Hubei, Wuchang, Huguang Governor's Palace.

In the past few days, Li Hongzhang has met with his subordinates and extended the meeting with guests, with a graceful demeanor, as before, but inside, he is quite uneasy.

Well, there are two reasons.

The first one, two days ago, Li Zhongtang made a joke that was not big or small, this time, it is estimated that the entire Wuchang City has been spread, and the street talk is about to be used as an ancient record.

Li Hongzhang's eldest brother Li Hanzhang, the official residence of Jiangxi Province, and his mother Li, originally lived in Nanchang with his eldest son. Li Hongzhang was promoted to a co-organizer of the university, and after being awarded the governor of Huguang, he opened a mansion and built a tooth, lived in eight seats, and enjoyed the comparison between the non-feudal divisions, so the two brothers discussed and took the old mother to Wuchang, and Li Hongzhang was responsible for supporting.

So Li Hanzhang personally sent it, hugged him before and after, set up a car and Pulun, and sent his mother to Jiujiang first. The Hankou Branch of the China Merchants Bureau specially sent a steamboat, which was very clean and comfortable, and waited in Jiujiang, Mrs. Li and her eldest son parted ways, got on the boat, and went all the way comfortably to Wuchang City.

The joke is at the dock of the "pick-up".

Below the Hubei Domain, Li Hongzhang led the city to be civil and military, kneeling at the dock to pick up the old mother, and the scene was extremely prosperous.

The steamboat docked, set up a springboard, and a spirited old lady emerged from the cabin, with a dry tobacco pouch in her hand and a jade cigarette holder still in her mouth. The maid wanted to step forward to help, but Mrs. Li took out a puff of cigarette and waved the cigarette pouch, and the maid had to retreat.

（）

Under the eyes of everyone, I saw Mrs. Li open her legs, take three steps and make two steps, and "Teng, Teng, Teng" crossed the gangplank and went ashore.

Ha, it turns out that Li Zhongtang's Cijun is Tianzu!

on the pier. There was a low head-to-ear chatter.

Mrs. Li sat in the second son's eight-lift green sedan chair. The sedan car rises. Li Hongzhang, who was holding the sedan bar, lowered his head and saw the old mother's big feet, most of which were exposed outside the sedan curtain.

He was uncomfortable in his heart, and couldn't help but say, "Mother, you put your feet away." ”

Mrs. Li was angry and said loudly: "You don't like me, you don't like me!" ”

Li Hongzhang was not the only one who heard this. The feudal division and the priest who are waiting next to him. The staff of Wuchang Mansion, County, and the Governor's Palace, as well as a group of palanquin drivers, all heard it, and everyone held their breath so that they didn't laugh out loud, and some people's stomachs hurt.

This "anecdote" spread on the same day. It is conceivable that the joke of Mrs. Li's pair of big feet not only quickly became the after-dinner conversation of Wuchang people. It is to go out of Hubei and go to the whole country. It is talked about by the people of the whole country, and it is about to be just around the corner.

With his mouth on others, Li Hongzhang was helpless. He was just when he was proud of the spring breeze, and he made such a joke, no matter how deep the city was and how good his cultivation was, he couldn't help but be quite frustrated.

However, the "court mail" received yesterday, the edict in it, made Li Hongzhang's mentality on this matter change subtly.

The content of the edict has nothing to do with him directly - this edict was given to the Eight Banners:

It is strictly forbidden for flag women to bind their feet.

It is not the first time that the imperial court has issued an order prohibiting women from binding their feet.

Before entering the customs, Taizong had issued an order prohibiting the imitation of the bad habit of binding the feet of women in the customs.

After entering the customs, in the second year of Shunzhi, the imperial court officially issued an edict that women were strictly forbidden to bind their feet regardless of the flag and Han.

After that, the imperial court repeatedly banned women from binding their feet.

Among them, the edict of the third year of Kangxi is the most severe: women born before the first year of Kangxi will no longer be held accountable for foot binding, and if a girl is born after the first year, foot binding is strictly prohibited. Violators, whose father has an official position, will be handed over to the second department of the military for disposal, and if he is a civilian, he will be handed over to the criminal department, and he will be severely punished with 40 boards and sentenced to 10 years of exile. If the head of the family has negligence, he will be punished for one month and 40 boards; If the official fails to supervise, it shall be handed over to the ministry.

However, although the law is severe, it is not seriously enforced. The Han gentry were even more openly and covertly opposed.

In the seventh year of Kangxi, Wang Xi of the imperial history of Zuodu played, thinking that the regulations of Kangxi's three years were too strict, and Diao people were falsely accusing and implicating innocents, so please "ban on foot binding".

The Manchurian aristocracy also felt that the binding of Han women's feet would not have any adverse impact on the rule of the Manchurians, since you love to get along with yourself, we don't have to take a mouse and sing black faces to offend people, so let it go.

