Since receiving the official letter from the Ministry of Officials in early June, Qiu Yinming has been preparing for the handover with the new prefect. The Yellow River flood has achieved remarkable results since www.biquge.info the Yellow River flood was treated by a sand flushing method the year before last. Although the rainy season was very long last year, not a single farmland in Kaifeng Province was flooded. After the excavation of the tributaries in the upper reaches was completed, Qiu Yinming summoned the government soldiers to re-strengthen the river defense. Originally, these government soldiers were reluctant to do the drudgery of river work, but I heard the prefect say that every government soldier who participated in the construction of river defense could get a subsidy from his family. Most of the soldiers in Kaifeng Mansion were from nearby farmers, so everyone enthusiastically participated. In this way, the river workers who had been working in the river defense for a long time could return home to farm. In addition, the weather was beautiful, and there was neither frost nor locust plague last year, and the farmland was abundant. Seeing that this year's rice is also growing very well, the county commanders of the counties under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture have to praise his measures every time they come to explain government affairs to him, Qiu Yinming is very comfortable. The mulberry seedlings planted in the counties along the river at the end of last year and the beginning of last year have now grown into small trees, and when they patrol the river by boat, they look at the tender green.

After asking the farmers along the river to receive mulberry saplings per capitation for planting, Qiu Yinming summoned the owners of more than a dozen large silk firms within the boundaries of Kaifeng Prefecture to discuss the plan for the collection of raw silk. The large number of mulberry plantings was naturally a good thing for these silk merchants, and they immediately negotiated the purchase price and tax matters for the next year, and made a paperwork. This year, the first batch of raw silk is already being purchased, and soon the taxes paid by the merchants will be returned to the government treasury. Although this beginning is good, Qiu Yinming is still a little uneasy. Recently, I vaguely heard a government official say that some farmers in the neighborhood are not very happy about planting mulberry trees. Qiu Yinming expected that some farmers were not used to the new measures, and he was about to leave his job, so he didn't pay too much attention to this matter. At the end of June, the affairs of the prefecture were sorted out one by one, and I heard that the new prefect would probably take office in mid-July, so he could take advantage of this time to visit the county towns around Kaifeng Prefecture. Came here to govern the river, and later served as the prefect, did not have a day of leisure, and now he wants to return to Beijing to take up his post, and he should also take this opportunity to relax.

At the beginning of July, although autumn has begun, the weather is still hot. One evening, Qiu Yinming asked the old man in the kitchen to buy more than 20 catties of watermelons, soaked them in the well in the backyard of the government for more than an hour, and took them out as if they were iced, cool and refreshing. He summoned the servants of the palace and the servants on duty to cool off with him. Everyone in the yamen knew that this prefect was very good to his subordinates, so they were not informal, and more than a dozen people gathered in the patio to chew watermelons. At this time, Steward Chai came in from outside.

Chai Ban took off his straw hat and said while fanning the wind: "It's so hot!" ”

Qiu Yinming beckoned him to come over and eat watermelon, and said, "I haven't seen you for a day, where have you gone?" ”

Chai Ban found a small stool and sat down and said, "My lord, I went to Zhuxian Town." When I went home for the New Year last year, I brought some specialties from Zhuxian Town, and my family said it was good. I don't want to go back to Beijing, I want to go back again. ”

"Oh." Qiu Yinming nodded. Last year, when he asked Chai Ban to go back to his hometown for the New Year, he bought a lot of New Year's paintings and spiced dried tofu. That's about it. Said: "Then I'll go around tomorrow." ”

"My lord, on such a hot day, if there is anything for me and my subordinates to do."

Qiu Yinming said: "No need. I'll go alone. ”

Chai Ban was accustomed to his temperament, so he said, "If you go to Zhuxian Town, there are a few places you must visit. Then he was introduced to him in a vivid way.

Early the next morning, Qiu Yinming was dressed in short brown with kudzu cloth, straw sandals under his feet, and a straw hat, leading a horse and quietly sneaking out of the mansion through the back door. In order to keep his horse from being conspicuous, he replaced the bridle bridles with thin straw ropes, a worn-out saddle, two burlap bags stuffed with straw on his horse's back, and some grass ash to apply to the horse's body. In the early morning, the guards at the city gate were still yawning sleepily, Qiu Yinming covered his straw hat down, and walked out of the city gate quickly.

He had been to Zhu Xianzhen twice, but it was all routine, coming and going in a hurry, and he never stopped to visit. Speaking of Zhuxian Town, it is a very famous place. According to records, during the Warring States Period, the hometown of Zhu Hai, a warrior under the sect of Xinling Jun, was in the nearby Xianrenzhuang, from which Zhu Xianzhen got its name. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Yue Fei broke the army of Jin people here, but unfortunately he was recruited back by Gaozong with twelve gold medals in a row, and then he was killed. Since then, people have hated Qin Hui, but the real culprit Gaozong has no one to blame. Every time he thinks of this, Qiu Yinming always has to be helpless in his heart. Zhuxian Town since the Tang and Song dynasties is the main road of land and water, the commercial port gathers, now it is the only land and water transshipment terminal in Kaifeng Prefecture, when I went to the previous time, I did see the business travelers gathered in the dock bazaar, the goods from the north and the south are frequent, all kinds of people and so on are full of large and small streets, a prosperity. You can have a good trip today, Qiu Yinming is very yearning, urging the horse to trot all the way, and he has arrived outside the town in less than an hour.

