Chapter 545 Time flies

Chapter 545 Time flies

Chapter 545 Time flies
Ten days later, Xiao Cong returned to Yanling again and the negotiations between the two sides continued.

Xiao Cong received the final reply from the emperor, which was of course a compromise reply. The emperor agreed to assign the five counties of Jiangxia, Baling, Changsha, Lingling and Hengshan to the Jiangnan Road, which would be under the jurisdiction of the Jiangnan General Administration, in exchange for the seven counties of Huainan.

Regarding the appointment of provincial governors, the emperor insisted that Xiao Xia had the right to recommend and be appointed by the court. The appointment of other officials had to be filed with the court. This was actually a face-saving measure for the court. The real power was in the hands of Xiao Xia, and the court only maintained the image of the Ministry of Personnel on the surface.

In terms of financial power, the emperor agreed to Xiao Xia's plan. Xiao Xia certainly knew that if all the financial power was taken away, the court might not accept it, so he proposed a decreasing plan.

Within five years, the financial revenue of Jiangnan Province will be temporarily under the jurisdiction of the Jiangnan Province General Administration Office, but after five years, the 3:7 split will be restored, and after ten years, it will be restored to a 5:5 split.

In fact, Xiao Xia asked for all the fiscal revenue for five years, and restored the previous 3:7 split after five years. He even gave the court a long-term expectation, reducing it to 50:50 after ten years. Regardless of whether it could be achieved or not, Xiao Xia at least was not so tough in his attitude and took a lower profile. He only asked for all the fiscal revenue for five years, that is, from the tenth year of Daye, the normal 3:7 split would be restored.

The emperor agreed to Xiao Xia's plan.

Xiao Cong pondered for a moment and said, "When I returned to Jiangdu this time, I thought of one thing. If all the docks in Jiangdu belong to Your Highness, then how can the court transfer the materials purchased from overseas or shipped from Bashu? So I have to negotiate with Your Highness. The court needs a dock."

Xiao Xia nodded, "I can understand that, but I want to know whether the negotiation on the dock will be decided by the Prime Minister or by the court."

Xiao Cong smiled slightly and said, "The emperor will handle the major issues of principle, and I will have full authority over the remaining trivial matters. The emperor also made this clear in his reply."

Xiao Xia said slowly: "In fact, I have negotiated with the governor of Pengcheng County before, exchanging the right to use the dock for the right to use the coal field. How about this! I can hand over half of the ownership of the dock to the court in exchange for 10,000 hectares of land in the northern part of Pengcheng County."

Xiao Cong hesitated for a moment and asked, "Is there a county town on this ten thousand hectares of land?"

"Of course there is no county town!"

Xiao Xia asked his men to spread out the map and pointed at it, saying, "Prime Minister, please look, there is a depression to the north of Pengcheng County and to the east of Liu County and Pei County. Because there is coal underneath, the land is very poor and even weeds can hardly grow. I want this depression. We have measured it and it is about 10,000 hectares."

Xiao Cong nodded, "This place will probably become a lake!"

Xiao Xia smiled and said, "Indeed, it will, but at least not within a hundred years."

Xiao Cong hesitated for a moment, then said happily: "It's not a big deal, I agree!"

Xiao Cong added: "The emperor is very interested in your explosive weapons. Can you provide them to the court? We can use them to deal with the Turkic cavalry and the Goguryeo people in the future."

Xiao Xia nodded, "I can't reveal the formula, but I can provide a large amount of finished products in exchange for the craftsmen and materials of the Luoyang Shipyard."

Of course, Xiao Cong would not provide iron fire mines. He would provide porcelain fire mines and rockets. In fact, porcelain fire mines were equipped with poisoned iron nails, and the explosion killing radius was three meters, which was equally powerful against Turkic cavalry.

Xiao Cong nodded slowly, "Then it's a deal!"

After repeated negotiations, the two sides finally reached an agreement. Xiao Xia signed and sealed the negotiation text, while Nan Yan Xiao Cong signed and sealed the negotiation text on behalf of the court.

Soon, the imperial court introduced a series of county adjustments. For example, the scope of Jiangdu County was reduced to the area north of the Yangtze River. The part on the south bank of the Yangtze River was made an independent county called Yanling County.

Secondly, Huainan Road was established, which governed the eight counties in northern Jiangbei, including Jiangdu County.

In addition, the Lianghu Road was split into three, forming Jingxiang Road and Qianzhong Road. At the same time, Jiangxia County, Baling County, Changsha County, Hengshan County and Lingling were merged into Jiangnan Road and placed under the jurisdiction of the Jiangnan General Administration.

As for the 10,000 hectares of land to the north of Pengcheng County, it was awarded to Xiao Xia as the fief of King Jin, rather than as an enclave of Jiangnan Road.

As the court and the Prince of Jin reached an agreement, the policy of reducing the power of the princes came to nothing and time slowly settled.

Time flies, and it was the autumn of the seventh year of Daye. These three years seemed to have pressed the pause button, and many crises that were about to explode eased. This was because the Guanlong nobles calmed down, and they finally realized that the time was not right, and that any premature struggle would only result in the loss of their wealth and resources.

