Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

"Grand Judge, the man named Zhu is out of the city!"

"Follow me."

"Yan Liu is following."

Li Daochong has become more and more anxious these days. He has been cut off from two ways of making money. From now on, he can only rely on taxes to make money.

There might be some way to increase taxes on merchants.

Increasing taxes on farmers is a pipe dream, at least not this year. In the years of great calamity, he imposed excessive taxes and expropriations simply because he thought his life was too long, and there was a prefect above him who would definitely put a stop to this behavior.

He was still hoping that Cai You would be transferred, whether it was Zhu Ming or himself.

Unexpectedly, Cai You didn't tune in at all!

Zhu Ming led the people on horseback out of the city and gradually arrived at the dock. Shi Yuangong and Deng Chun had been waiting for a long time.

The task he arranged was to ask Shi Yuangong to bring back 20 households, about a hundred people. If you recruit some more yourself, you can gather more than a hundred people, which was the standard number of people in the iron smelting field in the Song Dynasty.

But there were two to three hundred people standing in front of me!

Most of them were dressed in rags, but there were a few who didn't seem like poor people, and some of them even carried weapons.

"The prefect is here." Shi Yuangong smiled.

More than ten people immediately handed over their hands, and the rest also followed suit: "The common people pay homage to Governor Zhu!"

Ju Ming smiled and clasped his fists. The more he looked, the more surprised he became. Some guys actually had tattoos on their faces. How can this be an iron smelter?

Shi Yuangong introduced: "My lord, this is Tu Shen. He built a furnace to smelt iron. Later he broke the family and became a thief. He is also a good man. He has more than ten brothers under his command."

"Welcome." Ju Ming smiled, but his heart became more and more doubtful.

Tu Shen was not very tall in Shandong, but his upper body was extremely burly, and his arms were almost as thick as the thighs of ordinary people. He also carries two Iron Bone Flowers with him. This kind of war hammer is an armor-breaking weapon.

But Shi Yuangong recruited an iron smelter, so why did he seem to have recruited a criminal gang?

Shi Yuangong added: "This is Zhang Jin. He is also a good man. He has seven or eight brothers under his command."

Zhang Jin was much more well-behaved, just an ordinary strong man with a knife hanging on his waist.

Several people were introduced one after another, and Zhu Ming communicated with Yan Yuese. Then they set aside a place on the outskirts to let them rest tonight and take a boat to the mine tomorrow.

Zhu Ming called Shi Yuangong aside alone and asked, "How many people did you bring back?"

Shi Yuangong replied: "Forty-nine households, including old, young, women and children, there are a total of 257 people."

Zhu Ming was surprised and said: "Why so many?"

Shi Yuangong did not answer directly, but said: "The iron smelting business in Xuzhou is more complicated than we imagined."

"Tell me carefully," Ju Ming said.

Shi Yuangong said: "During the reign of Zhenzong, Hebei was often harassed by the Liao Kingdom. The imperial court was worried that the Liao people would use it to make weapons, so they strictly prohibited the pig iron from Liguo, Laiwu and other prisons from selling to the north of the canal. However, daily ironware could still be transported northward, so in Over in Xuzhou, many new blacksmith shops were opened to turn pig iron into hoes, iron pots, and iron plows for transport northward."

"During the Yuanfeng period, a new law was implemented that required iron tools to be forged by the government. Even kitchen knives, hoes and other items could only be made by the government and sold to the people. The blacksmith shops in Xuzhou were either taken over by the government or went bankrupt. This ban lasted until Yuanyou It was lifted during the year, and even the ban on pig iron was lifted.”

"In the early years of Daguan, private trading of pig iron was no longer banned. All the iron smelted by private parties had to be sold to the government, and then the government sold it to foundries for making. As a result, it was difficult for the government to stop smuggling everywhere, and it was difficult to implement government orders."

"In the early years of Zhenghe, the ban was reiterated. All iron smelting was sold to officials, and the government sold it to foundry households. Except for daily ironware, which could be sold privately, the rest were not allowed to be sold privately. This time, the enforcement was extremely strict, especially for Liguojian and Laiwujian. Those caught violating the prohibition will be immediately dispatched to the army."

After hearing this, Zhu Ming was a little speechless.

