As the year approaches, the streets are getting colder.

Many of the people of Bianliang are migrant workers from the surrounding counties, and it is not far from Tokyo.

After working in Bianliang this year to make money, I bought some things for the New Year, big bags and small bags, or took a boat, or walked, or took a donkey cart, and went back to the countryside.

Just like the north, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen at the end of the later generations, Bianliang became an empty city overnight, and the streets and alleys were a little less prosperous.

However, the more away from the New Year, the area around the Donghua Gate of the Imperial City became lively, because according to the annual custom, Zhao Zhen held a grand celebration on the New Year, Shangyuan Festival and his birthday.

The people gathered near the Donghua Gate, and the imperial court would invite many elderly people to the palace for a banquet, and then set off firecrackers and fireworks, and the whole street was full of people.

The royal family will also distribute food, a small number of copper coins, and some daily necessities.

Especially this year, due to the fact that many people froze to death in the city, Kaifeng Mansion went door-to-door to comfort the people in need, purchased a large amount of charcoal, and sent it to the people's homes to solve the urgent need.

In addition to the sequelae of the drought in Huainan the previous year, most places were still smooth and there was no shortage of food.

This year, the price of grain in Bianliang has basically remained at one or two hundred wen and one stone, and as long as there is a job in Bianliang, there is no big problem in maintaining the life of the family.

But there is a lack of warm cotton clothing, even if there is no worry about food and clothing, because of the cold weather, some old people and children freeze out of the disease and soon die of fever.

In this case, both the Kaifeng Mansion and the Imperial City Division gave charcoal fire in the name of the royal family.

This is called celebrating with the people.

"The middle of the Northern Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty are not too far away, and cotton cultivation has been relatively popular in just over 200 years, especially in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, which shows that at this stage, cotton can adapt to the climate of the Central Plains."

In the Guanjia Palace, there are still a few days left before the New Year, and the officials are basically resting except for a few on duty.

The Constitutional Yuan has also been on holiday.

However, everyone did not leave, but they did not go to work in the morning to deal with government affairs during the day, but now everyone rests at home in the morning, comes to sit for two or three hours in the afternoon, listens to lectures, and goes home in the evening to reunite with their families.

The children in the courtyard have also gone home, Zhao Jun has been teaching for three months, and the primary school curriculum has basically been taught.

Zhao Jun has nothing to do, and the government affairs that should be handled have been dealt with, so he just ordered to go down and let the states hand over this year's situation data to the Statistics Department, and usually visit the people, or give lectures in the palace.

Today, let's talk about cotton planting and promotion.

The current stage is no longer the stage of popular science, but the stage where Da Song encountered some problems and then he helped solve them.

For example, the ability to protect against the cold in winter.

He said to everyone: "In the early years of the Yuan Dynasty, the government set up the Kapok Lifting Division, which collected cotton cloth from the people on a large scale, as many as 100,000 horses per year, and later took cotton cloth as the first of the summer taxes (cloth, silk, silk, cotton), which shows that cotton cloth has become the main textile clothing material at that time. After the Yuan Dynasty, the rulers tried their best to expropriate cotton and cotton cloth, published books on cotton planting technology, and persuaded the people to plant cotton, and cotton planting and cotton weaving had spread all over the country at that time. Lao Zhu can promote cotton planting throughout the country, in fact, he also inherited the system of the Yuan Dynasty, so we should and must prepare in advance, even if we can't let cotton bloom everywhere at present, there are still some things to do to pave the way for the future. ”

Wang Zeng said in a deep voice: "I have sent people to send cotton seeds to Guangzhou, so that people can quickly plant them locally, and I believe that there will be results soon." ”

"Hmm."

Zhao Jun nodded and said: "Guangdong is a hilly terrain, unable to grow cotton in a large area, but it is still necessary to let cotton take root in Guangdong first, and then slowly promote it in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, I hope that at least within five years, cotton will bloom everywhere in Guangzhou." ”

"But that's also a matter for the future, there are fewer people who freeze to death in Bianliang this year than in previous years, but my heart is also very uncomfortable, if the Great Song Dynasty can be like the future generations, it would be nice to be not afraid of the cold."

Zhao Zhen sighed, he was benevolent, like Zhao Jun, when he saw those calamities, his heart was also panicked.

"Not really."

Zhao Jun thought for a while and said: "I have visited the people these days, and I deeply feel that the people's ability to withstand the cold is poor, and when there are no cotton clothes, the people can only use charcoal for heating. But charcoal heating has many drawbacks, such as uneven heat dissipation, short lasting effect, etc., I thought of a better way. ”

"What's the solution?"

"Honeycomb coal."

"Honeycomb coal?"

The crowd looked at each other, wondering what it was.

"Honeycomb coal is a product of using coal and some other things, stirring it with water, and then fixing it with a mold and drying it."

