Idle courtiers

Chapter 29

Whether or not the case of the Mei family can be solved is actually not important to Zhou Nan now.

It is now the late spring and early summer of the 38th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, and Mr. Zhu Houcong, Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty, has been in power for 46 years, which means that he will die in seven years.The chairman of the Ming Dynasty has been in office for 46 years, and he has made merits and demerits.From Zhou Nan's point of view, this person's merits still outweigh his demerits, such as fighting against Japanese pirates' aggression and establishing the authority of the central government.

But this person likes to use mercury to refine gas, and he spends a lot of money on overhauling palaces and temples to cultivate longevity. In addition, he spends a lot of money on the southeast every year, which puts the country's finances on the verge of collapse.According to historical records, in the last years of Emperor Jiajing, there were only more than [-] taels of silver in the national inventory.

What is the concept of 10 taels of silver? Converted to the RMB of later generations based on rice, it is only more than 1 million yuan, which is not comparable to the net worth of a Yangzhou salt merchant, let alone maintaining the operation of such a large state machine.

During his more than 40 years of reign, he has wiped out the little family fortune accumulated by successive emperors such as Renzong, Xuanzong, and Zhengde.If it weren't for the great reforms of Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister of the cabinet, the Ming Dynasty would have perished long ago.

All people are very sensitive to their own pocketbooks, even if you are a wealthy emperor.Probably because he felt that the situation was not good, and he refused to reduce his daily expenses, Emperor Jiajing opened the sea ban and started the idea of ​​foreign trade. This was the reason why Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces changed agriculture to mulberry.

Also because of the opening of the sea ban, with the massive import of silver from the Portuguese American colonies, there was a sufficient supply of money. During Zhang Juzheng's administration, there was a whip method that all taxes were calculated in silver, and the treasury of later generations was filled. , Living for the Ming Dynasty to continue its life for a hundred years.

This event is not well-known in history and is often ignored by historians.However, someone later filmed a TV series based on the historical event of the last years of Jiajing, which happened to be watched by Zhou Nan.Of course, in real history, the impact of this decree is not too great, and it is not as exaggerated as in the TV series.

Just now I heard Shi Zhixian and the masters talking about this out-of-country inspection, so I couldn't help but make this suggestion.

After all, changing agriculture to mulberry is related to the problem of food for the people, so you can't be careless, and you will definitely meet a lot of assistants.That's why the imperial court issued a decree to reward farming and mulberry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, try the water and see the reaction below.

Because of his foresight of history, Zhou Nan was keenly aware of this.The Chinese have always sought stability in doing things. Before a policy is rolled out, they usually choose one or two places to experiment.If Shizhi County can keep up with the pace of the central government, it will pinch the pulse of the upper-level thinking.Not to mention the exemption of taxes for the past few years, even if he made the biggest mistake, the princes of the court would probably turn a blind eye and close their eyes to play sloppy.

If so, Shi Jieren should be able to pass the annual exam smoothly and keep the black hat on his head.

I have made such a great contribution to the county magistrate, and if he keeps it, there is nothing I can do if I return to the county magistrate, Zhou Nan thought so.

In fact, Zhou Nan also considered this issue after coming down.He was single-handedly selected by Shi Jieren, and if something happened, the county magistrate would lose face, so he would naturally want to protect him.I was really reckless, and I just killed a bloody road and fled from the county government office, which is simply appalling.

But if he doesn't escape, is it true that he was really beaten by that surnamed Gui and lay on the bed for ten and a half months, how can a real man let others slaughter him?
It may take some time for the investigation of Shizhi County to come to fruition, and it will take him a few days to finish the matter and return to Anton.Zhou Nan had nothing to do next, just spent the whole day eating, drinking and playing in the street with his masters and yamen servants, and traveled around the ancient city of Huai'an.

As for the disappearance of sister-in-law Su of the Mei family, he had long forgotten about it. At this moment, he still cares about it?
Four days later, I don't know what Shizhi County is busy with. It is estimated that the foreign inspection has reached the most critical moment. The master and the yamen servants went out early in the morning, leaving Zhou Nan alone in the posthouse with nothing to do.

