People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 454: Youyan Road Development Plan, Talk with the Aristocratic Family

Zhao Jun drew a circle in Shicheng and determined the future industrial foundation of the Song Dynasty.

This is also due to foresight, otherwise it would be very difficult to find a place rich in coal and iron ore.

Afterwards, he inspected the counties around Luanzhou and went to the southern coast to see the future seaport of the Song Dynasty.

This is Caofeidian District of Tangshan City in later generations, very close to Ninghe District of Tianjin.

But whether it is Tianjin or Tangshan, at least in ancient times, they were not important places. There were some fishing villages on the seaside, and that was all.

Zhao Jun was well aware of the importance of maritime trade, especially at the moment when it was time to vigorously develop trade with the Northeast.

If freight from Shenzhou and Liaoyang can be connected to Tianjin through Yingkou, and all the minerals in the Northeast can be transported to Tangshan, industrial development will be faster.

In late May, Zhao Jun left Shanhaiguan and went to Shenzhou for inspection. Local officials and garrison generals came to greet him.

He learned about the current situation in Shenzhou.

At the same time, I also learned about the current development of trade between the Song Dynasty and the Jurchens and Bohai people in Northeast China.

Compared with Beiping City, Shenzhou City and Liaoyang City were very lively, with not only Jurchen and Bohai people, but also Koreans.

The weapons and armor of the Song Dynasty were very popular among these ethnic minorities, and there was also trade in firearms and gunpowder. The main commodities were grain, medicinal materials, wood, furs, and livestock.

Due to the developed maritime trade of the Song Dynasty, it was often the ethnic minorities in the Northeast who transported the goods to Shenzhou and Liaoyang, and then local merchants transported them to Yingkou Port for shipment.

These goods will be sent along the coastline to ports across the Song Dynasty, such as Nigu Port in Hebei, Laizhou Bay in Shandong, and even the farthest Haizhou in Huainan, which is Lianyungang. The farthest can even be sent to Guangzhou.

Because many raw materials can be processed into handicrafts or other commodities in Guangzhou, Quanzhou and other places, sold to Central Asia, and then resold to Europe by Arab merchants to make money from white people.

Therefore, it can be said that although the Song Dynasty has not yet established a global trade system, it has already established initial connections and is gradually improving the economic cycle.

"The drought has finally come. It has not rained in Youyan Road for more than a month. People everywhere are becoming increasingly impoverished."

On June 8, Zhao Jun returned to Beiping City from Liaoyang. It was noon. He looked up at the scorching sun, threw his purple robe back, put his hands behind his back, and walked into the Yuanhe Hall with his head down.

Except for Wang Anshi and other accompanying personnel who had been following him, all the main officials of Youyan Road had arrived. More than a dozen chief officers and deputy officers, including Yang Ting, Wang Si, Zhou Hang, Tang Jie, and Wu Ruopeng, followed Zhao Jun into the house.

This time, Zhao Jun has traveled to a large area from Beijing to Tangshan, Qinhuangdao, Huludao, Shenyang, Liaoyang, etc., paying attention to the overall customs, economy, government affairs, military affairs, urban planning, etc. of Youyan Road.

Now is also the time to hold a meeting and make a summary.

Zhao Jun entered the hall and sat in the main seat. Now Yuanhe Hall has changed a lot. It is no longer the palace it used to be, but has been converted into an office space. There are many desks in the room, which are filled with documents.

There were many clerks sorting the information inside. When everyone came in, the clerks stood up, bowed and left - some of the information was about local families, and some was statistical data.

Seeing that so much information had been collected in the room, Zhao Jun nodded with satisfaction, and then sat down. Just like the meeting of the Constitutional Council, everyone sat on Zhao Jun's left and right according to their positions.

On his right were many senior officials of Youyan Road headed by Yang Ting, and on his left were accompanying officials headed by Yang Gao. Although Yang Gao and Yang Cha had the same rank, Yang Gao had more seniority than Yang Cha, so he sat in the first seat.

"I gained a lot from this trip. I have a basic understanding of Youyan Road. The water here is very deep and muddy. But only by walking into the water and exploring it can you see if there are any fish."

Zhao Jun opened the conversation first, then looked around and said with a smile: "I am very happy that I caught a lot of fish, and some of them are big fish. In addition to catching the corrupt official Cui Yi, I have gained something in all aspects."

Then he added: "But we can talk about other things later. Let's talk about what I am concerned about first. What is the current disaster situation on Youyan Road?"

Yang Ting stood up and saluted, saying, "Minister, we have counted the disasters and found that as many as fourteen counties were affected, with Gu'an, Yongqing, Anci, Wuqing, Yutian, Shicheng, and Guangning being the worst hit."

