Recreating the prosperous Tang begins with summoning players

The governors of these seven prefectures gathered in Jicheng one after another, and sent invitations to see Zhang Duanyang, but Zhang Duanyang had no intention of meeting them, and just browsed the scenery of ancient Kuaiji city with Luo Yun.

Kuaiji is an ancient city with many historical relics. Zhang Duanyang is a university professor with rich knowledge of history. Under his explanation, Luo Yun also saw the rich historical charm of Kuaiji City.

While riding in a small boat, Zhang Duanyang said:
"Since the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms, there have been gentry in the Central Plains who have avoided disasters in Jiangdong. Since then, the culture of the Jiangnan area has begun to rise."

"After the Jin Dynasty went south, almost all the gentry in the Central Plains moved to the south of the Yangtze River. As an important town in the east of the Yangtze River, Kuaiji also moved many prominent families from the north, that is, the overseas Chinese surname."

Luo Yun nodded. There are many mansions in Kuaiji City, and many families have lived here for hundreds of years. Compared with the Qilu area, the birthplace of Central Plains culture, the historical heritage here is even deeper.

Zhang Duanyang sighed and said:
"Qilu is a land of hundreds of battles. From the Wei and Jin Dynasties to the unification of the Tang Dynasty, it has been fighting non-stop for three to four hundred years."

"It's not like the Jiangdong area. Although the regime has changed, it has never been the front line of the war. There has never been a large-scale war."

Luo Yun sighed, the geographical advantage of the Jiangdong area is really unique.

With the natural dangers of the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River, it can almost block most of the powerful northern enemies.

Whether it was the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Southern Song Dynasty, or even the Southern Ming Dynasty at the end of the Ming Dynasty, if it wasn't for the Nanming's internal struggles, it would not be that difficult to separate the southeast.

Speaking of this, Muzhou Governor Qian was even more bitter.

The governor of Muzhou has always poured bitter water on Zhang Duanyang, complaining that since the imperial court opened the sea, bandits and pirates in Muzhou have been rampant.

The governor of Qizhou, who was stranded in Kuaiji, heard that Zhang Duanyang was finally willing to see them, and rushed to the observer's mansion in a hurry.

At the beginning, the imperial court generally sent censors to serve as observation envoys. The censors were only of the seventh and eighth ranks, while the governor of Shangzhou was a high-ranking third rank, so the authority of the observation envoys was not high.

"The overseas Chinese and the local big clans in Jiangdong struggled for hundreds of years before they gradually merged. During this period, the status of the Jiangdong gentry was not high."

However, the observation envoy does not have a strict affiliation with the governor of the state. Whether he can convince his subordinates depends mainly on the observation envoy's own ability.

As mentioned earlier, the township observer is not a permanent position, and when this position was just started, it was similar to the imperial envoy sent by the emperor to the place. The so-called observation means to observe the people's conditions and observe the place. It is a temporary position established according to special circumstances. .

If you really can't beat them, you usually surrender when you hit Jinling.

The Qian governor of Muzhou said in tears:
"This subordinate is not strict with his subordinates, he deserves death! But now the coast of Muzhou is being harassed by pirates, and this subordinate feels ashamed of the people. Please lend a helping hand to suppress these pirates!"

It can even be said that these state governors who came to ask for help are not clean.

Sure enough, after Zhang Duanyang was promoted, the seven state governors who came to Kuaiji opened their mouths to mention the difficulties of "bandits".

Zhang Duanyang nodded and said:
"Yes, the northern culture was fully surpassed by the southern culture. That was a matter of the Song Dynasty. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Jiangnan was a cultural sanctuary with half the imperial examinations. Today's Jiangdong is just an economically developed land rich. "

"The township navy in Muzhou is rotten. These sergeants are not only protecting pirates, but even involved in smuggling. The officials have written to the imperial court many times, requesting to move the local military defense, but the imperial court did not approve."

After the sea trade was opened by the imperial court in several states near the sea, almost all the local tycoons and naval guards were involved in the smuggling trade.

"Later, when the Eastern Jin Dynasty traveled southwards, in fact, the people who held the power of the Eastern Jin court were basically the overseas Chinese surnames at that time. For example, the Wang family in the Eastern Jin Dynasty known as 'the king and the horse shared the world' was the overseas Chinese family of the Langya Wang family who moved to Jiangdong."

"In the Han Dynasty, the status of the Jiangdong area was not high, and it was basically the same as the barbarians. At the end of the Han Dynasty, when Sun Ce separatist in Jiangdong, there were not many famous scholar families, so they were discriminated against by Cao Cao, who had a lot of talents. "

"What 'a lot'? Obviously, half of the pirates are these guys!"

In addition to silk, porcelain, tea, and medicinal materials are also smuggled items. There are also Longyou specialties purchased from Yangzhou, such as soap, oil lamps, and matches, which are also welcomed by foreign businessmen.

And foreign commodities such as jewelry and spices will also be unloaded in Muzhou and sold to the southeast at a lower price.

And Muzhou is the area where pirates are most rampant in the eight states in eastern Zhejiang. Huanchun County, the Muzhou government office, has almost become a smuggling base. From the town navy to officials at all levels, almost all local powerful families have participated in the smuggling. Activity.

