Song Yi

Chapter 311 Frontier Test Field

Du Wenhao said: "Agricultural production is nothing more than two aspects of expanding the cultivated area and increasing the yield per mu. Since the founding of our dynasty, the country has been prosperous and the people are safe, and the people are also very enthusiastic about reclaiming wasteland and farming. There is no more wasteland to expand. , Secondly, there is no more labor input to reclaim wasteland. Therefore, in order to develop agriculture, increasing the yield per mu of grain is the key. This requires meticulous work. For example, intensive production, high-quality crops, water conservancy construction, and the construction of a three-dimensional agricultural model etc."

"Three-dimensional agriculture? What do you mean?"

"For example, use low-lying rivers to dig ponds and cultivate foundations, fish ponds, mulberry planting, cane planting, fruits and vegetables or forage grass. planting and breeding."

Although the ancients were aware of mixed planting, it is far from as deep and extensive as modern agricultural research, and most of them are some of the farmers' own experience, which is at a very early stage, without systematic knowledge, and it is impossible to promote it as an agricultural technology. I don't know, Song Shenzong, as the emperor, is even less likely to understand the specific farming, so he looks at a loss.

Du Wenhao's parents' hometown is in the countryside. When he was a child, he often went back to the countryside with his parents to visit relatives. He heard and saw a lot of farming, and he also learned some agricultural knowledge in geography class. What he saw were the results of modern agricultural research. , Naturally, it is a very advanced agricultural technology.

Du Wenhao said: "To give a simple example of three-dimensional agriculture, planting rice, raising fish and duckweed in the rice fields can not only meet the needs of fish, but also be used as feed for pigs and ducks, and can also solve the problem of biogas tanks. Raw materials serve multiple purposes.”

"Methane digester?" This is also a new term for Song Shenzong.

Du Wenhao’s parents have a biogas pond in their hometown. He knows this very well, and he explained immediately: “It’s a pond for treating human and livestock excrement. Since it can keep the home environment clean and hygienic, it can also be fertilized with biogas slurry. It is a very good organic fertilizer. In addition, biogas is processed by special equipment, which is a very safe and convenient fuel that can be burned for cooking and heating. Biogas residue can also be fed to fish after processing.”

"Interesting!" Song Shenzong said with great interest, "I didn't expect you to know a lot about farming. Your methods sound very good."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your compliment. To develop agriculture, another measure is to increase the population. This minister has a way to increase the population."

Song Shenzong's eyes lit up: "Oh? Let's hear it."

How to increase the population, thereby increasing the labor force, is definitely one of the most urgent problems that the emperors of all dynasties want to solve.In a small-scale peasant economy and society, the population is the labor force, combat effectiveness, and national power. If the population is large, there will be labor for production and various corvee labor, soldiers to defend the country and even expand the territory, and the country will prosper.Hearing that Du Wenhao had a way to increase the population, Song Shenzong couldn't help being very interested.

Du Wenhao said: "To increase the population, we must encourage the increase in the system, and at the same time, modify the system that objectively limits the increase in the population."

"How to encourage? Which systems need to be modified?"

"The main reason why people don't want to increase their population is that they can't afford to support them. It's fine for rich people, but for poor people, every more person will have one more mouth. It’s a big question that needs to be weighed over and over again. There must be concrete measures to reassure them before they can encourage births.”

"What measure?"

"The most radical solution is of course land reform."

"Land reform? How?"

"It is to nationalize all the land and prohibit the sale of land. Then implement joint production contracting, with a limit of 30 years, and redistribute and adjust the land. However, this is almost impossible to achieve."

"Why?" Song Shenzong asked subconsciously.

"Because the big landlords will not agree, unless they are forced to purchase. But the state may not be able to spend so much money to purchase land."

"Well, what institutions are holding back population growth?"

"The most important thing is the tax system. Now we are implementing the two-tax law, double taxation on land and head. The head tax is the biggest obstacle to population growth! Because increasing the number of people means increasing taxes, the average farmer only needs labor If you barely have enough, you don’t want to live.”

