At the end of September, Chen Ke arrived at Guangnan West Road and was warmly welcomed by Guangxi civil and military officials.
You must know that since the Taizong Dynasty, the Song Dynasty not only did not increase any territory, but also continued to lose troops and territory. The morale of the military and the people were quite weak. No one even dared to say such grand words as "recovering Yanyun".
The attachment of Dali was like a shot of chicken blood to the Song Dynasty. You must know that the land of Dali has been the territory of the Chinese Dynasty since ancient times. Great figures such as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang, and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty all once established a ruling order here.
, later due to the wrong policies of the Tang Dynasty, the Nanzhao Kingdom was forced to secede. Since then, Caiyunnan has been separated from the central court for two hundred years, and even the wise and powerful Emperor Taizu did not take it back.
Nowadays, Dali has surrendered and Jin Ou has been completely conquered, and not through a barbaric war of conquest, but the king of Dali took the initiative to offer his country. This is really in line with the aesthetic pursuit of the civilized government... In politics, the scholar-bureaucrats pursue governing the world with benevolence and righteousness.
The royal way. Its highest state is the so-called "I follow the royal way, and all the Xia will surrender"!
Now, the big "Zhu Xia" of Dali Kingdom has come to join us. Doesn't it prove that the benevolent government of the Song Dynasty was very successful and the king's way has reached a very high level? Doesn't it prove that the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty are very competent and benevolent?
The official family, who had been depressed because they had given birth to another daughter, also put aside their worries and happily went to the Ancestral Temple to pay homage to their ancestors. While personally presiding over the suburb ceremony, they reported the good news to heaven. Naturally, generous rewards were also indispensable.
Ministers, large-scale officials and titles... Officials of fourth rank and above each received a reward index. The remaining officials received rewards that were almost equivalent to a year's salary.
Just these celebrations cost 10 million yuan, which would definitely make a dynasty like the Ming and Qing dynasties tremble.
Naturally, generous rewards should be given to ministers who have made meritorious service. There have been rumors in the government and the public that as soon as Wang Gui returns to the capital, he will worship him as prime minister, and Fan Zhen should do the same, but this guy is too annoying. The officials don't like to see him.
Therefore, he was only promoted to a higher position and was not allowed to return to Beijing... The benefits of the separation of official positions in the Song Dynasty were reflected. Even if you were an official at the level of prime minister, you were still the mayor of the local area. There is no temple that is too small to accommodate a big Bodhisattva.
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As for Chen Ke, the newly appointed number one scholar by the officials, he was already a popular figure. Now, he received the order to go on an envoy after his death, galloped thousands of miles back to Beijing, fought with all the ministers in the Golden Palace, and finally persuaded the imperial court to send troops.
It is known all over the world. The world loves young heroes the most. The officials also like that he has given them a good face... Originally, the officials chose this number one scholar to go against all opinions, and many ministers talked behind their backs. It was because Chen Ke was related to the officials.
The reason for this reason left Zhao Zhen speechless.
There is no way, who told Zhao Zhen to have a criminal record? In the second year of Qingli, Wang Anshi originally won the top prize, but later he lost the top prize because of a "careless word". But everyone who knows the inside story knows that this is not the case at all.
——The truth is that Empress Cao fell in love with the young and handsome Yang Chi and wanted to recruit him as her niece's son-in-law. In order to add luster to the marriage, and also with the idea of "don't let the rich water flow to others", Zhao Zhen flicked his pen and gave the number one scholar.
Yang Zhi.
You only need to be a thief once, and others will always think you are a thief in the future. So this time, it is inevitable that the officials will give their relatives a back door. You must know that the words of the scholar-bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty can hurt people, regardless of whether you are the emperor or your husband.
Let alone Chen Ke, who is the number one scholar in a new subject...he would have to leave Beijing immediately, otherwise he would inevitably be ridiculed on various occasions.
Well, now, the champion man made a miraculous feat of opening up new territories, which not only completely silenced those gossips, but also made Chen Ke the brightest star in the political arena of the Song Dynasty.
Although the official reward has not yet come down, everyone understands that this boy with both academic qualifications, connections, and achievements will definitely rise to great heights, and he will be unable to pull him away. So it is not difficult to understand.
, Guangxi civil and military officials flattered him.
What's more, Chen Ke was well-informed and did not forget to mention in his summary report to the court the contribution of sending troops to Guangnan West Road and the effective support, making them the heroes of the expansion of the territory.
The so-called reciprocation must be mutual. At the welcome banquet, Lao Wanghan gave Chen Ke two precious gifts with a smile - first, he recruited 50,000 people from the sparsely populated Guangnan West Road;
Xiang Jinghu South Road received 50,000 yuan, and collected the 100,000 civilians that Chen Ke needed.
Needless to say, this generous gift to relieve an urgent need. To talk about another thing, he sent all the skilled craftsmen from the Guangnan West Road Duzuo Institute to Chen Ke, and promised to supply all the materials and fully support the opening of the Hongshui River.
Water transport...
This gift is no less thin than the previous one. You must know that Duzuoyuan is an institution set up by the imperial court to manufacture weapons and various military supplies in various places. Especially in the important border defense town of Guangnan West Road, there are countless skilled craftsmen.
