Du Ke, to borrow the words of modern people, is a man with a strong sense of career, but he has his own principles. The incident of the Wei family and the Yang family was indeed despised by many people. Du Ke has never commented on this matter, but he does not agree with the Wei family's approach in his heart. But on the surface, no one dares to say anything. After all, the Wei family is loyal to the current emperor. Who dares to say that the Wei family is wrong? Isn't this a slap in the face of the current emperor
Du Ke had never thought that the little girl kneeling inside him could say such words. Yang Haiyan came from the family of Grand Tutor Yang. If she recognized the Wei family, she would be criticized in the future when she came to the circle of Beijing. However, the Wei family did not consider these things. Seeing how good Yang Haiyan was now, they came to recognize her as a godparent. Du Ke smiled and shook his head at this kind of behavior. "Get up and talk."
Yang Haiyan stood up.
Du Ke said, "You are a smart woman. It's good that you can think of the right and wrong, the pros and cons in that situation. I don't dislike smart women. I have two daughters in my family, a legitimate daughter and a concubine's daughter. Both legitimate daughters and concubine's daughters seldom talk to me. They never talked to me before they got married, let alone after they got married. But I never thought that when I was approaching middle age, I would still have a goddaughter who talked to me like this." To put it bluntly, when the two daughters saw him, they were like mice seeing a cat.
Yang Haiyan was stunned. Did Du Ke agree with him
Du Ke said again: "Tell me, why did you think of using your master's wife as a shield under that situation?" There was blame and curiosity in Du Ke's tone.
Yang Haiyan was honest in front of Du Ke and didn't dare to play any tricks, so she said truthfully: "You accepted my husband as a student, and the relationship between the Qin family and you has been determined. Whether I recognize my master's wife as my stepmother or not, it will not damage your relationship with my husband in the eyes of outsiders. Therefore, although this is an excuse to reject the Wei family, it will have an impact on the Du family. But if I recognize the Wei family as a godparent, it means that the Qin family and the Wei family have a godparent, and you are my husband's teacher, the Du family and the Wei family may also be implicated.
To be honest, the main reason was my personal one. I didn't agree with the Wei family's behavior, but... I thought you would help me admit it, so... I was bold."
"Hahaha..." Du Ke laughed, "You are indeed very bold. However, your boldness is also within my expectations. Although I am surprised by your quick reaction, I am not surprised by your character."
Yang Haiyan was slightly stunned.
Du Ke said: "I never thought that a woman who could think of things like military camp land policy, saltpeter ice making, franchise representatives, etc. was an ordinary woman."
Yang Haiyan felt a little embarrassed. Was Lord Du praising him
"Okay, come on over here, what are you standing outside for?" Du Ke shouted towards the door.
Qin Fang walked over with a chuckle: "I see that your wife has something to say, so I will come back later."
Yang Haiyan never thought that Qin Fang went out on purpose.
Du Ke snorted, "You are all playing tricks on me. But since things have come to this, let's just leave it as it is. I will write a letter to your master's wife, congratulating her on having a adopted daughter. You have to lend me your hairpin, and I will ask her to prepare another hairpin of the same kind."
Yang Haiyan took off the hairpin and said, "This hairpin was given to me by the wife of the Yongyi Marquis. This is the first time I wear it. I thought that Wei Ting would not be able to figure out the pattern. If my master's wife... my stepmother wants to prepare such a hairpin, she can make some changes to the pattern. Otherwise, when I meet the wife of the Yongyi Marquis in the future, it will be embarrassing to talk about this matter."
Du Ke nodded: "I know what's going on." He accepted the hairpin in front of Qin Fang. Although they were of different generations, there was still a difference between men and women. In front of Qin Fang, it would not cause misunderstandings. "Let's talk about joining. What do you think about the specifics? Analyze it with me."
Qin Fang said: "Yan Yan should talk about this matter."
Du Ke: "I never counted on you." So why did they invite the couple to come together
Qin Fang shut up. He found that the teacher loved to argue with people.
Yang Haiyan smiled, and could tell that Du Ke liked Qin Fang very much. Otherwise, Du Ke and Qin Fang would not be so free and unrestrained. "Teacher, my plan is this. We will hold a franchise meeting in each prefecture in the name of the emperor, and then let them bid from the selected few lists. We will then choose the households with the highest franchise fee. This is the first step. The second step has nothing to do with us, but with the successful bidder.
There are several counties under each prefecture, and the winning bidder cannot go to every county to manage it, so the winning bidder can set up an agent in the county..."
They discussed this from morning to noon, and only finished discussing the matter before lunch. Du Ke was very interested in the franchising, bidding, and agency mentioned by Yang Haiyan. It must be said that there were some things that were not clear about the plan alone, but Yang Haiyan's explanation made it clearer.
