People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 453 Draw a Circle in Stone City
In the next few days, Zhao Jun arranged the tasks and began to move around in and around the city of Peking.

He patrolled everywhere, overlooking the entire city, and also inspected the situation outside the city.

The weather has been getting hotter recently, and there is a possibility of drought in Youyan, so we still need to make some preparations.

The first is to let the government work together with the noble families and mobilize the people to dig ditches.

The second is to mobilize grain from Bianliang.

Since the opening of the direct canal between Hebei and Bianliang, there has been a canal that can transport grain directly from Bianliang to Zhuozhou.

With the improvement of transportation capacity, disaster resistance will naturally increase, which is enough to cope with possible droughts.

Another thing is to make certain renovation plans for the city of Beiping.

This included large-scale construction projects, mobilizing manpower and material resources from the south, and starting to build cement plants and brick factories.

This also accumulated certain experience for the future urbanization development of the Song Dynasty.

After all, although Bianliang has begun to develop towards modernization, in fact there have not been many changes in the inner and outer cities, only buildings are being built outside the city.

In addition, the sewage disposal capacity of the newly built tube-shaped buildings outside the city of Bianliang is also a problem.

When the earliest tube-shaped buildings were built, there were no sewer pipes. Residents could only use toilets and then carry them down to the septic tank to empty them.

There were special dung workers who were employed by the imperial court to process the feces and finally made it into fertilizer to sell to farmers, which became one of the sources of financial income for Kaifeng Prefecture.

It was not until last year that new buildings began to use painted steel pipes as sewer pipes and septic tanks were built underground near the buildings, which brought slight changes.

This is one of the reasons why people live in high-rise buildings outside the city, the outer city and inner city are just bungalows and wooden houses, and the area outside the city is full of slums.

Although they live in high-rise buildings, the civil infrastructure, living facilities and convenient location are not as good as those in the city. Naturally, it can only be inhabited by migrant workers and has become a slum.

Zhao Jun believed that Peking had a favorable geographical location. Although the three northeastern provinces had not yet been recovered, the Song Dynasty could first use the ethnic minorities in the northeast to seize resources.

Moreover, Youyan Road itself has resources. For example, Shicheng, which is Tangshan in later generations, is a famous steel production base.

As the saying goes, the world looks to China for steel, China looks to Hebei for steel, and Hebei looks to Tangshan for steel.

If Tangshan and Handan, two of China's best steel production bases in later generations, could be fully utilized, the Song Dynasty would be able to complete industrial accumulation and perfect the primary stage of industry in a short period of time.

In addition, Shenzhou and Xinzhou, that is, Shenyang and Zhangjiakou areas, will serve as trade channels connecting the Mongolian grasslands with the three northeastern provinces.

Then the final intersection of these two roads must be Beiping Prefecture.

Therefore, the future prosperity of Peking is a foregone conclusion, not only due to the current geopolitical factors, but also because subsequent history has long since proven this.

Under such circumstances, if the Song Dynasty court took advantage of the fact that the city of Beiping was devastated by war and needed to be rebuilt, it would be the best option to carry out modern urban construction.

For example, the Song Dynasty was fully capable of rebuilding the sewers on the wasteland, building urban water and electricity systems, planning new markets, commercial streets, residential buildings, railway stations, industrial production areas, etc.

This is equivalent to rebuilding the city of Beiping and creating a model of a modern city, which will serve as a reference for the construction of other cities in the Song Dynasty in the future.

Based on this consideration, Zhao Jun stayed in Peiping for a few more days and did not set out for Shicheng until mid-May.

The specific location of the ancient Shicheng is in Kaiping District of Tangshan City in later generations, eight or nine kilometers away from the center of Tangshan City. In the Song Dynasty, it was just an ordinary village.

The only difference is that people discovered gold mines here as early as the Tang Dynasty, but not in Tangshan, but in Qianxi County, north of Tangshan, Jinchangyu Town in the Yanshan Mountains, about eighty or ninety kilometers away from Tangshan City.

Zhao Jun actually didn't know that Tangshan's natural resources were not in the urban area, but in Luanzhou, Zunhua, Qianxi and other places below. When he arrived in Shicheng, he was greatly disappointed for a moment.

Shicheng is no different from the other county towns on Youyan Road. The endless North China Plain seems to have no end in sight, with villages and fields everywhere. An isolated city stands on the plain, which can neither be described as desolate nor prosperous.

Occasionally, a few caravans would pass by on the official road in the distance, coming from Liaoyang, then going south along Hebei to Zhuozhou, and then going directly to Bianliang through the Yongji Canal. At most, they would just rest in the local area.

In addition, there are abundant forest resources. There are jungles everywhere on the surrounding plains and wilderness. The further north you go towards the Yanshan Mountains, the denser the forests are.

It was noon and the sun was getting hotter.

When the governor of Luanzhou and the magistrate of Shicheng heard that Zhao Jun was coming, they came to greet him with a group of officials.

After the return of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the north returned to its old name of the Tang Dynasty.

