"Your Majesty,"

However, Li Ju, the first assistant, took the lead and said: "The people speak out, but it is a perfunctory propaganda and governance, and to a certain extent, it can indeed expose local corruption, supervise the administration, and even correct the implementation of policies." However, the people's grievances are also spontaneous, but they are often mixed with certain emotions, which seem to be appealing grievances, seeking justice, etc., but as long as they carefully distinguish the grievances they complain, it is not difficult to find that their understanding of grievances, or imagination, has almost become fragmentary, emotional, and even secretly selfish expressions......"

"Xiangguo, I'm afraid it's not appropriate to say that, right?" Henan Dao Yu Shi Lu Youquan couldn't help but jump out, he really couldn't listen to it.

Li Ju did not refute his words, but continued to Emperor Yongming: "The reason why the minister wants to say this is completely out of consideration for the overall situation, in fact, Liu Ge Lao has already said very clearly that morning, there is only one Cao River, but the land route is not only a road between the two capitals, my Ming Dynasty has a vast territory, there are as many as 12 water and land post roads starting from the two capitals, plus the water and land post roads under the jurisdiction of Zhejiang, Fujian and other political departments, there are more than 143,700 miles. Can such a vast road be completely abandoned with just a piece of paper? Just because the people need sympathy? ”

Lu Youquan seemed to be a little anxious, and said: "Even if it is as Xiangguo said, you can't completely ignore them!" ”

Liu Yikun listened to Li Ju's words, and there was a trace of surprise in his heart, with his understanding of this Shoufu, he was a quite traditional Confucian scholar, and he was deeply influenced by the idea of seclusion, 'If there is a way, there will be a master, and if there is no way, it will be hidden'. But in his opinion, the so-called seclusion is actually inaction, so he has never scoffed at it.

Liu Yikun knows very well that he has differences with Shoufu's auxiliary political philosophy, as long as he doesn't touch himself, he will generally choose the mean, so he never thought that he would agree with himself, and this time it really surprised him.

"What does the old lady mean?" Emperor Yongming asked.

Li Ju said: "The minister is not completely ignoring them, the minister just thinks that whether it is Cao and Lu, or Cao and Hai, they all need to be considered holistically, and they cannot be considered alone or without considering any party." ”

Emperor Yongming understood, and said, "You mean that you need to combine Cao, land, and sea and consider them as a whole?" ”

"That's what I mean," Li Ju replied.

"This is a good idea...... Emperor Yongming pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Then how can it be considered a whole?" ”

"It has to be based on a purpose......

"Your Majesty, the minister has a book," Cao Du Qi Meier suddenly came out of the queue and said.

When everyone saw him out of the ranks, and said that he was going to play, they were all taken aback, and then they looked closely at the fact that he was holding a piece of music or something in his hand, obviously prepared. Liu Yikun was also stunned, thinking to himself what tricks this person is going to do?

Emperor Yongming thought for a while and said, "The old lady will retire and rest for the time being. ”

Li Ju received the order, bowed down and retreated to the side.

Emperor Yongming said again: "Qi Aiqing is here." ”

Qi Meier said slowly: "Since Your Majesty and Xiangguo have mentioned that Cao, Luhai and Hai are one, then the minister has a suggestion, maybe it can be used for throwing bricks and attracting jade......"

"Oh? Let's talk about it," Emperor Yongming was a little interested.

"That is to restart the excavation of the Jiaolai Canal."

After these words, the entire Shohito Hall became unusually quiet......

"Shipping, whether from the Yangtze River estuary, or from Huai'an, must bypass the Shandong Peninsula to reach the Bohai Bay of Zhigu Port, but it is this section is full of dangers, especially in the east of the mountain, rocky reefs, turbulent sand and innumerable, to pass through here is not familiar with the flood. If the sea runs, then the old road of Jiaolai can not be reopened, and the reopening of the new river, in the past always on the grounds of the huge cost of the project, now there is a post reform as an example, but also can take the way of business to help contribute, local contributions, isn't it a penny? ”

This remark made Shoufu Li Ju close his eyes slightly, as if he was measuring this possibility. The proposal for the Jiaolai Canal was put forward in the Longqing period, and it was forced to give up because of political disputes, but it is not impossible to consider the land and sea as a whole. During the Longqing period, from Huai'an to Jiaozhou through Haizhou, it was originally used as a maritime transport route, if the Jiaolai Canal can be completed, then Huai'an will be an important transshipment place for north-south shipping and transportation.

Liu Yikun sighed in his heart after hearing this, the governor of Caoyun re-mentioned the old shipping case?

He suddenly became very curious about this Qi Zongcao's approach, did he really mention it or ...... Just looking for an excuse?

If he really mentions it, then I am afraid that he will not be under less pressure and attack than he is in the position of general Cao, after all, such a proposal is contrary to local interests, and even his future career may be buried here. But if he just made an excuse to say it deliberately, how much would it help him to find his current situation?

This point made Liu Yikun a little incomprehensible.