So, "wrap your feet and gallop from here".

Since then, the court has basically ignored the Han people in the matter of women's foot binding, just staring at the women under its banner, and this time, the same is true.

However, this time, something seems unusual.

The tone of the edict is extremely severe, and the specific punishment is even worse: if a woman in the flag has bound her feet, she will be "put on her feet" on a specified date, and it will not work if it expires. Second, regardless of the government and the people, the family will raise the flag; If a woman born in the banner five years after the reign of Tongzhi does not comply with the ban and secretly binds her feet, once it is discovered, it will be handled in one case, that is: the father and brother are dismissed from office; Regardless of the government and the people, the whole family will raise the flag.

is murderous, compared with Kangxi's three-year example, it is still excessive.

Kangxi's three-year law did not require "letting go", there was no "dismissal" that could not be said, and there was no threat to "raise the flag of the family".

Of course, the law of Kangxi's three years is "the unity of the flag and the Han, regardless of the domain", this time, it is only for the flag people.

It stands to reason that Li Hongzhang, as a member of the Han Dynasty, can have nothing to do with this edict and hang it high. However, he is a very sharp person, and he always feels that the court's handling this time is a bit out of line, uh, here, is there ...... meaning of "killing chickens and monkeys" and "knocking on mountains and shaking tigers"?

That is to say, next, is it possible to go from the flag to the Han, like in the second year of Shunzhi and the third year of Kangxi, once again "regardless of the domain" and prohibit foot binding?

If so, what kind of position should you uphold?

It is best to think clearly and plan for it before and after it.

Originally, when something was unclear, it was time to convene a staff member and discuss it. But when Li Hongzhang thought of the joke on the dock, he couldn't help but feel a little disturbed: When it came to the topic of "foot binding", who knew if the staff would have a tight face and a secret smile in their stomachs when facing themselves?

After hesitating for a long time, I still decided: let it go.

The second thing that made him uneasy was about the bamboo and wood tax.

At that time, at the beginning of China's modernization, the iron and steel industry was still in its infancy, and the main raw materials for building palaces and houses and manufacturing boating equipment were still wood and bamboo. Jiangnan and Zhili, the largest population, the most developed economy, timber, bamboo demand is the largest, but the forest is scarce, the need for bamboo and wood, must seek the deep mountains and old forests of Yun, Guizhou, Sichuan and Hunan.

The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are the consumption areas of timber and bamboo, and the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River are the production areas of timber and bamboo.

Hankou is located in the center of the Yangtze River, the thoroughfare of nine provinces, the first large wharf on the Yangtze River, the general hub of this bamboo and wood channel, and naturally settled in Hankou.

Timber and bamboo from the deep mountains in the southwest are tied into wooden rafts and bamboo rafts, along the Lishui, Yuanshui, Zishui, and Xiangshui, from upstream to downstream, all of which are classified into Dongting Lake, and then, through Yueyang, into the Yangtze River, and finally, traded in Hankou.

The volume of timber and bamboo transactions in Hankou was extremely huge, but the management of the imperial court was not on the road at all, which was neither illegal nor powerful, and was close to the laissez-faire Cheng dù. The "bamboo and wood tax", the Qianlong Dynasty, which had the highest tax amount, was only 50,000 or 60,000 taels of silver a year.

Li Hongzhang believes that if Hankow's bamboo and wood tax is "effectively rectified," it will actually be a large income of several million taels of silver a year. He was very ambitious, made a detailed investigation, drew up a careful plan, and then played the game, please set up a "bamboo and wood new pass" in Hankow, and collect taxes by a cent.

In the fold, it is called "practical rectification", but in fact, it is completely "creating a situation".

Originally, Li Hongzhang thought that it was a great good thing for him to open up a new source of wealth for the imperial court, and it was also in the same vein as the idea of doing things for the imperial court, so it would be allowed.

However, to his surprise, the court's reply was: "The matter is serious, and the governor should enter Beijing to see His Majesty on a different day, and the face will be detailed." ”

"I should go to Beijing to see Your Majesty on a different day" -- uh, "Enter Beijing to see Your Majesty" is not something I can decide alone, who knows that the Year of the Monkey can only be done? Therefore, this reply is tantamount to a polite refusal of the matter requested by himself, at least it is also a "postponement", but it is just to save face for himself and not say it clearly.

Li Hongzhang was very uneasy in his heart: Could it be that his curtain has declined? Or is it somewhere, I accidentally resented the will of the country, and I don't even know it?

*(To be continued......)

ps: Small preview: Under the small outbreak, tomorrow and the next two days, that is, June 23 and June 24, two more.

In addition, I would like to ask for a ticket from all book friends, and thank you!

*R1292