Han, Shanyang.
Among the hills and valleys, several sentry towers stood high.
The soldiers were holding crossbows and standing on the sentry tower, staring at the entrance in the distance.
At the entrance of the rugged mountain road, a long team was approaching. There were nearly a thousand of these people, carrying clothes on their feet, and walking slowly forward.
There were soldiers escorting him from both sides, and there were loud cries all the way.
It's the same scene as over there in Pseudo-Qi.
The newly appointed official Zhang Yan stood at the entrance, with many officials standing behind him.
The Han State followed the policy of the Qi State and established the Eastern Government Office and the Western Government Office in the country, which were responsible for many mines and ironworks in the east and west respectively. In the counties, they established Dayeling and Xiaoyeling, all of which belonged to the iron industry.
official.
There are currently fifty-eight iron officials in the country.
This represents the fifty-eight iron ore mines in the country. It is worth mentioning that in addition to Tieguan, there are also Tongguan, Yinguan, etc...:
The so-called iron official is just a general term for them. In fact, the official positions are different because of the different things they are responsible for.
The officer in charge of the escort quickly stepped forward and saluted Zhang Yan, "This is the last batch."
He took out the document in his hand and handed it to the other party.
Zhang Yan asked his subordinates to check whether the number and appearance of the other party were consistent with the documents.
While the clerks were busy comparing, the officer's face was full of exhaustion. He rubbed the area between his eyebrows.
This unfortunate errand is finally over.
Zhang Yan carefully checked various documents, and then looked at the officer.
"Thank you for your hard work. I went back and forth many times and finally it's completed."
"These are all things that are part of the responsibility."
"Those who deserve to be killed usually cut corners. Our weapons are either incomplete or defective. You don't know, when I fought against the Puppet Zhou in Yangqu, the knife in my hand broke at the touch of it...
..You don’t have to worry about it in the future.”
The officer was in a good mood.
The people he escorted were all criminals related to the original Tieguan case.
The Tieguan case is the largest case in the country since the founding of the Han Dynasty, no, since Liu Taozi came to power.
The case implicated sixteen factories and thirty-eight mines, and involved thousands of temple officials, smelting officials, government officials, local officials, military officers, etc., numbering in the thousands.
And the crimes of many of them have reached the point where the entire family is punished.
A shovel fell down and a family was formed, so the number of people involved exceeded 10,000.
Of course, the temple would not execute tens of thousands of people at once. That would be too cruel. The Han Dynasty was based on benevolence and virtue.
Therefore, they were sentenced to extra prison terms. The so-called prison terms are to restrict their freedom and imprison them. Of course, the government cannot keep them in vain. Therefore, these people still have to do something to make up for it, such as taking charge of mining in the mines they are most familiar with.
Work.
Ironmaking has technical requirements. Unless it is some chores, other things must be completed by professional craftsmen. But mining...:.\n.\nBecause most of the domestic mines are open-pit mines, there are very few talented people.
Need to dig deeper,
Therefore, the technical requirements are not that many, as long as you can grab the tools.
The entire Han Dynasty was extremely rich in mineral resources.
Iron, copper, coal...\n. Basically everything needed in this era is available.
It has been a long-standing rule to allow prisoners to mine, and the State of Qi would even send conscripts to conscript civilians for mining.
Zhang Yan stood aside, looking at the prisoners in front of him, thoughtfully.
Zhang Yan has just assumed the position of chief of the mine here, responsible for mining and overall management.
After arriving, he discovered many problems.
After the clerks checked and determined that there were no problems, Zhang Yan just signed his name to express his acceptance.
The army responsible for escorting them left, and the garrison at the mine took over and took them to the mine.
This is an iron mine. Around the mine, they have fenced off a small town with a place to hold prisoners and a place to live.
The prisoners wearing them are working hard, and the sergeant patrols back and forth from time to time.
Everyone is busy.
Zhang Yan stood on the high platform and looked at the scene in front of him, frowning and worried.
