"You have a point---。

Wu Meiniang pondered for a moment, and then said: "But just like this, I'm afraid it can't be." ”

Han Yi nodded and smiled: "The queen is right, of course, this alone can't be done, but this point is particularly crucial, because if you don't abolish this kind of flaw in the system, then there is nothing else to talk about." This thing is artificial, no matter how clever the method is, someone has to implement it, and on the basis of this system, to make Caoyun better, the minister thinks that it is all nonsense, which is why the minister wants to abolish Caoyun, not change. ”

As long as this mode of operation is carried out, there will inevitably be a lot of waste and exploitation of the people.

The imperial decree was right, it was only necessary to transport grain to Chang'an, and it had to maintain the operation of the imperial court, but once the decree was issued, the imperial court could not control how the local officials would use the decree.

Wu Meiniang nodded and said, "Even if you abolish Caoyun as you wish, what should you do after that?" ”

Han Yi said: "That's much simpler, just hand it over to the businessman." ”

"Leave it to the merchant, I'm afraid the cost will be higher."

"This thing is vaguely expensive---。"

Without waiting for Han Yi to finish speaking, Wu Meiniang was curious: "What does this have to do with the fact that things are scarce and expensive?" ”

"Of course it does." Han Yi explained: "Caoyun only transports grain and tribute, in other words, Caoyun is the only fleet that serves the imperial court, and no matter what it is, once it becomes the only one, then it will naturally be expensive. If it is handed over to the merchants, it is not the only one, when the cargo ships on the river are shuttling day and night, then the cost of transportation naturally becomes much cheaper. For example, if there are 10,000,000 ships plying the canal every year, and the amount of grain that needs to be used is 1 million stone, then the average ship carries only 10 stone of food, and even if they are allowed to deliver it for free, they will be willing. ”

Wu Meiniang said angrily: "But there must be 10 million ships." ”

"It's just an analogy."

Han Yi smiled and said: "With the beginning of the north-south trade and the northwest trade, the merchant ships in various places are bound to increase significantly, and the transportation will be redundant. In addition, there is still a drawback to Caoyun, today's Caoyun is only two points and one line, that is, the starting point and the end point, but in this case, it takes a long time, and the great loss of manpower and material resources, and the merchant ship can avoid this, you can connect the city at four or five points, section by section. For example, if one person runs 10,000 steps, it will never be as good as 100 people running 10,000 steps. Moreover, when the distance reaches a critical point, although it is only one person, you will definitely spend more money for it than if you hire a hundred people. ”

Wu Meiniang also seemed to understand it, but it didn't matter, as a ruler, she didn't need to know every detail, she just needed to know whether Han Yi's plan was false or real.

She and Li Zhi were both worried about this, because Han Yi said it was too exaggerated to be unbelievable, whether there was another purpose, or was this just a trick at all.

But now it seems that Han Yi is really quite sure, so it is really possible for him to abolish Caoyun. Wu Meiniang groaned for a while, and said: "But Cao Yun is very important to the imperial court, even if it is military food, you have to rely on Cao Yun, and hand over such important things to merchants, do you think this is appropriate?" ”

Han Yi said: "It's still the same sentence, this thing is rare and expensive, and now Caoyun is the only fleet that transports grain for the imperial court, so it is very precious, but when thousands of merchants transport grain for the imperial court, then it will seem commonplace, just like breathing, it's not a big deal, it's just a deal."

In addition, the imperial court only handed over the task of transporting grain to the merchants, not to the merchants, and this rule was still set by the imperial court, which is like the imperial court does not need to let every common man come to the court to be an official, the people are just the people, and it is good to use the law to restrain them.

The same is true for river transportation, it is merchants who transport grain, but the imperial court can set up some special departments, or directly send the royal police to monitor the river, or set up relevant departments on the wharf to inspect the goods coming and going, so that it can be more effectively controlled. ”

Wu Meiniang nodded slightly, thought for a while, and said: "You are very reasonable, but no one has ever done this, and no one knows what the consequences of doing this will be, this is not your family's business, no matter how big a mistake you make, it will only lose a little money, this is a national matter, you have to think carefully." ”

Han Yi said: "Please rest assured that the minister does not plan to abolish Caoyun in one day, and the reason why the minister asked for three years is to gradually reduce the scale of Caoyun in these three years and abolish Caoyun step by step." ”

Wu Meiniang glanced at Han Yi slightly, pondered for a moment, and suddenly said, "Actually, there is a better way." ”

Han Yi was stunned, suddenly his eyes widened, he immediately understood, and whispered: "The queen doesn't mean that she wants to move the capital to Luoyang. ”

Wu Meiniang said: "Isn't this able to do it once and for all?" ”

Han Yi said: "Queen, in terms of geographical location, Chang'an and Luoyang have their own advantages and disadvantages. However, in the minister's view, this is not an overnight thing, nor is it something that can be changed by food. The queen should not forget that half of the country's government soldiers are in the Guanzhong region, and with such a large area in the northwest, if the Beijing division moves east, it will weaken the imperial court's control over the northwest. ”

