Fenghou

After the news was officially announced, the entire city of Datong was about to erupt. People rushed to the streets to beat drums and gongs. The cheers soared to the sky. They sang and danced to celebrate this moment that they would never forget.

But at the same time that Datong City was full of celebrations, Chen Qing led [-] cavalry to leave Datong City and head south. After picking up Yu Ying in Shanyang County, he returned to Jingzhao and ended his inspection of Hebei Road.

However, this battle in the northeast of the river still left some regrets. The weather took special care of the Jurchen army. The expected blizzard did not come, only a light snowfall, so that the defeated army of Wanyan and Lisa was not trapped by the heavy snow and succeeded. Withdrew back to Yanshan Mansion.

It was not until a month later that a blizzard swept across the grassland and engulfed the entire north.

……

In the blink of an eye, it was mid-December, and the sky in the north was already freezing and a snow-covered world.

At this time, the expansion of Jingzhao City, which took two full years, was finally completed, and the entire city wall was pushed five miles southward. The circumference of the city wall reached an unprecedented 58 miles, making it the largest city in the world, even surpassing Bianliang, the old capital of the Song Dynasty. .

This morning, the Sichuan-Shanxi Xuanfu Commissioner held a grand completion ceremony to celebrate the completion of the new city wall.

In front of the new city wall, there was loud gongs and drums, colorful flags flying, lion dance and dragon dance. The completion ceremony was presided over by Zhou Kuan, and Chen Qing lifted the red cloth on the inscription on the fortification, announcing the official completion of the new city wall.

Immediately afterwards, [-] soldiers went to the city to perform the spear formation and crossbow formation, and tens of thousands of people watched from the city.

On the head of Dongcheng, Jiang Yanxian smiled and said to Chen Qing: "Before I was humbled, I proposed to rebuild a new city on the basis of Han Chang'an City. Didn't your Highness read it?"

Chen Qing said lightly: "I have read it, but I remember that there is more than one plan!"

Jiang Yanxian nodded, "Yes! It also includes moving the north city wall another three miles to the north, where it used to be the city wall of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty."

"What's the reason for extending it another three miles to the north?"

"The reason! It can be explained to the outside world that there is a shortage of military camps, the need to garrison troops, and the need to build a new Cangcheng, but in fact, the low-level consideration is to prepare for the future construction of the palace, at least the land must be set aside."

"Has Counselor Jiang talked with Zhao Kai?" Chen Qing asked without showing any signs of expression.

"Forget it!"

Jiang Yanxian said in a bad mood: "That miser, let him spend a penny and cry all day long. I know that in the future, I will spend a lot of money and food in the Central Plains and Hebei, so I have given up on the plan to build a new city in the east. Now I Only two options are mentioned, either to build a new city in Han Chang'an City, or to expand the city wall to the north. In fact, building a new city in Han Chang'an City is also a preparation for the construction of the palace."

"How much will the two projects cost, has Counselor Jiang calculated it?"

"Basically, it takes about 40 guan to build a new city. It takes ten years to build the city, and the average is [-] guan per year, which is actually not much."

"What about the north expansion of the city wall?" Chen Qing asked again.

"It will cost about [-] guan to expand the city wall three miles north."

Chen Qing frowned slightly, "But it only cost us [-] guan to expand our city wall five miles south."

Jiang Yanxian explained: "Your Highness, don't forget that the south city wall used a large number of original city bricks, while the north city wall was not demolished, but a new city wall was built three miles away. A lot more, so it must cost more money than the southern city wall."

Chen Qing pondered for a long time and said: "I agree with the second plan in principle, to build a second north city wall three miles away. It will cost too much money to build the Han Chang'an New City. Let's talk about it in the future. This time I got 20 catties of rough silver and 3 taels of gold, the money for the new city wall will come from here, I will talk to Zhao Kai, you submit another memorial, or in the name of building a new barracks and warehouses, you can't mention a word about the palace plan. "

Jiang Yanxian was overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "I understand, I will start writing the memorial tomorrow."

At this time, the rehearsal on the city wall was over, and cheers and cheers sounded like a tsunami, and Chen Qing also applauded with a smile.

