At the end of October, Bianliang started to get colder.
The weather suddenly changed and it was already mid-winter. Although it didn't snow yet, there was a roaring wind coming out of the wilderness and a strong cold wind.
Compared with spring and summer, Bianliang's water transportation is much less, and there is an off-season.
The pace of pedestrians on the streets is also a bit faster than before, a bit more hurried, a bit less elegant, and even drinking tea is less leisurely.
The grass outside the Political Courtyard has completely withered, and only the evergreen trees that look like spring all year round are still whistling in the cold wind.
Zhao Jun is still handling government affairs.
In these days, he gradually became familiar with political affairs and became more comfortable in handling problems.
Even if you encounter a problem that you don't understand, you can understand it with just a few words to Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and the others, but compared with Lu Yijian and the others, they are still far inferior to them.
There is a lot of difference in political sense and experience.
So much so that today, when he needed to ask Lu Yijian for advice again, Lu Yijian teased him: "Well, it's not easy to sit in this position."
"It is indeed more difficult than imagined, but the fundamental purpose of my compromise is to remove the stumbling blocks that hinder the development of modernization, not to make the Han people suffer. You must also remember this and stop crooking your butt."
Zhao Jun retorted in such a nonchalant manner that Lu Yijian choked and left angrily.
But even though he responded, it was quite uncomfortable.
Only by actually sitting in this position can you understand the difficulty of sitting in this position.
Those in power consider the country's political security and social stability, so they are bound to make compromises in many places.
For example, if you are an insurgent, you don't have to care about the attitude of the court and the big landowners. Huainan is suffering from drought, there is no harvest, and the people cannot survive, so we will rebel.
Kill all the corrupt officials, kill all the big landowners who are hoarding food, and rob them of their food. In order to survive, why should we care whether the country will perish?
But from the perspective of the Song Dynasty, the big landlord class was hateful, but at least it would help the court maintain local rule. As long as they did not rebel, the court would turn a blind eye to many things.
And because the big landowners have spokespersons in the court, the court will tend to these big landowners when making real decisions. Even if it wants to appease the local government, it is difficult.
Even at the last moment, we still have to worry about the rebellion of these big landowners who own a lot of fields, food, and people, and we dare not do anything to them.
In this way, the court was seen as dark and corrupt in the eyes of the people, and it was a dynasty that should be destroyed.
In the eyes of the imperial court, the common people were all unruly people, thugs, and rebels.
The two sides look at the problem from different angles and find it difficult to unify ideologically. Naturally, it is difficult for them to understand each other's difficulties.
For two thousand years, in terms of feudal society alone, only Zhu Yuanzhang half understood and half did not understand this point.
It is said that he knew this because he basically showed no mercy to big landowners and corrupt officials, thus maintaining the political clarity of the early Ming Dynasty and easing the land annexation in the early Ming Dynasty.
To say that he did not realize this was because he himself belittled the Red Scarf Army as rebels, and said that the Yuan Dynasty lost its rule because politics were too loose.
Obviously, once he sat in that position, his butt determined his head.
It is a pity that Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants did not inherit his attitude of continuing to attack corrupt officials and big landowners, and were eventually deceived and crippled.
By the end of the Ming Dynasty, not only was it difficult to clean up the officialdom, it was even impossible to collect taxes.
As a latecomer, Zhao Jun should actually consider issues from the perspective of the common people.
But at least it's not the time yet.
Mainly Xixia and Liao are still a hidden danger.
If you want to take drastic measures and learn from Zhu Yuanzhang and the attitude towards corrupt officials and big landowners during the New China period, what you do now is the end of the Ming Dynasty.
Suddenly there will be countless groups of rebels internally, and externally there will be Xixia and Liao Kingdoms watching eagerly.
At that time, under the internal and external troubles, it is uncertain that the Liao Kingdom will really be able to imitate the Qing Dynasty, enter the Pass and go south, occupying thousands of miles of the Central Plains.
So Zhao Jun is still holding back for now, holding back for the sake of the overall situation.
Again.
Taking the overall situation into consideration will be considered a joke by many young people of later generations, but when you really get there, you will find that sometimes it is good to have a way to take the overall situation into consideration.
The difficulty is that we can't even take the overall situation into consideration.
"It is not easy to transform the ancient heroic view of history into the people's view of history. Rebellion is precarious, and sitting in the position of ruler is also like walking on thin ice. It is no wonder that for thousands of years, countless ministers have said that this position is too cold. .”
Zhao Jun finished approving today's government affairs, put down the brush in his hand, and rubbed his temples. He felt even more tired than when he was in high school in his previous life.
Incense has been lit in the house.
The weather is getting colder and colder, winter is coming, and many people in Bianliang will freeze to death.
"Cotton seeds are here."
