People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 451: Planning Beiping City, Returning to the Fundamental Issues
A few days later, Zhao Jun arrived in Beiping Prefecture in early May.

Beiping Prefecture was the Xijin Prefecture of Nanjing in the Liao Dynasty, and was also the capital of my country, Beijing, in later generations.

As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the State of Yan planned this place as Youbeiping County, and later called it Ji County and Yanjing.

During the Western Jin Dynasty, it was renamed Beiping County, and Beiping has since become another name for this place.

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Shi Jingtang, the puppet emperor of the Liao Dynasty, ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun to the Liao Kingdom. Beijing became Liao territory and was first named Nanjing Youdu Prefecture by the Liao people, and later changed to Xijin Prefecture.

Three years ago, in the sixth year of the Qingli period, Prime Minister Fan Zhongyan of the Song Dynasty led the Song army to capture Xijin, drove the Liao people out of the pass, and recovered the Han people's territory.

The imperial court decided to restore it to its old name of Beiping, and abolished Beijing Daming Prefecture, one of the five capitals of the Song Dynasty, and moved it to Beiping.

Beiping's geographical location determines its important geopolitical value, so heavy troops are deployed here.

It is the height of summer in May in the lunar calendar, and the weather is getting hotter. The wide official road should be bustling with people, but the weather has been abnormal recently, and there are fewer merchants and civilians traveling back and forth.

At this moment, a large group of people were moving slowly on the road. Wang Shougui summoned five thousand elite guards to escort them on the outside, and the cavalry in front held flags to lead the way.

In the middle, there was a guard of honor beating drums and gongs, and teams of soldiers were fully armed. Although they were not allowed to carry guns, they were equipped with halberds and axes.

Zhao Jun's own guards were guarding the carriage, beating drums and gongs all the way as they headed towards Beiping Prefecture.

Zhao Jun was helpless about this.

This is the prime minister's ceremonial guard. As one of the five capitals, Xijin Prefecture naturally has such equipment.

Although he had to keep a low profile, he had to keep a low profile in his local area. After arriving in Beiping Prefecture, he had to act high-profile and let all the people and aristocratic families in Youyan Road know about it.

On the one hand, it demonstrates the authority of the court, and on the other hand, it is also a warning to these aristocratic families - telling them who the real master here is.

Otherwise, if they continue to act in a low-key manner and are submissive, the local noble families will think that the imperial court is weak and can be bullied.

When the convoy arrived outside the Beiping Prefecture, Zhao Jun lifted the curtain and a wave of heat hit his nose.

He looked around and saw that on both sides of the official road were vast fertile farmlands. Many people were working in the fields and near the canals in the scorching heat.

The main river in Peking is the Sanggan River, and there is also the Gaoliang River. The famous Battle of Gaoliang River took place in the southeast of the city.

The Sanggan River flows from northwest to southeast, passing through the southwest corner of Peking City and heading southeast.

A large number of farmers were digging canals along the river bank. Although the Han people in Youyan were slightly resistant to the government's policy of paid labor, few responded.

But the government was still willing to organize the digging of the canal.

After all, it is their own land. If they don't contribute, they will starve to death if the harvest fails.

In front of us is the South Gate of Beiping Prefecture. It is majestic and tall. The height of the city is comparable to that of Bianliang, or even higher than that of Bianliang. It can be compared with ancient capitals such as Chang'an and Luoyang.

Zhao Jun's position was outside Danfeng Gate, one of the southern city gates. There was another urn outside, called Qixia Gate. After entering the urn and passing Danfeng Gate was the former Liao Nanjing Imperial Palace.

The light black city wall was carved by knives and axes, and there were still many dents left, which were obviously caused by the cannon bombardment of the city wall when Fan Zhongyan attacked the city.

After entering the city through the urn, you will reach the Liao Imperial City. On the left and right sides should be the Temple of King Yu Yue and the Yongping Pavilion respectively, but Zhao Jun only saw a square, which was very different from the floor plan of Liao Nanjing that he had seen before.

