sbdcsierra Chapter 116 Pei Yuanji Enters Beijing
Chapter 116 Pei Yuanji Enters Beijing
Although Tang Ming was the second-in-command in the Canal Transport Bureau, He Hairen basically delegated power to him, and all matters, big or small, were handled by Tang Ming.
Since his Cao Gang is working for him, he plans to realize his ambitions.
Chuzhou is a waterway transportation hub, and the Canal Transport Office is set up here. The head of the office, Kuang Gong, is a man that Tang Ming asked Zhang Jun for.
At the same time, water transport offices were set up in Zhuozhou, Handan, Luoyang, Jining and Suzhou.
They built floating bridges or piers directly on the water with small boats and charged passing ships a fee, which was called river defense tax.
There was a river defense tax in the Great Zhou Dynasty, but it was only collected during floods and lasted for three years. It would no longer be collected after the expiration date.
During this period of the Zhou Dynasty, water transportation and inland river transportation were not all controlled by the Cao Gang. There were several gangs that not only transported on the rivers but also on the sea.
The Cao Gang founded by Tang Ming and others only had absolute control over the section south of Liangshan and from Chuzhou to Luoyang. In the area from Handan to Zhuozhou, they could only survive in a precarious manner.
As for the section from Chuzhou to Yuhang, although they have the Cao Gang, they are not strong!
Tang Ming originally arranged for Zhang Jun to be in charge of the Jining governor.
"What? This Tang, a fifth-rank official himself, gave me an eighth-rank official, not even as good as a county magistrate."
When Zhang Jun heard the news, he started cursing.
He refused to take up the post of Jining Governor of the Grain Transport Office. His decision made his fellow members of the Grain Transport Gang afraid to take up the post.
The Grand Canal Transport Commissioner is a fifth-rank official, and Tang Ming and He Hairen have temporarily set up three vacancies.
He Hairen brought in a new number one scholar, whose surname was Song, given name Yuan, and courtesy name Xiren.
Originally, he wanted to be placed in the Grain Transport Commissioner as a Shizhong and stay in the commissioner's office to do errands, but it turned out that the Grain Transport Commissioner was also an official of the fifth rank, which forced Tang Ming to be cautious!
There were originally few newly admitted scholars who were appointed to official positions that year, and some of them were arranged to fifth-rank official positions by Tang Ming, even though they were not yet admitted as scholars and did so intentionally.
Song Yuan was eventually appointed as the grain transport envoy.
The main duties of the Canal Transport Commissioner were to organize and manage canal transport affairs, and to supervise and coordinate the Canal Transport Office.
Compared to doing practical work at the grassroots level, this position seems much simpler for new officials.
After all, the front line is where people can endure the most hardships and grow the most.
After learning of Zhang Jun's request, Tang Ming had no choice but to give Zhang Jun a position, mainly responsible for the affairs of the river basin from Zhuozhou to Chuzhou.
In Handan, there was originally a troublemaker who defected to the Cao Gang. His name was Pei Yuanji. He was a fishmonger from Zaoyang and his business was to bully and dominate the market. Unexpectedly, he committed a murder and fled to Handan to continue his water trade.
Pei Yuanji was six feet five or six feet tall, about thirty-two or thirty-three years old. He was wearing a bamboo hat that covered his face, and only his black beard covered his mouth. He wore a white cloth shirt and a silk shoulder strap tied around his waist.
Although he still worked on the water, he just followed the boat at the beginning. He didn't dare to run far at the beginning because of the murder case, and could only run short distances on the canal interface.
In this way, I got to know many boatmen again.
So he gathered a group of people, opened a warehouse on the shore, and delivered some bulk cargo to the ships coming and going. He was quite happy and had some free time.
People are not enough to swallow elephants.
Pei Yuanji sent a letter of greeting to the Liangshan Cao Gang in order to set up a branch in Handan.
Day after day, year after year.
After several hardships, the Handan branch team expanded from a hundred people at the beginning to several thousand people.
