Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The Baishitou between the upper and lower Bai villages cannot be called a town, at most it is just a grass market.

Because the Northern Song Dynasty gave a strict definition to "town": if the people could not gather together to form a county but had to pay taxes, they would be called towns, or they would be supervised by officials.

Baishitou is so small that the government is too lazy to send tax collectors.

Xiegu Town, whose agriculture is in decline, has commercial taxes comparable to those of Xixiang County.

Guochuan Town, which I passed through before, is even more powerful. Its commercial tax revenue is more than that of Xixiang County, with an average of more than 3,500 yuan per year!

Everyone took a boat to the Wei River Basin, landed on the beach and transferred to the official boat of the next delivery shop.

But I saw the delivery soldiers chatting with a group of refugee-like soldiers. Those soldiers had weapons in their hands, even bows and arrows on their backs, their clothes were in tatters, and they actually owned seven or eight war horses.

As soon as Ju Ming and others landed ashore, soldiers gathered around and enthusiastically sold goods: "My lords, would you like to buy some weapons for self-defense? What we have in our hands are all serious goods. These war horses are also good horses in the army. Just take it if you like."

what's the situation?

In broad daylight, there was actually a stall selling weapons and war horses.

What's even more ridiculous is that the officers and soldiers from the delivery shop were right next to them, watching the soldiers engage in illegal trade with playful smiles.

Li Hanzhang fell in love with a horse and said critically: "Although your horse has a big frame, it has been neglected and has become hungry and fat."

The owner of the war horse said: "I don't have anything to eat myself, how can I feed the war horse? Can you buy a war horse that doesn't lose fat for ten guan?"

"That's true," Li Hanzhang smiled, "I bought this horse."

In front of officials and soldiers, both sides paid the money and delivered the goods, and illegally traded war horses in an honest and fair manner.

Ju Ming couldn't help but ask: "Are you locals?"

The soldiers did not hide anything: "I am a local. I was transferred to be an archer in the frontier army, and we were not allowed to go home for several years. This year, I was so hungry that I deserted the army and fled back. I just wanted to exchange for some money to buy food." "

"Aren't the border troops paid? Why are they still hungry?" Zhu Ming asked.

The soldier replied: "The military is also paid, but not fully. Even if the military is fully paid, it is not enough to pay taxes. You will still owe the court."

Ju Ming inquired carefully and found out that these soldiers originally belonged to the archers of Fengxiang Mansion.

According to the previous regulations, archers like them only need to follow the Forbidden Army when they go out to fight, and they usually don't have to leave their hometown. Tong Guan was fooling around and dispatched a large number of local archers to guard the northwest frontier without even mentioning returning to his hometown.

They were even given land on the frontier.

An archer can divide two hectares of land. The cavalrymen were given additional money to buy horses, and they were also given fifty acres of horse land. These are called Archer Camps and are completely tax-free.

A soldier can pick up two hectares of land without paying taxes for free, which seems to be good governance.

But how is that possible?

First of all, those two hectares of land are newly acquired border lands that need to be reclaimed for cultivation.

Secondly, even if there is no need to open up wasteland, the local population is sparse and there are not enough tenants to recruit.

Finally, Cai Jing came up with a killer move!

Due to active preparations for war, more and more archers were transferred to the border areas, and military expenditures increased exponentially.

Cai Jing then implemented the "explicit purchase method" to levy grain from urban and rural households in border prefectures and counties, and doubled the levy on border archers! Archers were not paid enough, so the soldiers received insufficient military pay to pay taxes.

In addition, the tenants who were recruited by the archers to farm the fields also chose to flee because they had to bear heavy taxes. Among the camp tenants on Hedong Road, the highest record is that 40% escaped within three months.

Ju Ming was dumbfounded and confirmed: "Are all the border troops hungry?"

"Why would we risk our lives to escape if we weren't hungry?" the soldiers asked.

Ju Ming was completely speechless. He knew the historical events. The Song Dynasty and Xixia were going to war next year. Moreover, it was Xixia who took the initiative to launch the attack. The reason why Xixia attacked first was because it had received information that the Song Dynasty's border troops were short of food.

Whose pocket did so much military pay and rations go into?

Ju Ming asked again: "Aren't you afraid of being arrested by the government when you escape back to your hometown?"

"The worst thing is to become a thief." The soldiers answered matter-of-factly.

"Good ambition." Zhu Ming didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, there were the so-called "Four Generals of ZTE", namely Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, Liu Guangshi, and Zhang Jun.

Zhang Jun is the archer here. He was recruited to guard the border in Tianshui, Gansu a few years ago. At this time, he had fled back to Fengxiang Mansion to work as a thief.

Therefore, it is easy to die if you stay on the frontier, but you can still live as a thief after escaping. There will be many opportunities to clear your identity in the future, and you can even become a famous ZTE general.

"My lords, it's time to board the ship!"

Li Hanzhang led the horse to the boat and said to Ju Ming with a smile: "This horse is worth buying. It can be restored with a little care. We need to find a place to erase its official seal."

Ju Ming said: "The frontier troops are hungry. What do you think of Sanlang?"

Li Hanzhang lamented: "I am the only one who can raise people, what else can I think? I can only sympathize with these archers and not report them to the officials."

Chen Yuan walked towards the official ship, then turned around and looked back at the deserters with a gloomy and ugly expression. It was impossible for him to criticize deserters harshly, but he only hated corrupt officials who had made the Song Dynasty's army so corrupt.

Suddenly, a few cavalry troops from our own army rushed over under the leadership of officers.

Due to the military policy of the Song Dynasty, there was no central order, and local troops could only be dispatched independently within ten people.

