"Jingle Bell ......"

In April, when the cowbells began to ring, the gates of Zunyi City in Guizhou Province slowly opened, and many people dressed in coarse linen clothes began to walk out of the city gates to work in their own fields.

For more than half a month, the news of the death of Empress Xu has reached Zunyi Mansion, and most of the officials in Zunyi City are wearing plain clothes to work.

Many people were very curious about the change in their clothing.

It was also after questioning that they learned the news of the death of the current queen.

In addition to sighing, even in this remote place of Zunyi, there are people who spontaneously light incense next to the Xiangjiang River on the edge of Zunyi City to pay tribute to Her Royal Highness the "Empress of Renxiao", who they have only been familiar with for a year.

"As soon as Queen Daxing leaves, I don't know if there will be any changes in Beijing......"

On the side of the Xiangjiang River, Xu Shuo, the prefect of Zunyi after following the Shaomin memorial action, couldn't help but sigh.

Standing beside him, Zhao Liang, who was the same governor of the prefect, was standing in the pavilion by the river, watching the young people on the riverbank to pay respects.

"Those who win the hearts of the people win the world, and the hearts of the people in Zunyi Mansion depend on the policy tilt of the imperial court."

"The people are not stupid, they can see what we do for them."

"We do a good job, they get benefits, and they will naturally be grateful to the court, which is why they will pay tribute to Empress Daxing so much."

Zhao Rail's words made Xu Shuo nod, after all, they have indeed done a lot of things since they took office last year.

Divide the land equally, distribute grain for land reclamation, and build bridges and roads......

The former is to distribute the means of production and rations, and the latter is to distribute copper coins in cash-for-work.

Under such a policy tilt, the lives of the people in Zunyi Mansion have become better with the naked eye.

It is the small grass shed pavilion where Xu Shuo and they are at the moment, this kind of thing seems to be inconspicuous, but they have built more than 400 of this kind of grass shed pavilion in one go, covering almost the entire plain outside Zunyi City.

Whether it's a scorching sun or a sudden rain, these huts can be a shelter for the farmers who are obliged to do so.

In addition, the former wooden bridges have been demolished, and stone and concrete bridges have been erected.

The high price of salt that used to be thirty or forty wen has now dropped to fifteen wen per catty in the situation of a large influx of salt in Sichuan.

It is also said that the price of cloth, edible oil, rice, sauce, vinegar, and tea is nearly fifty percent more expensive than that of the outside world, but now under the situation of policy opening up and Xu Shuo and others attracting investment and trade, they have basically dropped a lot.

A piece of cloth that used to cost 300 wen can now be bought for only 230 wen, and the wage given by the imperial court is 10 wen a day.

That is to say, after a month of hard work, you can buy a piece of cloth and four catties of salt, and at the end you will have ten cents left.

It takes a month to solve the problem of food and clothing for a year, which is unimaginable when the people of Zunyi are under the rule of Yang's Tusi.

Of course, whether the policy of releasing money through work can be sustained depends on how long the imperial court's policy tilt towards Guizhou can last.

Once the imperial court stops supporting Guizhou, even if Xu Shuo and the others have the ability, they will not be able to maintain the status quo.

"This year, the imperial court has allocated 500,000 yuan from Nanjing to Guizhou, and I heard that it will arrive in Guiyang after the autumn, how much do you think we can get?"

Zhao Liang asked Xu Shuo, and after Xu Shuo heard his inquiry, he gave his own answer after a little thought:

"Sixteen prefectures and seventy-two counties in Guizhou, our conditions and environment are second only to Sizhou, Sinan, and Tongren in eastern Qiandong, as well as Guiyang Prefecture, where the three divisions are located, and this money is distributed according to the poor first and then the rich."

"I estimate that it will only reach us for less than 10,000 at most."

"But it's not bad, I'm going to build the official road from Tongzi County to Dongxi Town in one go this time."

"Once the construction of the last 80-odd miles of official road from Zunyi to Sichuan is completed, whether it is Sichuan to Guizhou to transport materials, or outside businessmen to transport goods into Guizhou, we will be regarded as the first choice in Zunyi."

