The weeping temple in front of the Suzhou Confucian Temple ended in such a tiger, and the government set up clips in the east section of the day Jinfang Lane and the west section of the Meijiaqiao Lane, and prepared hot ginger soup for the weeping temple scholars and five silver dollars including the cost of soup medicine and firewood, which can be described as benevolent and righteous. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

These two roads are the only way to leave here, Suzhou scholars fled from the square, crossed the card, or full of joy, or reluctance, or forced by the situation, most of them still drank ginger soup, took the silver dollar before sneezing, while feeling the texture of the silver dollar calmly left.

In addition, there is no shortage of some strong points, and they don't drink ginger soup or silver dollars, so they humiliate the scholars one by one, and leave by themselves with a scolding. But those who don't care for their bodies like this are far less than the smart people who are as good as the stream.

Wang Luo fled back to the small building in the Dayjin Fang in a trance, and he was greeted by a loud slap from Wang Shimin. Confucius's god card was trampled to the point that it was not important, but the crying temple was not successful, and he was humiliated by Chen Wen with a fire-fighting tool, and this resentment should be vented.

Wang's father taught his son a lesson, but it was someone's own business, and it was not easy for others to intervene. However, things have come to this point, the countryside gathered to boycott, boycott and cry temples, the three axes were exhausted, they were defeated by Chen Wen, and even Chen Wen has not really made a move now, but the subordinate officials of the Qi Wangfu and the local administrative system of Su Songchang Town have already beaten them to a pulp, it is really not appropriate to continue to waste time here, and a decision must be made.

"Xun Weng, in the current situation, the scholars can no longer get together, and the weeping temple is no longer completed, so let's make plans early."

The gentry beside him said this, and Qi Qiran didn't know where he was. One person is like this, everyone is like this, Wang Shimin saw such a look, how could he not know what everyone was thinking.

The government used such a soft and hard method, and easily disintegrated the cohesion of these weeping temple scholars. Regardless of whether they sincerely give up confrontation with the government, or whether they are afraid that if they do not take the silver dollar, they will be ruined by the government, the result is that those scholars who have taken the silver dollar are unlikely to come to help them again, at least in the near future, this period of time will never come again.

Now, the three-plate axe has been lowered, and the government has taken it without pressure. The next thing is likely to be revenge, and everyone makes it clear that they don't plan to fight again.

In fact, when Wang Shimin saw the goods on Changmen Street, he also had the idea of trapping, and he had not suffered this series of failures at that time, and he was more confident. It stands to reason that he should be discouraged at this time, but after experiencing the scene of Kui Dongming's army, class hatred prompted him to be more inclined to continue to fight. It's just that the best of the three tricks is invalid, and it is difficult to choose for a while.

"Sun, if it doesn't work, forget it. Let's donate some silver, His Royal Highness King Qi is a person with a big pattern, and he will not hold grudges. ”

As soon as this remark came out, everyone also responded. Wang Shimin was very dissatisfied with this, but he also knew that without the help of everyone, no matter how much he did, it would be useless, but there was really no other way to persuade everyone, and his heart was full of anger until the moment when another voice sounded.

"Receipt, we will receive as much as the government, and we will be rich in Suzhou. The sea trade has been gone for decades, and even hundreds of years, and there are still hundreds of thousands, or even millions of taels of silver in the silver cellars of each family. As far as I know, the annual income of the Qi Wangfu is not more than 10 million taels, but the army is not less than 300,000, and the military salary alone costs seven or eight million taels of silver, and this is not counting the recent expansion of the army and other expenditures, and the surplus is not much. I don't believe it, the end of the year is approaching, and it is the time for the Spring Festival to be rewarded, and if you take out an extra month's food and salary, will the Qi Wangfu really be able to mobilize so many goods? ”

The short and fat grain merchant gritted his teeth, clearly looking like a gambler who was in a hurry, but he had to admit that the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Ming armies occupied the rich land in the southeast, but the soldiers in the army were exempted from the Ding tax and the existence of the military merit granting system, and the grain tax and Ding tax were severely restricted.

