Chapter 330 It Is More Valuable than Gold and Silver!

The sixth year of Qingli in the Song Dynasty, 1046 AD.

At this time, it was still two years before the Yellow River changed its course in history, and it had been ten years since Zhao Jun traveled to the Song Dynasty.

In the past ten years, the Song Dynasty has undergone earth-shaking changes.

The most typical thing is that the living conditions of the common people are much better than before. They can hardly afford to wear warm clothes, but they can barely eat enough to avoid large-scale starvation.

Secondly, the reduction rate of official corruption, public security situation, education level and economic development have all been significantly improved.

Finally, the improvement of the scientific system and technology has also achieved obvious results.

For example, over the years, due to the imperial court's encouragement of invention and creation, common people who are wise in agricultural tools have invented high-efficiency oil presses, which can be used to press beans, peanuts, sunflower seeds, rapeseed and other oils, and can also produce oil cakes.

Other windmills used for threshing chaff, blunderbuss used for military purposes, and telescopes used to see farther also appeared one after another. There was even a god who defied heaven and invented a bicycle.

Its style is basically the same as that of later generations of bicycles. Due to the increase in steel production, it is made of a steel frame and connected by iron chains. The seat cushion is made of cotton and the tires are made of wood. The man also made a pair of fur-sewn tires, but unfortunately they were punctured by gravel.

It’s just that in ancient times it was easy to invent bicycles, but mass production was difficult. Use wooden tires, no matter whether your seat cushion is cotton or sponge, even if you change it to a quilt, it will still bump. Unless the butt is gone, no one will produce this thing.

Therefore, although there are many innovative inventions and creations, due to the limitations of this era, many things can only be said to be useful in the future, but are of no use now. We can only wait for the time in the future when they can show their talents.

The development of the private sector is also changing with each passing day. As the first steel plant in the Song Dynasty, Wu'an Iron and Steel Plant has trained a large number of skilled steel workers and technical backbones.

As the Song Dynasty fully opened up the construction of steel plants, various industries were not to be left behind. They established their own state-owned steel plants one after another. They chose areas with close steel and coal production in their own roads to build factories and recruited workers from Wu'an Iron and Steel Plant. Officially Start steel smelting.

In addition, in accordance with the wishes of the imperial court, various roads hired people from the private sector to repair roads, repair rivers, and build various water conservancy facilities.

For a time, all parts of the country were in full swing.

In November of the sixth year of Qingli, the price of food in the Bianliang market had picked up. From 200 Wen and 1 stone at the beginning of the year, it had risen to 280 Wen and 1 stone, which was quite a bit like a price surge.

The reason is very simple. In February, the Constitutional Yuan released this year’s new policies, and various states and counties began to recruit local civilian workers to carry out major infrastructure construction.

As a result, there were fewer people cultivating the land and more workers working for wages from the government. Grain output decreases, and the government distributes money, which increases the money on the market. Naturally, grain prices will rise.

The reason why there is no surge is because the government usually stores grain every year, and there are a large number of Changping warehouses in various areas, which are managed by the local Changping Division.

If the amount of grain on the market decreases significantly, the Changping Division will open a warehouse to sell grain, collect the money that was distributed, and wait until the people return to agriculture next year to buy grain at a low price. This time and again can basically offset the loss. Reduce the expenditure of the court.

November 16, inside the Constitutional Court.

Last night, an official document came from Yingtian Mansion, saying that the fleet had arrived at Yingtian Mansion and should be able to reach Bianliang today, so everyone in the hospital was very excited now, waiting for news about the fleet.

Even Zhao Zhen, who was conducting some chemical experiments in the Houyuan recently, has been paying attention to this matter and sent people over from time to time to ask where the fleet was.

On the contrary, Zhao Jun became calm and was sorting out the tax revenue and fiscal expenditure reported to the Constitutional Yuan this year.

"Jing Youchu's annual income was 70.7 million guan, of which agricultural tax revenue reached 21.62 million guan, accounting for 30%, and industrial and commercial tax revenue reached 49.11 million guan, accounting for 70%."

Zhao Jun said with a smile: "This year's agricultural tax has been collected, reaching 39.73 million guan. Although the commercial tax has not been fully calculated, it was 64 million guan last year. This year cannot be less than last year."

“Then it looks like it should officially exceed 100 million this year.”

Lu Yijian turned around and said.

