Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 417 0412 [Old friend returns]

At the time when troops were raising horses in the north and south of the Yangtze River, Bai Chongyan, Min Zishun, and Ling Guxu finally came back from Guangnan.

Because they had a deep relationship with Ju Ming, although their birth records were not destroyed, they were all escorted to Guangnan editorial management.

After the peace talks, the court agreed to release him, but the return journey was very tortuous.

First, he planned to take Jinghu Lake, which was the closest road, but he heard that Zhong Xiang rebelled and proclaimed himself emperor, and he would kill Confucian scholars who did not convert to Manichaeism.So he changed his way back to his hometown from Jiangxi, but when he crossed Meiling, he was told by the guards that the road was blocked, and there was also a band of bandits rebelling in southern Jiangxi.

There is no other way but to go around from Fujian to Jiangdong to board the ship.

Then land in advance in Huaixi, because Wuchang has been occupied by the bell thief. (At this time, Wuchang was in Ezhou in later generations, and Ezhou was in Wuchang in later generations.)
The three of them went all the way west and found that the county magistrates of Macheng and Huangpi were already lying down.

To the west of their area of ​​jurisdiction is the Zhu thief, and to the south is the bell thief. They are surrounded by two big thieves and live in fear all day long.Officials are afraid to go to the countryside to collect taxes, for fear that something bad will spark a civil uprising.

Among the territories newly occupied by Ju Ming, Anzhou is relatively well populated.

Anlu, Xiaogan, Yingshan, Yingcheng, and the counties are obviously denser.These places originally belonged to Jinghu North Road, but now they are assigned to Xiangyang Prefecture by Zhu Guoxiang, and the humanities and customs are more inclined to Huaixi.

Entering the boundaries of Suizhou and Yingzhou, the style changes immediately.

There are resettlement wasteland villages everywhere, and there is no need for the government to bother too much here.

Most of them were rich families who had fled from the south, and they brought their own money, food and loyal domestic slaves.After obtaining a small piece of wasteland, the rich also had to cultivate it themselves, and the domestic slaves regained their freedom to cultivate the wasteland, and the master and slave could help each other.

"Under the successful rule, there are no refugees!" Bai Chongyan exclaimed.

Ling Guxu said: "From this point of view, Mr. Zhu will definitely win the world!"

Min Zishun said: "The rich and prosperous land in the southeast has not yet regained its vitality, but the taxes are still heavy. The Song court has no regrets at all."

Ling Gu Xu said: "I heard that there are bandits everywhere in Shandong and Hebei. The imperial court needs to suppress the bandits, so naturally they have to levy heavy taxes to support soldiers."

"Continuing to levied like that, there may be a second Fangla in the southeast." Bai Chongyan said with emotion.

All the way to Xiangyang, the people along the way are very poor.

Even the wealthy households who escaped from Zhongxiang's territory did not have much property left in the north of the Yangtze River, and they had to go to the land to cultivate wasteland in order to continue to live.

But what is visible to the naked eye is a kind of order.

The most precious thing in troubled times is order. Only with this can there be hope and people's hearts will be stable.

When passing by a reclamation village, I saw many scholars weeding beans.Although he was wearing the cheapest brown clothes, his identity as a Confucian scholar could still be recognized.

Bai Chongyan stepped forward to salute, and couldn't help asking: "Why do you gather here to open up wasteland, instead of taking a certain official position?"

Confucian scholars returned their salutes one after another, and one of them said: "We all escaped from Jinghu Lake. After crossing the Yangtze River, we have lost all our wealth. I originally planned to go to Xiangyang to seek a job, but there is no shortage of ministers and generals." Officials. I heard that we are all scholars, and the Generalissimo took good care of us and gave us some bean seeds, money and books. He also said that the imperial examination will be resumed in three years, and let me study while cultivating wasteland."

Another scholar said: "It is also a rebellion. Zhu Xianggong and Zhu Yuanshuai care about all people, and they love scholars more than the Song Dynasty court. On the other hand, the bell thief is simply a demon in the world. This beast is unpopular and will surely die. Genocide!"

After careful inquiry, I found out that all these scholars had lost their families, and many parents, brothers, wives and children had been killed.

In a family of ten, there are only three or four people who can escape the Yangtze River alive.They had already despaired of the Great Song court, and hated and hated Zhong Xiang. Now they pinned all their hopes on Zhu and his son.

The Confucian scholars came from different prefectures and counties. They got together because they went to Xiangyang to seek officials, and then brought their families to reclaim wasteland here.

While talking, their families brought meals, and each family sat in the field to eat.

There are also boys who come with books, and a scholar is in charge of teaching the children to read and write in the soil with branches.

The remaining scholars held their rice bowls and gathered together to study "University Chapters and Sentences".They have read "University" before, and now they are re-understanding it, comparing it with traditional annotations, and soon heated discussions.

Ling Guxu looked at the simple thatched huts in the distance, at the boy lying on the ground writing with a branch, at the Confucian scholar who was covered in mud but studying knowledge, suddenly his eyes were sore and he had the urge to cry.

In this reclamation village, there are not only scholars, but also ordinary farmers, some of whom are domestic slaves and tenants who fled with the scholars.

They were also assigned to wasteland, and they were eating in the fields at the moment, and they all came here with their rice bowls in their hands.Although I don't know much about learning, I like to watch the excitement, so I think it's very interesting for my husbands to study.

There were also a few children from humble backgrounds who gathered around to follow the Confucian scholars to learn how to read.

Bai Chongyan, Ling Guxu, and Min Zishun were all quite moved, and after eating some dry food, they continued on their way with their wives and relatives.

In a blink of an eye, they entered the reclamation area where the army was located, and the scene here was different.

