Li Tai met Du Ruhui, and Du Ruhui continued to return to Chang'an to serve as the Minister's right servant.
Li Tai speculated that Du Ruhui would start implementing the "Water Transport Plan" for the entire Grand Canal after the autumn harvest.
Because at that time, there were a large number of people growing corn up and down the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, and they were the best laborers to perform during the slack season.
As for Li Tai, he continued to go north and followed the Yongji Canal. It took about half a month to reach Youzhou.
Li Chunfeng took Lu Chengji, Liu Rengui, Wang Xuance, as well as Wei Xiaojie, the original governor of Youzhou, and other civil and military officials out of the city to greet him.
There were no locals who scorned me, and no one showed any intention of restricting me. Almost everyone behaved in a friendly manner.
Even though a soldier like Wei Xiaojie could speak a little arrogantly at most, Wei Xiaojie had no intention of stopping Li Tai's orders, which made Li Tai very satisfied.
Li Tai did not hesitate. When he came to Youzhou, he first allowed Gao Jifu and Su Lie to take up their posts smoothly. He immediately said to Gao Feng, "Sir, you are a great talent in the court selected by Aye. I will take Youzhou now."
The state affairs are entrusted to Mr.
Sir, I also ask you to be considerate of the people and deal with them impartially, especially ethnic conflicts, and be more cautious."
Gao Jifu did not expect that as soon as Li Tai came to Youzhou, he handed him the seal of the governor of Youzhou and entrusted him with the entire administrative power. This moved Gao Jifu very much and said to Li Tai, "Feng Dingran has lived up to the trust of King Yan.
Take good care of the people’s livelihood in Youzhou.”
Li Tai nodded with satisfaction.
To be honest, I had just arrived in Youzhou and didn't understand many things. Instead of sitting in this position and giving random orders, I might as well leave it to Gao Jifu.
Although Li Tai didn't know whether Gao Jifu was a so-called capable official, it was undeniable that Gao Jifu spoke and acted clearly and followed the original rules and regulations, so there would be no big chaos.
As for Su Lie, he took some of his personal guards who were willing to follow him as Sima of Youzhou and began to retrain Youzhou's army.
As the two men left, Li Tai took Bai He and Lu Anshou to the Agricultural University in Youzhou.
Li Tai understands very well that Youzhou is his foundation and his basic base.
When Li Chunfeng saw Li Tai coming in person, he quickly came over to salute Li Tai.
However, Li Tai waved his hand to stop him, and Li Chunfeng led Li Tai all the way to his office.
Once inside the room, Li Chunfeng closed the door and then saluted Li Tai,
"I've met King Yan. It turns out that King Yan arrived in Youzhou yesterday after a long journey. I originally planned to go look for you in the afternoon. I didn't expect you to come here so early!" Li Chunfeng said to Li Tai.
"With Master Lu watching over me, I have to do morning exercises every day. Originally, Mr. Yan should be teaching at this time, but this is no longer a trip to Youzhou, and Mr. Yan didn't come with me. After all, I still have half a day to spare!" Li Taixiao
Laughed.
Li Chunfeng saluted Li Tai because Li Chunfeng knew that even if Li Tai was really free, he could still sleep in the room.
But now that Li Tai has come to find him, Li Chunfeng understands that Li Tai has something serious to do with him.
"The King of Yan is here because he is looking for something serious. Chunfeng must know everything and tell you everything," Li Chunfeng said decisively.
Li Tai nodded and said, "There are indeed many things I need to ask you, let's ask the Agricultural University first.
July or August this year should be graduation time, how many students have graduated?"
"The first batch of 131 people will graduate after taking the exam this year." Li Chunfeng said,
"However, more than thirty of them have been selected by General Li Derjian to supplement the strength of the Bohai Sea Division. As for the others, it has no impact.
However, some of them need to stay in school for training and breeding, as well as teacher assistants.
The other part will go to surrounding tribes to promote forage, so that the imperial court's "Forage Plan" can be realized.
So the actual number of people left is probably no more than thirty!"
"I want all the remaining people!" Li Tai sighed. After all, the number of people in Youzhou Academy was too small.
Of course, Li Tai also understood that there was nothing he could do about it, because the first thing that restricted the enrollment of Youzhou University was Li Chunfeng's money and food.
If Li Chunfeng had enough money and food, then everything would be easy to talk about. But the money and food are not enough, so there are only so few people.
Even if he wanted to divide it, he would only be divided among thirty people.
"Okay, I'll make arrangements right away!" Li Chunfeng heard Li Tai's words and agreed, and then Li Chunfeng continued,
“Because Youzhou University is located on the edge and has limited funding, its financial resources are not strong enough.
