A product of wealth and nobility

  "You're sometimes clever and sometimes as silly as a goose," Yiping said, wiping Song Jiu's sweat with her handkerchief.

  Song Jiuxin said, it's not that I'm stupid, but rather I don't understand, it's just that I couldn't make a promise to you. But the more Yu Ping was like this, the more Song Jiu felt embarrassed to speak up.

  This cooking has been going on for a long time, probably the first time in Song Jiu's life to cook for so many people. Fortunately, during this period, he basically stayed at home and cooked meals, with more and more people eating, including Zhu San, four painters, two doctors, like one big family, Song Jiu's hands are also more skilled than before.

  Zhu San went to buy vegetables, and he didn't buy any strange or unusual ones. He mostly bought mutton, beef, and a small amount of pork. These were the traditional meat dishes eaten by northerners. However, this didn't stop Song Jiu from coming up with new ideas. Did the Song Dynasty have steamed rice noodles with mutton? Did they have tofu rolls with mutton? Did they have Western-style beefsteaks? Did they have Dongpo pork? Yes, but it hadn't come out yet.

  Moreover, they only ate half full in the morning, smelling the aroma of dishes, each feeling particularly hungry, not to mention delicious, just not burnt, it's all delicious. Moreover, they were all martial generals, mostly big eaters with large appetites. The nine dishes served by Song were not enough for them to finish quickly.

  Seeing them eating and sweeping away the remaining clouds, Song Jiu said: "It turns out that they are all foodies."

  It wasn't until the eighth dish was served that everyone slowed down their pace, toasting and drinking wine with each other. Suddenly, Fu Zhao Shou sighed, "This girl's life is bitter."

  "Who's that kid?"

  "Xiao Jiu, the dishes are delicious, this is the result of practice. Xiao Jiu lost her parents at a young age and had to cook and do laundry by herself, that's how she developed such great skills. The delicious taste comes from hard work."

  Han Qingchao said: "No, it's the Ninth Lang who cooks small dishes, these are all delicious food, if you live a bitter life, how can you practice these high-quality ingredients?"

  "Han Dalang, you're not making sense, are you saying that the orphan isn't suffering enough?" What's wrong with you, are you serious?!

  Yu Ping brought up a dish and advised, "You all shouldn't argue. Jiu Lang was naturally intelligent and talented, and at the age of 14, he passed the imperial examination as a scholar. Unfortunately, in the following years, his name fell off the list in the Ministry of Rites exam. It had nothing to do with his talent, but rather that his luck was insufficient. Cooking is also one of his talents. However, he lost his parents at a young age and only left behind an empty house, which is very sad."

  "This remark is quite reasonable," said Dr. Yan, "Song Jiulang's natural talent is indeed not bad, and I also admit it, but unfortunately, he uses his talent on the wrong path."

  Dr. Yan's words were ignored by everyone, what is a deviant path? Is it not the case that those who show off their knowledge are on the right path? If so, even if Song Jiuxiao invited them to a feast of mountain delicacies and seafood, they would not come. The delicious dishes were still made by Xiaojiu, a new and delicious fruit, originally a happy thing, but unfortunately, there were two sour and corrupt scholars sitting at the table, eating and drinking while talking about cold words! What a blow to the scenery, what a blow to the scenery! Gradually feeling not hungry, spirits lifted, starting to drink heavily. Eating until the afternoon sun was west, half of the people were calling for horse-drawn carriages, how many carriages would be needed for so many people? Where could they be called from in the river? It was still two painters who had crossed the convenient bridge and shouted from the north bank to come over with a few horse-drawn carriages to send the group back.

  Song Jiuxian wrote a letter to Pan Mei.

  The matter on the Hezhou side is very important, but Pan Lian'er's matter is even more important. It doesn't matter if Hezhou drags on for a while, but Pan Lian'er can't be delayed for a day. Once Pan Mei takes down Binzhou and the marriage between Zhang and Pan families is settled, there will be no hope left at all.

  Write a good letter and give it to Fu Zhao Shou. Not everyone can write letters to Pan Mei, but they can also be given to Pan Wei De. However, Song Jiu is afraid that Pan Mei will misunderstand him, thinking that he is trying to curry favor with the Pan family by relying on his father's influence, and even suspecting that he has an eye on Pan Lian Er not because of her own qualities but because of her family background, which would be unseemly. But he did not expect this letter to develop in a way different from what he had imagined - the front part of the letter reached Fu Zhao Shou's hands, while the back part was passed on to his brother-in-law.

  Zhao Kuangyi used a small knife to cut open the wax seal, looking at private letters is very impolite, but can Zhao Kuangyi control this? Being able to see your private letter is a recognition of you, ordinary people want Zhao Kuangyi to look but he doesn't. Opening the letter, first shocked, then furrowed his brow. He had misunderstood San Zhao Song Jiu, thinking that among the three Zhaos, Zhao Kuangyi was the most conservative, this idea was wrong, the most conservative of the three Zhaos was actually Zhao Pu, and the most radical was unexpectedly Zhao Kuangyi, later...later after the battle at Gao Liang River, everything changed!

