"In spring, in the first month of the year, on Dingyoushuo, there is a bright sun in the middle of the day, and beside it there is green and black air swirling like water waves."
The solar eclipse that appeared in spring gave the officials another opportunity to target the "six thieves" with crazy output.
Although Cai Jing resigned as prime minister, he did not leave the capital, and he had many disciples and old officials. Some of his servants were officials; the maids who were married to him could also be named wives.
Regarding Cai's party, Wang Fu punished one group and recruited another group.
Cai You also took the opportunity to recruit, and a large number of Cai's party members chose to defect.
People discovered that even after Cai Jing left, the imperial court was still the same.
Corporal Wang Fu Lixian abolished the bad government, but it was just a show. The officialdom even became darker, and began to openly sell off officials and titles. For those lucrative positions, Wang Fu and his party members had to be given money, and the money was given too little.
Not accepted.
Especially this year's new academic qualifications, those who have passed the top four and top five exams, if you don't use the connections to give gifts, you won't be able to get the real qualifications.
Because of the abolition of schools, a large number of teachers with Jinshi background returned to the capital to seek official positions. They were hungry and hungry, no matter how small the situation was, they competed head-on with the young people who had just landed.
There are more than 200 new scholars, sitting in the capital and not knowing what to do.
Deng Xunwu, Cai Jing's number one henchman, died of illness after the solar eclipse. History books commented on him: "The defeat of Jing and the chaos in the world originated from Xunwu."
But it is very interesting that one year before his death, Deng Xunwu always opposed the invasion of Liao Dynasty and was dismissed from the post of Privy Councilor.
Tokyo.
Song Huizong had been having a headache these days due to the quarrels, and Wang Fu and Tong Guan came to blows.
"Why should these two armies and twelve states be dismissed?" Song Huizong summoned Wang Fu alone to ask.
Wang Fu said: "Kui Gorge and the twelve states of Guangnan were all established by Cai Jinghao. They spent money on state funds and people's money on the bottom. Not only could they not lose money in taxes, but they had to allocate money every year. Now that the national treasury is empty, I have to pay for it.
I think that these two armies and twelve states should be abolished. Those with a large number of Han people should be changed into counties, and the rest should be reserved as fortresses."
Song Huizong asked: "Are you really out of money?"
Wang Fu said bravely: "There may be a shortage."
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty sighed helplessly: "Let's stop retreating. If you can save money, save it."
Wang Fu bowed his head and said yes, feeling happy.
These southern state armies were Cai Jing's achievements in expanding the border area, and all of them had no influence that could eradicate Cai Jing's influence.
At the same time, it can reduce fiscal expenses and win over more centrist ministers.
The butt determines the head. Wang Fu is now the prime minister. He has no interest in fighting. All he thinks about is how to make money for the country and himself.
Song Huizong asked again: "The envoys from the Kingdom of Jin have been here for two months. How do you think we should treat the matter of joining forces with Jin to attack Liao?"
Wang Fu replied: "As long as the letter of credence is paid, the envoy will not be punished."
Song Huizong glanced at Wang Fu and was already disheartened about conquering Liao.
Since Wang Fu became prime minister, he no longer encouraged the emperor to conquer the Liao Dynasty, and his words often showed resistance.
These eight words, "As long as the letter of credence is paid, the envoy will not be punished again" was to allow Song Huizong to delay as much time as possible while maintaining good relations with the Jin Kingdom. Wang Fu's idea was to wait until the finances were better before fulfilling the plan of jointly conquering the Liao Dynasty.
Agreement.
Song Huizong waved his hand, and Wang Fu bowed and retreated.
In the afternoon of that day, Tong Guan came to ask for an audience: "The officials and the Jin people have been waiting for a long time. They have repeatedly urged us to sign a contract. Please set a date for the expedition to Liao as soon as possible."
Song Huizong said: "I have my own opinion on this matter."
Tong Guan wanted to persuade him again, but Song Huizong was annoyed and sent him away with a few words.
