But to be honest, at this time, the official had already sensed that something was wrong, because he could see that the problem in Fujian Road was not only the most unexpected, but also the most serious and difficult. First, its scale was far beyond imagination, and almost the entire grassroots of Fujian was in chaos; second, the place where the incident occurred, or the class where it occurred, was simply an area that the central power of the feudal era could not effectively reach... In other words, he, the official Zhao, was simply powerless.
In fact, this is true.
As a series of reports came back from all sides, it all showed that this confusing grassroots unrest in Fujian not only seriously delayed production, but also caused violent social unrest and created a series of local conflicts.
What’s even more terrible is that when Zhao Jiu received the news that the local situation was gradually stabilizing, summer was already over...and this meant that the summer tax collection work in Fujian Road had been greatly damaged.
Even the autumn tax cannot be guaranteed!
And don't forget, why did Zhao Jiu want to tour the south and carry out this reform? Wasn't it to unite the people before the Northern Expedition, so that the people in the south could be a little more stable before the Northern Expedition, so that they could stand together and go north?
Then why was there a Northern Expedition?
Isn’t it said that according to this fiscal budget, it will probably be in place this year?
But now you can’t collect all the summer taxes along the entire route, and you can’t even collect all the autumn taxes, not to mention that Jiangxi has also been affected to a certain extent. What can you use to carry out the Northern Expedition?
And is Jiangnan stable or not?
This turmoil has fundamentally shaken Emperor Zhao's overall strategy.
Poor Emperor Zhao, since his debut, he has boasted of suppressing warlords, sweeping out rebellions, recovering the Central Plains, overthrowing the two saints, shooting Wanyan Loushi with arrows, forcing Ling Yelu Dashi, taking over Xixia, opening up the public pavilion, connecting with the Western Regions, establishing the original school, taking gold out of the mouth of the Japanese emperor, making silver from the Confucian officials of Goryeo, asking Dali for copper mines, getting rice from Nanyue, fighting side by side with Yue Fei and Han Shizhong, chatting and laughing with Li Gang and Lu Haowen... Turning around, he can also count crows on Phoenix Mountain, sail across the West Lake in an Oolong boat, drag swords and compose poems to dominate the southeast, punch local residents and look down on Taoists at martial arts conferences, but he never expected that he would be caught off guard and fall headfirst into a local fight in Fujian.
It's simply ridiculous.
But this is not the end. As summer was about to end and the unrest in Fujian was gradually calming down and Emperor Zhao was hesitating whether to return north to Tokyo, another piece of bad news... or a visible phenomenon appeared.
Zhao Guanjia could see clearly from Phoenix Mountain that in late summer, large areas of the entire southeast began to rain, and it kept raining.
In fact, in early April, there was already too much rain in the southeast. At that time, local officials told Lu Yihao that there was a fear that the silk production this year would be slightly affected.
But it is just a slight one and cannot be called a disaster. At the moment, it is actually similar to... It is too sensational to call it a disaster, but this round of continuous rain has indeed affected the autumn harvest in Liangzhe Road.
This made Zhao Jiu a little flustered, Lu Yihao a little flustered, and the local officials were also a little flustered... because everyone was not a fool. They all knew that there were 300,000 troops in the imperial camp after autumn, and they all knew that something had gone wrong with the summer tax in Fujian Road. What if the autumn harvest in the southeast suffered a disaster?
In the panic, some people lost their temper and took the initiative to report to Emperor Zhao, suggesting that he offer sacrifices to heaven and earth and pray for sunny days.
Zhao Jiu tore up the memorial on the spot.
Less than a day after the seal was torn and the rain was still falling in West Lake, an envoy from Tokyo arrived to pay his respects as usual... Throughout the ninth year of Jianyan, there were envoys arriving every month to pay their respects, and they were usually high-ranking officials of the Secret Council at the level of Vice Minister... This time was no exception, and the one who came was Liu Hongdao, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and the head of the Capital Water Conservancy Bureau.
But to be honest, Liu Hongdao was in charge of the Yellow River issue. Unless there was something urgent at this time, there was no need for him to come as a greeting envoy... As expected, after this person went up to Phoenix Mountain and met Emperor Zhao, before explaining various Tokyo affairs and local military affairs, he first mentioned a troublesome matter.
"The Yellow River waterway?" Zhao Jiu frowned.
"Yes." Liu Hongdao responded solemnly. "Specifically, it is the waterway in Shanzhou. There is a pillar in the river... I am not referring to General Li, but a real pillar..."
"I know...there have been no problems in the past, right?" Zhao Jiu stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the rain falling outside the old palace. He was a little impatient and interrupted the other party directly.
"I didn't point out the problem. It's just that now we are preparing for the Northern Expedition, and a large amount of military supplies have begun to be transported to Guanxi. The river channels there are inevitably a bit stretched." Liu Hongdao still looked serious.
"That's true." Zhao Jiu nodded repeatedly. "It can't be helped..."
"There is a way." Liu Hongdao hurriedly continued to explain. "Before I came here, Minister Hu of the Ministry of Works discussed with me... We can actually rebuild the Tang Dynasty plank road in the river... The Shanzhou area happens to be in our hands on both sides of the river, so it is completely feasible."
"But how long will it take to build the plank road?" Zhao Jiu frowned even more.
"If we use gunpowder, it can be done quickly." Liu Hongdao responded earnestly. "I have tried it in Tokyo before. Drilling holes and using gunpowder can definitely blast rocks to open a road... But using a large amount of gunpowder requires the decision of the government, so I came here specifically... Government, if we can quickly build a plank road, not only can military supplies arrive in Guanxi in time, but also when the war starts, it can speed up the transportation of materials from the southeast to the battlefield in Hedong. It is related to the smooth logistics. I think it is still worth it."
Zhao Jiu instinctively opened his mouth to speak, but for some reason, he hesitated for a moment and did not give a reply. Instead, he stood inside the door as if he was lost in thought, staring at the outside of the old palace in silence.
However, looking outside the hall at this time, the lush Phoenix Mountain, the distantly visible Leifeng Pagoda, and the misty West Lake were all shrouded in mist and rain, and were covered by the summer rain.
Zhao Jiu knew in his heart that it was time to make a decision again...but this time the decision was really extraordinary and of great importance, so much so that even though he thought he had made all kinds of preparations, he still hesitated and shrank back when it came time.
PS: Thank you to rabbit for your cuteness, thank you to salty watermelon for your cuteness, thank you to narb for your cuteness, and I continue to wish you all a happy new year.
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