A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television

In the blink of an eye, it is almost the end of the year again. Heavy snow covers the entire Liaodong area. The people of Haizhouwei are all staying at home. No one wants to go out and feel the biting north wind. The soldiers in the barracks are still practicing physical fitness, and the study of cultural courses cannot be stopped.

When the heavy snow stopped, Lu Cheng finished his official duties, got up and stretched his legs and feet, put on cotton clothes, put on a cloak, and got up and left the house.

After calling a few guards and taking some New Year gifts, Lu Cheng left the house and came to a small courtyard not far away.

The people living in this small courtyard are Zhang Guoji's family.

A guard came forward and knocked on the court door. The door was quickly opened and a boy in his teens walked out. When he saw Lu Cheng, he immediately shouted, "Hello, brother-in-law."

Lu Cheng walked up, rubbed the little guy's head, and laughed, "You are not bad. I will give you some New Year's money in advance."

Lu Cheng took out a piece of silver and threw it to the little guy. The little guy smiled even more and turned to shout to the yard, "Dad, sister, brother-in-law is here."

Lu Cheng walked into the yard and saw Zhang Guoji leading his family to clear the snow.

Seeing Lu Cheng, Zhang Guoji also quickly put down the shovel in his hand and greeted him, "Lord Lu is here, please come in. Yan'er, go and pour tea."

Lu Cheng followed him into the house. After several guards who came with him put down their gifts, they immediately went outside and began to clear the snow in the yard.

Zhang Yan poured a cup of steaming tea for Lu Cheng and handed it to him: "Brother Lu, have some tea."

Lu Cheng took the tea and smiled gently at the little girl. The little girl blushed slightly and turned around to stand behind her father.

Now, Zhang Guoji's family has been in Haizhou for several months and has become accustomed to life here.

When they first came, Lu Cheng would come to visit from time to time and talk to Zhang Yan to cultivate feelings.

At first, the little girl was a little shy and sometimes hid.

Later, Lu Cheng came more often and gradually became familiar with her. Later, sometimes when Zhang Guoji was not at home, Zhang Yan could also accompany Lu Cheng to talk.

After the first heavy snow in winter, Zhang Yan personally sewed a cotton coat for Lu Cheng and asked her brother to deliver it to Lu Cheng.

It was also from that time that Zhang Yan's brother often ran errands for his sister and future brother-in-law, running to deliver things to both sides.

The little guy is already ten years old and sensible. He took the initiative to call Lu Cheng brother-in-law, and Lu Cheng rewarded him with some pocket money.

Since then, the little guy has completely changed his tone, calling him brother-in-law and brother-in-law in a very affectionate way.

As a result, the youngest girl in the Zhang family, who is eight or nine years old, also followed suit and called him brother-in-law.

At first, Zhang Yan wanted to correct her younger brothers and sisters' address out of shyness. But her younger brothers and sisters betrayed her sister for pocket money and refused to change their tone.

After calling her brother-in-law for a while, Zhang Yan got used to it.

"It's almost the New Year, is there anything missing at home?"

"No, we have everything at home. We have never had such a good life before. Thank you for your concern."

"That's good. Liaodong is cold, not like the Central Plains. I specially prepared some ointments that can prevent and treat frostbite. I'll give you some. If you get frostbite, apply it in time."

"Thank you for your concern."

"Recently on official business..."

Zhang Guoji is a bit old-fashioned. When Lu Cheng chats with him, he usually makes small talk.

In comparison, it's more interesting to tease the little girl.

However, the etiquette that should be observed during festivals should still be observed.

After sitting at Zhang's house for a while, the guards cleared the snow in the yard. Lu Cheng stood up to say goodbye. Zhang Yan sent Lu Cheng to the door. Seeing that Lu Cheng was about to leave, Zhang Yan suddenly said, "Brother Lu."

Lu Cheng turned his head and looked at the little girl: "What's wrong? Is there anything else?"

"Um, Brother Lu... will anyone make dumplings for you during the New Year?"

"Well, it seems that no one really does. How about you make dumplings for me?"

"Okay. I mean, I can make dumplings and send them to you." The little girl seemed a little shy as soon as she said the word "OK".

"Then I'll wait to eat your dumplings."

In the entire Haizhou City, the safest place must be the street in front of Lu Cheng's general's mansion.

All the courtyards around the street are inhabited by Lu Cheng's most loyal generals, guards, and special forces.