For example, the Liao Dynasty called Zhangjiakou Fengshengzhou, and the Tang Dynasty called it Guizhouzhou. The Liao Dynasty called Beijing Nanjingfu, and the Tang Dynasty called it Youzhou. The area from Tangshan to Qinhuangdao was called Pingzhou in the Liao Dynasty, and Luanzhou in the Tang Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty had always promoted itself as the legal successor of the Tang Dynasty, so many administrative plans were based on the old Tang system, and there would naturally be no difference in the newly recovered Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

"Your humble servant greets the Magistrate!"

Zhou Bangli, the governor of Luanzhou, Zhao Hui, the magistrate of Shicheng County, as well as the prefectural magistrate, prosecutor, prefectural lieutenant, county magistrate, and other officials of all ranks gathered together.

You have to know that the officials in a state or a county are very busy now. There are state police and county police stations under the jurisdiction of the Central Police Department and the Highway Police Department, which are headed by state lieutenants and county lieutenants.

There are also branches of the National Taxation Bureau and the Local Taxation Bureau under the Ministry of Taxation, the Audit Bureau under the Ministry of Statistics, the Dali Court under the Dali Temple, the Supervisory Court under the Ministry of Supervision, the Transportation Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation, the Resources Bureau under the Ministry of Natural Resources, and so on.

Overall, although the government functions are not as many as those of a city or county in later generations, the basic hierarchical, special, counterpart and responsibility functions have been perfected, and the system is relatively sound.

That is, what specific responsibilities this department is responsible for, so as to avoid unclear functions and mutual buck-passing at all levels as in the past.

The result of this is that a county may have a population of only tens of thousands, but there may be more than ten or even more than twenty officials of certain ranks, which is a very large number of officials.

But just tell me whether the problem of redundant officials has been solved.

As long as officials no longer just hold an idle position and collect salary every month without doing any work as before, but have specific duties and specific work, they will not be considered redundant.

Zhao Jun was also troubled by these officials. He got off the carriage and said with a somewhat unhappy look, "Are you all idle? It hasn't rained in Youyan for several days, and there are signs of drought. If you don't do your own work, what are you doing here?"

The officials outside were all shocked. They looked at each other in bewilderment, and felt the hairs on their backs stand on end. They stood there, not knowing whether to walk or not.

Yang Ting, who had accompanied him on the inspection, quickly came to the rescue and said, "Minister, it is my fault. I have been busy with the affairs of the noble families these days and forgot to notify the Luanzhou government office to ask them to send only a few key officials to receive us. They misunderstood and all came."

"Except for the Luanzhou prefect, the Shicheng county magistrate, and officials from the Luanzhou and Shicheng Natural Resources Bureau, everyone else can go away."

Zhao Jun waved his hand and said, "From now on, only the main officials will be required to receive the superiors. The rest of the officials, except for those who are responsible for the relevant matters, must do their own work in their own offices."

"Yes!"

Many officials then left as if they had been pardoned.

The only people left outside the city were Luanzhou governor Zhou Bangli, Shicheng county magistrate Zhao Hui, and two officials from the Luanzhou Natural Resources Office and Shicheng Natural Resources Bureau. The rest had all left.

After everyone left, Zhao Jun looked around and saw that this was the official road to the west of Shicheng. The official road was now blocked by his guards. Although there were not many people, he still said, "Let's find an open space outside the city to set up camp first."

His guards were too large, more than 300 people, and they had many carriages and supplies. When they passed through counties and prefectures on weekdays, they did not stay in the city, but camped directly outside the city.

The Shicheng County Magistrate said hurriedly, "Your Excellency, you must have been exhausted on the journey. I have already prepared wine and food in the city."

"Well, okay, let's go eat first." Zhao Jun nodded, and then ordered the guards to set up camp outside the city, and he and the accompanying officials entered the city.

However, when he walked into the city gate, he did not go to the county government office immediately, but suddenly changed his mind, climbed up the city wall and looked around.

All you can see is that Shicheng is flat and stretches as far as the eye can see, with the exception of the Yanshan Mountains to the north, towering into the clouds.

Where does the mine come from here?

Zhao Jun frowned and looked towards the Yanshan Mountains in the north.

He is not from Tangshan, and this is his first time to come to the Tangshan area, either in later generations or now.

Because he didn't know much about Tangshan, before he came here, Zhao Jun thought that Tangshan City should be a place with mining areas, or at least there should be a mountain called Tangshan.

As a result, there are very few mountains here, not to mention small hills that are dozens of meters high.

As it is now, it is unlikely that there are minerals in the urban area of ​​Tangshan. Even if there are mines, they should be buried deep underground, otherwise the ancients would have already started mining and smelting iron.

Zhao Jun stood on the top of the city wall, braving the scorching sun. Many officials behind him wiped their sweat, but no one dared to speak.

After a while, he asked, "Where is the director of the Shicheng Natural Resources Bureau?"

"The subordinate is here."

An official in his thirties stood up.

