Chapter 64 Changing is the master of Dongfengchun (2)
"The small river on the left is Baimachuan?" Li Qingluan asked.
"Yes, it's Baimachuan." Zhang Yuanqing replied.
Li Qingluan nodded and continued to look at the scenery outside the window.
The Baima River is not wide, only twenty or thirty paces. The muddy yellow water flows slowly to the southeast.
The river bed is sixty or seventy paces wide, and the two dams are like two iron chains, locked on both sides of the Baima River. It is straight and flat. From time to time, I see riders and carriages galloping towards me from the other side. Riders often ride their horses to overtake them here.
past.
"Mr. Zhang, what does this mean?"
"Li Guanren, the new rules for traveling in the Song Dynasty are that people, carriages and horses keep to the right. So the road we are taking to Huanzhou is on our right. The road on the opposite side is from Huanzhou to Qingyuan Pass."
"In this way, we don't interfere with each other, and we can run at high speed. But what should we do if we want to go here or there?"
"There will be a simple bridge across the road, where cars and horses can communicate with each other on both sides."
"It cost a lot to build like this. How much food did the Song Dynasty spend? How many civilians were recruited?" Li Qingluan was silent for a while and asked curiously.
"Li Guanren, this road was built by the Sanqin Zhidao Association. It did cost a lot of money and food. I don't know the exact amount. But the people did not levy it."
"Where did the people come from to build it?"
"There are construction companies that are hired with money. And there are..."
"Just what?"
"They are forced labor camps and prisoner of war camps."
"The labor camps are the people who were found guilty by the courts in Jingzhao Prefecture, Qinchuan, County and other places and sentenced to hard labor. They are the people who sold military food and weapons in the past few years. There are about tens of thousands of young people who can work, and they are all pulled over to work.
The prisoner-of-war camp is where the captured officers and soldiers of our Xia army after all the defeats, whether they are party members, Uighurs, survivors or plundered Han people, are all taken to work."
Zhang Yuanqing glanced at Li Qingluan and continued, "It's just that the Han people who were plundered worked for a shorter period of time, three months, and they were screened and returned to resettlement. The remaining people took about half a year."
"It takes almost one year for the Uighurs, Shatuo, and Tuyuhun people. It takes almost two years for the Dangxiang people. If they are officials, or nobles... I heard that some of the Dangxiang nobles who were captured in the defeats in the second year of Yuanfu,
Still working in a prisoner of war camp."
"There were originally more than 200,000 of these people, but this year there are less than 70,000 left. Most of those who left were selected and returned to various places for resettlement, and some were tired or sick..."
"Being tortured to death?" Li Qingluan's eyes flashed coldly.
"No, no, the Song Dynasty is in desperate need of labor and is very concerned about these prisoners of war who can work for free. They are fed, clothed and warmed, housed in care rooms, and medical officers come down from time to time to check their health, doing ten
You can still have a day off, and you have to work harder than a farmer's oxen. But the daily work is still very heavy. Some noble people used to be pampered, but when they work like this, their bodies will naturally be overwhelmed. They may be tired or sick...nothing
Already."
Li Qingluan remained silent, just looking out the window.
I saw trees flying back one after another. The trees were not big, and they seemed to have been planted in the past two years. They looked like elm trees. They were too close here, and the carriage was running again, so I couldn't see clearly.
But you can see clearly on the other side.
Surrounding each tree is a fluffy green shrub, a few feet high, spreading across the entire embankment, with a tendency to expand toward the river bed. At present, it seems that one group is separated by another. But I believe it won’t be long before the embankment, river bed and
The hillside ravines on both sides of the embankment will be covered by this shrub, turning into a light green blanket.
"It seems like there weren't these trees in the past?" Li Qingluan asked, pointing to the trees and shrubs outside the window.
"Yes, Mr. Li. These are newly planted in the past two years."
"It's both building roads and planting trees. How much manpower and material resources did this cost? How much food did Zhao Shisan have to throw in?" Li Qingluan knew how difficult it was to plant trees and maintain greenery in the bitter cold land of the northwest.
It is difficult to grow food to feed people here. Who has the energy and leisure to plant these woods and shrubs?
"Guan Li, these trees were not planted by the government."
Li Qingluan was stunned, "Who planted it?"
"It's the extremely rich cotton merchants, silk merchants, grain merchants and maritime merchants in Jianghuai, Jiangdong, Zhejiang and Fujian who spend money to hire people to breed."
"Is there still this matter? Mr. Zhang, please tell me carefully."
"Li Guan is from Qinchuan County in the Song Dynasty. In the past two years, the government has been working hard to build straight roads and water conservancy projects. What has increased most among the people are the woods and shrubs you see, as well as large and small ponds and reservoirs. They are all the ones I just mentioned.
People need to pay people to plant and build it, as well as follow-up maintenance.”
"Pond reservoir?"