At this time, Wang Zeng stood up and walked to Zhao Jun with a copy of Zazi, and said to him: "Fan Yong went to Zazi, and they successfully brought back more than 8,000 kilograms of cotton seeds from the Western Regions."
"oh?"
Zhao Jun hurriedly asked: "Is it the African cotton I mentioned?"
"should be."
Wang Zeng said: "It is indeed a different variety from our local cotton, and it was planted during the Wei Dynasty in the Eastern, Southern and Northern Dynasties. It has already appeared as a relatively valuable cotton clothing in the Tang Dynasty."
Wang Sui also came over and said: "I looked through historical materials and found that this kind of cotton was promoted in the Tang Dynasty. I tried planting it in Hebei and Henan, but it seems that it can't grow."
"Actually, when Han Long talked about this kind of cotton before, I also remembered this item. I searched for historical materials and found that from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, there was no lack of cultivation in the inland, but this kind of thing can only be grown In the Western Region.”
Sheng Du turned his head and asked: "Maybe there are a few cotton planting areas in some places in Hebei, and there are even large quantities of seeds, but can it really be grown in the Central Plains?"
Nowadays, the Song Dynasty is not static. For example, the imperial court ordered Fan Yong in the northwest to open a mutual trade with Qingtang, and purchased a large amount of cotton seeds from the Western Regions.
Qingtang is located in the area of Xining City, Qinghai in later generations. Since the Western Regions were blocked by Xixia during the Song Dynasty, the Central Plains and the Western Regions were cut off. Although cotton was introduced in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was not promoted in the Central Plains.
Qingtang happens to be the only place that the ancient "Silk Road" South Road and the "Tang-Tibo Ancient Road" must pass. After Xixia cut off communication with the Western Regions, the Song Dynasty could still communicate with the Western Regions through Qingtang.
Therefore, Zhao Jun proposed to conduct more trade activities with Qingtang some time ago, exchanging grain, salt, weapons, armor and other materials Qingtang needs in exchange for horses, cattle, sheep, and cotton.
Now it finally works.
But everyone expressed doubts about Zhao Jun's promotion of cotton.
The main reason is that there was actually native cotton in ancient China, called Asian cotton. This kind of cotton has low yield and is difficult to plant. Since the Western Han Dynasty, it has only been cultivated on a small scale in coastal areas such as Guangdong and Hainan.
The Southern and Northern Dynasties introduced African cotton, which has high yield and strong adaptability. It was also the cotton variety promoted nationwide by Zhu Yuanzhang in the Ming Dynasty.
But as cotton, it also needs four main conditions: abundant heat, sufficient light, sufficient water sources, and fertile land.
Therefore, even if it was introduced to China, it still did not adapt immediately.
The Tang Dynasty once tried to promote it and planted it in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. Unfortunately, it failed. The seeds did not survive. Even if they did survive, the yield was not high and the economic effect was not great.
Therefore, everyone does not understand how to promote this thing.
Zhao Jun heard what everyone said, smiled and shook his head and said: "Cotton was not promoted on a large scale during the Tang and Song Dynasties. The main reason was the Little Ice Age. Starting from the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the climate became colder, the rainfall line moved southward, and the north became increasingly dry and dry. The severe cold makes it difficult to grow cotton.”
"I remember Han Long said before that the late Han Dynasty and the late Ming Dynasty both perished because of the Little Ice Age. What was this Little Ice Age?"
Lu Yijian also became interested, remembering that Zhao Jun mentioned this when he said that Sanyi was returning to the river.
Zhao Jun explained what the Little Ice Age was, and then said: "This Little Ice Age in the Tang Dynasty was the third, and the fourth was coming to the Ming Dynasty. In other words, we just happened to catch up with a good era. We are at the end of the third Little Ice Age, and it will take more than five hundred years before there will be a fourth Little Ice Age, which will be an opportunity for us to develop rapidly."
"If this is the case, wouldn't it mean that for at least five hundred years, everything in the Song Dynasty will have good weather?"
Wang Zeng opened his eyes wide.
"Thinking too much."
Zhao Jun rolled his eyes at him and said: "There will still be natural disasters, but the climate in the north is not that cold, and the crop yield in the north will not suddenly drop significantly."
Cai Qi Fuxu said: "Does this mean that Hebei, Shaanxi and other places can continue farming again?"
"Yes."
Zhao Jun nodded: "As long as the threats from Xixia and Liao are resolved, Shaanxi and Hebei will slowly recover."
The current situation in the Song Dynasty is that due to the over-cultivation of the Guanzhong area in the Tang Dynasty, the Guanzhong area was close to being deserted and the population was very small.
Because Hebei was too close to the Liao Kingdom, a large number of people migrated southward, and the area was dominated by military settlements.
