Fang Yuan was unwilling to talk to Huang Daozhou, a hot-tempered contemporary Confucian.

Win him! He is a lot older, and he is a dignified loyal minister, he can't hang his face, and he can't get off the stage, Fang Yuan can't bear it.

Let him be! Fang Yuan couldn't hold his own face, let alone lose face in front of the envoys summoned by the imperial court.

But Huang Daozhou came with an edict from the imperial court, and Fang Yuan couldn't help but see it. He could only change into court clothes and rushed to the Suzhou Mansion to meet Huang Daozhou.

The anniversary of the zodiac is about 60, with a pale beard and a bright head, he is already quite old, but he is full of energy, and when he sees Fang Yuan, he looks even more unruly and arrogant.

Fang Yuan put on a smile like a social party and invited Zodiac Zhou to sit down.

Huang Daozhou held the bright yellow edict in his hand, and scolded him sharply, "Fang Yuan, the governor of the Ten Prefectures, saw the edict, and still knelt down to accept the edict?!" ”

Fang Yuan saw that as soon as he met, he couldn't cry or laugh, he sat on the governor's seat with a big grin, and replied, "Mr. Huang, Your Majesty has decreed that I don't need to bow down when I see Your Majesty in person, let alone an edict?" ”

Huang Daozhou was stunned, since Chongzhen had issued a holy edict, Fang Yuan naturally had the privilege of not kneeling when he saw the edict, "Okay, okay, there are only three questions in the edict, and I will ask Governor Fang on behalf of the prince of the imperial palace." ”

Fang Yuan took a sip of tea and said leisurely, "Mr. Huang asked, and the governor would know everything." ”

Huang Daozhou said coldly, "First, Governor Fang's establishment of a cabinet system in the Ten Prefectures is to usurp the imperial power, does Governor Fang know that this move is a major crime of rebellion?" ”

Fang Yuan said lightly, "Please report to the imperial court Mr. Huang, the so-called cabinet system is not in its name but in reality." The Governor wanted to establish a more efficient and clean administrative system in Jiangnan than the previous corrupt officials. As for this system called the cabinet, the outer cabinet, the heavenly pavilion, and the earth pavilion, what is the difference? If the court wants to be careful, I can change the name to the council! ”

Huang Daozhou shouted and said, "Officials, I have my own system in the two or three hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and there is no need for Governor Fang to change without authorization, otherwise it will be a usurpation!" ”

Fang Yuan laughed and said, "Mr. Huang's words are wrong, I have the Shang Fang Sword given by His Majesty, and I have the right to manage it in Jiangnan, so how to do it is effective and how to change it." If Your Majesty is not satisfied with my political strategy, you can personally come to Jiangnan to take back my Shangfang Sword and the appointment of the governor of the Ten Prefectures. ”

He bit the word His Majesty very hard, just to remind Huang Daozhou that he only had Emperor Chongzhen in his eyes, and what kind of prince of the prison country would be unified.

The first question, Huang Daozhou was speechless, and the old face continued to ask, "Okay, the second question, why did Governor Fang reduce the amount of silver and land taxes paid to the imperial court?" ”

After Fang Yuan implemented the reform of the integration of government and commerce in the imperial court, he reduced the land tax that should have been handed over by the original ten prefectures by 400,000 stones, and the tax and silver by 300,000 taels. One is to save expenses, which is used for the people's livelihood of the ten provinces and the expansion of the Xuanjia Army; The second is to retaliate against the imperial court for ordering Zheng Bing to invade Zhejiang, and also ordering Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guangdong provinces to raise iron ore, copper ore, and saltpeter mines.

Obviously, it was the imperial court that came to stir up trouble first, but now it came to hit a rake, Fang Yuan smiled coldly and said, "Mr. Huang, Jiangnan has not been peaceful recently!" The Zheng clan openly gathered Japanese soldiers to invade Zhejiang, and Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guangdong did not know what wind they had hit, raising the prices of various minerals. It is not easy for the governor to keep the water and soil safety in the south of the Yangtze River, even the fields and silver that are paid tribute are also pulled out from between the teeth, and some are taken out of private pockets, and the insufficient part can only be owed! ”

He also resorted to the usual and tried and tested method of bureaucrats and wealthy businessmen, that is, to cry poverty. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the provinces owed land taxes and silver to be commonplace, and Huang Daozhou was speechless.

This time, the task given to him by the imperial court was to recover Fang Yuan's outstanding land endowment and silver, but Fang Yuan learned to cry poor again, Huang Daozhou was forced to be helpless, so he could only soften his tone a little and said, "Governor Fang, Jiangnan is the land of money and rice in the world, and the field endowment and silver in Jiangnan are related to the operation of the imperial court, as well as the military salary of the sergeants in the border towns. If the governor of Fang does not pay enough land and silver, will the imperial court still have to train troops, resist the Manchu invasion, or exterminate the Liukou? ”

Fang Yuan was silent, Huang Daozhou's words were to the point, if Fang Yuan cut off directly, or owed the field and silver to the imperial court in the capital, once the imperial court could not pay the military salary, and the border towns that resisted the Manchu Qing collapsed, the entire north would also fall into war, and this catastrophe would be no less than the shame of Jingkang back then.

