Chapter 257: About This Age
The fifth year of Jiayou, summer.

The wheat in Hedong is ripe, and large fields of wheat are ready for harvest.

Harvesting wheat is something that any ordinary person in the Song Dynasty would be able to do.

But this year…

The way the government collects wheat has confused many local residents.

Many people from the surrounding area gathered between the ridges and talked about the wheat harvester that was harvesting wheat.

“It’s only been half a day, not even noon yet, and we’ve already harvested this large area.”

“This must be at least several hundred or even a thousand acres!”

“And how many people did it take?”

“In the past, the whole family would harvest together, and it would take half a day to harvest only two or three acres.”

“It’s a horse-drawn process. In the blink of an eye, the wheat is all cut neatly.”

Listen to the people’s discussions.

Pang Ji, the main official in charge here, was also dumbfounded after seeing the speed of the harvester.

Because since ancient times, harvesting wheat has been a very hard task.

But now…

The work accomplished by the craftsmen under His Royal Highness the Crown Prince completely overturned their impression that harvesting wheat was hard work.

How can this be hard?
If there was any hard work, it was only the two horses in front pulling the harvester.

It is not hard work at all. All one has to do is sit on the harvester and direct the horses to run forward.

To the extent that Pang Ji even felt that this was a blasphemy to wheat harvesting.

An insult to the sacredness of the food harvest.

of course!

If possible, Pang Ji would like to see more such insults.

Sima Guang was also standing beside Pang Ji at this time. The relationship between Sima Guang and Pang Ji was like that of adoptive father and son.

No! Maybe even closer than my own father.

What’s even more outrageous is that whenever Pang Ji was appointed to a certain position, he would always bring Sima Guang with him.

This relationship even surpasses any relationship between men you have ever seen before.

Sima Guang said at this time: “This thing benefits the world a hundred times more than human power.”

Pang Ji also said: “How many things does His Royal Highness the Crown Prince have that he is hiding from us?”

But that’s not all, next…

Once the bundles of wheat are transported to the designated location, they can be threshed immediately using a steam engine.

This directly saved the people the hard work of threshing the grain with a flail.

The so-called flail is like a nunchaku, but it is often much longer than a nunchaku.

The grains are knocked off the straw by beating them.

even……

Ten years ago, this weapon was developed into a battlefield weapon of the Song Dynasty and has continued to be used to this day.

however……

Seeing the wheat grains being picked off in just a moment, this productivity really shocked Pang Ji and Sima Guang.

This year……

This is the year in which Zhao Xin plans to put a large number of the latest production tools into use and practice.

In fact, it is not just the Hedong area.

At this time, some military settlements in Youzhou, such as some military settlements in Shanhaiguan, were also in use.

In the past, after planting wheat, soldiers had to harvest it themselves, but now…

Most people just cross their arms and watch.

“What are you looking at?”

“If you have nothing to do, go and train for me!”

Maybe because they had a good relationship, the soldiers did not run away as soon as they came up. Instead, they said, “Commander, tell me, how did this thing work? How can all the wheat be harvested in a short time?”

The commander also said: “You ask me, who should I ask?”

Then some curious soldiers walked forward to take a closer look.

The people nearby quickly pulled them back and said, “Hey, it’s dangerous, don’t get close.”

It was not until I finished watching it that I slowly began to understand how this thing was made.

Then he asked, “Who came up with this?”

Then the person at the side was not reluctant to say a few more words to the other party, saying: “It was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who had this idea at first, and in the end, it was a man named Li Mo who finally made it.”

“Li Mo? Never heard of him.”

And in fact…

Zhao Xin has a large number of such completely unknown craftsmen under his command.

Maybe even in history books, the other person’s name has never been recorded.

Zhao Xin naturally also went to watch the harvest scene.

can only say……

It’s ok, this efficiency.

At least it’s better than collecting them manually.

And at this time…

Almost three years had passed since he took back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

these three years.

In addition to having the veterans of the Li Yuan Army lead new soldiers every year, reforming and training the army, and expanding Youzhou City step by step.

