Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

"Spring, the first month of the year, Ding Youshuo, there is a bright sun in the middle of the day, and beside it there is green and black air swirling like water waves."

The solar eclipse that appeared in spring gave the officials another opportunity to target the "six thieves" for crazy output.

Although Cai Jing resigned as prime minister, he did not leave the capital, and he had many disciples and former officials. Some of the servants in his family are officials; the maidservants in his family's dowry can actually be called wives.

Regarding Cai's party, Wang Fu punished one group and recruited another group.

Cai You also took the opportunity to recruit, and a large number of Cai's party members chose to defect.

People discovered that even if Cai Jing left, the court would still look like that.

Wang Fu paid tribute to virtuous corporals and abolished bad government, which was just a show. Even the officialdom became darker, and they began to sell their positions unabashedly. For those lucrative positions, Wang Fu and his party members had to be given money, and even if they gave too little, they would not accept it.

Especially for this year's new academic qualifications, those who have passed the fourth-level and fifth-level exams, if you don't use connections to give gifts, you can't even hope to get the real ones.

Because of the abolition of schools, a large number of teachers with Jinshi background returned to the capital to seek official positions. They are not selective about food, no matter how small it is, and they compete head-on with the young people who have just landed.

There are more than 200 new scholars, sitting in the capital not knowing what to do.

Cai Jing's number one henchman Deng Xunwu died of illness after the solar eclipse. History books commented on him: "The defeat of Beijing brought chaos to the world, and the disaster originated from the beginning of Xunwu."

But it is very interesting that one year before his death, Deng Xunwu always opposed the invasion of Liao Dynasty and was dismissed from the post of Privy Councilor.

Tokyo.

Song Huizong had been having a headache these days due to the quarrels, and Wang Fu and Tong Guan came to blows.

"Why should these two armies and twelve states be dismissed?" Song Huizong summoned Wang Fu alone to ask.

Wang Fu said: "The twelve military prefectures of Kuixia and Guangnan were all established by Cai Jinghao. The top expense was the state and the bottom was the people's money. Not only could they not lose money and taxes, but they had to allocate money every year. Now that the national treasury is empty, I, I think these two armies and twelve states should be abolished. Those with a large number of Han people should be changed into counties, and the rest should be reserved as forts."

Song Huizong asked: "Are you really out of money?"

Wang Fu said bravely: "There may be a shortage."

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty sighed helplessly: "Let's stop retreating. If you can save money, save it."

Wang Fu bowed his head and said yes, feeling happy.

These southern state armies were Cai Jing's achievements in expanding the border area, and all of them had no influence in eradicating Cai Jing.

At the same time, it can reduce fiscal expenditure and win over more centrist ministers.

The butt determines the head. Wang Fu is now the prime minister. He has no interest in fighting. All he thinks about is how to make money for the country and himself.

Song Huizong asked again: "The envoys from the Kingdom of Jin have been here for two months. How do you think we should handle the matter of joining forces with Jin to attack Liao?"

Wang Fu replied: "As long as I pay the certificate of credence, I will not condemn the envoy."

Song Huizong glanced at Wang Fu and was already disheartened about conquering Liao.

Since Wang Fu became prime minister, he no longer encouraged the emperor to conquer the Liao Dynasty, and his words often showed resistance.

The eight words "As long as the letter of credence is paid, the envoy will not be punished again" was to let Song Huizong delay as much time as possible while maintaining good relations with the Jin Kingdom. Wang Fu's idea was to wait until the finances were sufficient before fulfilling the agreement to join forces to conquer Liao.

Song Huizong waved his hand, and Wang Fu bowed and retreated.

In the afternoon of that day, Tong Guan came to ask for an audience: "Guan family, the Jin people have been waiting for a long time. They have repeatedly urged us to conclude a contract. Please set a date for the expedition to Liao as soon as possible."

Song Huizong said: "I have my own opinion on this matter."

Tong Guan wanted to persuade him again, but Song Huizong was annoyed and sent him away with a few words.

