Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

"Hey!"

"Hey!"

"Hey!"

On the banks of the Poyang River, there are cliffs and rocks, and groups of trackers are pulling boats.

They don't wear clothes when working, especially no pants, because if they don't pay attention, their crotches will get rotten.

The trackers on this cliff and dangerous shoal are different from the trackers on ordinary canals. Not only is the work more dangerous, but it also consumes more energy. If you wear pants for a long time and are soaked in sweat, your crotch will rot sooner or later.

This time, the East Route Army led by Bai Qi personally first took a boat south along the Yuanjiang River, and then passed through Qianyang (Hongjiang City) and entered the Lishui River.

There were not enough trackers along the Lishui River, so all the trackers from Hunan who could be mobilized were brought in.

The fleet took a break in Yuanzhou Fucheng. Zhao Ji's son, who was studying in a private school, went out of the city with his classmates to watch the excitement. Gradually, he lost the novelty and stopped taking it seriously.

There are so many boats, a fleet of boats comes every day.

There are those who transport troops, there are those who transport grain, and there are those who transport officials, civilians, clothing, and farm tools.

Some officials and civilians did not go to Dali at all, but stayed along the way in Guizhou and established official yamen on the spot for farming.

That kind of place where the conditions are the most difficult but also very important, all the criminal officials, criminal officials and criminal people are settled.

Places with relatively better conditions were used to house normal officials and immigrants.

Over there in Zhenyuan County, Zhao Ji watched the fleets go away one after another and ushered in the next fleet one after another. He couldn't help but sigh at the strength of the Ming Dynasty.

"In the former Song Dynasty, how could money and food support such an expedition? It would be possible to go to Dali to fight a war by forcing money and food, but it would be impossible to organize 200,000 to 300,000 soldiers and civilians to move there." Zhao Ji shook his head and sighed.

County magistrate Chen Guipu nodded: "Indeed, the country was very wealthy, and it was not comparable to the former Song Dynasty."

The reason why Zhao Ji said this was because he remembered the original expedition against Liao.

When the country was just overthrown, Zhao Ji was still a little confused. After getting familiar with grassroots work over the years, he finally understood the root of the problem.

From the moment Tong Guan attacked the Liao Dynasty, the Song Dynasty was already heading towards the abyss. Even if it could defeat the Liao army, it would make no difference.

At that time, Fang La had just been exterminated. Not only was the imperial court's money and food exhausted, but private wealth was also severely overdrawn. In order to conquer the Liao Dynasty, they could only forcefully levy grain and grass and civilians, causing uprisings all over Shandong and Hebei.

The Youyan area that the Song Dynasty acquired was a white land that had experienced twenty years of war and famine. Whether it was captured by oneself or bought from the Jin Kingdom, the Song Dynasty needed to continuously send money and food to maintain stability and rebuild.

Where does this money come from?

Shandong and Hebei are completely ruined, so money and grain can only be transported from Shanxi.

As a result, Shanxi, which was already dilapidated and exhausted, was directly brought down by the newly recovered Youyan.

The total number of refugees from the Liao Kingdom who fled to Shanxi and Hebei was hundreds of thousands, including many regular armies and rebels who had been dispersed.

The Song Dynasty was unable to organize these Liao refugees to return to their place of origin, so they could only leave them to farm in Shanxi and Hebei, which further intensified the conflicts among the people. The Jin soldiers went south from Shanxi and captured all the fortified cities along the way. The remaining people of the country were brought down by the Party that led the way.

Before the Jin soldiers came, Shanxi, Hebei, and Shandong were already in ruins, and there were dozens of rebel armies, large and small.

Although the rebel army's combat effectiveness is very weak, their numbers are increasing.

Until the Jin soldiers came, they were more brutal than the Song Dynasty, and many rebels actually started to "support the Song Dynasty and resist the Jin Dynasty"!

In the past few years, Zhao Ji sometimes even thought, if the Jin soldiers had not gone south and if Ju Ming had not rebelled, would his Song Dynasty have perished at the hands of the peasant army?

The combat effectiveness of those peasant armies has been evolving.