According to historical records, at that time, the total population of Qinfeng Road and Yongxing Jun Road in the entire Shaanxi Province and half of Gansu Province was just over 8 million, and they were mainly concentrated in the Loess Plateau area, with only a small number of people in the Guanzhong Basin.
Hebei's two roads, Hebei East Road and Hebei West Road, add up to only over 6 million.
During the Tang Dynasty, there were more than 10 million people in Hebei.
In contrast, the population of Jiangsu and Zhejiang has exceeded 20 million. Henan, Gyeonggi, Huguang and Sichuan all have a population of more than 10 million, and the south of the Yellow River has obviously become the main population gathering area.
There are two subjective reasons for this. One is that on the border between Xixia and Liao, people moved south. Second, during the third Little Ice Age, crop yields in the north declined.
But the Third Little Ice Age ended in the early Song Dynasty, so if the threats from Xixia and Liao Kingdom can be resolved, Hebei and Guanzhong can rebuild water conservancy, and it is not impossible to reclaim them.
After hearing Zhao Jun's words, Wang Zeng mused: "It would be great if we could reopen Guanzhong and Hebei."
"Similarly, does the end of the Third Little Ice Age mean that cotton can be grown?"
Wang Suiye asked.
"Yes."
Zhao Jun nodded: "But we should adapt first."
Lu Yijian wondered: "Why?"
"Didn't we not adapt to planting in the Yellow River Basin before? It means that planting also needs to be done step by step. Although we have tried planting since the Northern and Southern Dynasties, it was not popularized until the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. There are certain reasons."
"You mean, the localization adaptation process you mentioned before?"
"Yes."
"Then what should be done?"
"After the cotton seeds arrive, they will be sent to Guangzhou, Hainan and other places for trial planting, and then promoted throughout the country. This process may take several years."
Zhao Jun thought for a while and said: "Guangzhou, Hainan and other places are originally subtropical areas with abundant water and fertile land resources. But as long as the experiment can be successful there, it means that cotton can take root and sprout in the south. When the climate in the north warms up to a certain extent, slowly Spread cotton slowly from south to north.”
“Will this crowd out farmland for planting?”
Lu Yijian frowned.
If cotton is widely planted in the south, it will obviously have an impact on the crops in the south.
Because as I said just now, the south is now the main population gathering area.
The reason why the Song Dynasty was able to maintain its rule was that the Champa Rice Agricultural Revolution occurred in the south, which caused a huge increase in grain production in the south. Grain was transported from the south to the north, sent to Bianliang through canals, and then to Hebei and Shaanxi.
If cotton is widely promoted in the south, Lu Yijian is worried that cotton will occupy farmland for cultivation, resulting in a significant decrease in food production.
Zhao Jun said without hesitation: "Hui, from the Southern Song Dynasty to the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions in the south were the main grain-producing areas. There was a saying that Su Changshu was the most powerful person in the world. Because the Ming Dynasty court was deceived into banning the sea. However, the southern gentry secretly went overseas to do business. They needed cash crops, such as mulberry, hemp, and cotton, to make silk, linen cloth, and cotton clothes for sale. They converted a large amount of farmland into mulberry, linen, and cotton fields to produce economic effects and create a national food shortage. The shortage also became a foreshadowing of the demise of the Ming Dynasty."
"Then you are still promoting in the south?"
Lu Yijian said in confusion.
Zhao Jun looked at him and said, "Are you going to give up eating because you're so full that you're going to die? The root cause of food shortage is that the big landlord class hoards food in order to buy low and sell high. It's not that the Song Dynasty was short of food. , as long as this problem is solved, or productivity continues to improve, allowing grain production to increase at a high rate, it is reasonable for some farmland to be converted into cotton fields."
"But now productivity has not improved, and the problem of large landowners hoarding food has not been solved. What should we do?"
Lu Yijian frowned.
"You can start with small-scale planting. After the experiment is successful, it can be widely promoted without allowing farmland to be converted into cotton fields."
Zhao Jun said: "Cotton is not very picky, and unlike rice, which requires paddy fields to continuously maintain water. On hillside fields, cotton can be produced as long as it is watered regularly and kept sunny. In the future, when productivity increases, there will be a rich variety of food, and there will be no shortage of food. It’s not like we can’t grow a variety of cash crops.”
"I see."
Lu Yijian thought for a while, then turned to Wang Zeng and said, "Guangdong Road Transport Envoy Zeng Lin seems to be your disciple."
Wang Zeng slightly nodded his chin and said: "In the first year of Tianxi, I was framed by Wang Qinruo and was dismissed as the Minister of Rites. I presided over the examination that year. He was indeed the top three Jinshi appointed by me. Twenty years have passed in a blink of an eye."
"Old Wang, then I'll leave this matter to you."
Zhao Jun said.
Wang Zeng rolled his eyes at Lu Yijian, so he took on another job.
(End of chapter)
