Fu Song

Chapter 597
Holding the small clay pot, he first leaned forward and took a deep sniff, looking intoxicated, then raised his head and stretched out his hand to Zhou Hong, Zhou Hong subconsciously handed over the small wooden spoon in his hand.

He took the small wooden spoon, dug a spoonful and stuffed it into his mouth, his tongue stirred, and his teeth were full of saliva.

"Delicious!" The young official smacked his lips and praised loudly. His family was originally made of spices, so he can be sure that this fish sauce has no spices added. It is really incredible that it can have such a taste. .

"How is this done?" he asked curiously.

"It's made with small fish and shrimps from the river ditch and some wild vegetables picked by my housemates!" Zhou Hong was a little nervous.

"What kind of wild vegetables are they?" The people next to him were also knowledgeable, and they knew the key to this thing, probably on top of those wild vegetables, and asked immediately.

Zhou Hong hesitated a little, and his guest even shrank in the shack and did not show his face at this time.

It's not that he doesn't want to say it, but it's really unclear. Just as he was about to call the guest out, the young official said with a smile: "This is his business secret, how can it be made public? He will find a small shop in the city later. , relying on this, you can support your family! This is a good thing, a good thing! Is there any more?"

Zhou Hong shook his head: "When I escaped, my mother-in-law brought such a small can, and it's gone."

"Can you sell me?" The young official raised the small clay pot in his hand and asked with a smile on his face.

"Ah?" Zhou Hong was stunned, but immediately reacted: "Shangguan likes it, so just take it, it's not worth much."

"This is impossible!" The young official shook his head again and again, and reached into his arms, as if he wanted to take out the money, but his hands were frozen in his arms, and his face was a little embarrassed. He had never carried money with him for many years.

Seeing this, a middle-aged man accompanying him hurriedly took out a few silver anklets from his bosom, stuffed them into Zhou Hong's hands, and said, "This is for you!"

Looking at the silver ankle, Zhou Hong was a little dazed. Before he could figure out the situation, those people walked straight forward again.

After walking a few steps, the young man turned around and laughed loudly: "Open a shop to sell this thing, you can make a fortune!"

Zhou Hong naturally wouldn't know that this kind young man in front of him was Xiao Cheng and Xiao Chongwen, the chief assistant of the Jiangning New Song court and the number one person under the emperor.

Without any relevant news from the outside world, Xiao Cheng arrived in Bozhou from Jiangning quietly.

Accompanying him was Xie Hongxie Boying, the governor of Liangjiang who had just taken office.

As a son of a family, Xie Hong has always regarded his ancestor Xie An as his goal. During the rough years last year, he made the most daring and risky decision in his life, which was to persuade My friend, Liu Jun, the magistrate of Haozhou, joined forces with himself to attack Xuzhou under the control of Liu Yu, the puppet state of Qi.

After taking Xuzhou in one fell swoop, they struggled to support the reinforcements sent by Xiao Cheng, and then captured Dangshan, Xiapi and other places, completed the control of the key cities in the Huaihe River Basin, and completely stabilized the form of the Huaihe River Basin.

Xie Hong bet his wealth and life on the gambling table, and after success, he also got a huge reward.

Governor of Liangjiang, this is Xiao Cheng's reward for him.

Liangjiang not only included the original Huainan East Road and Huainan West Road, Xiao Cheng also included a large area of ​​Jiangnan Road under the rule of the governor of Liangjiang.

More importantly, the New Song Dynasty designated Jiangning Mansion Stone City as the temporary residence of the emperor, and Jiangning Mansion was also under the rule of Liangjiang.

Xie Hong, a local magistrate, suddenly became the most popular and powerful minister in the new Song court.

As for Liu Jun and Liu Liangchen, the magistrate of Bozhou who participated in this matter, Xiao Cheng did not treat him badly, but arranged for him to go to Fujian and Zhejiang as a transshipment envoy in the Minzhe area.

This is also a great errand of power. The Fujian and Zhejiang regions are not only economically developed, but also have Quanzhou, the number one foreign trade port of the Song Dynasty. Now the foreign trade tax here has become an extremely important source of finance and taxation for the new dynasty.

Xiao Cheng reused the thoughts of these two newcomers, and he could see everything at a glance.

Of course Xiao Cheng wanted to use these two more.

First of all, these two people have an enterprising spirit.Unlike many officials in the south of the Yangtze River, who have been in their comfort zone for many years and do not want to make progress, are greedy for leisure, do not want to change, just want to maintain the status quo, they want to climb up, and they want to reproduce the glory of the family.Right now, Xiao Cheng certainly wants to use such a person.

