Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

In the golden autumn of August, Shao Shude was already in Ezhou.

He didn't intend to stay here, but he felt unwell and drowsy. In addition, he was in a bad mood when he heard the news of Zhaorong Yeli's death, so he ordered to stay in Ezhou.

Shao Shude was born as a martial artist, he knows how strong his body is.In the past, he rarely got sick, but this time he fell ill in Wuchang, and the attack was so fierce that he had to say that it sounded the alarm for him.

He once thought it was caused by Concubine Ye Yu after eating sea dog pills.But after careful consideration, he could only let out a long sigh, his body was really not as good as before.

Lying on the hospital bed, he still asked the palace officials to read memorials and military newspapers to him.

It's just that he no longer handles it personally and criticizes it personally as usual, but closes his eyes and eyes, and when he hears the key points, he will have people repeat the recitation, and finally give an opinion orally.

"There are many places in Ezhou that continue to use money, and the donations of merchants will send [-] yuan to the state capital." Shao Shude opened his eyes and ordered.

"Yes." Mrs. Liu, who was already the Shang Palace, wrote it down, then blinked her eyes as if asking.

"It's very similar to your grandmother." Shao Shude smiled, and said: "The queen of last year asked you to match and marry Yang Hongyin's son, why didn't you agree?"

"I don't want to." Liu said in a low voice.

"It's up to you." Shao Shude yawned and closed his eyes to rest.

Liu continued to read.

Shao Shude called out when he thought that the Forbidden Army who went to Xiangxi to suppress bandits suffered from an epidemic and was seriously downsizing.

"Now that more than ten strongholds have been destroyed, the goal has been achieved, so we can stop." He said: "The remaining strongholds are already frightened. We can allow them to make a new start and come to Ezhou to see me."

Liu wrote it down again.

"The Tielin and Wuwei armies, which are heavily downsizing, should return to Luoyang first." Shao Shude said again: "Pass an order to the prince to be responsible for the replenishment of the Tielin army and Wuwei army. There are still 5000 soldiers left in the Luoyan army, right? Break up and organize into the various departments of the Forbidden Army, giving priority to supplementing the Tielin and Wuwei armies."

"Yes." Mrs. Liu wrote it down without any hesitation.

After several years in the palace, Mrs. Liu already knew a lot.

Each department of the Forbidden Army has old retirees every year, and there will be war damage in case of war.In other words, regular replenishment of troops is inevitable.In the past, the sage usually handled the matter personally, and the Privy Council cooperated.The sage often inspected the refurbished troops to see if their combat effectiveness and morale could be maintained.And this is actually a way to enhance the prestige in the army.

This time the sage asked Prince Jianguo to be responsible for the replenishment and rectification of the Tielin and Wuwei armies, and there are too many things contained in it.

It is a huge breakthrough for the prince to further get involved in the Forbidden Army on the basis of the Eastern Palace Guard (originally adapted from Ma Zhi).You must know that you can adjust the officers and reorganize the battalion organization for supplementation. This is tantamount to telling the prince explicitly that you will acquiesce in placing your own people in the Tielin and Wuwei armies.

The saint's ability to make this determination may also be related to this illness.

My family knows their own family affairs, and some family properties should be handed over to the prince one after another.

Thinking of this, Liu's heart felt sour.

A romantic figure in the first hero, also has a day of twilight.

"Continue reading." After a long time, just when Liu thought the saint had fallen asleep, the voice rang in his ears again.

She stabilized her mind, picked up a new military newspaper, and read aloud softly.

Shao Shude closed his eyes again, seeming to be asleep.

Liu didn't know how many times he read it until he called to stop again.

"Why are the Western Region Trading Company so stubborn?" Shao Shude opened his eyes and said helplessly: "In the past few years, I asked them to plant more land and develop more trading villages to meet military needs, but I didn't let them continue doing this. It’s been [-] years, and apart from farming, you also catch slaves. Is that ridiculous?”

Mrs. Liu listened quietly, waiting for the next sentence.

"Let them focus on the business road." Shao Shude said: "Shangsha Shangshang, business is not prosperous, how decent is it? I don't know how to cover up the work of catching people. I have to face the grandiose business."

After finishing speaking, he sighed, and said: "This dispatch will be sent back to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and it will be handled immediately."

The current main business activities of the Western Region trading companies are still limited to the Gumo, Qiuci, and Tingzhou areas east of the Tianshan Mountains. The largest source of income is the merchant villages, followed by the slave trade.

Yes, they take slaves themselves, but they also pay for them.The female slaves packed up and sent to big cities such as Chang'an, Luoyang, Bianzhou, and Yangzhou for sale. The strong male slaves were sent to work in brick kilns and coal mines, and the weak ones stayed to farm.

To put it bluntly, the main business is to cultivate land in commercial villages, and even the capture of slaves serves this goal.

To be fair, they've gone as far as the pinnacle of this thing.Selling hundreds of thousands of dendrobium, millet, wheat, and miscellaneous grains a year strongly supports the military supply. Although Luoyang also paid a lot of money and silk, it is a bit of a headache-but it is cheaper than transshipment thousands of miles, isn't it?

Now Shao Shude is a little dissatisfied with their "rigid thinking" of farming, and asks them to gradually turn to devote more energy to serious business - let alone the slave trade.

