Rebirth: Overthrow Song Dynasty

Zhao Chen and Yu Yunwen continued to ride their horses forward, they walked a few more villages and towns, and the sky gradually darkened.

"Your Majesty, there is a temple ahead, let's go to rest in that temple!" A school lieutenant who was going to explore the road ahead came over and said.

"Okay, let's go there." Zhao Chen said.

The snow was falling and the weather was extremely cold.

Snowflakes fell on people, and Zhao Chen, Yu Yunwen and others were all snow-white.

After walking for about half an hour, a temple appeared on the vast snowfield!

This is a typical temple of the Liao Kingdom. In the middle of the temple stands a Liao Kingdom octagonal pagoda.

"Your Majesty, the temple is empty, without a single monk. It looks like they were killed by the Jurchens. We didn't kill the monks," said the leading captain.

"These buildings are some historic sites, they should be well preserved," said Zhao Chen.

When everyone entered the temple, it was already dark.

There are rows of side rooms in this temple, which used to be used by monks, but now there are no monks, so they just go in.

Zhao Chen, Yu Yunwen and others came to the innermost room, where the soldiers had already lit a fire. After a while, a few soldiers came over with prey in their hands. Zhao Chen, Yu Yunwen and these soldiers roasted the prey together. Immediately, a scent of fragrance emanated from the room.

"This winter, the snow is really heavy!" Zhao Chen laughed.

"Your Majesty, this is the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun, which is colder than Guanshan and Hanzhong, so it snows heavily!" Yu Yunwen said.

"What I'm saying is, I've forgotten this truth! If we go to the Liaodong area, the snow will naturally be even heavier." Zhao Chen said.

There were soldiers boiling water nearby, and after a while, they brought over hot tea, but the hot tea was placed in an iron pot and served in several large bowls.

"In the next few days, we still have to go around Yanyun! After more than a month of crackdowns, the order in Yanyun is stable, but the people are frightened, and we need to calm them down," said Zhao Chen. .

"That's right, we need to appease them! Especially the Khitan people, they are also Yanyun people, and we can't do without them in the future construction of Yanyun!" Yu Yunwen said.

"Tomorrow, the decree will be delivered and the crackdown will end! Governing the world requires both kindness and power. Let's think about ways to appease the people." Zhao Chen laughed.

The so-called "combination of kindness and power", if we use the saying of later generations of Americans, it is "carrot and stick". Before they beat the Khitan people with a big stick, it made the Khitan people understand that the sky is high and the earth is thick, and it also made Yanyun's other The Han people have seen the iron and blood methods of the imperial court, and now it's time to deliver carrots to everyone to appease the people! This is a method commonly used by Americans in later generations, and it is also a good way to govern the world!

"Your Majesty, the first thing to do is to measure the land, distribute the soil, etc. immediately! The sooner the implementation is better! In fact, most of the Khitan people are also poor peasants, and only a small part of them rebelled. They just look down on us Han people! Now that they know how powerful we Han people are, they don’t dare to look down on Han people, and they dare not despise the majesty of the imperial court! When the farmland and farm tools are distributed to them, they will naturally be grateful, and they will feel that they are in our hands. Under the rule, their life is better than before, so they will naturally keep their own place." Yu Yunwen said.

"Not bad." Zhao Chen nodded.

"The second article is to reduce or exempt agricultural taxes! The entire Yanyun and Central Plains suffered from wars, and people's lives are difficult. Naturally, agricultural taxes must be reduced or exempted! In the future, when the people are rich, it is time to collect taxes! Only when the people are rich can the country be strong. , The people are not rich, tax collection will only increase the burden on the people, and the benefits to the country are limited." Yu Yunwen said again.

"Also, exempt next year's corvee! I have an idea in my mind. From now on, the country will try to reduce corvee as much as possible. If there is corvée, it will also be related to public affairs such as building water conservancy and roads! If it is to build government offices, corvee must not be used. It’s about spending money to hire people. Tell Yanyun’s Han and Khitan people about this too.” Zhao Chen thought for a while and said.

The so-called corvee is free voluntary labor. In ancient times, ordinary people had corvee. They had to serve dozens of days of corvee every year, and some even reached a hundred days. Zhao Chen wanted to reduce it when he was in Guanshan. speak out your thoughts.

"In this way, the people will naturally support the imperial court even more!" Yu Yunwen nodded and said.

"In addition to the agricultural tax, the business tax must be unified as soon as possible! We will remove the countless tax cards in the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun and all over the Central Plains. From now on, only one tax will be charged for doing business, and no deductions will be made! Come, we can encourage merchants from Jiangnan, Hanzhong, and Sichuan and Sichuan to come to Yanyun and the Central Plains, and it will also help Yanyun and the Central Plains to restore prosperity as soon as possible." Zhao Chen said.

"Yes!" Yu Yunwen nodded.

"Another thing is that the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun are too far away from the south of the Yangtze River, and it takes a long time to go by land. If it comes from the canal, the canal is broken because of the war, and it will take a lot of time! We need to rely on the east of Yanjing. Build a wharf near the sea, or simply build a new city to connect Yanyun and Jiangnan! This will not only benefit business, but also facilitate the transmission of government orders." Zhao Chen said.

"Okay! I have written it down!" Yu Yunwen said.

"I'm going to leave this matter to Wu Jie's Yangtze River Navy! In fact, Wu Jie has other tasks. Let's deal with Yan Yun first, so that Yan Yun can recover as soon as possible, and then talk about Wu Jie's other matters." Zhao Chen said.

