Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The ministers were indeed worried about the astronomical craze that was raging inside and outside Tokyo.

Not only were they worried that the emperor and the court would lose their majesty, they were also reminded of Song Huizong's obsession with various miscellaneous studies.

At present, the emperor appears to be "obsessed" with agriculture, mathematics and astronomy.

Why use the word obsession to describe it?

Because he not only plays it privately, but also tries to promote it among the people. No one is too lazy to take care of the former behavior, but the latter behavior is very likely to affect the country.

The most serious problem is the orthodoxy!

Academic thinking has been thrown into chaos by the impact, and now that the heliocentric theory has been revealed, it will inevitably lead to the reconstruction of academic thinking. The emperor also forcibly stitched together schools, which only exacerbated the confusion.

Who will be the orthodox Confucian from now on?

Academic differences are okay if they are controlled among the people, but once temples are involved, it is very likely to lead to fierce party disputes.

The cabinet ministers were all worried.

Only people like Li Bangyan didn't care about the floods in the future. All they thought about was how to please the emperor.

It was another meeting of the cabinet ministers.

Just as Zhang Gen was about to speak, Zhu Guoxiang interrupted: "We will only talk about political affairs today, don't mention anything else."

"yes!"

The ministers sat around the long table, and Zhang Gen kept his mouth shut.

In the old Song Dynasty, the emperor sat at the top and the important ministers sat at the bottom.

Now it was changed again by Zhu Guoxiang, who asked a carpenter to make a nearly ten-meter-long conference table.

The emperor was no longer far away from his ministers, but sat at the head of the conference table. On both sides were the prime minister and his deputy sitting opposite each other, followed by other cabinet ministers, ministers, censors, ministers... The dean of the Tongzhengyuan was also present and was responsible for taking minutes of the meeting.

Documents printed with movable type were distributed, and the ministers picked them up and began to read them.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Today we are talking about the Jingxiang issue. The land of Jingxiang was prosperous in the Tang Dynasty, with a large population, a rich economy, and a flourishing literary style. Why was the Song Dynasty unable to recover? I asked people to search for Tang Dynasty documents and sort them out I have learned all the government decrees in the Song Dynasty, and now I have basically understood them."

The important ministers did not dare to look at the meeting materials anymore, and all sat up straight to listen.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "You can watch and listen at the same time."

"If there are floods on both sides of the Jingjiang River and swamps everywhere, resulting in vast land and sparsely populated areas, why have Nanyang and Xiangyang declined to this day? There are not many swamps there, and the land is extremely fertile. The Song Dynasty repeatedly encouraged immigrants to cultivate land, but the people would rather flee than farm. land."

"The root cause is the meridian problem!"

"In the old Song Dynasty, there were three ways to absorb immigrants in Jingxiang: one was to cultivate land; the other was to recruit tenants; and the third was to farm privately."

"Let's talk about farming first. Recruit the refugees as Xiang troops, and then let the Xiang troops go to farm and be managed by the Jingxiang government. This method can only last for a few years, and those Xiang troops who are farming will flee one after another. Why flee? Because they live a good life You are no better than a pig or a dog, the food you grow is not your own, and you cannot even feed your family with military pay and monthly rations!"

"It was okay at first, because those who dared to cultivate the land were all capable ministers and officials. Once this capable minister and official was transferred, his successor would inevitably exploit him."

"The cultivation around Xiangyang City lasted the longest. It lasted for more than twenty years before it could no longer survive. In the end, all the official land created by the cultivation was divided up by officials and powerful men!"

The ministers nodded subconsciously, because what the emperor said was true.

Zhu Guoxiang continued: "Let's talk about recruiting tenants. Jingxiang has a vast territory and few people. It is extremely difficult to recruit tenants locally. We can only rely on farmers and tenants to reproduce naturally. This was also the main way to increase the household registration in Jingxiang during the Song Dynasty, but after the Five Dynasties, Jingxiang's household registration increased. The population base of Xiang is too small... Well, even if there are few people, reproduction is slow. Farmers and tenants are exploited, and there are countless people who die young and flee. Even though the reproduction has increased several times, it still seems too small.

