Prime Minister

Chapter 762 Guan Zhong and Sang Hongyang

Chapter 762 Guan Zhong and Sang Hongyang

Wang Yu saw that Zhang Yue had a lot of conversations with Wang Anshi indoors, and he was also waiting outside the door for news.

Back then, he and Wang Pang used to hide behind the screen to eavesdrop on Wang Anshi's conversations with outsiders, but now it is not easy to do so blatantly.

Therefore, when the servants came in to pour tea, he just inquired about one or two news.

At this time, the servant who had just poured the tea went out and whispered a few words to Wang Yu, and Wang Yu's face darkened when he heard this.

Seeing Wang Yu's unfriendly expression, the servants left quickly to avoid harming the fish in the pond.

At this time, a servant entered the room and was about to report, but he was startled when he saw Wang Yu's expression.

Seeing this, Wang Yu asked, "What's the matter?"

"Lu, you two asked to see me."

After a while, Lu Huiqing and Zeng Bu arrived in the hall, and Zeng Bu asked, "I heard that Xianggong is seeing a guest?"

Wang Yu nodded and said, "That's right, I'm seeing Zhang Duzhi."

Lu Huiqing asked: "Lv is curious, what can I learn from Xianggong letting Zhang Duzhi come to the Xiangfu?"

Wang Yu said: "If there is no one else, there is something wrong in the northwest, so let Zhang Duzhi go back and serve as an envoy."

Seeing Lu Huiqing, Zeng Bu and Zeng Bu didn't know what happened, so Wang Yu said a few words.

"Stop Wang Zichun?"

Zeng Bu immediately said: "This is absolutely unacceptable. Wang Zichun is now the man of the husband. If he is dismissed, it will not hurt the face of the husband."

Lu Huiqing said: "I heard that when Zhang Duzhi left the northwest, he told Wang Zichun that he must guard the city of Tabai, but now he has lost the city and lost his troops. Zichun cannot absolve himself of the blame for this matter."

Wang Yu asked displeasedly, "Did Ji Fu hear about it from Brother Ling?"

Lu Huiqing nodded and said, "Exactly, so I know a lot about the current situation in Xizhou."

"Wang Zichun made a good idea of ​​sending troops to attack Minzhou. As a result, the local area surrendered and rebelled. When the frontline troops in Hezhou were empty, Mu Zheng took advantage of the vacancy."

"It's not difficult to find out about this matter, but I'm afraid it will be difficult for Wang Zichun to deal with it."

Wang Yu said: "But as long as Dad is willing to keep Wang Zichun, he will be fine."

Wang Yu was right. Lu Jiawen, Xue Xiang, and Li Ding, who were used by Wang Anshi, were all impeached to death, but they were protected by Wang Anshi, and they are still serving as officials.

Lu Huiqing contended: "But the gentleman who was only impeached by Tang Tie now, shouldn't he avoid the limelight at this moment?"

Wang Yu said: "There is no need to avoid it at all, don't forget that there are our people on the Xihe Road."

Lu Huiqing said: "Mr. Da Lang, there is another Gao Zunyu."

Wang Yu said: "Ji Fu, Gao Zunyu and Zhang Duzhi are not of the same mind, how could they speak for him?"

Lu Huiqing said: "Mr. Dalang, I think it is unwise to keep the prince pure in this matter, and then offend Zhang Duzhi."

Seeing that Wang Yu and Lu Huiqing were going to fight, Zeng Bu stepped forward to be a peacemaker and said: "Yuan Ze is right, now it's just Wang Zichun, who dares to take refuge in Xianggong in the future, and if the atmosphere of questioning Xianggong and employing people starts to spread, the new law will also be violated." critical."

"But Wang Zichun was too careless."

Wang Yu and Lu Huiqing sat down separately.

Wang Yu said: "No, Wang Shao still has Zhang Shao and Li Shao, there is no Zhang Yue, there are Chen Yue and Gao Yue, I don't believe there is no one to replace them. This Zhang Zihou, Zhang Zhifu brothers are quite knowledgeable soldiers, let them One of the brothers will go to the northwest."

