In the golden autumn of August, Shao Shude was already in Ezhou.
He had no intention of staying here, but he felt unwell and groggy. In addition, he was in a bad mood after hearing the news that Zhaorong Yeli had died of illness, so he ordered to stay in Ezhou.
Shao Shude was a martial artist, and he knew how strong his body was. In the past, he rarely got sick. This time he fell ill in Wuchang, and it was so violent that it had to be said that it was a wake-up call for him.
He once thought that it was caused by eating sea dog pills and concubine Ye Yu. But after thinking about it carefully, he could only sigh and his body was really not as good as before.
Lying on the hospital bed, he still asked the palace officials to read memorials and military reports to him.
It's just that he no longer dealt with it personally and wrote and commented as usual. Instead, he closed his eyes and asked people to repeat the reading when he heard the key points, and finally gave an opinion orally.
"Ezhou continues to spend money in many places. Donations from merchants will be sent to the state capital." Shao Shude opened his eyes and ordered.
"Yes." Mrs. Liu, who was already the Shang Palace, wrote it down, then blinked her eyes as if asking.
"She looks very much like your grandmother." Shao Shude smiled and said, "Last year, the queen arranged for you to marry Yang Hongyin's son. Why didn't you agree?"
"I don't want to." Mrs. Liu whispered.
"It's up to you." Shao Shude yawned and closed his eyes to rest.
Mrs. Liu continued to read.
When he thought that the Forbidden Army that went to western Hunan to suppress bandits encountered an epidemic and was severely reduced in number, Shao Shude shouted stop.
"Now that more than ten strongholds have been destroyed, the goal has been achieved, so we can stop." He said: "The remaining strongholds are already frightened. We can allow them to make a new start and come to Ezhou to see me."
Mrs. Liu wrote it down again.
"The Tielin and Wuwei armies, which have been severely reduced in number, should return to Luoyang first." Shao Shude said again: "Send a message to the prince and make him responsible for the reorganization of the Tielin army and Wuwei army. There are still five thousand people in the Luoyan army, right?
All of them will be dispersed and organized into various divisions of the Forbidden Army, and priority will be given to replenishing the Tielin and Wuwei armies."
"Yes." Ms. Liu wrote it down without any hesitation.
After spending several years in the palace, Liu already knew a lot of things.
Each department of the Forbidden Army has retired people every year. In case of war, there will be battle losses. In other words, regular recruitment of soldiers is inevitable. In the past, it was usually the saints who took charge of the matter personally, and the Privy Council cooperated. The replacement was completed.
Saints often inspect the troops to see if their combat effectiveness and military morale can be maintained. This is actually a way to enhance the prestige in the military.
This time the sage asked the Prince of the Supervisory State to be in charge of the replenishment and rectification of Tielin and Wuwei's second army, which contained too many things.
It is a huge breakthrough for the prince to further get involved in the Forbidden Army on the basis of the East Palace Guards (originally adapted from Ma Zhi). You must know that rectification can adjust the officers and reorganize the battalion organization. This is tantamount to explicitly telling
Prince, I tacitly allow you to place your own men in the Tielin and Wuwei armies.
The saint's ability to make this determination may also be related to his illness.
My family knows their own affairs, and some of their wealth should be handed over to the prince one after another.
Thinking of this, Mrs. Liu felt a sense of sourness in her heart.
Even the heroic and romantic people will have their twilight days.
"Continue to read." After a long time, just when Liu thought the saint had fallen asleep, the voice rang in his ears again.
She calmed down, picked up a new military newspaper, and began to read it softly.
Shao Shude closed his eyes again, seemingly sleeping but not sleeping.
Mrs. Liu didn't know how many times she read until she stopped again.
"Why are the Western Region Trading Company so stubborn?" Shao Shude opened his eyes and said helplessly: "In the past few years, I asked them to diversify their land and develop more trading villages to meet military needs, but I didn't let them continue doing this.
It’s been 10 years, and apart from farming, you also catch slaves. Is that ridiculous?”
Mrs. Liu listened quietly and waited for the next words.
"Let them focus on the business road." Shao Shude said: "If a trading company is not prosperous in business, how can it be decent? I don't know how to cover up such a job as catching people. I have no shame in doing business openly."
After speaking, he sighed and said: "Send this notice to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and it will be processed immediately."
The current main business scope of the Western Region trading companies is still limited to the Gumo, Qiuci, and Tingzhou areas east of the Tianshan Mountains. The largest source of income is the merchant villages, followed by the slave trade.
Yes, they would catch slaves themselves, but they would also spend money to buy them. The female slaves would be dressed up and sent to Chang'an, Luoyang, Bianzhou, Yangzhou and other big cities for sale. The strong male slaves would be sent to brick kilns and coal mines to work.
Those who were not very strong stayed to farm.
To put it bluntly, the main business is trading villages and farming, and even catching slaves serves this goal.
To be fair, they have reached the pinnacle of their work in this matter. They sell hundreds of thousands of grains, grains, and grains every year, which strongly supports the military needs. Although Luoyang also pays a lot of money, it is a bit of a headache - but
It’s always cheaper than transporting it thousands of miles away, isn’t it?
