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

From Hongzhou, you can also take the Gan River to Yuanzhou, which is later known as Yichun, Jiangxi.

Once you get to Yuanzhou, you can only take the land route.

However, it is not impossible to take a boat later. You need to enter Tanzhou and take shipping on the Xiangjiang River. From the south, you can go to Guangzhou through the Lingqu Canal, and from the north, you can connect to the Yangtze River to Hubei.

But at least this section does have to be taken by land. Without the more than ten hours a day by boat, the speed is much slower.

After all, the speed on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is relatively slow, but if it enters the river system, the speed of the ship will be much faster. For example, if you travel down the Yangtze River, you can travel more than 300 kilometers in a day.

Zhao Jun arrived in Yuanzhou in early December. Together with the infantry and cavalry, there were more than 1,500 people. Under the escort of the Jiangnan West Road Xiang Army, they arrived at Liling, Tanzhou in two days.

Almost as soon as they passed Pingxiang, Wang Yao, the transfer envoy on Jinghu South Road, Li Suzhi, the prison secretary, Wang Han, the prefect of Tanzhou, Liu Yuan, the transfer judge, and other officials, plus more than 2,000 Xiang troops from Jinghu South Road, were already there. Border greeting.

It happened to be raining in Hunan for the past two days. In late winter, the weather was cold and wet. When Zhao Jun got out of the carriage, the cold wind that came in his face almost made his nose runny.

You must know that he was wearing autumn clothes and long trousers given by his mother, and also had a cotton coat on top. Even these were a bit unable to withstand the winter in Hunan. You can know that the cold and wet weather in the south, under the attack of magic, makes everyone feel frightened.

Zhao Jun stood on the carriage and glanced around. This is the foot of Wangqiao Mountain outside Liling East City. The Tang Dynasty poet monk Huguo Monk once wrote "Guan Song of Liling Jade Immortal" here.

I saw a dense crowd of people standing on the official road in front of me. On both sides of the road, there were dense forests like the sea. Looking into the distance, I saw undulating mountains, shrouded in clouds and mist, and a light rain fell in the sky. Surrounded by mountains, there was a towering peak in the northeast. Enter the clouds.

This is the Hunan mountains and forests that he has cared about for a long time.

"I have seen the magistrate!"

Wang Yao and others, all wearing coir raincoats, crowded forward and bowed their hands to Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun looked at this familiar Hunan appearance, and a rare smile appeared on his originally stern and calm face. He nodded slightly and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

The magistrate of Liling County came forward to flatter him and cupped his hands and said: "Zhiyuan, I have already hosted a banquet in Liling County. I would like to ask the magistrate to honor you."

"Well, it's time for the soldiers to have a good rest."

Zhao Jun nodded.

Then the large army set out and rushed all the way to Liling.

Historically, emperors often spent a lot of money on tours. For example, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty made several southern tours, which were extremely extravagant and consumed a lot of financial resources.

But Zhao Jun's travel is quite simple, and the cost of the journey is basically food, accommodation and food for more than a thousand people.

Then there is the cost of hiring a boat.

Under normal circumstances, even if there are more than a thousand people, the daily expenses for food and drink are quite large. If this burden is placed on local officials, it will definitely cause a burden on local finances.

But Zhao Jun has been touring the south for almost a year. Not only did he not cost the local government a penny, he even made a lot of money. There were hundreds of thousands of strings in the baggage boxes dragged by the team.

Most of them are relatively light gold and silver, and the copper coins are a little less, about 50,000 guan, which is basically enough for more than 1,000 people to use for three to five years.

If it weren't for the inconvenience of carrying too much money, I would have more assets.

no way.

Along the way, he ransacked houses with a soft hand. Sun Mian had made about five to six million guan over the years, not including the many antiques, calligraphy, paintings, and jewelry that were auctioned.

If all the money confiscated from corrupt officials, profiteers and landlords in Huainan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang were taken with them, it would probably cost millions or even tens of millions.

I can't take it with me at all.

Therefore, most of the goods were sent to Bianliang through the canal by the Jianghuai transshipment agency, and I could only take a little with me on the way.

It can be said that Zhao Zhenren does not need to worry about this year's financial expenses if he sits in Kaifeng.

As long as Zhao Jun continues to patrol, kill more corrupt officials on the road, and deal with more bad landlords, he will have enough money to fight in the coming year.

The team continued through the mountains and tombs, and finally arrived at Liling County before it was completely dark.