He said lightly to Jiang Yanxian again: "Don't worry about the memorial, wait until I convince Zhao Kai before proceeding."

Chapter 915

Convincing God of Wealth Zhao Kai is just an excuse, Chen Qing is the de facto ruler, how can the power of wealth not be in his hands?However, Chen Qing is not a dictator, he clearly divides the power of the monarch and prime minister.

He established two treasuries, one called the treasury, which is the money and material treasury of the Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and Shaanxi. Included in the treasury, the financial power is controlled by the Internal Affairs Hall, and the counselor of the Finance and Taxation Department has the right to review.

Normal military expenditures, government salary expenditures, education expenditures, relief expenditures, etc., are all disbursed from the treasury. The normal expenditures within the budget do not need to be approved by Chen Qing, and can be implemented after approval by the Internal Affairs Hall.

However, large expenditures outside the budget, such as locust plagues and floods in a certain place, need to relieve the people. Such expenditures must be approved by Chen Qing. If Chen Qing is not present, the princess will approve it.

The other treasury is called the treasury, which is the money and material treasury of King Yong's Mansion. The income is only two yuan, the war income and overseas trade income. The treasury is controlled by Chen Qing, and the Finance and Taxation Department manages it on its behalf.

The treasury is generally used for strategic expenditures, and the scope of strategic expenditures is relatively wide. For example, one hundred thousand stone ships are privately owned by Chen Qing and Zheng Ping. Given to the treasury, as the assets of the treasury, under normal circumstances, a sea-going ship of ten thousand stones would cost more than ten thousand guan, and it would take a long time to build.

War expenditures are also strategic expenditures. War expenditures are not the same as normal military expenditures. Soldiers’ salaries are usually two yuan a month, with tax reductions and exemptions, and land rewards when they leave the army. Soldiers' salaries will be reduced to four consecutive months, and the two additional money will be war expenditures.

There is also the cost of requisitioning the people to transport supplies, requisitioning civilian doctors, etc. These are also war expenditures, as well as pensions for the disabled and dead soldiers, rewards for soldiers, etc., are also war expenditures.

The northward expansion of the city wall proposed by Jiang Yanxian this time should be paid by the treasury as part of the military expenditure, but because of the huge amount, which cost [-] guan, it is a bit difficult for the treasury to bear it. It was specially approved for treasury expenditure.

The treasury is the real foundation for Chen Qing to manage Sichuan and Shaanxi. In Zhao Kai's words, the treasury is their old base. How much wealth is stored in it has always been a top secret, and only Chen Qing and a few counselors in the internal affairs hall know.

After the light attacked and destroyed Xixia, it was seized.

The wealth accumulated in Xixia for a hundred years, although the official treasury of Xixia did not have much money, all the wealth of hundreds of dignitaries became spoils of war, and all kinds of materials, after deducting war expenses, all went into the treasury.

Also, the capture of Datong Mansion this time, Datong Mansion is Xijing of the Liao Kingdom, a strategically important place for the Kingdom of Jin. Although most of the gold and silver and curios were transported away by the Kingdom of Jin, the remaining gold and silver are equivalent to more than 500 million guan. There were 80 copper coins, and the money that the Jurchen robbed the Mughal merchants had not had time to be transported away, and was seized by the Song army. This part had 230 million coins, which were used as rewards for soldiers and war expenses for attacking the Northeast Road.

In addition, there are also a large amount of materials, including 600 million catties of pig iron, 450 million catties of copper, one million pieces of sheepskin, 80 pieces of cloth, [-] pieces of silk and satin, and countless tents, wood, medicinal materials, fur and other materials.

In addition, materials such as grain, mutton, cheese, mutton oil, and mutton wine go directly into the granary and do not belong to money and materials, while soldiers and arrows enter the arsenal, which do not belong to money and materials.

Of course, Jingzhao's treasury is different from Lin'an's inner treasury. Lin'an's inner treasury is the emperor's private property treasure house, while Jingzhao's treasury is state-owned, a bit like a reserve treasury, except that the approval power rests with Chen Qing. In the hands, it does not need to be approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

As for Chen Qing's personal property, it has nothing to do with these two warehouses. He has his own small treasury and his own real estate. It also has [-] acres of land facing the street in the newly opened South City. This is a kind of welfare for high-ranking officials. Those who are above the military command and above the fifth rank of civil servants will be rewarded with land in the new city. The area varies.

