People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 328: Not starving to death, but very poor

In March of the sixth year of Qingli, the New Deal first fermented in Bianliang, and then quickly spread to the entire Gyeonggi Road and the surrounding Jingdong Road and Jingxi Road.

By May, basically Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Huainan, Zhejiang, Sichuan and other regions that are close to each other or rely on relatively developed water transportation networks have completed the transmission of messages.

In Qiantang County, Hangzhou, the new deputy transfer envoy Liu Yong was originally from the fifth-grade Xinzhou prefecture. He completed the ninth year of officialdom in the second year of Baoyuan, and then went to Xinzhou at the end of the year.

At the beginning of February this year, after the expiration of three years, the Ministry of Civil Affairs promoted him from Xinzhou to the fifth rank of Deputy Transport Envoy of Liangzhe Road.

Although officials are generally elected every three years, under normal circumstances, it is difficult to get promoted after serving as magistrate for three years. They are often transferred to other places to continue serving as magistrate. Only after two or three consecutive terms of outstanding political performance can they continue to rise.

Because the leap from the fifth rank to the full fifth rank is a bit like the leap from the city hall level to the deputy provincial level in later generations. When you reach the fifth rank level, you belong to the middle and high-level officials of the Song Dynasty. Going up one step further is to reach the fourth rank all the way. Transfer envoys are eligible to be transferred to the central government as ministers of various ministries.

There are more than 400 people from all over the country, including magistrates of the fifth and sixth grades plus general judges, who can be transport envoys and deputy envoys; shipping envoys and deputy envoys; punishment officers and general judges; Changping envoys and general judges and other officials of the fifth rank and above. There are only seventy or eighty officials, so you can know how difficult it is to get promoted.

Therefore, under extremely fierce competition, there were only two possibilities for Liu Yong to be directly promoted to the position of Deputy Transport Envoy, without having to serve as magistrate for a few more years. One is that his political performance is particularly outstanding, and the other is that he has the support of important people above him.

Liu Yong, on the other hand, has both.

Zhou Shuren is now a strange figure active in the literary world of the Song Dynasty.

Zhao Xiaozhi walked in and said to him: "Deputy Commander, Xiaoshan is in front of you. Huh? The Deputy Commander actually wrote a new poem? I have to appreciate this."

However, because the Zhou Shuren Shenlong never saw its end, almost no one had ever seen what he looked like. Even if someone wanted to cause trouble for him, they never realized it. Therefore, he has always been safe and has become a frequent guest in newspapers, magazines, and publications.

On May 4th, on the Qiantang River, a medium-sized passenger ship was drifting on the river. In the breeze and drizzle, it slowly sailed towards the town of Xihang on the other side of the river.

Therefore, just as the magistrate is usually called the prefect, and the transfer envoy is called the commander-in-chief, the deputy transfer envoy, as the second eldest son, also has the nickname of deputy commander-in-chief.

In addition, he has also written a lot of explorations and opinions on the current situation of the common people and the officialdom, and his words are thought-provoking.

Seeing that the other party was very curious, Liu Yong had no choice but to spread his arms again.

"Forehead"

Therefore, the chief officials of the Northern Song Dynasty are generally called the Four Divisions. They are Shuaisi, Caosi, Xiansi, and Cangsi.

"Mr. Zhou is certainly an expert. You should read more of his articles."

"No, Deputy Commander."

At the beginning of this year, when he went to Bianliang for inspection, he also met Zhao Jun. At that time, Zhao Jun gave him some instructions that he should always keep in mind.

In addition to writing lyrics, he also criticizes current affairs.

Zhao Xiaozhi quickly stopped him and said, "I'll just take a look."

"Then just one look."

In the Song Dynasty, under normal circumstances, there were only three chief officials: the transportation envoy, the punishment officer, and the Changping envoy. But in most cases, there are four, because there will be one more shipping envoy on the road along the canal, and one more comfort envoy on the road along the canal or on the border.

