Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 266 0261 [Sichuan Shu intelligence agent]

Jinzhou, the back residence of the state government.

Shi Yuangong clasped his hands and said, "I don't know why Mr. Xiang called me."

Zhu Ming retreated the servants and asked Bai Sheng and Deng Chun to guard outside, not allowing anyone to approach the door ten steps away.

Then, Zhu Ming closed the door and said, "I have an important task, and I don't know who to entrust it to. After thinking about it, only you can do it."

"But according to my husband's orders!" Shi Yuangong knew that the real mission was coming, and helping recruit blacksmiths last year was just a test.

Zhu Ming said: "My father built a paper workshop in Yangzhou. You take Deng Chun and Yang Pu with you, and go back to Daming Village to form a business trip, and take Yangzhou bamboo paper to Sichuan to sell. When you return, you can bring back some specialties from Sichuan. That's it."

Shi Yuangong asked: "When selling paper, do you have other errands?"

Zhu Ming warned: "Start from Yangzhou, pass Xingyuan Mansion, then go to Lizhou, and from Lizhou go south to Sichuan. Along the way, outline the terrain of mountains and rivers, and inquire about the customs. Who are the aristocratic families and corrupt officials? The number of Xiang troops, the barriers of the city, the dangers of the pass, and whether the people are poor or not, all must be recorded in detail."

Shi Yuangong's eyes widened, then he cupped his hands and said, "Please remember! It's just..."

"Just what?" Zhu Ming asked.

Shi Yuangong said: "The price of Shu paper is high, and it is quite excellent. Shipping paper from Yangzhou to sell it is like selling iron to Xuzhou. I am afraid it will be difficult to pay back the cost. Or should we replace it with other goods?"

"Otherwise," Zhu Ming shook his head and said, "I wrote to the magistrate of Su (Su Yuanlao), and he said that people in Shu like paper from other places very much. My father's 'Yundang paper' can be used as a signboard by Su Dongpo and Wenyu. Shu Chinese people and scholars are bound to rush to buy it. You went to Yangzhou to pick the most exquisite paper and sell it to the rich people in Shu."

"Yes!" Shi Yuangong cupped his hands.

Whether it is Fan Chengda of the Southern Song Dynasty or the "Shu Jianpu" of the Yuan Dynasty, they complain that the Shu paper is too thick, and a strong laborer can only recite five hundred papers.Shu paper is very expensive to sell to other places, purely because of transportation problems.However, emblem paper, pond paper, and bamboo paper were transported to Sichuan, and Shu people loved their lightness and fineness, and the price was often more than three times that of Shu paper.

Zhu Ming said: "Be careful in everything. If you encounter difficulties, please report my name."

Duke Shi Yuan bowed to leave, bid farewell to his newly married wife last year, and set off with Yang Pu and Deng Chun.

With Ju Ming's letter in his hand, he recruited a team of village braves and more than 20 young men from Daming Village, and then went to Yangzhou to get bamboo paper.

Zhu Guoxiang is rectifying the Suling Palace. The land newly occupied last year was ordered to be returned to the peasants.And the usury owed by farmers only needs to repay the principal and low interest.

As for the taxation, corvee, and transfer, Zhu Guoxiang didn't bother to take care of these taxes.Because Taoist priests are willing to pay taxes, but officials dare not come to collect them.

Yangzhou Dudao is gentle and gentle, he was resented by this set of operations, but he could only endure it for the time being, he dared not sue Zhu Guoxiang.

Of the 8000 guan given by the emperor, 3000 guan were stolen by the eunuch when he left Beijing. Zhu Guoxiang gave dozens of guan to the eunuch who passed the decree, and the rest were hacked by our dean Zhu.

After reading his son's letter, Zhu Guoxiang said to Shi Yuangong: "The first batch of really good paper can only be produced in May, and you can sell it to Sichuan in June. The bamboo paper produced today is just made of old bamboo. The inferior paper was made. But the quality of the inferior paper is not bad, so let’s sell it to Lizhou first. After the good paper is produced, it will not be too late to sell it to Chuanzhong.”