Although the Northern Song Dynasty was said to exceed 100 million every year, in fact, in the early and middle periods of the Northern Song Dynasty, it basically hovered around tens of millions, with the highest being 80 million. It was not until the late Northern Song Dynasty that it exceeded 100 million.

Now, without a lot of exploitation of the people, the income has officially exceeded 100 million yuan, which is enough to show that the cake has indeed grown bigger.

Zhao Jun nodded slightly and said: "Foreign trade alone accounts for more than 20 million yuan every year, and last year it was close to 30 million yuan. Coupled with such a huge improvement in productivity, agriculture and commerce are prosperous. If it does not exceed 100 million yuan, we can find a piece of tofu." Killed."

"Hahahahaha."

The political courtyard suddenly burst into laughter and was filled with a happy atmosphere.

"Okay, Da Song is getting better and better."

Wang Zeng sighed.

"Not nearly enough."

Zhao Jun shook his head and said: "The Imperial City Division reported that in times of famine, people in many places can only eat sweet potatoes and potatoes. If there is a disease, they will basically have to wait for death. We want most people in the Song Dynasty to enter a healthy life. , we still have a long way to go.”

"Cough cough cough"

Lu Yijian coughed a few times, his face turned slightly pale and said: "In the past two years, I have increasingly felt that I am unable to do what I want. Maybe I will die soon. I may not see this day. I can only hope that you, Hanlong, can do it in the future."

"The burden of the Song Dynasty is naturally shouldered by Your Majesty and me. If your health is not good, Lao Lu, go home and take a good rest. I am not Yin Yang, this is the truth."

Zhao Jun looked at Lu Yijian and said, to be honest, they have been working together for ten years.

Although he was very unhappy with Lao Deng's penchant for conspiracy, he would still be sad if Lao Deng died suddenly one day after working together for so long.

It's not that he has a good relationship with Lu Yijian Wang Zeng and the others. In fact, Zhao Jun has the best relationship with Fan Zhongyan, Yan Shu, and Li Di.

But it's like getting used to something. If that thing suddenly disappears, it's always a bit uncomfortable.

"Forget it, I am an old man. Even if I die, I will die in the Constitutional Yuan. I don't want to die in bed, at home. Maybe I can live longer by sitting here. If I go back, I will die faster."

Lu Yijian smiled bitterly and waved her hands.

Zhao Jun rolled his eyes and said: "It seems sober and refined to emphasize the desire for power, but since that's what you plan to do, then it's up to you."

While they were talking, someone came in from outside and reported to them: "Report, the fleet is back."

"Finally home."

Everyone was suddenly moved, and their thoughts suddenly flew to the Bian River.

"Let them dock at the dock to unload the goods first, and I'll go take a look."

Zhao Jun said and stood up.

Fan Zhongyan said: "I'll go too."

"No, it doesn't look good to go to so many prime ministers for this matter. Just inform the officials. I will ask them to send the things to the palace later."

Zhao Jun shook his head and said.

"Fine."

Fan Zhongyan didn't say anything.

Among the many prime ministers in the Constitutional Yuan, the youngest Fan Zhongyan is 57 years old.

It is still more than ten kilometers from the palace to the dock outside the city. There is really no need for so many prime ministers to go there with great fanfare.

Zhao Jun came out of the palace, got on the carriage and left slowly.

When he went out from Xuande Gate at the south gate, he saw a long and straight Imperial Street. The street was wide, with cars and people coming and going.

Among the many signboards, countless carriages and horses were rolling around, and some sedan chairs were also among them, moving forward slowly.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, it was actually not popular to ride in sedan chairs. There are only eight in "Along the River During Qingming Festival", and they are not flower bridges, but ordinary sedan chairs. It can be seen that sedan chairs were a minority means of transportation at that time.

However, it has become popular in recent years. First of all, Bianliang has too many people nowadays, and it is more convenient to take a sedan chair than a horse-drawn carriage.

Secondly, sometimes Zhao Jun and Lu Yijian, the elderly prime ministers who did not like the bumpy carriage, would ride in sedan chairs. Thanks to their efforts, sedan chairs gradually became popular.

Mainly because the scholar-bureaucrats at that time were very particular about not treating humans as animals, so they didn't like it.

But Zhao Jun does not think that this is a human being or an animal. Just like the sedan bearers in Taishan and Chongqing, there is nothing wrong with eating by their own strength.

As long as the wages are paid, what's the difference between carrying a sedan and carrying goods on the dock?

After all, it’s all about lifting heavy objects, and it can also solve certain employment problems, so why not do it?

