Fenghou

Zhou Kuan nodded, "Improved the status of the prefect, confused the boundaries between officials and officials, and added a county worker, which seemed to increase a bit of professionalism, but actually made the officialdom at the county level more chaotic, more strife, and factional struggles intensified. , it can be said that these two head-slapping decisions of His Highness have shaken the foundation of the local officialdom."

Chen Qing really heard something harsh, and said with a sullen expression on his face: "Isn't it a good thing for professionals to do professional things? If you have to let laymen lead the insiders, everything will be a mess in the end."

Zhou Kuan was also not afraid, and met the lord's sharp gaze and said: "This is what His Highness takes for granted. Whether a job is done well or not does not depend on whether the officials understand it or not. The officials don't need to understand it. As long as the craftsmen are selected well and the funds are sufficient, The rest is left to the artisans.

Now that there is an extra county worker, His Highness thinks he can do things well?What can the county magistrate do if he doesn't allocate money and food?There are a thousand and ten thousand reasons why the county magistrate does not allocate money and food, and all of them make people speechless. The most indispensable thing in officialdom is reason. "

Jiang Yanxian quickly winked at Zhou Kuan, telling him not to be so tough, Jiang Yanxian tactfully said: "Your Highness attaches great importance to business and agriculture, and always hopes to increase food production so that the people can eat enough and the population can grow. We fully understand these.

In fact, all local officials want to have political achievements and attach great importance to agricultural technology. Once a new agricultural technology comes out, everyone will rush to promote it in their county. Your Highness, just look at the promotion of corn. They are all planting a large amount of corn, and the officials are more active than the common people. There are also pumpkins. Officials from all over the country line up to ask for pumpkin seeds. Everyone knows that it has a large yield, can be stored, and is a good helper to survive the disaster year, but some Things really don't need to be so urgent, too urgent will backfire. "

"Jiang Shenzheng is also talking about county workers?" Although Jiang Yanxian said it very implicitly, Chen Qing still understood.

Jiang Yanxian nodded, "This is actually a matter of responsibility. In the past, agriculture was the responsibility of the county magistrate, and the county magistrate had no shirked responsibility. He has the power in his hands, so he can do things well. Now the county magistrate doesn't care, and agriculture is the job of the county workers. The county workers are responsible for the accidents. The county workers need money but have no money, and people who need people have no one. They can't do anything. They can't borrow cattle for spring farming, can't raise money for well digging, and can't recruit people to build farmland and water conservancy. Your Highness , the existence of the county worker is actually taking away part of the power of the county magistrate, which county magistrate would be happy? If it is the county magistrate's own confidant, then it is easy to handle, but it happens to be appointed by the official department, and things are messed up."

Zhang Xiao also said: "Your Highness, I have to say a few words about the lowly position, to improve the status of the prefect. Your Highness' original intention is to let the imperial court control the county more deeply, but in fact! With the power of the county magistrate and the county magistrate, the official struggle in the county is fierce. Everyone is busy fighting, building relationships, and looking for backers. Who cares about the lives of the people?

More importantly, raising the status of the prefects actually created conditions for the local wealthy families to reach out to the county government. Most of the prefects are the children of wealthy families!They have real power, and they must take care of the interests of the wealthy and erode the interests of ordinary people. In the past, they were appointed by the county magistrate, and if they did too much, the county magistrate would balance it out, but now they have the support of the officials and the wealthy. It is definitely not a good thing for the county magistrate, the county magistrate, Your Highness, and subordinate officials to be in power! "

……

The carriage left Qingfeng Teahouse and drove slowly on the streets in the city. Chen Qing was still in deep thought.

The problem of local governments has always been a big problem that has been difficult to solve in the past dynasties, especially in the vast empire. In the era of inconvenient transportation and communication, the governments of various places have always been in a semi-independent state. It is easy to be controlled by the local gentry and become a vassal of the gentry.

This has been the case in all dynasties. The history of thousands of years is basically the struggle between the local separatist forces and the central court.