At dusk, Chen Qing returned to the mansion, half a month before the Chinese New Year, every household is busy celebrating the New Year, Chen Qing's mansion is no exception, but there are two special 'patients' in their family, one is Zhao Yingluo, she is quite With a big belly, the due date is about a few days. Dr. Liu has already moved into Chen Qing's residence, and the other is Yu Ying. Not long after returning from Hedong North Road, she is pregnant, which makes Yu Ying, who had a miscarriage, overjoyed , Careful maintenance.

As usual, Chen Qing went back to his inner study and sat down. Not long after, his wife Lu Xiu brought him a cup of tea. Chen Qing's inner study is not allowed to allow maids to enter, and Yu Ying usually cleans and serves for him. Tea, if Lu Xiu brings tea in, it means that his wife has something to look for him.

Chen Qing took a sip from the teacup and said, "When will Yingluo be born?"

"In the past two days, Dr. Liu said that the fetal position is relatively correct, and there is no problem with the natural delivery. The two midwives have been invited and are ready."

Chen Qing hesitated and said, "I might go to Xianyang tomorrow, and I won't be back until evening."

"Husband, don't worry! I will arrange it."

After a pause, Lu Xiu laughed again: "Actually, I have something to discuss with my husband."

"what's up?"

"It's a row of warehouses opposite our door. The proprietor's surname is Lu. Husband, do you remember?"

Of course, Chen Qing knew that there was a river from their back door, and on the other side of the river was a small street paved with stone slabs, which was relatively quiet. There was a row of warehouses on the entire small street, and to the north of the warehouse was one of the three major tiles in Jingzhao City. , Wazi Northwest Street.

What my wife was talking about was the warehouse on the small street, which covers an area of ​​about ten acres. It is a long strip. The owner of the warehouse is Lu, a native of Hanzhong. I bought it and built it into a house, but the owner of the deer refused to agree.

"Why, is he willing to sell that warehouse?"

Lu Xiu nodded, "He found Steward Liu today, and he wanted to exchange a piece of land with us. Didn't your husband share two hundred acres of land in the south city? He wanted to exchange the land facing the street of the south gate with us, ten acres for five acres , he might want to open a restaurant."

Chen Qing said with a smile: "This businessman surnamed Lu is very smart! The land facing the street at the South Gate is worth at least four or five times that of his side. If he builds a restaurant, he will pay for it, but this Lu The proprietor exchanged ten mu for five mu, and no lion has opened his mouth."

Lu Xiu said helplessly: "The key is that we really need the land in the back. We can build a pharmacy for Dr. Liu, and she will move here. She can come to our mansion at any time and build another six or seven yards. The nurse's house can also be moved here. , to make it easier for them to take care of their families, it seems that the owner of the deer is taking advantage of it, but it is not always the case."

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "It can be exchanged, have you told Dr. Liu?"

"Now she has three female apprentices. The original shop is less than one acre, which is too small. I gave her three acres of land, and she happily agreed!"

Doctor Liu in Chen Qing's mansion is the most famous female doctor in Jingzhao City. Chen Qing originally wanted to ask her to be a special doctor in the palace, but the other party refused to agree. She had so many patients that it was impossible for her to leave others for the sake of Chen Qing's family. patients do not care.

According to Chen Qing's personality, if he refuses, forget it, and change to a family doctor, but the problem is that Chen Qing also trusts this doctor Liu very much. His eldest daughter, Chen Xue, was born prematurely and usually died, but in her Not only did he survive under the meticulous treatment, but he is still very healthy and lively, and he is Chen Qing's favorite.

There are also a few wives who can give birth smoothly, and they have a great relationship with Dr. Liu. You must know that women in the Song Dynasty were prone to dystocia. If the fetal position was slightly wrong, they would not be able to give birth.