Therefore, there are more sedan chairs on the streets.

At this time, because Zhao Jun was officially leaving the palace, he used the prime minister's guard of honor.

A mighty team of more than a hundred people was surrounded by cavalry in front and behind, and there were people in front of them clearing the way to disperse the crowd, making the already crowded streets slightly chaotic.

However, Zhao Jun doesn't like to force his way through, so every time he goes out, he will ask the person clearing the way in front to direct the traffic and let pedestrians avoid before passing. Therefore, although it is a little slower, he can still move forward in an orderly manner.

Imperial Street is the most spacious and can be easily passed through. After leaving Zhuque Gate, they arrived at the outer city. At this time, the convoy turned to Baokangmen Cross Street and continued driving eastward toward the Bianhe River.

After about an hour, they finally left the city through Datong Gate.

At this time, Dongcheng was no longer the wilderness it once was. The suburban grasslands that were used for beheading were now gone and turned into rows of wooden houses and concrete buildings.

The side next to the moat has basically been demolished, and many low-rent buildings have been built, similar to the old-fashioned tube buildings.

There is no construction in the outer areas, mainly because of the lack of cement and steel. After all, Bianliang does not produce cement, iron ore or coal, so the raw materials have to be brought from other places. These must be prepared before each start of construction, which is naturally unrealistic. Houses were demolished and built everywhere in the city.

At this moment, at the pier at the intersection of the moat outside the East City and the Bian River, one can see the canal boats in the southeast direction as far as the eye can see.

The investment in shipping ships this time was four times that of last time, with more than 200 large ships and more than 30,000 people. After returning, the canal could not use sea ships, so after changing to canal ships, the number reached more than 3,000. .

Starting from the middle of last month when the ocean-going fleet entered the Tongzhou terminal to unload cargo, the imperial court issued a notice to use the canal in a staggered manner.

That is to say, three days before the ocean-going fleet is replaced by a canal merchant ship and it is about to enter the canal from the Yangtze River, the canal's gate in Zhenzhou will be closed, prohibiting merchant ships from entering. The merchant ship will not be released until three days after the ocean-going fleet enters the canal.

For this reason, a large number of merchant ships blocked Zhenzhou Wharf, delaying economic and trade for six days, and the losses were still considerable.

But it's all worth it.

The ocean-going fleet arrived at Bianliang without any hindrance. When the fleet arrived, the ships at the dock were basically cleared. All the cargo had been unloaded two days ago. The now empty dock is to welcome the arrival of the fleet.

"Have you heard? The fleet that went overseas is back this time."

"where?"

"It's at the pier outside the east city."

"Then you have to go and see."

"Excuse me, the fleet is back again, and I don't know how much gold it brought with it this time."

"Did you come back so soon? I heard that last time I went there for more than four years, and this time I came back in less than two years?"

"Let's go to the dock quickly and see if there are any new things!"

"Woof woof woof!"

The area near Datong Gate was already packed with water at this time, and there was an endless stream of people watching the excitement. Even dogs swarmed in, and there were even a few dogs brought back by the last fleet.

When Zhao Jun's carriage struggled through the crowd and arrived at the dock, the perimeter of the dock had been separated by soldiers from the Imperial City Division, and a large number of dock workers were unloading goods.

The leader of this trip is still Chen Haizhong. Compared with last time, he looks much more experienced and is calmly commanding at the dock.

Zhao Jun got off the carriage and walked to the dock. Chen Haizhong, other officials on board the ship, and many officials responsible for escorting the goods and organizing the order at the scene came over quickly and saluted him.

"I've met Zhiyuan."

The leader of the crowd is Bao Zheng, who has now been promoted to the prefect of Kaifeng, and next to him is Chen Haizhong.

"No gift!"

Zhao Jun waved his hand, then looked at Chen Haizhong and said: "Chen Tongpan, thank you for your hard work."

Chen Haizhong was promoted again, to the city's shipping director and general judge.

It turns out that there were only more than 20 ports in the Song Dynasty, which were under the jurisdiction of five municipal shipping departments: Guangzhou City Shipping Division, Hangzhou City Shipping Division, Mingzhou City Shipping Division, Quanzhou City Shipping Division, and Mizhou City Shipping Division.

However, as the maritime transportation of the Song Dynasty became increasingly developed, more and more ports were opened.

For example, in order to trade with the Liao Kingdom, Hebei had the Nigu Port in Tianjin in later generations. In the lower reaches of the Yellow River in Binzhou, the Yongfeng Port in Zhao'an County was set up to facilitate trade with Goryeo.