Of course Chen Qing knew about this big problem, and he was also trying to solve this big historical problem that has plagued him for thousands of years. He promoted the position of the prefect, and a small move divided the relationship between the gentry and the county magistrate, making them no longer become one.

The reason is also very simple, since they can directly control the power, why should the gentry take a long way to find the county magistrate to speak for them? The county magistrate will be weakened by the gentry and will not benefit, so he will naturally regard the gentry as an enemy, and the struggle will come.

This was the real purpose of Chen Qing's elevation to the position of the prefect, but the affairs of the county needed someone to do it, so the role of the county worker came out.

Therefore, Jiang Yanxian's point of view is not completely correct. The enemy of the county magistrate and the county magistrate is not the foreign county workers, but the local escorts. County workers go to work.

Of course, Chen Qing also knows that there is a lot of chaos now, which is normal. There are two catfishes stirring up the secretary and the county worker. The officialdom at the county level will definitely not be peaceful. It will take time to observe the effect. If it really works If it doesn't work, it's never too late to change it.

Chen Qing sighed softly and looked at the blue sky outside the car window. In fact, no matter how he reformed, he could not change the involution of the empire. The turmoil in the past dynasties was all caused by involution. To change it, the real solution is to Expand outward.

There is still such a large area of ​​land overseas, and so many rich species, expanding outward. The large ships of the Song Dynasty went to Africa and Arabia. There is no shortage of navigation technology. What he lacks now is a large ship of [-] shi, which requires a huge colonial population. .

The first thousand and 370 chapters and nine strange people

The carriage stopped, and there was the North Street outside. On the north side of the North Street was the former site of the Taiji Palace. Now the new Taiji Palace is being built, including the new government office. Although the area is only half the size of the Tang Dynasty Taiji Palace, Chen Qing also Three million guan was allocated from the treasury. Now it seems that 300 million guan is not enough, at least 300 million guan is needed.

Zhou Kuan suggested to demolish the Bianliang Palace and transport the stone and wood from the Bianliang Palace, which would save at least half of the money, but Chen Qing did not agree. Now is not the time to demolish the Bianliang Palace. Besides, Chen Qing is also considering Set Bianliang as the accompanying capital to facilitate the control of the East.

However, the imperial palace in Daxing City can be dismantled. If all the stone and wood are transported to Jingzhao, at least 100 million guan can be saved, and 100 million guan can build twenty large ships with [-] stone!

Thinking of big ships, Chen Qing also has a deep understanding. Whether in the Yangtze River, the Yellow River or the coast, his [-]-stone boat sails very smoothly, the ride is extremely comfortable, and it can carry a lot of goods and people. It represents the highest shipbuilding technology in the Song Dynasty. The only disadvantage is that it is too expensive. It costs [-] guan to build one, and it will take three years.

Since last year, Chen Qing has allocated 150 million guan from the inner government to build [-] large ships of [-] stone on Fujian Road.

"Let's go back!"

Chen Qing gave an order, the carriage started and drove towards the official office...

Back at the official office, Chen Qinggang sat down, and Chao Qing told him that Liu Dajiang was here.

Liu Dajiang is Yao Mei's brother-in-law. Yao Mei told Chen Qing that Liu Dajiang would look at his face and said that Yao Mei would be very expensive in the future. Chen Qing was quite interested and asked to find him.

"Ask him to come see me!"

Chao Qing turned around and was about to leave when Chen Qing remembered something, called him back, and said with a smile: "The imperial framework is going to undergo major changes, you have heard it!"

"Humble job has already been heard!"

Chen Qing said slowly: "There are more than 100 people outside of you. They are now called the Secretariat. They will belong to the Zhongshu Ministry in the future and become the subordinates of the Zhongshu Minister Zhang Xiao. But you are different from Wei Ji. You go find him first. Come on, let me explain this to you two first."

