Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 245 Carrying a Boat Across the Weir
In fact, Guo Yong only needed the first half of his management plan for Guancheng to attract Zhang Dai's attention. Even if some of his views were still just theoretical and general, there were still aspects of his thinking that were worth considering.

As for the final addition, "Records of Merits and Virtues," it was a bit too much for Zhang Dai. He preferred to associate with capable, ambitious, and like-minded people, not the lackeys and henchmen who were recruited by his aunt to cheer him on and create hype for her.

Or, to put it another way, we can do this kind of thing too, how about I make the arrangements?
Guo Yong's enthusiastic attitude undoubtedly reflects a side of his personality that is eager for quick success, and that he sets a rather flexible bottom line for personal fame and gain.

Zhang Dai had recently been betrayed by Gao Chengxin in Luoyang, so he was somewhat wary of people with similar personalities.

However, on the other hand, a person who is too discerning will have no followers. If a person's character is not noble and selfless enough, then he will not communicate or cooperate with others, and he can forget about having any cliques or forming any teams in his life.

Even though Zhang Dai had verbally abused Gao Chengxin at his home, they could still continue to associate with each other. As long as their resources could complement each other, why not?

The reason they turned against each other before was because this guy acted recklessly, trying to gain big profits with small investments. He secretly took Wang Maozhong's daughter out and wanted to tie Zhang Dai up in his car so that they could fight against the two families of Beimen together.

However, if he could propose a plan to support Zhang Dai as the leader of the North Gate and gradually replace Wang Maozhong, Zhang Dai would naturally be happy to work together.

Similarly, if Zhang Dai took Gao Chengxin to brothels every day and gave him sexual bribes, even the best of friendships would probably fall apart!
Relationships built on mutual benefit must first and foremost be based on mutual need. If what is given is disproportionate to what is desired, and the relationship doesn't immediately turn sour, does it really seem like a marriage at all?

So Zhang Dai temporarily put away this "Record of Merits and Virtues" and offered some of his own opinions on some of the ideas proposed by Guo Yong.

Guo Yong certainly had some ideas of his own, but because he lacked experience in administration, some of his views were too idealistic and too detailed, failing to consider the costs and efficiency of implementation.

While Zhang Dai himself did not have extensive experience in this area, he had accumulated considerable knowledge in later generations. Furthermore, he was influenced by his grandfather after coming into this world, which gave him a more concrete understanding of certain issues.

The policies and management experience of the Tang Dynasty were not very applicable to areas like Guancheng, where the commercial economy was too prosperous. In terms of urban management, the curfew alone greatly suppressed the activity of the private economy.

In particular, the upper-class rulers of the Sui and Tang dynasties had a regional prejudice: they disliked the Shandong region being too prosperous, which led to many contradictory actions.

Emperor Wen of Sui, disgusted by the prosperity of Bianzhou, dispatched officials to carry out a major overhaul, prohibiting itinerant vagrants and suppressing commerce and industry. Boatmen, migrants, and other people who had left their jobs were forced to settle in settlements and return to their original homes. He disregarded the geographical advantages of the area and rigidly implemented a policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce.

Emperor Yang of Sui's construction of the Grand Canal objectively promoted exchanges and integration between the north and south, but at the same time he was very wary of and did not want large economic clusters to emerge in the Henan region, and at one point abolished Bianzhou and replaced it with Zhengzhou.

The rulers were wary of local development, but the people could always find the right direction. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the Wagang Army relied on the strength of the Bian Canal to rapidly grow and expand, and captured important strongholds such as Liyang Granary along the way.

The Tang Dynasty also had a rather contradictory and conflicted attitude towards the development of the Henan region. This conflict was reflected in the fact that various policy reforms were often not proactive, and adjustments and changes were only made passively after the actual needs had developed to a certain extent.

The most prominent example of this is Zhang Dai's petition last year on the reform of the canal transport system. The reform of the canal transport system will inevitably involve adjusting the human and material resources along the canal towards efficiency and releasing a certain amount of private vitality.

But is it really necessary to make the canal transport system so inefficient?
There was no need for this beforehand; whether the goods rented from Jianghuai arrived a day earlier or later wouldn't make much difference, since the nobles and officials in the capital could still eat their fill. As for the boatmen and laborers busy on the canal, if their three-month work was reduced to two months, what would happen to the remaining month?

However, after the Fengshan ceremony ended, all kinds of reserves in the north were depleted. In addition, natural disasters caused damage to production in the north, and the situation had become one of waiting for food to be cooked. Therefore, the faster and more supplies from the Jianghuai region were transported, the better!

This is a fundamental operating logic of Tang Dynasty politics; only by understanding this can we meaningfully explore various policy changes.

Many outdated policies that fail to keep up with the times are not due to the stupidity or incompetence of those in power, but rather because there is no need to make significant changes. Once various social forces become overly active, they can cause considerable impact on the ruling system itself.

Looking at the management of Guancheng from this perspective, it is clear that there are many unreasonable aspects. Although the commercial atmosphere is strong, money and goods gather, and transactions are frequent, the management of the city is very inefficient, and the allocation of resources is also full of irrationality.

