Chapter 242 Only those who are constant have perseverance

As for the rumors of His Majesty the Emperor's companions when he was young, Zhen Dexiu had heard more than once, and he himself had seen several of them, all of whom had good conversations and had their own strengths, especially after the Son of Heaven set up a bachelor in the Boya Building, in the official documents of the palace, the names of these people appeared in Zhen Dexiu's sight more often. At first, he thought that these people were only valued because of the close ministers of the Son of Heaven, but after these two years, he had a different opinion of these people.

"Meng Xianyan, there is no need to say kind words, the old man only wants to listen to the shortcomings." Therefore, after Meng Xisheng praised him, Zhen Dexiu interrupted him.

"Hehe, Zhengong is going to Xuzhou this time?"

Hearing his eagerness to ask, Meng Xisheng suddenly realized why he had put down his official duties and appeared on this steamer to Xuzhou.

"Uh......"

Zhendexiu was stunned for a while, and after a while, he sighed and said: "This is not much to hide, the old man heard everyone say that Huaibei is better than Huainan, Xuzhou is stronger than Chuzhou, as the saying goes, seeing is believing and hearing is false, and the old man has to go to see it in person to believe it." ”

The gambling contract between Zhen Dexiu and the emperor has long been spread to the world, and of course Meng Xisheng knows it. He smiled and said: "Since the real prince wants to go to Xuzhou in person, then the younger generation doesn't have to say anything, as the real prince said, seeing is believing, after seeing in Xuzhou, the real prince knows what Chuzhou is missing." ”

"Judging by the words, at least there is one point that Xuzhou is not as good as my Chuzhou, and that is the victory of humanity."

If Li Shimin had his temper a few years ago, he would have argued with Meng Xisheng with a red face and a thick neck, but in the past two years, he has been by Zhen Dexiu's side, and he is really good at cultivating qi, so he has never burned at all.

Meng Xisheng was well versed in the principle of harmony and wealth, so he didn't argue with him, but just smiled: "If you talk about the victory of science, Chuzhou is indeed unparalleled in the world." ”

There was a vague sarcasm in these words, Li Shimin couldn't hear it, but Zhen Dexiu heard it. It's just that Zhen Dexiu was panicked at this time, and he was hesitating, so he didn't go deeper.

The gambling contract with the Son of Heaven is about to reach the time limit in an instant, whether it is the news that Zhen Dexiu got from himself, or the news that Wei Liweng sent in his letter, Zhen Dexiu realized that he had lost all this gamble. This made Zhen Dexiu very disappointed in his heart, in the past two years, he has recruited the world's famous scholars, and he has worked hard in Chuzhou, so to speak, he has used all the methods he can come up with, but the effect is still not as good as Xuzhou, in addition to being ashamed and annoyed, he is also curious.

What method did Xuzhou use to pull him down in just two years?

In fact, Zhao Youju instructed the Liuqiu Bank to give Xuzhou a large number of loans, and its policy was also applicable to Chuzhou and Huainan, but Zhende Xiu emphasized agriculture, and the emphasis was on the small peasant economy, and those loans were not only useless to him, but the annual interest gave him a headache, so he refused the loan from Liuqiu Bank.

From Chuzhou to Xuzhou is another day and one night, this section of the river because of the Yellow River intrusion, the amount of sediment deposited is large, so it affects the navigation of the "Central Plains". Just entering the boundary of Huaibei, Zhen Dexiu saw a completely different place from Huaibei, he also rewarded reclamation in Huainan, but because of the limited people's resources, there are still some wasteland, and because they belong to different farmers, the planting is very different. Huaibei is different, often thousands of acres belong to a farm, planted is a kind of crop, as far as the eye can see, there is no idle field, either has turned yellow rice and wheat, or green cotton, or low oil crops and potatoes, sweet potatoes. The peasants who appeared in the fields were all in groups, and the speed of their work was obviously faster than that of their work.

"These people have no land, why do they still work so hard to farm?" Li Shimin has been in contact with practice in the local area in the past two years, and he has also learned some world affairs, so he asked curiously.

"Although the field nominally belongs to the farmer, in fact the harvest is related to the farmer's interests, and if you work more, you will get more, if you work less, you will get less, and if you don't work, you will get nothing." Huaibei actually adopted the system of begging, so Meng Xisheng was able to explain to the two: "Hugh underestimated these people, so they didn't do discounted business, and in another five or six years, these peasants' families will be able to build new houses." ”

"New houses from five or six years?" Zhen Dexiu knows that this new house is not a random rammed earthen house, it should be used to pass on the "ancestral house" to future generations, for the Chinese people, having a land and a house is a property, if there is no land, there are a few mansions and descendants of future generations, it is not in vain.

