I studied in modern times

Chapter 923 Cai Jing's Distress

After much haste, Gao Zunhui and Li Taide finally arrived in Lianzhou before the Xinchou day (23) of October in the second year of Yuanyou.

At this time, Cai Jing had been in Lianzhou for several days.

In recent days, he has not rested and has been inspecting various places in Lianzhou under the leadership of Cen Ziting.

He might inspect the officials, comfort the troops, inspect the provincial schools and preach the classics (of course, the new classics), inquire about the orphans and widows, and comfort the elders.

In short, Cai Jing brought his talents to Lianzhou.

Faced with Cai Jing, who was energetic and had astonishing learning and management abilities.

Lianzhou officials including Cen Ziting and local chieftains had only one feeling - submission!

I can't accept it!

Cai Jing was the leader of the six thieves who left their names in history, and he was a natural bureaucrat with extraordinary talents.

If he were in a fantasy novel, he would be the kind of character who would be like "If Cai Yuanchang had not been born, the officialdom would have been in darkness forever."

Now, he has been serving as the acting governor of Kaifeng Prefecture for two or three years under the command of Zhao Xu, a modern overseas student.

It has long been tempered and forged into gold.

Not to mention anything else, just the skills of PUA subordinates and making empty promises that he learned from Zhao Xu during his tenure in Kaifeng Prefecture.

This was enough to make the local chieftains, gentry and common people in Lianzhou, who had never seen the world, drink a pot of wine.

Not to mention, since the eighth year of Yuanfeng, Cai Jing, as the acting governor of Kaifeng Prefecture, has been presiding over or participating in a series of municipal projects, institutional reforms, and economic changes, including the recruitment of officials through civil service examinations, the renovation of Jing'anfang, the establishment of the Street Office, the construction of rail transportation routes in Bianjing City, the recovery of arrears in the city's trade, and the merger of pawnshops in various temples in Bianjing.

As a result, I learned about 70% of project management and profit distribution.

When he brought his talent to Lianzhou, it was no surprise that the people of Lianzhou were crushed by Cai Jing.

In just a few days, everyone from top to bottom was obedient.

no way!
The winner of the Bian Jing Battle Royale is so awesome.

In just a few days, Cai Jing had traveled all over Lianzhou.

He even personally boarded the boats of the local boat people leaders, chatted and laughed with them, drank the boat porridge they cooked, and wrote words on the boats of these leaders.

If it were just this, in the eyes of the people of Lianzhou, Cai Jing, the Prime Minister, would be just a "good prime minister".

Cai Jing’s subsequent actions were what really convinced everyone in Lianzhou.

After getting to know all the leading figures in Lianzhou.

Cai Jing found a good day, gathered these people together and had a heart-to-heart talk with them.

He then took the opportunity to tell us his strategy for Lianzhou.

Lianzhou will become a fulcrum connecting the Southeast Asian countries with Guangnan East Road and even Liangzhe Road, Huainan Road, and Jingdong Road!
Therefore, he wanted to build a port, repair a shipyard, and recruit naval officers and soldiers here.

Money is not a problem!

Because he decided to issue iron coins made of fine iron in Lianzhou.

They also had to write to the imperial court to allow these Lianzhou iron coins to circulate in Lianzhou, Qinzhou, Jiaozhou, Jiaozhi, Zhenla, Champa, Dali and other countries.

Policy is not a problem either!

He directly asked Zhou Bangyan to read out his titles to the gentry and chieftains of Lianzhou - Doctor of the Central Secretariat of the Song Dynasty, Scholar of the Longtu Pavilion, Shang Hujun, Economic and Pacifying Envoy of Guangxi, Protector-General of Annan and Envoy for Agricultural Promotion within the territory, and Envoy for Observation and Disposal within the territory.

After reading out the title, Zhou Bangyan pretended to let something slip and told about Cai Jing's background - my husband, Jinglüe, is a confidant of the current emperor. He was the acting governor of Kaifeng Prefecture and served in the emperor's court, listening to his wise teachings for more than two years!

With such a powerful background, the support from the imperial court is naturally not small!
So Cai Jing quickly tied all the gentry and chieftains of Lianzhou onto his boat.

no way!
People in Lianzhou are different from people in other parts of Guangxi.

