Chapter 462: The 11th Year of Qingli, Returning to Beijing

Zhao Jun spent the New Year in the eleventh year of Qingli in Shaanxi. After entering Guanzhong from Sichuan, he first went to Chang'an.

As a result, it happened to coincide with the New Year, so he simply spent the New Year in Chang'an.

Compared with the prosperity of Bianliang City in Kaifeng Prefecture, Chang'an, even the capital of the Tang Empire, feels dilapidated.

In addition to the majestic and tall ancient city wall, there are still countless mottled traces of time on it, which still tell the world about its former prosperity.

The rest of the place can only be described as horrific.

The palace was burned down, and the residences of the people in the city were dilapidated and old. Many local people's homes could not be said to be bare, but they could be considered impoverished.

After all, Chang'an, as the capital of the Tang Dynasty, once shouldered political, economic, military and other responsibilities, and prospered because of it.

But after the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Chang'an and Luoyang were almost deserted. Historical records record that "the eastern and western capitals, palaces, residences, markets, and villages were burned in ten and sixty-seven", which shows how much impact the war had.

By the early Song Dynasty, the entire two capitals were already empty out of ten houses. There were huge cities there but no people lived there.

In addition, the Guanzhong area has experienced hundreds of years of turmoil from several great dynasties such as the Qin, Han and Tang dynasties. The ecological environment has long been severely damaged, and naturally it cannot assume the responsibility of the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty.

For this reason, Zhao Kuangyin finally had no choice but to continue to set his capital in Kaifeng, the capital of the Later Zhou Dynasty, instead of moving the capital to other places.

Now, after decades of development, Guanzhong's ecological environment has recovered a little, and the population has slowly grown. People naturally need a big city to take on Guanzhong's commercial activities.

However, the commercial activities in Chang'an City are still very poor. Except for a few vendors in the East Market, the rest of the city is either a dilapidated residential market or even a wasteland.

You must know that this is inside Chang'an City. If there was wasteland in Kaifeng City, countless people would have rushed over to seize the place. How could it be left empty?

From here you can see how dilapidated Chang'an is now.

Seeing this situation, Zhao Jun thought of repeating his old tricks and planning the construction of Chang'an City, just like the planning of Beiping City, recruiting people into the city to build houses, thereby promoting urban development.

But when Fan Xiang handed Guanzhong's statistics into his hands, he knew that this routine was not going to work.

This routine can be used in Youzhou Prefecture because Youzhou, as Nanjing in the Liao Kingdom, has the largest population, reaching more than one million and nearly two million people, most of whom are Han people.

Fan Zhongyan only pushed back the Liao people in the First Battle of Xijin, and the city of Beiping was only damaged by the war. The basic base of the Han people in the entire Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures was not damaged.

Guanzhong is different.

Soil erosion, natural and man-made disasters, frequent wars in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and constant food shortages. Sima Guang once said, "There is famine in Guanzhong, ten houses and nine empty houses, and the displaced people are facing each other on the road."

During the Tang Dynasty, the registered population of Guanzhong exceeded 3.19 million. Counting unregistered black households, there were at least 4-5 million.

By the time of the Northern Song Dynasty, the population of Guanzhong had dropped to 530,000, and the registered population of the entire thirty states in Shaanxi Road was only 2.9 million. You can know how bad the situation in Guanzhong was due to the dual factors of war and ecological environment damage.

The only good news is that the imperial court has been carrying out population restoration and ecological environment management work in recent years. Through these years of efforts, both the population and the number of fields have increased.

It's just that the current population is still unable to support the construction work of Chang'an City. Unless people are recruited from the mainland, it will inevitably be the result of labor shortage.

It will also affect the farming and water conservancy construction in Guanzhong.

For this reason, Zhao Jun could only postpone this plan, mainly focusing on restoring the ecological environment in Guanzhong.

As long as the forest and grassland areas are planted to prevent water and soil erosion and the land can be cultivated for farming, the population will naturally increase slowly.

"It's still caused by insufficient population."

When Zhao Jun left Shaanxi Road in the 11th year of Qingli, he put away the pen and paper he was using for recording and sighed.

He has recorded too many problems that need to be solved in the past two years.

But things have priorities. Some things can be started, but some are long-term plans that cannot be impatient.

So we still have to do it step by step.

The disadvantage of Guanzhong is that the current ecological environment has not recovered and cannot support such a large population. Only by managing the ecological environment well can the problem of Guanzhong's decline be solved.

But there is another way, that is to repair the roads and connect the trains as soon as possible.

