The chief steward of the five border areas has returned, and it is only natural to present gifts on the Laba Festival. Such an important occasion would only be complete if Wang Zheng were there.
After seeing off the Emperor and Empress, Wang Zheng instructed Wu Yi and his fellow apprentices, "Chen Fengning has already arranged accommodation for you. Go back early to bathe and rest. Remember to go to the court early tomorrow. Each of you should take a portion of the rewards brought by His Majesty."
The day before Laba Festival, the emperor would reward his ministers. The most important of these were two very rare skin care products, Purple Snow and Red Snow. They were mainly for ministers to apply on their faces in winter. After all, they had to get up so early to attend court, so applying something on their face could also help protect them from the wind.
So during the Laba morning court session, Wang Zheng saw a group of old men with red faces, which made Wang Zheng feel a little uncomfortable.
Li Zhi also rubbed his cheeks red. Seeing that Wang Zheng looked normal, he couldn't help but ask, "Didn't the steward use the cream I gave you?"
Wang Zheng pulled the corner of his mouth, cupped his hands and said: "I used it, just a little."
"Haha, there's no need to be so frugal, Steward. I'll just give you some more."
Although it was worth the money, people could not feel balanced in their hearts, so various rumors began to spread, and some stubborn people even wrote directly to Li Zhi.
The correct version of this content can be found on 6/9*Shu.ba%! 【6*9*S*H*UBA.CX】
Among them, seafood and brown and white sugar are both 10,000 liaos. The unit of liaos is actually the volume of the ship. One hundred liaos is equal to one cubic zhang, which can be understood as thirty-three cubic meters. The largest ship of that era was 3,000 liaos, which is actually one thousand cubic meters. Calculated by the amount of grain loaded, it is about one thousand tons.
"Your Majesty, I, Wu Yi, the Grand Administrator of the Southern Desert, offer the following gifts: 10,000 fine horses, 500,000 cow and sheep skins, 1,000 dan of Cistanche deserticola, and 10,000 dan of dried beef and mutton. The weather in Southern Desert is bitter and cold, and I am not a gift for you. Your Majesty, please forgive me."
Li Zhi nodded to Zhu Guichen, who took two steps forward and shouted, "Thank you for your hard work, the five general managers. You will each receive a reward. The tribute will be sent to the Ministry of Revenue and will be distributed to the officials as New Year gifts."
Of course, these large ships mostly run along the coast and the lower reaches of major rivers. Wang Zheng's Yuzhou can pass through freely during the flood season. However, if a large ship with a capacity of 3,000 tons is to pass through during the dry season, the time must be agreed upon in advance, otherwise it is extremely easy to get into trouble.
Meet Your Majesty."
In fact, this was also a method discussed by Li Zhi and Wang Zheng to shut up these people in the court.
They said that if this continued, people's hearts would be corrupted, that the border areas should be incorporated into the imperial system, and that ten years of tax exemption was too long. In any case, all kinds of opinions were expressed, and people wanted to take back the border areas as soon as possible.
"Your Majesty, I, Wu You, the General Manager of the Northeast, present to you a hundred dan of ginseng, a hundred dan of East China Sea pearls, ten thousand dan of Kunla, ten thousand giant trees, and ten thousand seafood. The Northeast is rich, but I have not been good at management and my gift is too little. Your Majesty, please forgive me."
Because the desolate borderland that was once looked down upon has become more and more prosperous in the hands of the Yuzhou faction, especially the many products. The price of transporting them back to Chang'an is so high that even those who hold the lifeline of the country feel a little distressed about the expenses.
"Your Majesty, I, Wang Zhen, the Grand Administrator of Lingnan, present to you: 1,000 python skins, 10,000 tons of red and white sugar, 100 tons of South China Sea pearls, and 10,000 tons of Kunmul. Lingnan is rich, but I have not been good at business management and my gift is too little. Your Majesty, please forgive me."
When the Yuzhou faction gave up on entering the court and fled to the four remote border areas, the people in the court were naturally happy, thinking it was a great victory for Confucianism. However, after more than two years, these guys became more and more unhappy.
"Your Majesty, I, Wang Zhen, the Grand Administrator of the Western Regions, offer a hundred horses, a million loads of white folded grain, and a thousand loads of gold and silver. The Western Regions are mostly deserts and Gobi, so I am not a good present. Your Majesty, please forgive me."
Wanliao is about 3,000 tons, or more than 6 million jin. Even if there are tens of thousands of officials in the court, each of them can get more than 100 jin. However, given the ranks of the officials in the court, it is naturally impossible for them to share equally with those petty officials.
I am Wang Zhen, the Grand Administrator of Lingnan.
"Your Majesty, I, the Grand Administrator of Luoshui, Di Renjie, present the following to Your Majesty: one dan of saffron, one million pieces of cow and sheep skins, 20,000 dan of dried beef and mutton, 100,000 dan of lamp oil, and 20,000 horses. The plateau is bitterly cold, and I am too humble to offer this gift. Your Majesty, please forgive me."
Wang Zheng was too lazy to say more, so he stood up, bowed, and said, "Then I would like to thank Your Majesty for your generous gift."
Wu Yi stepped forward, clasped his hands and said, "We have served the country and helped your majesty. We dare not boast of our achievements, nor will we complain about our hardships. The border area has produced a lot in the past three years. Today, we are offering a gift to your majesty."
I am Wu You, the Grand Administrator of the Northeast.
Wu Yi and his companions, all dressed in purple robes and wearing goldfish bags around their waists, walked into the court, stood ten steps away from His Majesty, and bowed respectfully, shouting, "Your Majesty, I am Wu Yi, the Grand Administrator of Mo Nan.
As soon as these words were spoken, all the ministers in the court showed joy on their faces. If all those things just mentioned were really distributed, they would definitely be able to have a prosperous year.
These things had been discussed in advance. The reason they were brought up was just to give an explanation to the ministers in the court. Although the things actually given to Li Zhi were not so many in quantity, their quality was much higher.
All these things added together definitely exceed their annual salary. When you think about it this way, it is quite beneficial to open up border areas.
I am Wang Zhen, the Grand Administrator of the Western Regions.
I am Di Renjie, the Grand Administrator of Lhasa.
"Haha, then report it and let all of you see your results."
Li Zhi nodded and winked at Zhu Guichen, who took two steps toward the emperor and shouted, "Today is Laba Day and there will be no discussion of government. Summon the five great eunuchs to the court to present their tributes."
Li Zhi was so annoyed that he came up with this idea. He would shut these guys up first and then consider it as paying for peace and quiet.
It is impossible to take back the border areas now. Not to mention that the five major border areas are still in the development stage, many places have not been fully developed. The prosperous areas have just begun to transform from points to lines. In Li Zhi's mind, at least they have to be developed from lines to surfaces to achieve results.
The key issue is how to arrange so many students from Yuzhou in the border areas. If one wants to incorporate the border areas into the court, one must reward them according to their merits, and then transfer some students from Yuzhou back and transfer some officials from the Central Plains out.
However, if we start rewarding people based on merit now and allow the Yuzhou faction to integrate with Confucianism, most of the people in the court and officials from all over the Central Plains will definitely be strangled by the Yuzhou faction using Tang law, and those sent to the border areas may even be wiped out.
Li Zhi glanced around the court, looked at the smiling faces of all the civil and military officials, and sighed deeply, "I am actually protecting you."