Chapter 124 Civilian Infiltration

People in the Song Dynasty loved poetry almost to their core.

For example, Liu Sanbian's words.

For a time, Bianliang's paper was so expensive that everyone liked it, from the princes and nobles to the common people, especially Miss Goulan and the ladies in the boudoir.

Even when Liu Yong was at the height of his power, there was a saying in the market: "If there is a well, there will be willows, and if there is wine, there will be words."

Compared with poetry, words not only have a different flavor when read, but can also be sung in a song.

Therefore, lyrics from the Song Dynasty are actually the same as modern lyrics. Whether it is a brothel or a rich and powerful person, the singers are all known for their beautiful lyrics and music.

It is not only loved by brothels and wealthy and powerful families, but also by ordinary people in the market.

For example, at the head of Bianliang Bridge, there are four channels and twelve channels.

For two hundred years, Bianhe Road has been filled with sand, grass and smoke. How can the later king learn from the previous king? Please look at the Sui Dynasty tree that destroyed the country.

The flower boat under the bridge is melodious, the boatman at the bow is rowing, and the girl at the stern is singing romantic lyrics, which is beautiful and charming. The green willows and peach blossoms on the shore, the deep ancient temples, the white walls and black tiles, and the curling smoke from cooking stoves are the grand scene of Bianliang poetry.

The merchant girl does not know the hatred of the country's subjugation, but she still sings the flowers in the backyard across the river! Therefore, Bianliang and later Lin'an in the Southern Song Dynasty, this word accompanied the prosperity of the Song Dynasty and the rise and fall of the Song Dynasty.

Meng Chengqi was a big collector of books and naturally loved poetry. After just reading a few of the poems Zhao Jun gave him, he was so excited that he wished he could write his own name on the author's signature and spread it around the world.

It's a pity that it can't be signed.

The other person is a bit awesome, I'm afraid it's not the kind of good poetry you can buy with money.

Meng Chengqi felt very regretful and said to Zhao Jun: "Young master Zhao has such a great talent, it is really enviable. If this printing shop is bought by the master, I am afraid it will be like Liu Sanbian in the past, Bianliang paper will be expensive."

Zhao Jun smiled and said: "My boss appreciates it. Poetry is a boring pastime, not a great talent. If my boss likes it, I can just sell it in your bookstore in the future."

Meng Chengqi thought about it and said hesitantly: "If Mr. Zhao wants to buy this printing shop, that's fine. I just have a merciless request."

"oh?"

Zhao Jun said in surprise: "Is there something wrong with my boss?"

Meng Chengqi put on a smile and said: "I want to trade stocks with the young master. From now on, the young master's poetry will be managed by our own family."

As he spoke, he said with an embarrassed expression: "Of course, Mr. Zhao is very talented in literature. If he buys this printing shop, he won't have to worry about having nothing to do in the printing shop. But I am a businessman after all, and I am in business. If Mr. Zhao doesn't want to, then Never mind."

At first, Meng Chengqi didn't want to sell the printing shop. After all, losses are losses, but the Meng family is also a wealthy family and cannot afford to lose money, especially because he is afraid that it will be bought by some people who don't like books.

But now that he saw that Zhao Jun was also a man of letters, and his literary talent was so good, he readily agreed to sell the printing shop, a money-losing thing.

It's just businessmen chasing profits.

Although Meng Chengqi was reluctant to sell the printing shop before, under the pressure of his father, he would probably sell it all.

Now after seeing the poems given by Zhao Jun, Meng Chengqi realized that the printing shop would probably not lose money in the future, but like Liu Yong did when he was in Bianliang, the new poems would be popular throughout Tokyo.

As a businessman, of course he wants to get involved and make money together.

"Price maker shares?"

Zhao Jun thought about it. He set up a printing factory mainly to run a newspaper in the future and occupy the high ground of public opinion.

In the future, when newspapers spread, there will be many benefits.

For example, if the Song Dynasty became stronger in force and prepared to destroy Xixia and Liao, it could guide public opinion in newspapers, promote Xixia and Liao as enemies, mobilize the enthusiasm of the people, recruit more troops, and fight wars, which would be very helpful.

Also, if you plan to open up sea all over the world in the future, you can also use newspapers to publicize that there is gold everywhere on the other side of the sea, attracting landless people to expand overseas, and alleviate the increasingly acute internal conflicts.

This is what the West has done historically.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the West was in the Age of Discovery. The propaganda in the West was that the East was full of gold, which made the people of the old colonial powers in Europe excited, and their citizens went to sea to pan for gold.