Shi Yuangong immediately understood that not only Zhu Ming was plotting to rebel, but this Grand Master Zhu also had plans.

He immediately took people to Jintan Village and brought all the bamboo paper in stock.He also took the letter of Zhu's father and son to take the official ship to Xingyuan Mansion for free.After waiting for several days in Xingyuan Mansion, he took an official ship to sail against the Han River for free.

As long as you take the official ship, the goods will not have to pay road tax.

The imperial court issued repeated orders to prohibit this kind of behavior, but it couldn't be banned at all.The Zhu family's father and son didn't feel guilty, because there were too many private cards along the way, and it was the local government that collected taxes indiscriminately before they used their status as officials to avoid taxes.

While waiting for the official ship, Deng Chun was in charge of guarding the cargo, while Shi Yuangong took Yang Pu and others to go out every day to inquire about various news.

Until the upper reaches of the Han River could no longer sail, Shi Yuangong and the others took the overland route, crossing mountains and ridges along the northern end of the Jinniu Road, and traveled to Lizhou City (Guangyuan) until April.

Now the magistrate of Lizhou turned out to be Li Youwen, the former magistrate of Xingyuan, who had sent several iron smelters to Zhu Ming.

The Western Army who went to Sichuan to suppress the barbarians passed by Hanzhong when returning to Shaanxi. Li Youwen failed to provide enough food for the army on time, which caused the Western Army to plunder the Hanzhong countryside.In the end, when the trouble came to the imperial court, the general of the Western Army had nothing to do with it, but Li Youwen was demoted to be the prefect of Lizhou.

Shi Yuangong visited as a servant of Zhu Ming, and Li Youwen greeted him warmly: "How is my brother Chenggong?"

"Except for a few small troubles, everything is going well for my master." Shi Yuangong said.

After chatting for a while, Li Youwen said, "From what you said, it seems that you have read books?"

Shi Yuangong replied: "I am a scholar from Puzhou, and I have won Juren. But my family has declined, and my father and brother have died. Fortunately, Mr. Zhu took him in, and now he sells paper for Mr. Zhu."

"Zhu Xiang made the paper mill public?" Li Youwen asked.

Shi Yuangong asked back: "Has the eunuch heard of Yundang Valley?"

Li Youwen said: "Of course I have heard that it is Wen Yuke's secluded place, and Sansu and his son have both been guests."

Shi Yuangong said: "Mr. Zhu Daxiang made paper near Yundang Valley, and the raw material used was Yundang bamboo. Due to seasonal reasons, now only the old bamboo makes bad paper. After two months, Hsinchu will be able to make good paper. .Here in Lizhou, by order of the master, I specially donated some to the eunuch.”

This is nonsense, Zhu Ming didn't know that Li Youwen was transferred to Lizhou.He thought that when Li Youwen was in Xingyuan Mansion and let Shiyuan Highway pass by, he could visit Yi Er.

Shi Yuangong took out a stack of bamboo paper, Li Youwen stroked it and observed it, and said in surprise: "Compared with skin paper, it is naturally inferior, but as bamboo paper it is already top-grade. Can Zhu Xianggong make better ones?"

"In June and July, I will do it again, and bring good papers to the prefect." Shi Yuangong smiled.

Li Youwen was very happy: "Mr. Zhu is too polite."

He immediately studied the ink and picked up the brush, and wrote a poem on the bamboo paper called "Xi De Yundang Bamboo Paper to Mr. Zhu".When the ink was slightly dry, he handed it to Lord Shi Yuan: "Please pass it on."

After collecting the poems, Lord Shi Yuan asked casually, "There are some famous families in Lizhou. How is the market for bamboo paper?"

Li Youwen said: "The three clans of Wang, Yang, and Wu are the most prosperous, but none of them produced many Jinshi. They are just local big clans. If you want to sell bamboo paper, you can sell it to the Li clan in Zhoucheng. Although the Li family didn't come out. Jinshi are local merchants with a lot of money.”

"Thank you, the prefect, for your guidance." Shi Yuangong cupped his hands.

