Ezhou was originally a famous metal mine-rich area in Jinghu. Since the Three Kingdoms, Sun Wu has mined gold and silver on a large scale here. Before moving south, it was almost the most important mineral exporting place in Hubei. Yue Wumu was stationed in Ezhou. His excellent military weapons and iron armor all rely on Ezhou's developed mineral mining and handicraft metallurgy industry.

But the times have changed. After the southward transition, the court's politics was on the downward line, and the drawbacks were reflected in all aspects of the state's operation. The greed, illegal and illegal mine officials, the foreman's reckless behavior, and the court's attitude of only pursuing output and ignoring the life and death of the mine managers, all seriously catalyzed the conflict between the mine managers and the government.

What's more serious is that on the other hand, as a large number of northern populations spread to the south, the population pressure faced by the Song Dynasty was less than half of its original land area. A large number of young and middle-aged people without land were pouring into cities, yarns and mines. Taking Ezhou as a small example, when the imperial capital was still in Bianliang, there were only tens of thousands of men engaged in mining in the entire Ezhou. Today, the number of mines mined in various minerals in Ezhou has increased rapidly to more than 100,000.

But Ezhou does not have so many mines to seize. From the south to the present, metal production in the entire Ezhou has declined year by year. Many famous gold and silver mines have dried up. Although the mining of iron ore and copper mines can still maintain certain results, it also faces the prospect of scale reduction.

As a result, the salary of miners was lowered, a large number of miners were unemployed, and social security began to be in chaos. All the accompanying problems quickly arose.

More than these are the ones that are deadly. The chaotic mines soon clashed with the residents of the surrounding villages. A large number of idle miners came down the mountain to steal, and the news of provoking trouble quickly spread throughout Ezhou. However, the government was not willing to interfere in these illegal acts, because generally, the operation of the mines in the Song Dynasty was mainly responsible for the Transportation Office, while the operation of local public security was dependent on the prefecture government office.

The miners gathered in groups, and they were extremely powerful. They had neither the power to govern the government nor the desire to govern the government for causing trouble.

Armed fights became the helplessness of the people around the mine and the only choice. All towns and villages gathered in group training, except for patrolling day and night to catch thieves who caused trouble. When they wanted to negotiate with the mine, hundreds or thousands of strong men from several villages gathered up the mountain together to boost their momentum.

At the end of the matter, a large-scale fight of thousands of people finally occurred. Both sides had sticks, rakes, dustpans, hammers, shovels, and shoulder poles. They fought fiercely for a whole day and night, and each suffered dozens of people.

After hearing the news, the government hurriedly sent troops to suppress it. However, more than one hundred officers and soldiers were trapped among tens of thousands of people who had lost their minds.

The extremely angry villagers gathered again. This time, almost all the villages in Ezhou sent people to participate. Even Huangzhou on the other side of the river, the public security in the south, and De'an Prefecture in the north rushed to support. There were tens of thousands of people, claiming to conquer the mines and drive all the miners out of Hubei.

The mining industry also gathered companions from Yiling, Xingguo, Daye and other places, and gathered tens of thousands of people. They were miners themselves, and their equipment was much better than that of the farmers who only had farm tools.

The Shouchang Army, who governed Ezhou, knew that the Shouchang Army was anxious, and there was not much force. All he could rely on was the three thousand guards, Ma Junsi, who were seconded by the commander Meng Gong, stationed in Huangzhou, and a thousand soldiers who were forced to borrow by Jiangling Prefecture. Some of them were Zheng Yunming, a white-faced little official sent by the Jinghu Transportation Commander, who was powerless to tie a chicken.

"Who is there?" Zheng Yunming looked at the crowd in the distance on his left, and seemed not standing with the locals.

The consultant of Shouchang Army said: "The boat gangs and fishermen in Taihu are profitable for transporting ore for the mines, but they are often suppressed by the mines and arrears of shipments, and the conflicts with the mines have long been deep. This time the villagers have caused trouble, and they have also taken the opportunity to retaliate. Damn, it would be great if they only deal with the people of Ezhou..."

"It doesn't matter, let's solve it one by one." Zheng Yunming saw that it was noon, and the shouts and scoldings like tsunamis of mountains and seas were slightly calmed down, knowing that the time for doing things had come.

"Take this time, let the villagers and the leaders in the mine find this mountain for me to come up with me. I will explain in person if there are any injustices and wait for the judgment of the Shouchang Army Yamen and the Transport Department!"

The soldiers accompanying him had already set up camp tents on the hillside, with tables and chairs in the tents. He Yuanshou, the general general of Huguang who came to Huangzhou, sat down on the chair in front of the tent, calmly watching the situation of 100,000 people.

Zheng Yunming complimented: "The chief executive is really worthy of being a general."

"It's just a fight between farmers, it's not helpful." He Yuanshou waved his hand: "It's enough for me, three thousand infantrymen to rush in a row, keeping the brilliance of these wild monkeys within half an hour."

"That's natural, but we take care of the people instead of the emperor, and it is the best way to resolve the situation peacefully."

While the two of them were laughing, the soldiers led two groups of people to the hill to visit each other.