After going to sea for a period of time, a large amount of land resources were developed and fed back into the country, spawning a large number of adventure novels and works, which in turn continued to stimulate everyone to take risks. This kicked off the great Western colonial era, discovered new continents, and colonized the world.

Although Zhao Jun does not necessarily want to colonize the world, at least the surrounding countries do need to be occupied by Han people. For example, the Northeast and Northwest have been territories of China since ancient times.

The Song Dynasty only had more than two million square kilometers, so we should restore the territory to the New China period no matter what.

Therefore, public opinion offensive is indispensable.

He plagiarized poems first to make money first, but now Zhao Zhen has no money, the national treasury is running out of money, and he has to face the upcoming war with Xixia. I am afraid that the Song Dynasty's fiscal expenditure will be in deficit again in the future.

The Imperial City Division currently still has more than one million yuan of money from confiscated houses, but it can only cover five years of expenses. If this continues, sooner or later it will be empty, so we must increase revenue and reduce expenditure.

Therefore, it's not that Zhao Jun likes to copy poems, but there really aren't many things that can make money on hand, so he can only copy some poems to use first.

Moreover, Zhao Jun did not intend to plagiarize from the Northern Song Dynasty, or rely on plagiarism to pretend to be famous. He would use pseudonyms such as Lu Xun or Zhejiang Zhou Shuren, copy poems and novels from the Southern Song Dynasty, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and make a small fortune first.

Secondly, in order to build the reputation of the newspaper, he planned to use poetry, serial novels, etc. to attract a large number of readers after the newspaper was launched in the future.

This was also a common marketing tool in the golden age of newspapers in later generations.

For example, Jin Yong's and Gu Long's novels were serialized in newspapers, attracting countless readers to subscribe to newspapers every year.

Therefore, once poetry and novels are used to create a reputation as a newspaper, printing houses will definitely become the focus of protection as a top priority in the field of publicity in the future.

In the future, Zhao Jun also plans to classify this place as a government agency, directly state-owned, like a news and publishing house.

Just like the later People's Daily, if it becomes an official mouthpiece, it will naturally have to be mainly state-run, but the private sector cannot be allowed to participate.

Thinking of this, Zhao Jun shook his head and said: "I have great use for this printing shop, I'm afraid it won't be able to price commercial stocks."

"I see, I was the one who was abrupt."

Meng Chengqi felt a little regretful.

Seeing his appearance, Zhao Jun thought for a while and said, "But maybe we have other businesses we can do. I heard that Meng Dong's family is a grain merchant?"

Meng Cheng nodded and said, "Yes, our Meng family did start by selling grain."

"If the owner is willing, we can talk about jointly selling grain with the imperial court in the future. Li Xiang is currently talking to some tea merchants and plans to join some big tea merchants in taking shares, half private and half official."

Zhao Jun suggested: "Like grain, salt, tea, etc., there are big problems in pure official or private sales. If they are sold semi-privately and semi-officially, many disadvantages can be solved. If Meng Dong's family is interested, I will find them when the time comes." Let’s talk to Mr. Li and see if we can change the official grain and grass policy.”

"ah?"

At that moment, Meng Chengqi was not panicked, but dumbfounded.

Chat with Li Xiang directly?

Who is this person?

"how?"

Zhao Jun asked: "What do you think, Master?"

Meng Chengqi's thoughts changed in an instant, and then he said with a smile: "If we can meet Prime Minister Li and talk about this matter, then of course it's okay."

"Um."

Zhao Jun didn't hear the implication, so he said, "I'll ask Prime Minister Li tomorrow. There are too many disadvantages in the grain, salt, and tea businesses in the Song Dynasty, and they really need to be changed."

This is also what he told Zhao Zhen and the others before, and then Zhao Zhen relayed it to Li Shen.

Because official sales lead to rampant corruption, people are more willing to sell grain, tea and salt to private merchants. In addition, there are many forced purchases and sales in official business, and officials do business in person, etc., which is very detrimental to people's livelihood.

Therefore, Zhao Jun also plans to gradually liberalize the state-owned sales system and introduce private businessmen to join the official sales ranks. This will prevent the complete capital market like in the West from causing big businessmen to monopolize and drive up prices. It can also prevent the rampant corruption of government officials and the control of government capital.

Then the two chatted about other things, and finally agreed to buy the printing shop from the land deed to all the tools, real estate, etc. for a price of 7,000 guan. There were also more than 20 workers who signed contracts with Meng Chengqi and were transferred to Zhao Jun.

