I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 253 A New Chapter in a Prosperous Era: Zhao Yu Meets Song Jiang

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Tong Guan introduced these more than 300 beautiful girls to Song Jiang, hoping that Song Jiang would help him take these girls to present to Zhao Yu.

Song Jiang naturally wouldn't refuse.

After carefully checking each of the more than three hundred beautiful girls against the roster to confirm their identities, Song Jiang took them north with him...

By the way, seeing Tong Guan's lavish gesture, Song Jiang felt that offering only three beauties to Zhao Yu was too meager.

'Fortunately, the three beauties I sent were quite extraordinary; otherwise, Tong Xuanfu would have had them all taken away.'

However, it must be said that this incident had a great impact on Song Jiang, to the point that he resolved that whenever he had the opportunity, he would definitely emulate Tong Guan's actions, no, he would definitely surpass Tong Guan, because this was the only way to show loyalty to Zhao Yu and gain Zhao Yu's favor.

After crossing the Yangtze River and arriving in the Jianghuai region, Song Jiang discovered that although there had been no uprisings there, the "Gentlemen Paying Grain as a Whole" and "Equalization of Land Tax and Labor Tax" had been implemented smoothly.

Song Jiang heard that the local officials, gentry, and landlords were all very enthusiastic in implementing the new policies. Land that they had previously been unwilling to survey was now being eagerly measured without any attempt to conceal anything. Even if they had to borrow money or sell their houses and land, they would proactively pay off any taxes owed from years past, in accordance with the policies stipulated by the imperial court.

Moreover, the local gentry and landlords all seemed to have become great philanthropists. They generously donated large sums of money to take the lead in repairing the long-neglected stone bridges and dirt roads, making it easier for the villagers to travel.

Moreover, many gentry and landlords voluntarily announced reductions or exemptions of land rent for poor tenants, and some even directly exempted elderly people living alone, orphans, and widows from all rent and taxes.

In the fields, the people were pleasantly surprised to find that the stern gentry and landlords, who were originally harsh, began to talk to them in a friendly manner, asking about their harvest and difficulties in life. If they were really in trouble, they would usually lend a helping hand.

These gentry and landlords also set up soup kitchens in the center of the village and town, where steaming hot rice porridge and multigrain steamed buns were provided free of charge to the hungry people every morning.

Last winter, these gentry and landlords even took the initiative to send cotton clothes, quilts, and firewood to people who were freezing to death, so that those families who lacked food and clothing could survive the harsh winter.

The officials here, having abandoned their previous inaction, laziness, and arrogance, began to work diligently. They proactively gathered to discuss how to better implement the new policies and measures to benefit the people, and they adjudicated cases fairly and impartially, showing unprecedented concern for the people's suffering. They no longer indulged in banquets and entertainment, but instead frequently went deep into the fields to investigate the people's conditions, ensuring that every measure of the new policies and measures truly benefited the people.

It was clear that after witnessing the near-total annihilation of the officials, gentry, and landlords of Jiangnan, whose influence far surpassed their own, and how each family was more tragic than the last, with some thousand-year-old clans even disappearing into the annals of history, the officials, gentry, and landlords here were truly terrified. They knew that if the officials and landlords continued to act recklessly, they would likely suffer the same fate. Only then did they finally surrender and become subservient, no longer daring to oppose the court, not only openly but also covertly. Moreover, they began to appease the common people who might come to their homes to hold public trials.

Song Jiang also heard that this was not only the case in the Jianghuai region, but also in other southern regions, such as Nanyang, Jinghu, and even Shu. Officials, gentry, and landlords were all in the same boat. The two new policies that they had previously resisted so desperately seemed to have become their only lifeline.

Upon learning this, Song Jiang admired Zhao Yu's wisdom, courage, and decisiveness even more.

Throughout China's long history, reform has often been a major driving force for social progress, but almost every reform has inevitably touched the "cake" of vested interest groups.

As a result, these interest groups will certainly rely on the privileges granted to them by the old system to monopolize political, economic and social resources, and will strongly resist any attempt to change the status quo.

Historical experience shows that reforms are unlikely to achieve substantial success if these vested interest groups cannot be effectively weakened or dismantled.

The reforms of Shang Yang are a typical example.

Shang Yang's reforms, by abolishing the hereditary system of official positions and stipends, broke the tradition of aristocratic power; by implementing the prefecture-county system, they weakened the control of local nobles over their fiefdoms; and by encouraging agriculture and weaving, they further undermined the economic foundation upon which the old aristocracy depended. These measures severely damaged the interests of the old aristocracy in Qin, provoking strong resistance from powerful noble factions such as Prince Qian. Although Shang Yang was ultimately executed by dismemberment, his use of harsh laws and severe punishments to suppress the old aristocracy during his reforms preserved the achievements of the reforms, laying the foundation for Qin's rise to power.

