Kaifeng Mansion, rural area of Fengqiu County.
At the beginning of this year, Emperor Shengtang elevated Bianzhou to Kaifeng Prefecture, renamed it Tokyo, and withdrew the name Luoyang as the East Capital and renamed it Shangjing. The original name of Chang'an Shangdu was removed, Fengxiang was promoted to Yongzhou Prefecture, and it was named Xijing.
As an important hub of the Grand Canal and the hinterland of the Central Plains, Kaifeng is located in a plain area with extremely convenient water conservancy and trade routes. It has developed rapidly since the mid-Tang Dynasty. Coupled with the management of two generations of Zhu and Wen, commerce has been extremely prosperous.
In the later Song Dynasty, after the management of the Five Dynasties, Kaifeng truly reached its peak and became the largest city in the world at that time.
It was also for this reason that Li Jing promoted Bianzhou to the capital after careful consideration.
Kaifeng suffered a military disaster before, and Zhu Youzhen repeatedly recruited young people, resulting in serious population loss. It was only after Li Jing regained Kaifeng that he resettled immigrants and subdivided the fields, and the Xiaxiang County of Kaifeng Prefecture became active again.
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In mid-March, it is the spring plowing season. There are many cattle on the cultivated fields on both sides of the renovated road. The soil is being renovated and seeds are sown. During this period, there are farmers carrying buckets on the ridges of the fields to transport river water for use. to water.
Kaifeng is newly restored, and many water canal construction projects are still under planning. Although the Ministry of Household Affairs has allocated funds, it cannot fully take care of all townships and counties at the moment. This area must wait until the second half of the year.
But all in all, it looked like a prosperous place. The people were regrouping after the war and there were many smiles on their faces.
Along the way, most of the villages and counties near Zhengzhou were in disastrous defeats, but in comparison, this place looked passable. With a few more years, I think it will almost be able to return to its pre-war vigor.
This pre-war period must be before Zhaozong and Xizong. Since the Huangchao Rebellion, Henan has suffered the most misfortune. In addition, warlords fought in the late Tang Dynasty, man-eating demons were rampant, and there were constant heavy taxes. The people have long been miserable.
If we say that when Zhu Wen became emperor, he had many policies to calm the people, but by the end of his reign, when he gradually became mediocre, the policies he implemented became unsightly.
Li Jing put down the curtain of the carriage window, looked back, remained silent for a long time, and finally sighed.
"People's livelihood is very difficult, and the road ahead is long and arduous..."
Coming from Luoyang, the scenery I saw was not as good as it was all the way, which was really frustrating. The people in Guanzhong can see things through with the foundation they have gained over the past two years. After leaving Guanzhong, you can often see young children looking naked and skinny.
In addition, most of the men in the Central Plains were forcibly recruited by Zhu Youzhen. In many prefectures and counties, most of the people doing spring plowing were women, and the houses in various places were in dilapidated and unsightly conditions.
The farther he walked, the less he, the emperor, wanted to talk.
In the carriage, in addition to him, there were several accompanying officials such as his right servant She Fengdao, Minister of Household Affairs Jingxiang and so on.
Among them, Jingxiang was a surrendered minister of Daliang. Before Li Jing conquered Bianzhou, he was the official Guanglu of Daliang, the Minister of the Ministry of War, and the bachelor of Jinluandian. He can be regarded as the Xun or and Xiao He of Zhu Wen during his lifetime.
Li Jing was naturally reluctant to cut off such a good minister, so he naturally kept it in his hands. Although he was given the official position of Minister of Household Affairs, he actually had no real power. When Feng Dao and other important ministers had no time, he was Li Jing called to discuss political affairs together.
At this moment, everyone in the car heard Li Jing sighing, and they all offered words of comfort. Finally, Jingxiang said: "Since Huang Chao brought disaster to the Central Plains, nine out of every ten households in the Central Plains have drawn nine. As long as they are young and strong, there will be no one who does not go into battle. . This kind of scene lasted until the Holy One restored Kaifeng. Now it is not easy to have such a scene in just a few months. It is mostly because of the Holy Spirit's benevolence."