However, Dr. Liu's original method of fetal position training has enabled Chen Qing's wives and concubines to give birth normally. Based on this, Chen Qing has enough trust in this female doctor. Land is not a problem. The key is that her medicine shop is next to her palace. Affecting her to see a doctor abroad, she can come over at any time, killing two birds with one stone.

"Let the housekeeper replace it as soon as possible! In addition, when repairing the house, we will also build a small bridge, so it will be convenient for us to go over."

"I see, then I will tell the housekeeper today, find someone first, and start work after the new year."

"Okay, don't worry about this matter, leave it to the housekeeper."

Chapter 916 Weaving

Early the next morning, Chen Qing set off for Xianyang. At this time, there was a world of ice and snow outside Jingzhao City, but there were still people coming and going on the official road, and the snow on the ground was trampled into mud. Three soldiers escorted the three carriages, and the high-ranking officials who accompanied Chen Qing were Jiang Yanxian and Zhou Chengdong, the commander of the Craftsmanship Department. Zhou Chengdong was Zhou Kuan's eldest son, and he was in charge of managing the armory when he was in Ganquanbao.

The Weihe River is already covered with thick ice. The government built a temporary pontoon bridge on the ice surface and sprinkled straw, so that pedestrians can easily walk across the Weihe River. The reason why the temporary pontoon bridge was built instead of directly spreading a layer of straw on the river surface , This is mainly because the river surface and the ground are still at least six or seven feet high. People cannot go down the river surface, let alone carts. If there is no ferry, then a pontoon bridge must be built.

The team drove across the Weihe River and continued westward along Xianyang Avenue. At noon, the team arrived in Xianyang.

Xianyang County has a population of nearly 20. Like other counties in Jingzhao Prefecture, they are mainly handicraft industries. Xianyang is mainly famous for papermaking and textile industries, and its storage is also very developed. The main reason is that the rent in Jingzhao Prefecture is too high. A large number of Hu merchants rented houses in Xianyang as warehouses.

Chen Qing came to inspect the third government-run spinning workshop today. There are hundreds of weaving workshops in Xianyang County, and the three government workshops occupy the top three in terms of scale.

The third weaving workshop that Chen Qing is going to inspect today is not the largest, but this workshop is experimenting with new products, spinning cotton.

For a long time, the south spun silk and weaved silk, and the north spun thread and weaved hemp, but a month ago, [-] catties of cotton, or kapok, was shipped from Bashu.

This is one of the goods shipped from Quanzhou. It was received by a businessman from the people of Ryukyu Island at a low price in the past two years. But at the beginning of the year, the businessman was arrested by the Quanzhou government for smuggling pig iron to Nanyang and sentenced He was sentenced to death, and all his goods were confiscated by the officials, including two Wanshi sea ships, a large amount of tea, porcelain, and [-] catties of cotton. These goods were taken away by Chen Qing, and they were not transported from Chengdu until half a month ago. Jingzhao.

Cotton is a luxury in the north, and it is mainly used to fill winter clothes. Each official will receive half a catty of cotton as a welfare every winter. A luxury like cashmere.

Chen Qing distributed part of the [-] catties of wood cotton to the officials as welfare, stored the rest, and took out another [-] catties for trial spinning.

The reason why spinning cotton is placed in the third weaving workshop is that this workshop also weaves a special product while spinning and weaving. It was introduced from the ground and has been planted in Gaochang. The local people used cotton to weave cloth, which was called white folded cloth. As early as the Tang Dynasty, it was presented to the imperial palace as a tribute.

Compared with cotton, Chen Qing values ​​kapok more, because cotton will compete with grain, but kapok will not.

The head steward of the weaving workshop is called Gu Xin, who is very strong, about 50 years old, and a native of Bianliang. He once worked as a steward in a government-run weaving workshop and has very rich experience.

Gu Xin greeted Chen Qing in front of the gate of the workshop. It was the first time for Chen Qing to come to this weaving workshop. He looked at the workshop and asked, "How many people are there?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, there are 200 people, basically all female workers."

Chen Qing was taken aback, "There are so many people?"

Gu Xin said with a smile: "In fact, it is divided into two parts: spinning and weaving. There are 600 people in each, and 3000 spinning wheels and [-] looms each. There are as many as [-] people."

