The rise of the late Song Dynasty reigns supreme

Chapter 597

"Doctor Liu, I have another merciless request!"

Liu Fang replied straight to the point: "Don't worry, my lord. I understand what the lord wants to say. When I return to Beijing, I will definitely not talk nonsense about the situation here. Don't worry, my lord!"

"Thank you!" Zhao Gou thanked him, and that was what he was talking about.

Now that Liu Fang knows Zhao Gou's secret, he also knows that there are some things that can be said and some things that cannot be said.Liu Fang also admired Zhao Gou's ability.Song Dynasty needed Zhao Gou, and Liu Fang promised to do it firmly, and he would never gossip.

Liu Fang stayed in Youzhou for another three days, then bid farewell and returned to Beijing to resume his life.Zhao Gou personally sent him out of the city, which is also a kind of respect.

"Junior brother, if he speaks out, it will be a crime of deceiving the emperor. What should we do?"

"Don't worry!" Yue Fei's worry was not unreasonable. If he really said it, then their heads would fall to the ground. Zhao Gou was probably fine, but they concealed it together. Swearing: "He won't say it, I believe in his character."

Then, Zhao Gou went back. He was not idle, he was already in good health, so he should do some serious business.

"Senior brother, pass on my order to have all the officials above rank five in Youzhou call here!"

Yue Fei obeyed Zhao Gou's order and went out immediately. He ordered Tang Huai, Zhang Xian, Wang Gui and others to go out, and invited all the local officials above the fifth rank. In fact, this was the first time Zhao Gou officially Summon the local officials in Youzhou.

"Butler Wang, let the other brothers come in!"

"My lord!" Everyone came forward and shouted respectfully.

Zhao Gou laughed and said, "Brothers have worked hard these days!"

Everyone smiled. They really worked hard, and they worked hard.Because they are all pretending to be seriously injured, but in fact there is nothing serious, but they can't use force, and they can't walk around, so they have been recuperating in the mansion, which really suffocates them.

Now that the rain has passed, the weather has cleared, and everyone's foot ban has been lifted.

"Now, you come out immediately, go to other states, and let the local generals and officials come to see me!"

Everyone immediately agreed, they were ready, and they had heard Zhao Gou talk about this on the way here.If Zhao Gou is unwell, maybe they don't need to do anything.Now that everything is fine, they also know that Zhao Gou will definitely take action.

Therefore, they were all ready to go, waiting for Zhao Gou's order.

"My lord, all the local officials and generals are here!"

"Okay, let them all come in!"

"My lord!"

"You colleagues have worked hard!" Zhao Gou asked them all to sit down, and said with a smile: "I know that most of you colleagues are former officials of the Liao Dynasty, but you have always been the people of the Song Dynasty. I hope that you will be loyal to your duties."

"Today, the king called everyone, not for anything else, but to put forward a few requirements: first, officials within the jurisdiction of the king must not engage in any acts of enriching their own pockets, nor do they deceive or disturb the people; , both civil servants and military commanders are the pillars of Youzhou, and you must not attack each other, and you must not secretly cause obstacles; third, in Youzhou, we must vigorously develop agriculture and handicrafts, and even support commercial trade. Let Youzhou become the important city of the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun; fourth, everything is based on the people's living and working in peace and contentment, and the local people must have enough food and clothing."

"Can you meet the above four requirements?" Zhao Gou asked loudly, "The governor of Youzhou, you are an official of Youzhou. I don't know what your opinion is?"

The governor of Youzhou hurriedly replied: "Reporting to the lord, I think the third and fourth items are a bit difficult to deal with, but the others are easy to discuss."

"tell me the story!"

"The total number of people in Youzhou counties is 10,000+. In the past, commerce and handicraft industries were very prosperous here, especially the rice, oil, and pig iron shops. However, it gradually declined under the governance of the Liao Dynasty. Even these shops are struggling to survive.”

The governor of Youzhou has also been here for a while, and he knows the customs and customs of this place like the back of his hand. He also suffers from helplessness. If the commerce and handicraft industry in Youzhou in the past were indeed very developed, but they were destroyed later, these destructions are still man-made.

At the beginning, the Liao people were unscrupulous in Youzhou, and the shop owners had lingering fears, and finally closed their doors one after another, and some became Liao people's shops, which also made the local people speechless and living in distress.If it is to return to the former grand occasion, the cost will be very high, and the time period will be very long.

Zhao Gou pondered for a moment, and said resolutely: "No matter how difficult it is, this is a top priority and must be done well. If there is no such support, it will be difficult to maintain financially alone, and the people will not sincerely attach themselves to Song Dynasty, and it will be difficult to regain the hearts of the people. No matter how long it takes, it must be done.”

