Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

If there is any first impression of Changsha on Shao Shude, it must be the hot and humid climate.

It is said that when Liu Gongchuo was demoted to Hunan, he requested that his mother be kept in Luoyang and not taken to Hunan on the grounds that "Hunan's climate is low and humid".

There are also sayings such as "Spring may be rainy, but summer solstice will be severe, summer may be too hot, but autumn will not kill", "Summer will be at three o'clock, and it will be like autumn when it rains, saying that the land is wet and hot".

In short, spring in Hunan is relatively hot, summer and autumn are even hotter, and winter is comfortable—the winter in Hunan at this time should not be as gloomy and cold as in later generations.

It was midsummer at this time, and Shao Shude felt a little uncomfortable because of his age. After meeting a group of officials hastily, he found a relatively shady place and rested for a few days before leaving.

Secretary Lang sent various books and account books about Hunan for him to read.

In Hunan, there are roughly two main water systems, namely the Xiangshui River and the Zishui River. There is also Dongting Lake in the north, which is very rich in water resources.

This condition, logically speaking, is very suitable for the development of agriculture, and may not be worse than Jiangxi.

But Hunan has a fatal problem: poor soil quality.

"Hunan's local people's wealth is not as good as that of Jiangxi. There is generally less beautiful soil and more barren fields."

Zhendexiu in the Southern Song Dynasty also mentioned that "the people of Erxiang are very diligent in making a living, the soil is barren and poor, and they are vulgar and poor."

Shao Shude is not sure what the reason is. He tends to think that the level of development is insufficient.

Why is the soil poor?Except for "black land" which is endowed with abundant nutrients, other lands need to be "tuned".

Insufficient development of Hunan, imperfect infrastructure, frequent floods, etc. may be important reasons.

Therefore, the pressure relief valve cannot be used casually. The initial investment is very large and consumes a large amount of materials and even human lives.

This is still Hunan. What would it be like if it were Lingnan, Annan or even Taiwan?Anyway, Shao Shude would not go south, he could not adapt to the hot and humid climate in Changsha, let alone Guangzhou, Guizhou, Yongzhou and other places.

But the transportation in Hunan is really convenient.

In the era of the separatist regime in the former Tang Dynasty, because Huaixi was always in rebellion and water transportation was blocked, the importance of the Jingxiang waterway was reduced, and it was replaced by the Ezhou waterway, which quickly entered the golden age.

During the Tang Dynasty, Ezhou once became the hub of money and grain transshipment in the southeast. This can be seen from the fact that Shi Muning, the imperial servant who was responsible for the transfer of money and grain, was even added the title of governor of Ezhou.

Under such a background, all kinds of commodities in Hunan are transported northward through the Xiangshui Channel, and finally they are collected and distributed in Ezhou.

"Climate, soil, transportation..." Shao Shude put all the papers on the desk, closed his eyes and contemplated silently.

In fact, after coming here, he knew that Hunan had no conditions for rebellion, and even the entire Huguang Road had no basis for rebellion.The old foundation is poor, the population is sparsely populated, and the supplies are not sufficient. How can they rebel?

After understanding this, he was very relieved and began to think seriously about the future of Hunan.

Mining and the like are not in a hurry. With Hunan's weak foundation, it is not easy to do anything.What needs to be done most now is actually to strengthen the construction of transportation infrastructure, mainly the dredging and dredging of the two major water systems of Xiangshui and Zishui to improve shipping efficiency.

At any time, transportation infrastructure is extremely important.

Convenient transportation means smooth government orders and quick deployment of troops.

The transportation is convenient, the business is prosperous, and the humanities gather together.

Convenient transportation can also give full play to the "comparative advantages" in the commodity economy, lower prices and increase purchasing power.

In Hunan, the imperial court does not intend to focus on emigration, but it needs to improve the infrastructure first—mainly the water transportation system—and then sit back and watch the spontaneous emigration of ordinary people to minimize the cost.

Thinking of this, he didn't plan to stay in Changsha anymore, and decided to go north along the Xiangshui Channel to Yuezhou after resting and adjusting.

******
On July 22, before leaving, Shao Shude summoned Li Yu, the transfer envoy of Huguang Road, who came here to report on his duties.

Li Yu took office at the end of Jianji, and his age is not short.Like Weng Chengzan, he is about to be promoted to governor of Jiangxi Province.

Being able to leave Huguang and go to the relatively wealthy Jiangxi was an important step in his career.

The tall tank boats sailed on the Xiangshui River and went down the river to Dongting.

Shao Shude walked out of the room and came to the deck to get some air.

It was a cloudy day, and the wind was still blowing, but it dispelled a lot of heat and made him feel very comfortable.

"I heard that Li Qing has been busy with two things in the past few years, one is tea and the other is porcelain. Can it be effective?" Shao Shude asked.

The transshipment envoy is not only responsible for tax collection, in fact all civil affairs are under its management, so Shao Shude asked questions directly.

"Your Majesty, I have newly opened thousands of acres of tea gardens in Yuezhou, and Si Nong Temple has also sent personnel to assist. It has been six or seven years, and the initial results have been achieved." Li Yu replied: "The matter of porcelain is the year of Changsha Tongguan Kiln. It has been in disrepair for a long time, and most of the craftsmen were lost during the war. The minister sent people to visit the village, invited all the craftsmen back, and allocated funds for repairs. There are now 15 kilns and more than [-] potters. Chizhu kiln is slightly smaller , and nine hundred potters."

