prosperous age

On December 38, the 25th year of Jiajing, Wang Zhi was beheaded at the port of Hangzhou City Palace.

At this point, the generation of tycoons who used to be famous and dominated the southeast coast of Ming Dynasty came to an end, and there is no such person in the world anymore, but the large amount of maritime merchant power he left behind still threatens the safety of the coastal prefectures and counties of the Ming Dynasty.

"what did he say?"

Sitting in the sedan chair, Wei Guangde asked curiously.

"Just now I heard what the yamen guard who escorted Wang Zhi said. Wang Zhi kept saying in the prison car, 'If I die alone, the people of Zhejiang and Zhejiang will suffer' or something."

Zhang Ji replied in a low voice beside the sedan chair.

"Oh, this sentence is also recorded in the file, so it's not surprising."

When Wei Guangde said this, he suddenly paused. Before that, Wei Guangde also knew that the pirates might retaliate, but at this moment, Wei Guangde suddenly understood Wang Zhi's thoughts.

In the past, Wang Zhi's pirate strength was the most powerful force in the southeast coast of Ming Dynasty, so many rules among the pirates were decided by Wang Zhi. If there were pirates who did not follow Wang Zhi's rules, Wang Zhi would Teach them in your own way.

Therefore, the Japanese pirates at that time seemed to be loose, but in fact they all had rules, and the rules came from Wang Zhi's mouth.

But now that Wang Zhi is dead, the rules he set before naturally no longer exist.

Wei Guangde only knew about these rules when he checked Wang Zhi's trial files, including the people of Ming Dynasty. At Wang Zhi's request, they are not allowed to kill at will. Only when they encounter strong resistance, everything is based on looting First priority.

After getting in touch with Hu Zongxian, Wang Zhi began to restrain his subordinates' looting operations, which is also an important reason why the Japanese plague in the south of the Yangtze River has eased in recent years.

In fact, even if the Japanese pirates did not plunder, they could still live on the smuggled goods provided by the coastal gentry.

In fact, the economy of the coastal prefectures and counties of Daming during this period was entirely supported by the Japanese pirates, or the armed smuggling merchants controlled by Wang Zhi. They continued to sell the Daming goods smuggled by the gentry to the sea to the Japanese country and Southeast Asia. , and imported a large amount of silver to Daming.

These, Wei Guangde did not know before.

However, what Wang Zhi explained was only recorded in the discarded trial files, or the confession records that the Zhejiang Procuratorate had not had time to destroy, but there was no mention in the bound files.

Wang Bengu's response to this was that Wang Zhi knew he was going to die, so he made a fuss about it, and those confessions were of course not credible.

Wang Zhi's confession in the court can be said to directly reveal all the facts about the collusion and smuggling of officials and businessmen along the coast of the Ming Dynasty. If such a dossier is handed over to the capital, it is unknown how much trouble will be caused.

In fact, the Japanese pirates reported by coastal prefectures and counties were real, and they were all Japanese pirates who came ashore to plunder property. More often, Japanese pirate ships came to the shore to trade goods with mainland merchants.

Even if these things were discovered by the patrol officers and soldiers of the Ming army, they would not raise the alarm, because they had already been bought by the local gentry, and if they could not be bought, they would contact their high-level officials to transfer them away.

In fact, the complexity of the anti-Japanese situation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is largely due to the misconduct of these gentry.

But even though he is the censor, Wei Guangde has nothing to do about it.

There are many officials in the Ming Dynasty who know the inside story of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but no one has seen anyone lift the cover. The water inside is too deep for him to play.

Now it is snowing heavily in the north of the Ming Empire, and the temperature in the north of the Jiangbei in Nanzhili is also dropping sharply. It is impossible to return to the capital.

Wei Guangde came out on a business trip. Although the obvious errands have been completed, he still can't run back to Jiujiang Mansion for the holidays. One is that there is not enough time, and the other is that he has to stay in Hangzhou to wait for the reply of the joint memorial sent to the capital. .

For more than a month, the dispatched personnel rushed back from the surrounding counties one after another.

After reading the news brought back by Wei Guangde, the people must be dissatisfied with the tax increase, but judging from the current situation, it is still within the controllable range. After all, the threat of Japanese pirates is real, even those places that have not encountered Japanese raids , The common people also know the ferocity of the Japanese pirates, so they are still trying their best to endure it.

However, this is not a long-term solution.

According to the news that came back, Hu Zongxian’s increase in taxes and services for the small people was actually very limited, and the military pay was [-]% per mu.