"Brick and cement house." Meng Xisheng laughed: "This is the speed of Liuqiu. ”

Zhen Dexiu is even more embarrassed, in Huainan under his rule, the house where the people live is a rammed earth thatched hut built by the soldiers he ordered the soldiers, even if he governs Huainan for another ten years, I am afraid that this house will not be replaced.

"Why?" Li Shimin was a little suspicious that Meng Xisheng was scolding people.

"As far as I know, the grain yield per mu in Huaibei is two percent higher than that in Huainan." Meng Xi said quietly: "The yield per mu of cotton is even higher than forty percent. ”

This is another thing that makes Zhen Dexiu quite nerve-wracking, the same crop, Huaibei's yield is higher than Huainan, the first year he thought it was a problem with good seeds, so he stared at Huaibei's seeds, and even asked the emperor to use the same seeds as Huaibei, but the first half of this year is almost over, and the result is still the same.

"This kind of large-scale centralized management is beneficial to the crops themselves, and it is also convenient for fertilization, pest control and other means." Meng Xisheng said: "More importantly, large-scale centralized planting, when the factory wants to purchase raw cotton and grain for processing, it can save a lot of labor time, the deceased is like money, time is money, is the food in the clothes and mouths of the people, and the labor time saved is returned to the people who farm, so the income of Huaibei farmers is half higher than that of Huainan." ”

In fact, Meng Xisheng is still a little conservative, in addition to the income on the farm, Huaibei farmers also have another important way of income, that is, work. During the slack season, the farm will organize farmers to build bridges and roads, improve ditches, and even go to factories and mines to help with work, and this income accounts for about a quarter of the income of farmers in Huaibei.

"If the people have no land, the people's hearts will be unstable, and if this continues, I am afraid it will not be a long-term solution." Jin Deok so finally couldn't help but say to himself.

"The people are not landless and the people are unstable, but they are proletarian and hopeless, and the people will be unstable." Meng Xi said: "Land is just a kind of industry, if the people have a stable livelihood, a house and a house, the old and the young in the family have some support and education, and they can see the hope of a better livelihood, how can there be any reason for instability?" ”

"Since ancient times, the non-end road will not lead to civil unrest - by the way, I don't know if you have read the latest issue of "Great Song Times Weekly", there is an article on it, Cui Xianggong and Yelu Jinqing's joint "Merger Asks Right", have you ever noticed?"

mentioned "Merger and Ask the Right", Zhen Dexiu and Li Shimin glanced at each other, and they both had different colors.

Another reason that prompted Zhen Dexiu to leave Chuzhou and come to Xuzhou is this "Merger Asks the Right Question", which is also the most controversial article that has appeared in the "Great Song Times Weekly" this year. The three of them discussed the decline and fall of the Han Dynasty and the maladministration of the late Tang Dynasty, and all mentioned the core issue of "land annexation", believing that the decline and fall of the Han Dynasty and the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty and the Huangchao Rebellion in the late Tang Dynasty were all directly related to land annexation. He believes that the annexation itself is not a problem, but the unemployment that comes with the annexation: "What is the fear of the people who lose their land, but their livelihood, so that the people will lose their land and gain their inheritance?" The so-called 'customers' in the city are the same. ”

Zhao Yi did not show his own views in this article, he played the role of a guide throughout the whole process, guiding Cui and Yelu Chucai to show their arguments and arguments, arguing with each other, and finally summing up a consensus for the two. In the end, although Cui He still reserved his opinion on the issue of land annexation, he admitted that as long as the livelihood problem of landless peasants after the annexation could be solved, "the people's revolt would not be in danger."

This is the first time since last year's Huating uprising that the causes of democracy have been formally discussed, and it is almost a resounding signal to the bureaucrats and doctors of the world: land annexation is okay, but the problem of displacement caused by annexation must be solved.

These bureaucrats were not fools, and in light of the policies vigorously pursued by the bureaucracy, they knew that the solution lay in the development of industry and commerce, especially in industries that could absorb a large number of laborers. Yelu Chucai said in "Merger and Ask": If a family of five has one person working in the factory, then the family has no worries about food and clothing, two people working in the factory, then the family can be well-off, and three people work in the factory, so the ancestors of the family will get rich sacrifices. The so-called "family of five, one person has a job, then there is no worry about food and clothing, two people have a job, then the well-off can be achieved, three people have a job, then there is food and livestock." ”

Cui He also agrees with this point of view, he said: "If the family has a permanent property, the people's power is not poor, and the people's power is not poor, then the old can be raised, the young can be educated, and if there is education, then the heart of filial piety and loyalty will be prepared." Since ancient times, I have never heard of those who are filial and loyal to those who are chaotic, so the world is in great control. ”

This conversation, like a morning bell and a dusk drum, struck Zhen Dexiu's heart, making him feel that he was open in front of him, and the place where he had not been able to understand after studying science for many years seemed to begin to appear a glimmer of light. Cui He and Yelu Chucai's views are still a little fragmented, but if they can be integrated with science, Zhen Dexiu feels that the matter that he has been arguing with the Son of Heaven does not seem to be irreconcilable.

