Zhang Heng checked the eucalyptus booklet, which was sent by the subordinate county, and consulted with the people who recorded the affairs and joined the army.
They went to the county to explore and had a better understanding of the situation.
The general who recorded the incident and joined the army explained the situation: "In fact, they are not considered bandits. They are just refugees who cannot afford food and have no choice but to do it..."
Zhang Heng fell silent after listening.
In fact, it is not some evil force, it is just a problem of refugees.
The Song Dynasty did not suppress annexation, so the heroes and generals annexed land.
Over the past century, land sales and pawning have been quite common, the trend of land concentration has accelerated, and the number of farmers losing their land has increased.
"The rich have a field of hope, but the poor have no land to stand on. Those who are powerful have no field to cultivate, and those who have land have no land to cultivate."
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The burden on farmers is also very heavy.
In addition to paying taxes according to the prescribed amount, taxpayers also have burdens such as "transfer" and "transformation".
In addition to the two taxes, there are also Dingkou tax, various miscellaneous taxes, corvees and errands.
This is another heavy burden in addition to taxes.
Zhang Heng knew this very well, because the three brothers sold their fields and came to Bianjing to make a living because they could not afford to support themselves.
If he hadn't had the talents of later generations and his prophetic ability, which would have made him what he is today, otherwise he would probably be like these refugees, either robbed or starving to death.
How to manage this kind of thing?
Zhang Heng knew how to manage it, but couldn't bear it.
They are just poor people.
He had carried out many projects in the past just to provide food for the refugees, but he could only take care of some of the refugees. There were so many refugees, how could he possibly take care of them!
The New Deal that the imperial court is currently promoting is nothing more than a farce in Zhang Heng's opinion.
If the roots are rotten, just sprinkling water to clean the dust on the leaves will not solve the problem at all.
Moreover, people like Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu exaggerate. It is a good idea to let them be public officials to criticize the government, but to let them come to power to preside over the government is just a joke.
Therefore, Zhang Heng had no idea of becoming his teacher to famous people like Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu from the beginning.
These people are well-known and can make trouble, but using their talents to make changes is just asking for death, so why should he get involved in this.
Thinking of this, even with Zhang Heng's will, it is inevitable to feel discouraged.
But Zhang Heng was Zhang Heng after all. He was only temporarily frustrated and then he did what he could do.
The world is declining, but if there is heat, it will shine. Just like a firefly, it can shine a little in the dark without waiting for a torch.
The problem of refugees is ultimately a land problem, but ultimately it is a food problem.
As long as the refugees have a mouthful of food to eat, they will not hang their heads on their waists and do things like losing their heads at any time.
Just how to provide food for the refugees was a question that the civil and military officials in the court wanted to know, and Zhao Zhen also wanted to know.
Of course they actually know, they just don't want to do it.
If you ask the civil and military nobles of the Manchu Dynasty and the clans to take out all the land they occupy and distribute it to the refugees for farming, and then the government will also unify the taxes and leave a mouthful of food for the refugees, the matter can probably be solved.
.
But how is this possible?
Good wealth is hard to part with!
If you want to touch their land, you will kill them!
Don't think too much about things you can't do, think about things you can do.
Zhang Heng set his sights on business.
The British Industrial Revolution originated from the steam engine. The development of the steam engine led to the rapid development of the British textile industry. Therefore, capitalists raised sheep for wool. Raising sheep required a large amount of pasture, so a large amount of land was annexed. Farmers who lost their land could only run to the city, but instead
Cities brought a large amount of labor force, so the vigorous industrial revolution began.
Today's Song Dynasty is very similar to Britain at that time.
Although there was no steam engine, it was still land annexation. A large number of refugees came to the city to make a living, but there was no technological progress, so there were not enough jobs to accommodate them, so they could only survive by stealing.
What if he, Zhang Heng, could take advantage of these cheap labor forces?
Zhang Heng thought hard for many days, but still couldn't find a good way. Today, no industry can accommodate such a large number of refugees.
Unless there is an industrial revolution!
But this cannot be achieved overnight. Distant water cannot save nearby fire. The current problems must be solved now.
More than a dozen cases attracted Zhang Heng's attention, but after investigation, it turned out that they were actually refugees who had not enough to eat and turned into bandits.
So Zhang Heng was relieved and thought about how to help the refugees have enough to eat.
