I studied in modern times

Chapter 1068 The Canal (2)

Yang Ji felt a chill run down his spine under Zhao Xu's gaze, thinking that Zhao Xu was complaining about the excessive manpower and high costs. He quickly lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, if the court could send troops to assist in the labor service, the working hours would be greatly shortened!"

"Hmm!?" Zhao Xu narrowed his eyes.

He naturally understood Yang Ji's meaning—to transfer the Xiang Army to dig the river for free.

Xiangjun were the most useful oxen and horses in the Song Dynasty.

Poor treatment, low status, and limited equipment.

Even in a wealthy place like the Sixth Route of the Southeast, the monthly expenses for maintaining a local garrison would be no more than one or two strings of cash!

Even so, they are still being exploited layer by layer.

The officers of the local military garrisons were basically drawing salaries without working and exploiting their soldiers.

That’s all!
The key issue is that everyone, from top to bottom, treats the local militia like cattle and horses.

For example, the servants, cooks, and grooms in many officials' households were actually all local militia!
Local supervisors often drew upon local soldiers to reclaim wasteland and cultivate land for themselves.

The imperial court didn't treat the local militia as human beings either.

When there were matters to repair rivers, pave roads, build bridges, or open mines, if they couldn't afford to hire civilian laborers, they would take the local militia to the job.

For example, during the previous two crossings of the river, those who died on the dikes were mostly soldiers from the local militia.

So it's no wonder that the number of peasant uprisings in the Song Dynasty was far less than the number of military rebellions, and in terms of scale, the military rebellions were far inferior!

Moreover, a highly respected common soldier or junior officer could often rally troops with a single call and then conquer prefectures and counties, or even traverse multiple routes.

Wang Ze of Beizhou, Guo Miaoshan of Shangzhou, Zhang Hai, Shao Xing of Xinghua Army, Wang Lun of Haizhou... and Wang Chong, the notorious bandit who was wiped out when Zhao Xu first ascended the throne.

These rebel leaders were almost all sergeants or mid- to low-ranking officers.

Besides these large-scale uprisings that shook the world and left their mark on history books.

There were countless uprisings by soldiers in those local prefectures and counties!

It can be said that during the Song Dynasty, the most enthusiastic and courageous people to oppose the Zhao emperor were the rioting soldiers.

Once these people start an uprising, it's almost impossible for them to be recruited into the government.

We will definitely fight Zhao Guanjia to the death!

For example, after the failure of the uprising led by Guo Miaoshan and Zhang Hai, the remnants retreated into the mountains of Shangluo and continued to fight against the Zhao family.

It wasn't until Zhao Xu opened the gold mines in Dengzhou and Laizhou, luring away their key figures and eliminating their henchmen, and then used the Bianjing Academy to give the leaders a chance to launder their money and go ashore, that the mountain valleys of Shangluo finally quieted down.

The soldiers' uprising was so brutal and forceful because the Zhao Song court itself was untrustworthy and repeatedly massacred rebel armies that had accepted amnesty.

For example, in the Yunyi Army mutiny in Baozhou in the eighth year of the Qingli era, Guo Kui, the old leader of the Yunyi Army, personally entered the city as a hostage, using his own reputation as collateral to persuade the rebel army to accept the amnesty.

However, Fu Bi, who was in charge of the crackdown, later turned his back on him.

Not only did they massacre the thirty-two Yunyi Army officers who led the uprising, but they also buried alive more than four hundred other soldiers who joined the uprising!

He even wanted to massacre the two or three thousand people who had been coerced!

Fortunately, Ouyang Xiu was also there and stopped them in time.

After this incident, no foolish or stupid soldier would easily accept the offer of amnesty.

It is precisely for this reason that Zhao Xu was very cautious about the Xiang Army issue after he gained power in this life.

He did his best to prevent the imperial court from recruiting assassins for the local militia.

Even though Huainan was suffering from a severe drought, they had no choice but to recruit a group of local soldiers.

However, a special edict was issued—do not stab the face.

After the disaster, these people were immediately dismissed and properly resettled—those who had land in their hometowns or relatives to rely on were given travel expenses to return home.

