To all the people of Taipei:

Happy Chinese New Year.

The continent is experiencing the greatest catastrophe in a millennium. On this small island off the southeast coast of China, you can forget the pain of war and enjoy a festival with your loved ones, which may be difficult but peaceful.

To make the country cherished by the people, respected by foreign countries, and feared by the enemy is my duty when I accept the highest official position.

If the law, the decrees of the authorities, are always a sign of the spirit of order, justice, and temperance, then the state will be cherished by the people. Without order, the administration is nothing but chaos; There is no talk of finance, no talk of credit; The wealth of private individuals collapses along with the wealth of the state.

You come from all over the world, and fate binds us all together. Pledge to guard the order of the country with the sword.

Please join me in building this country and making it more beautiful and rich, which will also make your lives better.

Keeping order in Keelung

February 1646

The full text was printed and distributed to the village community level and to the whole army.

The Chinese have to celebrate the New Year, and they also get a holiday for observing the order.

The weather is not good, the rain in Keelung is almost non-stop, and the air outside is humid and cold.

The brazier burns in the fireplace, bringing warmth to the room. Hui Xiang and his friends were busy cooking Chinese New Year's Eve dinner in the kitchen, and the smoke rose from the cooking, and the faint warmth made Shou Xiang find a sense of home.

Shou Xian sat opposite Gan Weijian and had a few drinks before the meal.

"Master Gan, did I score the song for you last time?"

"Old Slave ......"

Shou Xuan frowned slightly, "Master Gan, I've said it a few times, this is not the court of your country, and you are no longer anyone's slave." ”

Gan Wei was a little flustered, since Nanjing, he has been accustomed to serving the order. Shou Xuan didn't want to be contaminated with the rotten death in the Ming Dynasty court, which was very different from the style that Gan Weijian was familiar with. Gan Weijian is a eunuch who grew up in the Forbidden City, and it will take him a long time to really adapt to the change of identity in his heart.

However, since Gan Weijian was able to survive the most sinister political environment in China and became a high-ranking eunuch, his ability to adjust his superficial emotions was naturally not bad. He quickly came up with the result of his recent work, the score.

Hu Weili, Lu Guozhen, Gu Jiahui, Huang Zhan's famous songs, each of which has two versions of subtractive word notation and stave. Gan Weijian walked to the zither stand and tried to play it. Shou Xiang was very satisfied, and when he was in Jincheng, he also asked European musicians to try to compose and play, but the taste was always wrong. It is better to hand over China's famous songs to Chinese musicians.

Most of the scores are tempographic, with a few exceptions. For example, Gu Jiahui's "Book of Swords and Enmity" is too gentle, and I don't like it too much, but the lyrics are very suitable for use now.

The sound of the piano alarmed the women, and Li Xiangzhen and Zhao Xuehua came out of the kitchen. Zhao Xuehua picked up a sheet of music in front of the zither stand, and gently beat the beat with his fingers.

Seeing this, Gan Weijian gave up the kite stand. Zhao Xuehua lightly tried the strings. Melodious music echoed in the room, and the soothing rhythm carried a sad taste.

Hui Xiang and Don Shaowen also came in. Except for Hui Xiang, everyone else was exposed to this kind of multi-layered music for the first time. The powerful expressiveness of the guzheng was fully revealed at this moment, and Zhao Xuehua's performance brought emotion. Women are more likely to be infected by music, and when a song is played, a sad expression can't help but appear on their faces.

Li Xiangzhen asked, "What kind of song is this?" ”

Shou Xiang sighed secretly, why did Zhao Xuehua pick a song "Burning Heart Like Fire".

Xiang Zhen and the others tasted it silently for a while, and Zhao Xuehua asked Gan Weijian, "Is this a new piece composed by Master Gan?" The style seems to have never been seen before by a concubine. ”

Gan Weijian shook his head, "The tunes were all told to me by adults, and Gan just wrote out the score." ”

Seeing the women looking at it, Shou Xuan was worried that they would misunderstand, and explained, "I just happen to know these tunes." ”

Don Shaowen smiled and pushed Zhao Xuehua away, and she slightly dispelled the heaviness in the air with a song of Hu Weili's "Market". In the sound of cheerful music, there seems to be a prosperous market map like a picture of the river during the Qingming Festival.

