Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 461: Buzzing
In Qingpu County, Songjiang Prefecture, there is never a shortage of literati and poets coming to communicate with each other on the shores of Dianshan Lake.

On the lakeside west of Zhujiajiao, a large pleasure boat slowly left the private dock of a manor on the lakeside and headed towards the center of the lake.

"The cold light of thousands of miles hits the sky, and the momentum of Zhenze Lake is superior. I send a message to the creatures at the bottom of the winding waves, are they still willing to carry the boat? This poem by Xia Gong fully describes the majestic momentum of Dianshan Lake."

"As for me, the poem written by Wei Wenjie in the past still captures the charm of Dianshan Lake. The sparse stars and the waning moon are still hazy, flashing into the misty waves with the wind. I just realized that the boat has moved to the willow bank, and I thought I had arrived at the Crystal Palace. Crows are a dot of black in the sky, and egrets are a cluster of jade on the beach. Alas, when I look back, the nine mountains are in the midst of existence and non-existence."

"Yang Weizhen's work is no less impressive..."

Outside the wooden building in the pleasure boat, the people who were talking at the bow were all young men, quite young. The youngest was only in his early teens, and the oldest was no more than twenty.

They first talked about the poems of Xia Yuanji in the early Ming Dynasty, and then talked about the poems of Wei Jing and others, the descendants of Wei Qing who had served as the Minister of State Affairs in the Song Dynasty. Then they naturally entered the stage of composing poems and singing in response to the occasion.

In the wooden building, five middle-aged scholars were sitting and drinking tea. Unlike the young men at the bow who were full of vigor and excitement, they all had a hint of worry on their faces, but they were good at cultivating their qi and still looked calm.

"Brother Xingfu, your son's poetry is vigorous and powerful, full of heroic and loyal spirit. But this new work uses heroic language to write about tragic emotions. Could it be that the Xu family has let the children of the clan know something?"

A middle-aged man who heard his words frowned, then shook his head and sighed: "In the current situation, why do we, the older generation, need to say anything more?"

After saying this, he looked at another person and said, "Brother Wenqi, you have knowledge that we all admire. Brother Wenqi, do you have any official duties today?"

The other man snorted coldly, and then said: "The Dongdu Shipping Bureau is not as busy as the Nandu Shipping Bureau. Now the court is going to conquer Japan, and only some Ryukyu and Luzon merchant ships are coming to the Dongdu. Besides, even if there is something wrong, I, a mere seventh rank official, don't need to worry too much."

"...With Brother Wenqi's talent, he is a seventh-rank official..." The person who spoke first looked as if he was aggrieved for him. After a pause, he said, "Seeing that Brother Wenqi is frustrated and frustrated, I decided to devote myself to the mountains and rivers, which made me less worried."

The man called "Xingfu" then said, "People over 35 are not allowed to take the imperial examinations, except for some gifted people. All others are eager for quick success and quick gain, and are lucky enough to advance by studying things to gain knowledge. Brother Menglu, what do the old scholars say in Beijing?"

"...My father is just living in the capital. As a scholar of the Imperial Academy, huh..." The man sighed, "I failed the exam again. I am thirty-three now, and I don't have any hope anymore."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present felt depressed.

They all picked up the teacups in front of them and took a sip.

The man who spoke first was named Chen Suowen. He was a juren, but already over thirty-five years old. On the bow outside was his eleven-year-old son, Chen Zilong.

The man he called Brother Xingfu was named Xu Ersui, with the courtesy name Xingfu. Xu Ersui's grandfather was named Xu Zhi, the younger brother of the famous Xu Jie.

The one who was called "Brother Wenqi" happened to also have the surname Wen, named Wen Zhenmeng, with the courtesy name Wenqi. Wen Zhenmeng's great-grandfather was Wen Zhengming, who was once famous in the Ming Dynasty. If nothing had changed, Wen Zhenmeng would have won the first place in the next imperial examination after the next year's imperial examination, and would have also been famous in the Ming Dynasty. But now, due to the changes in the imperial examination system, he has completely lost the opportunity due to his age, and instead chose to enter the officialdom as a juren, and now works as a seventh-rank official in the Dongdu Ship Bureau.