The soldiers found tents in the wild, and Zhao Jun ordered people to go to the city to buy pigs, cattle, and mutton, and then opened fire on the spot to give the tired soldiers a good meal.

Under the protection of many guards, he entered the county town and had a banquet in a restaurant.

Although socializing is unavoidable in officialdom, Zhao Jun actually doesn't hate this kind of socializing, because through such socializing, he can learn about the local officialdom situation and governance.

There were not many officials here this time, only about ten people. We were divided into two tables. One table was occupied by the Lusi Si Yamen accompanying Zhao Jun, and the other table was occupied by local Liling officials.

Zhao Jun arrived at the table and exchanged greetings with each other. The dishes were actually ready, and they were immediately warmed up and served after the others arrived.

After the food was served, no one dared to move their chopsticks. Zhao Jun stood up and said a few words, looked around at everyone and said: "Everyone, this court has been traveling all over the world for nearly a year. The world thinks that this court is out to punish corrupt officials. Dirty official, that’s not the case.”

Many officials all looked at him and heard Zhao Jun continue to say: "What this court is most concerned about is the people's livelihood in the world. Each road has its own people's livelihood management issues. Every place is different and the problems are also different. If you sit high in Bianliang, How can we understand the suffering of the people in the Constitutional Yuan?”

“That’s why our hospital visits every place, every place, to understand the people’s livelihood conditions and where the problems are. In this way, we can solve the problem in a targeted manner, alleviate the increasingly serious poverty in the Song Dynasty, and reduce the burden on the people. "

"As for rectifying the administration of officials."

Zhao Jun looked at everyone and smiled and said: "To be honest, the reason why I can sit here and chat seriously with you today and talk freely about local governance issues is because I have already investigated you before coming here, and I am still a good official." There is nothing wrong with being honest, otherwise I would probably be putting people in jail instead of just sitting here.”

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha."

When everyone heard this, they all laughed a few times in agreement and breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, Zhao Jun's reputation is too strong now.

Even if all of you here are not corrupt officials, the sense of oppression given by the other party is still very strong. You are afraid that if you do something wrong, you will be imprisoned by the master of the academy.

So now that they heard Zhao Jun's more relaxed tone, everyone was naturally much more relaxed.

Zhao Jun poured himself a glass of wine, then picked up the glass and said: "Come on, everyone, let's have a drink together. Let's talk about government affairs while eating. If you have any difficulties or problems, you can talk freely without any mental state. burden."

Everyone stood up in a hurry, raised their wine glasses and said, "Jingzhiyuan."

With that said, everyone had a drink together.

Then Zhao Jun asked everyone to sit down, and the banquet began.

With such a conversation starter, the atmosphere became more cheerful. While eating, everyone talked about some of the troublesome things they had encountered.

For example, Wang Han, the magistrate of Tanzhou, sighed: "The magistrate's inspections around the world are all for the sake of people's livelihood, which makes me admire him. The most impressive thing about Tanzhou is the serious flood disaster. At that time, I was appointed magistrate of Yixing County. , there are many lakes and fields there, and there are also many floods. However, based on the terrain height survey and mapping, I estimated that the annual water level can often avoid disasters. However, in Tanzhou, Yiyang and Xiangyin along Dongting Lake often suffer from it and are difficult to manage. "

After hearing his words, Zhao Jun shook his head and said: "Wang Zhizhou is a person who thinks about the people. I remember that you served in Yixing, Luling, Shaozhou and other places, and you had many political achievements. You took office in Tanzhou last year, and you were solved not long after you took office. An old case has been solved that several governors were unable to do anything about, which shows that you are very capable. However, the Dongting Lake flood problem is related to the terrain, and it is difficult for manpower to intervene. The governor has tried his best and there is no need to blame himself. "

"oh?"

Wang Han said in surprise: "Why is this?"

"Dongting Lake is vast. Although Yixing is adjacent to Taihu Lake, Dongting Lake is directly connected to the Yangtze River and is far away from the East China Sea. If there is a flood or heavy rain on the Yixing side, water can be diverted to the East China Sea through many water systems."

Zhao Jun explained: "Once there is a heavy rain in the Dongting Lake basin and the water level rises, the Yangtze River's flood discharge capacity is limited, and the Xiang River flows from south to north, causing the overflow water of Dongting Lake to collide with the Xiang River flow. Without land to discharge the flood, Naturally, this will only bring disaster to the surrounding people on the south bank of Dongting Lake.”