The governor of Youzhou nodded, and he could only agree. As for the fourth reason, it was similar to the third reason.In fact, the most important thing is that the treasury of Youzhou does not have much money, which is also the most important thing.Zhao Gou also knows some things, but these need to be done slowly. As long as these four things can be achieved, then the following things will be much easier.

Youzhou is a military center, and Zhao Gou must manage it well. If he wants to become a monolith, the only way to win back the hearts of the people is to let the local people recognize the Song Dynasty, so that they really agree with their jurisdiction.If there is no change, then these people who lived in the Liao Dynasty for a hundred years will not recognize the Song Dynasty, and maybe there will be a rebellion, because they don't have enough food and clothing.

Zhao Gou listened to everyone's reports that some places in Youzhou were destroyed after the last Song-Liao war, and these places also needed money to repair, and even need to be reinforced.In addition, the local finances do not have much income. The seemingly prosperous Youzhou is actually very poor, especially when winter comes, and many people will freeze to death.

Therefore, Zhao Gou issued an order to ask the household registration officers of various counties to recompile the household registration. As long as there are people, no matter men, women, old or young, they need to register and record them one by one. The county's situation is fully investigated, and then targeted treatment.

When Zhao Gou was in full swing in Youzhou to reorganize and reorganize, a major event also happened in the capital.

Prince Zhao Huan had already lost power, but he didn't expect major changes to happen these days. Not only did he have strong financial resources, but he also had a wide network of contacts.Moreover, Zhao Huan knew some things about officials in the DPRK, whether it was good or bad, and he could help in time if there were difficulties. This also made him accept the hearts of some officials and sincerely loyal to him.

Zhao Huan was very proud of seeing his power re-cultivated. He had a dispute with Zhao Yougong in the end, but Zhao Yougong changed from normal. Not only did he not fight, but it was more like a The concession made Zhao Huan more and more powerful. Even the emperor didn't respond, but approved instead. This also made some ministers in the court have the idea of ​​getting close to the prince.

After Zhao Gou issued the order, officials of all sizes took action immediately, and even the governor went out and stopped working in the government office. Gradually, he understood the local situation, and what was most lacking right now was a lot of money.The top priority now is to solve the problem of funds. He can't take his own money out, because there are more important things.

So, Zhao Gou went up to the court and asked the emperor to allocate funds. Song Huizong didn't have anything to do. He directly agreed and allocated 800 million taels at a time, which was enough.As for the latter matter, it has to rely on the local people and officials.

When the funds were allocated to Youzhou, Zhao Gou immediately divided the money into two parts, one part was used for the common people and the other part was used for the military. Youzhou's defense is stronger.

In addition, 300 million taels were used to dredge rivers and rebuild roads. In the end, the remaining 100 million taels were put into the treasury. The 800 million yuan was spent and 700 million yuan was used. All of the money was used for the people, which made Zhao Gou's reputation popular in Youzhou, and the salaries of local officials were also distributed in accordance with the imperial system. When things get better, they will be issued together, and the money will be used for emergency affairs first.

Due to Zhao Gou's proper management, Youzhou has regained its vitality, and the handicraft industry and commerce that had disappeared for a long time have also slowly recovered. People, merchants and others are also willing to come, which is why Zhao Gou strongly supports it.Moreover, Zhao Gou also gave them preferential conditions for tax exemption for one year.

In just three months, Youzhou has undergone earth-shaking changes. Not to mention a new look, even other states and counties have been rectified according to Zhao Gou's instructions. Gradually, the sixteen states of Yanyun slowly developed. Even the local government has a source of income.

Zhao Gou's well-organized management made the people of Youzhou feel grateful to him, and his reputation became higher and higher, and his reputation even spread from the capital.Because Zhao Gou encouraged them to go out, some merchants from Youzhou opened their shops in Bianjing.

However, Zhao Gou was no longer in the capital for three months, and the forces in the capital changed completely. Prince Zhao Huan and Zhao Yougong were evenly matched, and even the emperor praised him, which greatly encouraged Zhao Huan's determination.

Zhao Gou is also very clear about the situation in the capital.He was very curious as to why the prince rose so quickly, so he asked him to find out who was helping him.It's just that he doesn't have much interest in the situation in the capital, and right now his thoughts are all on governing the Sixteen States of Yanyun.

The current Zhao Gou is really like the sky is high and the birds are flying, and the sea is wide and the fish are leaping!
When Zhao Gou left the capital and came to Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, this was already his fiefdom, and it can also be said to be the largest in history.Because of this, Zhao Gou put all his thoughts on it, not to mention, he mobilized all his forces to build the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun better. Even the official system has been changed, and the problems of people's livelihood have been reduced a lot. Even some places have developed to keep their doors open at night, all of which are due to Zhao Gou.

(End of this chapter)