Wu Meiniang groaned for a while and said, "In this way, this is impossible? ”

Han Yi said: "That's not, it's just that you can't be in a hurry, you need to come step by step, in addition, abolish Cao Yun, change to merchant ships, can also promote the development of Luoyang, today's Cao Yun benefits, in fact, can not benefit the people, but to the people to bring harm, just benefit the officials, if you switch to merchant ships, increase the flow of trade around the world, Luoyang is bound to become the economic center of the world, where is the money, where people will naturally go, then everything will fall into place." ”

Wu Meiniang is such a shrewd person, she naturally won't let Han Yi's words fool her, she thought for a while, nodded and said, "If you can have such considerations, I will be relieved a lot." Speaking of this, she sighed lightly and said, "That is, you, if you are someone else, I am afraid that Your Majesty will ignore it." ”

Han Yi arched his hand and said, "The minister will definitely not live up to the trust of His Majesty and the Empress." ”

Wu Meiniang smiled and nodded.

————

After meeting Han Yi, Wu Meiniang returned to the dormitory and told Li Zhi some of Han Yi's theories.

"It seems that he is really confident that he can do it." Li Zhi just wanted to know if Han Yi really had the ability to fulfill his promise, as for how Han Yi would do it, he didn't want to know, and he didn't understand.

Wu Meiniang nodded and said, "Judging from his performance, it should be." I wonder if His Majesty intends to let him do it? ”

Li Zhiwei groaned and said, "What do you think?" ”

Wu Meiniang shook her head lightly and said, "This is not a trivial matter, and the concubines don't dare to talk nonsense." ”

Li Zhi lowered his eyes and thought for a long time, and suddenly said, "If he can really increase the amount of grain delivered to Chang'an by twenty times, I am willing to let him give it a try." ”

Wu Meiniang said: "I don't know what Your Majesty's considerations are? ”

Li Zhiruo said: "Today's world, the north and south have been stabilized, and there is only one Goguryeo left in the east, so there is no need to worry, the main threat is the tribes from the northwest, as well as the Tubo in the west, the tribes in the northwest, although they surrender to my Tang Dynasty, but they have to wait until the northwest plan is successful, before they can completely control the local area, and Tubo has been expanding over the years, it can be seen that its ambition is not small, and it is also my henchman, if I can transport more grain from the south of the Yangtze River, I can have a more powerful army in the northwest to ensure the suppression of Tibet. ”

Han Yi is right, if you want to move the center to Luoyang, it is not an overnight thing, and you still need to think about it in the long run. Wu Meiniang nodded and said, "Your Majesty has considered it carefully." "The reason why she has always wanted to transfer Luoyang is to avoid the Guanlong Group, but the problem is that the trend of Datang is to move westward, not eastward, because the east side of the sea, while moving westward, how can it be possible to move the political center eastward, at least after the northwest is stable, it is qualified to talk about moving east.

Li Zhi smiled: "I hope Han Yi doesn't disappoint me." ”

Li Zhi is by no means a faint king, the reason why he agreed to Han Yi is not completely forced by Han Yi, let alone fooled by Han Yi, he can refuse, but Han Yi's change is highly consistent with his strategic layout, Li Zhi is ambitious, he is never willing to live under Li Shimin, the Tang Dynasty under his rule, the territory is also the largest, and after him, it gradually shrank and has been getting smaller.

At present, the Tang army swept away the Turks, the north and the south are safe, but there are still some threats on the east and west, Goguryeo's problem is not how much of a threat he has to the Tang Empire, it can only be beaten, the question is whether it can be eliminated in one fell swoop. The main opponent is Tibet, and the northwest has not yet been completely stabilized, and the Tibet also has power in the northwest, if the suppression of Tibet cannot be maintained, once the Tibet is in trouble, the northwest may be in chaos, which is very terrible.

And the biggest problem in the northwest is that there is no food, so Li Zhi agreed to Han Yi's request, the only reason is that there is twenty times the amount of grain, as long as there is enough food, he can have a more powerful military force in the northwest, in that case, he can not only suppress Tubo and consolidate his control over the northwest, if it can be further increased, he will go west, expand the territory of the Tang Dynasty to a territory that the Central Plains emperor has never set foot in, if he can do this, break the geographical restrictions, After completing the unfinished great cause of the Qin Emperor, Han Wu and Tang Sects, then he is the first emperor of the ages, and he also has the capital to argue with Li Shimin.

It can be seen that this matter of luck is by no means a trivial matter, because it carries the future of Datang.

After careful consideration, Li Zhi asked Zhongshu Province to draft a holy decree, officially appointing Han Yi as the river patrol envoy, in charge of the affairs of Cao Yun, and put the Zhou Ji Administration, which was originally in charge of Cao Yun, under the household department, in fact, the Zhou Ji Department was abolished and the household department was directly in charge.