Zhu Ming allowed the army to operate once every five days, and the rest of the time he could go home and open up wasteland.Soldiers stripped of their armor are everywhere, and some soldiers have acquired dozens of acres of land, which they simply cannot grow. Every family is assigned a refugee to farm for them.

The refugees in the military reclamation area are the hardest. They can't devote all their energy to reclaiming wasteland for their own families, and they have to allocate time to cultivate the wasteland of soldiers.

However, there are also preferential policies. The wasteland reclaimed by soldiers will be exempted from taxes for three years, [-]% will be collected in the fourth year, and [-]% will be added every year thereafter.The wasteland reclaimed by nearby refugees is exempted from taxes for two years, only [-]% is collected in the third year, and then increased by [-]% every year until the full amount is collected.

Moreover, during the tax reduction period, various miscellaneous taxes are also exempted.

Both soldiers and civilians are full of energy, and their faces are full of hope for a better life.

The people in the reclamation area, whether they are soldiers, Confucian scholars, or ordinary people, once the wasteland is cultivated, they will be the most loyal group of people!

Min Zishun asked about the land reclamation policy, and everyone answered with a smile, saying that they would have a good life in the future, without mentioning that they fell asleep every day when they were tired.

Came to Xiangyang with great emotion, and Zhu Ming received him warmly: "The three brothers have finally come back, temporarily obeying orders under my account, and after the summer harvest, conquer Jiangling and Zhijiang, and then go to those two places to serve as officials."

Although Ju Ming does not interfere in political affairs, he has the right to temporarily appoint and dismiss officials in the newly occupied territory, so he does not have to wait for Hanzhong to make decisions on everything.

"Will Jiangling be fought after the summer harvest?" Bai Chongyan asked, "I see that the scale of land reclamation in each county is quite large. Is there still food to fight?"

Zhu Ming said: "Although the land here is vast and sparsely populated, there are still many big households, and a lot of wheat is grown. As long as the scale of the war is controlled, the food will definitely be able to sustain it, not to mention the fact that Sichuan is transporting food. The people who cultivated wasteland, One year should be self-sufficient, no need to borrow food from the government; two years can collect a small amount of land tax, and three years can be completely stable."

Min Zishun asked, "Will the imperial court bring troops to conquer?"

Zhu Ming said with a smile: "If I don't go and beat them, I'm kind. How dare they come and beat me? There are uprisings everywhere in Hebei and Shandong, and it will take at least a year to quell the smoke of war there. And it will definitely not be completely wiped out. A large number of rebels fled into the mountains, and officers and soldiers left. I will come out and do some activities again.”

"If this is the case, the overall situation will be settled," Bai Chongyan said happily, "Once the land reclamation on Southwest Beijing Road is successful and our army has enough food and grass, we will not be afraid of more officers and soldiers coming."

Zhu Ming asked, "How is the situation in Guangnan?"

Ling Guxu said: "Guangdong is still relatively stable, but there are sporadic bandits. Guangxi has been fighting for the past two years, mainly against Fang Qifo, and some Yao people. Fang Qifo was beaten into the mountains and dared not come out. I When we came back, there was also turmoil in southern Jiangxi. As for the southeast, Zhu Miao stayed in the capital, but his father was still doing evil in the southeast. The officials of the states and counties in the southeast were all disciples of Zhu Miao and his son, who were called the emperors of the southeast. "

Min Zishun said indignantly: "There's such a commotion, but Zhu Xi and his son are still favored. This Great Song Dynasty deserves to be destroyed!"

Not to mention people's backs, even God can't see it.

A while ago, there was another major earthquake in the north, and Kaifeng, Hedong, and Shaanxi were all affected.

Wang Fu, who was still struggling to protect his status, was impeached by the officials because of the earthquake, and he also asked the emperor to issue an imperial edict.

Song Huizong refused to admit his mistakes, and he resolutely refused to promulgate the Edict of Guilt.

But the emperor really couldn't bear the pressure. Not only was Wang Fu dismissed, but he was thrown to the Taoist temple after being pushed to the end.

Cai Jing resumed his position as prime minister. Because he was blind and could not see things, all official duties were delegated to Cai Tiao and Cai Wei.

Especially Cai Wei, who read official documents to Cai Jing and wrote instructions for Cai Jing.This young man in his 20s is the real prime minister of Song Dynasty.

Cai You still served as a privy envoy, picking on his younger brother's mistakes all day long, and even asked the emperor to execute Cai Wei.

The party struggle in the Song Dynasty has opened a new version, and it has become a father-son brother-fight.

The officials promoted by Wang Fu, except those who were trusted by the emperor, were all excluded and retaliated by Cai Jing.A series of high-level personnel changes, even local states and counties were also affected, making the already chaotic Song court even more chaotic.

He Su, who succeeded in impeaching Wang Fu until he was dismissed as Prime Minister, was also demoted to a local governor.

This move brought great popularity to He Su, and scholars all over the world regarded him as a spiritual leader.

At the same time, Li Gang wrote to the imperial court, announcing that he would sever ties with his father-in-law Zhang Gen, and resolutely refused to go to Hanzhong to serve as a thief.

Song Huizong Longyan Dayue transferred Li Gang back to the capital to replace He Su as Yushi Zhongcheng.

Li Gang is not only Zhang Gen's son-in-law, other people's Li family also has roots, so they won't be too implicated because of this relationship!

On the other side of the Liao Kingdom, Yelu Dashi took refuge in Emperor Tianzuo.

Emperor Tianzuo went on to subdue Jugudili. With the army in his hand, he felt that he could do it, so he decided to send troops to take back Yanyun.

Yelu Dashi's persuasive persuasion was fruitless, and he fled with [-] cavalry. On the way, he proclaimed himself king and started another life of his own.

(End of this chapter)