"Let's talk about private reclamation."

"Landlords are less willing to cultivate land if they cannot recruit tenants. This makes land reclamation in Jingxiang area centered on towns and gradually radiating outward. What about absorbing people from other places to cultivate land, and resettling refugees to cultivate land? Meridians are always out of bounds. question!"

"There was a capable minister and official who promised the refugees and outsiders that as long as they were willing to open up wasteland, they would be given land deeds after the land was cultivated. But when this capable official was transferred, powerful men immediately came to snatch the newly cultivated wasteland. If things continue like this, how can there be any poor people willing to cultivate wasteland?"

"The prince had already discovered it when he was in Jingxiang. The large wasteland there actually had owners. The landlords occupied the land and obtained land deeds. Since they could not recruit all the tenants, they kept it there until someone cultivated it. Come out and take it back.”

"As soon as the prince left with his army, the Jingxiang landowners started to use their old tricks again. I specially sent people to inquire about the states and counties in Nanyang and Xiangyang. Last year alone, I received thousands of complaints, all with The land deeds came to fight the land lawsuits. The prefects and county magistrates were troubled by these land lawsuits. "

"A lot of that land is allocated to soldiers. The powerful even dare to fight for the soldiers' land!"

The ministers' expressions changed when they heard this, and they had a premonition that the emperor might be tough.

If the emperor does not take action, when the prince returns to the capital, the methods may become even more violent, because all those robbed are soldiers enjoying the land.

"Li Hanzhang!" Zhu Guoxiang shouted.

"I'm here!"

Li Hanzhang stood up quickly. He was not used to this conference table.

Zhu Guoxiang raised his hand and said: "Sit down and talk."

"Yes." Li Hanzhang quickly sat down again.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "You are the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and you select three officials who are tough in governing the people to serve as magistrates of Nanyang, Xiangyang, and Jingzhou. Whether it involves soldiers or refugees, all the fish scales will be recorded after the prince takes charge of Xiangyang. Subject to that. If there are officials who collude with powerful people to invade and occupy people's fields, regardless of how much they occupy, the officials and powerful people will be exiled to the northwest."

Xu Fuyan, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, said: "Your Majesty, do you want to set a rule for how many acres of land are occupied and exiled, and how many acres are occupied and fined and imprisoned. Otherwise, there will be chaos in the local area, and officials may take the opportunity to frame and blackmail the landlords."

"In troubled times, heavy rules are used. This year, everyone will be exiled. Next year, it will be a little more relaxed." Zhu Guoxiang said.

"yes!"

Xu Fuyan and Li Hanzhang responded together.

Zhu Guoxiang added: "Issuing decrees to officials in various places. When judging land disputes involving refugees and soldiers, they must be biased in favor of them. Landowners must not be allowed to take the opportunity to seize land. Chen Dong!"

"I'm here," Chen Dong responded.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "The number of censors will be increased by 60 more, and upright people will be selected from among the new scholars. Many censors will be sent to inspect prefectures and counties across the country, mainly to inspect land disputes. Once an official is found to have colluded with the powerful to seize land, he will be dismissed from office. , or exile to the northwest!"

"yes!"

Chen Dong is eager to try.

From last year to this year, provinces have been resettling refugees on a large scale and giving them unclaimed land.

Since the second half of last year, the number of land dispute cases has skyrocketed.

Many landowners did not want to occupy their land, but they fled during the war and returned to their hometowns when the situation stabilized, only to find that their land had been allocated to refugees. Even the ancestral homes of some landlords have been occupied by refugees.

In this case, they will naturally file a lawsuit.

However, normal property lawsuits and property usurpation lawsuits are mixed together and it is difficult to distinguish them. Or maybe they colluded with officials and deliberately made it difficult for local officials to distinguish.