Those who had no land in their hometowns and no relatives to rely on were granted special permission to come to the capital, Bianjing, to work for workshop owners.

At the same time, he made every effort at the central level to prevent the Xiang Army from serving in the military.

Whether it's dredging in Hebei or drought relief in Huainan.

He always sent Song Yongchen to lead the Imperial Guards in the capital out to do work.

The Imperial Guards in Beijing were notorious for only working if they were paid.

And they aren't afraid of anyone embezzling their money—just kidding, these scoundrels' ancestors all came from the fifth generation.

If anyone is foolish enough to swallow their money, they have plenty of ways to make that person regret being born into this world—the local military garrisons or the imperial guards stationed in prefectures and counties are insignificant and have no powerful backers, so they can be bullied if they want.

But the Imperial Guards in Beijing...

They're all bosses!

They're the ones who always bully others; nobody can bully them!

The key is that they understand the law and are even more aware of the rules of officialdom.

Even if there were mutinies or salary disputes, they still followed the rules very well.

Even the prime ministers couldn't do anything about them!
They had no choice but to obediently pay up to settle the matter!

Of course, this is also related to the fact that they are all Zhao Guan's own people - the ancestors of these scoundrels either served Emperor Taizu in Chenqiao or shed blood for Emperor Taizong under the walls of Taiyuan. There might even be someone who saw that fleeting silhouette of a donkey cart speeding by in the Gaoliang River...

Even the least capable group had confronted the Liao people in Chanzhou City.

When it comes to officials throughout history, they know them like the back of their hand.

When Zhao Xu was competing for the prize at Jinmingchi last month, some scoundrels were laughing and pointing at him from the shore.

He said something like, "When Emperor Yingzong ascended the throne, my father was in the palace and was among the first to shout 'Long live the Emperor' along with Grand Commandant Li (Li Zhang) and Marshal Hao (Hao Zhi)! So, my family can be considered a meritorious family that served the current emperor well!"

There were also people echoing, saying, "My dad was there too! My dad said that Emperor Yingzong absolutely refused to ascend the throne, his hair was disheveled, and he made quite a scene! In the end, it was General Hao and Grand Commandant Li who helped Emperor Yingzong sit on the dragon throne..." The key point is that there was a whole bunch of people around echoing this.

When the Investigation Department reported the incident afterward, Zhao Xu's face turned dark.

Do you scoundrels think you can just spout off such official secrets and royal secrets?
But there's nothing we can do about them!

Because what they are saying is actually true.

Even if you kill them, it won't make a difference!

Because it wasn't just these scoundrels spreading the rumor; the civil officials were spreading it too.

Han Qi, Sima Guang, Ouyang Xiu, Fu Bi...

He had long ago written down the events surrounding Emperor Ying's ascension to the throne and the enthronement of Zhao Xu's father in his family diary, and even told them to his descendants and students.

A century later, Zhao Xuruo passed away.

Stories and anecdotes about him will inevitably spread everywhere.

The more Zhao Xu thought about it, the darker his face became.

Yang Ji was terrified and quickly lowered his head to admit his mistake: "Your Majesty, I misspoke... I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"

Zhao Xu snapped out of his reverie, sighed, and said, "There's no need for the garrison troops..."

"I will have Song Yongchen lead the Imperial Guards to assist in the war effort!"

It's just a matter of spending money.

Anyway, now that the Liao people have found a silver mine in Japan, Zhao Xu is not short of money at all.

Moreover, the Imperial Guards in Beijing are experts in engineering!
Especially in the last two or three years, he followed Song Yongchen everywhere to repair roads, dredge silt, dig wells and open rivers. His skills in cleaning and dredging are now the best in the world!

Moreover, these scoundrels are actually willing to do things, and they're willing to do them well, as long as they're paid enough.

One can only say that they are indeed descendants of those warriors from the Five Dynasties period.

They definitely have professional ethics!
Yang Ji was stunned when he heard this.