"Well, some of these places are located downstream of rivers, and some simply don't have major rivers in their territory, only some small streams and tributaries. Under the drought, the water levels of various rivers have dropped significantly, and the counties upstream will definitely intercept most of the water resources."

Zhao Jun frowned and said, "There will be much less water resources in the downstream areas. May and June are the harvest seasons for millet and wheat. Now it seems that it will be difficult to survive for a few acres."

"It is also thanks to the fact that the Zhiyuan had prepared in advance and made arrangements in advance, otherwise I am afraid that Youyan Road would be full of refugees now."

Yang Ting sighed, "The grain that was transported to Zhuozhou before has been sent to various counties as disaster relief grain, and the disaster situation of each household has been counted. In previous years, many people starved to death in disaster-stricken areas, but I'm afraid that won't happen this year."

Zhao Jun nodded and said, "Well, statistics are enough, but we must pay attention that the relief food must be distributed to the victims. If the local authorities deduct it, they will be punished severely and must not be tolerated."

"Yes."

Yang Ting agreed and admired Zhao Jun's foresight. As early as the beginning of May, he discovered that the climate was not right and suspected that there might be a drought in Youyan Road. He sent people to transport grain from Yongji Canal in advance to solve the urgent problem.

Otherwise, Youyan Road would be in chaos now. Even if the imperial court learned of the news quickly and transported grain as soon as possible, many victims would probably starve to death.

After all, in that era, many people did not have much surplus food at home. Basically, they ate as much as they planted. Sometimes, in order to wait until the next crop was ripe, they even had to go hungry and eat sparingly to prevent the food from running out before it was ripe.

This is also why there were only two meals a day in ancient times, one meal in the morning at Chenshi and one meal in the afternoon. These two time periods are also called meal time and afternoon meal time.

"There is also the aftermath work. Right now the imperial court can only provide food for the victims. In the long run, local governments must take on the responsibility. They should harvest as much grain as possible, and burn the grain that died from drought on the spot to make fertilizer."

Zhao Jun emphasized: "The court cannot take care of so many disaster victims all the time. Only by doing it yourself can we have enough food and clothing. You must urge the local government to organize farming in the second half of the year as soon as possible to see if we can resume post-disaster production as soon as possible."

"Yes."

Yang Ting and many other officials agreed one after another.

Only after confirming that the disaster was still under control, Zhao Jun asked, "Have you found out about Cui Yi's case?"

"Checked it out."

Yang Gao said: "This man colluded with several generals in the army to resell the silk in the treasury. He also organized a caravan to trade with the Liao people on the border. He even dared to sell muskets."

A cold light flashed in Zhao Jun's eyes as he said, "Convict them of treason. Kill those leaders who should be killed. Report it to the Dali Temple and the Constitutional Court. When the receipt from the Constitutional Court comes, I will sign and execute it."

"Yes."

Yang Gao agreed.

Although all the evidence has been found.

The matter has been investigated clearly.

But the necessary procedures still have to be followed.

People at Cui Yi's level are equivalent to high-ranking officials in later generations.

The local authorities certainly do not have the power to try them.

Only the Constitutional Court can decide.

Going through the Dali Temple is basically just a matter of going through the process and getting a judgment as quickly as possible.

After the verdict was issued, it was first sent to the Constitutional Council, where several prime ministers reviewed it. None of them had any objections, and finally Zhao Jun signed it to make it effective.

To kill a frontier official, Zhao Zhen almost didn't need to step in, the Political System Council could handle it. This was the significance of the Political System Council.

As the head of the Constitutional Court, Zhao Jun had unlimited power, but he was reasonable with diligent officials and hardworking people.

But to those evil spirits, demons and monsters, they are the most evil existence in this world.

"Then let's talk about the future development of Youyan Road."

Zhao Jun looked around and said, "I know you may not be very interested in this topic. Right now, officials all over the world only care about the present. Maybe the disaster situation makes you feel more urgent because things that happen a few years later have nothing to do with you."

He continued, "But what I want to say is that when I came here to inspect the local areas, I did realize that the term of office of officials was too short, which had a great impact on governance. After I return, I will adjust the term of office of officials, so you should take a long-term view."

"Yes."

Yang Ting and others were overjoyed and very excited about the information revealed by Zhao Jun.

Officials all over the world have suffered from their terms of office for a long time.

Many times, if you want to achieve something, you have to quit your job within two years.

This resulted in the local officials still having great power under the system of itinerant officials, and the management at the lower levels continued to be chaotic, and there was no question of being very smart and capable.

If the supervision is not unprecedentedly strong, not to mention corruption and abuse of power, just getting by and failing to complete the tasks assigned by superiors on time may also result in punishment.

