Chapter 298: Priorities
The farther you go into the wilderness, the less people you see are like real refugees. If the emperor walked up and down the official road, he would definitely not see the situation here.
A large bonfire was lit in the distance, and the people around were awake late at night, laughing and cursing loudly, as if a group of robbers were gathering.
Wang Jianhuo also became cautious. He stopped, pointed to the path in the darkness, and said softly, "There is a lot of fish and dragons ahead. Your Majesty can't enter lightly. Caomin is easy to be recognized. It's best to send someone to check. We'll wait here."
All night, Wang Jianhuo won the favor of everyone around the emperor with these words. The head of the guards, Wang He, immediately recruited a guard, whispered a few words, and told him to move on.
The guard nodded, took off his cloak, and changed into civilian clothes at some point. It seemed that Wang He had made a lot of preparations.
Standing on the side of the road, Han Ruzi was still angry and said, "To be able to turn the court's disaster relief into a fortune opportunity, Luoyang merchants are really unusual. Henan County officials cooperated so well that they must have gained a lot of benefits, even my..."
Han Ruzi felt even more angry when he thought that even Liu Zeqin, the servant of the household who was accompanying him, could not be trusted.
Wang Jianhuo said: "The officials of the court may have been bribed, or they may have just been ignorant and kept in the dark. Your Majesty should not make light assertions."
Han Ruzi snorted, and Qu Zixi, who had high hopes for him, didn't see any flaws. If he hadn't made a private interview, he would definitely not have discovered these hidden tricks.
"In addition to defrauding the land of refugees, what other means of making money do businessmen have?" Han Ruzi asked.
"More often than not, old grain and moldy grain are distributed to the displaced people instead of new grain, which relieves a lot of the burden on the merchants in Luoyang. After occupying the land, the population is still needed. Your Majesty will find in the future that there is always more or less grain in various places, and it cannot be sustained. In autumn, but it was enough for the people to wait until the crops in the field had grown, and the people were reluctant to leave, so they had to hand over the land, houses, wives and children to outsiders.”
"Can't you repay it after the fall?"
"After the grain is released, the official warehouses in various places will be empty, and you must find ways to replenish it. The people's harvest is finally left, and they can't pay their debts, so they can only make their families slaves. At that time, the imperial court thinks that everything is over, and will not pay attention to it at all. Local looting."
Han Ruzi thought that he had been in contact with the common people and had a good understanding of the suffering of the people, but only now did he realize how ignorant he was.
Wang Jianhuo added: "The more Your Majesty wants to resettle the refugees as soon as possible, the higher the price the government will have to pay, and the more benefits they will hide. I can't tell the court clearly, so I have to ask the merchants for help."
"What exactly do businessmen want?"
"What they want is unhindered access, whether to sell or not, and what they want is exclusive rights and exclusive ownership. Every year in the Kanto region, a large amount of property, cloth, paper, bamboo, stone, etc., is paid to the imperial court. They can make a steady income and worry-free for many years. Taking advantage of the opportunity to resettle refugees, businessmen can also gain a large number of franchise rights.”
"Are local officials on guard?"
"What are you on guard for? Merchants always solve their immediate needs first, and then ask for returns. As for local officials, collecting tribute is always a hassle, and it is just right to hand them over to merchants. As for how merchants make money from it, no one cares."
Han Ruzi was concerned, and was about to ask in detail, when he suddenly reacted, "When I asked you to be an official during the day, you didn't know much about many things. You just walked out of the city and found so many problems?"
Wang Jianhuo smiled softly, "Anyone who does not ask about his background, from princes and ministers to robbers and robbers, are all the guests of Caomin. Luoyang merchant Caomin recognizes at least 50% of the people, as long as they ask, there's nothing they can't find out, so When Luoyang hears that I am an official tomorrow morning, I am afraid that a large number of people will be so frightened that they will not be able to sleep for a few days, and some people will hate the grass people to the core.”
