Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

There were three things placed in front of Xu Kangzong. He said with a strange expression: "Are these the money goods of Goryeo?"

"Yes." Zheng Zhichang felt a little inferior and embarrassed.

The most commonly used equivalents for market circulation in Goryeo are two-liter cloth, three-liter cloth and five-liter cloth.

A piece of cloth two feet and two inches wide has a weaving density of 80 weft threads per liter.

The official uniform worn by Chinese officials is cut from fifteen liters of cloth. Chinese people also mostly use eight-liter cloth and ten-liter cloth for their clothing.

Five liters of cloth are worn by only the lowest class of people in China.

As for the two-liter cloth and the three-liter cloth, this is what ordinary Chinese families use for funerals and mourning.

However, in the Goryeo Kingdom, five liters of cloth were equivalent to the mainstream currency, while two liters of cloth and three liters of cloth were similar to auxiliary coins.

So damn poor!

There is also a row of copper coins in front of Xu Kangzong, which are divided into six types: Donghai Tongbao, Donghai Chongbao, Haidong Tongbao, and Sanhan Tongbao.

After picking up the currency and looking at it, Xu Kangzong asked, "Aren't there copper coins in this?"

Zheng Zhichang explained: "Copper coins are not easy to cast. They are generally used for storage by wealthy households and cannot be seen on the market. Occasionally, Chinese copper coins flow in, and they are also hoarded by wealthy households and passed down to their families."

Xu Kangzong picked up the small bottle again and asked, "Silver?"

Zheng Zhichang said: "This kind of silver bottle is used by the king to reward ministers and for some large-scale transactions."

The function of the Goryeo silver vase is similar to that of the Song Dynasty silver collar.

Xu Kangzong asked about the silver and copper mines again. Zheng Zhichang answered truthfully, but the answer he got was different from what the prince said.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that there are a large number of copper and silver mines in Korea.

However, Zheng Zhichang said that Goryeo's domestic silver and copper production was very small, and few mines have been discovered so far.

In fact, there is a lack of sufficient mining demand, so it is difficult for the mining industry in Korea to develop. Historically, due to the trade stimulation of the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were once as many as 68 silver mines being mined simultaneously on the Korean Peninsula in the middle of the Qing Dynasty.

As for copper mines, they are mainly found in the central and northern regions of the Korean Peninsula. The reserves in these places alone reach 300 million to 400 million tons. Moreover, many mines are shallowly buried, of high quality, widely distributed, and not difficult to mine.

In addition, there are many gold mines on the Korean Peninsula.

Zheng Zhichang said with difficulty: "Please... please go to the Ming Dynasty court to bring some food to help the people of Pyongyang."

"It doesn't matter if it's too much, I can still come up with 20,000 to 30,000 dan." Xu Kangzong said.

Due to the lack of food in the war, the people were not allowed to convert the national land tax in the past two years into coins when they handed it over. They had to hand over the food honestly.

Coupled with the introduction of corn into the grain tax category, even though many provinces and counties are still recovering and many areas are still in the tax exemption period, last year’s grain tax revenue reached 23.02 million shi - in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, every year The regular quota fluctuates around 30 million stones.

This strange data is not only due to the increase in corn production, but also due to the inventory of fields after the war.

In the past, those big families not only annexed land, but also hid large amounts of land. To quote an official from the Northern Song Dynasty, some wealthy households may only pay taxes on one acre of their 20 acres of land, and hide the rest from the government.

The court only set a rough amount. If local officials did not collect enough taxes, the shortfall would be shared equally among the people.

If you really can't collect it, then find a landlord with a weak background to share it with you.

Now, taking advantage of the recovery period after the war, the Ming Dynasty is conducting an inventory of acres across the country. While there are certainly a lot of omissions, hidden land has definitely been reduced, and overall the tax base is slowly expanding.

It is estimated that this year's land tax will return to the level of the late Northern Song Dynasty.

