People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 209

In December of the first year of Baoyuan, Zhao Jun stayed in Tanzhou for four months. From the flood in August to the reconstruction of the disaster area in September, he spent three months staying here.

Dispatch grain and grass supplies, organize production and reconstruction, crack down on illegal activities, prevent human trafficking, and establish a sound system.

For people like Qin Sanniang and Zhou Wu, whose families had almost no labor force, the government came forward to rent out their original fields and allocate a certain amount of newly cultivated land to them to ensure their basic survival.

Although they are unable to cultivate fields, they can still barely make ends meet by growing vegetables at home or finding ways to do odd jobs. In addition, the government rents out the land they own at home every month.

To a certain extent, such people are almost equivalent to the five-guarantee households of later generations. Since the family has no young and strong labor force and cannot maintain farming, they enjoy the basic survival guarantee provided by the government.

Although it sounds unrealistic to provide such benefits in ancient times.

But in fact, given the developed economic situation of the Song Dynasty and the increase in productivity after the introduction of Champa rice, even when the three redundancy problems were serious, it was actually a barely achievable thing to ensure that everyone would not starve to death.

Because Cai Jing, one of the six thieves in the late Northern Song Dynasty, had already established a national social charity and relief system when the government's finances were already quite tight at that time.

Not only were there established residential homes specifically for "widows, widowers and lonely people", but there were also Anjifang, a hospital dedicated to treating the poor, and the public cemetery Luzeyuan.

In addition, even orphanages and adoption systems are equipped, named Salesian Bureau and Infant Bureau.

Therefore, the Song Dynasty’s prosperous business environment and real money are not empty words. As long as the court has such a welfare policy, as long as local officials implement it properly, as long as grassroots governance can ensure that these benefits are distributed to these people, the basic survival of the people can be guaranteed. The demand may actually be met.

But it is a pity that such a situation is almost impossible to realize. Even if the court has such a policy, the implementation of local government and grassroots governance will never be able to reach the optimal state. Including Cai Jing's welfare system, it is basically in bad shape in the middle and later stages.

If Zhao Jun hadn't been watching over Changsha, it might not have been possible to achieve such perfection. I just don't know how long such help can last for poor families like Qin Sanniang and Zhou Wu.

But the good news is that the officials on Jinghu South Road are fairly reliable.

In addition to Chen Xiliang, who was extremely outstanding in both ability and political performance, Wang Yao, the transshipment envoy of Jinghu South Road, Li Suzhi, the prison secretary, Wang Han, the magistrate of Tanzhou, and Liu Yuan, the transshipment judge, were all reliable people.

Although his ability and political performance are slightly worse than Chen Xiliang's, his character and morality are worthy of recognition. His governance level cannot be said to be particularly outstanding, but it is still above average.

So after Zhao Jun saw with his own eyes that the local government had properly resettled all the victims, he continued on his inspection tour.

By the first year of Baoyuan, that is, at the end of 1038 AD, Zhao Jun went north to Jinghu North Road.

It was mid-December when we set off. At the end of the morning, the sky was not completely bright yet. Zhao Jun packed up and said goodbye to Wang Yao, Li Suzhi, Wang Han, Liu Yuan, and Chen Xiliang under the protection of many guards. Waiting for the big and small officials, we set off to the dock.

He originally wanted to leave quietly without informing local officials.But Chen Xiliang believed that no matter what, he still had to tell Wang Yao and the others, otherwise it would be unjustifiable to say goodbye without saying goodbye.

Zhao Jun thought it made sense, so he had a casual meal with them last night and gave them some advice on the management of Jinghu South Road. The next morning, surrounded by everyone, he headed all the way to the dock.

This time was actually about seven o'clock in the morning. Since it was winter, the sky was still gray. Although there were already pedestrians on the street, there were not many.

Suddenly a large group of people came out of the county government office, and some people stopped to watch curiously.

Someone quickly recognized that it was Zhao Jun and many senior officials of Jinghu South Road, and they started talking about it: "Where are the magistrates going?"

"Maybe it's to inspect other towns and counties."

"But it's not usually this early in the morning. Zhiyuan is very tired during this time."

"Yes, I really feel sorry for Zhiyuan. I saw him like that when he first came to Tanzhou. He was so high-spirited. But recently, Zhiyuan seems to have aged several years."

"Let's go and have a look."

There were probably some people who wanted to go and have a look even though it was time to go to work soon.

At this time, Zhao Jun left Xicheng and slowly arrived near the dock.

