshuo strolled over lazily. "As your brother, I'm sure you'll kill me one day."
Xie Mingzhuo's eyes were calm: "If you don't roll up your sleeves, will you be slaughtered by others?"
"So, I'm the second best in the family now," Xie Mingshuo said, standing in front of the target, drawing his bow and arrow. "My father spends all day looking for people to play chess and appreciate ancient paintings. My mother wanted to do research, but she didn't have the conditions, so she was forced to take over the palace affairs. Xie Mingxuan finally showed some ambition and found a job as a Hanlin tutor."
"Big brother studies, but you don't. You say you are better than him?"
Xie Mingshuo smiled proudly: "I am luckier than you two. 'Prince Jin' has read a few books and has a higher starting point than you. Now he is practicing horse riding and archery and pursuing his career. Isn't he more capable than him?"
As the last word fell, the arrow flew out and hit the bull's eye.
"I forgot to mention that the 'Prince of Jin' also learned horseback archery, hehe."
Xie Mingzhuo: “…”
She reached for the quiver and fired three arrows in quick succession, each one piercing the bull's eye. The tail feathers of the arrows were still trembling after they hit the straw target.
"Pa pa pa." Xie Mingshuo clapped heartily, his face full of admiration, "Tiezhu, you're putting a lot of pressure on me."
Xie Mingzhuo glared at him: "Who said we should give up?"
"Xie Mingxuan, it must be Xie Mingxuan!"
"Oh, I'll tell my brother."
"Just tell him, he can't beat me anyway."
"If you two start fighting, rumors will spread outside the palace the next day that the King of Qi and the King of Jin are not getting along and are fighting."
Xie Mingshuo waved his hand, looking nonchalant: "As long as he and I act like brothers again, these rumors will fall apart."
Most people only believe what they see and hear, and how much of the information made public has not been artistically processed?
Xie Mingzhuo smiled and brushed off the grass debris that was blown by the wind. "It's getting colder."
The colder the weather, the closer the snow will come.
"With Imperial Censor Lu holding the imperial edict, no one should dare to obstruct him." Xie Mingshuo looked up at the sky, "I hope this crisis will pass soon."
"The people at the Ministry of Experience might not dare, but that doesn't mean the county officials won't." Xie Mingzhuo switched to a two-jin bow and tried to pull it. It was easy. "Imperial Censor Lu can't visit every county, and those people will always find a 'reasonable' excuse."
The arrow hit the center of the bull's eye and almost penetrated the entire straw target under the great force. The palace servant who was serving as the archer couldn't pull it out, and finally Jiang Qing reached out and pulled it out.
"You've found a great martial arts master," Xie Mingshuo praised, responding to his previous analysis. "You're right. Since ancient times, imperial power has never extended below the county level. Censor Lu can't accomplish this on his own."
Those officials could always find excuses to get away with it, such as a soldier died accidentally on the way and the official document failed to be delivered; or the money and grain donated by merchants failed to arrive in time and the plan could not be implemented smoothly; or those ignorant farmers simply did not listen to the government's advice.
He thought for a moment and asked, "Why are you still asking him to oversee the 'Wheat Harvesting Project'? Why not just ask him to investigate Zongzhen?"
It's really too hard for Xiao Lu to take care of two difficult things by himself.
"I'm just using him to put some pressure on him first." Xie Mingzhuo put down his mulberry wood bow and said nonchalantly, "If someone really does block the delivery of the order, what do you think we should do?"
Xie Mingshuo scratched his hair and said, "Write a ballad and sing it?"
But Henan is so big, there are several prefectures in the northern part alone, and each prefecture has a county under it. From the county to the town and village, by the time the ballad was composed and reached the farmers' ears, the snow had already fallen.
This shows the importance of grassroots staff. Without grassroots officials running around between counties and villages, such tedious tasks would simply not be possible.
It would be great if ordinary people could understand newspapers.
"It seems that your media is sometimes useless." Xie Mingzhuo teased.
Xie Mingshuo was distressed: "It's not that there is no place for it, it's that the literacy rate among the people is too low and transportation is not well developed."
However, the improvement of literacy rate and the convenience of transportation are not achieved overnight.
Xie Mingzhuo finished his training and jumped on his horse: "I'm going back first."
