From Xiongzhou to Youzhou, it was the former post road between the Song Dynasty and the Khitan, with convenient transportation. Early on the third morning, a large group of people left Xiongzhou and headed towards Youzhou. The post station on the road was already dilapidated and temporarily packed up for Zhao Zhen and a group of ministers to live. Zhang Yu and Long Wei were camping next to it.

After passing Xincheng County, we arrived in Zhuozhou on the third day. As soon as we arrived at the city gate, we saw a large number of people kneeling at the city gate, posing incense tables.

Du Zhongxiao ordered not to stop, and the army entered the city. As soon as he reached the city gate, a man rushed up, knelt in the middle of the street, and kept kowtowing to Luzhu. The two guards rushed forward quickly, pulled up the man's arms, and dragged them aside.

Zhao Zhen on the car said, "When the late emperor, every time he went out of the Da Nei, there would be people watching on the two streets. Even if the people wanted to see the emperor's face, they would deliberately stop him. Although the late emperor felt inconvenient, he never blamed him. When I came to Youzhou, I should remember the sages of the late emperor and not treat the people harshly."

After saying that, he asked Song Xiang to come forward and asked why this person was blocking the road.

Soon, Song Xiang came back and bowed, "Your Majesty, I asked clearly. This man is named Ma Zonghai, and he opened a wine shop in the city. He has two sons, both of whom were assassinated as signing soldiers, and he didn't know whether he was alive or dead. Because he had no business recently, his eldest daughter-in-law followed him and left a child. The second daughter-in-law died of starvation a few days ago, leaving a daughter. Since the army entered the city, she set up a porridge shed in the city. These days she relied on the court to pay porridge. He heard that Your Majesty came to Zhuozhou and came to thank him. Although this man collided with Da Jia, he was a good person."

Zhao Zhen sighed, "It's really pitiful. He ordered Zhuozhou City to give him some money and grain to help him start the wine shop again. By the next year, the business should be fine. Now all the difficulties are in place, and local officials should do their best."

Song Xiang received the order and went to give orders.

Du Zhongxiao rode on the horse without saying a word. From the Khitan army heading south and the Youzhou government, no matter whether it is poor or rich or not, the relationship between the yamen, these days were miserable. At the beginning, he just signed an army and collected grain and taxes. Later, the Khitan army could not grab grain, and the war ahead was unfavorable, so it became even worse. It didn't matter whether to collect or not, but money and grain were directly robbed by the private households, and many people went bankrupt overnight.

So what if you know? Du Zhongxiao had no choice. The money and food of the Song Dynasty were not endless, and it was amazing to ensure that people would not starve to death. Other things can only be seen.

Zhao Zhen was the emperor. When encountering such a thing, he could of course order his subordinates to give subsidies to win people's hearts. Du Zhongxiao was not good, and winning people's hearts was not his job, so he could only ignore it. His job was to eliminate the Khitan army and restore local production as soon as possible.

After entering the city, he went to the Zhuozhou government office to rest. Zhao Zhen called Du Zhongxiao and Han Qi.

After entering the door, the two of them performed rituals. Zhao Zhen ordered to sit down.

After tea, Zhao Zhen said, "Today, when we entered Zhuozhou, we saw that the people all had vegetables, which was very different from Xiongzhou. No need to ask, most of them should go north. After regaining these places, this place will be the territory of the court, but it will not work for the people to do so. Let the people under the rule have no shortage of food and clothing and not suffer from the suffering of cold and hunger. It is not only the sage of the court, but also the hearts of the people here as soon as possible. What do you think should be done?"

Han Qi bowed: "What Youzhou lacks the most now is food. You can buy some food from Liangzhe and transport it to Youzhou. Porridge is served every day to ensure that no one will starve to death. If you can persist until next year, there will be a way. Those who survive will definitely be grateful for the court's kindness."

Zhao Zhen nodded, turned to Du Zhongxiao and said, "What should the Taiwei think?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "It is better to teach people how to fish than to teach people how to fish. The people of Youzhou are in difficulty, and the first is that they lack food. As the husband said, transport some food from the mainland, and first ensure that people will not starve to death. Another thing is that the Khitan plunder is too powerful, and all industries in Youzhou are in ill, and the people cannot make money. Just like Ma Zonghai outside the city gate today, he originally had his own wine shop, and he should have had food and clothing before. But now everyone has no money and cannot do business, so his family can only die of cold and starvation. What the court wants to do is to form a group

Weaving production. Most of the young and strong soldiers were stabbed into the army, and the people were short of manpower. The government came forward to organize people, so that each family could help each other, so that they could get money, which was the important task. Another thing was that when the imperial court occupied this place, coins would also pass here. The Zhongshu could transport some money, do some things in the local area, build bridges and roads to transport grain, and give money to the people here. If the people had money, merchants would sell grain, which was also a solution."

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen nodded repeatedly: "It makes sense. If the court only supplies porridge, the court will spend a lot of money, and the other will not be a long-term solution. If the people are allowed to do their work, the yamen will give them money, which will be much better. The people get the money and the yamen do things, and the yamen will do the best of both worlds."

Du Zhongxiao said: "This is to use labor for relief, allowing the people to make money by working and surviving the years and years of famine."

Zhao Zhen said: "If you do this, you must have a name. What is the right thing to do here? This is a post road, which looks a bit broken. Can you ask Zhuozhou and other places to recruit people to repair roads? The things like building bridges and paving roads are always right."

Du Zhongxiao said: "Of course. However, it doesn't take much work to repair the road, how many people can be taken care of? After obtaining Youzhou, the most important thing is actually to build a railway. Using railways to connect Xiongzhou and Youzhou, the people's work and earn money will also be of great use to the court."

Zhao Zhen said to Han Qi: "What do you think? This railway must be built."

Han Qi bowed: "What Your Majesty said is that if you occupy Youzhou and build the railway here, it will be as solid as a god. Since that's the case, it will start as soon as the war is over. In addition, a large number of Khitan prisoners can also do this."

Regarding the Khitans captured in this battle, Zhao Zhen and several important officials discussed it. The signing army was forced to join the army and could go home. However, the nomadic cavalry from the grassland could not be allowed to return to the grassland. They would eventually be disbanded, either assigned to the wing army to raise horses or do other things. The Central Plains was suffering from the nations on the grassland, so it was impossible to put them back.

After discussing the road construction, Zhao Zhen said: "This victory is not easy to restore the prosperity of Youzhou. If you don't come here, how can you know that the Khitans have harmed this place like this? Forget it, the land of Youzhou will be exempted from three years of taxes, so let's take a rest."

Du Zhongxiao and Han Qi bowed: "The emperor is wise!"

How much can you receive taxes in Youzhou like this? Four hundred thousand signing soldiers died in large numbers. This place is not only poor, but also lacks labor. If there are not ten or twenty years, I am afraid that I can't recover. It is necessary to exempt taxes for three years and let the people recuperate.

Since the opening of Hequ Road, Du Zhongxiao has participated in many wars and recovered many places. This is the first time he encountered Youzhou like this. A war was full of youth and strength, and the people have suffered corruption. Even if they have money, they are not enough manpower. The Khitan is a great power, not only has combat power outside, but also has the ability to destroy internally. Hundreds of thousands of troops went south, and in order to supply this army, many places were greatly damaged.

When prosperity occurs, the people suffer, and when they die, the people suffer. Youzhou truly agrees with this sentence.
Chapter completed!