Zhao Xing was looking at his boat reflexively, and a large box was being hoisted on the boat and put it on the assault boat next to it, and after a while, the assault boat carried the big wooden box and rushed to the dock of the small village, and six or seven strong men stepped forward to carry the wooden box ashore.

The wooden box was opened, and three mastiffs the size of calves scurried down, Shuai Fan took the clothes thrown down by the bandits, and let the three dogs sniff it, Zhao Xing saw that the other party was busy, and turned around and replied to Lu Yu: "Information determines judgment!" I happen to know a little more information, generally speaking, the triad is relative to the white society, and without the protection of normal social officials, there can never be an underworld—this is a simple truth.

Investigation, intelligence, robbery, sale of stolen goods...... This is a whole set of work, and the lake bandits can hide from our patrol officials, but they can't hide it from the local officials, and without the protection and connivance of the local officials, they can't get away with it for a long time. So the fact must be that the local officials were the leaders of the robbers, and that the group of robbers was organized under the noses of the local officials – and this conclusion is infinitely closer to the truth. ”

There was a shout of killing in the village, Zhao Xing yawned, and said regretfully: "I originally wanted to borrow the lake bandit to train the army, but I didn't expect this lake bandit to be so vulnerable, it's too disappointing." ”

History changed at this moment, originally the Taihu Lake bandits did not encounter formal suppression until Yue Fei raised the army, but now there is no need for Yue Fei to come out.

The history is also very similar, in the heyday of the Taihu Lake bandits, it is said that there were 100,000 people, and even made their own loach boats to fight with the official army, but Yue Fei only used two commanders and 1,000 people to kill the 100,000 lake bandits, and the same is true today. Zhao Xing also had 1,000 people participating in the war, but unfortunately there were no 100,000 people in the lake bandits. These 1,000 people killed a small group of lake bandits, which was like killing chickens with knives and smashing chickens with sledgehammers

After this battle, the bandits in the small village were completely slaughtered, except for two or three bandits who were left as witnesses, the rest of the residents of the village were all captured by Zhao Xing in the name of bandits, and the entire village was burned.

Zhao Xing's harshness shook the entire Taihu Lake, and the banditry reported by Zhao Xing also shook the imperial court. With those two witnesses, the imperial court realized that some small villages along the Taihu Lake had become "robber villages", and the men, women, and children in the villages were not innocent. They were more or less involved in robbing and covering up the bandits, and even some local governors were robber leaders themselves, and the imperial court immediately issued an edict. Strictly rectify the public order situation in the lakeside villages......

After this battle, Zhao Xing looked for fighters on both sides of Taihu Lake - that is, to find faults. He visited the suspicious villages one by one on a warship, publicized his achievements everywhere, and used all kinds of means such as intimidation, threats, and blackmail, but unfortunately, the people in those suspicious villages were as obedient as sheep, and no matter how Zhao Xing persecuted, they had no heart to resist.

September. The imperial court issued an edict to reward Zhao Xing, and by the way, it also reprimanded Zhao Xing for causing trouble everywhere, and sternly demanded that Zhao Xing return immediately. Along the way, he was rather sullen.

In the same month, the Tatar state heard that the main army of Liang Yiqi had entered the Hedong region and confronted the Song dynasty. So he led his own men and horses to attack Helan Mountain, invaded Luo Bo's army, robbed and killed more than 1,000 households in Western Xia, and plundered tens of thousands of cattle and sheep. After Liang Yiqi learned the news. Hurriedly retreated from the front. Rescue the Tatar besieged place. But when he was about to reach his destination with his army, the Tatars had already voluntarily withdrawn.

Shuai Fan at the beginning of the battle. The performance was not good, and seeing that Zhao Xing's stomach was full of evil fire, he hid in the assault boat early and did not show up at all. Lu Yu had nowhere to hide, so he had to persuade insincerely: "Recruitment, our purpose has been achieved, isn't it, after the first battle, there is no robbery of water thieves along the way, the river is unimpeded, and the imperial court has ordered a reward, why are you still depressed?" ”

Lu Yu actually slandered in his stomach: "Come on, Zhao Liren, I can recognize you, and you are one of the seven bachelors of Sumen, it is said that you are still a great poet, but I look at it as a militant."

