Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 268 0263 [Zhang Gen is coming]

Zhang Tong's family is a big landlord, and he is also a famous minister.

Although Li Bao's family is a small landlord, he lives in Lizhuang, Kuiqiu. Even though he has the nickname of "Po Li San", he is deeply influenced by the thought of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.

If Zhu Ming rebelled immediately, they would probably choose to leave, or even turn around and join the imperial army.

It is necessary to constantly impact their bottom line and slowly change their thinking.

Three tiger crouching cannons were forged. Zhu Ming did not continue to make cannons, but let the cannon craftsmen try to forge firecrackers.

Ju Ming himself, has more things to do: provide young crop money for the common people!

It is limited to the disaster victims who gathered in the state city last year. They have no seeds at all, and they will become poorer and poorer if they seek loans from landlords.

When using work for relief, we made up a booklet for the victims and asked them to borrow money from their respective county government offices before spring plowing.Zhu Ming directly sent people to various county offices to watch the government distribute money.

It's not that no matter how poor the disaster victims are, they don't lend money.Because the identity cannot be verified, it is very likely that the landlord sent someone to impersonate, borrow money back and resell it to the poor to lend usury.

The Yellow River Flooding Area in Hebei lacks such relief measures and can only rely on landowners to provide seeds.

But landlords can’t take care of too many people, and more and more disaster victims returning home will beg together again in spring, forming large and small refugee teams, or simply turning into thieves.

Song Jiang's gang has already started to make trouble, mainly operating in the Yellow River flood area, constantly robbing wealthy households in the suburbs, and absorbing young and strong from among the refugees.

But Song Jiang did not directly rebel, it was purely running around and robbing, so not many refugees were absorbed.At this time, there were only a dozen or so leaders, and more than two hundred gangsters under his command. They didn't even dare to go to the county seat, and they had been wandering around the countryside to commit crimes.

There are many gangs of thieves like Song Jiang, but Song Jiang finally became bigger.

State and county officials did not dare to suppress the news when they got the news, and at the same time kept concealing it.Anyway, if you can drag it, drag it until the thieves go to other states and counties, then it's none of your business.

Zhang Shuye, who forced Song Jiang to surrender in history, is now serving as a transportation judge on Jingdong Road.

He accompanied the reception of the second batch of joint financial envoys and was responsible for providing various supplies for the envoys.

Watching the mission crossing the sea by boat, Zhang Shuye sighed: "The world will never be peaceful!"

The entourage asked, "Why did Mr. Xiang say that?"

Zhang Shuye looked at the seemingly calm sea: "Shandong's people's power is about to run out, and Hebei is full of holes. If the imperial court joins Jin to attack Liao, where will Shandong and Hebei be placed? At that time, there will be chaos everywhere. Shandong and Hebei will be unstable." , Can you keep it under the cloud? The state of Jin is young, and the state of Liao is old. If the Song Dynasty is rich and the people are strong, they should unite with the Jin to attack the Liao. But the soldiers of the Song Dynasty are tired and the people are exhausted, so it is right to unite with the Liao to fight against the Jin!"

Zhang Shuye turned around and boarded the carriage, feeling extremely bewildered, he couldn't see the future of Song Dynasty clearly.

The future of the Song Dynasty is unclear, but the fate of the Liao Kingdom is obvious.

Another uprising broke out again this year, and a bucket of corn is worth several bucks a few roads close to the Kingdom of Jin.

Fen is a silk fabric with double warp and double weft, and its price is several times that of silk.The hungry people first peeled the bark to satisfy their hunger, and then they ate each other.

An Sheng'er and Zhang Gao'er of the Han Dynasty revolted in the states along Liaoguo East Road, gathering more than [-] people.

It was also unlucky for Da Song, who managed to survive until the summer grain harvest, and replenished the strained grain to some extent.The two Zhejiang and Jiangnan four roads began to flood again, and the most important grain base of the Song Dynasty was doomed to fail, which made the finances of the Song Dynasty on the verge of collapse even worse.