Really bored to the extreme, Zhou Nan walked out of the post house, walked to the Huaihe River, entered a tea shed, ordered a pot of fragrant slices and a plate of pumpkin seeds, and looked at the river view in boredom.This is the East Wharf of Huai'an Mansion. Post houses are usually built in places with convenient transportation, and it is only a few steps away from here.

People in later generations say that there was no industrial pollution in ancient times, and the mountains, green waters, blue sky and white clouds are simply paradise.Only after time travel did I realize that this is all bullshit.In an ancient metropolis without a scientific sewage system and garbage disposal system, the domestic garbage of tens of thousands of people in the city was thrown into the river, which was really dirty.

I saw countless rotten vegetable leaves floating on the river surface, and the yellow and white things were pushed by the waves and slapped on the shore in bursts, forming a layer of white foam, which was simply delicious after being baked by the sun.A group of dirty ducks floated up and down in the water, devouring food of unknown origin.

There were many boats gathered on the pier, but there were no people on the boat in broad daylight, and it looked lifeless.

There is no one else in the tea shed except Zhou Nan. Dr. Cha is a man who knows how to do business, and he is eloquent.Seeing Zhou Nan sitting idle and bored, he came over to have a chat: "I was born on a business trip, but I don't know if it's from the government office or the Shanyang county government office. Everyone in the county government office knows everyone, but I haven't seen you."

Zhou Nan laughed and said, "There is no Zhifu Yamen and Shanyang County in Huai'an City, so it's impossible for me to be from Hedao and Yandao?"

Cha Bo said solemnly: "The city of Huai'an is very big, so the government office and the county office are closer to here. The salt road and the river road are separated by half the city, so it's hard to come here just to take care of the little old man." Business?"

Zhou Nan: "I am not from the government office or the county government office. To tell you the truth, I am from Anton. I am here with the old man on business."

"So that's the case, no wonder I don't know the honor. I saw that the tolerance was here and watched the river view for a long time, and I thought that today I just happened to come here to play, but I came earlier."

"Xiaozi, you're just a crappy shed here. What's the fun with the smell? Also, what's so weird about it being early and late?" Zhou Nan looked at the tea doctor suspiciously, and suddenly there was something wrong in his heart. It's a weird idea, why is this an underground gambling den?No, although the "Law of the Great Ming Dynasty" forbids gambling, it was the law of Zhu Yuanzhang's era, which has long been a dead letter and no one takes it seriously.

Emperor Taizu made many laws that were extremely harsh and could not be enforced. For example, officials who embezzled more than two taels of silver had to peel day lilies. Is it possible?
No one takes things like gambling with money seriously. There are big gambling houses in the city.The day before yesterday, Bantou Li took Zhou Nan to play, and won two coins.

Dr. Cha smiled ambiguously: "Of course there are fun things to do, and it's not expensive at two cents a piece. Lord, don't look down on those ships, which are crude and dirty, but the goods are good. Most of them are refugees from all over the world, with nowhere to go. I can only make a living on this water. Isn’t there a Japanese plague in the southeast? If you’re lucky, you may meet a woman from the south of the Yangtze River, but you’ll make money. Once the red lanterns are hung, it is very lively."

It turned out to be a private prostitute, Zhou Nan suddenly realized.Let alone Huai'an, there are a few of them in Andong County. They are really not expensive, and they can be played for a penny.Zhou Nan is not a Mr. Morality. In his opinion, the existence of this industry is reasonable, and it doesn’t matter if it exists.After playing money in the gambling house the day before yesterday, Bantou Li invited him to spend the night in a brothel in the city.Zhou Nan was so poor that he naturally shied away.

"You old man is so unscrupulous. I just came to drink tea, but I don't have that kind of thought." Zhou Nan smiled and was about to continue drinking tea.Suddenly a thought flashed in my mind, and the hand holding the teacup was fixed in the air.

