Xu Yuanzuo secretly said that this brother was still young, and explained: "It is to give the family property to the teacher, or to the teacher as a slave." ”

"This ......" Zheng Cunen was even more confused: "Why did they send their family property to their father?" ”

"This ......" Xu Yuanzuo laughed: "Folk customs, folk customs." ”

Zheng Cunen shook his head: "There is no such custom in the local area, I'm afraid that the world brother is mistaken." ”

Xu Yuanzuo smiled: "I'm afraid I'm wrong." ”

- It's wrong to talk to you little kid about the unspoken rules of society!

Xu Yuanzuo was thinking about finding a suitable person to talk to, and he said, "Greetings for a long time, does the teacher have a brother?" ”

"My father is an only son." Zheng Cunen said.

"Uh...... Are there cousins who are closer? Xu Yuanzuo asked again.

"Oh, usually when there is something at home, my mother tells me to go to Uncle Qiang." Zheng Cunen said.

Uncle Qiang is an old neighbor of Zheng Yue's family, and he still lives in a thatched hut. His thatched hut was worse than the temporary housing that Xu Yuanzuo had prepared for refugees in Tanghang, but the bachelor in his forties was not dissatisfied. He can't speak official language, so he has to translate Zheng Cunen on the side, which makes Xu Yuanzuo a little restrained, so as not to accidentally bring the child to the child.

"Isn't Ayue's family very good now, taken care of by the clan, living in a tiled house, and returning rice and grain every month. The clan divided more than ten acres of land from their family, and they planted it for me. Uncle Qiang said to Xu Yuanzuo blankly.

"The Ayue family has never done anything for the clan, and now the clan is willing to take care of them, which is already very face-saving." Uncle Qiang said again.

Xu Yuanzuo listened, suspecting that he might have some misunderstandings because of prejudices. He felt that Mr. Zheng's family was already miserable, but in the eyes of the locals, he took great care of Zheng Jinshi's family. Xu Yuanzuo himself has no clan concept, and even Xu Jie, I'm afraid, doesn't have it. The Xu clan in Jiangnan is more like a loose alliance, and everyone hugs Old Man Xu's golden thigh because of the same surname.

Arrived in southern Fujian. A clan is like a for-profit organization. You have to contribute to the dynasty for the dynasty to give you protection. Zheng Yue used to be a broken family, and he couldn't talk about the clan's contribution at all, but now that he can take care of it, it can be regarded as the Zheng clan's extra care. This kind of relationship is so realistic and close, it is no wonder that from the Northern Song Dynasty to the present, the fighting power of the Fujian Party has been very strong.

Xu Yuanzuo believed it. Why are there often some Qing officials in the notes who can't even afford to buy a coffin after the Qing official Zhishi, and they have to donate it. This is clearly because they have been marginalized by the clan, consciously or unconsciously. If Zheng Yue doesn't wake up again, I'm afraid that the clan will gradually withdraw even the current care - no wonder the teacher, as a Changle person who has been a scholar in many years, finally mixed up with Yunnan to participate in politics.

"Who in the clan has the final say?" Xu Yuanzuo asked.

The patriarch has the right to sacrifice and comes from the long house of the large sect. This was a great advantage in the early years, so the patriarch often occupied the largest resources in the clan. However, with the improvement of the imperial examination system, the bureaucratic class became the backbone of society, and bloodline did not necessarily lead to success in the imperial examination, so the patriarch held virtual power. And the gentry control of the place has become popular. Even if the gentry belong to a small sect, the patriarch of the big sect still has to grovel to fight the autumn wind and borrow a film.

"Zheng Zhi has the final say in the clan." Qiang said: "He is a man. ”

Xu Yuanzuo said secretly: Sure enough, it is Jin Juren, Yin Jinshi.

