Chapter 1027 Actively Demanding Progress
Cao Yi had just returned to Pingcheng from Dongmugen Mountain.
Comparing the two, I still prefer Pingcheng.
They are both grasslands, but the differences are huge.
The grass in the north grows too sparsely, and a lot of sand is exposed between the grass. Only the riverside and the foothills grow better, and there are not many farmlands here.
The pasture here in Pingcheng is much denser. After flowering, it even gives people a pleasant feeling, with bees flying around and busy.
People from the Shanyu Protectorate even helped Yunzhong County train a large number of beekeepers.
Honey has always been one of the main specialties of the grasslands. In the past, we mainly relied on collecting wild honey, but now artificial bees are kept.
This technology is also relatively advanced in the Central Plains.
Beehives were recorded by Zhang Hua in the former Jin Dynasty in a book called "Natural History". They appeared only a short time ago. It was probably during the Jin Dynasty that some people tried to capture wild bees. Before that, they were mostly released in the wild.
A large amount of honey and beeswax have appeared in Pingchengdong City. The price is definitely much higher than that of grain, meat and milk, but compared with the price of honey from the Central Plains, it is not worth mentioning.
Today Cao Yi met Xu Chengzhi who personally escorted a large number of livestock, slaves, leather, bird feathers and honey to Pingcheng.
Xu Chengzhi was a native of Dongguan, Xuzhou. He worked in the administration of Xuzhou and served many Xuzhou rulers.
The master of the curtain changed frequently, but he continued to work in charge of governance.
He belongs to Wang Yan, and it has been Wang Yan's arrangement to serve as the great farmer in Liangcheng. It has been almost a year now.
"Young prisoner." After seeing Cao Yi, Xu Chengzhi took the lead in saluting.
Theoretically speaking, the great farmers of Liangcheng State have no rank, and those who do have official rank are the official rank of Dai State, which is not the same system as that of the Central Plains. However, after the Shanyu Protectorate had been deeply involved in the three counties of Yunzhong, Mayi, and Liangcheng for several years, starting from the time when Dai Gong concurrently served as deputy governor, several people successively held concurrent posts in the shogunate.
For example, the shogunate was divided into left and right chief historians. The left chief historian was still He Lun, and the right chief historian was Wang Feng, the deputy minister of the country.
For another example, the shogunate was divided into left and right Sima. The left Sima was Sun He, and the right Sima was Yu Ju, the general of Daiguo Zhenxi.
Under the two of them, there is one person each who joins the army, works as a lieutenant, and is a supervisor.
This purpose is, firstly, to blur the boundaries between the Shanyu Protectorate and the Daiguo court, and secondly, to allow Dai people to share power and enter the system to better mobilize Daiguo's resources.
They are not acting as dukes. As long as they hold an official position, they still hold the power of a place. Who cares who is above you?
At the beginning, you may not be able to adapt to it psychologically, or you may miss old friends, or you may feel that there is a difference between Hu and Han, so a process of adaptation is required.
Emperor Daliang's reforms have always been gradual, rather than complete in one step, leaving you with ample buffer time.
Therefore, the position of Liangcheng Da Nong has an official rank under the unspoken rules: the sixth rank, which is two levels lower than the Shaofu Shaojian (the fifth rank).
"Hongdao, given the relationship between you and me, why do you need to be like this?" Cao Yi helped Xu Chengzhi up and scolded him.
Xu Chengzhi's eyes lit up and he asked in a low voice: "Tianshi——"
"Hey, let's not talk about the past anymore." Cao Yi coughed, feeling a little embarrassed.
Tianshi Dao has always been suppressed and was scornfully called "monster thieves" by the Jin court. What was the difference after the founding of the Liang Dynasty?
When I was a minister of the Jin Dynasty, I brutally suppressed the rebellion of the Tianshi Taoist disciples.
Xu Chengzhi's uncle, Dongguan Xu Ning and Xu Anqi, were Bao Liang's disciples.
Bao Liang was proficient in the art of corpse dissection. During the Yongjia period, he moved south with a large number of disciples, disciples and their families, as well as Xu Ning and Zang Kun, the wealthy Xuzhou families, and opened a museum to teach alchemy and corpse dissection.