"It's because I'm ignorant!"

Chen Qing walked to a big house and heard 'Ka!Click!Click! 'The sound of the machine shaft, he looked out of the window with his head, there were at least a hundred looms inside, and in front of each loom was a little lady who was weaving with her head down.

"They are all local ladies?" Chen Qing asked with a smile.

Gu Xin shook his head, "The local young lady likes to work as a maid for a big family in Jingzhao, and they don't want to come here to weave. Now the female workers of Xianyang Textile Co., Ltd. basically come from two places. They used to be Xixia girls, but now they are big Some of them are married, or have been diverted to other places, basically invisible, and then there are millions of refugees from the Central Plains. They are the mainstream of recruitment in all walks of life. More than [-]% of our female workers here are them. Five hours, one lunch."

"Then how much do they earn?"

"This... everyone is different. It depends on the level of proficiency. Some female workers can earn three to four hundred yuan a day, and some female workers can only earn seventy or eighty yuan. I have calculated that the average is 150 yuan a day. This income is already enough for a young lady. Very good, many people have become the pillars of the family, here we have a little lady named Yang, from Ruzhou, her parents are old, her elder brother was a soldier of the Song Dynasty, and her legs are disabled, the whole family counts on her to earn money to support her. , she is one of the most skilled female workers here. She spins white folded cloth. The thread is very even and the cloth is very dense. She is only 16 years old and can earn four hundred cash a day. She does not rest a day. Earning twelve guan a month, she takes care of the whole family well, and she plans to buy a yard in Xianyang to support her parents."

Chen Qing knew that people at the bottom didn't live long, and generally lived to be in their fifties. Even if they were in their 40s, they were old. It was normal for them to have an older brother and take care of their parents at the age of 16.

"Where is this little lady surnamed Yang? I want to see her."

"She is in the Xinfangtang where His Highness is going. The villain has transferred a batch of the most capable female workers to weave kapok, and she is one of them. Of course, I will still pay her a wage of [-] Wen per day."

Chen Qing said happily: "Go and see!"

……

"Can the cotton cotton flower be produced now?" Chen Qing asked again.

Gu Xin smiled wryly, "If possible, I suggest using cotton wool for bedding and padded clothes, and it is better to consider fine linen for weaving."

"why?"

"It is too difficult to spin thread. Its wadding is relatively short, so it is difficult to form a thread. It must be twisted into a thin thread by hand, which is time-consuming and laborious. It is very good to weave it into cloth, but the price will be very expensive, even similar to silk and satin. universal."

The main reason why Chen Qing wants to use wood cotton to make cotton cloth is to find a middle-grade cloth between silk and linen. Fine linen is still a bit coarse. Clothing.

Cotton cloth, which was popularized on a large scale during the Song and Yuan dynasties, was the most suitable, but growing cotton required too much arable land, so Chen Qing considered wood cotton, but Gu Xin said that the production cost was higher than silk, which made Chen Qing a little unacceptable.

"Is there no way to solve the problem of spinning yarn?" Chen Qing asked in a deep voice.

"I'm trying to figure it out, but it's difficult."

Chen Qing's heart suddenly became a little heavy. Gu Xin, a veteran of the industry, said that it was difficult, and he probably had little hope.

"Let's go and have a look first!" Chen Qing's tone was not as relaxed as before.

……

The Xinfang Hall was located at the very edge, and when it was still outside, laughter and even cheers could be heard from inside.

Gu Xin's face suddenly darkened, he was usually quiet, why did he become noisy at the critical moment.

He coughed heavily, but instead of the laughter inside not stopping, someone shouted: "The chief manager is here, tell him to receive the reward!"

Jiang Yanxian smiled quietly at Chen Qing: "It seems to be something good."

Chen Qing nodded, he also felt it.

Chapter 917 Proposal

Walking up to the lobby, I saw 20 pedal spinning wheels in the lobby, and a large Hualou loom in the easternmost corner, filled with young ladies between the ages of fifteen and sixteen to 20, There are 1000 people in total, and they are the most ingenious people selected from more than [-] people. In the words of later generations, they are the technical backbone.