The Chief Administrative Officer stood beside him, his attitude was very low, almost flattering.
"Your Majesty, we have obtained another group of prisoners this time. There are more than 13,000 masonry workers in the mine. In addition, we have eliminated those traitors. There are no more powerful people who dare to openly compete with us for profit. I am afraid that next year's mining will
It can reach an unprecedented level!!"
The iron official was very excited, but Zhang Yan remained silent.
"This kind of mining that is mainly based on slaves will not improve much."
"We still need to increase the number of legitimate masons...
The official was stunned and asked tangledly: "Servant? But His Majesty doesn't seem to agree very much...\n"
"I'm not talking about labor, I'm talking about normal masonry.
The officials understood.
Mining workers have many names, such as gray face, slave, masonry, mine slave... There are not many good names.
The reason for this is mainly because there are relatively few workers who specialize in mining, and most of them are criminals, slaves, and prisoners of war...:. In the Han Dynasty, merchants, sons-in-law, and stepfathers were also recruited.
mining.
There are still relatively few people who actually make this a career.
The official had no choice but to say: "I understand what you are saying, but it is mainly related to expenditure. If you recruit masons to do work, you have to give them money... These people are different. As long as they are not allowed to starve to death, they can always
Use it to the point of death. Sometimes, you can let them do risky things without fear of death or injury....\n."
Zhang Yan said seriously: "You have also seen how inefficient these people are. Moreover, if we talk about expenditures, what about the sergeants who supervise them? How are their expenditures calculated?"
"There will definitely be fewer and fewer prisoners in the future. Do we need to follow the example of Qi in issuing conscripts?"
"You can still capture prisoners of war...\n. That's how it used to be..\n..\n"
"Wouldn't it cost more?"
Zhang Yan said in a low voice: "It's not that we can't let prisoners work. It's just that we still need to recruit more legitimate masonry workers. There are many dead people fleeing from the south. It will also take time to confer farmland. We are not conferring farmland today."
,
We will have enough to eat and drink tomorrow, and if the iron officials can recruit stoneworkers and ironworkers on their own, firstly, it will help those who do not have farmland to survive, and secondly, it will improve the efficiency of mining and smelting."
"I want to write a letter to the temple about this incident."
Tieguan no longer refutes. It's not that he can't refute, but he doesn't dare to refute.
This Zhang Yan is not an ordinary person. He is from Cheng'an. He comes from the same village as Your Majesty. He grew up in front of Your Majesty. Your Majesty affectionately calls him Erlang in the edicts given to him.
He can't afford to offend him, so he can write whatever he wants.
Anyway, I can't control it.
There are many opportunities to make contributions here. Since the Tieguan case, many vacancies have appeared in various places.
There is a lot of waste waiting to be done. As long as you are not a fool and do a little bit of work, you can make outstanding political achievements. Then you can move up... What a great opportunity.
Zhang Yan did not hesitate, returned to his residence, and began to immerse himself in writing in preparation for the memorial to the temple.
Pingcheng.
Liu Taozi was wearing ordinary military uniform and was squeezing forward in the bustling East Market.
The city was extremely lively. There were merchants and merchants all along the road. People were coming and going. Cars and horses couldn't get in at all. Everyone was next to each other and pushing hard to move forward.
The stench came from everywhere, and there were many discarded debris on the ground, food leftovers, and some chicken and duck feces, etc.
Gao Yanzong was walking among the crowd, and the choking smell made him feel dizzy.
Gao Yanzong is not a clean person, but this is too unclean!
Liu Taozi didn't feel any strange at all. He walked on the road happily, looking at the vendors on the left and right from time to time.
There were many people coming to the market, some of whom came from the countryside, and there was a lot of noise everywhere.
Everyone just pushed forward.
Gao Yanzong finally couldn't help it and grabbed Zu Ban beside him.
"There are too many people here and it's dangerous. We'd better take His Majesty back."
