On Tuesday, March 6, 1635, the eighteenth day of the first month of the eighth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Empire, it was stunned.

On the third day after the Lantern Festival, in the yamen of Qiongshan County, the capital of Qiongzhou County, which has been repaired several times, small bridges and flowing water, green bushes and fake stones, just like the courtyard of the south of the Yangtze River, the prefect Zhao Youheng is respectfully accompanying Xiong Wencan, the governor of Liangguang who suddenly came to the local area, for a walk.

“…… Thirteen counties in the three prefectures of Qiongzhou, the gentry joint production joint venture, has been reclaimed for more than four years, with a total of 31,000 mu of sugarcane in Xintian, 35,000 mu of cotton, and 250,000 mu of new rice in Nanyang. In addition, Chongzhen three years to promote the planting of coconut trees, this tree is the Nanyang people like to buy things, do not occupy the field, do not consume agricultural power, the road can be planted after the front slope of the house, the discount is about 30,000 acres, this year has been the result of the market, Qiongmin has added another agricultural livelihood. In addition to local use, most of the cotton and cane are exported to Nanyang, and then transferred to cotton cloth, refined sugar, lead and iron, coal and stone, grain, spices, stone mud (cement), crystal tiles (glass), perfumes, matches and other seafood ......"

Zhao Youheng quietly stared at the account book that Xiong Wencan was holding in his hand, and the number of people's livelihood that would be updated almost every quarter had reached the level of memorization, but in the end, his voice became smaller and smaller.

"Hehe, Ziqin governs the people in a good way, this Qiongzhou is just a few years, just like the prosperity of the south of the Yangtze River, and it is worthy of the title of Jiangbei Juncai back then, this governor is not as good!" Xiong Wencan pinched his beard, laughed, and turned back meaningfully to look at the in-laws of the Liu family in Shandong who had been protected by his love and kindness.

"Students don't dare, these are all the merits of the teacher's decision, and the students just do their best!" Zhao Mingchuan hurriedly lifted his official robe and knelt directly in front of Xiong Wencan, "Qiongzhou is remote, and this kind of hard work is a little successful, and it all depends on the teacher." ”

Zhao Youheng was able to escape in the "Eunuch Party Liquidation" many years ago, and it completely relied on Xiong Wencan, who had served as the political envoy of Shandong. Faced with Xiong Wencan's attitude of hiding a knife in his words, he could only be honestly afraid, and he was a teacher.

"You said that the cotton, cane and other agricultural products of the 'joint production and joint operation, reclamation and reclamation of new fields' are sold in Nanyang. Later, cloth, refined sugar and other things flowed into Qiong from the South Seas, but they were all the business of the South China Sea merchants? Well, I heard that even the Zheng family, the Yan family and the Nanyang Luzon all corresponded with the merchants of the South China Sea, and the coastal counties of Guangzhou, Fujian, and Zhejiang 'Haibu' and 'refined sugar' were of high quality and low price, and the people competed to purchase them first, and then used the local products, and the weavers often heard of it, and even the 'Nanyang snow salt' was also smuggled among them...... This battle is not small! ”

Xiong Wencan didn't let Zhao Youheng get up from the ground, but sat on the stone bench with a smile. One hand lightly tapped the table, looking through the accounts in his hand.

"The people of Guangzhou, Fujian and Zhejiang are very strong, and the South China Sea business chooses Qiong to do business, and the Nanyang is close to the market, and the trade is from Panyu, Guangzhou customs clearance, there is no overstep. As for the mixed snow and salt market, I'm afraid that there are occasional entrainments by illegal ship merchants, and it is really difficult to clarify......" Zhao Youheng felt weak in his heart for a while, and it took a long time before he muttered.

"The South China Sea firm sailed out of customs from Guangzhou and Panyu City. However, in the Qiongzhou Tax Division, he signed a business and operated all the goods, which was a good move! Your small Qiongzhou, a state's merchant city tax, tooth tax, and miscellaneous classes are more than the sum of the northern and southern provinces of the Ming Dynasty! In addition to last year's 76,000 stone summer grain, you still have 300,000 taels of silver in the treasury of Qiongzhou Mansion that have not been solved for three years. Is it also a reminder from the Governor?! Xiong Wencan casually flipped through the last few pages of the treasury account book, but his eyes were getting more and more serious.

