Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 869 Amnesty
Although Mobei was fighting endlessly, and even fell into anxiety to a certain extent, the eyes of the emperor and the cabinet were focused on the whole world.

Anxi Province is newly established, and the imperial court needs to lose at least 300 million yuan a year to stabilize.

In March, an earthquake occurred in Wenshui, Shandong, which affected several counties and displaced hundreds of thousands of people...

In April, a major earthquake occurred in Longmenshan, Sichuan.

It can be said that those who appeared in front of Zhu Yixi at this time were like playing a game. From time to time, it was this disaster that was in disaster, and news of help from all over the country continued to arrive in the capital.

But the good news is that due to the previous financial reforms, the savings of the provincial treasury, that is, [-]% of the income from the local commercial tax, allowed the governors to provide timely relief to the victims.There will be no chaos.

The governors of various places are also responsible for disaster relief, but they dare not slack off.

The entire Great Tomorrow is still in the process of rapid development, with stability and peace in a large area, and the scene of a prosperous age is undoubtedly revealed.

For Hou Fangyu, this big event was particularly abrupt.

The long journey, although far away, made him quite happy.

It has been more than ten years since he was exiled in Yunnan.

He and a group of Donglin party members, distinguished and former ministers, opened private schools in Yunnan and Guangxi to teach school children, which is barely atonement.

In March and April, successive earthquakes in Shandong and Sichuan surprised the emperor and the court. As a last resort, the first amnesty in the Shaowu period was finally spread throughout the world with the publication of the Daming Communiqué.

You must know that even if the crown prince was appointed back then, the emperor was very stingy and never pardoned him.

No wonder the world said that the Ming emperor was widowed and stingy. Look at the Song Dynasty, Song Huizong alone, who reigned for 25 years, pardoned 26 times.

Because of this amnesty, Hou Fangyu bid farewell to Yunnan and finally returned home to Henan at the age of 38.

Even so, he had to go to Jiangnan first.

At night, the ship was swayed by the surging waves. Hou Fangyu put the brush on the inkstone, opened the package again, stretched out his rough palm, and gently stroked the off-white robe with his index finger. Gently caressed from the stitches of the stitches.

There are as many needles as there are many misses.

He could imagine that Li Xiangjun, such a person who does not eat fireworks in the world, was embroidered with bloodstains almost on his hands back then.

"Although Pi Qiang (Mao Bi Qiang) said that his trace is hard to find, and there are many dangers, but I believe that you will be found."

Hou Fangyu's eyes lit up.

At this moment, the yearning for Li Xiangjun has surpassed that of his parents, wife and children in Guide Mansion, Henan.

"Boom boom boom——"

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

Hou Fangyu didn't raise his head: "Who's here?"

"Master, it's Duke Wei—" the maid said softly.

Only then did Hou Fangyu put down his clothes, and put them away thoughtfully: "Bring him in!"

Soon, Xu Wenjue was dressed in a bluish-white robe, and slowly entered with a smile on his face.

Years of living in Yunnan have left him with a little frost on his temples and dark skin. He doesn't look like a 40-year-old at all, but like an old man.

A pair of eyes, full of vicissitudes and maturity, seem to be filled with stories.

Xu Wenjue was the last Duke of the Duke of Wei in Nanjing. He inherited the title in the first year of Hongguang, also known as the 18th year of Chongzhen.

It is a pity that in the 19th year of Chongzhen, the Qing army besieged Nanjing City, and was forced to surrender to the Qing army with a group of ministers and nobles.

As the Duke of Wei, he is naturally in the leadership position, and as Emperor Shaowu regained Nanjing, a group of nobles and Donglin party members suffered disaster.

Take Wei Guogong's mansion as an example. The mansion, which covers an area of ​​[-] mu and is as luxurious as a royal palace, was confiscated by the court; ninety-nine percent of the wealth accumulated over hundreds of years was confiscated, and the rest can only be used to maintain a wealthy life.

As the foundation land, nearly [-] hectares of private land in the south of the Yangtze River were also confiscated as official land.

What's more, the house slaves were dismissed, and a family of more than a hundred people was forced to migrate to Yunnan, where they lived a miserable life.

However, all hardships come, and finally amnesty came.

Xu Wenjue packed up his mood and walked into the room.

"Brother Hou, you should be able to go to Songjiang Mansion tomorrow."

"Duke—" Hou Fangyu said politely.

"I'm just a commoner now, and I can't afford the title of Duke." Xu Wenjue shook his head with a wry smile:

"Being able to return to Nanjing and be buried in the ancestral land, I have no regrets in my life."

"Wei Guogong's mansion just went through hardships suddenly, and the day when all the hardships are gone is not far away."

Hou Fangyu felt sorry for Xu Wenjue.

