The Third Division and the Kaifeng Mansion were very efficient. The Yanying Conference ended at noon. In the afternoon, Li Gu and Yuan Long led a group of assistants and came to visit the Emperor Sun's Mansion with several piles of documents.
Guo Zongyi had already changed into his moon-white uniform and walked slowly, as if he were the young master Mo Shang walking out of the painting.
Li Gu was nearly fifty years old. He was a Jinshi and had been responsible for three dynasties. However, he was tall and majestic, good at riding and shooting, and good at being a knight. He was a head taller than Yuan Ao, who was a military general next to him, and looked more like a general.
After seeing the ceremony, Guo Zongyi invited them to sit down, and the remaining officials served tea in the side hall.
"You two move very quickly." Guo Zongyi smiled amusedly as if meeting an old friend.
Li Gugong cupped his hands and joked: "Today's meeting with Yan Ying only knows that His Highness is concerned about the people's sentiments and dare not be unhappy."
Yuan Ao only laughed twice, his expression was quite unnatural, and he didn't know who Yanying was scolded by after the discussion. At this moment, his posture was extremely respectful, and he carefully presented a roll of thick paper and said: "Your Highness, this is the map of Kaifeng. , please take a look."
Guo Zongyi signaled Zhang Jin and Wu Shen to hang up the picture, unwind the threads, and a dense city was slowly revealed. Yuan Ai had already circled the wall to be built in the picture. He calculated it proportionally and found that the amount of work was not large. It is true as Yuan Ai said, tens of thousands of people can accomplish it in ten days.
But the number of refugees is far more than tens of thousands. The hundreds of thousands reported by Cangzhou are a discounted figure. Even if half of those who are unwilling to come to Beijing are removed, hundreds of thousands of people will have to be resettled. If the Shura City Wall incident is used as a substitute, it will definitely not be possible. Do your best.
Thinking of this, he turned around and asked Li Gu: "During the court meeting, Li Gong once said that the country has a lot of fortifications to do, so besides the Shura Wall, what other things are there?"
"I don't dare to call myself public." Li Gu said hurriedly, and then looked embarrassed: "Yes, yes, but the one in charge of civil engineering work is the Ministry of Works. This Ministry of Works..."
"The Ministry of Industry is in Wang Jun's hands, right?" Guo Zongyi pointed out directly.
Li Gu and Yuan Ao laughed but did not answer. Guo Zongyi thought for a while and said: "Since everything is in the hands of the Ministry of Works, we will find something to do ourselves. Does the Third Division have a construction project? The responsibility is related to the work of the Ministry of Works." Are the ministries and departments the same?”
"Exactly." Li Gu replied, "It's just that the construction case is currently occupied but not authorized."
Guo Zongyi nodded and said: "Refugees coming to Beijing cannot live with the wild people in Kaifeng. A new city should be built to accommodate them. What do you two think?"
Of course Yuan Ao will not object. Unless the prince knows about Kaifeng Mansion, he is just a worker.
Li Gu heard the wonderful sound and said happily: "I thought that we should build a new city to live in. Under the rule of Kaifeng, there is no idle residential land to settle so many refugees. It is better to re-select the site and build another city to facilitate centralized management and save manpower and material resources."
"In this case, I will ask the builder to supervise the construction of the new city when I go to the table tomorrow." Guo Zongyi said.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Li Gu bowed.
The three divisions are now in charge of finance, salt, military supplies, horse administration, camps, treasury, sacrifices, and some judicial matters. If you add the city's civil engineering, it will be like a small six divisions, nine temples and five prisons. The tasks also account for some.
Guo Zongyi waved his hand: "It's all for the convenience of doing things to avoid constraints. Let's look for a place on the map to resettle the refugees."
With that said, he came to the map. The matter of building a new city was reasonable and reasonable, and with Li Gu's support, he was not afraid of Guo Wei's disapproval.
Yuan Ao circled a small area in the picture with a charcoal pen. He pointed to the thin circle in the east of Kaifeng and asked: "How about here? It's all unowned land. To the northeast, you can connect Fengqiu." , Tongchanzhou."
Guo Zongyi did not answer immediately and asked Li Gu: "What does Mr. Li think?"
Li Gu pointed to the land south of Kaifeng and did not directly refute: "Most of the land with a radius of hundreds of miles here is unowned, and it is a flat plain. It is adjacent to the Caishui River in the west and water transportation is convenient. It would be better to build here. Today, Tokyo is a small city and is already stretched thin. It will be expanded in a few years. By then, it can be connected to the new city to the south. Once the city walls are demolished, it will become a huge city."
After saying that, he and Yuan Long looked at Guo Zongyi, waiting for him to nod.
Guo Zongyi thought further.
Yuan Long was born as a military general because of the military armament point of view. He settled the city in the northeast to consolidate the defense of the capital. After all, Kaifeng was undefeable and could only rely on people to fill it. He stationed a large number of people in the surrounding areas and raised an army as soon as he arrived. , secondly, it is easy to replenish the source of troops.
