Chapter 321 Let the Bullets Fly for a While (Happy New Year to Everyone!)

Chapter 321 Let the Bullets Fly for a While (Happy New Year to Everyone!)

On October 24, the fifth year of the Qingli calendar, it was early winter and the weather had already turned cold. Although it had not snowed, it had already frosted.

However, Kaifeng in Bianliang was still full of vitality.

At the end of the morning, that is, at nine o'clock in the morning, Zhao Jun and other prime ministers were working. They were all looking at the documents reported by their respective departments in the past few days.

The door of the house was closed, and the window was only opened a crack. The layout of the house had already undergone new changes. The most intuitive one was the heating table.

This table was an ordinary eight-immortal table, and a bit like a mahjong table. The difference was that it was made of all steel and had a cover on it. After opening it, burning honeycomb coal could be placed.

And there was also a steel pipe connected to the outside to discharge carbon monoxide to the outside to prevent gas poisoning.

This heating table was not difficult to manufacture, but the honeycomb coal inside was difficult. However, after Zhao Zhen found the formula of honeycomb coal and the court built a honeycomb coal factory in the suburbs, the heating table and coal stove gradually became popular.

At this moment, a bunch of old men were sitting around this iron table talking about the official business of the past few days.

"This is the internship report of the new Jinshi of each academy this year. This one named Feng Jing is worthy of being the top scholar, and he is also the top three. He performed well in observing politics in the Ministry of Taxation and received a high evaluation."

"This one named Jia An is also good, but his personality is a bit upright, and he was evaluated as the second place. Otherwise, if it were an ordinary year, he should also be the top scholar."

"Pick out the more outstanding ones, and let them serve as county magistrates in various places during the early next year to see their political achievements. Good performance during the internship does not mean good performance in the local area, and it still needs to be tempered."

Zhao Jun buried his head in the official documents and said without raising his head.

In recent years, although the imperial examination Jinshi is still the most valuable official ticket, starting from the year after next, he plans to officially start to include certain physics and biology knowledge.

Confucian classics will not teach you the principles of being an official, nor will they teach you mathematics, physics and chemistry. But officials must know a little about everything, and basic science knowledge is still required.

Otherwise, if the mind cannot be expanded, there may be the phenomenon that conservatives resist science and regard science as a gimmick, and immerse themselves in the backward thoughts of the past.

Therefore, the competition pressure of the imperial examination in the past two years is still very high. Many people have heard about this and have to participate in the imperial examination in advance. For example, Feng Jing was in the eighth year of Qingli in history, and Jia An was in the sixth year of Qingli in history. Now they have taken the imperial examination in advance.

However, their level is still strong enough. They won the first and second place respectively, and obviously did not disgrace their ability in history.

"Hanlong, this is the note from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce today, take a look."

Yan Shu next to him handed the official document to Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun took it and glanced at it, and smiled: "Sure enough, it still needs the interest to drive, and the merchants will follow."

"It is also Hanlong's trick that is really effective. Now the whole city is under construction. Those who open up rivers and canals are opening up rivers and canals, and those who build new houses are building new houses. When those merchants see it, they will naturally come to ask."

Li Di stopped the document in his hand, turned his head and patted the horse inconspicuously.

"Houses made of reinforced concrete are still more solid. Although they may not be beautiful, they are much better than wooden houses in terms of fire prevention. If there is a big fire in Bianliang, I don't know how many people will die."

"Yes, if I were a businessman, I would also ask how to build this house. Merchants are all profit-seeking. If there are new things, they will follow the trend."

"Is this what Hanlong said, the court will set an example first, and then those who hold capital will also come after hearing the news?"

Lü Yijian, Wang Zeng and others said one after another.

Zhao Jun nodded and smiled: "Yes, capital is like this. As long as the word is spread next year that the court will purchase a large amount of reinforced concrete to build river embankments and city walls in the future, it won't be long before steel mills, cement plants and brick and tile factories will be everywhere."

"Such things really need the guidance of the country."

Everyone praised.

In the past, they couldn't understand that Bianliang didn't have suitable iron ore, coal mines, and limestone mines.

There are clay mines, but if you want to make steel and cement, you have to transport them from other places every time, which is time-consuming and laborious. Why build a factory?

It was not until now that they understood Zhao Jun's foresight.

After the factory was built, the court needed to build a large number of public housing to solve the rising housing prices, so low-rent housing similar to tube buildings rose from the ground.

It happened that the population of Bianliang increased dramatically, the city began to expand outward, and the suburbs outside the city were gradually incorporated into the urban system, which required more construction.

As a result, the built steel and cement plants were put to use. Just building official residences, building official dormitories, renovating palaces, etc., used up all the production capacity of Bianliang Cement Plant and Steel Plant, and also supported several brick and tile factories.

When the businessmen saw that the steel and cement plants seemed to be quite profitable, many big businessmen who were familiar with officials came to inquire. Including the giants and merchants supported by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, they all wanted to get involved.

Zhao Jun naturally understood that the imperial court alone could not build an industrial system so quickly, and it also had to rely on the subjective initiative of capital, so this was also part of his plan.