Because the ecological environment in Guanzhong is poor, droughts often occur and there is a serious food crisis, resulting in a population that has been unable to increase.

For example, "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" records that in the third year of Jinglong reign of Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty, "there was hunger in Guanzhong, and rice cost a hundred dollars. When transporting valleys from Shandong, Jiang, and Huai to the capital, cattle died." We can know how serious the food shortage problem in Guanzhong is.

But if the roads are repaired and there are trains and waterways to transport food to Guanzhong, then the food problem can be solved, and people can be directly transferred from the mainland to Guanzhong.

This situation was very common in ancient times. The most famous one was the reclamation of Sichuan in Huguang. With more people, many things could be done quickly.

In January of the eleventh year of Qingli, after the New Year, Zhao Jun went north from Guanzhong to Yan'an Prefecture to continue inspecting local environmental issues.

His original plan was to inspect the Yongxing Military Road, then go to Qinfeng Road to see Lanzhou, Qingtang and other places, and finally go north to Yinchuan and go to Ningxia to see the current situation in the northwest.

As a result, we were still halfway there, not even reaching Qinfeng Road, when we heard the news that Zhang Shixun had passed away due to illness in early February.

After all, the old man did not survive last year's winter and died of illness at the end of the year.

Strictly speaking, the court had no intention of letting Zhao Jun go back. After all, he was still on tour. When Wang Sui died of illness, he was on his first tour of the world, and they also did not let him come back.

Just tell him the news this time.

But along with the news of Zhang Shixun's death, there was another thing - Li Di was also terminally ill and probably wouldn't last long.

Considering that Li Di was his younger brother and acted as his right-hand man with Xia Song in the Constitutional Yuan, plus Li Xiaoji's relationship, it was unreasonable not to go back to see the old man off for the last time.

Therefore, Zhao Jun could only cancel his plan to go to Qinfeng Road and Ningxia and return halfway.

Fortunately, most places have been inspected now. The two-year trip is enough for him to cover most of the Song Dynasty. Currently, only Qinfeng Road and Northwest have not been visited, so it cannot be said that he has given up halfway.

The team was already in Huanzhou at the time, and temporarily headed south back to Guanzhong. Then in late February of the 11th year of Qingli, they took a boat down the Yellow River and headed for Bianliang.

It is spring, the flowers are blooming, the Yellow River has not yet reached the flood season, and the water level is neither high nor low. To ensure Zhao Jun's safety, the boats sail very slowly and walk along the river bank.

As a result, despite traveling day and night, it took almost ten days to finally reach Bianliang.

It's already early March at this time.

There are very few ships in the upper reaches of the Bianhe River from Biankou of the Yellow River to Kaifeng. In the past, this was the upper reaches of water transportation, mainly transporting grain and grass to Guanzhong.

However, Guanzhong was ruined and commercial activities gradually came to an end. It later became the waterway between Yongji Canal and Bianhe River in Hebei Province.

However, the Song Dynasty dug a canal from Huazhou to Bianliang in recent years. As a result, no one was willing to take the long way to the upper reaches of the Bianhe River and then to Bianliang. As a result, the Bianhe River slowly declined. Although it cannot be said to be in decline, it is not as good as in the past. prosper.

In March, the weather is getting warmer and even a little hot.

Zhao Jun stood at the bow of the ship, with Li Xiaoji next to him whose forehead was covered with sweat. According to the report from the officials who entered the memorial hall, Li Di was almost on his deathbed, and he didn't know if he could survive until they arrived.

At noon, the original green mountains on both sides of the strait slowly turned into endless plains, and then you can see a large number of forest landforms and rural villages.

Farther to the southeast, a vast and majestic city comes into view. The first thing you see are the high-rise buildings outside the city.

Buildings are rising from the ground, and streets are crisscrossed. Bicycles and rickshaws can be seen walking on the cement road from time to time. There are even telephone poles in many places nearby, and wires connect every household.

"I didn't expect that Bianliang would have changed so much after I went out for two years."

Zhao Jun was very surprised.

What he saw in the local area was completely different from Bianliang.

Locally backward and feudal.

Bianliang is changing with each passing day. Zhao Zhen only lit up the palace three years ago, and three years later Bianliang City was already full of lights.

Such a difference does give people an unreal feeling.

Just like Shanghai and other places in the Republic of China in the 1920s, Shanghai was a feast for the eyes, but people in other places were in dire straits.

Although the Song Dynasty did not mean that the people were in dire straits, it could even be said that the country was peaceful and the people were safe, and the people could afford to eat.

But this itself is a manifestation of difference.

