"Will Chang'an be short of firewood?"

In the private room on the second floor of Xinghua Building, Fang Chongyong asked with a puzzled expression.

Chang'an is so big, and the surrounding water system is developed, will there be no trees? How can there be no way to cut wood if there are trees?

How does that poem say, "Looking back at Chang'an embroidered piles", this is to say that there are many trees around Chang'an!

Fang Chongyong didn't understand a little, why did the people of Chang'an still lack firewood to burn.

"Not to mention anything else, there are trees on both sides of the post road, can't they be cut?"

"Alas, you see willow and mulberry trees planted on both sides of the Chang'an Post Road, which cannot be cut down.

Moreover, the mulberry trees planted by farmers in Guanzhong cannot be cut down, including their own families.

Except for these, there are not many trees to cut down next to Chang'an, and there are all kinds of them, and the imperial court has long banned them. ”

Zheng Shuqing said helplessly.

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly in agreement, he just didn't know that Chang'an was short of firewood to this extent, but he still probably knew the rules and regulations promulgated by the government.

The government has a decree that the people of Chang'an are not allowed to cut down trees everywhere, and this regulation was promulgated very early and in detail, and it was clearly stated in the Zhenguan period.

If an ordinary person cuts down someone else's mulberry tree as firewood for the sake of convenience, once he is caught, he will be sentenced to death if he cuts down a few trees. No one did this before, because there were still a lot of trees around Chang'an, so the contradiction was not prominent. Now there are many people who are desperate to cut down trees, and Jingzhao Mansion can't catch them all.

What's more, at that time, many forests in the suburbs were "borderless land", and now, these forests have belonged to the private land of the big families and royal families, and ordinary people cannot cut down. If you really want to go, it's not negotiable, just pay the money, similar to tax.

However, this tax is very heavy, and it is basically helping the powerful to cut wood.

So, what do the ordinary people of Chang'an use to make fires and what do they use to keep them warm?

The answer is: those who have a little money buy firewood in the West Market, and those who have no money go to the suburbs to find someone to buy "accessories" such as thatch, straw, and branches. For the poorer, buy some leftovers and focus on making a fire for cooking, and you can only rely on shaking to keep warm.

"So, you charcoal envoy can't get firewood around Chang'an, right?"

Fang Chongyong asked with a light sigh.

Zheng Shuqing nodded slightly, in fact, this matter is still a little complicated, and it is not as simple and casual as he said.

The imperial court has a special agency to manage firewood, that is, the hook and shield office under Sinong Temple, which is the counterpart of the central organization.

So where does the charcoal come from?

The answer is either private acquisition or charcoal making.

The source of charcoal used by charcoal is either to ask someone to cut it at a designated place and burn charcoal, or to buy it from the private sector.

In fact, there is a certain competition between the two.

If you hire someone to cut wood and burn charcoal, you must launch a color service, and you need the cooperation of the color service envoy there, which is also a more troublesome thing.

The current situation is that this year's conscription has already been distributed, and if it is launched again, it will be a pure apportionment, and it will be relatively difficult for the localities to carry it out. And if you spend money to buy it, now that the price of firewood has skyrocketed, this thing will not break when you put it away, and it is quite suitable for hoarding.

It seems that there are profiteers in Chang'an who are constantly buying firewood, driving up the price of firewood. If charcoal is forcibly purchased regardless of the price factor, it will only make the price of firewood higher.

And even after spending a lot of money, you can't buy enough firewood, let alone charcoal made from firewood.

The nobles in the palace, how could they use firewood to make a fire for warmth, even charcoal for heating, they had to find a way to get the highest grade!

So after going around in a circle, the trouble caused by this charcoal finally turned into a mode of "natural disaster + man-made disaster".

Because there is a shortage in the first place, under the guidance of market scarcity, some people hoard and hoard, resulting in a shortage of things that are even more scarce.

The price of firewood will increase the price of other daily necessities. The charcoal needed by the palace and the officials (they didn't use firewood) came from two different channels: the charcoal envoy and the hook shield department.

In the case of two monks carrying water to eat, it is inevitable to rip off.

Zheng Shuqing had just taken the throne not long ago, and he fell behind in the struggle with the Hook and Shield Agency.

After all, the Hook and Shield Department does not have the ability to launch conscription, and outsiders will think that the main responsibility for the lack of firewood in Chang'an is still on the charcoal envoy's side.

However, putting these aside, even if Zheng Shuqing and the Hook and Shield Department can unite and cooperate, there is no way to completely solve the situation of lack of firewood in Chang'an.

It's like a family living on the little harvest in the field, even if the parents can divide everyone's share fairly, in the event of a poor harvest, everyone will go hungry, and it is impossible to solve the problem of hunger fundamentally.

It's the same thing.

"In winter, there is a lot of firewood needed. But the canal froze, and firewood couldn't come from other places by water, so it was a tough thing to do, right?

When it's summer, you don't need to worry about firewood. At that time, Zheng Yushi was afraid that he had been dismissed. ”

Fang Chongyong said thoughtfully, and took a sip of the "winter drink" specially served in the Xinghua Building.