Song Shenzong was stunned: "You mean to abolish poll tax?"

"No, to be precise, the poll tax should be divided into the land tax. This is called sharing the land tax into the land tax! If the land starts from the land, the land will be more, the land will be more taxed, the land will be less, and the land will be less taxed. If there is no land, there will be no land tax. In this way, there will be no Because having a child increases taxes."

Song Shenzong stood up and walked slowly in the study with his hands behind his back: "Your method is not bad. I just don't know if it can be implemented."

Du Wenhao said: "The land is divided into mu, and those who have more land will have more taxes. Naturally, big landlords will not do it. If you want to implement it, there must be resistance."

"Well, you have to think about it carefully. Let's go on. You said that industry is like a person's lungs. 'The qi of the human body comes from the lungs'. Without lungs, there is no breathing, and there is no life. The country has no Industry is bound to perish. There is some truth to this, you said we should vigorously develop workshops such as textiles and manufacturing, but I don’t know what specific measures are there?”

"This is related to what Weichen said last time. Weichen has some very useful formulas that can be made into medicines for sale, and some small inventions that can be provided for production. These medicines and equipment will definitely be welcomed by the people. However, once it is produced, the market is very good and the people welcome it. Some profit-seeking people must imitate the production, which will damage the interests of the minister. Therefore, when there is no system to protect the interests of the minister, the minister does not want to announce the production of these products. equipment."

"Well, what did you say you were going to promulgate... what law?"

"The "Intellectual Property Law" means that whoever invents something can only be produced by him alone. If others want to produce it, they must pay the fee. The two parties can negotiate on the amount of the fee. Losses, or even hit the board and go to jail."

"This..." Song Shenzong showed hesitation on his face, "Last time you mentioned this matter, I thought it was inappropriate. It is simple to promulgate laws and regulations, but there are no ancient rules and regulations, and the people will not accept it. Many people imitate it. Now, we can’t catch them all, can we?”

Du Wenhao was silent. He knew that there was almost no sense of rights in ancient times. The sudden introduction of such advanced intellectual property rights would indeed be unacceptable to the common people. It seems that he has also committed the same problem of Wang Anshi's eagerness for quick success.At present, the maintenance of the interests of product inventions can only be done by keeping technology secret.

Seeing his gloomy expression, Song Shenzong smiled and said, "How about this, you make it first, and use it first. If it's really a good invention, I'll make the decision for you, and don't allow others to imitate it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Du Wenhao said, "Let's talk about the industrial technology later."

"That's fine," Song Shenzong picked up Du Wenhao's article, "You said above that the blood vessels are like a ring without a reason, and they run endlessly. You also said in "Plain Questions": "The liver can see when it receives blood, and the feet can see when it receives blood." Can walk, the palm can be held by blood, and the finger can be absorbed by blood.' You compared business to blood, saying that business is the driving force for the normal operation of the body. I don't think so. Since ancient times, justice has been valued over profit, and agriculture Restraining business is an ancient teaching, and it has been like this in all dynasties, why do the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the country is not destroyed, and the people are killed?"

Du Wenhao said: "However, throughout the ages, less than one out of ten people have a well-to-do family. This is the result of not paying attention to business. If business can be highly valued, people's lives will be much easier."

"Really?" Song Shenzong showed a sarcasm smile, but this time he didn't get angry, nor did he argue with Du Wenhao. Cheng body fists and feet, compared external enemies to exogenous emotions and six evils, and internal strife to seven emotions and internal injuries. He also quoted "Su Wen" saying: "The sage does not cure the disease before it is cured. If the disease is not cured, the disease is not cured. In other words, after the chaos has been established, it will be cured later. It’s like piercing a well when thirsty, or casting an awl in a fight. The same is true. If you don’t move, you won’t be fine. If you don’t flow, you’ll be stagnant.” It’s a good point to say that army building must take precautions before they happen. As for how to build it, you said to build a professional army and take the road of elite soldiers ? What is a professional army, and how to be an elite soldier?"