Standing behind the emperor, the East Sea King couldn't help but "cut", and in order to cover up, he spat a few times, as if mosquitoes had accidentally flown into his mouth.
The guards who went to inquire about the situation came back, "There are a group of people from the rivers and lakes. They were expelled from the capital not long ago, and they are going to enter the customs again as fake refugees."
"What are you doing at the customs?" Han Ruzi immediately became vigilant.
"It was said to save face and let fellows in Jianghu know that they can still enter the customs at will." The guard said what he heard, without adding fuel to it, but his meaning was obvious. Jianghu people only want to enter the customs now, and after entering the customs, they will be punished. Bewitched, anything is possible.
The noise near the bonfire suddenly rose, and those people in the rivers and lakes had drunk enough wine, and they were willing to rest until something happened.
"Let's go, there's nothing to see." Wang Jianhuo said, and the guards surrounded the emperor and walked towards the official road.
Before leaving, the King of the East Sea glanced at Bonfire. There might be some gangsters he knew there. He shook his head, still feeling that it was difficult for these people to make a big deal.
The group returned to the barracks. It was almost dawn. The private visit was without any danger. Wang He and the guards finally breathed a sigh of relief. Zhang Youcai, who had been waiting in the tent, almost collapsed. Loach was not so worried. Lying on the emperor's bed and sleeping soundly.
Han Ruzi didn't feel sleepy at all, he took off his cloak, walked back and forth a few times, stopped in front of Wang Jianhuo, and asked, "I made you the censor of the right patrol..."
Wang Jianhuo shook his head, "The officials are too big and have too many responsibilities, but the grass-roots people can't concentrate on helping the refugees outside the city."
Han Ruzi thought for a while, "That's the Censor of Henan County, and Qu Zixi is still on my expedition."
Wang Jianhuo still shook his head, "Gentlemen don't capture the beauty of others, and the caomin doesn't understand the rules of officialdom and needs some teaching. Mr. Qu is a famous scholar in the world. Caomin has always wanted to make friends and is willing to be a deputy censor under him."
"Do you have the post of Deputy Censor?" Han Ruzi asked.
The King of the East Sea smiled and said, "Your Majesty says if you have it, there is a temporary official position, any name is acceptable."
"Okay, I will instruct Mr. Qu to give you freedom and focus on investigating the case and helping the refugees."
"Investigate the case? What case?" Wang Jianhuo asked suspiciously.
"What I saw and heard outside the city are all clues that officials and businessmen in Luoyang have perverted the law."
Wang Jianhuo clasped his fists and said sternly: "There is a sentence that Caomin must ask clearly."
"Please say."
"Does Your Majesty want to investigate the case or help the refugees?"
"Can't two things be done together?"
"If Your Majesty stays in Luoyang to personally supervise, the two things may be carried out at the same time, but His Majesty will leave soon..."
"I can stay for two more days." Han Ruzi felt that things in Luoyang were more important.
"Well, then what? Follow the vines and wipe out Luoyang officials and merchants in one go? Who will put the grain? Who will see off? Who will persuade the farmers? Your Majesty can replace all Luoyang officials, at least a month or even a few months. As for the merchants , after this investigation, people are bound to panic, and who will dare to respond when His Majesty proposes to open private warehouses in the future?"
Han Ruzi was speechless, and the King of the East Sea said on behalf of the emperor, "Then let it go and pretend that everything doesn't exist?"
"There are priorities and priorities, many refugees are waiting to be fed, and more people will come in the future. The issue of feeding food is even more urgent. It can only be properly resolved with the help of government and private forces. During this period, we might as well let officials and businessmen take advantage. It happened after the grain harvest in autumn, and His Majesty still has time to correct it."
"Those people from Jianghu, can't they be allowed to enter the customs again?" The King of the East Sea asked again, he was worried that those people would be implicated in the Tan family.
