Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 246 Imperialism in the Song Dynasty
After reading the newspaper for a long time, Chu Zhaofu finally confirmed that this special girl's newspaper was indeed the newspaper of their Privy Council.

In fact, these Di newspapers have already taken the prototype form of newspapers. After all, without a type printing press, printing newspapers that are sold every day is not suitable for the current national conditions of the Song Dynasty, so Zhao Guangmei did not do it.

But if you don’t do it, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t something similar.

With the development of Kaifeng's citizen economy, especially the large amount of social capital and the development of the private economy, there are more and more merchants, craftsmen and other classes, and the number is not comparable to that of other dynasties.

So what is the most important thing for private businessmen, especially small businessmen with little connections?
Information.

It is difficult to determine the authenticity of various gossips, and a large number of merchants provide a basis for the circulation of information. As early as a year ago, Zhao Guangmei began to consciously inform the main yamen of the imperial court and the boards of directors of commercial banks every time they made policies. Especially after the important meeting of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Di News was directly distributed to the public, and summarized and organized. Through the hands of the Sky Squirrel, he used the channel membership system of Yahang to purchase, and at the same time, through the channels of the government's distribution of Di News, each issue It will be distributed downwards, and each yamen will even have a special residence for each yamen. Even a lot of important bidding information will be posted in this kind of residence newspaper.

It is similar to a magazine published from time to time. It is full of policy briefings, which are read by private businessmen who cooperate with commercial banks. The purpose is to help them catch up with those commercial banks and the huge information gap between households.

Of course, if some businessmen are reluctant to part with even this small amount of membership money, or they have read countless policy news but cannot find business opportunities in such a golden age, that is their own problem.

Therefore, the current sales volume of this kind of Dibao is always very good even in other places. In Kaifeng, it has almost reached the point where larger businessmen all have one person, and even some sellers and street vendors will try their best to sell it. Find a way to get every issue of the Di newspaper.

So at this time, since Chu Yun has brought this residence report, I am afraid that most of the businessmen of a certain size in Kaifeng City will know about this shocking big bidding.

However, Chu Zhaofu, as the deputy privy envoy, still didn't know anything.

This girl is indeed too ironic.

After reading the content in this newspaper, Chu Zhaofu couldn't laugh or cry. He could only sigh repeatedly, His Highness really... dares to think and do it.

It turns out that this time the Privy Council was only responsible for supervising the army, that is, it only sent one military supervisor. However, this military supervisor did not directly supervise the army's march and fighting, but only played a matchmaking role.

It is the bridge between the trading houses, even private merchants, and the army.

For example, during their previous expeditions in the Song Dynasty, the transportation work of delivering supplies to the frontline soldiers was contracted to merchants. The merchants could organize their own civilians and escorts, and were responsible for transporting supplies to the frontline soldiers by all means.

Large merchants could even command local Xiang armies in the Song Dynasty, which was unique in all dynasties. This was also the case in the Northern Song Dynasty in history, but this process became faster in the hands of Zhao Guangmei.

This was originally thought up by the imperial court as a last resort in order to reduce corruption and reduce the consumption pressure of material transportation. For-profit merchants were almost two or three times more efficient in transporting military supplies than unprofitable government yamen. above.

The imperial court has always been very opposed to this way of businessmen assisting the army, especially the civil servants. They think that it is ridiculous to entrust the important affairs of the country to businessmen. Businessmen are all profit-seeking guys. Although they are very efficient now, if the court In the end, you will become dependent on merchants, and you will be controlled by them sooner or later, which is irresponsible to the country (in fact, it is correct, the Northern Song Dynasty was indeed severely counterattacked by capital)

However, the soldiers on the front line very much recognized this method. They believed that handing over their wealth and life to merchants was much more reliable than handing it over to civilian officials. The efficiency of these merchants was indeed high, and at least in the early Song Dynasty, No businessman dares to play tricks on the army by shoddy goods and cutting corners.

After sending food to the front line, you can also spend money to collect the loot from these soldiers directly on the battlefield at low prices, transport it back and sell it, making robbery more efficient for the soldiers on the front line.

Moreover, nine out of ten merchants who can take on such a job have a close relationship with the Forbidden Army.

So this matter has become that most people in the entire court are opposed, but those merchants just can't be banned, so each yamen will try their best to impose more and more restrictions on those merchants, formulate various rules, and flatter them. It's called ensuring military supplies.

But in fact, this is just for everyone to get a foot in it. After all, every more foot is put in, the merchants will have more grandfathers to pay tribute, and the cost of transportation will also be higher.

