amaotonovel Chapter 317 Who is as kind-hearted as me?
Chapter 317 Who is as kind-hearted as me?
When Wang Qiong was the magistrate of Ningyang County, he would make a trip to Ningyang County whenever he had nothing to do. Except for the first time he went to Ningyang County with a reward, every other time he went to Ningyang County he brought a lot of questions.
Anyway, Yang Shaofeng didn't believe that Wang Qiong's trip to Dengzhou was solely for those 20,000 people.
Wang Qiong smiled and said, "This time I came to Dengzhou not only to visit Brother Yang on behalf of His Highness the Crown Prince, but also to tell Brother Yang some good news."
Upon hearing the words "good news," Yang Shaofeng immediately became interested and asked, "What good news is it that makes Wang Qiong come all the way here in person?"
Instead of answering, Wang Qiong asked, "Brother Yang, what's your biggest headache right now?"
Yang Shaofeng was slightly taken aback, and muttered to himself, "The most troublesome thing?"
“Ningyang County is short of manpower, large areas of wasteland are left uncultivated, and the scale of various workshops has never been able to grow.”
"Dengzhou Prefecture is short-handed. The mess left by those bastards Xu Zheng and Qu Mingjie is too big. The salt fields and salt stoves will be delayed until the end of the year. There is still no clue about the border market. The establishment of workshops is far from over. And who knows when the road will be repaired."
"..."
Listening to Yang Shaofeng talking to himself about the various troublesome problems in Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture, Wang Qiong couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
Seeing that Yang Shaofeng was about to continue, Wang Qiong quickly said, "To be honest, Brother Yang, I am here on the orders of His Majesty and His Highness to solve your problem."
Yang Shaofeng was stunned again, then smiled and shook his head, "Brother Wang, didn't you just mention those 20,000 men? To be honest, 20,000 men would be enough in Ningyang County, but in Dengzhou Prefecture, they would be nothing more than a drop in the ocean."
After all, Ningyang County is only one county, while Dengzhou Prefecture has ten counties. On average, each county would only be allocated about two thousand laborers, which is much less than the current number of laborers in Ningyang County.
However, Wang Qiong said with a smile, "Brother Yang, you've guessed wrong this time—His Majesty has decided to relocate one thousand landless households from Suzhou, Songjiang, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Hangzhou and other places to Dengzhou."
"In addition, 10,000 households will be moved from Ze and Lu prefectures in Shanxi to Shandong, and Dengzhou Prefecture will receive about 2,000 households."
“Three thousand households, that's more than ten thousand people. Can't these people alleviate Brother Yang's urgent crisis?”
Yang Shaofeng was overjoyed and bowed to Wang Qiong, saying, "Brother Wang, the good news you brought is truly extraordinary!"
Three thousand households is not a large number, but it is almost half of the original number of households in Dengzhou!
Just as Yang Shaofeng was feeling pleased, Wang Qiong continued, "There is another piece of good news: His Majesty has once again issued an edict to exempt Shandong Province from taxes for three years, including Ningyang County."
Yang Shaofeng was even happier.
Tax exemption is good. By exempting people from taxes for three years, they can store more grain, and various other plans, such as community schools, will have the opportunity to be implemented.
Seeing Yang Shaofeng's joyful expression, Wang Qiong couldn't help but smile and said, "By the way, there's another matter I've come here for, which is to ask Brother Yang about the border market."
Yang Shaofeng was slightly taken aback at first, then shook his head and said, "The border market? Those 20,000 laborers haven't even arrived in Dengzhou yet. Even if the border market is set up, there will be a lot of problems with transportation. It can't be rushed at all."
Wang Qiong smiled and said, "It's not that His Highness the Crown Prince is in a hurry, but that Goryeo is. The King of Goryeo has already submitted a memorial to His Majesty, requesting that the border markets be opened before September."
Has the memorial been submitted?
Tsk tsk, Old Zhu is forty-two years old this year, and the Korean king Wang Zhuan is forty years old this year. When he wrote the words "Your Majesty, the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty" on the memorial, what kind of struggle did he go through in his heart?