Twenty to thirty thousand shi of grain can be obtained by squeezing.

Ship it to Pyongyang to relieve some hungry people, and get some seeds to distribute to farmers to replant food and resume production. It can quickly win the hearts and minds of the people in Pyongyang at a very small cost. Overall, the Ming court has made a lot of money.

Zhao Li suddenly said: "Half of the first batch of military rations shipped by ship can be used to provide relief to the people. There will be no problem in temporarily reducing meals for the entire army."

Zheng Zhichang quickly stood up, bowed to Zhao Lizuo and said, "General, you have great righteousness. Please accept my bows!"

"It doesn't have to be like this," Zhao Li said, "I have escaped from famines before and know how miserable the victims are. We should help if we share this sentiment."

Zheng Zhichang said with emotion: "Of the military generals in Goryeo, who only know how to pay and enslave the sergeants, how can any of them be as benevolent and righteous as General Zhao? Of the civil servants in Goryeo, all of them care about the interests of the family, how can there be anyone as sensible as Mr. Xu?" Goryeo is indeed a country of barbarians, but our Ming Dynasty is a truly civilized country!"

Zhao Li, Li Bao, Yelu Yujian and others had been fighting across the sea for more than half a year, and they already had ideas about opening up new battlefields.

As long as the Ming troops in Pyongyang and Baozhou are familiar with the environment and have a firm foothold, they can attack the Jin territory south of the Yalu River.

Or when the Ming army launched a massive counterattack, the Ming army stationed in Goryeo went directly north from the Yalu River and cooperated with the main force to kill the hinterland of the Jin Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Jin did not dare to be unprepared and had to divide its forces to resist.

If there are too few troops, it cannot be stopped, but if there are too many troops, the main battlefield will inevitably be stretched thin.

Even if the Jin Kingdom issued the maximum number of militiamen, it would never be possible to exceed 200,000 troops.

We have to fight in Shanxi and Youyan, we have to guard against Liaodong and Western Liaoning, and from now on we have to guard against the front line of the Yalu River.

Zhao Li put himself in the shoes of the nobles of the Jin Kingdom. If he were to allocate troops himself, it would be a fucking headache just thinking about it.

How to prevent this?

Fortunately, the one with the headache is the golden man.

…

Kaizhou, the capital of Goryeo.

"What? The Ming Dynasty really sent troops to help, and Zheng Zhichang even became the deputy envoy of the Ming Dynasty?" Jin Fushi was so surprised that he couldn't believe it.

The messenger sent by Li Jiren said: "It is absolutely true. Thousands of Ming troops came and were stationed outside Pyongyang. The chief envoy of the Ming Dynasty was named Xu Kangzong, and the deputy envoy was Zheng Zhichang. I heard that Zheng Zhichang also served as the Ming Dynasty's general Right Shaoqing of Honglu Temple."

"This... what should I do?" Li Zhidi said in a panic.

Ren Yuanhou said: "Could it be that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to occupy the West Road?"

Jin Fushi pondered: "It's very possible!"

A group of nobles from the capital who had already taken control of the Goryeo court were looking at each other at a loss.

Their overall plan is this:

The first step is to collaborate with the enemy and betray the country, control the king, and attack the Xijing faction.

In the second step, the Jin soldiers came to kill them, allowed them to plunder, and sent them out of the country with gifts. The places looted by the Jin soldiers all belonged to the Xijing Road, which was the territory of the Xijing Sect, which was equivalent to cutting off the foundation of the Xijing Sect.

The third step is to send an envoy to the Ming Dynasty, request the Ming Dynasty to enthrone the king, obtain the Ming Dynasty's recognition of the Kaijing faction, and offset the negative impact of sending an envoy to the Ming Dynasty in Xijing.

The fourth step is to let some branches of the wealthy Kaijing clan go to occupy unowned land around Pyongyang and recruit refugees as tenants to establish a foothold in Haixi Road. In order to win over other local wealthy families, some profits will also be shared, and everyone will complete the devouring of the West Road together.