Originally, commercial banks were not directly involved in this pure service industry, but now that public-private partnerships have been liberalized, the commercial banks' control over the enterprises below them has been greatly reduced, so commercial banks are now slowly getting involved in the transportation of military supplies. After all, their relationship is here.

Are relationships the primary productive force in society?

So recently, the Privy Council has actually been thinking about how to restrict trading firms and draw circles around them. Zhao Guangmei himself also approved it, and even many of the restrictions came from his approval.

But this time, Zhao Guangmei did the opposite. Not only did he loosen the bonds of these merchants and let them do whatever they wanted, but he also simply divided the future interests in Dali and Nanhan among them in advance!

The so-called bidding refers to the three southern Han cities of Hezhou City, Fuzhou City, and Quanzhou City, as well as Yangcheng, Weichu Prefecture, and Dongchuan County of Dali State. These seven places have already had the prototype of big cities, and in the end It is suitable for the development of large cities and early investment.

To put it bluntly, Zhao Guangmei simply packaged up these seven major cities and sold them to the accompanying merchants, including those shareholders of the commercial banks.

The shipyards, ceramics factories, maritime trading firms in Nanhan, horse factories, silver mines, tea gardens in Dali, as well as the land in the commercial districts of the seven inner cities, and various industries were all sold.

As long as you dare to buy it, my court will dare to sell it.

The bank can even give you a loan if you are short of money.

In other words, a few big merchants, or major shareholders of commercial banks, branch offices, etc., with a little sum, a dozen people can buy one of the seven major cities, such as Quanzhou City, and then become the real owner of this place. noble.

And those merchants who booked these properties in advance were naturally the supervisors accompanying the army.

The military and horse inspectors sent by the Privy Council were responsible for liaison work and coordination work, but it was the merchants who were really used to restrain the behavior of the troops.These merchants can't control how the war is fought, but in essence, the important assets of the seven cities and two countries that have been auctioned are already the assets of merchants like you.

Except for the treasury of the two countries that belonged to Zhao Kuangyin, the rest no longer belonged to the imperial court.

So what do you supervisors do?It's to restrain the army and protect your own assets!

As for why merchants can control the army, it all depends on their ability, whether it is spreading money, using personal connections, or even making cakes for the soldiers. If you don't have this ability, don't take it. Job, don't do this business.

Chu Zhaofu was shocked: "This...is this going to give you merchants the chance to break the earth and become a king? How can this be true? If these merchants unite, won't they have to evade the imperial court?"

After hearing this, his wife thought about it and said: "This must be His Highness's idea. Although this move... is indeed bold, it is not completely unreasonable."

"What's the point?"

"Southern Han Dynasty, Dali, is a long way from Kaifeng. Even if we rush six hundred miles, it will take at least half a month to send a letter to the court, let alone exchange information. If something happens, I'm afraid they are all out of reach, not to mention that there are mountains everywhere, and the mountains are mostly barbarians. Each chieftain has his own authority. The culture and language are very different from our Han people, but they are fierce and brave, and they will not obey the king. Even if these two places were conquered, it would be extremely difficult to rule them. Even with the strength of the Han and Tang Dynasties, conquering these two places would only make them semi-autonomous."

Hearing this, Chu Zhaofu nodded in agreement. In fact, he must know better than his wife. He is Zhao Kuangyin's staff and knows Zhao Kuangyin best. To be honest, if it weren't for Pan, these two places King Mei and Lu made their own decisions, and I am afraid that Zhao Kuangyin, an official, would not agree to fight at all.

In fact, these two places have reached the limit of direct rule of the ancient feudal dynasties. It is almost impossible to rule directly. It is necessary to establish departments similar to Jiedushi or the Great Protectorate.

As for Zhao Kuangyin, although he was born as a martial artist, the biggest difference from previous emperors is that he never made great achievements. Being a soldier, he also understands the hardships of soldiers best. Fighting in places like Dali and Southern Han is probably insignificant in his eyes. necessary.

If Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had not attacked Nanyue, there would not have been a Luntai sinner edict. If the late Tang Dynasty had not been forced to fight with Nanzhao out of spite, it would not necessarily have collapsed so quickly.Although these two places once briefly belonged to the powerful Han Dynasty and the prosperous Tang Dynasty, they were actually negative assets for the imperial court from the beginning to the end.

Negative equity? Give it to Lao Zhao for nothing. Lao Zhao probably doesn’t even want it.

Why not let them be vassals, become vassals year after year, and pay tribute every year. Everyone will be happy, the soldiers will not have to travel across mountains and rivers, and the court will not have to deal with the endless chieftain rebellions.