Now Shao Shude was a little dissatisfied with their "rigid thinking" of focusing solely on farming, and asked them to gradually change their focus and devote more energy to serious business - forget about the slave trade.
It’s not just about making money, there’s also a relationship-building element to it.
When political relations cannot be established, establish solid business ties first. The grassland is very poor, so let the chiefs be the secondary agents and wholesalers of the Western Region Trading Company, let them make money together, and gradually build friendships.
Friendship means money and intelligence, and after deepening, it may become a political connection.
Friendship means money and intelligence, and after deepening, it may become a political connection.
Shao Shude asked the Western Region trading companies to establish a long-term cooperative business network as soon as possible. In fact, it was for the layout of the Western Regions. I believe the Ministry of Internal Affairs also understands this and will supervise the Western Regions trading companies.
Seeing that Shao Shude was silent, Mr. Liu waited for a moment and then continued to read.
"Wuchang and Jiangling, what's there to fight about?" After a moment, Shao Shude sneered on the bed and said: "One Jingnan Town, one Eyue Town, the trivial old grievances are brought to this day. What? They all want to be the boss.
?The Yangtze River is so big that it can accommodate Jingzhou and Wuchang. As for the inland shipyards, they can be built in both places, so don’t fight. Now Jingzhou is slightly better, so don’t let them get carried away. They won’t leave Jingzhou without seeing Hunan’s goods.
Is it okay? Find out the reason yourself."
Liu quickly wrote it down.
Finally, let’s talk about an immediate matter. They are now in Wuchang, a port city that has grown rapidly in recent decades. Every time the Bianshui channel is artificially cut off (such as the Xuzhou Silver Knife Capital Rebellion), the goods from Jiangnan are in
This collection.
It was cut off more than once, and the time each time was not short. Therefore, the city of Ezhou gradually expanded in size and finally became what it is today.
Shao Shude was a little emotional.
The competition between Jiangling and Wuchang lasted until later generations when the winner was determined - in the end Wuchang won a great victory.
But at this time, Jiangling was stronger than Wuchang, much stronger.
Goods from Sichuan are generally collected and distributed in Jingzhou. From then on, they go north and directly connect to the Han River through the river to Xiangyang, which is much closer than taking the detour to Wuchang.
Considering that the capital was Luoyang and Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty, Jingzhou's location advantage is a bit big.
Wuchang mainly collects and distributes goods from Jiangnan.
Goods from Hunan can go to either Wuchang or Jingzhou, with most of the goods currently going to the former.
In short, it is completely feasible to have two cargo distribution centers in this area, and they are located on Huguang Road, so there is really no need to fight to the death.
After Shao Shude listened to the memorial, he decided to build shipbuilding workshops in both places at the same time to strengthen shipping in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and prosper commerce.
"Keep reading." He closed his eyes again and said.
****
On August 15th, Shao Shude recovered from his illness and felt the strength gradually returning to his body. He was very happy and climbed to the top of the city to overlook the river.
The Jianghan River Basin is a treasure land.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, great development occurred, the environment was greatly improved, it became more livable, and the number of registered permanent residents gradually increased.
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Chen Youliang took this as a basis and launched a fateful battle with Zhu Yuanzhang.
Whoever wins will be the emperor of China - judging from the population of more than 50 million in the south and tens of millions in the north at that time, this is indeed true.
In the Battle of Poyang Lake, Zhu Yuanzhang won a thrilling victory, laying the foundation for unification.
At that time, Hubei had actually developed quite well. By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, it had ushered in its golden age and was known as "Huguang is well versed in the world".
Daxia was unable to effectively develop this place at this time because Shao Shude was unwilling to spend a lot of human lives to develop the Jianghan Plain.
But there is no large-scale immigration, and there are still small-scale immigrants. Moreover, the source of new immigrants is very unique: mainly from Kanhoku Province.
To be more precise, it comes from the four states of Lin, Yin, Sui and Xia.
At this time, many immigrants took boats on the river, crossed the river south, and dispersed to settle in various states to enrich their local household registration.
Shao Shude has no objection to this.
The first time he went to Jiangnan in his life was almost over. He had a general understanding of the southern states in his mind——
The fertile Jiangdong is full of people and abundant money and food.
In the stable Jiangxi, development has come to an end, and tea, porcelain, and mining are booming.
The desolate Huguang is still in its infancy, but it is developing extremely rapidly, and local officials are also ambitious and striving to achieve great results.
In his view, the South only needs to seize the Su, Run, Chang, Hu, Hang, Ming and other prefectures in the northern part of Jiangdong Road, and it will basically be unable to make a huge difference.
The relatively empty south was a gift he left to future generations. When the book "Zhi Zhi" became a prominent scholar, everyone understood the temptation brought by a huge virgin land.
He has sensed the pulse of the development of the South and personally listened to its rapid and resolute beating. The rest is a matter of hard work. The imperial court invests a certain amount of resources every year, and the southern states take control of it themselves. Good steel must be used on the blade.
South, that's it.
This inspection was very fruitful, and I also had a preliminary understanding of the economic model of each place - the war years have long passed, and now it is indeed time to fight for the economy.
On the 18th, Shao Shude crossed the Yangtze River on a Ping Navy ship, and then stopped and arrived in Xiangyang in early September. The autumn in the north was already vivid in his mind.