Li Jing was silent for a moment, the war was about to begin, and in the end it was not the people who suffered.
Although it talks about tax exemptions for the people, once the war starts, the food needed cannot be stopped. In the end, doesn’t it need to be distributed to the heads of every citizen of the Tang Dynasty?
This is how the hardships of people's livelihood are shared.
Li Jing stopped the carriage, got out of the carriage, and stood on the edge of the road. Looking at the plain fields stretching into the distance, the farmers busy cultivating in them, and the women and children running around in them, I pursed my lips tightly and looked at them in silence for a long time.
There wasn't actually much of a battle formation around the carriage, just a few dozen people on light cavalry, all dressed in the attire of ordinary warriors. Although they all carried swords and bows, they would only make people think that they were the guards of a wealthy family.
Behind Li Jing, five or six officials, including Feng Dao and Jing Xiang, squinted their eyes and looked at these scenes with different expressions on their faces.
Although Feng Dao and Jing Xiang both wore buns, their hair at the temples was a little gray. When the spring breeze blew, the wrinkles at the corners of their eyes were clearly revealed.
Only the young emperor standing in front of them was only twenty-three years old and in his prime, old enough to visit this great river and mountains.
After a long time, Li Jing finally said in a deep voice: "Feng Dao, how are the preparations of the army?"
"Your Majesty, 100,000 soldiers and 150,000 auxiliary soldiers and civilians have been assembled and gathered in the Yellow River camp. The 20,000 naval troops have also blocked the Yellow River, and the entire army can cross the river at any time."
Li Jing put her hands behind her back, closed her eyes slightly, and let the spring breeze blow the hair around her ears and flutter her green shirt, and finally whispered.
"I just hope it's the last battle..."
Feng Dao responded with a smile: "Your Majesty is Taizong's natural strategy general, and all the kings and masters of the Tang Dynasty are strong soldiers. They can kill generals and seize flags like arms and fingers. They are invincible in attack and invincible in battle. I will wipe out Li Ni in one fell swoop." , kill the barbarians."
Seeing the people looking curiously at the fields in the distance, Li Jing just smiled, pointed at them, and turned around and said, "I hope that after this battle, the people can live a better life."
Jingxiang and other officials all looked solemn, and then they bowed their hands and bowed: "The rule of the Holy One should be for the peace of the country and the peace of the people!"
Li Jing waved her hand, turned around and boarded the carriage.
"Okay, you can't just say nice things. Only when you can actually see it is true."
All the ministers agreed, and after boarding the carriage, the team slowly drove into the villages and towns ahead.
Compared with the fields, the villages and towns seemed a bit deserted, perhaps because of the immigrants, and you could also see many new houses. Even though it was already noon, there was only a little smoke rising from the houses.
The population is insufficient, and all the powerful people in the family must have gone to work in the fields.
However, there were many children who poked their heads out of the streets and looked curiously at this group of people riding big horses and driving big carts.
Li Jing looked at these children in twos and threes and turned to look at Jingxiang who was standing aside.
"In the past, we asked the Ministry of Household Affairs to allocate funds to build schools in various places. What about now?"
Jingxiang stroked his beard and said: "Currently, it is only implemented in Guanzhong, and primary schools are only built in the prefectural city. The ones below are still under planning..."
Li Jing nodded. The school system he proposed before was to have primary schools at the township level and middle schools at the prefecture and county level in all parts of the world.
The imperial examination system is still implemented across the country, but there are no tuition fees for the first three levels of primary school, which is compulsory education. Book fees are charged for the next three years. After graduating from primary school, you will take the entrance examination, and only those who pass the exam are eligible to attend middle school.
After graduating from high school, you can take the examinations of local governments and then enter the department for internship. Those who pass the internship can be assigned positions.
As for universities, there is no systematic system yet, so it can only be put on hold for the time being.
All in all, there is still no money now. Most of the money in the world is spent on war. If the Ministry of Revenue has enough money to build schools all over the world, I am afraid it will have to wait for another year or two.
The Longquan treasure seemed to be particularly important to Li Jing at this time.
