Fenghou

"An hour ago, they set off before dawn."

"Do you know where they went?"

"I don't know their destination. I only know that they didn't cross the Yellow River, but went south along the west bank of the Yellow River."

If you go south along the west bank of the Yellow River, you will go to Pizhou. Pizhou is divided into two by the Yellow River. The east bank belongs to the Kingdom of Jin, and the west bank belongs to the Song Dynasty.

Pizhou is also a flooded area with few people. There is only one big county, Suqian County. Because this is the northernmost border of the Song Dynasty, the Song Army stationed heavy troops in Pizhou.

Suqian County has [-] troops stationed by Wang Jian. Since Pizhou is not under the jurisdiction of the Western Army, there is no implementation of fortified walls and clearing the country. If the Jin soldiers rob people's property and rape women in Pizhou, Wang Jian will definitely send troops.

The relationship between Li Qingong and Wang Jian is very good. Although Wang Jian is Li Qiong's deadly enemy, Li Qingong thinks that Wang Jian is very kind and abides by the rules. Sometimes there is no one soldier in Xuzhou, and Wang Jian will never cross the border.

Wang Jian was especially kind to the common people, which even King Yong admired Wang Jian very much.

Li Qingong felt that he had to remind Wang Jian that this army was not the Jurchen iron cavalry, but the Donghu cavalry, and the [-] Song army could completely fight against it.

Li Qingong immediately sent two scout cavalrymen to carry his personal letter, and rushed to Suqian County on two horses to report the letter.

Chapter 150 and Eight Visits

At this time, Chen Qing was passing through Taiyuan. He was going to Datong Mansion to inspect and defend Taiyuan by the way. The officials who accompanied Chen Qing on the visit were the military envoy of Hedong, Niu Gao, the governor of the capital, and Cao De, the prefect of Taiyuan.

Cao De was originally the instructor of Yanwutang, that is, the principal of the military academy. Because Shi Zhang Chunxiao, the former Taiyuan prefect and director of the Shangshuxing on Hedong Road, was seriously ill, after he resigned and returned to his hometown, Chen Qing appointed Cao De as the Taiyuan prefect.

Cao De is a descendant of Cao Bin, the founding father of the Song Dynasty. During the Renzong period, the Cao family became an important relative of the Song Dynasty because of Empress Cao. They had a high prestige in the Song Dynasty. However, after the establishment of the Southern Song Dynasty, these former relatives did not He was valued by the new emperor Zhao Gou.

Cao De is the son of the Cao family. He was originally an important general under Liu Guangshi. Liu Guangshi suffered several disastrous defeats in Huaibei. He was protected by the Empress Dowager Wei and was not held accountable. As the commander, and deprived him of his title.

Feeling the injustice deeply, Cao De went to Jingzhao to seek refuge with Chen Qing in a rage, and was reused by Chen Qing. The next time, Chen Qing promoted him to be the prefect of Taiyuan and the transshipment envoy of Hedong Road, and named him the Duke of Gaoping County. Although this was a kind of win over, it was more of a trust in him.

As for the Shangshuxingtai on Hedong Road, which actually exists in name only and is in a state of being cancelled, Shangshuxingtai was originally too far away from the ruling center, and transportation and communication were inconvenient, so it was a temporary administrative measure adopted as an outpost of the Neizhengtang. Later, the Neizhengtang successively set up Shangshu Xingtai on Sichuan Road, Hedong Road, Jinghu South Road, Henan Road and Lingxia Road.

However, as Jingzhao’s ability to govern continues to strengthen, and its ability to control government affairs, finance and taxation, and supervision becomes stronger and stronger, Xingtai Shangshu will gradually be abolished. The first to be abolished is Lingxia Road Shangshu Xingtai, where only Lingzhou needs to be established The government office and Xiazhou government office are enough, and there is no need for another layer of Shangshuxingtai.

The second is Hedong Road, which is also relatively close to Jingzhao. Even the "Jing Bao" began to be published on Hedong Road, only two days later than Jingzhao. Hedong Mansion is even closer to Jingzhao than to Taiyuan.