The first step of this plan was to establish a product label called "Huangliang". There was another name on the lower right side of the two words "Huangliang", which was the emperor's own name, Yuanxiang.
In other words, this product was marked with four characters, Huangliang and Yuanxiang. These four characters were written by the emperor himself, and after they were written, he asked the Ministry of Industry to carve them into a seal and asked Du Ke to bring it.
In the second step, the family that successfully joins will get such a product label, and the county merchants that successfully represent will also have such a product label hanging at the door of the store. In other words, if a shop has such a product label, it cannot sell potato flour or sweet potato flour, otherwise it is illegal.
If anyone dares to carve the product label with the emperor's words on it, it is a capital crime. Who would dare
So, the emperor’s brand is really useful.
After lunch, Du Ke, Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan began to discuss what to do next.
The first test site of this plan is Renzhou. Renzhou has six prefectures, and Yunxiang County is in Hedong Prefecture. The franchisee of Hedong Prefecture is the Qin family. So, Renzhou still has five prefectures. Du Ke needs to summon the prefects of other prefectures in Renzhou to Yunxiang County to discuss this matter. Of course, the prefect of Hedong Prefecture also needs to be informed, so the six prefects have to rush to Yunxiang County.
Du Ke: "Let's arrange to host the six prefects at the Yunxiang County Post Station."
Qin Fang said: "The post station has been renovated and can be used as a residence. I will inform County Magistrate Yang and the county government will arrange for the reception."
Du Ke was not worried about this. What he was worried about was, "Take the six prefectures of Renzhou for example. Since Hedong Prefecture is yours, you don't have to worry about the candidates for joining. But there are still five prefectures left. It is not easy to select people with good character in each prefecture. If there are several suitable households, it will almost be necessary to conduct bidding. In this way, it will take more than half a month for each prefecture. We have 120 prefectures in Qi State. If all these 120 prefectures are selected, Qin Fang, Bingyun, you can calculate how long it will take?"
Qin Fang began to calculate silently.
Yang Haiyan said: "Twenty-four households per year, doesn't that mean it will take five years?"
Du Ke was slightly surprised: "Bingyun is good at arithmetic?"
Qin Fang said proudly: "Yanyan is in charge of the military camp accounts, but now Yanyan is teaching Shouye, so it will be handed over to Shouye in the future. Yanyan's accounts are very easy to understand, and even someone like me who doesn't know arithmetic can understand them."
Yang Haiyan immediately said, "My husband thinks everything about me is good, but I am not that good."
In the past, Qin Fang would call Du Ke "my dear" in front of him, but now according to Du Ke's clothes, Yang Haiyan has accepted the godparent relationship with Mrs. Du. So Du Ke is also Yang Haiyan's adoptive father. Now that he has become a family member, Qin Fang is no longer so polite and directly calls her Yanyan.
Du Ke knew Qin Fang a little bit. If Qin Fang said it was good, then it must be good. Qin Fang had one advantage, which was that he didn't brag. Therefore, Du Ke asked curiously, "Go and get the barracks' accounts for me." He also had accounts in the military department, which were usually a mess. He really wanted to understand the accounts that Qin Fang, who had no knowledge at all, could understand.
Qin Fang stood up: "I'll get it right away."
Yang Haiyan: “…” She felt that Qin Fang was a bit unruly.
Du Ke said: "Don't worry about him. Bingyun, the market franchising plan will take five years. I have five years to spend on it. Can you add two more years? " Although Du Ke asked this, he already had a solution in his mind. He was just trying Yang Haiyan.
Yang Haiyan had the purpose of judging why Du Ke asked this question. In front of a good official, she was willing to introduce modern knowledge, just like when she was at the border, she knew through novels that the character of the Yongli Marquis' family was trustworthy, so she dared to take out the soap recipe.
Yang Haiyan thought about it and suddenly had an idea: "Teacher, can I be your assistant?"
Du Ke was stunned. Yang Haiyan's answer was beyond his expectation. "What do you mean?"
Yang Haiyan said, "I... I want to go with you to different places to participate in this event. I... I grew up in the capital, married to the border at the age of sixteen, and came to Yunxiang County from the border with my husband at the age of eighteen. I... I want to travel all over the country to see the beautiful mountains and rivers of our Qi country. Teacher, I know that in the eyes of many people, women should take care of their husbands and children and stay in the back house, but... But I hope that one day, when I have children, I can proudly tell them how big and beautiful the mountains and rivers of our Qi country are. I can proudly tell them that I have walked every inch of land in Qi country. Instead of..." Yang Haiyan's voice gradually faded, and she felt that she had some unrealistic ideas. In ancient times, which woman could be so lucky
Du Ke had long known that Yang Haiyan was a remarkable woman, and that he should not use the thoughts of ordinary women to influence and judge her, so he did not immediately object to what Yang Haiyan said. After a while, he said, "You should discuss this with Qin Fang." If Qin Fang had any objections, even though he was a teacher, he was also an outsider, so why would he object
Yang Haiyan was surprised to hear this: "You don't object? Don't you think women should be confined to the inner courtyard of the back house?"
