Chapter 248 Whether or not to open regular closing positions
The load capacity of one of the rail carriages manufactured by Su Song is about one hundred stones, which is about ten tons.
To be honest, this load capacity is really nothing compared to the craftsmanship of today's ordnance supervisors in making carriages.
A train wagon in later generations could pull thirty to fifty tons. Although the craftsmanship of the carriages of the Ordnance Supervisor at this time was inferior to that of later generations, it was also made of manganese steel.
Zhao Xi designed a two-way track from the beginning, which means that four carriages can be sent every quarter of an hour in one direction. This is equivalent to carriages being transported on this track day and night.
In this way, nearly 20,000 shi can be transported in one day...
Zhao Xi formulated detailed regulations for rail transportation.
There is no way, he should check it on the spot, or even stare there during the trial operation.
But he couldn't. Since he wanted to dig a hole to bury some people, he had to stay in the court and not let those who were interested see anything.
Rail transportation is a new thing, and it will definitely not be so smooth at first, and it will still be executed by some soldiers who are originally terrible.
Zhao Xi could imagine what kind of chaos it would be.
Zhao Xi was not allowed to let Su Song accompany Li Jie to take charge of the overall situation.
At this time, what impressed Zhao Xi most was: there were too few people available.
"Dad, can you order Xue Xiang to temporarily serve as the Ordnance Supervisor?"
There is really no other way.
After Su Song left, the distribution of grain transported to Bianliang became a problem.
Neither Lu Gongzu nor Han Zhen, including Wang Tao, are proficient in numeracy, and they are even more vague about the way of wealth.
At this time, Zhao Xi thought of Xue Xiang.
"Xue Xiang?"
Zhao Zhen seems to be searching for this name.
"The third division branch was ordered to investigate the wool transaction in Guanchang."
Oh, I remembered it. At that time, the ministers suggested that there really was such an edict...
Then, the next day, Xue Xiang was appointed by the imperial court and stationed in Gongfang City.
The responsibilities are also ready-made, and it can be regarded as the business scope of the third secretary, which is to conduct a thorough investigation of the coinage of the new money supervisor.
But the real purpose was that Xue Xiang received a secret order from the officials.
"Your Highness, are you doing this to make money?"
Xue Xiang was a little confused. He saw that every day when he arrived at the Qian Prison, the grain was transported to Jingzhao Mansion and Hebei Province. It was enough to reduce the price of grain to thirty or fifty cents per dou. He didn't understand why His Highness was holding back.
goods.
"Shizheng, when will the price of food be the highest?"
This is crucial. Only when grain prices soar to the highest level can grain be released in large quantities, and the crackdown on merchants who speculate in grain will be most effective.
"The day when the Changping warehouse is cleared should be when the price of rice is at its highest."
"In the Qingli Year, the price of rice once reached nearly a hundred cents per pound of rice, but there was no worry of food shortage. Just like today, the price of a hundred cents per pound of rice is still within the reach of the people."
"There are no worries about the refugees, the Changpingcang has not been opened, and it is currently in the stage of mutual testing. The imperial court is waiting for the refugees, and the merchants are waiting for the Changpingcang, while the people are waiting for God."
"To put it bluntly, they are all accumulating. I am accumulating food, the merchants are accumulating funds, the people are accumulating grievances, and the court is waiting for an explosion..."
"When the refugees arrived, the Changping warehouse was opened. At that time, the merchants would use the funds raised to frantically plunder the Changping warehouse's reserves, thereby pushing up the price of grain and making huge profits."
"What we are doing this time is to prepare to sell rice in large quantities at the same time in Gyeonggi Province, Jingzhaofu, and Hebei Province after the merchants have locked up their funds..."
To put it bluntly, Zhao Xi just wanted those who made money from the famine to have all the food in their hands and get moldy.
The price of rice in Bianliang City has risen to 120 wen per dou, while Hebei Province and Jingzhao Prefecture have reported that the price of rice is close to 150 wen per dou.
The court once again argued about whether to open a normal position.
This time, the main debate is whether Hebei Province and Jingzhao Prefecture should open Changpingcang.
Again, each has his own reason.
"In Hebei Province, the opening of Changpingcang in Jingzhao Prefecture can alleviate the problem of refugees in Kaifeng Prefecture. At this time, the people's food preparations are exhausted. If the price of rice continues to rise, it will inevitably lead to wealthy families unable to afford it and leaving their hometowns.
, flows to Bianliang."
"This famine does not affect one prefecture or one county. Almost the entire Hebei Province and Jingzhao Prefecture have a harvest shortage, and the number of people affected by the disaster reaches millions. If the imperial court does not open Changpingcang, millions of refugees will come to Beijing. Once
If you cause chaos, the consequences will be unimaginable."
"A poor harvest or even no harvest is a foregone conclusion. Now that Changpingcang is open, people will inevitably rush to grab food to prepare for next year's winter wheat harvest."
"The Changping Granary will be emptied quickly. In this way, the imperial court will not be able to take any measures to resettle the victims. That is a disaster, the biggest disaster. I believe that the Changping Granary has to be kept for this year's situation to ensure that
The imperial court provides porridge to comfort the people."
The ministers and servants were shouting, but Fu Bi looked at Zhao Xi and his father.
It is not that there were no famines in the early years of the country. Even if the disasters were not half as bad as today, the officials were already restless.
Now it's strange. Not only is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince confident, but even the officials seem to be watching the fun.
The official is not a master who can hide things. In such a disaster, he can still listen to nonsense with interest without asking his elders for their opinions on how to deal with it. How abnormal!
Zhao Xi's mind was on the market, focusing on the intentions of the merchants, and occasionally thinking about the position of the court officials.
In his opinion, even if the ministers were involved in this matter, they would not dare to blatantly do so. Just like in this court meeting, every word must be tenable.
Therefore, I didn’t spend too much time thinking about the court. I didn’t have time to think about the court.
Even this morning meeting felt like a waste of time. At this time, he most needed to grasp the dynamic changes in these three places through the Imperial City Department in order to make the most timely and appropriate response.
Therefore, my mind is not on the court at all.
"Your Majesty Fubi asks for a correct answer!"
Uh... is this morning over? Needless to say, there will definitely be no conclusion.
But Fu Bi asked for a memorial? This matter...~ Officials and servants rarely asked for a memorial, most of them were officials who asked for a memorial.
In the early years when the court was quarreling with each other, every time the prince asked himself to report to the court, one or two would be deposed after the incident was over.
This has obviously become less common in recent years...
However, when they arrived at Chui Gong Hall, Fu Bi didn't say a word and just looked at Zhao Zhen and his son blankly.
This is such a big deal! To be honest, it is really unreasonable not to say hello to Zhan Zai for such a big matter.
The only excuse is that Zhao Xi did not use the court's channels or the court's authority, and was simply operating in the name of a merchant.
Zhao Xi was still calm, but Zhao Zhen was dying.
In all these years, he has never done such a big thing on his own initiative. He didn't make a clear distinction between merchants and the court.
In Zhao Zhen's heart, he and his son are the imperial court.
Hiding it from my husband... is quite unreasonable.
"Xi'er..."
"Oh, Dad, Prime Minister Fu, this was written by Xi. Whether it can be used or not needs to be decided by the court..."
"On Resettlement of Displaced People" was prepared by Zhao Xi during this period, hoping to use some plans for future generations to standardize the management of disaster victims today.
Seeing Fu Bi's reluctance, Zhao Xi was worried about the opportunity, so this was just right.