"Zhizhou, this is Yang Tiexin and Guo Xiaotian of the Huating County Gun Society......"

"Zhizhou, this is the abbot of Jiaxing Baosheng Academy......"

"Zhizhou, these are the ...... of the Jiaxing Chamber of Commerce"

Although he could not go deep into the grassroots people, Zhao Jiaren's business in Jiaxing Mansion over the years also brought together some famous local figures. first greeted these people one by one, and then Zhao Jiaren stepped onto the podium.

looked at everyone condescendingly, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Zhao Jiaren, the governor of Fuzhou who raised the cotton business, and I want to invite you to talk to you about cotton-related matters." Before I do that, I would like to ask you if there is anyone who has not earned money growing cotton. ”

Hearing this, everyone present at the meeting showed some uneasy expressions. When asked by the people of the government about making money, the first feeling given to these people was that the government must have moved their minds, so no one dared to speak up.

Zhao Jiaren did not urge, he beckoned, and Zhao Jiaxin and his wife's Zhang family stepped onto the podium. After these people introduced themselves first, Zhao Jiaren asked everyone, "Do you know these people?" ”

At least half of the people below are aware of their movements. Zhao Jiaren continued: "This Zhao Jiaxin is my eldest brother, and these Zhang family members are my sister-in-law's family. To tell you the truth, I was the first to start planting cotton in Zhangjia, Huating County, and I was the one who has been harvesting cotton in Huating County all these years. ”

This self-introduction has a slight effect, and everyone who knows Zhao Jiaren's true identity still has the same attitude, and those who don't know Zhao Jiaren's identity have a sense of intimacy.

As a Great Song Dynasty official, Zhao Jiaren did not think that he could get any love from the people, and the previous words were just trying to make these people a little closer, he continued: "I want to ask you, do you want to pay taxes if you want to farm. ”

As soon as these words came out, all the people who were close to Zhao Jiaren changed their faces, but they knew that Zhao Jiaren never spoke. Even those who didn't know Zhao Jiaren at least began to listen carefully to Zhao Jiaren's speech. In this day and age, no one wants to pay taxes.

"Now the imperial court is building cotton to be able to sell cloth to make money, so the more cotton you grow, the better. The reform of public land has already made everyone dissatisfied, but what is the use of being dissatisfied. I think we have to deal with it. There is only one way to think about it, and that is to make everyone not pay taxes. But I said that if you don't let everyone pay taxes, you can't do it, so what you can do is to grow cotton on your own land, and if you plant cotton, it will be under the management of cotton affairs, and then I can help you speak......"

The meeting lasted for more than an hour, and Zhao Jiaren also felt very tired when the meeting ended. However, under the leadership of Zhao Jiaxin, the big landowners asked to meet with Zhao Jiaren in private. Zhao Jiaren tiredly let them in, but let Sima Kao deal with them.

No matter how Zhao Jiaren can speak the accent of the Gusu area, his Fujian accent can always be heard. As soon as Sima Kao, a native of Gusu, opened his mouth, the local local accent made these Jiaxing people relax a lot. Sima Kao told everyone about Zhao Jiaren's plan, and Jiaxing's taxes were all handed over to the imperial court, and these taxes could not be given to Zuo Prime Minister Jia Yidao. If it is a cotton business, it is a special fund, and Zhao Jiaren can beg Jia Yidao to let him order the exemption of taxes for cotton growers.

"What good does Zhao Zhizhou do for him?" Su Can, another big household in Huating County, asked puzzled.

"If you don't let everyone have some benefits, will everyone grow cotton well?" Sima Kao explained bluntly.

These people didn't expect this Sima Jinshi to speak so bluntly, and they were all in a daze.

Sima Kao didn't have a high evaluation of his words in his heart, but he had been with Zhao Jiaren for so long, and he was so straightforward when talking about interests on Zhao Jiaren's side. "We don't care what Prime Minister Jia Yidao wants to do, and we don't care what the people in Jiaxing Mansion do, if the cotton work is done well, Zhao Zhizhou will have a great credit, and you should also get some benefits from it."

After this meeting, some people wanted to see Zhao Jiaren in private. Zhao Jiaren was also really tired, and at the same time he was completely uninterested in saying anything to these people. He also asked Sima Kao to receive these people, and sure enough, the news he brought back was that tax exemption was a big deal, and these people wanted to know what Zhao Jiaren really wanted.

