The Maojin knife from the late Jin Dynasty

Chapter 198 Return to Qingzhou
"Cao Yi, that bastard, actually built a port and robbed me of the city gate fees at the same time. Forget the city gate fees, even the merchants from Youzhou took them away!"

Zhang Song naturally became the governor of Jizhou, and was mainly responsible for the restoration of Jizhou.

To be honest, Zhang Song naturally knew that the Jizhou area where he was located had many more problems than Youzhou.

The most important problem is the defeat of the army, which also leads to a significant deterioration of the environmental security in Youzhou.

Wang Jun defeated Liu Tai and led his army to capture about [-] defeated soldiers. However, the defeated soldiers may have followed Qi Hong and fled to Liu Kun, but more of them were scattered in small groups in the counties in the north of Jizhou. .

Some of them fell into danger and became bandits, some fled to the mountains and forests, and some fled back to their homes in Youzhou regardless of risk.

Therefore, the large area south of Jizhou City and north of Nanpi City is occupied by defeated troops.

Some broken troops even gathered into thieves, making it very troublesome for Liu Tai to deal with them by taking advantage of the terrain.

Compared with Liu Tai's handling of Wang Jun, it can be described as clean and tidy, but against these defeated troops, he can only grind slowly.

It is necessary to let the soldiers go to clear out the dens everywhere, and there is no other way.

This is where Zhang Song feels a headache.

The three counties in the south of Jizhou are relatively stable, but the two counties in the north of Jizhou have suffered a lot of defeats.

The only good thing is that because of Liu Tai's military policy, these grassroots people are quite supportive of Liu Tai's army.

This made Zhang Song relieved and prevented the people from joining the defeated troops.

It is expected that by the end of this year, the two generals Xu Miao and Gaoliang will be able to clear out these deserters, which will allow the business roads in Jizhou to be smooth again.

Zhang Song was a real businessman among Liu Tai's men, and he once purchased large quantities of corvees and women.

Therefore, Zhang Song knew that merchants had serious path dependence, or channel dependence, when conducting business.

Under such circumstances, if they travel more on the sea route in Youzhou, there will be more and more cases where the road from Youzhou to Qingzhou will go directly through the Bohai Sea instead of taking the land route.

Therefore, Zhang Song understood that if this matter was not resolved, Jizhou's prosperity would definitely drop by a notch in the future.

Of course, it makes sense for Zhang Song to think this way. After all, the advantages of waterway over land can be calculated with just a little calculation.

Not to mention, in an era with lower productivity, the rewards brought by water transportation will be richer.

On the contrary, when productivity increases and trains, trains, airplanes and other means of transportation appear, although shipping is still the largest cargo transportation system, other shares will inevitably be divided by other means of transportation.

"What are you thinking about, so obsessed with it?" Wang Sang came to the Interior Department wearing armor, but saw Zhang Song in a daze at this time, and couldn't help but ask.

Wang Sang is the defense commander of Jizhou, the commander-in-chief of the Jizhou Protectorate. Especially now, one side is responsible for defending Shi Le from a possible sudden outbreak, and the other side is responsible for clearing out Wang Jun's defeated troops in the Jizhou area.

"I've met Wang Duhu!" Zhang Song saluted Wang Sang. Relatively speaking, both of them were Wang Mi's surviving ministers.

Although the two sides did not communicate much at first, because they had the same position under Liu Tai, the two sides naturally got closer.

And now the two sides are jointly responsible for garrisoning Youzhou. The relationship between the two sides has naturally improved.

"Because we had a large number of defeated troops in Jizhou, the north-south trade route was blocked, which forced some business travelers to go directly to Qingzhou via ships. In this way, we lost a lot of city gate fees!" Zhang Song couldn't help but say.

Of course, since Zhang Song had more or less run business, he had a vague feeling that merchants brought more than just city gate taxes, or they could make white gloves for aristocratic families.

But Zhang Song could not imagine the specific role that merchants played based on his knowledge.

Relying on his own familiarity with merchants, he felt that merchants were very important, at least he could not let Cao Yi eat up all the merchants' benefits.

"I said, what are you thinking? You are actually angry with me! I don't have Han Xin's ability. Wherever I go, the wind and clouds are everywhere. Regardless of the defeated troops or the militia, they all become my own soldiers. I'm really sorry for you! "Wang Sang couldn't help but mocked.