Under such an environment, almost [-] to [-]% of the land output was handed over to the government and landlords, and the farmers could hardly meet their basic food and clothing.

As for the extra part, it is naturally apportioned by the yamen. After all, there are labor costs for collecting grain, including the yamen servants in the county yamen.

It is precisely because of this that the folks in the south of the Yangtze River "exhausted their blood and blood", cut off their livelihoods, and some people were forced to become tenants or even refugees, and some even chose to join the ranks of Japanese pirates.

"Now the land price here is only five or six taels of silver per mu?"

Looking at the things Zhang Ji sorted out, Wei Guangde said in surprise.

"Yes, sir, the price of the land here is even lower than that of Jiujiang Mansion.

I heard that those who did not have scholars in their families have achieved fame, but now because of the additional distribution, and those who have a lot of land are on the household, they will be recognized as grain chiefs, so most of the additional distribution falls on them.

Now these people are eager to get rid of the land in their hands. Didn't the land price of more than ten taels of silver fall to five or six taels of silver?
It seems that no one wants this price now. It is said that someone bought a field for four taels of silver, but the next day he regretted not wanting it, and a lawsuit broke out. "

Zhang Ji replied on the sidelines that these were all the news from the people sent out, and he was really surprised.

But after thinking about it, it is also relieved that the Japanese pirates in Zhejiang and Nanzhili are violent, and their agricultural production is greatly affected. With the addition of taxes and labor, those who are not eligible for tax exemption can only dispose of the land in their hands as soon as possible.

However, those gentry with fame and reputation are also black-hearted, and it is not enough to reduce the land price to [-]-[-]% of previous years.

Land annexation, this term popped up in Wei Guangde's mind.

Chinese people's love for land is hard to describe. In the past, you may have tried your best to buy land from others, because it was to be passed down to your family. If you were not forced to a dead end, most people would not sell it own land.

The current situation in the south of the Yangtze River is naturally a godsend opportunity for the powerful gentry in those places, so they don't want to annex them.

But what Zhang Ji said is right, their hearts are really dark, and the land price is so depressed that they still don't make a move.

Wei Guangde is not very interested in the fields here, but he likes the gardens here. Unfortunately, most of the gardens are built near the state capital, and there are also many Ming troops stationed here. Generally, no Japanese pirates will come here to attack the idea, so the price of the gardens is a bit high. expensive.

Wei Guangde has money, but unfortunately he doesn't want to throw it here, he can only think about it.

At this time in the capital, everyone inside and outside the city should be busy. Officials in the yamen are waiting for the yamen to be locked, and craftsmen and musicians are busy preparing for the celebrations in the palace and the Aoshan Lantern Festival.

It's just a pity that he missed this grand event this year, and the Chinese New Year is almost here.

And at this moment, a messenger in brocade clothes rushed into the inner city of Beijing from Chaoyangmen, and ran along Dong'anmen Street. The soldiers patrolling the streets along the way saw the knight's clothes on the horse and decisively stepped aside. , pretending not to see.

Only in this way, the crowded civilians on the street suffered. Amidst the sound of horseshoes, the people scattered in all directions, dodging to both sides of the road one after another, even the carriages and ox carts on the street also dodged one after another. Chickens fly and dogs jump, people shout and neigh.

The Jinyi messenger galloped all the way to the gate of Fusi in Jinyiwei North Town before reining in the reins, and then jumped off the horse. The captain in front of the gate hurried forward to take the reins, and he took off the bamboo tube from the horse and ran all the way into the gate .

Not long after, the urgently delivered bamboo tube arrived in Lu Bing's hands. After checking the lacquer seal, Lu Bing opened the bamboo tube and poured out the contents. There were only two confessions. Looking carefully into the bamboo tube, it was empty. things.

Wei Guangde would not write a letter to tell Lu Bing anything. God knows whether Lu Bing will keep it in his collection or destroy it immediately. If he doesn't want to get it, then it's not his business.

However, Wei Guangde believed that, with Lu Bing's intelligence, he would not have guessed that this was a bargaining chip to negotiate with the Yan family.

Even if there is no evidence for the things mentioned in the confession, as long as the news is released through the Jinyiwei, the censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate who have nothing to do all day will know what to do.

The fact is just as Wei Guangde thought, Lu Bing frowned when he saw the content of the statement and the name of the person who signed it.

The content of the two confessions is highly related, but the difference is huge.

The bamboo tubes used to deliver the news were carried by the people he sent to Wei Guangde's side. Jin Yiwei had strict regulations on the use of these objects, and one could tell where the news came from just by looking at the bamboo tubes.

