After several years of construction, the main project of the Grand Canal has been completed, and all that remains is the later widening and the construction of various wharves.

Wen Yi went out of the north this time to take the Grand Canal, but this time he did not go with great fanfare, but used the situation of a private visit by Weifu, the purpose of which was to see the actual operation of the canal.

There are indeed a lot of ships coming and going, most of them are official transport ships and migrant ships, and there are relatively few merchant ships.

This is also normal, the world has been in turmoil for so many years, and the people have just recovered a little bit of vitality, and it is far from the time of commercial prosperity.

On the other hand, in terms of the population base and productivity level in ancient times, the so-called commercial prosperity is only relative, but it is not worth mentioning in modern times.

He was quite satisfied with the current situation.

Along the way, he also went to the dock where he stopped, and there was only one word, dirty and messy. Forget it, the most important thing is the lack of the most basic force to maintain order.

However, he did not rush to get angry, but wrote down the problems he saw and continued on his way, docking at the next town dock, and found that the situation was similar.

Then the problem is obvious, this is not a problem of one family, but the lack of experience of the entire administrative management system, which still adopts extensive management.

Of course, this has something to do with the fact that Tang Guo cleaned up all the old magnates. Although the old magnates had such and such shortcomings, their family experience is indeed remarkable.

Perhaps their management experience is too backward to adapt to the new era, but after all, there is a way to manage it, which is better than the bureaucratic system of the Tang State being helpless.

Now Tang Guo can only slowly explore and summarize by himself.

Wen Yi thought about it and wrote a letter: "Give it to Chen Xiu, Huan Wen and Jin Rushan." ”

The Tang State was not completely devoid of scholars and old magnates, and some people with strict family style and great contributions to the country and nation were retained.

Huan Wen is one of the best, and several Zai Fuli don't have special work for him, so they just handed over this matter to him.

Jin Rushan is the secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, and he knows best what kind of environment the businessman needs. The two people cooperated with each other, and it was not difficult to sum up the governance methods suitable for the development of the Tang State.

As for why he is looking for Chen Xiu, there will be a lot of official transfers and management system reform involved, and he needs the nod of his first assistant.

Continue to walk, and occasionally chat with other people on the way, or go to the restaurant on the pier to listen to everyone chat.

The information he got made him very proud, and he was praising the Tang country for being good, the emperor for being good, the system for being good, in short, everything was good.

Especially when it comes to him as an emperor, they can't wait to offer him as a god. And there is a clear pattern, the poorer the person is, the more grateful he is now.

But he also heard a little discordant.

A middle-aged businessman said: "This time I was lucky, I didn't meet anyone who collected protection money on the way." ”

Another merchant said, "I was unlucky enough to be charged a silver dollar. ”

"Did you report to the police?"

"I didn't go, it's useless to report, it's not troublesome enough, I can only consider myself unlucky."

Wen Yi's face immediately became gloomy, and Zhao Zhengzhi on the side was very colorful, and hurriedly ran over and asked, "The two of you are polite." ”

The two of them saw that he didn't look like an ordinary person in terms of clothes and appearance, so they said very politely: "Brother Tai is polite, I don't know what to do with us?" ”

Zhao Zhengzhi said: "The first time I took this road, I heard what you said just now, it seems that someone on this canal is robbing houses?" So I couldn't help but come and ask, if that's the case, I'll take the overland route. ”

The businessman who had been robbed suddenly realized: "Hey, no, no. It's not a robbery, what can't you do in the Tang Dynasty now, how can anyone still do this lifeless business. ”

Zhao Zhengzhi said suspiciously: "Then you just now?" ”

The merchant said, "It's some evil people in the countryside who go to the river to collect the so-called protection money, and give money according to the amount of cargo in the boat. Not much, at least a small silver coin, at most a large silver dollar. ”

"As long as you give money, you can find them if you encounter danger along the way, and you won't let them go if you don't give it. If you insist on not giving it, they can't do anything about it, at most stop you for half a day and delay your efforts. ”

Another businessman said: "There are also places where the river crossing fee is called, saying that the river was dug by their people here, and you have to pay to cross the river." They don't dare to hurt people, they just drag you to delay your time. ”

Zhao Zhengzhi's brows furrowed even tighter, and he said, "Is there a lot of such charges?" ”

The silver dollar merchant said: "Not much, but also a lot, how can there be dozens of places from the northern capital to Hangzhou." ”

"But they don't come out very often, and if they're lucky, they can dodge or follow behind the official ship. They did not dare to stop the official ship. ”

"I was unlucky, I happened to be caught by them, and I didn't want to waste time, so I could only consider myself unlucky."

