Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 328 0323 [Zhu Jinzhou is back again]

Xiangyang.

Inside and outside the city, the population surged.

Because life in the countryside is difficult, especially for the half-children in the family, although they can also do farm work, they eat too much at the developmental age.

As long as there is no shortage of labor in the family, the young people will go to the city to beg for life.Those with relatives go to relatives, and those without relatives go to work together. Most of them will become beggars or gangsters, or they will be dragged into bandits.

Gyeonggi, Gyeongdong, Gyeongxi, Huaidong, Huaixi, Hebei, Shaanxi... bandits everywhere!
To be precise, the whole country is like this.

For example, Yue Fei is currently suppressing bandits in Zhending, Hebei.

At the beginning of Tong Guan's campaign against the Liao Dynasty, he asked the prefectures in Hebei to recruit soldiers to fight against the Liao Dynasty.Yue Fei not only successfully enlisted in the army, but also directly became the squad leader.

Before these daredevils went to the front line, the local bandits began to riot because the government taxed them too harshly.

Tao Jun, Jia Jin and the two thieves, at first they were just playing around, running around and looting rich households in the countryside.Unexpectedly, more and more people took the initiative to join the group. In ten months, thousands of people gathered, defeated the official army many times, and went straight to Fucheng.

The news of the thief came, and no one dared to fight.

Yue Fei took the initiative to invite Ying and took full responsibility for the action.

He first sent someone to pretend to be a merchant, and deliberately let the bandits catch the thief.

Then, Yue Fei led dozens of cavalry out of the city, attacked the bandit camp, pretended to be defeated, and then shot back with his carbine.The bandits were defeated and fled back to the camp, and the soldiers who joined the bandit army took the opportunity to create chaos from within.

Under the cooperation of inside and outside, Yue Fei captured Tao Jun and Jia Jinhe, the leaders of the bandits, alive.

This is Yue Wumu's first battle!
Around Xiangyang, there are also many bandits and bandits, and Xiaoju mountain forest is hard to wipe out.

Zhang Tong said: "My lord, I'm afraid the journey will be dangerous, so you have to be prepared."

"Don't be afraid, let's go to Jinzhou." Zhu Ming said.

"Golden State?"

The attendants and students were very surprised. They thought that Ju Ming was going to Tokyo.

"Going to Jinzhou, I want to do something important." Zhu Ming didn't explain too much, but went straight to the inn outside Xiangyang City.

Everyone is wearing t-shirts. If this style of clothing is strictly followed by etiquette, only Jinshi, Guozijian students, Tai students, and prefectural and county officials can wear it.

However, the management is relatively loose, and officials who live at home or dismissed, even ordinary subordinates, also like to wear shirts as their regular clothes.

The shopkeeper of the inn took a glance, and said with a more respectful attitude, "Please give me the reason."

It is estimated that there are too many thieves, and the hotel accommodation has become more stringent, and identity registration must be carried out first.

But Zhu Ming said, "I'm here to find someone, where is Liang Yi?"

"So I'm looking for Mr. Liang, please wait a moment." The shopkeeper immediately called the assistant.

Liang Yi, Zhu Guoxiang's eldest disciple, left Tokyo with Zhu Ming, and returned to Yangzhou halfway to report the letter.Some time ago, I came to the Xiangyang Inn to wait for more than a month, and I gave money to the innkeeper to help pay attention to the "distinguished guests".

Not long after, Liang Yi went downstairs with an attendant, and when he saw Zhu Ming, he immediately bowed to him, "Hello, sir."

Ju Ming clasped his hands and asked, "Is the boat ready?"

"It's ready," Liang Yi turned to the shopkeeper and said, "Please settle the rent."

After paying the accommodation fee, Liang Yi walked out of the inn and took Zhu Ming to the pier.

The largest ship in Daming Township is docked there, with a head and tail length of 28 meters, and some cargo has already been loaded.

The shipment is only incidental, in order to deceive people.

There were 25 village warriors on board. Although none of them wore armor, they all carried bows and arrows.

Stay away from the river bank, raise the sails, and hang the big "Daming" flag.