Song Huizong issued an imperial decree, ordering relief to the southeast disaster-stricken areas, but did not allocate money and food, and let local officials solve it by themselves.

What is the emperor doing?

An imperial edict was promulgated to allow monks to study in state and county schools. "Huangdi Neijing" and "Tao Te Ching" are major classics, while "Zhuangzi" and "Liezi" are minor classics, which are included in the teaching materials of various local government schools, and are specially used by monks who are enrolled in school.At the same time, the method of promoting Taoism to tribute was established, and monks were allowed to enter Taixue.

Neighbors Lin Chong and Sun Li encountered Liang Shicheng's shanty town renovation and received some demolition fees for them to rent a house for themselves.

"It's hard to live in Tokyo," Lin Chong said, "I'm going to Yangzhou to join Mr. Zhu."

Sun Li said, "I'm going too."

He asked the other sworn brothers, and Li Jinyi, Hua Rong, Chai Jin, and Guan Sheng responded immediately.Zhang Qing, Xu Ning and others, after a little hesitation, were also willing to advance and retreat together.

They also called their friends, brought their own families, and escorted Yang Zhi's wife and children. A total of nearly a hundred people left Tokyo in batches.

……

It was already summer when Zhang Gen arrived in Jinzhou, and he took a wife, two concubines and a daughter with him.The eldest son, Zhang Tao, stayed in the capital as an official, while the four sons studied in their hometown. After the next exam, the second and third sons were sent to Xiangyang to take part in the other exam.

"Jinzhou is really poor." Entering the boundary of Xunyang County, Zhang Gen couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

However, Xunyang County is already considered a wealthy county in Jinzhou.

His wife Huang said: "Remote counties and counties cannot be compared with Huainan and Jiangnan. The husband wants to recruit Zhu Chenggong as his son-in-law, but I haven't seen him yet, so I don't know what he looks like."

Zhang Gen said: "I haven't seen him before, but I heard that he is quite heroic. No matter how he looks, a good man is a man of talent and virtue, but his appearance is second."

"Of course it's better if it's a handsome man." Huang said with a smile.

Huang's background is not small, her father is Huang Fu, an official to deputy prime minister.

Huang Fu firmly supported Wang Anshi at first, but he offended Wang Anshi because of his criticism of the market change law. In the end, he eased the relationship and supported the reform.

In addition, Li Gang is not only Huang's son-in-law, but also Huang's cousin.

These families are all married for generations.

The family disembarked at the pier without causing a stir.

Zhang Gen is a real court official, and he is straight to Longtuge, but now he has been relegated to the deputy envoy of the regiment training, and his power is not as good as that of the state government officials.

Most people don't want to touch this kind of demotion, what if they offend a big boss?

"The order is orderly," Zhang Gen nodded approvingly, "There was no private column along the way, and Zhu Chenggong not only controlled the state city, but also governed the subordinate counties, which is really commendable."

They rented a mule cart and went to the city. Huang asked the driver, "I am here to vote for relatives who are officials under the prefect Zhu. How is this prefect Zhu?"

The coachman smiled and said, "If you are an official under Zhu Taishou, you have to be careful."

Zhang Gen asked: "Why do you have to be careful in serving?"

The coachman said: "Prefect Zhu can't rub the sand in his eyes. He escorted dozens of officials from the prefectural and county government offices to Xiangyang. I heard that many of them will be beheaded and exiled. It's not easy to be an official. If things are not done well, you will be scolded. Even if you pass the sentence, you will be scolded by the prefect so that you lose your temper."

"Isn't this a cruel official?" Huang asked.

But the coachman said: "It's not a cruel official. The prefect Zhu is very kind to the common people. There is a public opinion box at the gate of the state government. Anyone who has a grievance can write a letter and put it in the box. The prefect Zhu will let the Siliyuan have a good trial. The prefect Zhu just came At that time, I personally retried an unjust case, which involved several lives. Let me tell you, that case is very bizarre..."