As the planning prime minister, Li Gu is based on finance and trade. Kaifeng City is connected in all directions, connected by water and land, and is heading towards Longping, so it will soon prosper.
Now that the city is already small, expansion is probably something that the temple has already discussed, so placing the refugees in the south is more in line with his plan.
But the butt determines the head, and many decisions are not easy to distinguish. It just depends on who has the most authority and who listens.
In this matter, Guo Zongyi was undoubtedly the one with the greatest say, so he decided to use his own ideas.
"If we place the refugees in the west, it would be best to connect them with Zhengzhou."
He pointed to the location on the map where Zhengzhou and Kaifeng are connected.
Yuan Ao was confused and didn't understand what he was thinking, but he didn't dare to ask, so he had to cross his hands and shout. Li Gu seemed to have guessed something, his eyes flickered, but he didn't open his mouth after all, and he handed over his hand and said he was the only one.
Guo Zongyi's butt determined that he had to consider it from the perspective of a monarch. Kaifeng was not suitable to be the capital. He wanted to move the capital to Luoyang, Xijing.
Luoyang and Kaifeng are only four hundred miles apart, with Zhengzhou in between. His idea is to build Kaifeng into an economic center and Luoyang into a political capital. All of this requires a large number of people to be settled between the two capitals. Zhengzhou, on the other hand, is just a Tuanlian prefecture with a population of only tens of thousands, which is far from being able to meet future needs.
The approximate location was determined, and the three of them made an appointment to pick up the cadastre and conduct on-site inspection on another day.
After the matter was settled, Guo Zongyi asked again: "The refugees have been settled in various states and counties a few months ago. Can they submit their household registers to the department?"
"Yes, I have brought it." Li Gu replied, and after speaking, he found a thick document and presented it to him.
Guo Zongyi turned over a few pages and didn't want to read any more. He held the roster in his hand and said coldly: "Why is there only Dingkou? Are there no women, children, old and weak among the refugees? Don't the refugees bring their families with them when they arrive in Beijing?" "
Old Li Gu's face was slightly embarrassed, wondering: "Your Highness, when the households in prefectures and counties are jointly examined, they usually only count Ding households and compile them into Ding registers for tax collection."
Guo Zongyi snorted coldly, threw the register on the case, and said sternly: "If it weren't for tax profits, I might not even have a Ding register!"
Seeing that he was angry, both Li Gu and Yuan Long remained silent. Guo Zongyi sat down and took a sip of tea before slowly speaking: "It's no wonder that the current situation is like this, but you are worried about the people. How can you do it for the sake of profit? Everyone knows that the people in the world are prosperous. Numbers are the foundation of governing a country and cannot be ignored."
After a pause, he waved his hand and said: "That's a long way off. The first thing now is to count the number of refugees arriving in Beijing so that we can prepare food and divide the land."
When Li Gu heard this argument, he felt it was new. After thinking about it carefully, he felt that it was very reasonable. If the population of the country could be grasped in detail, it would be much easier whether it was taxation, disaster relief, conscription, or public security.
It's just that this matter is complicated and there is no precedent for it. He was a little embarrassed and asked hesitantly: "May I ask, Your Highness, how can we count these refugees as if they are like duckweeds?"
"Of course it's clear. If you don't do anything in advance, it will be ruined. There is no big war at the moment, and those soldiers who are in charge are idle, so let them help." Guo Zongyi said.
"I am all ears!"
"Today is the 16th. I will draw a new household post later. The Third Division will send a horse to all the towns in Hebei Province. By the first day of next month, the number of refugee households willing to come to Tokyo will be reported according to the household post. Then the town troops will be sent to send the refugees. As we march westward, if there are any casualties, injuries or deaths along the way, they will all be recorded in the register."
"In addition, it is strictly forbidden for soldiers to disturb the people. Those who violate the prohibition will be killed in their entire team, and the small ones will be relegated to the army. After Kaifeng, the Department of Household Affairs will register with the household registration. No matter men, women, old or young, no one can be left out. If the two are consistent, it will be clear. ?”
After Guo Zongyi finished speaking, Li Gu remembered it in his mind. He asked: "Most of the soldiers and generals in the feudal town have no temples. Can this decree really be implemented thoroughly?"
Guo Zongyi smiled: "Of course you can't. It would be great if you can carry out half of it. Isn't that the case for all officials? Just do your best."
Li Gu and Yuan Ao blushed. Indeed, even they would make some concessions when executing the emperor's orders, so why bother with Fan Zhen.
Seeing the two people's embarrassment, Guo Zongyi skipped the topic and continued: "Your Majesty agreed to immigrate refugees to Gyeonggi, not just to build a city wall or to find something for me to do. Nowadays, there are constant wars in the Central Plains and the North. The room is empty, there are numerous vassal towns all over the country, and there are troops and separatist regimes. If we don't find a way to strengthen the central government from time to time, the world will change hands sooner or later."
