Chapter 1085 A test for Gu Sansi!

Although Ye Mingsheng asked this question in a very calm tone, as if he was asking Gu Sansi whether the bun in his hand was delicious, but when Gu Sansi heard these words, he couldn’t help but feel nervous··························
When Gu Sansi was called by Ye Mingsheng to accompany him on a secret visit an hour ago, he sensed something unusual. As expected, the Marshal was waiting for him here!
About five days ago, Yijing prefect Liu Ning submitted a memorial. The memorial had many words, but the core idea was probably this one.

Liu Ning believes that the current land area of ​​Yijing City can no longer keep up with the development of Yijing, so for the better development of Yijing City, Liu Ning hopes to expand the urban area of ​​Yijing by large-scale construction!
To this end, Liu Ning also made some plans and ideas. He boldly envisioned turning the existing urban area into an inner city, and at the same time extending the urban area in all directions. According to his plan, the area of ​​Yijing urban area must at least double, and it can accommodate nearly 200,000 to 300,000 more people!
As Liu Ning submitted this memorial, the entire six ministries immediately caused an uproar and widespread discussion. Some people supported Liu Ning's idea, but more people opposed Liu Ning's idea, believing that Liu Ning's idea was unrealistic and fantastic!

At this moment, Gu Sansi was also unsure whether the commander in front of him agreed with Liu Ning's idea or opposed it. After hesitating for a moment, Gu Sansi said ambiguously for the sake of caution:

“Prefect Liu has a good idea, but the matter still needs further consideration…”

Listening to Gu Sansi's answer, Ye Mingsheng turned around and said with a smile:

"Think carefully, your position is getting higher and higher, but you are also becoming more and more cunning!"

Gu Sansi lowered his head and said:

"I am ashamed of my humble position!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng directly pointed out what he was thinking.

"Think carefully, are you worried about what those local people might think?"

Seeing that Ye Mingsheng had directly broken the window paper, Gu Sansi hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded under Ye Mingsheng's gaze.

The reason why the Fengwu Army was able to develop so quickly in a short period of time, sweeping across the world in just a few years and now almost unifying the entire Great Zhou, completing what the Luoan court led by Shangguan Hongyuan had not accomplished in decades, is that in addition to its powerful military force, the Fengwu Army also complied with the will of the people and responded to public opinion!

In the process of winning the hearts of the people, the Fengwu Army not only solved the problem of wealth distribution among the infantry and the inequality between wealth and obligations, but also responded to the people's yearning for a better life and has been committed to economic development and improving people's living standards!

Today, at Ye Mingsheng's request, this has become a very important aspect of the Ministry of Personnel's assessment of officials!

If a place wants to seek development, it will definitely need people and money, both are indispensable!

However, people admire the strong and money chases profit. If a place develops well and fast, people and money will go there································
At present, Yijing, as the ruling center of the Yijing court, is undoubtedly the region with the best development momentum and the fastest development speed in the entire Da Zhou!

This also means that the money and people of the Great Zhou are converging to Yijing. The total amount of money and people is fixed. If more money and people flow to Yijing, then naturally there will be less money and people in other places, which will undoubtedly hinder local development!

As a result, a potential contradiction has arisen in the Great Zhou Dynasty, because economic development has a great weight in the assessment of the Ministry of Personnel, and can even directly influence the promotion of officials!
Therefore, in order to make further progress, everyone hopes that more people and money will flow into the area under their governance, and does not want more people and money to flow out of the area under their governance!
This is undoubtedly in conflict with the pursuit of money and human nature, and has led to some things that could have been avoided!
Now, once Liu Ning's plan to expand the Yijing urban area is implemented, it will undoubtedly attract more people and money, allowing Yijing to develop better, but it will also undoubtedly intensify conflicts and lay a bigger landmine!
It is based on this consideration that although Gu Sansi thinks Liu Ning’s idea is good, he does not agree with it!

Seeing Gu Sansi nod, Ye Mingsheng also understood what he was thinking. During this period of time, his understanding of this contradiction was becoming deeper and deeper...
Therefore, Ye Mingsheng wanted to resolve this contradiction once and for all. He knew that as long as he reduced the weight of economic development in the assessment of the Ministry of Personnel, this contradiction could be alleviated to a certain extent!