You know, in ancient times, this kind of place that is almost in the tropics did not produce food, because the tropical area has too much rainfall every year, and the nutrients in the land are taken away by the rain. Therefore, if food crops are grown in this place, the yield will be higher. It’s not high. In fact, even in the 21st century, there are few countries in Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia that can achieve self-sufficiency in food. So in ancient times, wasn’t this just a burden?

I'm afraid it's because these two places are worthless in the eyes of the officials, so the officials will agree to such an outrageous "traitorous tender", right?

And if you think about it carefully, these merchants have been from the imperial court for a long time, and they are inextricably connected with Kaifeng and commercial banks. Some of them are even branches of commercial banks. Even if the power of the two countries is in those two countries by then In the hands of merchants, these merchants have absolutely no reason to seek independence or separatism.

It seems... is it really better than leaving it to a certain Jiedushi?
After thinking about it, Chu Zhaofu shook his head and said: "It's wrong, it's still wrong. If so, wouldn't it encourage the greed of the soldiers? This strategy... this strategy can be generalized. If we fight the Khitan in the future, You can even use this method to fight all the way to the west. In this way, the expedition will no longer cost a huge amount of money. This, if we don't fight, it will never be over."

But their son said: "I think your Highness's strategy is particularly clever. After all, since ancient times, it is difficult to distinguish between the expansion of territory and the great achievements of reconciliation. Our Song Dynasty is so strong now, it is time to expand territory and open up the world. Taiping, I think that as long as the imperial court's war bidding proceeds are enough to cover the cost of the war, it cannot be said to be a militancy in any case. This will form a virtuous circle. From now on, it will no longer be difficult for our Song Dynasty to go on expeditions. It will also be available to our merchants. An opportunity to actually split the earth and become a prince, and guard the border for the country, dad, this is a win-win situation!"

Of course, in fact, there is a major premise for playing this way, that is, the military power of the Song Dynasty is strong enough and has a crushing advantage over neighboring countries. The cost of each war is not too high, so that it can be supplemented by subsequent profits.

"And I think that the Privy Council will take the lead, the shareholders of the commercial banks will be the flesh and blood, and the private capital will be the fur, and we will work together to carve up the world... It is true that it will have a certain effect on the frontline troops. For example, when the Song Army conquered Shu, we heard that We used to cut down a large number of mulberry trees? Why do we cut down such good mulberry trees? Is it fun? Or do we want to cut them down and sell them as lumber? Isn’t this just because we don’t feel bad about whether it’s our own thing?”

"If we merchants get involved, at least this kind of cutting down of mulberry trees will definitely not happen. At the worst, we can just pay them some money to let them stop cutting down the trees. In the same way, although these merchants may not be able to control the frontline soldiers robbing property, But at least murders and arson will be greatly reduced, and robbery, sometimes it may not be a bad thing to rob the local rich and powerful."

Hearing this, Chu Zhaofu sighed: "Hey~, so you must have a hand in it? Do you... have the strength?"

Chu Yun smiled and said: "His Highness, this time, it must be a temporary decision, at least the preparation is not sufficient. The army will inevitably leave within three days. In such a short period of time, what kind of tender will the Privy Council use? Isn't it just based on the distance of the relationship? Well, it must be someone who is familiar with the Privy Council to dare to entrust such a big responsibility rashly. As for strength, it is not that important. Doesn't this also encourage loans?"

"Oh~"

Chu Zhaofu suddenly realized what he said and nodded, actually feeling that it made sense.

"Dad, this time, you must help the child and let the child have a hand in this matter. In the future, if you retire and return to your hometown, the descendants of our Chu family may continue to do so for generations to come. Eat this fat."

"Which property do you have your eye on?"

"Quanzhou! I heard that Quanzhou City has half a city of semu people, and it is also the gathering place for foreign goods in the world. I think that sooner or later, this sea trade will develop greatly in our Song Dynasty. No matter what we do, as long as it is The industry in Quanzhou will rise sooner or later, and the land rent will make him rich for a generation."

"Your taste... is quite good."

"I'm not the only one who has a good eye, dad. Many people are eyeing the land in Quanzhou. I heard that even relatives of Zhao Xiangguo are also interested in Quanzhou's industry. Dad, if you don't help me, this opportunity will give our family But I missed it.”

"Don't worry, you won't miss it. I will go back to the Yamen and write to the officials to ask for a war to attack the Southern Han Dynasty. This is a battle to destroy the country. The imperial court has mobilized the troops and horses of ten states in the southeast. For such a big thing, don't you need me as a privy councilor? Deputy envoy, do you want to be the warden of the army? The country has raised troops for thousands of days, and the troops are used for a while. Although the road ahead is full of swords and fire, how can a father be hesitant and cowardly? If you don't want to eat, I will go on duty!"

(End of this chapter)