Chapter 293 Eleven Years, a Turning Point

The eleventh year of Li Yuan.

This is already the eleventh year since Zhao Xin became an official.

For example, some of his original seventeen generals had already been buried.

Even someone like Zhao Xun was already sixty years old at this time.

Zhao Xin reflected on his current life and saw what was missing.

When you talk about territory, it is already very large.

and so……

He feels that he is still lacking in cultural governance.

But what exactly does Wenzhi mean?

Is it a prosperous scene in the court, or is it the creation of an immortal system?

of course!

There is no contradiction in this.

There are areas that deserve improvement.

In fact…

Apart from Zhao Xin’s reluctance to accept advice, the literati in the court were still very moral and had a strong sense of responsibility for the world.

For example, people like Ouyang Xiu and Fu Bi.

They are not bad people.

Of course, that doesn’t mean there are no disadvantages at all.

For example, someone like Wen Yanbo still has some black spots.

only……

The problem is not that big.

in fact……

Zhao Xin also wants to be a person who likes to accept advice, but the problem is… you also have to be able to give good suggestions.

For example, many people have pointed out that there are too many officials nowadays.

But after you brought it up, you didn’t say how to solve it.

Others say that there should be a detailed investigation into matters such as farmland, and that the square field method should be used to redefine taxes based on the barrenness of the land. After all, so many years have passed, and some official information can no longer be read.

What this means is that some wealthy households must have occupied more land, and the pressure was put on the common people.

But Zhao Xin is not a fool.

The government’s idea is good, but there is no one who can implement it.

However, if you consider that if Ouyang Xiu and others have passed away, it will be even more difficult to do this in the future.

If we wait until he dies and let the prince do it, the difficulty will be multiplied tenfold.

and so……

Since the people below mentioned it, Zhao Xin called back Zhang Dun, a person who seemed difficult to get along with, and asked Zhang Dun to find a pilot to conduct a survey and try it out.

Zhang Dun came from a prominent family.

He seems to be a relative of the then Prime Minister Zhang De.

As the saying goes, the head follows the butt. People like this will definitely protect the interests of the landlord.

but……

Seeing that he still had some sense of justice, Zhao Xin let him give it a try.

In the court…

Zhao Xin first set the tone, “Fangtian Method, I remember when I was very young, during the Qingli period, someone had already mentioned it.”

“At that time, we were at war with the Western Xia, and the people were under great pressure, so we had to carry out reforms in the hope of alleviating the burden on the people.”

“However, it seems that many people opposed it later, so after visiting a few places, we stopped.”

“When I was young, if I remember correctly, I also asked someone to go to the fiefdom that my father had given me to check some figures on the acreage of land.”

“Basically, quite a few people have concealed their own land, and basically they have concealed about one to two times the amount.”

“Although there is no war with Xixia nowadays, the pressure on the people is not that great.”

“But I think that hiding farmland and shifting taxes onto other people is something that should not happen.”

“So Zhang Dun, go down. I will give you a state at random. You first ask them to report their own land and the taxes they plan to pay next.”

“I am not a heartless person. The past is in the past.”

“The censors are not allowed to use this matter to attack the people involved in the future.”

“But…if you are given this opportunity and still want to conceal it, then once it is discovered, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

“After all, it’s been so many years, I’ve taken advantage of it enough.”

“You have to know when to quit.”

……

can only say……

Zhao Xin’s words were relatively gentle.

In fact…

Except for the prime minister’s group, even Zhao Xin found it difficult to tell whether a person was loyal or treacherous, honest or a parasite.

However, with his rich experience in later generations, he has long known that those who say they want to crack down on corruption and have zero tolerance for corruption, and those who say that your ideological awareness is a bit low, are often the biggest corrupt elements themselves.

So, as a representative of a prominent family, can Zhang Dun be trusted?

This is like putting Zhang Dun on the fire to roast him.

Zhang Dun was also sweating profusely at this time.

Because he also knew how many people this would offend.

I can only say that this job is not easy.