But the problem is that Ye Mingsheng is worried that there will be countermeasures for every policy. Once the weight of economic development in the assessment is reduced, the enthusiasm of local officials for economic development will be reduced.

As if he had seen what Ye Mingsheng was thinking, Gu Sansi immediately suggested:

"Sir, as the old saying goes, you have to walk one step at a time and eat one bite at a time. You can't get fat in one breath. Excessive pursuit of economic prosperity will also bring some negative effects. Some people have even started to cheat!"

"Although Lord Liu Ning's plan is good, the amount of work is huge. A rough estimate of the entire plan is nearly one million taels of silver. If you calculate it in detail, even two million taels of silver may not be enough!"

"Even the initial investment would require at least 300,000 taels of silver. As far as I know, the Ministry of Revenue simply cannot come up with this amount of money right now, and the bonds of the Dadongsheng Company have exceeded 5 million taels of silver. The interest alone would cost more than 100,000 taels of silver every year, and the scale of the debt is still expanding!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly when he heard this. He had been thinking about this problem these days, carefully weighing the pros and cons repeatedly, trying to make the most suitable decision as much as possible, but he still couldn't make up his mind!
And now Gu Sansi’s suggestion has made Ye Mingsheng determined to appropriately reduce the weight of economic development and use taxation to balance it.

After making up his mind, Ye Mingsheng felt a lot more relaxed, and immediately asked Gu Sansi again:

"Sansi, you are the Minister of Personnel. Now the position of Youyan Governor is vacant. Do you have any good ideas?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, Gu Sansi hesitated for a moment and then continued:
"Youyan is an important place in the capital, and the governor of Youyan is a key position in managing the government affairs of a province, so I think we need a mature and prudent minister to take on this responsibility!" "So who do you think is qualified?"

"I think that Qilu Governor Sun Jing'an is the most suitable choice. Lord Sun has always been mature and prudent. During his tenure as Qilu Governor, the development of Qilu can be said to be obvious to all!"

"In addition, Qi and Lu border Youyan, and there are many similarities between the two. Lord Sun is also familiar with Youyan's situation. Therefore, I think that transferring Lord Sun to Youyan is the most appropriate choice!"

Ye Mingsheng was quite surprised when he heard that Gu Sansi actually recommended Sun Jingan. He knew that Ma Runchuan had looked for Gu Sansi before, and Ye Mingsheng also knew that Ma Runchuan and Gu Sansi had a good relationship!

So Ye Mingsheng originally wanted to test Gu Sansi on this matter to see whether he would recommend his good senior brother Ma Runchuan, or just sit on the sidelines and watch the fire as before!
However, Ye Mingsheng did not expect that Gu Sansi would actually recommend Sun Jingan··························

After being slightly surprised, Ye Mingsheng immediately understood Gu Sansi's idea, and then asked with a smile:
"If Sun Jing'an is transferred to Youyan, then the position of Qilu Governor will be vacant, so Sansi, are you thinking of recommending your senior brother Ma Runchuan?"

Gu Sansi was not surprised that Ye Mingsheng saw through his thoughts. He nodded calmly and said:

"Lord Ma is quite capable and has made good achievements in Qi and Lu over the years. He has been following the Marshal for quite some time and is very familiar with the local conditions in Qi and Lu. Therefore, I think it is reasonable to appoint Lord Ma as the successor. However, the final decision will be made by you, Marshal!"

Listening to Gu Sansi's words, Ye Mingsheng looked at him deeply and said lightly:

"Think carefully, do you think you know your brother well? You are the only brother who has submitted a memorial to the Coordination Office!"

Gu Sansi was shocked when he heard this. He didn't know what Ma Runchuan had done to make him trouble the General Coordination Office to submit a memorial to the Marshal on his behalf!

Feeling Ye Mingsheng's scrutinizing gaze, Gu Sansi weighed the pros and cons in his heart, and finally gritted his teeth and decided to trust his senior brother Ma, who seemed to be his half-life friend, and said to Ye Mingsheng in a deep voice:
“Marshal, no one is perfect. It is a great honor to admit one's mistakes and improve them. I believe that the general direction of Ma is still good. As long as some mistakes are slightly corrected, he will be able to stand on his own and benefit the people...”

