"Master Xue is just a big hand!"

In the political hall, Lu Huiqing clapped her hands and praised the heroes who finally made the New Party faction raise their eyebrows today.

From time to time, horse-drawn carriages loaded with grain arrived in the capital from the south along the Bianhe River. According to the latest news, there have been as many as 150 sleds arriving in Beijing. Extrapolating from the part that has already been counted, it is estimated that the amount of grain arriving in Beijing today should be around 25,000 stones.

The 25,000 stone grain was like a slap in the face that Wang Anshi threw up, making the court and all the political enemies who were gearing up and preparing to completely overthrow Wang Anshi and his followers suddenly speechless.

As the third division of the same judgment, Zeng Bu was also very happy about this.

Zeng Bu has now begun to look ahead to his own position after Wang Anshi's departure. As far as he knew, Lu Huiqing was also thinking about this issue. During this time, Lu Huiqing and Lu Jiawen were very close, and they didn't know what they were planning. The city is under the jurisdiction of the three divisions, but Lu Jia asked if there was anything to do either to find Wang Anshi or to find Lu Huiqing, and never paid attention to him Zixuan, the total of the three divisions.

However, from the perspective of the common interests of the new party, Zeng Bu must support this action. Otherwise, it is likely that it will not be Wang Anshi who will fall, but the entire New Party - how it is, it depends on the thoughts of the Son of Heaven, but Zeng Bu is absolutely unwilling to gamble on this.

"Twenty-five thousand stones! If it was transported by water, who would have thought that such a large amount of grain could be transported to the capital in one day by horse-drawn carriage. Zeng Bu smiled lightly, for many months, such a relaxed mood has been rare.

"The same verdict." As soon as he arrived in Beijing, he was reminded in a whisper by the escort officer who mentioned the book to pay respects, "There won't be so many from tomorrow." ”

Wang Anshi knocked lightly on the table, even if there was no explanation from the escort officer, he knew the real situation of Lu Dao - the Sixth Route Shipping Division had reports delivered to Zhongshu every day, and Xue Xiang also sent a more detailed private letter to him - if it wasn't for Xue Xiang's special arrangement, the amount of grain arriving in Beijing would never be so much as it is today.

The reason why hundreds of sleigh cars arrived in Beijing today was because Xue Xiang deliberately wanted to cause a sensation in the government and the opposition and deliberately adjusted the time of transportation, so that these vehicles would arrive in Beijing on the same day. If time goes on, the number of sleds arriving in Beijing every day will return to normal levels - about 80 to 100 a day.

"Based on the rated carrying capacity of 150 stone for a truck, it is about 12,000 to 15,000 stone." The escort officer said the numbers he had.

Although it is almost a discount compared to today, the number of 12,000 to 15,000 has already made Wang Anshi overjoyed. Not only Wang Anshi, but also Lu Huiqing, Zeng Bu, and Lu Jiawen, who heard the news, were all overjoyed.

Lu Jia asked and smiled, and said to Wang Anshi: "From now on, the winter of Bianhe will not be cold anymore." ”

"That's right." Wang Anshi nodded with a smile, and then said to the escort officer: "Let's talk about how Xue Shizheng arranged for you to transport the grain." ”

The escort officer immediately replied: "When the villain came out, he was strictly ordered by the bachelor. Don't stop for a moment on the road, even if one section is damaged, it will be unloaded and left to be watched over and repaired, while the car continues on the road. After arriving at the foothold of each day, the cars will be reorganized and restored to a four-zhang long train with a load of 150 stones. ”

Hearing about Xue Xiang's moves, Lu Huiqing said half-jokingly: "Master Xue is not long in the current Longtu Pavilion. ”

Wang Anshi bowed his head again and again, and Xue Xiang did not disappoint him: "When the son of heaven is honored." Then he asked, "What are the obstacles along the way, and what is the condition of the road?" ”

"Back to Xianggong, now the water of the Bianhe River has been frozen to the bottom, and it is smoother than the best official road, there is no trouble at all, and it is very brisk. Even if there is a pothole in the ice track, you can cross it directly at the length of a skid, and it will rarely sink like a wheel. ”

The normal water in the Bianhe River is six feet deep, and as a canal, the water in the river naturally comes from the various rivers it passes through. The southern section is the Yangtze River to replenish water, the middle section after Hongze is by the Huai River, and the northern section after passing Suzhou is the Yellow River. Due to the different terrain of these sections, the water depth is adjusted by Doumen [Note 1] in the middle. In winter, the estuary of the Yellow River is used to prevent icing, and it is customary to block it. As long as the mouth of the Yellow River is not released, the remaining bottom water from Suzhou to Tokyo is only one to two feet deep.

This winter has been particularly cold – in winter, the sunnier the day, the colder it is – and reports from the south have reported that Dongting Lake is frozen and there is no way to walk boats, and that people who grow oranges on the east and west islands of the lake have even starved to death because food cannot be delivered. Therefore, when I arrived on the side of the Bianhe River, I had already been frozen to the bottom.

Sometimes it hurts people, and sometimes it can help people. 'Misfortune and blessing are relied upon, and blessing and misfortune are lurking', Lao Dan's words have their own reason.

Wang Anshi relaxed a little when he heard this, leaned back in his chair, and asked with a smile: "It should be difficult to walk this road for the first time, right?" ”

"Gentleman, the leaders this time are all old-fashioned, although they have never walked on the ice, and it only took a day or two to get used to it. In fact, it's almost the same as walking on the road, just be steady. ”

"How much did the sleigh break down all the way?" Lu Jia asked and asked.

