Griffin Commander in the Late Ming Dynasty

"I will take Zhao's daughter away. All villagers, please go as you please..."

A large amount of bright yellow smoke spread in the heavy rain, and Jiang Han's figure gradually disappeared in it. The villagers looked at the miracle before their eyes and kowtowed on the ground. Without their knowledge, two carriages quietly left the village.

Quick Run!!

Volume 44: Chapter Chapter : Rumors and Arrival

A legend has recently been circulating in Northern Zhili of the Ming Dynasty.

It is said that the emperor was incompetent and the court was controlled by evil people. They repeatedly exploited the people, which angered God and the people, so a great catastrophe was brought down, causing disorder in the celestial phenomena, unpredictable climate, and frequent wars. In response to this catastrophe, great demons invaded the mountains and evil gods entrenched under the water, acting tyrannically and dominating one side. There was a monster who called himself the river god and occupied a waterway. It told the people that it would bless them with good weather, but the condition was that they must regularly offer young girls to it to marry. Otherwise, heavy rain would fall for several days, drowning countless crops in the fields. The people were miserable, so much so that they could see nothing when they went out and the plains were covered with bones.

However, the heavens have a benevolent virtue, and sent the disciples of the Thunder God Jiu Tian Ying Yuan Lei Sheng Pu Hua Tian Zun to walk in the mortal world to slay demons and exorcise monsters. They happened to encounter this evil god asking for a virgin from the people. They immediately drew their swords in anger and killed the evil god with the Five Thunders. They also taught the people how to survive the catastrophe and predicted again: In two years, a more serious catastrophe will befall Northern Zhili. Thinking of the people's suffering, the immortal said again that this catastrophe might be related to the rats, and hoped that the people would take more precautions. After that, he flew away. A few hours after the immortal left, the sky and the earth cleared up, and the heavy rain that had lasted for several days dissipated.

The cultural industry in the late Ming Dynasty was quite prosperous, with all kinds of novels, stories and legendary stories coming one after another. Wu Cheng'en's Journey to the West was very popular among the people. Coupled with the difficult times, the people needed a spiritual sustenance to comfort their panicked hearts. Moreover, the eyewitnesses spoke with certainty, and the government investigated the scene afterwards. The huge charred pit caused by the thunderbolt could not be faked, which added credibility to the legend.

The saying that the emperor lost his moral integrity and treacherous ministers were in power, which led to the wrath of heaven and earth and the catastrophe, has a certain market. Since ancient times, scholars have been dating each other. Why is he a university scholar and enjoys a good life while I can only eat pickled vegetables? It must be that he fooled the emperor and took bribes! If it were me, I would definitely be better than him! Therefore, this rumor, which was originally a wild fox story, became more and more popular among the people, and various storytellers evolved countless versions of it. Among them, what the people are most concerned about is what is the catastrophe related to the rat that the immortal said?

Since it could attract the warning from the immortals, this kind of disaster must be extraordinary, but what kind of disaster is it?

In the court, Chongzhen looked very unhappy.

He had always felt that he was a good emperor who respected his duties. The Wei eunuchs controlled the government and brought disaster to the people. He got rid of the Wei eunuchs as soon as he ascended the throne and restored peace to the world. Before leaving, his brother held his hand and made a beautiful wish: "My brother, you should be like Yao and Shun."

Since he ascended the throne, he has been working overtime like 007 every day, working diligently, eating the simplest meals, wearing the most shabby clothes. The Neikuli could not even take out the money to repair the palace, and he used it all to supply the Liaodong front. Even though he was like this, there were still rumors among the people that he had no morals, and God actually sent down a catastrophe. Are the heaven and the earth blind?

If I am not at fault, then it must be these ministers who have problems. Didn't the gods say that traitors are in power? It must be these sons of bitches who deceive their superiors and subordinates, which led to the people's resentment and such rumors! I will kill them both if I catch them!

The glorious tradition of the Zhu family is to make scarecrows. If any official is derelict in his duty or corrupt, he will be caught and made into Fiddlesticks. However, the shelf life of the Zhu family's figures is a little shorter than those of the Qin Shi Huang, Han Wudi, Tang Taizong and Song Taizu.