The transportation depot, which is only used for one or two months each year when the Jianghuai rental business passes through, occupies a huge amount of space in the city, while other businesses with higher utilization rates have almost no place to stand.

The city's administrators were indifferent to the security situation outside the city and tolerated the various bullying and monopolistic practices of guilds within the city. All of this was not the way to properly manage the city, promote commerce, and thus make it more prosperous. Zhang Dai certainly couldn't be so blunt with Guo Yong, but he did touch upon some unspoken rules. This greatly inspired Guo Yong, who listened with shining eyes, repeatedly exclaiming, "Sixth Brother truly has profound family learning and is adept at handling human affairs!"

Zhang Dai told Guo Yong these things not to make him conform to the crowd, but to help him understand where the obstacles to change lay, so that he could make changes step by step based on reality, and avoid making big moves that would backfire.

Of course, whether Guo Yong would have this opportunity was another matter, since the selection process wouldn't take place until the second half of the year. Even with Yan Tingzhi's help, it wasn't certain that he would be chosen to serve in Guancheng. Other conditions would also be required, such as recommendations from officials in the prefecture.

As the two talked, more people of the same age arrived. The bustling scene in Guancheng had a great impact on them, so much so that many of them had a lot of feelings they wanted to express.

This is the significance of travel: it broadens one's horizons, deepens one's understanding and reflection on various matters, and provides a more profound understanding and experience of how things are formed, rather than merely remaining at the level of hasty affirmation or denial.

In particular, these people will all be officials in different positions in the future. If their understanding of people and things is too superficial and narrow, they may commit dereliction of duty and harm others, or even endanger the country.

The group chatted until the afternoon and then toured the city. Zhang Dai didn't have any important personnel matters to discuss here, but he still needed to purchase some supplies to avoid shortages when he went to Caozhou and Puzhou further east.

Currently, many prefectures in Henan and Hebei are in dire straits. Without the Grand Canal, it is not so easy to replenish supplies, and in many cases, even with money, it is impossible to buy anything.

However, their cargo caravan mainly carried various supplies, but the money and silk they carried were transported by cargo ships. However, due to the blockage of Xingze to the north of Zhengzhou and the urgent dredging of the old Biankou waterway, the cargo ships were left behind and it may take a long time to arrive.

Zhang Dai naturally couldn't linger here, so he planned to wait two days. If the cargo ship still couldn't arrive, he would go ahead to Bianzhou to wait. For now, he would first finalize a list of purchasers.

He thought he would have to wait a few more days, but unexpectedly, Zhang Yi, who was in charge of escorting the ship, arrived in Guancheng by light boat at dusk.

"Has the Biankou estuary been dredged?"

Seeing that Zhang Yi had arrived so quickly, Zhang Dai asked curiously.

"It will take a few more days of work, and after the waterway opens, official ships will have to go first, while civilian ships will have to wait. If we can get through quickly, there is another reason."

Zhang Yi first shook his head, then said excitedly, "It's a pity that you didn't get to see it, Ah Lang. When the river workers at Biankou learned that our boats were transporting goods for weaving workshops in various places, they were all very grateful. Many of them had wives and children being cared for by the weaving workshops. Fearing that it would hinder our journey, thousands of people pulled the boats and carried our fleet out of the silt, which is why we were able to arrive so quickly!"

"Is there such a thing?"

Upon hearing Zhang Yi's account, not only Zhang Dai, but also Wang Changling and others couldn't help but gasp in astonishment. Xue Yi and several other young people couldn't help but sigh with regret, "Such a heroic scene, it's a pity we didn't get to witness it! Zhang Liu's boat was laden with wealth, yet he generously helped the masses. His disciples were so grateful that they carried the boat across the dam. There is no greater example of human righteousness than this!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai was also deeply moved. His act of helping the disaster victims wasn't some selfless saintly act; it was simply to spread kindness and gain fame. Now, it seemed the results were quite good, which undoubtedly fueled his enthusiasm even more!

"Humans are not plants or trees; how can they be without feelings? Fellow travelers, we have been together for so long and have witnessed much. If we do not do something beneficial for the people and the land here, how will we face those righteous men from the common people when we pass through Biankou on our return journey?"

Wang Changling first sighed, then looked at Zhang Dai and said, "We are not as wealthy and powerful as Liu Lang, but our spirit of following suit in righteous deeds remains undiminished. Since we set out, we have not yet achieved anything. Liu Lang, please give us instructions and do not let the righteous men remain idle!"

Upon hearing this, the others all nodded in agreement.

Seeing their enthusiastic attitude, Zhang Dai gave them instructions without hesitation: "From here eastward, the epidemic is spreading. The villagers are very careful with their possessions, and even if cattle and horses are infected, they probably won't dare to make a fuss and let the epidemic spread. You all need to go to the countryside and marshes, and if you see any signs, report back immediately and get medicine to use."

Although he spent a lot of money to buy a lot of veterinary medicine from Wang Maozhong, he did not intend to sell it for profit. He simply distributed it along the way, hoping to cover as many remote rural areas as possible that the prefectures and counties had not yet reached, so as to help them preserve their livestock and quickly put them back into farming and production after the disaster and recover their strength as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)