Zu Ban wore more ordinary clothes, with a slight smile on his face, "Don't disturb the lord's elegance. If you bear with it, you will get used to it."
Passing through the crowd and arriving deeper, there are many facades here.
Unlike the vendors who come from afar, these stores are always open to receive customers and operate according to the market's opening hours.
The door is open, and there are many things piled at the door.
A few customers were looking down.
Liu Taozi led the two of them here and looked around.
The shopkeeper was sitting in the room, raising his head slightly, with a teacup beside him, and was enjoying the tea.
This is an iron shop that sells all kinds of ironware.
This store is completely different from other stores. The difference is that it specializes in salt and iron. The mining, smelting, and sales of iron are all handled by the government. Therefore, this store is owned by the government. The store inside is not a merchant.
It's 'official'.
A farmer held up a handy short hoe and asked, "Shopkeeper, how much is this hoe worth?"
The store owner didn't even look at him and said angrily: "Mark the price over there, go and see for yourself."
The farmer was a little embarrassed. He stuck his head out and saw the number marked on the side. He looked to the left and right, quietly pulled a person and asked in a low voice what the number in front of him was.
Liu Taozi stared at the store and walked in slowly.
The shopkeeper raised his head, looked at Liu Taozi in military uniform, and saw two people following him, one of whom was particularly fat, so he stood up with a smile on his face, but not much.
"What does the customer want to buy?"
Liu Taozi looked around, "What do you have?"
The store owner's expression changed and he waved his hand, "Everything is already here."
After saying that, he returned to his seat and sat down again.
A few years ago, these officials would still be afraid of the rich and powerful in the local area, and would show favor to them.
But the situation is different now.
Nowadays, these local tyrants are not big players. The authority and power of the government are constantly increasing.
These officials, who represent the government, are the most powerful, and whoever touches them will die.
Moreover, the store owner also expected that these people were not really rich and powerful, and they were people he could not afford to offend.
After all, how could that kind of person come to the market to buy ironware in person?
Gao Yanzong looked at the other party's appearance and became furious, ready to roll up his sleeves.
But Zu Ban hurriedly grabbed his arm and shook his head at him.
Liu Taozi just looked at the ironware and the prices on it. After looking at it for a long time, she didn't buy anything and left with the two of them.
The three of them walked out of the store, and Gao Yanzong immediately began to complain.
"Why let such a villain go? A dog looks down on others, so he should be dragged out and killed!"
But Zu Ban laughed, "He doesn't know His Majesty's identity. He who doesn't know is not to blame. He is not worthy of being killed."
Gao Yanzong was a little annoyed, "Is there anyone doing business like this in the world? Are you hoping that things won't be sold?"
+
Zu Ban further explained: "They are not merchants. How much they sell has nothing to do with them. They have fixed salaries, so that's naturally the case...
Gao Yanzong looked at Liu Taozi and said, "Brother, I don't feel good."
"Although I don't understand government affairs, I also know that this kind of business is definitely wrong...\n. If I were a real common person, how could I dare to buy when I saw such business?"
Zu Ban smiled and said, "This is what merchants are for."
"Farmers work to feed the rest of the world, craftsmen make tools, merchants sell them, circulate them, and put them into the hands of farmers... This cycle is the state of the country."
"However, we can't let the merchants take responsibility at the moment, at least we can't let them do it."
Zu Ban said quietly: "Our purpose is not to use iron tools in exchange for fiscal revenue, but to lower the price and promote it to the people. Merchants cannot do this. They sell for profit and will only find ways to improve
Profit, if it cannot be achieved, then
They will find ways to reduce costs...\n::. Pingcheng's hoes are sold in Yingzhou, and the price is the same as Pingcheng. But if merchants are allowed to make it, the price will be at least twice as high... People over there
If there are few and poor, there may not even be any merchants who will go there.”
