I

Gu Junen, who planned the development route for Li Zicheng, did not meet Li Zicheng in this time and space, and is now working as a minor official in Zhao Han's territory.

The envoy sent by Li Zicheng, named Fu Geng, was detained at the Anhui border and quarantined for half a month before being released.

Fu Geng caught up with Zhao Han's chariot in Gaoyou, and as Li Zicheng's envoy, he was immediately summoned by the Emperor of Datong.

Fu Geng wanted to take off his mask and kneel down, but Zhao Han stopped him: "No need to take off your mask."

"Greetings to His Majesty the Emperor of Datong!" Fu Geng knelt down.

Zhao Han said: "Sit down."

After Fu Geng sat down, he did not convey Li Zicheng's intention, but asked: "Your Majesty, I have a younger brother named Fu Shan. He went south with Master Yuan a few years ago. During this period, he wrote a letter and returned home. Later, the north and south were blocked. There is no news at all. I wonder if Your Majesty has ever heard of my brother’s name.”

Zhao Han suddenly laughed: "It turns out that he is the elder brother of Master Fu Qing. Your brother is doing very well in Nanjing."

The Emperor of Datong actually knew his younger brother, so his younger brother must be doing well in the south. Fu Geng was relieved and a little excited at the same time.

Fu Shan is proficient in classics and history, good at calligraphy and painting, and also has research on swordsmanship and Buddhism. However, he was favored by Zhao Han because of his status as a "sage in gynecology" and is now the vice president and gynecologist of Jinling Medical College.

If Zhao Han's concubines felt unwell, they would also invite Fu Shan to the palace by name for consultation.

Fu Geng said happily: "It's good to be alive, it's good to be alive."

Zhao Han asked: "What did your lord order you to do?"

Fu Geng said: "My Lord is willing to be brothers with Your Majesty. Dashun and Datong are also brotherly countries."

Zhao Han couldn't help but smile: "Then I should call your lord my brother?"

"Your Majesty is an elder brother, and my lord is a younger brother," Fu Geng said. "I heard that your Majesty is a descendant of the Zhao and Song Dynasties, but my lord is a descendant of the Li family of Xixia. The situation now is the same as before. After your Majesty regained Henan and Shandong, the country became like It was like the Song Dynasty. My lord took control of the hometown of Xixia, and the pseudo-Qing Dynasty was the Liao Kingdom at that time."

At this moment, the news that the Manchus had moved back to Liaodong had just reached Shandong, and neither Zhao Han nor Fu Geng knew about it.

Treating the country as brothers was just the price Li Zicheng offered. His bottom line was to surrender to Zhao Han but retain his own country name and territory, just like Xixia surrendered to Zhao and Song.

As for the descendants of Xixia, it was purely to put gold in his own face. Li Zicheng twice proclaimed himself emperor and respected Li Jiqian of Xixia as Taizu.

This is a routine operation. After a small person becomes successful, he must always find a powerful ancestor for himself.

Even the civil and military ministers in Nanjing proposed that the royal family genealogy should be compiled, and the ancestor could be named Zhao Wenzi (the orphan of the Zhao family), because the Zhao and Song royal families also followed this path.

Zhao Han had no interest in this kind of thing, and he had no interest in becoming brothers with Li Zicheng.

He asked Li Xiangjun to bring a pen and paper. He was afraid that Li Zicheng would not be able to understand, so he wrote the letter in common Chinese:

"Zichengxiongtaijian: My brother was a postman earlier, and my brother was just a slave in the family. The Ming Dynasty was unruly, and the people had a hard time living, so you and I brothers rose up to fight. My brother is a man who is indomitable, and I admire him very much. If there is no restraint from my brother, The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty cannot take the south lightly. I will repay this kindness and righteousness. If my brother raises Shanshan and returns to Shaanxi, he can be the Duke of Dingbei. My brother's generals, such as Li Guo and Liu Zongmin, will definitely have titles. Wait. If brother is unwilling to surrender, you and I can recuperate and recuperate, and come back to compete in the Central Plains in three to five years. My brother Zhao Han, I give you my best wishes!"

