Chapter 165 Although Xuzhou is still in trouble

After Li Quan's rebellion, Chuzhou's people's livelihood withered, it was originally Huainan Dazhou, and now there are only more than 6,000 people in the whole city. When Zhen Dexiu first arrived in Chuzhou City, Jian Zhen couldn't believe his eyes, and it took him several days to clean out the tattered government office. When he finally moved into the government office where Shang Ke lived, his student Li Shimin also arrived.

"You came just in time, so you were wronged under my curtain for a while."

Li Shimin is not the best among the disciples of Zhendexiu, but far water does not quench his thirst, and now as long as he is manpower, he needs it urgently.

Zhao Jingyun did not stay in Chuzhou, in fact, when he saw the destruction of this place, he had lost interest in traveling. He consulted with the captain, made up the balance, and continued north with them, arriving in Xuzhou on October 10.

Originally, Zhao Jingyun thought that Chuzhou was still dilapidated to that state, and Xuzhou, which had also gone through the war, would definitely not be much better. However, when he arrived in Xuzhou, he was taken aback, compared with Chuzhou, which was lifeless and still in the stage of recruiting exile, Xuzhou not only had a large population, but also showed a style that Chuzhou could not see.

This kind of style is not uncommon in Liuqiu, and that is discipline.

A small number of people wearing Self-Defense Forces uniforms patrolled the streets in groups to stop all acts that were incompatible with the law, and most of them were ordinary people in ordinary clothes but obviously begging for them, and they hurried from one construction site to another with some yellow-skinned and thin-skinned Huaibei people. When Zhao Jingyun arrived, he happened to see them finish repairing the city wall.

The original wall of Xuzhou had to be rebuilt after a section of the city wall had been destroyed during the last siege, and the use of cement accelerated the process, and the disciplined and organized Liuqiu infrastructure team played a key role in this matter. Of course, the newly built city wall only looks solid, but in fact, Xuzhou now relies not on the strength of the city, but on the guns on the head of the city.

"Brother Manqing, you were introduced by Guangliang, and you have been to Liuqiu, so you know the power of our artillery." Li Ye, who was so busy, still took the time to meet with Zhao Jingyun, and after a few cold words, he put forward a ban: "The forts on the city wall are not allowed to be approached by non-escort troops, in addition, you can play everywhere in Xuzhou, and the younger brother has heavy military affairs, so he will not accompany him, and he will look at Haihan." ”

"Brother Han is at his own convenience." Zhao Jingyun looked at this young and heroic general, and sighed in his heart, he is now the governor of Huaibei, although he is only a military attaché, and his rank is only a poor Zhengbapin-even Confucian who looks down on military attaches like Zhao Jingyun, he also feels a little wronged, but he has done a heroic job.

He didn't know the relationship between Li Ye and Zhao and Ju, Li Ye always remembered his experience of escaping when he was in Yuzhang Villa, if Zhao and Ju hadn't given him the last chance, where would he be today. Moreover, among the six teenagers of Yixue, he is currently the only one with rank, and among the rest of the people, there are many people who are stronger in ability and have greater merit than him, but the Son of Heaven has not had the opportunity to bring them up for the time being. The Son of Heaven mentioned this matter in a letter to him and some other righteous scholars, and repeatedly warned Li Ye that he had to fight for the righteous young men and do something to stop the mouths of those rotten wood and stubborn stones in the court.

Li Ye had to guard against not only the Jin State, but also the Hu people in the north, for more than a year, the Hu people no longer used the plundered people to trade with Shi Mo Guangyan, on the contrary, they adopted Shi Tianze's suggestion, set up prefectures and counties, and set up Confucian students as officials, although they were still very disorderly, but they had already shown the difference from before.

After bidding farewell to Li Ye, Zhao Jingyun walked alone on the street, looking at the people rushing around, and began to have some doubts in his heart, whether Chuzhou, which was governed by Zhen Dexiu, could really fight for this Xuzhou.

At present, the grain and materials in Xuzhou are not allocated by the government, but half of Xuzhou's coal and iron profits in the next three years are used as collateral to seek bank loans. As far as Zhao Jingyun knew, the total amount of the loan was as high as 500,000 gold yuan coupons, which was equivalent to 5 million copper coins of the Great Song Dynasty, which was really a lot of money. With the current situation in Xuzhou, Zhao Jingyun does not believe that the profits of coal and iron can reach this point within three years.

In fact, now the annual income of the Great Song Dynasty, that is, 50 to 60 million yuan, in Xuzhou alone, if you want to repay this money, I am afraid that it will be even more difficult.

In this way, he went to visit Liu Quan, the envoy of Tuntian, Xuzhou.

"What is five million in three years?" Hearing his question, Liu Quan laughed: "On average, it's only more than one million yuan a year, do you know how much it costs to buy iron in a year?" ”

This Zhao Jingyun really didn't know, and Liu Quan didn't tell him, just told him to rest assured.

