Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1084 1079 [Father and Son Reunited]

"Hey!"

"Hey!"

"Hey!"

On the banks of the Fuyang River, there are cliffs and rocks, and groups of trackers are pulling boats.

They don't wear clothes while working, especially no pants, because their crotches will get torn if they are not careful.

The trackers on these steep cliffs and dangerous rapids are different from those on ordinary canals. Not only is the job more dangerous, but it also consumes more physical energy. If you wear pants that are rubbed for a long time and are soaked in sweat, it is only a matter of time before your crotch gets rotten.

This time, the Eastern Army, led by Bai Qi himself, first sailed south along the Yuan River, then passed Qianyang (Hongjiang City) and turned into the Fushui River.

There were not enough trackers along the banks of the Fushui River, so all the trackers that could be mobilized from Hunan were mobilized.

The fleet stopped temporarily in Yuanzhou City. Zhao Ji's son, who was studying at the prefectural school, went out of the city with his classmates to watch the excitement, but gradually he lost interest in the novelty and no longer took it seriously.

There are so many ships, and fleets arrive every day.

Some were used to transport soldiers, some were used to transport food, and some were used to transport officials, laborers, bedding, and farm tools.

Some officials and laborers did not go to Dali at all, but stayed along the way in Guizhou, setting up temporary government offices on the spot and engaging in farming.

That place, where conditions were the most difficult but also the most important, was where all the criminal officials, clerks, and civilians were placed.

Places with relatively better conditions are used to accommodate normal officials and immigrants.

In Zhenyuan County, Zhao Ji watched the fleets sail away and the next fleet continue to arrive, and he couldn't help but sigh at the strength of the Ming Dynasty court.

"In the former Song Dynasty, how could the money and food support such an expedition? They could fight a battle in Dali by forcibly collecting money and food, but they could not organize 200,000 or 300,000 soldiers and civilians to move there." Zhao Ji shook his head and sighed.

County Magistrate Chen Guipu nodded: "Indeed, our dynasty is very prosperous, and it cannot be compared to the former Song Dynasty."

The reason why Zhao Ji said this was because he remembered the attack on Liao.

When the country was just destroyed, Zhao Ji was still a little confused. After becoming familiar with grassroots work over the years, he finally figured out the root cause of the problem.

From the moment Tong Guan attacked Liao, the Song Dynasty had already fallen into the abyss, and it would have made no difference even if the Liao army could be defeated.

At that time, Fang La had just been defeated, and not only had the imperial court spent all its money and grain, but the people's wealth was also seriously overdrawn. In order to conquer Liao, they could only forcibly requisition grain and laborers, which led to uprisings everywhere in Shandong and Hebei.

The Youyan region that the Song Dynasty had acquired was a wasteland that had experienced twenty years of war and famine. Whether it was conquered by the Song Dynasty itself or bought from the Jin Kingdom, the Song Dynasty needed to continuously send money and food to maintain stability and rebuild.

Where does this money come from?
Shandong and Hebei are completely rotten, so we can only transfer money and grain from Shanxi.

As a result, Shanxi, which was already devastated and exhausted, was directly dragged down by the newly recovered Youyan.

The total number of Liao refugees who fled to Shanxi and Hebei reached hundreds of thousands, including many defeated regular troops and rebel forces.

The Song Dynasty was unable to organize these Liao refugees to return to their homeland and could only leave them to farm in Shanxi and Hebei. This further intensified the conflicts among the people. The Jin soldiers marched south from Shanxi, and all the strong cities they conquered along the way were led by the Liao survivors.

Before the Jin soldiers arrived, Shanxi, Hebei and Shandong had already been completely destroyed, with dozens of rebel armies of varying sizes.

Although the rebels' fighting power was weak, their numbers were increasing.

Until the Jin army came, which was even more brutal than the Song Dynasty, many rebel armies actually began to "support the Song and fight against the Jin"!
In recent years, Zhao Ji sometimes even wondered, if the Jin soldiers had not marched south, if Zhu Ming had not rebelled, would his Song Dynasty have perished at the hands of the peasant army?
The combat effectiveness of those peasant armies has been evolving.