The letter was sealed and the envelope covered with wax.

Zhao Han said to Fu Geng: "Take the letter back and give it to your lord. We are all sensible people, there is no need to engage in such nonsense. Not to mention we are brothers, he respects me as his ancestor. When it is time to fight, There’s still a war to be fought.”

"Yes!" Fu Geng took it over his hand.

Zhao Han asked: "How does Li Zicheng manage politics in Shanxi?"

Fu Geng replied: "When I left Taiyuan, I was preparing to open schools to obtain scholars. It was nothing more than frivolous corvee and low taxation, and encouraging farming and mulberry production. The weather in Shanxi has been good this year, and it is time to recruit refugees for reclamation."

"It would be good if you can take care of people's livelihood." Zhao Han nodded in approval.

As for the military aspect, Zhao Han didn't bother to ask more questions.

Li Zicheng's occupation of Shanshan was so smooth that many generals who surrendered were still like small warlords, which took a lot of time to clean up.

At least within this year, Li Zicheng will not make any more moves.

Fu Geng also wrote a letter and asked to be forwarded to his brother Fu Shan. His family was fairly well off. Although the Manchus forced him to pay grain, his family and property suffered no losses.

Zhao Han continued to go south, and Fu Geng returned to Shanxi with the letter.

When he arrived in Yangzhou, Jiangsu's chief envoys brought officials at all levels to see him.

Zhao Han did not get off the ship. He only planned to dock for one night and take the ship to Nanjing tomorrow.

Liu Anfeng, Chen Wenkui and other Jiangsu officials were led into the cabin, lined up in two rows and bowed their hands: "Greetings to Your Majesty, congratulations to Your Majesty on your triumphant return!"

"Everyone, take a seat." Zhao Han said with a smile.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The officials sat down carefully.

Zhao Han asked casually: "How is the summer grain harvest in Jiangsu?"

Liu Anfeng, the envoy from the left, replied: "This spring, only Rugao, Haimen, and Tongzhou (Nantong) counties are experiencing drought, and the rest of the counties are experiencing good weather. It's just that the floods in Henan will inevitably affect the Huaihe River coast. Fortunately..."

Fortunately, the Huanglinggang embankment burst and the floods flooded the southwestern part of Shandong, so Jiangsu escaped the disaster. It is difficult to say this because the surrounding areas of Caoxian County were flooded so miserably.

Zhao Han nodded and said: "It seems that this year's summer grain harvest in Jiangsu is really good."

Liu Anfeng smiled and said: "Your Majesty, I wish you great blessing."

Zhao Han suddenly said: "Are there any Yangzhou thin horses?"

All the officials were stunned. Could it be that the emperor was interested in the Yangzhou thin horse and wanted to take one back and place it in the harem?

The right envoy Chen Wenkui said with a serious expression: "Your Majesty, there is no Yangzhou thin horse in the world!"

"Very good," Zhao Han nodded with satisfaction and asked, "How do you manage it?"

Chen Wenkui replied: "When I first took office, I ordered the magistrate of Yangzhou and the magistrate of Jiangdu to vigorously rectify the bad custom of raising women as thin horses. First, in conjunction with the slave release order, encourage concubines to leave their husbands' families and encourage prostitutes to be self-reliant; second, , outlaw the human teeth trade and prohibit human trafficking; third, encourage women to take exams to become officials; fourth, persuade merchants to open textile workshops and hire a large number of women as weavers; fifth, those who have had bad records of raising thin horses, have their households compiled A special mark will be placed on it. Previous crimes will be forgotten. If you dare to commit it again, not only will the old crime be prosecuted, but the crime will be increased to a third degree! He killed more than ten people and two salt merchants. His franchise license was revoked, and Yangzhou Shou Ma disappeared from now on! "

"What you do is worth advocating. Doing politics is like controlling water. We must not only strictly prevent deadlocks, but also dredge and guide them," Zhao Han praised, "This textile factory is good. Women can make a living and speak more forcefully at home. "

What is really scary is that two salt merchants had their salt business licenses revoked because they purchased Yangzhou Shouma!