Chao Qing ran to find Wei Ji, and the two stood in front of Chen Qing. Chen Qing said to them, "The secretariat outside belongs to the Ministry of Education, but the six members of your Group A will be separated to form a new organization. It is called Baihutang, which belongs to our direct jurisdiction. Simply put, Baihutang is the place where the rules are reviewed. All imperial documents go to Baihutang first, and Baihutang divides them into four categories according to their importance: A, B, and C. The military is further divided into upper and lower. The army, the upper army will be handed over to me, and the lower army will be handed over to the Privy Council.

In fact, it is what you are doing now, because the three types of government documents, A, B, and C, are related to authority. Type A must issue the order of King Yong, type B does not need to go through me, and directly issues the order of the internal affairs hall, and type C does not need to pass through the internal affairs hall. The rotating prime minister of the governing affairs is directly handled, and Chao Qing and your three subordinates are responsible for the classification of documents, and Wei Ji and his subordinates are responsible for the review. "

Chen Qing said to Wei Ji again: "All government orders issued, no matter whether they are Class A, Class B, or Class C, you and your subordinates are responsible for reviewing their compliance. The content is not your business. It will be reviewed by the subordinate province, and you will be responsible. Check whether these documents are strictly implemented according to Chao Qing’s classification, category A must have my seal, category B must have the seal of the Internal Affairs Hall, understand?”

Wei Ji bowed and said, "I understand."

After a moment of hesitation, Wei Ji asked again: "But how do I know what kind of internal government order it is?"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "Chao Qing will keep a copy when classifying, and each document has a number, which must be reserved for the Yong Wang Ling and the Internal Affairs Department. A list, you can know it as soon as you compare the numbers, in fact, you can know it even without looking at the bottom. Class A documents must start with the word A, which is easy to identify, so you have a little easier time, and you have to be responsible for sorting out the documents for me, just like now .”

"Humble post obeys orders!"

"Go! Invite Liu Dajiang here."

……

Liu Dajiang is Yao Mei's brother-in-law. He is about 35 and six years old. He has never married, has no wife and no children. He is born with an unstable personality. He has stayed in the grassland for a full ten years. He likes to drink and go to brothels to find women.

Not long after, the tall and strong Liu Dajiang was led into the official way, and he bowed and saluted: "See Your Highness!"

"You're welcome, we are relatives, please be casual, please sit down!"

Liu Dajiang sat down and said: "Your Highness is worried about that bastard Zhang Qu, please rest assured, Your Highness, I will keep an eye on him, if he dares to have unreasonable thoughts, see if I don't beat him to death!"

Liu Dajiang and Yao Mei's parents have been worrying about Zhang Qu for the past two days. As soon as King Yong came to him, he immediately thought of it.

Chen Qing smiled and waved his hands, "I'm not worried, nothing will happen. I just came to you out of curiosity. Amei said that you showed her a picture when she was a child and said that she will be a rich person in the future. I just want to know. Do you really know how to read pictures?"

Liu Dajiang said with a smile: "Your Highness is too high on me. How can I know how to look at faces? I just know how to look at people. When Amei was five years old, her beautiful appearance had already been revealed. I know that such a beautiful woman is not ordinary. If someone can marry her, her husband must be a rich and powerful person, how can the poor Zhang family be worthy of Amei."

Chen Qing nodded, so that's the case. Although the reasoning is rough, it's true. It's the fact. Twin sisters like Yu Ying and Yu Lian are unique in the world.

"I remember, didn't you serve as Yan Jun's army staff? Why did you come to the capital?"

Liu Dajiang shook his head, "I have only studied for a few years, and I don't have much knowledge. How can I be an assistant? I don't want to stay in one place all the time, and I like to walk around, so I came to Jingzhao with my brother-in-law. In the restaurant, I am in charge of selling wine, earn fifty guan a month, and feel free!"

In fact, Chen Qing approached Liu Dajiang for another purpose. He had long discovered that this Liu Dajiang was a strange man. It is inconvenient for him to do personal affairs for himself, so Liu Dajiang is the best successor.

"Do you want to be a captain, go to Nanyang for a walk, understand the customs and customs, and buy rare treasures."