Lu Huiqing said: "Zhang Duzhi has been operating in the Northwest for many years. Except for him, the others suddenly changed, and I'm afraid they won't move. Not to mention anything else, let's just say that this time the hundreds of chiefs of the Tibetan tribe who followed Zhang Du to the capital, If they knew that the Northwest had suddenly changed their minds, wouldn't they have two minds?"

Wang Yu looked at Lu Huiqing and said, "Ji Fu is so strange, why is he talking to Zhang Duzhi like this today?"

……

At the moment in the hall, Wang Anshi and Zhang Yue are also facing each other with needles.

Wang Anshi asked: "Is there no room for Wang Zichun in Duzhi?"

Zhang Yue said: "It's not that it can't be tolerated, but it can't be tolerated."

Wang Anshi asked: "Duzhi said that Wang Zichun should be dismissed, is it purely out of public interest, or is it selfish?"

Zhang Yue said: "The lower officials don't understand."

Wang Anshi said: "I heard that Duzhi bought grain in Xizhou, he bought grain at a high price from the market, instead of entrusting grain merchants to transport grain to Hezhou, what is the reason for this?"

Zhang Yue asked, "Could it be that Wang Zichun told my husband about this?"

Wang Anshi was noncommittal about this.

Seeing the other party like this, Zhang Yue thought to himself that it was really Wang Shao who sued him behind his back.

When Zhang Yue first arrived in the northwest, Wang Shao set up the Shiyi Division, which was managed by Huang Cha, Yuan Zhongtong and others.

This Shiyi Division is similar to Lu Jiawen's Shiyi Division, even two or three years earlier than him, and the principle of operation is similar, which is to borrow money from the imperial court as the principal, and then buy the Fanbu from Qinzhou through businessmen. Materials, and then trade with the Fan Ministry.

Finally, the interest income is used as front-line military expenses.

However, the disadvantages are not small. For example, Huang Cha and Yuan Zhongtong used officials to buy and sell officials to enrich themselves. Even Wang Shao also received a lot of benefits. Gao Zunyu also cooperated with Zhang Muzhi to arrest Yuan Zhongtong and wanted to bring him down Wang Shao.

This matter later followed Zhang Yue and Wang Shao's continuous military exploits, so it was nothing.

After capturing Xizhou and Hezhou, the army could not keep up and had to buy food from the people.

Zhang Yue used the method of buying grain from the market instead of using fixed grain merchants to buy grain. That is to say, no matter how large or small grain merchants are, or even ordinary people, as long as you can transport the grain to the grain purchase point in Xizhou and Hezhou, they will all give you. Received.

Zhang Yue didn't expect that Wang Shao's small report would hit Wang Anshi.

Wang Anshi said: "Buying grain from the market last year in Xizhou was equivalent to an average of 280 three renminbi a bucket. How much grain will [-] soldiers and horses spend on this day?"

"As for buying grain from Qinzhou and then transporting it to Xizhou, plus the loss on the way, it's only 120 yuan a bucket at most. The court can also lend money to merchants. Isn't this killing two birds with one stone?"

Wang Anshi's opinion is that Zhang Yue did not abide by his market transaction law.

It was also from this point that he saw the difference in political views between him and Zhang Yue.

For people like Wang Anshi, if you scold him like Tang Xie, it is better to disobey his government orders to anger him more.

Zhang Yue said: "Do you know the price of grain in Xizhou this year? The average price of grain in Xizhou in the first half of this year has been discounted by 230 Qiwen!"

"Oh? Why is it so much lower?"

Zhang Yue said: "Because everyone in the world knows that buying grain from Qinzhou and transporting it to Xizhou costs only 120 cash, which is more than twice the profit, which is enough for grain merchants to compete and lose."

"I set up twelve places to buy grain in Xizhou city, and I bought them according to the market price. People know that grain is expensive, and rumors are vying to lose it. They come here for profit. The price of ten mu of land in Xizhou is not as good as one mu in Qinzhou, and the price of grain You Gao, over the past year, there have been more than a hundred Le Geng farmers who moved from Qinfeng Road every day. They bought fields in Xizhou to cultivate them. The state is looking for a place with rich water and soil to cultivate it, and now even the local Fan tribes know that the price of food is high, so they have changed from nomadic farming to farming and living near the water."