Therefore, I did not completely imitate Gaoling University and complete all six subjects. In addition to the two subjects of agriculture and liberal arts, I only chose three subjects of mathematics, animal husbandry and animal husbandry.
There are also some students who were favored by the Bohai Navy, and I arranged for them to learn knowledge about ocean climate, identify the direction of the ocean, and observe military discipline. For the convenience of management, the Naval Division was established!"
"The Department of Medicine and Music Department need to be supplemented. I will write to Chang'an University soon and ask them to support teachers from the Department of Medicine and Music Department, as well as some students who can settle in Youzhou!"
Li Tai said to Li Chunfeng, "In addition, you have also seen the money I brought, and you arranged for Youzhou University to expand.
I hope that in three years’ time, Youzhou University will have more than 500 graduates every year, and just over 100 students will not be enough!”
Li Chunfeng was a little excited when he heard this, and was about to thank Li Tai, but Li Tai stretched out his hand and continued to Li Chunfeng,
"As for the second point, Youzhou Academy, please find someone to replace you as the mountain director!"
"Ah?" Li Chunfeng was a little stunned when he heard Li Tai's order and didn't know how to answer.
He did not expect that the first thing Li Tai did when he came here was to remove himself from his position.
"Yeah!" Li Tai nodded and said, "I don't know anything about this place in Youzhou.
You have been here in Youzhou for three years and know Youzhou better than I do. I believe you can help me solve anything I encounter.
So if you are willing, I will immediately write to Aye and appoint you to serve as a consultant in the Yan Palace to participate in the military affairs.
In addition to being responsible for making plans for me and discussing common affairs, you also need to teach me for an hour every morning.
I wonder if Chunfeng can agree!"
Being a member of the Yan Palace Council and serving in the military affairs is an official position of the fifth rank. For this official position, Li Tai only has the right to nominate him and does not have the right to directly appoint him.
But now that he has arrived in Youzhou, he asked Li Shimin to give Li Chunfeng such an official position to help him establish a foothold in Youzhou. Li Tai believed that Li Shimin must agree.
Li Chunfeng was originally surprised that he was inexplicably dismissed from his post by Li Tai, but he did not expect that in the blink of an eye, Li Tai proposed to give him the official position of the fifth rank.
You must know that although Ma Zhou has half a foot in the fourth rank, in the final analysis, he is only an official of the fifth rank.
Obviously, Li Chunfeng could feel that although Li Tai asked him to make suggestions by his side, the actual purpose was to compensate himself. This step he took could be regarded as a step to the sky.
"Thank you, King Yan. Chunfeng is grateful!" Li Chunfeng heard Li Tai's words and saluted and thanked Li Tai.
"This is what I should do!" Li Tai said, "Youzhou Academy is our foundation in Youzhou.
Who do you think would be better to take over the position of director of Youzhou Academy after you?
I am not familiar with Youzhou University, everything is up to you!"
"There are three people under me at Youzhou Academy: Lu Chengji, Liu Rengui, and Wang Xuance.
If possible, I think it would be better to choose Wang Xuance!"
Li Chunfeng thought for a moment and replied to Li Tai.
"Why?" Li Tai was a little confused when he heard Li Chunfeng's words.
Li Chunfeng said: "First of all, it was Lu Chengji. When he was assisting the construction of Youzhou Academy, he helped the academy a lot because he was the Lu family of Fan Yang, and he was also capable.
He was originally a suitable candidate, but he was a little more selfish towards the Lu family.
If there is really no one, there is one candidate, but since Liu Rengui and Wang Xuance are here, let’s leave it to them two!”
"I see, then why did you choose Wang Xuance instead of Liu Rengui?" Li Tai asked again after hearing what Li Chunfeng said.
"Actually, both of them had similar reasons. They were talented people who were ready to take over the agricultural university.
It's just that Liu Rengui seems to be more interested in the Bohai Sea Navy. If he is allowed to take over, I'm afraid that a large number of students from Youzhou University will enter the Bohai Sea Navy in the future.
In contrast, Wang Xuance is calm and low-key in his work, and he is decisive and decisive, so he is a good candidate!"
Li Chunfeng explained in detail why he chose Wang Xuance instead of Liu Rengui.
Li Tai nodded in understanding. To be honest, the branches of the Agricultural University are now under the supervision of the imperial government.
Although if Li Tai is willing to report to Li Shimin, Li Shimin will generally agree to Li Tai establishing a new branch.
But even so, because there is a formal grade establishment, if it is not very necessary for the court, especially for Fang Xuanling who likes to streamline officials, it will definitely not go through Li Tai's branch construction.