"Is Your Majesty worried that the Jianghu people will seize the capital? If you're not too worried, Caomin advises not to scare the snakes."
Liu Jie, the supervisor of the middle division, came in and was surprised when he saw the people in the tent, especially when he saw the ugly king, he was even more surprised, he quickly regained his composure, and stepped forward: "Your Majesty, the general is delivering the letter. , the forwards and soldiers have already set off, and His Majesty can start at any time."
"Call the ministers and officials of Luoyang, and drive after the meeting." Han Ruzi said.
Liu Jie stepped back, and when he was about to leave the tent, he glanced at the ugly king again.
"If Your Majesty puts the refugees first, please bear with me for a while, and don't make Luoyang suspicious." Wang Jianhuo persuaded for the last time.
"I have a measure."
Imperial power is a powerful weapon in the world, and Han Ruzi has already taken control of it. He can simply swing a few laps. It is indeed powerful, but if he wants to exert his full power, he has to learn more and more complex techniques.
This court meeting was grand in scale, with more than 100 participants. It was still chaired by Liu Zeqin and kept as short as possible, because the emperor had something to say.
Han Ruzi mainly spoke to the officials in Luoyang, repeatedly emphasizing the importance of resettling the refugees, and finally announced the appointment of Wang Jianhuo.
Qu Zixi was very surprised and didn't understand the emperor's purpose in arranging a deputy for him, especially since this deputy was only a commoner.
Luoyang officials were even more puzzled, but no one dared to question it.
When the meeting dispersed, Han Ruzi left Qu Zixi behind and asked a few words. Qu Zixi seemed very dissatisfied and reluctantly agreed to cooperate with the ugly king.
Han Ruzi still had to leave Luoyang as planned. After all, the rebellion in the east and the Xiongnu in the north were more urgent.
Already on the horse, he called Liu Jie, the director of the Central Division, "The Marquis of Luoyang has sent a lot of gifts, you can pick them up and see which ones are useful, and take them away in time."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Liu Jie was very surprised this morning. The emperor was obviously dismissive of these gifts, but he was moved before leaving, which was a bit strange.
"By the way, the Hou residence once sent a violinist named Zhang Zhuohe. After thinking about it, I think his violin sound is quite good."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Liu Jie left in a hurry, went to choose the available gifts in person, and sent someone to ask Luoyang Houfu for a piano master.
The troops set out from the east gate one after another, and the emperor, Yiwei and accompanying officials left the city from the south gate, and Han Ruzi checked the grain distribution again.
The temporary shacks were all demolished, and people were kneeling on both sides of the road. Their clothes were tattered, but very neat. The very thin and hungry people, the children who were hungry for food, and the rogues who sneaked and robbed were all gone. The emperor and officials saw only Shunmin. .
Liu Jie was temporarily ordered and set off a little later, but the pomp was not small. Hearing that the emperor was finally willing to accept the gift, Han Chou was overjoyed and sent a few more cars. He wanted to see the emperor off. The chief supervisor personally came to see the director of the middle division, and was extremely flattering.
Liu Jie felt that it was almost the same. He only chose lamps and candles, mattresses, curtains, tables and chairs and other items that could be used daily, and returned all gold and silver jewelry.
"Who is Zhang Zhuhe?"
A tall and thin old qin master squeezed in from behind the ten beauties, "Next is Zhang Zhuhe."
"Your Majesty only calls you alone, no one else."
The head of the Hou Mansion winked and whispered, "Your Majesty is embarrassed to ask for it directly?"
Liu Jie glared, the manager hurried back, and the old qin master said in embarrassment, "No one else can, but my daughter has to take it with me. Without her help, there is a lack of qin sound, I'm afraid it will not suit Your Majesty's wishes."
Liu Jie followed the violin master's fingers to see that he was an eunuch, and he also praised inwardly, thinking, maybe what Your Majesty wants is this daughter.