Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi returned to the capital in the eyes of thousands of people, and Fan Zhongyan recommended Dr. Xu Yuan.

Zheng Lang is also paying attention to this matter.

In his heart, the best person to go to Jiangnan to raise grain is only this Xu Yuan, without him, this person is a very great doer, very flexible.

The most famous is Xu Yuan's nail and material quota.

Under the recommendation of Fan Zhongyan, the imperial court made Xu Yuan the judge of the Jinghuai system in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and was responsible for collecting tea and salt franchises and transporting grain to Beijing. This person is a strong and sensitive official, especially able to negotiate financial interests, and is the best at managing money. After taking office, he sent Jiangzhou and other counties to store grain, and raised more than 1,000 ships to send grain to the capital. In fact, it is not so simple, resulting in a shortage of grain in the north, there are several reasons mentioned by Zheng Lang, the great drought, saving military spending has made the northern granary empty, and the manpower and financial resources have hindered the grain transportation in Jiangzhun. There is another reason why Zheng Lang deliberately did not say that due to the surge in military spending, most of the grain supplied in the southeast was converted into money and silver silk and put into the northwest, and the northwest purchased grain from merchants, which was a progressive move. Otherwise, as in the past, officials and businessmen colluded to use tea and salt to transport grain to the northwest, and the grain price was high and the grain quality was poor. Therefore, this time the two strategies are mixed, at least in terms of food quality.

However, the system has not been established, and there are many drawbacks, and it is precisely because of Xu Yuan's appointment that the shipping department has expanded its authority and laid the foundation for the establishment of the progressive measure of purchasing and distributing on behalf of the company. Even this method of purchasing grain provided a basis for Wang Anshi's later equalization method.

The equalization method has taken too big a step, but the purchase of grain is a policy of progressive significance.

Not only the purchase of grain, but also the drought in the north, but also the ships. Most of the boats are run by the government, and a few are run by the private sector, and the government-run ones rush for time, and the privately run ones only care about making profits, so many of the grain ships that have gone up the river have fallen apart and sunk into the river, causing huge losses.

Since ancient times, it has been the same as the official, and there is no shortage of tofu scum projects in the Song Dynasty.

Xu Yuan suspected that the shipbuilders had colluded with the shipowner, cut corners, and used fewer iron nails, but there was no evidence. The owner of the boat shop thinks that the wood has sunk, and the big things have been turned into small things, and the small things have been turned into small things, which is Xu Yuan relying on the power of the government to bully the people. In the face of everyone's accusations, Xu Yuan suddenly came to the dock, dragged out a new ship, set fire to it on the spot, picked out the iron nails from the ash pile, weighed them all, and found that only one-tenth of the amount of nails was used. Xu Yuan was furious, punished the dock owner, and made an example of him. And the real amount of nails will be used as the amount of nails used for each ship in the future. Since then, the craftsmen have not dared to cut corners, and the grain ships have continued to arrive in the capital, and there are few incidents of ships sinking with heavy loads along the way.

As a result, the history books will complete a certain amount of work in a certain period of time, or produce a certain item and spend a certain amount of materials, which is called labor quota and material quota.

This is a milestone in economic history.

However, this is also the Song Dynasty, which is not ashamed of business, including Ouyang Xiu and other scholars, who greatly admire Xu Yuan, and even sing poems with each other, and have a good relationship. Not only does this person have an economic mind, but his ability to adapt is also very prominent, when he used to serve as the magistrate of Danyang, it happened to be a severe drought, and according to the regulations, the embankment of the local Lianhu Lake could not be opened to ensure the smooth flow of the canal, so the person who stole the lake was guilty of murder. In order to borrow the lake water to irrigate the people's fields, Xu Yuan decided to divert water, so he irrigated more than 10,000 hectares of people's fields, and the years were abundant. Asked above, he said a word, convenient for the people, if you want to blame, blame me alone.