Hui Xiang beckoned everyone to sit down and eat. There are no rules here, and you can talk casually during meals. Everyone drank some wine, and the sound of laughter like silver bells echoed in their ears.

During the banquet, Li Xiang was really bold and asked, "What are you going to do with us?" And will it be given to your soldiers? ”

The others lowered their glasses and looked at Order, as if they were all concerned about the issue.

"Of course I welcome you to marry my soldiers."

The women's expressions looked a little nervous.

Shou Zhi smiled, "As long as you are willing." ”

When the women heard the word voluntary, they felt reassured, and smiles appeared on their faces again.

"Taipei doesn't support idlers, even women have to come out to work." "I'm going to open some schools for the children of immigrants. There is still a shortage of teachers, so go back and tell your friends that they are welcome to teach in the school. The pay may not be too high, but it is enough for them to support themselves. ”

The requirements of the primary school teachers are not too high, the women of Qinhuai can speak fluent Ming Dynasty official dialect, just teach literacy and simple calculations, they can do it. In order to motivate them, Shou Xun consulted with Maiden to develop a system of professional titles. Of course, not only teachers have a professional title system, but there are also six levels to climb from the beginning of the beginner level, including craftsmen and accountants. The highest professional title, the salary exceeds that of the county magistrate.

For the text used in schools, the orderly attitude took a compromise approach. Free schools such as teacher training and military academies use simplified characters, and people who want to learn traditional Chinese characters can spend money to go to private schools.

Shou Zhi does not expect all the famous ladies to choose to be hard teachers, and if anyone wants to return to their old jobs, Taipei also needs it. Even the candidates have been found. Kou Baimen, who was captured in the Baoguo Mansion, may have some acquaintance with Hui Xiang and others, and Kou Baimen, who was unwilling to be lonely, approached Shou Xiang several times and asked for the return of property. This is impossible, so Kou Baimen retreated to the next best. It happened that Maiden had the idea of opening a high-end club in Tamsui and Taipei, so Shou ordered to hand over the management of the Taipei club to Kou Baimen. The existence of a special class is also indispensable in society, and it is a win-win situation for them to work for themselves.

Orderliness and Maiden cannot sit idly by while women are idle at home, and in any way, it is also a woman's responsibility to contribute labor to the country.

Because of the large number of exiled scholars, Taiwan's literacy rate now exceeds the average level of the mainland. But there are never too many literate people, and there are too many jobs in Taipei that require literacy and can calculate. The statistics center in Taipei Prefecture alone employs dozens of people with good abacus skills. In this case, not only schools, but also the government and hospitals will recruit some women, and for many positions, women are more suitable than men.

In order to avoid causing social fluctuations, Taipei does not prohibit concubinage, but concubinage has to pay a large tax to the government. There are not many people who have this kind of financial resources.

The treatment of the military is in the middle and upper classes in Taipei, and the beauties are money-oriented, and they are not worried that the soldiers will not find their wives, and there is no need to make any written policy of forced military marriage in Taiwan for the time being.

Order has to change something, and women are a part of it that must be faced. Taipei has legislated a ban on foot binding, which is the first step. Next up is culture.

The society of the late Ming Dynasty was a very strange culture. It is both depraved and decadent, but also has an exciting splendor, like the last moment of returning to the light.

Qinhuai Mingji bloomed bright and moving flowers in the rigorous and ancient traditional culture, and the women wrote a strong stroke in the troubled times at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

The city of Nanjing, which has been seen in order, is like a picture of the last days of the world with a drunken gold fan and a sound of dogs and horses. Everyone foresaw that the deadline was approaching, and they knew that they were inevitably unable to declare that their families and countries were powerless, so they had to wander among the rivers and lakes when the country was in danger and the future was bleak.

