The rise of the prince

Chapter 849 Thirty East + West
Before leaving, many things have to be arranged, the first is the trip of Yelu Dashi and Di Zhi.

Li Xingzhou personally explained to the emperor that Yelu Dashi was fine, but Di Zhi was now the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, and he could only be transferred at will with the emperor's consent.

The second is to wait for him to go to Shuzhong to attract attention and hold back the Wu family, how to do it here.

There are many lessons of history in this matter.

The most likely thing is that Yongzheng encountered collusion between local officials and big clans, and the data in the statistical reports were completely falsified. Some provinces even directly reported [-]% less arable land, blatantly fooling the court.

Regarding this point, Li Xingzhou has two points to solve the problem. One is to let trusted local officials assist in this matter. The local people know the local situation best, who has how much fertile land, where there is a lot of land, where there is little land, and who is difficult to deal with.

The second is to send your own people to take charge.

The second is that there must be a rebound.

To be fair, although Li Xingzhou's policies are for the benefit of the low-level people, they are not completely fair.

What is fairness?Is average fair?Of course not, if a person who is lazy and hardworking can earn the same income as a hardworking person, that is the biggest unfairness.

Based on his experience, in a village where people moved from other places, everyone started on the same starting line and started to struggle at the same time. There must be a gap within one generation. After three generations, the gap is more likely to be one sky and one bottom.

Without him, excluding external factors, some people are just lazy and have poor self-control, while others are hardworking and have strong self-control.These gaps are not so big in one or two years, accumulated by generations, and there will be qualitative changes in ten, decades, or hundreds of years!widen the huge gap.

Those who are willing to work, hardworking and self-controlled will naturally be willing to use their surplus money to buy the land of lazy people who are unwilling to work and have poor self-control.

Are they wrong?Of course not, they don't take advantage of power like some big families do, and they don't take advantage of power like some official families in collusion with businessmen. Instead, they really rely on their own hard work and self-control to grow.

There are people like this everywhere, but with this government order, these people will also be "killed by mistake"!Dissatisfaction is certain.

However, it is unrealistic to screen such a vast area, and there is only one size fits all!
Long-term pain is worse than short-term pain, and it is precisely because the south has not yet fully developed at this time, it is necessary to pave the way early and lay a solid foundation when the pain is not so painful.

Li Xingzhou thought over and over again, called Shen Lin over, had a long talk all night, and told him all his concerns without concealment.

Compared with Di Zhi, Yan Shen, Wei Yubai, etc., Shen Lin has more literati temperament and experience in local governance. He is more like a Confucian general and a local official.

Just let him deal with these things.

"I'll give you four battalions, and you'll be in charge of this matter, and let Fang Xin and Wu Hui, the magistrate of Mingzhou, assist you.

Let the officers and men of the new army help with statistics. If there is resistance, you can be punished, but you have to decide the degree yourself. You must not stir up civil uprisings, nor hinder the implementation of new laws. " Li Xingzhou said, and handed him the already written plan.

"Don't worry, Your Highness, the general minister has already known about this matter, and I will take note of what your highness said, but I also want to ask for a letter." Shen Lin cupped his hands.

"What letter?"

"Your Highness, with all due respect, I think this matter is very likely to arouse some people to jump over the wall! This must be guarded against." Cheng Lin's expression became serious: "Your Highness's move is more understandable. It is to suppress the wealthy family and distribute benefits to the common people. .

But Your Highness, in our Jiangzhou, our family started a business and made a fortune. Our family is rich and has a lot of land, but it is incomparable in front of those rich families who have land and connections.

The largest family in Jiangzhou, with seven houses and more than 50 mu of fertile land!There are more than [-] houses.

There are five to six hundred servants, waiters, relatives, friends and servants who help his family with work on weekdays, all of which can be counted as his own family.

In addition, there are many long-term workers and thugs, and there are a total of [-] to [-] people who depend on their families for their lives. "

Li Xingzhou frowned, slightly surprised, "Is it so exaggerated?"

Shen Lin nodded affirmatively, and added in his mind that it might be more exaggerated.

In this matter, Li Xingzhou is ignorant. For example, the famous He Shen in the Qing Dynasty, when his property was confiscated, apart from various gold and silver treasures and real estate, he had about 80 mu of fertile land under his name!
Heshen is an extreme example, but most of the state capitals have one or two of the top big landlords and aristocratic families who annexed about [-] mu of land in the middle of the dynasty.

As for ordinary people, even if there are more, a family of eight, men, women and children, even if they work hard and work hard, with the ancient technology level, planting about fifteen acres is already doing their best.

Therefore, when Shen Lin said that 12 mu would require 2 to [-] people to cultivate, that is to say, [-] to [-] people would depend on the largest landlord family in Jiangzhou for food. In fact, he was afraid of scaring him and said conservatively.

According to the actual situation, there may be more than 3 people relying on a top family to eat.

At this time, we have to act. What if those big clans jump over the wall in a hurry and mobilize the people?
Many people don't understand that this policy is to make the big clan unable to hold so much land, so they have to spit it out and distribute it to them.