Farewell to Zhizhou, Shi Yuangong stayed at the inn, and visited Li's family the next day, and sold all the bamboo paper he brought.

Counting the travel expenses, I only made a small fortune.If it weren't for the free ride on the official ship, I'm afraid I would have to lose money.

Of course, Lizhou specialties can be sold on the return trip.

While buying goods, while inquiring about news.

Lizhou was originally the capital of Lizhou Road, and officials moved to Xingyuan Mansion one after another.But the garrison here still exists, and thousands of Xiang troops are stationed at the throat of Chuchuan to prevent rebels from the Shu area from going north.

Shi Yuangong knocked around and learned that the Xiang army in Lizhou had been abolished.

Most of the Xiang army are engaged in various duties.The rest of the Xiang army and horse army were not enough, needless to say, there were not even a few war horses left.

Shi Yuangong also went to peek outside the school grounds, and found that there was not a single Xiang army inside, and usually did not participate in training at all.

Yang Pu inquired about the addresses of several officers of the Xiang Army, observed them quietly for two days, and came back to report: "The generals of the Xiang Army here don't even carry weapons when they go out. They might not even be as good as the archers in Puzhou when fighting. Lizhou At the top of the city, there are not many soldiers, and when the sun is shining, they hide to see no one."

Shi Yuangong recorded on paper: Lizhou is the throat of Sichuan, and the place where military strategists must pass.However, the Xiang army here has been idle for a long time, and has not practiced once a year.Soldiers are not allowed to carry armor as a rule, and all ordnance is stored in the staff storehouse.The defense in the city is loose, and it can be attacked by surprise, so as to control Echuan and Shu.

After dawdling for more than half a month, Shi Yuangong looked everywhere, and finally returned with Lizhou local specialties.

When they returned to Yangzhou, they threw the goods to the Zheng family, and handed over the records along the way to Zhu Guoxiang for safekeeping.After resting for a few days, Shi Yuangong took Hsinchu good paper and headed south along Jinniu Road again.

This time I really entered Shu, and I also asked for news along the way.

After passing Lizhou, Jianzhou Jiange is towering and Cuiwei, but the defense is still empty.

It has been too long since there has been a war here, and the officers, soldiers and soldiers didn't take it seriously at all.

The gatekeepers are all lazy and not very strong.They were given empty pay, the number of soldiers was insufficient all the year round, and their usual food and pay were often in arrears, making it difficult to live hungry and full.

Passing-by merchants have nothing to do with soldiers, and they are all taken away by tax collectors.

On the contrary, the patrolling soldiers nearby seem to have stronger combat effectiveness. They are responsible for inspecting smuggling all year round.

Shi Yuangong recorded: Jiange is dangerous and cannot be conquered. It must be outsmarted.There are less than two hundred guards and soldiers, and they are weak.But the inspectors are worthy of a battle. These sergeants are hunting theft and smuggling, and they have been running in the Shu Mountains all year round.However, if he is greedy for money, he can be lured into buying in advance.

It also records the great clans: Jianzhou clans Huang, Yu...

The news about the local clans comes from hearsay, and the few people who agree with each other will write it down. It may not be consistent with the real situation, but it will not be too far behind.

Then record the feelings of the people: the prefect of Jianzhou is cruel and cruel to the people, the officials are corrupt and corrupt, and every time the people flee, there are many bandits in the mountains.There was a big bandit named Huang Er, who was also a branch of the Huang family, and gathered hundreds of people to plunder the place.If the government cannot suppress them, they will flee into the mountains.This bandit has a reputation for righteousness. He only robs big households and business travelers, and does not disturb the poor at all.It can be recruited.

Shi Yuangong moved forward so slowly, no matter how expensive Yuandang good paper is sold, he probably won't make a lot of money, and all his money was spent on scouting for news.

He also paid special attention to salt smugglers. Among the smuggling team in Chuanxia, ​​apart from tea smuggling, salt smugglers were the most rampant, and they secretly communicated with the inspectors.

Shi Yuangong suggested that if he marched into Sichuan, he could recruit private salt dealers along the way.

(End of this chapter)