Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

On this route of sending troops from Hunan, the farthest stronghold actually controlled by the imperial court was Zhenyuan County, which according to later administrative divisions belonged to eastern Guizhou.

As a pioneer, Ye Tie naturally wanted to have a good relationship with Zhenyuan County officials.

He left the county magistrate and Zhao Ji to eat in the military camp. He raised a cup of tea and said, "Military laws are strict and you are never allowed to drink alcohol during marching or fighting. I will drink tea instead of wine and toast you two."

"Don't dare. It's our turn to respect the general." The county magistrate was a young scholar with a weak background and mediocre political achievements. He was thrown here when he was transferred.

Zhao Ji was extremely generous, and he had a cup of tea with Ye Tie.

Zhao Ji felt that he would inevitably die in Zhenyuan County in this life, but because of this, he became hopeless. As long as he doesn't make principled mistakes, he is not afraid of offending anyone.

However, Ye Tie liked this style of behavior and had already classified Zhao Ji as one of his own. After all, they were both leaders of the rebel army in the late Song Dynasty.

After everyone had a few mouthfuls of tea, Ye Tie finally got to the point: "Xi Zuo sent back a lot of military information, and I also accompanied the army and took the merchants as guides. But you two are considered locals, so I have to ask you about it. "

The county magistrate quickly explained: "I was transferred here last year."

"Then let me ask the old man," Ye Tie raised his glass to Zhao Ji, "If we continue to move forward, will the barbarians be obedient? If the barbarians are obedient, I, the pioneer, can walk faster."

Zhao Ji spoke eloquently: "Although I have not continued to go west, I have been in contact with merchants every year. To go forward, you have to cross mountains and ridges. There are many snakes, insects, rats and ants along the way. If the weather is hot, you will easily get sick. Along the way Most of them are foreigners, relatively obedient, and will only rob caravans in times of disaster.”

"Although the front is called Jiangzhou (Kaili), there is no state city, only a local chief's village. The local governor of Jiangzhou is surnamed Wu, and I can't tell which tribe of barbarians they are. They have cultivated and multiplied there for generations."

"The barbarians in Jiangzhou have the most surnames Wu and Jiang. In the Tang Dynasty, it was originally called Jiangzhou."

"Because there were often Han merchants passing by, Wu Maozhen, the local magistrate of Jiangzhou, could take the opportunity to collect business taxes, voluntarily donate his land, submit to the imperial court, and get an official position. As long as the general did not push him too hard, he would be willing to send troops to fight against Dali even if Wu Maozhen was asked. After all, if He had a falling out with the court and the government blocked the trade route. How could Wu Maozhen still collect business taxes? "

Ye Tie nodded and smiled: "That's good."

The tasks he received were not only to build roads and bridges across mountains and rivers, but also to select suitable locations along the way to serve as grain and grass transfer stations.

By the way, find out the reactions of the barbarian chiefs along the way!

Ye Tie asked again: "If a thousand immigrants were left to thrive in Jiangzhou, how would Wu Maozhen react?"

"Either he obeys or rebels. Is there any third way he can take?" Zhao Ji said, "But don't grab the land that has been cultivated by the barbarians, otherwise it will be difficult for the Han and barbarian people to get along with each other in the future. If you have decided to grab those mature lands, then We must do everything we can to find a crime to kill Wu Maozhen and send troops to drive those barbarians into the mountains!"

"I understand," Ye Tie said with emotion, "It's a bit humiliating for the old gentleman to stay here. It's a pity that we are a military general, otherwise I would definitely help introduce him."

Zhao Ji smiled and waved his hands.

Although many barbarian leaders at this time had developed for hundreds of years, they were not the stubborn chieftains of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Take the Yang family in Bozhou as an example. The uncle and nephew had been fighting among themselves for decades, and their territory was far inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty. As a result, it was even divided into two. Moreover, the imperial court continued to exile criminals and increased the proportion of Han people year by year.