  Including views on Song Jiu, the sentence during the imperial examination, the sentence at the gathering in the river, Zhao Pu thought that Song Jiu was coincidental, while Zhao Kuangyi disagreed, believing that Song Jiu had vision. Of course, the common point is that Song Jiu was reckless and greedy for wealth and beauty.

  He brought the letter to the imperial palace with great solemnity, and when Zhao Kuangyin saw it, he was equally solemn. He immediately summoned Zhao Pu, Xue Juzheng, Lü Yijian, and Wang Renzi, deputy commander of the Palace Guard, because the contents of the letter concerned affairs of the Three Departments, including Li Chonggui, the chief minister of the Three Departments, to the inner palace.

  The five people who read the letter were equally shocked.

  In ancient times, people wrote articles without punctuation marks, which made it a bit troublesome to read. Often, reading continuously and separately was one meaning, and reading with a definite tone and an interrogative tone was another meaning. As a result, a noun was born: sentence break. Often, this led to quarrels that couldn't be reconciled.

  The great Confucians did not do well, let alone Song Jiu. But his letter, he could take charge of it himself, so he added punctuation marks. Looking at these strange symbols and marks, one cannot help but be amazed.

  His Majesty would not have summoned several senior ministers together because of this symbol, and so he read the letter:

  Song Deru, the former Attendant Gentleman of the Imperial Guard, and his son Song Jiujian, a Gentleman of the Imperial Academy, present this memorial to Your Excellency. We have heard that you are about to depart for the southern regions. Our hearts are filled with both joy and worry. The joy is because Your Excellency will once again achieve great things for the Great Song Dynasty, while our worries stem from the fact that the south has been in a state of prolonged turmoil and cannot be pacified.

  Emperor Taizong of Tang and his ministers discussed the business of emperors, whether it was more difficult to establish or maintain a dynasty. Fang Xuanling said that establishing was more difficult. Wei Zheng said that when an emperor rises, he must inherit a legacy of decline and chaos, overthrowing the dark and cunning, bringing joy to the people, and receiving the mandate of heaven, so it is not difficult. However, after gaining power, one's ambition becomes arrogant and indulgent, the people desire stability but are subjected to endless labor; the people become exhausted and worn out, while extravagance and waste do not cease, and the country's decline and collapse always arise from this. In this sense, maintaining a dynasty is more difficult. Taizong said that Xuanling had followed me in pacifying the world, experiencing hardships and difficulties, and barely escaping death to encounter life, so he understood the difficulty of establishing a dynasty. Wei Zheng accompanied me in bringing peace to the world, considering the beginning of arrogance and indulgence, and necessarily treading on dangerous ground, so he understood the difficulty of maintaining a dynasty. Now that the difficulty of establishing a dynasty is already past, we must be cautious about the difficulty of maintaining it with you gentlemen.

  Starting a business is difficult, but keeping it going is even harder!

  The general went to the south, deep into the land of no hair. The mountains are high and the forests are dense, the malaria is rampant, the people are closed and poor, the poverty breeds barbarism, one difficulty. Since ancient times, the south has been plagued by many wet and hot diseases, the court has taken it lightly, the king's education has not reached, the people are all illiterate, the king's education is even more difficult, the evil consequences follow each other, the evil becomes more evil, two difficulties. The king's education does not reach, the language is not communicated, so that they believe in evil spirits and ghosts, foolish and harmful to the people, ethnic isolation, conflict and collision arise, three difficulties. The terrain is complex, the king's army arrives and scatters like birds, the king's army leaves and the strong gather again, indulging in evil neighbors, four difficulties.

  Wei Zheng said: Defending the king's land and governing the people is also difficult. Moreover, General, do you want to make the southern region last for a long time? This is adding difficulty on top of difficulty.

  However, the north is not easy to govern, with one side being agricultural and the other nomadic, their civilizations are different, it's as difficult as ascending to heaven. The south may be difficult, but since their civilizations are connected, it cannot be left ungoverned. Firstly, there's the miasma, this is a thing that has accumulated over millions of years, forming poisonous air that doesn't disperse, spreading and becoming more evil, the people consider it a place to avoid. When the general arrived at the time when the miasma was light, he labored to have the people burn and plow the accumulated rot, turning the land into fertile soil, the place of fear transformed into a vast expanse of fertile fields, this is a great merit. Secondly, there's the suffering of the people, having heard that the south practices slash-and-burn agriculture, aren't they suffering? When rich, then peaceful, when poor, then chaotic, it has always been so since ancient times. The general invited old farmers to teach them farming and weaving, opened up roads, encouraged trade, made sure they didn't starve, made sure they weren't poor, this is also a great merit and a strategy for long-term peace. Thirdly, there's the imperial transformation, if the people don't know books or etiquette, how can they follow the imperial rituals? The general established private schools in the south, promoted education, the imperial influence reached, the court was governed! This is a strategy for long-term peace.