"Dare to ask Mr. Xiang, how much money will the latter three use from the court?"

Wang Anshi was silent.

Land is the most important asset of the people. In ancient times, people without land were called liu, people without houses were called rogues, and people without land and land were called rogues.

Owning an acre of land may seem simple to a commoner, but it is not easy.

Many people misunderstand that there are wastelands all over the mountains and plains, and people can just find an acre of land to cultivate it.

In fact, it was not a decree from the imperial court to let the common people open up wasteland, and the common people who could not survive went to open up wasteland.Because it is not the poor who do the land reclamation, but the rich.

Opening up wasteland means leaving home, and the first thing to face is that there is no overnight food for the family.

Ordinary people have to prepare a year's worth of grain and seeds before opening up wasteland.

Then there is the reclamation and leveling of the land, which is labor-intensive work, and strong men often die exhausted in the reclamation, and it will take two or three years before the real harvest can be achieved.

This is still the case for ordinary people to open up wasteland by themselves, and the efficiency of farming promoted by the imperial court is even lower.

Wang Anshi asked, "Really?"

Zhang Yue said: "That's right, I have ordered that the wasteland in Xizhou be exempted from taxation for three years, and now there are 1 acres of open land in Taoshui, Xizhou. It only takes three years... three years later, the price of grain in Xizhou will be reduced." It can be reduced to less than [-] Wen!"

"A hundred coins!"

Wang Anshi murmured, hearing what Zhang Yue said, he couldn't help thinking deeply.

He looked at the dossier of investigating the market transaction law in Zhang Yue's hand and thought, is it true that his market transaction law is wrong?

"Why did Duzhi come up with this method?"

Zhang Yue said: "The law of the fair is market change. I call this method the market. It's not difficult to say, it's just where it comes from and where it goes."

"Our imperial court uses stupid methods to mobilize the cleverness of merchants and common people, and then use their cleverness to handle major affairs of the court. This is the case in a game of chess."

Wang Anshi nodded slowly: "What is the market? It's so mysterious. What you use is just Guan Zhong's old wisdom."

"Guan Zi has a record. When Guan Zhong assisted Qi State in attacking Hengshan State, he deliberately bought Hengshan State's weapons at five times the price, so that everyone in Hengshan State would enjoy producing weapons and abolished farming. You did the opposite. "

Zhang Yuedao: "What Xianggong said is very true. In fact, people who have been in politics throughout the ages are either Guan Zhong or Sang Hongyang!"

Wang Anshi nodded slowly and said, "Actually, what are Guan Zhong and Sang Hongyang, I'm afraid your talent is even more..."

When Wang Anshi said this, he paused and said: "Don't learn from Guan Zhong, and don't learn from Sang Hongyang. After you go to Xizhou, you don't want to be exempted from the wasteland for three years. It takes five or ten years. Remember to let the people who follow you benefit them."

Zhang Yue said: "I would like to follow the order of the Lord Jun."

After Wang Anshi finished speaking, he looked back and saw that Zhang Yue was still standing still.

Zhang Yue said: "Msanggong hasn't agreed to me yet."

Wang Anshi said angrily, "What's the point of this?"

Zhang Yuedao: "Your Excellency also knows that the acquisition of the Xihe River was entirely dependent on Wang Zichun, but he must guard the Xihe River, thinking that it will be used to make summer in the future... Wang Zichun can't..."

Wang Anshi was silent.

Zhang Yue knew that he had confessed everything, and taking down Xihe was not only about recovering the Fan tribe, but the most important thing was farming.

This matter is really up to me...

Does Wang Anshi really want Wang Shao to do what he wants?

Wang Anshi must be in a dilemma, Wang Shao took the initiative to seek refuge with the other party, and now the whole court knows that Wang Shao is Wang Anshi's man, so Wang Shao, change to himself.

Then Wang Anshi lost all face.

Zhang Yue said, "Let me go!"

(End of this chapter)