It can be seen that Sima Kao was also a little unhappy by these people, and he smiled bitterly: "I didn't even know how to let the people get some benefits, they didn't believe it." ”

"Well, the one who lives with my ancestors is now in his room. He who dwells with my father is now in his room. Those who have lived with me for 12 years have no room in the present. Either death or migration, and I live alone by catching snakes. When the warriors come to my hometown, they shout from east to west, and from north to south; The uproar is shocked, although the chicken and dog are not at ease. I stand up and look at it, and my snake is still alive, so I lie down and ......lie down," Zhao Jiaren read an article that he had learned in junior high school.

Sima Kao listened, frowned and thought for a while, and then asked with some doubts: "Liu Zongyuan's snake catcher said?" ”

Zhao Jiaren replied: "Exactly." People in the countryside have suffered for so many years, where dare to believe in the benefits of not collecting taxes. I originally thought that Liu Zongyuan's articles were still mostly exaggerated, but I didn't know until I became an official that they were not exaggerated. ”

Having said this, Zhao Jiaren originally thought that Sima Kao would directly comment a few words, but he didn't expect Sima Kao to bow his head and ponder first, and then look up and say after a while: "Brother Zhao, I have been to the north several times, and I have always had something to say. I originally thought that the north had been ravaged by the Jin Kingdom and Mongolia for hundreds of years, and it was only right that life was very sad, at least it was not as good as our Great Song Dynasty. But when I actually got to the north, I realized that this was not the case. The life of the people in the north is not worse than ours. can even say that it is stronger than our Great Song Dynasty. I'm afraid that this has something to do with the fact that they don't collect much tax. ”

"Oh?" Zhao Jiaren responded in surprise. He always felt that he had more knowledge, especially more than officials. Unexpectedly, reality proved that there is no right to speak without investigation, and what Sima Kao, who had been to the north, said was beyond Zhao Jiaren's imagination.

And as long as you think about it carefully, it is very common sense. In terms of the per capita land holdings in the north, plus the level of taxation, the general standard of living of the people in the north is probably better than that in the south. In an agrarian society, if you can feel better by looking at it, it means that the standard of living is much better. At this time, Zhao Jiaren began to understand why Mongolia was able to successfully defeat the Song Dynasty. If you want to fight for a long time, you must have a lot of supplies, and before the surrender of Lin'an, the finances of the Great Song Dynasty had collapsed, but the Mongols were always able to hold on to the war. This is by no means explained by a simple sentence that the Mongols are barbaric.

Sima Kao obviously didn't think about it so much, and he continued to sigh: "This tax is indeed too much. ”

Seeing that Sima Kao has not put his vision on such a broad range now, Zhao Jiaren also responded to Sima Kao's words and said: "I opposed the reform of public land before, because the system of the Great Song Dynasty started public land and could make good things worse. Brother Sima, you are also from a Jinshi, I hope you can get this time done in Jiaxing Mansion. The reform of public land has already tormented the people once, at least so that the people can share a little benefit from this toss, even a little bit. ”

It was not so suitable for Fuzhou Zhizhou to stay in Jiaxing Mansion, and after Zhao Jiaren met with everyone in Jiaxing Mansion a few times, he handed over the matter to Zhao Jiaxin and Sima Kao to handle. was persuaded by Zhao Jiaren Li Boyu assured Zhao Jiaren that he would definitely follow the ideas discussed by the two before. In other words, intensive agriculture was started in Jiaxing Prefecture.

After boarding the ship, Zhao Jiaren felt that he couldn't let go of this matter, but he still forced himself to let go. What is needed to do things well is the cadre team, just as Zhao Jiaren's fleet needs the captain, chief mate and other cadres on those ships. As a leader, Zhao Jiaren can only do a good job in cadre training on weekdays, and when it is time to let them go into battle, he can only let them go into battle.

Back in Fuzhou, Zhao Jiaren immediately put down the matter in Jiaxing. The situation on the Fuzhou side has changed a lot, first of all, the arrival of Niu Zaixing, the new commander of the Left Wing Army. Zhao Jiaren must turn his recent focus to the reform of the Left Wing Army, which he has always wanted to promote.

After listening to Zhao Jiaren's introduction, Niu Zaixing said with a very obedient attitude: "Zhao Zhizhou, I saw you during the Battle of Ezhou back then. At that time, my life was saved by your doctor. ”

"Huh?" Zhao Jiaren was very surprised. He recalled it for a moment before he remembered that he had indeed set up a military hospital in Hankou to take care of the wounded soldiers in Ezhou. Overall, the survival rate of wounded servicemen should be greatly improved.