"However, there are also difficulties, that is, to widen this official road, I am afraid that there are not a few gunpowder and cement needed."

"With our annual output of less than 300 tons, we will definitely not be able to cope with it, but the resources of Guizhou provinces are poor, and it is impossible to support us, so we can only ask the political secretary of Sichuan to ask for help."

Xu Shuo said it easily, but it was difficult for Zhao Liang to hear it.

Of course, he didn't think Xu Shuo couldn't do it, but he felt that he couldn't do it.

Zhao Liang is different from Xu Shuo, Xu Shuo has this background from Jilin City, and he only has a background in ordinary rural areas in Shandong.

When others see Xu Shuo's resume, they will subconsciously wonder if he has anything to do with which nobles in the court, and when they see their resume, they will only leave a polite compliment, and then they will put his resume aside, and they will not pick it up and look at it again for a few days.

Such a vastly different treatment, Zhao Liang knew it, but also felt very uncomfortable, but he didn't show it.

In his opinion, as long as he can catch Xu Shuo, then he may be able to work hard to climb up, maybe he can climb to the official position of Zhengsipin, then he will really be a glorious ancestor.

As for going up, he didn't think about it, and he didn't dare to think about it, because it wasn't something that someone like him with no background could climb on.

"According to last year's output, after the construction of water conservancy, the yield per mu of our government can still reach one stone and four buckets of real grain per mu."

"Last year, more than 70,000 acres of cultivated land were reclaimed, and if we continue to persist in this way for two years, when Yongle begins to pay taxes in the 11th year, our government will be able to pay at least 60,000 stone fields."

"Do you think that the sixteen prefectures of Guizhou can surpass us, except for Sinan Mansion, Guiyang Mansion and Sizhou Mansion, who else?"

Xu Shuo didn't know Zhao Liang's mental activities, he was just calculating his assessment results in three years.

Zhao Liang shook his head after thinking for a while when he heard this: "There should be no more except for these three, but these three are mainly the benefits of occupying the fields and Song Tusi for hundreds of years, and they can't compare to construction compared to us, and the final result is difficult to say." ”

"Specifically, we still have to see how much the imperial court's quota for Guizhou is at that time, and I estimate that it will not exceed one million stones."

"Hmm" Xu Shuo nodded: "I think so too, so Guizhou's Tianfu quota will definitely get higher and higher, after all, ......"

Xu Shuo raised his chin and motioned for Zhao Liang to look out.

Zhao Liang looked in the direction Xu Shuo pointed and saw a group of farmers chatting and walking towards the fields.

Although they are all coarse linen clothes, they are still dressed slightly differently from the people of Zunyi Mansion, and they are immigrants who have been relocated to Zunyi Mansion by the imperial court in the past year.

Huguang and Jiangxi were each forcibly relocated 100,000 to Guizhou, and Zunyi Prefecture alone received 20,000 immigrants, and Xu Shuo also gave them an equal share of 60,000 acres of arable land.

Because of the food rations and the output of cultivated land, most of them will start to reclaim wasteland in groups after the end of the busy spring planting, and nearly 40,000 of the 70,000 mu of cultivated land reclaimed by Zunyi Prefecture last year were reclaimed by them.

"There will be another batch of immigrants coming this year." Xu Shuo said the wind direction above, and at the same time said:

"The more Hankou migrates, the more obvious the policy tilt will be, until Guizhou is stable."

"At present, not counting southern Qiannan, there are less than 2 million people in Guizhou, and it is estimated that the imperial court will gradually stop the migration policy if it moves in another 500,000 people."

"With the strength of the imperial court's migration, I estimate that the immigration policy will be ended within three years."

"I heard that the Tusi in southern Qiannan have been suppressed, and only some small and medium-sized Tusi are left to fight guerrillas with Qianguo Gong and Cao Guogong in the mountains."

"I estimate that around the end of the year, Qiannan will be completely pacified."

"When the time comes, the imperial court will either attack Guangxi or Yunnan."

Although Xu Shuo relies on his background a lot of the time, his sense of smell and ability are also one of the reasons why he can obtain background and resources.