Wang Xuance and Liu Rengui were sent by the imperial court in order to weaken the control of Li Tai Agricultural School.
Now Li Chunfeng has withdrawn from the Agricultural University in Youzhou, and then handed over the position of Youzhou Agricultural University to Wang Xuance.
Both Li Shimin and Fang Xuanling felt that Li Tai knew the basics.
Under such circumstances, it would be much easier for Li Chunfeng to be directly promoted to the Prince of Yan's Palace to consult with the Prince of Yue to join the military.
To a certain extent, it can be regarded as both a political transaction and a political balance, but in fact it is more than that simple.
Li Tai immediately promoted Li Chunfeng to his side as a consultant to the Yan Palace to join the military. This was also to shake up the Youzhou Academy branch established by Li Chunfeng, and to prevent his future actions in Youzhou from becoming a constraint for him.
In the final analysis, this is the place where I serve as my base, but strictly speaking, the Youzhou branch was established by Li Chunfeng. This is Li Tai’s base, but it is also Li Chunfeng’s base.
It is impossible for Li Tai to allow Li Chunfeng to continue to stay at the Youzhou Branch and influence the Youzhou Branch, even more influential than himself.
Therefore, Li Tai used the fifth-rank Yan Prince's Mansion to discuss joining the military to draw Li Chunfeng to his side.
At the same time, he is preparing to open medical and music departments, which will not only be a strong supplement to the Youzhou branch, but also strengthen his control over the Youzhou branch.
To be honest, Li Tai didn't want to use these political means.
Because what Li Tai likes is to make money by himself and then spend it, but he is not even a foothold in Youzhou. What other way can he do besides using political means to regulate himself.
Li Tai couldn't help but sigh secretly when he thought of this. His integrity had indeed been polluted by this era, and he began to resort to tricks.
Although Li Tai pities his moral integrity, the more important thing is to work.
After all, the moral integrity you have lost cannot be worthless.
Li Tai said, "Since the Youzhou branch has already made a fuss, all you need to do is handle it as soon as possible. After you handle it, we will start our real work!"
"Please give me some advice from King Yan!" Li Chunfeng looked solemn after hearing Li Tai's words.
As one of the first few people around Li Tai, Li Chunfeng knew very well that what Li Tai was best at was not so much making money but planning.
Precisely because Li Tai had an incredible long-term plan, a large amount of wealth was not so much made by Li Tai as it was that the wealth fell into Li Tai's arms.
"You know my habit of doing things. Generally, I have to solve the financial problems first before I can actually implement the plan.
So our first step is to solve the financial problem. As long as you have money in your hands, no matter what you want to do, you will be successful.
It was like this in Gaoling back then, and it’s like this in Youzhou now!”
Li Tai looked at Li Chunfeng and said calmly.
"The initial capital of the Agricultural University came from the ducks you raised, King Yan. So where will we find this duck now!" Li Chunfeng looked at Li Tai and said, "Please let the King of Yue make it clear!"
"It's not easy to raise ducks in Youzhou!" Li Tai shook his head and said with a smile, "But it depends on the local conditions. We rely on the mountains to eat the mountains, and the sea to eat the sea. We eat what is in the sea!"
"Huh?" Li Chunfeng was a little stunned when he heard Li Tai's words, and he didn't know how to answer.
Li Tai said, "When I came, I asked the court for the power of salt and iron. Our first pot of gold is in the salt!"
"Nowadays, salt is not a government monopoly. Each bucket of Youzhou salt is about nine cents. Even if the imperial court granted King Yan the right to salt and iron, it would not be easy to make huge profits in a short period of time!"
Li Chunfeng spoke in confusion.
Because this was the Zhenguan period, although the production of salt required reporting to the court, the court did not collect taxes on salt.
Therefore, the price of salt in circulation is really not high. The average salt price in the entire Tang Dynasty is about ten cents per dou.
And Youzhou is close to the production area of sea salt, so there are only nine coins per bucket.
Therefore, when Li Chunfeng saw that Li Tai wanted to make a fortune from salt, he naturally began to persuade him.
After all, if Li Tai wants to get involved in the salt industry, it's not that he won't make money, but it's really not easy to make a lot of money in a short time!
"It's okay. I see that most of the salt in Youzhou is boiled salt. I have other methods to get a lot of coarse salt. It only requires a little hard work on your part, Chunfeng!" Li Tai said to Li Chunfeng, "So, it's better to
Please Chunfeng, please hurry up and deal with the matter of Youzhou University and come over to help me, and together we can earn the first pot of gold for our great ambition in Youzhou!"
Li Tai gestured with his fingers, as if drawing a bright moon-like pie in front of Li Chunfeng.