Hearing this, everyone present was excited except for those who didn't want to admit defeat like Wang Shimin, but the others seemed a little lacking in interest.

"Gentlemen, having said that, but annoying His Royal Highness the King of Qi, I'm afraid it's not so simple."

Gathering crowds to boycott, boycott the market, and crying temples are all routine methods of the gentry, and according to the tradition of the Ming court, they will not be ruthless against them. How can Chen Wen not mention it in the future, at least now he still serves Yongli as the orthodoxy of the emperor, and the tradition still has to be followed. What's more, from the beginning of the crowd boycott, to the subsequent boycott and now the Wailing Temple, the government has always maintained restraint, which has fueled their desires.

"Could this be the game set up by His Royal Highness King Qi, and he is waiting for us to do this?"

This kind of worry, not only Wang Shimin, many people have such speculations when a large number of goods arrive. But now, an even greater fear has taken hold.

"No matter what, we have done our part, even if King Qi doesn't care, will those officials of the Qi Palace's Mansion spare us? Besides, King Qi does things in a magnificent manner, but the amount of energy is up, but if he doesn't make him happy, which one really falls? ”

"What do you say about Huang Lizhou?"

Huang Zongxi is now lecturing in Ningbo, and his family has also opened a hydraulic workshop and a tea house, and his life is even more comfortable than before the Qing army entered the customs. Merely......

"Huanglizhou is a special case, selling oneself for glory, it also depends on identity. Huanglizhou is Wang Zhonglie's son and daughter's family, it is said that he will get married after the New Year, King Qi was Wang Zhonglie pulled it up with one hand, and he did not look at the monk's face but also looked at the Buddha's face. Besides, Huanglizhou revived Dalan Mountain, and the King of Qi not only did not suffer, but took advantage of this to avenge the Siming Mountain coalition army in Dalan Mountain, and then annexed the two provinces of Ningshao and defeated the Eight Banners Army for the first time. ”

Huang Zongxi's question is indeed like this, and after everyone heard it, they were also silent. Seeing this, Wang Shimin stood up and persuaded loudly: "Gentlemen, let's contact the gentry and wealthy families in Suzhou, and tens of millions of silver are also at our fingertips." Taking grain as an example, one or two can buy as much as two stones, and Huguang has a bumper harvest, and it is absolutely impossible to produce so much grain. What we have in our hands is silver, even if the Qi Wangfu wants it, we have to see if they can swallow it, don't burst their bellies. ”

In the Ming Dynasty, the financial revenue of the imperial court was pitiful, and that was because of the strange tax system of the Ming Dynasty, which did not mean that the people were equally poor. In fact, the people of the Ming Dynasty were never short of money, and the gentry, wealthy households, especially those involved in maritime trade on the southeast coast, hoarded silver in large quantities. After all, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, South America and Japan, the largest producers of silver, were the main exporters of silver from China, and it was not until after the Opium War that there was a reversal.

The huge profits of sea trade, especially the fat pigs of the Jin merchants who were slaughtered by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, were the time not to worry about the silver. In addition, the gentry were also involved in the problem of clearing the land, and if these two policies did not stop, their income would be seriously affected, and it was really difficult to give up.

"Besides, there are still millions of people in Suzhou, as long as we keep boycotting the market, the government has to ensure the food and clothing of these people, and on the other hand, we have to face our sweeping, which will not last long."

With the tone set, the defeated Suzhou gentry and merchants decided to try a trick they hadn't used before. However, it is enough to have a lot of hard currency and an advantage in economic strength.

"What if there isn't enough space in the storeroom?"

"Then throw it away, bury it in the soil, throw it into Taihu Lake, there is a saying in Shanxi, it is said that you can't put your shoes on the wolf, this little money, as long as you can repeal these two decrees, it won't take long to earn it back."

This time it is no longer limited to Suzhou, but also in Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Songjiang and even Nanjing, Yangzhou, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Hangzhou and other places, and they have also mobilized all their relationships to mobilize funds to carry out this sweeping operation.