"Hey, wait, you haven't told me your plan yet. What are you going to do if the decree can't be issued this time?"
"It will be issued."
As dinner approached, the four of them sat around the table.
Meng Qi asked, "Why hasn't Mingxuan come back yet?"
"I don't know." Xie Mingshuo held his chin listlessly, glancing at Xie Mingzhuo from time to time, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
Xie Changfeng: "Why do you keep looking at Shao Shao?"
"Ask if you have any questions." Xie Mingzhuo leaned back in his chair, his posture lazy.
Xie Mingshuo: "At the martial arts training ground this afternoon, why were you so sure the decree would be issued? Did you give Censor Lu some secret weapon?"
"No."
"Why is that?"
Xie Mingzhuo put down his teacup and patiently explained, "The government's orders were stalled because some people didn't want to see the court successfully provide disaster relief and were only concerned about causing chaos, right?"
"Yes." The three of them nodded in unison.
"But such an absurd order to harvest wheat early would naturally cause protests and dissatisfaction among farmers, wouldn't it?"
"yes."
"If that's the case, wouldn't they be able to incite the people simply by issuing a decree?"
"That's right!" Meng Qi suddenly realized, "But why didn't he do that?"
Xie Mingzhuo said firmly: "Because he is waiting."
"Waiting for what?"
“Once it is confirmed that the money and grain donated by merchants will no longer reach Kaifeng and reach the hands of farmers.”
Only when the farmers' livelihoods are completely blocked will they choose to rise up in rebellion and Henan will fall into chaos.
Xie Mingshuo stood up suddenly: "I understand!"
Once the money and grain are looted by the "bandits", the order to harvest the wheat early will be issued smoothly.
Maybe this policy will make further cuts. For example, the people-friendly policies such as "year-round tax exemption" and "purchase of silage feed" will not be heard by farmers.
When the time comes, he will incite the people and his actions will be successful.
"Then the question arises," Xie Mingshuo continued, "if the money and grain are really robbed, what should the court do? If someone really distorts the government's orders, what should the court do?"
"Although the Jinyiwei may not be omnipresent, they are certainly not mediocre. The money and grain won't really be lost." Xie Mingzhuo took out a secret report. "Also, I received intelligence from Runing Prefecture that Zong Zhen is indeed suppressing the rebellion there."
Xie Changfeng was surprised: "What chaos are you trying to quell?"
"The bandit rebellion."
"Bandits?" Meng Qi was puzzled. "What kind of bandits would make the commander-in-chief personally dispatch them?"
"The Ministry of War thinks so too."
That's why Zong Zhen was impeached in the court.
Meng Qi murmured, "Why do I feel like this matter is becoming increasingly complicated?"
"The Embroidered Uniform Guard secretly investigated the Ministry of War. The Ministry did send multiple letters to the Henan Military Commissioner, ordering Zong Zhen to reduce his troops. However, there are doubts as to whether the letters actually reached Henan. There are also doubts as to whether the report that Zong Zhen 'refused to obey orders' was actually written by him."
"Hiss." Xie Changfeng leaned back involuntarily, "There's something big going on here."
"So, I plan to use the merchants' money and grain to test Zong Zhen's attitude," Xie Mingzhuo said slowly. "The suppression of the rebellion is almost over. I will have someone discreetly deliver the news of 'the disaster relief money and grain have been robbed' to Zong Zhen. It all depends on what he chooses."
If he is loyal to the court and has soldiers at his disposal, it would be easy for him to "get" the money and food back; if he has other intentions, they can also respond in time.
Xie Mingshuo was surprised and immediately gave a thumbs up: "Sister, your plan of 'merchant transporting grain' kills two birds with one stone!"
Disaster relief and stabilization;
Fishing, follow the clues;
Test and understand the situation.
“What if local governments distort government orders?”
Xie Mingzhuo: "Those who pretend to obey but secretly disobey will be punished for resisting the imperial order. Censor Lu knows what to do."
"I hope my future newspaper can convey government orders as quickly as possible." Xie Mingshuo envisions the future.
Xie Mingxuan stepped in and taunted as usual: "What are you daydreaming about?"
"You—" Xie Mingshuo grabbed his collar but pulled back in time, "What are you holding in your arms?!"
【Author’s words】
Send 100 red envelopes~
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