The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 56 What to do?
Spring plowing and sowing began in an orderly manner under the organization of the old professor.

Modern agriculture has completely surpassed Song Dynasty agriculture in terms of farming methods, irrigation and drainage, artificial breeding, seed treatment, fertilization technology, pest and disease control, etc.

Although many technologies require the help of modern machinery, they can still be used without machinery, just with a slightly lower efficiency. Just the selection and breeding of seedlings is enough for ancient farmers to learn.

Agriculture in Dongmiaozi Village and the three surrounding villages is progressing very smoothly.

And at the same time...

Wu Jialiang, however, led a team to fight bandits everywhere! Yue Wenxuan would occasionally possess Master Ye or Bruce Lee to observe Wu Jialiang's progress in suppressing bandits.

This military strategist in "Water Margin" is quite different from the description in the novel. He is not an idealist who upholds justice and robs the rich to help the poor.

He was a typical leader of a peasant uprising army that lacked ideological guidance. The uprising was caused by the court's heavy taxes and levies, and the public outrage caused by the Flower and Stone Tax. They could not survive and therefore followed Song Jiang in the rebellion.

But once he was recruited, he immediately changed his temperament and tried his best to be a good official. To put it simply, he was a person who "wanted to do his best in any position he was in."

Yue Wenxuan didn't hate this kind of people, so he wasn't in a hurry to take back Master Ye and Bruce Lee. He asked these two people to help Wu Jialiang eliminate the small group of bandits, which was also to help the people of Jimo County resume production as soon as possible.

A month passed quickly, and by the end of February, the smaller bandits around the county town were gradually wiped out.

The group of cowardly archers under Wu Jialiang had been cheering for Master Ye and Bruce Lee every day for a month. Their confidence had been boosted by their unwavering victories. Now, the archers were no longer cowardly and were slowly gaining some form.

At noon that day, Yue Wenxuan was possessed by Master Ye, watching Wu Jialiang training his troops. The thirty or so archers were now able to form a normal array, maintain their formation while advancing, and also knew how to start coordinating with spear formations.

Later, more than 60 new archers were recruited and began to improve their skills.

Wu Jialiang now has more than a hundred archers under his command, and can form a large spear formation.

Once they learned how to form a spear formation, they were no longer afraid of martial arts masters like Master Yip and Bruce Lee who relied on "personal bravery" to defeat the enemy.

No matter how high your martial arts skills are, you are still afraid of spear formations.

If dozens of spears are stabbed at you at the same time, no matter how well you practice Wing Chun and Jeet Kune Do, you will be stabbed into a hedgehog.

Yue Wenxuan, using Master Ye's body, clasped his fists towards Wu Jialiang and said, "Mr. Jialiang, since your archers have already made some progress, it's time for the two of us to return to our master and report back."

Wu Jialiang wanted to keep them. Having these two great generals by his side was invaluable. No matter how ferocious the bandit leader was, he wouldn't last a few moves against Master Ye and Bruce Lee. But he couldn't find any reason to persuade them to stay. He pretended to be generous and clasped his fists. "My two brothers have helped me pacify several gangs of bandits, yet I couldn't even treat you to good food and wine. I'm truly ashamed... When I'm done with my work, I'll definitely visit Mr. Yue's residence in person."

"Okay, okay." Yue Wenxuan clasped his fists, said hello to Bruce Lee, and prepared to leave...

At this time, the county magistrate Cui Weihua came to the parade ground with several followers: "County Magistrate Wu, I sent people to the Chengyang Coal Mine to inquire, and the pangolin refused to submit to the government. He led a group of miners to defend the cave, saying that their coal would only be sold to King Gong and they refused to be under the jurisdiction of the government anymore. You have to think of a way to appease those miners." Upon hearing this, Yue Wenxuan was not in a hurry to leave. He pricked up his ears and listened.

Wu Jialiang frowned slightly. "Your Excellency, we saw with our own eyes how King Gong's men took over the Chengyang Coal Mine. You know how powerful King Gong's subordinates are. The number of men we have now can only defeat petty thieves, but we are not strong enough to deal with King Gong."

Yue Wenxuan was surprised when he said this: "Huh? You saw it with your own eyes? So you were there at the time, but I don't know how far away you were hiding and watching."

Cui Weihua sighed, "Of course I know how powerful Lord Gong is, but knowing that is one thing, but I also have to take action. These past few days, I've been carefully investigating Jimo County's industries and discovered that the Chengyang Coal Mine, the Wangzhuang Iron Mine, and the Guanhai Salt Field—the three major state-run businesses—are all under Lord Gong's control. The new supervisor has come to me three times, demanding I produce a set of regulations. What should I do?"

Wu Jialiang: “…”

This is really speechless!
During the Song Dynasty, there was an official title called "Transport Envoy," generally known as "the transport envoy for various prefectures and waterways in a certain route." Its office was called the "Transport Envoy's Office," more commonly known as the "Cao Si." Besides managing the revenues of one or more routes, the Transport Envoy also oversaw the inspection of local officials, the maintenance of public order, the review of criminal cases, and the recommendation of talented individuals.

There are many types of transport envoys, one of which is called "Salt and Iron Transport Envoy", who is responsible for managing the state-monopolized resources such as salt, iron, and coal mines along a route or in a state.

The area that the transport envoy was in charge of was very large, and he could not manage every place, so he would "recommend" some "supervisory officials" to help him manage the local details.

Jimo County is just a small county town, and the transport envoy himself would not come, so they only sent a supervisory official.

The relationship between the supervisory official and the county magistrate can be said to be very complicated.

Both were responsible for "taxation." The county magistrate was responsible for the regular tax, which was the grain tax, while the supervisor was usually responsible for the levies, which were tea, salt, iron, wine, coal, etc.

If the harvest is poor, the local fiscal revenue will be greatly reduced, and the evaluation of the county magistrate will also be affected.

Cui Weihua said, "If the Chengyang Coal Mine, Guanhai Salt Field, and Wangzhuang Town Iron Mine are not reclaimed soon, the supervising official will soon hang himself. After he hangs himself, it will be my turn."

Wu Jialiang pursed his lips and whispered, "There's no need to hang yourself, is there? Don't the people above know what a mess Shandong is in right now? It's hard for us to survive here, so how much tax can we pay them?"

Cui Weihua: "That's what I said...but we are loyal to the emperor and we must do our duty."

Wu Jialiang sighed, "That's right! The County Magistrate has a tax inspection, and I, as the County Lieutenant, have the responsibility to maintain public order. Neither of us can escape this. But King Gong has a powerful army, and the few men I have are no match for him. I can only... let them have their way for a while. At least I have to train 500 archers before I can even face King Gong."

Just as the two men reached this point, a scout ran in, shouting, "This is terrible! A group of thieves has emerged from the island, no fewer than two hundred in number, and they're heading straight for the county. The leader is named Zhang, and his men call him Brother Zheng Qi. He's even saying the county belongs to them and telling us to get out."

Cui Weihua: “Ah?”

(End of this chapter)