Zhao Jun explained: "This thing is burned in a coal furnace, not only burns slowly, but also releases heat evenly, and the continuous effect is extremely long, it is a necessary artifact for every family in the seven, eight, nineties and even two thousand years." ”

"Oh?"

Zhao Zhen hurriedly said, "Can you make it?" ”

"I'll have to try this."

Zhao Jun scratched his head and said: "To be honest, I didn't think of this at first, just because this thing is a few years old in my memory, since I was in elementary school, I rarely see it, I don't know what the specific formula is, but I know such a thing, if it weren't for the recent visit to the people, I found that the people don't come out to work in winter, and they will only nest at home to keep out the cold, I wouldn't have thought of it." ”

If it is a person born in the 80s and 90s, he is definitely no stranger to honeycomb coal, but Zhao Jun is a post-00s generation.

It's not that the post-zero generation must have less knowledge.

It is only in the new millennium that honeycomb coal has gradually been replaced by air conditioning and gas stoves in the south, and by floor heating and natural gas stoves in the north, losing its original role of cooking and heating.

Although Zhao Jun lived in the countryside when he was a child, he basically only saw honeycomb coal when he was a child.

When he was growing up, it was in the stage of rapid economic growth in China, and the people lived a prosperous life, and every household could afford to buy air conditioners, install water heaters, and rarely use coal stoves.

In addition, he has been taken to the city by his parents since elementary school, because of his good grades, the school he studied is also very good, junior high school and high school are good middle schools in the city, 12-18 junior high school and high school, the school's classrooms and dormitories are air-conditioned.

So in this growing environment, it's normal to know the existence of honeycomb coal, but not impressed by it, and don't know how to make this thing.

However, he vaguely remembered that it should be made of coal mixed with water and some clay.

Because when he was in elementary school, he once passed by other people's houses, and they made honeycomb coal there, like concrete, and finally molded briquettes with molds, and then put them there to dry.

He doesn't know the specific formula, but many emerging products actually have no scientific and technological content, what is lacking is only ideas, as long as Zhao Jun points out the ideas, there are always people below who can do it.

"The Creation Bureau has now recruited a lot of skilled craftsmen, as well as the original Eight Divisions, who are good at making utensils, and this matter can be handed over to them."

Wang Sui, who is now in charge of the affairs of the Creation Bureau, said.

"Hmm."

Zhao Jun nodded: "There are a lot of things we have to do now, people's livelihood, economy, military, science and technology, education, all aspects. Although this year's fiscal revenue is good, and there is no deficit, but this is because I have raided my home, if you want to really improve the Great Song Dynasty, you should still start from the general direction. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "What should I do?" ”

"Throughout the ages, whether it is to curb inflation, or to develop the economy, and to stimulate the growth of the general environment, there are nothing more than two."

Zhao Jun looked around at everyone and said, "Open source and throttle." ”

"It's an eternal truth."

The crowd agreed.

Zhao Jun said: "If we want to solve the problem of the Great Song Dynasty, in terms of reducing expenditure, it is to control government spending and limit government borrowing, which is the situation of the three redundancies. ”

In the Northern Song Dynasty, both official and private, lending was particularly prosperous.

The premise of Wang Anshi's change of law and the green seedling method is that he found that there is a strong demand for private loans.

Moreover, the pressure on private loans was very large, and the bureaucratic landlord class charged high interest rates to the people, so they planned to use official loans at low interest rates to lend to the people instead of private loans.

It's a pity that Lao Wang still underestimated how bad the rule of officials is, and good policies have directly become bad policies when they reach the people.

Fan Zhongyan heard that Zhao Jun finally mentioned the three redundancies again, and said in high spirits: "The problem of three redundancies is serious, and it should indeed be managed." ”

"The problem of redundant officials and redundant troops is not the right time now, but we can start with redundant expenses."

Zhao Jun said: "This year I have already cut the salaries of senior officials, and next year I will find a way to cut everyone's welfare, and then we have to manage the phenomenon of local financial and public fund consumption, and try to cancel the redundant expenses." ”

Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and others' faces changed slightly, their wages were cut in half, the annual income used to be about 30,000 yuan, now it is only 15,000, and the rest Jia Changchao and others have dropped to about 10,000.

The decree has been issued and will come into force next year. For this reason, the senior officials complained a lot, but because of Liu Yuanyu's previous experience, everyone did not dare to tease Zhao Jun's tiger whiskers.

It's too uncomfortable to cut their other benefits now.

Everyone's face was as painful as if they were constipated, but they didn't dare to fight Zhao Jun, so they had to sit there aggrievedly and say nothing.

Zhao Zhen saw their faces and could think of what the reason was, so he asked, "Will this hurt them too much?" ”

"What can you hurt them?"