Song Huizong knew the situation of the court. The increasingly distressed finances could not support a war. But I was a little unwilling to do so. After much thought, I decided to use Wang Fu's method and delay the time for a few years before taking a look.

It only took a few years. The Jin Kingdom couldn't destroy the Liao Kingdom, right?

Therefore, Song Huizong wrote the letter of credence himself. Expressing his goodwill towards the Jin Kingdom, he also said that according to the previous agreement, the Song and Jin countries would definitely attack the Liao Kingdom from both sides.

However, Song Huizong did not mention a word about when to send troops, and he no longer sent envoys to the Jin Kingdom.

The Jin envoy was furious. He came to Tokyo to negotiate for three months, but nothing was achieved.

After the Jin envoy left, the conflict between Wang Fu and Tong Guan became public.

Wang Fu and Liang Shicheng encouraged Song Huizong to restore the Huashi Gang and blamed Cai Jing's salt tea method for the Fangla Uprising. Not only did he invalidate the "imperial edict" issued by Tong Guan, he also secretly obstructed Tong Guan's expedition to Liao.

If Tong Guan wanted to conquer Liao and become king, he had to raise military expenditures as much as possible. Therefore, he opposed the restoration of Huashi Gang and hated Wang Fu and Liang Shicheng.

Of course, this is only temporary.

Historically, Song Huizong had already planned to give up conquering the Liao Dynasty, and it was Wang Fu who was the first to jump out and encourage him!

Due to the solar eclipse, Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty granted amnesty to the whole country.

Ju Ming was also on the list of pardons and was changed from institutionalization to resettlement.

Correctional management means that prisoners are allowed to settle in a certain place and are not allowed to leave their place of residence. They must report to the government every month.

There is no need to change household registration for resettlement. If something happens, you only need to apply to the government and get permission to leave the resettlement place temporarily. For example, visiting relatives, attending funerals, etc.

…

Yangzhou.

The new governor of the state is named Cao Zao, who is from Yichun, Jiangxi.

The three brothers of the Cao family were in the same family, and their branch was later called the "Sanguitang Cao family".

Wang Fu sold his official positions and titles, and at the same time promoted talented people to buy his reputation. Especially for local officials such as prefects and magistrates, he asked the centrists who came over to recommend them, and he appointed and dismissed dozens of them in the past few months.

Cao Zao was the lucky person recommended.

"Why is Yangzhou's population decreasing instead of increasing?" Cao Zao asked.

Hu Cao joined the army and Li Yanzhi hesitated a little, but finally couldn't hold it back: "Zhu Guoxiang occupied the land and hid the population. Many people in the three counties of Yangzhou defected with their whole families."

Cao Zao said angrily: "Order the magistrates of the three counties to conduct an inventory of the population and land!"

Li Yanzhi said: "County officials don't dare to investigate. Zhu Guoxiang has a very high prestige among the people. He also practices village bravery privately, saying he wants to guard against bandits."

Cao Zao remained silent and went to Jintan Village for a private visit incognito.

The area of ​​Jintan Village has more than doubled compared to the original area.

Zhu Guoxiang not only opened up wasteland in the valley, but also spent money to purchase land outside the valley. Government exploitation is becoming more and more serious, and more and more small landowners are choosing to sell their land. Some self-cultivating farmers simply donated their land and took the initiative to become tenants to Zhu Guoxiang. The purpose was simply to avoid taxes and corvee.

Cao Zao was paddling up the river, and seedlings were being planted in the paddy fields along the river.

Most of the farmers were dressed in more shabby clothes and had sad looks on their faces.

No matter how much food is harvested, the government always finds ways to increase taxes, and all kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes are already overwhelming. Landowners can only pass it on to tenants, and the rents are getting higher and higher. Small landowners and yeoman farmers are bankrupt every year.

"Ahead is Jintan Village. It used to be only in the valley, but now the land outside the valley has also been incorporated into the village." The local guide pointed ahead and said.

Cao Zao disembarked from the boat and landed on shore ahead of time, observing the journey along the way.