"Your Excellency, Bailiff, a group of ships have docked today. They said we need a place to set up camp as soon as possible." A clerk came running over, panting.

Chen Guipu frowned and said, "Why don't you follow the rules?"

Zhao Ji said, "There are too many people and materials, so it is inevitable that mistakes will be made when dispatching ships. Perhaps a new batch of ships were dispatched from Yuanzhou, and the extra ones were transported here first. Or perhaps there were enough ships, but there were not enough boats because of the lack of boatmen, and now the boatmen are being dispatched to make up for it. There is still a large mountain area on the south bank where we can live, but we need to clear the thorns and grass first. Let's take them there to see the place."

The two men did not dare to delay and personally took the boat across the river, while sending officials to guide the fleet to the shore.

When they ran over, some officials had already disembarked.

"Purple casual clothes!" Zhao Ji was shocked.

Chen Guipu quickly quickened his pace and said, "Chen Guipu, the magistrate of Zhenyuan County, greets all the gentlemen."

The official in purple casual clothes was very young, looking only in his early 40s. He bowed and said, "I am Yang Ji, the deputy general manager of the logistics of the Eastern Route Army and the first left governor of Yunnan. I am here specifically to command the mobilization of personnel and materials. I may stay in Zhenyuan County for a long time."

"Are these the officials of Yunnan Province who are about to be established?" Chen Guipu looked behind Yang Ji.

Yang Ji explained: "Not all of them are Yunnan officials, there are also some Guizhou officials. After the soldiers and civilians are settled, Guizhou will also be established as a province. Following the example of Jiaozhi Province, the left governor will be a Han official, and the right governor will be a local official. When the army in front actually occupies a place, I will send corresponding officials to settle the soldiers and civilians."

In addition to this route, there are also officials on the way in Sichuan and Guangxi.

For example, the first Left Governor of Guizhou came from Sichuan, while the Right Governor of Yunnan took the route from Guangxi.

The commanders of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces all brought auxiliary troops with them. These auxiliary troops were composed of retired soldiers and militiamen, and they stayed in Yunnan and Guizhou with the commanders after the battle.

After saying a few words, Yang Ji turned around and called out to more and more officials to get off the boat, and many civilians carried supplies ashore.

Chen Guipu muttered in a low voice: "He is so young and already a provincial governor? He must be very important."

Zhao Ji shook his head and said, "I have never heard of this name."

Chen Guipu guessed, "Maybe he is the nephew of some nobleman."

Yang Ji was the runner-up in the first imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty. He was also a native of Sichuan and belonged to the powerful "Sichuan Faction" - to be more precise, the "Sichuan-Shaanxi Faction".

He had been the Right Governor before, and this time he volunteered to go to Yunnan to serve as the Left Governor. When most of the officials had disembarked, Chen Guipu and Zhao Ji came forward enthusiastically and took them to clear the thorns at the camping site.

Among the team, there was a dark and thin middle-aged official who always made Zhao Ji feel very familiar.

He looked at her repeatedly without showing any emotion, but found that the other person was also paying attention to him.

There was a look of confusion on both of their faces.

"That's the hillside in front of us," Chen Guipu pointed to the distance. "Some land at the foot of the hill has been reclaimed and cultivated. If there are more immigrants coming in the future, let them go to the hillside to cultivate the land. The slope there is not too steep, and it's not far from the river, so it's very suitable for both reclamation and camping."

Yang Ji was quite satisfied with the place he arrived at and began to formally assign work.

He named several officials in succession, and finally it was the turn of the strange middle-aged official: "Zhao Sinong, please lead a group of civilians to clean up from the east."

"As you wish." The middle-aged official bowed.

Zhao Ji quickly turned around and avoided it, with turbulent waves in his heart.

His surname is Zhao, and he is also an official who encourages agriculture.

In order to demonstrate its legitimacy, the Ming Dynasty court naturally had to publicize the fact that the last emperor of the Song Dynasty had served as an official of the current dynasty. Even though Zhao Ji was hiding in the south, he had heard about it countless times.

No wonder it looks so familiar!

He was just thinner than before, his skin was darker, and he had grown a beard. He was no longer as timid as he used to be, and exuded a sense of efficiency.

