Chapter 1027 Actively Requesting Progress

Chapter 1027 Actively Requesting Progress

Chapter 1027 Actively Requesting 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, with a lot of sand exposed between the grass. Only along the river and at the foot of the mountain does it grow well, and the few farmlands are also developed in this area.

The grass in Pingcheng is much denser. After blooming, it even gives people a pleasing feeling, with bees flying around and busy.

People from the Shanyu Protectorate even helped Yunzhong County train a large number of beekeepers.

Honey is one of the main specialties of the grassland. In the past, it mainly relied on collecting wild honey, but now it is artificially raised by bees.

This technology is also relatively advanced in the Central Plains.

Beehives were recorded by Zhang Hua of the Jin Dynasty in a book called "Bowuzhi". They have only appeared for a short time. It should be during the Jin Dynasty that people tried to collect wild bees, and before that, most of them were released into the wild.

A large amount of honey and beeswax has appeared in Pingcheng East City. The selling price is definitely much higher than that of grain, meat and milk, but compared with the price of honey in the Central Plains, it is not worth mentioning.

Today, Cao Yi met Xu Chengzhi, who was personally escorting a large number of livestock, slaves, leather, bird feathers and honey to Pingcheng.

Xu Chengzhi was from Dongguan, Xuzhou. He once worked as an official in the Xuzhou government and served many Xuzhou lords.

The chief administrator often changed, but the governor continued to do his job.

He is Wang Yan's man, and it was Wang Yan's arrangement that he was appointed as the Minister of Agriculture of Liangcheng. It has been almost a year since then.

"Young Supervisor." After seeing Cao Yi, Xu Chengzhi was the first to salute.

Theoretically, the Great Farmer of Liangcheng State had no rank, and if there was one, it was an official rank of Dai State, which was not in the same system as the Central Plains. However, after several years of cultivating the three counties of Yunzhong, Mayi, and Liangcheng in the Shanyu Protectorate, starting with the Duke of Dai concurrently serving as the Deputy Protector, several people successively took up concurrent positions in the Shogunate.

For example, the shogunate had left and right chief secretaries. The left chief secretary was still He Lun, and the right chief secretary was Wang Feng, the prime minister of Dai.

For 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 the Dai Kingdom.

Under the two men, there was one military officer, one secretary to the imperial court, and one supervisor.

The purpose was, firstly, to blur the boundaries between the Chanyu Protectorate and the Dai court, and secondly, to allow the people of Dai to share power and enter the system in order to better mobilize the resources of the Dai.

They are not officials. As long as they hold an official position, they still hold power in a place. Who cares who is above them?

At first, they may not be able to adapt psychologically, or they may miss the old favors, or they may think that there are differences between the Hu and Han people, so they need a process of adaptation.

The reforms of the Emperor of Daliang have always been gradual, rather than all at once, leaving you with ample buffer time.

Therefore, the position of Liangcheng Danong has an official rank under the unspoken rule: the sixth rank, which is two levels lower than the Shaofu Shaojian (fifth rank).

"Hongdao, given the relationship between you and me, why do you have to do 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.

The Tianshi Dao has always been suppressed and was scorned by the Jin court as "evil bandits." What was the difference after the founding of the Liang Dynasty?

When the current emperor was a minister of the Jin Dynasty, he brutally suppressed the uprising of the Tianshi Taoist followers.

Xu Chengzhi's uncle, Xu Ning and Xu Anqi from Dongguan, were disciples of Bao Liang.

Bao Liang was proficient in the art of corpse transformation. During the Yongjia period, he moved south with a large number of disciples and their families, as well as Xuzhou nobles Xu Ning and Zang Kun, and opened a school to teach alchemy and corpse transformation.

A few years ago, Bao Liang saw that Ge Hong had "extraordinary Taoist skills", so he married his daughter Bao Gu to him as his second wife, and the couple studied alchemy and medicine together.

My father-in-law Bao Liang is still studying corpse transformation. As he is getting older, he has to consider how to transcend the world after his death.