"Everyone, have you heard the rumors?"

Chongzhen's voice echoed in the palace, perking up the dozing officials below.

"Your Majesty, the weather in our Great Ming is peaceful and the sea is calm. It is truly a prosperous era. Occasional unstable weather is common. The ancients said that mountains have no fixed posture and water has no fixed shape. This is the way of nature. This rumor is simply nonsense. I beg you to ban this rumor to set the record straight."

Zuodu Yushi Tang Shiji stepped forward to speak, setting the tone for the meeting.

"Yes, yes, Your Majesty must not be influenced by these evil words. Your Majesty has been working diligently since you came to power, and we have seen it all. The suffering of the people is all the legacy of Wei Yan. Wei Yan has controlled the government for many years, and the people have suffered for a long time. The current Your Majesty is very perceptive and has executed him. Only then can the people breathe a sigh of relief. Your Majesty is a rare wise ruler!"

An official stepped forward to advocate for Chongzhen. When these words came out, the officials of the eunuch party in the court were moved and nodded to each other. This person must be Donglin! Find a way to kill him!

But it’s not possible now. The emperor is obviously in a bad mood, and the right thing to do is to calm him down.

Everyone was talking at once, patting the horses non-stop. In their mouths, the Ming Dynasty was a prosperous era with peace and prosperity, where everyone had meat to eat and clothes to wear. They cursed the person who started the rumor to the utmost, wishing they could catch him on the spot and fry him in a frying pan.

You are delaying everyone from making money, do you know that?

"My dear ministers, you cannot completely deny it."

Chongzhen was a little overwhelmed by the horses' flattery, and his tone changed from "You all" to "My dear ministers". The ministers below him were obviously relieved.

Fortunately, this idiot was easy to fool and he was fooled with just a few words, haha!

"but"

Just when the ministers thought that the key issues of this court meeting had been resolved and the meeting process would be over, Chongzhen unexpectedly took another turn.

"Nothing in the world comes without a trace. There must be a reason for this rumor to have spread. There must be a bad apple among the officials of our Ming Dynasty!"

"As for the calamity of the giant rat, what do you think, my dear ministers?"

This... No one expected that this idiot suddenly came to his senses, but his second sentence confused everyone again. It's just a big rat, what kind of disaster could happen to it?

Seeing that no one in the audience had come to a conclusion, Chongzhen sighed slightly and said, "The fate of the Ming Dynasty still depends on me."

He said calmly, "The rats are the rats in the warehouse. Northern Zhili has suffered from a series of severe droughts, and the rats must have been caught by the people a long time ago. So this disaster is probably a hint that there are rats in the Ming Dynasty who are enriching themselves, and may cause a disaster in the near future!"

As soon as these words came out, the ministers in the court were all silent, feeling guilty. Who among them had not made money? Whose family was not extremely wealthy, so rich that they could not even walk? Wasn't this rat talking about them? If he spoke now, would it be considered as admitting it?

"Therefore, I have decided to start a grand examination for all officials to check whether the officials of our Ming Dynasty are competent and whether there are any rats among them! I will also conduct my own examination, and ask all officials to supervise me!"

Jiang Han originally meant to let the people and officials of the Ming Dynasty be careful of rats. What else could rats do? It was just the plague. Even an elementary school student could figure this out. But he never expected that Chongzhen's mind was different from that of a normal person. He had a unique way of thinking. He interpreted the rats as corrupt officials in the court, eroding the government. It must be said that his understanding was at the enterprise level.

If Jiang Han knew about this, he would immediately praise him for being in the late stage of cancer. It was unfair that the Ming Dynasty was in his hands.

A plague is about to break out, and you are still conducting an assessment of officials. Are you really afraid that no one will work for you?

The ministers were also confused. How could they object? If he was the first to speak, wouldn't it mean that he had something to hide? Who among the families present didn't have hundreds of thousands of silver coins to start with? Could they withstand the investigation? If he recruited the Jinyiwei into his family, wouldn't he be finished on the spot? Just do the assessment. People from the Ministry of Personnel are always easier to talk to than those from the Zhaoyu.