When Pei Yuanji was recruiting people, he did not use the name of the Cao Gang, but established a new gang, Renhetang, and became the boss behind Renhetang.
"Xiao Si, you said that the people from Liangshan entered the government. Should we also get official positions?"
The Xiao Si mentioned by Pei Yuanji is the lowest-ranking leader in Renhe Hall, ranked fourth, and his name is Jia Wusi.
"Brother, I've heard that the Canal Transport Bureau has set up a Canal Transport Office in Handan. You can go find Mr. Tang and get an official position there."
Jia Wusi wore blue-white hemp shoes with multiple ears, a white brocade robe, and a folding fan in his hand, looking like a handsome young man.
"Looks like I need to go find the boss. The question is, should I go as a member of the Cao Gang or as Renhetang?"
Pei Yuanji was unsure. He had worked so hard to build up Renhetang, and it could not continue to be under the name of the Cao Gang. However, if he became a traitor, he would be killed according to the gang rules.
"Brother, I suggest you take my second brother with you. By uniting the Cao Gang and Renhetang, we will have a strong presence in Handan."
"Union?" Pei Yuanji also thought so, but he didn't know what Tang Ming was thinking. There were too many gang fights, and he didn't want to be caught in a fight with the Cao Gang because of his carelessness.
When Jia Wusi saw that Pei Yuanji did not continue, he thought he was hesitating.
He had been with Pei Yuanji for many years and knew his temperament. Although he was ruthless, he was always hesitant.
"Let's wait for your second brother to come back and discuss it together."
In the end, Pei Yuanji still wanted to wait for Hou Jinyong, the second in command of Renhetang, to discuss the feasibility of this matter.
Time flies, and three days later we arrived at Shangjing Street.
"Brother Pei, will there be any problems if we go directly to see Tang Ming like this?"
"Don't we have enough gifts?"
There was a whole carriage full of gifts at the back, one box of silver, two boxes of copper coins, and the rest were silks, and all kinds of rare treasures and delicacies.
"Brother Pei, we have quite a few gifts. I wonder if Tang Ming, who is now involved in politics, would appreciate our gifts."
"Hou Er, remember, there is no cat in this world that doesn't eat fish."
Jia Wusi, who was following behind, agreed with Pei Yuanji's words. Over the years in Handan, there were many problems, big and small, that could not be solved with money.
Hou Jinyong appears to be the head of Renhe Hall, but in fact he is just a younger brother. He is only appointed as the manager because he is good at fighting and is quite liked by Pei Yuanji.
If he were as clever as the third and fourth brothers, he probably wouldn't be the one to make decisions.
The Caoyunsi was newly built and was located in a rented house in the East Market. The three-courtyard building was more than enough for office use.
There are usually not many people here, only Tang Ming and a minor official.
Suddenly, I heard someone at the door say that he was here to visit. I let him in and saw that it was Pei Yuanji.
"When will Yuanji come to Beijing? He didn't even inform us in advance."
Obviously, no one expected Tang Ming to be so friendly. Before they could salute, he spoke first.
"I'm honored to meet you, sir. I heard that Mr. Tang is working at the Grain Transport Bureau in Beijing. I've prepared a small gift for you. Please accept it!"
Tang Ming thought that Pei Yuanji must have come here for the grain transport matter. He had already decided that Pei Yuanji would come to him on his own initiative.
"We are all brothers. It would be strange if you were to be so polite."
Jia Wusi, who was following behind and paying his respects, saw Tang Ming helping Pei Yuanji up, and he stood up as well.
"Master Tang, let me introduce you. This is Hou Jinyong from Handan Renhetang, the head of the family..."
"I'm honored to meet Lord Tang." Following Pei Yuanji's introduction, Hou Jinyong stepped forward and saluted.
"I think since you were introduced by Captain Pei, we must be brothers. Don't be polite."
Tang Ming used his hands to support Hou Jinyong and invited him in.
At this time, Pei Yuanji could only disguise himself as a lower person and follow the two of them to the meeting hall of the Grain Transport Bureau.