After unifying the six states, Qin Shi Huang, against all odds, implemented the prefecture-county system, replacing the traditional enfeoffment system. This reform directly stripped the former nobles of their fiefdoms and hereditary privileges, triggering a strong backlash. Zhang Liang's assassination attempt at Bolangsha and the uprisings by Xiang Yu and other descendants of the former nobles demonstrated that the resistance of the old forces to reform never ceased. Although the Qin Dynasty forcibly implemented the reforms with its powerful military, it failed to completely eliminate the influence of the old nobles and ultimately collapsed rapidly amidst a wave of uprisings.

Emperor Wu of Han's "Decree of Grace" was essentially a deprivation of the interests of the vassal kings, which strengthened central authority and made the reform successful.

History has repeatedly shown that any attempt to advance reforms without touching vested interests will ultimately remain nothing more than wishful thinking.

While Zhao Yu's ignition of the conflict between the gentry and landlord class and the oppressed masses wasn't particularly clever, it was undeniably ruthless and decisive. Zhao Yu showed no mercy, but instead, without regard for martial ethics, preemptively used public opinion to eliminate most of the gentry and landlords, especially the most stubborn ones from Jiangnan, severely damaging the gentry and landlord group. By killing the powerful to intimidate the weak, he forcibly reshuffled the power structure.

The remaining gentry and landlords, having witnessed all of this, were like frightened birds. They dared not easily oppose the imperial court anymore, and they also began to fear the common people they had previously bullied at will. They finally realized that confronting the imperial court was tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock, and they truly could not afford to push the people into rebellion, otherwise the people would rise up and kill their entire families. Only by adapting to the times, actively cooperating with the imperial court's reforms, and leaving the people a way to survive, could they preserve their family's interests and continue their generations of prosperity.

As a key participant in this matter, Zhao Yu was a crucial pawn in Song Jiang's hands. While filled with mixed emotions, Song Jiang felt nothing but awe and reverence for Zhao Yu.

But when Song Jiang and his party crossed the Huai River and arrived in the Central Plains, they saw a completely different scene.

A network of canals crisscrossed the land, nourishing its fertile soil. The villagers, their faces beaming with smiles, worked busily and methodically. Their clothing, though simple, consisted mostly of cotton garments that had become fashionable in recent years—warm, durable, and inexpensive. Children played at the village entrance, while the elderly chatted and relaxed under the shade of trees, a scene of harmony and peace, a testament to the land having long since emerged from the shadow of war.

Song Jiang also noticed that the farmland here was not only meticulously cultivated, but also employed many novel technologies. For example, some fields had underground pipes for drainage and flood prevention; others had automatic irrigation systems that automatically adjusted the amount of water according to soil moisture, which saved water resources and increased crop yields. As for the wooden ox and flowing horse irrigation cart, gear-driven rice pounding machine, water-conserving stone mill, and many other practical and advanced agricultural implements invented by Ma Xiaojiao in her early years, they were everywhere.

The application of these technologies has undoubtedly greatly reduced the labor intensity of farmers and increased grain production.

This resulted in the former granaries of the Zhao Song Dynasty in Jiangnan being in such a state of chaos, seemingly having little impact on the Zhao Song Dynasty's northern regions.

What surprised Song Jiang even more was that not only were large factories scattered throughout the Central Plains, but small workshops had also appeared in some villages, producing exquisite handicrafts that large factories could not and were inconvenient to produce, providing a variety of products for the increasingly prosperous commercial activities.

All of this heralds the arrival of a new era.

When Song Jiang and his party arrived at Bianliang, the capital of the Song Dynasty, they were greeted by an even more prosperous and flourishing scene.

The streets were neat and orderly, laid out in a chessboard pattern, breaking the limitations of traditional neighborhoods and creating a layout where markets were set up along the streets, making it an international metropolis where people from all over the world could gather and communicate. The city's streets were planned very neatly like a chessboard, with four main thoroughfares running through the entire city.

The main street here runs south from the Xuande Gate of the Imperial Palace, through the Zhuque Gate of the inner city, and directly to the outer city, stretching for more than ten miles.

It was the main road that emperors of the Song Dynasty traveled to and from the capital to worship their ancestors, hold grand ceremonies at the southern suburbs, and go on excursions outside the palace. It is now the central axis of Bianliang (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song Dynasty.

