In the suburbs of Lingbao County, 30 miles northeast of Guozhou, a four-wheeled carriage has begun to hit the road for "test run". The Ministry of Internal Affairs opened the first carriage workshop in Ji County last year, which was Beidu Car Workshop.
This year, we originally planned to open a second store in Henan and Luoyang counties, but Shao Shude banned logging of forests around Luoyang, so we moved west to Lingbao, Guozhou, because the forest resources here are relatively rich.
However, Shao Shude specifically asked that after logging, he should purchase as much wood as possible from the people of Shaanxi and Guozhou. Because this is an opportunity for them to obtain cash income, policies must be favored.
On this day, Zhao Zhi, the supervisor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, came here for inspection, accompanied by Chu Zhongye and Zhe Congyi.
Zhao Zhi took over as the eunuch after the death of Ye Li Jingchen, and Chu Zhongye became the junior eunuch and took his place.
Zhe Congyi was not yet thirty this year. He was the son of Zhe Si Lun. Zhe Cong studied and was the brother of Ruan. When he was a child, he also studied in Shao Shude Mansion. Because of his frailty, he did not become a martial artist. After graduating from Confucian classics, he studied in Kansai
As an official, he was transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the beginning of this year and served as Fu Cheng.
"Huainanzi" says, "The old friend, the ruler, depends on the weather, uses the earth's wealth, and uses human power in the middle... Those who can't grow grain on the hilly slopes use trees and bamboos." Zhao Zhi was sitting at the end.
Ahead, facing the wind, the car was traveling at an extremely fast speed. His hair was a little messy, but he still shook his head and said: "In Shaanxi and Guozhou, trees are planted at the right time. In spring, they are cut down and withered, and they are either steamed for fuel or used as vehicle materials, and the people benefit from it."
Yan."
Hearing this, Zhe Congyi said: "The sage ordered the carriage house to be built in Lingbao and collected more materials from the people. He really cared about them." In ancient times, in addition to grain, silk and money were also required to collect taxes, and there was a fixed amount.
Don't say that silk is money. The tax collector will not talk to you. If he collects two hundred or three hundred coins from you according to regulations, then he will have to count so many copper coins. You are not taking a piece of silk.
Or just a few buckets of grain can make up the amount.
Perhaps the farmers' wealth is enough to pay the taxes, but the composition of the wealth is very problematic. Generally, food is the most important, silk is second, and copper coins are the least.
If you want to pay taxes, you must prepare in advance and sell part of your property in exchange for copper coins. This process is easy to suffer losses and is also a big burden. Therefore, feudal dynasties generally try to reduce the proportion of cash taxes and collect as much in kind as possible.
But no matter what, there were still cash taxes, and farmers had to reserve a certain amount of copper coins.
However, when the commodity economy is underdeveloped, it is difficult for them to obtain copper coins. Powerful landlords do have enough copper coins, and this is often their opportunity. If they operate well, making a lot of money is not a problem.
Lingbao Car Workshop purchases timber from farmers, which is undoubtedly good news for farmers. Which farmer these days doesn’t plant ten or eight jujube elm trees? If not, old mulberry trees can also be used as vehicle materials.
Sell for money.
In Shaanxi and Guozhou, there are many mountains but little land. Every household has planted a lot of trees, which perfectly complements Lingbao Car Workshop. It not only solves their raw material problem, but also allows farmers to obtain cash income, which is the best of both worlds.
"After all, Shaanxi is the west gate of Tokyo. It's definitely not good if it's too ugly." Zhao Zhi smiled and said, "This car is really good, and the first-class national highway is also really good."
"Actually, after the national highway was built, there were more business trips, and farmers' fruits, mulberry trees, bamboos, chickens, dolphins, dogs, and pigs became easier to sell." Zhe Congyi said: "They sell one more dog.
, in exchange for money, you will be less exploited, and your life will be easier."
Zhao Zhi nodded and said: "After the difficult times, business has boomed, and this dynasty attaches great importance to business. It seems that this is the right path."
I don’t know why, but after the separation of the vassal towns, commerce actually prospered contrary to common sense. Historically, the prosperity of commerce in the late Tang Dynasty was definitely not comparable to that in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and people can’t figure out why.
Perhaps it was because tea gradually became a popular drink at this time.
Perhaps the traditional tax adjustment system was replaced by the two-tax law, and no one forced the people to grow grain and weave cloth anymore.
Perhaps the imperial court could no longer control the various vassal towns, and the tea farms in the south often employed 30,000 to 40,000 people, which was unimaginable before the Anshi Rebellion. Perhaps the warlords were in urgent need of money.
etc.
