1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 987 Prosperous Jiangnan

1682, the year of Renxu, the 12th year of the Great Qi and Han Xing, the first year of Qianyuan in the Great Qin, and the seventh year of Yanguang in the Ming Dynasty.

In the past year, a bloody battle for the throne took place in the ancient land of China.On the third day after the death of Emperor Chengde of the Great Qin Dynasty, Sun Zhengqi, the king of Yi, brazenly launched a palace coup, intending to depose the new emperor Sun Hongxiang who had just succeeded him, and to usurp the throne.

However, the coup d'état seemed a bit child's play from beginning to end, and it could even be said to be anticlimactic.Several armies from other towns contacted by Wang Yi and Sun Zhengqi were all blocked outside the city by the officers and soldiers of the Beijing camp, and were not allowed to enter the city to help their momentum.The Wucheng Bingma Division, which has been in business for several years, has not yet started an incident. Most of the generals were suddenly attacked and killed by Jin Yiwei and the imperial guards, causing the entire Wucheng Bingma Division to fall into chaos.

The death-death army ambushed in Zhongshan failed to seize the Nanjing Armed Forces Arsenal under the surprise attack. The officers and soldiers of the Beijing camp stationed there blew it up and burned it. horse.

And the hidden stake in the palace with high hopes-Li Fujin, the chief eunuch who surrendered to King Yi, led more than [-] armed eunuchs to besiege the Wenhua Palace where the Queen Mother and the new monarch lived, but was led by more than a dozen guards. The young man and the rough eunuchs in the hall fought back with muskets, and after killing Li Fujin, they forced down all the rebellious armed eunuchs.

When King Yi's son attacked the imperial city with a "big army" composed of nearly a thousand guards from the palace, servants belonging to rebellious ministers, and handymen, he could not get any response from the rebels in the palace.When biting the bullet and storming the imperial city, he was strongly blocked by the imperial guards and Jin Yiwei.The opponent even launched several light artillery on the top of the city, bombarding the rebels attacking the city in a dense formation.

At [-] o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, more than [-] officers and soldiers from the front wing and the rear wing of the New Army stationed in Jiangning and Qixia, led by King Yongchang and Bai Hui, the commander-in-chief of the New Army, entered Nanjing City, and fought with the Beijingers in the city. The battalion officers and soldiers launched a thunderous blow towards the rebels together.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Xiong Renfu, the left-wing leader of the New Army who besieged Guanyinmen, led his troops to kill Deng Chuanping, the leader, and plunged the whole army into chaos.Xiong Renfu united several officers who were unwilling to rebel and began to contain the scattered troops, and lifted the attack on Guanyinmen, and at the same time announced to the defenders in the city that they were going to fight.

As for the more than [-] rebels from Taiping Town who besieged Yifeng Gate, their morale was low after several attempts to attack the city gate. , suddenly scattered like birds and beasts, and fled towards Taiping.General Liu Zhenbin took dozens of confidants to the riverside, and took two large ships prepared in advance to go down the Yangtze River, intending to escape to North Korea or Beiming.But near Zhenjiang, they were intercepted by the Yangtze River Navy, and all of them were captured.

In Nanjing City, with the entry of officers and soldiers from the front and rear wings of the new army, the raging rebels began to dissipate and disintegrate. Changing clothes, trying to escape the suppression of the government army.

Yi Wang's son fled back to Yi Wang's mansion with hundreds of guards in a hurry, joined Yi Wang, and then gathered the remaining guards to use the thick protective wall to prepare for a stubborn resistance.

Bai Hui, the commander-in-chief of the new army, led his troops to surround Yi Wang's mansion, and then asked for an order in the palace to instruct how to deal with it.

Not long after, the empress dowager issued a decree, ordering to immediately attack Prince Yi's mansion, and must capture the leader of the conspiracy to usurp the throne - King Yi.

When the two cannons were pushed to the gate of Prince Yi's mansion, the gate was broken open after only a few rounds of bombardment. Officers and soldiers of the new army immediately rushed into the mansion, vying to make the first contribution.