When he was chatting with a few masters in Shizhi County a while ago, he talked about the Japanese invasion in the southeast, because the army of the local guards in the Ming Dynasty was really weak, and they fought and failed repeatedly.It even caused more than 100 Japanese pirates to roam across more than a dozen counties in the south of the Yangtze River, really coming and going freely.

The situation in the southeast was corrupt, and a large number of refugees fled to the north of the Yangtze River, and the furthest ones fled to the north of the Yangtze River.

The imperial court has always been extremely vigilant against the refugees. Throughout the dynasties, it is unknown how many seemingly powerful dynasties were destroyed by the civil strife caused by the refugees.The imperial court ordered that all localities must strictly guard against death, and that refugees should be sent back to their original places as soon as they saw them, and those who dared to make trouble would be wiped out on the spot.

Township braves from various places in Huai'an Prefecture now take turns to guard traffic arteries and check pedestrian road citation certificates.

However, there is still a loophole in this-the waterways-the Huaihe River and the Dayuan River are not under the jurisdiction of the local government, and have their own waterways, water transportation and guards.Especially the officers and soldiers of the Great River Guard who are in charge of the defense of the Huaihe River. They control the river and are too busy collecting taxes from passing merchants. They have no interest in arresting refugees.Anyway, as long as you give me money, I will let you go there.

In this way, there are refugees who just entered Huai'an.However, it is easy to enter Huai'an, but it is not so easy to leave.Because leaving Huai'an is by land, without a road, it is difficult to move an inch.

However, compared to the southeast where there were many wars, Huai'an Mansion was already a peaceful and prosperous time for the refugees, and they had no motivation to continue going north.In this way, there are now hundreds of refugees gathered in Huai'an city, making troubles for no reason, and some even took risks to commit crimes, which caused the local officials a headache.

"Sister Su disappeared suddenly. She has no way to guide her, so she can only go by water. Going east is impossible. Over there is the sea and the salt field. The inspection is even stricter. Then, I can only go east to Huai'an Mansion." Zhou Nan My heart was moved: "The words of Shizhi County are right, 'according to my opinion, whether she was abducted or ran away from home, she will probably hide in Huai'an City.' She can't go. Based on this calculation, she can only stay on the boat. From this point of view, the scope of the search is much smaller, and there may be a door to this matter."

"Sister Su disappeared suddenly. She neither ran away from home nor eloped, so she could only be abducted and sold by someone else. In fact, she is the daughter-in-law of a wealthy family, and her husband is a well-known scholar. They will not have adulterous affairs with others. If they are kidnapped and sold by Ren Yazi, they cannot be taken to other places. Then, they can only sell people on the spot, and if it is not good, they will be reduced to this water and become prostitutes."

"I used to only think about investigating cases in Andong County, but I didn't think that people might be brought to Huai'an City. It was a big loss to be Guixian Cheng for no reason. Today, no matter whether Sister Su is on the boat or not, go up to visit , may not fail to find clues.”

Without further ado, let's do it.Zhou Nan asked: "Dr. Tea, can I get on the boat now?"

Dr. Cha: "There is no reason to push the customers out of the door when you come to business. Just call the kiln sister... Gongye, what are you doing, aren't you cold... That's right, just go straight to the back later." Already... Grandpa is really handsome, he is just a clothes hanger!"

It turned out that while he was talking, Zhou Nan took off his official uniform and threw it into Dr. Cha's hand together with the hat he took off.Since you are going to visit privately, it is not appropriate to wear this dress. Public servants who go to prostitutes during working hours will arouse public outrage.

"Okay, I'll take care of the clothes and hats for my father-in-law. Oh, you can slow down, the road on the shore is slippery." Dr. Tea couldn't help curling his lips. The tolerance had previously justified me and said that I was not serious and came to drink tea. But he didn't have that thought.Now they are so frightened and roaring, what about coaxing ghosts?

(End of this chapter)