Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 381 Having a Backer
"So big!"

On February 19, with a team of thousands of people, Xu Shuo, the prefect of Zunyi, finally arrived at the former Bozhou City, now Zunyi County.

Several miles away, he could already see the rice fields all around, as well as the Banzhou City standing on the mountainside in the distance.

In Guizhou, which is full of mountains, it is a bit shocking to suddenly see a dam as big as Zunyi.

Since there was no obstruction, Xu Shuo had an unobstructed view of the entire Zunyi Bazi.

The dam that appeared in front of him alone contained hundreds of thousands of acres of cultivated land, and beyond that there were river valleys and plains.

It can be said that the situation in Zunyi County is far beyond Xu Shuo's imagination. Even the officials following him breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with relief.

"Go! Go and see!"

Xu Shuo regained his strength and led everyone towards Zunyi City.

When they came to Zunyi, they could also feel that the local army had increased to the naked eye. There were always troops stationed at the mountain pass. Even Xu Shuo and the others needed to be interrogated.

As soon as they entered Zunyi City, the situation in the city made everyone take a breath.

As Xu Shuo, who has been catching fish at the beach and helping to cultivate the land since he was a child, he knows very well that this is a last resort move made by farmers who are worried about wearing out their clothes.

Qu Yu did not greet Xu Shuo, but Xu Shuo didn't care. They walked on the solid dirt road and approached Bozhou City.

The main road on the central axis of the city is three feet wide. Most of the buildings on both sides of the street are about one foot six feet high. There are Han Chinese buildings and some small brick and stone buildings similar to stilted buildings.

Most of the people who can live in Bozhou City are related to the Yang family, so the Chinese culture is very obvious.

Xu Shuo was a little surprised, but when he thought about how Muchun had governed Kunming and opened up 300,000 acres of cultivated land, he thought of all this.

"Some little chieftains don't accept the idea of ​​returning to their native land and wandering around in the mountains and forests. Don't worry."

Xu Shuo asked the Qianhu official who was leading the way. Hearing this, the Qianhu official responded as he walked: "Originally, there were all of them, but after the land conversion, all the fields related to the Yang family were confiscated."

"It's me, here are the official seal and documents." Xu Shuo took the official seal and documents from the official beside him and handed them over.

As a place where the Yang family of Bozhou has been operating for more than 500 years, Zunyi City is paved with stone bricks made from river stones, and the roads are also very wide.

Commander Wei nodded after checking: "Dudu Qu has replaced the plaque on the Xuanwei Si Yamen. I will send someone to take you there now."

As the prefect, Xu Shuo spoke with a smile at this time. While comforting everyone, he also made everyone aware of his gaffe.

"There are "Yellow Album" and "Fish Scale Album" over there at the Yamen. They are all measured by the brothers."

Seeing Xu Shuo coming on foot, the commander was slightly surprised. Then he bowed and said, "May I ask if it's Xu Mengming, the prefect of Xu?"

When he was working in Ba County, he presided over the development of many terraced fields. Although it was all knowledge from books, the effect was very significant after being put into practice.

The commander of the guard did not take this kind of thing seriously, but the other three county officials and subordinates behind Xu Shuo looked worried.

Outside the city of Boshu, people wearing various ethnic costumes were farming in the fields. There were actually ditches built with concrete next to the fields.

"I'm just nervous, there's no need to bother the prefect."

Qian Huguan led the way while talking, but there were relatively few people on the streets, probably because they were moved out of Guizhou.

Because it is inside the city, there is no situation like the stilted buildings outside the city with railings and corridors, with people living upstairs and stables downstairs.

Behind Xu Shuo, Zhao Gui, a co-president of Zunyi Prefecture, sighed. Xu Shuo also nodded and said: "Use this as a foundation to support the counties, restore Zunyi Prefecture's output as soon as possible, and continue to reclaim wasteland while supporting the army's supplies."

Qu Yu was stationed in Zunyi City, while Mu Chun, Qu Neng, Mu Sheng and others were fighting rebellions in various places.

As the magistrate of Ba County in Chongqing Prefecture, Xu Shuo naturally knew about the relocation of people from Bozhou.