Zhao Ji wanted to cry and laugh, but he was more filled with fear.

He deliberately avoided the direction that Zhao Huan was in charge of and ran to the other side to help. He wanted to go home after working for a while, but before he left, he was called by Yang Ji and asked if the county could get some fresh vegetables.

"We have vegetables. I'll get them right away." Zhao Ji took the opportunity to slip away.

He ran back to the shore quickly, but Zhao Huan caught up with him and shouted, "Old man, please stay!"

Zhao Ji was stiff all over, and he turned around and bowed: "Greetings, Prime Minister Zhao. Please excuse me for a moment and talk."

The two avoided the boats that were docked and came to a deserted place nearby.

Zhao Huan whispered, "Dad?"

Zhao Ji smiled bitterly: "Sir, don't shout like that, or someone might hear you."

Zhao Huan actually didn't have a good impression of his father, and could even be said to have some resentment towards him.

But when father and son met again after many years, a lot of thoughts came to his mind, and for a moment nothing mattered.

"Why are you working as a bailiff in Zhenyuan County?" Zhao Huan asked.

Zhao Ji replied: "I was exiled. I was an official in this dynasty and I took some bribes."

Zhao Huan was even more surprised: "Have you ever been an official in this dynasty?"

Zhao Ji was unable to speak: "When I was fleeing, I met a bandit. In order to save my life, I suggested that the bandit attack the county town. Who knew that he would capture the prefecture town as well. Then I surrendered to the court and was rewarded with a minor official position."

"The Ming Dynasty has never recruited bandits, let alone bandits who have captured the city." Zhao Huan became more and more confused as he listened, and then he suddenly realized, "Are you rebelling against yourself?"

Zhao Ji quickly reminded: "Speak more quietly!"

Zhao Huan felt that this was getting more and more outrageous, and he was too lazy to ask for details. He just chatted with her and said, "How have you been these years? I'm afraid you need someone to take care of you."

Zhao Ji said, "Not bad. The bandit's mother became my second wife and gave birth to four younger brothers and sisters for you."

Zhao Huan: “…”

Zhao Ji then asked: "How are your brothers and sisters doing?"

Zhao Huan said: "When I returned to Beijing to report on my work, I visited them twice. They all lived a good life. We were not rich, but they were a well-off family. After all, many of their sisters were imperial concubines, and they often sent money to help their brothers. But my third brother went crazy..."

"Crazy?" Zhao Ji was stunned.

Zhao Huan explained: "My third brother was very wealthy at first and could make money by selling paintings. But he loved to go to brothels and spend a lot of money, and didn't care much about his wife and children. Later, he was driven out of the house by his wife and children, and gradually his brain became less intelligent and he often acted crazy, but his painting skills became established. I found my third brother on the streets of Kaifeng, he seemed to recognize me, and smiled and took me to visit Genyue. His words and actions were like... just like a naughty child."

Zhao Ji remained silent.

Zhao Huan continued, "I am going to Yunnan to take charge of agricultural affairs in the province. I may be promoted back to the imperial court in a few years."

Zhao Ji sighed, "It's not easy for you either. If you go to court, you must be careful in your duties as an official and not get involved in disputes. Your status is so special that if you are attacked by political enemies, you will be guilty of a serious crime if you are not careful."

"I... my child doesn't need to worry."

Zhao Huan first turned his head and looked around to make sure that no one had taken out another bamboo tube.

The bamboo tube was painted. Zhao Huan opened the lid and took out two Ming Dynasty treasure notes. "I have been an official for many years and have never been corrupt. I have a wife and children to support, and I don't have much money saved. Please take this hundred strings of cash... Don't be in a hurry to refuse. Buy some food and clothes for your brothers and sisters. It's inconvenient for me to visit you at your current home. I'm afraid we won't meet again in the future."

"Alas." Zhao Ji sighed and took the money.

Zhao Huan turned and left.

After this turn, we are strangers from now on, and we won’t recognize each other if we meet again in the next few days.

Zhao Ji watched his son go away, then looked back at the distant mountains and blue sky, feeling as if he were in another world.

(End of this chapter)