People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 441 Robbed Again

Zhao Jun’s first stop outside the capital this time was Youyan.

The Youyan area was only recovered two years ago, and governance is of utmost priority.

However, since we have to pass through Hebei, we naturally have to do some hunting and inspect the current environment in Hebei.

He did not choose to take the canal waterway, but instead took the official road by land in order to make it easier to carry out work along the route.

The carriage headed north, but did not go to Fengqiu. Instead, it went through Suanzao and crossed the Yellow River from Jixian.

Because Zhao Jun still has to go to Wuan Iron and Steel Plant to see the situation there.

The trip was uneventful.

Wherever they arrived along the way, local officials, the Censorate, and the Imperial City Administration would come to report.

The combination of the three, plus the follow-up visits and investigations, if any one of them doesn't match, it can be seen that there must be clues in the local area.

However, there is nothing special along the way along Yuanwu, Suanzao and Zaocheng.

The local public security, official integrity, and various construction projects are all excellent. Even if there are public security incidents or corruption, they are dealt with immediately.

It can be said that even if there are problems in the area, they are just normal problems. There is no such thing as a combination of politics, business, or politics and gangs.

There are no protective umbrellas, no bullying of the good, no injustice, and even the widespread arrogance and rudeness of grassroots officials in the world today is extremely rare.

Everything is developing on the normal track.

If Zhao Jun was a conspiracy theorist, he would probably suspect that there was something fishy going on and imagine that there was a huge hand behind the scenes manipulating the situation.

But in fact this is normal.

Because this is the capital area, under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture, the emperor's feet.

Especially since the last time Zhao Jun was robbed in Fengqiu, the imperial court has cracked down on it many times.

joke.

Zhao Jun was robbed by local evil forces, and the army was dispatched to eliminate them. If the local government does not take action, wouldn't that be courting death?

Therefore, the counties surrounding Gyeonggi Province treat their own problems to the extreme.

It is basically impossible for landlords, tyrants, ruffians and evil gentry to do evil again.

Officials are even less likely to engage in corruption and abuse of power.

It can be said that now in the vicinity of Gyeonggi Province, let alone criminal gangs, even street thugs and ruffians are hardly seen.

If anyone is found to be idle and not farming or working, the government will really arrest that person and send him to build bridges and roads and various facilities.

Even if a merchant passed through the county and a local vicious dog barked at him, he would be slapped twice by the yamen runners.

In this case, it is abnormal if there is a problem.

The performance of the counties in Kaifeng Prefecture that Zhao Jun passed through along the way was very good, which made him very satisfied.

So every time he went to a place and saw the situation, he would give praise and make speeches to encourage local officials to keep up the good work.

After five or six days, the team arrived at Jixian Ferry. After crossing the Yellow River, they reached Jixian County, and then all the way north they reached Wu'an.

Construction is being carried out all over the country now. Although the official roads in the North China Plain are not made of cement, the rammed earth roads are very neat and wide, and convoys can be said to be able to pass quickly.

If we didn't need to stay in the local area for two or three days to carry out work and investigate the local environment, two days would be enough for the distance of less than 100 kilometers from Bianliang to Jixian.

On the morning of March 12, the convoy slowly arrived at the Ji County ferry. Everyone got off the carriage, looked at the ferry from afar, and saw the ferry boats.

There have been many ferry crossings on the Yellow River since ancient times, and the ferry industry is necessary for north-south transportation. There are small boats for ordinary people and large passenger ships for business travelers, and the prices are naturally different.

There were more than 300 people in their group, so they chartered two large passenger ships locally. After boarding the ships with their luggage and carriages, they set sail straight to the other side of the river.

Zhao Jun and others also took off their official uniforms, put on ordinary clothes, and disguised themselves as passing merchants for a secret visit.

At this moment, the Yellow River has vast waves and surging waters.

Everyone stood on the deck, leaning on the railing and looking at the scenery on the other side several miles away.

"Although the water in the river is not yet clear, it is much better than before. It is turbid but not as yellow. The management of the upper reaches is still very effective."

Zhao Jun put his hands behind his back, and a gentle breeze blew, causing the corners of his clothes to flutter.

Yang Gao had been an envoy to Xixia and had seen the situation in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. He said, "This is all due to the good management of the Zhiyuan to prevent the loss of silt."

Zhao Jun knew that he liked to flatter people. After all, Hu Su once said that he liked to serve the powerful and wanted to get promoted. He smiled and said, "Don't flatter me. I just issued an order to control the sand and the river. The credit belongs to the people who planted trees and repaired the river."

"Yes Yes Yes."

Yang Gao agreed and nodded with a smile.

Yang Cha said, "Minister, can we really hide this from the local officials by traveling incognito?"

"Of course it can't be concealed, but the trick is to use the time difference."