"In addition, we will escort officials heading to the other three counties starting tomorrow."

"It's okay, don't worry, with my army here, a few little toasts will be useless."

"However, although we confiscated the farmland, their money was not confiscated. Therefore, the money they saved before was enough for them to squander for several years."

"According to the imperial court's new policy, how to divide this land is something you need to deal with yourself."

Although they came to Guizhou on their own initiative, it would be extremely regrettable if they lost their lives because of this.

Except for a few people who still wore collarless gowns made of linen dyed in blue and blue, the rest basically wore Han Chinese undergarments and trousers.

"Do all the people in this city have farmland outside the city?"

"Thank you!" Commander Wei returned the greeting, then turned sideways and motioned for them to enter the city.

Everyone bowed one after another. Xu Shuo nodded when he saw this, and then bowed to the guard commander and said:

While thinking, Xu Shuo and the others also arrived at the city gate of Zunyi County, and there was a guard commander waiting at the city gate.

Commander Wei's words made Xu Shuo nervous: "What's wrong? Is there a war?"

Upon seeing this, Xu Shuo returned the greeting, and the officials behind him also returned the salute one after another, and then followed Xu Shuo into Zunyi City.

People who can wear inner clothes will basically not go to work. For example, Xu Shuo and the others were walking along just now. People who want to work will go to the fields in short clothes, and when they arrive in the fields, they will take off their clothes and be shirtless. Work.

Such an atmosphere reminded everyone that Guizhou was also experiencing war at the moment. Although Zunyi Prefecture was relatively safe, rebellions continued in the south and east.

Xu Shuo saw a lot of sloping land that had not yet been converted into cultivated land. The slopes of those sloping lands were not too steep and could be converted into terraced fields to grow crops.

"We have brought 17,000 shi of food. If the army is short of food, you can discuss with me to transfer it away."

"The cultivated land and canals on this dam alone will be indispensable for the Yamen's output this year."

"If you are worried, I can accompany you."

Not only did he understand it, he also participated in it and prepared a lot of food for the relocated people.

Judging from the situation in the past six months, at least hundreds of thousands of people have moved out of Banzhou.

Because of this, the Chief Secretary of Sichuan delayed for so long and did not dispatch them to Zunyi until February of the first year.

"Here we are, this is the former Xuanwei Si Yamen."

The voice of Qian Huguan woke Xu Shuo up. He looked forward, but he didn't expect that the Xuanwei Si Yamen was actually built on a mountain, and compared to the Yamen, it looked more like a military fortress.

Fortunately, the hill is not too high, otherwise I would be out of breath from exhaustion every time I go up and down the mountain.

"Thank you for leading the way." Xu Shuo bowed in return and took out a sling of money from his sleeve.

Although it was only a hundred dollars, no matter how small the mosquito was, it was still meat. The Qianhu official smiled and accepted the return gift, and then left.

Before leaving, he specifically ordered the soldiers guarding the Yamen to work hard and not to neglect everyone.

"Let's go into our Yamen and see what's going on."

Walking into Zunyi Mansion Yamen, although many of the things have been moved away, the expensive wood used in the construction of the Yamen cannot be taken away.

The government office is 200 steps long from north to south and 120 steps wide from east to west. It is enough to accommodate hundreds of people working in it, and there are also pavilions and waterside pavilions for people to rest.

"This government office is almost as good as the Chief Secretary's office."

Walking to a waterside pavilion, fellow acquaintance Zhao Gui sighed, and Xu Shuo also clicked his tongue: "I don't know how much food it cost to build it."

"No matter how much it costs, it's ours now." Zhao Gui chuckled. He and Xu Shuo were Jinshi in the same class, but one came from Jilin City and the other from Changchun City.

"Prefect, we have brought all the documents."

Outside the waterside pavilion, the general magistrate, recommendation officer, and patrol inspector of Zunyi Mansion walked into the waterside pavilion with their books. After hearing this, Xu Shuo and Zhao Gui also walked out of the study and sat down with everyone in the main hall of the waterside pavilion.

They began to look through the "Yellow Album" and "Fish Scale Album" and soon understood the general situation of Zunyi Prefecture and Zunyi County.

