Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 254 0249 [Zhao Fengji]

Hanzhong also suffered from drought this year, but luckily met two good officials.

Lin Chi, the transfer envoy of Lizhou Road, previously served as a deputy envoy on Jiangnan East Road, and was also in charge of the coin-making affairs of Jiangdong Road.

Because of deliberately delaying Hua Shigang and offending Zhu Xi, the prime minister Zheng Juzhong helped intercede, so he was transferred to Hanzhong to be the top leader.

In addition to the help of Zheng Juzhong, Lin Chi was able to be promoted in another place because he offended Zhu Xi, and because he himself had long been remembered by the emperor.

During the imperial examination, his real name was Lin Hu.

Song Huizong felt that the name was not pleasant, so he was named Lin Chi.The emperor personally gave the name, and the officials naturally paid attention to it, so Lin Chi's promotion speed was very fast.

Zhao Quan, deputy envoy of Lizhou Road Transshipment, was in Chengdu Fu Road before.

Zhao Quan is the one who repaired the Fengli Canal. With his own efforts, he completed the century-old project that troubled the Northern Song Dynasty for 130 years in just two years.

"Oh, the imperial court is in a hurry to ask for food." Lin Chi handed the official document to Zhao Quan.

After Zhao Quan finished reading, he frowned and said, "Come here and there, let's give half of it. If the full amount of grain is transported, there may be another civil uprising on Lizhou Road."

Lin Chi said: "It's not enough to lose half of the amount. This year, there is a severe drought on Lizhou Road, and the common people are too busy to take care of themselves. How can there be surplus food to be handed over to the government? Even if the order is only collected from rich households, the state and county officials have to apportion it to the small ones. On the head of the people."

The transshipment judge Gao Jingshan said: "Last year's corn harvest was bumper, so we can get some corn to make up the bill."

Corn is a new crop, and it is not within the scope of the imperial court's grain requisition. I don't know what the reaction is when it is handed over.

"Food is still a trivial matter," Gao Jingshan said in a low voice, "Accompanying the official document this time, there is also a private letter from my brother. Jia Wangkai, last year he moved to the Grand Tutor, and this year he promoted the Imperial City Secretary!"

"King Jia promoted the Imperial City Secretary?" Zhao Quan was inexplicably horrified.

Lin Chi couldn't believe it and then felt relieved, because the current emperor can do anything.He said with emotion: "Oh, the East Palace is not stable!"

Jiawang Zhao Kai, who was conferred the title of Grand Tutor last year, has already broken the rules and became the No.

This year, Zhao Kai first presided over the Summer Festival on behalf of the emperor, and then promoted Shenxiao Yuqing Longevity Palace, and a few days ago was even ordered to promote the Imperial City Secretary.

That is the Imperial City Secretary, known as the Jinyiwei in the Song Dynasty.

Although it is definitely far inferior to Jin Yiwei, what does it mean to have a prince in charge?
Gao Jingshan said: "The prince is prudent and upright, while King Jia is frivolous. Your Majesty's actions may cause serious trouble."

Zhao Quan was worried: "We are far away in the rivers and lakes, what can we do?"

Gao Jingshan said: "Gong Yuanzhang, who promoted corn and sweet potatoes, is now visiting relatives in Xixiang County, Yangzhou. We can send someone to write a letter, asking Yuanzhang to return to Beijing as soon as possible. He is quite favored by the officials. Maybe you can protect the prince from it."

"It's difficult," Zhao Quan shook his head and said, "Your Majesty doesn't like the crown prince, it's not a favorite minister who can change it."

Lin Chi also said: "The prince is upright and cautious, and he will not please the officials."

In history, although Song Qinzong did a lot of tricks, he was really impeccable when he was the prince.

The upright man dormant in the court puts his hope on the prince Zhao Huan. It seems that he has been educated very successfully so far. The emperor and the prince have completely opposite personalities.

The emperor was frivolous and free and easy, but the prince was cautious in his words and deeds.

The emperor is versatile, but the prince only loves classics and history.

The emperor is flirtatious and lustful, but the prince is not sensual.

The emperor admired Taoism, and the prince specialized in Confucianism.

The emperor wanted extravagance, but the prince was frugal and simple.

