The opening of the city was in Zhangzhou, so Chen Jian first delivered the letter to Zhangzhou. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Between Zhangzhou and Fuzhou, there is also an important port, Quanzhou, the most important port in the Southern Song Dynasty, but at this time the status is not as good as Zhangzhou.

On the one hand, the rebellion of the Semu people at the beginning, and on the other hand, because the Ryukyu tributary was closer to Fuzhou, the Ryukyu tributary land was placed in Fuzhou. Tribute is a trade in itself, and the Ryukyus set a record of paying tribute three or five times a year to the point that the emperor never tires of it, and along with the smuggling, legal smuggling, and legal trade of tribute, the port finally declined.

But for Chen Jian, Quanzhou's status is no less than that of Zhangzhou, because it is an important port for immigrants to reclaim Taiwan, so he also tried his best to invest in the favor of the local officials here.

At the end of August of the 35th year of Wanli, the comet really arrived as scheduled as it had spread among the wells of Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, and Fuzhou these days, and crossed its long tail in the sky.

At this time, Jiang Zhili, the prefect of Quanzhou, was in a hurry, and his men were writing a letter to An Min according to his orders, and the content of the letter was the same as the rumors and pamphlets that circulated: comets are only astronomical, they appear every seventy years or so, and this is confirmed by the local erudite people.

This is the first time that a comet is an astronomical phenomenon that has been officially propagated in the ancient port of Quanzhou, and it has been transmitted through official channels.

Jiang Zhili didn't believe it at first, and keenly suspected that someone wanted to learn from the Yellow Turban thief back then to confuse the public to make a big deal.

However, he soon had to believe it, and took the initiative to justify these rumors and give them official acknowledgement.

All this is for the sake of the people.

On the ninth day of August, a major earthquake swept through Quanzhou, countless houses collapsed, and even the county government and government schools were shaken down, the city walls were fragmented, and the tide poured in.

On August 11, the tide rose and winds blew, drowning hundreds more.

Soon after, it was the comet that arrived.

All kinds of disasters gathered together, making his prefect extremely unsatisfactory, and he also understood that in this case, rumors could easily spread, so he could only choose the lesser of two powers, and the people should not have a large-scale panic.

This earthquake and sea tide caused even the temple of King Guangze, which Quanzhou people have believed in for generations, collapsed. This Guangze Zun Wang is not obscene, it belongs to the local belief that is recognized and canonized by the emperor, and it is also the spiritual pillar of the people of Quanzhou.

It is said that he is a descendant of Guo Ziyi, an important figure in the opening of Quanzhou in the Later Tang Dynasty, and finally became a god after hundreds of years. How important is the power of faith? For the sake of this luster king, the people of Quanzhou can fight to the death with the people of Zhangzhou who believe in the holy king of Kaizhang not far away, and sometimes they may just accidentally spit on them.

The same is true for foreign business and reclamation, there is always a need for something between clans to maintain their feelings, drive away outsiders and benefit those who benefit from the clan, and mutual beliefs have become the best way to support fighting and slaughtering.

Now that the earthquake has collapsed the temple, coupled with the appearance of a comet, people are panicked for a while, and dozens of people make colorful boats every day to worship......

Jiang Zhili saw all this, and what he was most worried about was that someone was inciting a civil uprising at this time.

Although he didn't know the words class contradictions, he knew that if Quanzhou continued like this, it would not be far from the people's uprising.

Three earthquakes and two tidal disasters in four years. Large households occupy tidal flat fishing grounds and pay taxes. Small households have no way to make a living, so they can only pay private taxes to large households.

The original lowly people and fishermen fled and the river berths disappeared, but the tax was not abolished. In order to collect these taxes, the local officials simply adopted a tax package system, which opened the door for the wealthy and large families to enclose the land and the sea. The disadvantages have been accumulated for a long time, and the interests are intertwined, and it is impossible to get rid of them.

In such an earthquake, large households can rejoice for a while, and the arrears of taxes and silver can be escaped with the request for tax reduction in the earthquake, and a larger-scale occupation of tidal flat fishing grounds is about to occur.

Not long ago, there had been a fight, and there were also poor fishermen who couldn't survive by throwing themselves into the sea, and dozens of people knelt in front of the yamen before the earthquake and begged Lord Qingtian to call the shots.

After the earthquake and the high tide, the contradictions were stimulated to the climax, and the original sea boundary monuments and beach boundaries were disrupted.

The price of rice skyrocketed, and people flocked to the tidal flats to pick up some fish and shrimp for a living. Tax exemption is a matter for the imperial court, but the wealthy don't care, and they clash with these fishermen who are trying to survive all day long, and they meet each other with knives and guns.

Jiang Zhili is really afraid now, once someone raises his arms in this situation, it will be a big incident.

Two months ago, he had received a letter from Chen Jiantuo, at the same time as it had been sent to Zhangzhou and Gaoyu.

The letter also said some tribute matters, and asked Jiang Zhili to convey it on his behalf, and then said something else.

Under the pretext of insight into astronomy and geography, it is said that there was a big earthquake in Quanzhou the year before last, and there was a small earthquake in the first month of this year, and there may be a big earthquake. Especially Quanzhou is close to the sea, and there will be a big tide after the earthquake, so Jiang Zhili should prepare for the safety of the people. He also said something about the arrival of the comet, faintly warning Jiang Zhili to be careful that someone took the opportunity to cause trouble.