Zhao Jun said: "Every time I go to a place, I don't inform the local government. My whereabouts are not fixed, and no one knows where I am going. Even if the officials know that I am going on a tour again, it is difficult for them to track me down. By the time they know, I can basically conduct a secret visit in the local area for one or two days, which is enough."

"I see."

Yang Cha suddenly realized.

Zhao Jun smiled.

Of course he understood that it would be difficult for him to conceal his tracks.

But communications were not well developed in that era. How could local officials know where he went without notification from the court?
Even if the officials from the previous county learned of his coming and took the huge risk to immediately send someone to notify the officials from the next county, it would still be difficult for them to arrive in time.

What's more, human nature is selfish. Unless the officials of the previous county have deep conflicts of interest with the officials of the next county, who would do such a thing?

Once discovered by Zhao Jun, the outcome would definitely not be good.

Therefore, it is difficult to make an incognito visit, but after arriving in the next county area, it is still easy to create a time difference of one or two days so that local officials do not know about it so quickly.

We just need to send people to the local area to investigate, ask questions, and listen to the voices of the people, and we will naturally understand what the situation is like in this place.

Therefore, he is not worried about being deceived by his superiors and subordinates after arriving at the local place. When problems are encountered, they should be solved so as to prevent them from happening.

"It was peaceful along the way, which shows that the local governance is good."

Zhao Jun said, "But our first destination is Youyan. The situation there is a little more complicated. We can analyze it first. It's a good opportunity to talk about specific analysis of specific issues."

"Listen to the teachings of Zhiyuan."

Everyone's face was very serious.

Along the way, their biggest gain was being able to listen to Zhao Jun's analysis.

Because Zhao Jun's words always hit the key points, things that they originally could not understand suddenly became clear and thorough.

Then Zhao Jun said, "Why should I go to Youyan? Because the Liao Kingdom has ruled Yanyun for hundreds of years, and now it has only been two years since the return, and the people's hearts have not yet returned, so I must go to the local area to see the situation."

“Although the imperial court has sent officials, local governance still needs to be discussed and built together with the major families, and the imperial court also has to appoint these local major families to maintain order.”

"It can be said that Youyan is not under the complete jurisdiction of the imperial court, but is co-governed with the local major families. This is not unacceptable to the imperial court."

"But what the imperial court wants is local stability and people's support for the Song Dynasty, rather than just recognizing local nobles. I don't know what the imperial court of the Song Dynasty is."

"Come."

Zhao Jun looked at everyone and said with a smile: "Tell me, how can we solve the problem of Yanyun people's loyalty?"

Simply put, it is about how to resolve regional loyalty and the people's sense of belonging.

The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were split away during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It has been more than a hundred years now, and the local Han people have probably been separated from the Central Plains Han people for several generations.

Just like the overseas Chinese in later generations, many of their ancestors went overseas to develop during the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China period. How many of them still consider themselves Chinese?

Therefore, it is unrealistic to quickly win people's hearts and minds. At present, the Song Dynasty court combined the local situation with the local big family forces to prevent overly radical policies from causing resentment among the Han people in Yanyun.

One is to send court officials to govern and implement the court's benevolent policies.

Secondly, he appointed those who surrendered earlier, such as the Han family of Yutian, the Liu family of Changping, the Ma family of Yilu and the Zhao family of Lulong, in order to stabilize the people's hearts.

But doing so would be equivalent to co-governing Yanyun with aristocratic families during the Jin Dynasty, which would be very detrimental to the central government's rule.

Therefore, Zhao Jun may have other intentions in testing everyone now.

Yang Gao was quick-witted and thought of this. He immediately said, "How can the court allow local nobles to rule together? This seriously affects the court's prestige in the hearts of the local people. I think we can punish them."

He thought Zhao Jun was deeply moved by these words.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Jun just glanced at him and said nothing.

Wang Anshi said in a deep voice: "No."

"Why?"

Yang Gao was a little dissatisfied and said: "This is no longer the Jin Dynasty. The law of the court is the king's law. How can the nobles be on the same level as the king's law?"

"The court does this for the sake of stability. If a local family affects stability, it is right for the court to eradicate it."

Wang Anshi said: "But if those families have high local prestige and are popular among the people, then eradicating them will only cause instability, which is obviously not advisable."

"Yeah, I thought so too."

Li Xiaoji is the grandson of Li Di. He has been influenced by his family since he was young and has a certain sense of the overall situation. He said: "The court must not allow local families to become powerful. However, Yanyun has just surrendered, and taking action against them will only make the people panic."

"Forehead"

Yang Gao wanted to say something else.

Zhao Jun nodded and said, "Yes, Jiefu and Boshi are right. Daozhi still doesn't see the essence of the matter."

He continued: "Of course I also want to eliminate these local families, but if they are beneficial to the country and the local area, then they can be kept for the time being to maintain national stability."

"In this way, we only need to strengthen the authority of local government, improve the status of government in the hearts of the people, and gradually weaken their influence, so that the power of the court is higher than that of local families."