Cai Jing wanted to curry favor with Prince Zhao Huan by presenting exquisite glassware, but Zhao Huan smashed the glass in person, saying that such luxury was a waste of money and people.

Zhao Huan also thought it was inappropriate for Song Huizong to build the Ming Hall, so he did not participate in the completion ceremony of the Ming Hall.

The contradiction between father and son has become deeper and deeper, and after a few years of development, Song Huizong even suspected that his son was going to usurp the throne, so he personally issued an order to execute the prince's family order.

Because of Zhao Huan's bad attitude towards the treacherous party, Cai You and Wang Fu, who were political enemies to each other, went to make friends with King Jia Zhao Kai at the same time.Liang Shicheng even had the heart to support King Jia, and later Tong Guan and Yang Jian also turned to Zhao Kai and built Zhao Kai's palace to an unprecedented level.

On the other hand, Prince Zhao Huan has only a group of upright civil servants to assist him, and he has no real power in his hands.They had to cite Li Bangyan for help, because although Li Bangyan was a loafer, he had not done anything serious so far.

Perhaps it was this precarious state that made Zhao Huan less and less courageous, and his personality was suspicious, indecisive, and his ears were soft and easy to be influenced by others.

In any case, judging from Zhao Huan's current performance, the upright ministers all agreed that the succession of the crown prince would bring political clarity.

The fact that Lin Chi, Zhao Quan, and Gao Jingshan were able to get together to serve as officials was also arranged by some ministers of the DPRK and China through Zheng Juzhong.They could not control Jiangnan, Huainan, Sichuanzhong and other places, so they could only take the next best thing and temporarily hold Hanzhong in their hands.

And also secretly recruited and promoted rising stars, trying to let young officials serve as state and county officials, gradually infiltrating and controlling local states and counties.

This strategy was very successful, and later even turned Song Huizong into a polished commander.

In history, Jin Bing went south for the first time. Although Song Huizong took the Zen position, he did not intend to give up power.

After the product was shipped out of Beijing, it ordered the southeast not to send local official documents to Kaifeng, and ordered Qin Wang's division to move closer to him.

Moreover, he has all gone to the south, and he is also building a palace with Hua Shigang. The Zhenjiang Palace spends 20 yuan a month (including military expenses).

At that time, it was heard that Lin Chi had [-] guan in his hand, and Song Huizong immediately wrote to ask for half of it.

Lin Chi only gave 5000 guan, and the rest was sent to Tokyo to the new king Zhao Huan.There are many similar things. Local officials partnered to evade Song Huizong, and the new emperor Zhao Huan really took control of the power.

Zhao Quan said: "Regardless of whether it is useful or not, we must invite Duke Yuanzhang to return to Beijing. The officials are surrounded by Xiaoxiao, and it is rare for an upright person to be favored."

These people went to the doctor in a hurry, and regarded Zheng Juzhong and Li Bangyan as upright people.

"It's hard," Lin Chi said, shaking his head, "I heard that Duke Yuanzhang doesn't take part in the affairs of the court."

Gao Jingshan said: "His son Zhu Ming is quite ambitious, and he has already offended the traitorous party. If he doesn't participate, he must participate. Zhu Chenggong has long been a thorn in the side of the traitorous party."

Zhao Quan said: "The dog is lucky, you can go to see him with a book, the date of the test is still early, and you can come back to take the other test."

……

Zhao Fengji is 20 years old this year and has not yet married a wife.

He has learned from his family since he was a child, and has a lot of research on water conservancy projects.At the age of sixteen or seventeen, he followed his father to build water conservancy projects and had several years of practical experience.

Last year, Zhao Fengji got a copy of "Zhu's Mathematical Classics" by accident, and he was shocked to be a god, and he read the book with his father to study by himself.

This year, I came to Hanzhong with my father, and I admire Zhu Guoxiang's name even more.

He heard that when Yuanzhang passed through Xingyuan Mansion on the highway, he saw the severe spring drought in Hanzhong, so he immediately wrote to the governors of various states and counties, asking them to persuade the people to plant less corn, and to plant more corn this year to fight the drought.

The drought resistance of corn is stronger than that of sorghum, and far exceeds that of corn.