The carnival of the last days of the scholars can never be separated from the embellishment of women, as the so-called beauties and celebrities, complement each other. The extremely clever celebrities on the Qinhuai River and the wandering scholars have become a beautiful and mournful scenery in history. There is no one before, and there is no one after.

Qin Huai is always ahead of the times, and the social status of these beautiful and enchanting women in front of him is not high, but they are not only good at singing and dancing, red teeth shooting, but also female intellectuals who are fluent in literature and ink, and can write and paint.

In terms of ideology, there are many women from good families who are beyond the ordinary. If it was in the era of singing and dancing, there would have been no need for these women to consider the issue of political integrity, but at the moment of the rise and fall of this country, many women in Qinhuaihe chose to be generous to righteousness.

When the national contradictions are at a critical juncture, when the men who claim to be the mainstay openly betray their moral personality, it is precisely these women who leave a moment of tranquility, warmth, and serenity for the cruelty of history.

……

After the Spring Festival, the expedition team quietly sailed away from Nanao Port and sailed into the depths of the unknown ocean.

Shou Zhi in Keelung, I wish them all the best. He was fortunate to be in the era of unification with a group of brave men who really fought on the sea. They're from Europe, they're from Asia.

Hui Xiang caught a trace of loneliness from the man's face, she didn't understand the sea, she didn't understand geography, but she knew that the mood of orderliness was not too high.

"Are you worried about the fleet going to sea?"

"It's not that I'm worried," Shou Order, shaking his head, "I'd really like to go with them if I could." ”

Hui Xiang tilted her head, she understood what the man meant.

Shou Xu took her hand, "When I retire, I will take you around the world." ”

Women are auditory animals, although Hui Xiang only said that retirement was coaxing her to play, but there was still a sweet smile on her face.

……

Retirement or something, for the time being, is still in the distant future. After the holiday, he took a holiday, kept the order and had unfinished official business, Huixiang helped him sort out the official documents and classify them, reducing a lot of useless workload.

Zeng Ying braved the wind and waves and rushed from Fuzhou to Keelung. At the Governor's Residence, Shou Order, along with Maiden, met with his most important ally on the mainland.

Zeng Ying made many old connections in Fujian, and Zheng Zhilong sponsored him a lot of money. Emperor Longwu is selling officials everywhere, as long as the money is spent, he can get it. For a high-ranking official like Zeng Ying, a genuine Wanli Jinshi and a governor, there are many opportunities now. He came to Taiwan to discuss the next step with Shou Xu.

"The Son of Heaven wants to invite the old gentleman into the cabinet?"

"Yes, many friends recommend me to the Son of Heaven." Speaking of entering the cabinet, Zeng Ying's face was full of joy. Becoming a scholar was the ultimate dream of the Ming Dynasty scholars.

Shou Xiang is not too optimistic, "I heard that the Emperor of Longwu has appointed more than 20 scholars, is the old gentleman sure that it is useful for him to join the cabinet?" ”

Zeng Ying said that this was not a problem, "I got the news that the Son of Heaven intends to give me real power. ”

"Old sir, I have no doubt about your political influence in Fujian," Shou Xuan considered his words, "but as you just said, the Son of Heaven intends to give you real power." He can give it today, and he can take it back tomorrow, after all, he has too many scholars. ”

Zeng Ying's face was slightly ugly.

Longwu appointed so many scholars, not that he really sold officials to the class of scholars. It is because these high-ranking civil officials have deep connections, the Tang dynasty is far from the imperial lineage, and there are still several descendants of the Wanli Emperor alive now, patriarchally speaking, the Tang dynasty is not qualified to ascend the throne.

