Chapter 176: Visitors from the Imperial City
The next day, Zhao Yulin and Huo Fenghuang went to the government office together to hold a meeting.
When the officials of Xingyuan Prefecture heard that Zhao Yulin had returned, they were all worried about being criticized, dismissed, or slapped on the butt, so they sat in the meeting hall early.
When Gao Jia saw him and Fenghuang arriving, he personally welcomed them to sit at the main seat, and the maid immediately served him tea, which made Zhao Yulin a little uncomfortable.
This courtesy is a bit high. He is just a deputy envoy of the Military Affairs Department and the commander of the Shenwei Army.
After a brief greeting, Gao Jia asked Zhao Yulin to give everyone some instructions.
He immediately said that he was no longer in office in Xingyuan Prefecture and could not give any instructions, so he decided to discuss the current situation with everyone.
He told everyone: First, our war with the Mongolian army has entered a stalemate.
Although the Mongolian army was powerful, they started wars in all directions and their forces were dispersed, which gave our Northwest Army the opportunity to strike back at them. Not only did we capture Guanzhong, we also extended our reach to Hexi.
Everyone laughed as they listened to his humorous speech.
Zhao Yulin went on to say: However, our Sichuan-Shaanxi Administration Office is only a small area after all, and the troops and taxes are not enough to support a larger war and protect a larger area. We must go through a period of consolidation and development, and accumulate strength before fighting the Mongolian army.
The second is that our Song Dynasty has reached a critical moment of life and death. At present, although the Mongolian army has not gained any benefits or taken any advantage from us, they are conquering cities and territories in the east with great momentum.
This situation is due to the powerful Mongolian army and the strategy of the Lin'an court. We, as ministers, can't save or make up for it and must obey the court's plan.
The third question is what should we do?
While looking at Lao Gao and the officials present, he picked up the tea bowl and drank some tea to rest.
The Yangzhou Tongpan asked, "The people are now heavily taxed, and it is no longer sustainable to continue to increase taxes. Why don't we withdraw from some unproductive and barren lands, reduce the scope of defense, strengthen the troops, and reduce military expenditures? Wouldn't it be easier to get through the difficult times?"
Zhao Yulin nodded without commenting, signaling everyone to continue offering suggestions.
Hong Sheng, a representative of the students from the academy, stood up and spoke. He disagreed with the opinion of the judge just now. Too much of our ancestors' territory had been lost and lost. Our Shenwei Army had finally recovered it and we must not give up easily.
He told the adults present that we students can eat one less meal and wear one less pair of shoes, saving the money to ensure military expenses and to defend the sacred territory of the Song Dynasty.
Zhao Yulin and Gao Jia found what they heard very useful and took the lead in applauding him.
Nanzheng County Magistrate You Xianzhong went on to say that the army was already arranging for land reclamation and self-sufficiency. Mr. Gao could also order Xingyuan Prefecture to increase revenue and reduce expenditure from top to bottom, streamline the number of foot soldiers, and reduce the expenses of official affairs and chores. Then issue an official document to encourage the people to build farmland and water conservancy projects, produce more food to ensure military supply, and jointly cope with difficulties.
This time, it was Lao Gao's turn to applaud his subordinates.
Zhao Yulin said that this was what he wanted to say. Not an inch of the land of the Song Dynasty was redundant. The Shenwei Army defended the country and fought to the death on the border, and would never give up easily. We, the officials who govern the prefectures and counties, must increase revenue and reduce expenditure, and find ways to ensure logistics.
He pointed to the students from the academy in the back row and said with a smile that we don't have to starve or study barefoot, and we must save what we can. If we save a thread and don't waste a grain of food, water will accumulate to form an abyss and sand will gather to form a tower, and we can accomplish what we cannot do.
Gao Jia was also very emotional after listening to this, and he immediately arranged the spring ploughing and irrigation. Seeing that the Qingming Festival was approaching, he asked the officials from the government office to go down and supervise the work.
Then, he instructed the tax officials to check and verify the taxes of the merchants one by one and collect all the taxes that should be collected...
It was definitely a miracle that a council at the prefecture level in the Song Dynasty could produce such an effect, and the entire Xingyuan Prefecture quickly took action.
Zhao Yujiang told him that under the auspices of Cuiping Academy, they simplified nearly 4,000 commonly used characters. Now the newly manufactured printing machines have fonts that are nearly 30% smaller. The typesetting volume for a newspaper of the same size has increased by nearly 30%, which is also a contribution to the court's economy, right?
Zhao Yulin smiled and said, "Of course. In this way, the newspaper's propaganda power will be strengthened and the cost will not increase. It is a good thing."
Zhao Yujiang also told him that he planned to reduce the size of the newspaper and publish concise articles, which would save paper directly, increase the circulation of the newspaper, and achieve better publicity effects without increasing the distribution costs.
Zhao Yulin gave his second brother a thumbs up.
Oh, this wooden-headed second brother has become much smarter after learning and being influenced by him since coming to Hanzhong.
Soon, the practice of Guanzhong and Hanzhong to increase revenue and reduce expenditure and develop production through self-reliance was reported in the newspapers. After exchanging information, the Cuiping Morning News in Jiazhou joined in and reprinted each other, edited and commented, and further publicized the Shenwei Army's reclamation and the local government's practice of strict economy and raising military funds. All the prefectures and counties controlled by the Shenwei Army took action.
Driven by Gao Jiao, Hanzhong was busy repairing ditches and waterways to ensure irrigation of farmland. From top to bottom, people started to educate their people that saving is honorable and waste is shameful. Even the temple leaders took out part of the money from the incense boxes and sent it to the government to support the army in guarding the border.
