Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 137 This is the true will of the people

Huainan is also busy everywhere.

The rain this year is still a bit heavy. Seeing that the autumn harvest is approaching, Zhao Guangmei has to devote a lot of energy to fighting against floods.

In fact, this is the case in Huainan affairs, and even in the world. The more prosperous and developed a country is, the more fragile it is. It is almost impossible. In fact, floods of this scale are not really a big problem in other areas. After all, Even if there is water, it will be after the autumn harvest.

But who told Huainan to have three crops a year and develop it very early?Three crops a year is actually both a good thing and a bad thing. Because the output is large, the population density is also high, and the per capita yield is small, so the ability to resist risks is naturally weak.

As long as the food gap is slightly larger, it is impossible to say that food prices will rise to the sky.

So it was natural that he had no reason to be careless. Even this year, he did not personally keep an eye on the year-end accounts of the commercial bank. Instead, he handed them all over to Sun Liancheng, assisting Empress Dowager Du and Zhao Dezhao to clear the accounts.

result……

"Mom and eldest brother are coming? What are they doing here? Isn't this causing trouble?"

"Ah? Those people from Li Pingjun are here too? They are just here to cause trouble, right?"

Zhao Guangmei was particularly unhappy about this.

"Don't worry about him, we still have to do our own thing. He is the emperor, but God won't give this son face. If the rain continues like this, the embankment may burst, and six or seven counties may be flooded. Everyone will suffer disaster, and the river embankment is the most important thing. Is the reputation of his official family more important than the people of six or seven counties? If I don't go, you are not allowed to pick him up."

Picking someone up is an extremely troublesome thing. It's not just as simple as him showing up and saying "big brother".

In fact, officials from all dynasties have always been extremely opposed to the emperor's tours, especially in the Northern Song Dynasty. Because the power of the prime minister was too great, it was difficult for the emperor to leave the capital and even have a palace. It was almost as if he was under house arrest. This was not actually the case. It is not unreasonable, at least, it is not just to make the emperor blind and ignorant of the outside situation.

I haven't seen my biological eldest brother for less than half a year. I don't think about him at all. I believe that he definitely doesn't miss me either.

Although all the subordinates felt that this seemed inappropriate, since Zhao Guangmei insisted, and Zhao Kuangyin was indeed not a person who cared about face and liked to show off, after thinking about it, he also worked together.

Flood fighting and rescue operations are the top priority. They are such big officials, they are both His Highness and the Prime Minister, and they have also dispatched the army. If the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River flood again this year, wouldn't they all become a joke? What?
Fortunately, at critical moments, the word "binghu" is still useful. Military orders are directly issued during flood fighting and rescue operations. Under the cruel military law of killing anyone who escapes from the battle, work such as emergency repair of river embankments has gone smoothly.

These people, who are essentially villagers who work on the land, suddenly have the status of military households, and their subjective initiative and collaborative efficiency are not satisfactory.

And because he was paid for his work, or sent out troops to pay for the military, even though he had been fighting for disasters, the major towns and cities also experienced unexpected business prosperity, making Huainan, which was already a lot more lively, become more and more prosperous. It was so lively.

So much so that when Zhao Kuangyin and his ministers went to Yangzhou, they couldn't help but be confused.

Is this Yangzhou?
Didn’t it say that three minutes of the moonlit night and two minutes of it are in Yangzhou?

What about the moonlit night?

Standing on the bow of the ship and looking inside and outside the city, he saw the shacks outside the city, densely packed one on top of another. At first glance, Zhao Kuangyin thought it was the Southern Tang Dynasty that sent hundreds of thousands of troops to surround Yangzhou City. His first reaction was: The Southern Tang Dynasty was Where did these hundreds of thousands of troops come from?

When I got closer, I saw clearly that these were all the people living here, because almost every household built a simple shed to live in, so it really looked a bit like it. The army besieged the city.

Then Zhao Kuangyin and Man Chao Wenwu couldn't help but frown.

Lu Yuqing couldn't help frowning and said: "How come there are so many refugees outside Yangzhou City? With so many people blocked outside the city, how are they going to arrange the military camp?"

Lu Duoxun said calmly on the side: "The land of Huainan was hit by floods first and then by war. It is inevitable that the people will be displaced. As long as the imperial court is attentive to rescue, everything will be fine."