Therefore, when the government orders from the Neizhengtang can be delivered to Hedong Road in only two days, it is imperative to cancel the Shangshu Xingtai on Hedong Road.

However, the cancellation of Shangshuxing Station on Hedong Road needs an opportunity. Zhang Chunxiao’s retirement from illness is such an opportunity. In the offices of Jingzhao, Shangshu Xingtai on Hedong Road has its name in vain.

It's a bit far away, turn back.

Chen Qing came to a family next to the east gate of the county seat. This is a family of Beigui people. Beiguiren is a name for the local people and the government in Taiyuan. It refers to the captive Han people released by the Kingdom of Jin. Guards, maids, craftsmen, etc., because the Henan Road was still in the hands of the Kingdom of Jin at that time, and the place of release happened to be in Taiyuan Prefecture, and the population of Taiyuan City was insufficient, so Chen Qing placed the captives released by the Kingdom of Jin in Taiyuan. In the city.

The family Chen Qing inspected was surnamed Zhang, and the male owner was Zhang Chun, the son of Zhang Gao, a doctor in the Ministry of Rites. He was only a teenager when he was taken captive to the Kingdom of Jin. died in the year.

Zhang Chun also married a lonely court lady when he was 20 years old. The two depended on each other for life and gave birth to a son named Zhang Sinan.

After the Sichuan-Shaanxi Propaganda Envoy and Jin Guo reached an exchange agreement, more than [-] surviving Han people were released back to the Song Dynasty, and Zhang Chun's family was among them. Chen Qing took special care of these released Han people and ordered the Taiyuan government to deal with them living and living issues.

Zhang Chun's family was allocated this small courtyard covering an area of ​​half an acre, and received a monthly supplement of consistent money and three sheepskins.

Soon, Zhang Chun found a job as a teacher in the county school, earning three pennies a month. His wife was good at sewing, and also took on some work sewing military shoes and socks, earning three pennies a month. With a hundred coins, although the family is not rich, the family can live happily.

Chen Qing's arrival made Zhang Chun at a loss. Fortunately, the guards and a large group of officials were outside, and Chen Qing was only accompanied by Niu Gao and Cao De. They didn't enter the house, but sat in the yard.

Chen Qing looked at the yard. The yard was not big, but it was kept very clean. There was a grape trellis in one corner, and the grape vines climbed the trellis. Underneath was a pair of stone tables and benches. Zhang Chun was worthy of being a scholar. Exuding elegance.

Seeing that Chen Qing was interested in the stone table, Zhang Chun said with a embarrassed smile: "This villain bought it from the second-hand market. It only cost [-] Wen, plus [-] Wen for renting a car, it cost a total of [-] Wen." The money probably belonged to some rich family, and Jin Bing didn’t want this kind of thing, so they were moved home and exchanged for some small money.”

Chen Qing nodded, and sat down on a stone bench. Zhang Chun's wife, Mrs. Li, brought hot tea. Chen Qing looked at the tea set and found that it was a Ru kiln. Unfortunately, it was not an official kiln, but a folk kiln, but it was also very good. up.

"Is this tea set bought from a flea market?" Chen Qingxiao asked.

"Exactly! This set of tea sets only cost [-] Wen. I bought it together with a stone table and stone bench. The seller didn't know the goods. He didn't even know that it was a fine product of Ru Kiln. He asked for [-] Wen. I counter-offered it for [-] Wen. , although it is not an official kiln, the high-quality folk kiln is not much different from the official kiln, and it is said that the craftsmen who fired the kiln are the same group of people."

"Not bad, very discerning!" Chen Qing praised.

Zhang Chun couldn't bear the joy in his heart and said: "Actually, I have also received several treasures, and the price is more than ten yuan."

His wife Li couldn't help reminding: "Husband, His Royal Highness King Yong is not here to see your baby."

Only then did Zhang Chun come to his senses, and said embarrassingly, "I made His Highness laugh at you."

Chen Qing smiled, greeted the couple to sit down, and said to them: "I am mainly here to learn about your living conditions. I have been back for several years. I don't know how it is now? I heard that Mr. Zhang is teaching in a primary school?"