That's right, he was a warmonger, the first battle: burned the entire sandbar at once, turning the sandbar into a torch for three whole days, and no one knew about the passing ships. Fighting again, slaughtering the youth of the entire village, and filling the prison camp with prisoners, such a person is not warlike, who is warlike? You said that you are ruthless and hardened like this, who dares to rob it, and the real bandits will pretend to be good citizens in front of you. What else are you fighting? ”

Lu Yu misestimated Zhao Xing's thoughts, the reason why Zhao Xing was sullen was not because there was no battle, but because he remembered the textbook's evaluation of Yue Fei.

After the Jin people went south, all the cities in the north fell, only Yangzhou still insisted on resisting the Jin, and the water transportation line from Yangzhou to Hangzhou was the lifeline of the northern anti-enemy frontline, but the Taihu bandits had robbed this lifeline for a living.

If Yue Fei wants to resist Jin, he must open up this lifeline, but what does the textbook say, Zhao Xing remembers that it said that Yue Fei eliminated this group of robbers, which was the biggest stain on his life, because he suppressed the "rebel army".

"How will people think of us in a few years?" Zhao Xing couldn't help but muttered softly.

Lu Yu was even more puzzled: "The Lu of the food king, the matter of loyalty to the king." As court officials, we maintain a peaceful situation, although the killing is a bit heavier, but they also deserve it, that group of lake bandits, each of them bears at least ten lives, if it is wrong to kill them, then why are the people who died under the hands of the robbers? Are they born to die? Rest assured, I will defend the solicitation above the concert. ”

Lu Yu misunderstood again, Zhao Xingyi grinned, and said: "The jurisdiction is wrong, we don't need to worry about someone avenging the bandits, what is written on the chapter is that the bandits fought to death - we don't kill them, is it right to stretch our necks and wait for them to kill?" ”

The ancients were too simple, Lu Yu had never experienced such an obvious reversal of black and white, he opened his mouth, and was still thinking in his heart: "Fight and die?" No, it was obvious that the bandits put down their blades after a little resistance, and then they ordered to leave no one alive, how did they die in battle. Ah, I see, indeed, in this way, there is nothing wrong with us chasing and killing the lake bandits to the village, and then killing the lake bandits, who can blame...... Coming and going, it saves a lot of trouble. ”

The Song people ruled the military with literature, and the battle situation depended on one mouth, and it was the literati who held the right to speak, and the literati said that the war situation was like this, and the history books made such a record. After the first battle, Lu Yu was transferred by the regiment commanded by Zhao Xing, and he didn't know that Zhao Xing had handed over the battle report.

After being silent for a moment, Lu Yu hummed and asked, "Lord Zhao, I don't know about this war, I can be helpful to adults." ”

Zhao Xing beckoned, and the servants had already handed over the draft of the march, and he pointed to the draft and said: "The main credit for this war is you and Shuai Judge, and I just praise it." It's just a little bit of force. ”

Lu Yu's face couldn't contain the ecstasy, he went out to fight this time, just thinking that he could take the opportunity to get some credit. Unexpectedly, Zhao Xing attributed all the credit to him and Shuai Fan, which made him overjoyed. Hurriedly said: "Look at what the lord said, I just followed the saddle and the horse, and I just worked hard, how can I take on such a great achievement." ”

Lu Yu is a magistrate, and the official rank is above Shuai Fan, if Zhao Xing concedes his merits, then he, the errand runner, will naturally take over the merits that Zhao Xing does not want. Shuai Fan, who specifically commanded this battle, became a messenger, which made Lu Yu quite embarrassed.