Under the circumstances at that time, Nanjing was already besieged, King Fu fled out of the city, and the dragons were leaderless, so surrender was inevitable.

However, Emperor Shaowu didn't care about this. Regardless of obstruction, he sent all the civil and military ministers who were above the surrender list to the southwest region, including the civil servants who had surrendered in Beijing.

Of course, members of the Donglin Party like Hou Fangyu were no exception, and they were all packed and relocated, with hundreds of families.

Even Qian Qianyi, a giant in the literary world and a high-ranking court official, can only die of old age in Guangxi.

"What comes after suffering? Now that I'm back in Nanjing, I have to worry about how to make a living for my family!"

Xu Wenjue sighed, and then chatted with Hou Fangyu one after another, obviously trying to ease his timidity of being close to his hometown.

Of course, the meaning of flattering Hou Fangyu is also obvious.

Hou Fangyu was the former leader of Fushe. He was highly respected by famous figures in Fushe and Jishe when he was young.

Although it is said that the high-level members of the Donglin Party were taken over at the time, the middle and lower levels were still there, but they were disorganized and scattered.

And Hou Fangyu's prestige here, although it will not be able to re-knead it into a rope, but it has incalculable political power.

After Xu Wenjue left, Hou Fangyu sighed and prepared to sleep.

At this time, I remembered the sound of small footsteps, and the charming concubine came over to warm the bed with a smile, carrying a candle. Her white and delicate face was as tender as a freshly peeled egg.

Holding the woman in his arms, Hou Fangyu thought of Li Xiangjun again. She was so lovely back then...

The next day, the ship docked at the pier in Songjiang Prefecture at noon.

Hou Fangyu and the others were startled.

In the small port, a lot of ships have been parked densely, roughly estimated to be no less than thirty ships, and the excitement seems to make the sea water in summer seem to be boiling.

Tax collectors in soapy clothes swaggered aboard.

Those captains who were arrogant on the ship bowed their heads and flattered them, and the bags of tax money were taken away, but they smiled with their faces.

And the long trestle bridge is full of workers in short and brown clothes.

They have thick limbs, their long hair is tightly coiled, and their dark faces are full of longing.

As soon as they saw the ships approaching, they flocked to them, shouting continuously around the crowd.

"My lord, you have so much luggage, do you need someone to help you? Look at my strong arms, I promise to run fast, only ten cents is enough—"

A thin man squeezed over, looked at Hou Fangyu's dazed look, and thought to himself that it was another fat sheep:
"Do you need a car? I see that you have a family member. I know someone who rents a carriage. It's cheap and convenient—"

With two strong servants, two maidservants, and a concubine, Hou Fangyu was not afraid of being bullied. He just wanted to agree, otherwise there would be shouts from afar.

"Brother Hou, Brother Hou——"

Hou Fangyu looked up and saw two middle-aged men in their forties, surrounded by a group of servants, greeting him.

"Sorry, someone is coming to pick me up."

The little man can only return disappointed.

Seeing this, Xu Wenjue smiled and said, "Brother Hou, see you again in Nanjing."

"See you again in Nanjing."

Hou Fangyu witnessed Xu Wenjue's family swaggering away, and then they left with great vigor being greeted by a team of horse-drawn carriages.

Seeing this, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion, it is worthy of the 300-year-old Wei Guogong's mansion, and its heritage is not shallow!
But at this time, when he saw Mao Xiang and Fang Yizhi, he couldn't help feeling deeply moved, and then smiled wryly.

Maoxiang, whose name is Pijiang, calls himself Chaomin. After gaining weight in middle age, there is a lot of fat on his cheeks. His originally well-proportioned body looks extraordinarily bloated, but he is smiling, showing no worries.

After becoming a tribute student, he was not able to accept the appointment of an official. He has been traveling in the mountains and rivers, reciting poems and having fun, but he has escaped the migration of the year.

Fang Yizhi, who is thin and has shining eyes, is Fang Yizhi, a native of Tongcheng, Anhui.

Unexpectedly, it was a blessing in disguise, Shaowu was an official in the dynasty, and he had been an official to the prefect of Songjiang, just in time to meet him.

"Although the Xu family is down and out, the Dingguo Mansion in Beijing is like a family. In the end, Xu Guogong (Xu Yunzhen) didn't know whether he was killed by surrender or war, but the court always appeased the old ministers, so he was still the Duke. .”

Seeing that the eyes of several people were all on Xu's family, Fang Yizhi explained: "Now, in the court hall, there are only Duke Qian and Duke Ding of the former dynasty."

"It's a family after all." Mao Xiang picked up his fan, unfolded a landscape picture, and said with a smile: "If Ding Guogong doesn't take care of Wei Guogong's family, I'm afraid he will be impeached by the civil servants above the court."