However, Lu Bing thought about it for a long time, and at first he still didn't understand Liu Shouyou's intention in sending the statement. Shouldn't this thing be kept by the Zhejiang Procuratorate?
After beheading Wang Zhi, the confession should be kept in Wang Zhi's case file. How could it be here.

Lu Bing naturally understood the weight of this confession, and it was a bit involved, so Lu Bing didn't dare to poke it out casually.

Handing it over to the emperor, although Lu Bing was loyal to Emperor Jiajing, he was not a person who didn't know what was good and what was wrong. Giving this thing to the emperor was not loyal but harming others.

A little confused, and regardless of the messenger's fatigue from the long journey, Lu Bing ordered the messenger to be brought to him.

Yes, after handing over the bamboo tube he brought, the courier was already paralyzed in a duty room, sipping ginger soup, and there were some pastries on the table beside him.

It was freezing and the flying horse galloped all the way. His physical strength was already very serious, and his whole body was frozen. At this moment, he could only rely on the stove to slowly recover his body temperature.

Sending letters in this weather is like walking through the gates of hell, but fortunately I survived.

Being held in front of Lu Bing by two school captains, the messenger hurriedly wanted to salute, and he had already reported: "Hangzhou, a low-ranking Jinyiwei"

"Excuse me, tell me what the person who gave you the bamboo tube asked you to bring?"

Lu Bing saw that the man was still struggling to salute, and said hastily.

"Report to the governor, Liu Baihu only said that it was something that the lord gave to the prisoner, and nothing else."

The messenger hurriedly replied.

"Something given to the prisoner?"

Lu Bing frowned and repeated, "Is there anything else to say? Think again."

Lu Bing was worried, and reminded him again. He nodded after getting a clear answer from the messenger, and let everyone go down.

"Things from the prisoner?"

Lu Bing repeated these words over and over in his mouth, it was so fresh, and he knew it was the confession made by the prisoner, but Lu Bing felt that the "prisoner" here should not be the person who signed the confession, it was superfluous.

If it refers to someone else, who is it?

Lu Bing thought about it for a long time but couldn't figure out whether Liu Shouyou and the others had drunk too much, or what kind of things the adults gave to the prisoners.

Lu Bing was a little annoyed, the messenger replied very simply, there should be no mistakes, and Jin Yiwei's messenger still has this awareness, and he will never remember it wrong.

grown ups?

Prisoner?
Suddenly, Wei Guangde's appearance flashed in Lu Bing's mind.

Liu Shouyou and the rest of them are adults, and the messenger said that Liu Baihu said that it was something that the adults gave to the people in the prison. Could this adult be referring to Wei Guangde?
Wei Guangde handed it over to himself through Jinyiwei's communication channel, and said that it was something that was given to the prisoner. Could it be Yu Dayou?

Wei Guangde said to hand over this confession to Yu Dayou?
"hiss"

In an instant, Lu Bing seemed to understand the purpose of this confession.

What the hell is that Wei Guangde discovered some unreported circumstances in the Wang Zhi case in Zhejiang. swap out?
The case of Yu Dayou has been pending. Lu Bing can only guarantee Yu Dayou's comfortable life in the prison, but he can't get him out. After all, it was Emperor Jiajing who ordered the arrest.

But to release him, he had to close the case first, and was embarrassed by Yan Song and Yan Shifan, even if he refused to release him, Lu Bing was very helpless about it.

Lu Bing dared not say such a thing directly to Emperor Jiajing. This was not helping him but hurting him.

Lu Bing took out the statement and looked it over carefully. There are quite a lot of things that can be manipulated. Forging the pardon edict, the whereabouts of the 80 taels of silver is a mystery.

Lu Bing put down the confession in his hand, and unconsciously reached out to rub his chin.

Wei Guangde has no control over what Lu Bing will do in the capital, he can only spend the Spring Festival in Hangzhou.

The Spring Festival, in the Hangzhou dialect of the Ming Dynasty, is called "releasing the soul". Since the first day of the first month of the first lunar month, it is all about having fun.

Young people even got into temple fairs and other entertainment venues, having fun without black or white.

Wei Guangde was also young. He took Zhang Ji and others to temple fairs and plays during the day, and participated in various banquets in Hangzhou official circles at night.

Beginning with Hu Zongxian, governor of the south of the Yangtze River, Hangzhou government officials took turns entertaining guests and invited famous local oirans to perform.

In ancient times, almost all officials were officials in other places, and the system did not allow officials to take office in their hometowns, so everyone could only hold together for the festival, and miss their relatives during the festive season, perhaps this is the portrayal.