"That's just right. By the end of this year, we will draft a charter document to promote the construction of private steel mills, cement plants, textile plants, and brick plants, and let the Ministry of Industry and Commerce organize more domestic big businessmen to talk about establishing a certain industrial system in major cities across the country."

Zhao Jun thought for a while and said: "For example, places like Chengdu, Guangzhou, Zhejiang, Damingfu, Henanfu, Yingtianfu, etc. Let the Ministry of Natural Resources conduct an on-site inspection to see if there are any places that are close to the canal and have sufficient resources. place."

"Well, I'll keep an eye on this."

Yan Shu was responsible for communicating with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, so he nodded to express his understanding.

Zhao Jun turned to look at Lu Yijian again and said: "Old Lu, how are the official reports from the Censorship Department and Luzhou County in various places? Can they be counted at the end of the year?"

"The data in this area are still being compiled, but the population of Gyeonggi Road has been censused. Do you want to take a look?"

Lu Yijian raised his head and said.

"Let's see."

"Give."

"How many new people have been added?"

Zhao Jun asked casually while taking it.

"Twenty-one thousand six hundred and forty-two households."

"Ouch."

Zhao Jun's hand shook and he almost dropped the official document on the ground.

Historical records show that during the Baoyuan reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, the population was 10.17 million households, of which the male population reached 20.5953 million.

Calculated based on an average of five people per household, the total number of people was about 50 million. By the end of Song Renzong, the population had increased to 12.46 million households, with a male population of 26.42 million.

But this is obviously just an approximate number recorded, because in ancient times it was not only difficult to collect household registration information, but also there were many unscrupulous households who did not want to pay taxes, so this number is basically for reference only, and the actual number is definitely more than that.

The most typical one is that there are far more than five people in a household.

In the Song Dynasty, it was forbidden to separate the family while the parents were still alive. If neither parent passed away or one person was still alive, then the brothers must continue to stay in the household registration book.

Even if several brothers have each married a wife, have children, and have a huge family, even if the family has more than ten or twenty people, as long as their parents are still there, they are still considered one household, rather than being divided into several separate families. small family.

In addition, the statistics on the number of men are also somewhat confusing, because many aspects of the Song Dynasty’s population statistics were based on the number of taxpayers.

In the Song Dynasty, only adult men between the ages of 15 and 60 who paid Ding tax were counted.

At that time, there was no need to pay the Dingkou tax before the age of 15, and it was only started after the age of 15, so there was a saying of "15 Chengding" in the Song Dynasty. Since the elderly are considered old at the age of 60, they do not need to pay, and naturally they will not be included in tax statistics.

Even if there is an elderly person over 80 years old in the family, or if the family is over 30 and has no children, or the parents are old and have no one to support them, they can be exempted from Ding tax, so they do not need to be recorded in the tax record.

Therefore, taking everything into account, it is easy to conclude that under these official statistics, there is still a huge population that has not been counted.

In the second year of Qingli, Zhao Jun asked the Ministry of Statistics and the Ministry of Household Affairs to jointly conduct a census. At that time, the imperial court issued new policies, which were more conducive to the emergence of the population. Therefore, the census results at that time already had 12 million households and a total population of about 7,000. Thousands.

But Zhao Jun never dreamed that after the tenants started to live in their homes this year, more than 20,000 households, or more than 100,000 people, would suddenly appear on Gyeonggi Road alone. If you put this ratio across the country, you don’t know how many people will pop up.

"Gyeonggi Road is not big, and the previous population census was only over 1.8 million people. The main population is also concentrated in Bianliang. It is unexpected that there are so many shady households hiding under the emperor's feet."

Zhao Jun sighed with emotion, then looked at the crowd and smiled: "But this also shows that our Song Dynasty is still very rich in population resources. I predict that after this census, if not 100 million, there will be at least 89 million in the country." ”

"This shows what?"

As he spoke, he put the official document he had just scanned on the desk and said to everyone: "This shows that the Song Dynasty has basically laid the foundation for industrialization. Now everything is ready and we only need Dongfeng. As soon as the money is in place, we can immediately Let’s get started.”

“How long will it take to build trains and ships?”

Lu Yijian asked what he was concerned about. He had always wanted to see a machine that could be driven without human power.

Zhao Jun thought for a while and said, "I should be able to make a model next year."

"What kind of board?"

Wang Zeng also became interested.

"At that time, we can first build a train from Bianliang to Weishi. Kaifeng is well connected in all directions, so you can go anywhere. But there is no canal to the south, and you have to take the land route to Nanyang."

Zhao Jun said with a smile: "If the Beijing-Jinggong train line can be opened, goods from Sichuan, Hunan, and Guangzhou can be transferred to Kaifeng by train in Hubei, without having to first go through the Yangtze River to Zhejiang, and then take the canal from Zhejiang to the northwest to Bianliang. "

"This is to seek for the country."

Everyone nodded.

Now there is the Bianhe River to the west of Kaifeng that connects to the Yellow River, which can communicate with Shaanxi.

The canal in the north has also been dug. Soon, people coming from Hebei to Bianliang will no longer need to go upstream from the Yellow River for a period of time and then take the Bianhe River.