After a bit of modesty, Lu Yu reluctantly thanked Zhao Xing for his kindness, and asked awkwardly: "Ask for it." Have you ever informed Shuai Shuai of this situation? ”

Zhao Xing patted Lu Yu on the shoulder: "You don't need to ask about this matter, my people, I will reward you, as long as you are closer to Lord Shuai in the future, it will be done." ”

Cai Jing led officials at all levels to greet Zhao Xing on the wharf, and he praised with excitement on his face: "As soon as Zhao Zhaojiao left the port, the bandits disappeared. This battle. With the tiger power of Lord Zhao, the Yangzhou route may be quiet for three years. The merchants along the way must be grateful to Lord Zhao for this move, and listen to me write a poem ......"

After Cai Jing finished writing the poem, the rest of the people also took turns, one of them recited a few words of praise and poetry, while others were searching for poems there, Cai Jing pulled Zhao Xing and whispered: "Leaving people, the cooked land reclaimed this year should also be recovered, what do you think about this?" ”

Zhao Xing changed his mind and understood what Cai Jingdi meant: "Lord Cai, the position of Yangzhou officials is not enough to count Tian Lao......

Cai Jing said impatiently: "Yangzhou is rich, and the office field has always been discounted to officials, and Yangzhou officials are not short of money, nor are they short of that bit of land." ”

Zhao Xing also said: "Yangzhou has established a horse army under the command of the commander, and it needs money to raise horses. Also, there was only one battle in this battle, and the stolen goods were to be handed over, and the soldiers found nothing. ”

Although Cai Jing is a cadre of the new law, he does not want to cause trouble in this sensitive period, so Cai Jing shook his head and said vaguely: "A thousand soldiers, with 200,000 acres of ripe land for reward, this is too much, it is better to fold four, 150,000 acres of land to sell at a regular price, and the remaining 50,000 acres of land ......"

The cooked land sorted out by Zhao Xing should not be sold at the usual price, because there is plenty of rain here in Yangzhou, and there is a water conservancy expert who has sorted out the mature fields, and the irrigation and drainage systems are very perfect. This kind of field belongs to the fertile land, and it is the best quality paddy field, which is very sought-after, and ordinary people will never buy it, but will only pass it on as a descendant field.

Zhao Xing started from the deep processing of agricultural products in Hangzhou, and had experience in the comprehensive development of agricultural products, and the ponds dug in the fields of Yangzhou in order to store water were also fully used by him, planting lotus, raising fish, crabs, and shrimps, and carrying out comprehensive breeding.

Therefore, this kind of land is sold at the usual price, which is already a cheap sale.

Zhao Xing saw that he couldn't hide, and replied briskly: "Yes, 100,000 mu, this amount is just right." Lord Cai thought about it thoroughly, this number is divided into one point, and it will never provoke the public danger of the imperial history...... In this way, the Yangzhou officials worked hard for a year, and after hard work, the ripe fields were sold to the officials at the usual price to thank the officials for their support for the reclamation of the displaced people. ”

Cai Jing nodded with satisfaction, and added with a flat expression: "I have a servant, and I have recently served in the military, I plan to learn from the others, buy some properties for him in Yangzhou, so that he can support his family, he has taken a fancy to the 3,000 acres of land near the Qingpu River, and I will let him go to you when I turn around." ”

3,000 acres, Cai Jing is not greedy, he only picked 3,000 acres of 100,000 acres of ripe fields. However, Yangzhou is the world's transit center, and the number of officials here is unusually large, and in this seat of government, throwing a stone can hit two officials. In the city, the proportion is even higher.

