How did the "prodigy" of the Tang Dynasty feed the people after the An Shi Rebellion?

After the "An Shi Rebellion", the Tang Dynasty plunged into serious inflation, and the price of rice in the capital Chang 'an soared to 1000 yuan a barrel, 50 times that before the war.

The people have no rice to cook, "the official chef has no food to eat, and the imperial army lacks food." Even the palace has reached the point where it didn't eat its last meal. Tang Daizong worried, pinned all his hopes on grain transportation, and transferred grain from Jiangnan to solve the urgent need.

Who will be in charge of grain transportation? Everyone knows that this is not a good job, because the eight-year-long war has left the canal in disrepair, blocked the river and made it impossible to sail, and the water transportation mileage is as long as 3 thousand miles.

Tang Daizong handed the grain transportation event to Ada, who is known as Datang Finance.

Ada (7 18 -780), whose real name is Shian. Cao Zhou Nanhua (now Dongming County, Heze City, Shandong Province) people. A famous economic reformer and financier in Tang Dynasty believed in Taoism. Brilliant in childhood, known as a child prodigy, he is famous in Beijing.

There is "Tang, Fang is seven years old" in the three-character classic. The language of "nurturing prodigies and creating orthography". Ada has successively served as an official minister, an official minister, an official minister, an official minister, an official minister, a financial minister, an official minister, a salt and iron minister, and a Pengcheng county magistrate. After the Anshi Rebellion, a series of financial reform measures were implemented, which made important contributions to the economic development of the Tang Dynasty. His works are included in All Tang Wen and All Tang Poems.

Everyone frowned, but Ada seemed to have answers. After personally inspecting along the way, he started a historic project.

In order to solve the problem of transportation capacity, Ada allocated funds to open a 10 shipyard in Yangzi (now Yizheng, Jiangsu) to work overtime to build a transport ship.

However, it didn't take long for people to report to the Central Committee that Ada "didn't feel bad about selling his baby to Tian Xin", and the national financial funds were so tight, but he didn't count the cost and spent a lot of money. Every time he built a boat, he paid the boatman 1000 yuan, but according to the salary level at that time, half of the cost was not used.

After listening to the reflection, Yuan Zai, the Prime Minister, instructed Ada to make an explanation and cut expenses according to the spirit of strict economy. Ada's report arrived soon, but he politely refused the request of his immediate supervisor, and replied: "You can plan a big business without counting small expenses, but you should consider long-term interests in everything. If you care about your salary with the boatman, can you act for a long time? "

With the drastic water transport reform in Ada, the voice of doubt has never stopped. He changed the past direct transportation mode to segmented transportation, and the grain carrier was responsible for transporting the grain to the waterway boundary of this section, handing it over to the newly-built granary in the hub area, and then arranging the new ship to set sail. Some people think that turning around like this not only increases a lot of transportation costs, but also wastes time. How can a ship run from beginning to end quickly and economically?

What is even more incomprehensible is that the laborers who used to be responsible for transporting grain were forced by the state to serve the country for free, and the cost was almost negligible. However, Ada had to change his staff. From boatmen, stevedores to trackers, a lot of labor is used in all aspects of grain transportation, and everyone is paid.

Why didn't Ada know how to calculate carefully? He is a clever man and has been called a "child prodigy" since he was a child.

Ada was very talented since he was a child, and he was very diligent and brilliant when he was young. At the age of seven, he was called a "prodigy". In 725 AD, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty went to Mount Tai for "Hechan" and passed through Yanzhou. Ada, who was only 8 years old, presented an "Oriental Seal Book". Xuanzong was an emperor with a high artistic level. He was very happy when he read it for the first time, and named Ada "Prince Masako".

This is a department-level post, responsible for proofreading books. Two years later, Xuanzong saw Ada, who was 10 years old, and he was still impressed with him, so he joked with him, "You are an orthographer. How many words do you have?"

Ada calmly replied: "All the words in the world are correct, but only the word friend is incorrect." This sentence is a pun, which not only shows the glyph characteristics of the word "Peng", but also profoundly points out the disadvantages of collusion between cronies.

Ada is not only knowledgeable, but also well versed in politics, which makes Xuanzong more and more sit up and take notice. He immediately got an ivory wat and a yellow robe, which made him famous in the capital.

Although some people keep questioning Ada's water transportation, the hunger for food keeps the skeptics silent. Soon, the first batch of grain shipped from Jiangnan arrived in Chang 'an smoothly. Emperor Dai Zong excitedly sent a drum band to meet him at the East Weihe Bridge, praising Ada and saying, "You are really my Xiao He!"

Back in Beijing, Ada made an account for the emperor and the prime minister face to face. In the past, a ship was transported from beginning to end. After experiencing risks, it reached its destination, and the remaining 80% of the grain was considered excellent. After changing to subsection feeder line and employee system, it not only ensures the safety of the ship, but also mobilizes the enthusiasm of the employees, so that there will be no 1 barrel of rice loss 1 barrel at the destination.

What Ada said is true. The grain transportation he runs can transport 400,000 stones of grain to Chang 'an a year, and the maximum amount can reach 1 100000 stones a year. The food shortage has been solved, the food price has become more and more stable, and Chang 'an has returned to its former prosperity.

Ada

100 years later, Ada's extraordinary achievements have been more clearly confirmed.

During the period of Tang Yizong Xian Tong, the officials in charge of Yangzi shipbuilding business began to calculate the cost strictly and pay wages according to the actual cost. As a result, the cost of shipbuilding has been reduced, but the ships that can be built have become brittle and difficult to transport grain, and the once prosperous water transport has also declined accordingly.

Ada's cleverness lies not only in his high IQ, but also in his insight into human nature. He knows that people must make a profit and win in order to win for a long time.

There is a wonderful couplet in A Dream of Red Mansions, which says that "everything is clear and learning, and people's understanding is an article". Knowing the way of the world and learning to follow the trend is a great secret of success.