Receiving Zhao Jun's relief, Wang Han said gratefully: "That's it. Thank you to the magistrate for clarifying my doubts. If this is the case, I'm afraid the flood will never be eradicated."

"It's not completely impossible. Although it can't be eradicated, it can be alleviated."

Zhao Jun made suggestions: "You can plant more trees by the lake and dig more canals, ponds, and reservoirs. Once a flood occurs, trees will help divert and resist it. If there are enough canals, ponds, and reservoirs, it can also reduce the impact on the people." disaster."

You must know that even in 1998, an era when productivity was quite advanced, floods in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River could flood Changsha, which is far away from Dongting Lake, to a height of one or two meters at one time, let alone Yiyang, Linxiang and other places.

Therefore, there is really nothing we can do about the floods in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The downstream side can still ask the East China Sea to help discharge the floods. Once the water in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River overflows and has nowhere to go, the water will naturally have no choice but to run ashore, and the places where people live will become A piece of land.

However, 1998 was a special situation, and the flooding was ten times more serious than in previous years. Under normal circumstances, ordinary floods can still be barely resisted by building trees around lakes and digging more canals, ponds, and reservoirs to release floods.

"Thank you, Zhiyuan."

Wang Han got an effective method and was very grateful.

Wang Yao, the transshipment envoy, was surprised and said: "I didn't expect that the Zhiyuan knew Jingnan so well. I have been in Jingnan for a long time, and I only know how serious the Dongting Lake water problem is, but I don't know why it is so serious. The Zhiyuan is clear and clear. Chu, could it be that Zhiyuan has been to Jingnan before?”

Everyone looked at Zhao Jun curiously. In fact, the information about Zhao Jun had been spread out. He was from Bianliang. His parents died early, and he was alone. He was said to be talented, so the officials specially promoted him to be the leader. auxiliary.

Although it can't stop Tianxia Youyou's mouth, at least this is the information on the surface, so everyone is very curious about why Zhao Jun knows Jing Nan so well.

"Forehead"

Zhao Jun was embarrassed for a moment. He couldn't tell them that he was from Hunan in his previous life.

But fortunately, he thought quickly and said, "I came to the south once when I was young, and happened to encounter a flood. After seeing it, I understood the reason."

This reason is obviously far-fetched. After all, Zhao Jun is very young now. When he was younger, a few years ago, wouldn't he have been only in his teens?

However, no one had the courage to ask further. Wang Yao said with a smile: "No wonder they say that Zhiyuan is a unique genius, compared to the reincarnation of Zhuge. After just being here once, you can understand the reason. Xiaguan and others can never compare."

"hehe."

Zhao Jun smiled and said nothing.

That is.

If you want to be like them, how can you get a position as a magistrate?

Of course, only by being different can you rise higher and higher.

With Wang Han at the beginning, the atmosphere of the banquet became much more relaxed, and everyone spoke up and talked about the difficulties they encountered.

For example, the problem Wang Yao encountered was that Jingnan was remote and the court imposed heavy taxes, which placed a heavy burden on the people.

The main reason is that taxes paid in other places can be transported directly to Bianliang through the Grand Canal. Even in Sichuan, there are many rivers leading directly to the Yangtze River, which is more convenient than Jingnan.

Except for the Xiangjiang River, Jingnan is full of deep mountains and old forests. When taxes are paid in various places, Li Zheng urges them to pay them, and then sends them to Tanzhou by land, and then takes the Xiangjiang River waterway from Tanzhou to the Yangtze River, and finally sends them to Tanzhou. Go to Zhenzhou.

The biggest problem here is that the taxes paid by various places to Tanzhou are long and difficult. If we want to ensure that the annual taxes are sufficient, the taxes must be higher than those in other places.

Naturally, the people are unwilling to pay more taxes, so local officials will ask Li Zheng to collect them.

As a Li Zheng, it sounds like he has a high status, but in the actual service process, it is not easy. If the taxes under his control are insufficient, or if they are not collected in full overdue, the government will order those who serve in this service to pay the compensation themselves; if they meet again Local officials were severely punished, and those who served were even more miserable.

This situation leads to the situation that "those who serve the people seriously will often go bankrupt when they are in charge of the treasury or transporting official property." Official property cannot be repaid if the people go bankrupt."

Therefore, the problem of corvee harm to the people is very serious.

