Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1083 1078 [Good Family Man]

Along this route from Hunan, the farthest stronghold actually controlled by the imperial court was Zhenyuan County, which according to later administrative divisions belonged to Qiandong.

As a pioneer, Ye Tie naturally had to maintain good relations with the officials of Zhenyuan County.

He invited the county magistrate and Zhao Ji to eat in the military camp, raised a cup of tea and said: "Military law is strict. You are absolutely not allowed to drink alcohol during marches or battles. I will use tea instead of wine to toast you two."

"I don't deserve it. We should respect the general." The county magistrate was a young Jinshi with a weak background and mediocre political achievements. He was thrown here when he was transferred.

However, Zhao Ji was very generous and clinked cups with Ye Tie as soon as he served him tea.

Zhao Ji felt that he would die of old age in Zhenyuan County, so he became indifferent. As long as he did not make mistakes of principle, he was not afraid of offending anyone.

But Ye Tie just liked this kind of behavior and had already classified Zhao Ji as "one of his own". After all, they were both leaders of the rebel army in the late Song Dynasty.

After everyone ate a few sips of tea, Ye Tie finally got to the point: "The spies sent back a lot of military information, and I also brought merchants with me as guides. But you two are locals, so I still need to ask you a little more."

The county magistrate quickly explained: "I was transferred here last year."

"Then let me ask you, old man," Ye Tie raised his glass towards Zhao Ji, "Let's continue forward. Will the barbarians still be obedient? If they are obedient, I, the pioneer, can move faster."

Zhao Ji recounted the story in detail: "Although I have never continued to go west, I have come into contact with merchants every year. To go forward, you have to cross mountains and ridges. There are many snakes, insects, rats and ants along the way. If the weather is hot, you will easily get sick. Most of the people along the way are foreigners, who are relatively obedient. They will only rob the caravans when there is a disaster."

"Although the front is called Jiangzhou (Kaili), there is no city, only a village of local chiefs. The local governor of Jiangzhou is surnamed Wu, and he can't tell what tribe of barbarians they are, who have been farming and multiplying there for generations."

"Jiangzhou is a barbarian country, with the most surnames being Wu and Jiang. During the Tang Dynasty, the place was originally called Jiangzhou."

"Because there are often Han merchants passing by, Jiangzhou local governor Wu Maozhen can take the opportunity to collect business taxes and voluntarily surrender to the court to get an official position. As long as the general does not push him too hard, Wu Maozhen would be willing to send troops to attack Dali. After all, if he falls out with the court and the government blocks the trade route, how can Wu Maozhen collect business taxes?"

Ye Tie nodded and smiled: "That's good."

The tasks he received not only required him to build roads through mountains and bridges across rivers, but also to select suitable locations along the way to build food and fodder transfer stations.

By the way, find out the reactions of the barbarian chiefs along the way!

Ye Tie asked again: "If we leave one thousand immigrants to live and multiply in Jiangzhou, how will Wu Maozhen react?"

"Either obey or rebel. Is there any third option for him?" Zhao Ji said, "But he must not seize the land that the barbarians have already cultivated, otherwise it will be difficult for the Han and barbarian people to get along in the future. If he has decided to seize those cultivated lands, he must do it once and for all. Find a crime to kill Wu Maozhen, and send troops to drive those barbarians into the mountains!"

"I see," Ye Tie said with emotion, "It's a bit of a waste of talent for the old gentleman to stay here. It's a pity that I'm a military commander, otherwise I would definitely help introduce you."

Zhao Ji smiled and waved his hand.

Many barbarian leaders at this time, although they had been developing for hundreds of years, were not yet the stubborn chieftains of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Take the Bozhou Yang family for example. The uncle and nephew fought for decades, and their territory was far less than that of the Ming Dynasty, and it was eventually divided into two. In addition, the court kept exiling criminals, increasing the proportion of Han people year by year.

Five years ago, my uncle’s chieftain, the Yang clan, died, and the imperial court sent envoys to “express condolences.”

As a result of the condolence, the land was changed to local government, and a direct descendant of the Yang family moved to Hebei. The court was generous in rewarding them, giving them 2,000 mu of land in Hebei and 3,000 taels of silver.

Nowadays, there is still a branch of the Yang clan that serves as a local chieftain, but their territory is so small that they no longer pose any threat.

The Sizhou Tian family was even more submissive, because the Tian family took advantage of the chaos in the late Northern Song Dynasty to expand wildly and more than doubled their territory. Therefore, more than half of the Sizhou Tian family's jurisdiction was illegal!
Including Zhenyuan County where Zhao Ji was located, it also belonged to the territory of the Tian family of Sizhou and was directly taken away by exiled criminals from the imperial court.

Tongren and Jiangkou were also taken away at the same time.

Half of the territory controlled by the Tian family fell into the hands of the imperial court. They did not dare to rebel directly, so they secretly encouraged the barbarians to cause trouble - mainly looting.

The refugees and immigrants in Jiangkou and Tongren were troubled by the situation and had to fight almost every year.

Six years ago, the Han village was raided, resulting in hundreds of casualties, which finally angered the officials of the Hunan Provincial Three Divisions. Eight thousand troops were dispatched at one time, commanded by Bai Qi himself, to destroy all the barbarian villages within a radius of 300 miles, and a large number of young and strong barbarians were captured and taken to southern Hunan to mine!

Tian Shi of Sizhou was so frightened that he behaved himself from then on.

……

After having a good meal and tea, Zhao Ji returned to the city with the county magistrate, followed by several runners.

This is the lowest level county. Not only does it not have a county magistrate or a chief clerk, but it also has a small number of clerks.

The young county magistrate was called Chen Guipu. He praised sincerely, "The old gentleman is really a great talent. He is not only proficient in the art of governing the people, but also in military strategy. I heard that the old gentleman is also an expert in calligraphy and painting. Why don't I see him painting?"