This is true, and it can be regarded as a hidden secret. After all, the flood is real, and the military disaster is also real. However, just for this flood, how much money did the court allocate?Also help?If we continue to provide relief, officials will no longer be able to afford their salaries.

The most important thing is that His Highness King Qin didn’t write it like this when he presented the memorial!

Lu Duoxun was still a little worried and wanted to save face for Zhao Guangmei, but Zhao Guangyi on the side had already cursed directly: "What on earth are the third brother and the eldest sister doing! Could it be that the two of them teamed up to deceive the court? This is simply unreasonable. , Brother, you are too laissez-faire towards them. If they really deceived them about the Huainan matter, no matter what, they will be severely punished to give an explanation to the world!"

Zhao Kuangyin's face was naturally gloomy, but he did not say a word, but unconsciously tightened the jade ax in his hand.

After a while, the dragon boat slowly docked in the swaying waves. Zhao Kuangyin stood on the bow of the boat holding a jade ax for a long time. He scanned the officials who were picking up the boat and found that the one with the highest official position among the officials who was picking up the boat was actually Shen Yilun?

He has not yet become the third envoy, not even a deputy prime minister.

"Where is the third child?"

"Uh..." Shen Yilun was sweating profusely when he saw this, and said: "Your Highness said that he is too busy to pick you up and do this superficial thing. He has something to do in Taizhou and will be back in about half a month. Let you stay in Yangzhou for half a month..."

After saying that, he buried his head firmly and didn't dare to look up.

Zhao Kuangyin was stunned for a long time, and then asked: "Then Princess Yan, Gao Huaide, and Wang Pu, were they also forcibly detained by the third child?"

"Yes...yes, His Highness said that he was really busy, and he also asked me to tell you..."

"say what?"

"I asked you not to cause any trouble to him. This is his petition, which I will pass on to you."

Zhao Kuangyin said nothing.

Zhao Guangyi said gloomily from the side: "Brother, third brother, he is really a little too arrogant."

Unexpectedly, Zhao Kuangyin calmed down for a while, and then burst into laughter suddenly. He looked really happy, and waved to Shen Yilun to stand up.

"It's quite meaningless to pick up the ship. When I get on the ship from Kaifeng, we have to prepare in Yangzhou. The delay of a month in going back and forth is nothing. Between me and my own brother What are you doing with this useless charter? Since the third child isn't here, it must be really important, and there aren't many people around him who can match him. If you ask me, you should stay by his side to help him. You shouldn’t even come.”

"what?"

Zhao Guangyi was quite surprised on the side.

Zhao Kuangyin lightly spanked Zhao Guangyi's butt with a jade ax and said: "Ah, what, you, don't hang out with those rotten scholars in the future. Dad asked you to study literature since you were a child, so that you can apply what you have learned, not for you to learn literature." Those who imitate those bad habits of being high-minded but low-handed and not pragmatic should learn more from my third brother in the future. You are far behind him in terms of being sincere and practical."

"Oh……"

Zhao Guangyi was struck by a big nail inexplicably, scratched his head, and simply stopped talking.

In fact, he had already figured it out at this moment. His sarcastic words just came out of his mouth. After thinking about it for a moment, he realized that the reason why Zhao Guangmei was so arrogant, apart from his personality, was probably because he was really confident.

Who in the world doesn't know who my third brother is?

If Yangzhou is really filled with refugees, and he, Zhao Guanglan and a group of loyal officials are really working together to deceive the court, then they must have been scared out of their wits. How could they be so arrogant that they didn't even come?Even if Zhao Guangmei has this arrogance, it's impossible for Gao Huaide and Wang Pu to do the same, right?
It shows that people are not afraid of what is going on in Yangzhou.

But he secretly warned himself: 'My city is not deep enough. If you have anything to say, you should think about it in your heart, shout it out, and leave a little room for it when you say it at the end.Alas~, for some reason, I can't help but be impulsive and reckless when it comes to third brother. '

Zhao Kuangyin took the edict from Shen Yilun, scanned it slightly, and saw the title: On the Expansion of the Application of the Public Trial Conference System. After thinking about it for a moment, he realized that this was Laosan's advice to him to deal with people like Li Pingjun. , and having already guessed five points from the title, he quietly put the memorial in his sleeve. "Get up, get up, get up, this Yangzhou city, although I have been here before, but I really haven't had a good stroll around it. I happen to be tired recently, so it would be a great thing to visit here for half a month, hahaha. "

That's right, Zhao Kuangyin used to come to Yangzhou to fight. Even when the Southern Tang Dynasty saw that they could no longer defend it, they simply set a fire and burned the main city, so they couldn't go shopping.