Duke Yuanzhang had a high prestige among the people. He said that corn was not drought-tolerant, so farmers switched to corn, which effectively alleviated the impact of drought.

Although corn is not drought-resistant, it is generally beneficial to the people of Hanzhong.

Corn is planted in many barren mountainous areas, and grain production increased significantly last year.Although the common people still don't have much surplus food, the grain merchants have saved a lot, and the government can mobilize food for disaster relief more calmly.

The Shanhe Weir in Hanzhong was subsidized by work this year. Under Zhao Quan's auspices, a section of it was finally dredged.

"Lang Jun, there is a village ahead, you can rest on the shore overnight."

"Come on shore."

Zhao Fengji didn't go ashore to disturb the people, and planned to spend the night on the boat.

As for why it stops near the village, of course it is for safety, the closer it is to the settlement, the less thieves there are.

The sun sets in the west, and the red clouds fill the sky.

Zhao Fengji was sitting on the bow of the boat enjoying the beautiful scenery, and suddenly saw more than ten people leading horses, walking towards the village along the river bank.

"Brother Yang, there is an official ship ahead!" A fugitive exclaimed.

Yang Zhi immediately reassured everyone: "Don't panic, we are not fugitives, we are here to give a birthday gift to Duke Yuan Zhang."

After all, it's a guilty conscience. Although these guys are very calm, they are obviously a little too calm.

Under normal circumstances, when you encounter an official ship in a rural village, you will more or less look at it curiously.

But the fugitives either looked ahead, or turned their heads to look elsewhere, as if the official ship did not exist.

Zhao Fengji looked carefully, called his servants and said, "The attendants and soldiers on the ship all hold weapons in their hands. These people don't seem to be good citizens."

The servant reminded: "There are more than a dozen thieves with weapons in their hands. Don't provoke the officials. Let's stop at another place."

But Zhao Fengji said: "I am the son of the deputy envoy of Lizhou Road. I am afraid that a dozen thieves will fail? You get off the boat and follow them from a distance to see what they are going to do. If you are in danger, run back to the boat immediately."

The servants had to obey orders and followed Yang Zhi and others into the village from afar.

Then he inquired again in the village, and ran back to report: "These thieves came to the home of a rich family. According to the villagers, the rich family's surname is Jin. These more than ten thieves have never been seen by the villagers, and this is the first time they have come here. "

Zhao Fengji pondered: "Since it is the first arrival, it is not supported by rich households in this village. They may trick the wealthy households into opening the door to keep guests, and then commit murder and arson in the middle of the night!"

The servant said: "Your Majesty, you've thought too much about it, so there's no such thing as a coincidence."

Zhao Fengji went back to the cabin and took the sword, and said: "Leave a few boatmen, and the rest will go ashore with me. I will definitely wipe out these thieves!"

The servant hesitated to speak, he watched this gentleman grow up, and knew that Zhao Fengji often did some secondary school work.

There are only nine of Zhao Fengji's followers and soldiers in total.He went straight to the rich man's house and knocked on the door, and said to the door: "I am the son of Lu Cao's deputy in Lizhou. I passed by here today, and I will borrow your house for a night's rest."

When the identity is announced, chickens fly like dogs.

The owner of the house, Jin Yuanwai, rushed out to greet him, nodded and bowed his head to invite him in.

Zhao Fengji asked as he walked, "Just now I saw more than ten people entering your house. What are their backgrounds?"

Jin Yuanwai said: "Duke Yuanzhang has old friends in Chang'an, so I sent them to give him a birthday gift."

Zhao Fengji sneered and traveled thousands of miles to deliver birthday gifts. After arriving in Yangzhou, he didn't go to the county town to hire a boat, but insisted on leading a horse for a more difficult land journey.Moreover, when they saw the official ship, they deliberately didn't look at it. These people have nothing to do with it.

Zhao Fengji said in a low voice: "These people are thieves, you can pretend not to know, invite them to drink more, and capture them in one fell swoop while they are drunk and asleep!"

Yang Zhi guessed that he was a broom star, and he would encounter bad luck wherever he went.

It was already almost at Daming Village, and someone somehow found out that there was a problem with his identity.

(End of this chapter)