But what can be done about this, Zhao Xing nodded and said, "In this case, Lord Cai will convene the officials and announce the matter in private." ”

Cai Jing smacked his lips unsatisfactorily and said: "The displaced people have only cultivated the land for one year, not to mention the production for one year, and the land reclaimed in the second year will belong to them, which is too cheap for them." They should be allowed to open up another year of famine. ”

Zhao Xing smiled: "Lord Cai, there are more than one million homeless people in Qinfeng, and we can actually continue to recruit homeless people." With the precedent of these displaced people, we will attract more people. ”

Cai Jing nodded. Said: "Also, Yangzhou, a big port, has been opened up since the Han and Tang dynasties, how can a state, Dingkou only have more than 100,000 - this is not enough, I remember that Yangzhou was a city of 200,000 Dingkou in the Tang Dynasty, and I founded the country in the Song Dynasty for more than 100 years." can't catch up with Tang Shi, it's too undeserved. We can move at least 100,000 more! Leave people, don't you say? ”

Why is Yangzhou so small, Zhao Xing was also surprised when he first came, and he privately consulted Cai Jing. Cai Jing's answer was: Because Yangzhou is the hub of the world, it has always been a place where soldiers must fight, and Wei and Wu fought here for a hundred years during the Three Kingdoms era, except for soldiers, the people did not dare to gain a foothold in this land.

Finally, the Taiping era came, and the Jin Dynasty was not long in peace, and Yangzhou recovered slightly. Immediately after that, the era of Wuhu Chaohua began. After nearly a thousand years of massacres, more trees grew than people. Although the Great Song Dynasty has been peaceful for more than 100 years. But the trees that grow for hundreds of years cannot be cut down by one person, so the forest occupies the land, and the forest becomes a mulberry field unless a large number of people are organized.

Zhao Xing's relocation of the displaced people, just gathered a large number of people, collective efforts to open up wasteland, each newly opened wasteland has been renovated roads, dredging canals, so that the area around the reclamation point has become suitable for survival, and Yangzhou's climatic conditions determine that as long as the land is opened, it is a good land. After all, hundreds of years ago, they were originally fertile fields, so once they were restored, they immediately produced an astonishing amount of production.

Uncultivated fields are called "raw land", and after reclamation, they are called "cooked land". The price difference between raw land and cooked land is several times, or even dozens of times. With this reversal, the government's reclamation has become a large production, and there are many rich people in Yangzhou, and there is no worry about not being able to sell the land......

Cai Jing is a smart person, others can't see Zhao Xing's means of operation, he has already revealed the mystery. Yangzhou is known as the "rain town", as long as the wasteland can be reclaimed, it must be fertile land; As long as the Yangzhou government can continue to persist in reclamation, Cai Jing's reputation will be famous because of Yangzhou's virtuous policy, even if he is a little greedy among them, no one cares. Why don't you do such a thing that is not only famous, but also has huge benefits?

However, Cai Jing's remarks violated two principles. One is government credit. Zhao Xing promised to reclaim the displaced people for a year and then take it back. The displaced people started to reclaim the wasteland in the spring of this year, and the reclamation should be completed in the spring of next year, and now Cai Jing wants to recover the land in advance, where is the government's credit?

The second is to involve the issue of land prices, only half a year of reclamation, although Zhao Xing has tried his best, but most of the land has not been renovated to perfection, some of the road traffic in the reclamation points is only rough and rough repair, if you want to further improve, it will take a winter's time. Now that the land is sold in advance, there are many lands that will inevitably not be sold for a good price. And in the rest of the winter, the Xiang army will continue to build roads, which is equivalent to the work of the Xiang army for those new landowners. Because after the road was opened, the price of land would continue to rise, and all these benefits went to the new landlords, and the farmers and the local government received nothing.