After crossing the square and approaching the palace, Zhao Jun noticed that many parts of the palace walls outside the palace were gray and black from burns, obviously a very large fire had occurred here.

"When Lord Fan attacked Peking, the Liao people set fire to the city in an attempt to stop the might of our Heavenly Army. Fortunately, Lord Fan was very smart and used the Liao people's tricks to defeat them!"

The convoy stopped in front of the palace. Zhao Jun got off the carriage and saw him looking at the marks on the palace wall. Yang Ting, who was also the prefect of Beiping Prefecture, introduced: "Some of the burned palaces and palace walls have been demolished, and some have been slightly repaired. It looks like this now."

They did not rebuild, but simply demolished the burned palaces. For a while, the palace seemed empty. The many missing palaces made the complex look untidy and lacked some beauty.

Zhao Jun nodded slightly and said, "Where is your office now?"

"The Qingliang Hall and Linshui Hall to the west, which are close to Guanyin Lake, did not suffer much damage from the fire."

Yang Ting pointed to the west of the palace.

If Liaonan was cut horizontally and vertically into four areas, the entire southwest corner would be the imperial city area.

But the Imperial City District was not exclusive to the Liao royal family. It also had streets, markets, and even villages. The former markets in the Liao imperial city in the distance had been burned down, leaving only a wasteland with weeds everywhere like the wilderness.

A few miles away from the palace, a huge lake can be vaguely seen, which probably covers an area of ​​two or three square kilometers. Wild grass and weeds sway in the wind by the lake, and there are continuous buildings on the east bank.

Beiping Prefecture was the Beijing of the Song Dynasty, and the imperial palace theoretically became Zhao Zhen's temporary palace. If local officials moved in, it would be tantamount to treason.

Therefore, they could only work and live outside the palace, and the palace became a decoration.

“It’s a shame to leave such a large area empty.”

Zhao Jun pointed at the Imperial City in the distance which looked like a wilderness and said, "Let's cancel the Imperial City. We should vigorously develop the construction within the city. Otherwise, isn't it a waste to leave so much land here to be abandoned?"

"Forehead"

Yang Ting was surprised and asked, "Where should the government office be moved to?"

"Go into the palace and take a look."

Zhao Jun stepped forward, stepped through the gate and entered the imperial palace.

Compared to the wild, the damaged area in the palace was smaller, mainly because most of the buildings in the imperial city were made of wood, and once a fire broke out, it would easily spread.

The imperial palace was protected by palace walls, and the Liao imperial palace had few buildings and a large area. In total, there were only a few palaces such as the Jianing Hall and the Yuanhe Hall, and an artificial lake, so it was basically not affected too much.

After entering the palace, you will see a very spacious square. On the left hand side is still a lake, named Yaochi.

Opposite the south gate, about 200 meters away from the palace gate, there is a large palace, the Yuanhe Hall.

At this moment, Yang Cha, Yang Gao, Wang Si and Tang Jie had already gone to investigate and deal with Cui Yi's corruption case.

Apart from Wang Anshi, Chen Xiliang, Su Huan, Li Xiaoji and Zhao Yan, Zhao Jun had only a few senior officials such as Yang Ting and Zhou Hang to lead the way.

They took Zhao Jun into the palace and introduced the situation to him.

Zhao Jun entered the Yuanhe Hall and came out from the back door. Because the hall had high steps, he could stand on the high steps and scan the entire palace.

You can see that about four or five hundred meters behind the Yuanhe Hall is the Jianing Hall. There are only two or three small palaces next to it, which looks quite shabby.

Then he looked down at the overall situation of the palace, went out from the north gate again, climbed up the Yanjiao Tower in the northeast corner of the imperial city, and overlooked the current appearance of Beiping City.

Yanjiao Tower is the place where the Liao emperor climbed up to look far into the distance and observe Xijin. Later, when the Jin Kingdom conquered the Liao Dynasty, Jin Xizong stayed in Yanjing here.