Du Ke rarely talked about his personal affairs, which he had never told anyone before: "Speaking of which, I have never thought about this question. Since I was born, I have been enlightened, studied, taken the imperial examination, and entered the court as an official. Every step has been orderly, so I have never thought about what women should do? The only time I thought about it was... about three times.
The first time was when the old lady at home asked me to marry your stepmother, and I thought about this woman. The second time was when my legitimate daughter, that is, your eldest sister, was getting engaged, and I thought about what kind of man her character would be suitable for. The third time was when my concubine's daughter was getting engaged... I really don't have any idea about how to position women." This topic is a bit interesting. Nowadays, women are indeed confined to the harem, but... "You are a big girl in the capital, so you should know that there are women in the capital who are not confined to the harem. Those poetry gatherings and poetry studios are held every year, and there are also women in them. Can those women be confined to the harem
Therefore, it is not the man who decides whether a woman is confined to the harem, but the woman herself. Bingyun, what do you think?"
Yang Haiyan was stunned at first, and then she slowly pondered over Du Ke's words, then she suddenly realized: "Thank you for your guidance, teacher." She understood and figured it out.
Until now, when I came to this world, I always required myself to live according to the standards of ancient women. For example, ancient women would run small businesses, and then take care of their husbands and children. I was idle while I was idle, and I lived like this. But after listening to Du Ke's words, I came to my senses. It seems that most ancient women lived like this.
But there is still a small part that is not like that, and it is you who decides how you should live, not just following the crowd.
If you come back to ancient times, and you stay in the harem from the age of 16 to 66, or from the age of 86, you can't imagine what will happen in the future. There are still 50 or even 70 years left, and your life has just begun. Do you have to live up to such standards and do such things just for the sake of the standards of ancient women
That obviously won't work. If not, wouldn't it be a waste of my whole life
I have decided that when I touch Qin Fang's private parts, I will tell him that I want to travel. While I still have children, I can still have fun. When I have children, I will... Travel with children
Qin Fang didn't know about his wife's rebellious idea. He came back with the accounts of the military camp: "Teacher..."
Du Ke took the account book and said immediately: "Just now we discussed how to complete five years' work in two years. Bingyun said he wanted to go with me to various mansions to be my assistant to do this. Qin Fang, what do you think?"
Qin Fang opened his mouth and looked at Du Ke, then looked at Yang Haiyan. At this time, he had an idea: "What should I do?"
Qin Fang's answer surprised Yang Haiyan. Yang Haiyan thought he would object, but unexpectedly, his answer was what she should do.
Yang Haiyan thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you join us?" Yunxiang County really had something going on, and with Lieutenant Yang and Lieutenant Lu here, they could rest assured when guarding the city. So it was okay for Qin Fang to leave for a while, but the general guarding the city could not leave the county at will if he had the emperor's order. Of course, if he was going to a place like Lin County, it was okay to leave for a few days, but if he went too far, it would not work. Otherwise, if something happened in the county, the general guarding the city would be held responsible.
Qin Fang was tempted. He had never had a good rest since he started military service at the age of sixteen. Even after completing five years of military service, he had a one-month vacation, but he spent more than ten days on the way back and forth between his hometown and the Yongzhou military camp. But: "No, I have the emperor's order at the moment, and I have to stay at the Taoist temple all the time." The emperor asked him to monitor secretly, and he could not leave.
Speaking of the Taoist temple, Du Ke said, "Wei Ting said earlier that in a month or so, the Huo Yao issue will be almost ready."
Qin Fang's eyes lit up: "What does the teacher mean?"
Du Ke continued, "Renzhou is the first step in the plan to join the imperial grain. It will probably take a month or so, so there is no rush. However, since the generals guarding the city cannot leave their respective counties, I can ask the emperor to use you as my guard general at his discretion."
Qin Fang was overjoyed and stood up quickly: "Thank you, teacher."
Du Ke waved his hand and said, "Then how can we improve the efficiency of the Royal Grain Franchise Program? Please tell us."
Yang Haiyan said: "Although there are 120 prefectures in Qi State, there are 22 states in total. We can put the situation of each state together, just like what the teacher said before, invite the prefects of the six prefectures in Renzhou. The prefect is the head of each prefecture, and he will recommend the families with good conduct in each prefecture. Then we will investigate and confirm the problems, and then let these families bid. This way it will be much faster."