Entering the boundary of Jintan Village, the appearance changes instantly.

The fields are still the same fields and the farmers are still the same farmers, but the mental state is completely different.

The village's chief security officer was all arranged by Zhu Guoxiang.

Taxes are first paid to the village, and then escorted to the county by Chief Baojia. Zhu Guoxiang had the final say on how much tax to collect. He paid the full amount of tax to the government and the rest was his own.

There was no violation of the law because the entire village land was nominally owned by Zhu Guoxiang. He is not collecting taxes, the landlord is collecting rent.

The real illegal act was that Zhu Guoxiang was hiding the population in the land!

"The rice seedlings are growing very well. I hope we can have a good harvest this year." Cao Zao stood on the ridge of the field and said to several farmers who were transplanting rice seedlings.

No one paid attention to him, everyone was working hard.

And he was very motivated, because he was following Zhu Xianggong, and he was getting more and more hopeful every day.

Xianggong Zhu is a good man, and this has become the consensus of people from all over the country. Some people even couldn't stand the government's exploitation and dragged their families and families for dozens of miles to seek refuge. They were all arranged to open up wasteland deep in the valley.

Cao Zao continued walking inside and talked to people many times, but he couldn't get any results.

The villagers are now very taboo about strangers, fearing that the government will track them down and their good days will come to an end.

After walking for two or three miles, Cao Zao saw a large residential area.

That's where the papermaking factory is, much larger in size. More than half of the papermaking workers came from inside and outside Yangzhou City, and Zhu Guoxiang recruited a large number of bankrupt citizens.

"Are the guests here to buy paper?" Deputy village chief Liu Shidao suddenly appeared behind Cao Zao.

Cao Zao smiled and said: "I am a merchant passing through Yangzhou. I heard about the famous Yundang paper in Yangzhou, so I came here to take a look."

Liu Shidao asked again: "What business did your guest do before?"

Cao Zao made up the story: "Trafficking spices, medicinal materials, etc. If the ship is not empty on the return trip, we will take some of everything."

Liu Shidao asked again: "Last year in Han Dynasty, the weather was good and the herbs grew well. This is the right time for you to come. What is the price for buying Bupleurum this spring?"

Cao Zao couldn't answer it, so he casually mentioned a price, and Liu Shidao laughed.

Cao Zao also said that he wanted to see the Yuandang paper to confirm whether he wanted to buy it. Liu Shidao accompanied him throughout the process, but naturally the business was not concluded in the end.

Cao Zao asked a two-story building in front of him after talking about a bunch of things: "Where is the inn?"

"No," Liu Shidao replied, "That's Zhu Xianggong's viewing tower."

Cao Zao said, "I am about to pay my respects to Mr. Zhu."

Liu Shidao said: "Xianggong Zhu is not in the village."

Cao Zao walked towards the two-story building and saw a lobby and a counter inside, but Liu Shidao blocked him from entering or even allowed him to continue walking forward.

Cao Zao had no choice but to give up and leave Jintan Village with a gloomy look.

It wasn't really an inn, but there were a few rooms that provided accommodation for merchants who bought paper.

There is another store on the side, which is the village's illegal salt shop.

Not only the villagers of Jintan Village come here to buy salt, but also the neighboring villages come here to buy salt. Zhu Guoxiang has long-term cooperation with private salt dealers and has become a private salt retailer.

Cao Zao had enough reasons to be angry, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Zhu Guoxiang, what does this mean?

Compared with Zhu Meng, he is nothing more than a witch. Zhu Meng and his son owned hundreds of thousands of acres of land and maintained more than a thousand private soldiers. Local officials didn't just pretend they didn't see it.

Zhu Ming was removed from the editorship, and Zhu Guoxiang was not so favored, but he was registered with the emperor after all.

Cao Zao decided to visit Daming Village again. If it was too outrageous, he would write a letter directly to his Bole, who would forward it to Wang Fu. Impeach Zhu Guoxiang for occupying people's land, hiding land, and privately amassing population!

By the way, I heard that the Zhu family is also involved in smuggling.