For example, he once wrote an article to speak out for science, saying that science is the future and that the Song Dynasty should actively promote science.

Liu Yong originally wanted to say something, but thinking that the Supreme Court was not allowed to reveal his identity to the outside world, he had no choice but to say: "It's him."

Liu Yong responded casually and planned to change the topic.

"Zhou Shuren?"

"The horses on the ancient road in Chang'an are running late, and the tall willow trees are in chaos. The cicadas are neighing. Outside the sunset island, in the autumn wind, the eyes are broken and drooping for four days."

Zhao Xiaozhi was shocked and said: "It's actually this gentleman!"

The only problem may be that Zhou Shuren has discussed landlords and bureaucracy. He bluntly said that landlords and bureaucracy are obstacles to social progress, which made many officials and landlords hate him.

"he"

Liu Yong felt a little numb, so he could only say vaguely: "He is probably around fifty, but his face is quite handsome. He looks like a man from heaven."

"When the deputy commander praises you so much, you are indeed a best among men!"

At this moment, a chaotic sound suddenly came from outside. The sound was far away at first, but soon became louder and clearer.

Because many of the articles he wrote were profound and often coincided with the court's policies, he was worshiped among the people. Many officials in the officialdom read his articles to judge the future direction of the court.

Zhao Xiaozhi quickly asked: "I wonder what he looks like?"

He also wrote an article stating that human beings are equal and there should be no distinction between high and low. He criticized the slavery system and expressed his firm support for the abolition of slavery laws in the Song Dynasty.

Liu Yong scratched his head, then pointed to the lower right corner and said, "Look at this signature."

During the period of Zhenzong and Renzong, the transfer envoy's status gradually increased. He was not only in charge of finance, but also in charge of local government affairs, and his power became stronger. After the establishment of the Constitutional Yuan, the transfer envoy was officially designated as the chief administrative officer.

After hearing Zhao Xiaozhi's words, Liu Yong carefully put away the paper and said with a smile: "Don't read this randomly. I didn't write this word. I have to take it back and frame it carefully. It will be a family heirloom in the future."

Zhao Xiaozhi smiled and said: "I once read this gentleman's articles, every word of which is exquisite, it is unforgettable."

"Once Guiyun has gone without a trace, where is the early stage? I am unfamiliar with my life, and I am a drunkard. I am not like I was when I was young."

Liu Yong went to Kuaiji today to work with Zhao Xiaozhi, the money-making and transshipment judge of Liangzhe Road.

"Amazing, he deserves to be the deputy commander. It is said that Mr. Zhou always only listens to his words and not to his person. I went to Bianliang several times and tried to search but could not find him, but he was willing to meet the deputy commander. I think the lyrics were well written by the handsome man, which made him feel sorry for her."

The passenger ship was swaying with the waves of the river, and it was raining continuously outside the window. Liu Yong was reading a short poem in the house.

"I'm also puzzled. That person also said that since he gave me this word, he can just tell others that I wrote it, but it's true that I didn't write this word."

After reading it, Zhao Xiaozhi was amazed and said: "It was not written by Si Shuai, but the style of the poem is quite similar."

Among them, the transshipment envoy is responsible for finance, the pacification envoy is responsible for public security, the shipping envoy is responsible for water transportation, the punishment officer is responsible for Xing Prison, and the Changping envoy is responsible for warehousing. At the beginning, the government affairs along the way were not under their control. The prefects of each state were responsible for the governance of their own state.

It seemed like someone was shouting something in unison, and various slogans were flying all over the place, making Liu Yong and Zhao Xiaozhi frown.

The two people opened the curtains on the boat. At this time, the boat had already drifted along the canal to Xiaoshan County. The canal passed through Xiaoshan County, with wooden houses along the river on both sides and an arch bridge in front.

People were coming and going on the streets on the east side, and many people wearing silk and satin were holding signs.

