After washing up, Xing'er asked the dining room to bring some food. After eating, I came to the front hall and saw the county magistrate Cao Li sitting on a chair on one side, with two attendants standing behind him.
It stands to reason that the deputy mayor cannot take only two people with him when he goes out, but it also depends on where he is going. He came to Prince Yan's Mansion to take so many people with him. I wonder if he thought he was going to arrest Prince Yan.
Cao Li was able to sit in the position of the county magistrate, so he naturally knew this truth. What's more, when he traveled, he was protected by the palace, so there was no need for him to add any extraneous details.
Seeing Zhao Bin coming out of the back hall, Cao Li hurriedly stood up and saluted: "I will pay my respects to the prince."
"Master Cao, there is no need to be polite." Zhao Bin waved his hand and said, "Master Cao has already arrived?"
"Back to my lord, the official has just arrived," Cao Li replied.
"What time is it now, Myolie?" Zhao Bin turned back to look at Myolie.
"It's already half past time." Myolie replied without hesitation. According to the conversion between ancient time and modern time, Si hour is between 9 and 11 o'clock. Halfway through, it is basically around 10 o'clock in the morning.
"It's really getting late. Go prepare some food and travel with me. In addition, ask Xiao Chu to arrange fifty guards to accompany you. Let's set off now." Zhao Bin immediately ordered.
"The prince is ready and has loaded the carriage. Commander Xiao and Brother Wu are also waiting outside the mansion." Xing'er said with a smile.
Zhao Bin smiled awkwardly after hearing this, and then said: Myolie, I found that you have the potential to be the secretary to the board of directors.
"Your Majesty, what is a secretary-general?" Xing'er asked curiously.
"Nothing" said, Zhao Bin stood up and walked out. Seeing that Zhao Bin didn't want to say more, Xing'er didn't ask any more questions.
The group of people walked vigorously towards the outside of the city, and pedestrians on the road gave way. After leaving the East City Gate and heading east, there were weeds everywhere. After traveling for five miles, we didn't see a single village. As far as the eye could see, the plain was full of weeds. Zhao Bin was secretly shocked after seeing it.
Zhao Bin asked Cao Li to ride in the carriage with him, mainly so that Cao Li could introduce him to the local situation in Yancheng.
"There are three main types of food crops grown by local farmers: wheat, millet, and sorghum. There are also some beans and hemp, but the output is relatively small. The main vegetables are mallow, leeks, cabbage, and shepherd's purse... ..." Cao Li introduced them one by one.
"What kind of irrigation method should be used?" Zhao Bin interjected and asked.
"In places close to rivers and lakes, farmers carry water for irrigation themselves, while villages far away from water sources have to rely on the weather. In seasons with good rains, they will be more productive, but on the contrary, their output will be greatly reduced."
"Is there any water diversion and canal construction?"
"Yancheng is located in a barren area with a sparse population. Coupled with the intrusion of northern nomads, the population has dropped sharply. Even if you want to build canals, there is no labor." Cao Li replied helplessly.
After leaving the East City Gate and heading east, there were weeds everywhere. After traveling for five miles, we didn't see a single village. As far as the eye could see, the plain was full of weeds. Zhao Bin was secretly shocked after seeing it.
"Master Cao, look at the weeds everywhere within a few miles around here. Why don't you organize people to graze?" Zhao Bin asked
Cao Li glanced at Zhao Bin and said: "Your Majesty, the people have harvested all year round and paid the field tax, but there is very little left. They still have to dig wild vegetables to supplement their food, and they have no money to buy livestock.
In addition to handing over the taxes collected by the government offices to the state, some of them are sent to Xiguan (actually Juyongguan today) and Zijingguan. The rest is only enough for the daily expenses of government officials, and there is really no money left to buy livestock."
"Fuck" Zhao Bin cursed fiercely after hearing this, "There is absolutely nothing about feelings. I would have to find a way without you."
The convoy traveled about another mile, and then they saw a sparse village with about twenty or thirty households.
Zhao Bin ordered the convoy to march towards the village. Not far from the village, a few naked children in the field saw a large group of people coming, and they were so frightened that they ran towards the village in a hurry.
A country boy who has never seen the world might think he is from the Jie tribe. Seeing this scene, Zhao Bin immediately stopped the carriage and horses, and walked to the village with a few people close to him.
After a while, several old men appeared at the entrance of the village holding sticks or farm tools. The left arm of the leader of the old man was gone, and only his right arm held an axe.