Suddenly a familiar smell fills the mouth!

He took another sip, his face strange, and he wanted to say something but didn't know how to speak.

Zheng Shuqing thought that he was coming out of the doorway, so he hurriedly lowered his voice, showed an ambiguous smile that all men understand, and said: "The recipe in the palace is aphrodisiac." Those two little goblins in your house, if you don't make up for it, I think it's hard to clean up. ”

"It turned out to be a recipe in the palace."

Fang Chongyong sighed, this Nima is exported to domestic sales, it is simply grassy! No wonder the mouth is full of the strange smell of "Shunqi Suoyang Tea", it turns out that the source is here!

"Yes, you're right. Winter is the withering of trees, but it is still used a lot, can there be no shortage? The more it is lacking, the more people are funny. ”

"It's like talking about the money, right?"

Fang Chongyong took out a few copper coins with poor workmanship from his cuffs, put them in front of Zheng Shuqing and continued:

"The good money in the Chang'an market seems to have been taken away. They collect the good money, re-melt it, turn it into bad money, bad money, and put it in circulation.

I guess a lot of firewood is collected and used for this purpose. ”

Fang Chongyong sneered and pushed the copper coin in front of Zheng Shuqing.

"That's what you say...... A lot of royal relatives are doing it. ”

Zheng Shuqing shook his head helplessly, his family has a lot of money, so naturally he won't care about this. But many poor families will lose money if they receive bad money.

"The weight loss money privately minted by the people includes goose eyes, iron tin, partial furnace money, time money, edge money, and so on. You see, this is the most common goose-eye money, with a large hole in the middle, which is much lighter than good money.

Although it is crudely made and has many raw edges, it is instantly recognizable. But there are too many people who use it, and there are too few regular Kaiyuan Tongbao issued by the government, which will naturally make bad money rampant. Wealthy businessmen collected the good money they received and exchanged it for bad money, so that there was more and more bad money in the market.

These are all due to the human nature of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages. ”

Zheng Shuqing explained to Fang Chongyong what bad money was all about.

Don't look at the bad money seems to have nothing to do with firewood, but in fact, more and more bad money on the market is slowly diluted into the transaction process by constantly being privately minted. If the amount and use of firewood can be controlled, the behavior of private casting can also be suppressed to a certain extent.

Of course, the wealthy businessmen who participated in the private casting, behind them were all high-ranking officials and magnates, and even relatives of the emperor and the country.

If it wasn't necessary, Zheng Shuqing wouldn't care about similar things.

"Got it, I'd like to figure it out. It's not easy to deal with. ”

Fang Chongyong waved his hand and said.

Hearing him say this, Zheng Shuqing breathed a sigh of relief. If Fang Chongyong said that he would definitely be able to solve it, it would be very simple to do it in three clicks and two clicks, then Zheng Shuqing couldn't believe such nonsense.

It is precisely because the other party is very conservative that the other party has a chance to solve the matter in reverse.

Zheng Shuqing took out an envelope from his cuff, pushed it in front of Fang Chongyong and said, "It's a small meaning, it's not a respect." ”

Fang Chongyong took the envelope, took out the paper inside and looked at it, this is a document from a certain money bank in Chang'an, which is the so-called "flying money", and the Zheng family in Xingyang has already paid the money. Zheng Shuqing can withdraw money from the Lianhao Money Village in Chang'an.

Similar "financial institutions" have become very popular in Chang'an at the moment. But it really became the standard mode of bulk trading in the Tang Dynasty, and it had to wait until the end of the Tang Dynasty and the five dynasties when Qiu Ba performance art was prevalent.

This piece of paper is worth 10,000 pieces of silk. The small courtyard of Fang Chongyong's house may not be able to pile up. Of course, he could exchange it for valuable cloth, and there would not be so much.

"What do you mean by that?"

Fang Chongyong asked with a displeased face.

"Hey, so-and-so means what it means."

"You're not interesting enough."

Fang Chongyong handed the envelope to Zheng Shuqing, sighed and said, "Just do something for the people of Chang'an, you don't have to collect money." ”

"Even if it's a saint, it costs money. Ah, it's not the sage in Chang'an.

It's that you don't spend, don't you buy rouge gouache for the little lady at home? Don't buy silk satin? Don't have to dress up to show you?

In the future, when you have children, don't they need to study or learn from a teacher? Where is the need for money?

There's nothing wrong with keeping it. ”

Zheng Shuqing said with a straight face.

"Anything outside of the body is of little use. Life is like duckweed, I can't tell if it's gone one day, and caring about these will only slow down the knife in my hand.

Don't worry, I will definitely think of a good way for you to do what I promised you. ”

Fang Chongyong waved his hand and said, got up to say goodbye.

Of course, Zheng Shuqing's money can be taken, but instead of taking his money, it is better to take Brother Ji's, so as not to be truthful.

Fang Chongyong calculated very clearly in his heart, Lao Zheng's status is also different from the past, and the exchange of interests must be very cautious.

The future is chaotic, and the floating wealth in the family is like fireflies in the night, attracting countless red-eyed people.

Why do you want to bring trouble to yourself for no reason?

