It was not just Lu Zhishen who was shocked by the huge changes in the villages around Liangshan Shuibo, there were also other beings who were also shocked by such earth-shaking changes.
Zhang Shuye, the prefect of Jeju, is one of them...
The huge changes in the Jizhou section of Liangshan River naturally attracted Zhang Shuye's attention.
I originally thought that it was just a small trick of Liangshan Village, which was not a concern. What development prospects could the countryside have?
Even though Zhang Shuye considered himself to be quite capable, he was unable to take care of village-level governance. The most he could do was to restrain local landlords and gentry from exploiting too much.
Even in this way, he can be called a "good official" by the local people!
Unexpectedly, Liangshan Village made an extraordinary move. In just a few months, the village of Jeju, which is close to the water, has undergone earth-shaking changes.
Ordinarily, this is a good thing for Jeju Magistrate Zhang Shuye, but the problem is that there are only so many commercial resources, and some of them have been diverted by the suddenly prosperous countryside. The part that should have been received by local squires and official families has been reduced.
Despite the prosperity of business in the Song Dynasty, the majority of commercial interests have always been in the hands of officials and local powerful people, and the common people can only take a small part in it.
Every powerful family has its own business channels and networks, and caravans are indispensable.
Recently, the business volume of major caravansaries in Jeju has dropped sharply, and the business of shops in the city has also been greatly affected, which naturally caused dissatisfaction among their respective families.
But they didn't have the guts to look for Liangshan's main village, or even have the guts to station Liangshan troops in the countryside to cause trouble, so they could only use official means to force the prefect Zhang Shuye to come forward.
In other words, if this situation continues to develop, I am afraid that the commercial center status of Jeju City and major county towns will be taken away by the vast rural areas.
This kind of thing is absolutely unacceptable to the local official families and powerful landowners.
It’s not that they are serving the country and the people, but that their status as a commercial center has fallen to the side, so they can’t take the majority. The main reason is that Liangshan’s sphere of influence means that they can’t take the maximum benefit. It’s as simple as that.
Not to mention straw products such as straw hats, straw mats and straw shoes, not to mention reed baskets, mats and other items, they are specialties from the villages around Liangshan. They adopt a business model of small profits but quick turnover, which does not conflict with traditional business channels.
, but for some weak landlords and gentry, they still want to completely monopolize the majority.
There are also daily necessities such as firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea, etc. I don’t know where the village in Liangshan got the production methods, but they were very generous and taught them to the villagers in the major villages.
This is a good thing. Workshops for such daily necessities have appeared in villages one after another, directly impacting the business of similar workshops in the city, and offending some official families and powerful landlords.
The situation is not yet at its worst, after all, the countryside near Shuibo has only a short period of time for dramatic changes.
If they have the skills to enter the higher-end cloth, porcelain, or even sugar business, might they push Jeju's local business forces into a corner?
In short, Zhang Shuye, who was under great pressure, simply left the city and took his servants disguised as merchants to the villages around Shuibo that had undergone tremendous changes, wanting to see with his own eyes what was going on.
Liangshan Village just used small tricks to make him so embarrassed. If he didn't understand the details, he might not be able to sleep.
Hearing that the magistrates of Yunzhou and Puyang were already thinking of using force, Zhang Shuye was not optimistic about his two colleagues at all.
Do you really think that when Liangshan’s main force is used up, the strength of our village will be reduced?
As far as he knew, Lu Zhishen, the flower monk who had fallen into the grass at Erlong Mountain in Qingzhou, and Wu Song, the traveler, were all in this village, Baitiao Zhang Shun from Langli in Jiangzhou, Sanxiong from the Ruan family in Shijie Village, and Li Ying, the flying eagle from Dulonggang.
No one is easy to mess with.
At least, among the Jeju Forbidden Army, there are no generals who can compare with these guys.
If a conflict really breaks out, relying on the local imperial army is simply asking for humiliation.
As for the question of whether Liangshan dared to fight with the local imperial army after accepting the imperial court's invitation, Zhang Shuye felt that there was nothing to say.
The leader of Liangshan Village at this time is Chai Jin, who comes from the Chai family. Even today’s officials are difficult to target. It would be a dream to think that he would be afraid of the majesty of the imperial court!
However, when he came to the village on the edge of the water, he was shocked by the astonishing sight here.
A spacious and bright house with red bricks and black tiles, as far as he knew, this was the living standard of ordinary landowners and squires.
Busy workshops and shops, with an endless stream of foreign merchants, have indeed taken away the business of their counterparts in nearby counties.
But there is nothing we can do about it. Purchasing from workshops and shops in the village not only has a lower price, but also makes transportation more convenient. It can be quickly loaded onto a cargo ship and transported by water.
What surprised him most was that there were schools and medical clinics in the village. When did Jeju have such abundant educational and medical resources?
He quietly observed for a while at the village's medical clinic and at the entrance of the school. Everything was normal, but he felt a little uneasy in his heart.
