People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 268 The new year is here, have a good year

At the end of the second year of Qingli, Zhao Zhen held a grand banquet in Bianliang to celebrate the arrival of the new year.

The city has been very lively since morning.

In Xishuimen Fish Street, when the clapper rang at the time of the hour, Hong Wen walked out of his shabby little courtyard. He was still wearing a long gown, but his clothes were new, and he walked with a limp.

As soon as I walked out, I could feel the fishy smell hitting my face, like I was soaking in a fish pond.

Across the street are people selling live fish, which are packed in shallow buckets. The fish are strung together with willow leaves, placed in the bucket, soaked in clean water, or sold along the street.

Every morning, tens of thousands of loads of live fish like this are transported into the city from Xinzheng Gate, Xishui Gate, and Wansheng Gate on the west side of Tokyo alone. In winter, there are passenger fish shipped from distant places such as the Yellow River, called "car fish", with a price tag of less than 100 cents per catty.

Seeing Hong Wen come out, the neighbor selling fish waved and said with a smile: "Mr. Hong, give your wife two fresh fish to replenish her health."

Hong Wen is a man with a wife.

In his early years, he came to Bianliang alone to take the imperial examination. Although he passed the exam, he failed twice when he took the Jinshi exam. He was ashamed and found it difficult to face his family, so he did not go home, but stayed in Bianliang to wait for two years. Fight again next year.

As a result, when he was setting up a stall on the street to make a living, he offended Liu Kuixi, the leader of the Liangmen West Street Volunteer Association, and his leg was broken. Now he was completely desperate and almost gave up on himself.

But fortunately, there is no unstoppable path. The Imperial City Division recruits documents, and ordinary scholars are not willing to join. Hong Wen felt that the Imperial City Division wanted to avenge him, and he really needed a job, so he went to the Imperial City Division to give it a try, but he didn't expect to be easily accepted.

Now I have been working in the Imperial City Division for many years. Since I joined earlier, I am still a relatively rare scholar in the division. Therefore, I have been promoted step by step and passed the examination. From a scribe, I have become a ninth-grade clerk in the Nanzhen Fu Division. Now I have I managed to take charge of things from the seventh level.

Although officials of the Imperial City Division often cannot be transferred out and can only move within the department, and the Imperial City Division has been expanding rapidly in recent years, it is easy for them to be sent out to serve as local officials after promotion, and they are disliked and excluded by local officials.

However, Hong Wen was lame, but he had never been transferred out. His salary and benefits were good, and his living conditions improved, so he brought his wife and children to Bianliang and rented a house in a remote Fish Street in the outer city.

Hearing what his neighbor said, Hong Wen said with a smile: "Forget it, I bought some chickens and ducks yesterday. My wife said I wasted my money on what to do. The more important thing is to save some money for my children and a wife."

"See what you said, I'll give it to you!"

said the neighbor generously.

"No, no, the department has regulations."

Hong Wen waved his hand quickly.

In fact, he is considered to have a small amount of power now. He would definitely not be able to cover the sky with one hand in Bianliang, but if he bullies and dominates the market in a street, there is probably no problem.

However, in the past few years, he has seen too many colleagues who were single-minded at the beginning and then became more and more powerful. They changed from dragon slayers to evil dragons with power in their hands. Many of them were former victims of Bianliang's evil forces. .

They had suffered in the past, and once they became successful, they paid it back to others twice as much, as if the suffering was caused by innocent people.

What's more, if someone looks at him on the street, he will feel offended, so he will take the person back to the Zhenfusi Yamen and torture him, and punish him privately.

So much so that for a period of time Yushitai and Jiantai frantically attacked the Imperial City Division.

Zhi Si was furious and ordered a strict internal investigation of the Imperial City Division. He executed more than 100 people and exiled more than 300 people. Only then could the discipline within the division be reorganized and restored.

If Hong Wen had his leg broken when he was twenty, he might become mentally twisted like his colleagues after he became successful.

But he is almost forty years old and has seen too many ups and downs of the world, so he can see things with a clear mind.

Even if someone on the street looks at his lame leg with strange eyes, Hong Wen has long been used to it and even nods to say hello to them.