But the solution had not yet been thought of, and soon there was news that Wang Lun, a thief captured on Jingdong Road, was rebelling.
The Shandong area suffered from severe famine, and the people complained.
Wang Lun led hundreds of people to kill the Yizhou inspector Zhu Jin and occupied the Yizhou area.
This incident caused panic in Bianjing.
There are various rumors among the people in the market. Some people even say that Wang Lun has led an army to attack Bianjing. There are even people who don't know the truth pack up their packages and start running away.
Li Shu was also panicked when she saw this, but not that Wang Lun would lead an army to attack the capital.
Wang Lun had a bone in the back of his head, not a brain failure. How could he come to Bianjing to seek death?
What he was worried about was the instability of the people. If a large number of people really fled, then he, the prefect of Kaifeng, would be in trouble.
Li Shu quickly sent people to post notices to calm the people, but it was better not to post them, but there was a problem with this post.
Some people only listen to what they are told, and if the government does not say anything, they feel that the problem is not a big one.
As soon as the officials spoke, they immediately felt that the matter was serious, so more people ran away.
Li Shu was worried. If she kept running like this, Bianjing would be gone!
When the market dries up and taxes decrease, his bright future will be over.
So Li Shu quickly asked Zhang Heng for advice.
Zhang Heng then came up with a strategy, which was to mobilize various people to go to the public to announce the news.
These people are the servants of relatives of Kaifeng Yamen's officials, distant relatives who record affairs and join the army, distant nephews of a certain prime minister, and so on. Through their mouths, something like this:
[Wang Lun has died not long ago, and the officials have ordered Dongtou to enshrine Li Miao. Cao Yuanzhe, the leader of Zuoban Palace, led 100,000 troops to quell the rebellion. In about ten days, Wang Lun's head will appear at the top of Bianjing City.
】
[My master said, let us eat well, drink well, sleep well, and don’t worry about anything. If we do, we should worry about what we are going to eat tonight]
[It's a shame to escape. Let's not say whether Wang Lun will come over. There are many refugees outside, and Bianjing City is safe there. It was fine at first, but when I ran out, I was robbed. 】
[Have you never heard of it? Lao Li from the east end of the west alley ran away with his family, and then they were robbed on the road. Hey, his daughter was robbed, his son had his head cut off, and his wife didn’t know where he went.
I escaped with my life, but unfortunately I have gone crazy]
...and so on.
The tricks weren't surprising, and they were quite messy, but they were really easy to use, and Bianjing immediately felt at ease.
Li Shu thanked Zhang Heng repeatedly.
Zhang Heng didn't mean to take credit, he just smiled modestly.
In fact, all his thoughts were on Wang Lun's rebellion.
In fact, Zhang Heng had only forgotten it for a moment. When the name Wang Lun was mentioned in his ears, he had already remembered it.
Wang Lun is still very famous. This Wang Lun is actually the prototype of the white warrior Wang Lun in "Water Margin", and the idea of the entire Water Margin did not come from the water in Liangshan, but from Wang Lun's rebellion.
Zhang Heng paid attention to this matter, not because of the impact of Wang Lun's rebellion, but on the aftermath of Wang Lun's rebellion being suppressed.
What he was worried about was that there was a severe drought in Shandong and a severe drought in Jianghuai. If not, Wang Lun would have no foundation for rebellion. Wang Lun would be defeated by then, but what about the refugees?
As long as they have something to eat, they will not think of rebellion.
Zhang Heng thought for a long time, and now the problem lies in the country. There is a severe drought in Shandong and a severe drought in the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers. The refugees have no food to eat and there is no money to spend. Therefore, there is no way to solve the problem by focusing only on the country.
Zhang Heng looked abroad.
The various handicrafts, agricultural products, artworks, daily necessities, etc. of the Song Dynasty are among the most advanced in the world. If these things can be exported overseas...
After thinking about it this way, Zhang Heng had some ideas.
The problem of the Song Dynasty was that land annexation and natural disasters created a large number of unemployed farmers, also known as refugees. These people could not find jobs and naturally could not afford to support their families. Such people would naturally become a hidden danger to society.
The entire Song Dynasty had formed a huge social involution. Here, there were insufficient jobs, fields were occupied, and the extra people had no jobs, no money and food, and naturally they had no way to consume.
