Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong

Chapter 93 This country will perish sooner or later
In Zhao Xin's impression, the Northern Song Dynasty should have been quite prosperous.

However, there is also a saying on the Internet that the Northern Song Dynasty was a capital supported by the whole country. So, of course, if you take a first look at the situation in Tokyo City, you will definitely think that the Northern Song Dynasty was very prosperous.

But if we leave the capital Kaifeng, the situation might be different.

Zhao Xin didn't expect...

The world of my own is already in such a precarious situation.

then……

His father actually spent a lot of money to pray to gods and Buddhas, and gave money to bald donkeys for nothing and engaged in superstitious activities.

In addition, he also bestowed favors on his sons and daughters, so that even though there were already too many officials, the number of officials continued to increase.

These questions were revealed one by one in the subsequent dialogue.

Not to mention the problem of redundant soldiers.

but……

Apart from praying to gods and Buddhas and engaging in superstitious activities, everything else is still within Zhao Xin's scope of cognition.

so……

What do you think we should do with these redundant soldiers, redundant officials, and redundant expenses?
Even if you are a time traveler, you can't just come up and say, I want to lay off 90% of the officials and troops.

If I really did that, I might die faster.

This fully proves one point: in the face of the general trend of the world, the power of an individual is actually very small.

……

After the meeting.

Return to Miao Niangzi's courtyard.

Five-year-old Zhao Xin couldn't help but sigh towards the roof.

Madam Miao was amused and asked, "What's wrong? You are so young, why are you sighing?"

Zhao Xin said: "This country will perish sooner or later."

Zhao Zhen was sitting nearby, and when he heard what he said, he immediately wanted to take off his pants and spank him.

of course!

Now is not the time.

His father said, "Now, the problems are in front of us. Tell me how to solve these problems."

Zhao Xin rolled his eyes at his father and said, "Dad, you should start by not praying to the gods. Also, you can't give promotions to relatives."

Zhao Zhen was displeased when he heard this, "You are now controlling me, your father?"

Zhao Xin: "It's mainly because of you, Dad, that the Song Dynasty will fall faster. Du Yan said that the Song Dynasty now has nearly 20,000 officials, not counting the petty officials. And how many people did Emperor Taizong Wen have at the beginning? Only 600, less than 700."

"That's why Emperor Taizong Wen was able to achieve the Zhenguan Reign. I even think that the number of people admitted to the imperial examinations will have to be cut in half in the future."

Zhao Zhen also became serious and asked, "Then aren't you afraid of Huang Chao?"

Zhao Xin slumped down on the bed. "So, we are just waiting to die now. Before, I thought that this overseas business could be done slowly, but now... Dad, I think we have to start this."

If we cannot redistribute the world's wealth through business.

Zhao Xin estimated that even if he became an official in the future, he could only be considered the last emperor at most.

Or……

Or you might as well just give up and enjoy yourself for a few decades.

Anyway...

After I die, I don’t care about the flood.

……

of course!

I'll just say these discouraging words casually in my mind.

If all else fails, just make a steam locomotive.

Such a large project will take many years to complete.

As for the fact that the imperial court had no money, how could it build railways?
Wouldn't it be better if we just gave the people rice to eat and didn't pay them wages?

These days...

Being alive is already good enough, and you still want to pay you extra wages.

Just do it!

But the prerequisite is to make the steam engine first.

This will probably take at least three to five years, and it's probably going to be difficult to accomplish.

In fact...steam engines are not that easy to make.

of course!

If you don't do it, you will never succeed. If you do it, there may be a glimmer of hope.

then……

Next, Zhao Xin asked his father to find some smart craftsmen for him.

Then form a tackling team.

Zhao Xin personally taught them the principles, and left the rest to them to complete on their own.

in this way.

I was busy for a little over half a month.

The one hundred households selected by Yu Jing for Zhao Xin then appeared in front of Zhao Xin.

Of course Zhao Xin had to listen to what the people said first.

First, ask them about the corvee and taxation situation in the Song Dynasty.

Secondly, find out from them the proportion of people who are like them, lacking land, clothing and food.

The only thing that made Zhao Xin feel relieved was that the Song Dynasty was not in such a bad state.

Although there were bandits everywhere in the world, most of them were directly recruited by the soldiers.

Then the rest, and a very small number of them, wander around everywhere.

The number of these people is often only a few hundred or a thousand, so they usually can't make much difference.

As for the reasons why these people became bandits.

There are only two possible situations: first, natural disasters, where people cannot survive and have to become bandits; second, man-made disasters, such as when some local officials impose excessive corvée labor, or even make it worse.

and……

As more and more people fled, the original state had thirty counties, and taxes and labor service were also calculated based on the thirty counties. Now half of them have fled, and only fifteen counties are left, but taxes and labor service are still collected based on the original thirty counties. Naturally, the pressure on the people has increased exponentially.

Zhao Xin thought that this problem must also be solved properly.

I guess the states and counties will have to be redivided.

Re-count the population.

However, considering that the civil service problems in the Song Dynasty are very serious, it would be difficult to implement it all at once.

Inside the Lecture Hall.

Zhao Xin listened to the real situation of the 100 households one by one, and then said: "Since you are all in such a difficult situation, the harvest of a year, after paying the tax, will only be enough to eat for less than half a year. You will starve for at least half a year. Then you should follow me from now on."

One hundred families were overjoyed.

Zhao Xin could only speak frankly: "Actually, I'm not very rich, but... if you can work hard, I think you should have no problem having enough food to eat."

They all said, "As long as His Royal Highness Prince Yu can give us something to eat, it will be fine."

Zhao Xin said, "Is there anyone who doesn't want to go? If you don't want to go, you can go back by yourself. I will have someone give you travel expenses and compensation for lost work time."

No fool would be unwilling.

Zhao Xin looked at everyone and said, "Then let's settle this!"

It just so happened that his weaving factory also needed to recruit more staff.

At this moment, we have made some contribution to the peace and stability of the country.

but……

Why does Zhao Xin feel something is wrong?

By the way, wasn’t the New Policies of the Qingli Period initiated by people like Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi?
Is it possible...

Because he appeared to be too smart, his father simply ignored Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi?
In fact, what Zhao Xin didn't know was that when Zhao Zhen first asked Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi to come back, both of them made excuses.

Even after returning to the court, the two of them did not say a word and just completed the daily affairs of the two governments as usual.

No new policies were proposed immediately.

As for the reason, it is also very simple. The accumulated problems are too deep-rooted and cannot be corrected in a short period of time, and the resistance may be very great.

If you really want to change, you must have great perseverance.

however……

These two people probably realized that Zhao Zhen did not have much perseverance.

Zhao Xin knew very little about the history of the Song Dynasty, so naturally he didn't know these things.

(End of this chapter)