Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 447 0442 [Old Friends Reunion]

"Meet the Generalissimo!"

In the past, there was no superior-subordinate relationship. Of course Ge Shengzhong could be proud of himself, but now his attitude is very low.

This old man is actually very flattering, after all, he has been favored by Song Huizong for nearly ten years.

The way he survives in Tokyo is to try not to criticize bad governance.Whenever Song Huizong promulgated any good governance, he immediately touted it to the sky, just like coaxing children, hoping that there would be more such good governance.

Until there were too many evil policies and I couldn't stand it any longer, so I finally couldn't help but start complaining!
Zhu Ming treated each other with courtesy and said, "Mr. Lu Qing is the one to take care of the civil matters in Yingchang. Ruzhou was merged into Yingchang Mansion, and the whole mansion has [-] counties. This time you are going out with the army, and you will bring forty officials there as soon as possible. Restore order in Yingchang Mansion."

"Yes!" Ge Shengzhong took the order.

Zhu Ming said: "On the way of marching, we must explain the people's conditions of Yingchang and Ruzhou to these officials."

The officials under the Zhu family's father and son were actually looking forward to fighting.

Only by fighting and occupying new territories can they be promoted quickly. How many of them have been waiting for this?

For example, Bai Chongyan, Ling Guxu, and Min Zishun, who came back too late, are all Zhu Ming's close friends, and they have been working as county magistrates in the land ceded by Zhong Xiang.The three of them must be promoted, and the rules can't be too bad, so the best arrangement is to work in Xinzhanfu County.

"Let's drink, gentlemen!"

Li Hanzhang is having a banquet in the back house of the government office in Xiangyang.

Not only Bai Chongyan, Ling Guxu, Min Zishun, but also several other scholars who were studying in Yangzhou and went to Beijing to catch the exam together.

"Congratulations to the Minister of Finance and Generalissimo!" Bai Chongyan said with a toast.

Everyone congratulated in unison, their faces full of joy.

Ling Gu Xu excitedly said: "The Xianggong and the marshal have finally dispatched troops, this time they will surely sweep the world and settle the universe!"

Min Zishun said with emotion: "Back then, we went to Beijing together to take the exam. How could we have imagined that we would be here today?"

"But I thought of a prophecy." Zheng Hong said suddenly.

Zheng Hong first served in Zhu Ming's Grand Marshal's Mansion. Later, the number of officials became tense, and ducks were rushed to the shelves in various places. Zheng Hong was quickly promoted to county magistrate and state judge.

Now, he is going to be the magistrate with the army, and he is going to Huaixi to serve!

After repeated discussions at the Generalissimo's Office, it was decided to capture Huaixi as well.

First, there are officers and soldiers in Huaixi. If the rebels in the Nanxiang Basin go north, Huaixi will always be a hidden danger;
Second, the troops on the eastern front all went north from Nanyang, and the logistical pressure in the Nanxiang Basin was too great. Recruiting too many civilians to transport food would affect agricultural production.

Therefore, Li Bao's Kuizhou troops took boats down the river to attack Huaixi.

Huaixi is probably the area around the Dabie Mountains, as well as Hefei, Lujiang, Hexian, Shouchun, Fengyang and other places.

In order to make it easier to go north to Huaidong, some state capitals were also attacked.For example, if you capture Xuyi, you can follow the Bian River directly to Tokyo.When the time comes, Li Bao can advance in two directions, and the other can follow the vortex river to Taikang, and then turn around the Cai River to reach the outside of Kaifeng City.

Huangzhou, Qizhou, Shuzhou, and Guangzhou, these four prefectures were merged into Huangzhou Prefecture. Zheng Hong was going to be the prefect of Huangzhou, and he had to guard against the officers and soldiers of Jiangnan East Road.

Luzhou, Shouzhou, Wuweijun, and Hezhou were merged into Luzhou Prefecture. Bai Chongyan served as the prefect of Luzhou and was responsible for recruiting civilian husbands for Li Bao.

Min Zishun asked curiously, "What prophecy?"

