The people were the foundation of a country, and food was the heaven of the people. In a feudal empire where agriculture was the foundation, if there was no food crisis, ambitious people, no matter how many reasons they had, would rarely be able to overthrow the regime. Thus, food had always been the foundation that a dynasty placed the greatest importance on stabilizing its foundation.
But the Central Plains Empire had vast territory, and transportation was inconvenient, information was blocked, and the Emperor sat in the Imperial Palace, making it very difficult for him to keep track of the production, consumption, and storage of food. Thus, the government had devised a system for auditing grain storage and verifying accounts.
This department of auditing grain storage was not located in the Bureau of Revenue, which was in charge of money and grain, but in the Bureau of Justice. Its purpose was to prevent the Bureau of Revenue from colluding with the provincial governments, which were directly in charge of grain storage, from working together to embezzle grain.
The grain of the capital was audited quarterly, and the grain of the prefectures and prefectures was audited annually. The prefectures would first report to the Bureau of Revenue, and the Bureau of Justice would sort out the statistics and then report to the Minister of State. The Bureau of Justice would then report to the department responsible for auditing grain storage, and if there was a problem, the Imperial Censorate would investigate.
Xu Yougong's memorial had not mentioned any problems with the grain storage, but had recommended that the Imperial Court release the grain storage in Taiyuan to stabilize prices. Taiyuan was the place where the Tang dynasty had flourished, so it had always been an important place for the country. At the beginning, the places with the most grain had been Taiyuan and Luoyang.
It was said that Taiyuan was a granary of millions, while Luokou was the millet of the world. On the other hand, the capital of Chang 'an, the inconvenience of transportation and frequent droughts had resulted in a severe shortage of grain. During Gaozong's reign, the Imperial Court had moved to Luoyang many times precisely because it was impossible to feed the officials in Chang' an.
From the end of Gaozong's reign until the recapture of Anxi Town, the country had not engaged in any large-scale wars, and it had always placed great importance on agricultural production. It had been at least fifteen to sixteen years since the country had experienced a large-scale natural disaster like the one Tin Aino had experienced in his youth, so the country had an ample supply of grain.
Xu Yougong's memorial said that when he was inspecting the grain storage in Taiyuan, he had noticed that some of the grain had been stored for too long and had become old and moldy. The country had once decreed that no one was allowed to move the grain reserves without permission. This was to prevent the lack of grain reserves in the years of disaster to provide relief to the common people. This was originally a good thing, but even though there was no famine in the Taiyuan area, the price of grain was not cheap.
The price of grain among the people was high, but there was a large amount of grain stored in the treasury. They could only watch helplessly as the grain spoiled because it had been stored for too long. This was the result of the local rigid implementation of the court's decree. They failed to understand the Emperor's love for the people, and at the same time, caused unnecessary losses. Therefore, they hoped that the court could allow the local areas to produce grain to stabilize the price of grain.
Xu Yougong also mentioned in the memorial that there were tens of thousands of ships in the Taiyuan area, and the transportation was convenient. They could buy surplus grain from other places at any time and store it. In this way, the imperial court could sell old rice to the people at a cheaper price, and then buy new rice at a higher price to store it.
The price difference between the sale and purchase was not very large for the imperial court, but it could take into account the strategic needs of the country's reserves, extend the storage time of the grain reserves, and benefit the ordinary people who could not afford the high-priced grain.
Xu Yougong's memorial was written in great detail, and it was reasonable and clear. Wu Zetian listened and was very moved. After careful consideration, she ordered, "Yes, it can be implemented. But first, the Ministry of Revenue must send people to investigate and draw up a plan. No matter what, the grain reserves must be sufficient. If possible, we must first contact the grain source and confirm that new grain can be stored as soon as possible before we can sell old grain. "
Wu Zetian was in Chang 'an at the time of the great disaster that Tin Aino had experienced when he was young, and she had also experienced it. Although the imperial court was not without food at that time, the various supplies were sharply reduced. She had also heard about everything that had happened in the outside world.
After that, the Emperor visited the eastern capital Luoyang several times, mainly because of grain. Because of the great drought in the Guanzhong area, the grain production decreased, and the lack of storage, the Emperor could only lead the court officials to move east to Luoyang to find food.
Fortunately, at that time, the Tang dynasty had not been established for long, and the people had already experienced many years of war. They knew that this was caused by the natural disaster and not by the inhumanity of the government. At that time, the families of the rich and powerful also did not have any grain reserves. They revolted and did not have enough to eat, so they could only make the situation of the starving people even worse.
But as a ruler, Wu Zetian deeply understood the power of the natural disaster and the importance of storage. On this point, she did not dare to be careless. Now that she was old, and at the important moment of handing over power, she hoped that the transition could be smooth and no accidents would happen.
Wan 'er smiled slightly and nodded in agreement.
Then, there were a few more memorials that talked about grain prices in the North. Since last year, because of the war in the North, the local output was insufficient. The cost of transferring grain from other places was too high, so grain prices had been high. The people were suffering, and they asked the imperial court to open up grain reserves to stabilize prices.
There were also memorials that first praised the abundance of the treasury, and then raised the issue of the "hamster" embezzlement and poor safekeeping. Wu Zetian knew of Xu Yougong's prestige and power in the Imperial Censor. He wanted his memorials to be valued by the Emperor and to be carried out. He would certainly contact his good friends and support each other.
However, these good friends of the Imperial Censor would not speak nonsense without reason. Since they all raised this issue, it could largely verify the truth of Xu Yougong's words.