The labor contract of the Song Dynasty was similar to that of later generations. It was no longer a contract for selling one's body like before, but a work contract. Workers can come and go relatively freely. Now that the contract is in Zhao Jun's hands, he will naturally pay the wages in the future.

Zhao Jun left the printing shop after agreeing with Meng Chengqi to go to the government office tomorrow to make a contract together, handing over the money in one hand and the land deed in the other.

Song Cai did not intervene in the conversation between him and Meng Chengqi throughout the whole process.

Watching honestly.

Even when talking about some of the more important content, he would deliberately walk away to see what was in the printing shop.

After he came out, Zhao Jun saw that he had been silent, so he smiled and asked: "Brother Song, what's wrong? You used to talk a lot, but today you are silent."

Song Caixan said with a smile: "I originally thought that Brother Zhao was going to buy books, but in the end, he directly bought the printing shop with such a big deal. I feel ashamed. I have never seen Qiqian Guan in my life, and I can't help much."

"It doesn't matter."

Zhao Jun smiled and said: "You and I are good friends, and Brother Song also kindly introduced books to me. If I didn't help, I didn't help. There is no need to blame yourself."

Song Cai hesitated for a moment, but in the end she didn't ask what she wanted to ask, but whispered: "If Brother Zhao is of any use to me in the future, please give me your instructions."

"It's not like giving orders."

Zhao Jun thought for a while and said, "Brother Song, what are your future plans?"

Song Cai said: "The results of the examination will be released in October. If I can pass the examination and become a candidate, I will concentrate on preparing for next year's Jinshi examination."

"Well, that's good too."

Zhao Jun nodded, and then asked: "Are you a native of Bianliang?"

"Yes."

"Then do you know who are the foreigners in Bianliang?"

"Foreigner?"

Speaking of this, Song Cai immediately became energetic and said, "Brother Zhao is asking about those Zhu Fans? It turns out that Brother Zhao likes Fan people. When it comes to this, no one knows better than me."

As he spoke, he winked again and said: "There are two kinds of black and white among the paintings. The white one is beautiful, and the black one also has a unique flavor."

Zhao Jun: "."

Zhu Mu of the Song Dynasty recorded in his "Fangyu Shenglan": "There are two kinds of Tibetans, black and white, and they all live in Quanzhou, and they are called 'Tibanren Alley'. Every year, large ships float to and from the sea, bringing elephants, rhinoceros, tortoiseshell, and pearl turtles." , glass, agate, exotic fragrance, pepper."

It can be seen that Guangzhou was already an international metropolis in the Song Dynasty, with Western whites, Central Asian Arabs, Jews, Persians, and even black Africans already present.

But these were still too far away. Zhao Jun had no intention of moving for the time being, so he said angrily: "I mean the Japanese."

"It turns out they are Japanese."

Song Cai suddenly realized: "Japanese people are not bad, but they are a little short. Those Japanese women like the Song Dynasty very much. It is said that there are often Japanese wealthy merchants who bring their wives and daughters to the Song Dynasty to borrow seeds from those scholars. I have never met them. If Brother Zhao likes it."

"It's okay."

Zhao Jun rolled his eyes. I'm talking to you about national affairs, and you're talking to me about imperial color?

It's too outrageous.

"Don't, Brother Zhao, what do you want to know about Japan? I know it all."

Song Cai saw that he seemed a little unhappy, so she hurriedly said: "I have a friend named Dabao Sanlang, who is the son of a Japanese merchant. Whatever Brother Zhao wants to know, he knows it all."

"Dabao Sanlang? This name is weird. Where is he from?"

Zhao Jun was puzzled.

Song Cai smiled and said, "His surname is Daibao, and his name is Kensaburo. He is from Izumo. Japanese people have names like this. I heard that they are Japanese nobles. Their common people don't even have names."

"Izumo? Is it far from Iwami?"

"Brother Zhao also knows Iwami? Not far, right next to Izumo. The family of Daibao Kensaburo also has land in Iwami. It is said that Iwami and Izumo are both mountainous areas. Farming can't sustain survival, so they can only go out to sea for business."

"Hmm."

Zhao Jun pondered.

The reason why he asked Song Cai casually was because Song Cai was a good person and had a wide range of friends. Maybe he would be of great use in the future.

I didn't expect that he would really surprise me.

Zhao Jun had mentioned the national policy of mining from Japan before, but when it was brought up again at the Constitutional Council meeting this morning, Lu Yijian and others told him the details of the situation.

Going to Japan in the name of a company or a merchant group and buying their Iwami area is indeed a feasible plan.

Including economic invasion, cultural invasion, political invasion, etc., it should be easier to control Japan.

