Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The amount of money minted by Muzhou Shenquan Prison ranks only below average in the country.

When it is actually making money, it can only produce one hundred thousand coins per year. In the hometown of Crown Princess Zhang Jinping, the money-making supervisor there can produce 300,000 guan every year.

However, Shenquan Prison is extremely important because it is the largest money-making institution in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

As early as more than ten years ago, Cai Jing began to issue currency indiscriminately. Shenquanjian, which had an annual output of 100,000 guan, became an annual output of 300,000 guan of copper coins and 2 million guan of iron coins!

Fang La robbed this place, but the copper mine could not be taken away.

After Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty established the small imperial court in the southeast, the output of Shenquanjian increased again. On the basis of "taking ten coins", he even developed a "giving twenty coins".

In order to protect the Muzhou Mint, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty personally selected candidates and appointed Zhao Zicheng of the clan as the prefect of Muzhou.

Zhao Zicheng once studied at Taixue, and even served as Ju Ming's student.

However, when Zhao Zicheng entered school, Ju Ming was busy improving movable type printing, and was soon promoted to the magistrate of Puzhou. There was no friendship between the two.

After Zhao Zicheng graduated from Imperial College, he first became the magistrate of Jiaxing County and was soon promoted to a capital official, just in time to escape Fang La's rebellion. Unable to bear the official atmosphere in Tokyo, Zhao Zicheng applied for exile in Jiaxing, where he had many friends.

"Prefect, Wuzhou (Jinhua) has been besieged by rebels, and Tonglu County has also changed its flag. It is better for Muzhou to make plans early." Han Ju, the general judge, advised.

Zhao Zicheng immediately reprimanded: "Why did Zicang say this? The officials trusted you and me, so we allowed us to guard Muzhou. Now the official's life and death are unknown. At this time, we must not lose our righteousness."

Han Ju's tone was filled with resentment: "Where is the righteousness? Confucianism talks about benevolence and righteousness. Without benevolence, where would righteousness be? I thought he would learn from it and work hard to improve it when he arrived in Hangzhou, but he didn't expect it to get worse. If I had known this, I wouldn't have done it. You should agree to be an official!"

"You are a close minister of an official family, how can you say such disobedient words?" Zhao Ziyan said angrily.

Han Ju had already suppressed a lot of resentment, and now he simply vented it all: "I have been reading the books of sages since I was a child, and I have the ambition to manage the world and benefit the people. But what have I been doing all these years? Writing Dasheng Ci for that foolish king. , composed music for his new lyrics. Mr. Dongpo is my mentor, isn’t it clear to him, Zhao Ji? Because the villain falsely accused some remnant of the Soviet Party, he ignored the friendship between monarch and minister and demoted me to a Taoist temple! "

Zhao Zicheng said: "After the official family moved south, they were promoted again and made you the general magistrate of Muzhou."

"He has no confidants anymore, so he thinks of me, a former close minister." Han Ju became angrier as he spoke.

"Forget it, I don't want to argue with you anymore." Zhao Zicheng felt very boring.

Han Ju didn't want to talk nonsense, put away his anger, and patiently persuaded: "The emperor is missing, the dragons are leaderless, and Li Bao has breached the river defense. The soldiers from the Huaihe River will be able to cross the river south soon. How will the prefect stop it? Now the southeast states The county will either change its flag or be captured by the rebels. The prefect is still loyal to the Song Dynasty, but has he thought about the 100,000 people in Muzhou City? Once the rebels arrive, I don’t know how many people will die in the military disaster!"

Zhao Zicheng actually wanted to change his banner, but he was from the clan.

His son even became the emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty in history!

In a tangled mood, Zhao Zichen said angrily: "Let me think about it again."

Han Ju said goodbye and left the government office Huangtang.

As soon as he left, several officials gathered around him: "What did the prefect say?"

Han Ju said angrily: "Looking forward and backward, indecisive, he hasn't thought about it yet."

The officials winked at each other and decided to kidnap Zhao Zicheng.

How could Han Ju still not know what they were thinking? But he was on good terms with Zhao Zichen, and he really couldn't bear to do it himself, so he left with just one sentence: "You guys can do what you want, don't harm him."

The subordinate officials immediately summoned their subordinates. A group of people rushed into the Huangtang and found that Zhao Zicheng was not there. They rushed to the back house of the government office and tied up Zhao Zicheng's family.

Soon, the flag with the word "Ming" was hung on the top of the city.

