Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 141 The Market (Part [-])

Jin Chongwen is actually a small envoy, helping Cao Si to run errands in the shogunate.

Originally, with his level of education, it was difficult to do this kind of work.But who makes the shogunate lack of people? This kind of low-level errands and supervision work also needs people to do it. Afterwards, assigning work to the envoys below does not necessarily require literacy, although literacy is always the basic requirement when recruiting—strictly speaking, Jin is also an exception. He died of illness while conquering the grassland, so he was taken care of by the military family, and he was admitted to the shogunate to run errands.

Today, he ran out of the city early in the morning and searched for several orchards. Only then did he finish buying the gifts that the driver gave him. There were three main items: dried grapes, jujubes, and walnuts.These are the winter solstice gifts sent by the shogunate to officials in advance, which were not available in previous years. This year, the money is a little more generous, so Princess Zhe suggested to the king to give everyone some gifts.

The reason is also ready-made. This year, it is the northern expedition to the grasslands and the western expedition to Yuzhou.During the Winter Solstice and New Year's Day, there will be gifts. Although there are not many, it is still possible to make everyone happy.

Concubine Zhe really looks like a mistress, she knows the hard work of the people below, and hopes to give birth to a boy smoothly, maybe the commander-in-chief will give everyone rewards when he is happy.

"Judge Zhao, this is the winter solstice reward from the commander-in-chief." After knocking on the door of Zhao Zhi's house, Jin Chongwen saluted respectfully and said, "Ten wins of dried grapes, six baskets of jujubes, four baskets of walnuts." , it’s all here.”

After all, another emissary pushing the cart started to pick up gifts and hand them to the newly hired party servants of Zhao Zhi's family.

Seventeen dollars for one Sheng dried grapes, six dollars for a basket of jujubes, and six dollars for a basket of walnuts. The gifts totaled more than two hundred dollars, not much, but it was also pleasing, indicating that the business development in the town is now booming.

Xiazhou may not have enough food to eat, but there are really a lot of fruits.I don’t know if it’s a tradition handed down from the Northern Dynasties or what, but there are quite a lot of orchards inside and outside Xiazhou City, and the households in Shuofang County outside the city also generally plant a lot of fruit trees, instead of being fully planted like in Guanzhong or Shuzhong. mulberry.

The largest orchard in Xiazhou City is Heiqu Garden, the royal orchard in Helianbo's era.However, the black canal has been dry for many years, and none of these fruit trees survive, and they are no longer climate-worthy.I heard that the marshal's concubine, Feng's sisters, proposed to rectify the black canal and restore the grand occasion of "Hua Lin Chi Zhao" so that they can play.

But to be honest, it's quite expensive.The hot spring water has dried up. If the black water or Wuding River water is diverted, the ditches that have been silted up for many years will have to be repaired. I don’t know where to collect people’s power—maybe the captured Youzhou Dangxiang Dingkou can do this?
Jin Chongwen thinks this can be done.Let the black canal flow with water and restore the orchard to its grandeur, and the hearts of the people in Xiazhou will be boosted.

When was the most glorious time in Xiazhou?When Helian was the capital!Since the city was breached by the Northern Wei Dynasty, Xiazhou has been in a slump until now.Since the Kingdom of China, it has been a military state to guard against the Uighurs and Tubo, with few people and poor livelihood.Before the commander-in-chief entered Suizhou, there were only a few hundred thousand Han people in the four states, and a large number of fields were abandoned, which made everyone feel sad.

Now after several years of rectification, it has regained a little vitality.Especially in the two or three years of the Huangchao period, a large number of Guanzhong households entered Suizhou. In the past two years, the Yinzhou household registration has also been gradually enriched. The production of millet, melons, beans, and sericulture in the two prefectures and nine counties has surged, and the livestock trade has gradually flourished. The livelihood of the people in the town has indeed improved a lot.

But that's the two states of Suiyin!For Jin Chongwen, who has lived in Xiazhou for several generations, he hopes that Xiazhou will also develop vigorously.Everyone wants their hometown to be good, and he is no exception.

"Miss Jin has worked hard." Zhao Zhi said with a smile: "Xiazhou's springs and streams are intertwined, water is diverted into fields, and the soil is suitable for millet, wheat, melons and fruits. I read miscellaneous notes in my early years and learned about Xiazhou's jujube, grapes, pears, nai, pomegranate, etc. The peaches and apricots are fragrant and sweet. After arriving in the town, we saw that the crops are flourishing, and the flowers and fruits are luxuriant. What the book says is true."

"Judge Zhao is really a scholarly family, so I can't say that." Jin Chongwen smiled brightly.I still thought to myself, Judge Zhao, if you can say something, just say more, a certain cute person has praised Xia Zhou.

