Chapter 1052 Expectation
Chapter 1052 Expectation
At the beginning of July, after a long journey, the new recruits of the Heilangzhong Camp arrived at the military camp.
The camp is not far from Jingu Garden and is affiliated with the training academy, where they will carry out long-term training.
After the training is completed, it will be handed over to a first-level officer to continue training.
Sitting in the mountains of Jingu Garden, Shao Xun could see the new recruits training from afar.
Sitting beside him were a group of old officials and some young officials. He had specially called over the latter, including Huan Wen who was about to take up his post in Nanyang, Yin Hao, the chief clerk of the Imperial Household Department, Yuan Dan, the left attendant of the King of Qin, You Lexuan of the King of Qi, and Cui Jinghua (Cui from the Shangdang Tunliu clan), the right attendant of the King of Yan.
He had long understood the attitude of the old Dengs.
There may be resentment in their hearts, but when it comes to actual actions, they are mostly obedient, with some bargaining at most. But Shao Xun still wants to understand the attitude of young people.
As for pure conversation, there is no restriction on the relationship between the emperor and his subjects, and anything can be discussed, commonly known as bragging.
"Your Majesty just mentioned the scenery of Jiangnan—" Shangshu Ling Chu Huo said: "From my point of view, it is quite interesting. There are small bridges and flowing water, pedestrians at dusk, yellow dogs welcoming the door, and smoke rising from the fields. The tranquility of the countryside comes to mind. People living here will feel peaceful and can concentrate on studying."
"If you have the time to study, you might as well think about how to manage the family business." Shao Xun said: "Without the family business, your descendants will probably have to till the fields. How can they study?"
Chu Huo smiled and said, "Your Majesty is right."
Shao Xun continued, "I just asked you what you would do when you go to Jiangnan. You talked for a long time, but you just talked about your feelings, but you didn't really have anything. Let's take Jingzhou, which I am about to attack, as an example. Think carefully about how to run a manor if you have one."
"It's just the product of Rentu." Wang Yan stroked his beard and interjected.
"Yi Fu, this matter should be discussed with Mrs. Guo. She is more experienced in this than you." Shao Xun said.
Pan Tao, Yang Jiongzhi and others all laughed, but the others did not dare to laugh.
Shao Xun said: "Today is a casual talk, I will say something casually, you can take a look. Xiangyang aside, if I manage an industry in Jiangxia or Jiangling, one of the industries will be silk."
"Not only coarse silk and mixed silk, but also fine silk and satin, and even carpets and the like. I heard that there is a weaver girl with superb skills in Qinghe County. She never gets married and earns a lot of money to support herself in her old age. Jiangxia and Jiangling are suitable for silkworms and mulberry trees, which is a great source of wealth."
"The second is citrus. Unfortunately, although my power is so great throughout the country, no prefecture or county has yet offered citrus fruits as tribute." Having said this, he seemed helpless.
"Your Majesty, there is a solution." Huan Wen, who was listening, said, "As long as we spend money to get through the pass, we can get oranges from Jingzhou and send them to the capital by express horse."
Shao Xun smiled with relief, thinking that the son-in-law was filial to his father-in-law after all.
However, he waved his hand and said, "I led a million troops to the south to capture Jingzhou. Why should I spend money to get it? But Yuanzi is right. Citrus fruits are perishable and must be transported by fast horses. This is not something that ordinary people can enjoy. But we can think of a way. Do you have any strategy?"
The greedy king of a country asked his ministers if they had any way to preserve southern fruits. It might not sound very reasonable, but this is pure conversation, where you can even tell ghost stories and discuss the mysteries of women's bodies.
Wang Yan didn't understand this, so he kept silent.
Pan Tao looked around and said with a smile, "My family has a method that we have kept secret and never disclosed. Your Majesty asked about it today, so I will tell you. You can first pickle the fruit with salt, then seal it with lotus leaves and mud. It can be eaten from autumn to the winter of the following year. In addition to pickling with salt, there is also a method of sweetening and vinegaring. Take pears as an example. Peel and cut into pieces, put them in pear pickle juice, then pour honey, and seal the mouth of the jar with mud. It can also be eaten for a long time."
After that, he added: "My family relies on this method, and we can eat summer and autumn fruits in the middle of winter."
After listening to this, Shao Xun stood up in awe and said, "I also know the method of salting and sweetening, but it is very rare to preserve it for more than a year. Can we let the Shaofu learn this method and promote it widely?"
"I will have someone present this method to you when I get back," Pan Tao said.
Shao Xun looked at everyone and said with a smile: "If you and your clansmen make a lot of money by using this method in the future, you must give gifts to Yang Zhong."
"It's what they should do." Others said.
Shao Xun said: "Unfortunately, salted and sweetened fruits are not as good as fresh fruits. But now that things have come to this, there is no other way. If any of your descendants do not want to study the classics, they can study them at home. One day, there may be a new method that can preserve them for a longer time."
If it is preserved for a long time, it can be transported over long distances and it may become a long-term business.
"Your Majesty, I have also heard that Jingzhou has black plums, which are of better quality than those in the north. They have a famous 'plum fried' dish."
"They also have crabs, which can be tied tightly with felt blankets and hung on post horses. When delivering official letters, the crabs can be delivered along the way. In this way, the official letters are delivered and the crabs are also delivered, and the postmen can also make money."
"Haven't you heard that tea can be grown in Jingzhou?"
"Maybe there are some medicinal herbs. Fritillaria, gardenia, orange peel, and scutellaria, etc. Jingzhou has plenty of them."
Shao Xun, who was listening, laughed and said, "Look. If I hadn't mentioned this topic just now, you wouldn't have said anything."
Everyone laughed.