Song Huizong knew the situation of the court and that the increasingly embarrassment of finances could not support a war. But he was a little unwilling to do so. After much thought, he decided to use Wang Fu's method and delay the time for a few years before taking a look.
It only took a few years. The Jin Kingdom couldn't destroy the Liao Kingdom, right?
Therefore, Song Huizong personally wrote the letter of credence to express his goodwill towards the Jin Kingdom, and also said that according to the previous agreement, the Song and Jin countries would definitely attack the Liao Kingdom from both sides.
However, Song Huizong did not mention a word about when to send troops, and he no longer sent envoys to the Jin Kingdom.
The Jin envoy was furious. He came to Tokyo to negotiate for three months, but nothing was achieved.
After the Jin envoy left, the conflict between Wang Fu and Tong Guan became public.
Wang Fu and Liang Shicheng encouraged Song Huizong to restore the Huashi Gang and blamed Cai Jing's Salt Tea Law for Fangla's uprising. Not only did they invalidate the "imperial edict" promulgated by Tong Guan, they also secretly obstructed Tong Guan's expedition to Liao.
If Tong Guan wanted to conquer Liao and become king, he had to raise military expenditures as much as possible, so he opposed the restoration of Huashi Gang and hated Wang Fu and Liang Shicheng with itch.
Of course, this is only temporary.
Historically, Song Huizong had already planned to give up conquering the Liao Dynasty, and it was Wang Fu who was the first to jump out and encourage him!
Because of the solar eclipse, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty granted a general amnesty to the whole country.
Ju Ming was also on the list of pardons and was changed from institutionalization to resettlement.
Correctional management means that prisoners are allowed to settle in a certain place and are not allowed to leave their place of residence. They must report to the government every month.
You do not need to change your household registration for resettlement. If you encounter something, you only need to apply to the government and get permission to leave the resettlement place temporarily. For example, to visit relatives, attend funerals, etc.
…
Yangzhou.
The new governor of the state is named Cao Zao, who is from Yichun, Jiangxi.
The three brothers of the Cao family were in the same family, and their branch was later called the "Sanguitang Cao family".
While Wang Fu sold his officials and titles, he also promoted talented people to buy reputation for himself. Especially for local officials such as magistrates and magistrates, he asked the centrists who came over to recommend them, and he appointed and dismissed dozens of them in the past few months.
Cao Zao is the lucky person who was recommended.
"Why is Yangzhou's population decreasing instead of increasing?" Cao Zao asked.
Hu Cao joined the army and Li Yanzhi hesitated a little, but finally couldn't hold it back: "Zhu Guoxiang occupied the land and hid the population. Many people in the three counties of Yangzhou defected with their whole families."
Cao Zao said angrily: "Order the magistrates of the three counties to conduct an inventory of the population and land!"
Li Yanzhi said: "County officials don't dare to investigate. Zhu Guoxiang has a very high prestige among the people. He even practices village bravery privately, saying he wants to guard against bandits."
Cao Zao remained silent and went to Jintan Village for a private visit incognito.
The area of Jintan Village has more than doubled from its original size.
Zhu Guoxiang not only opened up wasteland in the valley, but also spent money to buy land outside the valley. Government exploitation became more and more serious, and more and more small landowners chose to sell their land. Some self-cultivators simply donated their land directly and took the initiative to become tenants to Zhu Guoxiang, for no other purpose.
Just to avoid taxes and corvee.
Cao Zao was paddling up the river, and rice was being planted in the paddy fields along the river.
Most of the farmers were wearing more shabby clothes and had sad looks on their faces.
No matter how much grain is harvested, the government always finds ways to increase taxes, and all kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes are already overwhelmed. Landowners can only pass it on to tenants, and rents are getting higher and higher. Small landowners and farmers go bankrupt every year.
"Ahead is Jintan Village. It used to be only in the valley, but now the land outside the valley has also been incorporated into the village." The local guide pointed ahead and said.
Cao Zao disembarked from the boat and landed on shore ahead of time, observing the journey along the way.
Entering the boundary of Jintan Village, the appearance changes instantly.
