Win the Ding 1617

Full of resentment at Uncle Ning Yuan's daring not to meet the imperial decree in Guangzhou and let them follow the imperial decree for thousands of miles, the decree-delivering team arrived in Hue on the 13th day of the [-]th lunar month in the [-]th year of Chongzhen under the escort of the navy.

Dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, when Wang Dehua and others shed their boats and landed, they were also stunned by the sight of the city of Hue in front of them.

The first thing that surprised them was that, as the base of Uncle Ning Yuan and the heart of the Nanyue Army, this city had no walls!

"My lord said that the people are not in danger if the country is solid. This also coincides with the teachings of the sages. The lord said that day, with the money and food to build the city, it is better to train more soldiers and forge more guns. If the enemy cannot come to the city , What is the use of building a city? If the enemy is approaching the city, what is the use of the city wall?"

The officials of the Ritual Department who accompanied him politely explained the reason why the city wall was not built for Wang Gonggong and others. Although it sounded unbelievable, Wang Dehua also felt that it made sense.

Of course, the officials of the Rites would not tell them the function and significance of those bastions near the city.Even if you come with [-] to [-] elite troops, you will return home in the face of the artillery fire and fortifications of this bastion.

Of course, apart from this incident, when everyone entered the city and walked in the city, everything they saw and heard was an eye-opener for everyone.Wang Dehua has dealt with the Southern Guangdong Army for a long time, but he has never observed Hue City, the heartland of the Southern Guangdong Army, so closely.He couldn't help but began to compare this capital of the Southern Guangdong Army in a sense with the capital and Nanjing.

The scale of Jingshi and Nanjing is far larger than that of Hue. Although it is much larger, beggars in the city are flooding the streets, refugees are everywhere outside the city, and people are starving to death everywhere.Garbage is everywhere on the streets and alleys, and the city is full of dung.

But there is no one begging here.Not to mention the idlers and refugees and beggars who are used to seeing everywhere in the two capitals of the north and the south.Instead, it is vibrant, full of vitality and vitality.People walking on the street all have rosy faces, with a kind of vigor and vigor after seeing it.

Walk on the wide ashes road.The wheels of the convoy kept making rhythmic rattling noises, which was the sound made when huge wheels crushed on the ashes of the expansion joints.The wide and straight road is very flat, like a polished bronze mirror. There are many trees with huge crowns planted on both sides of the main road, and the trunks are painted with white lime water. Two emerald green street trees extend to the distance on both sides of the road. .

People walking on the road, whether they are craftsmen in blue overalls, or reading men in a hurry with schoolbags on their backs, or porters driving vehicles to transport various goods.It feels a little long-lost or very strange.It was a feeling of vigorous vitality mixed with high-spirited and overflowing self-confidence. Whether it was a farmer or a craftsman, all of them walked with their heads held high and their chests high, striding forward.

The kind of numbness, humbleness, fear and depression that are common to everyone can never be seen on their faces. .

The people here, from top to bottom, cherish a very precious but common thing, hope.For life, for family.hope for the regime.Or a dream.

Although the road is wide enough for several carriages to walk side by side, there are too many carriages and people.It also seems that the road is bustling with crowds.However, those policemen in black clothes, red trousers and white leggings, red hats on their heads, thick short sticks hanging from their waists, and a bronze medal on their chests, engraved with a monster with teeth and claws, are on the road. Laws called "traffic rules" were enforced on the road, and they kept yelling.Divert people and vehicles, go left and right.People drive and horses, go their own way.Many people and vehicles seem to be in order.

The closer it is to Hue.It became more and more prosperous, with all kinds of shops lined up on both sides of the street, and the people and businessmen communicated constantly.Among Wang Dehua's entourage, there were endless voices of praise, "Go on, this is Ning Yuanbo's place, and their usual means of buying and selling by force, extortion and extortion will be put away here for our family! If you cause trouble, even if Uncle Ning Yuan can't kill you with military law, you should be careful and our family will skin you!"

Wang Dehua snorted coldly, and ordered the trusted eunuch beside him to pass on the words, not only for Li Shouhan's territory, but also for the dignity of the imperial court.If such a scandal happened in the imperial envoy, it would be too shameful if rumors spread.