Seeing that Gu Sansi was still willing to endorse Ma Runchuan, Ye Mingsheng nodded secretly in his heart, and then continued:

"Since you said so, Sansi, I am willing to give Ma Runchuan a chance to correct his mistakes. However, if he cannot turn back from his wrong path, I can punish him for all his crimes, and you, Sansi, will also bear joint responsibility!"

As soon as these words came out, Gu Sansi was immediately delighted, and immediately bowed to Ye Mingsheng and said;

"Thank you for your help, Marshal. If Master Ma fails to fulfill his duties, I am willing to accept the punishment!"

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly and said:

"It's getting late. I'm going back home! Sansi, you should go back early too!"

"I respectfully send you off, Marshal!"

After a cup of tea, Ye Mingsheng was sitting in the carriage on the way back home with his eyes closed to rest. Thinking back to Gu Sansi's performance just now, Ye Mingsheng still felt that Gu Sansi's move to recommend Sun Jingan was very brilliant!
If Gu Sansi really recommended Ma Runchuan to be the governor of Youyan, Ye Mingsheng would be somewhat disappointed with Gu Sansi!
Ever since Liu Zhengyue's downfall, the position of Youyan Provincial Government has been vacant. Several people who think they are capable of competing for this position are like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing their magical powers. It's so lively with the open and covert fighting································
Although Ye Mingsheng never expressed any opinion on this matter, he saw everything and just let them make as much noise as they wanted!
To be honest, Ma Runchuan has no advantage in the competition for the governor of Youyan, so if Gu Sansi nominates him to take over the governor of Youyan, Ye Mingsheng will feel that Gu Sansi's intention to take care of his senior brother is too obvious and too eager!
But if Gu Sansi did not recommend Ma Runchuan, but remained neutral and did not express any opinion as he did before, Ye Mingsheng would not be satisfied!
After all, you, Gu Sansi, are not someone else. You are the Minister of Personnel who is in charge of organization and mobilization. This is your job. If you do not clearly express your opinion and make your own voice heard on this matter, then this Minister of Personnel seems a little irresponsible.

It would be fine if other people were irresponsible, but you, Gu Sansi, are the future prime minister and the head of all officials that Ye Mingsheng is optimistic about. It is absolutely not acceptable for you to be irresponsible in this position!
Therefore, Ye Mingsheng was actually not satisfied with either of the two decisions that Gu Sansi might make. So when he asked Gu Sansi about his thoughts on the governor of Youyan, Ye Mingsheng was looking forward to Gu Sansi's ideas that would go beyond his expectations!

And Gu Sansi really gave Ye Mingsheng an unexpected answer just as Ye Mingsheng expected························
Sun Jing'an was originally a subordinate of Cao Changping, the governor of Qi and Lu. Later, he defected to the Fengwu Army under the instigation of the General Coordination Office, and played an indelible role in helping the Fengwu Army maintain stability in Qi and Lu!
It is for this reason that Ye Mingsheng allowed Sun Jing'an to continue to serve as the governor of Qi and Lu until today, and Ye Mingsheng also tolerated some of his dishonorable actions!

However, Sun Jingan has great limitations. Ye Mingsheng had actually been considering taking him down before, but he was troubled by the lack of a good candidate to replace Sun Jingan!
After all, the Fengwu Army had been fighting for a long time before, and Qi, Lu, Ji, Yu, and Youyan could be said to be the most important sources of money and grain for the Fengwu Army to support the war.

Therefore, Ye Mingsheng did not dare to rashly remove Sun Jingan. After all, if Sun Jingan stepped down and his successor did not do a good job and could not provide money and food, it would directly lead to the success or failure of the war on the front line. Ye Mingsheng was not willing to take risks easily.

Now that the Fengwu Army has cleared several obstacles to unifying the world, Sun Jingan's role has plummeted. Therefore, even if Gu Sansi doesn't mention it today, Ye Mingsheng will consider taking down Sun Jingan and making him withdraw from the stage of power after a while!

Gu Sansi's suggestion is also very good. To transfer Sun Jing'an to Youyan, this can not only reduce the negative impact of directly arresting Sun Jing'an, but also take the opportunity to eliminate some of Sun Jing'an's followers in Qi and Lu, and clear out some flies and tigers...
(End of this chapter)