Zhao Jun used a telescope to overlook the entire city of Peking. The streets in the city were not prosperous and were far from Bianliang. Many buildings were burned down in a fire three years ago, and there were few new buildings. It looked quite depressed.

Looking at the current appearance of Peking City, compared with the seemingly vast and boundless Beijing City in later generations, it is like one has eighteen floors underground and the other has thirty-six floors in the sky.

At 5 p.m., Zhao Jun, who had seen the current situation of Beiping City from the Imperial Palace, wiped his sweat and returned to Yuanhe Hall to hold a meeting with everyone. Yuanhe Hall is not just a palace, but a small palace complex. In addition to the main hall, there are side halls on both sides, a rear pavilion in the northeast corner, and a side hall in the northwest corner.

The hall is divided into the outer hall, inner hall, back room and side pavilion. The overall structure is quite spacious, which can meet the needs of meetings and rest between the Liao emperor and court officials.

Zhao Jun stepped into the inner hall with his hands behind his back, looked around and said, "I think this place can be used as the office of Beiping government officials. Two more palace walls can be built in the back to divide it into the South Palace and the North Palace. Like Bianliang, the South Palace will be used to house the Political System Council, various ministries, and the Privy Council, and the North Palace will be the residence of Your Majesty. Your Majesty has never been to Beiping anyway, and even if he comes in the future, he will only stay for a few days occasionally. It is a serious waste to leave such a large area empty."

"This"

As the prefect of Beiping Prefecture, Yang Ting was the person in charge. After hearing what Zhao Jun said, he hesitated and said, "But if we renovate the palace, wouldn't it go against what the emperor said about keeping things simple for the royal family and not being extravagant?"

"I was the one who asked the emperor not to do this before, but now I am doing this in Beiping Prefecture, and I naturally have my reasons!"

Zhao Jun said.

"Please help me solve my doubts."

Yang Ting bowed.

Everyone also looked at him curiously.

Zhao Jun looked around and saw the dragon throne. Naturally, he did not sit on it. He just sat on the first seat under the dragon throne and said, "Sit down and talk."

Wang Anshi and others sat on Zhao Jun's side according to their official ranks, while Yang Ting and the other two sat on the opposite side.

But they naturally didn't dare to sit face to face with Zhao Jun, so they left the first seat opposite vacant and sat in the row below.

After everyone was seated, Zhao Jun spoke up, "I see that Beiping Prefecture is too desolate, and much of the city is in ruins. This place shouldn't be like this."

He looked around at everyone and said, "During the Liao Dynasty, this was the most prosperous capital of the Liao Dynasty, with a large population and prosperous economy and trade. The current situation is very different from the past."

Yang Ting explained: "After the Battle of Peking, a large number of streets in the southern part of the city were burned down, and the northern part of the city was also affected. Many people in the city either migrated or died in the war. The population decreased significantly. It may take several more years to restore the former prosperity."

"Do not."

Zhao Jun shook his head and said, "You still don't see the essence of the matter."

He said: "The prosperity of a city lies not only in its special significance, but also in its location."

"Beijing is backed by the Yanshan Mountains to the north, and surrounded by rivers and plains, which are suitable for farming. Therefore, from the very beginning, the foundation was laid for a large number of people to live here."

"But it is not enough to have fields to gather people. There are so many plains in Hebei but no such capital because of its special geographical location."

"This place is connected to the outside of the Great Wall in the north and the Central Plains in the south. When it was the territory of the Han people, it had close exchanges with the barbarians outside the Great Wall. When it was the territory of the Liao people, it also exchanged what it had with the Song Dynasty, which is why such a large city was built."

"If we only rely on local farmers to increase the population of the city, it is unrealistic because farmers will not give up their fields and run to the city."

"Only by making Peking's business flourish can we quickly restore the city's construction and change the current depressed situation."

Whether an ancient city could prosper was related to local agriculture, but this was only a basic relationship. The real decisive factor lay in commerce.