A few years ago, Bao Liang saw that Ge Hong had "extraordinary Taoist skills", so he married his daughter Bao Gu as his second wife, and the couple studied alchemy and medicine together.
Old father-in-law Bao Liang is still studying autopsy, because he is getting older and has to think about how to transcend the world after death.
Xu Chengzhi did not follow him south, but he was indeed a serious disciple of the Heavenly Master.
Cao Yi didn't know if he had opened a restaurant privately to recruit disciples.
Don't let a bunch of Tuoba Xianbei learn Taoism. If a strong wind comes on the battlefield, wouldn't it be ruined?
So, he said earnestly: "Hongdao, I have collected the livestock, raw mouth, and beeswax you brought, as much as you can. You will be an official in the future, and don't mess around. I think you are quite capable and thoughtful. Isn’t it good to keep it on the right path and protect the people so that they can live and work in peace and contentment?”
"You can transcend the world, but you can't transcend yourself, alas." Xu Chengzhi was a little unwilling to hear this.
To be honest, he almost wants to run away to Jiangnan. Taoism makes me happy.
"I don't like the Tao of the Heavenly Master today." When Cao Yi saw it, he warned in a low voice: "He is a Taibai star spirit with extraordinary magical power. You can't defeat him."
Xu Chengzhi was shocked.
The Taibai Star Spirit is so powerful that it cannot be defeated. However, it would be great if we built a kingdom of God today. Wouldn’t it be much easier to rule the world than it is now?
Seeing that Xu Chengzhi had been frightened, Cao Yi said no more, but looked at the men and women squatting under the wall and asked: "Where did the students come from, and why are they so thin?"
"It was presented to Mrs. Wang after the tribes returned from the Western Expedition. Mrs. Tai was spending the summer in Liangcheng, so she ordered me to bring people to bring the survivors here, a total of 1,200 people. I heard that some of them were killed on the way and refused to be sacrificed. In the tribe of cattle and sheep, all the nobles were killed "The troops are divided into several places. These 1,200 people come from three different tribes." Xu Chengzhi said: "Aren't they all very thin after traveling a long distance? They are all hungry and not sick." ”
Cao Yi nodded and said, "It depends on their fate. If they are still alive when they reach Jinyang, they can survive." "How come the young manor also buys slaves? But there are not enough official slaves?" Xu Chengzhi asked.
Official slaves cultivated official fields, which was an important part of official income. The sources were firstly captives and secondly criminals.
"What does the gardeners of the Shaofu cultivate the fields have to do with the servants of the officials?" Cao Ni shook his head and said, "This is for grazing and farming."
The Shaofu is the emperor's purse. It provides various supplies for banquets and sacrifices on weekdays. During festivals, it provides grain, meat, fruits and vegetables to officials for welfare, and their salaries are not paid by them.
"Where to farm?" Xu Chengzhi asked.
"Huaishang."
"How many people will die?" Xu Chengzhi was shocked.
"The young master wants to share the emperor's worries." Cao Yi said sternly: "Huaibei has been invaded many times and is sparsely populated. Huainan is newly acquired, and it has a vast land and sparsely populated areas. This kind of fertile land can be used for pasture and farming. I told you not to do it. If you don’t listen to Tian Zuixin’s Taoism, what is the way to be an official?”
"What's your intention?" Xu Cheng said subconsciously.
Cao Yi was stifled, then laughed and said: "You know Hongdao very well. The young master Yu Gong has reported to the emperor, please build a garden on the Huaihe River, and provide five thousand households to graze cattle and horses, and cultivate farmland. I was about to go back. , I had no choice, so I stayed a few more days to buy some raw meat.”
"If the Hu people go there, half of them will die within two years," Xu Chengzhi said.
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Cao Yi smiled when he heard this and said, "I don't think you are very strong, you are a young man. How much do you plan to pay for it?"
"Two pieces of miscellaneous silk and one person, regardless of gender, age or child." Xu Chengzhi replied.
"I brought Hanoi silk and Qinghe silk, one by one. I bought them all." Cao Yi said.