When the old man saw that the visitor was well-dressed and did not look like a member of the Jie tribe, he immediately felt relieved and walked a few steps slowly to greet him.
"Who are these nobles and what business do you have in coming to our village?" the old man asked slowly.
Zhao Bin had no intention of hiding his identity. Instead, he wanted everyone in Yan City to know that King Yan was coming, so he motioned to Cao Li to come forward and talk.
"This is His Highness the King of Yan. My official name is Cao Li, the Prime Minister of Yancheng County. I have made a special trip to accompany His Highness the King of Yan on his inspection tour today." Cao Li stepped forward and said.
When everyone heard that it was His Highness King Yan and the county magistrate, they immediately exclaimed. Then the old man threw away the ax in his hand, knelt down and bowed: "The common people did not know that King Yan was coming, please forgive me for your sin."
Several old men behind him also dropped their sticks and knelt on their knees.
"Everyone, please get up. This is a rural area, so there is no need to be polite," the prefect Zhao Bin signaled.
When the old man saw that Zhao Bin did not blame them for holding the stick, he felt relieved and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty." The old man stood up, but did not dare to raise his head.
"Old man, can I come and sit at your home?" Zhao Bin asked.
When the old man heard this, he was shocked at first, and then said with a troubled expression: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. The common people's home is really in tatters. I'm afraid I have soiled Your Majesty's clothes. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
"It doesn't matter. I am here to understand the sentiments of the people. Just lead the way. Let the elders come with us." Zhao Bin looked at the people behind the old man and said.
"It's the prince," the old man said with his head lowered, then turned around and led the way.
The village is not big, with sparse thatched houses and looks dilapidated. This reminded Zhao Bin of Du Fu's "Song of Thatched Cottage Broken by the Autumn Wind" that he had learned in his previous life.
After traveling not far, they came to a fenced courtyard.
The old man pointed to the courtyard and said: "Your Majesty, this is a poor family. It is really unbearable. I hope you will forgive me."
After speaking, the old man pushed open the firewood door and immediately led the way in. Xing'er, Wang Wu, Xiao Chu, and Cao Li also followed.
Zhao Bin looked around the courtyard. There were three thatched houses and a dilapidated utility room. It seemed that there had been a fire. There were burn marks on the adobe exterior wall.
There are some unused farm tools inside, such as the flat shovels and pickaxes that Zhao Bin saw in history books in his previous life.
The style seems clumsy, and it must be very difficult to use. There was also a large wooden plow that looked to be of some age.
Zhao Bin pointed at the wooden plow and asked, "Is this the wooden plow used during spring plowing?"
"My lord, it's a wooden plow used during spring plowing. This is a plow truck built by the grassroots when they were young. It has been used for almost thirty years." The old man said with a hint of pride.
"This wooden plow is so huge, it must be very laborious to use, right?" Zhao Bin asked
"This wooden plow requires two people to pull it in front and one person to hold the plow behind," the old man replied.
"Do your other families use wooden plows like this?" Zhao Bin asked the people next to the old man.
One of the old men in ragged clothes said helplessly: "The grassroots people don't have plows at home, so they mostly borrow this plow during spring plowing."
The other old men also nodded silently.
Then Zhao Bin asked questions such as how many people were in the family and how many acres of land there were.
I learned that there are five people in the old man’s family. His wife has passed away, and his eldest son also died fighting against the Jie tribe’s invasion in Xiguan in his early years. Currently, the family consists of his second son, his family of four, and the old man.
According to the old man, he was also in the military in his early years, and this arm was lost when he was a soldier. After asking several other old men about the situation, they found that someone in almost every family had died due to the Jie tribe's invasion, and someone in almost every family had starved to death due to lack of food, regardless of age or strength.
Zhao Bin stood up and said goodbye with a solemn expression. When he reached the entrance of the village, Zhao Bin turned around and said to several old men: Folks, now that I am here, I will make you live a good life.
The group left the village and continued to move forward. They encountered two more villages on the way, and the current situation was basically the same.
In the evening, the group returned to Prince Yan's Mansion. In the hall, Zhao Bin sat in a chair and thought.
The current situation is that there is a lot of land and a sparse population. It is difficult to solve the current problem just by farming.
Moreover, the villages are scattered and are not suitable for building canals to divert water. A policy of integrating agriculture and animal husbandry must be implemented. Since animal husbandry is to be developed, livestock resources must be dealt with.
Only grassland people have a large number of livestock, so they spend money to buy them? But if you don’t have money, then you can exchange it for something? Thinking of this, Zhao Bin looked at Cao Li
"Master Cao?"