Change is what Xiao Cheng values ​​most now.

How can the national economy be reshaped without change?Don't look at Jiangnan talking about not being rich, but the government really doesn't have much money. The rich are the families of the gentry, and the ordinary people are just able to support their families.

If there is no change, how can we build a mighty army for the Northern Expedition?

If it doesn't change, it will inevitably end in a crushing defeat in the future against Liao.

Xiao Cheng knew very well what his third sister was doing in Liao Kingdom right now.

Different from her, Sanmei's methods are more straightforward and decisive.Those who obey will prosper and those who disobey will perish, and those who disobey will die.

But what Xiao Chuo could use, Xiao Cheng couldn't use.Because Xiao Chuo has now become the number one person in the Liao Kingdom, not in name but in fact.Moreover, the political system of the Liao Kingdom is also very different from that of the Song Dynasty, so Xiao Chuo can achieve his expected goals without any scruples, while Xiao Cheng can only find a balance among the various forces, and In this balance, accomplish what he wants to do.

If he really wanted to wield a knife like Xiao Chuo, he was afraid that all places in the south of the Yangtze River would fall into civil war immediately.

Doing everything possible to unite all those who can be united and establish a united front against the Liao Dynasty is what Xiao Cheng can do.

Therefore, local tyrants like Xie Boying and Liu Liangchen, who have a lot of resources, rely on him without hesitation. Although their purpose is very clear, they are also people that Xiao Cheng will reuse without hesitation.

Secondly, of course, it is also because although these two people belong to aristocratic families, they have been in political decline for a long time. They are alone in the core layer. If they want to make a sound, they must rely on themselves. They are very likely to be isolated or even suppressed by others.

Of course, if you use it for what you want, you should have the necessary means.

Taking the two apart is the first step.

If the two are kept together, it is very likely that Liangjiang will become their turf. Now Liu Jun has gone to Fujian and Zhejiang, which is the traditional sphere of influence of the old-school forces. So, if Liu Jun wanted to break through the numerous obstacles there and complete the task assigned to him by Xiao Cheng, he had to hold Xiao Cheng's thigh tightly.

Next, Xiao Cheng will continue to expand the contradictions between these new forces and the old forces, so that he can be in the middle to better grasp the situation.

The two walked slowly in this recently built refugee camp.

Although it was just a straw hut and the conditions were very simple, Xiao Cheng went around and found that in this camp for housing refugees, not only was there a supply of boiling water, but several toilets were dug, which is very rare.

The wave of refugees began after winter.It's not just this place, but there are people fleeing from the Beijing East and West Road, East Road, and South Road to the actual control area in the south.

Resettlement of refugees has always been a big problem.

Their influx will definitely affect the lives of the local people. These people have fled and have nothing, so some petty theft and even crimes cannot be avoided, which makes the local people hate or even hate them.

In the past month, there have been several incidents of fights between refugees and locals, all of which have come to Xiao Cheng's desk, which shows that the impact of the incident is not small.

But in Qiao County, Haozhou, it is so well organized. The local area preemptively built a refugee camp to centralize the management of the people who fled. The government provided the most basic living conditions, and then arranged them to different places according to the different conditions of the refugees. , exchanging skills for money, labor for money, and even labor for relief and other forms.

"Magistrate Lu is really talented. Thank you, Du. I think we can organize all the subordinates of Liangjiang to come here to see how Magistrate Lu resettled refugees." Xiao Cheng pointed to a man with a moustache who was one step behind on the left. Middle-aged humane.

"Don't dare. I have carefully studied Shoufu's review on refugee resettlement, and Xie Du's strong support is the reason for this situation." Lu Wan, the magistrate of Qiao County, said humbly.

Xie Hong smiled and nodded: "It is true that we should let them take a look. These refugees are also our comrades and the people of the imperial court. They are not willing to be ruled by the puppet regime. How can we treat them as outsiders, as bad people?"

Xie Hong is of course happy, this Lu Wan, but he recommended him, the out-and-out family member, now doing a good job, has become an example, of course he is also honorable.

As for giving advice, he really didn't, but because Lu Wan was one of his own, he was very generous in terms of money and food.

"Corn porridge is so thick every day?" Xiao Cheng asked with a smile.