, almost comparable to the North and South workshops in Bianjing.
Digging rivers, clearing reefs, and building dams... would have been huge projects in later generations. What's more, in the Song Dynasty, when technical conditions were not yet developed, without the assistance of the military, it would have been extremely difficult.
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Wang Han, an old man like "If you don't see a rabbit, don't let an eagle fly", naturally you won't spend so much money to repay Chen Ke's favor. The reason why he fully supports him has his own intentions... Firstly,
It's good to sell Chen Ke, but he can't expect anything from Chen Ke, but he still has children and grandchildren who can enjoy this good relationship.
Of course, the most important thing is that he knows very well that the opening of Hongshui River is of great significance to Guangnan West Road.
Guangxi is mountainous and full of barbarians. It may be the poorest among all the roads in the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty also had a regional economic system, which means that each administrative division is responsible for its own profits and losses. First of all, the tax revenue paid to the court cannot be less.
In addition, the local government relied entirely on itself for its own expenses. Of course, the largest expenses, military expenses and official salaries, were still paid by the imperial court.
Seeing that Guangnan West Road has been pacified for a long time, the imperial court's examination of Guangxi's civil and military affairs in the future will inevitably shift from the military aspect to the civil affairs. But encouraging farmers and mulberry trees, controlling waste, recruiting people from waste, increasing household registration, developing water conservancy, building schools... these places
Which exam items for officials are not made with money?
Without money, nothing can be done, and officials have no future. Therefore, both in public and private matters, Wang Han has to find a way to make money on Guangnan West Road. But he looked around and smiled helplessly. The so-called poor mountains and poor waters are what he meant.
Guangxi?
What's even worse is the inconvenience of transportation. Guangxi is not completely lacking in good things. For example, there are all kinds of precious wood. A piece of wood shipped to the capital can be worth ten thousand yuan. However, the roads in Guangxi are difficult to walk, the forests are dense, and many small roads are not open for three to five days.
When people left, big trees grew on the ground. It took eight months to transport such a large beam to the capital. It was unknown how much manpower and material resources were consumed, so almost no one cared about it.
Just when his eyes darkened, Chen Ke had finished Dali, and Dongchuan City was almost completed. After the Hongshui River project was completed, the transportation between Dali and the mainland would be smooth, and Dali's silver and copper mines would be smooth.
Mines and abundant products are continuously transported to the mainland, and materials and commodities from the mainland will also be transported to Dali. Of course, materials from Guangxi can also take a ride, so there is no need to worry about external transportation.
However, the economically minded officials of the Song Dynasty not only saw this benefit, but what made them even more excited was the high-quality tax source brought by the frequent exchange of large-value commodities!
However, after all, the government is not the king of the mountain who wants to go through this road and leave money to buy it. Merchants cannot pay taxes to you just because they pass by your house. Of course, they can levy it by force, but in the Song Dynasty,
Businessmen are not fuel-efficient lamps. If they collect dirty materials, those censors who worry all day long about not meeting the impeachment targets will naturally pounce on them like vicious dogs.
So how can we legally tax? According to the laws of the Song Dynasty, the place of origin, transshipment, and destination of goods all have the right to tax... Guangxi is neither the place of departure nor the destination. The only thing that can be fought for is
Transfer place.
Theoretically speaking, after the copper ships leave Yunnan, they can either go northward via the Ling Canal or be transported by sea. However, after thousands of years of operation, the Ling Canal has become silted up. Dredging is a major project, and compared with sea transport, inland waterway shipping takes too long.
, the cost is too high and the efficiency is too low. So shipping by sea is actually the only option.
Then which port is shipped from is the key. Logically speaking, the Pearl River enters the sea from Guangzhou. Guangzhou is the largest port city in the Song Dynasty and has a specialized agency such as the Municipal Shipping Department. It is the only choice for Yunnan copper to enter the sea.
But the Qinzhou Port built by Chen Ke gave Wang Han hope. Only then did he realize that there was such an excellent port within his jurisdiction, and there was a waterway leading directly to the Pearl River, so he could intercept it halfway!
After all, he was an old man with a background of leading troops in wars. Wang Han thought that he was going to do it, so he prepared this huge profit and waited for Chen Ke, hoping that he could set the port of departure at Qinzhou Port.
After hearing Lao Wang Han's request, Chen Ke was noncommittal and said with a faint smile: "Let's do an on-site inspection first before talking."
"It should, it should." Wang Han immediately put aside his official duties and accompanied him all the way south. Not a day later, he arrived at Anyuan City, Qinzhou, Guangxi, a simple seaside port. He saw a dock made of cement concrete, quietly
Standing quietly on the edge of the vast blue South China Sea.
This wharf, which stretches for dozens of miles with the seawall, was built by Chen Ke in ten days and has been continuously improved to this day. After receiving the military supplies shipped from Jiangnan, it became Guangnan West Road.
A port that receives military supplies.
The garrison and management personnel on the dock had been notified early and came out to greet us from afar.
Chen Ke and Wang Han rode horses and walked along a gray-white concrete avenue towards the pier. On both sides of the road, they pointed at the tall coconut trees. Occasionally, seagulls crossed their heads and cast a curious glance.