However, Yi Wang Sun Zhengqi drew his sword in the inner room and committed suicide. Only the eldest son feared death and was captured by the officers and soldiers. Most of the palace guards were killed, and the rest were captured without a fight.

In the following two months, the entire court and dozens of surrounding prefectures and counties underwent a massive and brutal cleansing.

Although Sun Zhengqi, the king of Yi, committed suicide in fear of crime, he was still shown to the public. The sons of King Yi, his wives, concubines, and relatives of all children were all sentenced to death.More than [-] officers and generals of the military town and the new army who took the initiative to attach themselves to the rebellion were sentenced to be executed. More than [-] ordinary officers and soldiers, guards, eunuchs, and miscellaneous servants were attached to the rebellion. Tibet, as well as Liaodong and other places, will inevitably be pardoned.

Du Yuanxing, the chief assistant of the cabinet and a scholar of the Huagaidian University, and Xu Deyan, a cabinet assistant and a scholar of the Wenhuadian University, were forced to retire.

Shangshu Song Zhengyang of the Criminal Ministry, Yue Guicheng, the left servant of the Criminal Ministry, Jin Yanzhi, the right censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Hao Shengliang, the left deputy capital censor, Yin Ji'an, the left servant of the official department, Ai Gaoyuan, the right servant of the household department, Tan Boxiang, the minister of Taipusi, and Zhuo, the prefect of Changzhou Prefecture. More than 40 high-ranking officials above the fifth grade, including Wei Ming, Shi Junrui, the prefect of Taiping Prefecture, Shi Xiancai, the prefect of Yangzhou Prefecture, Tang Xingyi, the prefect of Zhenjiang Prefecture, and Zhou Jingde, the prefect of Xuzhou Prefecture, were dismissed and interrogated.

In the palace, there are eight supervisors including Lijian, Neigongjian, and Yumajian, two divisions of Zhonggu and Huntang, three bureaus of Bingzhang, Yinzuo, and Siyuan, and nearly [-] eunuchs and handymen. Locked up in Jinyiwei Imperial Prison, after a series of severe torture, all those who actively adhered to the rebellion will be executed, and the rest will go to the northwest in vain.

Du Siqian, the second assistant of the cabinet and the University of Wenhuadian, was promoted to the first assistant and the University of Huagaidian, Zhu Shengjie was promoted to the second assistant and the University of Wenhuadian, the cabinet Qunfu, and the scholar of Dongge University, She Renmin, the minister of household affairs, and Fu Chuzhenxuan, the young prince, were added. Court.

King Qingyang, Feng Weiwu, the right governor of the Dudufu of the Five Armies, was granted the title of King of Ji, King Yongchang, and Bai Hui, the commander-in-chief of the New Army, were granted the title of King of Yu. Jiang Jiaheng, the commander-in-chief of the Zuoying Battalion, Min Chengji, the commander-in-chief of the front wing of the new army, and Hou Shiheng, the commander-in-chief of the rear wing of the new army, were conferred titles of Marquis, Bo and other titles.

After the end of the rebellion, the new emperor Sun Hongxiang officially ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, changing Yuan to Qianyuan.Because the emperor was still young and unable to govern for the time being, the empress dowager acted as regent. When the emperor reached his full age, he retired to the harem and handed over the administration.
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January 1, Songjiang Prefecture, Shanghai County.

In the pre-Ming period, in the Jiangnan area, as the commodity economy continued to develop in depth and penetrated deeper into the countryside, the commercialization of farm operations continued to increase, which was embodied in the traditional sericulture and silk weaving economy and the emerging cotton textile economy. The specialization and marketization of the handicraft industry and the obvious increase in economic benefits have led to changes in the agricultural structure of the entire south of the Yangtze River—sericulture overwhelmed rice cultivation, and cotton cultivation also overwhelmed rice cultivation, thus changing the previous agricultural model in this area that was dominated by food crops , Replaced by the cultivation of economic crops closely related to the market, and the rapid prosperity of the handicraft industry driven by the deep processing of silkworm cocoons and cotton, so "early industrialization" appeared.