Lu Wan was stunned for a moment, and said sincerely: "Looking back, today is very thick because you are coming. But usually it can make people full. The official feels that they should not be too full , otherwise I don’t want to leave here to seek a living, and if it comes too easily, I won’t cherish it.”

Xiao Cheng laughed loudly: "You are sincere, that's why you only put some thatch in the shack?"

"Yes." Lu Wan said: "One must have a positive heart to work harder."

"Well said!" Xiao Cheng nodded again and again: "But they are newcomers, and the locals must be repulsed, so how to arrange them, the government has to pay more attention. These people, to us, are not only horse bones, but also An important force for the Northern Expedition in the future."

"What the chief assistant said is very true!" Xie Hong echoed.

While talking, everyone has already left the refugee camp. Not far ahead is the Dongsha River. Now it is the dry season, and a large area of ​​the riverbed is exposed. Standing on the embankment, Xiao Cheng said with a smile: " Xie Du, when you took everyone to attack Xuzhou, why did everyone want to follow you?"

Xie Hong was a little embarrassed: "Looking back at Fu, the main force when attacking Xuzhou was actually Liu Jun and I's servants and tenants. The other recruits were Xu Yihe. With a lot of money, beautiful women, Tian Zhuang, etc. bought some insiders. Of course, this is also related to Liu Yu's unscrupulous exploitation and suppression of local people after he became the puppet king of Qi at that time, which was unpopular!"

Xiao Cheng smiled slightly, the so-called servants and tenants were actually Xie Hong's private soldiers.This situation is very common in the south.

Originally, the imperial court's forbidden army had low combat effectiveness, and its officers were corrupted. The Xiang army, which was the reserve of the forbidden army, was reduced to servants of officials, but it was the private army of the gentry, and its combat effectiveness was really leveraged.

This kind of situation is unlikely in the north. The north is the place where the imperial court focuses on. If you dare to raise private soldiers, they will put a hat on you as a rebel and kill you in minutes.

Don't look at the Song Dynasty, who always said that he would not kill scholar-bureaucrats, but if you put on the hat of conspiracy, you have to say goodbye to your head.

And this is exactly the reason why Xiao Cheng can only discuss with everyone in a light and gentle manner. After the new court is established, a large number of positions need to satisfy the needs of many big shots in the south.

It's not that when you raise a chess piece and have chips in your hand, everyone is willing to follow you.

Without adequate protection of interests and rights, why should people support you?

Even now Xiao Cheng has powerful troops such as Yun, Gui, and Guangnan West Road in his hands.

After Xiao Cheng came out of Yunnan and Guizhou, these capable troops were stationed in Xiangyang, Xuzhou and other strategic places to resist the enemy, but the heartland was empty.

Without compromising with these local powerful factions, can you still raise your knife and shout that those who follow me will prosper, and those who oppose me will perish?
I'm afraid that the first to die is probably Xiao Cheng himself.

"When I led the Guizhou Army to attack Yunnan, I was similar to you. They were all rewarded with great rewards, and there are brave men under great rewards!" Xiao Cheng said with a smile: "So when we go to the Northern Expedition in the future, these people will escape from the north. The people in the south can be relied on, they have more desire to fight than the people in the south, do you know why?"

Xie Hong pondered for a moment, then said forcefully, "Shoufu, I think it's because they want to go home!"

"Yes!" Xiao Cheng waved his fist vigorously, and said, "Going home, this is the complex that we Han people have had since ancient times. It's not a last resort. Who wants to leave their hometown! It's good to be at home, but it's difficult to go out! So, Going home is what they want. If these people come more often, they will be the main force of our future Northern Expedition. Those who escaped now are only ordinary people. Next, there may be many influential people in the north who will also go We escape here. We have to find a way to lure those people to us."

Xie Hongdao: "If there are capable and influential people, the chief assistant will make great use of them, let them occupy a place in the imperial court, and help us gain momentum!"

"That's exactly the reason!" Xiao Cheng said: "In the imperial court, southerners occupy the main position, and their voice is the mainstream. Seeing that half of the country is stable now, they don't want to make progress and don't want to start a war again. Once I mention On this issue, the ruling and opposition parties immediately complained."

"Shoufu is too kind to them!" Xie Hong was indignant: "In my opinion"

"What can you do, can you still start killing?" Xiao Cheng was a little helpless: "Then I'm afraid it's really hurting the loved ones, and the enemies are coming soon. Take your time, change them bit by bit, or make us special." They are powerful, and it is easy to defeat their opponents, and at that time, they will be very happy to make great achievements."

(End of this chapter)