"Yes, those that are small and cannot release water independently are called ponds. Those that are slightly larger and have gates to release water are called reservoirs. These ponds and reservoirs have been inspected by the Bureau of Surveying and Mapping and the Bureau of Public Works, and are only allowed to be built if they are beneficial and harmless. During the rainy season,
Store water and slowly release water for irrigation as needed..."
"Then...are those southeastern merchants spending so much money and food just to please Zhao Shisan?"
"No, they are in exchange for forest stamps and water stamps."
"Lin tickets and water tickets?" Li Qingluan was very puzzled. What is this?
"Yes. Li Guanren, in the second half of the first year of Tianqi in the Song Dynasty, there were new regulations. For any number of trees and acres of shrubs planted in the northwest, corresponding forest tickets can be obtained after two years of planting. After that, every year, the surviving trees and shrubs
, you can continue to obtain a corresponding proportion of forest stamps. The same is true for ponds and reservoirs, and water stamps are calculated based on the estimated area."
"These forest stamps and water stamps can be of great use in the hands of merchants in the southeast. Cotton traders want to expand the cotton planting area? Bring forest stamps or water stamps. I heard that one acre of forest stamps can be exchanged for ten acres in Taizhou, Jiangbei and other places.
acres of wasteland.”
"wasteland?"
"Yes, since the first year of Tianqi in the Song Dynasty, all counties, prefectures and counties in the world have inspected their fields. Anyone who fails to report will be taxed. In serious cases, they will be convicted and confiscated. Under iron-blooded methods, in the past two years, almost all the land in the world has been inspected.
The fields were registered. Then this year, it was announced that all unowned land, mountains and lakes would be owned by the government."
"Guan You? This county remembers that Zhao Shisan's "Guoti Dagao" said that the sovereignty and ownership of all land in the world, regardless of mountains, rivers and lakes, belongs to the emperor. The property rights belong to each family. Now announcing these wastelands refers to these uninhabited lands.
The owner doesn’t have the property rights to cultivate the land yet?”
"Yes, Mr. Li. The new policy of the Song Dynasty was to exchange forest stamps and water stamps for wasteland. For example, if you want to expand silk production or a variety of grains, you can exchange forest stamps or water stamps for suitable wasteland to plant mulberry trees or grain. Think about it.
If you want to build a factory, you can exchange forest stamps or water stamps for the wasteland for building the factory. If you want to start a mine, you can exchange forest stamps or water stamps for the mining rights of the mine..."
Zhang Yuanqing explained in detail.
"Even salt merchants who want to distribute more salt and maritime merchants who want to build more ships can exchange forest stamps or water stamps... There are many other benefits. So these merchants went to the South China Sea to transport low-priced grains back.
Then transport it to the northwest..."
"Use white grains and golden copper coins to pay local people to plant trees and shrubs. In their free time, they organize to build ponds and reservoirs. People in these bitter and cold places in the northwest can not only plant their own land, but also divide their own land.
Some of the laborers planted trees and built ponds to earn money, and their lives were much better than before."
"Although the southeastern merchants spent a lot of money, the forest stamps and water stamps they exchanged can double the benefits. Also, the shrubs they planted, such as the sea buckthorn in front of them, and the harvested sea buckthorn berries are excellent supplements.
, it can be used as medicine when dried, or it can be used as preserved fruit, which can be sold for money."
"There are also ponds and reservoirs, which are filled with water when it rains. You can raise fish, and then slowly release the water to irrigate the fields below, and you can also collect money. Although it is meager, it is more than enough to support the people who maintain these trees and ponds. Miles and miles away,
In addition to the large initial investment, the subsequent investment will gradually dilute and the benefits will become larger and larger."
Speaking of this, Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but sigh: "Those businessmen are the best at settling accounts. If you do something beneficial, you don't need to use a whip to rush it, they will rush forward."
Li Qingluan sighed: "They are not the ones who know how to settle accounts. The one who knows how to settle accounts best is Zhao Shisan!"
Zhang Yuanqing was stunned for a moment, and then agreed, "Yes, Li Guanren is right. Zhao Guan's family is the most shrewd person in the world. I don't know how he could come up with such an ingenious method to make the wealthy businessmen in the Southeast and Central Plains willingly
Come to the northwest to invest and benefit. Some newspapers said that this is called wealth transfer, and it is truly a way of helping the poor with the rich."
"So, Zhao Shisan lured the wealthy people from Guandong to invest in the construction of these straight roads in the northwest?"
"Li Guan is a wise man. The northwest is bitterly cold, and the wealth is not as rich as those in Guanzhong. In order to support the use of troops in the northwest in recent years, the people's power has been used to the extreme. Therefore, relying on the power of the northwest, it is impossible to build these roads. Zhao Guan's family just engages in local bonds to attract investment.
Anyway, a lot of money attracted rich people from the southeast, Central Plains, Shandong, Hedong, and Hebei to form a group to invest in road construction in the northwest."
Li Qingluan suddenly asked: "With investment, there must be returns. The investment in building these straight roads is not small. Can we make a return on the capital and make a profit? If we cannot make a return on the capital and make a profit, the rich will only suffer once in a while." This chapter has been completed!