Someone shouted loudly: "We demand the abolition of the occupation of the land. The court should not compete with the people for profit and plunder!"

"Abolition of the work of sharing the land with the people, the imperial court should not compete with the people for profit, and take advantage of others by clever means!"

When the person shouts something, the people around him respond.

Then someone else shouted: "Evil laws harm the country and benefit the people. Tyranny must be abolished and must not be allowed to remain!"

"Evil laws harm the country and benefit the people. Tyranny should be abolished and must not be allowed to remain!"

The people around shouted again.

Liu Yong put down the curtains, and Zhao Xiaozhi sighed: "It's getting worse."

"These people are all fat-headed, big-eared, and well-dressed. They are all wealthy landowners and wealthy people. What qualifications do they have to say that the court is competing with the people for profit?"

Liu Yong sneered.

Zhao Xiaozhi said with a sad face: "That's what I said, but Shuai Si has talked to them many times, but to no avail. The court has not come down with a regulation, so there is no way to continue the trouble. The markets can no longer operate."

"It doesn't matter."

Liu Yong closed his eyes, rested between the boats, and said calmly: "The imperial court will take action."

Precisely.

The Supreme Court should take action.

He stopped looking out the window and rested quietly.

The ship jolted and headed towards Kuaiji.

.

.

Beginning in April and May, landlords on two Zhejiang roads protested last year's new policy of allocating land to land.

In fact, there was one at the end of last year, but it was not large-scale at that time. It was just a few people, led by several large landowners in Suzhou, who gathered dozens of landowners to protest at the gate of the transfer envoy's Yamen.

At that time, Du Qi, the transfer envoy of the two Zhejiang roads, invited them to the yamen to talk in detail. Although the discussion did not produce any results, it made them calm down for a while.

However, starting from March of the sixth year of Qingli, the landowners on Liangzhe Road became restless again. First, more than a hundred landowners signed a petition to ask Du Qi for help. After Du Qi negotiated with them again to no avail, some people were already in Hangzhou. Crowds marched.

By April and May, the situation spread from Hangzhou, and large-scale protests occurred in Suzhou, Xiuzhou, Huzhou, and Changzhou in several states near the Taihu Lake Basin.

Now even Yuezhou, south of the Qiantang River, has started to attack. I am afraid that it will not be long before it sweeps across the entire Jiangsu and Zhejiang Roads.

no way.

In the second half of last year, the landowners were collected an autumn tax, and they held their noses to admit it. Now is the beginning of summer tax again, and I have to pay tax again.

Then we must protest.

Especially the large landowners in the Taihu Basin, a major grain-producing area, are the ones who have suffered the most.

So the storm gradually spread.

However, the situation is still under control at present. Landowners and officials are relatively restrained and no direct conflicts have occurred.

It's just that the landlords' demonstrations caused chaos in the streets and affected the prosperity of the streets.

I think the court will come forward to solve the problem in the future.

But while the landlords in Jiangsu and Zhejiang were making trouble, the situation among the people was another story.

Fengyuan Village, Majin Town, Kaihua County, Quzhou, is located in the north of Kaihua County in later generations. It is named after the Majin River and is surrounded by mountains.

The ancient Zhejiang region was very similar to the later Guangdong. Except for the Pearl River Delta, other places, especially the mountainous areas, were not considered wealthy. The same was true for ancient Zhejiang.

Except for the Yangtze River Delta and the Taihu Basin, the mountainous areas of the southeastern hills have always been relatively poor in ancient times. Even during the Soochow Period of the Three Kingdoms, it was simply the residence of the Baiyue tribe, which fought many wars with the Soochow regime.

At this moment, surrounded by mountains, wooden houses are scattered in the mountains. If you look closely, you can vaguely see various words plastered with plaster on the walls of those houses.

