Chapter 44: A thousand-foot cliff cut into half green (1)
When I returned to Dongyu's study, it was already getting late.
Seeing Zhang Dun, Lu Huiqing, Sun Lu, Liu Kai, Cai Bian and Changsun Moli waiting there, Zhao Si asked in a deep voice: "Are you sure about the Hebei Civil War?"
"Confirmed, the Chief Secretary of Hebei Province and the Department of Arms and Armament jointly issued emergency documents. The Hebei and Jinning armies, as well as the Zuowei Guards stationed in Handan, all sent emergency notifications to the Military Council." Sun Lu replied.
"Let it go first." Zhao said without any doubt, "I have just inspected the political situation in Zhongmou County on the spot. A few days ago, I quietly went to Chenliu and Xianping counties to inspect, plus I have compiled and collected the
I think it is necessary to make a summary of the political situation in each county. Let me talk about this first without delay. It is just a civil uprising, not the Liao army going south."
"The first thing is publicity, law popularization and publicity. In Zhongmou, Xianping, Chenliu, and several pilot counties such as Qinchuan and Hedong, the political reform has been carried out well. The responsibilities are clearly defined and everyone is responsible for their own affairs. Qinmintang is harmonious.
The Constitutional House can all play its due role. But the problem is that there are still many people who do not know the benefits of these new systems and are still being squeezed..."
"The missionary department needs to work harder. The most important thing is to preach in a way that is close to people's lives so that people can understand it. Secondly, preaching should not be all about indoctrination. It is not real education and guidance, but just doing errands.
I will grasp a few key points and tell the people who they should go to if they have anything to do. Don’t say too much, because even if you say it, you won’t be able to remember it.”
"The second is the political system at the county level. It has basically taken shape and only needs some minor adjustments. For example, the county magistrate's deputy and the chief clerk can be removed, and three county magistrates can be arranged to take charge of one stall. The most important thing is that after these political reforms, the county has basically
The problem is not big, the key is rural areas."
"I took a preliminary look and found that more than 80% of the affairs handled by each county are handled by villages and townships. More than 90% of the people involved in the crime, especially the victims, are rural people. Therefore, people-friendly governance at the county level must
We have to go deep into the stage of extending to rural areas. Once it comes to rural areas, you can say that we have entered the deep water area of political reform and economic reform."
Zhao Si looked around at Zhang Dun and others who were listening attentively, and continued: "First of all, rural people account for the majority of the people in the Song Dynasty. Only by appeasing them and gaining their support is the foundation for long-term peace and stability."
"Secondly, land tax accounted for a large part of the annual income of the Song Dynasty. If rural work was not done well, the consequences would be that the people suffered a lot and cursed my mother! Second, the land tax was concealed in large quantities and could not enter the state treasury. Some people
Both of these are serious disasters that will shake the country's foundation, and we cannot afford to be careless!"
Having said this, Zhao Si's tone became very solemn.
"My lords, I am not joking. From the end of Qin to the end of the former Tang Dynasty, from Chen Sheng and Wu Guang to Taiping Road, from the Eighteenth Route rebel against the king to Huang Chao, those who subverted the court and buried the princes and grandchildren were all peasants without food!"
Zhao Si paused for a moment to calm down his emotions.
"Doing a good job in rural work is a top priority, and it is also a core consideration of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Secretaries. I will first give some ideas and mention some of my ideas."
"First of all, take advantage of the confiscation of Buddhist and Taoist lands and distribute them to many people to establish agricultural cooperatives. The reason why farmers were easily bullied in the past was because they were a piece of loose sand. Big and powerful families will not bully you.
Who? Therefore, the farmers must be united and just clenched into a fist. If you want to bully them again, you will at least get punched a few times."
"Establish Liangke Qiangu Refinancing Bank. People in the countryside rarely go to the city, and they don't know how to find banks with low interest rates and good services for commercial loans. It doesn't matter, we set up a refinancing bank and invite a group of people who want to make money.
People do these things.”
"The people of the refinancing bank go deep into every township and village, directly facing the farmers, and provide small loans of money and grain in the Spring and Autumn Period. Where does the capital of the refinancing bank come from? Banks in counties and states lend it to it. The refinancing bank lends it
What kind of money can you make? If the bank gives you a little interest and the people who take credit give you a little handling fee, it will come out right? It’s better than a black-hearted, greedy person."
The refinancing bank is currently just an intermediary institution. After a period of development, if appropriate, it can progress to a rural credit cooperative.
"Why did Wang Wencheng (Wang Anshi) set up the Green Crops Law, and why did I set up cooperatives and refinancing banks? It is because of the funding problem of agricultural production. Any production requires input, and agricultural production is no exception. Grain seeds, fertilizers, farm tools, tillage
Cattle... Only by investing heavily can we hope to get a bumper harvest. However, agriculture depends on the weather. It rains today, there is a drought tomorrow, it will be gone! It is almost like going out for a boating trip."