"Yes, I have been teaching in the county primary school."

"How much income?"

"Three pennies per month!"

"It's always been three pennies?"

Zhang Chun nodded, "From the beginning, the money has been three times, and it has not changed until now, but sometimes it will be a little less."

"Are all teachers the same?" Chen Qing asked.

"No, it's much younger than me. They came a few years later, and they got four pennies when they came in. After five years of teaching, they were promoted to professors, and they got eight pennies."

"What's the reason for that?"

Zhang Chun hesitated and didn't know how to speak, his wife touched him lightly, Zhang Chun smiled wryly: "It's my own problem, it has nothing to do with the government!"

Chen Qing was a little displeased and said, "What's the problem? Let's just talk about it. It just so happens that the prefect Cao is here. If you have any difficulties, you can speak freely. If it's a problem with the rules and regulations, then think of a way and make changes as the rules allow. "

"It is indeed a system problem. Xiaomin is not from a major, nor is he from a government school. When a villain goes to teach, he is also temporarily recruited. The money is calculated on a daily basis. He is paid one hundred coins a day for teaching. There is no holiday or sick leave. If he gets sick one day, he can't go there. Therefore, Xiaomin is not even a teaching assistant. If he graduated from an official school, or passed the Mingjing subject, his status will be different. He belongs to the official civil service, counting as a teaching assistant. , and rest normally during holidays, without deducting salary.”

"Wait a minute!"

Chen Qing suddenly realized something was wrong, and asked: "Ten days off for the New Year, three days off for the Lantern Festival, and two days off for ten days. A total of [-] days off. How much money can you earn in January?"

"Fifteen hundred Wen, the villain just said, I get paid by the day, and I get paid for one day of teaching."

Chen Qing's face sank, and he turned around and asked Cao De, "Is that so?"

Cao De wiped the sweat from his forehead and said: "I really don't understand this issue of humble positions. It should be like this. The system stipulates that civil servants must have a background in official education or imperial examinations to become an official civil servant. Teachers are civil servants, but Because there are not enough teachers, we hired some from outside.”

Chen Qing asked coldly: "The six Caos of the Yangqu county government are all from a professional background?"

The first thousand and 150 chapters nine return to the north

Cao De explained helplessly: "Your Highness, this...will be divided into two. The old officials in the past are indeed not from a professional background. Since the regulations were made five years ago, all new civil servants have a professional background."

"Okay! I don't want to investigate whether it is a professional background, but the external teaching is calculated on a daily basis. Is this reasonable? I know Zhang Chun's father. If there is no Jingkang crisis, his father is at least a The servant, can it be said that the son of the servant can't even finish an ordinary state school? His situation is special, isn't it the responsibility of your government to write a letter to the internal affairs hall, asking for special treatment?"

"Humble job knows it's wrong!"

"If you know your mistakes, you have to correct them. I would like to make two suggestions. First, equal pay for equal work. External teachers should be treated the same as civil servants and teaching assistants. The salary should be the same, and the rest should be the same. Paying by the day is never allowed. They are teachers. , not a small laborer doing odd jobs.

Second, the prefect Cao wrote an ultimatum to the Neizhengtang, asking the Neizhengtang to let go of the people who came back from Liaodong. Those who need official school qualifications will be treated as government school graduates, and those who are not eligible to take the imperial examinations will be given qualifications. There is no such problem in other places, only Taiyuan Prefecture, so this is your responsibility. "

Cao De nodded again and again, "Remember the humble job."

Chen Qing pointed to Zhang Chun again, "His situation was specially approved by me. He was hired as a teaching assistant as if he was from a major. From the time he entered the job, he will be paid as much as he should be paid!"

"thump!"

Zhang Chun and his wife knelt down on the ground, kowtowed with tears in their eyes, "Thank you, Your Highness, for your great kindness!"

"Both of you please stand up! Please stand up!"

Chen Qingxu asked the two of them to stand up, and said with a smile: "Teacher is your personal problem, but I also want to understand the common difficulties of everyone. Tell me about it, and tell the truth."

"The villain must tell the truth!"

