I studied in modern times

Chapter 1079 The Yang Family Generals in Jiaozhou (2)

Sipping the sweet and cool lychee drink, Yang Wenhuai let out a comfortable hum.

Then, he leaned back in the armchair made of Jiaozhou rosewood.

The interior furnishings are also quite natural.

Several simple and elegant screens are painted with scenes of flowers, birds, mountains and rocks.

The carpet on the floor was a Persian carpet brought by merchants from the Western Regions, which was a favorite of wealthy families in Bianjing (Kaifeng).

Wind chimes hang in front of the doors and windows.

A gentle breeze blows, and the bells tinkle and ring, their sound crisp and melodious.

Crucially, there is also a water channel behind the house that draws water from a mountain stream using bamboo tubes.

In the south of Lingnan, the summer is scorching.

The babbling brook flows from the bamboo tube into the pond in the yard.

Lotus leaves spread out in the pond.

The cool breeze from the mountain stream was carried by the wind and entered the house through the irrigation ditch.

Even in the summer, the innermost room of this post station has the coolness of autumn.

Enjoying all of this, Yang Wenhuai couldn't help but exclaim, "I never imagined that in this wild and desolate land of Lingnan, there would be a place bathed in divine grace!"

All of this was truly like science fiction to Yang Wenhuai.

As he traveled south, after Tanzhou, he had the illusion that he had left the civilized world and entered a barbaric land.

Although the chieftains of Cheng, Hui, and Yuan prefectures were extremely wealthy, they had no taste and their aesthetic sense was crude.

As for Guizhou and Yongzhou? They seem to have a rich literary atmosphere, and are clearly places where Confucius and Mencius taught.

Scholars in Confucian robes and elegant, refined individuals frequented the place.

The prefectural schools of Guizhou and the state schools of Yongzhou both had renowned scholars who were invited at high salaries from Luoyang, Jiangning, Linchuan, and Yingtian Prefecture to give lectures.

Disciple of the Cheng brothers, student of Sima Guang, and outstanding disciple of Wang Anshi...

It has everything!

however……

These two places are too dangerous!
Because in these places, new and old learning clash, and various parties vie for their own interests.

Guangxi is known for its fierce and martial spirit.

As a result, the teachers and students of the prefectural and state schools often mingled together.

That's fine!
The key issue is that there's been a huge uproar on the official front too!

The Guangxi Military Commissioner and the Transport Commissioner were locked in a fierce battle over the sugar trade and the distribution of tribute rice.

At the same time, a fierce struggle also broke out between the faction of the former Guangxi Military Commissioner Zhang Dun and the faction of the current Military Commissioner Cai Jing.

This period was also intertwined with the struggles between the imperial relatives and nobles and the local civil officials.

Yang Wenhuai only stayed in Guizhou and Yongzhou for two or three days before he quickly packed up his buckets and ran away!
He didn't want to get involved in these factional squabbles.

To be honest, if it weren't for the officials in the capital ordering him to "travel to Jiaozhou, inquire about the local chieftains, and collect local customs in Lingnan to report back to the Emperor," he would have been in a much better position.

He had already turned back to Beijing while he was in Guizhou.

Thinking of this, Yang Wenhuai sighed, thinking to himself, "I regret that I reported to the Emperor about Yang Changxing of Chenzhou, who wanted to invite me to travel to Jiaozhou..."

If he hadn't submitted that memorial to demonstrate his loyalty, the Emperor wouldn't have allowed him to plunge headlong into the murky waters of Guangxi under the guise of "traveling to Jiaozhou"!

This water involves too many people and too many entanglements.

Just thinking about it sends chills down his spine!

But now it's too late for regrets.

I had no choice but to bite the bullet and complete this mission!
Then hurry back to Beijing to report back!
From now on, live in Bianjing City and be the head of your own Yang clan!
In any case, his relatives would not mistreat him. For example, this trip south was ordered to mediate the conflict between the Yang clan chieftains of Chenzhou and Huizhou and the Liang clan chieftains of Yuanzhou.

