Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 217 0212 [Is there a rebellion in Yangzhou? 】

Arriving at the hotel, Li Youwen invited Zhu Ming to the government office for a banquet, and the rest of the officials dispersed, only a few governors and county magistrates accompanied him.

The banquet was very sumptuous, estimated to cost hundreds of guan.

He can't manage Hanzhong for the time being, but Zhu Ming hopes that someone can start infrastructure.After a few glasses of wine, Zhu Ming said, "I came from Baoxie Road, and the mountains and rivers and weirs I saw were mostly abandoned. Do you plan to repair them, Brother Penggui?"

Li Youwen shook his head and sighed: "As an official, who doesn't want to build water conservancy projects? Taxes and labor in Hanzhong are already very heavy, so it's better not to disturb the people anymore."

"It's a pity." Zhu Ming followed with emotion.

Shanhe Weir, also called Xiaocao Weir, was dug by Xiao He and Cao Can when Liu Bang was trapped in Hanzhong. It is the agricultural foundation of Liu Bang!
It was completed once in the Northern Song Dynasty, more than a hundred years ago, and it was presided over by Xu Ti, a descendant of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

It hasn't been repaired for 100 years, so you can see how broken it is if you think about it.

Historically, Wu Jie had to wait until Wu Jie guarded Hanzhong, and while he was busy resisting the Jin soldiers, he organized refugees to build water conservancy projects.Then the refugees were resettled, and military settlements were implemented. In the year when the mountains and rivers and weirs were repaired, the military settlements alone earned 25 shi of grain.

Thirty years later, Wu Jie's younger brother Wu Lin came to repair it again, irrigated hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland.

As long as the mountains and rivers and weirs are repaired, there will be more than enough military rations in Hanzhong, and there is no need to transport them from central Sichuan.

When Zhu Ming thinks of Shanheyan, he naturally thinks of brothers Wu Jie and Wu Lin.

They are both civil and military talents.

During the long-term battle, Wu Lin also created his own formation method and took the initiative to lead troops to counterattack Shaanxi.Wu Lin sent a partial division from Hanzhong to Guanzhong. He led the main force to face the Jin soldiers in Qinzhou (Tianshui), defeating more than [-] Jin soldiers, and tens of thousands of Jin soldiers surrendered.

Just when Wu Lin was about to pursue the victory, he suddenly received an order to retreat from the court.

In the second year, Shaoxing made peace talks, not only did not keep the newly occupied land, but also ceded the monks to the Kingdom of Jin. (The monk was originally guarded by the Wu family brothers in the southwest of Baoji for decades, and fought hundreds of times. They were not defeated and lost, but they were defeated and ceded. The Southern Song Dynasty lost the outpost from Chencangdao.)
Wu Jie is 23 years old this year and has already shown his prominence in the Xixia battlefield, serving as a junior officer of the Song Army on Jingyuan Road.

Wu Lin is 14 years old and is about to join the army.

By the way, Shi Bin, the prototype of Jiuzhilong Shijin, was beheaded by Wu Jie when he attacked Chang'an.

How to get the Wu brothers?
These two can be used as civil servants. When Wu Jie was guarding Monk Yuan, the people in the territory of the Kingdom of Jin took the initiative to come to deliver food and grass to him.Jin Bing set up Baowu Company to sit down, crazily suppressed the food delivery people, and even sent a small group of cavalry to intercept and kill them. The people of Fengxiang Mansion risked their heads and still insisted on delivering food to him for several years.

It is not easy for a general to win the hearts of the army, but it is even more difficult to win the hearts of the people. The Wu family brothers all win the hearts of the people.

Alas, it's not easy to do. He is already an officer of the Song Dynasty, so he can only try to surrender after being captured.

Even Yue Fei was not easy to deal with. First, it was difficult to find people. Tangyin County is so big that finding a farmer requires a lot of people.The second is that Yue Fei is still young, only 13 years old this year, and he is still farming at home. If he tries his best to find a farm boy, he will be regarded as crazy.

Famous general, famous general, now I only have Li Bao in my hand.

The prefect Li Youwen was still persuading him to drink, but Zhu Ming was slightly drunk and asked, "Brother Peng Gui, can you do me a favor?"

"Please tell me about your success," Li Youwen said.