This is the most peaceful method, because they are all vested interests, and they will take the initiative to maintain the old order. At most, they would take the opportunity to empty the treasury and divide the spoils, and then stay in the city waiting for the new dynasty to take over. They would not even dare to go to the countryside to collect exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes.

The previous chaos in Lianghuai and Shandong was mainly due to the unclear situation and too many people fishing in troubled waters and taking advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos. Local officials also mostly chose to abandon cities and flee, leaving a large number of states and counties in a state of anarchy.

Now the situation is very clear. Emperor Zhu will definitely dominate the world, and the southeast region is not so chaotic.

Officials from all over the country rushed to submit and took the initiative to maintain stability, hoping for a smooth transition between the old and the new.

After Zhao Zicheng and his family were placed under house arrest, Han Ju took charge as a general judge and ordered strict interrogations of people entering the city to prevent spies from the peasant army from sneaking in.

Although there is currently no rebellion nearby, there is no doubt that it is already brewing.

After thinking about it carefully, Han Ju sent a large number of officers to issue official documents to the counties and villages within his jurisdiction, claiming that all past taxes (arrears of taxes) would be waived, and he promised not to collect any miscellaneous taxes this year.

This approach can make many farmers give up the idea of ​​rebellion.

Except for the ambitious, who would risk their lives if they could survive?

Standing on the city tower, looking across the Fuchun River and looking at the magnificent scenery of the distant mountains, Han Ju felt a little excited.

He was a native of Renshou, Sichuan, and had personal guidance from Su Shi. Su Shi even compared him to Chu Guangxi.

This king did not come from the imperial examination, but through his father's friend (eunuch), he presented Taoist poems, and was appreciated by Song Huizong and directly awarded him an official.

This kind of person is a typical lucky person. Song Huizong wanted him to be a poet in Dasheng, but his ambition was to govern the country.

After participating in the creation of more than fifty pieces of music, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty finally agreed to let him be the scholar in the middle school. As a result, he was only responsible for writing ordinary edicts and spent most of his time compiling national history.

Although this was a very noble official position, Han Ju was dissatisfied and asked to resign.

Song Huizong refused to let him go, so Han Ju inevitably complained. As a result, he was reported by those seeking favor and impeached for criticizing the Holy Emperor. Moreover, he was a remnant of the Soviet Party and was thrown out by Song Huizong to promote Taoism.

Now that he has made great contributions to the city and maintained local stability, he should be able to serve as a civil official in the new dynasty, right?

By the way, we need to quickly appease the miners in Tongguan Mountain!

…

Outside Muzhou City.

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty looked at the big flag with the word "Ming" and stood there for a long time, as if he had lost all his strength. He sat on the river bank in a daze.

How could Zhao Zicheng betray the Song Dynasty?

Song Huizong had been struggling to survive for days before, and now he finally felt that he was at the end of his rope.

He didn't know where to go. He was alone at the moment and didn't have much money left. How to go to Jiangxi to find Quan Bangyan, how to go to Fujian to find Tong Guan?

Do you regret it?

Of course Song Huizong regretted it, but with his character, he would still make the same mistake again even if he did it again.

Because from beginning to end, he knew where he was wrong, but he just couldn't change his past. Even if he wants to change himself, a group of treacherous officials around him will coerce him into doing whatever he wants.

Drive away all the traitors?

Stop talking nonsense, who should I use to drive away the traitor? He can't believe any of them!

"Da da da……"

From the mountainous area in the northeast, several people came galloping on horseback and passed by Song Huizong.

Song Huizong was overjoyed because he recognized that the leader was his cronies, the officials he sent to promote Shenquan Prison!

Just as he was about to call out, Song Huizong felt that he was in danger again and didn't know what to choose.

But I saw these people running across the moat and shouting to the guards who were checking the people: "The miners and charcoal burning work in Tongguan Mountain are in chaos, close the city gate quickly!"

Song Huizong quickly looked back towards the mountainous area, and there were people rebelling everywhere.

There was already a chaos at the gate of the city. A large number of people crowded into the city, and the guards at the city gate could not stop them at all.

Han Ju personally came to take command and let a few people into the city. The rest were shot back with random shots, and then he urgently closed the city gate and prepared to defend to the death.

The people who lived outside the city saw that they could not enter the city and were afraid of being killed by the rebels, so they fled with their riches, the elderly and the young.

Song Huizong was not sure where to hide. Upon seeing this, he immediately joined the fleeing team, mixed with a group of common people, and hid in Hutou Mountain in the northwest of the city.

The next day, the rebels came to kill him.

Mainly miners and charcoal burners, as well as mountain people near Shenquan Prison, and even clay molders and smelters responsible for minting coins... nearly 20,000 people gathered!

