In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

As the New Year approaches, the streets become increasingly deserted.

Many people in Bianliang are migrant workers from surrounding counties, not far from Tokyo.

After working in Bianliang to make money this year, I bought some things for the New Year, big and small bags, and went back to the countryside by boat, on foot, or in a donkey cart.

Just like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen at the end of the year in later generations, Bianliang turned into an empty city overnight, and the streets and alleys became less prosperous.

However, as the New Year approaches, the Donghua Gate area of ​​the Imperial City becomes more lively, because according to annual practice, Zhao Zhen will hold grand celebrations on the New Year, Shangyuan Festival and his birthday.

People gathered near Donghua Gate. The imperial court would invite many elderly people to the palace for banquets, and then set off firecrackers and fireworks. The whole street was filled with people coming and going.

The royal family will also distribute food, a few copper coins and some daily necessities.

Especially this year, because many people froze to death in the city, Kaifeng Prefecture went door-to-door to express condolences to the needy people, purchased large quantities of charcoal, and delivered it to people's homes to solve their urgent needs.

In the third year of Jingyou's reign, except for the Huainan area, which had not yet recovered from the sequelae of the severe drought of the previous year, most places had good weather and no shortage of food.

This year, the price of food in Bianliang has basically remained at one to two hundred and one stone. As long as you have a job in Bianliang, it is not a big problem to maintain a family's life.

But because of the lack of cold-proof cotton-padded clothes, even if they had no worries about food and clothing, some old people and children would get sick from the cold and die of fever soon.

In this case, both the Kaifeng Mansion and the Imperial City Division presented charcoal fires in the name of the royal family to keep out the cold.

This is called celebrating with the people.

"The mid-Northern Song Dynasty and the early Yuan Dynasty are not too far apart. In less than two hundred years, cotton cultivation has become relatively popular, especially in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. This shows that at this stage, cotton can adapt to the climate of the Central Plains."

In the Guanjia Hall, the Chinese New Year is still a few days away, and the officials, except for a few on duty, are basically taking a nap.

The Constitutional Yuan has also been on holiday.

However, everyone has not left, but instead of going on duty in the morning to handle government affairs like before, everyone now rests at home in the morning, comes to sit for two or three hours in the afternoon to listen to lectures, and goes home to reunite with their families in the evening.

The children in the yard have also gone home. Zhao Jun has been teaching for three months and has basically finished teaching the primary school courses.

Zhao Jun had nothing to do. The government affairs that needed to be dealt with had been dealt with, so he just ordered the states to submit this year's situation data to the Statistics Department. He usually visited the people or gave lectures in the palace.

Today we will talk about cotton cultivation and promotion.

The current stage is no longer a science popularization stage, but a stage where Da Song encounters any problems and then he helps solve them.

For example, the ability to withstand the cold in winter.

He told everyone: "In the early years of the Yuan Dynasty, the government established the Kapok Lifting Department, which levied cotton cloth from the people on a large scale, up to 100,000 pieces per year. Later, cotton cloth was used as a summer tax (cloth, silk, silk, cotton) First of all, it can be seen that cotton cloth has become the main textile material at that time. After the Yuan Dynasty, rulers tried their best to collect cotton and cotton cloth, published cotton planting technology books, and encouraged people to grow cotton. At that time, cotton planting and cotton textiles were promoted all over the country. Cotton cultivation actually inherits the system of the Yuan Dynasty, so we should and must prepare in advance. Even if cotton cannot bloom everywhere at the moment, some things still need to be done to pave the way for the future. "

Wang Zeng said in a deep voice: "I have sent people to send cotton seeds to Guangzhou, and they will be planted there quickly. I believe there will be results soon."

"Um."

Zhao Jun nodded and said: "Guangdong has a hilly terrain and cannot plant cotton on a large scale. However, cotton needs to take root in Guangdong first, and then slowly spread to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. I hope that at least within five years, cotton will be It’s blooming everywhere in Guangzhou.”

"But that will happen in the future. There are fewer people freezing to death in Bianliang this year than in previous years, but I still feel very uncomfortable. It would be great if the Song Dynasty could be like later generations, not afraid of the cold."

Zhao Zhen sighed. He was a kind man. Like Zhao Jun, Zha Zi felt panicked when he saw those disasters.

"Not really."

Zhao Jun thought for a while and said: "I have been visiting the people these days and I deeply feel that the people have poor ability to keep out the cold. When there are no cotton-padded clothes, the people can only use charcoal for heating. However, charcoal heating has many disadvantages, such as uneven heat dissipation and short lasting effect. , I thought of a better way.”

"any solution?"

"Coal briquettes."

"Coal briquettes?"

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what this was.

"Bicomb briquettes are a product made of coal plus some other things, mixed with water, and then fixed in a mold and dried in the sun."