People here have been exposed to maritime trade since ancient times.

As early as the Han Dynasty, merchants from Southeast Asia and even further away came to this place to do business.

Although it cannot compare with external windows such as Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Mingzhou and Quanzhou.

However, there are still people from Lianzhou who go out to sea to do business.

At the same time, merchants from overseas would come to Lianzhou to do business from time to time.

Last year, after the sugarcane trade began to boom, Lianzhou became even more popular.

Even merchants from the Arab world would now stop in Lianzhou on their way back home to purchase some icing sugar.

This makes the people of Lianzhou more visionary and more aware of the profits of maritime trade than people in other areas of Guangxi.

In the Song Dynasty society where everything is about money, as long as it is a business that can make money, there are many people who are willing to follow others and do it at the risk of their lives.

What's more, Cai Jing represented the imperial court, so there was basically no risk.

The people of Lianzhou don't even have to pay any price.

As long as we contribute our manpower and effort, we can help Cai Jing get these things done.

In the Song Dynasty at that time, except for the city of Bianliang, labor in other places was very cheap.

The labor force in Lianzhou is even cheaper!
This is because there are a large number of hungry Tanka people, chieftains and Dongding who are willing to work for a little money.

As a result, the gentry, chieftains and boatman leaders of Lianzhou were all supported by the pie in the sky painted by Cai Jing.

Everyone began to imagine that Lianzhou would become a bright future connecting Guangnan West Route, Guangnan East Route, and even Liangzhe Route and the countries in Southeast Asia by sea.

Gold and silver will come rolling in.

Everyone is going to get rich!
With the expectation of getting rich, the people of Lianzhou instantly became "united as one."

Whether it was the chieftains, gentry, or boat people, they all began to take action.

After doing these things, Cai Jing finally got a rare chance to rest.

He had a good sleep and after waking up, he took a bath with the help of his maid to wash away the fatigue since leaving Beijing.

Just as I was planning to take people to Lianzhou City for a tour, Zhou Bangyan arrived.

"Eun-sang..."

"Hmm!" Cai Jing smiled when he saw Zhou Bangyan: "Meicheng is here? Come and sit down!"

Cai Jing still admired Zhou Bangyan very much.

This young man is very energetic and knows how to act in moderation.

If he hadn't already got married, Cai Jing would have wanted to recruit him as his son-in-law. "Thank you, Prime Minister!" Zhou Bangyan sat in front of Cai Jing and reported, "Prime Minister, I just received a notification from a high-ranking guard, saying that the Prime Minister of Defense and Jiaozhi has entered Lianzhou and will arrive at Lianzhou City tomorrow morning to pay a visit to you, Prime Minister!"

"Gao Zunhui came quite quickly!" Cai Jing snorted, and then said to Zhou Bangyan: "Meicheng, how is the news I asked you to find out these days?"

Zhou Bangyan nodded, and then carefully reported to Cai Jing the information he had obtained in Lianzhou.

They are all related to Jiaozhi.

For example, the transportation of tribute rice from Jiaozhi, and the wars between Jiaozhi, Champa and Zhenla.

Lu Jiawen had already told Cai Jing all these things when he was in Yongzhou.

Moreover, it was hinted that Bian Jing knew about it.

However, Lu Jia was vague about many things, and Cai Jing didn't dare to ask further.

Therefore, after Cai Jing arrived in Lianzhou, he sent Zhou Bangyan to investigate.

Zhou Bangyan did not disappoint Cai Jing and found out almost everything he wanted to know.

After listening to Zhou Bangyan's report, Cai Jing was silent for a moment before saying, "So, the Prime Minister of Jiaozhi, the Marquis Chongxian, did what Shi Jingtang did back then!"

Back then, Shi Jingtang ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyan and served the Khitan as slaves, in exchange for the Khitan lending him troops to help him usurp the throne!

However, unexpectedly, a Shi Jingtang also emerged in the Jiaozhi Kingdom.

In the past year or so, he had fully implemented the treaty with the Song Dynasty to pay a tribute of one million dan of rice every year and then buy one million dan of rice at the market price without any discounts.

Almost every three months, a batch of rice would be delivered to the Song Dynasty.

He took the money given by the Song Dynasty and immediately purchased large quantities of armor and weapons from the Guangnan West Road arsenal, as well as commercial goods such as sugar, silk, and cloth.

