"Can you think of it just from one morning meeting?" Li Yunxing asked rhetorically.

Shu Qingling said something in her mind before returning, "Nowadays, among the major events in the world, the most urgent one is the flood in Jingzhou."

"I heard that many refugees have lost their houses and farmland. If Your Highness wants to control the floods, the first priority is to solve the problem of food."

"Now the food in Jingzhou must have been exhausted, and food must be transferred from surrounding counties. Therefore, the common people boldly guessed that if His Highness the Crown Prince needs to transport food, waterway is the best choice."

Shu Qingling's words were very logical and well versed in politics.

Li Yunxing couldn't help but secretly admire her. She was really smart and could analyze the situation thoroughly in just a moment.

"Now that you understand the purpose of my trip, tell me when your fleet can set off?"

This made Shu Qingling a little confused. It was only a few hours before the start of the court. Could it be that the prince had already prepared enough relief food?

But at this time, she could only respond first.

"The grassroots people have just assembled five fleets of men and horses. They used Chu Ge, the most commonly used civilian ship in water transportation in the Wu Dynasty. Five ships with a full load can transport about three thousand shi of grain."

"Did I give you money too easily?"

Li Yunxing put down the tea and his face darkened.

The total cost of building five Chu Ge was only ten thousand taels of silver. He gave her one hundred thousand taels of silver in exchange for five Chu Ge.

Shu Qingling's heart skipped a beat and she quickly knelt down, "Common people don't dare to covet His Highness the Crown Prince's reward. It's because common people can't buy a building or a boat!"

Li Yunxing raised his eyebrows.

The ships of the Wu Dynasty can be simply divided into four categories from small to large, namely boats, boats, stern boats and building boats.

The Ge is only one-fifth the size of a building ship, and its natural load capacity is far less than that of a building ship.

But the warship is a warship and cannot be sold among the people. The louchuan is a ship that can only be built by the government. One ship can carry three thousand stones, but if you want to buy a government ship, you have a long way to go.

Not enough.

When Shu Qingling saw that he didn't continue to get angry, he continued: "Building ships are official ships. Buying and selling them requires the approval of the Municipal Shipping Department, but the Municipal Shipping Department has repeatedly obstructed them. Originally, it cost money to buy a low-rise ship.

Thirty thousand taels of silver, not only requires the payment of fifteen thousand taels of silver as an introduction tax, but also the Municipal Shipping Department will collect fleet taxes from the grassroots at a rate of about 60% every month. I am afraid that in less than a year, the one hundred thousand taels

Both of them went into the official's pocket."

"The common people purchased the civilian ship Chu Ge out of desperation, hoping to use the power of the civilian ship to help the prince tide over the crisis."

This was said so appropriately that no one could find anything wrong with it.

"Jiang Chang."

"My subordinate is here!"

"Whose management is the Municipal Shipping Department currently under?"

"Report to Your Highness, the Shipping Department is subordinate to the Shaofu Mutual Market Supervisor Ning Hanyu."

Li Yunxing frowned slightly.

The Shaofu was the general administrative department of the Wu Dynasty. It had a large organization and numerous subordinate officials, ranking first among the nine ministers.

Its responsibilities are mainly divided into two aspects:

The first one is responsible for collecting taxes on mountains, seas and ponds and collecting local contributions for the use of the palace; the second one is responsible for all the supplies and services needed by the palace for food, clothing, daily life, hunting and entertainment, etc.

This mutual market supervision is an agency set up by the Shaofu government to specifically manage private business exchanges. It is responsible for supervising the mutual markets in various places and monitoring each other's trade behaviors.

Li Yunxing had just removed the cancerous tumor in Da Sinong, and now that the Shaofu had resurfaced, the water in the Wu Dynasty was really turbid.

"Send someone to investigate this Ning Hanyu. Remember to investigate secretly and don't alert anyone."

Shu Qingling's heart beat rapidly.

She didn't expect that the prince would be so unscrupulous and summon his confidants directly in front of her to arrange an internal investigation.

She felt a little uneasy in her heart. She was worried that the prince would notice something strange about her, which would lead to a murderous disaster.

Shu Qingling's expression all fell in Li Yunxing's eyes, and he just snorted coldly, "Why is this matter never reported!"

This threat was so strong that Shu Qingling was even more frightened.

"The grassroots just don't want to..."

"What don't you want?"

At this moment, Shu Qingling even felt that if she did not give Li Yunxing a satisfactory answer, she might be killed.

In order to force herself to calm down, she bit the tip of her tongue with her teeth. The rusty smell of blood and the pain at the tip of her tongue instantly made Shu Qingling calm down a lot.

She must be calm enough to deal with the prince's sudden difficulties.

"Now that the prince is in the court, it is a critical moment of swords and fire."

"If ordinary people let the prince interfere in these trivial matters, there is no guarantee that the prince's grand plan will not be ruined."

Shu Qingling's lowered eyes flashed coldly, and she looked up at Li Yunxing.

"Besides, the prince of the fleet doesn't want others to know that he has anything to do with you. If he is discovered because of the shipping tax, there may be many complications, and the gain will not be worth the loss."

Li Yunxing stared at Shu Qingling for a long time, and his heart suddenly relaxed when he saw her eyes were firm and serious, as if everything she said was true.

Shu Qingling struck while the iron was hot, "Nowadays, although Chuge is small, its shipping speed is faster than that of a building ship. The people in Jingzhou are suffering from lack of rice to cook, and the grassroots people are willing to do their best to help those people survive this time."

crisis."

Li Yunxing squinted his eyes slightly and carefully observed the changes in Shu Qingling's expression, trying to determine whether she was lying.

However, Shu Qingling's expression was always calm and there was no abnormality at all.

This woman is quite a character.

Indeed, Liu Zhongqing now regards him as a thorn in his side.

Once it is discovered that the fleet is related to the prince, there may be many tricks involved.

Thinking about it this way, Shu Qingling was thinking about herself.

In an instant, the tense atmosphere relaxed a lot.

When Shu Qingling was talking just now, Li Yunxing saw blood on the tips of her teeth and wanted to reach out and take a closer look.

Unexpectedly, Shu Qingling was shocked by the other party's move.

Shu Qingling, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly retreated back as if she had encountered something extremely terrifying.

Her hands could barely support the ground, her face was slightly pale, and there were beads of sweat on her forehead.

It looked like he had encountered something extremely terrifying.

Li Yunxing frowned slightly, "What? Can I still eat you?"

Shu Qingling shook her head, "Your Highness, please don't be offended. The common people have been weak since childhood and are easily frightened by foreign objects. Please forgive me for this."

However, Li Yunxing was not so easily convinced.

The look in Shu Qingling's eyes just now was like he was some kind of filthy thing that would be defiled by just the slightest touch.

Li Yunxing felt dissatisfied in his heart.

"come over."

The intense anger in Shu Qingling's eyes when she looked at Li Yunxing was also mixed with unclear exploration and scrutiny.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince..." She hesitated.
Chapter completed!