Zhao Zhengzhi didn't expect the problem to be so serious, and said, "Doesn't the government care?" ”

The silver dollar merchant said: "Those people are very cunning, they specialize in haunting the junction of two places or places with complex terrain, and the government will catch them and flee as soon as possible." ”

Another businessman interjected: "The main thing is that they have been sheltered by the local villagers, as long as they are not caught red-handed, there is no way to catch them quickly." ”

Zhao Zhengzhi asked a few more questions, and only after getting the answers he wanted did he give up.

At this time, Wen Yi was not in the mood to eat, so he paid for the meal and returned to the boat. Zhao Zhengzhi didn't dare to speak, just followed silently.

Wen Yi glanced at him and said, "Sit, so scared, think I'm going to be angry?" ”

Zhao Zhengzhi said with some surprise: "You're not angry? ”

Wen Yi said: "What's the use of being angry, don't talk about this kind of thing now, even if it's twenty-one...... Ahem, this has been the case since ancient times, even in a thousand years. ”

The area of the three regards is more chaotic, this is really the case since ancient times, and it was not until the popularization of the Internet in the previous life that it was curbed, what Wen Yi can do is to patch this matter.

"But this kind of thing can't be left alone, and now they still have concerns and dare not hurt people. After a long time, you will become more and more bold, and when the time comes, don't talk about hurting people, you will even dare to kill people. ”

"And it will also bring bad local atmosphere, and the whole village and even the town will be dragged into the water, and it will be difficult to manage it at that time, so it must be cracked down."

He glanced at Zhao Zhengzhi and said, "Test you, how do you say to solve this problem?" ”

Zhao Zhengzhi thought for a while and replied: "Start with the local yamen, urge them to manage their own people, and let them crack down on this kind of thing." ”

"You can also set up a water village at the other end of the river, and station water divisions to patrol and protect the safety of the canal...... The minister is stupid, so he can only think of these two methods. ”

Wen Yi smiled: "You are not stupid at all, anyone can only use these two methods." However, the sailor is a bit laborious, and the six doors always complain that the work is too little and too leisurely? It can be entrusted to them. ”

"Not only the Grand Canal, but also some areas of land transportation can be handed over to them for safety maintenance."

Zhao Zhengzhi said admiringly: "Your Majesty is still wise, why didn't I think of it." ”

Wen Yi smiled and continued: "The local yamen can't let them be idle, whoever finds out that there are people in their jurisdiction who are involved in similar incidents, the assessment that year will be inferior. ”

Zhao Zhengzhi was shocked in his heart, and hurriedly said: "This ...... If it's too strict, it's easy to be taken advantage of. ”

Although he didn't say it directly, Wen Yi understood what he meant. In addition to making achievements on his own, it is normal for an official to pull his opponent into the water and frame him.

"It's a bit strict, so there's a limit to the number of times. There were three times in one year that the highest could only be evaluated, and five times there were direct evaluations. ”

There are only three standards for the evaluation of officials in the Tang Kingdom, upper, middle and lower.

Take a period of three to five years.

Within three years, three 'middles' are considered qualified, and they can be transferred to a wealthy place or continue to stay;

Those who do not have a 'down' and have a 'top' priority promotion can continue to stay in office, two 'up' direct promotions, and three 'up', congratulations on your name directly appearing on the cabinet boss's desk, and reuse it after review.

A 'down' assessment passes, flat transfer or retention.

The two 'down' ones can be given two years, and if they don't appear in these two years, they can be flattened. If it appears again, he can only be an assistant officer for the rest of his life.

If there is no crime, they will be transferred from the position of the chief officer, and they can only serve as an auxiliary officer for the rest of their lives.

The above is limited to the chief officials, that is, the county order, the prefect, the state pastor, etc. Other assistant officers or special affairs officers have another set of review standards.

But no matter what the standard is, the officials are very taboo about 'going down', as long as they tell them that something has happened, they will give 'down' comments, and they will do their best to avoid it.

In the same way, if you tell them that you can give priority to 'up' if you do something well, they will do it like chicken.

This principle is true in ancient and modern times, and in the previous life, some units have counted that the promotion rate of obtaining the title of civilized city has increased by 5 percent.