The son of the "Taichang scholar" was Dong Qichang's eldest son Dong Zuhe. In the Dongdu provincial examination that just passed, although Dongdu was the only prefecture that held the provincial examination and the quota ratio was not low, he, the son of Taichang scholar, was still not on the list. If it was delayed for another three years, he would have exceeded the time limit. At the age of more than 30, he could go to a university to become a juren? He couldn't bring himself to do it, and he might only be a student in his life.

Even this student was admitted to the original Songjiang Prefecture School because of Dong Qichang's relationship.

Finally, the one who had been silent put down his teacup and said, "My cousin did send a letter home. I'm afraid it will be difficult to avoid the storm this time."

"Oh? What did Lu Fuling say?"

"Relying on our old friendship, I got the truth out of Prime Minister Yuan."

After saying this, the other four people all looked solemn.

The so-called Prime Minister Yuan was, of course, the current Privy Councilor Yuan Keli. The fact that the "Lu Mansion Order" was able to get the truth from Yuan Keli was indeed due to their old friendship.

The Huating Lu family made their fortune from Lu Shusheng, the uncle of Lu Yanzhen in front of us. Lu Shusheng won the imperial examination in the 20th year of Jiajing, and eventually became the Minister of Rites.

Yuan Keli, Lu Yanzhang and Dong Qichang, who are now the second-in-command of Yueyang Prefecture in Hunan, are all related to Lu Shusheng. In the fifth year of Wanli, Lu Shusheng invited Dong Qichang, who was already quite famous at that time, to teach his sons and nephews at his private school, and Yuan Keli also traveled thousands of miles to study at Lu Shusheng's private school.

In the 17th year of the Wanli reign, Yuan Keli, Dong Qichang and Lu Shusheng's son Lu Yanzhang all passed the imperial examination. The fact that three teachers and students from the same private school all passed the imperial examination together naturally caused a sensation at the time.

However, the three of them had different experiences afterwards. After Lu Yanzhang passed the imperial examination, he first avoided the dispute over the national foundation that had begun that year, and then began to mourn for his father. Like Dong Qichang, they were both receiving official salaries but living a carefree life in their hometowns at that time, which was certainly not accepted by Zhu Changluo. Now one of them is a scholar of Taichang, and the other has slowly become a fourth-rank official.

If Lu Yanzhang had started as a staff member in the Imperial Academy when he passed the imperial examination, his official rank would definitely not be low now. However, since he followed the teachings of Lu Shusheng, who was still alive at the time, he is now naturally slow at every step. Yuan Keli, who took the same imperial examination as him, has become a military minister, but he is still only a fourth-rank official.

At this moment, the other four people at the table were all paying attention to what Lu Yanzhang had asked Yuan Keli.

Facing the gazes of the crowd, Lu Yanzhang's cousin Lu Yanzhen slowly said, "The emperor has clearly stated that if disaster arises from the new currency system, it will be tantamount to civil strife."

The four of them couldn't help but be greatly shocked, and Xu Er asked sharply: "Civil strife?"

The sound was quite loud, and the youngsters at the bow all stopped for a moment and looked inside the ship.

The elders did not shy away from them, but just waved their hands and told them to do as they pleased. Lu Yanzhen continued, "The Crown Prince is on a southern tour on behalf of the emperor, and the emperor has exempted the summer grain this year. My brother has also received a document from the Executive Yuan to organize an autumn and winter fair. Also... the Zhenhai Camp in the Eastern Capital at the mouth of the Wusong River has issued new coins, using new money."

The other four were speechless. After a long while, they heard Chen Suowen ask Wen Zhenmeng, "Brother Wenqi, I heard that Daming Bank is going to set up a branch in Dongdu Port? The Wang family in Taicang..."

"This matter is handled by the Ministry of Finance, but I have no control over it. The Taicang Wang family..." Wen Zhenmeng's face was quite ugly, "The son of the Taicang Duke is now the General Affairs Bank, and he was also the head of the New Policy Reform Department. What do you think will happen?"

After saying that, he looked over one by one: "The Xu family and the Lu family have a lot of land. Now that they don't have the burden of white grain, they can save summer grain this year. Needless to say, the governor and others are all eyeing the positions of the prime ministers. I advise you not to have any other thoughts."

Xu Ersui had an ugly expression on his face, and Lu Yanzhen was no less so.

When Hai Rui was the governor of Yingtian, he took action against the Xu family. At that time, Xu Jie surrendered 20,000 mu of land. Later, after several twists and turns, the Xu family surrendered some more.