Wu Zetian made her decision and said to Wan 'er, "Taiyuan Granary is the largest granary in the North. The grain situation in the North is like this. If we follow Xu Yougong's words, we can solve this problem in the shortest time possible. The Ministry of Revenue is afraid that it will take a long time to send people to investigate, so give the edict, order Xu Yougong to cooperate with Taiyuan Prefecture to handle this matter. The Ministry of Revenue will prepare this autumn's new grain for storage. "
The Emperor made the final decision and the reply was quickly passed down. When the edict reached Taiyuan Prefecture and Xu Yougong's hands, Shen Mu also received the news.
"As expected, he plans to start with grain!"
An elegant middle-aged Scribes sneered repeatedly.
When Shen Mu first led a group of people to conquer the world, he completely relied on his intelligence and wisdom. But as time went on, and the number of people increased, he didn't have a thousand hands and thousand eyes. It was impossible for him to have enough energy to analyze and understand all the problems and handle all the matters. Hence, he gradually had a group of wise advisors.
However, due to the Hidden Sect's status, he didn't have anyone who had been an official as an advisor. He had been an official before, and even if he didn't have any authority, his status would still be there. Not just anyone could recruit him to be an advisor. This middle-aged Scribes was called Zhang Ruimin, and he was just an unsuccessful county official. However, to be able to be recruited by Shen Mu, he naturally had some capabilities.
Shen Mu knitted his brows slightly, and his usual carefree attitude was nowhere to be seen. He was very clear that the only loophole that they couldn't plug in time was the grain. Yang Fan chose the grain as the breakthrough point and hit his only Achilles' heel.
"How many gaps do we have in Taiyuan Granary?"
Shen Mu thought for a moment and asked a subordinate who looked like an accountant.
That person had a stack of account books in front of him, but he didn't even flip through them. He opened his mouth and said, "There is still a gap of two hundred thousand dans that hasn't been filled."
Shen Mu said resolutely, "Immediately think of a way to fill in the gap. If it really isn't enough, use the grain that was prepared to be transported to Wuzhile!"
Zhang Ruimin said, "Young Master, there are a million grains in Taiyuan Granary. They might not be able to find out. Furthermore, this subordinate suspects that Yang Fan has been preparing for a long time. Is this all there is to it? I'm afraid he is purposely beating the grass to startle the snake. In reality, he is making a feint in the east and attacking in the west. He wants us to be at a disadvantage. If we use this batch of reserve grain and he has a backup plan, we will definitely be in a passive position. "
Shen Mu nodded and praised, "Brother Zhang is right. I have also thought of this point. However, did Brother Zhang think that his method might not be a feint in the east and attack in the west, but a feint in the real situation? "
Zhang Ruimin's expression changed. "Young Master is saying …"
Shen Mu said solemnly, "Based on my understanding of him, it is very likely that this is his true goal. Perhaps Taiyuan Granary is just a feint. But if we bide our time, then this feint might become a real stab. Furthermore, we have indeed done something to Taiyuan Granary. It is hard to guarantee that he won't find out anything. "
Zhang Ruimin's expression tightened. "Then … can we only be led by the nose by him?"
Shen Mu revealed a slightly bitter smile and said, "Who asked this to be our weakness? Since he has attacked, we have to guard against him. Right now, we can only react accordingly."
As Shen Mu said this, his eyes faintly flickered. Master Zhang had followed him for a long time. From the look in his eyes, he could tell that the Sect Master must have other plans. However, he had no way of knowing what the Sect Master was thinking about. He could not say, nor could he ask, so he nodded his head and said, "Young Master, rest assured. This subordinate will personally go and make Taiyuan Granary invulnerable!"
On a certain day half a month after the imperial court's order to investigate Taiyuan Granary's storage and remove the accumulated grain, Pi Erding, the Director of the Ministry of Justice, submitted a secret memorial. The secret memorial mentioned that there were some discrepancies between Danzhou and Fuzhou's grain storage and the Ministry of Revenue's report. The Ministry of Justice was only responsible for reviewing the data, so the memorial requested the Emperor to send someone to investigate.
The speaker, Cui Yuanzong, was known as Bodhisattva Cui when he was the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice. He had four 'Vajra' under his command: 'Difficult to Write' Sun Yuxuan, 'Treading Sweet Potatoes' Yan Xiaojun, 'Gentle Blade' Chen Dong, and 'Big Axe Chopping Window' Pi Erding.
After Yang Fan went to the Ministry of Justice, he fought openly and secretly with these four "Jianghu masters". However, no discord, no concord. After gaining the title of "Plague Doctor", he became friends with them. This memorial was submitted by Yang Fan's good friend, Pi Erding.
Grain had a very important place in Wu Zetian's heart, but this did not mean that she would listen to the wind and rain, or that she would fly into a rage at any time. Sometimes there were errors in the audit, and sometimes there was a time difference between when the grain left the granary, when it entered the granary, and when it entered the accounts. There was a discrepancy, but it did not mean that there was a problem.
Therefore, Wu Zetian did not make a fuss. However, since there was a discrepancy, she had to find out the truth. Wu Zetian thought for a moment and said, "Have the Imperial Censorate send people to Danzhou and Fuzhou to investigate the reason for the grain storage."
"Yes!"
Wan 'er picked up her pen and wrote another line on Pi Erding's memorial. She added "Have the Imperial Censorate investigate." The tip of her pen drew a circle on the memorial.
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