"That's right! It's just an old man like you. Even if you don't have the ability of a soldier, why do you have the strength of Wang Jian!" Zhang Song couldn't help but said, "This way, we can clean up all these defeated troops in a hurry! "

"I would like to report to you that I have captured another eight thousand prisoners to make you happy. It seems that it is not necessary now!"

Wang Sang said as he took out a battle report from his hand, put it in his hand and shook it.

"You have to have it!" Zhang Song snatched the battle report from Wang Jun's hand like a hungry wolf, and then looked at the additional population of 8000, and his face smiled brightly, and said, " This battle report is good, there are [-] more people!"

Wang Sang looked at Zhang Song's unpromising look and was glad in his heart. Fortunately, he had gone through the process and selected two thousand guys with good physiques to enter the prisoner camp for transformation.

To be honest, as it became known to everyone that soldiers could get the benefits of military land, even if they had to start a family, it became an advantage for single soldiers.

Now there is no need for Liu Tai to ask Zhang Song to buy women. Basically, the local people are eager to give women directly to these soldiers. At least in this era, where can such good singles be found?

In this case, it would not be so easy for the soldiers in the prisoner camp to turn around and become Liu Tai's subordinates.

To a certain extent, it was okay during the war. They were kept in prisoner camps and rehabilitated while being trained.

But after the war, especially in the current battle with the defeated soldiers, if the defeated soldiers are captured, they will be selected to a certain extent. At least if they are not physically excellent to a certain extent, it is not possible to enter the prisoner camp and change their fate. dream.

Therefore, Wang Sang had already dealt with Zhang Song's men once. Of course, this kind of thing has gradually become an unspoken rule for the entire army.

Zhang Song didn't care. He had never managed a state or county before, so Zhang Song didn't feel much about it. But now there was a state that was handed over to Zhang Song to manage. Zhang Song found that Jizhou's land was really vast and sparsely populated.

Because of the years of war, and even now because of the confrontation with Shi Le, it is impossible to invest all in development.

Under such circumstances, Zhang Song found that if he wanted to develop Jizhou, there was a shortage of people everywhere.

Wang Sang gave himself 8000 people. Regardless of where they would go in the future, they were all precious resources to Zhang Song.

Wang Sang saw Zhang Song's dog face changing so quickly, but he didn't pursue anything and just said:

"Go and ask over there in Qingzhou, haven't the new armors for our army been issued yet? Some of the armors have been mended again and again? This is also the main thing I came to see you about this time!"

Zhang Song couldn't help but be in awe when he heard Wang Sang's words, and said with a serious face: "I know, I will ask Chu Hui, you are indispensable for the leather armor!"

Most of Liu Tai's troops were made of leather armor, but the leather armor under Wang Sang's command was relatively more worn.

In addition, they are responsible for clearing out defeated troops, so they need the protection of armor.

Although it is not very frequent to change armor such as leather armor, it is even common for a piece of leather armor to be passed down in the hands of a soldier for a lifetime.

But the problem was that I and others had just experienced a victory against Wang Jun, and the damage to the leather armor was beyond expectations.

Not to mention having to clear out defeated troops in such a state, so damage to the armor due to insufficient defense is common.

Needless to say, as long as there is a puncture and a little tetanus appears, the whole life may be lost.

After all, Chinese medicine is effective in regulating diseases, but its effect on inflammation such as fever is very limited!
Zhang Song promised Wang Sang, but he had a headache because Cao Yi, an unreasonable guy, was trying to get rid of the problem.

However, Zhang Song took a deep breath and came up with an alternative solution, which was to build a port himself!
If you can't beat it, then join, it's not a shame!

Zhang Song also understood that Wang Sang's soldiers actually needed to urge him to change their armor. This showed that these Wang Jun's soldiers were not very easy to deal with as scattered individuals.

Under such circumstances, it means that it will take at least half a year to quell the rout in northern Jizhou.

I think that only when the winter snow comes, can the problem of defeated troops be completely solved. Before that, that is, within this year, I must find a way to keep the merchants here.

The so-called staying is not to force the merchants to stay, but to make these merchants need to pass through Jizhou, so that this channel in Jizhou will remain.

