The fleet was heading north, but somewhere, dozens of people were in a secret meeting.

One of them asked, "Is there any news from Guangzhou?" ”

I asked Zheng Lang.

Zheng Lang was really angry this time, and said that we would solve these barbaric problems in ten days. But only some of the people who were present, as well as the upper-level people, quickly went east with Zheng Lang's delay for two days, and the real inside information had not yet reached Guangnan East Road. At least the average person doesn't know.

However, the name of the person, the shadow of the tree, Zheng Lang's sudden arrival in Guangzhou still caused some relevant people to worry. However, because he didn't have many troops, he didn't think that he was dealing with the barbarians, or that he was about to deal with the barbarians.

I didn't know what Zheng Lang was here for, and I didn't dare to ask, so I had to inquire about Zheng Lang's intentions.

One person replied, "He went north along the Longchuan River." ”

"Going north?" A room full of people pumping air conditioning.

Another knocked on the table and said, "What about going north?" Don't forget, he also took a hundred horses with him, and such a goal would attract attention everywhere. If we come to Xunzhou, we will definitely know the news. ”

Everybody.

Another person said: "There is a change in Guangzhou." ”

Everyone was silent together, pointing to the pavilions and officials of the source, as well as some powerful people.

In the Song Dynasty, the largest amount was Huai salt, followed by Jieyan, and salt from other regions, and the situation was different in each region. For example, the salt in Dengmi and the two states is mainly supplied to most areas of Jingdong Road, and this part of the salt is still profitable. Salt in Bincang and two states. Supply Hebei Road and Qingzi Qi three states, where the situation is different from other regions, to offset the invasion of Khitan salt. The most direct trade law was implemented, the price of salt was low, and the Song Dynasty government did not make much profit. Fujian Changqing salt. The output is low and supplies Fujian Road, but because of the difficult transportation of mountain roads, the imperial court wants to make profits, and the price of salt is high, which makes the southwest area of Fujian Road infringed by Guangyan and private salt. Jingyan area, supply Kuixia four roads. Zhejiang salt, supplying two Zhejiang Road and Jiangdong Road Shezhou area. There is also Guangyan......

This system was implemented by Zhao Kuangyi.

Zhao Kuangyin's three most important family laws. Do not kill scholars, but use them to collect the hearts of the ministers, so that the ministers will serve the country with all their hearts. Don't kill the descendants of the Chai family, treat them well, after all, Chai Rong has the grace of knowing Zhao Kuangyin, but he usurped the throne of the Chai family and feels guilty. The third is that no tax increases. Five generations have changed, the people are too bitter, including his family are living in a frightened day, he dominates the world, just to give the people of the world a good life.

The execution was good at first. However, in the first battle of Gaoliang River, Zhao Kuangyi finished all the family foundation left by his eldest brother, realized that the Khitan was strong and had to increase troops, the state expenditure was huge, and it was difficult to raise taxes publicly, so he put his ideas on other aspects, such as encouraging merchants and strengthening control over several franchises.

It can't be deprecated, there is a good side, there is a bad side.

In order to prevent confusion in the salt administration, the scope of salt production and trade in various places was strictly divided.

However, times are changing, and the scope of these divisions has gradually expanded, and there are many problems with all kinds of salt, and the same is true for Guangyan. The national salt administration is mainly in Huai Salt, Jieyan, Zhejiang Salt, Jing Salt, Jianyan and Jingdong Salt. These six kinds of salt account for almost 80 percent of the country's salt consumption. But there are two kinds of salt, one is Hebei salt, which is the least profitable. The second is Guangyan, because the control is weak, and the policy of soothing is the mainstay, for fear of provoking the barbarian life, and the profit is also very small. The price of salt is low, and the tax is low. (Official statistics, more than 2 million stones of Huai salt, more than 1 million stones of solution salt, more than 500,000 stones of Zhejiang salt, about 200,000 stones of Guangyan, about 100,000 stones of Jianyan, about 40,000 stones of Jingdong salt and Hebei salt, well salt is a mystery, and the actual amount of salt produced may be twice as much)...,

And so the trouble came.

Guangyan is divided into two parts, the two salt farms in the Beibu Gulf area, the salt production is small, mainly supplying the Beibu Gulf and Leizhou Peninsula several states, of which Gaozhou and Douzhou (later abolished, merged into Gaozhou with Xinyi) Because of the local situation, Yunmin sold cheap salt for himself, and the imperial court directly gave up the salt profits in this area. The other is Guangzhou salt, which accounts for more than 95% of Guangnan's salt output. The output is high, while the population of Liangguang is small, and the supply far exceeds the demand. In addition, the management of the imperial court was lax, so some relevant pavilions, officials, and Haoqiang colluded with smugglers to transport salt to Qianzhangting and other places in order to make profits. As a result, the salt administration was chaotic in eight states, and Guangzhou was also among them.