After hearing this, Zhao Jun took it very seriously, but he did not immediately give a solution. Instead, he admitted that he needed to go to the countryside to see the actual situation in person.

The banquet ended soon.

The next day, Zhao Jun set out again, but instead of going north to Tanzhou, he went southwest to Shaozhou.

Because this itinerary was actually changed by him out of selfish motives.

Otherwise, according to the normal plan, we should go south from Jiangnan West Road to Guangnan and Guangxi 2nd Road. After inspecting the south, we will then go north to Jinghu Road, inspect Hunan and Hubei, and then take a boat along the Yangtze River to enter Sichuan.

Then he went from Sichuan to Guanzhong, then east to Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and finally from Shandong back to Bianliang. It was like traveling around the entire Song Dynasty and visiting all places.

The entire route is based on the maps of later generations. It starts from Kaifeng, Henan, goes southeast to Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, then from Zhejiang to Fujian and Jiangxi, then south to Guangdong and Guangxi, then north to Hunan and Hubei, and west along the Yangtze River to Sichuan. , Guizhou, and finally north to Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, and Shandong. This is the complete circle.

But Zhao Jun changed his route and instead of going south from Jiangxi to Guangzhou, he came to Hunan first. This meant that if he visited Hunan first and then went south to Guangzhou, he would have to pass through Hunan on the way north, which would obviously waste more. time.

But he felt it was worth it.

If he could return to his beloved hometown before the end of the year, he would be willing to do so even if it meant wasting a little more time.

At the end of December, when the New Year was approaching, Zhao Jun refused to be accompanied by the transport envoys, criminal and prison officials and others, and entered Shaozhou alone, only asking the Shaozhou magistrate and local county magistrates to follow him.

On the 28th, he arrived along the Zijiang River, between Shaoyang County and Xinhua County. Looking to the northwest, Changlong Mountain towered high and was shrouded in clouds and mist.

Both sides of Zishui are dotted with villages and fields.

Zhao Jun, accompanied by the Shaozhou magistrate, the Shaoyang County magistrate and the Xinhua County magistrate, inspected Shaozhou.

What puzzled them was that Zhao Jun did not stay there long, but ordered the fleet to continue sailing along the Zijiang River. On the 29th, they arrived at Baisha Town, north of Xinhua County.

The Shaoyang County Magistrate got off the boat and left when he arrived in Xinhua. He had the responsibility of guarding the land and had to go back.

So accompanied by the Shaozhou magistrate and the Xinhua County magistrate, Zhao Jun stopped the boat in Baisha Town. He first looked at the development of the town. In the afternoon, he walked all the way to the northern hillside and looked at Meishan Mountain in the distance.

This is a hillside in the north of Baisha Town. There is no longer the wide county road in the north, but winding mountains, as if there is no end as far as the eye can see.

"What is that place?"

Zhao Jun pointed to the north and said knowingly.

In fact, he knew Baisha Town better than the people in Baisha Town. Later it was renamed Baixi Town, and Baixi tofu is very famous.

The mayor of Baisha Town said: "Report back to the magistrate, there is Meishan."

"Are there people living in the mountains?"

"Living."

"Oh, who are they?"

"They are local barbarians who have turned into savages and live in the mountains."

"Are there no market towns or villages there?"

"There is no town, but there are some barbarian villages, all in the mountains."

"Go and have a look."

Zhao Jun said.

The mayor said: "The mountain road is rugged and the road is far away."

In fact, it's not that far away. Baisha Town is only more than ten kilometers away from Zhao Jun's later town.

But at that time, this area was occupied by indigenous mountain people, so the people here in later generations were also called Meishan barbarians.

"It doesn't matter, we are all citizens of the Song Dynasty."

Zhao Jun smiled.

At this moment, he felt a little excited.

Although he knew that his ancestors migrated here only in the Southern Song Dynasty, he still wanted to know what his hometown looked like now.

Seeing that they couldn't defeat him, everyone had no choice but to go all the way north into the mountains under the leadership of the mayor.

After walking through countless mountain ridges, more than an hour later, before it got dark, they finally arrived where Zhao Jun wanted to go.

After climbing another mountain ridge, Zhao Jun lowered his head and looked down at the mountains.

It's getting dark.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve.

Under the ridge, there was nothing.

There was only a dense forest and a stream running through the wilderness, which seemed so lonely.

There were no old friends in my hometown after all.