Fenghou

Chapter 866 Penghu

The clerk of the county government is called Zhang Tong. He is in his thirties. Because of going to sea all the year round, his skin is darkened by the sea breeze. He is lean and fleshless, but he looks very energetic.

Chen Qing looked at him and asked with a smile, "Are you Zhang Tong who often goes to Penghu Island?"

"The villain is right!"

Zhang Tong is a local, and he speaks Quanzhou dialect that he cannot understand, but he is a county magistrate after all, so he can only follow the official dialect, and his accent sounds a bit awkward.

"When was the last time it was Penghu Island?" Chen Qing asked again.

Zhang Tong scratched his head, "Half a month ago!"

"What's the situation on the island now, let me briefly talk about it."

"The island is still the same. The men fish and plow the land, the women weave at home, and the children go to school to study. But recently, there is a bit of uneasiness, and there is a lot of trouble, and they all clamor to come back."

"why?"

Zhang Tong glanced at the magistrate, and said helplessly, "The magistrate said that if taxes are to be collected on the island, the people on the island will not do it."

Cai Shouzhi, the county magistrate, quickly explained: "Since they are citizens of the Song Dynasty, of course they have to pay taxes. In the past, the government had no burden on the island, so they turned a blind eye if they didn't pay taxes. Now there is a school on the island, which pays taxes every year. There are costs, and taxes are there to subsidize those costs."

Chen Qing nodded. The magistrate made sense. There was nothing wrong with taxation. This problem must be solved at a higher level. It is unrealistic to rely on local financial subsidies.

Chen Qing said with a smile: "I won't mention this question for the time being. I want to go to the island to have a look. I'll solve this problem when I come back. Would Cai Zhixian be willing to go with me?"

Cai Shouzhi hurriedly said, "Your official should accompany you!"

Chen Qing said to Zhizhou He Jing again: "As I said just now, officials can choose whether they want to stay or leave. I will never force them. I will not be here for a few days, so I will give them consideration. I will reply when I come back from Penghu Island." .”

"The officer understands!"

Ten Wanshi big ships sailed through the waves in the sea. Although there were slight waves on the sea, the Wanshi big ships sailed very steadily, as if they were flying in the sky.

The horizon has long been invisible, the sun is setting, and the western sky is rendered extraordinarily gorgeous by red clouds, as if a raging fire has been ignited, and it is like a fire phoenix gliding across the sky, and the flames on the tail feathers engulf the entire sky.

Zhao Yingluo was standing on the side of the boat, staring at the color of the sky, Chen Qing walked over, put his arms around her shoulders and said with a smile, "Very beautiful, isn't it!"

"It's so beautiful!" Zhao Yingluo exclaimed in a low voice.

"Things that are too beautiful often hide disasters. Just now the boatman said that a storm is coming soon."

"storm?"

Zhao Yingluo was taken aback, "What will happen to the storm?"

"I don't know, I guess it won't be easy."

At night, the gorgeous sunset glow disappeared, and there appeared groups of dark clouds in the sky, mixed with lightning, and there was a strong wind on the sea, and the waves were rough, with black waves rushing towards the big ship like mountains.

The big ship was continuously engulfed by the waves, and then emerged from the waves. The Wanshi sea ship was like a small beetle in the turbulent waves, which was extraordinarily small.

Except for the crew, all the people on the big ship were tortured by the violent jolting and pain, and they vomited in a mess. Zhao Yingluo fell on the deck, hugged Chen Qing's legs tightly, and buried her head deeply in Chen Qing's arms. Pale, eyes closed tightly, enduring boundless suffering.

Chen Qing sat cross-legged on the floor, firmly grasped the fixed wooden pole with one hand, fought against the waves with his strong body, and was never knocked down by the waves, but only then did he know why the cabin was empty, and a heavy object was lying on top of it. It was too dangerous to bump back and forth in the cabin.

The hull shook violently from side to side, making a terrifying creaking sound, as if the hull was about to be torn apart by huge waves at any time.