Liu Dajiang smiled and said, "Your Highness, my original name is Liu Dayuan, because it is easy to get in touch with the grasslands in Datong, but I have always wanted to go to Dajiang and Dajiang, so I changed my name to Liu Dajiang. I really want to go overseas. gone."

Chen Qing chuckled and said, "I'm just saying! Why are people in Datong called Liu Dajiang? You, the captain, actually work for me. I'll give you ten big ships, one thousand elite sailors, and ten thousand coins. , you go out to sea to destroy pirates, do business, find new lands, find various products that are not available in the Central Plains, destroy a group of pirates, and share half of the wealth captured with you, but you can’t become pirates and destroy business.”

"Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will never do anything harmful to nature!"

Chen Qing immediately named Liu Dajiang the county earl and guerrilla general. Three days later, he led a thousand sailors and set off for Xiangyang, where they would take ten thousand stone ships to Quanzhou.

Chapter 380 Waterway

Soon after the imperial examination, Chen Qing came to Shanzhou for inspection. As the territory managed by the Yong Kingdom continued to expand, Chen Qing also felt more and more deeply the impact of traffic and communication restrictions on the management of the huge territory.

Communications have been improved. On the one hand, pigeon letters and eagle letters have been used. On the other hand, they have begun to restore the post stations of the Northern Song Dynasty in various places and encourage the development of private express delivery. They have enough horses and the fastest gold medal delivery By constantly changing horses, letters can be sent at a speed of [-] miles a day, and official documents sent from Guanzhong can reach Yangzhou in only ten days.

This is the fastest speed, but the cost is also the highest. It is suitable for urgent official documents or business letters. Important information such as half pieces of jade pei is sent to Yangzhou counters. After the merchants arrive in Yangzhou, they can easily withdraw thousands or even tens of thousands of coins in Yangzhou counters. The safety and shipping costs of transporting money all the way to Yangzhou, dozens of dollars are really nothing, and businessmen are willing to pay this money.

Since the Qin Dynasty, straight roads or official roads have been built in all dynasties in order to improve transportation and shorten communication time.

The official roads of the Yong Kingdom were perfect and extended in all directions, which also benefited from the Northern Song Dynasty's efforts to repair the official roads on the basis of the Tang Dynasty. However, water transportation in Guanzhong and the Central Plains has always been a big problem.

Water transportation is extremely important. The transportation of bulk materials basically depends on water transportation. The cost of land transportation is too high. Chen Qing also attaches great importance to water transportation. A large amount of materials can be directly transported from the Yellow River to Jingzhao through the Weihe River and Tianbao Canal.

However, there is a large intestinal obstruction in the Yellow River waterway, which has seriously affected the shipping from the Central Plains, Hebei to Guanzhong since the Qin and Han Dynasties, and that is Sanmenxia in Shanzhou.

On the Yellow River in Shanzhou, there are two small island-like boulders lying on the water. The boulders are islands and cannot be moved away. Between the two boulders and the two banks, three rapid waterways are formed, like three water gates, hence the name Sanmenxia. .

The three water gates are called ghost gate, god gate and human gate. The ghost gate is sinister, the god gate is fast, and the human gate is gentle. Most of the ships passing through the human gate pass through the human gate. Difficult, frequent accidents.

During the Kaiyuan period, Prime Minister Pei Yaoqing built a Jijin warehouse in the east of Sanmenxia, ​​a salt warehouse in the west of Sanmen, and a Taiyuan warehouse in the southwest of Shanzhou. To the east of Sanmenxia, ​​store it in Jijincang, and then transport it to the west of Sanmenxia and enter Yancang through Shibali land road, so as to avoid the danger of Sanmenxia, ​​and then transport it to the capital by water boat.

In the third year of Tianbao, Wei Jian, the prefect of Shanzhou, managed the Sanmenxia again, rebuilt the plank road on the rock wall, and the boats were pulled by the trackers with ropes. The transportation of food and goods did not need to go by land, and small boats could also be transported through Sanmenxia.

