In February and March, the general trend in western Guangdong had already rolled up, and the Ming army began to set off this monstrous wave from the southwestern part of Guangdong. The army, consisting of a small number of Li Dingguo's vanguard troops and a large number of Ming troops in western Guangdong, was gradually advancing towards Xinhui. The Qing army retreated to the Guangzhou area to wait for reinforcements.

In contrast, eastern Guangdong and southern Fujian, which are under the responsibility of Chen Kai and Zheng Chenggong respectively under the Zheng Group, are much quieter. It's just that the Qing army in Huizhou didn't dare to move lightly, and Chen Kai focused on construction, and the eastern part of Guangdong was really quiet; In southern Fujian, there is always a strange atmosphere in the quiet, as if something is about to happen.

In Fuqing County, in the southern part of Fuzhou Prefecture, the collection of grain and wages this month has been basically completed. The expropriated goods were delivered to the mouth of the Longjiang River as scheduled, and the officials in charge of maritime trade of the Ming army were still counting and inspecting, and the Ming army simply built a courtyard and set up a stage for the officials and officers of both sides to wait for the results here.

"County Zun, this play is called "Yizhongyuan", it is the new work of Li Yu and Li from the earlier works "Sympathetic Companion" and "Kite Mistake", I heard the team from the south say that it has always been difficult to find a ticket in Hangzhou!"

On the stage, Xiao Sheng and Xiao Dan were already babbling and performing, singing words accompanied by movements and eyes, unfolding the story little by little. On the main seat of the audience, Huang Kai said loudly, and Na Zhixian also nodded, indicating that he had also heard of the talent of the playwright who had risen in Hangzhou in recent years, but he just didn't have a chance to see it.

"Thinking about "Sympathetic Companion" and "Kite Mistake", it is really a rare masterpiece. The lower officials do like these on weekdays, but if they let the lower officials do it, I am afraid that it will not be comparable. ”

"The county is too modest, there is a way to specialize in the art industry, then Li will write a legend, compared to you can share the worries for the court and the emperor, but it is just a small way."

After more than half a year of cooperation, the two sides have long been familiar with each other. It turned out that the county was to ask God and worship Buddha when the Ming army arrived, and now the courage has risen greatly, and it is already Wen Mingjun who has not arrived and asked God to worship Buddha. I have also met Huang Kai many times, and every time I return with a smile, at first glance, it seems that his person is far more suitable than Zheng Kuna and Zazina to go to Langqi and Zheng Chenggong to announce the edict.

In the past few months, the Fujian local government has issued more and more food and goods to the Ming army, and Huang Kai has to spend more time every time he comes to receive it. Fortunately, this has always been a good thing for everyone to get rich together, and hard work is the least.

The drama on the stage is still singing, and the reception and counting work outside is still continuing. Neither side had the slightest impatience, just sat there watching and listening to the performances of the actors on stage, as if they had nothing to do with the outside world.

After a long time, Lin Tiansu came to Fujian in disguise as a man, but was robbed into the camp by the great pirate Liu Xiang. Below, Huang Kai chatted with the magistrate about Zheng Zhilong's achievements in destroying Liu Xiang back then, which attracted the praise of the magistrate.

"Tong'anhou shook the Fujian Sea and exterminated such a huge coward, which was really a great harm to the people of Fujian Province. Now Haicheng Gong is out of the blue, and the government and the opposition regard Haicheng Gong as a shield along the coast of Fujian and Guangdong. ”

"The county lord said it well, and my father-in-law also said that the imperial court is destined to return, and it is not allowed to hit the stone. Returning to the imperial court is also a good thing for both loyalty and filial piety. ”

Peace negotiation is the basis for cooperation between the two sides. The county is full of how Haicheng Gong is generally knowledgeable, and Huang Kai is also full of how the court is generous and powerful, the more they chat, the more the two sides are smiling, if they have to do serious things, I am afraid that it is the most important thing to do at this moment.

Saying that, the inventory of the outside has been completed, the magistrate tacitly put away the compliments, picked up a cup of herbal tea that had been drunk seventy-seven eighty-eight and drank it slowly, and a pair of eyes observed Huang Kai's face with his residual vision, until the warden came to his ear and said a few words, he completely relaxed.

"The county respects the hardships of the soldiers, and the last generals and soldiers thank you."

"Huang Shuai is polite, they are all doing things for the court, they should be, they should be."

The play still has to be watched. After the curtain call, they were rewarded with some silver, and the matter of opening the porridge field tomorrow was agreed, and the two sides said goodbye.