It was this person who held this position for thirteen years in Jiangnan, not only reformed some of the Cao Yun system, but also smoothly sent the wealth of the Six Routes to the north, so that the Song Dynasty got the most powerful support. In the hearts of the world, everyone pays attention to Ouyang Xiu and Bao Zheng, but in Zheng Lang's heart, this person's contribution to the country is far more important than the former.

Without Fan Zhongyan's recommendation, Zheng Lang also planned to recommend this person to Zhao Zhen. It's just that borrowing money has become very difficult now, there are many rich lords in the Song Dynasty, and the capital can borrow at least 10 million guan of wealth, but who is willing to lend money to the imperial court, so it took a long time to get together five million guan of money, and Zhao Zhen allocated one million of money from the inner treasury, a total of 6 million guan to Xu Yuan.

There is a lot of confidence in money, but the task is heavier than in history, not only the grain in the capital, but also the grain in Shandong, and the grain in Shaanxi.

Xu Yuan is on the road.

Zheng Lang is thinking about a question, the ability to recognize people and the ability to employ people.

Cattle people, eyes are also cow eyes, giant eyes are like candles, Fan Zhongyan's ability to recognize people, few people in the world can match, such as among the generals, he said that Ge Huaimin is not good, Ge Huaimin is not good, and Di Qing, Yang Wenguang, Guo Kui, and Chong Shiheng are all famous generals. The valued Han Qi, Fu Bi, Xu Yuan, etc., are all outstanding among the civil ministers.

But if you don't use good people, you can see it right away.

This point is quite different from Lu Yijian, when did Lu Yijian use what people, including the reuse of Fan Zhongyan to go to the northwest, and Fu Bi's envoy to the Khitan, are the best examples of employing people. However, Fan Zhongyan's strong recommendation of Han Qi was a failure.

Perhaps from this point, we can see the real gap between the two in governing the country.

The Song Dynasty was still in dire straits.

May is the Huangmei season in the south of the Yangtze River, and the north is less affected by it, but May is also the rainy time in the north, but it never rains. Zhao Zhen is fortunate to be in Xiangguo Temple, will come to watch and pray for rain. Then he said to the auxiliary ministers in the capital: "Since there has been no rain in the spring and summer, I have been disappointed in the years, and I am caused by my immorality, but I have forbidden to eat every day, pray, and take the blame." ”

It's definitely not a lie.

The scholars and doctors drink and eat every day, or occasionally soak in beautiful girls, but Zhao Zhen eats three meals a day in the palace, but there is no meat. Coupled with the review and review, staying up late without food, the body is getting worse and worse.

Zheng Lang lowered his head and didn't speak, but he was full of emotion in his heart.

Zhang Dexiang said: "Your Majesty loves the people in heaven, and is so sincere, and the ministers are ready to balance the position, and they cannot preach good governance and pass the worries of Your Majesty." ”

If it is a gentleman, Zhang De is more like a gentleman.

It is not Your Majesty's fault, Your Majesty has done a good job, so that today, it is our failure to do a good job as ministers, which worries Your Majesty. The real crux of the problem lies with these doctors.

Zhao Zhen said: "The court is detailed, I and Qing and others should not pay attention to it, but the people's suffering, especially need to be examined, and those who benefit the world will do it." Ministers and others must consult with the public heart to conform to the will of God. ”

Fan Zhongyan said: "When the ministers hear the sound of virtue, it is said that there are many disasters, and when the people are cultivated, and the ministers and others are careful to save the criminal law." The fear of this saint is in accordance with the will of heaven. The minister is doing a number of things today, all of which are important for His Majesty to increase and repair Mingde. First, the fasting style is sincere, the edict is specially issued, and it is clear that disasters are frequent, and he dares not to sin himself but fear, so as to tell the Chinese and foreign ministers to repair the province together. Second, send the Quartet to relieve the prison sentence, and those who are not harmful will be reduced. Third, the magistrates of Tianxia Prefecture and counties visited the people who were lonely and could not survive, and gave special relief. The four edicts went out of the homes of the dead one by one, and they were not as weak as being saved. Fifth, the people of the frontier who were driven captive by the horses were redeemed by the officials and their families. Sixth, the edict is not allowed to deal with the lawsuits that have been forgiven, and the violators, the officials are guilty of violating the system, and if they are not forgiven, they still send the ministers to place the division and take it. If Your Majesty does these things, please the hearts of the people and meet the heavenly precepts. In the past, Shang Zhongzong sang grain co-existed in the dynasty, fearful and cultivated, soothed the people, and returned in three years to the sixteen countries, called Zhongxing. Your Majesty said today that due to disasters and cultivating virtues, the blessing is a trillion people, the light of the road is thousands of years, and the world is very fortunate. ”

