Chapter 222: "Corruption" with Cai Jing

Zhao Xing was looking back at his boat. He was hanging a large box on the boat and put it on the assault boat next to him. After a while, the assault boat carried the big wooden box to the village pier, and six or seven strong men came forward to carry the wooden box ashore.

The wooden box opened, and the three calf-sized mastiffs rushed down. Shuai Fan took the clothes thrown by the bandits and let the three-headed dogs sniff it. Seeing that the other party was busy, Zhao Xing turned around and answered Lu Yu: "Information determines judgment! I happened to know more information. Generally speaking, the underworld is relative to the 'white society'. Without the protection of normal social officials, there would never be a underworld - this is a simple truth.

Investigation, intelligence, robbery, and stolen goods... This is a whole set of work. The lake bandits can hide from our patrol officials, but they cannot hide from local officials. Without the shelter and indulgence of local officials, they cannot be free for a long time. So the fact must be: the local clerks are the leaders of the robbers, and the group of robbers were organized under the eyes of local officials - this conclusion is infinitely close to the facts."

There was a shout of killing sound in the village. Zhao Xing yawned and said regretfully: "I originally wanted to use the lake bandits to train troops, but I didn't expect that the lake bandits were so vulnerable, which was so disappointing."

History has changed at this moment. Originally, the Taihu Lake bandits did not encounter formal suppression until Yue Fei set off his army, but now there is no need for Yue Fei to take action.

History is also very similar. During the heyday of Taihu Lake Bandits, there were 100,000 people, and they even made a loach boat and fought with the official army. However, Yue Fei only used two commands, and 1,000 people drove all 100,000 lake bandits, and the same is true today. Zhao Xing also had 1,000 people in the battle, but unfortunately there were no 100,000 lake bandits. This thousand people killed a small group of lake bandits, which was like killing chickens and smashing eggs with hammers.

After this battle, all the bandits in the village were killed. Except for two or three bandits left as witnesses, the rest of the residents of the village were captured by Zhao Xing in the name of bandits, and the entire village was burned.

Zhao Xing's harshness shocked the entire Taiwan and the bandits reported by Zhao Xing also shocked the court. With the two survivors testified, the court then realized that some small villages along Taihu Lake had become "robber villages". The villages, whether men, women, young and old, were not innocent, and had more or less involved in the robbery and cover up the robbery. Some local village chiefs were robbers themselves. The court immediately issued an edict to severely rectify the security situation of the villages on the lakeside...

After this battle, Zhao Xing looked for fighter jets on both sides of Taihu Lake - that is, to find fault. He took a warship to visit suspicious villages one by one, spread his achievements everywhere, and used all kinds of means such as intimidation, threats, and blackmail. Unfortunately, the people in the suspicious villages were as obedient as sheep, and no matter how Zhao Xing forced them, they had no desire to resist.

In September, the court issued an edict to commend Zhao Xing, and also rebuked Zhao Xing for causing trouble everywhere, and strictly demanded that Zhao Xing return immediately. Zhao Xing, who was indifferent, then drove back to Yangzhou by boat. Along the way, he was quite depressed.

In the same month, the Tatar Kingdom (now northwest of Qinghai) heard that Liang Yibu's main army entered the Hedong area and fought against the Song Dynasty. So he led his own troops to attack Helan Mountain, attacked Luobo's army, robbed more than 1,000 households in Xixia, and plundered tens of thousands of cattle and sheep. After Liang Yibu learned of this news, he hurriedly retreated from the front line to rescue the area besieged by the Tatar Kingdom. But when he led his army to reach his destination, the Tatar had already withdrawn.

Shuai Fan performed poorly at the beginning of the battle. Seeing that Zhao Xing was in a strong stomach, he hid on the assault boat early and did not show up at all. Lu Yu had nowhere to hide, so he had to persuade him insincerely: "We have achieved our goal, right? After the first battle, there was no robbery in the water thieves along the way, and the river was smooth. The court had already ordered the rewards. Why was the recruit still depressed?"

Lu Yu actually complained in his heart: "Come on, Zhao Liren, I recognize you, I am one of the seven bachelors of the Su family. It is said that he is still a great poet, but I looked like a warrior.

Yes, he is a militant. First battle: he burned the entire sandbank and turned the sandbank into a torch for three days. No one knows the passing ships. After another battle, he slaughtered the whole village and stuffed the prison camps. Such people are not wary, who is wary? You said you are so cruel that you dare to rob it. Real bandits should pretend to be good people when they come to you. What else do you want to fight?"

Lu Yu miscalculated Zhao Xing’s thoughts. The reason why Zhao Xing was depressed was not because there was no war, but because he remembered the textbook’s evaluation of Yue Fei.