Early the next morning, as the leader, Wang Shimin took the lead in expressing his willingness to take out one million taels of silver in advance to sweep away the goods mobilized by the government, and if not, he would continue to add more. One million taels of silver, and the annual tax of the Chongzhen Dynasty was also a fraction of the order of magnitude. However, for a wealthy family like the Wang family, which has flourished in Jiangnan for nearly two hundred years and has also produced the first and auxiliary ministers of the cabinet, there are a lot of them, but they are only a part of the deposited silver.

The Wang family made such a gesture, and each family also promised to come with a large sum of money to sweep the goods. When it was close to noon, the shopkeepers who were responsible for sweeping the goods at the various sales points rushed to various places with a large number of silver ingots under the escort and entourage of the men, and launched the sweeping operation as quickly as possible.

"How do you sell your rice?"

The shopkeeper of the Wang family's rice shop in Huqiu rushed to Changmen Street with his men, watched for a while, and then went straight to the place where Huguang rice was sold.

The shopkeeper here is called Li Zaitian, who is not tall from Guizhou. Raising his eyelids, he looked at the dress of the shopkeeper of the Wang family, and then at the guys, he only smiled coldly, but he did not show the kind smile when he sold rice to the people.

"This, it depends on how much you buy?"

"Oh."

Hearing this, the shopkeeper of the Wang family nodded, they bought it in large quantities, the price was more affordable, and the owner side would also remember the benefits. Seeing this, he coughed lightly, his chin was raised by three points, and he said to the shopkeeper proudly: "A thousand stones!" ”

"Sss

A thousand stones, what an order of magnitude is this. Calculated as one stone of grain for one hundred and twenty catties of the people, one thousand stone is 120,000 catties of grain, and the men of the Wang family brought ten ox carts for transporting rice, and if an ox cart weighs 1,500 to 2,000 catties, it will also have to be transported back and forth for six to eight times to be completely transported, and from now on, it will even be busy until after nightfall.

When he said this, there was a sound of consternation around him. The shopkeeper of the Wang family and the guys he brought with him stood out in the crowd like chickens, standing proudly in the crowd, and this feeling was simply refreshing. After scanning around and enjoying the envious and jealous gazes of the crowd around him, he politely looked at the shopkeeper and waited for the discount to arrive.

"One silver dollar and one stone."

"Huh?!"

Each silver dollar is seven coins and two cents, containing six coins and three cents of silver, and is minted in the ratio of silver and nine bronze coins, which is higher than the market price. When the shopkeeper of the Wang family and those guys heard this, they were stunned, and then one of them asked loudly: "This morning, it's still five coins and one stone, and you are driving up the market price!" ”

The guy asked loudly, and the shopkeeper of the Wang family was also displeased. Li Zaitian glanced at the guy, then looked at the shopkeeper of the Wang family, and then sneered: "The governor yamen has an order that grain will be sold at a flat price, one tael of silver and two stones, and if a single purchase of grain exceeds two stones, each stone will be sold for one silver dollar." There's a poster over there, are you not long-sighted or what? ”

After that, Li Zaitian pointed out, and everyone in the Wang family turned their heads to look, but the announcement stamped with the governor's yamen seal was clearly written. And this restriction is not only about food, in addition to luxury goods, the daily consumables used by ordinary people, including food, medicine, cloth, etc., are also included, and the range of price changes is completely different.

After reading the announcement, the shopkeeper of the Wang family understood the intention of the yamen. This time, the government organized the goods to come here in order to fight against the strike, but it was inevitable that the hoarding was strange, so there were such restrictions.

Seeing this, the shopkeeper of the Wang family hurriedly called the most delicate young man in the shop and asked him to rush back to the Wang family to report the news as quickly as possible, while he took a deep breath and bargained with Li Zaitian.