There were many rumors among the people, but Xu Ersui knew it clearly. At the peak, the Xu family did have more than 100,000 acres of land, but it was not a lot. After so many years, the Xu family is no longer what it used to be.

However, the Eastern Capital was established in Songjiang Prefecture. On the one hand, a new city was built at the confluence of the Wusong River and the Huangpu River. On the other hand, Jiading County of Suzhou Prefecture was taken over, and the Zhenhai Guard originally located in Taicang was reorganized into the Eastern Capital Zhenhai Camp. In this round of changes that year, the Xu family also gave up a lot of land.

Even though a lot of compensation has been given for the land, who would be willing to give up the land they already have if it weren't for the last resort?
The Xu family did this just to prevent the three or four people who still got official positions by virtue of their ancestors from being affected by the reform of the system of favoritism. Now the official favoritism has been uniformly changed to favoritism for admission to school instead of favoritism for appointment to office. The officials who used to get official positions by virtue of favoritism have gradually been marginalized.

For example, Xu Youqing, who was once a captain of the Jinyiwei under the influence of the Xu family, has now only been transferred to a fourth-rank deputy superintendent of the Jiangning Provincial Security Bureau, which is not a very important position in the Jiangning Security Bureau.

The reason why the Lu family has so much land is that they have been the major contributors to the water conservancy projects in Songjiang Prefecture for many years. As a local major household that "actively cooperates and supports" the dredging of the Wusong River and the water conservancy roads and bridges in Songjiang Prefecture, the Lu family has made a lot of profit. Although the Chen family, to which Chen Suowen belongs, is not as noble as the Xu family and the Lu family, the benefits of land are also their core.

And recently they have a new crisis.

"I heard that the Government Production Institute has already shipped a batch of machines. Songjiang Weaving Factory has been collecting a large amount of cotton these days..."

Songjiang cotton cloth is famous far and wide, and now it seems that the imperial court wants all the benefits.

The five of them became more and more annoyed as they talked, and each of them had their own grievances.

It is not enough to strictly implement preferential exemptions and commercial taxes. More and more industries, such as money shops, salt shops, and maritime trade, which were originally only operated by wealthy businessmen with capital, are feeling the tighter and tighter ropes.

On the one hand, they were deeply afraid of the court's current power, and on the other hand, they always wondered if people in the world like them would be willing to just sit there and wait for death?
Not to mention other things, facing the possibility of a real major war, things like surveying land and compiling civil registers like in the border towns, or even a radical change in the preferential treatment of officials and gentry, would so many officials in the government accept it?

The border troops are supported by the Privy Council's military budget, which has not been reduced much, and the emperor's constant opportunities to make meritorious contributions in using troops. Nothing went wrong when the border towns were surveyed and settled before, but that was a poor place, and they were more or less "transferred" to participate in the benefits of border trade.

Although the inland provinces have changed their local military systems, the military settlements have not changed much and military households are still military households.

Does the imperial court really have the confidence to suppress everyone’s dissatisfaction and have so many benefits to distribute?

The ship that the five people were on was slowly drifting in the Dianshan Lake. After a long time, they finally encountered several other ships.

It was getting dark, and several boats found a stable anchor. The young people gathered together to sing and drink; the older generation also gathered together to discuss.

This situation existed in countless places throughout the Ming Dynasty.

There may not be a clear organization or strategy, but given the direction of their interests, it is always difficult for people to just be "slaughtered at will."

Nowadays, the Duzhijian has many informants through the post station system, and most of them know the existence of the "Internal Inspection Office". How many of those in the officialdom who hope to eventually become a prime minister or even a prime minister truly approve of the new policy from the bottom of their hearts?
There are always more people hoping that the situation will change to some extent, and among them, a small number of people try to contact as many people as possible and discuss countermeasures.

At this moment, Zhu Youjian had just entered Shandong Province. Although the canal had not yet frozen, he planned to stay in Shandong Province until the beginning of next spring.

While the Crown Prince was staying in Shandong, the people who felt the most inexplicable terror were the Kong family in Qufu.

Lu Xiangsheng, who received the order, had just bid farewell to Xu Guangqi, Song Yingxing and other Nando predecessors, and had not yet entered Jiangxi.

In Nandu, huge ships have been returning from the south during this period.