There was still a long way to go from the market, and the street was gradually crowded, so Qiu Yinming led the horse and walked slowly towards the dock. Zhuxian Town is the largest material distribution center outside Kaifeng Prefecture, and the furs, timber and tung oil trafficked from Shanxi and Shaanxi are transported to Jiangnan from here. Tea from Fujian, silk rice from Jiangnan, and porcelain from Jiangxi are transshipped here and sold to the north. Once you enter the town, walk along the main road and you'll see shops lining the streets, often with a dozen different storefronts dealing in one type of goods. Most of the merchants in Kaifeng Prefecture buy from the fixed stores here, so this pattern will appear. There was still more than an hour to noon, and it was the time when the transaction was lively. Far away from the center of the town is the cattle and horse market, the grain and oil market, the iron market, the horse neighing and the donkey barking, and the carts are constantly coming and going, raising puffs of dust. Further on, there are cloth markets, dyeing shops, garment shops, porcelain shops and medicinal herb shops. In the morning market, the stalls selling vegetables and fruits began to close, and instead there were all kinds of steamed and fried snacks, fruits, merchant stalls selling needlework and fat powder, as well as craftsmen repairing pots and repairing bowls and sharpening kitchen knives. Many families in Zhuxian Town are engaged in some small crafts, such as making scarves, hats, boots and shoes, repairing clothes, net towels, making umbrellas, making accounts, etc., and some merchants regularly come to buy them from Kaifeng Mansion. It is the work of these small craftsmen that supports the daily consumption of dozens of large and small palaces and countless serving and retired officials in Kaifeng Prefecture. Near the center of the town, I saw a lot of money shops, silver buildings, bookstores, four treasure shops, restaurants and big inns on both sides of the street gradually increased, from time to time I heard the sound of playing and singing upstairs, and most of the merchants in the market were businessmen with foreign accents, many artists juggled and sang on the street, ** more than one, the prostitutes dressed in charming clothes leaned on the building to solicit customers, and there were many short-term workers and porters waiting to be hired on the roadside. Although it is not as prosperous as Kaifeng Mansion, it is more energetic and everyone is busy.

Qiu Yinming was a little worried about the purchase of raw silk, and asked passers-by about the fact that the largest silk merchant in the town was near the wharf, so he went all the way along the Jialu River towards the wharf. The wharf of Zhuxian Town is the busiest in Henan, the Jialu River is connected to the Huai River, the canal, and the goods can reach Yangzhou directly. Merchants from all over the world gather near the wharf all year round, and the trade is uninterrupted from morning to night, and many of the town's big businesses are also located near the wharf. Qiu Yinming remembered that when he convened more than a dozen silk merchants to negotiate last year, it seemed that the leader was from Zhuxian Town, surnamed Gu.

When approaching the wharf, he saw many farmers with baskets and cloth bags gathered in front of a shop from a distance, and when he got closer, this was exactly the Gu family silk store he was looking for. Then I heard someone among the peasants shouting loudly from time to time: "Let your heads come out and speak!" "Why should I sell it to you cheaply!" The shopkeeper and a few guys standing at the door of the store were surrounded by farmers at this time, looking a little overwhelmed. I only heard the shopkeeper say: "Master Gu is not here, if you don't sell it, you will go to another house." ”

Qiu Yinming asked an old man beside him, "What's the matter?" ”

The old man looked at him and said, "You're also here to sell silk." Qiu Yinming nodded and said, "Yes." I heard that the prefect and these businessmen have made an agreement, 50 yuan per catty, why has it changed again? ”

The old man shook his head and said, "Lord Prefect? I heard that he was going to be transferred out soon, can he manage this? Besides, do you know that some of these merchants have the royal palace as a backer, what can the prefect do? ”

Qiu Yinming was dumbfounded. The old man said, "You just arrived." Tell you, we've been here all morning, they don't give a decent price, we don't sell. Qiu Yinming asked again: "How much do they give now?" The old man said: "Just give twenty wen!" It's too bullying. ”

"What about the other ones?"

"It's all the same price."

Qiu Yinming's heart sank, he had made a document at the beginning, and these businessmen were so bold. But if it is really as the old man said, with the royal palace behind him, this matter will be tricky. He regretted a little at this time, although he tried his best to govern Kaifeng Mansion in the past two years, he did not personally visit the common people, and now that such a thing happened, if he didn't come out on a whim, he wouldn't have known. Thinking of this, I felt upset and my ears were hot. The protests of the peasants grew louder and louder, and it seemed that there would be no quiet here for a while. He walked out of the peasants, found a small restaurant on the side of the road, ordered a bowl of sour plum soup, ordered tea and braised vegetables, sat down to meditate, and observed the dynamics at the door of the silk store by the way.

A big bowl of sour plum soup was in my stomach, and my heart suddenly felt cool and my mind calmed down. Qiu Yinming calculated in his heart, if he didn't leave office so soon, this matter must be investigated, but now there is not much time, even if he wants to investigate deeply, I am afraid he will not be able to do it, what he can do is to return to Kaifeng Mansion, explain this matter to Fucheng, let him and the county officials supervise the silk merchants, and be sure to give the farmers a benefit. As for how effective this will be, only God knows.