The escort officer said: "This newly built sleigh is indeed prone to breakage, and there are quite a few breaks. But this thing is also easy to repair, and the bad parts are basically on the legs and sleds. Even if you are not a carpenter, changing a stick of wood is just a nail, which is not very difficult, but it takes labor to move the grain up and down. ”

Wang Anshi sat up straight: "How much loss is there in the grain?" ”

The escort officer frowned and thought for a while, and said: "If you return to Xianggong, it is not much, about one percent, which is not much different from the loss of the program before the implementation of the equalization method." ”

Wang Anshi and Lu Huiqing glanced at each other, and each nodded, it was indeed much better than they expected.

Before the implementation of the equalization law, the boats carrying grain would often inexplicably 'capsize and sink in the waves' or 'water invade the boat' in the Bianhe River, which was only six feet deep, and then the grain on board would float away. In addition to the 6 million stone grain, an additional 600,000 stone will be allocated. Later, the equalization method was implemented, coupled with Xue Xiang's iron-fisted governance, the losses on the road dropped to two or three percent.

Although the loss of grain transported by sled cart is now equal to that before the implementation of the equalization method, the main damage to this novel mode of transportation is the car, not the horse, and still less the grain on the car. Xue Xiang has been in the Sixth Route Shipping Division for many years, and when he teaches the officials of the Shipping Division a lesson and gradually adapts to this mode of transportation, the proportion of grain loss on the way should drop a lot.

After asking all the questions that should be asked, and the questions in his heart were answered, Wang Anshi raised his hand and motioned for the escort officer to leave, "Okay!" Go down and rest for a while. This time you have worked hard, and there will be a reward from the court another day. ”

The prime minister's praise and promise made the escort officer overjoyed, and after kowtowing, he thanked him and quit.

The capacity of the sled, the amount to the capital today, cannot be used as a basis. But this winter it will be able to maintain more than half of today's level. In other words, it is about half of the capacity of the Tsunade ship. At the same time, the human, material and resource costs are more than three times that of water transportation. It is not cost-effective to consider only the cost, but if you add in the political considerations, the price is simply too cheap.

Wang Anshi breathed a long sigh of relief, it was in vain that he had always believed in Xue Xiang's talent.

After his son Wang Yan returned from Baima County, he said that when Han Gang came up with the idea, he was worried many times that the Sixth Route Shipping Division would not be able to organize such a large-scale transportation activity. But Xue Xiang went from a shadow supplement official with a shallow background - relying on his grandfather's favor as an official, and his father was unknown - all the way to the position of the third envoy without hindrance, making countless Jinshi grit their teeth but could only secretly drink hatred, his talent in governing affairs is second to none in the court. The so-called 'calculate no last resort, and be attentive'. Even if Wang Anshi compares himself, he can only bow to the upper hand.

Wang Anshi knew that day that if someone in the court could do this well, there would be no second candidate except Xue Shizheng. Even if Han Gang was transferred, he would have lost Xue Xiang's prestige in the Sixth Route Shipping Division. His son-in-law is too underestimated! …… However, when it comes to wisdom, Han Gang is by no means inferior to Xue Xiang-

"Alright." Wang Anshi's eyes swept over several of his capable subordinates, "Let's do it according to the established strategy!" ”

The news of Gangliang's arrival in Beijing has spread in Kaifeng Mansion, and millions of soldiers and civilians are looking forward to it. But to their surprise, the imperial court had already begun to sell the grain that arrived in the capital at a low price in the city, but there were very few ordinary people who could buy this grain, and almost all of the first batch of grain that arrived in Beijing was bought by the official eunuchs in the capital.

For this reason, the Chinese book issued six documents in a row in two days, strictly ordering all sales points to not allow a single person to purchase more than one bucket of grain. But this order did not help, and the price of grain in the capital did not fall because of this, and even the price of rice, which was a symbol, rose by five wen again.

The grain that arrives in the capital every day is continuous, but it is already the nineteenth day of the lunar month, and in the rest of the time, even if the whole shipping department does not take annual leave, the grain that can arrive in Tokyo before the New Year is very limited. And the Son of Heaven will never allow the price of 135 Wen for doumi to be maintained until the New Year's Festival.

This point, Wang Anshi knows the way, the civil and military officials know the way, and the grain merchants also know it. Although the people are watching with coins, and all the grain in the store cannot be sold, the grain merchants still insist on keeping the grain price at a high level, and they will force Wang Anshi to open and close the position!

Grain prices remain high, and it is useless to scatter grain. In front of the Son of Heaven and hundreds of officials, a royal historian asked Wang Anshi loudly, why is it not open and closes the position!

Wang Anshi's complexion was calm, and he faced the doubts of the civil and military officials at the court meeting, and his eyes were as hard as the granite on Taihang Mountain.

Is he really out of tricks?!

Lu Huiqing, the fifth room inspector of the Chinese book, walked out of the column slowly, and saluted Zhao Ji with a wat in hand: "Regarding the matter of releasing grain to stabilize grain prices, the minister has a word to play." ”

Note 1: Doumen is the ancient name of the lock. It was used on the Ling Canal dug in the Qin Dynasty, and on the Bianhe River, which connected the three major water systems in the Song Dynasty, the Doumen that stored water and separated the water was already an indispensable part of keeping the canal navigable.