If those big clans are eloquent and give some guidance, the common people may think that it is the imperial court, that Li Xingzhou wants to destroy their jobs and make them unable to work.

But at this time, there was no TV, no media, Li Xingzhou was thousands of miles away, and it was impossible for Li Xingzhou to gain the right to speak before the local rich.

With Shen Lin's reminder, Li Xingzhou also understood that this matter may be more difficult than he thought, and it may involve bloodshed.

This blood is different from the blood of the north. The blood of the north, no matter what it does to others, is the blood of justice for Jing Guo to defend the country, drive out the Tartars, and expand the country!

And this time, it is very likely that the blood of innocence, of ignorance, and of one's own people was shed.

Li Xingzhou paced around for a long time, finally let out a long breath, and gritted his teeth: "One division! Stationed in Mingzhou, I grant you the right to life and death. If there is a riot, it will be dealt with by the rebels!"

This is an important decision.

After Shen Lin listened, he also made a long bow, "Your Highness, I will not disgrace the mission!"

The reason why Li Xingzhou dared to let the soldiers of the new army go was because the new army was different from other troops. It not only offered cultural courses, but also offered political courses, as well as trust training, emphasizing collective consciousness, and did not deduct military pay like the Forbidden Army.

Therefore, the new army has strict discipline, orders and prohibitions, and can still do statistics.

It is also reflected from the Northern Expedition to the Kingdom of Jin. Although there were cases of greed and aggressiveness in the early days, after the punishment, there was no such case.

The war lasted for nearly a year, and there were dozens of incidents of violating the order, raping and plundering the northern people in the forbidden army, but none of the new army came out.

That's why Li Xingzhou dared to ask Shenlin to lead troops to help him. If the imperial army were to go, it would be a trivial matter for the soldiers to be illiterate and unable to write.

Afterwards, he made a detailed form for the matter and sent it to the emperor for approval, and the results came out the next day. The three provinces and the emperor were all approved, and the results would come soon.

The matter is very important, and it is related to the layout of the next few decades. If conditions permit, Li Xingzhou wants to go to Mingzhou in person, but he understands his mission. The affairs of the state are about to be settled.

So he had no choice but to go to Shuzhong, and while he was in Shuzhong, Shen Lin, Fang Xin, and Wu Huisheng took the opportunity to settle the matter.

It is not a joke for the new army to send out a division. It is a big movement and requires the approval of the Privy Council and the emperor.

However, the reason Li Xingzhou and Shen Lin had also discussed was to clear the Haikou to the outside world to protect the environment and the people. At this time, there are indeed Haikou in the coastal estuary, although there is not much climate.

Use this reason to transfer a division of the New Army Navy out of the capital, and then go south by sea, saying that they will rest in coastal counties and counties, and then they can go on land to become an army and stationed in Mingzhou.

The 10,000+ Jin army is not an opponent, as long as a division of the new army arrives in Mingzhou, then the overall situation is settled.

The best result is that under the deterrence of the new army, the big clans from all over the country dare not act and can only cut them down. If there is a dog who jumps over the wall in a hurry, then [-] new troops are enough to make anyone unable to make waves.

Before setting off, he called Shen Lin and Fang Xin to the mansion for a secret meeting again, and repeatedly explained the importance of this matter and some measures.

At the same time, they repeatedly urged them to cooperate with all their strength, after all, the two had no experience of cooperation before.

Both agreed to come down.

On the 21st of the first lunar month, Li Xingzhou brought the newly married Yelu Yali, officials Qifang, accompanying military academy Wei Yubai, Yan Shen, 50 new army guards, ten serving maids, [-] people accompanying him, including cooks, horse drivers, Those who feed horses and those who carry things.

The whole team is close to 600 people, starting from Kaiyuan, going south, and then going west along the Dajiang waterway.

At this time, the Yellow River did not have several major diversions. Although it could not be mostly navigable like the Yangtze River, it was much better than later generations.

Needless to say, the Yangtze River, the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River Basin have many water networks and developed water transportation. As long as the team goes to the riverside and cooperates with the big boat of the palace, the team can travel very quickly and save time and effort.

The day after Li Xingzhou set off, the newlyweds Di Zhi and Yelu Dashi also went north with Yang Wenguang, Zhe Weizhong and Wei Chaoren.

On this trip, they also brought the envoys of Xia Kingdom, Di Zhi and Yelu Dashi, who were envoys of Jing State, with two battalions of new troops and four carts of rare treasures.

In name, escorting these treasures to the north to return the tribute to the Xia Kingdom is actually to investigate the reality, to see the mountains and rivers of the Xia Kingdom in person, and the most important thing is to find out whether the section of the Yellow River in the Xia Kingdom is now navigable.

Li Xingzhou knew the situation of later generations, but it was the result of thousands of years later, the Yellow River diverted countless times, and the sediment accumulated for thousands of years.

