The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

() In the first month of the seventh year of Qingli in the Great Song Dynasty, Su Jin was officially transferred back to the capital from the northwest, and was appointed as the deputy envoy of the Privy Council to participate in political affairs, and concurrently served as the deputy envoy of the third department, and was awarded the title of Bachelor of Longtuge; It was also formally revoked. The former commander of Jingyuan Road was promoted to be the commander of Jingyuan Road. Li Chong, Lu Cangsi, was transferred back to Beijing with Su Jin, and was given the post of servant of the household department.

In February, the imperial court established a new department, the Department of Development and Reform, which was subordinate to the Third Division. Su Jin served as the envoy of the Department of Development and Reform, and Li Chong was the deputy envoy.

The establishment of the Development and Reform Department became a big news. People were discussing what kind of government the Development and Reform Department was. Su Jin would be appointed as the envoy of the Development and Reform Department, which showed that this new government office had its own unique features.

The final mystery was revealed on the front page by the chief reporter of the Beijing branch of "Pearl News". Only then did everyone know that the Department of Development and Reform is a department in charge of development and reform affairs. In the end, he was demoted from Beijing due to the reform of the New Deal, and was sentenced by the emperor to never be allowed to be an official in Beijing because of some cronies. Will the Development and Reform Department established at this time follow in the footsteps of Han Fan and others? ..

The common people commented, and the nerves of the officials were tense, like a hedgehog being attacked, the burrs all over the body exploded, just waiting for the development and reform department to do something that would harm their own interests, then To launch a counterattack immediately.

But after being lively for a while, everyone didn't notice any movement. Su Jin and Li Zhong should eat and drink, and they didn't see any terms and conditions published by them, but they saw them at many literati gatherings and banquets.Mr. Su seems to be living a very leisurely life. After traveling around the mountains and rivers, he has passed down a few good words and poems. It is impossible to see what he has accomplished. <At the end, the Department of Development and Reform finally made the first move, but this move made people laugh and cry. It turned out to open branches of the Mingzhu Newspaper, which had mixed reviews and praises, all over the states of the Song Dynasty. Expanding his own private industry in name, and doing it blatantly, this Mr. Su is afraid that his position will not be stable.

The officials are always waiting for the senior ministers in the court to play this matter in the hall, but the chief officials of the two governments and the three divisions seem to have reached a tacit agreement and did not mention it at all. I couldn't sit still anymore, someone brought up this matter in a righteous way. The representative figures were Zhang Yaozuo, a doctor of the Ministry of War and the governor of Kaifeng Prefecture. In addition, Zu Yin from a family of officials and eunuchs, after serving as a state official for a period of time, he is already a servant of the Ministry of Punishment.

Su Jin doesn't know Zhang Yaozuo, but this gentleman is not an ordinary person. Zhang Yaozuo's niece is the current emperor's favorite concubine, Zhang Guifei. Zhang Guifei has jumped from a talented person to a noble concubine in just a few years. The position is only one step away from the empress. If it is a miracle that Su Jin went from a commoner to a minister in just six years, Zhang Guifei's promotion is the inner palace version of Su Jin.

With the help of Concubine Zhang, Zhang Yaozuo was finally able to become an official in Beijing after more than ten years as an assistant official in various counties and prefectures, and his starting point was quite high. With the help of people in the palace, Zhang Yaozuo became more and more active in the court hall. After several attempts to enter the center were refuted, he seemed extremely indignant at Su Jin's direct entry into the center; this coincided with Han Jiang. People took the opportunity to impeach Su Jin for false public affairs and selfishness.

The battle took only one second. Before Zhao Zhen could speak, Yan Shu instantly killed the two of them with one sentence. Yan Shu said: "The court has known about this for a long time, and the emperor himself promised Master Su to do this."

Zhang Yaozuo and Han Jiang suddenly deflated like deflated balls.

The expansion of the Pearl Newspaper was indeed agreed by Zhao Zhen. Although Zhao Zhen did not understand why Su Jin did this, but because Su Jin promised to pay for it himself, even if it was something meaningless, Zhao Zhen would never do it. Point fingers at these little things.

But for Su Jin, such a thing couldn't be more important. The influence of the Pearl Newspaper is gradually increasing. With the experience of later generations as a reference, Su Jin certainly understands the power of public opinion. As a mouthpiece, the Pearl Newspaper can accurately and quickly convey His own intentions can influence public opinion on a large scale, and he can even point out that a deer is a deer and a horse is red and black. Of course, Su Jin is not going to do that. His intention is to let every measure of the Development and Reform Department be announced through the Pearl News without going through the government. The yamen's communication, after passing through those links, many things will be out of shape, and he doesn't have the energy to verify them one by one.

At the end of April, the Pearl Newspapers of each prefecture issued a notice from the Department of Development and Reform at the same time. The main clauses of the notice were very simple, with only four clauses. However, these four simple clauses immediately poured oil on the fire, and instantly ignited public opinion in Song Dynasty. .