Many of them went through the formalities at the Nandu Maritime Customs and then, with their credentials, headed straight for Fujian, Zhejiang and the Eastern Capital.

In Yangzhou, Fan Yongdou was extremely troubled.

His father Fan Yuanzhu has passed away, and now Fan Yongdou is in charge of the family.

The order from the capital made him feel uncomfortable all over. He looked at the person in front of him again: "Did Empress Shufei really say that?"

"Not only Consort Shu, but several other consorts have said so." The person who came from Beijing said, "If it wasn't for His Majesty's order, how dare the consorts spread any news outside the palace?"

"...You're going to hold on even if it means you've lost everything?"

"Boss, how could we really lose everything?" the man said, "Your Majesty means that from now on, the Shanxi families in Changminghao should not regard themselves as businessmen, but as the pillars of the country in industry and commerce, and they are important ministers. Now it is just that we have not yet sorted out some details of the government-owned property office and government-run industries, so we have to use the financial resources of each family first. In the future..."

Fan Yongdou certainly knew all this. But since the Shanxi families boarded the emperor's ship, they had to make such efforts from time to time in the past twenty years.

Judging from the accounts, each company is certainly making huge profits, but the pressure to turn around is now increasing.

This time, they even had to "lose everything" to support the financial turnover needed by the court. Moreover, this kind of turnover across all provinces only considered efficiency, which would of course be a huge loss from an accounting perspective.

Not only had the emperor personally issued an edict and the headquarters issued an order, the emperor even sent messages to them through the concubines to urge them.

What about rewards?
"Those gentry and wealthy families will not sit still and wait for death!" he said irritably, "This is really going to cause chaos in the world."

"It all depends on where the first big mess starts." The old staff member left by Fan Yongdou's father said in front of him, "Changming has gained so many benefits that it has long been a thorn in the eyes of local business gangs. We have no way out. Besides, we are not the vanguard in this battle."

"But we are ammunition and military supplies." Fan Yongdou gritted his teeth, "If we must fight, then we might as well fight the first battle beautifully and decisively, so that other places will be afraid and tremble! If we have to fight, we have to fight where we are most advantageous!"

"Where is suitable?" asked the old aide.

"Of course it's the five prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou!" Fan Yongdou showed a fierce look, "What's 20 million taels worth if you spread it all over the Ming Dynasty? Tell the Zhayang Bank and the Grain Bank what I mean. If you want to fight, you should first mobilize at least 5 million in wealth and goods to defeat the strongest old forces in Jiangnan! Go to the Qi family, Chen family, Li family and Xu family! If you want to fight, you can't be without soldiers."

Qi, Chen, Li, and Xu are naturally the Jiangnan meritorious officials represented by Qi Jiguang, Chen Lin, Li Chengliang, and Xu Hongji. In their hands, they now have the power of the Yangtze River Navy, the Dongdu Zhenhai Camp, the Nanjing Zhenwu Camp, and the East Expedition South Road Army Dingwo Camp.

Unconsciously, an encirclement had been formed from Nanjing, the Yangtze River, Dongdu, and Ningbo.

But everyone knew that the imperial court did not want a corrupt Jiangnan, it just wanted a submissive Jiangnan.

"Let's show our cards!" Fan Yongdou said to another aide, "Go to the Five Prefectures. Either form a partnership with us, or we'll defeat you! Of course, it's impossible for all businesses to be run by the government in the future, but we've had His Majesty watching us for so many years, so we dare not play any tricks. The profits and taxes in their account books don't match up with ours! If you don't want to be investigated, then accept your fate!"

Zongminghao, Changminghao and some other state-run commercial companies under the current Government Property Office, all the industries in which wealthy private households or business groups had already invested, received strict orders from the central government.

They were under tremendous pressure. The emperor said that he would suffer losses for three years in order to bring about a new look to all industries in the Ming Dynasty.

Such a large-scale campaign would wipe out all the industries controlled by local aristocratic families and some of the officials' families serving in the court. How could it possibly make up for the losses caused by "losing all their fortunes" and how could it reward them for "charging into battle" at this time?
Isn't this a civil war between some officials in the government-industry system and other systems such as the Executive Yuan?

This is also true within the government-industry system.

The weather is getting colder, but the situation is as hot as boiling oil. No one knows where the next spark will cause it to explode.

(End of this chapter)