A few of them were also urgent, but the other prime ministers were silent one by one after hearing this.

Do you want to do some good deeds for the people, and care about the money from the treasury?

Zheng Lang said: "Your Majesty, the disasters have become more and more, and they are also man-made. Tang Dynasty Bai Juyi poem said that the water of the Yangtze River is like blue in spring, and the minister stayed in Taiping Prefecture for nearly four years, although the water is green in spring, it is not green to the point of blue, and the other seasons are turbid, mixed with sediment. Since the Han Dynasty, as long as it is the Daxing Dynasty, the population has reached nearly 100 million trillions, over-reclamation, over-grazing, indiscriminate cutting of mountains and forests, and soil erosion. So the drought is getting heavier and heavier, in the past, it was said that Dafeichuan was still the best pasture in the world in the Tang Dynasty, but the minister talked with the blind felt, and today Dafeichuan has more than the Gobi Desert, and it has long been impossible to see the sky and the wilderness, and the wind blows the grass and sees the scene of cattle and sheep. Not only the drought, but also the Yellow River, a few years ago the Yellow River burst its banks, once ruined the world, I am afraid that the Yellow River will be in the future. ”

"Know, don't talk nonsense," Zhang Dexiang said nervously. If the Yellow River bursts again, the country will not have to fight against the Tanguts, but will also collapse itself.

"What I'm talking about is that in the future, if the Yellow River floods this year, you don't have to worry about drought." But Zheng Lang didn't come up with any good strategies to encourage tree planting, whether it was official planting or people's surname planting, and where would the money come from? If you don't plant a lot of trees, you waste a lot of money.

Or rotation, the growth of trees in the north is slow, some trees can barely grow into trees for at least 20 years, there are 20 years of light, making ink and cutting pine, heating to bake charcoal, cooking to burn firewood, compressed to the other half, I am afraid that it will be cut into a bald mountain early.

Or contract to private individuals, once that is done, the barren mountains may not be contracted much, but the good mountains overgrown with trees have become a new tool for Haoqiang to make money, and the people are even more miserable. Besides, there are two major river systems in the north, the upper reaches of the Haihe River are in the Khitan, and the upper reaches of the Yellow River are in Western Xia and Tubo, who listens to you?

Zheng Lang laughed self-deprecatingly, what he said was more malnourished than Fan Zhongyan, so let's ask for rain.

After leaving duty, Zheng Lang came to Fan Zhongyan's house and talked about the exemption law.

Fan Zhongyan was very happy to receive him, and asked Fan Chunren to buy some braised meat and water wine on the street, he is also a character who lives an extremely hard life like Zhao Zhen, usually three meals are rarely meaty, and he can eat meat at Fan Zhongyan's house, which is the treatment that only distinguished guests can enjoy.

Every time he saw this situation, Zheng Lang didn't know what to say. Therefore, Lu Yijian is even more hard, anyone can afford it, including Han Qi, but he can't say that Fan Zhongyan is the biggest political enemy in his life, but De Ying is too perfect and almost invulnerable.

"Xingzhi, you came just in time, I have only been in the capital for a short time, there are many places I don't understand, I just asked you today."

"I also came more than a month before you, and I'm afraid I don't understand many places. But I have an important matter to discuss with you today. ”

"What's the matter?"

"Exemption from military service?"

"That's it."