The ministers in the court looked at each other, and no one dared to step forward and say anything against it.

"It seems that all my dear ministers agree with my decision. Very good, then I will draft an imperial decree and start the examination for all officials next year!"

Chongzhen confirmed the outcome of the matter with a nod, leaving the officials unable to say a word of objection.

"Okay, then from now on, if you have something to say, come to court, if not, leave!"

Jiang Han, who was thousands of miles away, did not understand at this moment that his warning not only failed to warn the world, but also had the opposite effect, causing Chongzhen to start a large-scale examination for officials, further reducing the efficiency of Ming Dynasty officials and further expanding the impact of the plague. At this moment, he was going through security check.

The city wall of Yangzhou has been preserved since the ancient Song Dynasty. Many repairs and buildings have been done on this basis, making it quite solid.

The scenery in the south of the Yangtze River is different from that in northern Zhili. The situation here is much better. Maybe because Jiangnan is a land of fish and rice, the impact of climate here is relatively smaller, although it is also limited.

At least here you can see greenery and clear water, which makes people feel a lot more relaxed than the yellow earth all over the sky in northern Zhili.

"Name?"

"Jiang Han, Jiang Muzhi"

"Well, what are you doing in Yangzhou?"

"Study hard to gain fame"

"I see, let's go in."

Pretending to be a scholar, this was Jiang Han's strategy for entering the city. The Ming Dynasty attached great importance to scholars, and the status of scholars was quite high. As long as you had an honor, you could receive government subsidies regularly, and you also had the right not to kneel when meeting with officials. The intellectuals of the Ming Dynasty were a thoroughly privileged class.

Sure enough, seeing that Jiang Han looked like a scholar, the gatekeeper quickly let him in. In fact, no weapons were found in the warehouse. In particular, the carriage pulled by more than a dozen horses also put a lot of pressure on the soldiers. In this day and age, if there were more than a dozen horses, and the carriage was pulled by a scholar, he might be the son of a high-ranking official. They couldn't afford to offend him.

The cities in the south of the Yangtze River have a different flavor than those in the north. The style of the big cities in the north is neat and grand, while the style of the cities in the south of the Yangtze River is more delicate and beautiful, and relatively speaking, is more full of the petty-bourgeois style of literati.

The south has a strong culture of reading, and Yangzhou City, due to its special geographical location, is a rare transit point in water transport, so all the major salt merchants gathered here.

There are many rich people and many places to enjoy. People here have a saying: "Skin is covered with water in the morning and water is covered with skin in the afternoon." It refers to the food and entertainment in Yangzhou city.

What we eat is naturally the soup dumplings here. At the time when Yangzhou fried rice was not yet famous throughout the country, the food that Yangzhou City was most proud of was the soup dumplings. In the afternoon, the soup dumplings were naturally the best choice for taking a bath.

Just like in later times, bathing here actually includes a whole set of services including haircut, shaving, massage, physiotherapy, pedicure, etc. It was quite a luxury in those days when materials were scarce and entertainment options were limited.

Many ministers also liked to chat in the bathhouse. It had become a common practice for everyone to be frank with each other, eat snacks and fruit plates, drink wine and take a bath, and negotiate contracts or business while maids held their feet.

And because a large number of wealthy people gather here, the overall pace of Jiangnan Road is actually relatively slow, at least on the surface.

Ni'er brought the two little ones to look at the surrounding buildings curiously and were amazed. One of them had never left the village since childhood, and the other had been running around with her sister. The place was devastated, and this prosperous scene was something they had never seen before.

Jiang Han looked at the surrounding scenery and sighed in his heart. The architecture and customs here are quite unique. However, due to the continuous wars, only some gardens of wealthy families are left for future generations.

This China is full of disasters...

"Wow!! Commander, Commander! Is this the Jiangnan you mentioned?"

A delicate face opened the car window and looked at the Jiangnan water town outside, his red eyes full of excitement.