At first, Jiang Zhili thought that this was a fallacy to confuse the public. Worried that some religions were taking the opportunity to stir up a civil uprising, they reported these things to the governor of Fuzhou.

But as things happened one by one, when Jiang Zhili re-read the letter, he couldn't help but believe a little bit of the fallacy and heresy in it: Heaven and earth have their own way, and the way can be seen. Pitch astronomy and geography to disaster relief.

Things have already happened, and there is not much that can be done, so I can only make a list of the people first, and then ponder the things in the letter about the fact that there will be a major epidemic after the catastrophe, and also consider the soaring rice prices and the civil unrest caused by the fishing grounds in the tidal flats.

While he was busy calming the populace, a small boat brought news that made him both happy and panicked.

An official letter, in the same handwriting as the one received two months ago, and the same as the printed letter.

The letter said that the nominally tributary fleet had arrived outside Quanzhou and was waiting for a reply from the Ming Dynasty.

Hearing that there was an earthquake here, it was decided to sell the Siamese rice on the ship at a reasonable price in Quanzhou to stabilize the price of rice. He also said something that he couldn't bear to see the people starving, and the profiteers controlling the market, so that the price of rice was rising day by day, and so on.

A magistrate was worried about this matter, and was drafting a decree asking for tax reduction and exemption for this year, and it was also an important port to prevent Japanese invaders, and the city wall collapsed due to the earthquake, and some of the state's funds were needed to repair the wall.

It's just that far water can't quench the thirst of the near, although there are already businessmen with a keen sense of smell who are ready to go to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to transport rice, but it takes a month or two to come and go. Those who have surplus food at home can wait, but those who have no surplus at home can not afford to wait.

This letter was undoubtedly a pillow sent by drowsiness, and the officials celebrated with their hands, but they didn't want Jiang Zhili to snort coldly.

"Siam is thousands of miles away from here, and the earthquake has only happened for half a month, so how can you transport rice from Siam to get here?"

"Besides, what kind of intention is the businessman's words, and he wants to sell them at a flat price to help stabilize prices? The city is kind to the small people, and its heart can be punished! ”

Hearing this, the judge hurriedly said: "My lord Mingjian, this state is known as the reason of looking down on heaven and earth, and it must be convinced that there will be disasters here, and deduce the market of skyrocketing rice prices. However, if it is said that his heart can be punished by the city's favor to the small people, it is a bit serious. ”

Jiang Zhili glanced at it and asked, "What do you say?" ”

"It's just a golden bone. Since they want to open a market to pay tribute, they have to think for the long term. What is the geometry of this meter? If they can open the market to trade, how much can they get? But...... Even if it is a pretentious gesture of a thousand gold city bones, compared to those Hongyi and profiteers, after all, they still do some good things, and it is always difficult to refuse. ”

"My lord, the price of rice has risen three times a day, and the people of several counties are uneasy, and it will take some time for the merchants of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to transfer grain and rice......

Jiang Zhili waved his hand, signaling that there was no need to go on, of course he understood this truth, and he also knew that what was most lacking at this time was enough cheap rice, but what did this group of people want to do?

If it was really for tributary trade, I had never heard of such a thing, and even the Ryukyus, which often came to pay tribute, were only for the trade of goods.

Siam produces rice, and Jiang Zhili also knows it, but it is not easy to go to sea, and no one will transport rice. Compared with other goods, the profit of rice is really not worth mentioning, but this group of people who shouted for trade sent rice at this critical moment as if it had been planned.

Thinking about it carefully, Jiang Zhili only felt that this group of people was really terrifying, even more terrifying than those Hongyi. The Hongyi only relied on the opportunity of the strength of the ships and the weakness of the sea defense, and traded by all kinds of means that could not be accepted. However, this group of people relied on their mastery of the principles of heaven and earth to calculate the opportunity and the hearts of the people.

In desperation, he had no choice but to bring the messenger over and ask for his own questioning. It has long been rumored that this state is also a descendant of the people of Middle-earth, and after seeing the messenger, I was even more convinced.

The envoys sent by Chen Jian were already able to speak a lot of official words of the Ming Dynasty, and they were not those merchants who were bought by money, they were people who had been in the trading company for many years, and after seeing Jiang Zhili, they just bowed their hands and did not kneel, only saying that this was the etiquette of their own country.

Jiang Zhili didn't reprimand, first asked some trivial matters, and finally asked, "Where is your governor now?" ”

"It's in the open sea. The governor said that the Celestial Empire has its own system, and the Emperor of Shenzhou has its own system, and since this is the place under the jurisdiction of the Emperor of Shenzhou, people from any country should abide by the laws of the emperor in their land. Therefore, without permission, it will not call at the port without permission. If Mr. Tachiyuki does not agree to call at the port, he can also send a small boat to trade at sea. ”

Jiang Zhili was secretly shocked, and said that knowing oneself and knowing the other party can make things happen, and he didn't know anything about the other party, but the other party even heard his own words. According to the difference between countries, he didn't call the adult, but he called the table, which made him a little uncomfortable, but he didn't get angry.