His guards have been assembled. Two large transport ships hired from the local area can each carry hundreds of people. The entire team of 500 people can easily be accommodated.

After heading north to Jinghu North Road this time, I have no plans to go to Nanyang. At most, I will go along the Han River to Xiangyang to have a look, and then go upstream to Sichuan.

According to the route, after he inspects Sichuan in the first half of next year, he will continue north to Guanzhong, Shaanxi.

That time was also a critical moment in the Song-Xia war. Zhao Jun had no intention of causing trouble, but it was okay to express condolences to the soldiers and do some ideological work or political work.

Along the way, Zhao Jun chatted with Wang Yao and others while looking towards the dock river.

With the restoration of governance, Tanzhou has gradually begun to play its role as a transportation hub connecting Guangdong and Hubei. At this time, dozens of merchant ships have appeared sporadically on the dock.

Although it can't compare to the magnificent scene of hundreds of ships on the Changsha pier during the Republic of China, it is a good thing to have a beginning.

After all, there were only six cities in the Northern Song Dynasty with a population of more than 20, namely Bianjing, Jingzhaofu, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Tanzhou.Economically, Changsha's commercial tax rate ranks fourth in the country, second only to Hangzhou, Bianjing and Chuzhou along the Grand Canal.

As long as the economy can recover, Changsha will soon return to its original prosperity.

"Okay, that's all I have to say."

Zhao Jun stood on the pier, and soldiers beside him had begun to board the ship one after another. He told everyone: "Both governance and development are indispensable. Guangdong Road is now an important channel for overseas trade, but even if most merchant ships arrive in Guangdong, , and will only continue sailing to Fujian and Hangzhou."

"This time when I went south to Lingnan, I also told local officials to actively open up to the outside world, create a better business environment, and attract more foreign businessmen. It would be best to form a fleet and send people to the West to have a look in person. Take a look."

"As long as we can continue to expand the scale of foreign trade and open up more overseas markets, Guangdong will continue to absorb foreign gold, silver and copper coins, bringing countless wealth to the Song Dynasty."

"What Hunan needs to do is to seize this opportunity. If we can make water transportation smoother, merchants from Guangdong can directly transport goods to the Yangtze River through water transportation, and then send them to Xiangyang through the Han River, and directly take the land route. Going to Bianliang is much closer than going to Jiangdong."

"At the same time, we must also actively develop the local handicraft manufacturing industry, transport Hunan products to Guangdong, and sell them abroad. Going out and bringing in are my most basic requirements for Guangdong Road and Hunan Road. I hope you can seriously accomplish."

These days, Zhao Jun has also popularized some basic vocabulary knowledge, such as trade, market, and outlet.In fact, these words existed in ancient times, but their meanings are a bit different from those of later generations, so they need explanation.

Everyone nodded.

While Zhao Jun was talking, there were already more and more people outside the city.

Because some of the people who came out saw something more and more wrong.

In the past, when Zhao Jun inspected the disaster-stricken towns and counties around Tanzhou, he never brought troops with him. He only brought dozens of guards at most.

After all, having an army of more than 1000 people running around is inconvenient, and it adds burden to the local area.

Therefore, these troops usually stay in Changsha to help the affected people in Changsha clear mud, dig fields and build dams, and will not follow Zhao Jun at all.

But what's going on now?

The people almost immediately thought of a terrible thing - the magistrate was leaving Tanzhou.

Suddenly many people ran towards the city, shouting everywhere. "Something happened, and Zhiyuan is leaving."

"Get up quickly and go to the pier to see. Zhiyuan is leaving Changsha."

"Why are you still drinking tea? Hurry to the pier now."

Those people called their friends one after another, which suddenly caused a stir in the whole city.

Changsha County is not a large city, but its population is very dense and large. By the time of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, it had surpassed Hangzhou and was second only to Bianliang.

When I heard the news of Zhao Jun's departure, the whole city seemed to come alive in an instant. Many people were still in bed. When they heard about this, they quickly put on their clothes and walked out of the house, then ran towards the west gate.

The soldiers on Zhao Jun's side had almost boarded the boat. They also gave instructions to Wang Yao and others. As they spoke, they turned around and got on the boat to leave.

At this moment, I suddenly heard various chaotic sounds coming from the direction of the city gate in the distance.

When everyone looked over, they saw a large number of people arriving at the gate of the city. They were shouting: "Don't leave, Zhiyuan", "Stay here", "Stay a little longer".