"Bingwu is chaotic, pigs ride horses. Go out from the northwest, and the world will be safe!" Zheng Hong said with a chuckle.

"Next year will be the year of Bingwu," Li Hanzhang asked, "Where did you hear this prophecy?"

Zheng Hong said in a low voice: "Twelve years ago, Da Lang blurted out, and Zhu Xianggong was unhappy when he heard it."

Min Zishun was horrified and asked: "Could it be that as early as 12 years ago, the Grand Marshal and the Prime Minister were able to predict what will happen today?"

Everyone looked at each other in disbelief, thinking that Zheng Hong was trying to create momentum for the Zhu family and his son.

Faced with these suspicious eyes, Zheng Hong quickly defended: "Everything I said is true, even if I want to make it up, I won't make up Bingwu chaos. Just make up Yisi chaos, wouldn't it be more in line with this year?"

"That's right." Li Hanzhang muttered.

Bai Chongyan said: "Xianggong and Dalang, there are indeed many magical places in Shangbai Village. I am afraid that they really met immortals overseas and peeked at the secrets of heaven from them."

"Haha, destiny is like this, what do we have to worry about?" The man who laughed was called Wang Chang. He also went to Beijing to take the exam together, but his status as a candidate was recommended by the governor.

Ling Guxu waved his hand and said: "We Confucian scholars should respect ghosts and gods and stay away from them, and just do our duty."

Zheng Hong said with a smile: "I just mentioned it casually. Da Lang really said that back then. He still blurted out like a slip of the tongue, and he didn't want to say this prophecy."

Li Hanzhang warned everyone: "Everyone, what you say today must be said while drunk, and do not say it to outsiders."

"That's how it should be." Everyone responded quickly.However, everyone has made a mental note that the destiny must be with the Zhu family.

After a few more drinks, I started to get drunk.

So I miss the year and bring up the old things again.

"Who knows where Lu Tixue is?" asked an official named Li Kai, who also studied at Yangzhou Academy.

Ling Guxu said: "But I know that Lu Tixue was relegated to be the Deputy Envoy of Huangzhou Tuanlian because of his opposition to Hua Shigang. He resigned and returned to Zhejiang in a fit of anger."

Li Hanzhang said: "Lu Ti learned from Dalang and has the kindness to support and support him. He has been an official for many years and knows how to govern the people. If he can come to serve, at least he will start as an official from the magistrate, and maybe he can stay with Zhu Xianggong to assist the government. .”

"Xiangong Zhu is really hardworking." Zheng Hong sighed.

The emperor was surrounded by assistant ministers, but Zhu Guoxiang was working alone.

In the past, the site was small, so it was natural. I was so busy that I could only sleep for four or five hours a day.Now that the territory is about to expand, it must not go on like this. Zhang Gen and Gao Jingshan are expected to be promoted, and they will step down as prefects and go directly to Zhu Guoxiang's side to assist the government.

After telling a bunch of interesting stories from the past, Wang Chang suddenly stood up and said with great enthusiasm: "When you all came to Beijing together, you couldn't even stay in an inn, and you had to share a guest room with several people. There were so many singing houses in the capital. We are so cash-strapped that we can only watch the wine shop from a distance. To put it bluntly, standing on the street in Gaotou, looking at the towering towers, we are all native dogs from the countryside! From now on, we will assist our husband and Da Lang in settling matters. I must go to Fan Tower again and let the people of Tokyo know how noble we are!"

Zheng Hong was so frightened that he quickly said: "Don't do this. We should keep in mind Xianggong's admonitions. When we are an official and govern the people, we should put the people first. We must not take bribes and bend the law for personal enjoyment."

"Yes yes yes, don't be greedy for pleasure." Everyone echoed.

Last fall, Zheng Hong's brother-in-law Li Zhifang was arrested.

The reason was that the embezzlement of autumn grain taxes was learned by Chen Dong when he sent people to inspect, and the secret investigation was involved in the case.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, there was fire consumption, and in the Song Dynasty, there was also consumption by rats and sparrows. Then there was an increase in the consumption of bucket noodles, and on the basis of the increase in consumption of bucket noodles, bucket consumption was created.Most of the time, people pay one stone for one stone, and need to pay two buckets for one stone, and the government collects 20% more for nothing.This is not counting branch transfers, ground money or anything like that.