Therefore, within the Song Dynasty, products were produced but could not be sold, a situation similar to an economic crisis, and the court had already fallen into a fiscal deficit.
In fact, under such circumstances, it would be easier for the imperial court to collapse.
The dynasty collapsed, and then entered a period of chaos and fighting for decades, with a large number of people dying. Then the dynasty was restarted, the land was redistributed, and a new dynasty rose again.
But the Song Dynasty was a deformed dynasty. It was not good at external affairs, but it had extremely strong internal control. Although it looked riddled with holes, it still stood firm despite endless uprisings everywhere.
So don’t think about this road, just think about how to save people.
Just when Zhang Heng was thinking about how to deal with the aftermath, Wang Lun's rebellion became more and more powerful.
The imperial court had indeed ordered Li Miao, the enshrined official in the east, and Cao Yuanzhe, the official in the Zuoban Palace, to lead his troops to put down the rebellion.
After learning the news about the encirclement and suppression by the government troops, Wang Lun quickly adjusted his deployment, evacuated Yizhou, and instead led his troops to break into the Huainan area.
Wherever Wang Lun's rebel army went, they fought successively and victoriously. The local officials were so frightened that they had to stay behind closed doors and did not dare to fight Wang Lun.
During the period of fighting in Jianghuai, Wang Lun's power grew stronger and stronger. He successively launched attacks on Mi, Qing and other places, and then sent his troops south to seize Sizhou, Chu, Zhen, Yang, Tai and other places.
In June, Wang Lun established his own reign title and appointed various official positions. In order to manage the rebel army, Wang Lun ordered all the soldiers to wear yellow uniforms, and all the soldiers had "Heavenly Saint" tattooed on their faces.
These six words are "Jie command".
Ouyang Xiu even said angrily: "Wang Lun took weapons and armor together and marched across the Huaihai Sea as if no one was walking... They all stabbed the commanding name of the Holy Victory from Heaven on their faces. Wang Lun was still wearing yellow cedar. According to what he did, how could it be normal?
thief."
There was a lot of movement, but it was of no use. They should be defeated anyway, and this was not within Zhang Heng's thoughts.
However, just when Zhang Heng was thinking about how to deal with the aftermath and rescue the refugees, Bianjing was also short of food!
When Tong Boding told Zhang Heng the news, Zhang Heng still didn't believe it: "Isn't it weird that the food from the six provinces and seventy-two states in the country cannot supply the capital's consumption?"
But that's actually the case.
Zhang Heng inquired carefully and found out that Kaifeng mainly relied on water transportation from the Jianghuai area to maintain the capital's large consumption. Nowadays, there is a severe drought in the west of Beijing and a severe drought in Huainan. Therefore, food is in short supply and must be transported from farther south.
However, Wang Lun rebelled and the Cao River was blocked, leading to the current predicament.
After Zhang Heng learned about this situation, he couldn't help but laugh and cry. He originally thought that the only people he wanted to save were the refugees, but he didn't expect that the clown would be himself instead.
If the imperial court fails to resolve this matter, not only those in western Jingxi will be starved to death, but even Kaifeng will be starved to death.
When he returned home, Zhang Heng complained to him that the price of food had been changing day by day. The price increase was frightening. Zhang Heng then told his elder brother to buy more food and save it. Zhang Shu and his brother went there every day.
, I’m sure my eldest brother will explain it to me, so there’s no need to worry about it.
But the Zeng Mansion still had to give the order. Zeng Gongliang was not here, so Mrs. Zeng might not have thought of this. But when it came to the Zeng Mansion, Mrs. Zeng said with a smile: "Youwei has already given the order, and the mansion is here."
I bought a lot before the price went up, so I won’t be hungry.”
After settling down the family, I was able to worry about the world. When I heard that Zeng Youwei had such foresight, I was immediately relieved, and my mind turned back to the aftermath.
Zhang Heng recruited people from the city's shipping affairs to consult on maritime trade. The supervisor of the city's shipping affairs was so frightened that he thought it was Zhang Heng, the judge, who wanted to investigate the city's shipping affairs. When he heard that Zhang Heng was
After asking him about maritime trade, he breathed a sigh of relief.
The prison officer said respectfully: "So this is what the judge asked..."
Zhang Heng asked curiously: "Otherwise, what do you think I asked?"