"If you see something, you can buy it yourself, don't embarrass our family!"

Wang Dehua beat the group of wolves, tigers and leopards again.

He could see very clearly that the city of Li Shouhan was different from any other city in the mainland.Not only are the temperaments of people different, but the temperament of cities is also different.If the city of Beijing is said to be the aura of kingship that has disappeared, and the city of Nanjing is the aura of gold dust that ravages the soul, then this city stands proudly like the barracks of the Southern Cantonese Army.

The most important thing is that the management of this city, like any villages and towns of the Southern Guangdong Army seen along the way, is governed according to the so-called old system of the Taizu Emperor.According to the officials of the Ministry of Rites, it is governed purely by the Qin law. It is a village. The village head is also appointed by the order of Uncle Ningyuan, and this person must have studied agriculture, mulberry, finance, taxation, military industry and other matters in the political affairs hall. .

Compared with the Lijia system or Baojia system once implemented in the mainland, this system appears to be more tightly organized.

The mainland of the Ming Dynasty also implemented such a system, but as time went on, the Lijia system gradually abolished. In the Wanli period, after Zhang Juzheng, the Prime Minister of Jiangling, the tax collection was converted into silver, and all Lijia chiefs in the Ming Dynasty became low-level slaves.The power at the township level gradually became controlled by the gentry, resulting in the real imperial power not going to the countryside, and all the villages below the prefectures and counties taking care of themselves, and the imperial court became a real coordinated government.To collect grain and tax, one must negotiate with the gentry. No matter what the terms and laws are, they must agree before they can be implemented. The decline of the Ming Dynasty to this level has an absolute relationship with the loss of grassroots power and financial bankruptcy.

Under Ning Yuanbo's rule, this situation of co-governance with local gentlemen is like a fairy tale. From the village head, the town head, to the county, state, and government, which officials at all levels are not from the Zhengshitang?Or veterans and military officers who retired due to injuries?

"Such an iron-clad country requires money and food, so if there is any major conquest or project, Nanzhong calls it mobilization. Tens of thousands of people can be done overnight. It was the great grandfather, Taizong is still alive, I am afraid that he may not be able to do it."

Wang Dehua's heart sank suddenly when he thought of the sea-going boats that he saw as many as crucian carp crossing the river all the way south from Guangzhou.

Maritime merchants in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou.Driving the red single boat, loading silk thread, Zhang yarn, shearling, paper, tobacco leaves, cloth, straw mats, and umbrellas in Zhangzhou and other places.In Quanzhou, porcelain and paper are transported, and in Xinghua, cedar boards, bricks and tiles are loaded. As for the dried bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and tea from Jianning in Fuzhou, they are all bulk goods on board.Ship it to Xiamen and other places, and exchange it for Tianzhu wheat, Nanzhong rice, beans, white sugar, sweet potatoes, venison, cloth, and pigments from Luzon and Taiwan.Or shipped back to various parts of Fujian for sale.Or they sailed directly to the north to transport sugar, rice, and pigments to Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The big ships were moored at Wusongkou, Hangzhou Bay, etc., and were connected and transferred by small boats. Occasionally, Jinhua ham, silk, crepe, lake silk, woolen yarn, etc., and even more ships crossed the Yangtze River, carrying a large amount of rice, wheat, sugar, paper salt, meat, tea, silk, cloth, pepper, Sumu and other spices were trafficked all the way north.

And in Ha Tinh, Hue and other ports.There are also many Japanese people who came to trade by sea boats, or came here on the ships of the Southern Guangdong Army, and the goods they transported.It's heart-pounding to watch.

Sulphur, counting over ten ships, is nothing, it is what the Southern Guangdong Army needs to build elite firearms trainers.But there are also whole ships of good red copper, white silver, and yellow gold. After the Japanese transported to the port, they exchanged for rice, cloth, armor, knives and guns.

"Uncle Ning Yuan's move, no wonder the enemy's country is rich!" Wailang, a member of the Ministry of Rites who was originally from Zhejiang and also did some maritime business, couldn't help admiring this scene.