Just like at the moment, even if he has made it clear, Zhao Liang does not agree: "Guizhou's land reform and return to the stream, regardless of whether it is placed in the past dynasties, can be regarded as a great achievement." ”

"If you want to digest Guizhou, it is impossible without thirty or fifty years, will the imperial court be in such a hurry to swallow Guangxi and Yunnan?"

Zhao Rail's analysis is not unreasonable, after all, since the pre-Qin period in Guizhou, no Han people have been able to completely control the local area for nearly 1,500 years, and the Yongle Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty has undoubtedly completed the process of this great achievement.

If you want to consolidate this achievement, it will take at least 30 years, otherwise Guizhou will be in turmoil again, and this hard-won great achievement may become a weakness attacked by historians.

Anyway, in Zhao Liang's opinion, if he sat in that position, he would never be in such a hurry and rush, but would have to take his time steadily.

"If you don't make a move, then it's not Your Highness."

As soon as Xu Shuo spoke, he choked Zhao Liang.

Although the new policy has been reducing the burden on the people, it is impossible to increase taxes out of thin air, so the officials who have been damaged their interests spontaneously began to impeach Zhu Di and his son after being eliminated.

Although this great joy did not increase the burden on the people, it does show how big the steps of the father and son are.

If their father and son really cared about this, they would not attack the southwest at the same time as the northern expedition.

Now that there is no war in the north and the war in Guizhou is coming to an end, it seems that there is nothing surprising about opening up a new battlefield.

"Compared to Yunnan, I estimate that the imperial court is more inclined to Guangxi."

Xu Shuo was still mainly studying the policies of the imperial court, while Zhao Liang was analyzing what Xu Shuo had just said.

Seeing him say this now, Zhao Liang thought of Xu Shuo's thoughts: "Are you going to go to Guangxi to serve after three years of assessment?" ”

"Hmm!" Xu Shuo didn't hide it from Zhao Rail, after all, he took the initiative to say that what he meant was to take Zhao Rail to Guangxi together.

The two have known each other for three years and cooperated for one year, during which Xu Shuo felt that Zhao Liang was a good person.

Many of the New Deal officials he knew were laid off because they couldn't resist the temptation, but Zhao Liang passed so much money and food in his hands every year, but he almost didn't use his power for personal gain, this kind of person was the person he needed.

"There are gold, silver and copper mines in Yunnan, why don't you deal with the Tusi in Yunnan first, is it because Guangxi has a sea route?"

Zhao Liang asked Xu Shuo, but Xu Shuo shook his head and said: "The sea route is only a reason, and the more important thing is the location of Guangxi." ”

"At present, the Tusi in Guizhou and Guangdong and northwest Guangdong have been changed to the river, and Jiaozhi is under the military management of the Dusi, which means that Guangxi has been stable on three sides, but Yunnan is not stable with it."

"If you want to deal with Yunnan first, then after the end, the imperial court will have two directions: three propaganda and ten comforts and Guangxi."

"Since the establishment of the Da Gu Ra Propaganda Division, there have been voices in the temple, thinking of taking action against the Xuan Wei Divisions such as Mengyang, Mubang, Burma, and Da Gu Ra, so that the imperial court can directly control the countries of Dongxiao Xiyang and Siam from Da Gu Ra."

"Once Yunnan is taken, then Guangxi will definitely not be as important as this position, after all, the tax revenue that the East and the West can bring now is not comparable to Guangxi, and it will be a sure thing to send troops to three propaganda and ten comforts."

"However, His Royal Highness also knows that the construction of official roads in Yunnan is very difficult, and the climate problem of the three propaganda and ten consolations is serious, so the forced dispatch of troops will definitely outweigh the losses."

"Therefore, it is the safest plan to send troops to Guangxi first, connect the coastal areas together, and then further change the land in Yunnan, and continue to reform the land and return to the three Xuanshi condolences."

Xu Shuo's words are the latest developments in the temple, and this is also the problem caused by the division of Xiaoxiyang as a private trade zone.

Before Zheng He went to the West, the trade objects of the maritime merchants were nothing more than Japan and the South Seas.

Now these two directions have become the official trade areas of the Ming Dynasty, and only the small Western trade area is left for them.