In order to include Yang Changxing, the Tusi (local chieftain) of Chenzhou, and his cousins ​​in the genealogy of the Yang family of Bingzhou, Chenzhou promised to provide him with 2,000 strings of cash annually for incense offerings. In addition, Chenzhou was willing to contribute money to cover the costs of repairing and holding ancestral rites for the Yang family ancestral hall.

Including the 3,000 strings of cash in incense money and ancestral hall maintenance money that Yang Guangzhen of Bozhou promised him last year.

Even if he and his descendants were to live a life of hardship in Bianjing, they could still earn five thousand strings of cash a year by relying on their Tusi relatives in Chenzhou and Bozhou!

This income was even higher than his father Yang Wenguang's salary back then!

His father's highest official position was only that of a defense commissioner.

The defense commissioner received a monthly salary of two hundred thousand, which amounted to approximately three thousand strings of cash per year.

However, he relied on the legends left behind by his father during his southern expedition in Guangxi and other places.

He can earn more money while lying down than his father did, even though he risked his life for his family.

wonderful!
Thinking this way, Yang Wenhuai felt deeply that it was the blessings of his ancestors that protected him!
When I get back, I must properly rebuild the ancestral hall and ancestral graves.

Of course, we want him to be like his father and grandfather, taking up arms, donning armor, and making meritorious contributions on the battlefield.

That is impossible!

The Yang family served the Zhao family for three generations, risking their lives, just so that their descendants could enjoy wealth and peace.

If he were to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and fight on the battlefield, wouldn't his father and grandfather have been working for the Zhao Emperor for nothing?
Leaning back in his chair, savoring the taste of his lychee drink, Yang Wenhuai drifted off to sleep.

Then a voice came from outside the door: "My lord, the Right General of the Imperial Guard, the Cavalry Captain, the Acting Minister of Rites, and the Acting Inspector of the Northern Region of Guangyuan Prefecture, Nong Gong, requests an audience!"

Yang Wenhuai's lips twitched slightly as he listened.

The visitor's title sounds quite frightening.

But in reality, of all the titles, the most prestigious was that of Quan Guangyuan, the Northern Inspector of the Prefecture.

The remaining two.

Like the Right Niu Qianwei Langjiang, who was a sanitation officer.

Moreover, the sanitation officer was invented by the current emperor!
These titles were specifically prepared for the sons and nephews of the powerful chieftains.

As for the so-called "Inspector of the Ministry of Rites," even a merchant could buy a so-called "Silver Martial Wine Supervisor" position as long as he had money.

Yes, the cavalry captain too!
Therefore, the visitor was just a child from a chieftain's family.

Originally, Yang Wenhuai would never have met such a person.

but……

The farmers are the emperor's trusted henchmen in Jiaozhou!
none of them!

The head of the farming family, Nongzhihui, was even personally exonerated by the current emperor!
Later, he even personally issued an edict to bestow surnames upon farmers, changing their surname from Nong to Nong.

Moreover, the emperor appointed Nong Zhihui as the "Defense Commissioner of Jiaozhou and Commander of the Infantry", and granted him the title of "Marquis of Guangyuan County", with a fief of 1,500 households and a real fief of 200 households. He also bestowed upon him a purple robe and a gold fish pouch.

He was granted the title of Marquis of Guangyuan, which was to be inherited perpetually by his descendants.

This is tantamount to giving the entire Guangyuan Prefecture to the farmers.

Farmhouses thus became the most important foothold for the Song Dynasty in Jiaozhou.

In addition, the farmers were the earliest chieftains in Jiaozhou to establish sugarcane plantations and produce sugar.

In Guangyuan Prefecture and Shunan Prefecture, there are more than a dozen sugarcane plantations, all owned by farmers.

Very rich!

Last year, at least five of the houses in Bianjing Academy were bought by farmers!
Among them, Nongzhihui spent hundreds of thousands of strings of cash to purchase a detached house in Bianjing Academy, which once caused a sensation in Bianjing - are the people of Jiaozhou so extravagant?

Yang Wenhuai quickly got up to prepare to greet the guests—he couldn't afford to lose face in front of the chieftain of Jiaozhou.

Otherwise, the people of Bianjing will laugh him to death when he goes back!
(End of this chapter)