However, Zhao Jun only considered the situation in Japan, not the Liao Kingdom.

Although the Song Dynasty occupied the Central Plains and claimed to have inherited the style of the Tang Dynasty. But in fact, due to the lack of martial virtue, its status in neighboring countries plummeted.

Although the Liao Kingdom only occupied the Northeast and the Mongolian grasslands, it was regarded as a superior country by the surrounding countries at that time because of its abundant martial virtue.

The result was that at that time, including the Song Dynasty, Western Xia, Japan, Goryeo, the Western Regions, and even the Arabs and Persians all paid tribute to the Liao Kingdom, which is clearly recorded in the "History of Liao".

Therefore, during the Song Dynasty, the official Japanese and Song Dynasty officials were not closely connected, and only the people had close exchanges because they admired the Song Dynasty more.

If the official envoys went to Japan, leased or bought the Iwami area, and started mining, the Liao Kingdom would definitely intervene, and it might even directly forcibly rob the minerals.

After being persuaded by everyone, Zhao Jun realized that he thought too much and only thought about the domestic situation in Japan, not the diplomatic situation of the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, at least before the Song Dynasty could defeat the Liao Kingdom, it could not openly go to Japan to mine. It could only do it secretly and let private merchants go to Japan to explore the bottom first.

It would definitely not work to contact Japanese private merchants in an official manner, as it would be very likely to be discovered by the Liao people in Bianliang.

So Zhao Jun planned to let Song Dynasty private merchants communicate with Japanese private merchants.

When he met Song Cai today, he just asked casually.

As a result, there was an unexpected gain.

When he thought of this, he said to Song Cai: "Can you do this task?"

Song Cai was overjoyed and said: "Brother Zhao ordered."

Zhao Jun thought for a while and said: "I remember your family is in business."

"Yes, we did some business."

Song Cai looked embarrassed.

Their family is not particularly rich, but basically middle class.

There are several shops at home, and the assets are about two or three thousand guan, otherwise they can't afford to support him to study and visit brothels.

But compared with Zhao Jun, it's nothing.

Zhao Jun said, "You can ask him about the basic situation of Iwami and Izumo under the pretext of planning to do business with that big health-care Saburo."

"Is that all?"

Song Cai wondered.

"Well, that's all for now."

Zhao Jun thought for a while and waved to a captain behind him.

The captain came over, Zhao Jun took his badge, and then handed it to Song Cai, saying, "If you want to find me in the future, you can use this token to go to the Imperial City Division and ask someone to find me. Although the Iwami area is mountainous, it is very useful to me. You should understand the situation well. It would be best if you can follow that big health-care Saburo to Japan next time to investigate the local situation and report to me one by one."

"Yes"

Song Cai suppressed his ecstasy and took the badge carefully.

He naturally knew Zhao Jun's identity.

He had already exposed his identity as the head of the Imperial City Division last time.

Now the news that Zhao Jun, the head of the Imperial City Division, is in charge of the Political System Institute has spread throughout Bianliang.

Song Cai naturally knew that Zhao Jun was like a prime minister now.

Of course, he understood what it meant to be appreciated by the prime minister.

And most importantly, he knew his own ability. He was not a good student, otherwise he would not have been able to write such a poem, nor would he have taken the "Book of Filial Piety" exam.

Passing the imperial examination was a great honor for his ancestors, and passing the imperial examination, even a great talent like Liu Yong had to be 48 years old to pass the imperial examination, let alone him.

So Song Cai felt that now was a good opportunity to hold on to someone's thigh.

As long as he could complete the task assigned by Zhao Jun, he might be able to rise to prominence in the future, so he was naturally ecstatic.

For Zhao Jun, it is difficult to contact Japan in an official capacity. Once the Liao Kingdom discovers something, it is probably a situation of "neighbors hoard grain, I hoard guns, and neighbors are my granaries."

After working hard for a long time to dig silver, the Liao army came and took it all away. That would be a pity.

So official action is not advisable.

Then infiltrate the people.

Slowly let private merchants settle in Japan first, and then dig minerals on a small scale in the form of leasing and purchasing, and secretly transport them back to China.

Although it feels a bit like stealing oil, it is not taking things from the Japanese for nothing.

You can conduct trade activities with the locals. After finding out the situation, Song Cai can completely hire local people to dig, and then transport grain, porcelain, and silk fabrics from China to Japan in exchange for minerals.

This is just like the private trade between the Ming Dynasty and Japan, which will bring silver into the country openly and alleviate the increasingly acute problem of money shortage.