Xu Chengzhi calculated it and found that Hanoi silk and Qinghe silk were indeed more valuable, so he nodded and said: "Okay. But you have to ask for permission."
"Mrs. Tai," Cao Yi corrected.
"I have to ask Mrs. Tai for instructions." Xu Chengzhi immediately corrected his slip of the tongue.
Cao Yi smiled with satisfaction and said again: "Look, it's just a piece of beard, so what if you die? Just buy it again. The strong ones will stay in the north and resell them to officials and private people, and the weak ones will make up for the loss. You can’t do it even if you want to.”
"Let the barbarians know that the price will increase next time." Xu Chengzhi said.
"Whatever." Cao Yi waved his hand nonchalantly.
One household in Henan, which has been operating for many years, only received four and a half bolts of silk. There was a lot of silk, but not so much food.
But he quickly thought of something and asked: "I have collected so much silk for others, how can I use it?"
"Nowadays, people also like to enjoy themselves, and there are many people wearing silk clothes." Xu Chengzhi said: "Moreover, there are Hu merchants from the Western Regions who accept this."
"What? Hu Shang? Where did you come from?" Cao Yi was a little surprised.
"They came from the northern grasslands." Xu Chengzhi said matter-of-factly: "Cao Gong wouldn't think that Hu merchants only go to Liangzhou or Hezhou, right? As far as I know, once the roads to Liangzhou and Hezhou are blocked, there will be Hu merchants to go to the grasslands. , and even as far away as Buyeo and Goguryeo.”
"That's it." Cao Yi said with emotion.
"You only get two bolts of silk from selling a lifetime of silk for someone, but when you resell these silks to Hu merchants from the Western Regions, their profits greatly increase. As for how much you earn, I don't know." Xu Chengzhi said: "And the Hu merchants from the Western Regions Learn about it in the hands of someone else There are a lot of silks and they are sold relatively cheaply. In the past two years, more and more caravans have been traveling to the northern grassland. Mr. Cao, you will know if you go to the summer palace. There are many treasures in the palace, which are no worse than those of aristocratic families. .”
"Summer Palace?"
"It's Liangcheng Palace." Xu Chengzhi said: "When the summer heat is hot, the Tai Madam and her father-in-law go to Liangcheng to inspect and gather various ministries. In winter, when the snow is falling heavily, they inspect the Changchun Palace. There is a warm soup there, so it is also called 'Winter. Palace'."
Cao Yi nodded.
Unknowingly, Dai Guo was able to steadily sell silk. According to Xu Chengzhi, the Hu merchants in the Western Regions are "foolish and rich", and the Xianbei people must have earned more than the imperial court. Of course, no one in this trade chain is losing money, it's just that they earn more and earn less, even if they pay high prices Hu merchants from the Western Regions who bought silk could sell it at a higher price when they returned home. Maybe they were the ones who made the most money.
"That's all." Cao Yi looked at the sky and said, "Please inform Madam Tai as soon as possible. I will wait here for a few days."
"Okay."
"Your honey and beeswax are of good quality." Cao Yi added, "Send them to the post in a while, and someone will give you money."
"We also charge money." Xu Chengzhi nodded repeatedly: "Yongjia Tongbao is still used by many people in Pingcheng and Shengle."
"From now on it will be 'Kaiping Tongbao'." Cao Yi said: "When the emperor inspected Tianshui, he heard that there was copper in Longxi, so he might have to set up a money prison. There will be many Kaiping Tongbao in the future."
"The five baht coins are still being used..." Xu Chengzhi smiled and said: "The assistant prime minister, Prince, is stationing troops in Shuofang, and it is very likely that he will have to fight with Liu Lugu and Liu Hu. In the next few months, there will be many prisoners. If Cao Gong comes here again, Please prepare more money and silk.”
Cao Yi laughed and said, "I'm just afraid that I won't need money on behalf of others."
Xu Chengzhi thought about these words carefully and was filled with admiration.
Modern people can get wealth beyond their imagination through doing business, so why rob?
Of course, if the Central Plains is weak and they go south to break into the famous city of Dayi and seize a huge amount of wealth, that is another matter.
(End of chapter)