Zhang Chun sat down again, wiped away his tears and thought for a while: "Generally speaking, it's pretty good. Everyone has a house to live in, so they don't live on the streets. There are old and helpless people, at least there is a monthly income." Living expenses, food and accommodation are not a problem, but it would be a lie to say that everyone has no objections, there are indeed some things that make everyone dissatisfied."

"What dissatisfaction do you have? You don't have to be afraid of offending Governor Cao even if you speak out. He only took office in May this year. Many things are not his responsibility, but it will be up to him to solve problems in the future."

Cao De nodded and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, just say it bluntly, I am also a soldier, and I like straightforward people."

"Okay! I said, there are two main points. One is our identity. The people in Taiyuan call us Beigui people. It is actually a kind of discrimination. They don't want to study with our children, don't want to marry, or even work as men. The wages of maids are lower than others. We also know that this discrimination cannot be eliminated in a day or two. It will take several generations to gradually eliminate it, but the root lies in the government. The government has registered us separately, which is not the same as ordinary people. , so in the eyes of ordinary people, we have become lowly households, even if we want to move to other places, we can’t move, unless we go to black households.”

Chen Qing glanced at Cao De, and Cao De said hastily: "Zhang Chunxiao told me that the main purpose of creating a special household registration is to take care of them, such as housing allocation and security money, etc. It does not mean discrimination."

Zhang Chun dissatisfied: "But in fact, we are discriminated against everywhere. The locals look down on us from the bottom of our hearts. We dare not say that we are from the north, but we can find out when we check our household registration. Our household registration has a special number. Just the word 'North'."

Chen Qing nodded, "It can be special at the beginning, but after so many years, it will become a burden if you continue to be special. You must return to the normal household registration. Except for a few people who need special care, they will be managed separately, and everyone else will be treated equally."

"Understood, I will make arrangements later to eliminate the special household registration as soon as possible."

Chen Qing smiled and asked Zhang Chun again, "What about the second point?"

"The second point is the big deal, that is, the house we live in was first allocated to us. As long as the original landlord does not come to ask for the house within three years, the house will belong to us. If no one comes to ask for it, then according to the agreement, this house should be ours.

But so far we haven’t got the house deed and land deed, and two months ago, the county government made a new statement, saying that this house is an official house, which is only temporarily lent to us to live in, and the rent will be exempted for three years, that is to say, in the future, we will have to ask We have collected the rent, but the house is not ours. This made everyone extremely angry. To tell you the truth, we are planning to march to Jingzhao in tens of thousands of people after the Chinese New Year to protest against the Taiyuan government’s back-and-forth and deceiving us! "

Chen Qing was very annoyed, so he held back his anger and asked Cao De, "Does Zhifu Cao know about this?"

Cao De was stunned and said: "I really don't know about this matter. I will start investigating tomorrow. If the government really made a promise..."

Chen Qing shook his head, "You don't need to investigate, I remember very clearly, this is my promise, I signed an order, the government gave them a house, so that they can live and work in Taiyuan, I didn't say that I asked the government to rent them a house, share The house and the distribution of land mean the same thing, to give ownership, Governor Cao, do you understand what I mean?"

Cao De nodded, "I understand!"

Chen Qing said lightly: "The problem lies with Wangzhi County of Yangqu County, let him reflect on it!"

……

Coming out of Zhang Chun's house, Chen Qing immediately went up to the east wall. He walked to the wall, supported the battlements and looked at the Taihang Mountains in the distance.

Cao De saw the worry in the eyes of His Royal Highness King Yong, and knew why he was annoyed. Cao De stepped forward and explained: "The humble staff will thoroughly investigate all kinds of problems, take charge of this matter personally, find one and solve the other, please Your Highness." rest assured!"

Chen Qing sighed lightly and said, "I'm also to blame for this matter. I didn't make it clear to everyone at the beginning. These Beigui people are a political test question for me. If they are handled well, I will get points. If they are not handled well, I will lose them." separated.