It was a favorable wind from the southeast, and the sailing speed was extremely fast.

After Wudang, water bandits began to increase.

But those water bandits didn't dare to loot when they saw the "Da Ming" flag.

This is the smuggling fleet of Daming Village, which has built up a reputation over the past few years. A gang of water bandits with less than a hundred members will die even if they dare to rob.

Zhang Tong and Li Bao became more and more confused and began to discuss the situation in private.

"What exactly is Xianggong going to do? He is mysterious, and he doesn't say clearly." Zhang Tong was at a loss.

Li Bao also couldn't figure it out: "There is a village brave on board to escort the goods, maybe he is guarding against bandits. But how could it be such a coincidence that we happened to meet in Xiangyang?"

Zhang Tong said: "It must have been waiting for my husband for a long time, they already knew that my husband would go back."

The two still didn't think about rebellion, because it was too shocking.

Li Bao said: "I have inquired about it in Yuezhou, and even the Yangtze River has water bandits. The water boats from all walks of life do not send hundreds of gang troops to escort them, and they dare not travel on the Yangtze River at all. How can the good Song Dynasty become Like this?"

Zhang Tong said without any scruples: "There are foolish and treacherous officials on the top, and corrupt officials on the bottom. Nowadays, the people of the world are struggling to live, why are there not many thieves?"

"It's all because of Fa Liao!" Li Bao was so angry that he hit the bulkhead with his fist.

Zhang Tong shook his head, "Frozen three feet does not happen in a single day. When Cai Jing was prime minister, he had already exhausted the power of the people. Otherwise, Wang Fu would forcefully expropriate his husband's money, and it would be impossible for thieves to be everywhere."

This is true. Cai Jing not only ruined the finances, but also pushed countless people to the brink of bankruptcy.

However, Wang Fu's expropriation of his husband's money became the last straw that broke the camel's back.There are even small businessmen and small landlords who broke up their homes and fled as robbers, bringing their buddies and tenants to loot their homes.

When there are more thieves, the government has to punish them.

The more thieves and bandits are levied, the heavier the miscellaneous taxes will be.

There has been a vicious circle!
Even the government's transfer of finance and taxes has greatly increased the cost, and it is necessary to redouble the dispatch of gang troops to escort them.

Zhu Ming returned to Jinzhou City by boat all the way. The summer grain in the five counties of Jinzhou has not yet been collected, and the officials in each county are urging them.There is also a difference between buying money, buying money, and exempting husbands. Official ships and conscripted merchant ships have been docking at the dock and waiting.

"Prefect Zhu is back, Prefect Zhu is back!"

Not long after getting off the boat, some people recognized Zhu Ming, and immediately cheered and shouted.

In the past ten years, only the two years when Ju Ming presided over Jinzhou, the life of ordinary people was the best.The law and order is very good, the prices are relatively stable, and the exorbitant miscellaneous taxes are the least.

The people nearby flocked here, greeting warmly, waving and laughing, just like celebrating the New Year.

The students were extremely shocked and admired at the same time. They didn't expect Ju Ming to have such an official voice.

Ju Ming asked a street vendor: "How much is the food price this year?"

The peddler sighed sadly: "Oh, I can't even afford to eat. When the prefect was there, there was a famine, and the price of white rice never rose to 1300 renminbi. This year's summer grain harvest was bumper, but the price of wheat started at 1200 renminbi. Ship it out."

"Isn't summer grain expropriated for cloth?" Zhu Ming asked.

The peddler said: "This year's summer grain, silk and cloth are not needed, and the government only collects grain. The autumn harvest has not yet come, and Jinzhou is full of mountains. How can there be so much grain handed over?"

Another passer-by looked at Zhu Ming with expectant eyes: "Is the prefect Zhu returning to Jinzhou to be an official? We all look forward to the prefect's return."

"Don't worry, life will be easy." Ju Ming reassured.

It took half an hour to chat with the people outside the city.

On the Han River, Liang Yi took a letter from Zhu Ming, but went straight to Daming Village by boat.