Then he took these things and marched south to attack Zhenla and Champa.

Finally, they brought back the people and wealth looted from the attacks on Zhenla and Champa to their country.

Almost all the young and strong were sold to Jiaozhou.

Women and children were appointed as concubines of soldiers and officers.

Spending money with one hand and expanding territory with the other.

Exploit internally and plunder externally.

He actually took control of the Kingdom of Jiaozhi.

Just ...

Cai Jing looked at Zhou Bangyan and asked, "How dare this man leave Jiaozhi?"

This was a question he couldn't figure out.

Logically speaking, if a powerful official like this leaves the army and gives others the opportunity to take advantage of him, his entire family will be killed in a matter of minutes!

Not to mention leaving the country.

Could it be that the rulers and ministers of Tongzhi had never read history books?

Zhou Bangyan shook his head: "I don't know that!"

"However, he went to pick it up personally with high defense..."

"I guess high defense was promised to him."

Cai Jing listened and narrowed his eyes.

Gao Zunhui?
Does he have such a big face?

I'm afraid not...

He looked towards the direction of Bian Jing!
Zhou Bangyan also thought of this and whispered, "My Lord, I heard that in the first year of Yuanyou, Jiaozhi Chongxianhou came to the court to apologize for his crimes. The emperor was happy to forgive him, encouraged him to be loyal, and rewarded him countless times..."

Cai Jing nodded softly, recalling the incident last year when Zhang Dun led an expedition to the south and killed and captured more than 100,000 elite troops from Jiaozhi.

That was also the starting point for Zhang Dun's rapid rise and his becoming a candidate for prime minister.

At the same time, it was from that time that the emperor no longer concealed his love and favor for Zhang Dun.

Not just Zhang Dun.

The entire Zhang family of Jianzhou has prospered!

Zhang Heng was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Zhang Xi was in charge of the store and house affairs, and Zhang Qie was promoted three times in one year. He went from an unknown deputy envoy of the inner county transportation to a general along the border, in charge of military and political affairs along the way. Then, when the western bandits invaded, he performed brilliantly. The number of people killed and captured in Huanqing Road even exceeded that of Fuyan Road, and was only less than that of Xihe Road.

Thinking of this, Cai Jing suddenly felt a little irritated, and the excitement of these days began to fade.

Because, if the Prime Minister of Jiaozhi, Li Taide, was already a dog of the government.

Then how did he copy Zhang Dun's homework, provoke a war, capture the King of Jiaozhi and present the captives to Bian Jing?
However, if we cannot provoke a war and expand our territory.

In the eyes of the emperor, no matter how well Cai Jing and Cai Yuanchang handled domestic affairs, they were probably just "capable officials" rather than prime ministers.

Even if the emperor wants to appoint him as prime minister in the future, others can object by saying, "Cai Yuanchang is not familiar with the military and has no military achievements, so he is not qualified to be a prime minister."

This is not just Cai Jing's random thoughts.

But now there is a trend gradually emerging in the court.

Since Yuanyou, the imperial court has won numerous battles against foreign enemies.

A large number of scholars and officials began to gain military merits.

Military merit is hard currency.

In the past, no one had it, and they could numb themselves by saying "controlling military power with culture, the system passed down by our ancestors."

However, when there are more and more important officials with military merits in the court, those who do not have military merits will feel quite embarrassed.

Cai Jing would never want to embarrass himself.

He is a person who is used to taking the initiative in his own hands.

Thinking of this, he said to Zhou Bangyan: "The emperor ordered me to go south, not to let me sit on the credit of Mr. Zihou and enjoy the fruits of his labor!"

"But I was asked to come and perform meritorious service!"

Zhou Bangyan's head immediately nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

He gave up his comfortable life in the Imperial College in Bian Jing, and the young ladies in the brothels, and chose to follow Cai Jing across thousands of miles to this Lingnan area.

Is it because he is loyal to the emperor and patriotic that he is willing to come to this hot and humid place for the sake of the country, to clear thorns for the court and pave the way for future generations?
wrong!
He came here because he wanted to make achievements here, which would give him the opportunity to skip the selection and become an official in the imperial court or even a minister in waiting, just like Wang Shao did in the past!
(End of this chapter)