Chapter 520 Meeting Yuan Shi
Chapter 520 Meeting Yuan Shi
Xiao Xia immediately summoned Li Luming, who said ashamedly, "I failed in my duty and missed important intelligence. I also think I am not qualified to be the head of intelligence, so I resign from my post, Your Highness!"
Xiao Xia nodded, "I am considering splitting the Intelligence and Security Agency into two. Let me make it clear that this is not targeting you. Originally, letting You Junda lead 3,000 troops as the Internal Affairs Army was just a temporary measure. Last month, I planned to let You Junda lead the army to Kuaiji County to prevent the Shanyue rebels from rising again."
Li Luming smiled bitterly and said, "I will obey all your arrangements, Your Highness!"
Xiao Xia said slowly: "I have decided to set up a general security bureau, mainly to guard against enemy spies, and secondly to protect the safety of senior officials. It will not only have soldiers, but also warriors with strong martial arts. After much thought, you are the most suitable!"
Li Luming was not pretentious and immediately bowed and said, "I obey your order!"
Xiao Xia then summoned Zhang Liang and Wei Zheng.
Both of them are relatively low-key. Zhang Liang is in charge of the review of major criminal cases, but before that, he had been in charge of intelligence and did a good job. Xiao Xia decided to re-employ him in charge of intelligence.
"We don't have many problems in Jiangnan now, but there are problems in the north. I'm afraid that the Sui Dynasty will slowly enter a period of turmoil from now on, so the importance of intelligence is self-evident. Now that you have taken over the intelligence again, I hope that within one or two years, the current situation of sluggish intelligence will be completely changed."
Zhang Liang clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness is looking forward to this, I will do my best to get the intelligence!"
"Go! Hand over to Li Luming, and then I will delegate power to you and provide you with sufficient financial resources. I look forward to your latest report!"
Zhang Liang bowed, turned around and left.
Wei Zheng sat outside waiting for an interview. Wei Zheng was the third most powerful person in the Shangshu Xingtai, after Gao Jiong and Liu Wenjing, but he was a down-to-earth doer and handled a lot of trivial matters by himself.
For example, the charity granary was previously under the charge of the Inspectorate. After Xiao Xia established the principle of not pursuing past offenses, the cleanup of the charity granary was changed from the Inspectorate to the Shangshu Xingtai. Wei Zheng was given full authority to promote the matter. In addition, Wei Zheng was also responsible for the smelting of iron ore, the mining and transportation of coal, the establishment of the Salt and Iron Supervisory, etc. He was very busy every day.
At this time, Fang Xuanling stepped forward and whispered to him: "Sima Wei, His Highness invites you in!"
Wei Zheng quickly stood up, walked quickly into the official room, bowed and saluted, "Your Highness, I am honored to see you!"
Xiao Xia looked at Wei Zheng in front of him and thought of the Taoist priest back then. After several years of training, Wei Zheng was now fully capable of standing on his own. He had outstanding abilities and everyone acknowledged that he was an excellent civil servant.
"Sima Wei, please take a seat!"
Wei Zheng sat down, and Xiao Xia asked with a smile, "How is the progress of the charity granary cleanup?"
I bowed and said, "Your Highness, the cleanup of charity granaries in various places has entered the comprehensive cleanup period. It is estimated that in another month, 90% of the charity granaries will be cleaned up. By September at the latest, all the charity granaries in Jiangnan Road will be closed, and the hidden dangers will be completely eliminated."
"What good experiences do you have in solving the problem of charity granaries?" Xiao Xia asked with a smile.
Wei Zheng smiled slightly: "I think the most useful experience is two points. First, the successful solution of the charity granary in Jiangning County has a huge demonstration effect. Inspired by the demonstration of Jiangning County, farmers in other counties are no longer anxious or suspicious, but look forward to a quick liquidation. Everyone wants the sheepskin. The second is the principle of non-prosecution established by Your Highness. This has a great impact on officials. Officials want to quickly liquidate the charity granary, so they work very hard."
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "One is to let the farmers take advantage, and the other is to let the officials take advantage, so both sides are working hard."
"Your Highness is absolutely right. It is human nature to seek benefits and avoid harm, whether it is farmers or officials. As a next step, I suggest that Changping warehouses be established in each county, replacing charity warehouses with Changping warehouses, establishing a strict management system, and giving the power to open warehouses to the governor, so that it can truly play a role in disaster prevention."
"Yes, Sima Wei is becoming more and more insightful."
Xiao Xia praised him and changed the subject, "I asked you to come here today mainly to discuss the coal mines in Pengcheng County. Now honeycomb coal has been gradually promoted to the public, and the fourth coal transport fleet has been established. The coal supply will increase rapidly, but Sima Wei also knows that all coal fields are currently purchased in the name of private individuals, which is very unsafe. I am considering turning that large piece of land into government-owned, so that we can send troops to garrison."