Send the Imperial Guards?
The Imperial Guards are very expensive!
He had been in charge of the Water Conservancy Bureau for several months now, so he had naturally inquired about it—Song Yongchen had been leading the Imperial Guards in the capital to repair bridges, pave roads, dig wells, and dredge silt for the past two years.

Millions of dollars were spent!
Although they all use the accounts of the sealed pile warehouse!
Moreover, these are the newly established sealed-off warehouses after the current emperor ascended the throne.

But the Ministry of Revenue was still heartbroken.

Many high-ranking officials and nobles felt heartbroken watching the Imperial Guards in the capital feast on meat—all that hard-earned silver was going to these soldiers!
If these weren't the Imperial Guards stationed in Beijing, they could have easily taken advantage of the situation.

But precisely because it was a reward and wages for the Imperial Guards in Beijing, no one dared to touch a single penny—the Imperial Guards in Beijing were all tough guys, unafraid of trouble or causing a disturbance.

What about nobles, imperial relatives, and sons of high-ranking officials? If you anger them and they really make a scene, no one will come out on top!

Thinking of this, Yang Ji whispered, "Your Majesty, if that's the case... I'm afraid the expenses will..."

"It's alright!" Zhao Xu waved his hand. "Money can only create value when it circulates!"

"In the past two years, I have rewarded the Imperial Guards in the capital and given them a stipend of one million strings of cash!"

"And this money, through the spending and shopping of the various armies, greatly reduced the money shortage in Hebei, Jingdong, and Huainan, and the markets and merchants flourished. Those who benefited were well over a million!"

Yang Ji swallowed hard; he understood.

This is the "trickle-down finance" theory advocated by Pu Zongmeng.

According to this theory, money must circulate.

Moreover, the flow must go from the wealthy to the lower classes.

Therefore, under this theory, the rich are no longer 'guilty'.

It is no longer something that gentlemen should 'stay away from'.

On the contrary, as long as the relevant requirements are met, such a wealthy person is also a gentleman!
We should treat you with the courtesy due to a gentleman!
So, in Pu Zongmeng's view, what kind of rich person can be considered a 'gentleman'?

A: Hire someone!

The more people you hire, the closer you are to the way of the gentleman.

Pu Zongmeng even gave a standard: hiring one hundred workers is considered a good person in a county; hiring one thousand workers is considered a good person in a prefecture! Hiring more than ten thousand workers is considered a good person throughout the world, a living Buddha in every household, and the government should praise him!
Therefore, the more workers you employ, the higher your moral standards!
Ironically, this twisted logic is self-consistent—because, according to Pu Zongmeng's interpretation, the rich hiring laborers is helping the common people.

If anyone questions his theory, bringing up the issue of merchants making profits, Pu Zongmeng would use the example of Zigong redeeming an ox to argue that if there is no profit to be made, who would hire workers? If the rich don't hire workers, who will the common people work for? If the common people have no work, won't they starve to death?
Therefore, Pu Zongmeng strongly supported merchants seeking profits!
In his view, the more money you earn, the more workers you hire, the more sense it makes!

This theory is now widely praised and admired among the wealthy merchants of Bianjing (Kaifeng).

Pu Zongmeng was thus called a wise prime minister by these people!

Some even say: If Heaven had not given birth to Pu Xiangong, our generation would have been shrouded in eternal darkness!

This aligns with Pu Zongmeng's fallacy that the more workers he hired, the more morally upright he became.

It is the idea that 'money can only benefit the country when it circulates.'

Now, the emperor himself has adopted this theory.

"It seems that Pu Zongmeng is indeed favored by the Emperor... or rather, he is advocating for the Emperor's favor..."

Yang Ji, who had come from Xi and Feng, knew very well.

The prime ministers who succeeded Wang Anshi during the reforms were, in fact, puppets of the late emperor.

The kind that hits exactly where you point it!
Otherwise, Wang Gui wouldn't have had the nickname "Lord of Three Imperial Decrees"!
Today's officials, however, pride themselves on being filial sons.

He once said: "For three years he has not deviated from the way of his father, which can be called filial piety! I shall follow his example!"

(End of this chapter)