The main customers of Yangzhou Shou Ma are salt merchants, and the franchise license is their lifeblood. After this, who will dare to buy Shou Ma?

It's just that it's hard to define the behavior, because the purchase of Yangzhou thin horses has always been under the guise of "adopting an adopted daughter."

Since salt merchants were mentioned, Zhao Han asked: "How is Jiangsu Salt Industry?"

Yu Shiqin, director of Jiangsu Industry and Commerce Department, said: "There are more and more salt-making factories, and both frying and drying are used. Salt is dried on sunny days, salt is boiled on rainy days, and salt is boiled in places far away from the sea. All salt is boiled using new methods, using salt. The pot replaces the salt pan. The salt pot is not easy to burn out, and can be burned day and night. The output is greater, and one pot can produce 600 kilograms of salt!"

This is a technical improvement.

The salt pot method is a salt cooking technique that emerged in Shandong in the late Wanli period. Not only the equipment for boiling salt has changed, but the process of boiling salt has also been slightly modified.

The benefit brought by the privatization of salt works is that businessmen will spontaneously adopt new technologies.

As for the disadvantages, industry monopoly, collusion between government and businessmen, exploitation of workers... well, these disadvantages also exist without privatization.

With the technological innovation of the Lianghuai Salt Farm, the cost of salt production has dropped rapidly. The government also issued many salt selling licenses, and salt was no longer used to block shipments. The two-pronged approach led to a rapid decline in salt prices, even making the market for private salt disappear.

There is money to be made from illicit salt, but the cost of committing a crime is too high, and there are many people who report it (low-level officials like to report it and make meritorious services), so few people take the risk anymore.

Today, the retail price of salt produced in the Huaihe River and the Huaihe River is only 4 Wen per pound when shipped to Jiangxi, which is close to the lowest point of the salt price in the Ming Dynasty - 7-14 Wen in the middle and late Jiajing years, 3-9 Wen in the late Jiajing period, and 3-9 Wen in the middle Wanli period. For 4-6 texts. As for the Chongzhen period in history, there were about 10 Wen in the early years, and it increased to more than 50 Wen in the last years.

Just looking at the price of salt, we know that after Zhang Juzheng's reforms, prices in Ming Dynasty became very low.

As for the civil affairs under Zhao Han, in terms of salt alone, it is comparable to Zhang Juzheng's reforms. Moreover, the overall income of the people under Zhao Han was higher than that of the Wanli Dynasty.

Zhao Han suddenly had an impression of Yu Shiqin: "Are you a Nanchang Juren?"

Yu Shiqin said happily: "Your Majesty, who is busy with everything, actually remembered the name of Wei Chen. Wei Chen was very frightened and not very honored!"

Zhao Han smiled and said: "I still remember when you, a group of talented people, captured Jiangxi General Soldier Yang Jiamo alive and defected."

"Your Majesty has implemented benevolent policies since the beginning of the rebellion, and people of insight naturally came to vote for him one after another." Yu Shiqin said flatteringly.

Zhao Han asked: "Are there any salt merchants who treat their workers harshly?"

Yu Shiqin replied: "There are trade unions in every salt field, and there is a salt workers' federation in every county. Moreover, there are more and more salt plants, and factory owners are recruiting workers desperately. How dare they easily offend the salt workers? If the workers get into trouble, not only will the government investigate them, but they will also It’s unbearable to lose even if production is stopped for a few days.”

"That's good." Zhao Han nodded.

We must also be vigilant about trade unions, not give them too much power, and make laws to suppress them. Otherwise, union leaders will form a new class, threatening and blackmailing factory owners at first and using workers as profit-making tools at worst.

The next day, Zhao Han's royal fleet set off.

A large number of people from Yangzhou City and nearby areas came to both sides of the canal after hearing the news. When the fleet passed by, the former military households, Cao people, tenant farmers, domestic slaves... all knelt down and kowtowed. There were thousands of people kneeling all over the place on both sides of the canal.

"His Majesty the Emperor, long live long live long live!"

This is truly a cry for long live the mountain, no one is organizing the connection, it is all from the sincerity.