Although it had been besieged for several months by Mongolia and countless soldiers and civilians starved to death, Zhongdu was still a rare large city in the world. When the three armies of Mongolia ravaged half of the Jin Kingdom, this city was almost the only city that not only
A large city that did not fall and even fought with the Mongolian army several times.
Therefore, in the past few months, people from Heshuo have been fleeing into Zhongdu in a steady stream. No matter whether there is famine or plague in the city, as long as the tall city wall is still there, it can isolate the massacre of the Mongols; no matter how difficult it is in the city,
It is better than the hell trampled by cavalry.
As a result, the population size of Zhongdu City increased instead of falling, which put great pressure on Yousi.
As far as food supply is concerned, two months ago, the emperor had already asked Xu Ding, the official of Zhi Daxing Prefecture, to determine the appropriate rules for the favor, and ordered all officials in the court to first report to the court if they were to be promoted or to be promoted.
The imperial court brought in millet and grass.
This edict seems to have added a prerequisite to the promotion of officials, which is essentially selling an official to get a title. The general price is to donate 150 shi of rice, be promoted to one rank, and be appointed as an envoy;
Seven hundred kilograms of rice can be moved up to two ranks of officials, excluding all ministers. If the number exceeds this number, the court will specially discuss how to reward.
With this help, the food tension has been slightly alleviated, but the management of such a large city involves more than just food supply. Xu Ding can no longer take care of the myriad of things in terms of public security, environment, etc.
After summer, the city is steaming with heat, and stinking water flows across the ponds and ditches on both sides of the city's roads. There are mountains of garbage and feces piled up on street corners. The terrible smell spurts out everywhere along with the heat wave, making people gag.
People who are willing to go out in this kind of weather are either poor people who have no food and clothing and have to work hard, or they have special reasons why they have to go out.
Du Shisheng had a special reason to go out.
The weather was so hot that even when he was sitting in a light carriage, he felt like he was in a steamer, sweating profusely. But when he put up the curtain of the carriage, he had to endure the stench from the street. Even the sweet spring near the Gongchen Gate of the palace
The streets are full of homeless people and dirty, rancid garbage.
Some refugees simply sat in the garbage with their skinny bodies naked, staring blankly at Du Shisheng's carriage passing by. Du Shisheng could only tighten the curtain again.
He had seen such scenes countless times in Zhongdu in the past few months and in various places in Hebei in the past few years, but every time he saw it, he felt so miserable that he panicked.
From his residence in Zhongdu, Xianlufang, go west to Tongxuanmen Street and turn to the north. This area was the place where the military disaster was most severe when Hu Shahu rebelled. Later, the Mongolian army threatened Zhongdu several times, and the defenders
Materials were taken directly from the ruins to make rolling logs and rocks.
By now, the entire area of four or five miles from Tennoji Temple to the north has become a completely white land. Because of the openness, the number of refugees gathering on both sides of the road suddenly decreased, and the attendants shouted and drove the vehicles.
Go faster... As a result, the wheel got stuck by the remaining bricks and tiles on the side.
When the horses finally started running briskly, the young attendant couldn't help but complain: "It's been really hard living in the country this year."
“Living in Zhongdu, is there any time when it’s not hard?”
Du Shisheng was wanted by the court in his early years and fled to Tangluo, Hebei Province. He suffered a lot, but it was not as hard as following a local like Sui. He smiled and said: "I bought some Jinlan wine yesterday and used it as
Gift. There is a jar left at home, which is for you. It is a good wine for entertaining envoys from the Song Dynasty, have you never drank it?"
"Really?" The attendant immediately became happy and urged the horse to walk briskly.
At this time, the vehicle arrived in front of the Changchun Palace. The entourage raised his eyes and looked at the Taoist temple, which was a little awkward among the ruins, and murmured: "I don't know whether that person will come today."
"It's the third time I've made an appointment with him." Du Shisheng said: "It's time. No matter how coy this guy is, he always wants money."
"Perhaps he is afraid of being implicated?" the entourage said, "Jie Shuai went from Liaodong to sell horses to the Song Dynasty, but it is quite taboo. We have been watched by others these days."
Du Shisheng chuckled twice: "That's possible. However, as long as we have a strong navy and a strong army, taboos and so on, if we violate them, they will no longer be taboos."
It turns out that in the past two months, while Guo Ning gradually reached out to Liaodong, Yizai Chucai focused on the economy.
In addition to engaging in trade with the Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties, mining and generating income on their own territory, Qilu Chu also worked hard on trade with the Central Capital. On the one hand, he used the fleet of the Ding Navy to carry out bulk trade of salt, iron, and grain with the Central Capital.
, on the other hand, private merchants were gradually allowed to participate, bringing a variety of materials and goods to the three states of Denglai.
After all, the power of the government has its limits, and when doing business, it is impossible to cover everything. The military government needs the wealthy households in the three regions of Denglai to follow the military government's footsteps and fill in the gaps in business, which also makes the people under Ding Haijun rule
After military and civilian life gradually stabilizes, there will be some channels for consumption.