"Moreover, the north has been plagued by disasters for too long. The people's livelihood has been withered, the cultivated land has been laid waste, and the place where people have built it has left everything in ruins waiting to be revitalized.
At least we need to bring it back to normal, and after that, let the iron market gradually normalize."
Gao Yanzong seemed to understand but not quite.
Liu Taozi suddenly said: "Even so, we can't let the store owners be so negligent. Grandpa, you come up with a solution."
"only!"
Zu Ban immediately bowed his head and accepted the order.
The three of them walked around the city many times. Before the market closed, they finally left the East Market and returned to the official office.
After leaving the city, the city is still very crowded.
The carriage did not dare to go too fast on the road, and the noisy sound outside never stopped.
Zu Ban was still very happy.
"Your Majesty, there will be a bumper harvest in various places this year. Judging from the current situation in the four states that have completed their autumn harvest summary,
We finally don’t have to get food from outside anymore.\n:::.Hahaha, we should be able to save a lot, which can be used for the expedition!"
"What a great thing!"
Although Liu Taozi didn't speak, her face looked pretty good, with a vague smile.
Gao Ye's physiocrats are still very practical today. The north is not fighting every day like in the troubled times, but the situation is more tragic than the troubled times after the ancient wars. The heavy labor has left ten houses empty and the cultivated land is barren.
Cities were turned into ruins, there were more and more states, and fewer and fewer counties. The cultivated land area of ​​Qi State began to disappear on a large scale in the fifth year of Tianbao. This situation continued until the Gao period, eased, and then declined rapidly again.
This is especially true for the population. In Jizhou alone, previous measurement results showed that the population has decreased by 40,000 to 50,000 households within ten years. That’s a huge number of households!
What is rising is the number of unemployed people who have lost their farmland, the number of thieves in various places, and the prices of food and various necessities.
It’s no wonder that Gao focused so much on agriculture that the whole of Hebei was starving and the army couldn’t feed himself. If he was distracted by anything else, he would die. The government spent a lot of energy trying to restore Hebei’s agriculture and stabilize the local area step by step.
people's livelihood.
The next step is to use agriculture to bring out workers, then use workers to nourish merchants, and then let merchants feed back agriculture and workers. After a big cycle is completed, the north is basically stable.
They arrived at the General's Mansion all the way, and Zu Ban and Gao Yanzong just stopped.
Gao Yanzong wanted to follow him in, but Zu Ban stopped him and said goodbye to Liu Taozi.
The house was also quite lively.
People came and went, and as Liu Taozi became more established, his 'relatives' became more and more numerous.
The first is Liu Chengcai.
Liu Chengcai was a small military leader in Huaishuo and the first person to defect to Liu Taozi. Only after Liu Taozhi arrived did he discover that this man turned out to be Liu Taozi's clan uncle.
And those people from the Zhang family.
Liu Taozi's two uncles, the second uncle was dismissed because of his original inaction, and now he has not been able to become an official again. He studies all day and never goes out.
On the other hand, the reason why my eldest uncle is now serving at Shangshutai is not because he is a relative of Liu Taozi. He is indeed talented in his own right, and he deserves some credit for sending him to the Warrior Camp in the first place.
Liu Taozi didn't care so much about these relatives and returned directly to her dormitory.
Liu Taozi was changing her clothes when Hu Lu walked in. She walked to Liu Taozi's side with both hands and feet. The two spent a long time together, and she was no longer so shy.
She walked up to Liu Taozi like a thief, looked around, and whispered: "Husband, someone came to ask for an official just now. They said they were relatives of my family and husband's uncle, and they brought many gifts.
\n...\n』
"What's it called?"
"My name is Liu Chengqi...
"Okay, got it."
Liu Taozi suddenly put on her clothes and lowered her head to look at Hu Lu beside her.
"You go back and explore again."
"If you have any news, come and report it in time."
"Don't let that old man interfere with the affairs of the temple. If he promises an official position to anyone, write that person down...:"
Chapter completed!