The new era of chaos begins in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 291 Good Jiangnan

Just when dragons and snakes gathered in the city of Hangzhou and the heroes were having a carnival, Ergou secretly left here and headed westward, passing through Muzhou, Shezhou, Raozhou and other places.

What you can see along the way is that the land is rich and the people are fertile, with fish and fruits, three miles and one country, and ten miles and one town. Sometimes there are dense paddy fields and weaving of ditches and ponds. Compared with the landscape in the north, it is simply two different worlds. It can be said that it is rich in culture and scenery. So beautiful.

It was not until this time that Ergou deeply understood the importance of Jiangnan to the land of China. It was not just data on paper, but the real foundation of the king's way to make up for the deficiencies.

We can cite a very clear example of the impact of the environmental differences between the North and the South on society as a whole.

The same acre of land is mostly dry land in Hebei. Crops are basically harvested once a year. Even if it is good irrigated land, it is just a crop of beans after harvesting a crop.

As for the two-year and three-crop conditions in the north (not the Northeast) in later generations, it was achieved based on high-quality seeds (short growth period, fast maturity), chemical fertilizers and efficient mechanization. It was simply impossible at the time of the Song Dynasty. accomplish.

In areas south of the Yangtze River, such as Susongchang and other prefectures, most of the land is paddy fields, and growing rice twice a year is the basis. With the cultivation of rice in Champa City during the Dazhong Xiangfu period of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty (1008 to 1021 AD), rice was grown in various places in the south of the Yangtze River. With the promotion, three crops a year have almost become the norm.

In this way, the gap between the grain real estate in the north and the south of the Yangtze River has almost tripled. The problems hidden in this are by no means trivial.

Generally speaking, during the Northern Song Dynasty, the ruling class did a relatively good job of balancing the differences in products between the north and the south. That is to say, in the period of great artists, a group of idiots did mindless things, which caused a sensation. The great Jiangnan La Rebellion.

As for the Southern Song Dynasty, why most of the Southern Song monarchs were unwilling to go north to regain their territory? This was not only a political issue, but also an economic issue.

Take the regional economy of later generations as an example. If you ask real estate companies that are established in the Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou regions to invest in and develop real estate in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region, do you think they will be willing?

As for the later Ming Dynasty, they also failed to deal with the problems in the south of the Yangtze River. Natural and man-made disasters occurred in the north. If you don't go to the rich south to acquire resources, you are still digging in the north. Who will die if Chongzhen doesn't die? !

The Donglin Party, the Donglin Party is the political representative of the big landowners and businessmen in the south of the Yangtze River. It holds the wealth to save the world and sits back and watches the Ming Dynasty decline and perish. This is unjust!

It should be noted that the Donglin Party was responsible for 90% of the original sin for the fall of the Ming Dynasty.

The biggest problem in the world is actually the problem of food.

Without food, all industry, commerce, technology, etc., are nothing but rootless trees and sourceless water.

At this time, Jiangnan was definitely like a paradise.

Even if you are a lazy man, as long as your brain is normal, you will not die of hunger in this land. There are fish and shrimps in the water, birds and beasts in the forest, and fruits on the trees. You can fill your stomach with just a move of your hands.

For example, some people in later generations claimed that the environment in Africa was much better and that South Asia was much better. This could only be because they did not know what Jiangnan was during the Song Dynasty.

It should be said that the land south of the Yangtze River is the most fertile and fertile land in the world.

Of course, such a fertile land can easily breed lazy people. Just like in South Asia and Africa, lying down is a living habit passed down from generation to generation.

The aboriginal people of Jiangnan once existed like this. Of course, they were called Shanyue at that time.

Today's people in Jiangnan are mostly northern Han people who have gradually migrated southward for thousands of years. Basically, every time there is a war in the Central Plains, a group of people migrate to the south, so that the former Shanyue has completely disappeared in the long river of history. .

A comfortable environment can easily lead to the degradation of an ethnic group, such as the third brother's family, but the land south of the Yangtze River has not become a place of degradation for the Han nation. On the contrary, the people here have a strong fighting spirit.

Of course, this must be "thanked" to the heroes of the past generations who have controlled the direction of this nation.

In the land of China, the way of man is to make up for the deficiencies by making up for the losses. It is definitely not an empty talk, but the code for creating a true dynasty.

Therefore, there is a proverb circulated in the Song Dynasty, called "Suhu is cooked, and the world is sufficient" (in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it evolved into Huguang is cooked, and the world is sufficient), which means Suzhou Prefecture, Changzhou Prefecture, Songjiang Prefecture, and Huzhou Prefecture are the states near Taihu Lake. The harvest in the area is enough to feed the world.

This not only refers to the wealth of these places, but also represents the heavy taxes borne by the people in this area.

Do you want to be a slacker in this fertile land? Sorry, the Song Dynasty court did not agree.

Heavy taxes and corvee will whip you like a whip and force you to become a donkey in the production team.