The overwhelming insurgent army made Han Ju's scalp numb.

Han Ju asked: "What evil things did you do in Shenquan Prison?"

Shenquan Prison promoted Yue Ziqing with a mournful face: "How could I have done any evil? Most of the time I am in the state city. I even bought a house in the city. Shenquan Prison has its own officials to take care of it."

"Then why did you leave the city and go to the mountains?" Han Ju asked.

Yue Ziqing hesitated and couldn't answer. How could he still say that he was the first to gain the upper hand and secretly embezzled a lot of money? But he didn't dare to blatantly transport it into the city, so he built a house and dug a cellar in the mountains. This time, he took his personal entourage to the mountains to withdraw money?

While the two were talking, the rebel army sent an envoy to shout, ordering the prefect to hand over Yue Ziqing immediately, and at the same time provide them with a thousand shi of food, so that the rebel army would not attack the city.

Yue Ziqing understood clearly and said quickly: "Brother Zicang, don't listen to this. Even if the bandits get the food and grass, they will definitely continue to besiege the city!"

Han Ju said: "If these thieves are not dealt with, not only will the people of Muzhou be in trouble, but I will also lose my contribution to the new dynasty. In public and private affairs, the emperor's head must be used."

Yue Ziqing was horrified: "Brother Zi Cang, you and I are both Dasheng poets. Considering our past friendship, please spare my life!"

"What is the relationship between you and me? I care about all the people in the world, but you only know how to flatter the stupid king, and you don't agree with each other!" Han Ju unsheathed his sword and stabbed Yue Ziqing in the stomach.

One sword didn't kill him, but two more swords struck him.

Han Ju took Yue Ziqing's head and left the city alone in a basket to negotiate with the rebels outside the city.

"Are you a high official in the state?" The leader of the rebel army was a miner named Cheng Changhe.

Han Ju said: "I am Han Ju, the general magistrate of Muzhou. The governor refused to surrender to the Ming Dynasty. I tied him up yesterday." He raised his head and said, "I have killed this person in the Shenquan prison. To rely on a foolish king to oppress the people is not worthy of being in a different place! May I ask the general’s name?”

Cheng Changhe smiled and said: "You are so courageous that you dare to go out of the city alone. Aren't you afraid that I will kill you and attack you while the city is in chaos?"

Han Ju pointed to the clear-character flag at the top of the city and said: "I have dedicated the city to the new dynasty and made the whole city peaceful. The general led the army to rise up and killed the corrupt officials. It is a meritorious service. But if you kill me, what will happen to you?" If the whole city is in chaos, even if the new dynasty doesn't hold it accountable, I'm afraid it won't be reused in the future. Why don't you and I govern Muzhou together, keep this place safe, and wait for the new dynasty to send someone to take over?"

Cheng Changhe thought this was reasonable and asked, "How can we govern Muzhou together?"

Han Ju said: "The general will select some young men and station them outside the city to defend the city. I will provide the general with food and grass. For the rest of the soldiers, let them go back the same way they came. They should cultivate the land and work on the work. Let them choose by themselves. Officials will not be afraid of being exploited and humiliated in the future. The money minted by Shenquan Prison can also be divided among the officers and soldiers, and they will naturally be willing to obey if they benefit from it."

Cheng Changhe stopped talking and thought carefully about the pros and cons.

Han Ju continued: "There are also people in Wuzhou who have raised troops, and they may come to kill them. When the two rebel armies meet, who should be the leader? I'm afraid a fight will inevitably happen. If the general governs Muzhou together with me, he will occupy the land and defend the country with great righteousness and rely on it. The state city will be able to repel the Wuzhou soldiers. In this way, the general will not only have the reputation of defending Sangzi, but also have meritorious service for the new Ming Dynasty."

"You are an official who knows how to talk. Don't try to deceive me." Cheng Changhe was convinced.

The chaos quickly subsided. Han Ju was responsible for the civil affairs in the city. Cheng Changhe selected young men to station outside the city. The rest of the soldiers returned to Shenquan to supervise the rewards and disperse.

The people of Fuguo who fled into Hutou Mountain began to return home one after another after receiving the news. Everyone praised Han Ju as a capable and good official.

Song Huizong always felt a little weird when he was among these people.

Zhao Ji is very familiar with Han Ju. He has been a poet in Dasheng for ten years. The lyrics are good, the music is good, and the edict is beautifully drafted, but what else can he do?

How dare you go out of the city alone to subdue the thieves? This is too nonsense!