Some materials from the previous dynasty also recorded the hydrological conditions in the Hetao area, but that information was more than 200 years ago. What is the hydrological situation in the Xia Kingdom today, and whether the new army fleet can sail to the Xia Kingdom, you need to see it yourself.

Unlike the big rivers, the navigability of the big rivers after a thousand years is very poor, mainly due to soil erosion in the middle and upper streams, and sand, gravel and soil deposited for thousands of years have caused the riverbed to be continuously raised and diverted for thousands of years. Naturally, boats cannot pass when the water is shallow.

But these are not Li Xingzhou's business. Both Di Zhi and Yelu Dashi are people with rich experience in war, especially Di Zhi, who has always been involved in water battles.

They and their party quickly followed the big river and began to go north on the big boat of the palace.

If the Yellow River is the birthplace of Chinese civilization and the mother river, then the Yangtze River is the river with the highest economic value in the world.

It is gentler and more moisturising.

She can even be called the main artery of the whole of China. The ancient poem "that is, crossing Wu Gorge from Baxia, then descending to Xiangyang to Luoyang." , The light boat has passed the Ten Thousand Mountains."

And so on, all praising its unbeatable shipping value.

Even if they went upstream, they traveled much faster than the land route. By the end of January, they had passed Jiangling and soon entered the territory under the jurisdiction of Chongqing in later generations.

Although Jiangling was prosperous, Li Xingzhou only stayed for half a day and did not disembark. The local officials heard the news and stopped by the river one after another, wanting to meet the famous Li Xingzhou.

If it is not enough, he will not give the local officials the opportunity to show their courtesy. Although it is very cool, he has urgent matters.

There is an endless stream of boats and boats on the big river, and the prosperity of commerce makes the waterways busy.

Li Xingzhou and his party arrived in Sichuan soon.

The surrounding mountains and rivers are also completely different from those in the north. The mountains are green and the water is green, revealing a kind of vitality everywhere. This kind of vitality is difficult to see and appreciate in the areas north of the Huaihe River in the Qinling Mountains.

The terrain of the surrounding mountains fluctuates greatly, sometimes towering into the clouds, and sometimes flat.

Yelu Yali and Wei Yubai, who grew up in the north, were dumbfounded by such a sudden change of terrain and the surrounding green mountains and rivers.

Along the way, there were many surprises and emotions, and I couldn't help saying that I hadn't seen the land of abundance in the middle of Sichuan, but the scenery of these mountains, rivers and waters alone was enough to make people speechless.

Li Xingzhou and Yan Shen thought of other things. If they want to take Shu, there are usually only two most suitable ways to march.

One is the waterway they are walking on, and the other is the northern Jianmen area.

However, the road to Shu is difficult, and it is difficult to go up to the blue sky. Everyone knows this. The surrounding mountains are steep and the Jianmen Pass is dangerous, which cannot be compared with many northern passes.

But there is an embarrassing situation in history. On the one hand, there are many dangers and dangers on the way of blowing to Shu, and on the other hand, if the land of Shu is not attacked, it is enough. Once attacked, there is nothing that cannot be broken!
This tm is very embarrassing, isn't it said that the road to Shu is difficult, it is difficult to go to the blue sky, isn't it said that it is easy to defend but difficult to attack?
In fact, this is caused by the characteristics of the Shu people.

Civil wars are like worms, and foreign wars are like dragons.This sentence is very suitable to describe the Shu army, and it is also suitable to describe the Shu people most of the time. In other words, as long as they are not forced to a dead end, as long as there is room for them, Shuzhong is the most willing to surrender.

In many cases in history, the mode of entering Shu was to defeat the front, then adopt a soft policy, and then all the rear voted all the way, all the way down to Chengdu, and that was over.

But once there is something they don't understand, the Shu people are forced to a dead end, and there is no room for it.Then they will really try their best, and everyone will be afraid when they try their best.

So the essence of this place is "easy".As long as you let them be at ease, they won't jump up; if they are cornered and they lose their ease, they will fight you hard.

This has a lot to do with the geographical situation in Central Shu. It is a land of abundance isolated from the world, with mountains as barriers outside and thousands of miles of fertile fields inside. The small life is comfortable and the sense of crisis is small. Anyone who enters is at ease.

Therefore, Li Xingzhou's strategy for dealing with the big clans in central Sichuan is to boil the frogs in warm water, and he must not use a knife like Dongmian.

The states in the east must move their swords and make a quick decision.

Shu Zhong can’t do it, Shu Zhong can only take it slow, and appease Zhong Zhong little by little, don’t use excessive means to stir up opposition, always leave them some leeway when doing things, and things will be done slowly.

So after arriving in Sichuan, Li Xingzhou also became "comfortable" and started not rushing on the road. He would stay in each of the states along the river for a day to meet the local people and officials.

Then he went north along the river, and when he was about to go to Chengdu, almost the whole Shu area knew the news of his arrival.

Some officials rushed to Sichuan one after another, and wealthy families from all over the country also sent their most respected or talented young descendants to Chengdu.

(End of this chapter)