Zhao Jun explained: "When this thing is burned in a coal stove, it not only burns slowly, but also releases heat evenly, and has a very long-lasting effect. It is economical and affordable for future generations in the 1970s, 1990s, and even in the two thousand years, and every household must A prepared artifact.”

"oh?"

Zhao Zhen said quickly: "Can it be made?"

"Got to try this."

Zhao Jun scratched his head and said: "To be honest, I didn't think of this at first, because this thing was only in my memory when I was a few years old. I have rarely seen it since I was in elementary school, and I don't know the specific formula. I know what it is, but I just know this thing. If I hadn’t visited the people recently and found that people rarely go out to work in winter and just stay at home to keep out the cold, I wouldn’t have thought of it.”

If you are born in the 1980s or 1990s, you will definitely be familiar with briquettes, but Zhao Jun is born in the 2000s.

It’s not that the post-2000s generation is necessarily less knowledgeable.

It’s just that in the new millennium, honeycomb coal was gradually replaced by air conditioners and gas stoves in the south, and by floor heating and natural gas stoves in the north, losing its original function of cooking and heating.

Although Zhao Jun lived in the countryside when he was a child, he had only seen honeycomb coal when he was a child.

When he grew up, China’s economy was in a period of rapid growth in the future. People lived a wealthy life. Every household could afford air conditioners and water heaters, and few used coal stoves.

In addition, he was taken to the city by his parents to study since elementary school. Because of his good grades, he went to a good school. Both junior high school and high school were good middle schools in the city. From 12 to 18 years old, the classrooms and dormitories in the school were all air-conditioned.

So in this growing environment, it is normal to know the existence of honeycomb coal but not have a deep impression of it, and don’t know how to make it.

However, he vaguely remembered that it should be made of coal, water, and some clay.

Because when he was in elementary school, he passed by someone else's house, where they were making honeycomb coal, just like mixing concrete, and finally using a mold to mold out coal balls, and then leaving them there to dry.

He didn't know the specific formula, but many emerging products actually have little technological content, and they only lack ideas. As long as Zhao Jun points out the ideas, there will always be someone who can do it.

"The Creation Bureau has now recruited many skilled craftsmen, and there are also the former Eight Works Division, who are good at making tools. This matter can be handed over to them."

Wang Sui, who is now in charge of the Creation Bureau, said.

"Yeah."

Zhao Jun nodded: "Now we have a lot of things to do, people's livelihood, economy, military, technology, education, and all aspects. Although this year's fiscal revenue is good and there is no deficit, this is because I confiscated the family. If we want to truly improve the Song Dynasty, we should start from the general direction."

Zhao Zhen said: "What should we do?"

"Throughout the ages, whether it is to curb inflation, develop the economy, or stimulate the growth of the macro environment, there are only two ways."

Zhao Jun looked around and said: "Increase income and reduce expenditure."

"This is an eternal truth."

Everyone agreed.

Zhao Jun said: "If we want to solve the problems of the Song Dynasty, in terms of saving money, we need to control government spending and limit government borrowing. This is the situation of the three redundancies."

In the Northern Song Dynasty, borrowing was particularly prosperous, both official and private.

The premise of Wang Anshi's reform and the Qingmiao Law was that he found that there was a strong demand for private lending.

In addition, private lending was very oppressive, and the bureaucratic landlord class charged high interest rates on the people, so they planned to lend to the people with official low-interest loans to replace private loans.

It's a pity that Wang still underestimated how bad the official administration was, and good policies turned into bad policies when they reached the people.

When Fan Zhongyan heard Zhao Jun finally mention the three redundancies again, he was refreshed and said, "The three redundancies are serious and should indeed be managed."

"It's not the right time to deal with the problems of redundant officials and redundant soldiers, but we can start with redundant expenses."

Zhao Jun said, "I have cut the salaries of senior officials this year. Next year, I will find a way to cut everyone's benefits. Then, the phenomenon of local fiscal public funds consumption must also be managed. Try to eliminate redundant expenses."

Lü Yijian, Wang Zeng and others changed their faces slightly. Their salaries were cut in half. They used to earn about 30,000 strings of cash a year, but now they only earn 15,000 strings of cash. Others such as Jia Changchao have been reduced to about 10,000 strings of cash.

The decree has been issued and will take effect next year. For this reason, senior officials have many complaints, but because of Liu Yuanyu's previous experience, everyone dare not provoke Zhao Jun.

Now they have to cut their other benefits, which is too uncomfortable.

Everyone's face is as painful as constipation, but they dare not confront Zhao Jun, so they can only sit there aggrieved and say nothing.

Zhao Zhen saw their expressions and could guess the reason, so he asked, "Will this hurt them too much?"