Once the new salt policy came out, it did not strengthen management control, and once it was openly allowed to make Qianzhou and other areas a trade zone, and it was even rumored that several prefectures in Fujian would also implement a trade law, then these big pavilions, powerful and officials would seek greater profits.

Thus this loose union splits.

is not so concerned about what Zheng Lang is doing.

One person said: "It doesn't matter, as long as foreign merchants dare not transport salt to Qianzhou, sooner or later the new salt policy will be abolished." And when the time comes, they will stand with us. ”

What to do, people are the source, salt comes out of their hands, although they are not happy with this split, there is no way to take them. The most hated thing is that some businessmen in Guangzhou are beginning to move, and if they want to join the ranks of commercial salt, then the impact will be greater.

After discussing for a long time, he didn't come up with the goal of Zheng Lang's trip, anyway, the goal is obvious, a hundred horses, and everywhere he goes, it will attract attention. Ignoring it, he began to discuss business again, and one person asked, "Can the people on the dock see clearly?" ”

"I can see clearly, the big box of goods on board is salt, the middle box is silk, and the small box is spices."

Jiangnan West Road also produces silk, and is more developed than Liangguang, but some people buy silk from the north, after some Li Man's reprocessing, weaving embroidery drawings, and then transport back to the north for sale, if these silks, the price is more expensive, and some of the nobles are not valuable.

"What's the origin of the comer?"

"I heard that it is from the Qian family in Hangzhou."

"That King Wu Yue?"

"King Wu Yue's family mostly moved to the capital, and they are probably members of the Qian family."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and laughed together: "These people are so bold, don't talk about the Qian family, what about the descendants of King Wu Yue, they have long since declined!" ”

One of them said: "That Xianggong has served as the prefect of Hangzhou for several years, and they probably hold on to this. Don't you dare to go south. ”

"What about that Xianggong, does he have the ability to clean up the barbarism of these mountains?"

Everyone laughed again.

That is impossible, that is, Zheng Lang will gather all the troops of Liangguang. It's impossible.

"Do it or not?" One asked.

"Why not?"

During this time, they were very hard, not only bitter, but also bitter in Fujian.

The Fujian Road transfer envoy is Yang Hong. Almost the entire Song Dynasty knew that Wang Ding, Wang Sui, and Yang Hong, all three of them came from top official eunuch families, but they did not have the consciousness of the children of official eunuchs, and they specialized in suppressing powerful officials, even the emperor's eunuchs. The means are extremely severe, and they are known as the Three Tigers of Jiangdong. After coming to Fujian Road, he still did not change. Under his suppression, the smuggling salt dealers in Zhangting Erzhou were silent.

Cai Xiang and Li Suzhi have mild personalities, but Li Suzhi has Zhang Qi, a killing god, and thousands of elite soldiers by his side, who dares to touch them? Cai Xiang mainly came for the reform of the salt administration in Qianzhou, and the means were quite moderate at the beginning. With the case of Xunqian Salt Road. Cai Xiang was also enraged. Some people wanted to raise the price of salt, but Cai Xiang immediately gathered local soldiers, or local soldiers from other states, and brought them to the second army of Sanzhou, specifically to find trouble for those merchants who raised the price of salt. He also distributed the Huai salt in the warehouse to the market, and suppressed the limelight of the rising price of salt. …,

As for Liangguang, needless to say, there is a more fierce person sitting in town.

But these people are not worried.

The root is still in the pious road, or the Jianlong Road (the mountain road from Shaozhou Jianfu to Qianzhou Longnan), as long as these two roads do not come to the merchant salt, Cai Xiang has to keep using Huai salt to save the emergency, and finally have to give up the new salt policy and restore the previous Huai salt ban law, they can declare victory.

Therefore, the salt team that was deliberately escorted by Lao Liu was the largest without him.

Now there is a group of people who are not afraid of death, and they have to use violent and bloody means to deter. Otherwise, under the temptation of profits, Guangyan will continue to pour to Qianzhou. The worst thing is that the output of Guangyan is very large, and if it is released, there will be no problem for more than a dozen salt farms to produce seven or eight hundred thousand stones a year. It's just that production has shrunk because of sales problems.

There are also more expensive silks and spices.