……

Late at night, on Fang Chongyong's bed in the bedroom, the three of them arched back and forth in a large quilt, like three insects.

"Go to sleep, what's going on with you?"

Fang Chongyong sighed, the two girls beside him hugged him tightly, and the cold, smooth and soft touch continued to come, making him unable to even move.

"It's really cold, don't move, Ah Lang is a concubine specially used for warmth."

Anaye whispered.

"Hehe, doesn't Ah Lang know the previous King Qi. In the past, King Qi was reluctant to use charcoal for warmth every winter, feeling depressed. He first asked the palace maids in the house to warm up their bodies, and then took off their clothes and hugged them together to keep warm.

When the palace maid's body is cold, she will change it again.

Now the concubine is holding Ah Lang to keep warm, but she is just imitating King Qi. ”

Wang Yunxiu said while teasing. She knows a lot of palace secrets, but she can only say that there are too many ugly things in the royal family, and under the glamorous appearance, they are all dirty and filthy things.

"I have to say, this King Qi is really good at playing, and you guys are also very good at playing."

Fang Chongyong said helplessly.

In the first half of the night, the three of them had already played the obscene sex game, and now that everyone is tired of playing and doesn't want to move, the two girls use themselves as heaters.

Hehe, it's really difficult to raise villains and women!

Fang Chongyong secretly complained in his heart, but his arms hugged the second daughter tighter.

"Ah Lang, now the charcoal in Chang'an is getting more and more expensive. Last month's Yulu no longer gave out charcoal, but instead distributed firewood. Don't look at the quantity, but it is not burned at all, and the smoke is still large.

Now there are businessmen who want to send charcoal to our family every day, is it really not? What a pity! When he was in Shazhou, whatever others sent, Ah Lang Ke received all the orders, except for women. ”

Anaye asked in a whisper.

These two women didn't wear clothes and hugged Fang Chongyong to keep warm, and it wasn't because they couldn't afford to burn the floor heating at home!

If they could afford to heat the floor, the three of them would probably be sweating profusely and sticky next to each other. When they meet each other, they will dislike each other, so how can they hug each other tightly.

"As an official in Chang'an, if you are not corrupt, you really can't afford charcoal to burn floor heating. The floor heating stove under our house hasn't been turned on since the beginning of winter. The iron-clad door was covered with dust. Needless to say, it's not interesting. ”

Fang Chongyong shook his head helplessly and said. Under Brother Ji's nose, if this willful and ruthless son of heaven doesn't come to his house to rob women, he will snicker, where do you dare to spend money casually!

The source of the huge income is unknown, if Brother Ji really asks, Fang Chongyong will not be able to answer.

Just now, Fang Chongyong just said the pathetic treatment of an eight-rank official in Chang'an.

Since the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the imperial court's Yulu has been divided into two parts: Yueyu and Lumi, and there are some messy ones.

It's not easy to measure how much, and generally like to convert it into how many stone rice.

Basically, if the salary does not pay charcoal, then the eight-rank official will definitely not take the initiative to buy charcoal, because relying on his own salary, he can't afford it at all, and he can't afford to use it at all.

Even Fang Chongyong can't afford to burn floor heating without spending "gray income", so if ordinary officials are not corrupt, how can they survive the winter?

Only God knows.

"It would be nice if you could dig coal."

Fang Chongyong muttered to himself.

"Yes, there is a lot of charcoal in the east of the river, and it is used in the barracks.

Two days ago, my father wrote back to ask us how our married life was, and also talked about the Hedong military camp.

It's so convenient to get heating on the east side of the river. ”

Wang Yunxiu couldn't help but complain. She actually doesn't like Chang'an at all, everything is expensive here, there are many rules, and there is a lascivious emperor messing around every day.

"Hedong? It's a bit far away, and the far water doesn't quench the thirst of the near. ”

Fang Chongyong put his two hands on the heads of the two girls like a cat, rubbing their hair messy, but he was thinking about something else.

In fact, when this kind of thing happens, there is a big pot that the price of firewood in Chang'an is off the charts, and the poor can't cut firewood, so they can only freeze to death.

If you can bring the coal from a certain place to Chang'an for use, it should freeze a little less people.

……

The next day, Fang Chongyong came to the Calyx Xianghui Building of Xingqing Palace to report to Brother Ji on the recruitment of Yongzhuang in Guanzhong, and the results of his assessment disappointed Brother Ji.

There is a huge Chang'an, and there is no candidate qualified!

"Sage, the weather is getting colder, and there are few ministers who can't afford charcoal, so I ask the sage to give charcoal for the winter."

Seeing that Li Longji was deep in thought, Fang Chongyong crossed his hands and saluted and pleaded.

"I think that many people send money and charcoal to your house now, so Aiqing is a little greedy, I just don't know."

Li Longji shook his head with a smile and continued: "I don't have much stock in my inner library. ”

"Is Charcoal so nervous now?"

Fang Chongyong asked pretending to be "surprised".

"Yes, Zheng Shuqing is not doing things well, I really saw the wrong person."

Li Longji said very disappointed.

(End of chapter)