Article [-]: Cultivate the land for your own use. For all the people in the Song Dynasty who open up unowned wasteland as fields, they can keep one acre for every ten acres as private property, and the newly cultivated fields are exempt from tax for one year.The reserved land is private land, and the household department of the third division shall issue an official document to prove the retention.

Article [-]: Encourage business. All the people in the Song Dynasty who intend to start a business can receive Huitong Yinzhuang interest-free loan subsidy for a period of one year and return it when it is due; businessmen need to detail the industry they are engaged in, business strategies, Those who counterfeit and cheat money, or those who fail to return within the time limit without justifiable reasons, shall be dealt with according to the law.

Article [-]: Open up [-] cities. The Department of Development and Reform will choose thoroughfare places in various places in the Song Dynasty to build [-] blocks at the entrance of the block. New and old merchants with an annual payment of [-] yuan or more can settle in. Newly opened Rent-free at the city entrance for one year, halved in the following year, and free public services are provided.

Article [-]: The Department of Development and Reform raised tens of millions of funds to build canals for access roads. Four national highways were built from south to north, two vertical and two horizontal, and from east to west; in the dry areas of the north, hundreds of ditches were dug, and hundreds of reservoirs were built to store water. Irrigation, in order to facilitate farming.There is no labor service for this item, only civilian husbands are recruited, and they are paid on a daily basis; the famine refugees and poor people have priority in taking it.

Below the main clauses are densely packed detailed rules, such as how to reward and punish, how to pay, how to settle in, etc. These four items are like dropping atomic bombs all over the Song Dynasty. Heaven and earth are magnificent and magnificent; cleverly, these four rules do not harm any vested interests, and almost do no harm to the traditional family of officials. On the contrary, they can still participate in it and gain benefits.

Those who are interested have made a rough calculation, except that the first development and reform department does not need to spend money, if the other three are implemented, the cost will be as high as 8000 to [-] million. Anyone who is familiar with the situation knows that with the strength of the imperial court, it is simply unable to afford it. Where did such a large sum of money come from has become a topic that everyone is scrambling to ask.

Regarding this matter, everyone in the Su family also had doubts. Yan Biyun came from a business background, and she could not find an opportunity to quickly withdraw the funds. With the strength of the Su family, it is absolutely impossible to complete such a large investment, and the court can give a fraction at most.

Su Jin immediately gave her some advice. Su Jin had already thought about the way to raise money. From February to April, Su Jin interviewed no less than hundreds of people from big businessmen from all over the Song Dynasty, in the form of issuing national bonds Usury absorbed the spare money in the hands of these people, and issued 4000 million guan of three-year and five-year national bonds; Su Ji raised 2000 million guan by himself, and the other part needed to be allocated by the court, and the difference was not much worse.

As for the return of these funds, it is not a problem for Su Jin. The tax at the entrance of the city is one item. The roads built will naturally charge the customs clearance fees stipulated by the court. The cultivated farmland and ditches will increase the grain production. These are return channels.

Moreover, Su Jin has already obtained Zhao Zhen's approval. In order to support more and more infrastructure construction, Zhao Zhen agreed that Su Jin would search for ore mining in the name of the imperial court, and at the same time agreed to let Su Jin discuss the opening of trade with Xia Guo. , Grain, tea, etc. can be dumped to Xia Guo. With the support of many profit points, Su Jin is not worried about the return of funds at all.

After Su Jin's explanation, Yan Biyun also had to admire Su Jin's courage. She would never have imagined such a thing as issuing national debt in her life. Immediately it became clear.

Inspired by Su Jin, Yan Biyun also saw the huge benefits of Su Ji. First of all, taking this opportunity to publish the Pearl Newspaper of the Song Dynasty is a growth point of interest. Although there are not many ten articles per copy, the circulation is close to One million, although there is a period of [-] days, plus the profit from advertising, there will be a net profit of [-] yuan per month. In addition, the bank's business will also be booming. The semicolon is gone.

The greater benefit lies in the prospecting and mining rights obtained by Su Jin. Yan Biyun is the head of Su Ji's company. She naturally understands that the income from the two mines is already the biggest piece of Su Ji's cake. If there are more mines, Su Ji will be It's going to be filthy rich, although the imperial court wants to split the accounts with Su Ji, but even so, that is still an astronomical figure. The only question is whether Su Jin, who is full of confidence, can find these treasures buried in the ground, but never In Su Jin's mysterious smile, Yan Biyun felt that there was no need to worry about this problem.

Starting from the four decrees issued by the Department of Development and Reform at the end of April, within a few months, the entire territory of the Song Dynasty was like a pot of boiling water, steaming white, and large-scale construction and reclamation were carried out everywhere throughout the country. The prelude to a new era is slowly opening.