The fields are still the same fields and the farmers are still the same farmers, but the mental state is completely different.
The chief security officer in the village was arranged by Zhu Guoxiang.
Taxes were first paid to the village, and then escorted to the county by Chief Baojia. Zhu Guoxiang had the final say on how much tax to collect. He paid the full amount to the government, and the rest was his own.
There is no violation of the law, because the entire village land is nominally owned by Zhu Guoxiang. He is not collecting taxes, but the landlord is collecting rent.
The real illegal behavior is that Zhu Guoxiang is hiding the population of the land!
"The rice seedlings are growing very well. I hope we will have a good harvest this year." Cao Zao stood on the ridge of the field and said to several farmers who were transplanting rice seedlings.
No one paid attention to him, everyone was working hard.
And he was very motivated, because he was following Zhu Xianggong, and he was more and more hopeful every day.
Xianggong Zhu was a good man, and this has become a consensus in all the villages and towns. Some people even couldn't stand the government's exploitation and dragged their families and families for dozens of miles to seek refuge, and they were all arranged to open up wasteland deep in the valley.
Cao Zao continued walking inside and talked to people many times, but to no avail.
The villagers are now very taboo about strangers, fearing that the government will track them down and their good days will come to an end.
After walking for two or three miles, Cao Zao saw a large residential area.
That's where the papermaking factory is, and its scale has expanded a lot. More than half of the papermaking workers came from inside and outside Yangzhou City, and Zhu Guoxiang recruited a large number of bankrupt citizens.
"Are the guests here to buy paper?" Deputy village chief Liu Shidao suddenly appeared behind Cao Zao.
Cao Zao smiled and said: "I am a merchant passing through Yangzhou. I heard that Yangzhou's Yuandang paper is famous, so I came here to take a look."
Liu Shidao asked again: "What business did your guest do before?"
Cao Zao made up a nonsense: "Trafficking spices, medicinal materials, etc. If the ship is not empty on the return trip, we will take some of everything."
Liu Shidao asked again: "Last year in Han Dynasty, the weather was good and the herbs grew well. This is the right time for our distinguished guest. How much does it cost to buy Bupleurum this spring?"
Cao Zao couldn't answer it, so he casually mentioned a price, and Liu Shidao laughed.
Cao Zao also said that he wanted to see the Yuandang paper to confirm whether he wanted to buy it. Liu Shidao accompanied him throughout the process, but naturally the business was not concluded in the end.
Cao Zao asked a two-story building in front of him after talking about a lot of things: "Where is the inn?"
"No," Liu Shidao replied, "that's Zhu Xianggong's viewing tower."
Cao Zao said: "I am about to pay my respects to Mr. Zhu."
Liu Shidao said: "Xianggong Zhu is not in the village."
Cao Zao walked towards the two-story building and saw a lobby and a counter inside, but Liu Shidao blocked him from entering or even allowed him to continue walking forward.
Cao Zao had no choice but to give up and leave Jintan Village with a gloomy look.
It's not really an inn, but there are a few rooms that provide accommodation for merchants who buy paper.
There is another store on the side, which is the village's illegal salt shop.
Not only the villagers of Jintan Village come here to buy salt, but also the neighboring villages. Zhu Guoxiang has cooperated with private salt dealers for a long time and has become a private salt retailer.
Cao Zao had enough reasons to be angry, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Zhu Guoxiang, what does this mean?
Compared with Zhu Meng, they were nothing compared to the big witches. Zhu Meng and his son occupied an area of hundreds of thousands of acres and maintained more than a thousand private soldiers. Local officials just pretended not to notice.
Zhu Ming was removed from the editorship, and Zhu Guoxiang was not so favored, but he was registered with the emperor after all.
Cao Zao decided to visit Daming Village again. If it was too outrageous, he would write a letter directly to his Bole, who would forward it to Wang Fu. He impeached Zhu Guoxiang for occupying people's fields, hiding land, and privately amassing people!
By the way, I heard that the Zhu family is also involved in smuggling.