But even if there are trackers, large ships with a deep draft still cannot pass through the door. As long as there are reefs underwater, the deep draft can easily run aground.

The Wanshi ship that Chen Qing transported supplies from Hebei could not pass through Sanmenxia. In Shanzhou, he changed to a small boat to pass through Sanmenxia, ​​and then changed to a three thousand stone cargo ship to go to Jingzhao. It was very troublesome and easy to unload and load the cargo twice. When it hit the rocks, people, ships and cargo were all destroyed.

Many merchants in Shanzhou had to enter the customs by land and then by water to prevent damage to the goods.

With the establishment of the Yong Kingdom, it has been decided to set up the capital in Jingzhao, so the shipping management of Sanmenxia is imperative.

Accompanied by Lu Wei, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Chen Qing stood on a high mountain by the Yellow River, looking at two huge rock islands from a distance, but in front of the rock islands, there was another huge rock that looked like a shark's fin It is its existence that makes the water flow extraordinarily turbulent and elusive.

Lu Wei pointed to the shark's fin in the distance and said, "That boulder makes the water flow extremely fast and strange. When ships pass by it, if they don't pay attention, they will be taken into the gate of ghosts or the gate of god by the current. That is a narrow escape. It takes great skill at the helm to bring the ship to the door."

Chen Qing felt that these words were a bit alarmist, so he frowned slightly and said: "The first batch of wealth we transported from Yanshan Mansion took thousands of small boats to pass through Sanmenxia, ​​and none of them were damaged. Could it be that the boatmen of each small boat have superb skills?" ?”

Lu Wei smiled slightly: "Besides skilled boatmen, there is another way to make the boat pass through the gate safely."

"any solution?"

"Can Your Highness see the cliff on the other side?"

At this time, the sun was shining brightly, and the mist on the river dissipated, which made him see farther away. Chen Qing's eyesight was extraordinary, and he could only faintly see some black spots on the cliff on the other side, "I saw very small black spots!"

"Those tiny black dots are craftsmen. They drill deep rock holes on the rock wall and install plank roads. The plank roads are very important. The fiber pullers walk on the plank roads, control the direction of the boats, and pull the boats safely through the human gate."

"Could it be that the management of Sanmenxia in the past dynasties is to update the plank road?" Chen Qing asked again.

"Of course, the rock island cannot be shaken, and the hidden reef cannot be eliminated, so we can only make a fuss on the plank road."

Chen Qing pondered for a while and said: "But we have Tiehuolei, so we should be able to do things that the predecessors couldn't do!"

Lu Wei nodded, "I am trying to use iron fire mines to blow up underwater reefs, but how to make iron fire mines explode underwater is a difficult problem. The firearms craftsman has been concentrating on research and trial and error. It is estimated that in the past two days There will be gains."

At this time, in the distance 'Boom! ' There was a muffled sound, and the white water column splashed, Lu Wei said: "This is what they are doing."

"No! This should be an underwater explosion." Chen Qing saw the white water column and immediately realized that it was an underwater explosion.

Lu Wei was overjoyed, did the gunsmith succeed?

He hurriedly took Chen Qing to Shan County, to the temporary test site set up by the Firearms Bureau in Shaanxi, and met Xie Ying, who had just been promoted to the Firearms and Powder Bureau.

Xie Ying didn't expect His Royal Highness King Yong to come, so he hurriedly stepped forward to pay respects, "See Your Highness for a humble job?"

Chen Qingxiao asked: "Just now I saw an underwater explosion, did you succeed in the underwater iron fire mine you tested?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, it was successful a few days ago, it has just been created, and it is currently being tested!"

"How do you do it, I mean waterproof?"

"Your Highness, please come and take a look. Your Highness will understand after I explain it to you."

Xie Ying led Chen Qing into a heavily guarded warehouse. In a small warehouse, Chen Qing saw the mine they had just made, like a big pumpkin with a horn growing on its head.