"The lower official is guilty! If you go to Guangzhou City, I'm afraid it will be...... I am afraid that it is difficult to get a penny of taxes in the imperial court, so the students made this decision. As long as the merchants buy and do business in Qiong. Students must strictly carry out taxes to protect the interests of the country, not selfishly. Correct...... However, between three years. The miscellaneous tax and silver class in Qiongzhou has accumulated 300,000 taels, and the students are also quite surprised, for fear of criticism, and it is difficult to weigh it, but there is no greed for ink, please help me! ”

Zhao Youheng actually understood the purpose of the other party's visit this time, but he still pretended to be afraid and kowtowed again and again. However, when it came to the means of his brother-in-law and that Zhao Mingchuan to bypass the Guangzhou City Division, he also secretly regretted that he had not been ruthless in preventing his wife and brother from engaging in import and export maritime trade by secretly exchanging concepts, and he also paid a large amount of silver tax to the Qiongzhou Tax Department in a serious manner, which was typical of driving himself to their ship. In contrast, the local prefectures and counties below the Qiongzhou Mansion are now thriving, from officials to squires, and their pockets have risen sharply, but the various taxes have not changed much from previous years, but they seem to be very normal.

Although Xiong Wencan had a calm expression, he was also very shocked when he thought that Zhao Youheng actually let himself see this kind of tax account book and land account book that should have been "deeply hidden". Looking at the Ming Dynasty, which local state capital, relying on a single government, can save 300,000 taels of tax silver for the imperial court in just a few years? What's more, this is still the most remote and poor Qiongzhou capital in the Ming Dynasty.

However, Xiong Wencan also roughly understood the other party's hardships when he was still riding a tiger when he was in a good situation. When I came to Qiongzhou this time, I heard that the people of Qiongzhou were prosperous, which caused an influx of businessmen, and there were rumors among the officials and gentry in the surrounding state capitals, so I came to take a look, but it turned out that Zhao Youheng stuffed a hot potato.

"You know your faults...... I heard that the merchant name of the South China Sea is a member of your wife's family, and most of the merchant city tax and tooth tax come from this family, so it is inevitable that there will be some protection. This governor has been the governor of Liangguang for several years, and he has thought day and night for several years, if the foreign goods of the two Guangxi and Nanyang are all circulated ashore from the Guangzhou City Shipping Division, and the manpower is wasted, but not a penny of the tax revenue of the merchant market, the people will also feel quite inconvenient, and they are afraid that the gains will outweigh the losses. Now the provinces are full of displaced people, the north is eroded, the treasury is empty, and the country is very difficult......" Xiong Wencan turned to look at the north and sighed deeply, but the reproach in his tone disappeared, "Okay, these silver classes will be solved in Guangzhou for the time being, and this governor will 'sort out the accounts' for you and recreate the internal debts." ”

The implication is that the silver must be handed over a lot of money, but the credit can only be apportioned in the name of the entire Liangguang, so that you, the prefect of Qiongzhou, will not end up with a strange end of "strange merit must have demons" in the center of the court of "clear streams everywhere".

Zhao Youheng is not a fool, and he immediately understood what Xiong Wencan meant to come forward to protect himself again. Although Xiong Wencan made it clear that his attitude was on his side, how to balance the covetousness of these "Liangguang own people" who had the influence of countless local gentry, and the Qiongzhou Mansion would probably have to give up some, and this "sparse tax item" naturally meant to give some credit to other state officials. Even because the silver was handed over this time, it must be like this every year in the future, and Qiongzhou will virtually "volunteer labor" for the entire Liangguang. also kidnapped Liangguang in disguise.

"Get up...... Ziqin, you have a heart for the country, and this governor will not take such trivial matters with you. Qiongzhou is a place, you are good to take care of it, for the benefit of the people, do not use your own selfishness, defeat this rare pure place. If there is still a need for the help of the Governor, come to the place. ”

Thinking that hundreds of thousands of taels of snowflake silver would be sent to the emperor's inner pocket not long after, and Emperor Chongzhen might be excited, Xiong Wencan was in a good mood. Regardless of the fact that this method may make it impossible for Liangguang to step down in the future, his attitude towards Zhao Youheng has become more and more gentle.