Only when the military trouble caused by the defeated troops in Jizhou was put down could this trade route be reopened. Thinking of this, Zhang Song scratched his head and decided to make such a plan for the time being.

While Zhang Song was scratching his head, Liu Tai was also waiting for Xi Jian's report from Youzhou.

Xijian said to Liu Tai: "I'd like to inform the Duke. According to what the Duke said, we did a survey in the hilly and mountainous area southeast of Youzhou City and found a large open-pit coal mine, which is quite convenient for our army's mining work!"

"As long as you find the coal, then this project will be handed over to you!"

Liu Tai breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Xi Jian's words, and then said,
"You first set up the framework of this coal company, and you can also try to mine it. After I return to Qingzhou, I will ask Jie Fei to dispatch coal-related talents to mine this coal with your help.

Next winter, whether we can have a good year in the Three Prefectures of Hebei and Qingdao depends entirely on you! "

"Follow the Duke's order!" Xi Jian heard Liu Tai's words and answered Liu Tai excitedly.

Liu Tai nodded. As the winter gets colder, Xi Jian's Coal Division will become more and more important.

The coal excavated here needs to be sent to thousands of households, at least to reduce the probability of people freezing to death in winter.

When he was in Qingzhou, he promoted the fire kang and even made briquettes for burning in the fire kang.

But in actual terms, the effectiveness of Fenghuo coal in maintaining the fire pit was not as good as the firewood accumulated by the people in the autumn.

Of course, the most important thing is that the firewood collected by the people themselves is free in the eyes of the people, but the briquettes have to be paid for.

Regarding this, Liu Tai also knew that he had made some trial and error. Even so, Liu Tai still chose to promote briquettes instead of firewood.

The reason is very simple. What I hope is to promote the industrial revolution, so the efficiency of coal utilization must be improved.

No matter how well ordinary wood is calcined, it would be a blessing to have a thousand degrees, not to mention that the production cycle of firewood is a bit too long for humans at least.

However, coal has a long production cycle, but it is now readily available for use. For Liu Tai, it is more advanced than firewood.

Strictly speaking, the energy source of firewood is the representative of the feudal era, but if coal can be used in production, it will mean that one foot has stepped into industrial civilization.

Liu Tai knew that the arrival of the increasingly harsh Little Glacier climate had contributed to his determination to develop the coal mine in Tangshan.

After all, I haven't found any cotton at all, so it is inevitable to use fuel heating to replenish body heat for the people.

When Xi Jian develops this coal mine, he will be able to promote large bathing baths in You, Hebei and Qingzhou.

After all, in terms of temperatures during the Little Ice Age, the current temperatures in these three states will definitely not be higher than those in the Northeast in the 21st century!
No matter what, after Xi Jian successfully confirmed that there was a mine in the area where Tangshan was located, Liu Tai finally breathed a sigh of relief and said hello to Zhao An, asking Zhao An to leave the captured soldiers to Xi Jian to dig. Mine, he took a boat back to Qingzhou.

The person who greeted him in Linzi County early was Chu Hui, who also served as the governor of Qingzhou.

"Thank you!" Liu Tai looked at Chu Hui and said, "I have been staying in Youzhou these days. I am afraid that I have accumulated a lot of things, so I will go back and deal with these things with everyone."

Chu Hui looked at Liu Tai's attitude and sighed slightly. It seemed that today was another day of working overtime.

However, facing Liu Tai with thousands of words, Chu Hui could only say, "Your Majesty, please come here!"

Soon, Liu Tai returned to the Interior Department and immediately began to deal with the mountain of copywriting.

I don't know how much time passed, but Liu Tai stretched himself and finally managed to handle seven or eight things.

At this time, Chu Hui looked at the dimmed sky and said, "My lord, should we do the remaining documents tomorrow, or should we work overtime today to complete them?"

"There are endless government affairs. Let's deal with them tomorrow. After eating here, everyone will go back to their homes!" Liu Tai waved his hand.

After hearing Liu Tai's words, no one said much, but Chu Hui looked at Liu Tai and said,
"According to the general's policy, we should be recuperating in the next few years!"

"Yes. Is there any problem?" When Liu Tai heard Chu Hui's words, he couldn't help but look at Chu Hui in confusion.

"Ms. Wang's three-year mourning period is coming soon. Please don't ignore this matter!" Chu Hui said solemnly.

(End of this chapter)