The governor of Muzhou spoke impassionedly, but Zhang Duanyang looked at him coldly.

The Jiangdong area was originally the origin of silk, and since the Tang Dynasty, there have been official kilns and folk kilns in eastern Zhejiang that started firing ceramics. These are the hard currency for export.

"So the mentality of scholars in the Jiangnan area is still okay. Anyway, they have not been valued for hundreds of years, and the discrimination in the imperial examination is not so unacceptable."

The Muzhou government is also in Chunxian County, and there are Tonglu, Jiande and other counties below it. It is a state near the sea in eastern Zhejiang.

Luo Yun nodded and said: "So that's the case. No wonder Hedong will rebel, but the Jiangdong area has always been stable. It turns out that Jiangnan at this time is not the Jiangnan of later generations."

Zhang Duanyang said with a smile:

"Later in the Sui Dynasty, when Emperor Sui Yang was the prince, he was the general manager of Jiangnan. Later, in order to contain the Guanlong Group, Emperor Sui Yang largely used the Jiangnan gentry he knew, and Jiangnan was able to enter the central political stage."

In fact, Zhang Duanyang already knew the situation in the eight states of Eastern Zhejiang from the information of the Eastern Zhejiang players.

Zhang Duanyang was not surprised by this at all. He comforted the governor of Muzhou and said:
"Pirates in eastern Zhejiang are rampant. I've heard about it from Gao Jiedushi when I was in Yangzhou, but I didn't expect the officers and soldiers to be blatantly involved in smuggling."

Zhang Duanyang patiently listened to the governor of Muzhou, and asked:
"Muzhou is near the sea. According to the military system of the imperial court, every state near the sea has a battalion of naval forces. What about the township navy in Muzhou?"

However, with the rise of the Jiedushi system, the status of the observers is also constantly improving. By this period, the observers have already been regarded as half of the superiors of the governors of the states.

Luo Yun, who was hiding behind the screen, almost dropped his jaw in shock. How could Datang's coastal defense be defeated to such an extent?

The price of these silks is far lower than that of Yangzhou silk, but there is no need to pay taxes, and the quality is not as high as Yangzhou silk, so you can still make a lot of money.

Several other governors near the sea shouted:
"What's the use of moving the town? Isn't our Zhen Haijun here just as bad? Do you think you can be obedient if you change it?"

The Tang Dynasty had not yet formed the Song Dynasty's tradition of emphasizing the central forbidden army and despising the local army. Coastal cities like Muzhou also had a town navy dedicated to fighting pirates. Although the number was small, it was still a military force.

Some of these state governors gathered in Kuaiji in order to get rid of their suspicions, some were really worried about the pirate issue, and some were afraid of affecting their future.

Luo Yun asked suspiciously: "Then why do these state governors ask to meet Teacher Zhang?"

The reason why they heard that Zhang Duanyang brought private soldiers rushed to Kuaiji to seek an interview. They mistakenly thought that Zhang Duanyang, who had brought [-] private soldiers, had obtained a secret order from the imperial court to investigate the smuggling case in eastern Zhejiang.

"These guys are too rampant. Many of the pirates attacking merchant ships in the East China Sea are disguised by officials and soldiers!"

"It's not easy. Naturally, it's because of the banditry. Go back to the Observatory and let the governors of Qizhou and Yuezhou come to see me together."

The silk trade in Yangzhou has to be priced by the Shipbuilding Department. Not to mention the high price, there is also a listing tax. Many knowledgeable foreign businessmen stop their ships off the coast of Muzhou, and then buy smuggled silk from Muzhou.

Among them, Qian Xun, the governor of Muzhou, yelled the loudest.

Zhang Duanyang continued:
"Compared to the scholars in Hebei and Qilu areas, the Jiangdong scholars in the Tang Dynasty were actually not very high-spirited."

In addition to smuggling, the pirates who attacked merchant ships also affected the stability of the southeast. Now in Muzhou, an underground sales line has also been formed to handle the goods of robbed merchant ships. The robbed goods in the entire southeast region will be imported into this underground black market, becoming Ordinary goods are sold out.

The reason why Gao Shi paid so much attention to Zhang Duanyang, the observer of eastern Zhejiang, was also because the rampant smuggling in eastern Zhejiang affected Yangzhou's income.

The biggest reason for the rampant smuggling activities is naturally the huge profits.

If Muzhou did this, the local gentry would benefit, but for Qian Xun, it would be a disaster.

Qian Xun is not a local. He has no cronies to participate in smuggling, piracy, and black market industries, and he can't get much money even if he accepts bribes.

Once the Muzhou incident happened, then he, the governor of the state, would be most responsible, and it would be trivial to be dismissed from office, and if he failed, he would be sent to prison for punishment.

But Qian Xun also knew that he had no ability to stop the smuggling up and down in Muzhou, and he had a tough folk style, so if he failed to stir up a civil uprising, he would definitely be miserable.

So Qian Xun was the most excited when he heard that Zhang Duanyang led [-] private soldiers to Kuaiji, and he was also the first to go to Kuaiji for help.