. Knowing that it was the King of Wei and his entourage who arrived, the prefect of Deng hurriedly greeted them into the city, in this case, naturally there was no guard of honor, only asked someone to carry his green sedan chair, the King of Wei sat in the sedan chair, and the others accompanied him on foot, fortunately, it was not far from Sizhou City, these people had been on the boat for a few days, and their bodies and bones were already idle, and they were supposed to take a walk and let off steam.

Sizhou City faces Huaishui, two miles away from Xushan, is a rammed earth building, the circumference of the city is nine miles, the city wall is about two zhang and five feet high, the city is surrounded by water, the whole Sizhou City is completely encircled in it. There are five gates on the city wall, and you need to pass through a drawbridge to enter and exit the city. Because here is the water and land to rush, businessmen gathered, so quite prosperous, a into the city, temple, temple, tower, building, view, hermitage, ancestral hall, altar and other beautiful buildings can be seen everywhere, the river ditch in the city is crossed, the boat is passed, the ditch is full of bridges, as if the Venice of the East is in general.

The Sizhou Mansion was also very magnificent, and when he arrived at the Mansion, Deng Zuyang ordered the middle door to be opened, and the King of Wei and his party were respectfully welcomed into the living room, and the tea was served first, and then he confessed his guilt and hurriedly went down to change his clothes. Due to the hot weather and no need to prepare hot water, Deng Zuyang hurriedly rinsed with cold water, changed into official clothes, and rushed to the living room to officially meet King Wei Chitose.

When Deng Zuyang was dressed in wrinkled clothes and mud on the embankment, he couldn't see the appearance of an official at all, so he hurriedly dressed up, put on official clothes, put on official hats, and leaned on his clothes, but he immediately had the grace and bearing of a big man. Deng Zuyang hurriedly met with Zhao Dezhao, the king of Wei, and Chu Zhaofu, the third envoy, and gave salutes to Cheng Yu, Yang Hao and others, and everyone sat down again.

Zhao Dezhao praised him for coming to the wharf to supervise the construction of the weir dam, and asked about Deng Zuyang's experience as an official and the situation in Sizhou.

Deng Zuyang said: "Chitose, as soon as the will of the imperial court arrives, the lower officials will immediately deploy men and horses to urgently buy grain, a few days ago has purchased a batch of grain and grass, plus the original grain in the treasury, about forty percent of the prescribed amount of grain has been completed. Originally, a certain amount of grain should be guaranteed in the treasury to prevent disasters, but now that the autumn harvest is approaching, if nothing changes, this grain can also be handed over to the imperial court. ”

After talking to Zhao Dezhao for a while, Deng Zuyang's nervous demeanor gradually calmed down, he took a sip of tea and moistened his throat, and said: "However, the grain merchants are very alert, and the lower officials have only purchased it for two days. ”

Zhao Dezhao couldn't help but get nervous when he heard this: "Governor Deng, the imperial court requisitioned grain and grass this time, and the normal collection of grain in an unusual year can be slowly planned, and the merchants are only mercenary, and the move to take the opportunity to raise prices for profit is expected by the imperial court. In this way, it is necessary for the local government to plan in many ways, and the prefect Deng went to the wharf in person to supervise the construction of the river embankment, so dedicated, the king is very praised. However, after repairing the river, there is still grain to be transported, and since the grain and grass can no longer be harvested, what countermeasures can the Deng Governor's Mansion have? ”

Deng Zuyang heard that he blamed himself for giving up his roots and not rushing to solve the problem of grain and grass purchases, but ran to build a dam and build a dam, and hurriedly explained: "Lord Wang, the lower officials rushed to the wharf to supervise the construction of the weir because Sizhou overlooks the Huaishui River in the south and controls the Bianliu in the north. As for the dilemma of Sizhou's local procurement of grain and grass, the lower officials have now adopted several countermeasures, but they have just been implemented, and it is not known how effective they are. ”

Zhao Dezhao turned his anger into joy and said: "Governor Deng already has a countermeasure? I don't know what countermeasures have been taken, so please come with this king one by one. ”

Deng Zuyang arched his hand and said: "Yes! ”

He looked around, and there was no one in the hall except for these big officials in Beijing, so he waved his hand and drove out the subordinates in his own house, and then said: "Lord, the stubborn businessmen take the opportunity to rely on grain for their own weight in floods and droughts, insect diseases and plagues, or major military times, and store grain and not sell it, and extort the imperial court; They know that the court is short of food, no matter how they know the righteousness, they are also unwilling to give up the huge profits to share the country's worries.

