In the political affairs hall, Wang Zeng asked Cai Qi opposite while roasting charcoals: "Zisi, what do you think of Chen Zhizhong's new policy of Qianzhuang on Jingxi Road to be implemented across the country today?" ”

Cai Qi shook his head: "Qianzhuang Jingxi Road has only been in operation for a year, and there have been many drawbacks, and it is estimated that there are still major drawbacks that have not yet appeared, how can it be promoted to the whole country like this?" I saw that Chen Zhizhong was in a hurry to go to the doctor and was dizzy! ”

Wang Zeng nodded: "I think it's also a little inappropriate, although Xu Ping did a good job on Jingxi Road, he is too anxious to promote it to the whole country now." Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info This matter should be tried on Jingxi Road for a few years, and then we will see. ”

The fire in the charcoal basin burned red, and the two began to warm up.

Whether it is going to the palace or meeting with the ministers, Zhao Zhen has always insisted on not making charcoal in winter and not fanning in summer, which is his respect for his ministers, but it also really suffers everyone. It's normal for the court to not make charcoal, and you can't make a fire on that occasion, but you don't make charcoal when you sit in the hall again, so you are too demanding of yourself.

After going down to the court, after a while, they will definitely go to the palace to discuss Chen Zhizhong's recital, Wang Zeng and Cai Qi used this time to hurry back to bake the fire and warm their bodies, so as not to suffer from the cold after entering the palace.

Today, Zhang Dexiang asked for leave because he was unwell, Song Shou went to the front hall to take duty, and Lu Yijian didn't have time to eat breakfast because he got up late because of the cold, so he went outside the imperial city to let people buy food, and only Wang Zeng and Cai Qi were left in the political hall. In the past few years, because Wang Zeng saw that Lu Yijian had become more and more unscrupulous in cultivating the dictatorship of his party henchmen, and he was less and less concerned about himself, and he was too greedy for power, and the contradiction between the two became intense. Now Zhongshu is obviously divided into two factions, Wang Zeng and Cai Qi are one faction, Lu Yijian and Song Shou are one faction, Zhang Dexiang seems to be neutral, but in fact he is also on Lu Yijian's side.

When it came time to form a faction, Wang Zeng, who considered himself a gentleman, obviously fell behind. Wang Zeng was loyal, not forced to have no choice, he really didn't want to do it with Lu Yijian everywhere like this. He and Cai Qi are not friends in the strict sense, but they are more like-minded and less for their own selfish interests. In this way, the cooperation of the two people is not tacit, and it is not on the same level as Lu Yijian's faction.

Feeling that his hands were a little hot, Wang Zeng moved his body away from the charcoal fire, and said to Cai Qi: "By the way, Chen Zhizhong also mentioned the technique of weighing and mentioning what Xu Ping said, asking the court to stabilize the price of silk, what do you think about this?" ”

"It is still feasible to stabilize the price of silk, but there is also a lot of risk. First, now at the end of the year, there is not much savings of copper coins in the Zuo Treasury, so he has to borrow money from the Inner Treasury. And the inner treasury has just sent out so much silk, and it will be a little difficult to let them take money from the outside again. Another one, after buying silk, it will be stored in the Beijing division and local libraries, and even if the price of silk is stable for a while, with the more and more cotton cloth on Jingxi Road, the price will fall after all, who will make up for this loss? In the final analysis, Xu Ping's method is nothing more than borrowing money from the next few years to make up for the current holes, and the hidden dangers are not small——"

Wang Zeng nodded when he heard this and said, "Yes, this is a way to eat grain, not the best policy." However, now the price of silk has fallen sharply, and if it is not stabilized in time, the silk in each warehouse will be lost, and it will be very badly lost. Not only that, but whether the summer tax will be collected or not in the coming year, how to collect it, we have to find another way. Alas, even if it is a good idea, I am afraid that I will have to use it. ”

Cai Qi was silent for a while, then suddenly raised his head and said, "Xianggong, do you remember the recital from Guangnan a few days ago?" ”

Wang Zeng thought for a while before saying, "Is it a joint performance by Pang Ji and Wang Yan?" I do. The two of them said that they had recently raised troops to ask for guilt because they could not bear to harass the sea routes, and the soldiers came to the city of Vijaya, and the king of Champa pleaded guilty, but this matter. ”