"This is Jiangnan"

"It's really beautiful! I want to play here!"

"Haha, once we're done, you can play however you want."

"So what are we going to do? I can't wait to show off my skills!"

The girl was very excited and looked at Jiang Han with anticipation.

"Hahahahahaha, there's not much work for you now. You'll have the chance to show off your skills later!"

"Oh~Okay, but just stay with me, Commander!"

M4SOPMOD2, Jiang Han usually likes to call her dog. At this moment, she is happily tossing around in the carriage, adding a lot of liveliness to Jiang Han and his party.

The little princess he summoned is a hidden social phobia holder, Sister 45 is an ultimate hermaphrodite, and the three children are more well-behaved than the other. To be honest, the overall atmosphere is a bit dull, and it’s all thanks to Jiang Han that the atmosphere becomes lively. Now that he has a dog, Jiang Han feels a lot more relaxed. This silly girl will become happy just by looking at him.

"Let me see. First, we should follow the same process. We should buy a yard and then build a storefront. It would be best if there is a storefront outside the yard. We should also hire a few workers and find some professional farmers who can grow crops..."

There are many things to do...

Jiang Han looked up at the warm winter sun. Time was running out. Before the end of the year, they finally arrived in Jiangnan. Now, they could finally start the first step of the plan. In the twelfth year of Chongzhen... this was a time of war...

Volume 45: Chapter Chapter : Preparation

Why does he need an entire storefront? In fact, Jiang Han wants to do some business. Although he has robbed a lot of money before, it is still a drop in the bucket for what Jiang Han wants to do in the future. If he wants to change the production relations, he must first implement a practical supply and demand market. Jiang Han’s goal is to start with food.

It is often said that food is the most important thing for the people. Food is definitely the top priority. In this year of disaster, it is an even more urgent need. If you run the food business, you will definitely make money if you have a stable supply. And to put it in a broader sense, the liberation of all productivity first comes from the supply of food. Only when people can have enough food can we usher in a significant liberation of productivity and there will be more social demands. This is a very basic logic.

So first of all, Jiang Han has to solve his own supply problem. With such a magical thing as potatoes in his hands, Jiang Han naturally has complete confidence in his supply and can guarantee the supply. The problem now is to expand production first.

Then you have to buy a few plots of land first. The minimum yield of potatoes per mu can reach 2,000 kilograms, provided that they are cultivated properly. In this case, you can buy about 20 to 30 mu of land, build a small farm around it, use part of it to grow potatoes, part of it to grow sweet potatoes, and use part of it to build some vegetable greenhouses to grow cabbage, peppers, pumpkins and the like to enrich your diet. It should be a very good choice.

Although the shortage of resources in the late Ming Dynasty led to a sharp drop in the prices of many commodities except food, the price of land remained very strong. Why? Because land can be used to grow food. This is the perception among aristocratic families and landlords in traditional thinking.

Why is food expensive? Because it is scarce. But is food really so scarce that there is not enough food to eat? Not necessarily. For the wealthy families and landlords, the current rise in food prices is in their interests. The higher the price, the more they hold on to food. This way, they can make food prices rise and maximize their profits. In order to have a bite to eat, those farmers have to sell their property and land, so they can buy the land and realize land annexation.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the number of hidden households that were not on the household register, that is, the undocumented households and tenant farmers who could only survive under the protection of these aristocratic landlords, had reached about 10 million. This was a very terrifying number, representing that the land annexation situation in the late Ming Dynasty had reached its peak.

In ancient dynasties dominated by small peasant economy, the cycle of land distribution to land annexation represented the rise and fall of a dynasty.

Small landlords eat farmers, big landlords eat small landlords, wealthy families eat big landlords, and it goes on layer by layer. Otherwise, where do you think the money of those wealthy families comes from?

But now he should find a place to stay. Unlike Anping City, Jiang Han plans to stay in Jiangnan for a relatively long time. Moreover, he will definitely need to summon more humanoids in the future. If the yard is too small, he won’t be able to sleep there.