After that, Zhao Kuangyin took the lead, but he didn't ask anything else, but led the troops directly to the outside of the city.

Of course Shen Yilun knew what Zhao Kuangyin wanted to see, but he didn't give any explanation and followed closely.

As a result, he couldn't get out.

"The officials and residents outside the city have surrounded Yangzhou City on three sides. Although there are three entrances to the city, they are a bit narrow. This... too many followers is really inconvenient. You see... it is necessary... Are you going to tear it apart?"

Lu Yuqing frowned and said, "Since I knew I was going to pick up the driver, why didn't I take it out earlier?"

"This... is because His Highness the King of Qin refused to let it go. He said, let each government do what it should do, and don't affect the normal life of the people just because the officials come."

"Normal life? These people living in shanties outside the city are living a normal life?"

"This……"

But Zhao Kuangyin still laughed and said: "There is no need for so many followers. It's better for me to take a stroll. Yang Xin, you lead fifty Yulong Ma Zhi and fifty Golden Spear Naizhi to guard the left and right. Others will leave it to you...uh...where are these soldiers of mine stationed?"

When Zhao Kuangyin traveled, he naturally brought the Gongsheng Army with him, more than 6000 people on both sides.

"Well, we can only stay in the city for the time being. The original Forbidden Army stationed in Yangzhou is in the barracks. As for the original Forbidden Army stationed abroad, they are now scattered in Chuzhou, Taizhou, and Gaoyou. They are also busy repairing The river embankment suffered from floods last year and was busy with war this year, so the river embankment didn’t have time to undergo major repairs, so we just need them.”

Zhao Kuangyin nodded and laughed at himself: "It seems that I came at the wrong time. It doesn't matter. Let's do it this way. It's good."

After that, Zhao Kuangyin didn't want to ink for a moment, and strode out of the city.

After leaving the city, I was a bit dumbfounded.

Why does it look more lively outside the city than inside?
As soon as I left the city gate, I realized that at least the stalls at the city gate were densely packed with businesses, almost all of them were small traders. And although the sheds looked simple, they were at least clean and tidy, and even the common people looked like they were all in good condition. All are shiny.

"You just said that they are not refugees, but residents of Yangzhou City?"

"Yes."

"Since you are a resident, why don't you live in the city?"

"Because... we can't live in the city."

"Then don't they all have their original place of origin? Why do they all live outside Yangzhou City?"

"Because there is a lot of leisure time in agriculture now, if you work outside the city, your income will be much higher than in the countryside. After all, Yangzhou has convenient transportation and great location advantages. Therefore, led by commercial banks, many factories have been set up outside the city. When there were more people, it naturally became more prosperous, so commercial streets were built outside each city gate."

Zhao Kuangyin suddenly said: "I remembered, what Lao San means is to cancel the distinction between urban and rural areas, right? In the future, the rural tax will not be collected?"

"It's not that we won't take it anymore. At least, the land around several big cities in Huainan has been basically bought by commercial banks. What His Highness means is that the commercial banks have already paid taxes on their profits, so there is no need to Taxes have to be paid again on the land, so there is no practical use in setting up separate households in each township."

All the civil servants who followed had expressions of bitterness upon hearing this. Everyone could hear the bloodshed hidden in Shen Yilun's words. His Highness King Qin clearly wanted to tamper with the tax base. It even subverted the entire Song Dynasty's finances and even the entire administrative system.

Zhao Kuangyin was noncommittal, but he casually walked to a small stall selling trinkets and jewelry, picked up a hairpin at random, and asked, "How much does this hairpin cost you?"

The stall owner, who had been kneeling on the ground for a long time, was stunned, and then said: "If you sell it... you can sell it for twenty cents, and the hairpin is made of pure copper."

"A pure copper hairpin only costs [-] cents? Why is it so cheap?"

