Chapter 692: Stick to These Three Points
Zhao Yulin said: As long as we stick to these three points, we will be able to maintain our power for a long time.
The gentlemen nodded.
Fan Zhong supported his suggestion to send serious criminals to remote areas to open up wasteland, thinking that remote areas like Lingbei Road, Liaoyang Road and Lusongfu were deserted or even uninhabited. What should be done?
Those prisoners should be sent over to open up the wasteland.
Lao Cao said: There are still no roads, states and counties in the Western Regions.
Du Fan is the Minister of Revenue. He said with a smile that the Ministry of Revenue is making plans and will listen to the opinions of Special Envoy Wu Qian. The Ministry of Revenue believes that the Western Region is vast and has a large population, so it is more appropriate to divide it into two routes, one in Alimali and the other in Hamar Khan, basically in accordance with the regional division of the Eastern and Western Chagatai Khanates.
Zhao Yulin didn't care about how to divide it. The officials of the Ministry of Revenue were more careful than him. He said noncommittally that the Ministry of Revenue would take care of it and we just had to eat and drink.
The gentlemen laughed and picked up their glasses and called one away.
Meng Gong told him that this time he would go to Thang Long to inspect Yunnan and see the combat effectiveness of the new army.
Zhao Yulin agreed. Yunnan’s First Army was programmed according to the new military model and was marching southwards to Champa to attack Zhenla. With Marshal Meng going to supervise, the combat capability would surely increase by leaps and bounds.
Old Meng waved his hands vigorously, laughing and shouting, "Lian Po is old."
Lao Cao said with a smile on his face: You have to accept your age. Lord Meng is in good health and it is okay for him to marry two concubines.
The gentlemen burst into laughter when they heard this.
Old Meng just kept waving his hands and just told everyone to have tea.
In Busan, Goryeo, the Goryeo army was engaged in a fierce battle with Japanese pirates.
After a long period of preparation, both Goryeo and Japan put forth all resources in a head-on confrontation. The soldiers of Japan, who had been instilled with the spirit of Bushido, had a strong fighting will and were not at a disadvantage when facing the Goryeo army armed with the new weapons of the New Song Dynasty.
The two countries fought battle after battle, and the Japanese pirates were gradually forced back to Busan, and it seemed that Goryeo was about to drive the Japanese pirates into the sea.
The Goryeo emperor was greatly confident and urged the reserve troops behind him to go up and destroy the Japanese pirates in one fell swoop.
At this time, a large number of warships appeared on the sea , and the Japanese pirates' shogun Fujiwara personally led the newly recruited troops to reinforce.
When the soldiers of the Japanese island saw their reinforcements arriving, they jumped out of their shelters one by one as if they were injected with chicken blood, shouting their loyalty to the emperor and rushing towards the Goryeo army's positions.
After a fierce battle, the Goryeo army's position began to waver, and they even showed signs of defeat.
At this time, the sea breeze blew strongly, and the island country of Japan used unique witchcraft to ignite poisonous smoke, blowing the Korean army. The Koreans were covered by the sudden poisonous smoke, and they foamed at the mouth and coughed incessantly. One by one, they were smoked and lost their combat effectiveness.
However, the Japanese pirates were well prepared. They quickly tore a piece of cloth from their clothes, wet it with urine, put it on their faces to cover their mouths and noses, and immediately rushed forward with their Japanese swords, hacking and killing anyone they saw. The Goryeo army's position was soon broken through by the island country of Japan. The Japanese pirates took the opportunity to launch a counterattack, chasing for two days and occupying a large area of Goryeo territory.
As soon as Zhao Yulin returned from Qingcheng Mountain, he received an urgent military intelligence report from Liaoyang Road. After a brief thought, he believed that the Japanese island kingdom was about to launch a final attack on Goryeo.
At this time, Miao Gui was still in Thang Long urging the New First Army to march south to fight in Champa.
He discussed with Yang Xingyun that defeating the Japanese pirates must be put on the agenda, and asked Yang Xingyun to go to Liaoyang immediately to cooperate in the battle.
Zhao Yulin's idea was to have the navy move first, annihilate the Japanese pirates' maritime transport fleet, cut off their escape routes and logistical supplies, and strive to completely annihilate the Japanese pirates on the Korean Peninsula.
When Yang Xingyun received the order and was about to leave, the logistics envoy Cao Yong came to ask for permission to go to Tubo Road again as a defense envoy.
This guy said that he had dreamed of Li Yunqing many times after he came back, asking him to defend Luoshui City. He couldn't sleep when he thought of his brothers who died on the Tibetan Plateau. Please allow him to go to Luoshui City again.
This put Zhao Yulin in a difficult position.
He looked at Cao Yong carefully. Although his complexion was much better, his body was still the same as when he came back, still as thin. He asked: It's been a lot of years, is your body still able to take it?
Cao Yong smiled and said that his body, which was neither fat nor thin, was good because he wouldn't be out of breath when he went to Tubo.
Zhao Yulin said it’s the same breathing: it’s still the same lack of oxygen.
He asked Yang Xingyun: How about letting the Han officials stay in the Western Regions?
Yang Xingyun said: "Since Brother Cao is determined to go, that's fine. But who will take over as the logistics officer? We are busy right now."
Cao Yong said that Wang Gui from Lingzhou had been guarding the border for many years, and if the Third Young Master thought he could do it, he could ask Brother Wang to do it for him.
Seeing that Cao Yong had already brought up the idea, Zhao Yulin knew it was impossible to refuse, so he said that Wang Gui had been seriously injured, so he asked him to come back and take over the logistics and have a good rest.