"A few fish are nothing, they are all neighbors, just having fun during the Chinese New Year."

The neighbor enthusiastically used a rope to string two large grass carps through their gills. He walked over and insisted on handing them to Hong Wen.

"Oh, it's not easy for everyone to do business."

Hongwen couldn't refuse, so he had to pay from his pocket.

"As for these two fish, you're welcome."

Neither do the neighbors.

The two of them argued for a while, but the neighbor was a bit more stubborn than him. He didn't pay the money, so he turned back home and gave away the fish before going out again.

Exiting Fish Street is Wanshengmennei Street. At this time, the street is packed with people.

There are street vendors, people carrying burdens or pushing trucks, and people selling medicine, divination, and books. They all wear hats and belts and are neatly dressed. The incense sellers at the incense shop shouted slang songs about selling incense, and the snack eaters raised their plates and utensils and shouted loudly.

Businessmen wearing silks and satins walked through the crowd, and farmers wearing thin cotton clothes carried poles and went into the city to sell side dishes and grains. There were also people begging on the streets who regulated their positions and did not dare to slack off, lest everyone would not tolerate them.

There are many signboards in the streets and alleys, and the sounds of sales, shouts, shouts, and collisions are endless. The smell of fish, medicine, and food mixed with the smell of sweat comes to your nostrils.

Hongwen passed through Wanshengmen Inner Street and walked south for more than a hundred steps. He saw that Shifang Jingyin Temple located in Shuntianmen of the outer city was serving vegetarian meals. Many homeless beggars were looking for a bowl of plain noodles. He used to eat there often, but he really missed it.

Continuing south from the intersection is Hongqiaozi Street. On the right side of the street, a textile factory opened the year before last and hired a lot of female workers. However, he knew that these female workers were actually victims of Wuyoudong and Guifanlou in the past. By.

Many women were kidnapped and sold as prostitutes. Chisi rescued many of them, some of whom were afraid to go home, and some whose family members were missing. What's more, some finally found their families, but they were rejected and driven away by their families.

At the beginning, Zhisi set up a Salesian Bureau to support some homeless children and women. However, as more people were rescued, the costs increased. It was obvious that this was not an option.

Therefore, Chisi opened a textile factory not only to make money but also to support them.

The spinning machine used has also been improved and is much better than the previous spinning machine. It was first used to spin linen cloth, and later it was used to spin gauze cloth. In the past two years, because Guangzhou has included cotton in the tax, more and more people are growing cotton. Just start spinning cotton.

Moreover, many sheep were imported from the Liao Kingdom and Xixia. Although the sheep in ancient times were not the white sheep of later generations in the West, the number of sheep produced was not as large as that of later generations.

However, Western white sheep are also cross-bred from generation to generation, and have not always produced so many sheep since ancient times.

Therefore, Zhisi established the Animal Husbandry Department in Shaanxi, which specialized in raising sheep by using the relatively deserted wilderness grasslands in Shaanxi, and guided cross-breeding. Most of the sheep produced were transported to Bianliang and processed into woolen clothing, which kept them warm and comfortable.

Hong Wen continued walking south for more than half an hour. He limped past the Qumai Bridge and could see the silk ribbons of the brothel swaying in the wind. The oiran waved his sleeves and sang "I'm talking about being a teenager, left." Holding the yellow, holding the blue sky on the right, wearing a brocade hat and mink fur, riding thousands of horses on a rolling hill. In order to report the fall of the city, I followed the prefect, shot the tiger myself, and watched Sun Lang."

Not to be outdone, the Red Mansion on the other side responded with a song: "The flowers have faded and are red, green and apricots are small. When the swallows fly, the green water is surrounded by people. There are few willows blowing on the branches. There is no grass anywhere in the world. There are swings inside the wall. There are roads outside the wall. To the uninitiated, the beauty behind the wall is smiling. The laughter gradually disappears and becomes quieter. She is passionate but is annoyed by ruthlessness."

In recent years, this mysterious person from Zhou Shu has created many poems. Some people say that he is from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, his name is Lu Xun, and he comes from a place called Zhou Shu in Zhejiang. Some people say that his name is Zhou Shuren, whose courtesy name is Lu Xun. He was born near the West Lake and has many literary talents.