"Even the emperor may be unhappy."

Hou Fangyu nodded: "No one likes a mean and ungrateful person."

"Come on, I have prepared the carriage, you and my friend, you are welcome."

Mao Xiang held his hand and boarded the carriage together.

But Fang Yizhi smiled and didn't say much.

The so-called four sons are mostly in terms of literature, Mao Xiang has a cheerful personality and is good at making friends, while Fang Yizhi is mostly silent, and he is a bit withdrawn.

Soon, a banquet to wash away the wind and dust began.

Hou Fangyu talked about the Yunnan incident and the death of Qian Qianyi, but when asked about his own predicament, he said openly: "Although there is embarrassment, it is not as painful as Lao Du's. Only homesickness is the most difficult thing." Suppress."

After all, I asked about the two of them.

Mao Xiang said coolly: "You know me. You don't like to be an official by nature. You talk and laugh all day long, feast and have fun. You have been happy for a lifetime, and it's not a loss."

As he said that, he pointed to Fang Yizhi and said, "This Fang Mizhi fled from Beijing to Nanjing, and then to Fujian. After a long journey, he finally entered the officialdom again and made his way to the top. He is already the prefect of Songjiang."

Fang Yizhi smiled: "Every step in the officialdom is frightening, but it's not as happy as you."

"By the way, Songjiang is so prosperous, it seems that Brother Fang has made a great contribution." Hou Fangyu praised: "Just got off the boat, I almost thought I was in Quanzhou, or Nanjing Wharf!"

"Songjiang Mansion has a customs house."

Fang Yizhi shook his head with a smile, and said: "Because of this customs, the cotton cloth from Songjiang Prefecture is continuously transported to the northern provinces, as well as North Korea and Japan."

"Customs?" Hou Fangyu was taken aback. This is a new word, but it is also an old word.

For him, after staying in Yunnan for more than ten years, the customs only heard the name, but did not see the reality, and he had no idea at all.

"Customs, the meaning of customs." Fang Yizhi said in a deep voice: "There are eight customs in Ming Dynasty, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Ningbo, Hangzhou, Songjiang, Tianjin, Nanjing, and Yuegang."

"The imperial court has a customs office, which is responsible for collecting taxes. Goods traveling from south to north can be exported through the customs, and can also be imported from overseas."

"For example, grains from Guangdong and Annan can be found on the market in Songjiang Prefecture from south to north. The prices are low and they are loved by the people."

At this time, Hou Fangyu felt a little different. The word "door is wide open" appeared in his mind, and he was in a trance for a while.

"You say that, he is not intuitive, talk about taxes." Mao Xiang urged.

Seeing his appearance, Fang Yizhi laughed lightly, and said: "In the ten years in Shaowu, that is, last year, the Songjiang Mansion paid 300 million silver dollars a year in taxes."

"The spring and autumn tax is about one million yuan, and the business tax is two million yuan. Compared with the previous dynasty, it has doubled, and it is even a head higher than the Suzhou government."

"And among them, the salt tax and customs duties were taken away by the imperial court..."

Hou Fangyu was speechless.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Suzhou government taxed 280 million shi, and the Songjiang government paid 120 million shi. Now it has surpassed Suzhou, which is really surprising and inexplicable.

The power of customs is terrifying.

Return drunk at night.

During the day, accompanied by Mao Xiang, Hou Fangyu wandered around Shanghai County.

What impresses him is not the businessman with a southern accent, but the sound of the locomotive looming on the street, almost flying over the entire county.

Every family looms, passers-by turn a blind eye.

"This is a ZTE machine, which is several times the previous output, and it is very popular." Mao Xiang smiled lightly: "I was worried about not having enough cotton cloth before, but now we all have to worry about how to sell the cotton cloth."

Hou Fangyu remained silent.

In the next few days, he set off to the north, and almost every county seat had people entertaining him. It took more than half a month before he arrived in Nanjing.

When he came to Baozhen Nunnery in Qixia Mountain, he inquired about Li Xiangjun and Bian Yujing, and got a negative reply:
"The two female benefactors often went to Nanjing in the past, and they seemed to go to visit the Qianfu, but then they left for more than a year without a trace."

"But she is dressed gorgeously, so she must have found a better home."

The last sentence was full of insinuations, but Hou Fangyu couldn't control it.

When he came to Qian's house, he saw Mrs. Qian and Liu Rushi.

Facing his intention of coming, Liu Rushi seemed unwilling to mention it, but said: "Hou Jun, you should go home! Knowing too much is not good for you."

Hou Fangyu immediately slumped on the ground and murmured: "Xiang Jun, Xiang Jun, how can I live without you—"

(End of this chapter)