The court's repeated tossings, in addition to considering border security, were more about harvesting leeks in waves.

Every time there is a ban, the government can harvest it once. Then the ban will be lifted and the iron smelting and foundry industries will be allowed to develop again. When the development is almost complete, a ban will be issued for harvesting.

This statement is too dark, but not too far off.

The imperial court always wanted to take matters into its own hands and firmly control the iron smelting and foundry industries to make money.

It was fine for the first ten years, but gradually it got out of shape. Not only did the state-run institutions not make money, but they also lost money, and the quality of the iron produced by smelting declined. So it was announced that the ban would be lifted, allowing private merchants to operate, and the court would only be responsible for collecting taxes.

When the private iron smelting and foundry industry prospered, the imperial court became jealous again and felt that it could do it, so it took it back to the state again.

Over and over again, over and over again.

Shi Yuangong continued: "At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, all the iron smelting yards in Xuzhou were state-owned. Gradually, corruption became rampant and people could not make ends meet, so private people were allowed to buy iron smelting. Thirty-six large iron merchants then emerged, each of them wealthy. Huge tens of thousands. After Yuanyou, the ban was relaxed, and small iron smelting merchants and blacksmith shops emerged."

"In the early years of the Grand View, the ban was reiterated. Although the thirty-six large iron merchants were exploited, they were not injured. Instead, they cooperated with the government to suppress the small iron merchants. Those small iron merchants either went bankrupt or smuggled, and often transformed into Bandits."

"In recent years, anti-smuggling has been strengthened, and more people are going bankrupt and fleeing, and groups of small and medium-sized people gather together to commit theft."

Ju Ming turned to look at the iron smelters: "In other words, you recruited more than two hundred thieves?"

"Not all are thieves, there are also family members of thieves." Shi Yuangong explained.

Isn't this the same thing?

Ju Ming asked: "How did you gain the trust of the thieves? How could you let them come all the way to Jinzhou?"

Shi Yuangong said: "Xu Churen, the governor of Xuzhou, behaves like a gentleman."

"The governor of Xuzhou actually looks a lot like me?" Ju Ming became interested.

Shi Yuangong said: "If Prefect Xu becomes prime minister, let alone this life, I will not think of rebellion in the next life."

Xu Churen is a veteran minister in his sixties.

When he was first appointed as the magistrate of Dong'an County in Yongzhou, the barbarians rebelled. He went to the Dong village alone. After some gentle intimidation, he asked the barbarian leaders to withdraw their troops and vowed never to rebel again.

When he was the magistrate of Jinxiang County in Jeju, he was recommended to Song Huizong.

Song Huizong asked how the harvest was, and Xu Churen replied that there was a locust drought. Song Huizong asked how the thieves were doing, and Xu Churen replied that thieves were coming in droves.

Both answers indicate that his political performance is poor.

Song Huizong was very happy after hearing this and thought that this person would not deceive the emperor, so he was directly transferred to the court as an official.

Xu Churen was also proficient in arithmetic, which was also in line with Song Huizong's appetite.

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty established a school of arithmetic, with Confucius as its founder. Xu Churen said that the Yellow Emperor should be the founder of arithmetic.

After careful investigation, Song Huizong could trace it back to the Yellow Emperor, and Taoism can also trace it back to the Yellow Emperor. Sui Longyan was delighted, and within three or four years, Xu Churen was promoted to deputy prime minister.

It happened that at this time, Xu Churen came home to Dingyou after his mother's funeral. When he returned to the court, he was no longer familiar with the emperor. And because of the impeachment of Tong Guan, as deputy prime minister, he was first demoted to prefect, and then demoted to manage Taoist temples in the local area.

After finally being recalled to the court, he criticized Cai Jing's policies and was thrown to Yangzhou as the prefect.

After going round and round, I was transferred to Xuzhou last year.

Shi Yuangong said: "After Prefect Xu took office, he immediately ordered the exemption of excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes, openly breaking with the Xuzhou Tongjuan. He also urged the trial of unjust cases, punished subordinate officials in prefectures and counties, and impeached the Pengcheng County magistrate for corruption and bending the law. This county magistrate was demoted. Hebei."

Ju Ming smiled and said: "Sure enough, he is very similar to me. The methods are exactly the same."