"Um... Back to the official story, there are many copper-making workshops outside Yangzhou City, and there are also copper mines owned by trading companies in Taizhou. The trading companies are responsible for directly mining, smelting, and smelting copper, and delivering it to The raw materials in each workshop are already refined copper blocks, which are much cheaper than in previous years and elsewhere. The workshops directly process them into hairpins, and then merchants like Xiaoren buy and sell them, which is naturally much cheaper. And because the things we sell are cheap and the transportation in Yangzhou is convenient, businessmen from other places will naturally come here to purchase goods. If they purchase more goods, the production costs of these things will naturally further decrease, thus achieving a positive cycle and getting better and better. The better."

Zhao Kuangyin was particularly surprised when he heard this and asked: "You hawker, how do you talk in such a way? Did you figure this out yourself?"

"Of course not. When we return to the official home, in fact, when His Highness was in Yangzhou, he gave special lessons to some lucky merchants. These words are what His Highness said. Those big merchants spread this kind of economic knowledge everywhere. , so those of us doing business in Yangzhou all know many of these principles."

Zhao Kuangyin nodded with satisfaction, but glanced at the prime ministers who followed him behind him, and said: "This little jewelry seller can actually be so organized when talking about such a big principle. In comparison, it seems There are so many civil servants in the court who are just sitting on their backs."

When all the officials heard this, they were ashamed and angry, but no one dared to openly argue outside.

But he asked the merchant again: "It seems that this Yangzhou city is too small. What do you think? If you live in a shed outside like this, won't it get cold at night?"

The vendor said respectfully: "I'm not afraid of the cold. It's mainly because I feel uncomfortable when it rains. Although the people voluntarily dug temporary drainage hooks, they are not very efficient after all. It gets damp when it rains."

“Then why doesn’t anyone just build houses outside?”

"First, His Highness refused to give in. Yangzhou is an important town after all. Secondly, everyone was unwilling. After all... the current new policies in Yangzhou and Huainan are just temporary measures implemented by His Highness to deal with the disaster. The imperial court has no regulations on this. For example, most of the people outside our city are still people from the countryside. Who knows when the imperial court will ask for registration again? Besides, if you want to build a house, you must first build a city. Everything is not finalized yet, and this city has no Find a way to build it.”

As he spoke, the vendor gritted his teeth, kowtowed to the ground, and shouted:
"The common people have heard that some people in the capital are very critical of His Highness's new policies, but they just regret that they have no way out and cannot go to the capital to speak for His Highness. Your Majesty, please see, outside the city of Yangzhou, hundreds of thousands of people are all under the supervision of Your Highness. The benefits of the new policy are to treat the officials and His Highness as kings and fathers. Are those who come to Beijing to cause trouble the people, and are we, the merchants, craftsmen and farmers, not the people?"

"Today, I have the courage to ask the officials on behalf of the common people, whether this new policy can be customized forever? Hundreds of thousands of people outside Yangzhou City have been waiting day and night for it, and they still hope that the officials will make a clear decision!"

Having said that, he bowed down and bowed again.

Originally, when Zhao Kuangyin came out to shop, all the merchants in the two rows were kneeling and silent. Now when the vendor shouted like this, at least the people around him could hear it clearly.

As the saying goes, opportunities are rare. In fact, few of these merchants are stupid. Seeing someone taking the lead, someone soon echoed loudly: "Please the officials will take into account the wishes of our people and make Huainan's new policy custom-made forever!" "

Then everyone shouted in unison: "Please let the officials take into account the wishes of our people and make Huainan's new policy custom-made forever!"

After this round of shouting, the people in the back who had no idea what was going on in front also knew this time, and then they also shouted. In this way, the voice of the petition spread layer by layer, and it actually spread really quickly. The entire city of Yangzhou.

Everywhere he looked, there was room for kneeling. Hundreds of thousands of people were saying the same sentence in unison at the same time: "Please let the officials take into account the wishes of our people and make the Huainan New Deal Always customized!”

Even though Zhao Kuangyin was born in the military, he had never seen such a big scene before, and it scared everyone.

At the same time, it’s a bit difficult to get off the horse.

But the civil servants behind him who were racking their brains to find faults and thinking of stopping the New Deal at any cost were all dumbfounded.

After a while, Zhao Kuangyin took a deep breath and said: "Zhao Pu, second brother, what do you think the people are? This is the real aspiration of the people."

(End of this chapter)