However, before the great calligrapher came to power, the capable ministers of the Song Dynasty were really good at exploiting the products of Jiangnan to the limit, but they also made the people here feel that they lived a happy and nourishing life.

When the great calligrapher came to power, only Zhu Mian brought the entire Jiangnan region to a boil, and lost the world almost two years in advance.

Of course, Jiangnan was very peaceful at this time. Even if the Zhennan Rebel Army caused chaos in the Jingnan area, it could not shake people's confidence in the Song Dynasty at all. It is difficult for ambitious people to achieve anything in this area just by normal means, so they can only rely on some religious means to show their presence.

At this time, not to mention one Fang La, even ten or a hundred Fang La would not be able to cause any big storms.

When Ergou arrived in Raozhou, he finally felt the breath of war.

Raozhou Prefecture is separated from Hongzhou next door by Poyang Lake. The news that several counties and towns in the south of Hongzhou were besieged by rebels reached Raozhou, and everyone in Raozhou Prefecture was shocked and inexplicable.

After all, the so-called "Zhennan Rebels" are developing too fast.

Since most of the counter-rebellion troops sent by the imperial court to the Jingnan area were defeated and incorporated by the rebels, the Jiangnan area could not find an army of sufficient weight to fight against the overly strong rebel army for a while.

In terms of military strength, Wang Huan's troops, which absorbed and reorganized a large number of Song troops, were more powerful than the million-square-foot rebel army twenty years later. It's a pity that in terms of ambition, the two sides just adjusted their heights.

In the future, Fang La was determined to oppose the Song Dynasty and establish independence, and established a new regime as soon as possible.

Wang Huan and his subordinate leaders mostly aimed to return to the Song Dynasty to recruit security. They led a powerful rebel team and captured Linjiang Junzhou and half of the southern area of ​​Hongzhou in more than half a month. But in the eyes of the real Song Mingyan officials, they were out of place.

The rebels who cannot establish authority are at best a group of rogue bandits. This is why He Zhizhong, who presided over major events in Jingnan, lost the main force of the anti-rebellion army but never lost his position.

He Zhizhong believed that he had figured out the details of Wang Huan and others. He believed that as long as he was willing to submit a petition for recruitment, he could disintegrate the rebels and plunge them into internal fighting without even using a single soldier.

It's just that He Zhizhong was a little jealous for a while, and he also wanted to use the power of the rebels to clean up Jingnan's officialdom.

Most of the state and county affairs in the country are controlled by members of the New Party. Even if Cai Jing, He Zhi and other senior officials are powerful, it is impossible to replace them all at once.

And local rebellions like Wang Huan's, which siege cities and plunder territory, are undoubtedly excellent opportunities to take advantage of local officials.

Of course, in order to prevent self-defeating, several military states around Hongzhou are gathering troops, including Raozhou.

In the past period of time, local armies from Quzhou, Muzhou, Shezhou, Chizhou and other places rushed to Raozhou one after another, forming an army of more than 20,000 people. The field battle of this patchwork army There may be some shortcomings in ability, but it is definitely more than enough to defend cities and levels.

Similar situations also occurred in Fuzhou, Junzhou, western Hongzhou and Nankangjunzhou. The southern part of Linjiang Army and even Jizhou were occupied by Liu Zhongwu's tribe.

Since Liu Zhongwu led his troops to break away from the siege of the rebels, he relied on the more than a thousand direct descendants in his hands to vigorously reorganize and absorb local stragglers, and soon expanded his army to about 10,000 people.

This ragtag team is also difficult to threaten the rebels in terms of combat power, but there is no problem in cutting off the southward return route of the Zhennan rebels.

It's a pity that Wang Huan and others had no intention of going south. They just kept attacking Nanchang Mansion in Hongzhou as if they were in a daze.

At the end of December, the rebels broke through several towns in Fengcheng County and moved along the Gan River to the foothills of Meiling. They then set up semi-permanent camps and could not leave.

It was also during this period that the imperial court suddenly issued an edict to burn the Yuanyou Decree enacted by Sima Guang and others during the Yuanyou period, set up a monument to Yuanyou Party members at Duanli Gate, and imprison Sima Guang, Su Shi and other 120 people. The person carved on the stone tablet is called Yuanyou traitor party.

In December, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty issued an edict to ban Yuanyou's scholarship.

Many of the Sumen's disciples, including Ergou's father-in-law Li Gefei, were implicated. Among them, Li Gefei was dismissed from the rank of Shangshu Pushe and demoted to the deputy envoy of Hongzhou Tuanlian.

At that time, the world was in shock.

The official circles in Jingnan were all in real turmoil, because countless demoted officials were forced to come to these places to be appointed and supervised, and countless officials were promoted elsewhere to fill official vacancies.

It was at this time that Ergou crossed Poyang Lake and bumped into Yang Wen who was leading his men to search for Meiling.