Zhao Jun asked, "Have you explored Shicheng? Have you dug deep underground to see what minerals there are? This is the task of your Natural Resources Bureau, right?"

The official cupped his hands and said, "To answer the question from the governor, the Shicheng Natural Resources Bureau was only established after the Shicheng government was established the year before last. We don't have enough personnel to survey every part of the county, but we did survey it, and the main resource is timber."

"No other minerals like coal and iron ore?"

"No."

"Is that so?"

Zhao Jun frowned, then asked, "Where are the people involved in the Luanzhou Natural Resources case?"

"The subordinate is here."

The prosecutor of the Luanzhou Natural Resources Case came forward.

Unlike the bureau-level government departments of a province in later generations, the senior government offices in the Song Dynasty were often called "Si", such as the Three Si, the Si of Jinglüe and Anfu, the Si of Zhuanyun, the Si of Tidianxingyu, and so on.

Under the Si is the Case. For example, the Salt and Iron Si among the Three Si was under the jurisdiction of seven cases: military case, helmet case, commercial tax case, capital salt case, tea case, iron case, and establishment case.

Originally, the chief officer of the case was called Dianjian Wenzi, and the deputy officer was called Kongmu. In addition, the hierarchical structure of various departments, bureaus, and cases was very confusing. Sometimes the subordinate units were also called a certain department or a certain bureau. After the Jingyou reform, adjustments were made.

For example, the chief officer of the case was changed to Quan Zhi X X X, referred to as Zhi X X X. The four levels of ministry, department, case and bureau were determined, corresponding to the later provincial ministry, municipal hall, county department and township section, each with its own functions.

Seeing the chief officer coming over, Zhao Jun asked, "What is the distribution of natural resources in Shicheng and its surrounding areas? Are there any coal mines or iron mines?"

The case officer replied: "We have not yet explored and have not found any coal or iron mines. Our Luanzhou Natural Resources Bureau was established too recently, and we are only summoning personnel from each county to explore the situation in their own county, but there are many deep mountains and old forests."

"Well, it's not your fault. Have you ever found minerals in the area before? Have you ever asked the local people if they have found anything in the mountains?"

Zhao Jun asked again.

The detective thought for a moment and said, "There is a gold mine, but it has been abandoned for a long time."

"Oh? Where?"

"In the Black Stone Mountain northeast of Zunhua."

"Mark the location for me to see."

Zhao Jun waved behind him.

Jiang Dalang understood and took out two maps from his arms.

The first one is an ancient map of Luanzhou, and the second one is not simple, it is a modern map.

This was drawn by the artist based on Zhao Jun's map of China. It captures modern Beijing and most of the surrounding areas, and the content is very detailed.

After all, there are differences between ancient and modern names. The reason why Zhao Jun was able to determine that Shicheng was the later Tangshan City was that he had this later map and the ancient map for comparison.

Jiang Dalang handed the two maps to Zhao Jun, who then handed the ancient one to the official in charge of the natural resources case.

Although it is an ancient map, it is actually drawn based on Zhao Jun's modern map, but the city markings are based on ancient standards. The most typical example is that Tianjin is on the modern map but not on the ancient one.

The official was very surprised to see the map, which was too detailed. He thought for a moment and pointed to a point 40 kilometers northeast of Zunhua County and said, "It's probably at this location."

"Ah."

Zhao Jun took his modern map as a reference and saw the same location, which was marked as Jinchangyu Town under the jurisdiction of Qianxi County in later generations.

Apparently, there was no Qianxi County in the Song Dynasty, and this place was under the jurisdiction of Zunhua County. No wonder there are no mines in Shicheng, all the emotions are in Zunhua.

This is normal. In later generations, these places were under the jurisdiction of Tangshan. Zhao Jun had never been to Tangshan and didn't know much about it. There were no mountains or mines marked on the map, so naturally he didn't know the specific situation here.

Now that I have arrived at the local area in person, I understand that there are probably no minerals in Tangshan city. All the minerals come from the Yanshan Mountains in the north. The minerals are just transported from the mountains to Tangshan for industrial construction.

Thinking of this, Zhao Jun drew a circle in the area south of Zunhua and Qianxi, north of Shicheng, east of Yutian, and west of Qian'an and said, "Where is the governor of Luanzhou?"

"The subordinate is here."

Zhou Bangli quickly stood up.

"You must immediately organize relevant personnel from the natural resources departments of Luanzhou to conduct geological surveys in this area, go deep into the mountains and forests, and search for minerals."

Zhao Jun pointed to the location on the map and said, "Even if we have to dig three feet underground, we must find the mine. Do you hear me?"

"Yes!"

Zhou Bangli responded loudly.

"Ah."

Zhao Jun put away the map, looked around, and said, "Shicheng is a good place. We will move the Luanzhou government here in the future. After we find the minerals, we will build a port in the south and develop it vigorously!"

As long as the Shicheng Iron and Steel Plant is built, why worry about the lack of steel in the Song Dynasty?

(End of this chapter)