"What's wrong with it?"

This exemption law has been repeatedly improved by Zheng Lang, and Zhang Fangping, Han Qi, and Fan Zhongyan have provided reference opinions, which is infinitely close to perfection in theory. And when it came to the final performance, Zheng Lang also integrated the word Fadu into it.

Wang Anshi's exemption law was implemented only after many partial implementation inspections, and regional differences were also taken into account. However, it has not been done perfectly, for example, in the border areas and poor prefectures and counties, either the military service is too heavy, or the financial difficulties are difficult, and there is no way to replace the military service with money. This is the main reason for the controversy over the exemption law, so it was voluntarily discarded and not implemented. However, there are still regional differences, and the Guangde army gives 20 yuan a year, and if the population of a family is not large, it can barely be fed and clothed. But only a few hundred miles, in the city of Hangzhou, this money is not enough to feed one person.

So it is roughly divided into five grades, but each grade sets a standard, and there are some disparities between high and low. Then let each state capital decide for itself, and the government will use more errand service, and the government will be convenient, but the rich people who pay the duty tax will not agree, and the levy will be less, and the government will be inconvenient. If the servant is paid more, the servant is happy, and it can increase the treasury for the imperial court, but the rich people who pay the duty tax will not be happy. Given less, the officers did not agree, and no one even agreed to participate. For the sake of political performance, officials should set an example for the imperial court, so they will levy more yaqian and give them rich remuneration, but as representatives of the rich, the officials will not agree to do so, but hope to do it in the opposite direction.

This creates a delicate balance that is self-regulating in each state capital. In addition to the standard, if it exceeds this standard and is lower than this standard, there will be trouble, and the court will not agree when it is reported. In addition, Hangzhou and Taiping Prefecture have also implemented the exemption law for several years, accumulating some experience for the imperial court. With this standard control, there will be no big mistakes.

Therefore, in theory, this is a relatively perfect change.

The imperial court does not seem to have received much benefit, and the goal of changing the law is not to make the imperial court collect money, but to facilitate the people. But in reality, liberating many of the middle class to do business, run industries, or grow crops is a healthy economy. It also relieves the pressure on the poor people, the court's intentions are good, let the third-class households and above come to deal with the errand, but the fact is that in the locality, the collusion between officials and businessmen can forcibly make the sixth, seventh, and eighth and other extremely poor people pay their errands without pay, so that their families are ruined. It's invisible and not easy to see.

But there is one that can see the real effect.

Box soldiers.

Wang Anshi's reform focused on accumulating wealth, while Zheng Lang's reform set the goal on convenience and frugality. Therefore, the theme idea is different, Zheng Lang deliberately used this exemption law to throttle the box soldiers, so that the box soldiers changed from soldiers to people. It cannot be said that all the soldiers were dismissed, but it still has positive significance, and taking in the victims as soldiers during the great disaster and famine and reducing the number of displaced people will reduce the probability of a peasant uprising indefinitely, and also give the victims a way to live. There is still some labor in the area, and there are soldiers who can tinker with it. There is also the hunt for thieves, when the real war comes, you can't count on the van soldiers, you can see it right away, but you can scare it. They can also select some brave men from the box soldiers to enter the forbidden army and increase the combat effectiveness of the forbidden army.

However, there were too many soldiers in the Song Dynasty, and in Zheng Lang's heart, the best number of soldiers was 250,000 to 300,000. With a reduction of 200,000 soldiers, at least one salt franchise saved the wealth. As soon as a disaster breaks out, tens of thousands of soldiers can be immediately absorbed, and after the disaster, the expenditure can be reduced again. For example, at the peak of last year's van soldiers, it reached 500,000, how to absorb them?

Since the implementation last winter, 80,000 Xiang troops have been reduced before and after, and if the country is peaceful and the labor service in the northwest is reduced, 30,000 or 40,000 Xiang soldiers can be eliminated, and Zheng Lang's goal has not been achieved, which is also good.

But there is a big drawback to this perfect law of exemption......