But the Fujian Dahai ship that Chen Qing was on was indeed the best sea ship of this era, no matter what kind of stormy waves it was, it could withstand it.

At five o'clock, the storm suddenly disappeared, the sea became calm, there was no cloud in the night sky, and the sky was full of stars like bright gems, hanging all over the sky.

Chen Qing hugged Zhao Yingluo's waist and walked out of the cabin, looking at the quiet night sky, at the smooth and glistening sea like silk, Zhao Yingluo suddenly fell on Chen Qing's shoulder and began to cry. The excitement of returning to the world.

In the afternoon, Chen Qing accidentally saw the county magistrate Zhang Tong talking with an old man on the deck. The old man was called Jia Lun, and he was the teacher of the school on Penghu Island. This time he came to Quanzhou to bring his son, wife and grandchildren. go to the island.

When Chen Qing stepped forward, Zhang Tong was so frightened that he quickly stood up. Chen Qing waved his hand, motioning for him to sit down, and asked the old man surnamed Jia to sit down too.

"How were you two last night?" Chen Qing asked with a smile.

Zhang Tong smiled bitterly and said, "I'm fine, I've made it through, Mr. Jia is in a bit of pain."

Ja Lun shook his head and said with lingering fear, "It's the first time I've encountered this kind of storm, and I vomited so faintly."

"Have you never encountered one on the island?"

"There were two encounters on the island last summer, but the problems were not serious. It was the first time on the boat."

Zhang Tong next to him also said: "Don't say it's Mr. Jia, even the straits I have traveled for more than ten years, this is the second time I have encountered such a storm. The first time I almost died. Take this kind of big boat, it’s safe.”

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "I will leave some big ships for the army later, and one of them is specially used as a strait ferry and belongs to the county government."

"That's great, it won't be so painful to go back and forth across the straits."

Chen Qing smiled and asked Jia Lun again, "Where is Mr. Jia from? The accent seems to be from the Central Plains."

"Xiaomin is from Sizhou. He was originally a Ph.D. in state studies. In the second year of Jianyan, the Yellow River flooded. I took my family and fled all the way south. One of my students was from Quanzhou, so our family fled to Quanzhou. Introduction, I have been teaching in the county school."

"Then why did you think of going to Penghu to teach?" Chen Qing asked again with a smile.

Jia Lun smiled and said: "I will tell the truth in front of King Yong. First, the salary given by the county is relatively high, which is twice that of my teaching in the county. Second, the county promised to give me a piece of [-] mu. Farmland, I am not a native of Quanzhou, I teach wherever I am, so I decided to come to Penghu Island and bring my wife with me, but my son refused, and he wanted to stay in Jinjiang."

"Then why is your son willing to come this time?"

"Old Song, who ran a grocery store in the town, passed away. He was a lonely old man. Before he died, he gave his grocery store to me. I took care of his funeral. My son opened a grocery store in Jinjiang City. The business It wasn't very good, so the family of four came and took over the grocery store."

"If you open a grocery store, you must stock up often!"

"Exactly, so I thank the lord for arranging a ship of ten thousand stones, so that he can buy goods more conveniently."

Chen Qing nodded with a smile, and asked again: "Are there many Han people on the island? I'm not talking about fishermen, but farmers who live on the land."

"Yes! There are quite a few. There are two to three hundred families, and there are hundreds of families on the big island. They all escaped from the north. They don't pay taxes for farming in Penghu, so many people have gone to the island. Otherwise, they would cross the river. There is a risk, and more people will come, but it is rumored that a tax will be levied during this period of time, and there is a lot of noise, people's hearts are unstable, my lord, will the tax be levied or not?"

Chen Qing smiled slightly and said, "Let me tell you the truth! As long as Quanzhou is under my control, no tax will be levied on Penghu Island."

Jia Lun clasped his hands together and said, "If this is the case, the common people are blessed!"

(End of this chapter)