Xu Chengzhi did not follow them south, but he was indeed a true disciple of the Tianshi Dao.

Cao Yi didn't know whether he had opened a private school to accept disciples.

You'd better not let a group of Tuoba Xianbei learn Taoism. If a violent storm comes on the battlefield, won't we be doomed?

So he said earnestly: "Hongdao, I will take the livestock, live people, and beeswax you brought with you. I will take as much as you can. You should be a good official in the future and don't do anything wrong. I think you are quite capable. You should focus on the right path and protect the people of this area so that they can live and work in peace and contentment. Isn't it good?"

"I have transcended the world, but I cannot transcend myself. Alas." Xu Chengzhi felt a little unwilling to hear this.

To be honest, he almost wants to run away to Jiangnan. Taoism makes me happy.

"The emperor doesn't like the way of the Heavenly Master." Cao Yi saw this and whispered, "He is the Taibai Star Spirit, with extraordinary magical powers. You can't defeat him."

Xu Chengzhi was shocked.

The Taibai Star Spirit is so powerful that he cannot defeat it. However, if the emperor builds a kingdom of God, wouldn't it be much easier to rule the world?
Seeing that Xu Chengzhi was already frightened, Cao Yi said no more, but looked at the men and women squatting at the foot of the wall and asked, "Where did this person come from? Why is he so thin?"

"They were presented to Madam Wang after the tribes returned from the Western Expedition. Madam was staying in Liangcheng to escape the summer heat, so she ordered me to bring the prisoners here, a total of 1,200 people. I heard that they attacked a few tribes that were unwilling to offer cattle and sheep on the way, and all the nobles were killed, and the tribes were divided into several groups. These 1,200 people came from three different tribes." Xu Chengzhi said, "After a long journey, wouldn't they be thin and weak? In fact, they are all hungry, not sick."

Cao Yi nodded and said, "It depends on their luck. If they are still alive after reaching Jinyang, they can survive." "Why is the young master buying slaves? But there are not enough official slaves?" Xu Chengzhi asked.

Official slaves cultivated official fields and were an important part of officials' income. Their income came from captives and criminals.

"The gardeners of the Shaofu cultivate the gardens and fields. What has this got to do with the official slaves?" Cao Yi shook his head and said, "They are used for grazing and farming."

The Shaofu was the emperor's purse. They provided all kinds of supplies for banquets and sacrifices on weekdays, and gave some grain, meat, fruits and vegetables to officials as welfare during festivals. They were not responsible for paying their salaries.

"Where should we go to cultivate the land?" asked Xu Chengzhi.

"Huaishang."

"How many people will die?" Xu Chengzhi was shocked.

"The Shaofu has to share the worries of the emperor." Cao Yi said sternly, "Huaibei has been invaded many times and is sparsely populated. Huainan is newly acquired and even more sparsely populated. This fertile land can be used for both pasture and farming. I told you not to indulge in Taoism all day long, but you still didn't listen. What is the way to be an official? Do you understand?"

"To try to figure out the boss' intention?" Xu Cheng said subconsciously.

Cao Yi choked and laughed dryly, "Hongdao, you are very knowledgeable. The Minister of the Imperial Household Yu has submitted a petition to the Emperor, requesting the establishment of a garden on the Huai River and the dispatch of 5,000 gardeners to graze cattle and horses and cultivate the fields. I was about to go back, but I have no choice but to stay a few more days to buy some live people."

"If the Hu people go there, half of them will die within two years," said Xu Chengzhi.

Cao Yi smiled when he heard this and said, "I don't think many of your prisoners are strong and healthy. How much do you want to pay for them?"

"Two pieces of mixed silk for each person, regardless of gender, age or status." Xu Chengzhi replied.

"What I brought were Henei silk and Qinghe silk, one piece at a time. I bought them all," said Cao Yi.