It is estimated that the unjust case tried by Ju Ming himself will continue to be passed down, because it contains all the popular elements.Adultery, love murder, silence, false accusation, seizure of property...these are enough for the common people to tell the ancient stories, and after telling their sons, they can tell their grandchildren.

The coachman talked eloquently, as if he had witnessed the prefect's trial with his own eyes.

Mrs. Huang whispered to her youngest daughter, "How does Qiniang feel?"

Zhang Jinping blushed, lowered his head and lowered his eyes, and said, "It's up to the parents alone."

But Zhang Gen said: "The public opinion box is an excellent method. If I recover, I will also set up a public opinion box at the gate of the yamen."

Zhang Gen opened the curtain of the car to observe all the way, and suddenly asked, "Why don't you see the beggar?"

The coachman said: "The disabled beggars have all gone to the nursing home, and they are not allowed to be idle. They can do whatever they can. Those who have no hands and feet, learn to sing ancient songs. Anyway, they have to earn some money by themselves. Those who are not disabled Beggars, send them all to mine in the mountains.”

"Can the mine accommodate so many people?" Zhang Gen asked.

The coachman said: "The prefect withdrew his private stalls, and the number of merchant ships increased. Many poor people can go to the wharf to do coolies. If they can't find a living, arrange them to go to the mountains to open up wasteland. The prefect will lend seeds and farm tools. The five counties of Jinzhou There are mountains everywhere, and there is a lot of wasteland, as long as you work hard, you will not starve to death."

The coachman kept talking: "Those local ruffians are gone, and they are afraid of being punished for committing crimes. By the way, the prefect opened an iron smelting factory by himself, and the prices of iron pots, kitchen knives, and hoes have all been reduced, and my family can afford iron pots. "

Zhang Gen said with emotion: "This is a really capable minister. After taking office for one year, a state will be governed!"

But the coachman said: "The city of Zhou is very good, but the other counties are not good. I often pick up merchants in my car, and they all say that Jinzhou City is good, and I met a good official. The county seat is not good, and the county officials are still collecting taxes indiscriminately." , They are afraid of offending the prefect, so they dare not raise taxes on merchants, so they raise taxes on merchants in the county."

"This cannot be eliminated." Zhang Gen expressed his understanding.

As the governor of the state, it is not easy to rule the state city. How can the subordinate counties below be managed?
Chatting all the way to the state office Zhang Gen had a very good impression of Ju Ming.

He asked his wife, concubine, daughter and entourage to wait, and went to the state government to do the formalities by himself.

First, Zuo Ya Ya Fan Zhun was in charge of reception, and found out that Zhang Gen was actually a court official, and he also went straight to Longtu Pavilion, so he didn't dare to be careless.

Soon, Wu Mao, the Secretary-General of the State Yamen, came in person and bowed respectfully: "Wu Mao, the envoy of the Jinzhou branch, pays homage to Zhang Tuanlian!"

"It's easy to say." Zhang Gen nodded.

Wu Mao asked again, "Do you want to notify the prefect?"

Zhang Gen said: "Go pass it on."

Not long after, Zhu Ming came out with a big laugh, bowed his head and said, "I have known Mr. Chang's name for a long time, and seeing you today, Sansheng is lucky!"

"I've also admired the prefect Zhu's name for a long time!" Zhang Gen was immediately more satisfied, because Zhu Ming was handsome, and his daughter would not feel wronged when he married him.

Zhu Ming said, "Please sit in the yellow hall."

Zhang Gen said: "That's unnecessary, the family members are still waiting outside the Yamen."

Zhu Ming asked, "Have you found a place to live?"

Zhang Gen replied: "I just arrived in Jinzhou today."

Zhu Ming immediately shouted: "Bai Sheng, find a good house for Zhang Tuanlian, and then hire some servants!"

"I'm sorry." Zhang Gen looked more and more at Ju Ming.

(End of this chapter)