The Reborn Duke of Ming Dynasty

"My lord, you can go now," the guard asked Zhang Fan when he was leaving.

"Well, let's go," Zhang Fan nodded and got into a carriage.

Apart from Quanzhou City, the horse-drawn carriage team drove northward, and arrived at a distance of ten miles outside Quanzhou City. Officials of all sizes in Quanzhou were waiting here, and even some officials from other prefectures and counties in Fujian also made a special trip here to serve the people. Zhang Fan sees him off, because Zhang Fan's trip to Fujian this time is only in Quanzhou to deal with some things, so when he returns this time, although he will pass by Fuzhou Prefecture, he will not stop much, so the officials in Fujian chose this The place saw Zhang Fan off.

Dozens of officials from all over Fujian came to say goodbye to Zhang Fan and drank a glass of water wine with him. Although the farewell water wine was not a strong drink, drinking so many glasses still felt a little uncomfortable.

Because Zhang Fan was delayed a lot of time because of what happened in the morning, and the officials from Fujian who came to see him off had been waiting here for a long time. In summer, these officials and gentlemen who are mostly frail scholars are sweating profusely, with sweat beads on their faces, and the towels to wipe the sweat are already wet, and now they don't care about etiquette, just use their sleeves When no one was paying attention, he wiped it on his face.

But because of Zhang Fan's identity and the purpose of his visit to Fujian this time, no matter how hot or uncomfortable these officials and gentlemen are, they always show a sunny expression on their faces, and they dare not show any disrespect or displeasure at all. Few of these people are clean. Although they are confident, Zhang Fan can't find out anything about them, but after all, the old saying is good: "Don't do bad things on weekdays, and don't be afraid of ghosts knocking on the door in the middle of the night", as long as you have done it. If something bad happens and you want to hide it from others, then you will always feel a little guilty.

In fact, Zhang Fan once thought about ordering the arrest of all the smiling people present, but in the end he held back. After all, he also thought that he had taken in a lot of these people in the past few days before his departure. Although Long Qing had given instructions that the money could be freely disposed of by Zhang Fan, Zhang Fan still planned to invest the property in charitable causes. Young, Zhang Fan let them live for the time being.

When the farewell ceremony was about to end, Wen Ruchun and He Kuan came to Zhang Fan's side.

"Master Imperial Envoy," the two bowed to Zhang Fan.

"My lords," Zhang Fan also bowed back to the two of them, and said, "This time Zhang left, I didn't want to trouble the two adults to come and see him off. Something happened earlier today that delayed the time of the trip. In addition, the weather is hot now, and it is really a crime for the two adults to come out and suffer this crime in their busy schedules," said Zhang Fan, apologizing to the two leaders.

"What are you talking about?" Wen Ruchun hurriedly said, "Your Excellency is here not only for the official business of the court, but also to solve the problem of Japanese pirates' plunder for the merchant ships returning to the sea. It is really the benefactor of the elders in Fujian. We are here this time." It is also right to come to say goodbye to the adults, "

"Speaking of your lord being in charge of the court, how is your lord investigating this matter?" He Kuan looked around in case someone eavesdropped, and asked cautiously.

Zhang Fan also looked at it very vigilantly, and said: "Although this matter has not made any major progress, I have already figured out the general direction. After I return to Yangzhou this time, I will immediately start to investigate this matter." thing,"

"That's good," Wen Ruchun said, "It's really inappropriate for me to lose my temper with your lord the day before yesterday, so I'll accompany you with your lord again," Wen Ruchun said, thinking about Zhang Fan and bowing down.

"Master Wen, get up quickly, this is unavoidable," Zhang Fan hurriedly stopped him, and lifted him up with his hands empty, "Master Wen did what he did the day before yesterday because of his integrity, and Zhang also deeply admires it." ,"

The incident they mentioned has something to do with the bribery of Zhang Fan by officials from all over Fujian. As mentioned earlier, before Zhang Fan left, there were many banquets and banquets, and many officials took the opportunity to bribe Zhang Fan again. Don't think about it, if it wasn't for the ghosts in his heart, why would the third party give money to people twice, and Zhang Fan would accept all of them without rejecting them.

After Wen Ruchun found out about this matter, he was very angry. He came to question Zhang Fan alone about this matter. Zhang Fan was also forced to do nothing by him. Coupled with many days of investigation, he now also knows that Wen Ruchun is really an upright official. , although he won't go against people everywhere like Hai Rui, but it will definitely not benefit anyone. After careful consideration, he also told Longqing that he has the imperial decree of "taking bribes without punishment". he.