"Painting is a minor subject, so let's not talk about it." Zhao Ji waved his hand and said.

Chen Guipu asked again: "I heard that the Left Governor of Jiaozhi also lived here for a few years. Do you know him, old sir?"

"I know him, but we're not close." Zhao Ji didn't want to mention his cousin.

In this world, his cousin is the only person who knows his whereabouts.

Chen Guipu did not believe it. He asked the county clerks and learned that Zhao Ji was very familiar with those exiled officials, especially Xiang Zizhen, the current left governor of Jiaozhi. When he was exiled to Zhenyuan County, he was a close friend of Zhao Ji.

As a small county magistrate without a backer, Chen Guipu wanted to get on board with the governor Xiang Zizhen through Zhao Ji. Unknowingly, he returned to the county town. Zhao Ji pointed to the messy houses and said, "It's time to repair the city wall."

Chen Guipu shook his head and sighed, "It's difficult. The population of this county is too small, and there are still many barbarian villages that refuse to obey the king. Where will we get the manpower and resources to build the city wall?"

“This is an opportunity.”

Zhao Ji suddenly squatted down, picked up stones and wrote and drew: "This is Zhenyuan County, this is Juzhou... No, it should be called Guizhou now. This is Qianzhou and Sizhou, and to the east is Hunan... These roads can be used for marching... Can you see anything?"

Chen Guipu's eyes were full of confusion, but he didn't want to appear too stupid, so he praised: "The old man is actually well versed in geography."

"I looked at maps when I lived in the Central Plains before, and I often chatted with passing merchants when I came to Zhenyuan," Zhao Ji explained casually, and continued, "Just now, after chatting with the general named Ye Tie, I can roughly guess that the court wants to strengthen its control over Guizhou, Qianzhou, Sizhou and other places."

"Then what?" Chen Guipu still didn't understand.

Zhao Ji said, "Zhenyuan County where we are located is located at a strategic point. Once we send troops to station troops there, we can control the four directions, especially the marching route from Hunan to Guizhou. County Magistrate Chen can take this opportunity to report to the court and ask for a garrison in Zhenyuan County. If we bring soldiers and their families here, there will be a population. We can also apply for more immigrants. When the time comes, the money for building the city wall can be allocated from the military budget, and soldiers, immigrants, and naturalized barbarians can all be brought in to build the city. If this is done well, the county magistrate will also have made contributions."

Chen Guipu hesitated: "Will this work?"

Zhao Ji smiled and said, "You will know if you try it."

Chen Guipu hesitated and finally couldn't resist the temptation of making meritorious service, so he ran back to the county government office and wrote the memorial himself.

Zhao Ji, however, strolled back home.

He had no land in Zhenyuan County, mainly because the population was too small and he could not recruit many tenants. In the first few years after he arrived, Zhao Ji was exhausted from reclaiming wasteland. Later, when he had a stable income, he sold the land he had reclaimed.

He didn't feel bad at all about selling his land.

Since there were no tenants to recruit, whoever wanted to farm could do so. Anyway, it was impossible for Zhao Ji to go to the fields again.

The children don't plant either.

His so-called "eldest son" after he changed his name is 18 years old this year. He was personally taught to read since childhood, and he passed the imperial examination at the age of 15. Although Zhao Ji failed to make any merit and was transferred, he restored the imperial examination qualifications of his descendants when he became a formal official.

Zhenyuan County belonged to the Guizhou region in later generations, but now it belongs to Yuanzhou Prefecture in Hunan.

His son passed the imperial examination at the age of fifteen and was admitted to the Yuanzhou Prefecture School, where he was a student in the inner dormitory with free food and accommodation.

I will soon graduate from the prefectural school. If I graduate with excellent grades, I will have the opportunity to go to Luoyang Imperial College with food and accommodation. If I am not admitted to the Imperial College, I will need to work hard to pass the imperial examinations.

The "eldest daughter" had also married, to the son of a convicted official, and the marriage was arranged by Xiang Zizhen.

The criminal official had been transferred after making meritorious service and was now serving as a county magistrate in Hubei, and his daughter had married into the county with him.

"My husband is back."

Zeng welcomed Zhao Ji into the house with a smile and used a feather duster to sweep the dust off his body.

"Daddy!"

The ten-year-old daughter rushed over.

Zhao Ji reached out and patted his daughter's head. She was born when he was in his fifties, and Zeng was also an elderly mother at the time.

There was also a fourteen-year-old son in the house, who was studying and reviewing his lessons.

Zhao Ji ordered: "For the next two months, there will be troops and civilians passing through the border. Remember to keep an eye on the children and don't let them run around."

"I save that." Zeng said.

Zhao Ji took out a paper bag from his bosom, put it on the table and said, "General Ye, please have dinner. I brought back some meat."

Zeng smiled and said, "The two little ones are in for a treat."

Zhao Ji had a very hard time these years. His salary was not high, and Zhenyuan County was not very profitable. He also had to support a large family of wife and children. Moreover, his two sons were both studying. Although he did not have to pay tuition for their education, the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone were always expensive, and he also had to pay for books on various subjects.

Now that we are finally a little better off, my eldest son's school has free food and accommodation, which can save the family a lot of expenses.

The sun was about to set, and my wife and children were eating in the main room. The two children were scrambling to eat the meat, their mouths full of grease.

Zhao Ji sat under the eaves watching the sunset, feeling depressed and no one knew what he was thinking.

"hiss!"

Suddenly he gasped in pain and quickly stood up, covering his lower back.

This was a problem caused by the first few years of exile. Reclaiming wasteland was so hard that Zhao Ji was so tired that he secretly cried many times at night.

(End of this chapter)