Everyone was stunned.

And not only at the gate of the city, but also in the southern suburbs, people were still coming, shouting that they hoped he could stay.

Zhao Jun had already arrived on the boat at this time and was a little surprised when he saw this scene.

He has actually encountered this kind of thing in other places, such as Huainan and other places, but it was much smaller than the current situation in terms of both the scene and the number of people.

After all, he benefited the entire Huainan Road in Huainan, and he was in Zhenzhou when he left. The people in Zhenzhou were not very impressed by what he did, and the people who benefited from him from all over Huainan could not come here.

But now he is showing kindness in Tanzhou, and the people of Tanzhou have seen what Zhao Jun has done these days, so when they heard that Zhao Jun was leaving, it was impossible not to come and see him off.

"Zhiyuan, do you want to sail the boat?"

Jiang Dalang asked next to him.

Zhao Jun saw that people were already flocking to the place, and many people had already rushed to the pier, so he smiled bitterly and said: "If you leave directly and hurt the people's hearts, just stay here for a while and say goodbye to the people."

"Yes."

Jiang Dalang ordered not to sail yet.

In a short time, the pier was already crowded with people, and countless people on the shore stretched out their hands to wave to Zhao Jun.

Someone shouted loudly: "Zhiyuan, please stay a few more days. The people of Tanzhou have not yet thanked the Zhiyuan."

"Zhiyuan, you are the savior of my whole family. Please give me a courtesy, Zhiyuan."

Some people knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

"Zhiyuan, I'm going to say goodbye. Please take care of me."

Someone cried loudly.

"Zhiyuan!"

Others simply didn't know what to say and only called out Zhao Jun's job.

More people raised their hands and shouted something.

All kinds of noisy sounds filled the surroundings, and the entire dock seemed to be drowned by such sounds.

Zhao Jun could only stand on the bow of the boat and kept waving, shouting: "Go back, folks, go back."

No one is leaving.

Some people took off their hats to salute, some knelt down and cried, and some stood on tiptoes desperately, patting the hull of the boat, trying to hold hands with him.

Seeing more and more people gathering towards the pier, Zhao Jun was afraid of a stampede accident, so he had to say: "Set the boat, if this continues, something will happen."

The boats slowly started to move, and the people became more enthusiastic and kept shouting.

As the ship slowly left the port, the crowd was far away. Because the news was learned too late, Qin Sanniang, who had arrived late, dragged her eldest son and carried her younger son on her back. With red eyes, she left towards Zhao Jun. He leaned slightly in the direction he was going.

Zhou Wu was covered in sweat from running, and when he saw that he was a step too late, he burst into tears and murmured why he couldn't run faster so that he could catch up with Zhiyuan and leave.

Not just them, but many people.

Officials from the county government and state government among the crowd recorded this scene.

Thousands of people came to see him off, with thunderous cries, and the common people took off their hats to salute, with tears streaming down their faces.

And there were still people coming continuously, and the people who came to see off Zhao Jun lined up from the West City Gate to the Nanchengmen Street, with no end as far as the eye could see.

Many people saw him on the boat looking at the pier below and waved desperately. Many more people cried and wailed, hoping that Zhiyuan would not leave them and that Zhiyuan would have a smooth journey.

Zhao Jun stood on the bow of the boat, watching the scene going further and further away, and couldn't help but sigh.

It turns out that this is not just a scene where people support the People's Liberation Army in later generations. Such things actually happened in ancient times.

But it seems that when you think about it, the people can best know who is good to them.

Who loves the people the most, the people also love him the most.

For example, when Fan Zhongyan was governing the northwest, he treated the local people well. When he left, not only the local Han people, but also the local ethnic minorities such as the Qiang and Di hoped that he would not leave.

When he died, the local Qiang people learned the news, and "hundreds of Qiang chiefs cried like a father and fasted for three days before leaving."

Also, Bao Zheng only served as the prefect of Kaifeng for one or two years. Why is he so famous?
It's not because he can sincerely do things for the people.

Zhao Jun's kind deeds can be said to be countless. He spared no effort to patrol the disaster areas and express condolences to the people. His haggardness visible to the naked eye was also seen by the people.

Therefore, it is only natural that he gained the support of the people of Tanzhou.

Even after he was gone.

Many local people in Tanzhou built shrines for him. He was treated the same as Fan Zhongyan was treated in Pi and Qingzhou in history. It can be said that this is the highest respect that local people have for an official.

(End of this chapter)