Just for the sake of this 5% probability, what strange things have happened can be found on the Internet.

Another letter was sent back to the northern capital by clipper and handed over to Chen Xiu, which was an administrative matter and was under his management.

Wen Yi didn't plan to touch those people in person, the gentleman didn't stand under the dangerous wall, and he was very sorry for his life if the great cause was not accomplished.

Although many problems were encountered along the way, on the whole, most of the things were positive, and all parts of the country entered into vigorous large-scale production.

Again, for the first time in ancient times, the people obtained their own land, and their enthusiasm was all transferred out.

The unprecedentedly low tax rate also allowed the people to have surplus food in their hands, so that they could build houses for their own families and buy clothes for their wives and children.

And in order to encourage childbearing, and to prevent people from drowning and abandoning infants, the fourth and subsequent children were born with ten pounds of canned meat and a gold coin.

In the future, you can receive a can of canned meat every year, and you can receive five gold coins at a time when you are five years old.

That is to say, the Tang State has a lot of money, and over the years it has mined a large amount of gold, silver, copper and other precious metals in Nanyang and Sanxian Island (Japanese slaves), otherwise it is really unaffordable.

Therefore, if you want to develop rapidly, you must concentrate resources at the beginning. Either internal exploitation or external exploitation.

The Tang State naturally exploited the outside world, supplemented the country through commerce, through strong military forces, and plundered the exploitation of external resources.

If you want a rapid population growth, encouraging production is one way, and it is equally important to improve survival rates.

Tang Guo is also experienced in this regard, and the corresponding medical system is also working hard to build, in which Taoism has contributed a lot.

Du Zigong and Sun Tai had already determined the plan of using medical skills to assist in preaching more than ten years ago, and had been cultivating Taoist priests who understood medical skills.

It can be said that every Taoist priest can memorize a few words of medical songs, and can give people medicine to treat some common diseases according to the prescription.

With their cooperation, the construction of the medical system is very fast, and the priority in the medical system is obstetrics and gynecology.

These policies have indeed worked, and the number of pregnant women and babies is significantly higher than normal. And in the end, the people gave a lot of feedback, support for the imperial court, and loyalty to Wenyi.

All the way to Luoyang, I felt a different atmosphere before I arrived at the wharf.

The river was filled with boats of all kinds, mingling with the shouts of boatmen, whistles, the shouts of the servants, and the cries of the peddlers.

It doesn't sound noisy at all, but it feels like that's how the world should be.

After several years of recuperation, especially after the Grand Canal was dug up, Luoyang, the center, has become the most prosperous city in the country.

Yangzhou, Hangzhou and other places are also rising, but they are not as good as Luoyang.

finally came out for a trip, and Wen Yi was not in a hurry to go back, so he wandered around the river.

In a few moments, an officer from the rowing boat came and told them not to go any further. In front is the passage to the pier, so wander there to avoid blocking the boat.

Wen Yi didn't deliberately find fault to test these errand soldiers, in fact, there was no need to try, the results were doomed.

These errand officers work very hard every day, and it is estimated that their temper will not be very good, and if they dare to try it, they will be reprimanded or even arrested.

It's better to listen to the command obediently.

He had the boat rowed aside, and the officer did not trouble him any longer, but continued to direct the traffic.

He continued to wander around, and met some fishermen, and even opened a restaurant on the boat. He was curious, what was this for?

After asking, I found out that it was for the people who played on the boat and the boatmen in line, and the business was very good.

Wen Yi specifically asked the question of tax collection: "Is the tax here high, and how is it collected?" ”

The merchant could see that his identity was not ordinary, and replied honestly: "The tax is not high, less than one out of ten." As for the method of collecting taxes......"

"Only those who do business here often need to pay taxes, and those who come here once in a while don't have to pay taxes. There are also small boats like me that don't charge taxes for small trades, and only the big ships over there have to pay taxes. ”

As he spoke, the old man actually cried: "It's all the kindness of the saint grandfather, the old man has lived such a day for the first time in his life, and he couldn't think of it before." ”

A young man stir-frying at the bow of the boat said, "The sage grandfather's book says well, let everyone live a human life, this is a human life." ”

The old man nodded again and again and said, "Yes, yes, the sage grandfather treats the poor as human beings." ”

Wen Yi was a little embarrassed and excited. After bidding farewell to the old man, he went to another place and talked with all kinds of people, some good and some bad, but one thing was the same.

Tang Guo is better than before, much better.