Five years ago, the uncle of the native chief Yang died, and the court sent an envoy to "condolence".

As a result of the condolences, the land was restored and a direct descendant of the Yang family moved their family to Hebei. The imperial court was also generous with rewards, giving them two thousand acres of land in Hebei, and also rewarded them with three thousand taels of silver.

Nowadays, there is still a group of Yang clan who are serving as local chiefs, but their territory is so small that there is no threat.

The Tian family in Sizhou was even more submissive, because the Tian family took advantage of the chaos in the late Northern Song Dynasty to expand wildly and more than triple their territory. Therefore, more than half of the Sizhou Tian family’s jurisdiction is illegal!

Including Zhenyuan County, where Zhao Ji is located, also belongs to the Sizhou Tian family's territory, which was directly taken away by the imperial court's exile of criminals.

Also taken away were Tongren and Jiangkou.

Half of the area controlled by the Tian family fell into the hands of the imperial court. They did not dare to directly raise troops to rebel, so they secretly encouraged the barbarian people to cause trouble-mainly looting.

The convict immigrants in Jiangkou and Tongren were so disturbed that they had to fight almost every year.

Six years ago, a Han village was raided, resulting in hundreds of casualties, which finally angered the officials of the Third Division of Hunan Province. Eight thousand troops were sent out at once, under the personal command of Bai Qi, and all the barbarian strongholds within a radius of 300 miles were plundered. A large number of young barbarians were captured and sent to the southern Hunan area for mining!

Sizhou Tian was so frightened that he kept his tail between his legs from then on.

…

After having enough tea and food, Zhao Ji returned to the city with the county magistrate, followed by several officers.

This is the lowest level county. Not only does it not have a county magistrate or chief registrar, it also has a small number of officials.

The young county magistrate is called Chen Guipu, and he sincerely praised: "The old gentleman is really a great talent. Not only is he proficient in the art of governing the people, but he is also very knowledgeable in military strategy. I heard someone say that the old gentleman is also good at calligraphy and painting, so why haven't I seen him all this time?" The old gentleman paints?”

"Painting is a small path, so don't mention it." Zhao Ji waved his hand and said.

Chen Guipu asked again: "I heard that the Chief Envoy of Cochin Zuo also lived here for several years before. Does the old gentleman recognize him?"

"We know him, but we don't have a close friendship." Zhao Ji didn't want to mention that cousin.

In this world, his cousin is the only person who knows his whereabouts.

Chen Guipu didn't believe it. He asked the county clerks and learned that Zhao Ji was very familiar with those exiled officials. Especially the current Jiaozhi Left Governor Xiang Zizhen, who was a close friend of Zhao Ji when he was exiled to Zhenyuan County.

As a small county magistrate without a backer, Chen Guipu wanted to get on the boat of Governor Xiang Zizhen through Zhao Ji.

Unconsciously returning to the county town, Zhao Ji pointed to the messy houses and said, "It's time to build the city wall."

Chen Guipu shook his head and sighed, "It's difficult. The population of this county is too small, and there are still many barbarian villages that refuse to obey the king. Where can we get the manpower and material resources to build the city wall?"

"This time is an opportunity."

Zhao Ji suddenly squatted down, picked up stones and wrote and drew: "This is Zhenyuan County, this is Juzhou... No, it should be called Guizhou now. This is Qianzhou and Sizhou, and to the east is Hunan... These roads can be marched... Can you see anything?"

Chen Guipu's eyes were full of confusion, and he didn't want to appear too stupid, so he praised: "The old gentleman is actually proficient in geography."

"I saw the map when I lived in the Central Plains before, and I often chatted with passing merchants when I came to Zhenyuan," Zhao Ji explained casually, and continued, "Just now I talked with the general named Ye Tie, and I can probably guess that the court wants to strengthen its control over Guizhou, Qianzhou, Sizhou and other places."