"Hey! It's just a small business. Otherwise, how can a certain family support hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, and how can they open up thorns and grass?"

When sitting and drinking tea with Wang Dehua in the study.Hearing Wang Dehua couldn't help admiring the above words, Shou Han replied modestly.

"If it's a breadwinner. How can you bottom a boat with good brass?"

Wang Dehua pointed out Li Shouhan's super prodigal behavior by rolling brass into thin copper skin and wrapping it below the waterline of the ship.

This is when they land.The subordinates were wandering on the pier, and what they saw accidentally in a dry dock stunned even a dozen Jinyiqi schools.This kind of behavior is no less than using the best Yongle Tongbao to pave the road, you know, it is all the best brass.If it is used to make copperware, it can get several times more profit than casting copper coins.

"Hey! If Uncle Ning Yuan can reward me with the copper for chartering the boat, I will give it back to the capital!"

Facing Wang Dehua's accusation, Shou Han just laughed, "If it wasn't for the convenience of transporting money and food to the capital, a certain family would not be willing to spend so much money."

From the corner of his eyes, a little eunuch was staring at the copper lion censer on the table guarding the Han Dynasty, which was smoking green smoke. The people in the whole room are intoxicated.

"It smells so good! Uncle Ning Yuan is a first-class expert in training troops, fighting wars and governing the region. Unexpectedly, his daily life is so exquisite!" Wang Dehua sniffed and gave a very sensible compliment.

"This should be a high-quality * made of wooden bones, right?"

Mugudushu is the ancient name of Mogadishu, and the Sanbao eunuch stopped here many times when he went to the West.Bring medicine, myrrh, and other items from Africa, including the giraffe, which is considered to be a unicorn, back to the country.Wang De transformed himself into the palm seal of the chief inspector, so he was naturally yearning for the achievements of his ancestor Zheng He. Moreover, when he first entered the palace, the world was at peace, and he had seen the treasures hidden in the palace.It's just that in these years, swords and soldiers are everywhere, and the palace is short of money and food.Not to mention the overseas rare treasures such as * and ambergris, even the origin of musk is intermittent.

"You monkey bastards, don't think that you have seen everything in the palace. Let me tell you, it's far away! With Uncle, do you know what a frog at the bottom of a well is?" Wang Dehua put on a straight face, and taught the accompanying Several confidant eunuchs and godsons.

"Elder-in-law, don't mention this again. If it wasn't for today's order, a certain family would not be willing to use it. Some * and ambergris were transported from a long distance by a big food merchant from Tianfang, and they originally planned to send it along with the money and food." Entering the palace, I will be willing to burn incense when I receive the decree today."

Wang Dehua didn't say anything anymore.He took a brocade box tightly wrapped in yellow silk from a young eunuch next to him, and inside it was a box with a red lacquer and a gold pan dragon. He carefully took out the imperial edict wrapped in yellow silk and dark dragon from the box. "Uncle, there are you and me here today. Those dragon plaques and the etiquette of kneeling will be omitted. This is the emperor's will, please read it."

Shou Han immediately stood up in fear and trepidation. Although he did not bow three times and kowtow nine times, he knelt down and received the imperial edict with both hands.

The little eunuch on the side brought in a box from the Jinyiqi school outside the door, and the box was full of memorabilia written by officials and gentlemen from Guangdong and Fujian impeaching Li Shouhan under Li Shouhan's civil and military officials, led by Jiang Yihong and Wu Liuqi.

"The meaning of the emperor, the six ministries, and the gentlemen of the cabinet is all in the imperial decree. Please understand the answer. In addition, when our family left Beijing this time, the emperor warned our family, please be sure to remember the 14th year of Chongzhen, The 15-year supply of money and food arrived quickly. Ning Jin’s frontline cost a lot, and the treasury was empty. If there are extra armor, knives, guns, gunpowder, cannons, etc., please also allocate some.”

That's it!

Shou Han snorted coldly from the bottom of his heart, but he just used this incident as a bargaining chip to trade food, grass, silver, money and weapons with me!Lest it is not enough, I will give the names of the officials and gentry who participated in my performance one by one.