That makes sense, though. That's how the Koreans always are. Behind closed doors, they dare to demand that the American ambassador kneel down and apologize, but once the door is open, they wag their tails like dogs. Calling someone "Grandpa Emperor of the Ming Dynasty" in a memorial doesn't seem like a big deal to them.
The only thing that Yang Shaofeng was curious about was why the Koreans were in such a hurry to open the border market.
To put it bluntly, the border market was a harvesting machine for the Central Plains branch to exploit its vassal states, and a sickle that continuously bled them dry for the vassal states surrounding it.
The Central Plains authorities would love for the border markets to be open every day, while the vassal states should be doing the exact opposite.
Now things have turned out differently. Zhu Chongba, that old man from Dengzhou, isn't in a hurry, nor is the official in charge of setting up the border markets in Dengzhou. Instead, it's the Korean king, Wang Zhuan, who's been bleeding money out of the country, who's getting anxious first.
Are you so eager to get ripped off?
Just as Yang Shaofeng was pondering this, Wang Qiong continued, his words tinged with disdain: "It is said that King Shin Don of Goryeo is becoming increasingly arrogant, even wearing the same clothes as King Wang Jeon. The Goryeo officials cannot tell which one is the king. King Wang Jeon is worried that Shin Don has the intention to rebel, so he is in a hurry to request the opening of the border market."
After Wang Qiong finished speaking, Yang Shaofeng immediately chuckled and said, "He was worried that Xin Dun had treasonous intentions, so he just killed Xin Dun. What does that have to do with whether or not the border market is open now?"
There is definitely a connection. After all, Wang Zhuan has been officially recognized by the Ming Dynasty and has become an outer vassal of the Ming. In name, he can definitely suppress Xin Dun. As long as the border market can be successfully opened and bring some benefits to Bangzi Kingdom, Xin Dun will probably have to restrain himself.
But then again, whether Xin Dun is arrogant and domineering, or whether Wang Zhuan lives or dies, what does it have to do with me, Yang?
As the Prefect of Dengzhou, I am concerned about the people of Dengzhou. Right now, another three thousand households are to be relocated here. Who has time to care about the fate of those bastards!
But on second thought, Yang Shaofeng felt that he should care about Wang Zhuan's life or death. After all, it was like cutting flesh from a stick. Even if Dengzhou couldn't get the biggest bite, it could at least get some meat, right?
Thinking of this, Yang Shaofeng smiled and said, "Brother Wang, please tell the Korean... Goryeo envoy when you get back that the Dengzhou border market will probably open in September, and tell them to prepare to trade at the market."
"By the way, I need to trouble you with something, Brother Wang. Please tell the Chang brothers when you get back that you should ask them to collect more cabbage and dogwood seeds for me. I plan to encourage the people of Dengzhou to plant more cabbage and dogwood."
Sometimes Yang Shaofeng even admires himself.
He not only thinks about the people of Dengzhou, but also about the people of South Korea.
Now they're even thinking of kimchi and spicy cabbage for the Korean people.
Who is as kind-hearted as me?
As for whether the cabbage could be successfully sold to the Koreans, or whether it could successfully spawn kimchi or spicy cabbage, Yang Shaofeng wasn't worried at all.
Anyway, cabbage keeps well, so if it can't be sold, the people can eat it themselves, which saves them from having to deal with those lousy bean sprouts every day.
Even if all else fails, the government can still pay to buy a batch. After all, there are plenty of laborers working on road construction in Ningyang County and the ten counties under Dengzhou Prefecture. Apart from the Semu people, the rest are all ordinary people of the Ming Dynasty, and they have the right to eat cabbage.
If this happens, the road construction plan in Dengzhou Prefecture will have to be put on the agenda sooner, or at least the road to be built will have to be planned before the more than 20,000 cattle and horses arrive in Dengzhou Prefecture.
Having made up his mind, Yang Shaofeng disregarded Wang Qiong and directly instructed Limpy Five, "Please trouble Limpy Five to make a trip and see how long it will take for those people in the Ministry of Works to come up with a road repair plan."