"The students are ashamed...... However, the predicament of Qiongzhou is not the lack of land and materials, but the dispersion of people and the abandonment of fertile land. Therefore, I ask the teacher to consider the fact that the previous students invited Shiqiong, who had migrated to the southeast. The resettlement of the new people can be controlled by the government according to the law, and the local gentry will donate and receive help, which will not cost the court a penny! ”

Seeing that the other party was facing the routine of "blaming and secretly praising himself" in the officialdom, Zhao Youheng's head was buried deep in the ground. Gritted his teeth and said what he had never dared to mention again.

He once asked his brother-in-law Liu Yaoyu what he needed if Qiongzhou wanted to prosper, and Liu Yaoyu did not hesitate to say the word "people". Qiongzhou is currently this stall. The Nanhai merchants tried their best to "squeeze" all the labor in the hands of the local gentry, and the only way was to bring in more people, even displaced people. Derogatory or not, in short, Qiongzhou has never been so eager to have a hunger for labor.

In fact, it is not only Zhao Youheng, but also the magistrate of the local state and county of Qiongzhou Prefecture who has eaten the sweetness. For the first time, the beggar resettlement in the name of "work for relief" was actually turned out of the pile of old papers by the county officials in various parts of Qiongzhou, and they were "quite kind" to unite with the local gentry, and they looked for people everywhere.

But the relocation of civil affairs is related to the important affairs of the imperial court, even if there are displaced people everywhere, no local official dares to make any official decision on the relocation of displaced people without permission, let alone Zhao Youheng.

"This Qiongzhou, there is no shortage of a good official, but the body is still weak, the land is vast and sparsely populated, and all industries are difficult to prosper...... Last year, you offered the secret medicine of Nanyang Miyi antipyretic, which was used by the next generation, and it had miraculous effects. Poisonous miasma is rampant in the two vast areas of Lingnan, and more should be prepared. In addition, the Imperial Court Military Department has a good reputation for Miyi guns, but over the years, Macao has very little entry, you have to pay attention to one or two in Nanyang......" Xiong Wencan finished speaking, touched his beard and got up to leave, pretending to be alone in the courtyard to enjoy the flowers and scenery.

Zhao Youheng's heart sank, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief, got up slowly, and secretly wiped the cold sweat on his forehead.

……

In the next few days, Xiong Wencan was accompanied by Zhao Youheng with great interest in a private visit to Weifu around Qiongshan County, although he did not explicitly praise it, but from the expression, he was obviously quite pleased with the improvement of people's livelihood in Qiongshan County over the years. Especially when I heard the evaluation of the local people in the neighborhood of Liangguang that he was also a "loyal and virtuous man of the imperial court", he smiled and squinted.

The inspection in Qiongzhou lasted for more than half a month, and visited a number of local official families, and the feedback was that Zhao Youheng was very good at being an official, and staying in Qiongzhou was the desire of the people. Xiong Wencan was greatly relieved, but also secretly made up his mind. On the night of leaving Qiongzhou, Xiong Wencan began to write a recital to Emperor Chongzhen in Xingyuan.

He intuitively felt that the rise of Qiongzhou was by no means accidental, but he was reluctant to touch the cause and effect behind it for the time being, especially the humiliating and violent death of Wang Zunde, the last governor of Liangguang a few years ago. And the attitude of the "hidden danger of Nanyang foreign country" Huamei and deliberately staying away from the Ming Dynasty also made him always have a feeling that it was difficult to speak.

Generally speaking, with the "no profit and no early" Huamei, Qiongzhou's achievements over the years have made a long face for himself, and Emperor Chongzhen will issue an edict to praise himself if he has nothing to do, and the jealousy he has to face will not be smaller than Zhao Youheng's "sesame mung bean" prefect.

Not long ago, Emperor Chongzhen once again planned to make himself the governor of the mainland to focus on quelling thieves, and he shirked it with a strange article of "Five Difficulties and Four Imperatives", which made the emperor greatly appreciated. It seems that even if he is reluctant to go to the mainland, he will not be able to stay for many years as the governor of Liangguang, and someone will still have to take care of the southeast half of the Ming Dynasty after all......

Make up your mind, and naturally write like a god.