The lower officials can now only send officials to inspect everywhere, strictly prohibiting grain merchants from taking the opportunity to raise prices and disturb the people's hearts, and violators will be severely punished; At the same time, the people were recruited to strengthen the township, guard the main water and land transportation routes, and impose heavy taxes on those who trafficked grain and grass to other villages, and regulate them with taxes to stop the outflow of grain and grass. Then he entrusted the wife's uncle of the subordinate to help raise the matter.

Xiaguan's wife's uncle is a grain gentry, and the local grain and grass purchased by the Shipping Division, the Transshipment Division, and the Convenience Division every year have always been mostly helped by him to negotiate and help, and there are still some people in the local grain gentry, and Xiaguan asked him to follow the example of those gentry and merchants who stocked up on grain, and secretly purchased grain, as for Xiaguan himself, he temporarily put on the appearance of stopping the purchase of grain, and focused on building a weir and a water conservancy. ”

He sighed softly and said, "Fortunately, this year's wind and rain are smooth, and there are few pests and diseases, which is a good omen of a good harvest." As long as there are no major floods in the summer and autumn seasons, new grain will be abundant. ”

Zhao Dezhao learned the strategy of the country, and after all, he was lacking in these things, and when he heard this, he suddenly said urgently: "Autumn harvest? I'm afraid that when the autumn harvest is harvested, the grain is harvested, and then the rice is put into the warehouse, it will be too late to transport the Beijing division in full. ”

Chu Zhaofu said in a rough voice: "Chitose, what Governor Deng means is that those black-hearted grain merchants are pressing the warehouse grain and not selling it. However, if there is a bumper harvest of autumn grain, the old grain they pressed in the warehouse will not be sold, and there is a lot of rain in this place, and it is very humid, and the stored grain cannot be sold, and it will inevitably mildew after a long time.

Although our court will not have time to buy enough food by then, their black-hearted profiteers will not be able to take the slightest advantage, so it will be a lose-lose situation. Therefore, now it depends on who can calm down, if those grain merchants can't resist, seeing that the old grain is difficult to sell, and the new grain has come, they will have to give in to the government. ”

Zhao Dezhao's face turned red, and he said suddenly: "I see." ”

Deng Zuyang glanced at Chu Zhaofu, a smile appeared in his eyes, and he said: "The third envoy is right, the lower officials first blocked their export road with heavy taxes, and then suppressed their expectations of price increases with heavy laws, and at the same time, the lower officials rushed to build a dam on the embankment, and put aside the purchase of grain for the time being.

When the time is ripe, let out the wind first, and say that the grain and grass in the court are ready, and then let his wife and uncle contact a few grain gentry who have dealings with them to take the lead in selling grain. Alas, as a parent official in a state, he is really ashamed to do this strategy, but the situation is pressing, and the lower officials have no choice but to do it. ”

Yang Hao had previously seen this two-rank jinshi come to the wharf with the dignity of a government to direct the construction of this water conservancy project that the imperial court attaches great importance to, and he felt that such a hard-working official was really rare. Now listening to his strategy is very feasible, and it is similar to his own bait to lure grain merchants from all over the world to throw themselves into the net, and it is also a sense of bosom friend.

But he thought about it carefully, and said with some concern: "Governor Deng's plan is a good way to deal with these profiteers who eat meat and don't spit out bones. Merely...... The most important part of this plan is not to disclose the news, once the matter is not secret, let them know the details, then the Sizhou government will have to let these profiteers make a price. ”

Deng Zuyang said with a smile: "What this lord reminded is that it was only because of the prince's inquiry that the lower officials mentioned this matter to Chitose, the three envoys and the adults, and the entire Sizhou Mansion, before that, except for this mansion, only the wife and uncle of the mansion knew. ”

Yang Hao blurted out: "Your wife's uncle is also a grain merchant, he ......" suddenly thought that it would be rude to ask like this, and the businessmen in the world are not all black-bellied, and it is not without gentry who are worried about the country, so he stopped talking.

Deng Zuyang saw that he wanted to stop talking, so he smiled and said: "Xiaguan's wife and uncle are absolutely reliable, he is in Sizhou to build temples, build bridges and roads, set up righteous ferries, build water conservancy, fight righteousness and squander wealth, do good deeds, every time there is a famine, he takes the lead in donating money and grain, facilities porridge sheds, is a famous gentleman in Sizhou." This time, the government was able to buy forty percent of the rice grain in time, and he also raised it in the middle and made great efforts. ”

Yang Hao was relieved when he heard this, arched his hand to him, and smiled apologetically: "Lord Futai forgives his sins, it is Yang who is too careful." ”

Zhao Dezhao said: "Well, this is very good, this king will be in Sizhou for a few days, and if you know more details, please ask Governor Deng to arrange accommodation for this king." ”

Deng Zuyang said happily: "If the prince wants to stay in Sizhou, then please ask the prince and all the adults to make a compromise, and temporarily live in the mansion of the lower officials." Due to the local rain, the weather is humid, and the pavilion is rarely inhabited, so the humidity is thick and not suitable for noble people to live. The prince and the lords live in the lower officials' mansions, and the lower officials should ask the prince for advice nearby and discuss with the lords about raising food. ”

Zhao Dezhao smiled, and when Deng Zuyang saw that the prince agreed, he hurriedly ordered Zhang Luo to settle the houses of the adults. The back house immediately got busy, picked a good house to vacate for the adults to live in, the status of the king of Wei is precious, Deng Zuyang even vacated the residence of his husband and wife, sprinkled and cleaned, replaced with a brand new bedding, and invited the king of Wei to move in.

