Smuggling Daming

Time passed quickly, and most of the winter of the eighth year of Zhengde has passed, and the new year of the ninth year of Zhengde will soon be ushered in.During this year, many major events took place. For Ming Dynasty, there were two most important events. The first thing was that most of the sweet potatoes and corn promoted by the court in various places had a good harvest, especially sweet potatoes. This kind of crop that does not pick the ground is suitable for almost all places. This makes the court extremely excited. They are determined to spread sweet potatoes to all parts of the Ming Dynasty next year. I believe that by next spring, the big sand table in the Zhengde Palace will definitely have It will be full of sweet potatoes and corn.

The second important thing is the internal attachment of North Korea. For this matter, everyone in the Ming Dynasty was very excited. Scholars believed that this was the result of the enlightenment of the sages, and many people wrote a lot of poems and songs for this. Praising this, the poor people have an extra way of life. As long as they are willing to leave their hometown, they can buy a large piece of land in North Korea at a very low price. There, look for your own plans to make a fortune.

It can be said that through the incident of North Korea's internal attachment, the Ming Dynasty has tasted the sweetness of territorial expansion. This is what Zhou Zhong hopes to see the most. The land pressure brought about can only be achieved through expansion, the fastest and most effective means. The annexation of North Korea is just a warm-up match. When Daming gets used to the benefits of land expansion, he will not even need to worry about it. It will start to expand outward by itself.

The above two things are the most important to Daming, of course other than that.There were also some other things that happened, such as Zhou Zhong's Governor's Mansion of the Four Seas occupied the old port in Nanyang, a war broke out in the Japanese country, and the Portuguese mission entered Beijing, etc. These things also had a considerable impact on Ming Dynasty, but From the perspective of Da Ming, it is not as important as the above two events.

The new year is coming soon, and according to the rules, the officialdom will naturally have a holiday.For example, in Zhou Zhong's Governor's Mansion, the preparations for the holiday have already begun. All the things that can be done a year ago have been done as much as possible, and then Zhou Zhong released the small treasury in the Governor's Mansion. Yes, it is inconvenient to report what expenses are needed in the general yamen.In addition, when rewarding officials, they are all paid out of the small treasury. Of course, if you encounter a greedy chief official, the small treasury will also become a tool for the chief official to collect money.

With Zhou Zhong's net worth, he naturally looked down on the little income from the small treasury.Therefore, he generously took out [-]% of the proceeds in the treasury this year, and distributed them all as year-end funds to officials at all levels in the Governor's Mansion.The reason why the remaining [-]% ​​was not distributed was mainly to prepare for unexpected needs. After all, there are so many people in the Governor's Mansion, and there are many things to do during the New Year. Maybe there will be some places to spend money, so the small treasury must have Save some money for pressing the box.

On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhou Zhong summoned all the officials in the governor's mansion.I went to the biggest restaurant in Shuangyu Port to have a year-end banquet, and then announced the closure of the government that afternoon.During the few days of Chinese New Year, the yamen is closed, and no one in the yamen will return to work until the sixth day of the lunar new year.

It’s already 29 today, and although this year’s winter is not as cold as last year’s, it’s still very cold. The stagnant water in the pond has been frozen, and even the smaller streams are covered with a thick layer of ice. , only the sea water remained the same, which made all the sea merchants breathe a sigh of relief. After all, the ice and snow closure of the port last year had caused them to suffer considerable losses, and they naturally did not want to do it again.

There is a cliff area at the easternmost end of the Beigang District of Shuangyu Port, where there are many strange rocks and the road is difficult to walk. However, with the development of Shuangyu Port, the population here is increasing, and the land is naturally becoming more and more precious. The cliff area is also in the port area of ​​Shuangyu Port, and the location is very good. You can see the entire Shuangyu Port here, so some clever merchants bought this cliff area. After repairing by master craftsmen, it turned out to be a A garden area, named Wanghai Garden.

The real function of Wanghai Garden is actually a place to eat. In this vast garden, countless pavilions and pavilions have been built relying on the cliffs. Walking around, I saw a good building. As long as there are no guests inside, he can go in and eat. There are special people serving there. The dishes from all over the southeast and northwest are made by special chefs. The taste is extremely delicious, and each building has You can see the sea outside, especially those merchant ships shuttling in the port, which is also a very pleasant scenery, so as soon as Wanghai Garden opened, it became the Shuangyu Port, and the top restaurant in the entire coastal area of ​​Ningbo. Many people come The purpose of going to Shuangyu Port is to taste the delicacies of Wanghai Garden, and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the sea by the way.