Zhu Ming said: "Jinzhou is poor, and I want to start the iron smelting industry, so I ask Peng Gui to give some smiths and blacksmiths."

Li Youwen said with a smile: "Jinzhou doesn't produce coal, so charcoal has to be used to smelt iron, and it takes a lot of money to transport it out, so it can only be used as a local farm tool in Jinzhou. Don't joke about success, just pick gold and grow tea in Jinzhou. Don't waste time smelting iron."

Jinzhou produces coal, and like iron ore, it is abundant and easy to mine.The disadvantage is that most of the coal mines are in the deep mountains, and the transportation in ancient times was inconvenient.And the grade of iron ore is not very high, about 25-35, which is the average level of southern iron ore.

Hanzhong is similar, and it is also restricted by traffic factors. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that iron was smelted on a large scale.

What is really convenient is Yangzhou. The iron mines are next to the tributaries of the Han River. Unfortunately, there is a lack of coal mines. For the time being, no coal mines have been found, so charcoal can only be used to smelt iron.Large-scale iron mines in the Song Dynasty were already using coking coal.

Xingyuan Mansion and Yangzhou must be occupied together, so that the iron smelting industry in Hanzhong can take shape: coking coal is smelted in Xingyuan Mansion, and transported by water to Yangzhou for ironmaking.

Zhu Ming said: "We have to try, and ask Brother Penggui for help."

Li Youwen thought for a while: "We will give ten households to success, seven households to smiths, and three households to blacksmiths."

"Thank you!" Zhu Ming raised his glass, "A toast to my friend, Brother Gui."

After the banquet was over, Li Youwen dispersed the officials and said drunkenly, "I'm afraid Cai Jing was offended by being demoted to Jinzhou?"

Zhu Ming didn't explain too much, he just sighed: "I have frightened the officials in Puzhou and was about to flex my muscles, but I was recalled in a daze."

Li Youwen said: "Successfully talked about mountains and rivers and weirs, how could I not know the benefits of water conservancy? But the judge has the money and food, and I have talked about water conservancy matters many times, but the judge refused on the grounds of disturbing the people. That guy is Cai Dang, I only know fish and meat people!"

"The treacherous party will bring harm to the country, we should rise up!" Zhu Ming said immediately.

"It's time to get up!" Li Youwen searched for several jugs, finally found some leftover wine, and drank it down with his mouth in his mouth.

Li Youwen is not as useless as he seems, he also has political ambitions, and he hates Buddhism and Taoism so much that even after his death, he will not let his descendants hire people to do things.In history, he was demoted several times because he was angry at the traitor party, and was eventually demoted to Guangdong to die as a guest.

Sacrificing to the Lake God when facing the rebel army is just a means to boost morale.

Zhu Ming said: "Why not let the gentry raise funds to repair the mountains and rivers in sections?"

Li Youwen shook his head and said: "It's useless, I've tried it. The local gentry don't trust officials, and in recent years, the magistrate has been transferred frequently. They are afraid that I will make money and run away. What's more, there are transshipment department and punishment department above. Dredging mountains and rivers and weirs, these people also have to make a fortune, and the gentry have too many worries."

Ju Ming can only express his sympathy. This is a literati who is willing to do things but lacks the ability to suppress officials and win the trust of gentry.

The worst thing is that the Lizhou Road Transit Department and the Inspection Department have moved the yamen from Lizhou to Xingyuan Mansion.The magistrate has a string of provincial officials above him, all of whom can hinder him from doing business.

Zhu Ming suddenly asked: "By the way, why don't you see the officials from various departments on Lizhou Road?"

Li Youwen explained: "The plank road on the other side of Huangjin Gorge collapsed, and the food tax of Xixiang County has not been transported northward. The military rations for the conquest of Xixia were delayed, and the transfer envoys and deputy envoys were all banished and relegated together. , The new officials have not yet arrived. The Yunjuan and the Inspectorate have both visited Huangjinxia in person, and they are organizing soldiers and civilians to repair the plank road in Yangzhou."

"It's been half a year, and the plank road should have been repaired long ago." Zhu Ming said.

Li Youwen shook his head and said: "Excessive oppression and many deaths, the folks who built the plank road rebelled. Not only did they rebel, they also smashed the rest of the plank road, otherwise it would not have dragged on until now. I dare not report this matter to the court, and local officials have been suppressing it .”