Zhao Jun glanced at Lu Yijian, who was not very good-looking, and said: "I didn't allow them to do business, it's good to confiscate all their property, these guys have a lot of money, do they lack this bit of money?" ”

Lu Yijian had no choice but to say: "Official, the minister thinks that the salary of the officials of the Great Song Dynasty is indeed too high, and it is not necessary to cut some of them." ”

"Yes, the ministers are not in the way, it's just a little bit of money."

"Although the ministers are not talented, they have still saved some money over the years, cut some money, and reduced expenditures for the country, which is also a matter of course."

"There is no objection to the minister."

The crowd agreed to cut benefits.

Mr. Lu Xun was right, "The Chinese always like to reconcile and compromise, for example, if you say that this house is too dark, and say that you will not allow a skylight here." But if you advocate tearing down the roof, they will reconcile and be willing to open the skylight. ”

The salaries of these top prime ministers are already high, even if they are cut by half, they are dozens of times that of the senior ministers in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the most important thing is that their families are rich in industries, and there are countless fields, shops, and mansions.

If Zhao Jun forbade them to do business, the loss would be hundreds of thousands or even millions, compared to the rich family property, more than 10,000 yuan of annual income, which is more important, they still have a clear share.

So in the face of Zhao Jun's pressing step by step, they could only retreat step by step.

"Okay."

Zhao Zhen saw that everyone agreed, so he had no choice but to respond.

"In addition, I think Jiaozi should be independent, not accept the interference of any other department, and directly belong to the Constitutional Yuan and the official family."

Zhao Jun saw everyone compromise, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and then said: "They can freely allocate the market and reduce inflation, at present, the Great Song Dynasty is in a deflationary situation with less money and more goods, and it is not feasible to increase the storage fee, and there is also a shortage of money to pay the children's affairs, but they can lend." ”

"Lending?"

Zhao Zhen remembered Wang Anshi's change, and hurriedly said, "Is it Wang Anshi's change?" ”

"It's not like that."

Zhao Jun shook his head: "Jiaoziwu lending is only to big businessmen who lack capital turnover, and the steps should not be so big, and they are directly lent to the people." The meal must be eaten one bite at a time, and the economy must be stimulated step by step, and it cannot be achieved overnight. ”

"That's good."

Zhao Zhen breathed a sigh of relief.

"The state should also control a certain amount of commerce, and at the end of the year, I plan to gather some businessmen with Li Xiang and officially start doing public-private joint business."

Zhao Jun continued: "Including salt and iron, grain and oil, tea and other previously sold goods, plus the newly made honeycomb coal, as long as there is its own state-owned enterprise operation, the imperial court's taxes and finances will be much healthier." ”

Everyone memorized Zhao Jun's words.

At the beginning of next year, Zhao Jun will leave Bianliang and inspect all parts of the Great Song Dynasty, and they will begin to govern the central government.

At present, before the Western Xia and Liao States are repelled, large-scale restructuring will definitely not work.

However, a small-scale pilot can be conducted.

For example, first opened several state-owned enterprises in Bianliang that cooperated with businessmen, and let Bianliang hand over the business of money lending.

In this way, the audience is small, and the results can be seen as soon as possible.

After two years of defeating the Western Xia and Liao, and the external threat is reduced, then it can be promoted nationwide.

Zhao Jun finally settled down and said: "Now the focus of the imperial court is still mainly on the development of the economy, with money, many things can be done, and then carry out national basic education, build schools throughout the country, teach primary school courses, and then step by step reform of the military system, the legal system, strengthen the development of science and technology, and achieve overall improvement." ”

"But now, even in elementary school, there aren't so many people teaching them."

Wang Zeng objected: "Hanlong, you have also been teaching for three months, and the children have not learned the knowledge until now. ”

"That's because children are mentally immature and sometimes have poor cognitive abilities."

"If a fifteen or sixteen-year-old child goes to the primary school curriculum, the progress will be much faster," Zhao said. At this time, children have the best learning ability, so this is why this period is the stage of learning deeper and more difficult knowledge in junior high school and high school. ”

"You mean, we can find some children over the age of fifteen or sixteen to study?"

"Yes."

Zhao Jun nodded and said: "I have a complete set of primary school textbook knowledge here, let them learn it well, and then let them teach, and in the future I will find a way to make junior high school textbooks, so that as long as Da Song can lay the science knowledge from primary school to junior high school, then there should be no big problem in completing the first and second industrial revolutions." ”

Although I burned all the physical textbooks at the beginning, I had them in my laptop. Zhao Jun planned to leave by himself and handed over the notebook to Zhao Zhen for safekeeping, and during this time, he was also teaching him how to use this thing.

As long as he is away during this time, he hopes that this group of people will develop in the direction he planned, then everything will be better.

(End of chapter)