Fortunately, the official asked the other party to fill in the numbers, which is much better than asking him to calculate directly.

Then…

Zhao Xin then gave the other party a state in Hebei region.

Let him do it.

Those who were not picked for items related to their own industries couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

but……

Since one state has been reported today, it is possible that other states will be reported tomorrow.

Therefore, it seems that it is only a matter of time before the fall on their heads.

Zhao Xin also determined the format of the table, and from now on, all things related to numbers must use Arabic numerals.

after all……

These Chinese numbers really give me a headache.

Have the forms printed by someone who specializes in printing.

at the same time……

Others said that the three offices are now responsible for so many complex matters that they have no time to handle many official duties. Some officials find it troublesome and simply ignore them.

Then the three offices should also be restructured.

of course!

By the way…

Let’s have people discuss and decide on the titles of dukes for some of the meritorious officials.

For example, Ouyang Xiu and Fu Bi.

This year……

Because the eldest son of the concubine had already controlled Jiaozhi.

Naturally, this trade route will be unobstructed from now on.

The other party just sent someone back.

Zhao Xin’s income increased by at least three million strings of cash.

but……

For income like this, the more the better is not necessarily true.

After all, you still have to respect market rules.

Once there are too many spices and other things, they become worthless.

The capacity of the market is there.

It doesn’t mean that if you ship back 100 million tons, you can sell all of them.

of course!

The good thing is that even if you can’t sell spices, you can still use them yourself.

only……

This needs to be discussed with Zhao Hong, regarding how much should be shipped back each year.

At that time, Zhao Zhe will have to return the gift.

Give the other person some porcelain, silk and tea.

In that case, Zhao Zhe could use porcelain, silk and tea to manage the shipping routes to Jiaozhi and even the entire Southeast Asia and the West, which would be mutually beneficial for both sides. This would be a real long-term plan.

Zhao Xin handed the matter over to Zhao Zhe to handle.

after all……

After he passed away, Zhao Zhe and Zhao Hong would still have to coordinate this matter. It was better to work out a conversion rate acceptable to both parties in advance than to have a conflict later.

After Zhao Xin obtained these more than three million strings of spices, he also found people from the merchant group and quickly distributed them all.

The members of the merchant group were finally able to exchange the banknotes they had for practical items.

Be reasonable!
Now they feel that using this paper currency is becoming more and more convenient.

but……

There is a prerequisite, which is that Zhao Xin is also a businessman. At the same time, he is also a large wholesaler. He can use the resources at hand to exchange for the banknotes accumulated by the people in the merchant group.

It is equivalent to recycling the money they have on hand.

In this way, they will of course have more confidence in Zhao Xin.

Moreover, they are more willing to help Zhao Xin promote paper money.

And there is…

Apart from the disadvantage that paper money itself is not valuable, it is indeed convenient for transactions.

This year…

In the capital, using paper money to conduct transactions has become a norm.

The main thing is, as long as the government recognizes it and you can use the banknotes to exchange for rice, or even use them to pay taxes, that’s fine.

Banks have already been opened.

So that some people can exchange old, damaged banknotes.

As for the savings function you mentioned…

This thing can really be played with.

only……

It doesn’t feel like the right time yet.

Besides, who would leave the banknotes here for you? It’s convenient for people to just keep them, unless you pay them interest.

in fact……

If a savings function is really opened up, the money deposited in the bank would be a very good fund for building railways.

But now, Zhao Xin is not so poor that he needs the help of depositors to build a railway, so he is not in a hurry to develop in this direction.

Also, once the number of depositors is too large, the ability of ancient government to execute public affairs will be impaired.

can only say……

I’m afraid there’s just too much information to process.

After finishing these.

Zhao Xin then…

It is also to develop literature and art.

In fact, literature and art are conducive to gathering strength.

This is not!

Zhao Xin recently recruited a group of painters and taught them cheating techniques that were once used in the West.

Use a convex lens to create a dark room, and then use the specific light to shine the entire person or thing onto the drawing board, such as a person or an object.

In this way, the painting becomes like coloring.