Yu Yunwen secretly guessed what the other things Zhao Chen said were, but couldn't figure it out after thinking for a long time.

"To appease the people, in addition to the above policies, officials and the army need to work together! Tell the officials and soldiers in the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun to actively help the people! When the people are in trouble, they can't turn a blind eye. They have to Immediately rush to help! This is not only true for the Han people, but also for the Khitan people! Moreover, officials and soldiers must actively come to the people to publicize the policies of our Song Dynasty, and tell the people about these policies just now, so that the people know !” said Zhao Chen.

Yu Yunwen nodded.

"Also, although the crackdown is over, we still have to investigate the rebellion! If there are still Khitans who want to rebel, it is still a dead end!" Zhao Chen said.

The two of them discussed the issue of governing the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun in this leaky temple.

When the meat was cooked, they ate it there, and they and the soldiers slept here that night.

Early the next morning, they continued to move forward.

After walking forward for three days, they came to the vicinity of Zhuozhou.

In a small village outside the city of Zhuozhou, a farmer's house was crushed by snow. Zhao Chen ordered the soldiers beside him to help those soldiers repair the house.

It wasn't until it was almost dark that the house was repaired. The farmer was very grateful, but Zhao Chen and others left again and entered Zhuozhou City.

After arriving in Zhuozhou City, Zhao Chen went to visit a big Khitan family the next morning!

This big Khitan family has an excellent reputation in Zhuozhou!

When the Liao people were in power, the Han people were oppressed, and this Khitan family protected ordinary Han people.

When the Jurchens invaded, this Khitan family also became poor, and their houses were all occupied by the Jurchens, but they had a deep foundation, and they still helped ordinary Han or Khitan people under such circumstances.

After the Jurchen retreated, they returned to their houses again. They saw that many Han beggars had no place to live, and even gave up their houses.

More than a month ago, Zhao Chen iron-bloodedly wiped out the Khitan people, but this family obeyed the law and was not killed.

"Grassmen, see Your Majesty!" When Zhao Chen arrived at the door of this family, a dozen Khitan people had already greeted him outside, and they hurriedly knelt down with panicked faces.

"Stay flat." Zhao Chen said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, please come in quickly!" The Patriarch, a Khitan man in his forties, said.

Zhao Chen followed them into the house. Although the house was big, it didn't have many decorations, but it was tidy.

"Your Majesty, I only have some bad tea here, I'm really neglecting it." After everyone sat down, the Khitan patriarch said.

"It's good to have something to drink. I heard that you have helped many Han people over the years. I want to thank you." Zhao Chen said.

"Don't dare to be a grassroots! Caomin just don't want to see others suffer." The head of the family said.

"Didn't soldiers harass you during this time?" Zhao Chen said.

"No, none of you officers and soldiers came to our house." The head of the family hurriedly said, and after a while, the head of the house hesitated and said: "Your Majesty, although there are indeed some Khitans who want to rebel, you should kill them, but some of us The clansmen just made some small mistakes, so His Majesty will kill them, isn't it a bit inappropriate?"

After the Patriarch finished speaking, the faces of the Khitan people next to him changed drastically. They never dreamed that the Patriarch would say such a thing. If Zhao Chen was angered, all the family members would be killed.

"Many of the previous practices are indeed inappropriate! I have already issued an order, and it can no longer be like this! From now on, in the Yanyun Sixteen States, no matter whether they are Han or Khitan, I will treat them equally! No matter whether they are Han or Khitan, everyone They are the people of the Great Song Dynasty, they are all my people, and I will not treat them differently! If I did not do well before, I will apologize here." Zhao Chen said sincerely.

Hearing Zhao Chen say "apology", the head of the Khitan Patriarch showed an unbelievable expression on his face! Since ancient times, few emperors have admitted that they have done wrong, let alone have heard of an emperor who apologized to the people because of their doubts. This is really commendable! He naturally didn't know that Zhao Chen didn't really want to apologize, and Zhao Chen didn't feel that he had done something wrong. The bloodbath of Yanyun was a necessary means before, but now it's just to appease this Khitan family and make the Khitan people believe that the policy has changed!

When Zhao Chen said this, the Khitan family was excited, so there was no need to say more.

Zhao Chen stayed here for more than an hour before leaving.

From November 20th to December 15th, during the 25 days, Zhao Chen, Yu Yunwen and others visited more than ten prefectures and counties. They went deep into the people, appeased the hearts of the people, and told the policies of Yanyun. Common people, including Han people and Khitan people!

Originally, after the crackdown, the Khitan people panicked, but Zhao Chen visited many Khitan people’s homes and told them that as long as they obeyed the law, the imperial court would never embarrass them. In addition, the crackdown did stop, and some Khitan people were skeptical for a while. , but more people feel that the emperor personally told them the policy, there should be nothing wrong.

By December, the land was being measured and distributed everywhere, and many poor Khitans were given the land. The people applauded for a while, including the Khitans who were given the land. When all localities know that the agricultural tax will be almost exempted next year, and the corvee will also be exempted next year, they will be even more excited and excited!

What's more, Wang Shu's publicity offices have also entered various places!

The soldiers stationed in the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun also helped the Han people and Khitan people with some odd jobs, which was applauded by everyone.

In a short period of time, Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures broke away from the previous atmosphere of terror. After getting the land, many farmers were planning what to plant next year, and they were in high spirits.