The magistrate returned to the county office, and the kickbacks had been delivered to the lobby, and the boxes containing gold and silver were neatly stacked in front of the magistrate's case. Under the plaque hanging high by the mirror, the magistrate sat on the chair of the prince, and the officials were named by the wardens, and distributed to the county officials and officials according to the established proportion.

"The county lord is blessed with all the heavens."

"The villain wishes the county lord a prosperous official fortune, and the marquis pays homage to the prime minister."

“……”

This is just the beginning. More money has already been sent to the officers of the Green Battalion, and of course it is inevitable that they will have to pay homage to their superiors. The officials, subordinates, and colleagues all completed the profit distribution according to the agreed share, and they were all happy.

"These coins are all rewards for their efforts to do things for the imperial court. Remember, to eat the food of the court, you have to work hard for the court. ”

"The villains and others strictly follow the teachings of the boss, and never dare to spare the slightest bit of strength."

In this regard, the magistrate also believes that what they say is from the heart, just like him.

Back in the back house, his cousin had already gone to Fucheng, and his wife's own brother was there, but he was not helping him do anything about kickbacks, but to go to the capital to help him change places and continue to be an official.

"Brother-in-law, this is a lot of money, and I don't talk about promotion, just change places and continue to do this Bailihou, isn't it a bit of a loss."

"That's it, sir, although this Fuqing County is small, the income for most of the year is terrifying. If you do it again, you will return to your hometown and be a big family on the rich side, and it will not be in vain that the old man has studied hard for many years. ”

The wife and brother looked like this, and the wife was also helping on the side, obviously not quite understanding what the master was thinking. Seeing this, the good-tempered Zhixian rarely jumped like thunder.

"What do you know, if you keep doing it, I'm going to lose my head!"

"Huh?"

Hearing these words in his ears, it was like thunder roaring, and the two sisters and brothers were stunned on the spot. asked the reason again, and the magistrate also sighed and told the current situation.

It turns out that Zhaofu silver has been collected for more than half a year, and there are more and more people who resist donations and taxes, especially in this spring ploughing season, when there is no green and yellow, and it is easy to fight famine. In previous years, digging some wild vegetables could barely survive it, but now the officials of the county only know how to exploit hard, so it is inevitable.

If the place is not quiet, the green camp will naturally not be idle, and even the local government will be held accountable. But now, down to the prefect and county, up to the governor and governor, even the provincial governor who is humble and serious, as a direct official of the imperial court, is pretending to be deaf and dumb, and he can get by on the big side.

"This year's spring ploughing, is still collecting money, and more and more, and now it has reached the share of one or two per Dingkou, and it is estimated that even the old, weak, sick and disabled will not be exempted by next month."

They all knew a little about Zhaofu Yin, but they were by no means as detailed as the magistrate who was a participant. Speaking of which, one tael of silver per household, this is already a great pressure on ordinary people, and now it has reached one tael per person, which is clearly forcing the people to the death.

"Brother, how did you get to this point?"

"It's hard to be at ease!"

With a sigh, the magistrate then continued to talk about this Fuyin. In fact, Zhaofu silver is still one or two silver per household in the official face, but in the process of collection, it is impossible to eat more and occupy more, and naturally there will be no less of his share of profits.

In addition, in the past few months, the money in the people's homes has basically been stripped of a mouthful, and what can be exploited is nothing more than production materials and agricultural and industrial products, which can be discounted when they are handed over to Zheng Chenggong, and they can also eat kickbacks, which is equivalent to earning two rounds, and the officials of various prefectures and counties are even more eager to take it.

"Crazy, crazy." At this point, I am afraid that the chaos in Fujian Province is not far away, the wife has already stayed on the spot, and the brother-in-law also kept chanting these two words in his mouth, until a flash of inspiration asked his brother-in-law: "Brother-in-law, you must stop, otherwise even if you change places, the court will be held accountable if there is really chaos here!" ”

It's not too late to make amends. Having said that, the magistrate shook his head in frustration: "Now the officialdom of the entire Fujian is crazy, and the army and the army have already placed bets on the success of the appeasement." The officials below are making a lot of money one by one, and they can't wait to do it every day. Let's put it this way, whoever dares to say a word to stop now, will have to be like that mouthy warden in Shaxian, and the whole family will die! ”

Cutting off people's wealth is like killing their parents, and this has been the case since ancient times. Now that the momentum has risen, where would anyone have imagined it at the beginning, but now, even if they can see it clearly and predict what will happen next, who can stop it, and who dares to stop it?

