The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 134 This person is very stubborn

The Zhaoyuan County Magistrate left with a sad face...

He knew his arguments would likely fail, and the result was as he expected. Half a day later, the county magistrate returned with a bitter face, reporting to Yue Wenxuan: "Your Highness, the official in charge of the gold mine is extremely arrogant. No matter how hard I try to persuade him, he refuses to hand over the gold mine. He also says that he only obeys the orders of the Salt and Iron Transport Commissioner of Jingdong East Road and will not listen to anyone else's orders, even if Your Highness goes in person."

Yue Wenxuan: "Okay, then I'll go there myself."

The "Prince's Carriage" set off, and Wu Jialiang brought two hundred archers with him. The Zhaoyuan County Magistrate also brought the Zhaoyuan County Lieutenant and twenty archers with him. The group marched out of the county town in a mighty manner and headed northeast.

After walking about twenty miles, a group of houses appeared in front of them. From a distance, it looked quite lively and seemed to be a big town. But when they got closer, they found that the town was in ruins. Many houses had been burned down, leaving only black ruins. There were still residents in a few intact houses, but when they saw Yue Wenxuan's large group of more than 200 people, these people fled from the houses, carrying small packages and running away.

The Zhaoyuan County Magistrate acted as a guide and introduced Yue Wenxuan, "Your Highness, this is the famous Panjiaji. It was built by Pan Mei, a founding minister of the Song Dynasty, hence the name."

Yue Wenxuan: "Oh, this is Panjiaji."

When my father was young, he traveled to the modern Panjiaji. Last time we talked about it at the dinner table, my father talked excitedly about how beautiful this place was. But now all Yue Wenxuan saw was a pile of ruins.

The Zhaoyuan County Magistrate whispered, "Before the Jin bandits arrived, this place was very prosperous. It was a market place for people from dozens of miles around. On the first and fifteenth day of every month, large numbers of people from the surrounding villages would come here to trade goods. It was so lively, even comparable to the county town. But when the Jin bandits came, everything was ruined. Alas... it was completely ruined..."

Wu Jialiang glanced at the dilapidated Panjiaji and couldn't help but curse in a low voice: "See, the Jin thieves are so damned careless. They turned a good town into such a horrible mess."

Guan Sheng also chimed in, "So we can't surrender to the Jin thieves even if we die. Damn them, let's fight them to the death."

The archers who came with the team couldn't help but sigh. Thinking of the mess Jimo County had been in when the Jin thieves came last year, everyone had an angry look on their face.

Yue Wenxuan turned around and said to everyone, "That's why we have to take back the gold mines. Only with the mines can we pay the soldiers, make weapons, and then we can kill those gold thieves."

Everyone shouted in unison: "Fuck the gold thief."

"Very good, very impressive." Yue Wenxuan said, "If anyone hinders us from killing the gold thieves, what should we do?"

Everyone yelled, "Then kill him and the gold thief together."

"Okay!" Yue Wenxuan: "Keep going, to the mine."

Not far north from Panjiaji, you will enter Linglong Mountain. In modern times, this is a tourist attraction called "Luoshan Golden Cultural Tourism Resort", but at this time it looks more like a mountain village.

The wooden wall surrounds the entire gold mining area.

There are two arrow towers standing beside the gate of the village, and soldiers dressed in Song army uniforms are standing on the towers, holding bows and arrows and keeping watch.

The sentry saw Yue Wenxuan and his group going up the mountain from afar and had already sounded the alarm. The entire gold mine was put into combat readiness. Nearly a hundred imperial guards climbed up the wall, and a large number of miners took up weapons.

The supervisor in charge of the gold mine also climbed onto the village wall and looked at Yue Wenxuan and his group with strange eyes as they slowly walked along the mountain path to the front of the village.

The Zhaoyuan County Magistrate was the first to step forward and shouted, "Don't do it! Let's talk it over."

He shouted at the supervisor, "Luo Jiandang, stop it. This is the current emperor's seventeenth brother, He Wang. He just returned from hunting with the Jin Kingdom. He came to this mine only to gather strength to resist the Jin…" Before he could finish his sentence, Luo Jiandang interrupted him, "I know who is coming! However, since Taizu founded the Song Dynasty, our Great Song has stipulated that royal family members are not allowed to interfere in government affairs. I only accept orders from the Salt and Iron Transport Commissioner of Jingdong East Road. I don't know anyone else, no matter who they are."

The Zhaoyuan County Magistrate was at a loss for words: "Stop messing around!"

Luo Jiandang snorted and said, "How come I'm the one causing trouble? It's obviously you! National affairs cannot be governed without rules. According to the rules of the Song Dynasty, the gold mines are under the jurisdiction of the Salt and Iron Transport Commissioner. No other government office or official, no matter if they are royal relatives, can get involved. If I obey everyone's orders and give gold mines to anyone who asks for them, wouldn't the country be in chaos?"

The Zhaoyuan County Magistrate didn't know what to say. He turned around and waved his hands at Yue Wenxuan, as if to say, "See, I can't handle it."

Yue Wenxuan stepped out and stood at the front of the team. He raised his head and smiled at the wall of the village. "Luo Jiandang, what you just said seems to make some sense. If you give gold mines to everyone who comes to you, the country will definitely be in chaos. I agree with this statement."

Luo Jiandang: "Your Majesty is wise."

Yue Wenxuan: "But you should also know what the situation is outside, right?"

Luo Jiandang: "I know! Half a day ago, the county magistrate told me that the Jin bandits are coming again. They have already passed Shandong and are heading straight for Yangzhou."

Yue Wenxuan: "Don't you think that in this time of national crisis, extraordinary measures should be taken?"

Luo Jiandang: "Extraordinary measures will be taken by others. I am only responsible for the gold mine and will not be responsible for anything else."

Yue Wenxuan: "Now, I am the one who has to resort to extraordinary measures, but my measures require mines. Not only do I need gold mines for military supplies, I also need the iron ore, lead ore, sulfur, and saltpeter that are associated with gold mines..."

Luo Jiandang said: "Send the Salt and Iron Transport Commissioner of the Jingdong East Road here. If he gives the order, I will hand over the gold mine."

Everyone: "..."

As a result, I went around in a circle and came back.

Guan Sheng was furious: "Your Majesty, stop talking nonsense with him. Give the order. I promise to capture this bird village and seize his bird mine."

Yue Wenxuan turned around, his expression surprisingly calm: "His stubbornness may not be a bad thing. It's not his fault, maybe it's us."

Guan Sheng: “?”

Yue Wenxuan said, "What he said just now is right. Without rules, there can be no order. Especially in a place like a gold mine, if he doesn't strictly abide by the rules and instead has a flexible operating plan, it may not be a good thing for the country."

Guan Sheng was confused when he heard this.

Wu Jialiang understood: "The more flexible it is, the more loopholes there are, and the easier it is for people to exploit them. And when it comes to managing money, there can't be any loopholes."

"Yes!" Yue Wenxuan nodded and smiled. "The more eccentric this person is, the more suitable he is for this position. No wonder he can be appointed as the supervisor here. The court must have noticed his eccentricity and sent him to such an important place."

(End of this chapter)