Shi Yuangong added: "When I arrived in Xuzhou, Governor Xu was recruiting rural soldiers to suppress bandits. Within ten months, dozens of thieves were arrested. I visited him with documents from the Ministry of Works and persuaded him to cooperate with me."

"How do you cooperate?" Zhu Ming asked.

Shi Yuangong said: "Those captured thieves can be released without charge as long as they are willing to come to Jinzhou. I also persuaded the escaped thieves to recruit other thieves together. With my sharp tongue, I can say More than a hundred thieves surrendered. Most of these thieves were iron smelters and blacksmiths, and there were more than 200 people including their families. When taking them away, Prefect Xu also presented a hundred strings of money. Prefect Xu told me that the common people Forced by thieves to live, I hope I can live and work in peace and contentment in Jinzhou."

This guy puts it lightly, but the process is definitely not easy.

Those thieves were forced by the government to make a living, so they abandoned their status as good citizens. To convince them to come to Jinzhou, they must first gain trust, not only in Ju Ming, but also in Xu Churen.

What Shi Yuan used was the method of spreading the demon religion!

He invited some doctors, bought many medicinal materials, and went to visit the thieves' families. When he encountered someone who was sick, he immediately asked the doctor to treat him. He also claimed to be proficient in Taoism and mixed burning talismans with the potion to drink together.

He treated the thief's family and also provided free medical treatment to nearby people.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of seeing a doctor, he began to promote Ju Ming's benevolence and righteousness, and also made up stories about Ju Ming's wise fight against traitors.

As time went by, he became acquainted with the thieves' families, and gradually gained popularity among the people. People nearby called him "Shi Taoist".

It was only then that he took out Xu Churen's official document and said that as long as he went to Jinzhou with him, not only would his crime be pardoned, but he would also be able to have food and clothing from now on.

The family members contacted each other secretly and urged the thief to surrender.

Even two families of law-abiding citizens followed Shi Yuangong on the road.

Zhu Ming asked: "You don't have any evil words to confuse the public, do you?"

Shi Yuangong cupped his hands and said, "I definitely don't dare."

The next day, Ju Ming personally took those guys and collected some boats to go to the iron mines.

The residential area has been demarcated, but the houses have not been picked up, and even the ground has not been leveled. The iron smelters need to cut down trees and weeds to build houses.

Ju Ming asked: "Do any of you know how to farm?"

More than a dozen people came forward one after another, and the rest didn't know how to farm.

In this case, there is no need to grant land.

Ju Ming said: "Each of you will be given a hundred coins, and some grain, cloth, and dishes. It will be considered as a meeting gift from me. When you have built your houses, you will start building the iron smelting yard. I will definitely not treat you unfairly with the wages. As for the Household registration will be handled by officials later."

Tu Shen asked: "Is there a charcoal field nearby?"

Ju Ming shook his head: "There is no charcoal field, only a charcoal field."

Tu Shen asked again: "Where is the iron mine?"

Zhu Ming called Su Zhixin, who was responsible for prospecting and building a charcoal field: "You come to lead the way."

The iron ore had not yet been mined, so everyone came to a hilltop and soon saw several iron hats.

Tu Shen inspected each iron cap and frowned. He took more than a dozen brothers and immediately dug down with shovels.

The iron ore here is extremely shallow, only twenty or thirty meters underground. In some places, they can be found on the surface, or they can appear after digging three or four meters.

A few pieces were picked up from the ground, and a few were dug out from the ground.

Tu Shen first smashed the observation piece, then held it in his hand to weigh it. He couldn't help but shook his head and said, "Prefect, the iron ore here is unusable."

"Just use it, Jinzhou only has poor mines." Ju Ming was also helpless.

Over there in Xuzhou is a rare rich iron ore mine in China.

Coal from Xuzhou also has low sulfur content, which is quite rare in China.

The two excellent resources collided, and Xuzhou naturally became an important iron smelting base.

By the way, the Xuzhou coal mine was discovered by people sent by Su Shi. Su Shi made Xuzhou's iron smelting industry flourish, and he also fought floods, built embankments, and provided relief to the people in Xuzhou.

For a long time, Su Shi was not called Su Dongpo, but was called "Su Xuzhou".

When people in Xuzhou mentioned Su Shi, they affectionately called him the old governor and the old magistrate.