As Song Jiang and his party walked along the Imperial Street, they saw urban entertainment venues everywhere.

There were more than fifty brothels of various sizes, including numerous smaller ones such as the Wazi, Lianhua Peng, and Mudan Peng. The Li Wazi, Yacha Peng, and Xiang Peng were the largest, capable of accommodating thousands of people.

The types of Waji arts include short songs, arias, variety shows, rod puppetry, string puppetry, rope acrobatics, ball and stick kicking, storytelling, novels, folk music, dancing, children's sumo wrestling, shadow plays, insect and ant play, various palace tunes, riddles, synopsis, talking nonsense, variety shows, miscellaneous troupes, fruit calling, pretending to be gods and ghosts, and so on, too numerous to count.

The area also contains many shops selling medicine, fortune telling, secondhand clothes, gambling, food and drink, shaving and cutting, paper paintings, and folk songs.

In addition, there are new forms of entertainment such as watching kaleidoscopes, listening to music boxes, and watching movies.

There were more taverns than urban entertainment venues.

In this city, there are seventy-two large "official shops" and countless smaller "foot shops".

These large, formal stores all built a very ornate gatehouse decorated with colorful silk at the entrance to attract customers.

On both sides of Jiuqiaomen Street are large, state-owned shops, each with colorful banners and embroidered flags fluttering in the breeze, obscuring the sun.

Not to mention the wide variety of goods available in large hotels, even the foot shops that can be found everywhere have a rich selection of items.

And the people on the Imperial Street are even more numerous, including farmers, boatmen, merchants, small craftsmen, officials, scholars, Taoists, wandering monks, itinerant doctors, fortune tellers, and people from all walks of life.

One of the biggest differences between Bianliang City and the one Song Jiang had seen in his early years was that there were quite a few Arabs and Persians in Bianliang City at this time. Among them were some blond and blue-eyed Westerners, as well as some Westerners with brown, white, or even red hair.

Furthermore, there are quite a few foreigners running hotels in Bianliang City.

Their shop's sign reads "Hu Ji," meaning they employ foreign women as waitresses who also perform songs and dances.

This evokes a feeling of "Hu prostitutes are as beautiful as flowers, and their smiles are like a spring breeze."

Many men of the Song Dynasty were lured into the shops by these foreign women who were so different from Chinese women, where they spent lavishly.

These foreigners were a product of Zhao Yu's vigorous development of maritime trade and his relocation of maritime trade to the north.

These foreigners mainly deal in luxury goods, such as jewelry, spices, and rare items from various countries.

In addition, with their abundant wealth and considerable business acumen, they have also ventured into various lucrative businesses, such as food and beverage, entertainment, and horses, among others.

Rickshaws and wooden bicycles, no longer rare, were commonplace in Bianliang. The city now possessed true bicycles, some with two wheels and others with three. The former were primarily for daily use, while the latter were more advanced forms of transportation. Furthermore, steam-powered boats were already operating on the Bianliang River.

In addition, some early industrial revolution technologies have become commonplace in Bianliang City, such as solar-powered stoves, new textile machines, steam pumps, steam mills, steam printing presses, new papermaking machines, sulfuric acid preparation processes, soap production machinery, flour processing machinery, lathes, boring machines, gas lighting systems, cast iron pipes, and so on.

Song Jiang also noticed that a large number of fruits and vegetables he had never seen before appeared in Bianliang City.

What's amazing is that it's only early March, and these fresh vegetables and fruits are already being sold in Bianliang City.

All nations pay tribute! National power is at its zenith! Unprecedented prosperity!

If Song Jiang had to find a place comparable to present-day Bianliang, then there is only one place that could be compared to it: Chang'an at its peak.

—The world center during the Tang Dynasty's golden age!

Moreover, Song Jiang was certain that this was not a fleeting, false prosperity, but the beginning of a true golden age for the Song Dynasty.

The sights and experiences along the way completely transformed Song Jiang from his previous narrow ambition of merely securing a title for his wife and children and leaving a lasting mark on history.

A surge of unprecedented passion and sense of mission welled up within Song Jiang. He deeply realized that he was living in a great era, a glorious age led by Zhao Yu and forged by countless virtuous and ambitious people.

'I must become a wise and capable minister like Li Jing during a prosperous era!'

After handing over Shao Shi, Fang Baihua, Chen Miaozhen, and the more than three hundred beautiful girls that Tong Guan had asked him to bring back to the Ministry of Rites, and having the Ministry of Rites arrange for them to enter the palace, Song Jiang immediately went to the palace to request an audience with Zhao Yu, thus beginning their first meeting between the emperor and his subject...

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(End of this chapter)