In the letter, Zhu Ming made an appointment with his father. On the [-]th of this month, Jinzhou and Yangzhou will raise troops at the same time.If there is an accident, start in advance!
When Zhu Ming entered the city, more people came after hearing the news.

And unknown who spread the rumor that the emperor had transferred Zhu Ming back and wanted to be the governor of Jinzhou again.

This is really not directed and acted by Ju Ming, it represents a wish of the people.So many people believed it and rushed to tell the truth, even the gentry and merchants were overjoyed.

Nearly a hundred Jinzhou scholars also came, all of them had heard Ju Ming's lectures, and they were the first batch of scholars who studied "University Chapters and Sentences".

"How many did you pass last year?" Zhu Ming asked.

The scholar Dai Chengsi shook his head: "There is not a single Jinshi in Jinzhou. Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, I don't know which one can break the ground."

Zhu Ming didn't teach them stereotyped essays, and Jinzhou scholars are too weak to improve overnight.

Last year's No. [-] scholar, He Huan, was the grandson of former Prime Minister He Zhizhong.

The second place in the list is Wang Juzheng, who was born as an imperial student, and he followed Chen Dong to beat the drums and knock on the que.

Wang Juzheng did not accept the appointment of the magistrate of Anren County.

Wang Juzheng still refused to be awarded the principal of Jingzhou Prefecture.

The second place did not accept official positions, and Song Huizong soon knew about it.

The emperor personally ordered that Wang Juzheng be the headmaster of Daming Mansion and Zhenjiang Mansion at the same time.As the headmaster of both governments, this kind of appointment is unprecedented, and he will definitely be promoted faster in the future.

Wang Juzheng still refused to be appointed as an official, and got the chance to face the saint.

He told Song Huizong that the six thieves were a disaster and the country was exhausted, so it was necessary to rectify the administration of officials, promote virtuous officials, and cultivate themselves.Hua Shigang and Zhu Xi should not be recruited any more. They must be dismissed.Although Zhu Ming's words were extreme, he was loyal to the country and should be recalled to the court to take up an important position.

Song Huizong was furious and told Wang Juzheng to leave!

Wang Juzheng was begging for benevolence, so he went back to his hometown in Yangzhou to live in seclusion, creating a wonderful story of being a hermit at the second place in the innovation class. (This old man, who was the Minister of the Ministry of War in the Southern Song Dynasty in history, was thrown to Hainan Island by Qin Hui for advocating resistance to gold.)
The scholars were still chatting here, and the Jinzhou merchants came again, asking whether Zhu Ming would come back to be the prefect.

Zhu Ming arranged the students in the inn, and went to visit Zhang Gen alone: ​​"Mount Tai is on top, please be respected by my son-in-law!"

Zhang Gen sighed and said, "You are too impatient, you shouldn't have spoken so fiercely when you were in the school."

Zhu Ming said with a smile: "Father-in-law was demoted to Jinzhou to be the deputy envoy of the regiment training, isn't it also due to his fierce words and negligence?"

Zhang Gen laughed loudly when he heard this: "It's not a family. If you don't enter a family, you can't choose the wrong son-in-law."

"It caused my father-in-law to be unable to return to office." Zhu Ming said.

Zhang Gen asked: "Why did you come back? Could it be that the emperor pardoned you for your crime?"

Zhu Ming said: "Go back to my hometown to visit my relatives."

"Alas, the past two years in Jinzhou... don't mention it, the whole world is like this," Zhang Gen shook his head with emotion. There must be great chaos! Especially in Shandong and Hebei, the burden is the heaviest, and I don’t know how many Song Jiang and Fang La will emerge.”

Zhu Ming asked: "Father-in-law thinks that the Song Dynasty can wait until the day when the crown prince ascends the throne?"

Zhang Gen sneered and mocked: "It depends on how long the emperor can live. If he lives another 20 years, I'm afraid the whole country will turn against him, and he will take on the image of the troubled times at the end of the Sui Dynasty."

This is comparing Song Huizong to Sui Yangdi, without saving any face.

(End of this chapter)