Regardless of the reason, business has really prospered. The Huang Chao and Qin Zongquan rebellions interrupted business for a time
However, after being annihilated by the imperial court and the vassal forces, the business gradually recovered, showing its strong vitality.
The Xia Dynasty inherited the prosperous commerce of the late Tang Dynasty and carefully protected its development until today.
Don't interrupt some trends, as they may affect the destiny of the country. Strictly stipulate that farmers are farmers, craftsmen are craftsmen, merchants are merchants, military households are military households, and scholars are scholars. Identity politics is in progress, which is convenient for management.
Yes, but it is definitely a regression for society.
More than half an hour later, the four-wheeled carriage stopped.
Zhao Zhi and Zhe Congyi could already see the city wall of Lisuo Hongnong County in Guozhou from a distance. The first-class national highway ended here, and the west side was still under construction. It was not known whether it would be able to reach Tongguan during the Western Expedition.
****
"It's not enough if we have the Yellow River, so we have to build a national highway." In the western suburbs of Hongnong County, civilians were drafted after the autumn harvest and continued to build the two-capital post road.
In fact, it was not just civilians, the number of prisoners was also extremely large. The sources were also very complicated. Many people could not understand what they said, and they did not look like good citizens.
"Huang Er, did you strike up a conversation with them and ask them where they came from?" Qian Da, a master from Lingbao County, asked during the break. Qian Da and Huang Er are from the same town, or from the same village to be precise.
Huang Er was good at archery, and he also had a good look with a long spear. He was known for being "steady, accurate and ruthless" when assassinating, so he was recruited as a rural soldier and was responsible for maintaining order.
It won't work if you have a lot of money. Every time when I go to intensive training, I always talk strangely, worry about my work at home, and show all kinds of reluctance. My martial arts training is not very good, so I can only work hard as a master.
Therefore, don’t think that “study well” is useless.
In the early days of the dynasty when people liked to prostitute themselves for free, the hardships faced by the master were beyond your imagination. In contrast, the country soldiers had it much easier. It was no problem to have a full meal, and occasionally they could see some wine and meat, especially when the country and the dynasty were not in power.
There is no shortage of this stuff.
Before leaving, you might be able to take a piece of cloth home, but the treatment is very different. "The commander said it was sent from Jingnan," Huang Er said.
"Isn't Jingnan the land of the king? When Zhao Kuang Ning offered the land, Lu Bu's flying knight passed by our hometown." Qian Da asked.
"The King's Division attacked Hunan, won many battles, and captured many prisoners. I heard from the command that the prisoners should be sent to Jingnan for custody first, and then sent north after screening and interrogation." Huang Er said.
After saying that, he felt a little envious.
Tutuan countrymen are reluctant to fight, because the reward is very small, but it is still very dangerous work, such as attacking a city, which is not worth it. But sometimes, they also imagine that they will soar into the sky, become rich and powerful, and completely escape after going out.
original class.
Huang Er once heard from a master in Xin'an County, Henan Prefecture, that one of them named Zhou Dalang was now the deputy general of the Yingzhou Prefecture Army and an official, which made people envious.
Wang Shizhi conquered Hunan and mobilized the local peasants from Zhili, Henan, and Hubei. Will any of these people stand out? Huang Er thought there would be, and there were many more, but his father kicked him directly after hearing this.
Tell him not to dream. If you go there, you will most likely die in a siege of the city, or your body will be exposed in the wilderness after an epidemic.
Alas, the old man just lacks enthusiasm.
"Is Hunan Ma Yin almost finished?" Qian Da asked again.
If Hunan was defeated, the possibility of him being called into battle would be even smaller, and his life would be saved.
"How do I know this? But -" Huang Er knocked a prisoner with the barrel of his gun and asked, "Where were you captured?" He spoke with a standard Guanzhong accent. The prisoner couldn't understand it, so he repeated it several times.
, finally understood.
"Liuyang." The prisoner said weakly.
Huang Er and Qian Da looked at each other, they had no idea where Liuyang was.
"Xia Wang's division sent troops from Jiangxi. They were all Jin people. They killed us miserably. A total of three thousand people were still marching and were overwhelmed. I didn't even know where the enemy was from the time we engaged in the battle to the time I was captured.
, and you will lose if you are confused." The prisoner added.
The money was so big that Huang Er couldn't help laughing.
This battle was quite confusing, and most of them were ambushed during the march. "Hunan is not small, isn't it? How was the battle?" Huang Er asked again.
"You ask me, who am I asking? But
It will be soon." The prisoner had a bad temper and continued: "A few months ago, we followed Xu Dexun into Jiangxi, saying that we wanted to defend the enemy from outside the country. As a result, we continued to retreat, and we were getting closer and closer to Changsha.