After the number of ports increases, it will definitely not be possible to rely solely on these municipal shipping departments. The organization must be upgraded and directly under the management of the Constitutional Yuan.

Therefore, in the fifth year of Qingli, Zhao Jun separated the more than 30 ports currently open in the Song Dynasty from the local areas and re-merged six municipal shipping departments.

They are Hebei, Shandong, Huainan, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong Municipal Shipping Divisions. The grade has been raised from the original sixth grade to the fifth grade, and they are directly managed by the Central Municipal Shipping Director.

The central municipal shipping director belongs to a second-level organization, and the chief inspector is the third grade. There are also deputy governors of the fourth grade and three chief judges and general judges of the fifth grade.

In essence, these ports are customs, so it is inevitable to separate these trade customs from the local areas and establish the General Administration of Customs, as in later generations.

The last time Chen Haizhong went to sea, he was promoted to six levels in a row since the eighth-level ship supervisor mentioned that he was promoted from the fifth-level Yuezhou to the prefecture.

Before going to sea, he mentioned the general commentator of Zhengwupin Shipbuilding Supervisor.

If the mission is successfully completed this time and the things Zhao Jun wants are brought back, then the credit will be considerable. I am afraid that he will need to upgrade several levels in a row, at least to the fourth level, or even to the third level.

In just seven or eight years, he has risen all the way from the eighth level to more than ten levels, which is no more than a rocket ride.

However, compared to last time, Chen Haizhong seemed much more haggard. He ran all the way, his face was full of fatigue, and he handed over to Zhao Jun and said: "Serving the imperial court, I am willing to die."

Zhao Jun said with emotion: "Tongpan is truly a talent of the Song Dynasty. It is precisely because of Tongpan that the country can prosper."

"The magistrate is ridiculous, I just did my duty!"

As Chen Haizhong spoke, he turned around and pointed at the fleet and said, "Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission and arrived in South America as indicated on the map, and brought back what the Imperial Academy wanted."

"Take me to see it quickly."

Zhao Jun said hurriedly.

Chen Haizhong took them off the dock and boarded a ship.

The ship was densely packed with cargo.

There were baskets and baskets of gold and silver, boxes and boxes of jewelry, and even a large number of exotic treasures, such as diamonds, rubies, and sapphires.

Every time they saw the contents of the box, the dock officials who followed him exclaimed in surprise.

Even Bao Zheng couldn't help but said: "This overseas country is so rich. Gold, silver and jewels are shipped ship by ship. If we can make more trips every year, why should I, the Song Dynasty, not be rich and prosperous all over the world?"

However, Zhao Jun didn't pay any attention to these treasures on the ship. He looked straight at the big trees planted in wooden boxes on the deck.

The wooden box is very large, probably covering an area of ​​three or four square meters. A canal merchant ship is no bigger than a sea-going ship. It is only three or four meters wide and only ten meters long. Most of the deck is occupied by these trees. At a glance, It's like a forest floating on the canal.

These trees are planted in these wooden boxes, most of which are saplings. But there are also some mature trees, with slits cut out with knives, dripping milky white liquid, and some bowls tied with ropes below to catch it.

Chen Haizhong sighed: "Originally, this time it was smooth sailing, and we should be able to go back and forth in a year at most. But I didn't expect that most of the time on the road would be delayed by these trees."

"It's water."

Zhao Jun immediately figured out the reason.

"yes."

Chen Haizhong said: "Even if we prepared a lot of fresh water, so many people have to use it, and there are so many trees to water, which means we have to spend a lot of time stopping at the shore to get water at any time, which makes our journey too slow. many."

As he spoke, he walked over to a rubber tree, pulled out a large piece of dried and yellowed rubber from the side of the wooden box holding the rubber tree, and said, "Please see, Zhiyuan, for these things, we were picked up again on the road. I was forced to throw away a lot of goods, including some gold, silver and copper, and hoard a lot of water before finally bringing them back!"

"It doesn't matter!"

Zhao Jun turned his head to look at the gold and silver that were still being carried out of the cabin, then walked over, picked up the piece of rubber and touched it, feeling the texture of the rubber colloid. He turned around and held up the piece of rubber and said with a smile: "It is more valuable than gold and silver. This time, my Song Dynasty will rise from here, and no one can stop it!"

Instantly, warm applause broke out on the whole ship.