Zunyi Prefecture has more than 569,400 acres of cultivated land, but Zunyi County alone has more than 246,000 acres, and the remaining three counties total more than 323,000 acres.

From this point of view, the situation in the other three counties is not bad, and the worst is probably Wang Zhang's Tongzi County.

In the yellow book, the population of Tongzi County is recorded as 4,224, which should include those who migrated there, but it is still the smallest among the five counties.

Zunyi Prefecture has a population of more than 176,000 people, more than three acres of cultivated land per capita, 562 cattle and 677 draft horses, which are not too many.

After checking the yellow album and the fish scale album, Xu Shuo urgently summoned all the officials to the government office hall. After everyone took their seats, he said:

"As you have seen, the situation in Zunyi Prefecture is like this. It is better than Pingyue Prefecture, which was established next to it but no one has yet taken office."

"After three days, everyone will prepare and go to their own counties to verify the situation."

"If the situation is correct, the first thing to do is to raise their own questions, whether there is a lack of translators, teachers, officials, and craftsmen."

"This time, Chief Envoy Jian gave us great support, not to mention the support given by the imperial court."

Sitting in his seat, despite his young age, Xu Shuo is very official and can overwhelm everyone with his momentum.

"Everyone has worked as an official in various counties. You should know that agriculture is the foundation of the economy, followed by handicraft industry."

"However, the relationship between agriculture and handicrafts does not necessarily have to be in order. What we need to do now is to see which county is suitable for building a cement plant, which county has inconvenient transportation and needs to apply to Sansi Yamen for gunpowder to widen the road, which... "

Xu Shuo talked a lot, mainly saying that if something is missing, just tell him and he will find a solution.

However, after the missing things arrive, he must see real political achievements and put the things to practical use.

Although he is very young, Xu Shuo is very old-school and honest in his work.

He was straightforward with everyone, and they were too embarrassed to make small calculations with him. After all, few people who could take the initiative to apply to come to Guizhou were afraid of poverty.

"I'll give you one last explanation."

Within a quarter of an hour, Xu Shuo explained everything, but at the end he added:
"Zunyi Prefecture is no different from other places. There are only a small number of people here, and language is our biggest problem."

"Therefore, when facing the people, everyone should speak politely and calmly to avoid escalating conflicts and delaying your career."

After saying the last words, Xu Shuo stood up and bowed to everyone: "There are more than 176,000 people in Zunyi Mansion. I leave it to you."

Upon seeing this, everyone returned the greeting and then dispersed.

After they left, Zhao Guiliu and Xu Shuo walked out of the Yamen with the translator. They went to a relatively prosperous long street in Zunyi County. This long street was more prosperous than other streets, which could be seen just by looking at the two-story shops painted white on both sides of the street.

After finding a tavern, the two of them walked in and saw a boy who, although dressed as Han, spoke Gelao (Gelao ethnic minority) language.

"Are you Han Chinese?"

"They are Han people. They came with the officials to deliver supplies today, but they will leave tomorrow."

The translator responded with a smile, and the boy also became interested after hearing this: "Where are these officials from?"

"Of course I came to take up the post with you." The translator man responded. Upon hearing this, the boy quickly asked: "How are you officials?"

"It's not bad. I heard that he worked as an errand in Ba County before. When he left, some people in Ba County were reluctant to part with him."

As the translator spoke, he looked at Xu Shuo. Xu Shuo didn't say anything, he just looked at the boy and the translator. Because he couldn't understand the Goliao language, he could only glare at Zhao Gui.

"Li Bai, what are you talking about?"

Zhao Gui asked, but Li Bai waved his hand to tell him later.

"Is there really such a good official?" The boy didn't believe it, but he still poured a bowl of water for the translator.

Li Bai smiled and picked up the bowl, took a sip, and said with a smile: "I don't know, but I followed them all the way here, and they were quite easy to talk to."

"I also heard on the way that they are coming here to divide the fields. It seems..."

"Really dividing the fields? How much?" The waiter couldn't help but raise his voice when he heard this, and that voice also attracted the attention of the few diners around.