Recently, most of the people have died."
"Ma Yin is also the hero of the party after all, why is he so careless?" Qian Daqi asked. The prisoner glanced at him and saw that he was a master and didn't want to talk to him.
Huang Er took out a piece of cheese and threw it to the prisoner.
The prisoner understood, and there was a smile on his face. He grabbed it and stuffed it into his mouth. While chewing, he said: "This thing is good. I'm very hungry. Please taste it carefully. It also has a sweet taste that seems to be there but not there. It's good.
eat."
"Everything tastes delicious when you're hungry," Huang Er said. Qian Daqie sighed.
There are people who regard milk as a treasure. Is the world in the outside world so cruel? The two states of Shaanxi and Guo still raise a lot of livestock.
Many gentle slopes and mountainous areas have also been opened up into orchards. Large, good-looking fruits are naturally sold in the market, but small ones, those with bad taste or damaged by knocks are usually used for wine making. The rest of the wine is left over.
The residue was mixed into the feed to induce lactation, so the output of cow and goat milk was very large. This secret, which European dairy farmers accidentally discovered hundreds of years later, had long been spread from Liangzhou, and was slowly spread by agricultural students.
Slow fashion spread throughout Kansai and then penetrated into Kanto.
Making cheese is just a helpless move by the locals when they cannot consume milk. The taste is actually very ordinary, but some people actually like to eat it? Could it be the descendants of the grassland herders whose main food is milk?
"Can we talk now?" Huang Er asked, watching him wolfing down the food.
"Say, tell me." The prisoner nodded and said, "You have never been to Hunan, so you don't know the situation there. Why do you think Ma Yin must compete with Master Wang in the Dongting Lake area? He really has passed this lake.
, Wang Shi entered Tanzhou and approached Changsha. How could he not fight tooth and nail? The three prefectures of Li, Lang, and Yue had been fighting for a long time. Now that the Lei brothers in Langzhou were defeated, Wang Shi also established a foothold in Yuezhou, and Dongting Lake
I don’t know exactly what the outcome of the recent battles was, but it seems that Master Wang sent the Tielin Army and another force. I forgot, the combat strength should be pretty good. Anyway, I heard that the result was not good. Hunan is not geographically advantageous.
It can’t be defended.”
Tielin and Konghe armies moved south a few months ago, led by Fu Cunshen, who served as the deputy commander of the camp. Coupled with the cooperation of Guangjie, Hengye and other armies, they have indeed reached Tanzhou Liliu
Near Changsha.
In the south, with the cooperation of Ma Xizhen and Lu Division on Tuesday, after several months of cleaning up, the Jingjiang Army recovered the entire territory. Then soldiers and horses from all walks of life went north to Kelian Prefecture and Dao Prefecture, and the situation was very good.
At the critical moment, more than 20,000 Chu troops marched from Yongzhou and defeated all the southern coalition forces in a battle, capturing and killing more than 10,000 people.
Ningyuan Army's Jiedu Commander Shao Desheng was wounded and escaped, while Lingnan West Road Commander Ye Guanglue was killed by the formation. Wang Shenzhi and others were routed for more than a hundred miles before they stabilized their position.
However, the Chu army had no intention of pursuing them and hurried back to the north to help.
Shao Desheng, Wang Shenzhi and others were urged by the supervisory army. After Chu Shenyi, the governor of Jinghaijun, personally led an army of 3,000 people and was reinforced by 10,000 barbarian soldiers, they mustered up the courage to go north and once again captured Lian, Dao Erzhou and Chao Yongzhou.
Drive in the direction.
By the end of October, Wei King Shao Mianren led a victorious army of 5,000 Shu soldiers and 20,000 Zangqi barbarians to Chenzhou, threatening Hunan from the west. Wu Guan, Jiangxi, central Guizhou, and Hubei besieged them from four directions, but Ma Yin was able to hold out.
This year will be good.
The prisoner's position was not high, he was just a junior high school colonel in the army, and his knowledge was limited. However, from the analysis of the known situation, he also knew that the situation was very unfavorable. There was no point in continuing to fight, and it was better to surrender.
"The Tielin Army is all gone? That's no problem." Qian Da was surprised at first, and then said happily: "That is the most capable army in Daxia."
Huang Er glanced at him. That's not what Commander Zhang said. He was once the deputy of the Tiande Army, and said that among all the Forbidden Army, the German Army was the best at fighting. The prisoner smiled and was not interested in talking anymore. He ate a piece.
The cheese finally suppressed the churning in my stomach.
He looked up again at the roadbed that stretched to the horizon, feeling worried. He didn't know how long it would take to complete the road construction work. Maybe it would never be finished?