Seeing that both of them were touched, Meng Xisheng didn't say much, just looked into the distance. In the east, as dawn came, a scarlet ray of sunlight poured out, shooting like a sharp arrow through the sky and shining on the canal.

"Xuzhou has arrived." After a long time, with the sound of the whistle, Meng Xisheng muttered to himself.

This city is different from Chuzhou and Lin'an, it is a pure industrial city, you can see chimneys everywhere, and the people here are used to the roar of machines, because they also speak loudly, revealing a sense of arrogance and confidence. When he arrived here, Zhen Dexiu noticed this, unlike the people in Chuzhou, although the people here came and went in a hurry, they all held their heads high, and even saluted with a kind of confidence like the scholars.

"Ha, Li Zhizheng, do you see there, guess where it is?"

There is a building surrounded by a wall on the side of the canal, and the red flowers and green leaves stretching out from the wall make people feel happy when they see it. Li Shimin blurted out when he saw it: "Primary school!" ”

He had been to Liuqiu, had seen the elementary school, and knew that it was all in this style, so he could recognize it at a glance. Meng Xisheng laughed and said: "Exactly, now every county in Huaibei has such a primary school, and the textbooks in the school are sent by me on my own begging, so I know a lot - by the way, by the way, I have a poem by Zhu Hui'an in the Chinese liberal arts in the school today, I am very happy, and the sentence in it, 'How can the canal be as clear as promised, only the source of living water', it is really a witty saying!" ”

"Zhu Zizhi's poems have entered the Chinese literature textbook?" Li Shimin was surprised and delighted.

"Exactly, the official family is very happy with this poem, when I followed the official family to read, the official family once said, just this sentence, it can be seen that Zhu Hui'an is not a pedantic person."

Li Shimin gave up, but Zhen Dexiu was dumbfounded, and Meng Xisheng clearly refuted what Li Shimin said yesterday with the matter of this elementary school, that the victory of Chuzhou's humanities surpassed that of Xuzhou. It's just that the official family has never liked the doctrine of the hermitage, but they like one of his poems, and they can't help but put the cart before the horse-but this kind of textbook is approved by the official, he doesn't like the hermitage, why should he include the poems of the hermitage?

"How many people are in this elementary school?" Jin Deok-so asked.

"This junior doesn't know, but the junior remembers the number of sets of teaching materials sent by the junior, a total of 8,800 sets, and there is generally 10% of the leeway, and 8,000 children will be enlightened here." Meng Xisheng said: "But this is the number of the entire Huaibei, just Xuzhou, the younger generation is estimated to be about three to four thousand, and Jingdong also has five thousand, all of which add up to 13,400 people." Meng Xisheng said a number that made Zhen Dexiu speechless, and then said: "This is only the enrollment of these two years, the younger generation sent out the new enrollment textbooks in September some time ago, and this time directly sent 20,000 sets, and it is expected that the number of students enrolled in Huaibei alone will exceed 20,000." ”

This is an unprecedented thing, the dynasties, although there is an official school, but the number of students who can enter the school is very small, most of them have to rely on the private school to get a secret, and the private school Mr. is uneven, and there are often misleading people's children. Zhen Dexiu hesitated for a long time and said, "This is the will of the Son of Heaven, and there are ...... Where did this money come from? ”

"Naturally, it is official, the Son of Heaven has said in the policy of seeking the flow, the major affairs of the country, only education and people's livelihood, the people's livelihood is related to today, but education is thousands of generations, among the government expenditures, the cost of education should be the first of all expenses, if not, it is a dereliction of duty of the government." Meng Xi said: "At the end of each year, when the budget for the coming year is formulated, you always have to live within your means, and this is the most important thing, which is education. Now Huaibei is in ruins, there are a lot of places to use money, so the temporary education cost is not the most, I think the Son of Heaven will have an edict to Deputy Envoy Zhao, and the real prince may wish to ask when he sees Deputy Envoy Zhao. ”

"There is no such saint after Jonny." Zhen Dexiu sighed: "The official family's only one strategy is enough to go down in history." ”

Note 1: At that time, it was said that those who moved south and did not have land registration were customers, and most of them relied on domestic workers to make a living, forming an important part of the Lin'an citizen class.