"It's getting late today, Xiao Envoy Jin should go back early to rest. I heard that before New Year's Day, the general will slaughter cattle, sheep, and camels, give the meat to everyone, and add a bucket of salt. The army has repeatedly won battles, and the town is peaceful. , There are still many chores next year, we will encourage each other." Zhao Zhi said again.

After leaving the Zhao Mansion, Jin Chongwen sent gifts to several shogunate officials again.Lu Siye, the new secretary of Jiedu Zhang, will officially take office tomorrow, but he still has a share.As the commander-in-chief's mouthpiece and pen, as well as the recommendation of He Zhongfeng's family, Lu Siye's future is quite promising. Jin Chongwen fawned on him for a long time in front of his rented house, and then he called it a day and went home.

On the second day of Shangzhi, Jin Chongwen was transferred to Yingtian Caosi as an servant because Zhidu Caosi had nothing to do.

When Judge Zhao saw him, he still had some impressions, smiled, and said: "The commander-in-chief has agreed to dredge the black canal and bring water from the Wuding River into the city. Taking advantage of the shallow water in winter, this matter has to be done quickly. But we still have to dig the embankment The pond, caused by heavy rain in summer, caused the river to rise several feet overnight. Without a pond, the black canal might flood and flood the orchard. The general also said that by diverting water into the city, some fields could be opened on both sides of the black canal and merged into the summer. The state army belongs to the farm. Today there are thousands of members of the Tuoba family, and they have reached the river, so the little envoy Jin must go to supervise and report to Cao Si as soon as possible."

Jin Chongwen soon rode out of the city with a driving officer surnamed Zhang.The driving officer also got a temporary assignment as a "water-knowledge officer", and handed over after the Heiqu incident was over, as a performance appraisal.Therefore, he looked serious and serious along the way. When he arrived at the construction site on the river bank, he stared at Dangxiang Dingkou, who was working hard under the supervision of state soldiers.

The Wuding River can be called the mother river for the four states of the Dingnan Army.Beginning this year, Xiazhou also confiscated Han and Tibetan households to open canals to irrigate the fields. This was done once in summer, and it is estimated that more than [-] hectares of fertile land can be obtained.At this time, the first and last parts have almost been worked out, and the granting of fields has begun.

The land is not free, it costs more than [-] yuan per mu, which is slightly more expensive than a sergeant, but it is allowed to be paid in five to ten years, and there is no need to pay in the first year, which is quite cost-effective.

This year, many people came from the Kanto states, and most of them went to Yinzhou for resettlement.However, the land over there was quickly distributed, and finally more than [-] households from Xingzhou were sent to Xiazhou.Jin Chongwen knew that they were all bought by the commander-in-chief from the soldiers and horses used by Li Ke, and it cost a lot.

When Huang Chao was still in Chang'an a few years ago, because of lack of food, he used money to buy food from the imperial court officers and soldiers who were besieging the city. It sounds incredible.Later, they simply sold women, and the officers and soldiers sold food even more happily.Today the commander-in-chief bought people from Shatuo soldiers and horses, which shows that Li Keyong is no different from Huang Chao.

The people who bought them belonged to the entire household, and they all gathered on the bank of the river, and the people from Cao Si who were camping the fields were granting them land.

"Lu Shan, there are seventeen acres on the west road of Shayan Canal."

"Gaoque, the section of Shayan Canal is [-] mu on the southeast road and eight mu on the east road."

"Cao Liang, Deshengqu Second Section has [-] mu and [-] mu on the northwest road, and [-] mu and [-] mu on the west road."

"Li Wuzhen, the east road of the third section of Baidiqu is [-] acres and [-] cents."

Following the envoy's reading of each head of household, the envoys issued land deeds one by one.Later, I will lead people to the scene to have a look, lest I don't know where Tian is.The large grassland next to the field has also been planned. One person has a five-acre garden, and they can build a house, and then create some vegetable plots, orchards or mulberry forests. It is up to the head of the household to decide.

"Opening canals to irrigate the fields is a good policy of the commander-in-chief. You must keep in mind. Every year from now on, the prefectures and counties will send men to repair the canals, and they will also need to work. At that time, there will be water officials from the Cao Division of Yingtian to come to give advice, and you just need to follow along. Just go, and the shoveling and meals will be provided by the county, so don’t worry.” After reading the list, the driving officer took a breath, and explained the obligations to these new households, and then let them The envoy led people one by one to identify the fields and gardens.

Jin Chongwen watched with relish.The three counties of Shuofang, Dejing, and Ningshuo should all be opening canals and granting land. In the past, most of them were given to the families of soldiers, but now some private households have begun to come.With the arrival of these people, the wilderness is no longer barren, villages are gradually established, and people slowly gather.

The power of one household may seem insignificant, but if you persist for five or ten years, you should be able to see results.Some feudal towns become poorer as they fight, while others get richer as they fight. The difference may be here.

(End of this chapter)