This is also very realistic, people are in the township all the year round, and they have more dealings with the government. Jinshi cannot be an official from his hometown, once he is a eunuch. You may not be able to go home until you die. The influence in the countryside is really not as good as that of people living in the countryside. And this year doesn't mean that you can't be an official if you don't want to be an official. Although he can take sick leave, his official character is not high enough, and he is easily impeached by the imperial history. This kind of impeachment is a serious crime, so being an official is also regarded as a duty of loyalty.

Xu Yuanzuo asked Cheng Zhongyuan to prepare a gift and go to see Zheng Zhi. He is a small student who has no official status, and without a strong introducer, he may not even be able to see the master's family. Fortunately, he has a film of Xu Jie. Xu Ge's old name moved the world, and he also worked as an official in Fujian, so he climbed a little incense.

Of course, if the Zheng family is a hardcore Cheng Zhu family, handing Xu Ge Lao's film may also cause backlash.

Xu Yuanzuo gave it a go. In the end, Zheng Zhi did not say that he was "unwell", and received Xu Yuanzuo in the middle hall.

Both of them were surprised to meet. Xu Yuanzuo was surprised by Zheng Zhi's old age, and Zheng Zhi was surprised by Xu Yuanzuo's youth. In this case, there was naturally no greeting at all, Xu Yuanzuo got straight to the point and said: "The student came to pay homage to the prince this time, and he knows the kindness of the clan to the teacher's family, so he is here to thank him." ”

Zheng Zhi stroked his beard calmly and said: "It's okay, it's okay, speaking of which, he is still my brother, and we are all mountain characters, haha." ”

Xu Yuanzuo saw that he didn't seem to be a fake, but there were some things that he couldn't help but ask. He said: "Since the teacher is nominated on the emperor's list, there are always preferential exemptions...... However, there is little land at home, so I don't know if it can be beneficial to the clan. ”

Zheng Zhi knew that Xu Yuanzuo was suspicious of the clan relatives taking advantage of his teacher. But if you can say it so nicely, you can't just slap it in the face. He said: "Naturally, there are preferential treatments given by the imperial court. It may be useful elsewhere, but it is basically useless in Changle. ”

"Oh?"

"Changle is located on the coast, and there is often no income because of the nuisance of pirates, so the court practice will exempt from taxes." Zheng Zhi smiled: "And I also have another name for Hujian: eight mountains, one water and one field, which means that there are many mountains and few fields." Therefore, the imperial court's preferential exemption is really not of much use in our hometown. ”

Xu Yuanzuo was extremely hurt when he heard it: he came from Su Song, who was the heaviest tax payer in the world, and he really didn't expect that Fujian people didn't mind the tax problem at all. Listening to Zheng Zhi's subtext, it seems that as long as the court does not know each other to collect taxes, then contact the pirates to attack the port, and the court will naturally be exempt from taxes. Speaking of which, two years ago, Lin Daoqian also captured Chenghai Xidongzhai, and later accepted Zhao'an, I don't know if there is another insider.

"Ah Yue is an official in Songjiang, is he doing well?" Zheng Zhi mastered the rhythm of the words, and turned the defense into an attack: "My brother is too high-minded, and he didn't even see a few letters from his family over there. Anyway, it's the Zheng family. ”

――This means that Mr. Zheng can't be a human being.

Xu Yuanzuo also secretly said that Mr. Zheng is a little bad at dealing with the world, and the best thing to say is that he has low emotional intelligence. To put it mildly, that means not knowing where your foundation is. He empathized, if he was Zheng Yue's environment, he would definitely have a good relationship with the clan and use his fellow Fujian villagers to take a step forward in the officialdom!

"The teacher is also extremely difficult in Huating. Even a handmaid can't afford it. Xu Yuanzuo sighed: "It's because the students came to Changle this time, and they also wanted to discuss with Mr. to see if there was an open source way." ”

Zheng Zhi was not surprised. Changle is a large county for the imperial examination, Fuzhou is a large prefecture for the imperial examination, and Fujian is a large province for the imperial examination, and there is a problem of redistribution of interests after each examination. And so on for a hundred or two years. Everyone has already formed various rules, and they want to squeeze in as Jinshi, even if Zheng Zhi has no opinion, he can't pass the level of others.