Niu Zaixing thought that Zhao Jiaren had forgotten about it, so he hurriedly untied his shirt and showed Zhao Jiaren a big scar on his chest, "Zhao Zhizhou, I was injured here." I remember when you went to the hospital to visit us and brought us food. At that time, I knew that Zhao Zhizhou, you must be a good person. ”

was suddenly given a good person card, and Zhao Jiaren didn't know if he wanted to be happy. However, Niu Zaixing did not look malicious, and Zhao Jiaren also felt a lot more relieved. The reform of the Left Army really needs reliable people.

Time flies, months pass quickly, and the reform of the Left Wing Army proceeds fairly so-so. First of all, a considerable number of veterans who could not fight at all were eliminated, and the remaining army was reorganized. The vacancy was not filled by conscription, but was temporarily assigned to the troops of the Left Wing Army by the 'militia group' under Zhao Jiaren.

If it were done in other eras, it would definitely cause an uproar, but in the Great Song Dynasty, the militia was originally part of the national armed forces, and the military salary of the Left Wing Army was paid by Fuzhou and Quanzhou, or more precisely, by Zhao Jiaren. So Zhao Jiaren insisted on doing this, and no one came out to oppose it.

On the Jiaxing side, Zhao Jiaren's policies have also made great progress. More than 70 percent of the local private landowners have chosen to obey Zhao's arrangement, that is, to operate on a large scale. The area around Jiaxing Prefecture is basically plain, and there is a lot of arable land available. After the first batch of public land reforms were bought back, an official village was set up in each township, and the village officials were served by those with abundant property, who were responsible for collecting and transporting rented rice.

The managers of these estates are all Zhao Jiaren's people, and they own about 2 million acres of land, half of which is grown for rice and half for soybeans. The rest of the private land is mostly planted with cotton.

In rural areas, it is necessary to pay attention to the season, and once the grain is planted, there is basically no possibility of changing it. And after that season, there is no chance to replant. In other words, when the grain is planted, it means that the gang truly obeys Zhao Jiaren's leadership.

Now that everyone is obedient, Zhao Jiaren can't lose his words. As a cotton promoter, Zhao Jiaren and Li Boyu, the uniform of Jiaxing Prefecture, went to the table together to request that the taxes of the cotton farmers in Jiaxing be exempted in the next two years. The two said that if the imperial court was willing to agree, the cotton service could pay an additional 100,000 copper coins every year.

Although Li Boyu was also on the table together, he still felt uneasy. wrote to Zhao Jiaren to ask if he could really earn more than 100,000 yuan? Zhao Jiaren wrote back to reassure the Song official, "These are not problems."

As soon as the matter was over, it was May when the southerly winds had picked up and the fleet began to return en masse. Zhao Jiaren's fleet went south this time had a total of 1,000 ships, and 100 of them did not stop in Fuzhou at all, but went all the way north to Zhigu Village in the Bohai Sea. This later Tianjin Wei was designated as a monopoly at this time. The goods on the 100 ships were originally agreed with the Mongolian side, and the fleet was just delivered.

Before the start of the rainy season in June, the fleet returned to sail. Judging from the goods shipped back, the Mongolian side also did its best to be able to trade with Zhao Jiaren. The shipping brought back 200,000 catties of alkali blocks at one time, and there are many products from the north.

These products are also a lot of effort in this era, but the materials that Zhao Jiaren got are more valuable. Among the people who came back was Liu Meng, the outgoing owner of Sado Island, and Liu Meng came back with 3,000 catties of gold and 20,000 catties of silver mined and smelted from Sado Island.

Zhao Jiaren ordered that all the gold and silver be processed into gold and silver coins, and after the person in charge escorted these things away, Zhao Jiaren felt that Jia Yidao was really speechless. According to what Jia Yidao did, 150,000 guanzi were printed in one day. In such a year, it is only 40 million guanzi. According to the meeting that has now depreciated wildly, one or two pieces of silver can easily buy 40 or even more. Even if it is 40 guan, 40 million guan will only be 100,000 taels of silver. With this income, Zhao Jiaren got the money that took three years to print from Sado Island.

For such a thing, Zhao Jiaren was proud and a little uneasy. I hope Jia seems to say goodbye and know about it. If he knew, Zhao Jiaren probably had no other way to keep his wealth than rebelling.