Chapter 207: New Year's King Bomb
After reading it, Fang Xuanling handed it to Du Ruhui. The study was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, with only the occasional sound of flipping pages.
The family was eating Yuanxiao (Chinese rice dumplings) when suddenly a eunuch came to issue an urgent summons, and the two assistants hurried into the palace.
"My dear Lord Fang, what do you think?" asked Tian Khan.
By using the imperial treasury and operating privately, large quantities of vermicelli and brown sugar were sold to wealthy areas such as Jiangnan, and exchanged for old rice at low prices, which was then transported to Henan and Hebei via the canal.
Many grain shops sprang up in the two places, selling grain in limited quantities and with daily rations.
The aftereffects of frost damage have begun to appear, and a sharp drop in wheat production in many counties and cities within the two regions is inevitable, with some even experiencing a total loss.
Smart merchants were reluctant to sell, hoarding grain and waiting for the price to soar. Fu Zhong and his friends did the opposite, and grain shops sprang up everywhere.
At the beginning, they were criticized as unscrupulous merchants and had little business because their grains were mixed with a lot of sand.
As more and more grain shops closed or raised their prices, Fu Zhong and his colleagues' old rice became life-saving food for the poor people.
Although it is limited in quantity and sale, you can still buy it every now and then. Although it doesn’t taste good, it can save your life.
Other companies either sell their grain at a higher price without mixing it with sand, or sell it at a similar price to Fu Zhong and his company after mixing it with sand.
With such a troublemaker, those wealthy families who wanted to drive up grain prices were unable to do so.
They can’t be driven away. Not much is sold every day, and we close when the limited quantity is sold out.
Grain can be purchased based on household registration, with one pound per person, which is enough for three days. You won’t feel full, but you won’t starve to death either.
Every day, more and more people line up in front of the grain shops. This shop sells grain at ten cents per catty, while others sell at forty or fifty cents per catty, and the price is still rising.
So what if there was sand? At least the people could afford it, and the grain store was open every day.
Fu Zhong and his men started early and bought up all the aged rice in Jiangnan. When the wealthy families came to purchase it, they found that others had already got there first and swept it all away.
When each family received news that Lingnan Province would produce two crops of rice, they thought of draining the pond to catch all the fish and not leaving any soup for the court.
Fang Xuanling remained silent, still thinking.
"As for the severity of the locust plague, I would say that these aristocratic families are just the passing locusts, even worse than them!" Tian Khan said angrily.
He was counting on Lingnan to become the imperial court's granary, but these locusts flew over and seemed to be dividing Lingnan into pieces.
"Your Majesty, I think the idea of the Wuzhou governor is good. It would be better if the court issued an order prohibiting private individuals from selling land and requiring it to be transferred only to government offices!" After a long time, Fang Xuanling spoke.
"My dear minister, do you agree with this method? Doesn't it contradict the current laws? I'm afraid those with ulterior motives will cause trouble and use the law as an excuse."
Tian Khan was very happy that all the land would be transferred to the government instead of being taken over by the noble families and the wealthy.
"Your Majesty, Lingnan is a wild and desolate land. We encourage the people to reclaim the wasteland vigorously. We will exempt them from rent and taxes for three years. At the same time, we will prohibit the trading of land within three years.
"Secondly, after three years, the land can be traded, but only to the government," Fang Xuanling pondered.
"My dear, this is a brilliant plan! But why do you only sell it to the government?" Tian Khan questioned from the perspective of the aristocratic family.
"Lingnan will be designated as a special granary, and special laws will be implemented in the special area. In five or ten years, Lingnan will be the granary of the Tang Dynasty!" Du Ruhui said slowly.
This secret memorial also included the advice of the governor of Wuzhou, which contained many novel ideas that shocked Prime Minister Du.
Lingnan will be separated out to vigorously develop agriculture and agricultural sideline products, with an emphasis on promoting two-season rice and developing three-season rice.
In order to ensure the stable implementation of the entire policy and prevent land loss, it is recommended to designate Lingnan as a special granary area.
A separate set of land policies was applied to prevent wealthy families and powerful people from taking advantage of the situation and seizing food.