Anyway, it has been passed down for so many years, but people in Bianliang only heard about the words, not the person. Sometimes you can see him criticizing current affairs in newspapers. He has written many articles and is of great literary talent. He often shouts to encourage the people of Song Dynasty to work hard. He is a civil war fighter.

Not far from Taixue, there is the Nancheng Grain Market. The government stipulates that bulk grains are not sold here. Those who sell here are farmers from outside the city, and only charge a small stall fee.

Because the prices sold here are fresh and slightly cheaper than those at Bianliang Rice Shop, many Bianliang citizens come here to buy.

Hong Wen looked around and saw that the grain market was crowded with people. There were farmers with smiling faces, but there were also farmers with ugly faces. Some people sighed and shook their heads and said: "Food prices are low again.", but some people laughed. He said: "The money sold was more than last year."

宋代的农业税表面上是10抽1，实际上基本在10抽3-4左右。现在取消大量苛捐杂税，只保留基本农业税和人丁税，税率维持在了10抽1到10抽1.5之间。

In other words, if a farmer farmed 30 acres of land this year, 25 acres to grain and 5 acres to hemp, the rice output would be 3470 kilograms, equivalent to 37.5 shi; and the linen output would be 500 feet, equivalent to 12.5 pieces.

In the past, it was necessary to pay more than 10 shi of grain and about four bolts of linen to make up for the large amount of taxes such as field tax, small tax, transfer, foot money, change, and head tax.

But now you only need to pay 4 stones of grain and 1.5 pieces of cloth to meet your tax needs.

As a result, farmers have much more property at their disposal.

The problem is that the market is like this. If supply exceeds demand, prices will rise. If supply exceeds demand, prices will fall.

During the two years of war with Xixia and Liao from 1038 to 1040 AD, prices in Bianliang soared. At the peak, the price of grain could reach 600 liters per shi. In this way, after farmers paid taxes, the remaining 15 shi of grain could be sold for 18 - dollars.

Now that the war is over, we have been recuperating for two years. With oversupply, the price of food has fallen below the normal market price of 350 Wen per stone, to just over 200 Wen per stone.

It seems like a good thing, but after careful calculation, even if the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes are cancelled, the food in hand can only be sold for less than 10 yuan.

of course.

That's not how the account is calculated.

Farmers also have to eat and drink themselves. Most of the food can only be used for living expenses, and the excess food can be sold.

So from a practical point of view, falling food prices is a good thing.

For example, with more than 20 kilograms of grain, a family of five could eat 800 kilograms of grain a year, and they also had to pay for firewood, rice, oil, salt, and meat, which would cost at least 1500 kilograms.

The most that can be sold is 300-500 kilograms, which is about 384 kilograms to 640 kilograms in later generations.

If you sell it for 600 yuan per stone, you can get around 2000-3000 yuan.

Now the available grain has increased by more than 6 dan, and the amount of food that can be sold is about 10 dan. According to the current market price of 260 dan, the income in the period of 600 dan per dan is actually about the same, which is also around 3000 dan.

But don’t forget that if food prices increase significantly, the prices of firewood, rice, oil, and salt will also increase, and the cost of living will become extremely high.

And the highest price was during the war. From the second half of the first year of Kangding to the first year of Qingli last year, with the end of the war, the price of food also stabilized, falling from 600 Wen to more than 400 Wen.

Therefore, after all, after a large number of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes have been eliminated this year, the disposable income of farmers will naturally be much more than last year.

For example, last year the grain could only be sold for 1900 yuan, but this year it could be sold for 2800 yuan.

The cost of living has also dropped a lot.

After eliminating all expenses, I can save a few coins in a year and buy other things.

It's just best to keep it at more than 200 yuan per stone. If it is any lower, farmers' income will plummet. The saying "low grain prices hurt farmers" is not empty talk.

Hong Wen passed through the group of farmers selling grain and walked east for more than ten minutes, entering Chongmingmenwai Street, and arrived at Nanzhen Fusi where he was on duty.

Actually I don't go to work today.