"Please reclaim the land to solve the Liao affairs:

The right attendant of the Ministry of Ministers and the Right of the Imperial Court of the Imperial Palace, the governor of Guangdong, Guangxi, the governor of Guangdong and other places of military affairs and food and salary Xiong Wencan kowtowed. In order to soothe the victims, Shiqiongzhou, Feng Liangguang, the South China Sea, and Eli Ping thieves broke the captives and sought peace in the world.

Stealing is the important thing of the country, and there is no accumulation of savings. The inner court is supported, and the outer court is used, all of which come out of this. Therefore, there was Wenjing first, and then there was Wei Huo Ponu. Nowadays, the East is rampant, and the thieves are in droves, and although the ministers are in the extreme south, they are also worried when they hear it.

Every time the minister thinks about it, the non-official army is not as good as the thief, the Han is not as good as the Hu cavalry, the lack of actual salary means that the soldiers have no courage, and the lack of food makes the army less warlike. Cao transported grain from the south to supply the nine sides of the north, and the old system of the national dynasty was also. Last year, the east broke the Daling River, Jiliao shook, and the northwest was unstable if it was moved to feed Liao, and if it was not fed, Liao was in trouble. Although the levy can be solved for a while, it is not enough. Therefore, it is a plan for the present, and it is also open source and throttling. Ancient and modern open source of the essentials, the first heavy reclamation, the present sea has been peaceful for a long time, the population is numerous, there is almost no wasteland, the rest or the mountains have no water, near the chaos of the chaos. The ministers performed in Lingnan and checked the household registration, which is to know the breadth of Qiong Island, the widowhood of the people, or can be reclaimed.

Qiongya, since the beginning of the Qin Dynasty, has been a county for 1,800 years. The land has the convenience of irrigation, and the water has the benefit of fishing, which can be called a cream. It is also the fact that the people have repeatedly migrated from previous dynasties. Every minister thinks about it, even if there is no prosperity in the south of the Yangtze River, there should be the abundance of Huguang Yingcang. Today, it is not as good as nine sides, the household is not more than 100,000, the smoke miasma is rampant, snakes and insects breed, the strong are unbearable, and it is difficult for the young to grow up.

When the new people reach Qiong, the plague will go to six or seven, and the worms and snakes will devour two or three, and there will be eleven of them. Therefore, whenever there is a war, relatives and friends are sent to it, such as going to Huangquan. However, last year, there were overseas countries of Miyi who went to Qiongzhou to ask for tribute, and its chief offered a medicine to shield the miasma snake and insects, and the ministers tried it, and the fruit was good.

The minister sent someone to recruit the chieftain, and before he could meet, the chief knelt down in front of the city and wept, saying: I can see the emperor's envoy, Mu Shengjun's grace, and there are no regrets in this life. When the minister sees him like this, he has a pure conscience and righteousness. The minister asked about the secret medicine, and he said that the small country was good at making boats and boats, and the secret medicine was obtained from the extreme south. He also talked about the state affairs of the South China Sea, and the envoys benefited a lot.

The minister heard that the country of Annan was in turmoil, and the north and south attacked each other, and asked why he did not see the people of Annan attached to avoid trouble. He said that there is good rice in Annan, and the hot miasma land can be two or three crops a year, although the country is in chaos, the people are still in harmony. However, Annan rice is an important weapon of Annan, and it is not lightly revealed, and the chief of the other is old in Annan, and he is willing to visit it, and offer the secret medicine to the holy pilgrimage.

I also saw that the newspaper reported that the salt tide in Fujian was frequent, the price of grain rose viciously, and many people were in chaos. The ministers invited the displaced people from Fujian, Zhejiang, Liangguang and Yunnan and Guizhou to Shiqiong Island, as a common practice. When the ministers are simple and capable officials, and teach the new people a lesson, then the fertile land is thousands of hectares, and several years can be expected. In this way, the source of Qiong Island is opened, and the treasury is filled in case of emergency, and the household department has a new Jiangnan, which is also profitable; The southeast is fixed, so that the thieves of Fuliao have no worries, and this benefit is also two; It also enables the displaced people to regenerate, and there is no risk of the White Lotus Demon Sect taking advantage of it.

The ministers are reckless, they don't dare to call it, and they don't dare to say that they are good. (To be continued......)