Whether it is Liu Quan or Li Ye, or even Zhao and Ju who are far away in Lin'an, they are full of confidence in Xuzhou. The reason is very simple, compared with the original flow of development, Huaibei, where Xuzhou is located, has at least several advantages. The first is the advantage of manpower, according to Zhao and Ju's plan, Ziliuqiu will transfer 2,000 grassroots personnel to Xuzhou in stages, these people can control at least 100,000 people, compared with the development of Liuqiu, whether it is management personnel or laborers are stretched, this is already a great advantage. The second is the advantage of money and grain, when the flow of money and grain was first developed, the grain had to be transported from the land, the loss and risk can be imagined, and although Zhao and Ju were rich at that time, they still needed to keep turning over to maintain, which is like now, the annual income of the flow of a place is almost equivalent to the country of the Great Song Dynasty! The third is the advantage of resources, although Liuqiu can now transport iron ore from Qiongya, but for almost the entire East Asian market, the popular Liuqiu iron products, steel products are still in short supply, Xuzhou has the most important iron ore before the Nandu of the Great Song Dynasty, both coal and iron, very suitable for local mining and smelting. The fourth is the geographical advantage, compared with the flow of demand, Xuzhou by the Central Plains, whether it is to attract manpower or transport goods, are more convenient. The fifth is the accumulation of technology, which is one of the advantages that Zhao and Ju are most pleased with, after nearly ten years of development, the iron smelting technology of Liuqiu has been relatively mature, just copy it, almost take it can be used, and use it to make a profit. The sixth is that the foundation of Xuzhou itself is still there, when Xuzhou was conquered, because of the haste of the incident, the Jin Kingdom did not have time to destroy the original mines, and those miners were also there.

The most important thing is that in Zhao and Ju's strategy, Xuzhou is a springboard for the power he has accumulated for many years to officially enter the Great Song Dynasty. Because he did not go through the imperial examination, and he was not Enyin, whether it was a righteous boy or a northern hero like Yelu Chucai, it was extremely difficult to enter the officialdom of the Great Song Dynasty in the normal way. The slightest intention of this kind will inevitably lead to the opposition of those with vested interests, and these people have the right to speak in public opinion, although Zhao and Ju have already competed with them for this right to speak through the newspaper, but the place where the newspaper can go is limited after all. This is not the case in Xuzhou, where there are four wars, if it were not for the king of artillery, Zhao and Ju would not have the confidence to hold this place.

Another point is that it is almost impossible to copy the system implemented by Liuqiu in the Great Song Dynasty, and today he Zhao and Ju said that they want to govern the country according to the system of Liuqiu, and tomorrow the courtiers will help out a clan to confront him, and the righteous name he has obtained before will be lost in one day. In Xuzhou and Huaibei, if the policy of seeking the flow is copied, the minister's opposition will be much smaller, just as they tolerate Li Quan and Peng Yibin's semi-secession in Jingdong, and they believe that Huaibei is a remote theater of war, even if it is a strategy to seek the flow, it will not have much impact.

Zhao and Ju were very confident in the strategy of the flow, a small but efficient government, a strong, loyal and disciplined army, a disciplined and organized army of industrial workers, and a few nimble businessmen who were only selling their goods for now, and in the future, they would be selling their system. Although Liuqiu is good, for the people of the Great Song Dynasty, it is far overseas, and Huaibei is different, it is by their side, they can't cover their eyes and ears and pretend not to see and hear, they can't think that this system is only suitable for overseas and not suitable for the Great Song Dynasty.

Maybe it will take a long time, but Zhao Youju is not in a hurry, now he has self-confidence, he can be invincible in the face of the Hu people, and the longer he can lay a solid foundation, then the system he will build in the Great Song Dynasty will be more perfect and more durable.

Zhao Jingyun almost traveled all over Xuzhou, and even Li Guojian went to check, and after he came back, he specifically asked to see Liu Quan: "Liu Tun envoy, there is a problem in Xuzhou, I don't know if there is a solution to it?" ”

Hearing his words, Liu Quan was stunned: "What's the problem?" ”

"Flooding." Zhao Jingyun said categorically: "If there is a big flood in the Yellow River, I am afraid that Xuzhou will not be protected!" ”

In the fifth year of Shaoxi of the Great Song Dynasty (1194 AD), the Yellow River was diverted to invade Si and seize Huai, and since then it has flowed through Xuzhou, and the flood in Xuzhou has begun. Almost five years of a major disaster, three years of a small disaster, the escort team to seize Xuzhou is still short, Liu Quan is not a native of Xuzhou, so he does not know the old things of thirty years ago, and is shocked when he hears it: "Is this really the case?" ”

"Don't dare to lie to the world." Zhao Jingyun was in a heavy mood, after Liuqiu's trip, he had an excellent impression of Liuqiu, unlike the rest of the students who stayed in Lin'an, who regarded Liuqiu as Daoyi. Therefore, he agreed with the trust of the officials and the army of the officials, and he was extremely supportive of the officials' efforts to secretly cross Chen Cang and seize the land of Xuzhou. But after learning about the flooding of the Yellow River, he had to admit that capturing Xuzhou might not be a good situation.

