The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 335 A Commoner Becomes a Marquis
In April of 1131 AD, the army led by Gong Erniangzi completely pacified the various counties under the jurisdiction of Chuzhou, but April was already a bit late.

Many crops that need to be sown in February or March have already been missed.

Following the Northern Song Dynasty's proclamation to pacify the people, those who emerged from their hiding places were destined to miss out on this year's agricultural production.

This is not a good thing for any farmer.

The newly appointed prefect, Yan Chengping, was also troubled by this. He had just taken office and was eager to make a big difference, but in his first year in office, more than half of the farmers had not had time to plant grain. What could he do?
Fortunately, Young Master Yue had made preparations in advance. Agricultural officials from the Jiaodong Peninsula arrived in time, bringing new rice seeds.

This type of rice seed can be sown in late April or even early May. Agricultural officials called it "mid-season rice," and for a time, farmers throughout the state were learning how to grow it from the agricultural officials.

Once food production is solved, everything else becomes much easier.

Yue Wenxuan found another batch of cotton seeds.

Chuzhou, which is now Huai'an, has a climate that is very suitable for growing cotton. In modern times, Huai'an is a well-known cotton growing base in the country!
However, at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the cotton in Chuzhou was not very good, or rather, the cotton in the Song Dynasty was not very good.

Before the Northern Song Dynasty, cotton was not an annual herbaceous plant, but rather a tree-like plant that grew very tall and had a very long growth cycle, resulting in low cotton yields.

Until cotton was introduced to my country via the Silk Road.

The growth cycle of cotton is relatively short, and cotton can be harvested in 130 days. However, at this time, it had only been introduced to China for a short time, and it was only grown in small quantities in Xinjiang, Gansu and other places. In the eastern region, cotton cultivation was not yet widespread.

Most people in Chuzhou have no idea that there is cotton that can be harvested in 130 days.

Now they know!
Yue Wenxuan distributed a large quantity of high-quality cotton seeds to Chuzhou. Coincidentally, cotton was also suitable for sowing in mid-April, so it was just in time.

Now that a large amount of cotton has been planted, the textile industry must prepare in advance... After all, this new cotton can be harvested in 130 days, and 130 days may not even be enough time to complete the preliminary preparations for the textile industry.

The newly arrived prefect of Chuzhou, Yan Chengping, immediately announced the establishment of official workshops and encouraged private merchants to set up textile workshops... In accordance with Yue Wenxuan's general principle of optimizing the "business environment," Yan Chengping provided various conveniences for private merchants.

Reforming officialdom, improving the efficiency of obtaining permits for private workshops, building roads and bridges to improve transportation efficiency, etc...

Yan Chengping also started a whole host of new tricks at the same time.

For example, set up several large salt production plants in Yancheng.

Establish numerous ceramic workshops in Huanggang.

Along the Huai River and the Grand Canal, four or five new shipyards were established. The government ships were used to build warships, while the merchant ships and fishing boats needed by the people were to be built by private shipyards.

It's inevitable that newly arrived officials will be overwhelmed if they try to do so many fancy things at once.

But Yan Chengping can do it!

He had the entire Yan family behind him. In order to help him become a good official, make merits and get promoted, and consolidate the Yan family's position in the Northern Song Dynasty, the Yan family went to great lengths, bringing in a large number of retainers from their home to assist Yan Chengping in his work.

These diners helped Yan Chengping manage various tasks in different categories. For example, the person in charge of the accounting office was called the Money and Grain Advisor, the person in charge of criminal law was called the Criminal Law Advisor, and the person in charge of documents was called the Document Advisor...

Yan Chengping essentially brought his own government office to work, and the staff there didn't need to be paid by the government; they were all paid by Yan himself. This practice was common in the Ming and Qing dynasties, but it was considered a very advanced concept in the Song dynasty.

The Yan family can be considered to have led a trend of the times.

News of Chuzhou's large-scale construction and commercial development spread quickly...

Several days later, a dilapidated small merchant ship arrived in Chuzhou City along the Grand Canal.

A middle-aged man jumped off the merchant ship, accompanied by a large group of guards.

Upon arriving at the city gate, the middle-aged man introduced himself to the guards: "I am a merchant from Hangzhou, the son of Jiang Chongren, and my name is Jiang Shaohui."

At this moment, Yan Chengping was chatting with Yue Wenxuan and Gong Erniangzi. Gong Erniangzi had returned from suppressing bandits and was now stationed in Chuzhou City for the time being.

Yan Chengping then inquired about the situation in the surrounding counties from Gong Erniangzi.

The three of them were having a lively conversation.

A soldier outside reported: "A merchant has come from the Grand Canal, claiming to be Jiang Chongren's son, Jiang Shaohui."

Upon hearing the name, Yan Cheng immediately became respectful: "Ah! Please come in quickly."

Gong Er Niangzi was greatly surprised: "Is this person very famous? I've never heard of him."

Yan Chengping said, "Jiang Shaohui isn't very famous, but his father, Jiang Chongren, is very well-known. From a young age, he had a kind heart and helped the poor and needy. It is said that a few years ago, when the Song Dynasty changed its capital to Lin'an, the population of the surrounding area surged, leading to a food shortage. There was also a poor harvest. Jiang Chongren not only distributed rice to the poor but also donated grain to the imperial court. He bought rice in the autumn and sold it at the purchase price during the lean season, without making a profit. He even let the villagers who bought rice measure it themselves, and people called him 'Jiang the Self-Measurer'."

Upon hearing this, Yue Wenxuan couldn't help but exclaim "Huh?" He thought to himself: "So ahead of its time? Even modern metropolises with 'unmanned, self-service payment supermarkets' still have a 20% chance of customers skipping out on their bills. If Jiang Chongren were to try this 'self-preservation' in the Northern Song Dynasty, wouldn't he be exploited to the point of insanity by greedy and cunning people?"
He dared to do this because he was probably prepared to "give it away for free".

He's such a pushover!

Yan Chengping added, “Of course, this alone wouldn’t make him famous. His greatest achievement was that during the Fang La Rebellion, Jiang Chongren personally funded and organized his fellow villagers to ambush and defeat Fang La’s forces at Zheshan, protecting the peace of the area. This is why he became famous throughout the land. In the third year of Xianchun (1267), Qian Shuoyou, the prefect of Lin’an, reported Jiang’s deeds to the court and requested commendation. The following year, the court bestowed honorary titles upon him. Jiang Chongren was enfeoffed as Marquis of Fushun, Jiang Chongyi as Marquis of Fude, and Jiang Chongxin as Marquis of Fuyou. A temple was built at Yanqiao, and sacrifices were offered at Guangfu and Xixi. He was enfeoffed as a marquis despite being a commoner.”

Upon hearing this, Gong Er Niangzi couldn't help but gape in astonishment: "To be made a marquis from a commoner's background, that's incredible!"

Yan Chengping blushed slightly and said, "Actually, my Yan clan also wanted to emulate him. When the Jin army attacked, my father summoned all the brothers in the clan to a meeting and asked them if they wanted to learn from Jiang and organize a righteous army to fight against the Jin army. If they could defeat the Jin army, they might even be able to rise from commoner to marquis. But... but..."

He blushed as he said this.

Gong Er Niangzi understood: "So your family all chickened out?"

Yan Chengping covered his face, so ashamed he almost wanted to disappear into the ground.

Yue Wenxuan shrugged. "The difference between people is greater than the difference between people and monkeys. This Jiang family is quite something. No wonder I saw a 'Jiang Xiangong Ancestral Hall' built in the Song Dynasty when I traveled to Xixi Wetland in Hangzhou last time."

(End of this chapter)