You can use this method to create more 3D and realistic paintings.

This directly kills the current Chinese paintings which are mainly based on freehand brushwork.

Recently, Zhao Xin asked them to draw some tall and mighty-looking soldiers, or old soldiers with gray hair posing in various poses, expressing joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.

Next, you can stick it on the platform of the steam locomotive station.

Since the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the impression left by military men on the people and on the entire society has been very bad.

Zhao Xin needs to correct these impressions.

at the same time……

We also need to publicize the morality that warriors should have in the new era and the contributions they have made silently.

On the left, there is a large image of a Song army soldier wearing infantry armor, holding a sword and a hammer, with a bow and arrow and a quiver on his waist, and then… some text is attached on the right.

Like the wind and the wine, both of which can kill the soldiers’ throats. Also, a cup of blood instead of wine, to pay tribute to my home and country from afar, and to protect my back, so that the country and the land will be filled with peace.

Zhao Xin said early on that he wanted to change people’s impression of soldiers.

of course!

It’s not enough just to promote it like this.

Next…

It is also necessary to gradually rectify the moral character of the troops other than the Li Yuan Army.

At least, it will no longer leave a bad impression in the eyes of the people.

But to be honest, this is still quite difficult.

It would be fine if they were Li Yuanjun or those trained by Li Yuanjun.

As for others, like the original northwest frontier troops, if you set such high standards for them, I’m afraid you’ll have to increase their treatment even more.

to this end……

This year, Zhao Xin continued to train his troops.

and……

Try to manage soldiers and civilians separately as much as possible.

of course!

This is actually very difficult.

The main reason is that soldiers are needed to guard the city. Unlike in later generations, soldiers are generally in the barracks. Unless there are special circumstances, you will not be allowed to go out and contact ordinary people.

This elite soldier thing…

Just leave it to Zhao Xun.

With these elite troops, although there may be some gap between him and Li Jing’s Duke of Weiguo, the gap does not seem to be that big.

This is equivalent to giving Zhao Xun a credit for nothing. In the future, history books will only say that this spiritual revolution of Song Dynasty soldiers was initiated by Zhao Xun.

If you want to improve your literary and political governance, you still have to praise your subordinates more and promote them.

Look at Emperor Taizong Wen. It is because of people with distinct personalities like Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng, and Zhangsun Wuji that people feel that the Zhenguan period was a period of great governance.

Zhao Xin thinks…

I haven’t done enough in this regard.

at the same time……

Let’s dig deeper into the deeds of the other sixteen generals.

Give me a little story.

Build up your character well.

of course!

This is not asking you to make up stories.

You are pressuring others to do something they have never done.

Instead, it is based on facts with some moderate embellishment.

in fact……

It’s not entirely for his own literary and artistic pursuit.

But…

These people have followed me for so many years, this is what they deserve.

For example, Kong Jing, although he didn’t do anything very impressive in history, but… when Zhao Xin was young, he got a lot of details and knowledge about marching and fighting from him.

Then this person can be regarded as Zhao Xin’s mentor.

and……

In many wars, the other side completed the task of transporting food very well without any mistakes. This can be described with some better words.

Also, those suggestions were put forward during the combat meeting.

This is all good material.

in fact……

Among the people following Zhao Xin, there are really not many who have any special characteristics.

But it is normal, because these people are just low-level soldiers and officers who were transferred back from the northwest. It can be said that they are mainly normal ordinary people.

And there is…

Times have changed. It is no longer necessary for an individual to lead soldiers into battle.

Because Zhao Xun was young, he often led cavalry to charge.

Others basically served as commanders in his musket and firearms troops.

This was just normal giving of orders, and then winning the battle, so of course there was nothing too spectacular about the performance.

Anyway…

Praise whatever you can.

If someone is quiet but talks from time to time, we can say that he is good at listening and can correct his mistakes in time.

in fact……

This is not wrong, because it is the truth.

Next, we need to confer titles of duke, county duke, etc. on these people. These things cannot be missing.

(End of this chapter)