Du Wenhao said: "Forgive me, I said bluntly, my Song army has more than one million people, far more than Liao, Xia, Tubo, etc. Why have we fought so many times, with fewer victories and more losses?"

Song Shenzong's face was displeased, and after a while, he regained his composure: "What do you think?"

"It's because the soldiers are not good enough and the generals are incompetent. Most of the Xiang troops in the station lack professional training, and more of them are reduced to conscripts. When they fight, they can be regarded as suitable for the occasion at best, and they have no combat effectiveness at all. Especially when the civil servants become commanders, the generals change. Too often, the soldiers don’t know the generals, and the generals don’t know the soldiers. The officials also know that this is to prevent the frontier generals from embracing their own self-esteem, or even separatist one side, but this system also seriously affects the combat effectiveness of the army.”

Song Shenzong was startled, looked at Du Wenhao for a while, and said slowly: "There are not many who dare to speak so bluntly in front of me, hehe, you are quite courageous."

"My minister sees my great country being bullied by Xiao Xiao, and I really don't want to, so I boldly speak out and ask the emperor to forgive me."

"Hehe, so you have a sincere heart? What you said is true, and this is what I have been worried about. Not to mention, let's take the battle of Yongle City in the Western Xia campaign, the battle of 20 generals Death, blame the cause of failure, one of which is this! However, this is the legacy left by the Emperor Taizu, and it is inconvenient for me to change it."

"If you don't change it, the result will be continued defeat!" Du Wenhao said flatly.

Song Shenzong shook his body slightly, nodded slowly, and walked slowly in the room with his hands behind his back.

After turning around a few times, Song Shenzong stopped, turned around and asked, "Do you know why I specially asked you to come to see me tonight?"

"I don't know."

"Chengdu Fu Road borders Lizhou and Yazhou in Tubo. Miasma broke out, killing and injuring countless people and animals. The local doctors were helpless. The Tubo Xishan tribe took the opportunity to harass the border and broke through the city of Yazhou. Cang and other officials all died for the country. I have decreed today that Han Jiang, the political adviser, will be appointed as the general of the Western Expedition. He will lead [-] forbidden troops and [-] Chengdu Luxiang troops to attack the Western Mountains of Tubo. Call you, originally It is for you to be sent to the frontiers of the Western Regions with the army to comfort the people."

Du Wenhao was a little surprised. It turned out that the emperor asked him to go on an expedition with the army. He had heard about Tubo's invasion of the border earlier. Unexpectedly, the emperor finally decided to send troops.

During the Song Dynasty, Tubo was in a state of fragmentation, forming several tribes, large and small, and there was no unified regime for 400 years.This time it was only one of the tribes that harassed Chengdu Fulu, named Xishan. Compared with the Song Dynasty, the population of Tubo was not large, and one tribe was even less. Song Shenzong sent [-] troops to fight against it. Determined to win.

Du Wenhao has never participated in ancient wars. After hearing about it, not only did his heart beat faster, but the trip was far away from Kaifeng, Tokyo, to Chengdu, Sichuan. Hastily listened attentively.

Song Shenzong continued: "After listening to your policy, I changed my mind. I don't know if what you said is feasible, but it sounds reasonable, so I decided to give you a If you have the opportunity to display your ambitions, I also want to see if your strategies for governing the country are really feasible."

Du Wenhao was stunned. He wrote this article just to deal with his errands and to prevent Song Shenzong from looking down on him. With these words, do you want to be the prime minister yourself and continue Wang Anshi's reform?

Thinking of this, my heart couldn't help jumping up, my mouth was dry and I didn't know what to say, I stammered: "The emperor..., the emperor..., my minister..., my minister..."

"Du Aiqing knelt down to listen!"