'Plant more land, build more roads, and save more grain, and you will become rich. '

'It is a national policy to never increase taxes. Anyone who dares to charge even one more tax from villagers is an enemy of the country. '

"If you have any difficulties, go to the government. If the government can't solve the problem, report it to the Yushi Department." '

'Village neighbors are friendly and should help each other. '

'Spreading small acres into acres allows the people to pay less taxes, have more children, and grow more sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn. '

Vegetable fields and terraces were opened up in the mountains and forests, and people carried water from streams to cultivate the land. The village, which was originally barren and almost unviable, increasingly had food and clothing.

It was May, the day to pay summer taxes, and the village was not lively. The sun hung high in the sky, as if it could make people faint.

The new general magistrate of Quzhou, Zhang Shu, trudged into the mountains from the town at the foot of the mountain. He was a Jinshi in Jingyou years and had been an official for nine years. He was an upright man. Hearing that the people in the village were suffering, he came here to inspect.

"On this road, people in other places have good weather and are actively paying for their crops, but a few villages in the mountains are in a miserable state. It's not that they don't want to, but there is a sudden drought and waterlessness in the mountains this year, the ponds have dried up, and there is no harvest."

The local Baozheng who took Zhang Shu into the mountains briefed him on the situation.

Zhang Shu nodded slightly and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He regretted that he went out today wearing a long robe. He should have worn short clothes, but he didn't expect that this village was located in such a deep mountain and old forest. It was really difficult to climb.

As they talked, they continued to go up. After passing the narrow mountain road, they saw the first house in the distance amid the bamboo forest.

It was an old rammed earth house. There was an old woman rummaging in the field outside the house. When Baozheng saw this, he added: "The villagers have no choice but to find some sweet potatoes and potato seeds to satisfy their hunger." ."

“Did anyone starve to death?”

Zhang Shu asked immediately.

"That's not true."

Baozheng said hurriedly: "All the young people in the village have gone down the mountain to work as part-time workers for others to make a living. The family does not consume food and has some leftovers to eat."

Zhang Shu walked into the village. The village was in the mountains. There were uneven fields. For example, there was a valley on one side of the road at the entrance of the village. There were three or four layers of terraced fields below. Each layer was about two meters high. There were overgrown weeds and many trees. .

As far as the eye can see, there are many old people and children looking for wild vegetables, potatoes, sweet potatoes and other crops near the valley under the scorching sun.

They didn't eat these things on weekdays, and often planted them to feed their livestock. But when a disaster happened and the rice harvest failed, no one had to eat them, so naturally they wouldn't dislike them.

"Liu Dabao, the judge is here."

Baozheng saw a middle-aged man hoeing in the field not far from the village entrance, and shouted to him.

When the man heard the sound, he turned around. When he saw a group of people, he quickly dropped his hoe and ran over. He bowed his hands to Zhang Shu and said, "Young man Liu Si has seen Tong Quan."

Although villages in the Song Dynasty already had the concept of villages, towns, and townships, they did not have village chiefs, town chiefs, and township chiefs. Instead, they had Baojia, Dabao, Dubao, and Baozheng on a household basis.

Among them, ten households have one guarantee, and Bao Jia is the main one. For every fifty households, there is a chief security officer and a chief security officer. So if there are only ten households in a village, the village chief is Baojia, and if there are more than fifty households, he is Dabao.

Fengyuan Village is a large village with more than 50 households in the mountains. It is surrounded by more than ten mountains and covers a radius of four to five kilometers. Although the villagers are so scattered that it takes a day or two to walk from the beginning of the village to the end, there is nothing that can be done.

After all, the people in the villages in the mountainous areas are very scattered. Sometimes there are only one or two households on a hilltop. It cannot be divided according to the hilltop. It is obviously inappropriate.

Dabao Liusi happened to live near the entrance of the village. He had several pieces of land in the terraced fields below, and he was digging sweet potatoes in the fields.

Zhang Shu took him and asked him about the situation.

It turns out that drought and water shortage are common in the southeastern hilly mountains in summer.