"What can hurt them?"

Zhao Jun glanced at Lu Yijian and the others who looked unhappy and said, "It's good enough to confiscate all their property without prohibiting them from doing business. These guys are all very wealthy, don't they need this little salary?"

Lü Yijian had no choice but to say, "Your Majesty, I think the salaries of officials in the Song Dynasty are indeed too high now, and it's not a bad idea to cut some of them."

"Yes, it won't matter to us, it's just a little salary."

"Although we are not talented, we have saved some money over the years. It is natural to cut some salaries and reduce expenditures for the country."

"I have no objection."

Everyone agreed to cut welfare.

Mr. Lu Xun was right, "Chinese people always like to reconcile and compromise. For example, if you say that this room is too dark and you want to open a skylight here, everyone will definitely not allow it. But if you advocate tearing down the roof, they will come to reconcile and be willing to open the skylight."

The salaries of these top prime ministers are already high. Even if they are cut in half, they are still dozens of times that of senior ministers in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The most important thing is that their families are rich in industry, with countless fields, shops, and mansions.

If Zhao Jun prohibits them from doing business, the loss will be hundreds of thousands or even millions of guan. Compared with the rich family property, the annual salary of more than 10,000 guan is still a clear distinction.

So in the face of Zhao Jun's step-by-step pressure, they can only retreat step by step.

"Okay."

Seeing that everyone agreed, Zhao Zhen had to agree.

"Beyond that, I think the affairs should be independent and should not be interfered with by any other department. It should be directly under the Constitutional Yuan and the government."

Seeing everyone's compromise, Zhao Jun smiled, and then said: "They can freely allocate the market and reduce inflation. Currently, the Song Dynasty is in a deflationary situation with less money and more goods. The method of increasing the custody fee is not feasible, and there is also a shortage of sub-commitments. money, but it can be lent.”

"Lending?"

Zhao Zhen thought of Wang Anshi's reform and said quickly: "Is it Wang Anshi's reform?"

"It's different from that."

Zhao Jun shook his head: "Jiaoziwu loans are only given to big businessmen who lack cash flow. They should not take such big steps and lend money directly to the people. Food must be eaten one bite at a time, and the economy must be stimulated step by step. It cannot be achieved overnight."

"That's good."

Zhao Zhen breathed a sigh of relief.

"The state should also control certain businesses. At the end of the year, I plan to convene some businessmen with Prime Minister Li to officially start public-private partnership transactions."

Zhao Jun continued: "Including salt, iron, grain, oil, tea and other items that were previously sold, plus newly made briquettes, as long as they are run by their own state-owned enterprises, the court's taxation and finances will be much healthier."

Everyone took Zhao Jun's words to heart.

At the beginning of next year, Zhao Jun will leave Bianliang and inspect various places in the Song Dynasty, and they will begin to take charge of the central government.

At present, until Xixia and Liao are defeated, large-scale restructuring will definitely not work.

However, a small-scale pilot project can be carried out.

For example, we first opened several state-owned enterprises in Bianliang to cooperate with businessmen, and asked Bianliang to hand over Ziwu for lending business.

In this way, the audience area is small and the results can be seen as quickly as possible.

After two years of defeating the Xixia and Liao Kingdoms and reducing external threats, then we can promote it nationwide.

Zhao Jun finally made up his mind and said: "Now the focus of the imperial court is still mainly on developing the economy. With money, many things can be accomplished. Then we will carry out national basic education, build schools across the country, teach primary school courses, and then carry out national basic education." Reform the military system and legal system step by step, strengthen scientific and technological development, and achieve overall improvement.”

"But now there aren't that many people teaching even primary school courses."

Wang Zeng objected: "Hanlong, you have been teaching for three months, and the children have not learned the knowledge yet."

"That's because children are mentally immature and sometimes have poorer cognitive abilities."

Zhao Jun said: "If a fifteen or sixteen-year-old child studies primary school courses, the progress will be much faster. Children at this time have the best learning ability, so this is why this period is the stage for learning more difficult knowledge in junior high and high schools."

"What you mean is that we can find some children over fifteen or sixteen years old to study?"

"Yes."

Zhao Jun nodded and said: "I have a complete set of primary school textbook knowledge here. Let them learn it first and then let them teach it. In the future, I will find a way to make junior high school textbooks, so that as long as Da Song Dynasty can lay the foundation for primary school to junior high school With scientific knowledge, it shouldn’t be a big problem to complete the first and second industrial revolutions.”

Although I burned all the physical textbooks at the beginning, I still have them in my laptop. Zhao Jun planned to leave by himself and leave the notebook to Zhao Zhen for safekeeping. During this time, he was also teaching him how to use this thing.

As long as he hopes that this group of people can develop in the direction he planned during his absence, everything will get better.