I

  Chapter 333 331【Return to the South】

   In the blink of an eye, it was the spring of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, and it had been a month since Qian Qianyi received the errand.

Beijing.

  Hou Xun, Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting, Fang Kongshao, Xiong Wencan, Li Fengshen... This group of "criminal ministers" walked out of the prison in unison.

  They were released relatively late, because their family members rushed from the south, carrying money all the way to the Ministry of Criminal Justice to redeem them.

  The imperial court was completely out of money, and Chongzhen was trying to find a way, and one of them was to punish officials with money to redeem their sins.

  The effect of making money is not bad, and it has not attracted too much criticism.

  Because of the criminals in the imperial prison, many of them were imprisoned for **** things up, and were even inexplicably held accountable and imprisoned.

   "Everyone cherishes, farewell!"

  Li Fengshen bowed his hands to the crowd, and got into the carriage hired by his son Li Wen.

  Lu Xiangsheng also cupped his fists and said, "Farewell!"

  Lu Xiangjin, Lu Xiangsheng's younger brother, hired a carriage with Li Wen, and they were going back to Jiangnan together.

"Ugh!"

  Sun Chuanting shook his head and walked in another direction.

  Xiong Wencan led his son straight to his in-laws' mansion. He and the cabinet minister Yao Minggong are fellow villagers, and they were married very early. Xiong Wencan was appreciated by Yang Sichang, largely because of Yao Minggong's recommendation.

   To say goodbye to his in-laws and leave Beijing, Xiong Wencan has made up his mind.

  Fang Kongxuan, Fang Yizhi, Hou Xun, Hou Fangyu, two pairs of father and son walked slowly.

   "How is the situation in the south?" Hou Xun asked.

  Hou Fangyu replied: "Jiangzuo, Jiangyou, Guangdong, and Fujian are all controlled by Zhao Han. Huguang is divided into two, and the area south of the Yangtze River is changed to Hunan Province."

   "It seems that Zhao thief has already planned to occupy the whole Huguang," Fang Kongzhang said with a smile, "In the future, it will be re-divided. Only the south of Dongting Lake will be called Hunan."

  Hou Xun shook his head and sighed: "I have been in prison for three years, things are changing and people are changing, and the current situation has become so corrupt." He stopped and turned around, and asked, "Brother Qianfu, are you planning to go back to your hometown to join that bandit Zhao?"

   "Let's talk about it." Fang Kongzhang gave an ambiguous answer.

  The two of them had nothing to say, they walked together for a while, and then parted ways.

  After they separated, Hou Fangyu said to his father: "The thieves are raging in Henan. Everywhere is forming a camp to protect itself. Our family is also recruiting soldiers to build a camp."

   "Let's talk when we go home!" Hou Xun said.

  The gentry and aristocratic families in Henan have completely entered the troubled times mode.

  Often one or several families build stockades and arm domestic slaves, not seeking to kill thieves, but only seeking to protect themselves. When the rogues came, they would send food. Under normal circumstances, as long as there was enough food, the rogues would not bother to waste their energy in attacking.

  Another street.

  Fang Yizhi said to his father: "Uncle has become the prefect of Shizhou."

   "Shizhou Wei?" Fang Kongzheng confirmed.

Fang Yizhi explained: "Zhao Han changed Shizhouwei to Shizhoufu, and the government was located in Shizhou (Enshi), and Badong and Jianshi were also included under it. Shinan, Rongmei, Shiliang, Jin Dong and other chieftains were all converted to native land, and some chieftains were revoked."

   "Didn't the chieftain rebel?" Fang Kongzhang asked in surprise.

  Fang Yizhi said: "From the summer harvest last year until now, Zhao Han's Datong Army has been fighting the chieftain of Shizhou for seven months."

  Fang Kongyan sighed and said: "Thieves Zhao are still in a hurry. Reforming the land and returning it to the people requires long-term management. How can it be done overnight?"

  Fang Yizhi said:

"It's different this time. After Zhao Han occupied Shizhou, he immediately allocated land to the military households in Shizhou, Jiannan and other guards. He also allocated land to the surrounding Sinicized Miao people (mostly Tujia) and declared that the entire Shizhou The government exempted the land tax for three years, and encouraged the Han and Miao people to open up wasteland."