At the beginning, Wen Ruchun didn't believe Zhang Fan's words, and he wasn't to blame. After all, no emperor in the past dynasties had ever issued such an absurd decree to his ministers. Wouldn't this force his ministers to commit crimes? Zhang Fan had no choice but to After showing Zhu Yijun the imperial decree brought from the capital when he came, and telling him his intention and purpose of accepting bribes, Wen Ruchun felt relieved.

"Master He, all the merchant ships that returned to the sea this year have now returned, so you can rest assured this time," Zhang Fan said to He Kuan who was on the side, "However, Master He should not relax when playing, and always beware of those The Japanese pirates went ashore to plunder,"

"Your Majesty, please rest assured that the responsibility of resisting the Japanese invaders is unshirkable, and I will certainly not disappoint the expectations of the court and His Majesty," He Kuan said firmly, but in a blink of an eye, he became a little annoyed again, "It's just that, Your Majesty There is one thing I need to ask my lord. Now the return of sea ships is over, but in less than half a year, after the spring of next year, there will be many merchant ships going to sea again. If the Japanese pirates are robbing from the sea, what will happen? good,"

"Your Majesty, don't worry about this matter," Zhang Fan said with a smile, "When I return to Beijing, I will definitely bring this matter up to the imperial court immediately, and then I will describe the power of this place to His Majesty. Will give a way to preserve the merchant ships going to sea, "

"That's good," He Kuan also sighed, "Actually, the officials have some sympathy for these merchants. Since ancient times, it has been said that merchants are ruthless and ruthless, but these days, seeing these things happening here , how can it not make me feel emotional, those businessmen are just for their own better life, but they have to risk their lives to go to unknown places to earn that hard money, although the rewards are really rich, but this is their What's more, when the merchants who returned safely saw the grief of the family members of those who failed to return, they did their best to help them. How could it be said that the merchants were heartless and ungrateful.

"Furthermore, although merchants in the inland areas of my name do not have to pay taxes, sea merchants are not included in this list. Every year they can pay a considerable amount of tax to the imperial court, which is not much worse than the agricultural tax. Because of their status as merchants, when they report tax details to the Ministry of Households every year, they can't even keep their names. Although this is an ancestral ritual system, it is difficult to change, but if it is here, the officials and others cannot keep their names. Safety, I really feel sorry for the subordinates, "

Zhang Fan listened to his words, in addition to feeling deeply in his heart, he also looked at He Kuan differently. He Kuan gave Zhang Fan the impression that he was a good governor and a good officer. He is also honest and upright, but he always gives Zhang Fan a feeling of inhumanity, as if as long as it is a matter of principle, no matter how small and forgivable, he will not give a chance and act according to the law, but now What he said made Zhang Fan feel different. Gradually, he realized that He Kuan's serious expression all day was probably just because he needed to run the army all the time. It had nothing to do with his own personality. what relationship.

"What Master He said is," Zhang Fan said, "these maritime merchants have actually contributed a lot to our Ming Dynasty. No matter how much money they earn back, they will always have to spend it. In the end, it will still be spent here. When the time comes, the people will be rich. Now, the world will be more peaceful, isn't it, and their contribution is more than that," Zhang Fan looked to the side.

The two followed Zhang Fan's gaze and happened to see Richard and Joanna.

"What does it have to do with these two foreign devils?" Wen Ruchun remembered Zhang Fan's address for them clearly, and felt that it was very appropriate. They were neither human nor ghost, and He Kuan was also puzzled.

"My lords probably don't know," Zhang Fan said, "These two are Franji who are thousands of miles away. This time they came back with one of our merchant ships."

"These lower officials also know about it," He Kuan still looked puzzled, not knowing what Zhang Fan was going to say.

"But the two adults don't know," Zhang Fan said, "It is precisely because the merchants in my dynasty transported goods to them for sale, these things they have never seen before, and now they have become the only things they must use in their lives. .

"It's exactly like this. In their minds, our Ming Dynasty was extremely rich and powerful. Although my name was originally like this, no one knew about it before. Now they know, and they are very respectful to my Ming Dynasty. The Franji where the two are located originally wanted to invade a country in the southwest of me, but after seeing the beauty of the products brought by our merchants, they became afraid to act without authorization. Came here for advice,"

After Wen Ruchun and He Kuan heard it, they were also amazed. They never thought that a businessman who was originally an ordinary businessman in their eyes would bring such an effect. After all, in their eyes, No matter how rich a businessman is, he still can't be ranked first. Even He Kuan, who has some insights now, although he agrees with the businessman, but this can't change his long-term concept. Now that he heard Zhang Fan say that, how could they I can't be surprised, but apart from being surprised, the two also developed some contempt for the people of other countries. It's ridiculous that a mere businessman can make these people think about it, but the two don't intend to expose it, after all, it can have such an effect , Let other countries fear themselves, this can be regarded as a good thing,