Huang Daozhou saw that his attitude was not resolute, and he even hesitated a little, and said with a straight face, "Governor Fang, if you want to rebel against the Ming Dynasty, you should immediately hang up the anti-flag; If Governor Fang does not oppose and is willing to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty, he should pay the full amount of land and silver. If I don't return the arrears of land and silver, I won't have the face to go back to the capital again, and I will immediately commit suicide in front of Governor Fang. ”

Huang Daozhou is a heroic and righteous body, and he sees death as home, and Fang Yuan is quite moved when he sees it. He is a famous man in the world, known as the world's first minister, if he really committed suicide in Suzhou Mansion and Fang Yuan's jurisdiction, the other party would be a stain that was difficult to erase.

He forced each other to die, that is, he directly took Fang Yuan's army, and what was currently in front of Fang Yuan was nothing more than the upper, middle and lower strategies.

The best policy is to directly oppose the Ming and be self-reliant. This strategy is indeed too radical, and now the world is still the world of the Ming Dynasty, although there are a lot of warlords waiting to be called kings and emperors, he wants to be this bird, and how to finish Yuan Shu, the first emperor of the Three Kingdoms, is a lesson from the past.

The middle strategy is to set up another prince in the south of the Yangtze River as a court to confront the north. This strategy was relatively moderate, and if Empress Zhou and the crown prince deposed Chongzhen, Fang Yuan would have made this choice. At present, Chongzhen is still on the throne, and Fang Yuan lacks the name of a teacher. You can't instigate Zhu Cijiong, Zhu Cihuan and their father to fight against the emperor! It is estimated that these two princes are unwilling and dare not agree.

The next strategy is to continue to deal with the court in the capital, build high walls, accumulate grain, and slow down the king. As long as the court does not continue to come to find trouble, the land and silver that should be handed over must still be handed over in full.

Fang Yuan said slowly, "What Mr. Huang said is very true, this governor has no intention of betraying the Ming Dynasty, please go back and report to the imperial court, as long as the imperial court no longer interferes with my festival with the Zheng family, and does not edict the price of minerals in Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guangdong provinces to rise, this governor will truthfully make up for the outstanding land and silver." ”

"Good!"

Huang Daozhou saw that he was finally relieved, and he also breathed a sigh of relief, "The third thing, if Governor Fang is not satisfied with this marriage with the princess, please send the princess back to the capital, and the marriage between the two parties will be canceled." ”

This condition was really beyond Fang Yuan's expectations, Queen Zhou and the prince of the prison country wanted to return to the princess, that is, to cut off all in-laws with Fang Yuan. From now on, the relationship with Fang Yuan is that of a monarch and a minister, not a family relationship. Fang Yuan could no longer claim to be a colt and bluff to the outside world.

Fang Yuan thought of Princess Kunxing who was under house arrest at the Taihu Lake base, and his heart was also filled with some tenderness and sweetness. Sending the princess back, not to mention the loss of political interests, from the perspective of personal favorite, he was reluctant.

He immediately rejected the proposal to send the princess back, "Mr. Huang, the princess is the wife of Ben Du Mingmei, and she can't be sent back to the court. ”

This trip to Jiangnan, bringing back Princess Kunxing is also one of the tasks given by Queen Zhou to Huang Daozhou.

Huang Daozhou said, "Since she is the wife of Ming Media, why has Governor Fang been under house arrest? Does Governor Fang dare to invite the princess to come, and I will personally ask the princess about her wishes? ”

Fang Yuan saw that Huang Daozhou was unrelenting, it seemed that Princess Kunxing did not express his position in person, and he would continue to entangle, so he ordered him to rest in the guest room of the palace for a few days, and immediately sent someone to the Taihu Lake base to take the princess over for questioning.

At noon the next day, Princess Kunxing and Mama Liang rushed to Canglang Pavilion and saw Huang Daozhou.

Princess Zhou Chong of the Zodiac saluted respectfully and said, "Princess, the queen's mother and the prince of the prison country ordered the old minister to take the princess back to the capital, I don't know what the princess wants." ”

The princess looked at Fang Yuan, and before she could speak, Mama Liang had already spoken, "Huang Zhan, the concubine has never been in the same room with the princess from beginning to end, and there is no husband and wife at all. A concubine who was favored by the horse dared to shout at the princess, and she was completely undignified. The princess has suffered a lot of torture and grievances here in the colt, and it is better to live than to die, so she is waiting for someone from the capital to save us from the sea of suffering. ”

Huang Daozhou listened to Mama Liang's accusation, glared at Fang Yuan with both eyes, and said in a cold voice, "What do you say?" ”

At least seventy percent of Mama Liang's accusations are true, and Fang Yuan has no way to refute them, so he said helplessly, "I don't have a law, it's up to the princess to decide!" ”

Princess Kunxing's eyes flashed, and after a while, she lightly opened her lips and said, "Huang Zhanshi, I want to go back to the capital!" ”

As soon as she said this, Fang Yuan was stunned on the spot, he was reluctant to let the princess leave in his heart, but he was too full of words before, and now it is too late to change his words.

Huang Daozhou saw that the princess was willing to return to the court, so he hurriedly took the opportunity to squeeze Fang Yuan, "Donkey, since you and the princess are in love, please allow me to bring the princess back." ”

He bowed to the princess again, "The old minister immediately escorted the princess back to the capital." ”

Fang Yuan was reluctant to return, but if the princess insisted on returning to the court, the twisted melon would not be sweet. He suddenly had a feeling of being cocooned and bound, and an irrepressible melancholy came over him.