After the Jin people moved south, all the cities in the north fell, and only Yangzhou still insisted on resisting the Jin Dynasty. The water transport line from Yangzhou to Hangzhou was the lifeline of the northern front line of the anti-enemy. However, the Taihu bandits had already robbed this lifeline for their living.

If Yue Fei wants to resist the Jin Dynasty, he must open up this lifeline, but what the textbook says, Zhao Xing remembers that Yue Fei's elimination of this group of robbers was the biggest stain of his life because he suppressed the "uprising army".

"What will people think of us in a few years?" Zhao Xingqing couldn't help but mutter softly.

Lu Yu was even more puzzled: "Eat the king's fortune and be loyal to the king. As court officials, we maintain peace in the first place. Although the killings are a little serious, they deserve it. Each of those lake bandits bears at least ten lives. If it is wrong to kill them, then why are the people who died under the robbers? Are they born to die? Don't worry, I will defend the call on the memorial."

Lu Yu misunderstood again, Zhao Xing grinned and said, "Tijie is wrong. We don't need to worry that someone will seek justice for the bandits. The memorial says that the bandits will die after fighting - if we don't kill them, should we stretch our necks and wait for them to kill?"

The ancients were too simple. Lu Yu had never experienced such obvious inverted black and white. He opened his mouth and was still thinking in his heart: "Die by fighting hard? No, it was obvious that the bandits resisted a little, and then they put down their weapons and ordered them not to leave a living. How could they die by fighting hard? Ah, I understand, indeed, in this way, we are not wrong in chasing the lake bandits to the village, and then killing the lake bandits. Who can blame them... After a while, it saves a lot of trouble."

The Song people governed military affairs with civil affairs. The battle situation was entirely determined by a single mouth. The literati had the right to speak. The literati said how the battle situation was, so the historical books made such a record. After the first war, Lu Yu was commanded by Zhao Xing. He didn't know that Zhao Xing had handed over the battle situation report.

After a moment of silence, Lu Yu asked hummingly: "Mr. Zhao, I don't know that this war will be of some help to me."

Zhao Xing waved his hand and the servants had already handed over the draft of the memorial. He pointed to the draft and said, "The main contribution of this war is to you and the commander-in-chief. I just praised it from it and gave some slight force."

Lu Yu's face couldn't help but feel ecstasy. He went to the battle this time just to take the opportunity to make some credit. Unexpectedly, Zhao Xing attributed all the credit to him and Shuai Fan, which made him happy and quickly said: "Look at what the master said, I just followed the horse in front of the saddle and horse. I worked hard, how could I take on such a great contribution?"

Lu Yu is the leader, and his official title is above the commander. If Zhao Xing gives up his first merit, then he, the errand runner, will naturally take over the first merit that Zhao Xing doesn't want. The commander who specifically commands this battle will become a bad listener, which makes Lu Yu quite embarrassed.

After being humble, Lu Yu reluctantly thanked Zhao Xing for his kindness and asked in a slight manner: "Can you tell me about this situation?"

Zhao Xing patted Lu Yu on the shoulder: "You don't need to ask more about this. I will reward my people. In the future, as long as you get closer to Lord Shuai, it will be done."

Cai Jing led officials at all levels to welcome Zhao Xing strongly. He praised with excitement on his face: "As soon as Zhao Zhao left the port, bandits disappeared. In this battle, with Lord Zhao's power, the Yangzhou route may be quiet for three years. The merchants along the way must be grateful to Lord Zhao for this move. Let's listen to me writing a poem..."

After Cai Jing finished writing the poem, the rest of the people also took turns to praise the poem. While others were thinking about the poem, Cai Jing pulled Zhao Xing over and whispered: "Li Ren, the mature land that has been cultivated this year should be taken back. What do you think about this?"

Zhao Xing changed his mind and understood Cai Jing's meaning: "Mr. Cai, there are not enough 'job and land' for Yangzhou officials..."

Cai Jing said impatiently: "Yangzhou is rich, and the land distribution has always been paid to officials for discounting silver. Yangzhou officials do not lack money or that little land."

Zhao Xing also said: "Yangzhou has established a commanding horse army, which requires horse money to raise horses. Also, there is only one battle this time, and the stolen goods found to be handed over, and the soldiers have nothing to get."

Using land to fill soldiers to raise horses is equivalent to Wang Anshi's "horse protection law". Although Cai Jing was a general in the new law, he was unwilling to cause trouble during this sensitive period. So Cai Jing shook his head and said vaguely: "One thousand soldiers will reward them with 200,000 acres of mature land. This is too much. It is better to sell 40,000 acres of land at a normal price, and the remaining 50,000 acres..."