  I am deeply frightened and again bow down.

  Song Jiuxu's writings on the imperial examination were not good at writing rhapsodies, and he was very dissatisfied. As a result, another ancient prose was circulated in a small circle. The words are also rough, but as he said, reading is not beautiful enough, but it can clearly express the meaning, and the narrative is also very smooth.

  The article is written well or badly, no one cares, although it's rough, it hasn't reached the point of being unbearable, what matters is the content.

  Song Ji heard Fu Zhao Shou say that Pan Mei was about to attack Binzhou, and at the time he thought of the history of the Southern Song Dynasty. He didn't learn much in his history class, but it was a big deal. Later on, the Southern Song Dynasty also had many troubles, with constant unrest. Experts said that the Song Dynasty's harsh policies were to blame. A few writers criticized the experts as being ignorant because the Song Dynasty did not tax the common people heavily. Only a small amount of grain tax was collected, about 3-5 pecks per person, and each household only paid an average of 50-60 kilograms of grain per year. This is also considered extortionate. The Song Dynasty had hundreds of thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of officials, it would be better for them to all hang themselves together.

  So the writing hand became an expert analysis, the Song Dynasty also has responsibility, and there may be cruel officials, but where are there no corrupt officials? Even in Henan, the capital city, there will be. It has nothing to do with tyranny, not only is the tax not heavy, but on the contrary, during the New Year's festival, the court will even give out money and silk to the people. This mistake is not about guidance, but rather letting things take their own course, so there is no commerce, no culture, no economy, no food, and they are poor and hungry, how can they not be chaotic? The smaller ones collude with merchants, smuggle private salt, harm the country's salt monopoly, and the bigger ones directly organize people to go out and rob familiar laborers, Han people, and even they do not farm or weave, and seize diligent Han people back to the deep mountains as cattle, making them serve. The court does not manage, and it gets more and more excessive, one management is not good, then make trouble.

  Experts are not necessarily masters of bricklaying, and writers are not necessarily experts. So Song Jiuyi wants to see Pan Mei's family letter.

  It's a bit similar, but still be careful when writing, this is not arithmetic, nor physical objects, it's national policy, and not something he can interfere with at the moment.

  However, it was this letter that made the monarch and his ministers cautious.

  As Song Jiu wrote, the south is humid and hot, with malaria, high mountains and deep forests, really not easy to manage. Li Churuo stirred up a hornet's nest, but couldn't kill Li Churuo, so the monarch had to think of ways to quickly stabilize the south, including the southern barbarians, Man people, Yi people, and Dian people. Successful examples include Zhuge Liang, while failures include the time of Tang Minghuang. The failed example is when officials directly intervened, causing the various departments of Dali to be dissatisfied, and the six prefectures joined forces to defeat the Tang army, which was also a precursor to the decline of the Tang Dynasty. Successful examples include Zhuge Liang using Meng Huo to govern the south, using barbarians to control barbarians, thus making Shu a peaceful place for generations. Therefore, consistently using Zhuge Liang's method, the court does not manage or ask about the barbarian areas, letting them live and die on their own, in order to avoid producing unexpected conflicts.

  Everyone feels that this treatment is not very good, but there is no good reference, so we have to adopt this method.

  Song Jiuxian's letter opened up a second path for everyone, teaching the common people to cultivate and weave, open roads, establish education, develop commerce, clean up wasteland. At first glance, these five points seem quite large, but in reality, they don't require much money, and indeed benefit future management.

  That is, the final fusion of these different tribes into the Han people, just like the Xianbei people. Song Jiuzhang's cultural conflict between nomadic and farming nations, everyone just smiled and said that if so, why were the Han people under Khitan rule stable? How did Murong Xianbei continue Northern Wei for a long time?

  They did not expect that behind these two things, they had even dug a big pit for the Battle of Gaoling River later.

  It's not that Zhao Pu and others are not clever, but there are limitations of the times, no matter how clever they are.

  Zhao Kuangyin said: "This little guy can't be underestimated."

  Even Zhao Pu couldn't help but admit that, at least in terms of political instincts, this kid wasn't simple. He shook his head and said: "What a pity for the talent! This child has talent and emotions, but he is greedy and lustful, with no great ambitions. If Your Majesty grants him a seventh-rank official position, I estimate that this kid will be so delighted that he won't sleep well for a whole night."

  Several people burst out laughing, and Zhao Kuangyi also laughed. Although Zhao Pu's evaluation was not high, this evaluation cannot be said to be unkind. Just like this time, if it weren't for that pretty little wife of the Pan family, would he have been so kind as to come up with ideas for Pan Mei?

  Then, looking at this letter again, it's not a joke. Song Jiuyi wrote several hundred words lightly, if adopted, it would mean that the entire policy of the South would have to undergo major changes. If not adopted, the best way to deal with this letter is to hold it back and not let Pan Mei see it, so as not to distract Pan Mei and Ding Deyu from their duties on the front line. When governing a large country, can't one be careful about making such major adjustments to national policy?