Soon the city was getting closer and closer, and in the distance, a large group of carriages stopped at the ferry outside the city.

Ships are no longer allowed to dock in the city. Various warehouses and docks have been built outside the city. Many factories and workshops are gathered outside the city. The city has been completely commercialized.

Now, apart from a group of merchant ships coming from Guanzhong, there is only Zhao Jun's fleet in the entire Bianhe River, and that merchant ship is still behind them.

When Zhao Jun's fleet arrived at the dock outside the city, the dock did not look very lively.

Since the canal in the direction of Huazhou took on most of the transportation work of the Bianhe River in the past, only a small number of merchants in Guanzhong and Shanxi now use water transportation.

Some porters were sitting lazily on the dockside waiting for work. When they saw the fleet coming, they immediately stood on the dockside.

But soon they were blocked by the government officials and they were not allowed to get close.

It didn't take long for Zhao Jun's fleet to sail into the dock. He still had quite a lot of things. There were more than 300 guardsmen, and the cabin was full of materials that needed to be stored. Jiang Dalang went to call on the workers to move things from the other side.

Fan Zhongyan, Yan Shu, Xia Song, Cai Qi, Song Shou, and Jiang Tang came forward to greet him.

Zhao Jun walked off the deck.

Several people stood on the shore. Yan Shu smiled and waved to him: "Hanlong, this way."

"Uncle Lari"

Zhao Jun looked over and couldn't help but feel sad.

After not seeing him for two years, Yan Shu's temples were already gray and even his beard was gray and white, and his face was getting older.

Unlike Lu Yijian, Lu Yijian and he were both teachers and enemies.

Since Lu Yijian had harmed Zhao Jun in his early years, Zhao Jun only wanted to learn Lu Yijian's schemes and tricks, but he didn't particularly respect him and was even vaguely hostile to him.

But Yan Shu was different. As the first person to communicate with him and the person who silently supported him behind the scenes all year round, Yan Shu would not confront Zhao Jun like Lu Yijian did, and would often teach Zhao Jun how to govern the country.

The relationship between the two is like that between a student and a teacher, more like friends or relatives. Zhao Jun usually addresses others as "Mr. So-and-so" or "Mr. So-and-so", but he always calls Yan Shu "La Ri Shu".

This is also one of the bonds between them.

However, Zhang Shixun died of illness, Li Di was also on his deathbed, and Yan Shu was 61 years old this year, entering old age, and he would die of illness in another 4 years in history.

Although Zhao Jun didn't know exactly when he died, he was still a little sad to see him getting older.

"I haven't seen you for two years, you are a little darker, and the emperor misses you every day."

Yan Shu patted Zhao Jun's shoulders with both hands and sighed: "I didn't expect you to be gone for another two years. Time waits for no one."

"I have read the emperor and the letters you wrote to me. I hope everyone is in good health."

Zhao Jun greeted.

Fan Zhongyan smiled bitterly and said, "The year before last and last winter, everyone had a hard time. I also got sick and almost died. We are all over 60 years old, and I don't know how long I can live."

"Okay, don't say such things when you just meet."

Yan Shu interrupted, "Hanlong has been traveling hard all the way, let's go into the city first."

"How is the Duke of Fugu?"

Zhao Jun asked as he walked.

Cai Qi shook his head and said, "Not very well. He fell ill once last year, and his condition worsened this year. He also used penicillin made by the government, but the effect was not very obvious."

Zhao Jun sighed, "Penicillin is not omnipotent. It can only treat common bacterial infections. Many diseases are viral infections, and antibiotics are useless. Especially for the elderly, their body functions are degenerating, and there is nothing we can do about it."

"Yes."

Several prime ministers looked sad.

The Political System Council was established in October of the third year of Jingyou, which was October 1036 AD. Now it is the eleventh year of Qingli, which is the beginning of 1051 AD. It has been exactly fifteen years, and the fourth re-election will be held in October this year.

In the past fifteen years, five prime ministers have passed away one after another, and the rest are at least sixty years old. They are all little old men. It is unknown how many people will be left in another ten years.

It cannot be said that the rabbit dies and the fox mourns, but it can be said that they feel the same.

After all, they once had the greatest power and stood at the top of the world, but they could not escape the baptism of time after all, and they were inevitably full of reluctance.

Maybe some people say that you have such great power, what else can't you be satisfied with.

But you must know that they can have such great power because they fought their way out of the siege among thousands of troops, which is the result of their own efforts.

After having all this, naturally they don't want to lose it.

What a pity.

Time is fair.

Even if you are an emperor, you can't escape the years.