There were more than a dozen deserters, and they had weapons and horses. When they were arrested by the government, they drew their swords and bows to fight against them.

The deserters shot out a few arrows, and the Xiang army cavalry stopped one after another to watch the border deserters leave.

Who is willing to fight so hard?

Just drive away these deserters and stop doing business in broad daylight. You can deal with it casually when you turn around.

Ju Ming stood on the bow of the boat, watching the "pursuit of officials and thieves" on the shore, and couldn't help but said: "What I saw today is amazing!"

Bai Sheng said: "Chen Dutou (Chen Ziyi) went to Qinfeng Road to join the army. I don't know how he is doing."

Ju Ming said: "He is different. He brings his own war horses and weapons, and he has martial arts skills. He must be better than ordinary archers. At least... he should be able to eat enough."

Gu San smiled and said: "It's too miserable to only have enough to eat. His family already has money."

"Let's see how many years he can survive. Maybe he can make great achievements." Zhu Ming couldn't help laughing.

Shi Biao said: "You can't trust anyone else. I just follow Dutou."

In front of you is the county seat of Yi County, which is dilapidated and sparsely populated. The commercial tax that the county can collect is only half of that of Xiekou Town under its jurisdiction (Xiekou Town is under the jurisdiction of Xi County).

Official ships were too lazy to dock here and sailed all the way to Yuxi (Zhouzhi) further east.

This is a big city, full of business travelers.

There are several routes for caravans from Hanzhong to Guanzhong, and most of them will gather at Yuxi.

There are many thieves!

Ju Ming was sleeping in a posthouse outside the city that night, and heard a noise coming from the south in the middle of the night. He put on his clothes and went out to check, and saw dots of torches lighting up the small river in the south. Then the thieves landed ashore and rushed straight to the caravan camp that had not been visited during the day.

Suddenly, the caravan was frightened and ran away. The thieves robbed the goods and loaded them onto the boat, then returned to the southern mountains in a swagger.

Professional robbery, too fast.

Ju Ming took the cornucopia out of the stable, and when he caught up with him on horseback, the thieves had already boarded the boat.

That night, the sound of crying was loud.

Ju Ming went over to inquire and learned that there were no casualties, but some goods were robbed, causing several small businessmen to lose their money.

Borrowing a torch, Ju Ming checked the situation carefully.

Most of the business travelers waiting to pay tolls slept in official campsites, which were protected by wooden fences.

"What did you find?" Li Hanzhang also came, and he also planned to kill the thief.

Ju Ming pointed to the fracture of the fallen fence: "Three-quarters of the fracture is flat and was sawed open in advance. There are thieves in the land. My guess is that some tax collectors colluded with the thieves."

"Come on, let's go to bed first," Li Hanzhang yawned and returned to the inn. He said as he walked, "It is estimated that many of the thieves in the mountains are deserters. They were also forced by the government. I only pity the merchants who were robbed. I work so hard to transport goods, but something like this happens to me."

"well!"

Ju Ming shook his head and sighed.

Really big businessmen all use ships for transportation.

The shore was full of small caravans, carrying their goods on their backs to earn a few hard-earned money, but thieves robbed their goods.

Xue Daoguang stood at the door of the posthouse with a stick: "The world is not peaceful. The more government exploitation becomes more severe, the more thieves will escape into the mountains."

Zhu Ming asked: "Taoist Master, if one day the world is in chaos and you don't even have enough to eat, will you still think about cultivating Taoism and becoming an immortal?"

"Let's talk about it later." Xue Daoguang didn't want to communicate with Ju Ming because he was afraid that he would ruin his Taoism again.

Two days later, the official ship arrived in Xianyang.

There is no chance to appreciate Chang'an City unless Ju Ming gets off the boat and rides south. It is the largest city in the northwest, and it must have a prosperous scenery.

Along the way, Ju Ming's knowledge greatly increased and he understood the Shaanxi region better.

When changing ships in Xianyang, Ju Ming rode to the countryside and asked about the living conditions of farmers when he met them.

He also took out a bamboo pen filled with ink and took notes on the spot. This operation started when he left Xingyuan Mansion.

A farmer said: "It would be nice if I didn't starve to death, but I'm afraid of having to do the job."

Ju Ming asked: "Is the exemption from military service possible here?"

The farmer said: "You have to pay for exemption from service, and you have to take turns for the errands."

Wang Anshi's service exemption law allowed the people to pay for the service. Now, the police service has been restored, and the exemption money has not been reduced. On the contrary, it has increased the burden on the people.

In fact, while Wang Anshi was still alive, the exemption law had already changed.

At first, it was stipulated that no taxes should be levied on the fourth and fifth-class households, but suddenly everyone had to pay, and the big households passed on the burden of labor to the small people.

After wandering around the countryside, Ju Ming went to Xianyang City again.

City residents are not having a good time either. Cai Jing's "explicit purchase method" has been extended to this point, which is equivalent to paying an additional head tax, and the tax burden of citizens has become increasingly heavy.

The purpose of the "exhibition purchase method" is to raise rations for the frontier army. As for where the funds have gone, I'm afraid not even the devil knows.

Returning to the posthouse in the evening, Zhu Ming ate some food and wrote to summarize what he had seen along the way.

From Xingyuan Prefecture to Xianyang County, including the income, expenditure and liabilities of citizens, town residents and farmers, the data are listed in tabular form.

At night, Chen Yuan knocked on the door again.

When he saw Ju Ming writing, he didn't disturb him and just watched carefully.

Data after data made Chen Yuan's scalp numb.

He felt that the Song Dynasty was like a powder keg that would explode if there were any sparks.