Looking at the overall situation of the country, Zhu Guoxiang can only make one decision.

Those landowners who lost their land should consider themselves unlucky, since they had some extravagant wealth anyway. And I also have local connections, so I can more or less get some back, or I can reclaim wasteland.

Zhu Guoxiang continued: "The problems in Jingxiang go beyond that. Why can't the gentry and merchants there become rich? They can only stare at the exploitation of farmers?"

"I asked people to collect information about the Tang Dynasty. The special products of the Jingxiang area include tea, lacquerware, sericulture, and citrus. As for mining, metallurgy, bamboo weaving, and papermaking, they are too small and can be ignored."

"Tea cannot enrich the people of Jingxiang. This is caused by the old Song Dynasty tea method, especially Cai Jing's tea method. Jingxiang merchants are not rich, and there are not many Jinshi in Jingxiang. They can't get tea at all, so they can only I endured the low prices of tea from foreign merchants, and the only way to make money from tea was smuggling. It was okay to make a small amount of money from smuggling, but once the scale became large, it would be reported by foreign tea merchants who had tea, and the old Song Dynasty court would severely crack down."

"Let's talk about lacquerware. In the Tang Dynasty, Xiangyang lacquerware was unique in the world, relying on its style, and it also had a special name called 'Xiangyang'. After the Five Dynasties, Xiangyang's cultural context declined, and the style of lacquerware became mediocre. By the Song Dynasty, it was difficult to sell it to other places. "

"Let's talk about citrus. Maybe the temperature dropped after the Tang Dynasty, or maybe the varieties degenerated. The Xiangyang citrus, which was famous in the Tang Dynasty, was no longer tasty by the Song Dynasty, and was not even qualified for use as medicine."

"Let's talk about sericulture. The mulberry trees in Xiangyang have tall branches, which are suitable for agricultural intercropping and are not conducive to dense planting and picking. Since the late Tang Dynasty, dense planting of dwarf mulberry has been popular, which can develop regional sericulture and textiles on a large scale. Xiangyang can't keep up."

The important ministers in the cabinet were stunned by these words.

When they served as local officials, perhaps through contact with the gentry and common people, they were able to understand local conditions and adapt measures to local conditions.

But it is definitely not as comprehensive as Zhu Guoxiang's explanation, and it is so high-level.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Tea is easy to solve. The new tea law has been implemented, which can give tea farmers and tea merchants a breathing space. They can also fry tea and transport it to sell outside the country. Citrus is also easy to solve. Let the Agriculture Department Breed or transplant new varieties.”

"For sericulture, according to the local mulberry tree species and terrain, we can develop high fields with ponds and weirs, and high platforms with ponds. This can not only benefit the terrain as much as possible, but also maintain agricultural mulberry income. It can also take the opportunity to build weirs and ponds, water conservancy, and develop fish farming at the same time. …”

Zhu Guoxiang glanced at the ministers: "This is what we call governance for the people. We must adapt to local conditions and understand the local conditions. Instead of just talking about encouraging farmers and mulberry trees and promoting water conservancy!"

Even Zhang Gen realized the emperor's ability to govern the people for the first time.

Because when he was in Hanzhong, Zhu Guoxiang's main energy was devoted to providing military rations to Ju Ming. There are other government orders, but they are just measuring land and building water conservancy projects.

One by one, all the ministers present were in awe of the emperor.

Even if the man in front of him is not an emperor, but a local official in the old Song Dynasty, he will definitely benefit the people.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Print what I just said and send it to officials in various places. Let them adapt to local conditions. What I just said is only suitable for Jingxiang. When they govern the people, they should not copy it, but understand the methods!"

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

All the ministers shouted in unison.

Why does Zhu Guoxiang pay attention to Jing Xiang?

Because Zhong Xiang has been making small moves all the time, he even entered Guangxi last winter!