"Can the civil unrest be settled?" Zhu Ming asked.

Li Youwen said: "The envoy of punishment and the magistrate of Yangzhou personally led more than [-] local soldiers and archers, and it took only two months to quell the civil unrest. But the plank road was broken, the dangerous beach was difficult to navigate, and the rioters could not be hunted down. deep mountain."

"Oh, the world is difficult." Zhu Ming expressed emotion on the surface, but in his heart he was thinking of recruiting rioters. Those who fled into the mountains could be resettled near Daming Village.

So, Zhu Ming asked again: "Who is the punishment envoy of Lizhou Road?"

"Huang Qianshan." Li Youwen replied.

Grass!
The future treacherous minister has no ability to do things, and is capable of doing bad things.

In the great earthquake in Hedong, Shaanxi, the mountains, rivers and valleys were shaken and changed their positions.Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty asked Huang Qianshan to inspect the disaster situation, but he concealed it and did not report it. He only said it was a small earthquake, and was promoted to be the minister of the household department because of the disaster relief.

In the second year of Jingkang, Huang Qianshan supported Zhao Gou as emperor, excluded Li Gang, and killed Chen Dong.The rebel army was only sixty miles away from Zhao Gou, but Huang Qianshan still concealed it and did not report it. Zhao Gou, who was scared to pee, was demoted to Puzhou to collect the wine tax, and died on the way for unknown reasons.

With Huang Qianshan on Lizhou Road, it is strange that the mountains and rivers in Hanzhong can be repaired.

Li Youwen said angrily: "Only by cutting off the treacherous party can the government be clear, otherwise nothing will happen. Although your father was confiscated as a Taoist priest, he never deceived the emperor, and he is a true Taoist. To eradicate Cai Jing, your father must also contribute , the upright people in the world will all rely on your father."

Ju Ming cupped his hands and said, "Punish rape and eradicate evil, it is my duty!"

Li Youwen stood up unsteadily, and shouted, "Come on!"

Immediately there are relatives coming in.

Li Youwen said, "Send Zhu Zhizhou to the hotel."

This guy was drunk by himself, but he didn't let anyone help him, and stumbled back to the back house of the government office.

After staying in Xingyuan Mansion for several days, the ten households of craftsmen that Li Youwen had promised finally brought their families to the mansion.

They acted anxiously. After all, they were going to be far away from home, and they didn't know what would happen in the future.But I heard that I was going with the son of Duke Yuanzhang, and I was somewhat looking forward to it. The name of benevolence and righteousness of father and son has been passed down to Xingyuan Mansion.

After boarding the ship, Zhu Ming asked the soldiers on board: "How many people grow sweet potatoes and corn in Xingyuan Mansion?"

The soldiers said: "The four counties have been planted everywhere, and most of them are in the mountainous areas. Rice and wheat are still planted in the flat land."

"What's the price?" Ju Ming asked again.

The soldiers said: "The more people planted, the lower the price. The peasants like it very much. The year before last and last year, many people asked for high prices, and a catty of corn could be exchanged for ten catties of rice. One catty of corn can only be exchanged for seven taels of rice. It will be even cheaper next year."

"It's so good," Zhu Ming asked, "How are the people in Xingyuan Mansion doing?"

The soldiers didn't dare to tell the truth, but just laughed along with them: "It's a good thing."

Zhu Ming didn't ask any more questions, he could tell that this person was telling lies.

The northwest is at war, and Hanzhong, like Shaanxi, has to supply food and grass to the front lines.Although corn and sweet potatoes can increase production, the officials squeezed them harder. The magistrate Li Youwen didn't even straighten out the government, so how could it be possible to restrain county officials?

What's more, there are still people rebelling in Yangzhou, and the recruitment of soldiers to quell the chaos has to increase taxes.

This year's Hanzhong people must have a difficult life.

Corn and sweet potatoes have been planted everywhere in the four counties of Xingyuan Prefecture, and most of the three counties in Yangzhou have also popularized it. It is estimated that it has spread to Jinzhou, and it will recover quickly as long as the people are treated well.

The most urgent task is to go to Yangzhou to find Huang Qianshan, and resettle the escaped rioters to the base camp.

Downstream of Daming Village, until the place where the father and son crossed, there is no human habitation along the river, and it is completely possible to arrange the rioters to farm.

(End of this chapter)