However, when there are many merchants, it is inevitable that dragons and snakes will get mixed up, and they must be strictly controlled.
For those who secretly sell salt, iron, grain and other strategic materials, the Dinghai Navy naturally imposes severe punishments. Several companies were raided and several people were killed. But for some detailed management, there is no way.
For example, wherever these merchants went, in order to exaggerate their own strength, they would inevitably brag about the power of the Ding Navy at sea and the smuggling trade between the Song and Jin Dynasties.
Just in the first ten days of the month, the Qunhu Station established by Ding Haijun in Liaodong traded with Shi Liehuanduan, the governor of Fuzhou, in exchange for 300 horses, and then sold 100 of them to smugglers in the Southern Dynasties at a price of one horse per horse.
Baiguan, and it's not Huizi, it's a serious copper coin.
This matter was boasted by businessmen, and caused quite a stir in the Zhongdu court. This was because war horses were strategic materials that were prohibited from being sold to the Southern Dynasty by the Jin Kingdom. Earlier, there was a special order to trade horses with foreigners.
If a person has been in prison for five years and more than three horses have died, he is guilty of the same crime as a priest. The reward for arresting and prosecuting the person is, in addition to the reward for the sold horses, the official will first pay three hundred guan on his behalf.
In other words, selling three horses is a capital crime, and even the intermediary must be beheaded. In order to encourage the person to come forward, the official will advance a reward of 300 guan to anyone who reports it. When the case is concluded, the reward will be paid based on the amount of the horses sold.
The provisions of the law are very clear. With the shortage of war horses in the imperial court in recent years, the enforcement has become even stricter. Near the central capital, in order to collect the lost war horses, the price has even been quoted as high as fifty taels of silver per horse. If you don't want the silver, you can directly replace the official.
level one.
As a result, when the merchants from Shandong came, the officials in the DPRK and the Central Government knew that Laizhou Dinghai Navy was still doing this kind of business? You have a fleet of ships in your hands that is amazing, right? You can even sell war horses to the Song Dynasty? Take ten thousand steps back
Tell me, even if you make money through smuggling, why don't you send some horses to Zhongdu?
In the past few months, the imperial court has obtained a large amount of food from the smuggling trade in the three states of Denglai. Otherwise, tens of thousands of people would have starved to death during the lean period in Zhongdu. But where did the navy's food come from?
The officials in the imperial court probably didn't want to get anything in return.
On the contrary, the death of Tu Shanyi made many people feel that Ding Haijun was weak after losing the aid from North Korea and China. So many people took advantage of this opportunity to create some criticisms against Ding Haijun. Some were even stunned.
The ignorant officials in Qing Dynasty heard that Du Shisheng was the representative figure of Guo Jiedu in Dinghai Navy in Zhongdu, so they went to the small courtyard where he lived to scold him, and sometimes threw stones in the courtyard.
Du Shisheng didn't care about this, and he also knew that Guo Ning didn't care about it even more.
At the current level of the Jin Dynasty, most of the trouble they can cause people is just with their mouths. Ding Haijun holds a knife in his hand, and the knife is stained with blood. How can he care about these mouths?
However, as long as Daikin is still there, it is always necessary to keep track of the trends in the government.
No matter how coquettish the court is, they will always have to obtain food, salt and iron support from Ding Haijun; just like Qingshan Nu, the most trusted servant of the emperor, no matter how coquettish, they still hope that Guo Ning will provide them.
The benefits promised previously. Even if there is trouble in words, in practice, both parties will have what they need.
Speaking of Qingshan Nu, the emperor's trust in him and the Chamber of Servants was extraordinary, so a group of forces had gathered around him recently, and some people began to cling to him.
But the reason why the emperor attached so much importance to the Bureau of Internal Affairs actually showed that he was out of control over the officials in the court; and the more attention the Bureau of Internal Affairs received from the emperor, the more obvious it was that it was suppressed by the officials.
Therefore, although Du Shisheng was only a mere foreign official, he did not feel any pressure from interacting with the most popular ministers in the court.
At this moment, the carriage and horse drove into the side gate of Changchun Palace, and then entered a secluded courtyard.
As soon as Du Shisheng got out of the car, he saw Qingshan Nu standing proudly in front of the hall door.
In the past few months, Qingshan Nu has made a lot of money, and he seems to be in a good mood. Therefore, his figure is fatter than when the two last met. He wears a gold belt gifted by Du Shisheng around his waist.
, I can hardly hold my stomach.
Du Shisheng offered his hand to him, and just as a smile appeared on his face, before he could speak, Qingshan Nu shouted: "Take it!"
According to Mr. Cheng Minsheng's "Research on Prices of the Song Dynasty", during this period, the price of buying a horse in the eastern border area of the Song Dynasty was 120 to 150 guan of banknotes. The price of buying a horse on the Sichuan border was 200 guan of banknotes, and it was sent to Lin'an, together with freight.
, the total price exceeded 500 guan. Xin Qiji once bought Guangxi horses, 500 guan, 500 guan, but the Guangxi horses were not very tall.