After all, it's the end of the year, I'm on annual leave, and I have very little time to go to work.

However, recently the government is carrying out activities to care for the poor, orphans, and disabled people.

The Kaifeng Prefecture and the Imperial City Department are responsible for surveying and registering the poor people in Bianliang. They use government funds to distribute oil, salt, rice and noodles from door to door, so they need to work overtime temporarily.

By the time Hong Wen arrived, most of the supplies in the Nanzhen Fusi Yamen compound, which were still piled up like a hill yesterday, had been distributed.

But it happened that people from Meng's Trading Company sent another batch of grain and oil.

The Meng family used to be a middle-class merchant family selling grain, but the second son, Meng Chengqi, went to the Imperial Academy and actually got a certain amount of state-owned business, and he rose to prominence ever since.

This event also saw the government purchase a batch of supplies at low prices from various public-private joint ventures and deliver them to the Kaifeng Prefecture and the Imperial City Division for distribution.

The clerk of the Imperial City Department registered the shipped goods at the door, and the officials loaded the goods into the car and sent them to the designated person's home.

When you come back, the paperwork will be registered, and everything will be on the list. Once the magistrate returns to visit later and discovers that the items have not been delivered to the designated person's home, no one can run away.

So everyone did their duty diligently. Six clerks at the door were writing furiously. Dozens of officials carried goods onto carriages and horses, and set off according to their home addresses.

Seeing Hong Wen come to work, a subordinate who registered there early in the morning complained: "The boss is quite leisurely. We have been busy all morning."

"I can't help it, I'm walking slowly."

Hong Wen came to work on time, patted his thigh and laughed at himself. He had a good relationship with his subordinates, as close as friends.

"The boss has arrived at just the right time. I have to go out. Please help me take my place."

Another subordinate waved.

Hong Wen walked over and took the brush and started to register. While writing, he asked: "How is it?"

The subordinate said as he ran to the toilet: "More than five hundred shi were given out today, and another 1,200 shi were sent."

The Imperial City Division and Kaifeng Prefecture each perform their own duties. The Nanzhen Fu Division is mainly responsible for distributing poverty-stricken people in Nancheng, not only in the city, but also outside the city. More than a thousand shi are distributed every day.

Counting Beizhen Fusi and Kaifeng Prefecture, they have to send out almost 1400 shi of grain and hundreds of petroleum, salt and firewood every day, totaling more than guan a day.

The funny thing is that Zhao Jun has invested in many overseas trading companies in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and all the money has been invested in internal funds. As a result, Zhao Zhen now has more than 10 million yuan in internal funds, and he gave in one go. Wan Guan is almost enough to be distributed until March next year.

That is to say, there are indeed many poor people in Bianliang, and most of them live outside the city. Due to land annexation, many people have to go to the city to work, and they cannot afford the high rent, so they can only build a wooden house outside the city. .

These groups, as well as the lonely elderly, beggars, and poor people in the city, are the main targets for distribution of materials.

Hong Wen sat down and started to register.

After about ten minutes, his subordinate came back and continued to replace him.

Just when Hong Wen thought he could properly be the official responsible for supervising everyone, Director Liu ran in wiping his sweat from outside and shouted: "Is there anyone else? Come here quickly."

Hong Wen was puzzled, so he went over and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Chisi asked us to distribute all the items on the list before New Year's Eve. How can we distribute them all? Everyone is going crazy."

When Master Liu saw Hong Wen, his eyes lit up, and he pulled him over and said, "Let's go, Lao Hong, I'm here to help."

Hong Wen often fishes because of his leg ailments, so now he has no choice but to follow him out with a wry smile.

He couldn't move anything, so he went over to help support the sack.

After a while, another car was loaded. He knew the words, so he took the list to be distributed and left slowly with the car.

The carriage carrying the goods ran very fast, and the driver's skills seemed to have been learned from Zhao Guangyi. It passed through the lively and bustling streets and exited through Guangli Gate in the south.

A large number of private houses have been built on both sides of the Cai River.

This is outside the outer city. Logically speaking, it should be a wilderness.

But it seems like a new city.

Wooden houses are built along the river, some are brick structures, and most are ordinary wooden houses and bungalows.

