"The Song Dynasty's economy and culture were indeed at the peak of all dynasties. Ouyang Xiu once said, 'The common people wore clothes similar to those of scholars, and the peasants wore silk sandals.' But it was also true that it was militarily weak."
"The Ming Dynasty's economy and culture couldn't compare to the Song Dynasty, but the emperor guarded the country's borders and the emperor died for the country. The last emperor, Chongzhen, refused to move south until his death, no matter how incompetent he was. Because of this, the Ming Dynasty was the most resilient dynasty since the Han and Tang Dynasties."
"To be honest, I've always believed that the Song Dynasty was an era of great potential. Although it had many problems, its technological and industrial development had reached the pinnacle of feudal dynasties. Its commercial exchanges, cultural development, abundant labor force, and high productivity are all areas worth studying."
"For example, let's take navigation. The Song Dynasty's navigation technology was arguably the best in the world. They could easily conquer Southeast Asia via the ocean. Southeast Asia is very suitable for growing rice, easily producing two or even three crops a year. Attracting refugees from China to grow food in Southeast Asia and then transport it back to China would solve both labor and food problems, wouldn't that be enough?"
"Low grain prices dealt a heavy blow to the landlord class. The Song Dynasty's policy of "no established land system and no suppression of mergers and acquisitions" led to the legal concentration of land in the hands of landlords, promoting intensive land management and creating a large surplus of labor. If grain prices were low, labor would be unwilling to cultivate the land, and the landlords' land would be left uncultivated."
"To retain the labor force, landlords had to offer higher salaries and better conditions to attract young and strong people to help them farm. This further suppressed the profits of the landlord class, and the lives of the lower classes would also be better. Even though there were unscrupulous landlords and capitalists, the overall trend was towards stability."
"The biggest headache was the Song Dynasty's lack of pioneering spirit. Although our country is known as the Celestial Empire and is rich in resources, the precious metals gold, silver, and copper needed in ancient times were actually very scarce. The birth of Jiaozi was due to the economic prosperity and the shortage of coins, which led to the emergence of paper currency transactions."
"However, Jiaozi is only issued for large quantities of goods and by reputable merchants. For ordinary people, copper coins are definitely more valuable. Therefore, if we want to achieve greater economic prosperity, we should actively expand abroad and occupy more territory."
"Japan, for example, is rich in silver mines. I remember there was an Iwami Silver Mine there, which accounted for one-third of the world's silver production in the 17th century. There are also many copper and gold mines. If we occupied Japan and brought in a large number of immigrants, we would definitely become even richer."
"And India and Southeast Asia are obviously close, with well-developed shipping. If we increase immigration and expand the Maritime Silk Road, turning Southeast Asia into the Song Dynasty's backyard, the economy and agriculture will naturally rise to a higher level."
"It's the military that's a bit of a headache. The Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty has a very tight grip on military power. The soldiers don't know their commanders, and the commanders don't know their soldiers. I'm afraid it will be very difficult to improve this problem."
"Perhaps the only way to start is with weaponry, such as firearms. Didn't the Song Dynasty invent the musket, the prototype of the firearm? Their steel production was also the highest in the world at the time. If they had firearm technology, they could have handcrafted guns, ammunition, and artillery, and they should have been able to deal with the nomadic peoples."
"Of course, I'm just making this up. After all, I'm just a history student, and I wasn't born during the Song Dynasty. I can only learn about them through historical books. I'm not very clear about their true situation or their specific level of development."
"So, Uncle Lari, if you want to hear how the Song Dynasty should become stronger and develop, I'll just talk nonsense and just have fun."
Zhao Jun sat on the edge of the bed, one foot on the bed and one foot on the ground, holding a plate of food in his hand, talking excitedly.
Today Yan Shu came again to ask how to make the Song Dynasty grow stronger.
Although this question is very strange, because they are now in New China, not in the Song Dynasty, it seems meaningless to ask how the Song Dynasty should become stronger?
But since he was free anyway, he just started talking nonsense. No matter whether what he proposed was reliable or not, he would just talk nonsense. After all, he was not really in the Song Dynasty. Could his nonsense in New China still affect the Song Dynasty a thousand years ago?
Yan Shu wrote down everything he said. Today Zhao Zhen and his men were not here, and the emperor and his ministers of the Song Dynasty could not stay in the back garden every day, so he was needed to record and report the situation to Zhao Zhen.
It has been more than ten days since Zhao Jun came to the Song Dynasty. His injuries have improved a lot and he can now get out of bed and walk around. In the past two days, Yan Shu even took him for a stroll in the corridor outside.
But what Zhao Jun certainly could not have imagined was that he was actually in the Song Dynasty now, and because of his appearance, the history of the Song Dynasty had undergone a brief shift.
In May of the third year of Jingyou's reign, the lower and middle levels of the Lü Party suffered a severe blow. Although Fan Zhongyan was demoted, he was not transferred out of Bianliang.
Even with Fan Zhongyan's recommendation, another pioneer of the reformists was transferred back to the capital.
Fu Bi, the Tongpan of Jiangzhou and the son-in-law of Yan Shu, was appointed as the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture and became one of the censors in the Court of Censors, replacing the vacancy left by the Lu party who had been dismissed earlier.
Obviously.
With the indirect help of Zhao Jun, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty has made up his mind to support the New Policies of Qingli to the end. He has begun to make plans in advance and promote reformist officials to pave the way for future new policies.
Even though these old members of the Lu Party knew that it would harm their own interests, they had to make concessions for the national interest and keep silent.
Zhao Jun has only been here for more than ten days, but he has already begun to change the political landscape of the Song Dynasty invisibly.
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