Du Wenhao's heart jumped again, he quickly lifted his robe and fell to his knees.

Song Shenzong said slowly: "I will entrust you to take charge of Guanghui warehouse in Changping, Yazhou, and also take charge of farmland water conservancy, Baojia, volunteers, and workshops. You can implement the new policy in your article in Yazhou, and I will make a decree No one is allowed to interfere with your administration of the new law within the territory of Yazhou. It is limited to three years, and if it is effective, I will entrust you with important tasks."

The institutions in the first-level administrative area of ​​Beisong Road are mainly divided into four supervisors, namely Shuai, Cao, Xian, and Cang.are appointed by the emperor.Shuai is the appeasement envoy, who is the military and political officer along the way; Cao is the transshipment envoy, who manages the wealth of the way and ensures the full amount of supply and local funds.At the same time, inspect the jurisdiction and impeach officials.Xian is to mention the official affairs of criminals and prisons, and to manage criminals and prisons; Cang is to promote Changping Division, who in addition to managing famine relief, usually also manages farmland water conservancy pruning, Baojia, workshops, etc.Corresponding to the promotion of Changping warehouses on the road, the prefectures and counties below the road also have corresponding officials for the management and payment.

Therefore, the emperor appointed Du Wenhao to take charge of Changping warehouse in Yazhou. His positions are similar to the current director of civil affairs, agriculture, industry and commerce and the minister of the armed forces.The prefecture-level collusion official rank is very low, only seventh rank. Du Wenhao is now a doctor in front of the imperial court, and a fifth rank official. It is reasonable to be such a small official. On the surface, he has been demoted. In fact, This is a test field given to Du Wenhao by the emperor, allowing him to implement the New Deal in Yazhou according to his own ideas without any restrictions.This kind of power is quite large, which is equivalent to setting up a special economic zone directly under the central government in Yazhou, and Du Wenhao is fully responsible for the economic construction of the special zone.

Song Shenzong also had his own considerations. On the one hand, he was very interested in Du Wenhao's many new governance ideas that had never been mentioned before in various aspects of agriculture, industry, industry and the army. After careful consideration, he felt that it was still feasible, so he wanted to let He tried it out, tried it first, and then promoted it if it was feasible. On the other hand, he was worried that it would mess up and make the already chaotic reform even more chaotic, so he gave him a small frontier state to carry out the pilot project.It is far away from the capital, and the sky is high and the emperor is far away. Even if something goes wrong, it will not affect the overall situation.

Du Wenhao originally thought he was going to be the prime minister, but after hearing about it, he realized that he was a courier officer in a small frontier state. He was slightly disappointed, but he was able to leave the capital where the king was like a tiger, and become an official in a local area, and the emperor also said It is of course much more meaningful to use that piece of land to carry out reforms and new policies than being an imperial doctor in the capital, and the emperor has already said that it will be reused if it is done well.

Song Shenzong said again: "You can go west with Han Jiang's army with your family and wait there when you arrive in Chengdu. After the army has defeated the invading Tubo army and recovered Yazhou, you can enter Yazhou to implement your new policy. Don't let me down. oh."

"This humble minister will do his best to live up to the high expectations of the emperor."

"That's great! Alright, you can go back and prepare, and set off with the army in three days."

"Yes!"

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When Du Wenhao returned home, it was already late at night.

He passed by the door of Lin Qingdai's room and saw a light in front of the window, so he stopped and walked to the door and knocked.

A soft voice came from the room, saying: "I fell asleep, who is it, what's the matter?"

Du Wenhao smiled and said, "Did you go to bed so early?"

In the room, something fell on the ground, followed by a sentence: "Wen Hao, why are you back? Wait, I'll open the door right away."