Seeing that the development momentum was good, Zhao Yulin wrote an article in the Hanshui Morning News titled "No Inch of Chinese Land is Redundant", describing the army's duty to defend the country and the border and keep the people safe. He called on all elders and relatives to take action and do what they can for border defense construction.
When the news reached Lin'an, the emperor was delighted. He had just received a report a few days ago that the Shenwei Army had recaptured Guazhou and Shazhou, and recaptured Hexi and Qinghai Lake. Some people were making noises, saying that the northwest was cold and barren, and there was no point in taking it back.
He also criticized Sichuan and Shaanxi for wasting the court's tax silver and wanted to reduce the number of troops in the northwest and transfer them back to Lianghuai and Jiankang to defend Lin'an, but he did not agree. His mother, the Queen Mother, also did not support it. She asked the son of the Minister of War to go down and prepare for war.
Censor Hua Yue said it well. No matter how far the Shenwei Army goes, we must first maintain stability in the northwest. Right now, the court's expenses and military supplies are all supplied by Sichuan. If the northwest gets rotten again, we will lose our last support.
It was late spring in March, with grass growing and birds singing, and the emperor was in a rare good mood. He took a walk in the back garden where the birds were singing and the flowers were blooming. When he saw Lan'er smiling happily, he remembered that his illegitimate daughter Zhao Feiyan had come. The hateful Luo Mingqiu had not brought him any good news yet.
Luo Mingqiu, whom the emperor hated, was a third-rank sword-bearing guard selected by the emperor himself for the princess. At this time, he was on his way to Hanzhong with his followers.
After being kicked and scolded by the emperor, this guy felt extremely remorseful. He searched for Xiao Yan like crazy by the West Lake and killed several gangsters but could not find Xiao Yan's whereabouts.
He then carefully asked Kuang Sisi about Xiao Yan's personality traits, the playmates she usually interacted with, and what items were missing from her home when she disappeared?
When he learned that Xiao Yan was missing, Kuang Sisi discovered that three gold ingots given by the emperor as a reward were missing from the treasure chest and he was sure that Xiao Yan must have run away with that group of young men.
He immediately went to Qiantang County Government Office and presented the gold medal given to him by the emperor asking for money. After the county magistrate checked and confirmed that it was correct, he immediately took out one hundred taels of silver from the treasury.
Luo Mingqiu took the silver and took his little follower to the dock, asking for directions along the way to Cuiping Mountain in Yibin. He thought that the group of naughty kids would come to find Zhao Yulin, the leader of the Shenwei Army.
But the result is disappointing. What you think is good often turns out not to be good.
When Luo Mingqiu rushed to Cuiping Mountain and inquired in detail, he found out that even the real owner was no longer there, but had gone to Hanzhong. Luo Mingqiu saw that his silver was almost gone, and he could not just take money from any county. He was afraid that his identity would be exposed after showing the gold medal in Jiading Prefecture, so he quickly took a boat to Chengdu Prefecture.
Of course, Lord Ding knew the gold medal in his hand was real and it was definitely a gift from the emperor. He immediately asked the treasury to send 100 taels of silver. The guy said he wanted to go to Hanzhong by land, and 100 taels of silver was definitely not enough for the journey.
Magistrate Ding was helpless, so he asked his assistant to give him another 100 taels of silver and send him away.
In this way, Luo Mingqiu rushed to Hanzhong by horse and boat, and happened to meet Zhao Yulin who was also heading south from Fengxiang Prefecture into Nanzheng City.
The little follower quickly found out that there were a few naughty kids with Lin'an accents in the academy in Xingyuan Prefecture, and they were exactly those kids, but the emperor's daughter Zhao Feiyan was not among them, but the commoner girl Xiao Yan.
This guy has worked hard too. He used all the skills of his ancestor Shi Qian to hide in the girls' dormitory and wait. Finally, he learned from a group of girls' midnight chat that Xiao Yan was selected by the Shenwei Army's chief military officer and transferred to participate in military discipline training.
The little follower immediately returned to Yuelai Inn to report the situation to Luo Mingqiu. Now that Zhao Yulin was in Nanzheng, why not sneak into Zhao's house in the middle of the night and find out everything.
Luo Mingqiu kicked the little follower to the ground and called him "idiot" three times. Damn, are you trying to kill me? Even that Jianghu god Ouyang Feng was no match for the Third Young Master and was easily shot dead. We want to break into the Zhao Mansion privately. Aren't we tired of playing the cat and the mouse?
If you want to die, go ahead and do it yourself. Don’t drag me down with you.
The little follower is at a loss. He says this isn't okay and that isn't appropriate. How can he complete the task assigned by the government?
Luo Mingqiu took a sip of tea and said proudly, "I have my own way, but it's a matter of life and death." He handed all his belongings to his little follower, told him to get ready, and run away immediately if he failed, and then went straight to Zhao's house with a righteous attitude.
Zhao Yulin was discussing the next step of military reorganization with Huo Fenghuang when he heard the guard report that an old friend from Lin'an wanted to see him.
Zhao Yulin listened and was a little confused. When did he have acquaintances in Lin'an?
He asked us to go to the reception room.
Later, Zhao Yulin and Fire Phoenix both arrived. After the two sides exchanged greetings, Luo Mingqiu asked Zhao Yulin to dismiss his attendants and asked in a low voice, Lord Chief Yuhou, whether there was a young girl from Lin'an, named Xiao Yan, working in the army?
The Fire Phoenix was stunned immediately.
Some time ago, she took this girl to the Third Column station in Jinzhou to reorganize the troops. The little girl was knowledgeable, bold, and eloquent. At that time, she felt that this girl's family background was extraordinary.
Zhao Yulin saw that she was in a daze and asked what was wrong.