"It is certainly an honor to pass down the study of classics from generation to generation." Shao Xun said, "However, there are many barbarians in the south of the Yangtze River, and the situation is complicated. If you don't raise hundreds or thousands of soldiers, how can you survive? If your family goes to the south, many tools will still need to be purchased from the north. It will definitely not work without a way to make money. In a family, some people study, some people farm, some people serve as officials, and some people engage in business. This is the right way."
"Just talk about the gods and ghosts, the immortality of corpses, taking medicine and drinking, and talk more about ways to make money, what's wrong with that? From now on, I want to see more of this matter in the gatherings. Reading, managing business, even composing music, music and dance, arithmetic, and ingenuity are all fine, these are all serious things. I don't like the stories of gods and ghosts. I don't like refining elixirs to become immortals. You remember this."
"Yes." Everyone responded.
"That's right." Shao Xun's expression changed and he said with a smile, "Don't worry. I have surveyed the land in the north and hired a large number of soldiers. Twenty years later, the number of soldiers will increase day by day. Including the chieftains of the Hu people, court officials and even wealthy families and merchants, there will be no less than two million people who can afford the products of the manors in the south of the Yangtze River. With these two million people, we can do a lot of business."
"Some say that there are few people in Jiangnan and they can't produce that much. Then think of a way. Can five or even three people do what originally required ten people to do? In the past, there were dozens of water-powered pestles in Jingu Garden. When they were fully operational, the sound of pounding rice and grinding flour could be heard from far and near. You can start from here. If you don't know how, you can ask other families for it. Just spend money. Or if you have some ambition, let your sons and nephews who are not in officialdom study this thing, without asking others for help." "I heard that among the scholars in the north, there are many people who have never been an official or taught apprentices from birth to death, but they have no worries about food and clothing and live a carefree life. What's the point of such a life? It's better to study some ingenious things and make more money for the family. Even if you can't do these things, composing some music and dance and spreading it widely will also benefit the world."
"I am not worried about your wealth rivaling that of other countries, so why are you worried? Let the people of the world use better and cheaper cloth, eat food that they have never had the chance to enjoy before, have cotton clothes in the cold winter and cool clothes in the summer, have cheap medicine when they are sick, and have better coffins after death, so that the world's wealth can increase day by day, isn't it wonderful?"
"If anyone can write a book on this, discussing ways to make money, or the making of ingenious things, or even arithmetic, music, dance, customs, geography, etc., I will make him famous and appoint him to a noble position, and his descendants will be admitted to the government through my family. I will never break my promise."
"It is true that scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are all the pillars of the country. Having said that, it is difficult for workers and merchants, because they either have a meager income and have to work hard to make a living, or have no one in the government and are trembling with fear. But if scholars can do the work of industry and commerce, it will be a win-win situation. There may be disadvantages, but I don't care, as long as the benefits outweigh the disadvantages."
"That's all I have to say today. I'll talk to you again next time."
After saying that, he asked someone to bring some refreshments.
Wang Yan clapped his hands. A moment later, a group of graceful dancers entered.
At this time, Wang Hui, an assistant to Jizhou Governor Wang Xuan, came over and whispered, "Your Majesty, the lead dancer is——"
"Forget it." Shao Xun waved his hand and said, "I don't like this."
You little brat, you want to corrupt me with a woman? Have you studied the Nine-Rank Method of Selecting Concubines?
Wang Hui was stunned for a moment, then said, "Yes, I was wasting my time."
"Are you a commoner?" Shao Xun asked.
"Yes." Wang Hui said, "My father was the former governor of Jingzhou, and the prime minister is my uncle."
"Oh, Wang Pingzi's (Wang Cheng's) son." Shao Xun glanced at him and asked, "What is your father doing in Langya?"
"Traveling in the mountains and rivers, expressing one's feelings." Wang Hui said.
"I have always known Pingzi's ability." Shao Xun said, "The Langya old house still needs him, so it is good for him to stay at home."
Wang Hui smiled awkwardly.
"Where were you before?"
"I went to Jizhou and worked with Meizi to sort out the land registers."
"Jizhou will have another farm in the second half of the year. Are you still going?"
"If Meizi is too busy, she will have to become a subordinate." Wang Hui said cautiously, with a hint of expectation and desire on his face.
Shao Xun said nothing, but just nodded.
After the dance, everyone looked at Shao Xun, and seeing that he had no intention of starting a conversation, they relaxed a little.
Wang Yan observed the man's expression and started talking about someone in Beijing writing a collection of jokes.
This is still a very hot topic and everyone is very interested.
Shao Xun waved his hand, asked Huan Wen to sit next to him, and said, "Yuan Zi, when are you going to Nanyang?"
"I will go in the next few days." Huan Wen said with lowered eyebrows.
"If Fu Bao keeps making trouble, ignore her. A real man should focus on his achievements," Shao Xun said.
"I obey your order." Huan Wen breathed a sigh of relief.
Just say this, I don’t believe that the bride cannot be suppressed.
"When you go there, you will have to attend official social events and scholar gatherings..."
"I will definitely keep myself clean." Huan Wen immediately promised.
Shao Xun was stunned.
I asked you to build good relationships with the people in Nanyang officialdom. After all, the transportation of grain and fodder requires cooperation from local governments. What were you thinking?
I never thought that Fu Bao, who has been naughty for more than ten years, actually has such tricks to control her husband.
"Okay, okay." Shao Xun nodded repeatedly and said, "Go as soon as possible. In a month or so, I will also travel south."
After that, he pointed at the people present and said with a smile: "If we don't conquer Jiangnan soon, they won't be able to wait any longer."
No matter how many cakes you draw or how much encouragement you pump, there will always be a moment when the tide recedes.
They must be allowed to see that the promises are fulfilled, only then can they feel at ease.
(End of this chapter)