It's not just about making money, there's an element of relationship building as well.

When political connections cannot be made, establish solid business ties first.The grassland is very poor, let the chieftains be the second-level agents and wholesalers of the Western Region Trading Company, let them make money together, and gradually develop friendship.

Friendship means money, intelligence, and after deepening, it may rise to political connections.Shao Shude asked the Western Regions Trading Company to establish a long-term cooperative business network as soon as possible. In fact, it was for the layout of the Western Regions. I believe the Ministry of Internal Affairs understands this and will supervise the Western Regions Trading Company.

Seeing that Shao Shude remained silent, Mrs. Liu waited for a while and continued to read again.

"Wuchang and Jiangling, what's there to argue about?" After a while, Shao Shude sneered on the bed, and said, "One Jingnan town, one Eyue town, the trivial old grievances have come to the present. Why? They all want to be the boss ?The Yangtze River is so big that it can accommodate both Jingzhou and Wuchang. For the inland riverboat workshop, both places are built, so don’t fight. Jingzhou is slightly better now, so they don’t get dizzy, and don’t leave your Jingzhou without looking at Hunan’s goods Is it wrong? Find out the reason yourself."

Liu quickly wrote it down.

Finally talked about a matter in front of me.They are now in Wuchang, a port city that has risen rapidly in recent decades. Every time the waterway of the Bian River is artificially cut off (such as the chaos in Xuzhou Yindaodu), the goods in the south of the Yangtze River are collected and distributed here.

It was cut off more than once, and each time was not short. Therefore, the city of Ezhou gradually expanded in size and finally became what it is today.

Shao Shude was a little emotional.

The competition between Jiangling and Wuchang continued until later generations to decide the outcome—in the end, Wuchang won a complete victory.

But at this time, Jiangling is stronger than Wuchang, and much stronger.

Goods from Sichuan are generally collected and distributed in Jingzhou.From then on, it goes northward, directly connects to the Han River through the river, and reaches Xiangyang, but it is much closer than the detour to Wuchang.

Considering that the capital is Luoyang, and the Tang Dynasty was Chang'an, Jingzhou's location advantage is a bit big.

Wuchang mainly collects and distributes goods from Jiangnan.

Goods from Hunan can go to either Wuchang or Jingzhou, and currently the former is the majority.

In short, the two cargo distribution centers in this area are completely feasible, and they are located on Huguang Road, so there is really no need to fight to the death.

After Shao Shude listened to the memorial, he decided to build ship repairing workshops in the two places at the same time, to strengthen shipping along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and to prosper business.

"Keep reading." He closed his eyes again and said.

******
On August [-]th, Shao Shude recovered from his illness and felt the strength gradually returning to his body. He was very happy and climbed to the top of the city overlooking the river.

The Jianghan River Basin is a treasure land.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, great development was achieved, the environment was greatly improved, and it became more livable, and the household registration gradually increased.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Chen Youliang used this as a basis to start a fate-determining battle with Zhu Yuanzhang.

Whoever wins will be the emperor of China. Judging from the population of more than 5000 million in the south and tens of millions in the north at that time, this is indeed the case.

In the Battle of Poyang Lake, Zhu Yuanzhang won a thrilling victory, laying the foundation for reunification.

At that time, Hubei had actually developed quite well, and it ushered in its golden age in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, known as "Huguang is familiar, and the world is full".

Daxia couldn't effectively develop this place at this time, because Shao Shude was reluctant to spend a lot of life to develop the Jianghan Plain.

But there is no large-scale immigration, but there are still small-scale immigration.Moreover, the source of new immigrants is very unique: mainly from Guanbei Province.

More precisely, from Lin, Yin, Sui and Xia states.

At this time, on the big river, many immigrants took boats, crossed the south and went down, scattered to settle in various states, and enriched the local household registration.

Shao Shude had no objection to this.

It was the first time in his life that he went to the south of the Yangtze River, and it was almost over by now.I have a general understanding of the southern states in my mind——

In the rich Jiangdong, there is a lot of people, and there is plenty of money and food.

In the stable Jiangxi, the development has come to an end, and tea, porcelain, and mining are booming.

The desolate Huguang is still in its infancy, but it is developing extremely rapidly, and local officials are also ambitious and strive to achieve great results.

In his view, the south only needs to pay close attention to the states of Su, Run, Chang, Hu, Hangzhou, and Ming in the north of Jiangdong Road, and it will basically be impossible to turn the sky.

The relatively empty south is a gift he left to future generations.When the book "Zhizhi" became famous, everyone understood the temptation brought by a huge virgin land.

He has felt the pulse of the South's development, and has personally heard its quick and determined beating.The rest is the grind of water. The imperial court invests a certain amount of resources every year, and the southern states manage it themselves. Good steel must be used wisely.

South, that's it.

This tour has yielded a lot, and I have a preliminary understanding of the economic model of each place-the war years have long passed, and now it is indeed time to fight the economy.

On the [-]th, Shao Shude crossed the Yangtze River on a Ping Navy ship, and then stopped and stopped, and arrived in Xiangyang in early September. The autumn in the north is already vivid in his mind.

It's time to go back.