The most typical examples are Chengdu, Quanzhou and Guangzhou.

Quanzhou and Guangzhou, in particular, should have been remote and wild places in ancient times, but in the Song Dynasty they became one of the top ten cities with a large population and were extremely prosperous, all thanks to maritime trade.

So agriculture is the basis for maintaining the local population, but commerce determines whether this place can become a large city.

Zhao Jun looked at the crowd and said, "The problem with Beiping Prefecture at present is that the business has not been developed. Many caravans no longer stop or travel in Beiping, but go south to Bianliang or north to Liaoyang. This has made Beiping Prefecture meaningless."

"Well, I figured it out, Director. In the past, the Liao-Song trade used to use Beiping as a transit point, and all the goods were concentrated here, so it prospered."

Wang Anshi was quick-witted and said immediately: "Now that we have recovered Yanyun, the Liao people's trade with us has dropped significantly. Although the Northeastern Jurchens and Bohai tribes trade with us, they mainly trade in Liaoyang. The caravans only regard Beiping as a city for resting on the way, rather than the trade distribution center as before."

"good."

Zhao Jun praised, "This is the change in Beiping Prefecture now. The war is indeed the main factor in the current depression of Beiping Prefecture. The war caused the stagnation of business in the city, and the development did not progress but regressed, and the market was sluggish and depressed. But now three years have passed. If it develops normally, even if it cannot restore the previous prosperity, it should have recovered. But it is still like this now, we have to find the reason."

"What should we do?"

As the prefect of Beiping, Yang Ting was naturally concerned about this issue.

Zhao Jun made the final decision: "Build a massive construction project! While Beiping is in ruins, the government will invest in replanning the streets and roads in the city. As long as a large number of workers are recruited to come into the city to build, the city will naturally prosper quickly."

When workers come to build houses and a large population flows in, it will inevitably attract small vendors, handicraftsmen and people from other industries to settle in.

With the infrastructure and people engaged in craftsmanship, caravans will naturally come.

After all, the reason why the caravans from the north do not settle in Peking is because Peking is becoming increasingly depressed, and its commercial prosperity has dropped significantly. Without the goods they need, it can naturally only be a resting place for caravans passing by.

But as long as there are goods, there will definitely be caravans who choose to buy goods in Peiping and transport them to Liaoyang or Zhangjiakou and other places on the Song-Liao border to sell them.

After all, the current trade routes between Liao and Song and between Song and Jurchen, that is, from transporting to Zhangjiakou or Liaoyang, are very long and the cost is very high.

If it is transported from Bianliang to Peking and sold to merchants in Peking, and then sold to the border by the merchants in Peking, the cost will be much lower.

Therefore, as long as Beijing was rebuilt and migrant workers and handicraft workers were attracted to the city, it would not be difficult to restore its former prosperity or even take it to a higher level.

"The governor is wise!"

"So the purpose of the massive construction project is to restore the prosperity of Peking. I am too shallow."

"The dean is far-sighted. I am ashamed of myself."

When Yang Ting, Zhou Hang and others learned the reason, they were immediately impressed by Zhao Jun's foresight.

But Zhao Jun shook his head and said, "It's not that easy."

"Does the court have no money?"

Yang Ting was a little hesitant. Large-scale construction projects would cost a lot of money, which would require funding from the court. If the court had no money, it would be difficult to do so.

Zhao Jun shook his head again and said, "No, the court is very rich now."

A new tax collection policy has been formulated at the beginning of the year, and the court's tax revenue is expected to increase significantly next year. How could a court with an annual income of 200 million strings of cash be short of money?
"That is?"

Everyone is puzzled.

Zhao Jun said bluntly: "This goes back to the original problem. The Han people in Youyan do not trust the imperial court, and there are also aristocratic families who are obstructing them. Even if you have money, you may not be able to recruit so many people. So if you want to build and develop, you must first deal with the local aristocratic families!"

"I see!"

In an instant, everyone suddenly realized.

(End of this chapter)