Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 140 0135 [Zhu Chenggong is a loyal man]

After walking for many days along the Baoshui River, we will soon arrive at Guochuan Town, which is the west of Taibai County in later generations.

This is one of the four important towns in Mei County, and the other three are Xiegu, Qingqiu, and Hengqu.

Guochuan Town and Xiegu Town are firmly stuck on the Baoxie Road, and they are all garrisoned by troops.

At the same time, there is also the question of tax collection.

The line ahead has already started to pass the customs, and Zhu Ming also intends to line up honestly, but he heard the official who delivered the official documents say: "Masters, just follow me."

So, the scholars began to jump in line...

The official was dressed in official clothes, and took out his badge and paperwork. The tax collector glanced at it casually, and then gestured for the official to let him go.

The official said: "These are all candidates from Lizhou, and they are going to Tokyo to take the exam."

The tax collector did not dare to be negligent, so he went to check in person.

After casually checking the notices issued by the two Juren, the tax collector didn't bother to look at them any more, and just said, "Let's pay taxes and pay the business."

Juren cannot be exempted from tax, and at this time he did not take the official boat or official car.

The tax rate is 2%, and customs declaration and inspection are required.

But Juren is more or less respectable, and it is impossible to allow the tax collectors to inspect them. As long as the goods they bring are not many, just give a few tokens.

By the way, if the law is strictly followed, officials in the Song Dynasty would also have to pay business taxes.From the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty to its demise, the central court issued repeated orders, prohibiting officials and dignitaries from evading taxes, let alone using official ships to transport goods to avoid taxes.

Since repeated orders are required, it means repeated prohibitions.

"How much?" Zhu Ming asked in a low voice.

Bai Chongyan is very experienced: "One hundred coins is enough. We don't bring much goods, so we can just show it. By the way, this place belongs to the boundary of Fengxiang Mansion, only gold, silver and copper coins are accepted, and we don't recognize Sichuan-Shaanxi Fourth Road. Iron money. I exchanged some copper coins in Yangzhou and handed over for Da Lang."

"Thank you." Ju Ming didn't know how to be polite.

Soon it was Bai Chongyan's turn, and he took out two strings of copper coins: "Zubai, two people."

The tax collectors let it go immediately, and did not stop the cornucopia from overcharging.

Chen Yuan was wearing a Dongpo scarf, Xue Daoguang was dressed as a Taoist priest, and they mixed with Juren, and they all gave some money to pass the test smoothly.

Zhu Ming passed the checkpoint with his horse, and turned around to observe carefully.

When they found those business travelers behind, they not only had to carefully check the goods, but even searched them.And there is a special female tax agent who is responsible for searching for passing women.

Once you carry too much money with you, you will have to pay taxes on that money!

Gold, silver, copper and iron coins are also subject to a 2% toll.Unless you can come up with an official commercial contract to prove that the money you bring belongs to the official income from selling goods-this is another loophole for tax evasion, and the big businessmen with connections can easily issue tax exemption certificates.

Until the fourth year of Qiandao in the Southern Song Dynasty, the whole country was in a money shortage. In order to encourage currency circulation, the imperial court canceled the tax on metal currency.

Zhu Ming looked back at Guancheng again. To be precise, it was a village of earth and rocks stuck at the exit of the valley.

Perhaps it was because there were not many soldiers guarding the pass during the peaceful years, and it is estimated that some people were eating empty wages.Those soldiers were lazy, without armor, not even leather armor, crooked or sitting or standing, most of the soldiers did not even carry weapons.

Ju Ming felt that he only needed to bring a hundred elite soldiers to win this level easily!

"There is an inn in front, so I can have a good sleep." Bai Chongyan said.

After passing the pass, the front is instantly opened up, and even a large paddy field can be seen.

There is also a delivery shop. The Yangzhou official who is in charge of delivering official documents ran to the delivery shop to make contact, and soon went to the inn and said to all the scholars: "Masters, I have made an appointment with the official ship of the delivery shop. It will arrive tomorrow." I can take the boat again.”