The wife and brother set off overnight, and it is still necessary to go to Beijing to make a point, after all, who will say something about the appeasement now, especially Zheng Chenggong showed great sincerity earlier and gave Xu Degong to Liu Qingtai, in the eyes of many people, the reason why this matter has been postponed to this day is that in the final analysis, it is the nosy Chen Kai who is doing the trouble, and one by one they can't wait to stab the villain and curse Chen Kai to death. Of course, there are more people who are praying to God and worshiping Buddha and giving Chen Kaili an immortal tablet, hoping that he can hold on for a while so that they can earn more silver.

The gluttonous feast of Fujian officialdom is about to enter the climax stage, there are knives and knives, and they have their own fish and meat, and those who are fish and meat are mostly fleeing to other places, or going into the mountains to avoid disasters.

On the Huangbai Mountain in Fuqing County, the local green camp cleared it once a few months ago, and wiped out the dozens of people who resisted donations and taxes. However, in the past few months, there have been more and more people on this mountain, and the green camp of this county has already reported to the Fuzhou General Town Government, saying that the last time the thieves who were defeated and fled were connected with the bandits from other places to entrench themselves on the mountain again, and they were ready to encircle and suppress again when they had time to spare.

For those Diao people who resist donations and taxes, the local government and green camp will naturally not let it go, and they have been busy for a few months. Compared to those officials, they actually earn hard-earned money, especially as time goes by, the hard-earned money becomes more and more difficult to earn.

There are more and more people, the resistance is increasing, and those who go up the mountain are very poor, and there is nothing to rob. All these are affecting their benefits, and for this reason, the beheading of men and the elderly, and the bringing of women and children back to the city for sale have been done most blatantly in public, and it is only those people who suffer.

"Uncle, I can't stay like this anymore, there are too many people, and the wild vegetables on the mountain are almost eaten up. According to the current trend, there are more and more people, and if we continue to consume it, I am afraid that if we don't have to wait for those officers and soldiers who killed a thousand knives to suppress it, our Lin family will already be dead. ”

With the clan as a unit, the common people gathered together to compete for everything that could survive on the mountain beyond the reach of the government. However, although it is spring, everything grows, but there are too many people, wild vegetables and hares also have a growth cycle, and they have long been eaten by these people who fled the famine.

But even so, it was also Ding Zhuang eating, the elderly, women and children drinking soup, and as soon as they soaked in urine, they were hungry again, and there were voices of children crying and shouting hunger everywhere. Even, there are already rumors from outside that people are starting to eat dead bodies.

A few years ago, the tragic situation of Fujian's grain shortage was vividly remembered, but at that time, it was only because of the war, and it was always possible to live in the countryside, especially in remote places. But now, it is those officials who are familiar with the place who want their lives, who have always been like combs, soldiers like grates, and officials like shavings, and now they should not be right in front of their eyes!

"Go to Quanzhou Mansion, which is the hometown of the national surname, I heard that the national surname and Chen Fujun have always advocated light and light labor, and the people of Chaozhou, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou can have enough to eat."

The word full rice is a bit exaggerated. In these years, even with the support of maritime trade, the areas occupied by the Ming army also had to pay taxes and serve in conscription. It is impossible to eat enough every day, and the people at the bottom will inevitably eat when they are busy and drink porridge when they are free. However, compared to the current Fuzhou, Xinghua, Yanping and Nafuning Prefecture, it is obviously a paradise on earth.

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the group swallowed their saliva, and it was easy to suppress the hunger in their stomachs. But at this time, a voice came out timidly, which immediately attracted everyone's attention.

"But uncle, didn't you say earlier that those harsh taxes were used by the Tartars to appease the country? Let's pass, a group of strangers, still not to be exploited to death. ”

According to Liu Qingtai and Tong Guoqi's methods, when the officials collected the appeasement silver, they always explained the matter of the appeasement, and told the people by name the use of the silver, in order to ruin Zheng Chenggong's reputation in Fujian.

However, as soon as the words came out at this moment, the old patriarch, who was called his uncle by everyone, did not hesitate to spit on the man's face recently, and then pointed at the man's nose and scolded: "You will listen to what the dog official said?" Even if the surname of the country took the silver and opened a porridge field outside the county seat, can you see those corrupt officials taking a penny to give alms to us poor people? What those dog officials said could not be trusted. Besides, no matter what the national surname says, we Fujian people are at least more credible than those guys from other places! ”