The tough system forces local officials to work hard, and I am afraid that grassroots governance would have been in chaos long ago.

Therefore, to a certain extent, although the three-year term of office of itinerant officials avoided the current situation of collusion between local government and local forces, it also caused low administrative efficiency and a lack of subjective initiative in planning and reforming the future development of the county.

We can now extend the term of office of officials, and even do what the Constitutional Yuan did, so that if there are long-term plans for the future, they can serve one more term.

For example, if the term of office of a county magistrate is extended to five years, two terms will be ten years. Many people who passed the imperial examination at the age of twenty will only be thirty years old after serving as county magistrate for ten years. It is not a bad thing to accumulate grassroots experience.

"I think the development of Youyan Road has two main aspects: one is industrial construction, and the other is commercial development."

Zhao Jun pointed out the crux of the problem and said: "Although the entire Youyan Road has a large area of ​​arable land, except for a small part of the Yanshan Mountains, most of it is a vast plain area, but this does not mean that we have to rely on the weather for our livelihood."

"Although agriculture must be developed, we often have to adapt to local conditions. This drought has sounded the alarm for us and made us realize the fragility of agricultural development."

He emphasized: "So if a region wants to develop in the long run, agriculture, commerce, transportation, industry and construction are all indispensable. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

Yang Ting humbly asked: "Then how should we develop industrial construction and commerce?"

As he said this, he waved to Wu Ruopeng beside him.

Wu Ruopeng understood and quickly took a pen and paper from the table next to him and started taking notes.

Zhao Jun pondered and said, "This business is to combine its own strengths and vigorously develop the handicraft manufacturing industry and the textile industry."

"Youyan is very close to Liao State. The furs they produce in abundance can be used as raw materials to make clothes."

"I've observed that the business model of Song Dynasty and theirs is very backward now."

"Except for a very small number of products produced in Youyan Road that are sold there, most of the products are forced to be produced in the heart of the Central Plains."

"The cost of merchants traveling back and forth will also increase, which will greatly reduce the volume of trade between the two sides."

"If the goods are originally produced in Youyan Road, the distance to transport them to the north will be much shorter, and the cost will naturally be much lower, so we can sell more goods."

"So in terms of commercial development of Youyan Road, the first thing is to create a better business environment, such as replanning and reconstructing Beiping City."

"The second is to have better policies to attract merchants, such as reducing certain taxes."

He spoke eloquently and came up with many ideas at will.

But it shocked everyone.

Since tax rates are fixed, how can local governments change taxes?

Yang Ting was shocked and said, "If we make the decision on our own and reduce taxes, then the court will be in trouble."

"Don't you know how to report it? Report the situation to the Constitutional Court. You and I are not fools."

Zhao Jun glared at the other party with dissatisfaction. These conservative local officials may abide by the rules, but sometimes being too conservative is not a good thing.

Development and reform must be based on innovation. We cannot completely ignore thinking just because many things are rigid rules set by the court.

From another perspective, there were too many such officials in the Song Dynasty, so numerous that only a few could be innovative. Those who wanted to reform like Fan Zhongyan and Wang Anshi were almost rare.

"Yes."

Yang Ting, Wu Ruopeng and others nodded repeatedly. They were officials of the Transportation Bureau, responsible for handling local government affairs, and these things were very important to them.

Afterwards, Zhao Jun talked about the industrial model.

He believes that there should be coal mines and iron mines near Shicheng and Zunhua. The Luanzhou Natural Resources Department has recently found a lot of minerals and is determining the location of the mines.

Once the location is found, manpower and material resources can be mobilized from the Wu'an Iron and Steel Plant to carry out mineral collection and construction of the Youyan Road State-owned Steel Plant in Shicheng, Zunhua, Anxi, Lulong and other places.

As long as the steel industry develops, it will not only promote local employment, but also vigorously develop the local economy.

Although Yang Ting, Wu Ruopeng and others were confused by terms such as employment, economy, and pillar industries, they understood the key words and were able to vigorously develop the local economy.

So everyone listened carefully and took notes seriously.

After Zhao Jun clearly presented the future plan of Youyan Road to everyone, he started the last topic. He asked, "How are you doing with the issue of the aristocratic families?"

"Forehead"

Everyone looked at each other, and Yang Ting said cautiously: "It's still not going smoothly."

"Why is it not going well?"

"We have come into contact with many noble families, but most of them are quite resistant."

"Well"

Zhao Jun narrowed his eyes and said, "It's okay. Give me the list and I'll talk to them in person."

If they can come to an agreement, everyone will be happy. If they can't, don't blame him for taking action.

(End of this chapter)