Faced with this problem, Longwu openly announced to the whole country that the world was the world of King Yongming, and he had no son, and the throne would be handed over to King Yongming after his death. On the other hand, he recruited a wide range of high-ranking civil servants and promoted them to the cabinet. Eight percent of these high-ranking civil officials were born in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and their protégés and former officials were all over the world, and relying on the teacher-student relationship of these scholars, Longwu reluctantly allowed all localities to recognize his power and maintain his rule in the south.

The political situation in Fujian is now more complicated, and Taipei has collected a lot of information in this regard.

Zheng Zhilong's iron bucket was punctured by the emperor's wrist, and Fujian is not surnamed Zheng now. Zheng Zhilong could only control the two armies of Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Cai, which were originally the elite of the Zheng family, with a total of more than 10,000 people, and they were most of the strength that Zheng Zhilong had accumulated over the years.

The army is a gold-swallowing beast, and Zheng Zhilong's military salary mainly relied on him in the past. During the Chongzhen period, Zheng Zhilong's ground troops were only 35,000 people. Zheng Hongkui, the most important combat force of Zheng Fan, also fought on the Liaohai front in Dengzhou.

When Hongguang ascended the throne, Zheng Zhilong took out another 200,000 taels of silver and successively recruited nearly 10,000 soldiers to Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Cai to guard the Yangtze River. There are also thousands of Zheng Fan's land divisions on the side of the Wuhu camp.

The Battle of Zhenjiang and the collapse of the camp in Wuhu cost Zheng Fan almost all of his army. When Zheng Hongkui returned to Xianxia Pass, there were only more than 1,000 people left.

Zheng Zhilong did everything possible to supply them, transferred the troops from the Chaoshan area in eastern Guangdong to fill in Zheng Cai in Jiangxi and Zheng Hongkui in Xianxia, and continued to recruit people with money, and the combined number of the two departments was worth 10,000.

According to Huang Daozhou's statistics, Zheng Zhilong worked hard, and now the whole army has not gathered 20,000 people. It is full of new recruits and old and weak, and it can be said that there is no combat effectiveness. This is all the ground armed forces currently in Zheng Zhilong's hands, among which Zheng Cai and the others are still relatively suspicious, and Zheng Zhilong is actually unable to control most of them.

Shou Xuan felt that with the current strength comparison, Jianyu did not need to dispatch the Eight Banners, and Li Chengdong alone could take down all of Zheng Zhilong's army.

The scholars who retreated to Fuzhou had many contradictions with Zheng Fan, except for He Tengjiao in Huguang, the entire army of the Longwu court was nearly 100,000 people. Zheng Zhilong has become less important.

The Son of Heaven began to take Zheng Fan, and the first person he moved was Zheng Zhilong's close friend, Chen Qian, the former Guangdong commander-in-chief. This Chen Qian was the chief soldier who hacked the British Gotin Federation of 30,000 or 40,000 pesos in Guangzhou. Chen Qian didn't get much benefit from this, he was despised wherever he didn't do anything, and he was soon impeached and lost his position as the general soldier of Guangdong.

Chen Qian and Zheng Zhilong used to be the general soldier of Guangdong and the general soldier of Fujian, and they had an excellent relationship and were called brothers. Of the tens of thousands of troops that Zheng Zhilong threw at Zhenjiang, 6,000 of them were the reinforcements that Chen Qian had mobilized him.

It was a temptation for Long Wu to find an excuse to arrest Chen Qian and put him in prison. That's how politics plays. Momentum in politics is popularity. Start with the people around you, if you can't keep the people around you, then most of the people who follow you will have to think about one or two, and then weigh your orders before executing. Officialdom has advanced but not retreated, and half a step back is an abyss. As soon as this trend begins, the result is that trees fall apart and are easily uprooted. Therefore, the reason why leaders like to call forward and hug is to create this kind of momentum, which has been a routine for thousands of years.

Zheng Zhilong spent money everywhere to trust relationships, and wanted to get Chen Qian out of prison, but there was no way at all. What people want is for him to lose face and declare to the outside world that Zheng Fan's status in politics is different from the past. The more Zheng Zhilong begged for help, the less likely Chen Qian was to come out.

