Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 244 Don't dare to obey
  Chen Qingsi returned to the room, thought for a while, added some ink, and wrote a letter to his wife: My wife, Miaochen, I hope you have a safe letter. This time I was ordered to go north, and I thought about him all the way. I had nothing to do, so I decided to name my unborn child. Within a few months, both men and women chose more than fifty names, and they waited until they returned to Beijing to choose a name together. I originally wanted to travel in spring and return in autumn to welcome new life together...

He wrote a disgusting letter of more than [-] words in a eloquent manner and had it sent to Chang'an.

Although he was thinking about his pregnant wife in Chang'an, Chen Qingsi kept true to his words and deeds. He did not rush to recruit corvees to build Sanshoujiang City just because he wanted to witness the birth of his child.

Instead, he first called the governors of Lingzhou, Xiazhou, and Yanzhou to Lingzhou to learn about the spring plowing situation in the three states.

Because of the war, some Tiele rebels trampled on many fields in Lingzhou when they went south.

Chen Qingsi needs to ensure that the food in the three states can be self-sufficient. There should be no shortage of grain reserves due to the war. By the way, he should learn about the people's livelihood and economy in the three states.

If you don’t know this, you don’t know. After listening to the report of the three prefecture governors, Chen Qingsi found that the people’s livelihood situation in Lingzhou, Xiazhou, and Yanzhou was not only a little bit better than he imagined.

It is said that the Yellow River Plain in Ningxia is blocked by Jiangnan, but Chen Qingsi found that the vast majority of the people in Jiangnan did not live as comfortably as the people in Ling, Xia and Yanzhou.

Because of the needs of the imperial court, everything in the south of the Yangtze River was dominated by agriculture, which led to low prices of food and hurt farmers. People in Jiangsu and Zhejiang lived in poverty, which even led to rebellions.

Lingzhou, Xiazhou and Yanzhou are three states. The former two are nourished by the Yellow River plain and are rich in products. The latter is named Yanzhou, a major salt-producing state. The green salt produced locally is cheap, affordable and delicious.

The living standards of the people in the three states are even better than those in Jiangnan.

It's just that the three states of Ling, Xia, and Yan have huge flaws and are seriously underpopulated.

The three states are too remote. Even if the people live a prosperous life, they cannot attract others to move there.

Historically, the real opportunity for Lingxia to develop was in the future Five Dynasties period. The Central Plains was in chaos, warriors were rampant in the world, Huang Chao and Zhu Wenqiu entered Guanzhong, and many people fled north.

The Dingnan Army took over these people and gradually developed into the Xixia Kingdom, which caused a headache for the Northern Song Dynasty.

Xixia has left a strong mark in history by virtue of the land of Lingxia.

"Pity!"

Chen Qingsi said with emotion.

In ancient times, local sentiments were highly valued, and returning home in fine clothes was the greatest honor, hence the term "death in a foreign land" was derived.

People with a little bit of conditions would even go to great lengths to bury their hometown and walk thousands of miles away.

If you want to artificially create large-scale population migration, it is only possible in troubled times.

Now is the age of peace and prosperity, leaving Guanzhong and the Central Plains alone. No normal person would choose to move to the remote Lingxia...

Even knowing that life here is stable and prosperous.

It is also because of the scarcity of population that the use of civilian power must be cautious.

Chen Qingsi looked at the development reports of each state in recent years sent by the three states in his hand, thinking about how to complete the construction of Sanshoujiang City without harming the people's livelihood as much as possible.

As Chen Qingsi's assistant, Di Renjie was also watching carefully. He wanted to find a solution for his husband, but found nothing.

Insufficient population means scarcity of labor force, and scarcity of labor force means that there is no extra people to waste.

The small population in the Three States Land can be self-sufficient, but once it is abused, this balance will be broken. "The summer leisure has not passed yet, so there is no point in recruiting people to go north to build a city at this time. We can let them cut down the trees first and prepare the materials for building the city."

Chen Qingsi looked at Shi Song, the governor of Yanzhou below, and said, "The governor of Yanzhou is responsible for this matter. Your place is close to Hengshan, so it is convenient to get wood."

Shi Song respectfully accepted the order.

Chen Qingsi looked at Xiong Lianghong, the governor of Xiazhou, and said, "The governor of Xiazhou is responsible for providing food for the people. Xiazhou has not been affected by this military war, so there should be enough surplus food supply."

Xiong Lianghong also nodded and ordered.

Chen Qingsi looked at Xue Xiao, the last governor of Lingzhou, and said: "President Xue has the most important task. The imperial court is very satisfied with the results of testing the opening of trade with northern herdsmen in Huaiyuan County, and plans to increase the scale of mutual trade. The location of this mutual trade cannot be in There are too many security risks in Lingzhou. The imperial court wants to build a mutual market near Sanshoujiang City, and I think it is feasible. Huaiyuan County is too small and too close to the Lingzhou government, so relocation is inevitable. The county We need to do a good job in comforting the people, and if they are willing to go to the big market in Monan to open shops and do business, we can give them appropriate discounts."

Xue Xiao has some emotions. If the market is built in Huaiyuan County, Lingzhou's economy will make a qualitative leap.

Among the governors of Lingzhou, Xia and Yanzhou, Xue Xiao's resume is the most impressive. The main reason is that Lingzhou's economy is far ahead.

Local, state, and county governments can do practical things if they have money.

Now that the market is moved away from Huaiyuan County, Lingzhou's economy will be greatly affected.

But he didn't dare to say anything.

Although Chen Qingsi was only a fifth-rank official, he now had military merit and was a decisive killer. He forced Huang Heshou into the palace, and the heads of thousands of Tiele rebels in Huaiyuan County all showed it.

Known for his benevolence, the youngest scholar in the Tang Dynasty was by no means a kind person.

Xue Xiao asked herself that she could not afford to offend him and obeyed the order honestly.

The governors of the three states each received their tasks and went down together.

After the three of them left, Di Renjie asked, "Sir, are you planning to join the Monan gathering?"

Chen Qingsi said: "The one who knows me is Huai Ying. Mobei and Monan are like old oxen, they will not obey unless beaten. Only when the whip is slapped on them will they learn to be obedient. If they are not beaten for a period of time, they will become stubborn." Mobei and Monan will definitely be shocked by our army's victory this time. This is the best time for them to speak and be reasonable. While they are being reasonable, we will also handle the matter in a reasonable way. Both sides should be friendly, so as not to Forcing the other party to reason makes it ugly.”

Di Renjie nodded and said, "Sir, what you said makes sense..."

"Sir!" He straightened up and bowed: "When the students were investigating Feng Yang and Xu Kai, they learned about the details of Huaiyuan County and discovered some disturbing factors."

"Tell me about it!" Chen Qingsi said with a smile.

"The conflicts between businessmen are somewhat difficult to reconcile... The grassland people are impatient and not good at talking. The Central Plains businessmen value profits, have experienced hundreds of battles, and are eloquent. In this barter, the grassland people often suffer the loss. Just once or twice. As time goes by, I'm afraid there will be resentment, and some clues have emerged about the situation in Huaiyuan County."

"The Monan Market will be open to the entire northern tribes. It will be larger in scale and the situation will be more complex and severe."

"The students believe that the imperial court's Sanjia Municipal Law should be continued to this point, and prices should be clearly marked to eliminate hidden dangers."

When Chen Qingsi saw that Di Renjie and she were thinking of getting together, she clapped her hands and said, "This is a good suggestion, so let's do it."

(End of this chapter)