If tens of thousands of them really went to Jingzhao to protest, what would the court say?The originally passive imperial court would definitely make a fuss about this matter and publicize everywhere, 'Do you think they bring people back, or make people live like dogs? What's the difference from Jin Guo? '

To be honest, I am very dissatisfied with Zhang Chunxiao's handling of this matter, which has failed my expectations of him. "

Speaking of this, Chen Qing glanced at Cao Dedao: "Prefect Cao, the reason why I only care about the situation of Beigui people when I inspected Taiyuan is because they are related to my reputation. I hope you can handle their affairs well and take proper care of them." , try to turn the situation around as soon as possible, this time I will definitely dismiss the magistrate of Yangqu County, you can recommend a capable magistrate."

Cao De said with sincerity: "I guarantee that there will be a big change before the spring of next year. Tomorrow, I will suspend Yangqu Wang Zhixian and let Wu County Cheng temporarily act as the chief officer. If he can do well, If he is humble, I recommend him to take over as magistrate."

Chen Qing nodded and said: "Tomorrow, do two things well. First, treat all external teachers as clerks. Counting from the time they enter the job, they will pay as much as they have given. Ambiguity, pay attention to what I mean, treat them as civil officials, if you don’t want to turn them into civil servants, then it’s a bad rule, understand?”

"Understandable!"

"Second, at least [-] house deeds and land deeds will be issued tomorrow, and all of them must be issued before the Chinese New Year. And it must be publicized and let the whole city know. This is very important. With real real estate, they will have If they belong, the locals will not discriminate against them.

The third point is what I just thought of. It doesn’t have to be done tomorrow, but it must be done as soon as possible. The government will select a group of educated young people from the North Returnees, including today’s Zhang Chun, and then invite several experienced Confucians to teach They prepare for the examination of Ming Jing, and as long as they pass the Ming Jing, they will be officially hired as teaching assistants, which is very good for improving their status. "

"I remember what your Highness said, and I can issue a military order. If there is no major change before the spring of next year, I am willing to resign."

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "With your words, I feel relieved!"

Chapter 160 Murder

Chen Qing only rested for one night in Taiyuan, and the next morning, under the escort of three thousand cavalry, he continued to go north to Datong Mansion.

Datong Mansion is also a world of ice and snow at this time. Before that, a large number of people from Yingzhou fled to Datong City. Resettlement of these people is also the most important thing for the Datong government. They were evacuated to the southern states, but the government was not ready yet, and a heavy snowstorm swept in, so the relocation could only be postponed until the beginning of next spring.

In the eyes of the government, these people are a great burden and a responsibility they have to bear, but in the eyes of some people with ulterior motives, these refugees are wealth, especially some beautiful girls, and they are the targets of these people. They were sold to brothels for a fortune.

Their method is also very simple. First, they lure the girl's father to eat, drink and gamble. After he owes a huge debt in a daze, they force him to sell his daughter to pay off the debt.

In a large tent, there lived a family of four, a middle-aged couple and their children. The host’s surname was Yao, his son was Yao Song, who was 17 years old, and his daughter, Yao Mei, was only 15 years old. The five big and three thick, as strong as a cow, but the daughter is slender, as beautiful as a flower, the hunter's eyes fixed on their daughter.

"Father, the Western Army is recruiting soldiers, and my son wants to join the army." Yao Song sat in the corner of the tent and asked his father for his opinion.

Father Yao was a little restless, looking out of the tent with worry from time to time, but he didn't hear what his son was saying.

"Daddy, do you agree?" Yao Song asked again.

"Hmm! What did you say?" Father Yao turned to look at his son.

"I said that the Western Army is recruiting soldiers, and my son wants to sign up for the army."

"Give me money?"

"It's like giving ten pennies to settle down, one stone of rice and one sheep, and then two pennies and one mu of land every month."

"It's only ten pennies, it's too little, if only three hundred pennies would be fine."

At this time, someone shouted outside: "Yao Dalang, someone is looking for you."

Yao's father's face turned pale, and Yao's mother said in horror: "Father, didn't that group of people come again?"

"I don't know, I'll go and have a look." Father Yao went out of the tent tremblingly.

The siblings stepped forward and asked, "Mother, what's the matter!"