"Say you don't have long eyes, you really don't have long eyes. What is the bargain with Lao Tzu here, a silver dollar is a silver dollar, this is the decree of the yamen, can the decree of the yamen still be bargained? ”

Li Zaitian was not angry since he saw them, and this time he directly counted the shopkeepers, and the Wang family's workers shouted angrily. However, this Li Zaitian's temper exploded to a certain extent, and while instructing his men to continue to sell goods to those ordinary people, he rolled up his sleeves and scolded, which was even mixed with a lot of Huguang and Guizhou dialects.

"Do you have a business? When the big customers entered the door, they didn't pay back the price, and they actually insulted the guests, you countrymen from Huguang really can't get on the stage. ”

A group of guys scolded Li Zaitian alone, and the self-sustaining identity of the shopkeeper of the Wang family did not end up scolding, but it was inevitable that he would be slandered. But when this sentence was spoken, Li turned his target to the shopkeeper of the Wang family when he was in Tiandeng, and the firepower shifted so quickly that those guys of the Wang family almost didn't react.

"You think Lao Tzu is willing to come to your place to sell goods at the end of this year, this year's harvest in our lake, Lao Tzu is preparing New Year's goods at home, and celebrating the New Year with his parents, wife and children, isn't it more refreshing than working hard to come here and toss blindly? It's not that those dog gentry and bastard profiteers in Suzhou are making a boycott, and it is light to scold you here today, if it weren't for the military judge watching from a distance, Lao Tzu would have smoked your dog things a long time ago. ”

Just like the soldiers who came to sell Sichuan specialties in the Ming Army of Kuidong, the freight and sales personnel organized by the Qi Wangfu were also the reserve soldiers of the Ming Army of Jiangsu and Zhejiang in various places. This time, the profit has nothing to do with them, and at the same time, they have to be subject to military law, and the only advantage is that this is a paid service, and the Qi Wangfu will issue silver dollars as a subsidy according to the standard of soldiers.

However, it is now the lunar month, and the strike in Suzhou is far from over, and once they think that they will not be able to go home for the New Year, these reserve soldiers will all have the greatest disgust for these Suzhou gentry and merchants. It is inevitable that there will be such generals.

The quarrel sounded here, and a group of people gathered around to watch the excitement. In an instant, a military judge in the crowd came out with two pacification soldiers and asked directly to Li Zaitian, "What's the matter?" ”

Military judges have a deep prestige in the army, and the reserve soldiers have all participated in agricultural training, eaten military sticks and leather whips, and have long been in awe of military law. Seeing the military judge coming, Li Zaitian hurriedly gave a military salute, and then replied to the military judge: "Returning to the military judge, the lowly position sells grain here, and these guys came to make trouble, and they also had to bribe the lowly office, and the lowly position quarreled with them." ”

Hearing this, seeing that the military judge frowned, the shopkeeper of the Wang family hurriedly denied it: "The villain did not pay bribes. ”

"And what do you mean you're going to give me a discount?"

As soon as these words came out, the shopkeeper of the Wang family hurriedly bowed to the ground, claiming that he didn't know that Li Zaitian was a sergeant, and begged for mercy there. Bribing officials may have a way to live, and bribing the army is a capital crime similar to that of a general prisoner in the civil and military laws of the areas controlled by the Ming Army in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Ming.

The shopkeeper was like this, and the guys had to bow to the ground, and the Wang family, who had just been arrogant, begged the military judge for mercy in full view of everyone, and their momentum was falling. After a while, the military judge showed the Wang family's low momentum enough, and then slowly said to him: "Those who don't know are not guilty, but only this time, if there is a next time, it will not be spared." ”

With these words, the Wang family and his entourage breathed a sigh of relief, stood up and hurriedly thanked the military judge, but they didn't even dare to say anything about giving money, treats, or anything.

In this regard, the military judge was obviously very impatient, waved the shopkeeper who stepped forward, and then asked coldly: "If you buy something, hurry up and buy it, if you don't buy it, don't go here in front of others." ”

"The villain wants to buy, the villain wants to buy, the villain is just a shopkeeper, the owner gave the silver to the villain to buy, and now it is changed to silver dollars, and it is more expensive, I always have to ask the owner."

