Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 378
In the blink of an eye, it was April of the third year of Jiayou. Fan Ning had been in Lue Kunzhou for four years. His term of office had expired in February. If nothing happened, his deputy Yu Xiaonian would take over the position of magistrate. This is Fan Ning The candidates recommended by Ning to the imperial court were approved by the Zhizheng Hall.

However, if the imperial court has not issued a transfer order and formal appointment letter, he will have to continue working in Kunzhou.

The spring in Kunzhou is one month later than that in Song Dynasty, which has a taste of "the world is full of beauty in April, and the peach blossoms in mountain temples are beginning to bloom".

At the beginning of April, the Kunbei Grassland is full of blooming wild flowers, colorful and colorful, making the pasture extraordinarily pleasing to the eye.

Twenty miles west of Bailongchuan, here is the only natural ice-free port in the north of Kunzhou. On the other side of the strait is Jingzhou. Two years ago, when the third batch of immigrants arrived in Kunzhou, [-] of them settled here, forming a large town. , called Kunbei Town, and at the beginning of this year, the approval document from Jin County finally came down, and Kunbei Town officially changed its name to Jin County.

In fact, in the past year or so, this big town has been no different from the county. One side faces the sea, and three sides have dug a two-foot-wide artificial canal. In name, it prevents wild animals from invading the town, but in fact it is an invisible city wall. up.

When the approval document for the establishment of the county came down, these artificial rivers and canals became natural moats, and four walls were built to form the county seat.

40 Japanese laborers are building the city wall. They are newcomers recruited last fall. The first batch of Japanese laborers have finished their contracts after three years of hard work. Almost everyone has received more than 50 taels of silver. As a reward, I also got [-] taels of silver. After returning home, I can buy a large piece of land and become a rich peasant.

However, the [-] Japanese girls who were recruited at the same time were basically married in Kunzhou. In addition to marrying soldiers, many of them married farmers, and most of them had given birth to children. Apart from being generally petite, their speech, Clothing and living habits are no different from ordinary Song Dynasty women.

So last fall, Kunzhou introduced a second batch of [-] Japanese girls. They were mainly engaged in drying fish in the harbor and doing business, and most of them were employed by various shops. This is also a major feature of Kunzhou. Japanese men are not allowed to engage in Business and service industries, so in the shops in the three major counties, basically Japanese women are the waiters.

Compared with drying fish, these girls are more willing to engage in business. The reason is simple. Engaging in business can help them learn Chinese better. Even if they can’t stay in Kunzhou, they can go to Da Song to find a good job, and finally stay in Da Song.

This is just like the orchids in the Tang Dynasty longed for Chang'an, and the Japanese women in the Song Dynasty longed to go to Bianliang, the most prosperous Tokyo in the world.

Fan Ning arrived in Jin County two days ago for inspection. Jin County is a direct copy of Tang County. The city wall will have a circumference of eighteen miles. There are three vertical and three horizontal streets in the city. There are six streets in total. The street layout is very neat and can accommodate a thousand families. Instead of using wooden houses excessively, all of them were built into brick and tile houses in one step. Each house occupies an area of ​​two acres. The house is very large and the yard is also very large.

Unlike Tang County and Han County, Jin County has no villages, mainly because it is too cold in winter and covered with thick snow, making it inconvenient to live in the countryside.

In order to encourage people to live in Jin County, the Kunzhou government also gave many favorable conditions, such as a large house, and double land distribution. Each household in Jin County can allocate four hectares of land, but it does not grow wheat here, but only Black beans, supplied to pasture.

Of course, the favorable conditions can attract many people to come and settle here. The number of households in Jin County has increased from [-] to [-], and more than [-] people. They basically make a living by farming and logging in Jingzhou. The favorable conditions, It is enough for the people to live a life without worrying about food and clothing.

The first county magistrate of Jin County was Li Dashou. He was also lucky. He was assigned to Jingzhou before. The city's application was not approved by the Zhizheng Hall for a long time, mainly because of fear of causing dissatisfaction in the Liao Kingdom, but Li Dashou was blessed by misfortune, and the Ministry of Officials felt sorry for him, so he was appointed as the first county magistrate of Jin County.

"This is the county school!"

Li Dashou pointed to a newly completed building and said to Fan Ning: "Currently, the county school has five professors and 230 students. I also come here to teach the students every month, at least three classes a month."

Education is the foundation of the Song Dynasty, and Kunzhou is no exception. Four years ago, Kunzhou established a school and a primary school in Tang County. Last year, Tang County and Han County established county schools at the same time, and Kunzhou also established a state school. In order to study, dozens of professors were hired with high salaries from the Song Dynasty to teach in Kunzhou, and more than a thousand students have been enrolled. At the beginning of this year, a girls' school was established to teach girls to read.