Xu Chengzhi calculated that Hanoi silk and Qinghe silk were indeed more valuable, so he nodded and said, "Okay. But I have to ask the Khatun for permission."

"Madam." Cao Yi corrected.

"I have to ask the Madam for permission." Xu Chengzhi immediately corrected his mistake.

Cao Yi smiled with satisfaction and said, "Look, it's just a silk Hu. What if it dies? We can just buy another one. The strong ones will stay in the north and be sold to officials and private individuals. The weak ones will be replaced by households. They can't rebel even if they want to."

"Let the Hu people know that the price will be raised next time." Xu Chengzhi said.

"Whatever." Cao Yi waved his hand nonchalantly.

A household in Henan that had been doing business for many years paid four and a half rolls of silk. The silk was innumerable, but the grain was not that much.

But he soon thought of something and asked, "How should I use all the silk I have collected on behalf of others?"

"People nowadays also like to enjoy themselves, and many of them have clothes and silk." Xu Chengzhi said, "Besides, there are Western Region Hu merchants who buy these."

"What? Hu Shang? Where are you from?" Cao Yi was a little surprised.

"They came from the grasslands in the north." Xu Chengzhi said as a matter of course: "Lord Cao, you don't think that the Hu merchants only go to Liangzhou or Hezhou, right? As far as I know, once the roads to Liangzhou and Hezhou are blocked, some Hu merchants will go to the grasslands, and some even go as far as Buyeo and Goguryeo."

"So that's how it is." Cao Yi said with emotion.

"The Dai people only get two pieces of silk for selling one person, but the profits are greatly increased by reselling these silks to Western Hu merchants. As for how much they earn, I don't know." Xu Chengzhi said: "After the Western Hu merchants learned that the Dai people had a large amount of silk and sold it at a relatively low price, more and more caravans have been traveling through the northern grasslands in the past two years. Cao Gong, you will know if you go to the Summer Palace. There are all kinds of treasures in the palace, which are no worse than those of the noble families."

"Summer Palace?"

"It is Liangcheng Palace." Xu Chengzhi said: "In the hot summer, the Madam and Dai Gong went to Liangcheng to inspect and hold meetings with various tribes. In the winter when it snowed heavily, they inspected Changchun Palace. There was warm water there, so it was also called the 'Winter Palace'."

Cao Wei nodded.

Unconsciously, Dai State was able to sell silk steadily. According to Xu Chengzhi, the Western Region Hu merchants were "stupid but rich", and the Xianbei people must have made more money than the imperial court - of course, no one was losing money in this trade chain, it was just a matter of how much they made. Even the Western Region Hu merchants who bought silk at a high price could sell it at a higher price after returning, so they might have made the most money.

"Forget it." Cao Yi looked at the sky and said, "Inform the Madam as soon as possible. I will wait here for a few days."

"it is good."

"Your honey and beeswax are of good quality." Cao Yi added, "I will send them to the post station later and someone will give you the money."

"We also accept money." Xu Chengzhi nodded repeatedly: "Yongjia Tongbao is still used by many people in Pingcheng and Shengle."

"From now on, it will be 'Kaiping Tong Bao'." Cao Yi said, "I heard that when the emperor visited Tianshui, he heard that there was copper in Longxi, so he might set up a money supervisor. From now on, there will be a lot of Kaiping Tong Bao."

"Wuzhu coins are still in use..." Xu Chengzhi smiled and said, "The assistant minister Wang Gong stationed troops in Shuofang and is likely to fight Liu Lugu and Liu Hu. In the next few months, many prisoners will be taken. If Cao Gong comes here again, you must prepare more money and silk."

Cao Yi laughed and said, "I'm just afraid that I won't ask for money when I'm doing this for someone else."

Xu Chengzhi pondered these words carefully and was filled with admiration.

If people can get wealth beyond their imagination through doing business, then what is there to rob?

Of course, if the Central Plains is weak and they can go south to capture famous cities and towns and seize huge amounts of wealth, that would be another matter.

(End of this chapter)