Now Jiang Han is familiar with the place and directly finds the broker. These people are similar to the intermediaries in ancient times and have many functions. You can go to them for buying a house, renting a house, buying livestock, buying servants. It is a one-stop service and it comes directly to you.

"Oh, no wonder there was a magpie calling so early this morning. It turns out that a distinguished guest is coming. I, Xiao Liuzi, greet all the distinguished guests."

A broker saw Jiang Han's carriage parked at the west entrance of the city. He quickly rushed over and bowed deeply. He reacted very quickly. Look at this magnificent carriage and these horses. What is this? This is a super rich man!

Jiang Han's behavior is like parading a fleet of Ferraris through the streets. If someone like him parks his car in Xishi, he will be a top-notch customer among top-notch customers. If he is a little slow, his car will be snatched away by others!

Several people nearby also rushed over and said, "Master, are you going to buy livestock? Master! My servants are of the best quality!"

The slave trade has actually always existed in ancient times, but it has become much more civilized. It is also called the slave trade. Many families who could not get enough food would sell their children and make them slaves to work as servants for others. At least they could still have food to eat. In a sense, it could even be considered a kind act. This situation was most common among girls, and most of these girls who were sold were actually taken away by major brothels, and not many were lucky enough to become servants.

In an era like the late Ming Dynasty, being sold alive was considered lucky.

Jiang Han jumped off the carriage, and M4A1 wanted to follow him, but the dog was faster than him. She didn't even go through the door, but jumped out of the window directly.

"Ooooooh! I want to buy a house from the Commander!"

The lively dog ​​seems to be very curious about everything in the outside world, and she seems to have no worries at all (in fact, she transfers all the pressure to her opponent)

Dog: I have a unique way to relieve stress!

Looking at the excited dog, M4A1 shook his head helplessly and could only take over the responsibility of driving the carriage.

"It's like this. I just came here and plan to settle down here. However, my family is large and an ordinary yard would be crowded, so I want to buy a bigger house. Secondly, I also want to buy dozens of acres of land and some cattle and other livestock. Can you help me find some?"

The first problem is to solve the problem of accommodation and location. As for servants, don't be in a hurry. You can decide whether to hire two depending on the situation. Recruiting workers is simple. As long as you post the requirements yourself, there will definitely be a lot of people willing to come.

The talent market at the end of the Ming Dynasty was simply like this: labor was so cheap that it couldn't be any cheaper, and the market was so competitive that it couldn't be any more competitive. Zhang San said that it was OK as long as there was food provided, Li Si said that he only needed one meal, and Wang Wu said that he only needed one meal for his whole family, as long as they didn't starve to death! Everyone wanted to find a job that could support their family, but such jobs were really hard to find.

In the late Ming Dynasty, even getting married was a very easy thing. As long as you had enough food to feed two people, you could just pick one up on the street. This was the reality. If you had a stutter, you could drive others to risk their lives for you. The price of a life was not even as high as a full meal.

As soon as Jiang Han said this, Xiao Liuzi's eyes lit up on the spot. What does a big customer mean?

As soon as he opened his mouth, he wanted a big house. That's not all. He also wanted to buy dozens of acres of land. He wanted to build a farm directly! Compared with these two things, those cattle and horses are just a fraction.

If this business is successful, I won’t have to worry about food for the whole year!

Volume 46: Chapter Chapter : The House and...Writing Poetry?

"Yes! Yes! So much! Master, you are here. We are in the south of the Yangtze River. We are short of everything except houses! It's just that the price is..."

Xiao Liuzi calmly tested the visitor's financial strength.

"Just lead the way"

Jiang Han spoke calmly, "Now he is rich! His nouveau riche temperament can hardly be concealed."

"Okay, follow me! Do you think we should go to the third entrance first, or..."

Xiao Liuzi brought Jiang Han and his party to the location of the house. Unlike Anping City, the courtyards in the city are mostly in the form of farmhouses, with a yard for livestock and a small piece of land for farming at the back. The terrain is compact. In the Jiangnan region, there are more courtyards of various forms, among which three-entry courtyards are the most common.

"Look at the four entrances"