"After gaining the allegiance of the Sinicized Miao people, they used these Miao people as guides to cut off the disobedient chieftains around them and forcibly reform the land to return to the local people. With the Han people as the main officials and the Sinicized Miao people as the assistant officials, they were ordered not to discriminate against the Miao people, and the Han and Miao people were promoted everywhere. One policy."

"Their farmers' associations are very powerful. Among the Miao people, farmers' associations have also been formed. Those Miao people who can't even speak Chinese, because they don't have to do corvee because of the distribution of land and tax exemption, they all help in turn. The government is going to beat the toast."

   "After fighting for half a year, almost all the soldiers under the little chieftain ran to Zhao Han's side."

   There are many ethnic minorities in Enshi, most of whom are descendants of the ancient Ba people, but they were collectively called Miao people and Tuman in the Ming Dynasty.

  A large number of ethnic minority compatriots, including military households everywhere, are living in dire straits.

   Assign them fields, bring them sweet potatoes and other crops, exempt them from grain tax for three years, and exempt them from various corvees. The revolutionary enthusiasm was immediately ignited, and some small chieftains did not need the Datong army to do anything, and the native soldiers and native people killed themselves.

  After half a year, there were only six chieftains left in Dawang, Sanmao, Labidong, Mucen, Xiping, and Tangya. Huang Yao left 2,000 regular soldiers and 2,000 peasant soldiers, and slowly cooperated with the magistrate in the conquest.

   Here are actually some small chieftains, and each chieftain can have hundreds of soldiers under his command. Conquering chieftains is similar to exterminating bandits. The slowness of the fight is purely due to the difficulty of walking. In real battles, they are often defeated with one blow.

  Fang Kongyan sighed: "Your uncle has been assigned."

"No," Fang Yizhi explained, "the more Zhao Han employs people, the more he values ​​them, the more he will be assigned to drudgery. Once the job is done, he will definitely be promoted. If my uncle can manage the Shizhou Mansion properly, it is very likely that he will be promoted in the future. He was directly promoted to the chief envoy."

  Fang Kongyan asked with a smile, "Why do you know so well?"

  Fang Yizhi said: "Uncle has written many times to ask the child to join Zhao Han as soon as possible. Now that the father is released from prison, there is no need to worry about the future. The child is going to Ji'an Mansion."

   "Let's go together, I also want to visit Jiangxi." Fang Kongxuan was completely disappointed with the court.

  The father and son didn't go very far, and suddenly rushed forward.

   "Fang Yushi," the pedestrian (the emperor's envoy) dismounted and said, "Your Majesty has an oral order to ask Fang Yushi to stay in the capital for a while, to read the edict of appointment at a certain date, and to give Shang Fang a sword."

  Hearing this, Fang Kongyan was so angry that he almost wanted to scold Chongzhen on the spot.

  I was imprisoned for more than a year, and my family members were asked to pay money for atonement, and I will be reinstated just two blocks after I was released from prison?

  If you really want to use Lao Tzu again, won’t you just return to office? It's purely to earn an extra amount of redemption money!

  Fang Kongyan agreed immediately, and found an inn in the outer city of Beijing, and the father and son fled early the next morning.

  Lu Xiangsheng sat in the carriage, silent all the way.

  In the city of Beijing, starvation is everywhere, and beggars can be seen everywhere.

  After leaving the city, the fields were barren, and many noble lands were covered with weeds.

   "Why?" Lu Xiangsheng couldn't believe it.

Lu Xiangjin explained: "Honorable gentry are increasingly exploited. There was a severe drought this spring, and many tenants did not want to farm anymore, and they ganged up as thieves. If it weren't for Hong Dushi (Hong Chengchou) who went to suppress the thieves, the people would not dare Going out of the city, brother Yu brought silver to the north this time, and was almost ransacked by thieves several times."

  Lu Xiangsheng was speechless and didn't know what to say.

  In ancient times, land rent was basically not divided, and it was all fixed rent.

  Regardless of good weather or natural or man-made disasters, the tenant farmers have to pay so much rent, at most they ask the landlord to pay less. Now that there have been catastrophes in successive years, the grain produced in the fields is not enough for the farmers to pay their rent. Who the **** wants to farm the land?

  Northern Zhili is better. Many prefectures and counties in Henan can already be described as ten rooms and nine empty spaces.

   Not all starved to death, but a large number of people fled famine to other places, or simply rebelled. Anyway, whoever grows food is an idiot.