Du Ruhui never expected that there was such a talented and insightful person among the local officials.
He had never thought about the governance strategies for the designated special administrative areas. They were bound by conventional thinking from ancient times to the present, and often felt powerless when faced with the siege of the aristocratic families.
With this idea in mind, whenever there is something that cannot be avoided in the future, we will find an excuse to designate it as a special district to avoid infiltration and theft by the aristocratic families.
Lu Zhaoshi left a deep impression on Du Xiang.
Little did they know that this was a piece of advice drafted by Su Bucheng, and this novel idea was proposed by Su Ying before her father left.
This is a similar situation in modern society in the late 1970s, when an old man drew a circle in the south.
Su Bucheng, who had been in officialdom for many years, had a deep understanding of this. Combining the current situation in Wu County with his many years of work experience, he wrote a groundbreaking piece of advice.
After reading this, Lu Zhaoshi felt inferior and knew that if this advice could be adopted, he would have a bright future.
Although he stands against his family, he will have a smooth career!
Blessings and misfortunes are intertwined, and misfortunes and blessings are intertwined! Only by letting go can you get better!
Lu Zhaoshi copied it word for word, and also asked for help as Wuzhou was facing a critical situation of being besieged by aristocratic families.
Wei Shutong and Li Zhongyan were shocked when they received the report. They did not dare to delay at all and sent it to Chang'an overnight.
Lu Zhaoshi also sent a letter to Feng Xu, the envoy of Lingnan Province, in which he omitted any advice and only reported the current situation.
This matter was shocking and there was a high probability that Feng Xu would detain him. Lu Zhaoshi subconsciously did not want too many people to know that he was making an enemy of all the aristocratic families.
Wei Shutong was a special envoy, and through him, advice might reach the heaven directly.
As expected, when Wei Shutong delivered Lu Zhaoshi's advice to the capital along with a secret memorial, Feng Xu read Lu Zhaoshi's report and did not take it seriously.
After some time, it was mentioned briefly in routine official documents.
I'm glad that he mentioned it, so it wasn't a mistake. Otherwise, the Lingnan Dao Chaoji Envoy would have been replaced.
The emperor, his ministers and his two ministers all worked together with one mind and one strength, formulating strategies overnight and setting the rules for the Lingnan Special Administrative Region and several red lines.
In order to make policies more reasonable and legal, we also developed five-year and ten-year plans.
As soon as this template came out, the emperor and his ministers suddenly realized that the governance of the Tang Dynasty should also have short-term goals and long-term plans, so that all work can be carried out around the goals.
Time passed by unknowingly, and the king and his ministers did not feel tired at all. They discussed the details with great interest and prepared to make a big splash to start the year.
The personal eunuch came in carrying a food box. The sweet aroma of brown sugar and eggs filled their nostrils, and several people's stomachs growled at the same time.
"Hmph, let's see what kind of waves they can make now!" Tian Khan was eating the brown sugar eggs and was in a very happy mood.
Fu Zhong sent several boxes of brown sugar one after another. The Queen drank a bowl of red date soup every day to replenish her qi and blood. Now her complexion is rosy and much better than before.
During the Chinese New Year, the Empress Dowager filled two small jars and the Khan gave them to Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui.
He was the only one among all the ministers who got it. Yuchi Jingde and Cheng Zhijie didn't get it, and they were extremely envious.
Everyone knows that it is produced in Lingnan, it is not easy to obtain, and you can’t buy it even if you have money.
In order to exchange for more rice, Fu Zhong sold all the rice at high prices except for the one he used to nourish the Empress, just to save more people.
Many nobles in the capital secretly received brown sugar as a gift from their subordinates and ate it. They thought it was a good thing.
But after all, it is not as prestigious as the one bestowed by the Khan.
"Your Majesty, the Sino-Agricultural Ministry should send people to study as soon as possible. The sowing is about to begin, and the Sino-Agricultural Ministry should also move around and cannot stay at home." Fang Xuanling drank the sugar water in one gulp.
Agriculture is the foundation of our country, and the Sino-Agricultural Temple should also take a step forward.
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