Whenever a canal or Cao River is newly opened, or when a section of the river is ready to be abandoned and found another way, it is often the time when the debate with the people involved is most intense, and the abandonment will also lead to the decline of its political status, Xuzhou is a clear example. On the contrary, the newly opened Cao River will bring local economic and social prosperity, which is also obvious.

However, in history, it was proposed to dig the Jiaolai Canal, but it was strongly opposed by the local officials in Shandong, and the apparent reasons were all objective reasons such as poor natural conditions and great technical difficulties, but in fact it was to safeguard the interests of the province. Because the excavation of the new river will inevitably consume a lot of local manpower, material and financial resources, and the strength of the three prefectures of Dengzhou, Laizhou and Qingzhou is not enough to support it.

Of course, it takes as little as seven or eight years from the start of a huge project to more than ten years from the start to the completion of a project, which is far longer than the term of office of an official. Even though there are huge potential interests in the area, short-sighted local officials are still more inclined to oppose it for their own sake.

This is why over the years, the magistrates of Shandong Province have changed countless times, but they are quite tacitly unified on the proposal of the Jiaolai Canal.

Sure enough, before Qi Mei'er's voice fell, an official stood up, and everyone saw that it was Li Yixian, the governor of Shandong. This governor was actually summoned to Beijing, but a little earlier than Qi Meier.

The governor and the governor of Caoyun Province are supposed to be a community of interests, but in fact the two overlap in terms of functions and powers, although this is also the basis for cooperation, but it is also the source of contradictions. So Liu Yikun looked at the two of them as if he was watching a good show, wanting to see how the two of them made the contradiction public.

Li Yixian bowed to Emperor Yongming, and then said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the plan proposed by Qi Zongcao is inappropriate. ”

"Li Qingjia, then you can also tell me why it's not appropriate?"

"Back to Your Majesty, in the past, it was said that the excavation of the Jiaolai Canal was a huge project and a lot of money, so that the three provinces of Ludong could not afford it. But now, for Shandong Province, there is no need to dig the Jiaolai Canal, rather than spending that manpower and material resources, it is better to dredge the Daxiao Qing River, or repair the post roads in the area, which is more practical than it. ”

"Why is that?" Emperor Yongming was a little surprised.

Even if they are both Caoyun provinces, the focus of their own interests seems to be different, and Shandong's formulation is completely different from that of the south.

"Shuchen said that instead of digging the Jiaolai Canal, it is better to open the sea ban along the coast of Jiaozhou, so that as far south as Minguang, north to Liaodong, North Korea and even the Japanese Kingdom, such as cotton, cloth, tea and a large number of native products can be transferred to Shandong, which is the greatest benefit to Shandong."

"Moreover, the soil of Deng, Lai and the two provinces are not as good as Dongchang and Yanzhou, and the cultivation of kapok is not as good as these two prefectures, but the victory is in the prosperity of the cotton textile industry, and its kapok is supplied by other state capitals in the province, and the kapok produced in Shandong is not even in short supply in this province, and it has not been transported to the south for a long time."

"Also, the cotton cloth produced in this province is in thistle, Liao, Jin, and even farther to Shaanxi, although it is not as fine as the cotton cloth in the south, but the water and land are unimpeded, and it can be faster than the turnover, such as the flat machine cloth, dry machine cloth, and vertical machine cloth along the Qing River, even if the poorest place in Yizhou has a flat machine, wide white cotton cloth, small cloth, etc. for sale. The people's cotton planting and textile are already their main source of income, but if the Jiaolai Canal is excavated, not to mention how much it will cost, it will definitely requisition a lot of manpower and take several years......

Li Yixian said a lot, which means nothing more than two points, one is that the value of opening the Jiaolai Canal is not as good as opening the sea in Jiaozhou; Second, after opening, it may cause losses to the cotton textile industry in Shandong Province.

Liu Yikun finally understood, and thought, this is a new reason, it seems to have been said in the past, the question is that you only stand on the position of Shandong and say this reason, don't you want to think that the opening of the Jiaolai Canal is just a matter of your Shandong province?

Moreover, he seemed to understand a little why Qi Meier suddenly brought up the old case of opening the Jiaolai Canal. Of course, he will be subjected to greater political pressure than before, but the benefits are also obvious, and if the old case is successfully reopened, then the credit will be his; Even if it is not successful, then the seven provinces along Cao will inevitably face the situation of choosing one of the two, which is actually more in line with His Majesty's intentions.

Sure enough, as soon as Li Yixian's voice fell, Qi Meiyi said again: "In this way, Governor Li seems to have no objection to land transportation...... Think about it, Shandong Province is convenient regardless of Cao, land and sea, if the three are connected, then in addition to Gyeonggi in the north, the status of Shandong Province will be unparalleled. ”

Li Yixian frowned when he heard this, but he didn't refute it again, and retreated after bowing his hand to Emperor Yongming.

This somewhat disappointed Liu Yikun and some ministers who were watching the play, although they guessed Qi Meier's intention to reopen the old case, but they still couldn't guess who he was and his purpose, as well as his attitude towards letting go of land transportation.

What exactly does he want to do?

Or through him, can it also be thought that the entire Caoyun system has been eroded to the point that even the Caoyun Governor cannot cooperate with it?