Among the many losses, both the Song Dynasty and Zhu Guoxiang only recognized rat and bird losses, and strictly stipulated the amount.

Da Song just didn't recognize the messy attrition, and it was impossible to arrest officials because of it.However, Zhu Guoxiang is tough. He has already reserved money for the bureaucrats to profit from, so how can he tolerate any more troubles?
Zheng Hong's brother-in-law was exiled to the south of the Dadu River together with more than 20 officials under him because he was recovering fighting consumption to make money.

Zheng Hong also wrote a letter, hoping that Ju Ming could forgive him. Even if he really had to be exiled, he could just be exiled to Lizhou. There was no need to go deep into the barbarian territory.

Zhu Ming replied quickly, scolding Zheng Hong!
This matter caused a big fuss. After all, Zheng Hong was Ju Ming's brother-in-law, and Li Zhifang, who was exiled, was Zheng Hong's brother-in-law.

It's just greedy for a few fights, and it was called "Guan Run" in Song Dynasty, which has long been an unspoken rule. How can this be exiled regardless of relatives?
The officials under Zhu Guoxiang's rule have become more and more cautious, racking their brains to make corruption more secretive.

At least, don't let Chen Dong's people notice it easily!

Chen Dong, who was hated by the monarch and his ministers in Tokyo, has become the living king of Hades in Sichuan.

This old man holds the power of the inspector, and he has a sick mind and can't get into it.Even when he was given a gift during the holidays, he would throw the gift outside the door and scold the giver in public.

Chen Dong is a mad dog, which is the consensus among Sichuan officials.

However, Zhu Guoxiang respected this person very much, he was both a subordinate and a junior, but every time he met, Zhu Guoxiang would bow to Chen Dong.

And it's Chang Yi!
Speaking of this, Wang Chang, who was clamoring to go to Fanlou, was so frightened that he sweated on his vest: "I just said casually, with my current salary and my family's property, I can actually be quite happy in Fanlou." Months. When I go to Tokyo from now on, I can just spend a few days having fun at my own expense. I have no intention of corruption and enjoyment."

"Yes, yes, please don't think too much." Min Zishun also echoed.

Ling Guxu said: "I really admire Chen Shaoyang (Chen Dong). When he was in Taixue, he fought against the traitors. After studying in Taixue for nearly ten years, he couldn't be a Jinshi. Support Dalang and complain that he was wronged and sent to prison, and then follow Dalang to Guizhou to organize and manage. From now on, when a new dynasty is established, he will be an important minister of the country!"

"Too many people have been offended, I just hope he can die well." Li Hanzhang muttered in a low voice.

After hearing this, everyone didn't answer, but they also thought so in their hearts.

Chen Dong offended too many people, and most of them were "seniors". They were all old people who came to serve within half a year of the Zhu family's father-in-law raising an army.

The crackdown on corruption is so strict, only these old people dare to stretch out their hands openly.

Without family ties, how dare Li Zhifang resume fighting?
Chen Dong spent ten years in Taixue, and he is not even married yet.

Zhu Guoxiang was also thinking about this issue and was busy choosing a marriage partner for Chen Dong.Shen Yourong, Wen Xiaomei, Zhang Jinping, and Zheng Yuanyi introduced a few ladies from great families, Zhu Guoxiang had many concerns and was not satisfied.

Among several concubines sent by Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty, Zhu Guoxiang proposed to give Chen Dong a marriage.

But Chen Dong didn't want to get involved with Song Huizong, so he refused in person.

Zhu Guoxiang planned to adopt a adopted daughter, who had no family members but was educated and reasonable, and then recruited Chen Dong as his adopted son-in-law.

Getting drunk after a meal, the old friends hooked up and sang ditties in a daze.

The next day they went their separate ways, some went north with the army from Nanyang, some returned to Jiangling to wait for Li Bao's army.

(End of this chapter)