To the east, take the Bianhe River to Damingfu, then go to Huainan, Jiangsu and finally flow into the Yangtze River.

This way it can be circulated in most areas of the country.

The only problem is to go from Sichuan to Bianliang. Logically speaking, the boat should stop in Hubei, and then go north to Kaifeng, which is closer.

However, due to shipping, Sichuan merchants had to go to Zhejiang first, and then go north from the canal to Bianliang, which resulted in a long unnecessary journey.

Therefore, it would be much more convenient to build a railway from Bianliang to Hubei.

The significance and reason why Zhang Zhidong wanted to build the Ping-Han Railway in later generations was basically the same, which brought great and unprecedented prosperity to Wuhan, Zhengzhou and Peiping at that time.

Although the rubber cannot be used to mass produce steam engines after it is transported back, it is no problem to bring back a certain amount of rubber raw materials to build hundreds or thousands of them.

At that time, we will build a small section of rails to try it out, and then we will start building railways with the whole country's strength. I hope that before the old Dengs die, their wishes will be fulfilled.

As the prime ministers were talking, the door outside suddenly opened and a cold wind blew in.

The prime ministers of the Constitutional Court are not always there. Some prime ministers need to inspect various ministries, and some have to handle affairs. For example, Lao Fan went to the Ministry of War this morning to ask about military affairs.

After the door opened, Lao Fan came in, exhausted, and shouted as soon as he came in: "There is good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

"Let's talk about the good news first."

Zhao Jun raised his head and looked at him.

Old Fan raised the official document in his hand and said, "I was just at the Ministry of War. Annan received an official document. Di Qing successfully destroyed Annan in September and supported the descendants of the former Le Dynasty to take the throne."

"Oh?"

Zhao Jun laughed and said, "He set out in March and arrived in Yongzhou in June. He destroyed Annan in September?"

Fan Zhongyan said proudly, "That's my favorite general."

"It has nothing to do with you. He had been listening to me talk about military tactics before. I trained him."

Zhao Jun was not happy.

Which passionate young man in later generations didn't have a dream of fighting with swords and horses and conquering the wolf and the Xu?

But unfortunately, Zhao Jun was in an important position and couldn't lead the troops himself.

Of course.

His military theory only existed in theory.

Although he was familiar with the great man's military books, he was probably very weak in actual operation, and he didn't dare to go into battle.

But Di Qing was taught by him, so how could Old Fan take the credit?

"What are you saying? What's the point of teaching him military tactics? I have to take him out to fight in order for him to grow up."

"You talk as if you are so great. Yue Fei is about to recover the country. I have told you who the enemy is and how the enemy should fight us, but you haven't destroyed Xixia and Liao."

"You make it sound easy."

"Okay, stop fighting for credit."

Lü Yijian coughed and said, "Let's talk about the bad news."

"Bad news"

Old Fan came over and sat down, threw the official document on the table, put his hand into the iron table to warm himself by the fire and said, "On the way here just now, I saw a new note from the Jinzouyuan. I took it and took a look. Guess what I saw?"

"Can't you finish it all at once?"

Zhao Jun rolled his eyes.

Fan Zhongyan smiled and said, "I saw a memorial from the Jiangzhe Road Office, saying that many landlords are colluding and intend to protest the new policy to the court. The Jiangzhe Road Transport Commissioner asked us how to deal with it."

"What can we do? Suppression is enough."

Wang Zeng said indifferently, "Now many young and strong people in the country are attracted, either recruited by the court to repair canals, or to reclaim wasteland and incorporate it into official fields. How many people can a few landlords have? What kind of storm can they cause?"

"Well, I will write a reply later and ask Jiangzhe Road to send people to suppress it!"

Fan Zhongyan said casually.

Originally, although this matter was bad news, it was not a big deal.

Uprisings also need various reasons. If the people live a rich and healthy life and have food to eat, who would risk being beheaded to rebel?

So the more productive forces there are and everyone has enough food to eat, the less likely it is that rebellion will occur.

After several years of the Qingli New Deal, productivity has greatly improved. Even if there are disasters across the country, the court has the ability to provide disaster relief in the first place, so as not to cause starvation.

In this case, although these landlords have a lot of food and population, they also need their people to be willing to follow them in rebellion.

However, just when Fan Zhongyan was about to approve the letter and respond like this.

Zhao Jun narrowed his eyes and said lightly: "No!"

"No what?"

Everyone looked at him in confusion.

"Don't send people to suppress it!"

Zhao Jun looked at Lao Fan and said: "I will approve this letter later."

"What do you want to do?"

Lu Yijian smelled the smell and looked at him warily: "Hanlong, are you going to do something big again?"

"What big move can it be?"

Zhao Jun smiled indifferently and said: "I just told the Jiangzhe Road to not care about it."

Don't care about it?

Everyone frowned.

What does this mean?

If you don't care about it, won't the trouble get bigger and bigger?

Wait a minute.

The trouble gets bigger and bigger?

Everyone looked at Zhao Jun, thinking.

Hanlong.

Still as cruel as ever.