Although Yang Wen has changed a lot over the years, Ergou still recognizes him at a glance; but Yang Wen is a little unfamiliar with Ergou, who has changed even more. Compared with more than four years ago, Ergou He has become more mature, no longer childish and frivolous.

Therefore, the two dogs shouted to Yang Wen: "Yang Juhou! Do you still recognize your old friend?"

Yang Wen asked with a surprised and confused look: "Who are you?"

Then he added: "You have mistakenly identified the person! I am not Yang Juhou, but I am a roadblock!"

Ergou laughed and said, "Yang Sanlang, you changed your name, but who do you want to hide?"

Yang Wen showed a look of surprise on his face, holding a big knife and shouted: "Who is this little fellow of yours?"

Ergou said with a smile: "We said goodbye to Bianliang four years ago, and now we meet again. I don't think you can recognize me! It's really annoying! Come on, Yang Sanguan! Let the Sa family take a look at you. Has the Yang family’s swordsmanship made any progress?!”

Only two dogs knew the Yang family's sword skills, but Yang Wen was horrified.

Yang Wen hid his true abilities very well.

It should be noted that although Yang Wen is the leader of the Zhennan Rebel Army, many people also know that he is a descendant of the Yang family, and Yang Wen often uses broadswords as weapons, but he has almost never shown his Yang family sword skills.

As an outsider who knows the foundation of his martial arts and is an old friend from four years ago, Yang Wen hardly needs to be reminded, and Yang Wen thinks of the young man who once was beyond his reach.

He pointed at Ergou and yelled with some trembling: "You...are you the Chen family... Ergou who was against Gao Wudi back then?!"

Ergou smiled and said: "Thank you Yang Wen for still remembering me! That's right! I am Chen Ergou! Brother Yang, how are you now after so many years of separation?!"

Yang Wen twitched the corner of his mouth, but he held his fists and greeted Ergou and said, "Yang is in such a state of desolation, I didn't expect to meet Brother Chen here, how lucky it is!"

Ergou pointed to the sergeant beside Yang Wen and asked, "What are Brother Yang doing here with these soldiers?"

Yang Wen's face stiffened, and he said with shame: "I have suffered some disasters, and now I am a bandit, but I do something here, which is an insult to the name of my ancestors! I am really ashamed! I would like to advise Brother Chen. , if nothing happens, you should quickly leave Hongzhou, a place of right and wrong!"

Ergou shook his head and smiled: "I didn't expect Yang Sanguan to be an honest person! It's a pity that I can't leave here! I dare to ask Brother Yang, do you know a person named Han Cunbao?"

Yang Wen didn't know who Han Cunbao was. He looked at Ergou in surprise and asked, "But I don't know what Brother Chen is looking for that Han Cunbao?"

Ergou said: "I have some friendship with Han Cunbao. He sent someone to ask me for help last time. I couldn't shirk it, so I came to Jingnan to look for him. I don't know where this guy is hiding!"

Of course Ergou didn't really know Han Cunbao's whereabouts. Even if no one told him, he could guess it. Wang Huan, Yang Wen, Xu Jing, Han Cunbao, Mei Zhan and others were not the envoys of the Tenth Festival who would conquer Liangshan in the future. ?

Yang Wen said in surprise: "Brother Chen actually has some friendship with Han Bao! To tell you the truth, Han Cunbao and I have been sworn brothers for a long time, and we have promised wealth together! In this way, you and I can't be considered outsiders!"

Ergouxin said, not only am I not an outsider, but according to another, closer relationship, I have to call him third uncle!

However, Ergou didn't show it on his face. He only pretended to be surprised and shouted: "This is happening! Brother Yang, why didn't you tell me earlier when we were in the capital? I only taught you and my brothers to fight, so we didn't let others laugh at us!"

Yang Wen smiled bitterly and said: "Han Cunbao and I have only met in recent months. Four years ago, I didn't know Brother Cunbao! How can I say that I know you?!"

The two of them talked some more, and then Yang Wen stopped searching the mountain. Gu Zi led the soldiers and led the two dogs to the rebel camp.

When Ergou met Han Cunbao, Han Cunbao was quite shocked and turned pale.

Earlier, Liu Zhongwu said that if he wanted to succeed, he needed Ergou for help.

Han Cunbao was not a fool. He always believed that there was fraud. He was always hesitant about whether to involve Ergou.

Unexpectedly, Ergou would come to the door by himself.

Han Cunbao was horrified and said: "How did Brother Ergou get here?!"

Ergou smiled and said, "Brother Cunbao, didn't you send Brother Chaogu to ask me for help?"

"What?" Han Cunbao couldn't help but screamed when he heard this, and just said: "I really didn't send anyone to find you! Brother Ergou, Nachaogu deceived me many times and abandoned me two years ago! I'm afraid there's something wrong with your coming, so it's better to leave early!"

Just as the two of them were talking, a pure and honest voice spoke up and said, "I heard that Brother Han Bao has an old friend coming to visit, but the older brother came to bother me and wanted to get acquainted with my brother's old friend."

(End of this chapter)