Isn’t there a poem from the Tang Dynasty?

"This is the year of drought in the south of the Yangtze River, and people in Quzhou are cannibals."

Even if it is not a time of famine, if there is water at the foot of the mountain, there may not necessarily be water on the mountain.

It takes an hour or two to walk up the mountain road from the small town at the foot of the mountain. The rice fields require so much water that it is almost impossible to carry water in.

Therefore, disasters often occur in the mountains.

This phenomenon will be solved when running water becomes available in later generations, and water can be pumped up the mountain through pipes from the river below.

In ancient times, this was an unsolvable problem, and we could only rely on heaven. If you are lucky and it rains once or twice, you can solve the problem by digging ponds and wells to store water.

Unfortunately, we were unlucky this year. There was no rain in the mountains for a month from April to May, causing the rice fields to die of drought. We had to pick some potatoes to survive.

"This year is good. In recent years, the imperial court has been promoting sweet potatoes. They can be fed without much water. There are still a few springs in the mountains. Although they cannot be used for farming, they can be used to water the fields and drink them."

Liu Si put his hands on his hips and shook his head between the fields: "But it's a pity that it didn't rain at all. The villagers only have enough to feed themselves. I'm afraid they won't be able to pay taxes this year."

"You don't have to worry about this. The imperial court naturally has a tax exemption policy for disaster-stricken areas. Have you reported and applied for disaster relief food?"

"It has been reported. The county sent people to investigate yesterday. They will probably arrive soon."

"Well, I will pay attention to this matter."

Zhang Shu put his hands behind his back and saw a team of water carriers in the distance struggling to carry water up from the mountain. However, these people were all over forty or fifty years old, and some were even old people, so he asked He asked: "How many young people are there now?"

Liu Si said: "Our Fengyuan Village is actually a place where people live in more than ten nearby mountains. There are more than 300 villagers, and nearly 100 young people."

"Where are they now?"

"I work part-time at the foot of the mountain, help others cut some rice, and earn some food."

"How many articles per day?"

Zhang Shu asked.

Liu Si scratched his head and said, "If you don't give me money, I'll give you some food."

"Well"

Zhang Shu raised his head and looked around.

The mountains are densely forested and the forests are densely green, so the scenery alone is pretty good.

But the air is hot and hot, and the village seems to be deserted. The villagers are rummaging for sweet potatoes in the fields, and the children and the elderly are digging wild vegetables in the mountains. It seems that there is no life, only silence.

But even so, it's much better than in previous years.

If there was no disaster relief from the court and no sweet potatoes, according to the past, many people would have died.

At this moment, even officials like Zhang Shu couldn't help but feel that the changes in the court in recent years had benefited the people all over the world.

Who can do this in such a deep mountain and old forest that no one will die when a drought occurs?

But this is not enough.

Zhang Shu walked into the village and walked along the field ridges, with his hands behind his back, asking Liu Si about the situation in the village.

There are many mountainous areas in Quzhou. In addition to Fengyuan Village, there are also some villages in the mountains.

There are no big landowners in the mountains. At most, there are only a few rich people. In years of disaster, even the rich people cannot protect themselves, so even if they can survive, they can barely survive at most.

A few mouthfuls of sweet potatoes can keep people from starving to death, but if they get sick, they have to wait to die. This is the current situation in the poorest village in the Song Dynasty.

"Let's go!"

Zhang Shu took one last look at the deep mountains, and then said: "Go back and make a careful calculation. The imperial court wants to recruit village strongmen and find a way to build a large reservoir to store water in the mountains. Maybe there will be water all year round in the future."

Now it is the issue of the national major infrastructure policy issued by the imperial court. Reservoirs are included in it, but the reservoirs need cement plants. After the imperial court’s new policy in February, the Quzhou government has been preparing cement plants and brick factories according to the above instructions. Maybe this matter Things will fall into place.

(End of this chapter)