"Thank you!" Min Zishun expressed his thanks on behalf of the scholars.

The official said with a smile: "They are all from Yangzhou, so it's nothing."

He is just a small policeman, and among the applicants rushing for the exam, there are many rich families in Yangzhou, so of course he has to be easy to curry favor with.

Bai Sheng took the cornucopia to the stables and got some fodder to supplement nutrition.

After Zhu Ming ate some casually, he went back to the guest room to sleep, he was exhausted from the journey.

He could faintly feel that Chen Yuan was somewhat dissatisfied with himself.

Lectures along the way, with Chen Yuan as the principal and Zhu Ming as the deputy.

What Chen Yuan talked about was general principles, while Zhu Ming mixed in all kinds of private things, such as deliberately misinterpreting the destiny that day.

"Bang bang bang!"

There was a knock on the door, and Zhu Ming got up to open the door.

Chen Yuan walked in, poured himself a bowl of cold boiled water to quench his thirst, sat down and said, "Dalang, I will give lectures later, can you stop talking nonsense?"

Zhu Ming smiled and said, "Okay, listen to the master."

Only this attitude, Chen Yuan knew it was perfunctory, sighed: "Da Lang's words and deeds reminded me of Yi Xianggong (Wang Anshi)."

"The boy is not talented, so he dare not be compared with Wang Jinggong." Zhu Ming said hastily.

Chen Yuan said: "Although I have never met Wang Jinggong, I heard that the elders in my family often mentioned it. Dalang and Wang Jinggong are very similar. The great Confucianist of the day deliberately distorts the key points. He distorted the meaning of the scriptures to reform the law, so why did Dalang distort the meaning of the scriptures?"

Zhu Ming took out the small can of tung oil that he carried with him, poured some on the silk cloth, slowly wiped the sword, and asked, "Sir, how is this sword?"

"A magic weapon." Chen Yuan had seen Ju Ming's sword when he was in Daming Village.

Zhu Ming said nonsense: "My ambition is to be a general and a minister, and to bring peace to the court. Sometimes, my husband thinks that I am misinterpreting the scriptures, but I feel that I am right. Even if I am wrong, it is not a big mistake."

Chen Yuan asked, "Do you want to be the second dude?"

Zhu Ming flicked his sword and said: "Whether it is Fan Wenzheng or Wang Jinggong, their reforms have not touched the pain of the Song Dynasty. The pain of the Song Dynasty lies in the administration of officials. If the administration of officials is not clear, even the best new law will become evil. Fan Wenzheng The Duke does not dare to rectify the administration of officials, and Duke Jing of Wang does not dare to rectify the administration of officials, I think I can try it. This sword is sharp and can kill corrupt officials!"

Chen Yuan said: "The Song Dynasty did not kill scholar-bureaucrats."

Zhu Ming sneered: "Then start with me, scholar-bureaucrats can be killed too!"

Chen Yuan was shocked: "You are going to make an enemy of scholars all over the world, and you are afraid that it will be a way to bring disaster."

Zhu Ming asked: "I have read the books of sages and sages, but I am a corrupt official, harming the country and crippling the people. Is such a scholar worthy of being called a scholar-bureaucrat?" You can kill a foolish king without morals, but you can't kill a scholar who is corrupt and perverts the law? Could it be that a scholar is more noble than a king?"

Chen Yuan was speechless, because Zhu Ming had sufficient reasons, and he still relied on Mencius.

Zhu Ming pointed to the iron gun and iron mace placed in the corner, and pointed to the bow and arrow on the table: "I will use these three weapons to fight the enemy. And the sword in my hand will only kill corrupt officials in the future! In 30 years, I want to be the prime minister, to bring peace to the world and clarify the universe for the Great Song Dynasty!"

It's all fucking nonsense, and he has been prime minister for 30 years.

However, Chen Yuan was shocked by Ju Ming's ambition, thinking that he was really a loyal man for the country and the people. Don't make the same mistake again, if it causes party disputes, it will be difficult to deal with."