Broken Sword Cliff is the tallest cliff in Wanghai Garden, because when viewed from the sea, the cliff looks like a broken sword, so it is named Broken Sword Cliff, and at the top of Broken Sword Cliff , overlooking the entire Shuangyu Port, and Wanghai Garden decorated the entire cliff with a beautiful environment, and built a room called Cliff Pavilion for guests to drink, so Duanjian Pavilion has always been known as the number one in Wanghai Garden. If you have the opportunity If so, everyone wants to sit in Broken Sword Pavilion.

There are two people sitting in the Broken Sword Pavilion today, one old and one young, the old one has white beard and hair, and has age spots all over his face, but his spirit is very vigorous, his eyes are not cloudy like ordinary old people, on the contrary, he is very clear.And the young man sitting opposite the old man looked only about 20 years old. He was handsome and dressed in fancy clothes. He looked like a rich man, but he exuded a kind of majesty, which made people dare not underestimate him.

"Your Excellency, this Wanghai Garden is really unique, and the dishes are extremely delicious. This old man is also a well-informed person, but after being here once, he will come here several times a month. The only one The bad thing is that the expenses here are really too expensive, even for a fourth-rank official like this old man, he still can’t afford it!" Of course, Zhou Zhong is the only one who can be called the Governor-General in Shuangyu Port. The old man who spoke was Jiao Fang who had become an official again.

"Haha, if Mr. Jiao likes it, I will send you a gold VIP card later. You can use this card to enjoy a [-]% discount in the future, and you can also reserve rooms first. A little gift from your lord!" Zhou Zhong said with a smile, this Wanghai Garden was originally his property, and the buildings and services in the garden were also made by him, and the reason why the dishes here are so delicious is that everything except the cook In addition to their exquisite craftsmanship, there is also monosodium glutamate, which is the contribution of sea intestine powder.

"Haha, since it was a gift from the Shangguan, then the lower official will accept it with a smile. Speaking of which, the lower official is getting old, and his teeth are about to fall out, but he still likes food very much, especially here in Wanghai Garden. The abalone made in honey sauce is really the favorite of the lower officials!" Jiao Fang accepted Zhou Zhong's VIP card without hesitation, at his age, it's time to do whatever he wants, as for what's wrong with face He is not a problem, even no matter who gives him a gift, he will accept it. As for whether to do something or not, it depends on his mood.

Zhou Zhong has long been used to Jiao Fang's old-fashioned temperament. Fortunately, Jiao Fang is indeed good at government affairs. In just a few months, he has greatly strengthened his rule over Taiwan, Malacca, and Old Port. Strengthening, even the communication has become much smoother, but Zhou Zhong has to look at a veteran like Jiao Fang with admiration.In fact, it's not surprising to think about it. A guy who can be the chief assistant of the cabinet will naturally not be able to get in by just relying on thick skin. He must have some real skills.

"Lord Jiao, you invited me to Wanghai Garden today, you don't just want a VIP card from me, do you? Just tell me if you have anything to say!" Zhou Zhong took a sip from his teacup, although Wanghaiyuan Yes, but today it was Jiao Fang who took the initiative to invite him here for a drink. Although he didn't say it clearly, Zhou Zhong always felt that Jiao Fang must have something to talk to him about.Of course, Zhou Zhong reckoned that today's meal was paid for by himself, because an old rascal like Jiao Fang knew that Wanghai Garden was opened by Zhou Zhong, but still entertained guests here, making it clear that he wanted Zhou Zhong to pay for it.

Hearing Zhou Zhong's words, Jiao Fang finally put away her joking thoughts, and said with a serious face: "My lord governor, I know that the incidents in North Korea this year are inseparable from you, even the Japanese side Some of the situations that have come from us are vaguely instigated by our Governor's Mansion, which makes this old man very confused, so I want to ask Mr. Governor to explain this to me, I wonder why you spend so much time on North Korea and Japan?"

As a political participant of the Governor-General's Mansion, Jiao Fang can naturally see many confidential documents, such as information related to North Korea and Japan, as well as some previous arrangements of the Governor-General's Mansion. These things were seen by Jiao Fang, and naturally she guessed things easily. Even Zhang Cai knows the truth, but Zhang Cai has a slippery personality, as long as Zhou Zhong is happy, he will not dissuade him at all, and even help to make suggestions.But Jiao Fang couldn't sit still, because he felt that Zhou Zhong spent so much energy on North Korea and Wa, which was a waste of Ming's resources, and North Korea was nothing, but Wa was of no benefit to Daming at all. .

Zhou Zhong laughed when he heard Jiao Fang ask about his arrangements for North Korea and Japan. In fact, he had been waiting for Jiao Fang or Zhang Cai to ask himself this question. After all, the layout of North Korea and Japan is related to the future of Ming Dynasty This is not something he can accomplish alone, and must be assisted. Now it seems that Jiao Fang, who has served as the chief assistant of the cabinet, is more responsible. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)