Zhao Dezhao arrived at the accommodation arranged for him, the people of Zhang's Mansion had sent a few buckets of warm water, and the people from the Wei Wang's Mansion carried them into the room, waiting for Zhao Dezhao to bathe and change clothes, Zhao Dezhao had finished bathing, put on a soft and comfortable civilian clothes, and sat in the hall to drink tea. ”

After a while, Yang Hao hurried over, he had just taken a bath, washed off his sweat stains, and said to Zhao Dezhao refreshingly: "Chitose summoned, I don't know what to order?" ”

Zhao Dezhao said in a deep voice: "This king has thought about it repeatedly, and he always feels that Governor Deng's strategy of raising food is too risky, and there is a tendency for the sword to go sideways. ”

Yang Hao is also the kind of person who likes to take the sword and win by surprise, and he appreciates Deng Zuyang's method very much, and he couldn't help but be stunned when he heard Zhao Dezhao's words, so he persuaded euphemistically: "Chitose, according to the lower officials, it seems that there is nothing wrong with the method of Deng Zhifu, this is no way, as the saying goes, soldiers are not tired of cheating, in this case, it seems understandable to use some tricks to win by outwitting." ”

Zhao Dezhao shook his head and said: "Isn't it a big mistake to govern the country with the way of soldiers? Govern the country with righteousness, use troops with oddity, and take the world with nothing. It is necessary to know that the relationship between the government and the people is the relationship between the boat and the water, not the clear barriers on the battlefield, it is related to the society and the country, thousands of Li people, clever tricks and tricks, after all, it is the way to do danger, success is success, defeat is a failure, it is the foundation of the community that is shaken, and it is the life of the people who is harmed, this is not a method that can be relied on. Sizhou is an important place to be entered by Huai, and the grain and grass borne by Sizhou Mansion is not a small amount, although the prefect of Deng is in the chest, the king is not at ease, the king stopped here for a few days, just want to do more about the situation here, if it is not necessary, can not rely on such a fight of wits and wits with the people as a bargaining chip. ”

Yang Hao said knowingly: "I don't know what the prince wants to do?" ”

"This king wants you to go to the city to explore and look around, to see what the rich and rich grain gentry here are planning, and whether the method of the Deng Governor's Mansion is likely to work, otherwise this king will always be at ease."

"Yes, the subordinate obeys." Yang Hao bowed down and agreed, and said in his heart: "This young highness has such a steady mind? Or was it his grandfather, who often lived in seclusion behind the scenes, to guide him? ”

Zhao Dezhao stood up with a smile and said to him cordially: "This king has never been an envoy before, this is the first time since the king was crowned as an emperor, patrolling the place on behalf of His Majesty, shouldering such a heavy responsibility, I can't help but be cautious." Yang Yuan envoy, build a weir dam sluice, unblock the waterway, collect the grain of the Quartet, and solve the danger of Bianliang The plan is what you came up with, this king hopes that you can help me, let's work together to do this great thing for the imperial court, and when the time comes, this king will ask for credit for you in front of His Majesty! ”

This prince who is already a matter of course among many officials has a lot of reliance and solicitation in his tone, but Yang Hao knows that the political situation in the DPRK and China is complicated, and Zhao Guangyi is not a thing in the pool, and he doesn't know whether this history will change because of the insertion of this little person, how dare he abandon Nan Ya and stand by his side with a clear banner, so he only did not understand, and responded respectfully: "The prince commands, and the lower officials should obey their orders." If there are no other orders, then the lower officer will go and prepare. ”

As soon as he said this, there was a sound of "Zheng", the aftermath was lingering, and it was not heard for a long time, the two listened in surprise for a moment, and saw that there was no sound, Yang Hao just wanted to retreat, and the bright sound of the piano slowly rose again, gradually overflowing like a breeze, filling every space, making people's boring thoughts under the scorching heat clear.

This song is good, and the piano skills of the person who caress the piano are even more wonderful, Zhao Dezhao's eyes couldn't help but light up, and he said happily: "What a song" The wind is loose!" ’