"I don't know. Anyway, they said they wanted to divide the fields." Li Bai felt that it was a bit attention-grabbing, so he prevaricated.

"Just divide it, just divide it. Once the fields are divided, I will make a profit."

The waiter smiled cheerfully, and the other diners gathered together to chat excitedly after hearing the news. It was obvious that they were also looking forward to sharing the land.

"What are you going to do now that you have a field? No more work?"

Li Bai asked the boy curiously, and the boy quickly shook his head: "Do it! Of course I do!"

"You have a field and you still do it? You don't serve the field anymore?" Li Bai was surprised, but the boy said:
"You tell us what you want to order first, and then I'll tell you."

"What dishes are there?" Li Bai turned around and looked at the menu cards hanging on the counter, his eyes widening.

There are Chinese characters and multiple languages ​​​​on the menu, but this is not what surprises Li Bai, but the price under the menu.

[Twenty articles for roasted quail breasts and ten articles for stir-fried cabbage]

"A stir-fried cabbage costs ten cents?!"

Li Bai looked at the boy in disbelief, and the boy said in disbelief: "That's how it is in our place. There is no salt, so hot food must be expensive."

"What's the price of salt now?" Li Bai asked, and the waiter said, "You can order food first."

"A piece of fish, a plate of pork and a sliced ​​duck, and three bowls of rice."

Although he already knew that the dishes were expensive, Li Bai still ordered three dishes.

After he finished ordering, the boy said, "Twenty cents for a pound of salt."

"Twenty cents?" Li Bai said in surprise: "Isn't the official salt only a dozen cents?"

"You also said that it was official salt, but we don't have official salt here. Now the salt price of twenty cents per catty is sold cheaply by the officers and soldiers, otherwise it would cost thirty or forty cents per catty."

"Before this, some people who couldn't afford salt had to burn grass ashes to eat."

The boy wrote down the name of the dish, answered the question about the price of salt, and then asked the chef to cook.

After he left, Li Bai revealed the news he had just found out.

When they heard that the price of salt in Zunyi was 20 cents per pound, Xu Shuo and Zhao Gui couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.

"We must quickly approve the salt introduction to the court and find merchants to sell the salt."

Zhao Gui looked at Xu Shuo and reminded him, Xu Shuo also said: "I also know that Guizhou is short of salt, but I didn't know that the salt shortage is to this extent."

"However, transporting salt alone cannot solve the problem. We have to look at other problems."

With this in mind, the three of them chatted for a while, and then asked about the location of the vegetable market when the food was served.

After they had eaten and drank enough, the three of them got up and continued to wander around the county. Soon they saw a vegetable market for sale.

Since there is no special market, people from outside the city come to sell vegetables near the four gates of Zunyi City.

Xu Shuo squatted down to pick vegetables, and at the same time asked the old man Liao who was less than five feet tall in front of him: "How much does one pound cost?"

"If one pound is not sold, ten pounds are worth a penny, or three taels of grain."

Old man Goliao talked about the price, and Li Bai was responsible for the translation.

Xu Shuo paid the money readily after hearing this, stood up and said to Zhao Gui at the same time: "It seems that their currency is relatively small, otherwise they would not continue to barter."

"If you want to transport salt here, the first thing you need to do is make money available to the people."

"We brought more than 5,000 guan of new money this time, which can be put to good use."

After Xu Shuo said this, Zhao Gui responded: "Are you going to pay wages to the people?"

"Yes, the farming season is busy these days. After the farming season is over, we will hire people to widen the roads in each county. As for the specific wages, we can ask again and then set the price."

"At that time, we can set up a stall to sell government salt near where wages are paid. In this way, the road will be repaired and the salt problem will be solved."

Xu Shuo said his opinion, but Zhao Gui poured cold water on him: "This is good, but we don't have enough money to repair so many roads."

"It is indeed not enough, but we can find a way." Xu Shuo said, and then communicated with Zhao Gui:

"I have a senior who has been studying at Taixue University for three years, and his main focus is crops. If I could invite him to come here during the summer, he might be able to see something different."

"Don't worry about the travel expenses. I'll pay for him out of my own pocket."

