Chapter 417 Another Talent
Chapter 417 Another Talent
Of course, there were officials in the Jiangnan Dao General Administration Office as well. They were appointed by the imperial court and transferred from various places. Xiao Xia submitted a list of names to the Ministry of Personnel, which were basically the officials from his former Liangzhou General Administration Office.
After the abolition of the local general administration offices, officials were dispersed to various places to take up sinecure positions, receiving a salary but with nothing to do. Because there were no positions with real power given to them, they could only serve as sinecures temporarily and take up positions when real vacancies arose.
But to Xiao Xia's surprise, the first idle official to take office was Gao Jiong.
Gao Jiong was demoted again because of the assassination of the crown prince. He did not take good care of the crown prince, which angered Emperor Yang Guang, who dismissed him from his post as Minister of Works and Commissioner of Canal Excavation.
Gao Jiong was originally demoted to the position of Beijia of Nanhai County, a remote and powerless idle official position, but with the strong intercession and recommendation of Crown Prince Yang Zhao, Gao Jiong was eventually appointed as the Chief Clerk of the Prince of Jin's Palace.
The Chief Secretary of the Prince of Jin's Palace is not the Chief Secretary of the Jiangnan Road General Administration Office. In fact, the Chief Secretary of the Prince of Jin's Palace is also a sinecure. But who is Gao Jiong? He served as the prime minister of the Sui Dynasty for 30 years and was the first meritorious minister in the establishment of the Sui Dynasty.
In terms of ability, no one in the Sui Dynasty could compare with him. It was only because Gao Jiong was Yang Yong's father-in-law and the key to Yang Yong's smooth ascension to the throne that Yang Guang reluctantly allowed Gao Jiong to continue to serve as the right prime minister in order to maintain the stability of the government after he ascended the throne.
Once Yang Guang firmly established himself on the throne, he would depose him without hesitation.
But Xiao Xia had no prejudice against Gao Jiong. On the contrary, he warmly welcomed Gao Jiong's arrival.
He immediately met Gao Jiong in the official residence.
Gao Ying is over sixty years old this year, but he is in good health, energetic, and well-maintained, and looks like he is about fifty years old.
Gao Jiong laughed and said, "The emperor took pity on me and did not send me to Lingnan, but let me live in Jiangnan in my old age."
Xiao Xia smiled and shook his head, saying, "Lian Po was still able to lead troops to fight at the age of eighty, but Lord Gao is only in his early sixties, how can you say he is old?"
Gao Jiong was not hypocritical and said frankly: "If Your Highness wants to use me, I will do my best to serve Your Highness!"
Xiao Xia pondered for a moment and said, "At that time in Hexi, the emperor told me that except for the position of crown prince, I could take whatever I wanted in the world. I chose the Jiangnan Road. Can you guess why I chose the Jiangnan Road, Lord Gao?"
Gao Jiong smiled slightly, "It should be related to the late emperor!"
Xiao Xia was startled, "How did Mr. Gao know?"
"The late emperor told me that he entrusted you with the important task of resolving the four crises of the Great Sui Dynasty. Your Highness chose the Jiangnan Road. Wasn't it to bridge the differences between the north and the south?"
Xiao Xia nodded, "Mr. Gao is right. I chose Jiangnan Road to complete the first task that my grandfather gave me, which is to integrate the north and the south. At least, I can completely ease the conflict between the north and the south during my tenure."
"The emperor, like you, also wants to resolve four crises: the control of the military and political affairs of the Sui Dynasty by the Guanlong nobles, the distrust and separation between the north and the south, the hostility and confrontation between Guanlong and Shandong, and the invasion of Liaodong by Goguryeo.
Your father is also doing it, but he is too impatient and the order is wrong. Relocation should be the last step, but he did it as the first step. Your Highness, I am very worried. The emperor underestimated the strength of the Guanlong nobles. I suspect that the assassination of the prince this time is related to the Guanlong nobles. "
"why?"
"After the prince was assassinated, I conducted an investigation and found the assassin's body. I also found a banknote worth five thousand strings of cash between his clothes. I investigated and found that the banknote was issued by Gu Shushen's family, which means that Gu Shushen's family hired someone to kill the prince.
Is it possible? A small local gentry dared to assassinate His Royal Highness the Crown Prince? It was completely a frame-up on the Shen family. Someone deposited 5,000 strings of money in the name of the Shen family and transferred it to the murderer.
I asked the Shen family again, and they said they never kept any money in the shop. Their money was stored in the cellar and rotted away.
"What's the end?"
"Finally, the King of Qi issued an order to execute the entire Shen family!"