Any unfamiliar face that dares to approach this area will be discovered immediately.

Lu Cheng has been an assassin several times, so he naturally knows how to prevent assassins. The guard work of the entire Haizhou City is quite strict.

In the entire Haizhou City, even in ordinary residential areas, there are strict security measures.

Some veterans who were injured and left disabled in the battle will be arranged to become members of the security patrol team to continue to protect the safety of Haizhou Guard.

Of course, there are also some veterans with extremely high loyalty who quietly removed their military status and turned to intelligence, reconnaissance and other work, or joined the caravan guard team, island development team, etc.

Due to the disaster on the grassland this year, the Khalkha tribe also suffered considerable losses. Lu Cheng supported the Khalkha tribe with some food and cotton clothes, and also accepted some herdsmen on the grassland.

However, the herdsmen that Lu Cheng took over were not arranged in any city of the four guards in southern Liaoning, but in some villages and towns. Ordinary herdsmen are responsible for reclaiming land and raising livestock.

Those grassland people who are proficient in riding and shooting were incorporated into the newly established cavalry patrol team to assist the reconnaissance brigade of Haizhou Guard and be responsible for patrolling the entire southern Liaoning.

At the same time, the islands near the Liaodong Peninsula are also under development and construction.

Some houses have been built in places suitable for living, such as the large and small islands in Changhai County.

The team sent to the south to buy merchant ships has also bought back seven or eight fishing boats and merchant ships, but they are all small ships and are not enough to form a navy.

Lu Cheng has also been considering going to Jiangnan after the New Year if Liaodong is calm.

In fact, the entire Jiangnan is basically the territory of the Donglin Party, and the wealthy merchants in Jiangnan are basically controlled by the Donglin Party.

The fundamental reason why the Ming Dynasty perished so quickly was not the peasant uprising, nor the natural disasters, nor even the Jiannu outside the pass. It was the group of self-righteous Donglin Party.

As early as the reign of Emperor Yongle, Zheng He sailed to the West and brought back various plants, spices and other items from overseas, which also made the officials of the Ming Dynasty see the huge profits of marine trade.

However, Zheng He's voyage to the West was initiated by the government, which brought huge benefits to the court, but did not bring any benefits to those officials and gentry.

Therefore, those officials and gentry tried every means to discredit Zheng He's voyage to the West and let the Ming Dynasty open the sea ban.

After the navy was opened, those officials and gentry secretly instructed the merchants along the coast to smuggle, collude with officials and merchants, and obtain huge profits. This also directly promoted the development of the manufacturing industry in Jiangnan, and many wealthy merchants emerged in Jiangnan.

In the 22nd year of Wanli, Gu Xiancheng, a doctor in the Ministry of Personnel, was dismissed from his post and demoted back home because he argued for the establishment of the crown prince, which angered Emperor Wanli.

Afterwards, Gu Xiancheng and some gentry and celebrities in Jiangnan rebuilt Donglin Academy and initiated the Donglin Conference, which brought together all the literati in Jiangnan and secretly controlled the business of Jiangnan, forming a huge interest group. This was the later Donglin Party.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty still maintained a maritime ban on the surface, but in fact, through maritime trade, a large amount of silver from all over the world flowed to the Ming Dynasty.

According to statistics, in the late Ming Dynasty, the amount of silver flowing into the Ming Dynasty from the world was as high as 900 million taels. But during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, the annual tax revenue was only more than 3 million taels.

Whenever the emperor wanted to increase commercial taxes, the ministers in the court would jump out and accuse the emperor of not competing with the people for profits and hiding wealth among the people.

During the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, the Jiannu in Liaodong became more and more violent. In order to ensure the supply of food and wages in Liaodong, Emperor Chongzhen repeatedly increased taxes and collected taxes from the great-grandchildren of the people, but still could not collect silver.

Emperor Chongzhen gave up his dignity and borrowed money from the civil and military officials of the court, but in the end he only borrowed 200,000 taels of silver. When Li Zicheng entered the capital, he looted more than 70 million taels of silver in the capital.

It was this group of self-righteous Donglin Party members who, when the Qing army arrived, kept saying that they were loyal to the emperor and the country, and wanted to jump into the river to die, but in the end they shaved their heads because the "water was too cold" and worked hard for the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, there may be some loyal ministers among the Donglin Party members, but this entire interest group has sucked the blood of the Ming Dynasty dry...