"I want to hear about it." Zheng Zhi said.

Xu Yuanzuo cleared his throat and said, "Changle has been in the county for a long time, and the powerful family must not allow others to come in and share the profits." If the Zheng family breaks the rules, I am afraid that they will be attacked by the entire Changle County Shi clan. ”

"Exactly." Zheng Zhi responded, keenly discovering that Xu Yuanzuo used the big concept of "Zheng family", and couldn't help but feel that this young man was still quite good at talking.

Xu Yuanzuo continued: "Sir, have you considered the giant island on the other side of the strait? ”

Zheng Zhi was slightly stunned. smiled: "That island can not be idle." ”

"Dare to ask?"

"There is a port for pirates on that island, and it is an important place for them to hide from the officers and soldiers, how can we be allowed to go up?" Zheng Zhi said again: "What's more, there are cannibal natives on the island, and it is impossible to prevent them from killing people. These are not very troublesome to say, but there are more miasma plagues on the island, and once infected, there is no physiology. Who would go to such a place? How much food can you grow? ”

Xu Yuanzuo smiled: "The Zheng family doesn't have a sugar house." ”

Zheng Zhi said disapprenously: "Naturally, there is none. ”

"I've been all the way. I saw that there was no sugar sold in the Zheng family's shop. Xu Yuanzuo said.

Zheng Zhi understood what Xu Yuanzuo meant, and said, "White sugar is a big profit. No one knows, but it's not my family who can interfere. ”

Xu Yuanzuo smiled: "So it's a good choice to go to the opposite island." The most important thing for sugarcane is water and soil, the water source is abundant, the soil is fertile, and good sugarcane can be grown under deep ploughing. As for the troubles that Mr. said before, is there no way to deal with them? ”

Zheng Zhi knew that this was a big deal for tens of thousands of taels a year. Quite tempted, he sat forward: "How to deal with it?" ”

Xu Yuanzuo said with a smile: "Pirates don't grow cane to extract sugar, but they will kill people and grab land." If we cooperate with them, the Zheng family will be responsible for sending people to the island and cultivating them. The pirates were responsible for protecting the sugar cane fields. Kill the wildlings. I am responsible for transshipment of cane sugar here, distribution in Jiangnan and even in Jingshi and Liaodong. The three of us, each doing its best, each getting its own benefits, can be described as a win-win situation. ”

"What about miasma malaria?"

"It's just a mosquito-borne disease, and as long as the weeds are eradicated and the swamp is filled, it will naturally go to the half. Then widely use wormwood to repel mosquitoes, and you can go to the small half. If I can't prevent it, I still get this disease in the end, and I still have a backhand. This time, he brought ten famous doctors in the south of the Yangtze River, and he was looking for a cure for malaria from the ancient prescriptions. It hasn't worked out today, but it's not incurable. Xu Yuanzuo said.

Zheng Zhi stroked his beard and pondered, and said, "According to you, this matter is very simple?" ”

"Is it easy to do things in the world? It's easy to do, but it's hard to do not. Xu Yuanzuo said with a smile: "I want to come to those pirates who are trapped on Taiwan Island, but they also sit on Baoshan without knowing it." Once we explain it to them, we will definitely not refuse. ”

Zheng Zhi said again: "Since you call it a thief, won't you break your word and get fat?" ”

"If that's the case, we're not vegetarians either." Xu Yuanzuo's smile was stained with a layer of frost.

Zheng Zhi did not give Xu Yuanzuo a letter of approval, but invited him to stay at home at night. Xu Yuanzuo considered the face of his mentor Zheng Yue, and decided to find a temple outside the county to borrow. At the same time, he also had to buy some land for Zheng Yue's family to build a house, and he couldn't let his wife and grandfather live in such a shabby courtyard.

Fortunately, although there is little arable land in Fujian, there is a lot of residential land. Because it is mountainous, Fujian people have long summed up a set of skills to build houses on the mountain. And the stone here is also cheap, and it did not frighten Xu Yuanzuo because of inflation.

