Qin Fang was stunned: "Mr. Hedong Prefecture Governor?"
The yamen runner said, "Today, the six prefects of Renzhou have arrived and are staying at the post station. Lord Du has discussed the details of the imperial grain franchise plan with you. Since Yunxiang County is under the jurisdiction of Hedong Prefecture, the prefect wants to discuss the imperial grain franchise plan with you. So Lord Yang said that he would host and invite you to his house. What do you think? Lord Yang said that if you are busy, we can meet again on another day."
Qin Fang was surprised. He had been at the Beast Mountain Taoist Temple during the day. No wonder County Magistrate Yang sent someone to wait for him here. "It's okay, let's go."
"yes."
Qin Fang said to Tao Shan, "Tao Shan, go back and tell the village chief that he doesn't have to wait for me for dinner. I'm going to discuss the matter with County Magistrate Yang."
Tao Shan: “Yes.”
Qin Fang followed the yamen runners to the county government office. County Magistrate Yang and the prefect of Hedong Prefecture were discussing matters in the hall. They didn't know whether Qin Fang would come today, so they could only wait. When they heard the servant come to report that General Qin had arrived, they stood up.
The prefect of Qiguo was of the fourth rank. County Magistrate Yang went out of the hall to pick up Qin Fang. The prefect of Hedong Prefecture naturally would not go. After all, his rank was higher than Qin Fang, so there was absolutely no reason for him to go to pick up Qin Fang.
When County Magistrate Yang came out of the hall, he saw Qin Fang coming in. He immediately bowed and said, "General Qin."
Qin Fang bowed and said, "Master Yang, I am late."
County Magistrate Yang said, "It's not too late, you are very busy." He knew that Qin Fang was on the Beast Mountain every day, and it was just the time for him to get off duty. He was already giving him face by coming here right after his shift. "General Qin, our Hedong Prefecture Governor Liu is inside. I will introduce him to you."
Qin Fang: "Thank you, Lord Yang. Speaking of which, I haven't visited Lord Liu since I took office. Unfortunately, the emperor gave me a secret mission, so I can't leave Yunxiang County. I can only apologize to Lord Liu." Logically, Qin Fang should have gone to pay a visit, but after a series of unexpected events, Qin Fang had long forgotten who the boss of Hedong Mansion was. Even Yang Haiyan, who was always very careful, didn't notice it, otherwise she would have reminded him long ago.
Qin Fang followed County Magistrate Yang into the hall. Lord Liu, the prefect of Hedong Prefecture, had already stood up. He had heard what Qin Fang and County Magistrate Yang had just said outside. Qin Fang's voice was not light when he spoke, so he must have told him that he was not deliberately not going to see him.
However, no matter what Qin Fang's reason was, Master Liu was still uncomfortable. Although he knew that Yunxiang County had a new city defense general, he didn't meet him, so he didn't care. Now that he met him and he didn't go to see him, he felt a little strange. However, the other party's teacher was Du Ke, and he didn't have the courage to go with Du Ke.
However, his impression of Qin Fang had already become bad.
Qin Fang didn't say much. When he saw Lord Liu, he bowed: "Your humble servant greets Lord Liu." The greeting was just to clasp fists and bow. Military generals would not kneel down as a courtesy unless it was a special situation.
Lord Liu said, "General Qin, there is no need to be polite. Please take a seat."
Qin Fang said, "Thank you, sir. I am new to the officialdom and don't know much about the etiquette in the officialdom. My family is poor and no one taught me these things. In addition, not long after I took office, the emperor sent a secret order, ordering me not to leave Yunxiang County, so I did not report to you. Today, I apologize to you." Qin Fang apologized sincerely. This matter was indeed a negligence. So, I told him frankly that later the emperor sent a secret order to monitor those people in the Ministry of Industry who were researching medicine in the Shoushan Taoist Temple. I didn't even have a day off, let alone remember the situation of the prefect of Hedong Prefecture.
However, Qin Fang overlooked one point. Du Ke and the emperor would listen to some details, but Lord Liu would not. In Lord Liu's opinion, Qin Fang was just arrogant, telling him clearly that he had the emperor's support.
Lord Liu's face darkened, but he soon smiled and said, "General Qin is very busy, so let's wait until I am not here."
As a bystander, County Magistrate Yang clearly saw the look on Lord Liu's face. He had only been with Qin Fang for a short time, but he had some understanding of Qin Fang's character. He was not the kind of arrogant and unbridled person. In addition, as soon as Qin Fang arrived in Yunxiang County, he was busy with the military camp and the situation in Beast Mountain. He was indeed busy all the time.
It's just that no matter how busy you are, you should take a day off to pay a visit to Lord Liu. So in this case, no matter what Qin Fang's reasons are, Qin Fang is indeed wrong. But County Magistrate Yang can't explain to Lord Liu, after all, he is working under Lord Liu, unlike Qin Fang, who is only a fifth-rank official and Lord Liu is a fourth-rank official, but Lord Liu can't control Qin Fang, because civil officials and military generals have always been governed separately.
If civil officials wanted to be promoted, they needed to be assessed by the Ministry of Personnel, while military officers were promoted based on their military achievements. Therefore, the Ministry of Personnel had no control over military officers.
In Qi State, under the emperor, the six ministries had the greatest power. In the previous dynasty, there was a prime minister, and with the prime minister, the power of the six ministries was divided. After Tai Yuanzu started the uprising and established Qi State, he directly abolished the prime minister system in order to consolidate power. Therefore, the power of the six ministries was at its peak.
Among the six ministries, the Ministry of War is in charge of military power.
There are issues involving military power here.
In Qi State, military power and military authority are two different concepts.
For example, Marquis Yonghe has military power and can command 50,000 Yonghe troops.
However, as the Minister of War, Du Ke did not have military power, but he had military authority, and he had the right to transfer Yonghe Marquis. Simply put, military power manages soldiers, and military power manages military camps.
In extraordinary times, the Ministry of War has the right to directly order transfers to military camps. This is military power.
The emperor may not have military power, but the vice minister of the Ministry of War is his man and he holds military power.
Qin Fang and Lord Liu exchanged a few pleasantries, and County Magistrate Yang sent someone to serve the dishes. Because they were talking about serious matters, County Magistrate Yang did not send anyone to serve, but asked someone to prepare a table of wine and food, and personally poured wine for Lord Liu and Qin Fang. "Lord Liu, General Qin, you are in high position today, I toast you a glass."
Today, Qin Fang was reluctant to drink because of the discussion. However, since Lord Liu was here, it would be awkward for him to refuse. So he said, "Lord Liu, drinking is harmful to your health. Why don't we just go along with him?"
Lord Liu thought, don't military commanders love to drink? This person is really annoying. Although he said so, he couldn't say that. He said, "General Qin is right, let's follow him. General Qin, Lord Yang, follow him." After saying that, he took a light peck.
Qin Fang said: "Thank you for your understanding, sir."
The three drank a few sips of wine, ate a few bites of snacks, and then started talking about business. Lord Liu asked: "General Qin, Lord Du mentioned in the meeting with us today that our franchisee of Hedong Mansion is General Qin, so what is General Qin's plan next? I heard from Lord Du that franchisees will have agents, and franchisees will produce potato flour and sweet potato flour, and then the agents below will sell potato flour and sweet potato flour. Is that true?"
Qin Fang said, "That's true. My wife and I have discussed this matter. We only produce, and the sales will be handled by the agents below. However, the imperial grain is the emperor's brand, and now it is potato flour and sweet potato flour. Maybe in the near future, there will be other grains, and these grains will have a unified price across the country."
Lord Liu said, "Of course I know this. Lord Du mentioned that potato flour and sweet potato flour are sold to the public for seven cents per pound, and the price that franchisees pay to agents is five cents per pound."
Qin Fang said: "That's true."
Lord Liu said, "Our Hedong Prefecture has one prefecture and four county towns. If General Qin's family wants to do business, won't they need to find five agents?"
General Qin said, "Yes, I plan to let Lord Yang be in charge of the Yunxiang County agency. As for the rest, I don't know anything about it and I don't know for sure. Lord Yang, I wonder what the Yang family is doing?"
County Magistrate Yang had not expected such a good thing, so he hurriedly said, "Thank you, General Qin." His family was indeed having a hard time. His salary was not enough to support the whole family, but fortunately, they had some savings in the past. Although they were not poor now, they had elderly parents and young children to take care of, so County Magistrate Yang was living very frugally. Moreover, he was not a local, so buying land here would cost him money. After all this business, he had almost spent all the savings he had brought when he first came.
County Magistrate Yang did have this in mind regarding potato flour and sweet potato flour, but he had not mentioned it before, because he did not know whether the Qin family wanted to do this business in Yunxiang County. Now that Qin Fang took the initiative to talk about it, he was of course very grateful.
Hedongfu watched the interaction and decided to give Qin Fang a try, so he said what was in his mind: "General Qin, what do you think about the remaining prefectures and other county agents?"
Qin Fang said, "Everything depends on the character, just like choosing a franchisee, you have to choose a pure and honest family." Qin Fang was not a fool, "I wonder if Lord Liu's family has this method?" If the people in the prefecture bypassed Lord Liu and chose other families, they might not be able to argue. Therefore, Qin Fang could only ask Lord Liu first.
Lord Liu was satisfied, and Qin Fang was on his way. However, he said in an official tone: "The Emperor organized the Imperial Grain Franchise Program, and it is the responsibility of the ministers to do their best for the Emperor."
Qin Fang asked himself if he was a fool, but he had to admit that he was not thick-skinned enough to hear what Lord Liu said. "Then I'll discuss this with the teacher after I go back. After all, Yunxiang County is a trial camp, so we have to be extra cautious." Otherwise, we have to investigate the background of Lord Liu.
When Lord Liu heard this, he said without hesitation: "That's as it should be. Lord Du is very careful in his work. General Qin is following Lord Du, and he is really following a good teacher."
Qin Fang said: "Teacher is strict with himself, I must not let you down."
Then, after some compliments to Duco, the dinner ended.
Qin Fang said: "Lord Liu, my general's mansion and the post station are in the same direction. I will take you to the post station."
Lord Liu nodded: "Thank you very much."
County Magistrate Yang said, "I just need to digest my food after dinner, so I will take you there, Master Liu."
Qin Fang looked at County Magistrate Yang.
Lord Liu did not think that there was anything wrong with County Magistrate Yang's behavior. Lord Liu was the prefect and County Magistrate Yang was the county magistrate. Wasn't it natural for him to send him to the post station