"Then what?" Chen Guipu still didn't understand.

Zhao Ji said: "Zhenyuan County where we are located is located at a strategic point. Once the garrison is dispatched, we can control the four directions, especially the marching route from Hunan to Guizhou. County Magistrate Chen can take the opportunity to report to the court and ask for the dispatch of garrisons in Zhenyuan County. Wouldn't it be enough to bring soldiers and their families here? Then apply for more immigrants. At that time, the money for building the city wall can be allocated from the military budget, and soldiers, immigrants, and naturalized barbarians can all be brought in to build the city. If this is done well, the county magistrate will also have a contribution."

Chen Guipu hesitated: "Will this work?"

Zhao Ji smiled and said: "You will know if you try it."

Chen Guipu looked back and forth, and finally couldn't resist the temptation of meritorious service, and couldn't wait to run back to the county government to write a memorial in person.

Zhao Ji strolled home.

He had no land in Zhenyuan County, mainly because the population was too small and he couldn't recruit many tenants. In the first few years after he came, Zhao Ji was exhausted from reclaiming wasteland. Later, when he had a stable income, he sold the land he reclaimed.

He didn't feel bad at all about selling his land.

In the absence of tenants, whoever wanted to farm could do so. Anyway, Zhao Ji couldn't farm anymore.

His children didn't farm either.

His so-called "eldest son" after he changed his name was 18 years old this year. He taught him to read since he was a child, and he passed the imperial examination at the age of 15. Although Zhao Ji failed to transfer away for merit, he restored his descendants' imperial examination qualifications when he became a formal official.

Zhenyuan County belonged to the territory of Guizhou in later generations, but now it belongs to Yuanzhou Prefecture in Hunan.

His son passed the imperial examination at the age of 15 and was admitted to Yuanzhou Prefecture School, and he was a student in the inner room with free food and accommodation.

He was about to graduate from the prefectural school. If he graduated with excellent grades, he would have the opportunity to go to Luoyang Imperial College with free food and accommodation. If he was not admitted to the Imperial College, he would need to work hard to pass the imperial examinations.

The "eldest daughter" was also married to the son of a convicted official, and the marriage was arranged by Xiang Zizhen.

The criminal official had been transferred away for meritorious service and was now serving as a county magistrate in Hubei. His daughter also married him.

"My husband is back."

Zeng smiled and welcomed Zhao Ji into the house, sweeping the dust off his body with a feather duster.

"Daddy!"

His ten-year-old daughter rushed over.

Zhao Ji reached out and patted his daughter's head. This was born when he was over fifty years old, and Zeng was also an elderly mother at that time.

There was also a fourteen-year-old son in the house, who was studying and reviewing his lessons.

Zhao Ji instructed: "In the next two months, there will be large troops and civilians passing through the border. Remember to watch the children and don't run around."

"I don't need to." Zeng said.

Zhao Ji took out a paper bag from his arms, put it on the table and said: "General Ye, please have dinner. I brought back some meat."

Zeng smiled and said: "The two little ones will have a good meal."

Zhao Ji's life has been really hard these years. His salary is not much, Zhenyuan County has no money, and he has to support a large family of wife and children. Moreover, both sons were studying. Although I didn't have to pay tuition fees for my own teaching, the pens, ink, paper and inkstones were always expensive, and I had to pay for books of various subjects.

Now they were finally better off. The eldest son was provided with food and accommodation in the prefectural school, which could save a lot of expenses for the family.

The sun was about to set, and the wife and children were eating in the main hall. The two children were scrambling to eat meat with greasy mouths.

Zhao Ji sat under the eaves and watched the sunset, feeling depressed and not knowing what he was thinking.

"Hiss!"

Suddenly he gasped in pain, and Zhao Ji quickly stood up and covered his lower back.

This was a problem caused by the fatigue in the first few years of exile. It was too hard to reclaim wasteland, and Zhao Ji was so tired that he secretly cried many times at night.