The general representative of the villagers is a magnificent black-faced man, about forty years old, with big ears and a beard. He is dressed in gorgeous clothes and is carrying a dark heavy axe in his hand.

The representative of miners was unexpectedly a haggard old man. The old man had a coarse white cloth, a huge head that was incompatible on his dry body, his eyes were dull, and he was leaning on a bamboo stick in his hand.

Zheng Yunming was a little surprised. Logically speaking, the positions of these two people should be changed to fit the image of a villager and a miner in his imagination.

The soldiers stood on both sides. Officials from the State Prefecture and Transportation Department sat in the middle of the Shangshou.

The Shouchang Army and the officials of Jiangling Prefecture all looked at Zheng Yunming. The local officials had been mediating this case for a long time. This time, the mediation was held again, and the attitude of the Jinghu Transportation Department was seen.

Zheng Yunming didn't refuse and stood up and said, "This is not a case trial in the court. If someone comes, I'll give it to the seat."

"Seat is a trivial matter," the black-faced man shouted: "But today we must ask these black men in the mine to give a statement."

"The same is true for us. The ancients said that being an official is like being a parent. In our Ezhou, all the masters are like being the spokesperson of the emperor. Today, we will give justice to tens of thousands of miners who have no way out."

Zheng Yunming said: "I am the chief officer of the Hubei Transport Department, Zheng Yunming, the deputy chief of the Hubei Transport Department, rushed over from Xiangyang Prefecture and had never understood the local right and wrong. Can you tell me your name first before speaking?"

The black-faced man bowed and said, "The villain is Cao Wenqi, the first household in Taiping Township, Yangxin County, Junchang, Shouchang."

The skinny old man also said: "The villain is the blacksmith from Baishi Cave in Ezhou, named Xu Shiqing."

While speaking, a soldier brought a black painted stool to let the two sit down separately. Zheng Yunming said: "The Hubei Transport Authority received a lot of reports of conflict between miners and local villagers in Ezhou, but there were many of them that were rough and untrue. Transport Authority Li specially sent me to this place to listen to the opinions of both parties. Both of them can talk about the conflicts caused by the conflict."

"What's there to say? This group of miners is the biggest disaster in Ezhou! The counselor can visit these counties and villages in our townships and villages have not been angry with these birds! They dug burrows in the mountains, angered the gods, dyed all the water in the mountain streams red and could not be referenced. They cut down many trees on the mountain for smelting, and discarded the waste residue from the alchemy on the road, blocking the roads. Which village has not been stolen by them and robbed the vegetable garden? Which village has not lost property for no reason? We have had enough of these years! Today, we have to give us an explanation! Or they will leave by themselves, or everyone will drive them out!"

"Don't be impatient, the Transportation Department will definitely give you a satisfactory answer." Zheng Yunming comforted the angry Cao Wenqi, turned around and said to the old man Xu Shiyou: "What do you have to say about Cao Wenqi's statements?"

"First, what I want to say is that these villagers say is full of exaggeration and falsehood. Second, even if there are some offensive things, the master must forgive us, because the blacksmiths in Ezhou have lived a very difficult life in recent years!"

"In the past few years, the Jin people invaded, and the war also affected the mines here. Many experienced old people fled, and almost all the mines were destroyed by riots. In recent years, everyone worked hard to repair their lives, and the output was not as high as before. However, because of the chaos in the north, more and more people fled to Ezhou to be craftsmen. The court was also anxious to restore the output, and without identification, all the inexperienced refugees were incorporated into the craftsmen. Some of these people had never taken a pickaxe or a stove for a day, and could only refine a lot of waste slag! The production of good iron is getting smaller and smaller, and the imperial court has collected more and more. In the past three years, there has been no one in blacksmith shops that can make money, and almost every family is struggling with a little savings."

"There are few mine pits, but the number of miners is increasing every day. More and more people have nothing to do, either drinking, fighting or going down the mountainous area to cause trouble. Others who can work have to bear their responsibilities. Those who do things lose their money and sell their children. Those who want to do things cannot find something to do. If you continue to do this, it will take a few years to make a fortune, and you are afraid that this huge Ezhou city will not be able to produce one or two iron!"

Zheng Yunming quietly listened to the two of them poured their grievances into each other. After both sides stopped, he said loudly: "We have a general understanding of the sufferings on both sides. Let's retreat for the time being and make a decision after the government discusses."

When the two groups all walked out of the tent, the only remaining in the tent were the representatives of the local officials of the prefecture and Zheng Yunming, the representative of the Hubei Transportation Department.

"There are no outsiders here now, so I can say something." said the Huangzhou Tongzong Counselor: "In order to conflict with the villagers in Ezhou, the prefecture and the military administration have done a lot of work, but almost no results have been achieved."

"So the key to solving the problem is to fall on the Transport Department."

If an official from the Transport Department was changed, he would inevitably think that he was shirking responsibility. However, Zheng Yunming believed that what the Huangzhou consultant said was indeed the truth.

"The officials have not yet obtained the final decision-making power. But as a representative of the Transportation Department, I can express the official opinion of the Transportation Department."

"The key to the Ezhou mine problem is that there are too many mines. The current Ezhou mine does not require more than 100,000 mines. The excess mines gather to cause trouble, which causes conflicts with the local area."
Chapter completed!