Xu Yuanzuo asked Cheng Zhongyuan to run the program, and naturally paid him a lot of tuition. From this, the government knew that Zheng Yue was not a little jinshi without a background, and he was now on Xu Ge's big boat. For a while, there were people in the county and townships who came to agree with Zheng Yue for the New Year, and they had to sponsor some silver or arrange some people to help, which saved Xu Yuanzuo a lot of trouble.

After living in Changle for ten days, Luo Zhenquan was already a little anxious. Finally one day, Xu Yuanzuo asked him to go fishing at sea together. Luo Zhenquan was unguarded, and he didn't know that fishing was fake until he went to sea, and it was real to negotiate with people.

The other party is also a small boat, and the big ship is miles away, just a small black spot on the occasion of the sea and sky. The two small boats gathered next to a reef, and the people over there looked at Xu Yuanzuo and Luo Zhenquan, and shouted: "Good scholar!" ”

Luo Zhenquan recognized at a glance that this was a standard pirate, and it was also a real pirate who mainly robbed and supplemented by business. Although the maritime merchants of the East China Sea also robbed ships and killed people, they were still mainly engaged in business after all. He couldn't help but sweat for Xu Yuanzuo.

Xu Yuanzuo got up and clenched his fists and said to Luo Zhenquan: "Don't be stunned, help translate." ”

Luo Zhenquan nodded Muran, still preparing to escape at any time.

The person who came reported his name was none other than Lin Daoqian, who was famous in the South China Sea. Listening to the accent, he is from Chaozhou Mansion, but fortunately, Luo Zhenquan can barely understand something, Xu Yuanzuo can't understand it at all, and the communication is stumbling.

"You, me, the Zheng family, the three families, Xiaohong (Taiwan) grows sugarcane." Xu Yuanzuo gestured with difficulty.

Without waiting for Luo Zhenquan to translate, the boatman wearing a hat behind Lin Daoqian laughed.

The voice was crisp and pleasant, and it was obviously a girl's house. The girl quickly translated Xu Yuanzuo's words to Lin Daoqian, and said in official words: "I ask the housekeeper, what are the benefits for us." ”

Xu Yuanzuo was amnesty: "My sister turned out to be from Nanzhi. Now it's easy to do. He said: "Of course, there are benefits. As long as the noble owner can ensure the safety of Wei Hong and prevent the sugarcane farmers from being harassed by the natives, we will finally divide the dividend into three parts. Each gets its own and is fair. ”

After the girl translated, she got Lin Daoqian's answer again, "How do we know if you have something to hide?" ”

"Let's do business together, why should I take advantage of that little advantage?" Xu Yuanzuo said with a smile: "This is a business that has been going on for thousands of years. Lin Dangjia, I heard that you are recruiting the old department in Chaoyang County, so it can be seen that you are also a person who wants to make a career. I think you have also discovered why the officers and soldiers are fighting bigger and bigger, in fact, there is no other secret, there is just money. Let's grow sugar cane together to make money, and the annual silver will be as stable as the crops, and you can take the silver to build a ship, repeating the old prosperity. Isn't it better than you to suffer? ”

Lin Daoqian's face was dark, and the woman who was straight in the south was quite tempted. She actually succeeded Xu Yuanzuo and discussed with Lin Daoqian about staying in Taiwan for a long time.

During the Jiajing period, Lin Daoqian was broken by Yu Dayou off the coast of Fujian, and he hid in Beigang to recuperate and recuperate. He is much more familiar with Taiwan than Zheng Zhi, but because he is familiar with it, he is also extremely afraid of malaria. Although Xu Yuanzuo boasted that there was a good medicine for malaria, it was still difficult to completely dispel Lin Daoqian's concerns.

"I really can't do it, so I'll try it." Xu Yuanzuo said.

*

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I wish you all a happy Shangyuan Festival~~~!

*(To be continued.) )