There are two major porcelain kilns in Hunan.

One is Tanzhou Tongguan Kiln, which is located in Changsha County and was built because of the local abundant clay.Celadon production began in the early Tang Dynasty, gradually developed in the middle Tang Dynasty, and reached its peak in the late Tang Dynasty.

The second is Yuezhou Chizhu Kiln, which is located in Xiangyin County, Yuezhou. It was just moved to Chizhu City a few years ago, so it got its name.This kiln has a relatively long history, dating back to the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It was severely damaged when the Dongting water bandits Deng's brothers occupied Yuezhou, and has now been restored.

In fact, the two major kilns are only a few dozen miles apart. In theory, they are located in the same kiln area, using the same raw material production area, and the products they produce are mainly celadon.

Li Yu carefully inspected the industries in Jiangdong and Jiangxi, and felt that Huguang was relatively backward.

Tea may be available (mainly located in Yuezhou), but it may not be able to compete with others.Therefore, he focused on porcelain, using the abundant clay resources at the junction of Tanzhou and Yuezhou, and spent a lot of money to restore the production of the two kilns and sell them to the outside world.

So far, the overall situation is not bad.

The production of Tongguan Kiln and Chizhu Kiln has become more and more stable. In addition to the local consumption, more than [-] pieces are exported to Lingdong and Lingxi in the south every year.

Shao Shude avoided directly evaluating whether the breakthrough Li Yu chose was right or not. As far as he was concerned, he seemed to be unable to think of a better way.What's more, how can officials who are willing to do things be too harsh?

"Aside from tea and porcelain, what else does Li Qing plan to do?" Shao Shude asked.

"Your Majesty, please move to Hebei Zhihu to the south." Li Yu said solemnly.

"Oh? Want to produce more silk?"

"Yes."

"Li Qing is about to leave, is it worth it?"

"Consider his own affairs in his position." Li Yu said, "Before I left Huguang, everything I thought and thought was for the people's livelihood."

"Excellent!" Shao Shude praised: "It is possible to relocate Zhihu households in Hebei, but the number cannot be too large. There are at most [-] households, and I can dispatch them from Beizhou."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your permission." Li Yu said happily.

Although Huguang Road is not small, the main silk production areas are currently located in Li, Yue and Tanzhou.Compared with Orito in the north, there is a slight gap in technical level.Beizhou was known as Qinghe County in ancient times, and Qinghe silk was a first-class silk. It would be great if Orihu could be recruited from Beizhou.

"Before leaving office, explain everything well, and don't let all your hard work go to waste." Shao Shude closed his eyes and said.

In his mind, the image of Hunan has become increasingly clear.

The population is small, and there are many barren lands.

The climate is hot and humid, and it is difficult for northerners to adapt for a while.

The poor quality of the land may be due to underdevelopment.

Easy shipping and low shipping costs.

Local officials struggled to develop a commodity economy in central cities.

Nothing is easy!

******
On July 923, the eighth year of Tongguang (28), Shengjia arrived in Baling County, Lisuo, Yuezhou, a city near the exit of Dongting Lake.

Shao Shude walked around the city for a long time, trying to find the traces of the tug-of-war.It's a pity that nothing was found, except for a large number of people surnamed Zhe in the city.

The next morning, he came to the Dongting Lake outside the city to meet with the various Tibetan leaders and cave owners in Huguang Road who had arrived earlier than him.

The barbarians offered a lot of tributes, mainly bran gold, cloth, silver, cinnabar, medicinal materials, etc., which were basically the native products of the tribe.

Of course, there are a large number of unreformed tribes in Hunan, mainly located in the western part of the border with Qianzhong Road.

The mountains in that area are continuous, the folk customs are sturdy, and they are full of wildness.

This time the sage was on his westward tour of Huguang, and the tribal leaders arrived ten days earlier, and they also brought various tributes, with a very respectful attitude.

They were arranged in the posthouse.What a coincidence, unfortunately, the Imperial Guards were right under their noses, training, eating, training every day, and so on.

The chieftains didn't know why, and when they saw the majestic military might of the forbidden army, their faces were shocked again, as if they were very shocked.

The effect is achieved.

The routine is not afraid of old age. As long as it is used in the right place and just right, no one will dare to say anything.

Hunan is no different than the north. There are so many Jimi tribes that they don't know their origins.

They also had feuds with each other, they attacked and killed each other from time to time, and I don't know how many cottages were destroyed.

Barbarians are fearful of power but not moral. When dealing with them, they have to use this relatively blunt method to deter them so that they will not have any thoughts of resistance.

Shao Shude sat under the yellow umbrella cover on the high platform, and after accepting the bows of the chiefs, he picked up the gift list and looked at it.

There are not many valuable things in the tribute.But this matter itself depends on attitude, and Shao Shude didn't expect the barbarians to have a lot of money in their pockets - the tribes that didn't come this time will definitely be dealt with later, no matter how much energy they spend.

He has even sent a part of the imperial army, accompanied by the guide of the state army, to the west to pick a few typical ones-it has only been 20 years since the founding of the country, and you will go your own way and refuse to listen to orders. to what extent?
After a whole day of interviews and exchanges, he picked up another military newspaper: Zhang Yong and Wang Heizi have arrived in the southeast of Yuezhou, and they will enter the city tomorrow.

Finally back in front of my eyes.