Chapter 300 Grain merchants stock up on strange things
This was the first time that Li Qinzai formally submitted a memorial as a minister.
After all, he was just a salted fish who became a sperm before. He would never write a memorial in any case. He was too familiar with Li Zhi, so writing a memorial seemed remote. What's more... what could Xianyu do to write a memorial?
Isn’t the position of the eaves not exposed to the sun?
Li Zhi opened the memorial with great interest, turned to Empress Wu and smiled: "It's rare for Jingchu to have a memorial, so you should take a good look at it, I'm afraid you may encounter some difficulties..."
Empress Wu looked a little unnatural.
She did not forget what Li Qinzai had asked the eunuch to bring to him before setting out to conquer the state.
Li Zhi wanted to protect Mrs. Korea, and she wanted to kill Mrs. Korea. There were two completely different orders. Li Jingchu probably went through a lot of struggles.
Empress Wu was even more worried that if Li Qinzai's memorial revealed both her and Li Zhi's intentions, Li Zhi might become angry. As a queen, she would openly oppose the emperor, and the superficial love between husband and wife might not be able to survive.
When Li Zhi opened the memorial, he saw the crooked characters on the memorial at first glance, and immediately took a breath of cold air.
"Did his dog ghostwrite this?" Li Zhi blurted out subconsciously.
Empress Wu came over to take a look, immediately burst into laughter, covered her mouth and said: "This word... I finally know that Li Jingchu is also inferior to others."
Li Zhi laughed happily: "Yes, yes, from this memorial, I finally know that Li Jingchu is also a human being. Otherwise, I would have thought that he was an omnipotent immortal figure."
After finishing speaking, he curled his lips in disgust: "This word... is really unsightly, unbearable!"
Enduring the intense discomfort, Li Zhi patiently continued reading. After reading it, his expression suddenly fell into a daze.
Empress Wu felt nervous and quickly glanced at the memorial, then looked at Li Zhi in surprise.
"Your Majesty, Li Jingchu said... mobilize the soldiers of Zhechong Mansion?"
Li Zhi frowned and said: "Jing Chu said that the soldiers removed their armor and armor, entered Bingzhou, and replaced the local corvees to open canals, divert water, and build reservoirs..."
Empress Wu immediately grasped the key point of the memorial and whispered: "What Jingchu means is to use soldiers to replace labor to solve the drought in Bingzhou?"
Li Zhin snorted and said slowly: "The drought in Bingzhou is more serious than I thought. Jingchu said that this year's harvest may be less than 30% of normal years. The court must be prepared for disaster relief. It is best to issue a decree in advance to exempt
Merge taxes with the state, and allocate disaster relief grain before the autumn harvest, otherwise countless refugees will be displaced..."
Empress Wu sighed and said: "But Your Majesty, the food stored in the national treasury is not enough. Last year's war with Baekje, coupled with the war to destroy the Japanese country, has consumed almost all the food in the national treasury. We are still waiting for food to be abundant in various places after this autumn harvest."
The treasury, I didn’t expect to encounter another drought in the north this year..."
Li Zhi showed a sad look and sighed: "Yes, this year's drought is not limited to Bingzhou. Many northern states and counties have reported it. The grain harvest is a foregone conclusion. The imperial treasury really cannot allocate food to help Bingzhou..."
Empress Wu thought for a moment and said: "But Li Jingchu said that using soldiers from Zhechong Prefecture to replace the corvee labor and go to Bingzhou to dig canals to divert water and build reservoirs is... a bit interesting."
Li Zhi hesitated and said: "The army is the army. If they are used to do corvee work..."
In ancient times, the division of military functions was very strict. The army could only be used for fighting. There was very little precedent of using the army to dig trenches in local areas.
It’s not that the rulers haven’t thought about it. There are tens of thousands of ready-made laborers there. How could they not have thought about it?
However, every time there is a disaster, the risk of local civil unrest will increase infinitely. It is very dangerous for the army to remove its armor and go into local disaster relief. Once someone instigates it, even the army may turn around and surrender to the enemy.
Therefore, since ancient times, the imperial court has always been vigilant and guarded against disaster areas. No one has ever dared to use the army as labor force to help the local people survive the disaster.
Whenever the army enters a disaster area, what they do is not relief, but suppression and defense. When a disaster occurs, the court automatically regards the victims as enemies.
Only Li Qinzai dared to make such a suggestion. After all, he came from a thousand years later and knew the importance of the army better than anyone else, especially in disaster areas where there was no hope.
The imperial soldiers of the Tang Dynasty may not have been soldiers and had no awareness of serving the people, but as long as the imperial court issued orders and the army could execute them perfectly, it would still be of great help to the people of Bingzhou.