"After several decades, everyone got used to the court's governance, so naturally no one remembered them anymore."

"of course."

At this point, Zhao Jun paused, then smiled and said, "If these families are unpopular in the local area, often commit crimes and oppress the people, then tell me, what should I do?"

Now everyone could figure it out with just their toes.

Chen Xiliang immediately said: "Eliminate them to calm the people!"

"Exactly."

Zhao Jun laughed and said, "In fact, it is very simple to win the hearts and minds of the people. The court will give them what they want."

"The people's hearts are pure and their wishes are simple."

"They are content if they have enough food to eat and warm clothes to wear. No one oppresses them and there are people who can give them justice."

"As long as the imperial court can do all this, the people will naturally be loyal to it. Yanyun, which left the Central Plains a hundred years ago, will naturally be able to integrate into the court and become one."

"What we have to do is to make the people of Yanyun understand that the court had no choice but to not let them return home for a hundred years, but the court has never forgotten them."

"Now that they are back, the court will treat them equally. They will have whatever the people of the Song Dynasty have, and there will be absolutely no discrimination, and there will be no more harsh policies and oppression."

"In this way, the people of Yanyun will probably gradually identify with the imperial court, and will regain their Han identity, and no longer have any estrangement with us."

This is the reason why Zhao Jun chose Yanyun as his first stop this time.

Although the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun became the territory of the Liao Kingdom for more than a hundred years, the culture and thoughts of the two sides were not completely separated, and traditional Confucian ideas have always been there.

However, the people of Yanyun are actually very uneasy now. They don’t know what their future fate will be.

The most intuitive example is when Hong Kong returned to China in later times, many Hong Kong residents were very nervous about this situation. It was not that they were unpatriotic or did not recognize themselves as Chinese, but they just did not know how China would treat them.

Later, the central government came up with the "one country, two systems" plan, implementing the "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong" policy and continuing the previous strategy, letting Hong Kong people know that the country had no intention of making drastic changes, which calmed people's hearts.

The same is true for Yanyun today.

They had become accustomed to their identity as Liao people, and suddenly became Song people. They lacked a sense of belonging and naturally had a sense of resistance and vigilance towards the court's governance.

There are generally two ways to dispel such concerns and precautions.

One is to solve it through time and education, slowly integrate it, develop local education, and use ideological education to change the next generation's ideas.

After a few decades, the identity transformation is basically completed.

Just like when the Qin Dynasty just unified China, the survivors of the six kingdoms did not agree and soon there was a violent resistance and uprising.

But when the Han Dynasty was established, it took hundreds of years to slowly merge and unify. By the late Eastern Han Dynasty, there were basically no people of the Seven Kingdoms anymore. Only one identity remained - Han people.

The second is to know what the local people want through benevolent governance, solve their problems, and let them know who is good to them.

People are generally simple and honest. Even if there are ungrateful people, they will take it for granted if you are nice to them. But such people are only a minority after all. Most people are grateful to anyone who is nice to them.

Just like Liu Bei, who was born as a commoner, but adhered to the words benevolence and righteousness in the troubled times, and finally founded the Han Dynasty and divided the world into three parts.

If local people are oppressed, then we should help them solve the problem.

If they don’t have enough food to eat, we help them build a complete agricultural system, distribute means of production, and help them cultivate the land and feed themselves.

If they don’t have drinking water, we help them dig ditches, dig wells and repair rivers so that they don’t have to worry about water.

The imperial court addressed their needs and helped them develop and build.

Then the people will soon realize that the current Song Dynasty court is completely different from the Song Dynasty court that once squeezed the people.

The problem of a sense of belonging is naturally solved.

"The dean is very wise!"

"Sometimes we think too complicatedly about things. The words of the dean are really to the point."

"As the director said, when looking at a problem, we need to see the essence through the phenomenon."

Everyone was impressed by Zhao Jun's foresight, and his insights opened their eyes as if the clouds had been cleared and the sun had appeared.

The way of looking at problems will naturally become different.

Zhao Jun just smiled and said nothing.

They thought this was Zhao Jun's strategy, but they didn't know that sincerity was the ultimate weapon.

Only when I treat others sincerely can others treat me sincerely.

If not, why did the people in the base areas support our party so enthusiastically during the Anti-Japanese War?

Everyone was talking.

At this time, the fleet gradually approached the north shore.

However, just as they were about to reach the ferry on the north bank, more than 20 small boats suddenly emerged from a tributary full of reeds on the far upstream bank of the Yellow River and rushed towards them like flying.

There were more than ten people on each boat, and there were probably two or three hundred people in total. They had a clear division of labor and quickly moved together, vaguely surrounding the two passenger ships.

The captain of the boat clapped his hands and said worriedly: "It's bad, we have encountered pirates, what should we do now?"

In an instant, Zhao Jun's brows furrowed.

What do you mean?
Every time you travel, you will be robbed.

Can the public security in the Song Dynasty ever be improved?

(End of this chapter)