Yang Xingyun nodded and proposed to him: let Guo Chongma of Xingqing Prefecture take charge of the defense of Lingzhou, and Lingzhou would no longer have a separate defense envoy in the future.
He thought that this matter needed to be discussed with the Ministry of Revenue and could not be rushed, so he let General Guo take it first.
When Zhao Yulin returned, Chen Chen had already asked for leave to rest. The woman told him that she had invited You Xianzhong to dinner in the evening and it was time to leave.
He asked people to invite Gao Jia, since they were all from Hanzhong, so they could talk together.
The group went to the Wenjun Restaurant in Qintai. Liu Ruyan came out to greet them from afar, and when she came up, she took Zhao Yulin's hand and said: Brother Yulin, you haven't come to our Wenjun Restaurant for a long time, do you think you don't like us?
Zhao Yulin felt Liu Ruyan's unusual enthusiasm, and felt that her words were full of double meanings. He took advantage of Ruyan's stepping up the stairs to the door and took Ruyan's hand to walk forward, saying as he walked: Why don't I see the shopkeeper?
Ruyan said proudly that her mother had retired and the restaurant was now under her management.
Zhao Yulin said with a smile: Our sisters have grown up and have become shopkeepers.
Liu Ruyan sighed and said: He is a mother now , he must have grown up.
Zhao Yulin entered the private room and saw You Xianzhong had arrived.
You Xianzhong, who was already the prefect of Chengdu and the pacification commissioner of Chengdu Prefecture, still stood there with a smile to greet him, just like he did in Hanzhong.
He said we are old brothers, so why be polite.
The two were talking when Gao Jia came in with a smile on his face, and everyone sat down to drink.
Zhao Yulin introduced to You Xianzhong Gao Jia's experience of practicing farming in the countryside of Pujiang, and praised Gao Gong for his concern for the common people.
Gao Jia smiled and told him to stop talking, as he would lose face if he continued.
Everyone laughed heartily.
Chen Chen said very seriously: Brother Yulin is not lying. Lord Gao has many ways to develop the economy of prefectures and counties and increase people's income. Lord You can ask Lord Gao for advice when you have time.
You Xianzhong immediately nodded and said "sure, sure" repeatedly.
Gao Jia waved his hands repeatedly and told people to stop praising him.
Speaking of caring about farming, the third young master, our Lord Zhao, is the most attentive. It is said that his son Guangyuan has returned to Yibin to rent dry land to grow peppers, and he wants to practice large-scale pepper planting in Pixian and Yibin.
He asked: Mr. You probably isn't very clear about this new variety of pepper, right?
But the Third Young Master's is unique, and it has a lot of magical uses. It is much spicier than pepper. I think it can be used as a seasoning and is also a delicious ingredient. It will definitely be popular all over the country in the future.
According to what the third young master said, we can plant, process and sell it to create a complete industry.
If we really continue to do this, the tax revenue for Chengdu Prefecture under the rule of You Gong will increase significantly just from the chili peppers. Let's just wait and see.
Zhao Yulin secretly admired Gao Jia's excellent eyesight.
Chen Chen laughed and said, "Mr. Gao, you are too kind." How could a small pepper be as effective as Mr. Gao said? Brother Yulin just wanted the children to try the large-scale planting of one county and one product. I think the planting of economic crops like this must be on a large scale and with a certain quantity to make money.
You Xianzhong listened with fascination and said cautiously that he had just arrived in Chengdu and there was still a lot he needed to learn and familiarize himself with, so he had to go to the prefectures and counties to study carefully.
Zhao Yulin was very satisfied with his attitude. He was not like some officials who started talking nonsense as soon as they got off the car, hurting others and themselves.
He said: We are practicing this. Huaxi Village is close to Chengdu and can do anything. It is a special case. The vast rural areas of Xinsong still rely on planting and breeding to get rich. How to increase the income of the people really needs to be carefully considered and come up with some ways.
He believed that distributing land to the people so that every household had land would have their basic living guaranteed and it would only solve the problem of having food.
However, the conditions of each household in rural areas are not the same. Some are good at planting, while others lack labor. Many vegetables and cash crops such as peppers and soybeans require large-scale planting to save costs, increase yields and form a seller's market.
We need to think of more ways to better increase the income of civilians.
We can encourage large households with technology and economic strength to contract their neighbors' land and develop large-scale planting and breeding.
He gave an example: farmers can rent out their land at the price of the local average grain output according to their personal wishes and obtain a one-time income from the land. The lessee, in turn, can hire the farmer to farm the land and receive additional compensation, which increases the farmer's income.
Everyone nodded as they listened.
Chen Chen said with a smile that the first major feature of Huaxi Village is that after the people collected the rent for the land, young men and women all worked in the food and entertainment projects there to earn money. After accumulating capital, the people with skills opened small shops in their own yards and became shopkeepers, and their business was booming.
Gradually, the people have more and more ways to make money. As officials, we are supposed to help the people find ways to make money.
You Xianzhong nodded continuously as he listened.
Gao Jia said that this was one aspect, and he thought there was another important thing to do, which was to build roads. Although the court had plans for official roads leading to various prefectures, states, and counties, the actual implementation was slow because of the lack of silver.
Especially in Shu, where the economic foundation is relatively good, most of the roads are still narrow and narrow, and the rural roads are very difficult to walk on. After the rain, the roads are even more muddy. The people need to transport bricks and stones to build houses, and they have to carry them on their shoulders. It is too difficult and time-consuming, which seriously hinders the rural people from making money.