Now on to the third step, something unexpectedly went wrong.

The Ming Dynasty actually sent troops, and they had to stay in Baozhou and Pyongyang.

Pyongyang is located in the alluvial plain of the lower reaches of the Taedong River. The land is extremely fertile and is one of the top grain-producing areas in the entire Korean Peninsula. It is also the most commercially developed area in Korea.

Baozhou is also suitable for farming, as it belongs to the alluvial plain of the lower reaches of the Yalu River.

Two grain-producing lands were occupied by the Ming army. As long as they were managed stably for a few years, the military grain would be self-sufficient. How could the Goryeo court take back the territory?

The Jin Kingdom invaded the south just to grab food, but the Ming Dynasty wanted to occupy the territory!

Jin Fuyi suddenly blurted out: "Brother has a close relationship with the Jin Kingdom. How about inviting the Jin soldiers to go south, and Goryeo will also send troops at the same time, and work with the Jin people to attack the Ming army from the north to the south?"

"No," Jin Fushi quickly denied, "The Ming army severely damaged the Jin soldiers last year. We couldn't even defeat the Jin soldiers, so how could we defeat the Ming army? If the Jin soldiers couldn't attack Baozhou, and the Ming army in Pyongyang went all the way south, If we can go straight to Kaijing, we may be in danger of destroying the country!"

"Then what should we do?" Ren Yuanhou said, "We can't let the Ming army occupy the West Road. What's the difference between that and directly ceding the country?"

Jin Fushi said: "You can first send people to contact the Ming envoys to test their true intentions. Maybe... we can pay some price to send these Ming troops out of the country as gifts."

"Who to send?" Li Zhidi asked.

Everyone turned to look at Cui Yunyi.

Cui Yunyi said: "What does it have to do with me?"

Jin Fushi said: "Your uncle has a personal relationship with Zheng Zhichang. Now that Zheng Zhichang is the deputy envoy of the Ming Dynasty, he may be allowed to have some contact with him."

Cui Yunyi sneered: "My confused uncle is still in prison. He recommended the demon monk Miaoqing to Your Majesty, and he has an old relationship with the traitor Zheng Zhichang. How can he serve as a messenger to find out the truth?"

Jin Fushi said: "Zheng Zhichang is not a traitor, but like your uncle, he was bewitched by the demon monk Miaoqing."

A few decades ago, the Cui family was the most prominent family in Goryeo, but due to the failure of the political struggle, there are now signs of decline.

Cui Yunyi himself even passed the Jinshi examination this year, but his sister is the Dowager Princess of Goryeo.

This age of being a Jinshi is extremely abnormal in Goryeo.

As a member of the Cui family who founded Beijing, his son-in-law befriended the Xijing faction, and he had the idea of ​​using the Xijing faction to fight for power. This is a power struggle within the Beijing-opening faction!

Jin Fushi said: "Your Excellency is the successor of Confucius in Haidong and the uncle of His Majesty the present day (actually not related by blood). Although he only passed the liberal arts this year, he has outstanding knowledge and noble moral character and should be appointed as the imperial censor."

Cui Yunyi finally couldn't help smiling, stood up and bowed to everyone: "The national crisis is facing us, and Mrs. Cui should do her best to repay the country's kindness."

Wen Gongren, who was imprisoned for recommending Monk Miaoqing and befriending Zheng Zhichang, regained his freedom and was sent to Pyongyang to find out the truth.

Before setting off, Wen Gongren said to Jin Fushi: "Zheng Zhichang's family, those who were exiled to the island should be recalled immediately, and those who were made official slaves should be returned to ordinary people. Otherwise, I will have no shame to meet my old friends."

"That's how it should be." Jin Fushi said.

As for whether Zheng Zhichang's wives and daughters had been slept with by some powerful people, everyone automatically ignored this and did not discuss it.