Gao Jiong sighed, "The thief is crying thief!" "Didn't Lord Gao say that the assassination was related to the Guanlong nobles? How come it is related to the King of Qi?"
"What I mean is that the Prince of Qi is the most likely suspect in the assassination of the Crown Prince, but the nobles of Guanlong are behind the Prince of Qi. The Prince of Qi took the initiative to ask to stay in Chang'an, which shows that the nobles of Guanlong wanted to push the Prince of Qi to the throne, but I have no evidence, I am just guessing."
"But I heard that the King of Qi was not able to stay in Chang'an, but was appointed as the governor of Hebei Province."
"This is because the emperor is worried about the prince of Qi staying in Chang'an. Perhaps the emperor has heard some rumors."
Xiao Xia nodded, "How is my elder brother now?"
"The prince's stab wound is not a problem. The key is that the arrow is poisonous and it is difficult to remove. The imperial physician said that it can only be removed bit by bit and it will take time. I don't know if the poison can be removed in the end. I can only leave it to fate!"
Xiao Xia nodded silently. He took out a letter of appointment from the drawer and handed it to Gao Jiong, saying, "From now on, Mr. Gao will serve as the Chief Clerk of the General Administration Office of Jiangnan Road. He will also serve as the Minister of the Secretariat, and will be the chief official in charge of government affairs. The Tongpan is Liu Wenjing. I am considering letting him serve as the Transport Commissioner. He has been in charge of finances. Pei Wen'an will be the Chief Clerk of the Army, in charge of military affairs."
"What is the relationship between the chief officer and the magistrate?"
"It's the relationship between the Shangshu and the Shilang. The Shangshu doesn't care about practical matters, he only reviews and approves documents. The specific matters are handled by the Tongpan. The documents issued to the counties must be sealed by both the chief official and the Tongpan to be effective."
"But don't the counties report directly to the court?"
"Jiangnan Road is a little special. There is an additional Shangshu Xingtai. Therefore, the counties in Jiangnan Road cannot report directly to the court. The court can directly issue edicts to the counties, but the counties must first report through the Shangshu Xingtai, and then the Shangshu Xingtai will report to the court.
But if the imperial court's order conflicts with the General Administration's order, then the General Administration's order must be followed, and then the General Administration and the imperial court will coordinate. In short, the counties cannot report to higher authorities."
Gao Jiong was truly shocked. This power was even greater than that of the previous General Administration Office. It was almost a semi-separatist state.
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "I'm going to inspect the canal this afternoon. Mr. Gao, come with me to take a look!"
Han Canal is an ancient name. After Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty reopened the Han Canal, it was renamed Shanyang Du. However, Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty initially considered dredging the canal only for military purposes, not for water transport or civilian use, so it was of a relatively low level.
When Emperor Yang Guang decided to dig the Tongji Canal, the level of Shanyang Du was obviously lower than that of Tongji Canal. If it was not further renovated, Shanyang Du would become an intestinal obstruction to the Tongji Canal.
In addition to continuing to transform Shanyang Du, the Jiangnan Canal has also become a target that must be dredged on a large scale.
It's like a person is dressed in branded suits from head to toe, but wearing a pair of slippers on his feet, which ruins the overall image.
As the governor of Jiangnan Road, it was Xiao Xia's unshirkable responsibility to transform Shanyang Du and dredge the Jiangnan Canal.
A fleet of official ships sailed northward. Xiao Xia stood on the front ship and looked at both sides of the canal.
Gao Jiong said slowly, "When the Crown Prince was dredging the Tongji Canal, he adopted the principle that the laborers should not cross states, and later further deepened it to the principle of not crossing counties. The laborers all started work in their respective counties, and those who did not participate in the labor had to pay money and grain.
Doing so is, firstly, fairer and, secondly, reduces the mortality rate of laborers. With sufficient money and food guarantee, the enthusiasm of laborers will be greatly improved, which will also speed up the excavation progress.
However, there are great hidden dangers in doing so. If you encounter corrupt officials, they will increase the amount of money and grain, and then deduct it at every level to line their own pockets, so the supervision of official administration must keep up.
We were doing well, but now the crown prince has been assassinated and I have been demoted. The construction of the Tongji Canal has been replaced by Yuwen Shu and Pei Yun. These two people are cruel and have no regard for the people's strength. They have relaxed the constraints on officials. If the Tongji Canal is built, countless people will be ruined and their families will be destroyed, which will cause public resentment and will inevitably sow the seeds of civil unrest."
Having said that, Gao Ying let out a long sigh.
(End of this chapter)