At this time, the county government office in Jin County hadn’t been repaired yet, but the county school was already in operation. This is what Fan Ning admired Li Dashou very much. State surveys, but never ambiguous on matters of principle.

Fan Ning walked around the county school and asked again, "How is the gold rush in Jingzhou?"

Last autumn, dozens of young people from Jin County ran to the Caojia River section of Bailongchuan to pan for gold, and clashed with the soldiers guarding Cao’s family. Five young people were injured. This incident triggered protests from the people of Jin County. The people of the county went to Bailongchuan to protest, which led to a one-month suspension of work at the Cao Family Gold Field. In the end, Fan Ning came to mediate in person. As the winter was approaching, the two sides reluctantly reached an agreement. The Cao Family Gold Mine compensated each injured person with [-] guan. Don't go to Bailongchuan to make trouble anymore.

Although the situation has calmed down due to the arrival of cold winter, the yearning for gold of the people in Jin County is still uncontrollable. This is also the question that Fan Ning is most concerned about. In April, the major gold fields have started to mine gold again. Will it trigger a new round of gold mining? Gold rush conflict?

Fan Ning never expected that the people of Jin County would abide by the agreement reached last year. Anyway, if they were injured, they would still be compensated. Maybe the people of Jin County would follow suit even more. This was the real reason why Fan Ning came to Jin County to inspect soon after the beginning of spring.

"Humble job has a solution, but I don't know if it will work?" Li Dashou hesitated for a moment and said.

Fan Ning was refreshed, and quickly asked: "You said, what is the solution?"

"Considering the humble position, it is better to neglect it than block it, and lead the people's willingness to seek gold elsewhere."

"Then do you have any specific plans?"

Li Dashou nodded, "I'm thinking, can I stop logging in Jingzhou and go to Jingzhou to pan for gold instead?"

Fan Ning thought for a while and said: "This is indeed a new way, it is feasible, but Jingzhou must first have gold. Have you considered this issue?"

"I know that when I was exploring in Jingzhou, I found many rivers rich in gold sand. Among them, the river closest to Kunzhou is fifty miles north of the Jingzhou military camp. The small river is not long, only forty miles. I want to open this river for the people of Jin County to pan for gold."

Fan Ning pondered for a long time and said, "You write a written report and if it is feasible, the state government will approve it."

Li Dashou was overjoyed. He didn't have the right to let the people of Jin County go to Jingzhou to pan for gold. It was up to the state government to arrange for the people of Jin County to go to Jingzhou to log.

He took out a report and handed it to Fan Ning. Fan Ning was stunned, and immediately laughed, "Well, Li Dashou, you already dug the hole, just wait for me to jump in, right?"

Li Dashou scratched his head embarrassingly, "I've been thinking about this matter for a whole winter, so writing a report is certainly not a problem."

"Okay! Since you still know that you have to report to the state government, I will give special approval to this matter."

The prefectural government has its own set of procedures, first trial and second trial, and finally it is the prefect's turn to approve. However, if the situation is special, the prefect can also approve directly without going through the process.

Of course, Fan Ning will not easily break the rules of the government office, but he knows in his heart that it is already mid-spring, and the people of Jin County will go to Bailongchuan to pan for gold anytime and anywhere. There is really no time to delay this matter. .

After reading the report, Fan Ning directly approved the gold rush application.

"It must be implemented as soon as possible, the sooner the better, understand?"

"Humble job understands, let the news out today."

"Wait a minute!"

Fan Ning said to Li Dashou solemnly: "You have to tell the people that it is okay to pan for gold, but you must not miss the plowing and planting. If there is no black soybean harvest in autumn, there will be no grain next year. They will not sell gold if they buy it."

"Humble job understands, in fact, everyone knows that you can't buy things with gold and silver, you can only store them."

This is actually the rule of the Song Dynasty. Gold and silver can only be collected and stored, and cannot be circulated in the market. When they want to use them, they must first go to the money shop to exchange them for copper coins. But the regulations are regulations, but it is difficult to prohibit them in practice. Who will not accept it?
So this regulation basically exists in name only, but it is strictly enforced in Kunzhou. No shops are allowed to accept gold and silver, only copper coins are allowed. Violators will be expelled from Kunzhou. This is also to ensure that the people can live with peace of mind. Don't be crazy about gold and silver, and all go to pan for gold, and the gold and silver can't be used. After a long time, everyone is not interested in gold and silver.

In fact, the people of Han County had a gold rush, and later found that the gold rush was meaningless. The gains from panning for gold outweigh the losses. The gold you get from the panning does not improve your life. Instead, it takes up too much time and reduces your living standard.

This is an obvious thing. The amber wood that is cut down can be sold to the government for money, but the price of gold purchased by the government is extremely low, far lower than the price of amber wood. It will become a problem. After a long time, who is willing to go for gold.

Fan Ning knew that the common people could not persuade him, and he would only wake up after suffering a big loss.

(End of this chapter)