"The county magistrate, the commander, a group of ships have arrived at the shore today, and they asked us to find a place to set up camp as soon as possible." A subordinate official came running out of breath.

Chen Guipu frowned and said, "Why don't you follow the rules?"

Zhao Ji said: "There are too many people and materials, and it is inevitable to make mistakes when dispatching ships. Maybe Yuanzhou has deployed a new batch of ships, and the extra ones are shipped over first. Or maybe there are enough ships, but there are not enough trackers. Good luck, we've sent trackers here to help. There's still a large area of ​​mountainous land on the south bank where we can live, but we need to clear away the thorns and vegetation first. Let's take them there to see the place."

The two of them did not dare to neglect, and crossed the river by boat themselves, and at the same time sent officials to guide the fleet to the shore.

When they ran over, officials had already disembarked from the boat.

"Purple casual clothes!" Zhao Ji was shocked.

Chen Guipu quickly quickened his pace: "Zhenyuan County Magistrate Chen Guipu pays homage to all of you."

The official in purple casual clothes was very young and looked to be in his early forties. He bowed and said in return: "I am Yang Ji, the deputy general manager of logistics of the East Route Army and the first left chief envoy of Yunnan. I am here specifically to direct the mobilization of personnel and materials. I may stay in Zhenyuan County for a long time.”

"Are these the officials of Yunnan Province who will be established soon?" Chen Guipu looked behind Yang Ji.

Yang Ji explained: "Not all officials from Yunnan, but also some officials from Guizhou. After the military and civilians are resettled, Guizhou will also establish a province. Following the example of Jiaozhi Province, the chief envoy on the left will be Han officials, and the chief envoy on the right will be local The local officials will be in charge. When the army in front actually occupies a place, I will send the corresponding officials to settle the soldiers and civilians. "

In addition to this route, there are also officials on the way in Sichuan and Guangxi.

For example, Guizhou's first political envoy Zuo came south from Sichuan. As for Yunnan's Right Chief Envoy, he took the Guangxi route.

The commanders of the two provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou all brought auxiliary troops to fight this time. Those auxiliary troops were composed of retired soldiers and militiamen. After the war, they stayed in Yunnan and Guizhou together with the commanders and envoys.

After saying a few words, Yang Ji turned around and greeted more and more officials as they disembarked, and many civilians carried supplies ashore.

Chen Guipu murmured in a low voice: "Being the chief envoy at such a young age? I'm afraid he has a great background."

Zhao Ji shook his head and said, "I've never heard of this name."

Chen Guipu guessed: "Maybe he is the nephew of some distinguished noble."

Yang Ji was the second place winner in the first imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty. He was also from Sichuan and belonged to the powerful "Sichuan School" - to be precise, the "Sichuan-Shaanxi School".

He had already served as the right-wing chief envoy before, and this time he volunteered to go to Yunnan to serve as the left-hand chief envoy.

When the officials were almost ready to disembark, Chen Guipu and Zhao Ji enthusiastically stepped forward and took them to the camp site to clear away the thorns.

Among the team, there was a dark and thin middle-aged official who always made Zhao Ji feel very familiar.

He looked over and over again calmly, only to find that the other party was also paying attention to him.

Both of them had doubts on their faces.

"It's the hillside in front of us," Chen Guipu pointed to the distance. "Some of the land under the mountain has been cultivated and cultivated. If any immigrants come here in the future, let them go to the hillside to cultivate. The slope is not big and it is not far from the river. No matter what It’s suitable for clearing land or camping.”

Yang Ji was quite satisfied when he arrived at the place and began to formally assign work.

He called the names of several officials one after another, and finally it was the turn of the weird middle-aged official: "Zhao Sinong, could you please lead a group of civilians to clean up from the east."

"Yes." The middle-aged official bowed.

Zhao Ji quickly turned around to avoid it, feeling a turmoil in his heart.

His surname is Zhao, and he is also an agricultural officer.

In order to demonstrate its legitimacy, the Ming court naturally wanted to publicize the fact that the former late Song emperor was an official of the dynasty. Zhao Ji had heard about it countless times even when he was hiding in the south.

No wonder it looks so familiar!

It's just that he is thinner than before, his skin has become darker, and he has grown a beard. He no longer looks as timid as before, and his whole body exudes a sense of competence.