In particular, they invested nearly two million strings of wealth in Yang Ling, but in the end, it all went down the drain, causing them heavy losses. In the final analysis, it was the people's tolerance. Knowing that the grain in the charity granary was embezzled, the people had no choice but to endure it. Hundreds of thousands of people died in the excavation of the Yongji Canal and the construction of the Great Wall. Hebei lost nearly one million people in just two years, but it did not trigger a large-scale rebellion.

However, many farmers whose families were destroyed turned into bandits, making the bandits in various places gradually stronger. Dou Jiande of Gaojipo had more than 30,000 troops, Liu Badao of Douzigang and Zhai Rang of Wagangzhai each had tens of thousands of troops.

It's just that they were all relatively low-key, either occupying the mountains as kings, or lurking in the wild and lawless areas, farming and being self-sufficient, and did not attract the attention of the court.

Only the Baohui Society made another big mistake. Last year, Gao Zhu led 30,000 troops to capture Beihai County and occupied seven counties. The Emperor Yang Guang was furious and ordered Zhang Xutuo to lead 30,000 troops to attack the Baohui Society. Zhang Xutuo won three battles and the Baohui Society was defeated miserably.

Internal strife also broke out within the Baohui Society. Gao Shida accused Gao Zhu of incompetence and recklessness, which led to the Baohui Society facing a catastrophe. He then killed Gao Zhu and led 2,000 remaining troops to escape to Xushan in the south of Gaomi County and changed their name to Xushan Army. This meant that the Baohui Society, which had lasted for nearly 40 years, was completely destroyed.

That morning, Yang Lihua called her son-in-law Li Min and daughter Yuwen Eying and handed them a rosewood box.

"This is all my shop and title deeds, officially given to you and your wife."

Yang Lihua has decided to go to Yanling County to join her nephew Xiao Xia. She divided all her wealth into two parts. She took all the portable wealth such as gold, silver and jewelry to Yanling County, and left the real estate to her daughter and son-in-law, including shops, manors, houses, etc.

"Mom, are you really going to Jiangnan?"

Yang Lihua nodded and smiled, "The winter in the north is too cold. I am still a little sad. Your brother has written to me several times asking me to come over. It is rare for him to be so filial. I will take Li Jingxun with me. You and your wife can bring Hua'er to live with you for a few months next year."

Li Min and his wife were helpless. Their mother wanted to go to Jiangnan three years ago, but it has been delayed until now. Their mother’s health is not good either, so going to Jiangnan might be a good thing.

"When will mother leave?" Li Min asked.

"Tomorrow morning, I will take Xia'er's large ship and head south. I will be escorted by soldiers and warriors, so my safety will be fine. You don't have to worry."

Xiao Xia considered everything very carefully and specially sent two large ships with a capacity of 10,000 shi and 500 cavalrymen to welcome his aunt to the south, and the emperor also agreed.

At this time, Yang Lihua thought of something else and reminded Li Min: "Remember, the property I give you is only for you and your wife. It will be inherited by Huaer and has nothing to do with the Li family."

Li Min's family is huge, but Li Min is not the main branch. His grandfather Li Yuan is the brother of the head of the family, Li Mu. Li Mu set a rule that any member of the family who becomes prosperous must support the family and share the wealth with the family.

The idea itself was good, but because the family was too large, Li Mu had seven or eight brothers, and he himself had ten sons. There were too many descendants, and by the time the second generation Li Hun became the head of the family, it was simply impossible to do this, and the family often struggled for various interests.

Li Min was born out of wedlock. His father died for his country when he was very young. Without his father's support, Li Min suffered all kinds of unfair treatment from his family.

But Li Min happened to be extremely handsome and was recognized as one of the three most handsome men of the new generation in the Sui Dynasty, the other two being Yuwen Shiji and Yuan Wendu.

Li Min was favored by the eldest princess Yang Lihua, who recruited him as her son-in-law. Li Min quickly rose to a high position, and the other members of the family were quite jealous of him.

However, the head of the family, Li Hun, took a fancy to Yang Lihua's wealth that was comparable to that of a country, and since he had no son to inherit it, this fortune of tens of millions of taels would eventually fall into the hands of Li Min.

In order to get this wealth, Li Hun once again strictly enforced his father's family rules. Family members were not allowed to own private property without permission unless it was given by the family. Everything belonged to the family and was distributed by the family.

This family rule means that the wealth you earn with great effort is not yours. It must first belong to the family and then be distributed to you by the family. Only then is it yours.

The Li family's knife has been sharpened, waiting to slaughter Li Min, the fat pig that has not yet grown up.

Yang Lihua knew the Li family's intentions very well, so she gave half of her wealth to her nephew Xiao Xia, and took out a large amount of money to support her second brother Yang Guang and Yang Liang in their fight for the throne.

Her wealth has shrunk by 60%, but it is still extremely spectacular. It is impossible for her to give nothing to her daughter and son-in-law, so she had to give them special instructions.

(End of this chapter)