If this trade zone does not bring enough benefits, then they will not pay attention to it.

But in the past year or so, as the coastal merchant gangs of the Western Fleet have continued to return, it has been proved that they have indeed made a lot of profits, and have become the only source of legal and compliant income.

Since the small western ocean is profitable, strengthening the control of the big Gura is naturally the top priority.

If you want to control Dagura, you mainly have to start controlling it from the Manmo in the upper reaches of the Dajinsha River, so the security of western Yunnan has also been taken seriously.

However, different people have different views on this issue, such as Xu Shuo and Zhao Rail.

"It's because of the Little Western Trade Zone, right?" Zhao Liang frowned and said:

"I have also heard about this, but I heard that the reason why I can make a huge profit this time is mainly because the fleet is at war with Timur, and many material fleets are unable to digest it, so they are sold cheaply to merchant ships with the army."

"In the event of a defeat of the imperial court at Kurumus, or if the two countries negotiate peace, the income will change from long-term to short-term."

The students under the new political government school are biased towards later generations in both speech and behavior, and this is because the textbooks compiled by Zhu Gaoxu are biased towards later generations.

In the information obtained by Zhao Rail, he did not think that this short-term trade could lead to the temple's attention to the three declarations and ten comforts.

But if he had new information, he wouldn't have felt that way.

"They don't just want to eat leftovers after the fleet, they have their own plans."

Xu Shuo glanced at Zhao Rail, walked out of the pavilion with him, and while walking towards Zunyi City, he also explained to Zhao Rail:

"This time in the Western Ocean, the larger pirates have been wiped out by the fleet, so most of the merchant ships are returning in groups of Daming."

"Along the way, I heard that they were not stable, such as the Bach Nieman kingdom, which did not join the tributary, and when I heard that, they plundered the port in the name of disrespecting the king......

"How so?" Zhao Liang couldn't believe it: "It's just a bunch of businessmen, how can they fight with a country?" ”

"They're no ordinary businessmen." Xu Shuo shook his head and said: "They are in groups, the number of ships is dozens or hundreds, although the artillery is the eliminated Hongwu iron cannon, but how many countries in the world can come up with hundreds of Hongwu iron cannons?" ”

"They don't even have to engage the enemy in close combat, they only need to rely on the sharpness of their artillery, and they can defeat many small and weak countries."

Daming maritime merchants have never been a person who keeps to themselves, from Chen Zuyi, who forcibly occupied other countries, to Liang Daoming, who established himself as a country, and Shi Jinqing, who sought secession...... This group of people is not a guy who makes trouble at sea.

Either they want to establish themselves as kings, or they want to secede overseas, and they think about usurping the throne as kings.

If you want them to do business honestly, it's just a fantasy.

Now that the South and the East are controlled by the imperial court, all they can develop is the West.

It can be said that the current Little West is the former South Sea.

For those countries that have not become vassals of the Ming Dynasty, this group of maritime merchants will not show mercy.

"Does the court not care?"

Zhao Liang was surprised by the fact that the maritime merchants plundered other countries, he didn't expect this group of maritime merchants to be so bold.

"How?" Xu Shuo asked him rhetorically and threw out the question: "Are they vassal states of the imperial court?" ”

"It's not ......" Zhao Liang reacted, since it was not a vassal state, why did Daming interfere in these things.

If the imperial court really wanted to take care of it, let alone send a Western fleet, the Western Sea and Small Western Fleets stationed in Ceylon and Dagura alone would be enough to destroy these armed merchant ships.

"The imperial court wants to make these unsubservient vassals subservient, so the maritime merchants' practices not only did not violate the interests of the imperial court, but even contributed to the trouble."

Xu Shuo said this, and even thought of some things that he didn't have information about.

"In the past, piracy was rampant in the Little Western Ocean, so the merchant ships in the past were wary."

"When these merchant ships encounter something weaker than themselves, they become pirates, and when they encounter something stronger than themselves, they honestly hand over their goods, so it can be said that the entire small Western Ocean is a world of the jungle."

"But now that the imperial court's fleet has wiped out the Little Western pirates, and the Little Western shipping lanes have begun to be unimpeded, there will naturally be more merchant ships."