Of course, this "early industrialization" in the Jiangnan area is completely different from the industrialization that Qi is promoting.Here it means that the handicraft industry occupies an increasingly important position in the economy, even surpassing the position occupied by agriculture.Countless urban residents and rural farmers rely on the sericulture economy and cotton textile economy to earn money for their livelihood, and then buy rice, wheat, corn and other grains shipped from other places in the market.

Up to now, the Jiangnan area has experienced nearly 30 years of peace, and the industry and commerce that were once destroyed by the Qing dynasty have been quickly restored, and under the guidance of huge market demand, the level of economic development is even higher than before.

As early as the mid-Tang Dynasty, Han Yu once made the conclusion that "Fu is from the world, while Jiangnan occupies the nineteenth".In the Hongzhi period of the former Ming Dynasty, "taxation in the south of the Yangtze River is for transportation to the world", and it has become an important taxation area in the southeast.

At present, the taxation of the six prefectures of Susong, Changjia, Huhang, and Jiangnan in the south of the Yangtze River accounts for about one-fifth to one-quarter of the total taxation of Daqin.The taxation of Su and Songer prefectures ranks first and second in the country respectively.

Jiangnan is not only an important place for taxation, but also an economic center for the development of various industries in agriculture, industry and commerce.The city and farm operations here have been highly commercialized and market-oriented, attracting a large number of businessmen from all over the country, even North Korea, Beiming (generally pretending to be Qi merchants), Japan, Annan, and Qi.

A [-]-ton "giant ship" flying the flag of the Qi State slowly docked at the pier in Shanghai County. Seeing this, countless wholesalers and brokers immediately surrounded it.

"Rice, hardware, glass, and a lot of precious wood." A shopkeeper of Jiangnan Trading Company of Qi State said with a smile: "The detailed list of commodities can be read at our Qi State Commercial Store later. Everyone, don't block me Here it is. I still need to go to the Shibo Department to pay the commodity import tax. If you are interested, you can go to the business hall to negotiate."

"How much rice is there? What's the price?" A fat grain merchant asked loudly.

"There are about a thousand tons of rice. The price is 10-11 taels of silver per ton."

"10 taels of silver per ton, this..." The chubby grain merchant began to convert with his fingers. The people of Qi have come up with the concept of tons and kilograms. Every time they do business with them, it takes a long time to convert, which is troublesome!

"Hey, why has the price of this rice increased! Almost every stone of rice costs more than 8 cents of silver! This price has increased by a full 1 cent of silver compared to two months ago!"

"Don't you know that the Huguang area was flooded a few months ago?"

"But, the rice you brought here is from Annan! That place shouldn't be affected by the disaster, right?"

"You just wait, when the rice from Huguang comes over, the price per stone will definitely exceed 8 cents!" The shopkeeper of the Jiangnan Trading Company in Qi State said with a sneer, "Even if it sells for 9 cents, that may not be the case. You know, the boats coming down from Huguang can't pull such a large amount at once!"

"Hey, you Qi people took advantage of the fire and did a good job!" the grain merchant said sarcastically.

"To each other, to each other." The treasurer of the Qi State cupped his hands and replied unceremoniously: "Take advantage of the fire to rob and drive up prices, that is what you Daqin businessmen are best at. Hmph, tell me, in the past 20 years, your Daqin How did the price of Longjing tea sold to us increase three to five times?"

"The price has increased several times, why don't you still increase the price several times and sell it to those Xiyi merchants without losing much profit." A toothman whispered.

"Hey, you guys..., you are really fucking justified in driving up the price!" The treasurer of Qi Guo was a little annoyed at being run out, "Hmph, if one day we are pushed into a hurry and we are forced to have no profit, we must If you don’t buy your Longjing tea, I’ll see who you sell it to!”

"The Longjing tea produced in Daqin is known for its green color, beautiful shape, fragrance and mellow taste. Its unique "light but far away" "fragrant and clear" peerless spirit and extraordinary quality are unique among many teas It is unique and tops the list of famous teas. If you Qi people don’t buy it, other people will come to buy it.” A tea merchant sneered at the threat of Qi people.

"Hmph..." The shopkeeper of Qi State snorted coldly, "Don't let the tea merchants in Fujian, Jiangxi, and even Yunnan hear your words. I'd like to see if my Jiangnan Trading Company of Qi State doesn't buy yours Longjing tea, who will buy it!"