"The official is here." Cao Li stood up and returned to
"Can the imperial court have trade relations with the northern nomads?" Zhao Bin asked
"The nomads from the north have always come to plunder the pass, or threaten to extort materials, money, and food from the imperial court in the name of war. However, there have also been cases in history like the powerful Han Dynasty where the nomads did not dare to intrude and instead requested trade with the interior."
"In addition to asking for money and food from the court, what else do they want most?" Zhao Bin continued to ask.
"In addition to money and food, there are iron tools. Iron tools are the key to making weapons and armor. In addition to the two major tribes of the Xiongnu and Jie tribes, there are many small and medium-sized tribes on the grassland, such as Xianbei, Xiliao, etc.
In addition to being oppressed by large tribes, various tribes also competed with each other for pasture water resources and fought with each other. The smelting technology of the grassland tribes was relatively backward and they lacked iron tools.
In addition to ironware, nomads are also keen on salt. There is no salt on the grasslands, so many tribes cook or grill meat directly.
Other than salt and iron, nothing else is that important. Your Majesty, what do you think? "Cao Li asked tentatively after finishing speaking.
Zhao Bin looked at Cao Li and then slowly said: "Yes, I plan to do business with these nomadic tribes and exchange salt and iron for their cattle and sheep."
"But your lord, the salt and iron business has always been in the hands of those wealthy families, and the court only charged them 20% to 30% of the tax. The salt and iron deposits in the hands of the court were limited to Yuzhou and Jingzhou.
And we don’t have any extra salt and iron in our hands. Moreover, the court has express regulations that strictly prohibit the sale of salt and iron to the grassland tribes. "Cao Li explained one by one.
"The iron may not be available for a while, but isn't the salt readily available?" Zhao Bin said with a smile.
"Ready-made? What does the prince mean by this?" Cao Li asked curiously.
"Three hundred miles east of Yancheng is Jixian County. Along the coast of Jixian County is the continuous sea. The sea water contains salt. The salt in the sea is inexhaustible."
Cao Li's original curiosity disappeared without a trace, and he immediately said: "Your Majesty, how can you take this salt from the sea? It will kill people. Could it be that Your Majesty wants to use sea salt to defraud them of their cattle and sheep?"
Zhao Bin was speechless when he heard this. It was not that Cao Li's last words surprised him, but that people in this era have not mastered the method of refining sea salt?
Thinking of this, Zhao Bin said excitedly: "Master Cao, you just said that sea salt is not edible, so is the salt circulating in Daxia now all mineral salt and well salt?"
"Yes, the Dai family in Shu, the Zhang family in Guanzhong, and the Xue family in Chu control the largest salt mines and salt veins in the Xia Dynasty." Cao Li replied.
After listening to Cao Li's introduction, Zhao Bin had a general understanding of the current situation of salt and iron in Daxia, and immediately decided to exchange salt for livestock.
"Master Cao, I know you are a native of Yancheng and have always wanted to improve the living standards of the people in Yancheng. I did not come to Yancheng to be a dandy prince.
You have also heard about me. I am a prince who has been squeezed out of the court. I have no control over the court affairs.
But I have control over the life and death of the people of Yancheng. There are a few things you need to do now. "Zhao Bin looked at Cao Li and said firmly.
"Please give me your Majesty's orders, and I will definitely obey them." Cao Li stood up and saluted.
"First, in the past few days, you can help me recruit two hundred young people who are confident enough to live a good life. Each person will be paid ten coppers per day, and the construction period will be three months.
Second, prepare ten transport carriages and install baffles around them to facilitate the transportation of salt. I will ask Xiao Chu to allocate fifty escorts to you. In five days, I will take these two hundred young men to collect salt along the coast of Jixian County. I will hand it over to the escort before leaving.
The third point is to ask his men to find some carpenters and blacksmiths tomorrow and bring them to the palace. The king has something for them to build. "
"It's the prince. I'll go prepare tomorrow." Cao Li replied.
"Myolie, tomorrow you will purchase the two houses on the west side of the palace in the name of the palace, and ask Master Cao to cooperate in arranging for them to live in other houses in the city. After the arrangements are made, let Chunxi find a craftsman to build ten fire stoves in the courtyard, and prepare Ten cauldrons”
"Yes, Your Majesty," Xing'er responded immediately.
"Okay, let's get out the sea salt starting tomorrow."
"yes"
After the negotiation was completed, Zhao Bin wanted to keep Cao Li to eat at the palace, but Cao Li declined, and Zhao Bin did not force him to stay.