"Actually, we ignite it and then throw it into the water, so we need a plug to plug the mouth of the matchlock before throwing it into the water. The delayed explosion is most needed here. I already have it in Huolei's belly." It is a screw-like device, and the fire rope is hovering and burning inside. If we make more circles, the fire rope will burn inside for a long time, allowing the boats on the river to leave calmly.”

Chen Qing nodded. Firearms craftsmen are very experienced in delaying combustion. He asked again: "And then? Will the matchlock go out in Tiehuolei's stomach?"

"Your Highness is right. This is a big problem. It is always short of breath. Later, a craftsman thought of a solution and installed a wooden pipe on the top of the head, and the plug was plugged on the top of the wooden pipe. This gave him an extra breath. It can be said that it was just right. Just now The test was successful and it exploded underwater."

Chen Qing said with a smile: "Use a bamboo tube! Get a one-foot-long bamboo tube, and then tie Tie Huo Lei to the reef. The outlet of the bamboo tube is on the water surface. After lighting the matchstick, you don't need any plugs. Ok?"

Xie Ying said with a smile: "Of course this is also possible. Some craftsmen have also proposed it, but it needs to be implemented in winter when it freezes. Your Highness also knows that the water flow is relatively fast, and the bamboo tube will not last long in the water."

"You can make it stronger. Of course, I just mentioned it casually. You can find a way on your own. Anyway, it has succeeded now. I need to see the results."

"Reporting to Your Highness, the blasting will begin tomorrow!"

The first thousand 380 chapter debriefing

In the early morning of the next day, white water jets rose from the water surface of Renmen Gate, and the operation to blow up hidden reefs began, but in the end, Chen Qing's method was used, using a long bamboo tube to stick out of the water surface, because there were a lot of water underwater. For a single stone pillar, iron fire mines must be bound to the stone pillar to blow it up. It took a whole month, hundreds of reefs were blown up, the eddy current disappeared, the water potential became calm, and a three thousand stone cargo ship full of cargo could also be blown up. Under the guidance of the tracker, it is undoubtedly a huge progress to sail through Sanmenxia safely.

This means that materials from Jianghuai, Jiangnan and even Hebei can be directly transported to Jingzhao by a ship of three thousand shi, and Bianliang has risen again as a material transfer point, thus forming two lines, and overseas goods are transported to Xiangyang for transit , Domestic goods are transported to Bianliang for transit. There are more than a dozen specialized large-scale transport fleets on the Yellow River. They are familiar with hydrology and continuously transport materials from the Bianliang transit warehouse to Jingzhao.

Tens of thousands of camels are responsible for land transportation. As long as it is the transportation between Guanzhong and Bashu, and between Guanzhong and Shangluo, camels are known as the boat of land, and the cargo transported by each camel is equivalent to a small boat.

Of course, camels only transport ordinary goods to Bashu. The transportation of bulk materials between Guanzhong and Bashu still needs to be transported by water, taking Xiangyang and Shuijiang waterways. , 20 shi can be transported in one trip.

In the blink of an eye, time came to late autumn. Autumn is the season of ripe fruits and harvest. Chen Qing also had children. His wife Lu Xiu and Yu Ying gave birth to a son for him, and Zhao Yingluo gave birth to a daughter.

What made Chen Qing most happy was that all the mothers were safe and the children were all healthy.

This morning, Hu Yun, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, returned to Jingzhao from Yanshan Road, and immediately rushed to report to Chen Qing.

Hu Yun did not come to Jingzhao directly before. He received an appointment from Chen Qing in Xiangyang and appointed him as the Minister of the Ministry of Officials and the comfort envoy of Yanshan Road. He immediately switched to Yanshan Road and replaced Lu Qingshan in Yanshan Road. Working experience, going to Yanshan Road to sit in town for two years this time is undoubtedly a great exercise for him.

Hu Yun was not in Jingzhao, and the affairs of the Ministry of Officials were temporarily in charge of Jiang Yanxian, the right servant of the Shangshu.

In the official room, Chen Qing asked Hu Yun to sit down with a smile, and asked the soldiers to serve tea.

"When did you arrive at Jingzhao?" Chen Qing asked.