If the flood is not handled carefully, the land of Xuzhou and Huaibei will be regained and wrecked small, and they are only afraid of losing their troops and losing their generals, and they will be greatly injured in their vitality.

"When Su Zizhan ruled Xuzhou, ......" Zhao Jingyun calmed down and continued, but before he could say a word, Liu Quan waved his hand: "Who is this Su Zizhan?" ”

Zhao Jingyun was embarrassed and said: "It's Su Shi, Su Dongpo, Zizhan." ”

"Haha, I thought Su Shi's character Dongpo turned out to be the word Zhan ......" Liu Quan laughed loudly, not embarrassed at all.

Zhao Jingyun continued with a wry smile: "When Su Zizhan ruled Xu, in the autumn of the tenth year of Xining, he encountered a big flood, and with his talent, it took forty days to get the big water to recede, and the Yellow House outside the east gate of Xuzhou was the will of this matter. ”

Liu Quan frowned when he heard this, and asked him to organize production, and he had ten years of experience in streaming, which was no problem. But let him control the water, and there will be floods in Liuqiu, but it has always been the party that has money and so on to deal with it, and it has little to do with him, so how can he deal with it?

"Zhao Manqing, since you know about this, there must be a way to control the water?" He grabbed Zhao Jingyun's hand: "Please also teach me!" ”

"Late life can't ...... The Yellow River seized Huai, the upstream is in the Jin country, and I am in the downstream, and there is really nothing to do. Zhao Jingyun sighed: "But fortunately, it is October at this time, and if there is a flood, it will have to be June next year, and there is still half a year to prepare." At the beginning, Su Zizhan said that the soil made water, built high embankments, fixed city walls, and dredged rivers, which was nothing more than this. ”

Liu Quan paused, groaned slightly, and then said: "It's okay, Fang Youcai, this old traitor is flowing to seek treatment of the water, wait for me to send a letter to him, ask him what to do, anyway, I have manpower in my hands!" ”

Liu Quan's words are true, after the loyal and righteous army and the escort team joined forces to break through Xuzhou, Peng Yibin can be regarded as having seen the gap between the combat strength of the loyal and righteous army and the escort team, especially the sharp weapons such as artillery, and has already understood that the escort team does not take this strength to heart at all. Moreover, he thought that his family and the escort team were of the same origin, and he wanted to ask for some artillery from the escort team, so he was extremely generous in letting people go, and most of the hundreds of thousands of people that Li Quan was coerced were given to the escort team. Although these people were still parked in Huainan, eating every day was also a big burden, so Liu Quan sent them to dredge the canal and build the road early.

"If the flood is eliminated, Xuzhou will have no worries." Zhao Jingyun still didn't let it go, he thought about it and said: "I will record this matter in my travelogue and send it to the newspaper in Lin'an to see if there is a way to control the water among the heroes of the world." ”

He mentioned the Lin'an newspaper, but he didn't know that the Lin'an newspaper at this time was not focusing on the Xuzhou front, but on another matter: the newly popular Yuju in the palace.

Zhao Heju brought out the badminton of this later life, originally to relieve Yang Miaozhen's boredom, she is active, but as an imperial concubine, she can't play with guns and sticks all day long, engage in sports, and let her vent. The thirty-six palace maids who were newly elected to the palace came in, and they were organized by Yang Miaozhen, and every morning was Yuju and swing, and in the afternoon, they followed Empress Dowager Yang and Han Yu to read and count, but things like learning rules and waiting for the Son of Heaven were put down. The ministers of the various factions in the DPRK and China tried their best to send these young girls to the palace, but they had no chance to contact Zhao Youju at all, let alone become concubines and compete with Yang Miaozhen and Han Yu for favor. Although Empress Dowager Yang paid attention to Xie Daoqing, firstly, Xie Daoqing had just entered the palace, and secondly, she did not want to hurt the harmony of mother and son too much, so she had to postpone it.

Soon, this feather bow spread from the palace and became a new entertainment activity in Lin'an. At the time of the Great Song Dynasty, both the powerful and the common people liked to have fun, and there was no reason why it was not popular to have this simple rule and not too many restrictions. Suddenly, in addition to the "Great Song Times Weekly", the new tabloids in Lin'an published about the gameplay and rules of Yuju, and some weaving mills that were originally crowded with silk and were almost closed down quickly switched to Yuju.

"Great Song Times Weekly" did not pay attention to this matter at first, but when Yuju became popular in Lin'an at a very fast speed, "Weekly" published a news that made the people of Lin'an very excited: the Qunyinghui Restaurant organized a Yuju competition for a year to congratulate Tianzi Yuyu.

Note 1: Su Shi's treatment of the flood in Xuzhou can be seen in Su Zhe's "Huanglou Fu", the original text is too long, and I will not repeat it, but I sigh here, Su Shi's talent in the world, unfortunately it is late at the same time as Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, so it cannot be used.