"Your Highness, do you think Pengcheng County will agree?"
"Pengcheng County is not a big problem. The key is that the court may not agree. I thought about it for a long time and decided to use the leasing method. We leased a large area of coal fields in the name of the government. At the same time, we leased a dock to Pengcheng County. The two sides exchanged leases. This is only a nominal lease. In fact, each of them owns it."
Wei Zheng thought for a moment and said, "Even if it is leased, I'm afraid we can't send troops to station there. This is a taboo in the court. Your Highness should know this." "Of course I know this!"
Xiao Xia smiled faintly and said, "It's actually the same thing for soldiers to take off their military uniforms, change into samurai uniforms, and station in the name of a martial arts school."
Wei Zheng suddenly realized, "Your Highness, do you want me to go to Pengcheng County to discuss this matter?"
Xiao Xia nodded. "I appoint you as the dual plenipotentiary representative of the General Administration Office and the King of Jin. Go to Pengcheng County to discuss this matter with the other party's governor. If the other party is unwilling to lease or exchange, then I will buy all the coal fields in my name."
Wei Zheng bowed and said, "I will definitely fulfill my mission!"
Yuan Xiaoju finally arrived in Jiangdu. Without stopping for a moment, he immediately asked Yuan Wenzhen to contact Xiao Xia.
In the evening, Xiao Xia met Yuan Xiaoju in the official residence.
At this time, the mentality of both sides changed. Xiao Xia was no longer concerned about the Shanyue people running around. He was more concerned about Yang Ling's rebellion. His intuition told Xiao Xia that the Guanlong nobles would definitely stir up trouble behind the scenes.
Xiao Xia politely asked Yuan Xiaoju to sit down, "Thank you, Patriarch Yuan, for coming to Jiangdu in person. With your sincerity, I will no longer pursue the matter of Guanlong forces supporting the Shanyue people's rebellion."
Yuan Xiaoju smiled and said, "Even so, I still have to explain. Your Highness and I reached a consensus last December, but the cooperation with the Shanyue tyrants started before that. The first batch of armor was delivered to the Lan family in September. Our goal was to get the salt fields in Kuaiji County, and the other party specified that they would exchange it for weapons and armor."
Xiao Xia shook his head. "Master, please don't explain anymore. I know everything. I also got the handwritten letter that Yuanshou wrote to Lan Zhaotian. Let's forget about the past."
Yuan Xiaoju nodded gently, "Since Your Highness is so tolerant, we have decided to give up the salt industry in Jiangnan Province."
Xiao Xia changed the subject and said, "Let's talk about the rebellion of the Prince of Qi. Does the head of the Yuan family have any inside information you can tell me?"
Yuan Xiaoju smiled bitterly and said, "What I can tell Your Highness, Your Highness should already know. What Your Highness may not know is that the King of Qi has been secretly colluding with Baoguo."
"Can the Patriarch confirm this?"
Yuan Xiaoju nodded. "The King of Qi recruited 100,000 troops in one month. How could he have done it without the support of the National Protection Association?"
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "If there is no support from the Guanlong nobles, I'm afraid it won't be possible just relying on the National Protection Association."
"We did support the King of Qi with one million strings of cash, but we did not support him in rebellion, but in order to make him destroy the Baohui. Our business in Hebei was severely harassed by the Baohui. We originally occupied 90% of the salt market in Hebei, but because of the vicious competition and sabotage of the Baohui, our salt market share is less than 10%, and the rest has been taken away by the Baohui.
Not only salt, but also grain, cloth and other bulk goods purchases have been sabotaged by the Baohui Society. Last year, our business in Hebei lost two million strings of cash. So we applied to the emperor to support the King of Qi in suppressing the Baohui Society, and the emperor agreed. The problem is that the King of Qi broke his promise and used our money to expand his army and rebel, which made people angry! "
Xiao Xia smiled slightly, "You speak so eloquently, do you think the emperor will believe it?"
"This is a fact. All the agreements we have reached with the King of Qi require the destruction of the Baohui Society. Even if the imperial court destroys the King of Qi in the future, there will be no evidence of collusion between the Guanlong nobles and the King of Qi."
Xiao Xia said coldly: "This is where you are cunning. You are well aware of the ambition and eagerness of the King of Qi. In April, the King of Qi fell out with the noble families who supported him. He has become a wild beast without anyone to restrain him. His rebellious heart can no longer be concealed, and passers-by know it.
You chose to send him one million strings of cash at this time. Don't you know that this million strings of cash will be a great help to his rebellion? You did not leave any evidence, but your actions and the timing you chose are the best evidence!"
Yuan Xiaoju stared at Xiao Xia for a while, then laughed, "Let's not talk about the King of Qi, let's talk about His Highness!"
(End of this chapter)