"Marine merchants also have maritime insurance companies. Why are there no insurances in farming? Because maritime merchants have high risks and high profits. Farming has high risks but low profits. Even if the weather is good and we work hard, one acre of land will only be enough."
Producing so little grain... It is impossible and unrealistic for profit-seeking businessmen to invest in farming. They just want to buy land and rent it to others for planting, so as to ensure harvests during droughts and floods. Therefore, the court must step forward and use public power for agriculture.
Invest in escorting..."
The more Zhang Dun and others listened, the more they became interested in it. They never thought that farming, which has been "valued" by countless sages over thousands of years, still contains so many and profound truths.
The secretaries who were taking notes around him, as well as the several school clerks led by Tan Shiji, their eyes became brighter as they listened, and the look of admiration on their faces grew stronger.
After Zhao Si talked a lot, he breathed a long sigh of relief and said calmly: "I have explained the general essence of farming and made a few suggestions. You can also brainstorm ideas. But don't hang your imagination in the air.
We need to think from the standpoint of those farmers who are facing up to the soil. We should also regulate the behavior of cooperatives and refinancing banks, and ensure the interests of farmers, refinancing banks, and banks. The decrees should be formulated as soon as possible, and they should be implemented after a period of operation.
For the law.”
After taking a sip of warm tea, Zhao Si waited for the secretary to finish taking notes. Everyone calmed down and broke away from the discussion just now.
"Okay, let's talk about Hebei." Zhao Si said.
"Here!" Sun Lu, Tongzhi Privy Councilor and Military Advisor, began to talk about the situation.
"The rebels in Dunyu Mountain were mainly composed of more than 600 monks who were sorted out from the nearby fifteen Shimen temples that were merged. These people were originally in the temples and were just serving as guardians.
They are responsible for collecting rent and other matters. They wear monk robes and have bald heads. They are not monks at all, and most of them do not have ultimatums. They are privately recruited by the original temple."
"Most of the remaining more than 5,000 people are tenants of the confiscated fields under the name of the temple. Most of these people were deceived, coerced and deceived, and went to Dunyu Mountain. The leader was six people. The big leader was known as the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha.
The second leader is claimed to be the reincarnation of Manjushri Bodhisattva, and the third, fourth and fifth leaders are claimed to be the reincarnation of the Four Great Protector Heavenly Kings..."
"Good guys, these people dare to pretend to be anything. But they dare to rebel, so what else can they not dare to do? With such a reputation, I believe that many stupid people may actually believe it."
"Your Majesty, your Majesty, these people raised their banners and started the practice, and more than 2,000 stupid people came to the nearby counties."
"Well, continue."
"According to the investigation, four of these six leaders originally served in the Hebei Forbidden Army. Xu Gong guarded Hebei and was abolished when he was reorganizing the Forbidden Army. The other two worked as clerks in the county government. They were both from wealthy families nearby.
Nephew."
Seeing that Zhao Si and everyone were listening, Sun Lu continued to read: "This group of rebels first crossed the Taihang Mountains with the intention of attacking Leping County in the east of Hedong. However, they were ambushed halfway by the garrison of Jingyang Village, with forty or fifty casualties, and collapsed.
They fell into the valley, trampled on each other, and more than 600 people were killed or injured."
"The mob!" A thought came to everyone's mind.
"This mob turned around and returned to Hebei. After receiving the urgent report, the Hebei Military Preparation Department and the Zuoweiwei garrison prepared to assemble the garrison regiment and the garrison infantry regiment to suppress it, but..."
"Just what?"
"Hebei County Governor Zong said that the rioters are mostly good people who have been deceived and coerced. They may suffer heavy casualties under the sword. Therefore, they requested to appease the people first. Because according to the political system, in dealing with civil unrest, County Governor Zong has more
The authority is high, so the Armed Forces Department and Zuoweiwei had no choice but to temporarily mobilize their troops to the surrounding areas and hold their troops still."
"I didn't want the rebellious people to think that the imperial court was showing weakness, so they became even more arrogant. They killed the appeasement envoys and offered sacrifices to the flag, and gathered troops to attack Longgang County. Longgang County was the former prefecture of Xingzhou, and the city walls were high and thick. After a day of fighting, they couldn't even attack them. The rebellious people turned around.
We went to attack Neiqiu County. Unexpectedly, there were internal support in Neiqiu City, and the rebels captured Neiqiu City overnight."
"The thieves became more powerful, and more people secretly joined them. With the support of these internal agents, the rebels captured the two counties of Yaoshan and Longping in one fell swoop."
Hearing this, Zhao Si was furious, "Master Zong, you love the people blindly, but you can't distinguish the priorities! You missed a big deal!" This chapter has been completed!