One by one, my heart was moved.

……

The conspiracy was unfolding, and Zheng Lang was unconscious on the ship, and continued to discuss Lingnan affairs with Tian Yu and Zhou Xin.

If you want to do well, you have to solve the three most important problems.

The first is the kingization of the barbarians, the Song Dynasty seemed to give these barbarians the greatest freedom and independence, but it went too far, and it has become the biggest constraint to the development of Lingnan. I can't go on anymore, but I can't kill it, can I kill it? It must be used in combination.

The second is the road, if you want to get rich, first build the road, at this time there will be no cement roads and cars, but with a good road, you can make the regions communicate with each other, not only conducive to the civilized atmosphere blowing all over Lingnan, but also conducive to commercial development.

The third is water conservancy.

Except for some simple water conservancy projects built by some conscientious officials, the people in most areas of Lingnan do not know what irrigation is. Definitely not.

But there are local situations in different places. For example, in the north, water conservancy is mainly to divert water, but the flood damage is the above-ground river, except for the dry season in autumn and winter, since the peach blossom water, there is a threat of flooding. The Jiangdong area is different, the water potential is stable, or the polder area, but the flood disaster is in the summer. The two Zhejiang provinces are different, close to the sea, not afraid of summer floods, but afraid of autumn typhoons, bringing heavy rain, forming flash floods, and giving rise to autumn floods.

The Quang Nam area is more complicated.

Some areas are close to the sea, which is conducive to the construction of enclosed fields, some areas are far away from the sea, and the terrain is low-lying, which is conducive to the construction of polders, and some areas have mountains and rivers, which are conducive to the construction of weir fields and pitians, and some areas are mostly mountainous areas, and can only build terraced fields.

The water potential is different, some areas have a stable water potential, and they are afraid of summer floods, and some areas are afraid of the rapid water potential, and they are afraid of autumn floods. It is not necessarily autumn, there are mountains and rivers in the area, the flash flood time is very unstable, and there is still water in summer.

If you want to cultivate farming, you must first go up to water conservancy, but the situation is complicated and you have to treat it differently.

As for the reform of salt administration in Qianzhou, it only occupies a small corner in Zheng Lang's heart.

Tian Yu didn't mention Zheng Langti when he saw it, and couldn't help but ask again: "What about those Fan Riders?" ”

"They didn't go ashore at all, they're still in the rear."

"In the rear?"

"What can you do if you are not in the rear? If it is in a plain area, the climate is suitable, and there are good horses and weapons in hand. A hundred horsemen were enough to crush more than a thousand barbarian troops. But in this mountainous area, the trees are dense and the mountain roads are rugged. What can Fanqi do? Zheng Lang stretched and said.

"Then why did you bring them here?"

"They're my guards."

"Zheng Xianggong, don't sell Guanzi."

"Zizhong, please rest assured. Since I have brought them here, they will come in handy. However, how to use it has to be considered. Now is not the time for them to appear. ”

"......"

"Don't worry, I'm sure of this trip. If there are no good generals to come forward with advice, with my level, it will be very difficult to deal with Nong Zhigao. Zheng Lang said the truth. If you don't open the golden finger, you are only at the military level, and you may not be Nong Zhigao's opponent. …,

"But ......," Tian Yu didn't speak. Now even if Di Qing comes, he doesn't dare to lead only 900 people to suppress the bandits, no, now it seems that there are only more than 400, and more than 400 soldiers want to be in seven days, but it's not right, and the road will be delayed for two or three days. There is also time to return, the real time is only two or three days available, and there is no time to climb a dozen mountains, how can we talk about extermination? Di Qing couldn't do it.

"That's enough, Zizhong. I may not be as good as Nong Zhigao, but Nong Zhigao is only one, and it is impossible to see Nong Zhigao everywhere. There are no tigers in the mountains, the monkey is called the king, the skullless pious road or the Jianlong Dao, there are no tigers, so it is my turn to dominate the monkey. ”

Zheng Lang said extremely lazy, and the two of them were speechless.

The real situation is not what the two of them see, and a series of arrangements have been arranged a long time ago.

Zheng Lang said it easily, it was just strategic contempt, but tactically it was very important, and the boat could still capsize in the gutter.

Upstream, the river was fast, and the boat was slower until the next evening, when the waterway ended. Longchuan has not yet reached the end, but the upstream water is shallow, the current is more rapid, and it is no longer possible to sail. So the people spontaneously built a small wharf here.