  Lu Xiangjin said: "The price of rice in Beijing this spring is seven taels of silver for one stone."

  Lu Xiangsheng was dumbfounded when he heard that, no wonder Chongzhen was willing to release the guilty officials, as long as they paid the redemption money, they would be released. This is being forced to the point of no choice. If the prison is not emptied quickly, the prisoners will not be able to afford food.

  Lu Xiangjin smiled and said to Li Fengshen: "Shanghai opened a port and built a seaport, and the sea ban has been completely lifted."

   "It's a good thing." Li Fengshen laughed.

  Father Li Fengshen and Li Wen are from Shanghai, and their family also engaged in some trade, smuggled to sea merchants through fishermen.

  But after all, it belongs to Nanzhili, and the smuggling in Shanghai is strictly inspected. In addition, it can be transported to the north by the Yangtze River, so the smuggling phenomenon in Shanghai is far lighter than that in Guangzhou.

  If Kaihai does business casually, it will be a source of income for the Li family.

  Li Wen said: "Father, if the child wants to join Jiangxi, father should go too."

  Li Fengshen shook his head: "I have been imprisoned for several years, and I don't want to be an official anymore."

  Life in the imperial prison at the end of the Ming Dynasty was not bad. As long as enough money was given, the jailers generally would not treat them harshly.

   It is true that Chongzhen often has convulsions, and throws a pile in every now and then, maybe one day he will be restored to power and promoted, it is best not to easily make enemies with these criminal officials.

  The people went south by boat and passed through Xuzhou all the way before returning to the world from hell.

  Famine is already everywhere in Shandong!

  When they were in Taoyuan Water Station, they met a group of scholars, and some even dragged their families south with them.

  Lu Xiangsheng went over and asked, "Does my friend want to move south?"

A scholar bowed his hands in return: "In the north, there is nothing to be a scholar. If you go to the south, you will have the opportunity to display your ambitions. Mr. Zhao must be the founding lord of the country! Mr. Zhao's song "Bonus to the Monarchs" is Write it for me and other northern scholars to read!"

  The poem spread so quickly, it is naturally inseparable from the credit of Xu Ying.

  Xu Ying has moved to live in Huai'an Prefecture. In the counties along the canal, she goes to schools to distribute publicity materials.

   Every month, there are scholars who go south to join the Ming Lord together.

  Especially those poor scholars, they see no hope in the north. So they sold their only family property and went to the south like "moths to a flame". They might even starve to death halfway.

   Staying in the north is also death!

  Xu Ying began to hire ships to sail back and forth along the canals in Shandong and Nanzhili. As long as you can recite the original text of "University", you can take a boat to the south for free, and provide simple meals.

   These scholars left their homes and careers and went south, Zhao Han can be assured of appointment, without so many interests involved.

  Lu Xiangsheng and the others simply changed to the "Scholar Ship".

  In the cabin, there are many poor scholars, and almost all of them have starved to death.

  Looking at their situation, we can see that they are all dressed in rags, and there are only two or three people in each family on average, and some are even alone.

   "Don't be depressed, gentlemen, the world is so big, there must be a place for us!"

A scholar stood up, wearing a tattered Confucian uniform, raised his arms and shouted: "The journey of the great way is also, the world is for the public, select the virtuous and capable, talk about faith and repair harmony. Therefore, people are not only kissing their relatives, not only their sons, so that the old have In the end, the strong will be useful, the young will be strong, and those who are lonely, widowed, lonely, and sick will all be supported..."

  The voice became louder and louder, and everyone in the cabin was reciting. In the dim light, people's eyes sparkled.

   "Under Heaven!"

   "Under Heaven!"

  Scholars who guide people's emotions can be regarded as trustees, but they are indeed real, and belong to the newly developed northern Datong society scholars.

  Lu Xiangsheng's blood was boiling with excitement, but at the same time his hair was terrified. He felt that the power in front of him could overturn everything!

   I came to Nanjing by boat, and someone read the notice at the pier.

   But Qian Qianyi didn't know who to ask for help, so he directly posted a notice inviting famous experts to compile "Datong Zhengyin" together, and the office location was in a garden left by Wei Guogong.

  The north can’t even afford to eat, but the south is compiling phonology books.

   A group of scholars burst into tears just by looking at the notice.

  Prosperous classics, they escaped from hell, but they seemed to see a glorious and prosperous age.

  (end of this chapter)