"That's not necessary." Zhao Gui shook his head: "As long as it is for the affairs of the house, the money should come from the house."

"I'm just envious that you can actually have a relationship with the seniors of Taixue. Changchun City has a small population, and no one has been admitted to Taixue yet."

"How about you and me?" Xu Shuo teased Zhao Gui, who also smiled heartily after hearing this.

Indeed, who would be willing to take the imperial examination if they could get into Imperial College.

Although no Taixue student has ever held an official position, everyone knows that those who enter Taixue are the real disciples of the East Palace.

After entering Imperial College, are you still worried about the lack of official positions?
"By the way, we have to think of a way to deal with official education. Language is a big problem."

Xu Shuo mentioned the issue of official education, and Zhao Gui also nodded and said, "Did you see that in the meeting just now, all the teachers in the four counties had sad faces, I guess they are all having a headache about this problem."

"I will ask people to find Governor Qu Yu in the army later on this issue, and then provide language training to the edicts and students."

"You can take people to have a look tomorrow and find a suitable place to plan and build a government school."

"Okay!" Zhao Gui nodded, and then continued to wander around the streets and alleys of Zunyi City with Xu Shuo.

Here, language is a big problem that hinders the two of them. Without Li Bai, they almost became deaf and mute.

A language problem is enough to give them a headache for a long time, so the language learning that was originally limited to teaching and learning eventually evolved into learning for all officials in the government.

After several days of visits and investigations, Xu Shuo wrote a memorial and spelled out all the policies.

Since the officials of the Three Divisions of Guizhou had not yet gathered together, his memorial was still sent to the capital by the Chief Envoy of Sichuan.

When this memorial was delivered to Zhu Gaoxu's desk, Zhu Gaoxu almost read it all with a frown.

"This Xu Shuo is quite good. In just a few days after going to Zunyi, he clarified the problems of the local people and the problems of governing Zunyi."

Sitting in the Chunhe Hall, Zhu Gaoxu held the memorial and discussed it with Yishiha beside him, but Yishiha smiled and said, "Even this man wants too many things."

"Hmm..." Following Yi Shiha's gaze, Zhu Gaoxu also saw the amount of supplies that Xu Shuo hoped the court would support in the memorial.

Not to mention the two thousand cows, one hundred thousand kilos of rice, 40,000 kilograms of salt, and 150,000 kilograms of iron alone were enough to give a person a headache.

"We will put down the cattle for the time being and transport grain and salt to them first. In addition, we will transfer officials from the Siyi Museum who learn Miao, Ge, Dong, Yao and other languages ​​to go to Zunyi to help them divide the land equally."

"If we want to ensure long-term stability in Guizhou, we must first let local people feel that their lives are changing."

"Yang Sheng and the others are reluctant to put money on the people, but the court cannot be reluctant."

Zhu Gaoxu used a pen to circle the cattle circle and wrote "Pending" in red, and circled the materials behind it and wrote "Approved".

Upon seeing this, Yi Shiha picked up the memorial and said, "Your Highness, this Xu Shuo is a Jinshi from Jilin Prefecture."

"Oh?" Zhu Gaoxu became interested: "Is it Jilin City or nearby?"

"They are from Jilin City, but they migrated to Jilin City from Shandong." Yi Shiha added, but Zhu Gaoxu heard this and said:

"It's okay. The people in Jilin City originally migrated from Shandong."

"Well, although there are no two thousand cattle, didn't Muchun capture a lot of draft horses in southern Guizhou?"

"Write a letter to Muchun and transfer it to Zunyi Mansion. If Zunyi Mansion resumes production as soon as possible, the logistical pressure on the army will be reduced."

"Yes!" Yishi smiled and nodded, and wrote a letter to Muchun in southern Guizhou. Zhu Gaoxu also reminded him:

"Let Muchun deal with Luo Luo in Daxue Mountain first, so that the King of Han can set off for Nanjing."

Yishiha nodded when he heard the words, and then added this sentence.

After doing all this, he asked people to send the memorial and handwriting back to Guizhou. Zhu Gaoxu also remembered a Jilin Jinshi named Xu Shuo.

(End of this chapter)