There are tens of thousands of ready-made laborers, why not use them? The Tang Dynasty is now invincible. The rulers of neighboring countries are trembling all day long to pray to gods and Buddhas to prevent the Tang army from invading. Who dares to take the initiative to invade the territory of the Tang Dynasty?
Since no one dared to invade, the standing army of the Tang Dynasty was idle. There were tens of thousands of soldiers near Bingzhou. Such a good labor force, why not use it?
Li Zhi pondered endlessly. In terms of talents and strategies, Li Zhi was still slightly inferior to his father, Li Shimin, and his courage was also inferior.
Looking at Empress Wu, Empress Wu hesitated again and again.
After a long time, Empress Wu said softly: "Your Majesty, you might as well give Jingchu's suggestion a try. Before the autumn harvest, the disaster has not yet become serious. If Jingchu's method can be used, there will be a good example for future disaster relief in the Tang Dynasty. In short,
From a practical point of view, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.”
Li Zhi thought for a long time and nodded: "Yes, you can give it a try. There is Ningshuo Governor's Mansion in the north of Bingzhou, which can mobilize more than 30,000 soldiers. I will grant the right to mobilize troops to Jingchu, and he can be mobilized as the opportunity arises."
Empress Wu added: "Your Majesty, don't forget to allocate money and food. Whether it is to dig canals to divert water or to provide relief to the victims, a lot of money and food are needed."
Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, then showed a heroic look and said with a wry smile: "There is some money left in the treasury, but there is really no food..."
Empress Wu smiled and said: "Then allocate some money to Jingchu and let him figure it out on his own. Although there is no food in the national treasury, there is still some food among the people, but it is concentrated in the hands of a few powerful landlords. Let's see if Jingchu has the ability.
The food was exchanged to provide relief to the victims."
Li Zhi smiled and said: "What the Queen said is true, I will issue an edict..."
After pondering for a moment, Li Zhi suddenly smiled evilly and said: "I will prepare a few more copybooks of Wei stele and give them to Jingchu along with the imperial edict. The handwriting is so ugly, I can finally disgust him for once."
…………
Bingzhou City.
Li Qinzai was still dressed like a wealthy nobleman and was wandering around Bingzhou City with a few of his subordinates.
There are more than thirty grain shops in the city, and Li Qinzai has been going back and forth between these grain shops in the past few days.
Interestingly, with the catastrophe imminent, more than 30 grain stores were closed and a notice was posted outside the store saying that the grain had been sold out.
The people in the city were not farmers. They had no land to farm and grain shops could not buy food, so they had no choice but to approach the government.
This is also the reason why Li Qinzai wandered around the grain store in the city.
The grain stores were closed and the shopkeepers were missing. There seemed to be more than 30 grain stores that had agreed upon it, but no one in charge could be found.
After Li Qinzai searched patiently for several days, he finally lost his patience.
This is not treating the governor as a cadre. Do you really think that the newly appointed governor has a good temper?
Wang Shifu stood next to Li Qinzai, and saw that Li Qinzai's expression was somewhat serious. Wang Shifu remained expressionless, showing no emotion or anger.
He was forcibly pulled out by Li Qinzai. Li Qinzai said he understood the sentiments of the people, and then the governor of Bingzhou City and the No. 1 and No. 2 Biejia walked side by side for a long time.
Standing at the door of a grain store, Li Qinzai pointed to the closed door and suddenly smiled: "Farewell, Wang. There are more than 30 grain shops in the city closed. Have you ever seen them closed before?"
Wang Shifu said calmly: "I have never seen it before, but I know the reason."
"what reason?"
"It's a strange thing to hoard grain. After the autumn harvest, the grain these merchants hoard can be sold at sky-high prices. Now that the disaster has not yet erupted, they naturally don't want to sell it."
Li Qinzai blinked: "Can the Governor's Office take care of it?"
"It can be managed, but it can easily lead to a backlash from grain merchants, and the consequences may be more serious."
"What will be the consequences?"
Wang Shifu thought for a while and said: "If the governor's office intervenes, the temporary difficulties may be overcome and the grain can be sold to the people. However, most grain merchants are unwilling to do so and will quickly transfer the grain to other states and counties."
"This year's drought is not limited to Bingzhou, but is severe throughout the north. The grain merchants have no worries about selling it. If the grain merchants take away the grain from Bingzhou, when the disaster breaks out, the people of Bingzhou will not be able to buy it even if they have money.
After all, businessmen are profit-seeking people, and they don’t care about the life and death of the people."
Li Qinzai's expression became colder: "So, as the governor, I have to carefully coax those grain merchants? Can I give them a kiss?"