Seeing that Zhao Xing was hesitant, Cai Jing continued to increase: "There are a lot of public fields in Yangzhou, and some places are located in remote areas. If we want to continue to reclaim the wasteland, we can't let the displaced people suffer, and the recovered land will be replaced with a nearby job field, and the government can give some subsidies to the wasteland in the distance, such as selling the job land to the government at the usual price, and the government will also sell those wasteland at the regular price, so good? ”

Cai Jing's assertion also involves the loss of state-owned assets. But Zhao Xing thought for a moment and decided not to go against the unspoken rules of officialdom, he hesitated for a moment, and said briskly: "The money originally sold in the workshop should be subsidized to Yangzhou officials, and the rest will be put into storage." Now that the money has been embezzled by me for a year, and the Yangzhou officials have also stripped their belts for a year, so it is better to take this opportunity to give the officials a little subsidy. I converted the subsidized officials' land money into the number of acres of land and distributed it to the officials, what did Lord Cai think? ”

This is an equal share of interests, and the subsidy money of the officials at the beginning is converted into land at a regular and affordable price, and the officials can cultivate it themselves, even if they resell it, they can get several times the profit......

Cai Jing saw Zhao Xing on the road like this, and immediately nodded: "Very good, so, the work of the distribution of land and property ......"

"This year, about 300,000 acres of displaced people will be reclaimed, 150,000 mu will be distributed by Lord Cai, and the remaining half will be by me, what do you think?"

Cai Jing was surprised: "There are 300,000 acres? I thought it was in my early 200,000s. ”

Zhao Xing immediately overturned his assertion: "Lord Cai thinks it's 200,000 mu, let's do it according to this amount, you half and I half, each 100,000 mu, take it and distribute it." ”

When Zhao Xing said this, he agreed to take out one-third of the acres of land and let the senior officials privately share the spoils. Cai Jing hurriedly threw a peach and reciprocated: "I heard that the family in the Liren Mansion is full of service, and is disposing of the land and property in the four places, how much does it take to leave the people?" 30,000 acres? ”

There are three chief officials in the department at the road level, Cai Jing takes 20,000 mu, if Zhao Xing takes another 30,000 mu, plus Xian Si takes 30,000 mu, will the remaining officials still have something to share?

Zhao Xing can't help but take this land, since it involves privately sharing the spoils, all the officials present must take a share, otherwise others think that you are bent on telling the truth, and they don't dare to do it. In this way, it is also a "public enemy of officialdom" that blocks other people's financial routes.

Zhao Xing didn't do things that made too many enemies, but he didn't do things that were too much, so he immediately replied without blinking: "How dare you be equal to Lord Cai, I have broken in half, and I am already satisfied with 15,000 acres, even if I have more than 10,000 yuan, I am also willing." ”

Cai Jing was happy, as soon as his upper lip touched his lower lip, 30,000 acres of fertile land turned over, and he deserved it, it was a cheap purchase and sale of cultivated land with a clean reputation, and the proud Cai Jing couldn't help but lose his temper, and blurted out: "Not bad, Zhang Zihou sold the people's land, but he only bought a few thousand acres, which provoked the imperial court's special responsibility, we are now, tens of thousands of acres of fertile land are put in the pocket, who in the court dares to say a word?" ”

After saying this, Cai Jing suddenly felt speechless, he faintly heard that this Zhao Xing in front of him had a good personal relationship with Zhang, if these words reached Zhang's careful ears, Cai Jing did not have a good life, as soon as he thought of this, he broke out in a cold sweat and looked at Zhao Xing carefully.

Zhao Xing was unconscious, and he consciously guided: "The difference lies in doing things: we have resettled tens of thousands of disaster victims, reclaimed tens of thousands of acres of wasteland, and the officials have worked hard to find a little soup and water leaking from their fingers, and it is not too much." We have done so much work, so hard, who dares to say that we are at fault, where is the fault? Is it wrong to resettle displaced people? Wrong with reclaiming wasteland? Says who? ”

Cai Jing's eyes flashed, and he immediately straightened up, and asked aggressively: "Yes, where did I wait?" ”

Zhao Xing also wanted Cai Jing to chat about a few words of corruption, and when he saw Cheng Shuang beckoning at him not far away, he knew that there might be something at home, so he hurriedly said haha, hurriedly said goodbye to Cai Jing, and walked towards Cheng Shuang.

"Hu Niang is here and brought news from home, teacher, go home quickly", Cheng Shuang hurriedly reported.