With that said, he left behind many businessmen and locals gathered around, and walked towards the direction of Shibosi.
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Bi Maoquan, the senior shopkeeper of Jiangnan Trading Company in Qi State, gently put the account book in his hand on the table, shaking his head and smiling wryly.

"Last year, your Songjiang branch office lost a fucking 5 yuan, and made a big hole after filling it with great difficulty! Tell me, what's going on?"

"Boss, this... this is really not bad for our branch!" Mo Shuping, the shopkeeper of the Songjiang Branch of Jiangnan Commercial Corporation, said aggrievedly: "Although the entire Songjiang Prefecture has a population of more than [-], a developed industry and commerce, and the most active economy, but this The regional demand for the commodities imported by our trading company is very small. Needless to say, cotton textiles, no matter whether it is medium-to-high-grade cotton cloth or low-grade cotton cloth, the local Qin people have no demand at all. Except for hardware tools, metal products, and cotton textile machinery products produced locally , and the precious wood from the Indochina Peninsula can still be sold for some silver coins, but nothing else can be sold!"

"Furthermore, the prices of raw silk, satin, tea, bristles, lacquerware, medicinal materials, and various types of porcelain we purchase in Songjiang Prefecture are increasing year by year. This will naturally greatly reduce the operating profit of our branch. However, there are some gratifying data from the big shopkeeper, that is, the sales of luxury goods such as glass, soap, clocks, precious furs, honey wine, pearls, and tortoise shells produced in Hanzhou have increased significantly. If according to With this trend, profit will turn from loss to profit, and that is just around the corner.”

Hearing this, Bi Maoquan picked up the account book and looked it up again. After a while, a smile appeared on his face.In other words, this Songjiang Mansion is next to the most affluent Suzhou Mansion - known as the fashion capital of the south of the Yangtze River, and the luxury fashion there will naturally gradually spread to the surrounding counties and towns of the Songhang Jiahu prefectures.

Perhaps, the luxury goods produced locally in our country of Qi will slightly open up the market in Jiangnan and completely reverse the ever-expanding profit and loss situation.

In fact, Jiangnan Commercial Co., Ltd., whose asset scale is as high as 600 million Hanzhou silver dollars, is not as bleak as the several branches in Jiangnan, losing money every year.They usually increase the price of tea, raw silk, silk, satin, porcelain and other commodities purchased from the mainland by several times, and resell them to domestic Indian trading companies, Bangladeshi trading companies, Persian trading companies, Ottoman trading companies, and the Dutch East India Company. After the loss, the annual profit is more than 200 million Hanzhou silver dollars.

The Jiangnan area, which has been in peace for more than 30 years, has made the agricultural, industrial and commercial industries in the area extremely developed, and the market economy has also been extremely prosperous, making the whole society accumulate a lot of wealth, which is even more famous.Subsequently, the luxury fashion in the south of the Yangtze River gradually emerged, and all of them originated from the economic center-Suzhou.Through the media of businessmen who frequently travel to and from various places, it quickly spread to various places, and all places regarded Suzhou as a "fashionable center" and followed suit, taking Suzhou fashion as the fashion.

People in the world once said: "Su people think that if you are elegant, you will follow suit in all directions;

There was also a Daqin official who visited Jiangnan and said with worry: "Since the first year of Yongxing (1676), Susong, Hangjia and other places have changed with each passing day, and they have become extravagant from frugality. It has become more and more recent. I hate the old things and like the new ones , good taste algae but good at ridiculing criticism, there are few people who have a pure spirit."

The style of extravagance in the south of the Yangtze River is not synonymous with waste. In the eyes of Qi people, luxury consumption not only consumes social wealth, but also stimulates production and the market. ".

At the very least, in the increasingly affluent Jiangnan region, the demand for industrial products produced by the Qi State has created a gratifying situation from scratch, and from there to a lot, so that the businessmen of the Qi State, who have been in a situation of surpassing for a long time, finally saw A glimmer of long-lost dawn.

(End of this chapter)