The supervisor laughed and said, "No, no, I will introduce the situation of sea trade to Judge Qian. Although we have a shipping business, it is not of much use because the country strictly prohibits sea trade.
The role of the municipal shipping department is to prohibit ships from entering the sea."
This statement immediately surprised Zhang Heng, because according to what he knew in his previous life, the maritime trade of the Song Dynasty was the highest in history... huh?
wrong!
Zhang Heng suddenly came to his senses - he was mistaking the Southern Song Dynasty for the Northern Song Dynasty!
The Southern Song Dynasty was based on half of the Yangtze River and had no choice but to vigorously develop maritime trade. Therefore, maritime trade was developed to the highest level in the past dynasties, but this was not the case in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Zhang Heng quickly smelled the current situation.
The supervisor was very knowledgeable and told all the regulations one by one.
It turns out that at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, in order to prevent the outflow of silver, overseas trade was excluded. In order to prevent merchants from doing business abroad, the Song Dynasty government adopted a series of policies that emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce to prevent the outflow of silver caused by foreign trade. Once merchants were at sea,
Those who make more than a few thousand coins from trade will be exiled!
However, because of the considerable profits brought by maritime trade, many people still secretly go to sea. This is the value of the city's maritime affairs - to apprehend smugglers!
Zhang Heng glanced at the prison officer, who immediately felt a little trembling, and smiled inwardly. He estimated that the prison officer either embezzled the stolen goods during the smuggling, or he was guarding and stealing by himself, colluding with unscrupulous businessmen to carry out smuggling.
However, Zhang Heng had no intention of taking care of these matters and asked the supervisor to go back.
This conversation put an end to many of Zhang Heng's thoughts.
It seems that the domestic rollout is not good, but the foreign countries cannot borrow the help, so what should we do?
Since he couldn't do anything, Zhang Heng simply stopped thinking about it. The big things were taken care of by the officials and prime ministers. He, a small official, had to worry about what the world was doing every day, but he couldn't make the decision!
But when he wanted to ignore it, someone asked him to.
After being appointed together, he was appointed as the shipping judge for Jiangsu, Huai, Liangzhe, Jinghu and other roads. He assisted Xu Yuan in shipping and reformed water transportation to improve the shortage of water transportation and the shortage of military food in the capital. He was ordered to go to the transportation immediately. Report to the department.
Zhang Heng didn't dare to delay, so he quickly dealt with the matter on Qianjing's side, and then rushed to the Shipping Department.
Now he has two responsibilities, one is Kaifeng Prefecture's official judge, and the other is more complicated and is called the Jiangsu, Huaihe, Liangzhejiang, Jinghu and other road system transportation judges.
Zhang Heng can probably understand what the so-called Shipping Department manages, which is responsible for water transportation.
It seems that the lack of food in Beijing has already made all the officials in the imperial court feel a sense of crisis.
It's normal to think about it. There are more than two million people in Bianjing, all of whom rely on water transportation. If the water transportation is interrupted, it will really starve the city to death.
But who recommended him? Was it the general ordered by Zhao Zhen?
Zhang Heng rushed to the shipping department, and the shipping envoy Xu Yuan personally greeted him: "Zhang Sanyuan, you are finally here!"
Xu Yuan was quite enthusiastic, and Zhang Heng hurriedly greeted him: "Xu Zhongcheng, I have come to report."
Xu Yuan smiled and said: "What do you call a lower official? Before I became the shipping envoy, my official position was one level lower than yours. It was mainly for the convenience of doing things. I might not be able to do well and I would be fired immediately. When the time comes, you It’s my superior officer.”
As soon as Xu Yuan said these words, Zhang Heng had a much better impression of him. Such a magnanimous style is really rare in this officialdom.
Xu Yuan seemed a little anxious. Before Zhang Heng could sit down, he started talking about official business: "Judge Zhang, because the matter is indeed too urgent, I won't greet you anymore. Let's get to work."
Zhang Heng nodded and said: "Okay, whatever Xu Zhongcheng needs me to do, just ask him."
Xu Yuan nodded and said: "We don't have to do anything specific, but we must immediately think of a way to solve the current food shortage in Bianjing. The food shortage in Bianjing is now very serious, and the remaining food reserves are less than a month old. Yes, within a month, if we can’t get enough food, Bianjing will starve to death!”
The smile on Xu Yuan's face had completely disappeared, leaving only solemnity.