According to the jurisdiction of each state, it is actually within the scope of Qian Zhou. However, there is also a large area of living in the middle, which has been very vaguely divided. In the past, it was almost a three-way area, and there was a simple mountain road, so there was business to and fro.

Because of the brutality and the small amount of commerce, it has become an important channel for private salt, so some people call it the pious salt road, rather than the business road. In response to this trend, two simple taverns have appeared here one after another, a simple tavern with breakfast, tea and wine and food. There are also some small stalls and more than a dozen households.

There are also fierce people, bandits and outlaws, and fugitive prisoners who find a living here. The government didn't want to ask about this small pier. Until the beginning of the salt reform in Qianzhou, Zheng Lang took the initiative to share the pressure for Cai Xiang and set up a small garrison here, stationed more than a dozen soldiers, which is now to protect the safety of salt merchants, but it will play an important role in the future. Once the threat of the Qiandao Road is lifted, it will not only be a salt road, but also an important trade road, and even Zheng Lang is ready to spend funds to renovate this road. Then there will not only be a garrison, but also an important place for taxation. There are many merchants coming and going, and a small grass market will be formed here. As for the town, Zheng Lang didn't want to think about it. After all, the population base of this area is too small to become a town.

One by one, the ships docked.

Several soldiers came to the spirit, ran out of the outpost, and shouted: "What is loaded, open, open." ”

Zheng Lang stepped down from the boat and handed over the coupon book he had taken from Guangzhou.

"Lao Tzu is illiterate, open the cargo box and let Lao Tzu check."

Zheng Lang's face suddenly sank, and he shouted: "A certain person came from Guangzhou, and I only heard that a few people have the responsibility of protecting the safety of merchants here, who gave you the right to check the goods!" ”

He has been in power for a long time, and although he is not angry, he is also arrogant. With a low shout, there was a murderous aura on his face.

Several soldiers couldn't help but be stunned.

Zheng Lang took out ten yuan of new banknotes from his sleeve, which were not issued much, but they had begun to become popular. Because of the strict anti-counterfeiting measures and high cost, it has also been recognized by the people. It's a pity that Zheng Lang was worried that the number of issues was very small. There are them on the market, but not many.

Ten money banknotes, neither more nor less, Zheng Lang said again: "A few soldiers take it to drink tea, but be content." ”

Several soldiers were stunned again, and one soldier wanted to come over, but was stopped by another soldier. There are a lot of people in this group, and it's not easy to mess with. And with such goods, it is very difficult to get it. A few soldiers took the notes and left in a low voice.

Tian Yu frowned, and said dissatisfiedly: "What has become of it." ”…,

As a pacification envoy in Guangdong, soldiers are also under his jurisdiction, and he is naturally not happy to see these soldiers like bandits.

Zheng Lang pulled his elbow and said, "Zizhong, let's do business, a few soldiers and bandits don't pay attention to them." ”

And they began to dismount the ship, and to carry the goods down from the ship, and to set up a simple camp in the open space beside it, and to surround the boxes in the middle, because they carried some valuable goods, and put them in the tents.

In the distance, more than a dozen big men stared at them coldly, with a fierce look on their faces. Loosely managed, this dock continues to become a place to hide dirt and dirt, and these dozen or so big men are not good people at first glance. But in the face of Zheng Lang's huge team, he didn't dare to produce any evil intentions.

Zheng Lang didn't want to ask them.

They had nothing to do with each other, and the night passed peacefully, and the next day as soon as the sun came out, they began to set off again.

By this time, there were less than five days left.

After a while, the small pier was left behind, and the road became rough. Zheng Lang frowned, this trip, Zheng Lang had made a lot of careful arrangements, including cars, boxes, and baggage and weapons prepared.

But the difficulty of the mountain road is still out of his imagination.

Even if the car is of good quality, from time to time it is damaged due to bumps.

It can be repaired, but the time is a little tight.

As the number of delays increased, Zheng Lang became a little impatient. Tian Yu and Zhou Xin didn't know what Zheng Lang's plan was, and they still couldn't notice the difference.

It's just that the deeper you go, the denser the woods become, and the large green shadows are so oppressive that people are almost out of breath.

There was a voice, and from time to time there was the voice of the barbarians, but the group could not understand what they were singing except for the more than 200 familiar barbarian representatives. And only voices were heard, because of the density of the trees, but not a single figure was seen.

There are also many mountains, mountain after mountain, and there is almost no end.

Tian Yu asked worriedly: "Zheng Xianggong, is this area a familiar area?" ”

Zheng Lang shook his head: "No, I have already entered the living area." ”

In a word, Tian Yu felt an inexplicable nervousness. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )