Chapter 148 A brilliant plan! (Part 1)
Ye Duo's face was full of bitterness. He shook his head and sighed, "Brother Jiang, you don't know! Although I am the governor of Jianghuai, it is not easy to be the governor! Jianghuai is located in the central area of Jiangnan, and the annual taxes are the focus of the court!"
"Now, there are the invasions of the Hu people in the north, and the Red Immortal Sect banditry in the east of Shandong and Jianghuai. There are too many places in the country where money is spent! Let me tell you this, all the tax silver in Jianghuai has been turned over to the national treasury, not a single tael of silver is left!"
In fact, what Ye Duo said was very pertinent. The governor of Jianghuai was considered a lucrative position by others, and there were countless people eyeing this position. But there were also countless people eyeing it, so it was difficult to deduct some money. Moreover, the Northern Tang Kingdom was in a critical moment, so it was understandable that Jianghuai Province paid more money.
"Brother Jiang, do you know how much money the Ministry of Revenue has allocated for river repairs?" Ye Duo shook his head and sighed, "Only 12,000 taels, which is the river defense money for Jianghuai Province in one year! Let's not talk about anything else, just Huayang City, we must repair the river dam during the dry season in winter! Otherwise, when the plum rain season comes next year, the Bi Bo Lake will be full of water, and there will be floods from upstream. At that time, there will be floods everywhere, and the entire Huayang City will probably be submerged!"
"Also, the river defense in Huayang City alone costs nearly 1,000 taels of silver every day! And my Jianghuai Province has a thousand miles of embankments, and the Yangtze River passes through 19 counties! Not only that, but we also need to manage Hongze Lake and other lakes. After careful calculation, it will cost at least 200,000 taels of silver. Where can I get that much silver?"
Having said this, Ye Duo looked sad and sighed endlessly.
Jiang Chengfeng was deeply touched by the issue of Yangtze River flood control. After thinking for a while, he said, "Lord Ye, the Yangtze River flood cannot be controlled overnight! This is a huge project that will take ten, fifty, or even a hundred years. Don't be anxious!"
Ye Duo nodded and said with a wry smile: "In fact, I also understand this truth! But when I think of the flood five years ago, Huayang was saved, but because of the floodgates, thousands of acres of fertile land were flooded and tens of thousands of people were displaced. I, Ye Duo, feel ashamed of the people of Jianghuai!"
Opening the floodgates to release floodwaters is nothing new. In order to save important cities, some relatively unimportant areas are flooded. This is also a helpless move, but the people don't care so much and will still scold you.
Jiang Chengfeng shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Master Ye, I understand what you said! But I am just a servant of the Shen family. You should discuss this matter with your staff. How can I help?"
"Brother Jiang, I'm really at my wit's end! I've tried every possible method I could think of, including fundraising and apportionment! But after raising money for so long, there's still a gap of more than 100,000 taels of silver! If there's no silver for repairing the river, I'm afraid the river repair project will be suspended! If we don't repair the river in winter, it may be too late next year!"
"To be honest, Brother Jiang, I invited you here mainly because my daughter told me that you are resourceful and decisive, so I took the liberty to invite you here. I hope you will spare no effort to help the people of Jianghuai!"
Seeing Ye Duo speaking with deep affection and tears in his eyes, there really is some truth in his feelings. I just don't know whether this old man is expressing his true feelings or is deliberately acting!
But from what the fat old man said, this was a bad idea that Ye Lingshuang came up with! How could it be that easy for me to make hundreds of thousands of taels of silver? If silver was so easy to make, would I still be talking nonsense with you? I would have gone home to make money long ago!
"Master Ye, you are too kind! I'm just a small servant, how can I help you?" Jiang Chengfeng shrugged helplessly.
"Brother Jiang, you are too modest! You are smart and talented, which is more important than anything else!" Ye Duo is also a master at flattery.
Jiang Chengfeng turned his head and looked at Ye Duo, sighing, thinking that if this old man had not been forced into a corner, he would not have begged him humbly! Jiang Chengfeng himself grew up by the Yangtze River, so he was naturally very aware of the harm that floods have caused to the people along the river, but he felt a little uncomfortable. Could it be that I have to play the role of a savior this time?
Jiang Chengfeng wandered along the embankment, and Ye Duo did not disturb him, but stood quietly by the side waiting.
Ye Lingshuang, who was painting with ink, raised her eyes and saw that Brother Jiang and her father were both silent. She couldn't help but frown. Could it be that Brother Jiang had no solution?
After a while, Jiang Chengfeng paused, looked up at Ye Duo, and said, "Master Ye, I can help you think of an idea! But the specific implementation depends on you! And this method is a bit difficult!"
Ye Duo was overjoyed and automatically ignored the second half of Jiang Chengfeng's words. He hurriedly asked, "Brother Jiang, just say it!"
"First, Lord Ye, tell me first, do we have enough manpower to repair the river?"
"Not enough! We are still short of 2,000 men!" Ye Duo shook his head and sighed, "But right now, the money is almost gone. It's useless even if we recruit more men!"
Jiang Chengfeng smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Master Ye, why do you have to spend money to recruit able-bodied men? There are able-bodied men who can be recruited for free, why don't you use them?"
Ye Duo was surprised, "There is such a thing?"
"Long Fengyang, the commander-in-chief of Jianghuai, has more than 30,000 men under his command. We don't need them to fight right now. Wouldn't it be great if we could bring them over to repair the river?" Jiang Chengfeng said.
Ye Duo was shocked. Using standing troops to repair the river was unprecedented! I have to say, this idea was really bold, and it seemed pretty good!
After a pause, Ye Duo showed a bitter look again and sighed: "Brother Jiang, maybe you don't know yet! This Long Fengyang and I are old enemies. This guy obeys my orders in name, but in fact he disobeys my orders. It may be difficult to recruit soldiers from him to repair the river!"
Jiang Chengfeng looked at Ye Duo unhappily and said, "Master Ye, I have already figured out a solution for you. It's your problem how to do it!"
Ye Duo frowned and said nothing.
Jiang Chengfeng scratched his head and sighed, "Lord Ye, Long Fengyang is your subordinate. He didn't follow his superior's orders, so you can sue him! Say he didn't help people in need and didn't care about people's livelihood. And you have to personally report him to the capital and ask the emperor to judge! Hmm... it'd be best if you make a big fuss and let the people of Jianghuai know about it. Draw circles on his front door every day!"
What the hell is drawing circles? Ye Duo was confused. But Ye Duo understood the general meaning of Jiang Chengfeng's words, which was to discredit Long Fengyang and his supporters, forcing them to send troops to repair the river.
After a little hesitation, Ye Duo gritted his teeth and said, "Okay! I will give Long Fengyang an order after I return. At the same time, I will also submit a memorial to the court and write a secret memorial to the emperor!"