The mature land that Zhao Xing sorted out should not be sold at regular prices, because there is plenty of rain in Yangzhou, and with the existence of Shan E, a water conservancy expert, the mature land that sorted out has been well-built and irrigated. Many fields with slightly higher terrain are also set up next to them to draw water and irrigate. Such fields are fertile fields and are the best quality paddy fields, which are very popular. Most people will never take action when they buy them, but will only treat them as inheritance of their descendants.

Zhao Xing started in Hangzhou with deep processing of agricultural products and had deep experience in the comprehensive development of agricultural products. He also used all his strength to use the ponds dug in Yangzhou for water storage, planted lotus, raised fish, crabs, and shrimps, and carried out comprehensive breeding. After his overall arrangement, the wasteland reclaimed by refugees was several times higher than that of ordinary farmers in a unit area.

Therefore, this kind of land is sold at a low price.

When Zhao Xing saw that he couldn't escape, he also answered readily: "Yes, 100,000 acres, this amount is just right. Lord Cai thought carefully. If this number is divided into one, he will never cause pollution to the censor... In this way, Yangzhou officials worked hard for this year. Thank you for your hard work, the mature fields were sold to the officials at a normal price to reward the officials for their support for the reclaiming of wasteland."

Cai Jing nodded with satisfaction and added with a calm expression: "I have a servant who has been hiding during my service recently. I plan to learn to be a li person and buy some industries in Yangzhou so that he can support his family. He has a fancy to the three thousand acres of land near Qingpu River. I will ask him to find you when I turn back."

There are 3,000 acres, and Cai Jing is not greedy. He only picked 3,000 acres of mature fields in 100,000 acres. However, Yangzhou is the world's transportation center, and there are particularly many officials here. In the location of this third-level government, throwing a stone out can hit two officials. When he arrives in the city, the proportion is even higher.

But what is the solution? Zhao Xing nodded and said, "Since that's the case, Lord Cai will summon the officials to announce the matter privately."

Cai Jing smacked his lips with an unfulfilled feeling and said, "The refugees have only reclaimed land for one year and have obtained one year of production for nothing. The land they reclaimed in the second year belongs to them. It is too cheap for them. They should let them open up another year of waste."

Zhao Xing laughed: "Mr. Cai, there are no less than one million refugees in Qinfeng. We can actually continue to recruit refugees. With these refugees ahead of time, we will attract more people."

Cai Jing nodded and said, "Yes, Yangzhou has been open for land since the Han and Tang Dynasties. Why is there only a hundred thousand people in a state? This is not enough. I remember that Yangzhou was a city with 200,000 Dingkou in the Tang Dynasty. I founded the country for more than a hundred years, but I still couldn't catch up with the Tang Dynasty. It's too inappropriate. We can move at least 100,000 people! Do you think you are?"

Why is Yangzhou so small? Zhao Xing was surprised when he first came. He asked Cai Jing privately. Cai Jing's answer was: Because Yangzhou is a hub in the world and has always been a place where military strategists must compete. In the Three Kingdoms period, Wei and Wu fought for a hundred years. Except for soldiers, the people dare not gain a foothold in this land.

The peace era came, and the Jin Dynasty was not long before. Yangzhou recovered slightly. Then the Five Barbarians invaded China began. After nearly a thousand years of massacre, the trees grew more than people. Although the Song Dynasty had been peaceful for more than a hundred years, those big trees that had grown for hundreds of years could not be cut down by personal power. Therefore, the forest occupied the land and turned the forest into mulberry fields unless a large-scale manpower was organized.

Zhao Xing moved the refugees this time, and gathered a large number of people to develop wastelands. Each newly opened wasteland was renovated and the rivers and canals were dredged, making it suitable for survival around the reclamation site. The climatic conditions in Yangzhou determine that as long as the developed land is the best fertile land. After all, hundreds of years ago, they were originally fertile land, so once they were restored, the output immediately became amazing.

Unreclaimed fields are called "raw land", and after cultivation, they are called "cooked land". The prices of raw land and cooked land are several times, or even dozens of times. With this reversal, the government has become a large-scale production. Yangzhou has many rich people, so there is no need to worry about not being able to sell the land if it has land...

Cai Jing is a smart man, and others can't see Zhao Xing's operating methods. He has discovered the mystery. Yangzhou is known as the "land of rain". As long as the wasteland that can be reclaimed must be fertile land; as long as the Yangzhou government can continue to insist on reclaiming wasteland, Cai Jing's reputation will be well-known for Yangzhou's virtue. Even if he is a little greedy, no one cares about it. Why not do such things that both make a name for themselves and have rich returns?

However, Cai Jing's words violated two principles. One is government credit. Zhao Xing promised refugees to reclaim land for one year before taking it back. Refugees started reclaiming land this spring, and should end next spring. Now Cai Jing wants to reclaim land in advance, where is the government credit?

