The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 159: Fight the Next Battle

Mr. Zhang happily left with the five papermakers.

Only then did Madam Gong Er raise her head and asked curiously, "Master, since we've been stationed in several cities, we've already had our own papermakers. You even sent a few heavenly papermakers to our workshop a few days ago. Why are you still supporting this merchant in making paper?"

Yue Wenxuan smiled and said, "I've heard a lot of complaints from the public these days. The paper from the official paper mills is expensive and of poor quality. The reason is that after I sent the immortal craftsmen to the official paper mills, the craftsmen there weren't very enthusiastic about learning new techniques. Some were even a little perfunctory. They preferred to use their own ancient methods to make paper and were not willing to learn new techniques from the immortal craftsmen."

Madam Gong Er was very surprised: "They are not willing to learn the immortals' techniques?"

Yue Wenxuan sighed softly.

Humans are prone to path dependency. If a technology can provide you with a comfortable life, you will become reliant on it and unwilling to upgrade or evolve it.

This is actually the real reason why "state-run" businesses easily lose their vitality and eventually collapse.

At this time, external intervention is needed.

External forces destroy his comfort zone, making it impossible for him to get by through path dependence, and he will naturally strive to grow.

Let’s not talk about the distant past, let’s talk about the recent past. In the past few years, China Unicom was still introducing private capital to carry out “state-owned enterprise reform”. This is to activate stagnant water by injecting external forces.

It’s hard to say whether it can be activated in the end, but at least you have to try. It would be wrong not to try.

Yue Wenxuan has been supporting "state-run craftsmen" in the past few days, but next, he will start to support some private capital, and put some competitive pressure on the official workshops through the competition of private capital.

Competition brings vitality, better products and lower prices.

As paper becomes cheaper, the cost of universal literacy will also decrease, which will cultivate more intellectuals.

As the two were discussing this, the Jiaoshui County Magistrate came in from outside. "Mr. Gong, I've made some progress in clearing the farmland. Last year, when the Jin army revolted, a large number of civilians were killed, leaving many farmlands empty... I've sorted them out, and I've found that these fields can accommodate approximately 35,000 people."

When Madam Gong Er heard the number 35,000, she was slightly stunned.

Then I became sad!
The land that was freed up to accommodate 35,000 people meant that 35,000 people were killed by the Jin army. No, perhaps even more than that...

Because farmers have the habit of "occupying unowned land".

If a farmer's neighbor was killed by the Jin army, he would occupy his neighbor's fields. This was not difficult to do. All he had to do was dig up the mulberry tree that separated the two fields and flatten the ridges. The two fields were connected, making it difficult for the government to investigate later.

If this kind of land is included.

The vacant land for 35,000 people means that at least 50,000 people are gone.

Fifty thousand people died in just one county. How many people died in Shandong and Hebei?

Yue Wenxuan was also lamenting in his heart: the Liao Kingdom killed people once, the Jin Kingdom came to kill them again, and later the Mongols came and killed people indiscriminately, and almost all the population in the area north of the Yangtze River was killed.

He came to help the Song people in the sandbox fight against the Jin people, not just to fight against the Jin people, but more to save the people who would die in the war.

Madam Gong Er was so upset she couldn't speak for a moment... Yue Wenxuan said to the Magistrate of Jiaoshui County, "I'll leave this matter to you. Count the refugees from Changyi County and distribute the unowned fertile land to them. If anyone doesn't have farm tools and seeds, have them come to Madam Gong Er and prepare the land as soon as possible. After this winter, we must start spring plowing and sowing as soon as possible to ensure they have food to harvest next year."

This kind of thing was a thief's specialty for the county magistrate, and he felt no pressure at all. However, he suddenly lowered his voice and said, "More than a dozen wealthy families have come from Changyi County, and it's not easy to make arrangements with them."

Yue Wenxuan smiled: "I know, the leader's surname is Ji, right?"

The county magistrate exclaimed, "Huh?" and thought to himself: The mastermind behind this bandit army is well-informed. It seems he has also sent people to do mass work.

The county magistrate said, "The Ji family is the leader of the gentry in Changyi County, and they all obey him. They have lost their land in Changyi County, but they still have many servants and dozens of carts full of gold and silver jewelry, making them a formidable force. If we simply give them land, they will become too powerful to be eliminated. If we don't give them land, they won't be able to take root here, and I'm afraid they will rebel, and then they will cause trouble again."

I'm afraid he has ulterior motives!

The county magistrate said these four words very carefully. If you look at it carefully, it is possible that this group of people might find a boat to escape to the south of the Yangtze River, and it is not impossible that they will become bandits... The worst development is that this group of people find that the rebel army cannot accommodate them, so they will return to the Jin Kingdom, which is very unacceptable.

Yue Wenxuan nodded: "Don't worry, I will take care of this group of people. You just need to deal with the people."

The county magistrate was secretly surprised: "You have your own plan? What is your plan?"

Never mind, I won't ask about that. The county magistrate bowed and said, "People from Changyi County keep running towards us. The Jin bandits won't sit idly by. Bali Yuanshan will definitely come back after a short rest in Changyi County. The civilians who escaped from Changyi County heard that a large amount of military supplies has been shipped in from Weizhou, and Bali Yuanshan has recruited many civilians in the county. It looks like they will be coming again in a few days."

Yue Wenxuan nodded: "Yes! Let's fight the next battle first... As long as we win the battle, many things will fall into place naturally."

The county magistrate was awakened. Indeed! As long as they could withstand the attacks of the Jin thieves continuously and withstand them enough times, everyone's confidence would be lifted.

There will naturally be fewer people with dissenting opinions, and everyone will be more united.

The county magistrate bowed and went out to continue arranging the laborers and rectifying the logistics...

Yue Wenxuan turned his attention back to the war.

The last time the rebels attacked from Baliyuan Mountain, they exposed a big weakness: scouts.

The rebel army's scouts were too weak. To put it bluntly, they were just a group of bandits riding around on horses. Although Qi Jiguang also trained them, scouts were different from the Mandarin Duck Formation. The Mandarin Duck Formation could be trained in a month, but the scouts' riding and archery skills could not be mastered even in one or two years.

Baliyuanshan will attack again soon, and then the rebel army's scout circle will be suppressed again, which will be very troublesome.

This is a problem that the rebels themselves are unable to solve in a short period of time, so Yue Wenxuan will have to use his strength to help them.

Okay, let's send in a few teams of scouts to help them.

Yue Wenxuan's gaze turned to his toy cabinet.

The first thing that catches your eye is a set of Ming Dynasty border army models.

(End of this chapter)