Du Wenhao was waiting outside the door when he saw Pang Yuqin walking over from the kitchen carrying a tray. Du Wenhao thought that Lin Qingdai probably really lay down and was getting up to get dressed now. It is late at night, if now Tell me about your appointment as the Lizhou Counselor in Sichuan, and everyone will not be able to sleep. Anyway, there are still three days to prepare, and it will not be too late to talk about it tomorrow, so he said: "You don't have to get up after you sleep. I will sleep tomorrow." Come find you again."

There was no answer in the room, until when Pang Yuqin was about to approach, the lights in the room suddenly went out.

"Sir, why are you standing here?" Pang Yuqin asked curiously while looking at Lin Qingdai's dark room.

"Before I saw the light in Sister Qingdai's room was on, I wanted to talk to her, but when she came over, her light was off, and she was about to leave." Du Wenhao lied.

Pang Yuqin smiled, holding the tray in one hand and holding Du Wenhao's arm in the other, and said, "Let's go, go eat something first, and it won't be too late to find Sister Qingdai tomorrow, you won't just stay at home for one night, the next day Are you going back to the palace in the next day?"

"No, I don't need to enter the palace this time, hehehe, I can accompany you guys well in the future." Du Wenhao deliberately said the word "you" very seriously, and when he looked back at Lin Qingdai's room, he vaguely heard the words "you". sigh.

Pang Yuqin didn't hear what Du Wenhao said, so she snuggled up to him, and the two of them walked to their bedroom.

Du Wenhao looked at Xue Fei'er's room, and saw that there was no light in the room, so he asked, "Why didn't you see Fei'er, she must be sleeping too?"

"I went back to the inn after dinner. I said I missed her father. You said that this girl can be seen all day long. What else is there to think about? I think I probably thought you were not here. She is really boring to stay there. Qingdai I've been busy with things in the shop recently, and I leave early and return late, and I don't have much time to spend with her. She's bored, and it's good to go back and spend time with her father, so I let her go, or I'll let someone go Call her back?"

"No, let's talk about it tomorrow. I'll just be with you tonight."

Pang Yuqin's mouth showed a hint of happiness.

When Pang Yuqin walked to the door of her room, Yingzi heard the sound, and hurried out of the room, stepped forward to take the tray, followed by Keer, a little vegetarian tiger, who was like a big dog.

"Master, are you back?" Yingzi smiled sweetly at Du Wenhao, and went into the room with the tray.

"Well, Yingzi, Ma'am is not in good health. Don't always think about Ke'er and ignore Madam. I won't forgive you." Du Wenhao was talking, and Ke'er approached intimately , licking Du Wenhao's palm lightly with his wide tongue, making Du Wenhao itchy.

Yingzi lit the lamp for Du Wenhao and Pang Yuqin to lead the door, put the lamp on the table, waited for Du Wenhao to sit down and handed him chopsticks, then smiled embarrassedly at Du Wenhao, nodded, and said : "Yingzi knows."

Pang Yuqin helped Yingzi speak: "She has always been very kind to me, but at night, Keer will not let anyone take her with her. She just follows Yingzi. Yingzi came to smoke mosquitoes in my room, and Keer followed."

Du Wenhao scooped up a spoonful of porridge with a spoon, put it in his mouth, blew it, and then put it in his mouth, let out a sigh of relief, and praised with a happy face: "It's still my wife who made the porridge for me. No cook can compare to it, it’s delicious, it’s really delicious.”

Pang Yuqin took a piece of red stuff from the plate to Du Wenhao with chopsticks and put it in Du Wenhao's bowl, and said with a smile: "I just made this a few days ago. We all tasted it yesterday. I've been waiting for you for a long time." If you don’t come back, let’s eat first.”

Du Wenhao put this thing in his mouth, and suddenly felt that it was fragrant, soft and smooth, it melted in the mouth, and it also had a flowery fragrance.

"It's delicious, but I just don't know what it is made of. I know that the lady's craftsmanship is extraordinary. Tell me about it, so that I can learn a lot."

Hearing their flirting and cursing, Yingzi couldn't stay any longer, so after saluting, she took Ke'er down.

(End of this chapter)