He was contemptuous in his heart, but his face was still solemn and solemn.

"Eunuch, please don't worry, even if my family eats a few meals less, I will still give you all the money and food the emperor needs. Come!"

Walking to the door, Shou Han greeted the guards on duty under the eaves, signaling them to send the imperial decree to the ancestral hall for enshrining.Then send the box of papers on the impeachment of him to the office, so that the gentlemen there can carefully check whether there are any mistakes in their administration. (Oh, do you want to write black accounts in the little black book? And then follow the human hair into small shoes?)

"Elder-in-law, please rest here for a while. A certain family went down to urge them to quickly check the situation of money and grain reserves in various places. Arrange for boat transportation to go north."

Shou Han turned and left. Naturally, someone was here to serve Wang Dehua's food, tea and other things. After a while, an official hurried in.

"Eunuch, my uncle ordered me to offer ten catties of ambergris and one hundred catties*, and ask my father-in-law to honor the emperor on his behalf."

Behind the messenger, five soldiers carefully held five boxes painted with gold and vermilion lacquer, presumably inside were the gunpowder and ambergris from overseas.

*That's all.There are many records in historical records. "Zhu Fan Zhi" volume download: "*. A Xun Lu Xiang, who came out of the three kingdoms of Dashi, Ma Luoba, Shi Hao, and Nufa, in the deep mountains and poor valleys... Dashi used boats to carry other goods to the Three Buddhas... ...Fan merchants trade here. Ships regard the number of incense as the most important." These three countries are all located on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. They were famous for their production in ancient times.

Shou Han now controls the shipping routes to East Africa.Even there are several strongholds in East Africa. If you want to sell, if you want more, a few hundred catties is also very simple.However, for the sake of hunger marketing, if you give more things, it will be worthless.So, I just took out a hundred catties from the warehouse and asked Wang Dehua to give it to Chongzhen.

As for the ten catties of ambergris, even if Wang Dehua had been in the palace for decades, he had never seen so much ambergris in one box at the same time!

With trembling hands, he opened the box made of high-quality rosewood, and bursts of fragrance came from the box.In the wooden box, several pieces of white ambergris were tightly wrapped in brocade.

According to a series of works describing foreign objects and wonders in ancient China, such as the Classic of Mountains and Seas, ambergris is the sea dragon. When dry and solidified, this thing is formed. "Lingwai Daida" describes it like this: "There are many dragons in the West Sea who eat a lot, sleep on a stone, and the saliva floats in water. It accumulates and can be firm. Merchants explore it and think it is a treasure. The new one It is white in color, purple after a while, and black after a long time. Because I tasted it in Panyu, it was neither smoked nor succulent, and it was light like pumice. People say that the ambergris has a strange fragrance, or that the ambergris saliva can give off a lot of fragrance, which is not true. There is no profit or loss for ambergris in incense, but it can gather smoke ears. Use real ambergris for incense, burn a baht, green smoke will float in the air, knot but not disperse, and guests can use a shovel to divide the smoke. The reason for this is that Yu Lie of the Mirage Tower."

In fact, natural ambergris is produced in the intestines of sperm whales. It slowly passes through the intestines of the whales and is discharged into the sea, or after the whales die, their corpses rot and fall into the water, and then they have to be soaked in seawater for nearly a hundred years before they can take shape.It is not so much the essence of the dragon as it is made by time and the uncanny workmanship of nature.Under the action of sea water, ambergris, which was light black at first, gradually turned gray, light gray, and finally white.The quality of white ambergris is the best. It must be soaked in sea water for more than a hundred years to remove all impurities before it can become the top grade of ambergris.

"Eunuch, my lord ordered that my father-in-law came to Hue far away, and there is nothing to give as a gift, so some local products produced overseas have been sent to the post office, please accept them."

The official was probably used to this kind of work, he was well-dressed and well-dressed, and his speech was fluent, and his official speech was smooth and smooth, and he presented a gift list after speaking.

"Fifty catties of myrrh, twenty catties of *, and four catties of ambergris." Nothing else mattered, the words in front of him immediately scalded Wang Dehua's eyes like burning coals.

Things are rare.