What Zhao Xin did most was actually to meet with the former Liao officials in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and build good relationships with them.

to be frank!
The former Liao officials were corrupt, and many were as incompetent as the Song officials.

But the problem is…

He surrendered, which can be considered a merit. Even if he is corrupt, what can you do to him?

You can’t say on one hand that you won’t be killed if you surrender and your official position will remain the same, and then turn around and chop off the person’s head, right?

Do you still want others to surrender to you in the future?

However, such people will definitely be black sheep in the future. Even if they may not surrender and then rebel again to become the Liao’s guide or even a spy when the Liao arrives, it will be a major obstacle for Zhao Xin to establish a politically clear country.

Three years ago, Zhao Xin had just taken over Youzhou City, so he was not very familiar with the situation and personnel here.

But three years have passed, and Zhao Xin has already figured out clearly who is the treacherous minister, who is the loyal minister, who truly wants to restore the Han identity, and who is a fence-sitter.

therefore……

It’s time to clean up these people.

If these people had been purged right away three years ago, it would have naturally had a huge impact.

Otherwise, others might think he is not trustworthy.

but now……

Three years have passed, and now they find other reasons to add to the charge, such as oppressing the people and allowing his descendants to do illegal things.

Then we can easily deal with these people one by one.

As the future important capital city, there can be no room for mistakes.

but……

You can’t just convict someone and drive them away right away, but instead find someone to be the bad guy and then act as the good guy yourself.

Considering that the other party had led the city to surrender, it can be considered a merit.

All we can do is demote the other party and send him away.

This year……

The main thing is to select virtuous and capable people and denounce the evil.

In fact, to find out who is evil, you just need to send someone to ask the local people.

After all, how could the local people not know who was so corrupt?
Zhao Xin also summoned the Jinyiwei. Every day, they sneaked into various cities, taverns and teahouses to gather information.

From time to time, you have to visit brothels, after all, many prostitutes have dealings with officials.

In the Song Dynasty, officials were actually prohibited from visiting prostitutes.

But as the saying goes, emphasize what is lacking.

It was precisely because there were a large number of officials visiting prostitutes that the Song Dynasty had to ban it.

In fact…

Although the Song Dynasty banned it, the phenomenon of visiting prostitutes still occurred frequently.

The Liao Dynasty was naturally no exception in this regard.

Investigate all those who are close to the Liao Kingdom, have intermarriage with Liao people, and have too much influence, who may become spies in the future.

Over the past three years, the intelligence gathered by the Jinyiwei was enough to fill dozens of baskets.

Thanks to the Jinyiwei, Zhao Xin was able to have a deeper understanding of Youzhou City and the surrounding areas.

In addition, he also communicated with some Liao officials to understand the situation of other Liao officials, which enabled Zhao Xin to carry out more precise strikes.

But let me be frank!

The purpose of being an official is to be superior to others.

If I am superior to others and I don’t oppress the people, wouldn’t it be a waste of my status as an official?

therefore……

Things like punishing corrupt officials and officials who exploit the people cannot be done too harshly.

In fact, if you want to make these people 100% loyal, it is best to destroy the Liao Kingdom first.

If even the Liao Dynasty was destroyed, then they would naturally have no other way to retreat and nothing else to rely on.

The battle to destroy Liao must be fought.

Even by then, other nomadic tribes might emerge.

This year…

News also came from Guangxi.

The story was that an official in a vassal state of the Song Dynasty took in some people who had fled from Jiaozhi.

Jiaozhi would definitely not agree.

So he led his troops directly into the territory of the Song Dynasty.

Fortunately, Di Qing was defending there at that time, so he was able to repel all the incoming Jiaozhi soldiers.

How to say this?

In fact, there is no need to worry about whether it is right or wrong. Anyway, it is just an excuse for Jiaozhi and the Song Dynasty to go to war.

Even if you explain it clearly to them, they will definitely not admit it.

Originally, after guarding there for so many years, Di Qing and his men began to complain.

Who likes to stay in such a deserted place all the time?

just now……

Seeing that the other party had taken direct action, his subordinates had probably begun to instigate Di Qing to solve the problem once and for all and directly attack Jiaozhi.