Kaifeng Mansion has also re-planned the outside of the city. The streets are lined up in rows. Although it is not as good as inside the city, it at least has some order.

The carriage stopped at Xinmin Street. It was said to be a street, but it was actually about a dozen wooden houses along the river. Children were running around barefoot on the rammed earth street, with patches on their bodies. People with good looks came out from time to time. , some went to fetch water, some went to work in the city, and some sat on the street corner doing crafts.

"Room 13 Zhang Family"

Hong Wen got off the carriage and limped to a dilapidated wooden house. In front of the house, there was an old man making bamboo weavings. He asked, "Is this Zhang Si's family?"

The old man raised his head, and it was only then that Hong Wen noticed that the old man was as skinny as a stick, and half of the pants under his right leg had been cut off. There was nothing inside, and there was a crutch placed on the wooden wall next to him.

"Yes, is Shima?"

the old man asked.

Hong Wen said hurriedly: "We are here from the Imperial City Division to deliver rice oil. The officials have asked us to distribute rice noodles this year."

As he spoke, he waved his hand and motioned to the officials behind him to get something.

The official dragged a sack of grain from the carriage, and another official took a small bag of oil and salt, and a large bag of firewood.

When the old man saw this situation, his originally puzzled face lit up with joy, and he said gratefully: "Thank you, thank you."

"Azhong, Azhong."

He shouted a few words, and a child hurried over.

The old man said hurriedly: "Hurry and make tea for the guests."

"No, no, no."

Hong Wen signaled the officials to put the things at home, then helped the old man open the sack and poured the rice into the rice vat. He waved his hands awkwardly and said, "We have to go to the next family to deliver."

At the end, he said: "The New Year is here, have a good New Year."

He did not ask where the old man's family had gone. Information showed that the old man was a veteran of the Battle of Chanzhou and had a broken leg on the battlefield.

His wife died of illness a few years ago, and the eldest son did not learn well and joined some gangs in Bianliang. He was very brave and fierce all day long and died in a gang conflict.

The second son also died four years ago, in the battle with Xixia. One daughter-in-law died of illness and the other remarried. Now he only has three grandchildren.

Hong Wen found that compared with the old man, he might be lucky.

At least he had lived a hard life before, but he had studied and earned some money on the street to warm a bowl of wine and order a plate of broad beans in a hotel.

After sending this one home, I went to the next one without stopping.

The situation of this family is similar to that of the Zhang family, and their fate is naturally different, but they are still in the same poverty, and are still on the verge of starving to death.

The head of the household was a woman who was about to die. It turned out that their family had some land, but then the man in the family broke his leg. To pay for the medical expenses, he had to borrow money from someone. Nine out and twenty back.

In the end, the legs were healed, but that year there was a disaster in the county and there was no grain harvest. The man was forced to sell his land to the landlord. Still insolvent, he had no choice but to take his wife and flee overnight to work in Bianliang.

Unexpectedly, a few years ago in Bianliang, a creditor discovered him and brought his men over to beat the man to death, leaving only his wife and children. For this reason, the woman had to work as a prostitute to support herself.

He barely managed to raise his child, but eventually contracted some unspeakable terminal illness and lay dying in bed, on the verge of death.

This time, Hong Wen didn't even dare to say, "The New Year is here, have a good New Year." He just took another bunch of money from his arms, put it under the woman's pillow, and quietly withdrew.

When he came out, there were only mixed emotions on his face.

It is foreseeable that at the end of this year, the children of this family will probably have to cry through the year. The only good thing is that the eldest son is already fifteen years old and can barely support the family.

"The master is kind-hearted, but this woman is terminally ill and I'm afraid she won't live for long. Even if she gives her money, she won't be able to survive."

An official who saw Hong Wen giving money sighed.

"It's good to be able to help a little bit. This is what the official family and Chiji hope for."

Hong Wen also sighed.

There is no end to the poverty in this world.

But just like the boy at the beach saving the fish, this fish cares, and so does that fish.

If you don't save them, then who cares about them?

He turned back, looked at the dilapidated wooden house, and just whispered: "The New Year is here, have a good New Year."

(End of this chapter)