Qin Fang had never been involved in these matters of people's livelihood. After listening to his wife's analysis, he said, "We need to send people to investigate the situation in each prefecture in advance, so that when each prefect recommends those families, we can make a comparison."
Du Ke nodded and said, "Yes, in fact, before I came to Yunxiang County, I had already sent people to various states and prefectures to investigate."
Yang Haiyan never thought that Qin Fang would act so quickly. He was indeed the most popular person around the current emperor.
Du Ke added: "But it is still unknown whether the imperial grain joining plan can succeed. Before I came, the emperor had already announced this matter in the morning court. Do you know what the pros and cons of this court are now?"
this
Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan looked at each other, they didn't know. Qin Fang was born in a peasant family and had never known the court, so he didn't know these things. Yang Haiyan was a little girl, relying on some of the plots she knew from wearing a mask and some of the little tricks she learned now, but if she really knew these court events, she wouldn't understand them.
Du Ke said: "Let me talk about the advantages of the court now. The advantage of the court is that the emperor won the throne and is very powerful. The court is almost the emperor's voice. The ministers in the court now are all people who have helped the emperor in the past, such as me, Wei Ting's father Wei Hong and others. Because of our relationship, in the morning court, almost everything the emperor said was true. Therefore, in the imperial grain franchise plan, no one dared to oppose it. Even if someone dared to oppose it, the difference in the number of people in favor was huge, and they couldn't do anything.
This is the first advantage.
The second advantage is that the emperor has three sons, and the princes are still young, so the court factions are not obvious. People like us, the emperor, have not yet taken sides, so the early court is very harmonious. But since ancient times, the court has been divided into factions, and there is only one dynasty that can be an exception, and that is when the princes are a little older. "
Qin Fang listened: "The disadvantages that the teacher mentioned are the factions that will appear when the princes grow up a little bit?"
Du Ke said: "Yes, but the emperor is in good health, so it is too early to cause such harm."
Yang Haiyan wanted to say, you don’t have to worry about this, the current emperor is in very good health, and he will be fine when you retire.
"When I am appointed as the imperial envoy this time, there are many people waiting to make fun of me. They naturally hope that this plan of royal grain franchise will fail. If this plan of royal grain franchise fails, I will not be able to hold my head up in the capital for a long time. Therefore, this plan cannot be allowed to fail." Du Ke said here, with a hint of severity in his voice.
Second
Du Ke sent someone to deliver the letter to the six prefects of Renzhou.
The six prefectures of Renzhou: Hedong Prefecture, Anren Prefecture, Qiongli Prefecture, Liangshan Prefecture, Daoyang Prefecture, Jiujiang Prefecture. When the six prefectures received Du Ke's letter, they were not surprised, because the court had already announced the imperial grain franchise plan, and Du Ke was the imperial envoy for this event, so they were all waiting. Regarding this imperial grain franchise plan, the court did not give clear regulations, and everyone was not clear. Everyone was curious about what kind of plan it was. But from the literal meaning, it can be seen that it must be related to grain.
This time, after receiving Du Ke's letter, the six prefects of Renzhou rushed to Yunxiang County without stopping.
In the past, the six prefects of Renzhou were not seen to be on good terms with each other, but this time, when they arrived at the gate of Yunxiang County, they did not leave the city immediately, but waited for several others to arrive before leaving the city.
The prefect of Anren Prefecture said, "I don't know what the specific plan of the imperial grain franchise plan hosted by Lord Du is. Lord Liu, this is your territory. Have you heard any rumors?"
Lord Liu was the prefect of Hedong Prefecture. When he heard the prefect of Anren Prefecture ask this question, he said, "Not yet. We will know the specific plan after we meet Lord Du."
The two of them just had a verbal fight, and then the six prefects left the city. They went directly to the post station in Yunxiang County that received court officials.
When the six prefects arrived at the post station, the post station's postmaster immediately sent someone to the general's mansion to ask for help from the county government office. Soon, Du Ke, who served the general, and Yang, the county magistrate, who worked at the county government office, came over. However, the county government office was closer to the post station, so Yang, the county magistrate, arrived first.
When the prefects arrived at the post station, they went to their respective houses to rest. Yunxiang County, which was under the jurisdiction of County Magistrate Yang, was under the jurisdiction of Hedong Prefecture, so he went to see the prefect of Hedong Prefecture on his own.
The prefect of Hedong Prefecture took a bath and changed his clothes. When he heard that County Magistrate Yang was coming so soon, he let him go.
The last time County Magistrate Yang met the prefect of Hedong Prefecture was at the beginning of this year. The prefect of Hedong Prefecture was transferred here at the beginning of this year. When the new prefect took office, the county magistrates under his jurisdiction would naturally go to pay a visit to him.