This way they can return to their hometown in the northwest.

Because many of those who went to Guangxi with Di Qing were foreigners.

After seeing such a memorial, Zhao Xin actually had nothing to say.

The only reply was, “Go ahead and fight if you can, but do it within your capabilities. Officials in Lingnan and Guangxi must fully cooperate with you on matters concerning money and grain.”

But to be honest, if we really go to Jiaozhi to fight, the risk is still quite high.

The reason why Li Yuan’s army was not greatly affected at the beginning was mainly because they all took official roads, and the battlefield was not far from the city, probably only twenty or thirty miles away.

It was autumn and winter again, and there were almost no mosquitoes or infectious diseases, so the war was quickly over.

But if Di Qing is going to go on an expedition, we have to be careful.

One is that it is easy to get plague when going to war in summer.

Another thing is that if you go deep into Jiaozhi, there may be dense jungles in between. If you are not familiar with the situation in these places, it is easy to get into trouble.

If things really go wrong, it is possible that half of the 30,000 people will die.

However, Di Qing had been there for so long that he had probably adapted to the local climate to some extent.

This might be the only better place.

Zhao Xin also made it clear that we should not move forward rashly just because we want to resolve the battle quickly.

If the soldiers really don’t want to stay in Yongzhou, you can consider finding other people to replace them.

If you fight a war under pressure, you are basically doomed to fail.

It was the end of the year.

really!

After the previous failure, Jiaozhi decided not to pretend anymore.

He immediately sent troops to attack the capital of the Song Dynasty.

of course!

After all, the equipment of the Song army was much better than that of the Li Dynasty in Jiaozhi, and they were led by Di Qing, so this naturally would not have much impact on the Song Dynasty.

even……

As soon as the battle started, they were immediately defeated. The people of Jiaozhi were also very shocked and immediately sent envoys to seek peace.

Regardless of whether he meant it sincerely, at least he was really scared by the Song Dynasty.

At this time, Di Qing also united dozens of surrounding ethnic minority tribes and asked them to send troops together.

It looks like they are going to attack and destroy Jiaozhi, so Jiaozhi has no choice but to show some resistance first.

Then, the Lantern Festival of the following year…

The families of Li Yuanjun also began to move to Youzhou City in small numbers.

I’ll just live here for a while to see how the houses are built and whether it’s convenient for my daily life.

In fact, if you really want to say, it is definitely not comparable to those in Xuchang and Nanyang.

Because Xuchang and Nanyang are in the countryside, the area is wide and you can do whatever you want. Moreover, each household has 200 acres of land, so you can make your house and yard very large at will. But in comparison, the living area of ​​Youzhou City, the houses, and especially the courtyard area, must be much smaller.

Moreover, the houses, courtyards and everything else here are all of the same style.

This lacks a kind of differentiation.

Feel……

It can only be used for family reunions.

If you really want to know whether the living environment is comfortable and relaxed, I feel that my hometowns in Xuchang and Nanyang are much better.

Other imperial guards of the Song Dynasty usually moved to garrison with their families.

Only Li Yuanjun often left home for two or three years before returning to reunite with his family.

The main reason why Zhao Xin built these houses was to facilitate Li Yuanjun’s reunion with his family.

As for whether you will live here for a long time in the future.

For the time being, Zhao Xin has no such plan.

Anyway…

It’s up to them to make their own choices.

In addition…

Some government offices of the imperial court are expected to start construction next year.

If the war against the Liao Kingdom goes smoothly, and we can capture Yelu Hongji alive and destroy the Liao Kingdom, then at the earliest, we can move some officials from Kaifeng Prefecture here, probably in two years.

If we want to move all government agencies to Youzhou City, including Zhao Xin’s imperial palace, we should also move them here.

I estimate that it will take at least three to five years.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xin could only sigh.

By that time, he would probably be around 26 or 27 years old, and Yuanyuan would be almost 30 years old.

Of course! That’s not bad!
After all, Li Shimin was about the same age when he became emperor.

(End of this chapter)