Li Yuan and Li Yuan looked horrified and hurriedly worshiped: "Now that your fate has been decided, Your Highness does not need to worry."
"Although I am young, I am not a child who is inexperienced in the world. You two have experienced three dynasties, so don't fool me with such nice words." Guo Zongyi said with a smile.
The two of them looked embarrassed. Yuan Ao laughed twice and said in a naive voice: "Your Highness has a straightforward temper, and I love him very much."
After discussing some trivial matters such as manpower and reception, it was getting dark. Guo Zongyi politely allowed the two of them to have dinner at his house. Who would have thought that they actually agreed without hesitation.
That night, in a separate courtyard, three people sat down on a small round table in order of priority. Guo Zongyi also specially ordered people to go out and buy good wine to entertain Li and Yuan.
Li Gu was not good at drinking and only drank a few drinks, but Yuan Rong was a very temperamental person. He drank one cup at a time and had a great time. In the end, he got very drunk and was helped back by his assistants.
Guo Zongyi sent Li Gu out of the house, and just in time, Li Gu suddenly said in front of the door: "Although His Highness is not as good as the crown prince, in terms of mind, I am afraid that even the heirs of the powerful officials in the court will not be able to catch up. With you, Your Majesty, the country will be prosperous for several generations." "
Guo Zongyi said modestly: "I dare not compare myself with Mr. Li. My friendship is no more than that of a child with a yellow mouth. Mr. Li is a capable minister in governing the country. With your Majesty, the country can prosper for a hundred years."
"Your Highness, you have betrayed this old minister." After saying this, Li Gu said goodbye to him. When Guo Zongyi entered the house, he got into the carriage and headed back slowly under the moonlight.
Guo Zongyi returned to the study and was busy writing. There were not many books in the study. He had just moved in and hadn't had time to buy any.
Chao Yu brought a bowl of sobering soup, added charcoal to the copper stove, and then said as a gift: "Your Highness, it's getting late. Let's take a rest early."
Guo Zongyi stopped writing and asked: "Chai Wang and Ercao, can you come here today?"
Chaoyu shook his head and replied softly, "I've never been here before."
Guo Zongyi hummed and continued writing.
He wrote a letter to Guo Rong's family. In the letter, he roughly talked about the situation in Tokyo and his success in getting Fuliu civil servants. Finally, he asked him to write a private letter to Wang Yin, who was left behind in Yedu.
Wang Yin is the military envoy of Kuizhou. He is the commander of all the bodyguards, horsemen and infantry. He is an upright envoy and minister. All the soldiers and soldiers in Hebei Province obey his control.
The reason for writing this letter is that he hopes that for Guo Rong's sake, he will do his best to count the refugees and strictly restrain his subordinates to prevent the people from suffering.
After writing the letter, he spread out a piece of plain paper and wrote a memorial in a decent manner, talking about appeasing the refugees and building a new city.
Perhaps it came from the habit of later generations. When writing official documents, he did not like to use many words and only stated the main points.
Listed in the memorial are: first, the reception and registration of households; second, epidemic prevention and treatment; third, the location of the new city; fourth, the required bricks of money, food and medicine; fifth, the coordination of Jia non-commissioned officers; sixth, the city management method of street system; seventh,
It is the policy after settlement, and the eighth is to build a new army for defense.
There were thousands of words in it, detailing his strategy to appease the people. He read it carefully again, and he was quite proud. He couldn't help but think, what will Aweng think when he reads this list tomorrow?
Chao Yu watched quietly from the side. She didn't know much about literacy, but she had seen many pens and inks written by dignitaries, some were clumsy, some were sharp, some were elegant, some were elegant.
However, His Highness's calligraphy has a strict structure, but the writing style is free and easy, and the pen is sharp like a knife, but does not show sharpness. It is as sparse and beautiful as his person, heroic when moving, and gentle as jade when still.
Guo Zongyi put down his pen. The ink in the Shuiyan inkstone had dried up. Seeing this, Zhao Yu stepped forward to help him grind the ink. He raised his hand to stop him and said softly: "No need. I've finished writing. It's time to rest."
Zhao Yu stepped back, her pretty face was slightly shy, and her voice was as thin as a mosquito: "Who does Your Highness need to warm the bed today?"
In the new mansion, there was no floor kang, and several charcoal stoves would be needed, which was very expensive and he was afraid of being poisoned.
Guo Zongyi was born to be afraid of the cold, and he thought Mrs. Tang would get cold in the middle of the night, so he had no choice but to ask them to warm the bed.
This request was very embarrassing, but the four of them did not have any resistance at all. Instead, they were all eager to try it.
Guo Zongyi was also very embarrassed. It seemed that he had to find someone to build the Kang as soon as possible.
After coughing dryly, he said: "You and Mu Ping are already hair-haired girls. It is inconvenient for you to sleep with me, so you should let Huailu Liudong come. They are young and I regard them as sisters."
Chaoyu said "Oh" and walked out with a disappointed expression, forgetting even the courtesy.