"Not bad. In addition to talking about this matter, they also said that the sea route from Qinzhou to Nanyang had been opened, and merchants had gathered. In particular, silk silk was particularly loved by Hu Shang, and the imperial court wanted to send some to it. ”

Wang Yan did not serve for a year in Chunzhou to serve as Zhizhou, so he was transferred to Zhiqin Prefecture by Fan Yong. There is a shortage of officials on Guangnan West Road, and Wang Yan is a great talent there, and he is highly valued by Fan Yong. In fact, Fan Yong has no choice, there are so many people in his hands, most of the governors are military generals, and there are not a few states that have general judgments, and most of them are still promoted by the road. Occasionally, there are a few civil officials, even if they are demoted, they are rarely born as scholars, and Wang Yan's qualifications really stand out from the crowd.

After the pacification of Yongzhou, Guangnan West Road was the most critical in Qinzhou, which was threatened by both pirates and the Cham waterway, which had fallen out with the Great Song Dynasty. When there is Jiaozhi, they have to deal with common enemies, and the relationship between Champa and the Great Song Dynasty is quite harmonious, and it can be regarded as quasi-allies. As soon as the confrontation collapsed, the relationship between the two sides immediately became tense, and there were constant conflicts all year round. Of course, now it is still the remnants of Jiaozhi that are rushing to the front, and behind it is the border states of the Great Song Dynasty and the support of cane grain. Unable to take advantage of the city on land, it continued to harass them by sea, especially against Qinzhou and Lianzhou.

After a period of preparation, with Wang Yan as the main and the Pang nationality of the sugar cane business cooperating, the two of them fought a great victory at sea, and the troops approached Vijaya, the capital of Zhancheng, forcing the king of Zhancheng to surrender and sue for peace. Although this great victory did not eliminate the main force of Champa and could not be compared with Xu Ping's capture of the king, the sea route was cleared from then on, and the depressed Nanyang trade route ushered in vitality again. Pang Ji, in particular, was eager to open up this maritime trade route.

Speaking of which, this is not Pang Ji's desire to be in the limelight and greedy for credit, the nature of the sugar business in charge of him determines that he must constantly expand the land and open up new markets. At this time, the growth momentum of the domestic sugar market has slowed down, and the transportation is inconvenient, and it is impossible to expand as quickly as before. New markets can only turn to the vast ocean.

Whether it is Jiaozhi or Zhancheng, what can oppose the Great Song Dynasty is geographical barrier, and it relies on the logistics of the Song army to be dragged down by a long distance. Now that Xu Ping has opened the way, all this is not a problem, and they have become meat on the chopping board.

After listening to Cai Qi's words, Wang Zeng remembered all this and couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Zisi is saying that the silk silk will be transported to Guangnan West Road?" ”

"In fact, not only Guangnan West Road, but also Nanyang Commercial Road, Guangzhou's city will inevitably prosper again. During the Tang Dynasty, Guangzhou Hu merchants were known as 120,000, prosperous for a while, until the Yellow Nest was chaotic, destroyed and burned, and the trade route was cut off from then on. Although this dynasty still set up a city in Guangzhou, it is difficult to reproduce the grand occasion of the Tang Dynasty. Xianggong, if the Nanyang trade route is restored, it may not be impossible to sell millions of silk silks a year. At that time, the silk silk stored in the treasury may not lose much price. ”

The number of several million Cai Qi just said it casually, in fact, he didn't know the trade prospects of the Nanyang Trade Road, but in terms of the Tang Dynasty's annual profit of hundreds of thousands, this figure is not an exaggeration. When Hu merchants came to these ports to do business, they were charged a tax of one-tenth for general goods, which has increased in recent years to two-tenths. In proportional terms, the amount of money for goods traded should be in the millions. Of course, this is just ordinary goods, such as pearl shells, hawksbill turtles, rhino elephants, iron, vermilion ore, and other forbidden goods, although there is no tax, but by the official monopoly to buy and sell, the profits are even higher.

(Note: Wang Yan has many shortcomings, but there is no incompetence in the shortcomings.) In fact, in history, there was a period of time when he was known as the three major border marshals along with Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi, and the three of them trained and promoted a general together, that is, Di Qing. And among the three side commanders, Wang Yan has no defeat, and there is also a defensive victory, but his influence is far less than that of those two people, and the other is lackluster in addition. ）