"In such a situation, many countries will collect taxes at the port."

"If it is a vassal state of the imperial court, then the money is earned, and it must be handed over in the tributary trade in the end."

"But if it weren't for the vassal state of the imperial court, then this money would have been lost in the sea."

"The imperial court worked hard to pacify the little Western pirates, but it was not to make money for this group of small countries that did not obey the king."

"At present, the merchant ships of the entire Little Western Sea Channel know that the harbor flying our Ming flag cannot be plundered, and once it is plundered, it will be attacked by the Little Western Ocean and the West Sea Fleet."

"In that case, what do you think they would do if they saw a country that didn't fly my flag?"

"If it were you, you would choose to plunder."

Xu Shuo said this, and Zhao Liang also suddenly became enlightened: "Understood, in this way, many weak countries do not need the imperial court to take action personally, they will take the initiative to contact the imperial court and voluntarily become vassals of the imperial court." ”

"But in this case, this group of merchants will not have a few opportunities to rob, will they still care about three declarations and ten comforts at that time?"

"Then I don't know." Xu Shuo shook his head, but after thinking about it, he continued:

"But since the imperial court dares to let them do this, I think it knows that there is a more valuable direction ahead."

"If my estimate is correct, it should be Dongzhou, Beizhou or Kunlun."

"As long as these places are profitable, I don't believe that this group of businessmen will not be impressed."

After Xu Shuo finished saying everything, he and Zhao Liang also walked into the Zunyi City Gate and walked back towards the Yamen.

Drainage canals have been built on both sides of the neat stone and brick roads, and there are occasional garbage trucks waiting to be towed away.

On the streets, all kinds of shops are popping up one after another, and many merchants who speak Sichuan Mandarin are also laboriously communicating with the local people.

Compared with this time last year, the whole Zunyi City can be said to be more than one degree prosperous, and even the price of dishes in the restaurant has dropped by forty percent compared with before, and the number of diners in the restaurant has increased.

Although the two were prefects and prefects, the ordinary people in Zunyi City rarely knew their identities, only as ordinary officials.

"Behind this prosperity is the result of working and releasing money, if we stop this policy and the money does not flow, then this prosperity will collapse."

Xu Shuo is very aware of the problem of Zunyi Mansion, that is, there is no special product that can support the current market.

The current market is nothing more than the Yamen to support the project and make money.

If there is no appropriation from the imperial court, and the Zunyi Yamen has no living money, there is no way to continue the policy, then this market is just a flash in the pan.

There are relatively few resources here, and there are relatively few that can be used, so Xu Shuo will be ready to go to Guangxi or Yunnan immediately after the assessment.

In his opinion, if nothing changes, the only economic source for Zunyi Mansion is to continue to open up wasteland.

However, once the policy support is lost, the speed of land reclamation in Zunyi Mansion will slow down immediately.

Once the speed of land reclamation slows down, it will be difficult to achieve the "triple first-class" that Xu Shuo wants.

Even with the background of Jilin City, he is at most an official of the Third Division in his life, and he cannot enter the capital he seeks and serve as an official in Beijing.

Only by following the policy all the time and using the policies of the imperial court to show their talents will they have the opportunity to continue to climb up.

As for the people of Zunyi Mansion, Xu Shuo could only hope that the next official would not be so corrupt.

One state and one government is not what he wants, all he wants is the position of the six Shangshu.

Only by sitting in those positions can he better develop himself and make himself famous in history.

Thinking of this, Xu Shuo and Zhao Liang also walked to the front of the mansion.

As soon as they entered the palace, an official walked over to them with a smile on his face with an urgent piece of information, and said from afar:

"Governor Xu, Zhao Tongzhi, good news came from the south, Qiannan Tusi was pacified, Qianguo Gong and Cao Guogong, Zhenyuan Marquis, and Jianchang Marquis have already led the army class."

"That's good news indeed!" Xu Shuo's face was full of smiles, and the moment he took the letter and read it, he was a little unsettled in his heart.

"I have to speed up, I hope the court doesn't move too fast......"

(End of chapter)