"Then stand on the side, don't block the road and prevent other people from shopping."

After saying this, the military judge turned around and left with the pacifiers, and continued to inspect this section of the commercial area of Changmen Street. The Wang family nodded and watched the military judge leave, and then hurriedly retreated to the side and waited.

After a while, the guy who sent out ran back, and Wang Shimin agreed to the price. The shopkeeper of the Wang family has expected this, after all, it is difficult to ride a tiger now, and it is imperative, and the price is higher, so you can only go up hard, but fortunately, it is not unimaginable and bearable.

"A thousand stone of rice!"

He threw the silver box in front of the table, and as soon as the lid was opened, the reflection of the silver shone brightly, and a sound of swallowing sound rang out around him. The shopkeeper of the Wang family stood in front of Li Zaitian's table, completely looking like he was hurrying to count the money, and the low eyebrows and pleasing eyes in front of the military judge just now had disappeared without a trace against the background of silver.

The shopkeeper of the Wang family is like this, just like the gentry family who bullied the house slaves that Li Zaitian saw when he was in his hometown in Guizhou. Glancing at the silver box here, he didn't even look at the shopkeeper, so he replied coldly: "You are really blind when you say that you are blind, it is a silver dollar, not a silver ingot, I can't tell this apart, what about the shopkeeper?" ”

"Why, aren't silver ingots money?"

Li Zaitian's expression really made the shopkeeper very uncomfortable, and he was also arguing with reason here, but Li Zaitian bit the announcement that it was a silver dollar instead of a silver ingot, and he really had nothing to do with this temporary shopkeeper from a military household in Guizhou.

"Where can I get the silver dollars?"

"The ticket number." After answering, Li Zaitian continued to help sell food to those ordinary people, and no longer looked at the Wang family.

Li Zaitian was like this, and the shopkeeper of the Wang family did not continue to entangle with him, and hurriedly took his men to the nearest Guangfu ticket number. Fortunately, on Changmen Street, there is a Guangfu ticket number, which is not particularly far.

There was a crowd of people on the street of Changmen, and the guys of the Wang family had to carry the silver box and rush to the ticket number. The Wang family also has a deposit of silver in the Guangfu ticket number, and the shopkeeper also has business dealings with the ticket number, knowing that the rules of the ticket number are to receive the number at the door first, and then wait for the number to be called, and the number can only be handled when the number arrives.

Lined up, there were not many people today, and after waiting for a while, it was arranged, but when he proposed to exchange silver dollars, what he got was that this number did not accept exchange business.

"Well, Fucheng General Number, we are a semicolon, and we don't have this business."

The guy at the counter pointed to the decree posted on the bulletin board in the lobby and called the next number. Seeing this, the shopkeeper of the Wang family had to rush to the head office with his guys.

The number of customers in the total number is obviously not comparable to the semicolon, and there are many guests who come to exchange silver dollars, and a few of them are the housekeepers and shopkeepers of the gentry and merchant Jia's family who participated in this sweep.

The shopkeeper of the Wang family first confirmed the exchange business from the guy who handed the number plate at the door, and waited until he got in line, but it had already been more than half an hour. Today is the first day of sweeping, which belongs to the stage of testing the waters, but it has been two hours since he came out of Wang's house, but it has just reached the stage of exchanging silver dollars, and the shopkeeper is also sweating profusely.

"Seven hundred and twenty taels of silver, the fineness is the best, hurry up and exchange it for a thousand silver dollars, I have an urgent need."

Compared with Li Zaitian and those people with the semicolon, the general number is the general number after all, and the guy does things quickly, counts the fineness and weight, and issues silver dollars, which is extremely efficient, and finally makes the Wang family shopkeeper more comfortable. It's just that when the silver dollar was exchanged and he left with the silver box, the shopkeeper of the ticket number really smiled like a complete profiteer, and he was the kind that had just won it.