Zhao Ji wanted to cry and laugh, but more than anything, he was afraid.

He deliberately avoided the direction Zhao Huan was responsible for and ran to the other side to help. I wanted to go home after working for a while, but before I left, I was called by Yang Ji and asked if the county could get some fresh vegetables.

"We have vegetables, I'll get them done right away." Zhao Ji took the opportunity to run away.

He quickly ran back to the shore, but Zhao Huan caught up with him and shouted: "Old sir, stay!"

Zhao Ji was stiff all over, turned around and bowed: "Greetings to Mr. Zhao, let me take a step to speak."

The two avoided the docking boats and came to a place where no one was nearby.

Zhao Huan whispered: "Dad?"

Zhao Ji smiled bitterly: "Master, don't shout like this, be careful not to be overheard."

Zhao Huan actually didn't have a good impression of his father, and it could even be said that he was a little resentful.

But when father and son met again after so many years, so many things came to mind, and for a moment nothing mattered.

"Why are you working as a superintendent in Zhenyuan County?" Zhao Huan asked.

Zhao Ji replied: "I was exiled. I embezzled some money while serving as an official in this dynasty."

Zhao Huan was even more surprised: "Are you still an official in this dynasty?"

Zhao Ji found it difficult to say: "I met a bandit when I was fleeing. In order to save my life, I offered a plan to let the bandit attack the county town. Who knew that in the end he also captured the county town. Then he surrendered to the imperial court, and he was awarded a minor official based on his merits. "

"The Ming Dynasty did not recruit bandits, let alone bandits who captured the city." Zhao Huan became more and more confused as he listened, and then he suddenly realized, "Are you rebelling against yourself?"

Zhao Ji quickly reminded: "Keep your voice down!"

Zhao Huan felt more and more outrageous, and was too lazy to ask for details. Instead, he said in a casual manner: "How have you been doing these past few years? I'm afraid there is no one to take care of you."

Zhao Ji said: "It's not bad. The bandit's mother became my second wife and gave birth to four younger brothers and sisters for you."

Zhao Huan: "..."

Zhao Ji asked again: "How are your brothers and sisters doing?"

Zhao Huan said: "When I returned to Beijing to report on my work, I visited them twice. They all lived a good life. They were not rich, but they were from a well-off family. After all, there were many sisters who were imperial concubines, and they often sent people to send money to support them. Brother. The third brother is crazy..."

"Crazy?" Zhao Ji was startled.

Zhao Huan explained: "The third brother was extremely wealthy at first and could make money by selling paintings. But he was nostalgic for Qin Lou and Chu Palace, and often spent a lot of money without caring much about his wife and children. Later, he was kicked out of the house by his wife and children, and he gradually became mentally ill. Ling Guang is often crazy, but his painting skills have established a sect. I found my third brother on the streets of Kaifeng. He seemed to recognize me and took me to visit Genyue with a smile. His words and actions were like... just like a person. Surly children."

Zhao Ji remained silent.

Zhao Huan continued: "I am going to Yunnan to take charge of the agricultural affairs of a province. I may be promoted back to the court in a few years."

Zhao Ji sighed: "It won't be easy for you either. If you go to court, you must be careful as an official and not get involved in those disputes. Your status is so special. Once you are criticized by political opponents, it will be a serious crime if you are not careful."

"I...don't worry, kid."

Zhao Huan first turned around and looked around to make sure no one took out another bamboo tube.

The bamboo tube was still painted. Zhao Huan opened the lid and took out two Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes: "I have been an official for these years, and I dare not commit corruption. I have a wife and children to support, and I don't have much money to save. Take the hundred dollars, father... Don't be too busy to refuse and buy some food and clothing for your younger brothers and sisters. It's not convenient for the children to be guests at my father's house, and I'm afraid we won't see each other again in the future."

"Alas." Zhao Ji sighed and accepted the money.

Zhao Huan turned and left.

After this turn, they are strangers from now on, and they won’t recognize each other if they meet again in the next few days.

Zhao Ji watched his son go away, looking back at the distant mountains and blue sky, and it seemed as if he was in another world.