Zeng Ying's relationship with Zheng Zhilong is now his help, but in a few months, it may become his political baggage. However, he is a civil official, a group of political allies, and his status is naturally a hundred times more transcendent than Chen Qian.

Shou Xiang still suggested that Zeng Ying go out and take advantage of the real shortage of the frontier, "Old man, I still say the same thing, the false name of the central government is useless, and the territory is the most real." ”

Zeng Ying frowned and said, "The imperial court now controls nothing more than eastern Zhejiang, Fujian, southern Jiangnan, southern Huguang, and several provinces in Guangzhou, and there are governors, even if I want to go, there is no real shortage." ”

Yungui, which is at the rear, is now in chaos, and these provinces are left under the control of Fuzhou. For the sake of maintaining local stability, Longwu may change the prefect of the prefecture or even divide the governors, but it is impossible for him to move the governors and governors who have expressed their submission. He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang, Ding Kuichu, the governor of Liangguang, and Qu Shiyun, the governor of Guangxi, Zeng Ying had no chance to replace any of the feudal officials in these provinces.

However, there is an advantage to the Ming Dynasty's system, his governor and governor are sent without rank and rank. Most governors and governors are not set up according to the administrative districts of the chief administrative divisions, but can be established as they please.

Shou Order's advice to Zeng Ying was to give up the position of the central government, and not to care about the difference in the status of the governor and governor. Spending money, getting a governor of western Guangdong, and holding the four mansions of Lei Gao and Lianqiong is a victory.

Leizhou, Gaozhou, Lianzhou and Qiongzhou are located in remote corner areas, far from the core areas of the Pearl River Delta and Xijiang, so they will not alarm too many people. The defense of the four prefectures in western Guangdong is now extremely empty, and Zeng Ying can go to Fujian to pat his chest, rectify the army and sugar industry in Leizhou, and increase Fujian's military salary by 350,000 yuan. Longwu added salt taxes and customs duties in the two provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi, and the amount obtained was only 50,000 yuan in salt tax and 50,000 yuan in customs duties, a total of 100,000 silver.

"Old gentleman, the governor of western Guangdong, you have to be ambitious."

"It's not difficult for the four mansions, but what if you can't hand over the silver to the imperial court by then?"

Shou Xuan smiled, "Old man, you won't have to think about this soon. “

——————————

Make up a big chapter.

Concentrate:

1. The importance of Chen Qian's case has always been ignored, which is the direct reason why Zheng Zhilong has a different heart.

2. The military salary of Fujian controlled by the Longwu Imperial Court was about 1.2 million taels, and the whole army was 60,000 according to 20 taels and one soldier. However, he had some righteous troops who took 12 taels and were treated very poorly, and the number of all the troops together was estimated at 7,80,000, including Zheng Fan, excluding He Tengjiao.

3. An edict to Zheng Hongkui, "Yesterday, according to Mr. Qi, he asked General Huang to lead 2,000 troops to the Guanfang and the winning bidder, and ordered the handle Xianxialing and other passes." At this time, Zheng Hongkui had already been replenished, only 2,000 people, of course, he still had some soldiers on the Jiangxi front, and Zhou Zhifan had 3,000 people.

4. Zheng Caibu, Longwu "Ejiayu and Other Fleeing Generals", "Yongsheng has 6,000 soldiers, and Zhang Jiayu will each have 3,000." "Yongsheng Bo is Zheng Cai.

5. Huang Daozhou, "The ministers and nobles are under the command, and the people of the four levels are summoned, and there are not 20,000 people." “

The nobles refer to Zhu Zheng. Huang Daozhou estimated that Zheng Fan was less than 20,000 people. Most of them were recruits, and even if they were tied into a pile, Li Chengdong could destroy them all with a single charge. Zheng Zhilong's strength has always been seriously overestimated. Zheng Chenggong is several times stronger than his father in terms of economic strength and military strength.