Obviously, all this was the work of Chai Daguan, who was in charge of Liangshan Village.
What benefits can be gained?
Anyway, Zhang Shuye couldn't think of anything good even if he tried hard.
Then there is only one purpose: to win over the people!
Thinking of this, Zhang Shuye couldn't help but feel his heart tremble, as if he had discovered something extraordinary.
Of course, we have to continue to observe whether this is the case.
As a responsible local official, he would not be able to blame Chai Daguan casually without any conclusive evidence.
If something goes wrong and Liangshan's main village suddenly rebels, neither the court nor the local government will be able to bear it.
The incident in which Gao Qiu himself led an army of 100,000 people to annihilation is still vivid in his mind.
Next, Zhang Shuye walked around the other transformed villages.
The more I look at it, the more frightened I feel, and the more I look at it, the chillier my heart becomes...
Even though the villages he walked through were scattered nearly a hundred miles around, they were closely connected and cooperated with each other in a tacit understanding.
Not every village has workshops for daily necessities such as firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea, etc. Instead, each village has one or two workshops based on the situation and environment of the village. They do not interfere with each other and can be said to work together in a tacit understanding.
The most important thing is that I don’t know how these villages are connected. Zhang Shuye feels that they are in step with each other and closely united.
There is also a magical thing like a loudspeaker, which is really a good thing to notify the outside world.
At the same time, Zhang Shuye also discovered a situation that made him very unhappy. The villagers in the renovated village near Shuibo were inexplicably practicing martial arts.
Whether they are adults, young adults or children, it is obvious that they are very active in practicing martial arts, and they do not know where they learned the martial arts skills of training.
After careful inquiry, he found out that it was Liangshan Village who took the initiative to promote it, which made him feel very heavy.
It is obvious that the hearts of the people in the villages near Shuibo have returned to the main village of Liangshan.
The most frightening thing is that the young adults and children in these villages are working hard to practice martial arts and strengthen themselves. If one day Liangshan Village calls out, there will probably be a terrifying scene of people responding.
Thinking again, these villagers have practiced martial arts and have strong muscles and bones. I am afraid that with just simple exercises, their fighting power will be more powerful than the Jeju local forbidden army!
After wandering around the water park for almost half a month, Zhang Shuye returned to the city with a heavy and even fearful mood.
He must think carefully about how to deal with the expansion of Liangshan Village, and how to compete with Liangshan Village to win the hearts of the people?
As for reporting to the court and current officials, now is not a good time.
He also knew that Liangshan's main force was almost on the verge of wiping out Wang Qing's bandits in Huaixi, and the next step was to move to Jiangnan to deal with Fang La's bandits.
Moreover, the main force in Liangshan showed quite strong combat effectiveness. At least except for the elite Western Army, the rest of the local Forbidden Army had no confidence that they could win.
Under such circumstances, there must not be a complete falling out with Liangshan Village, at least it cannot be a conflict caused by active provocation by the court and local officials.
Otherwise, if Liangshan's main force fails to do something right, it may turn out to be a rebellion, and the result will definitely not be what the court is willing to see and accept.
If not, the whole of Jiangnan will be completely lost, and even the main force of the elite Western Army may be trapped in Jiangnan and unable to get out.
Originally, the Liangshan army was a bandit army that had been recruited. The imperial court's ability to control and restrain it was seriously insufficient, and it must not act rashly at the moment.
Moreover, the situation in the Liao Kingdom is about to collapse at this time. It is the time to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and completely close the gap in the northern defense line. The elite Western Army, as the main force in conquering Liao, must not suffer too much loss, otherwise the current emperor who wants to surpass the Qin Emperor and the Han Dynasty must not suffer too much loss.
The officials would not agree.
Headache!
At this time, Zhang Shuye, the prefect of Jeju, was having quite a headache.
…
"Has Zhang Shuye left?"
At the same time, in the side hall of Zhongyi Hall in Liangshan Village, Official Chai sat on a chair and asked directly.
"already left!"
Zhu Gui stood up straight and answered respectfully.
"Oh, have you noticed anything? This Magistrate Zhang is a powerful character!"
Chai Daguan's expression was calm, without the slightest fluctuation, and he asked with a smile: "After wandering around the villages around the lake for so long, I must have discovered something!"
His tone was quite certain, but his expression remained calm as usual.
Just kidding, with the transformation of the villages around Shuibo basically completed, Liangshan Village’s control over the areas where these villages are located is definitely beyond everyone’s expectations.
Zhang Shuye's big target, 'private interview in private', was discovered immediately and received special attention from the spy.
After being prepared, it was completely impossible for Zhang Shuye to see the most core secrets in the village, such as the messenger talisman and the scud.
With the communication talisman similar to a telephone, Liangshan Village has a strong control over the villages along the water bank, which is definitely unimaginable for an old Song Dynasty bureaucrat like Zhang Shuye.
With the breakthrough in talisman technology, the development of Liangshan Village will be rapid...