The second thing involves the land price issue. It only took half a year to reclaim the land. Although Zhao Xing has tried his best, most of the land has not been fully renovated. The road traffic at some settlement sites is only roughly renovated. If you want to further improve it, it will take a winter time. Now that the land is sold in advance, many land will not be sold at a good price. In the remaining winter, the Xiangjun still has to continue to build roads. This job is equivalent to the Xiangjun replacing the new land main body. Because after the road is opened, the land price will continue to rise, and all these benefits will be borne by the new landlords, and the farmers and local governments will get nothing.

Seeing that Zhao Xing was hesitating, Cai Jing continued to increase his investment: "There are many public fields in Yangzhou (own land without land). Some places are located in remote areas, and they are divided into officials and land. Officials are unwilling to go there. Instead, they would rather convert copper coins. If you want to continue to reclaim wasteland, we cannot let refugees suffer. The land you recovered is replaced nearby with land land. The government can give some subsidies in the distance, such as the land you sell to the government at a fair price, and the government will also sell those land at a fair price. Is that good?"

Cai Jing's decisive words involved the loss of state-owned assets. But Zhao Xing thought for a moment and decided not to oppose the unspoken rules of the officialdom. He hesitated for a moment and said readily: "Originally, the money sold to the market should be subsidized to Yangzhou officials, and the remaining part was only put into the warehouse. Now that money has been misappropriated for a year, and for this reason, Yangzhou officials have also tied their belts for a year. It is better to take this opportunity to give the officials some subsidies. I will exchange the money that subsidized the officials for acres and give it to the officials. What does Lord Cai think?"

This is all profits. The subsidy money from the officials was converted into land that was usually affordable. The officials would farm themselves, even if they were reselling, they could get several times the profits...

Seeing Zhao Xing on the road like this, Cai Jing nodded immediately: "It's great, so, the job of distribution of land..."

"This year, the refugees reclaimed about 300,000 mu of wasteland, 150,000 mu will be allocated by Lord Cai, and the rest will be done by me. What do you think?"

Cai Jing was surprised: "There are actually 300,000 acres? I thought it was just over 200,000."

Zhao Xing immediately overturned his own conclusion: "Mr. Cai thought it was 200,000 acres, so we will do it according to this number. You half and I half, each one of them will be distributed."

Zhao Xing said this, that is, he agreed to take out one-third of the land acres and let the senior officials share the spoils privately. Cai Jing hurriedly threw it into the peaches and responded to it: "I heard that the servants in the Li Ren Mansion were full of service and were dealing with land everywhere. How many people need? 30,000 acres?"

There are three chief officials at the road level. Cai Jing takes away 20,000 mu. If Zhao Xing takes another 30,000 mu, and the Constitution Department takes away 30,000 mu, will the remaining officials still have something to divide?

Zhao Xing had to take this land. Since it involved privately dividing the spoils, all the officials present had to get one, otherwise others would think that you were determined to inform the news and would not dare to take action. In this way, it would be a "public enemy of the officialdom" who blocked other people's financial paths.

Zhao Xing did not do anything to make too many enemies, but he didn't do anything too much, so he immediately replied without blinking: "How dare I be the same as Lord Cai? I'll get half of it and get 15,000 acres. Even if I have more than 10,000, I'll be willing to do it."

Cai Jing was overjoyed. When he touched his upper lip, he lost 30,000 acres of fertile land. And he deserved it. It was a cheap and honest land purchased and reclaimed land. The proud Cai Jing couldn't help but lose his composure and blurted out: "It's not bad, Zhang Zihou (Zhang Dun) forced himself to sell the land of the people, but he only bought a few thousand acres, which caused the imperial court to blame. Now, tens of thousands of acres of fertile land are put into his pockets. Who in the court dares to say no?"

After saying this, Cai Jing suddenly felt a silence. He vaguely heard that Zhao Xing and Zhang Dun had a good personal relationship in front of him. If these words were heard in Zhang Dun's slim ears, Cai Jing would not have a good life. When he thought of this, he broke out in a cold sweat and looked at Zhao Xing carefully.

Zhao Xing seemed to be unaware of it. He consciously guided him: "The difference lies in doing things: we have resettled tens of thousands of victims and reclaimed tens of thousands of acres of wasteland. It is not an exaggeration to find some soup that leaked from the cracks of our fingers. We have done so much work and worked so hard. Who dares to say that we are wrong and where are we wrong? We are resettled refugees? We are wrong in reclaiming wasteland? Who said that?"

Cai Jing's eyes flashed, and he immediately asked with confidence, "Yes, where are we waiting for the wrong thing?"

Zhao Xing also wanted Cai Jing to talk about his experience of corruption. Seeing Cheng Shuang waved at him not far away, he knew that there might be something at home, so he quickly called him, said goodbye to Cai Jing in a hurry, and walked towards Cheng Shuang.
Chapter completed!