Zhu Ming said: "Wang Jinggong's failure to reform the law, and even cause party disputes, is fundamentally due to the unclear administration of officials. Of course, I will not repeat the same mistakes."

This passage means that at the beginning of the reform, in the name of rectifying the administration of officials, all opponents were driven out of the court, and those who worked hard were promoted to fill their positions.As long as the reform is effective, there will be no party disputes while I am alive.

Zhang Juzheng did just that.

Chen Yuan shook his head: "You are going to be a powerful minister, and your reputation will be ruined after you die!"

Zhu Ming said righteously: "If a man wants to determine the world, he will not hesitate to die, so why care about his reputation after death? Future generations will comment on their achievements."

Standing with a sword in hand, this guy is full of acting skills, as if he really has a strong bone.

Chen Yuan was silent for a while, bowed and said: "Success and ambition are lofty, and I am not as good as that. From now on... let's do it for ourselves, and we must guard against arrogance and impetuosity."

"Hahaha!"

Zhu Ming suddenly smiled again: "Sir, sit down quickly, I was joking and joking just now. Now I haven't even passed the Jinshi exam, so I'm talking about being a chancellor."

Chen Yuan smiled at him: "You are so tired and rascal, but I am more at ease. You are definitely more cunning and cunning than Wang Jinggong. If you are too upright, let alone reform, it will be difficult for you to become a prime minister."

No longer complaining about Zhu Ming's misinterpretation of the scriptures and disturbing his lecture, Chen Yuan immediately left with a smile.

Zhu Ming continued to polish the sword patiently, and then maintained the bow and arrow, iron gun and iron mace.

That night, get a good night's sleep.

The next day, I took the official boat and went up the Baoshui River, and had to disembark again after crossing the flat area.

Over the mountains, from the valley where the Baoshui flows, to the valley of the Xieshui.

I walked all the way to Xiegu Town, and finally I was able to take a boat again.

The commerce and trade in Xiegu Town is quite prosperous, but in stark contrast, it is the large official shipyard that is withered outside the town.

Because of the influence of his teacher, Chen Yuan was very concerned about shipbuilding. He said: "The shipbuilding here has existed in name only, and most of the nearby residents have run away from their families. Now there is a shortage of official ships on Qinfeng Road, and the price of ships is extremely high. You can build ships here." The ships are too unusable to use, and ships have to be recruited from the people."

Xiegu Shipbuilding, the largest shipyard in Northwest China, began to fail as early as the Qingli period.

Bao Zheng and Bao Qingtian also made a special memorial, saying that [-] quota ships can be built there every year, and they are also responsible for building bridge foot ships, accounting for one-fifth of the total shipbuilding in the country.However, the Shaanxi State Army transferred all the tasks that the local government needed to complete to the shipyard, such as the timber for repairing the river and the timber transported to the capital, all of which were provided by the shipyard.

The bad luck in the shipyard can only be passed on to the common people.

Through on-the-spot investigation, Bao Qingtian found that almost all the large households in the surrounding area were hired by the wheel and couldn't afford the wood, and each household had to lose [-] guan.Many people went bankrupt, and in each big family, at least two or three people were exiled because they couldn't do business.

It has been 70 years since Bao Zheng went to the university!
At that time, he looked like a ghost, so one can imagine what happened at this time.

Not only was the Xiegu shipyard destroyed, but there were no big households in the surrounding area, and ordinary people escaped every year.Large tracts of farmland are abandoned, and no one dares to cultivate them, for fear of being caught by the wheel if they are not careful.

In Bibiaogu Town, there is still so much business and prosperity, all relying on business taxes to survive - this is the exit of Baoxie Road.

Standing at the bow of the boat, Ju Ming looked at the farmland on both sides of the strait where the weeds were soaring, and muttered to himself: "The landlords here are having a hard time. I guess there are no big landlords anymore. It's a pity that the population and craftsmen are insufficient, so we can't recover quickly." shipyard."

(End of this chapter)