On March 5, 1631, the third day of the second month of the fourth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, Danzhou City.

The fourth day of February is the sting in the solar terms of the lunar calendar, and it is the time to usher in spring ploughing in the near future. As early as the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Agriculture of Haihan has transported a large number of rice seeds from Sanya to raise seedlings and breed seedlings in the Danzhou area.

The farmland in Danzhou is far more complex than in Sanya, where there are both large and small landlords and homesteaders with a small amount of land, so the pressure on the management committee to implement the Haihan land system is correspondingly greater. Fortunately, last year, with the help of pirates to seize the city, most of the large landlords who were hostile to Haihan had been cleared out, and although the remaining people were unwilling, most of them still chose to cooperate with Haihan and participate in the "farm-style farming" organized by the Ministry of Agriculture of Haihan.

The so-called farm-style farming, that is, Haihan provides excellent grain seeds, formulates regional crop planting plans, and reduces the production cost of crops with large-scale collective farming methods and scientific operation methods. As long as the owners of the fields involved in this cooperation hand over their land to the Ministry of Agriculture to take care of it, the proportion of taxes on the harvest on their land is slightly lower than in previous years, and the Ministry of Commerce will book these agricultural products in advance at a relatively reasonable price, so that farmers do not need to worry about the price fluctuations in the market during the harvest season affecting their due income.

In addition to these measures, the various cash crop cultivation methods at the disposal of the Ministry of Agriculture are also one of the reasons why local landowners are eager to grow them. At present, the oilseeds, spices, and novel melons and fruits in Danzhou City are almost all from Sanya, and the price is much cheaper than the goods shipped from Nanyang before, and the Ministry of Agriculture of Haihan has a plan to promote cash crop planting technology to cooperative farmers in the propaganda content of Danzhou, which is indeed an irresistible temptation for farmers who want to rely on the fields to get more income, after all, the income from planting these crops is much higher than simply planting rice and vegetables.

For the agrarian society of the 17th century, appeasing the situation of the agricultural population was one of the important measures to ensure social stability. Although there are many academies and culture and education are prosperous in Danzhou, the agricultural population is still as high as about 70%, so the management committee must make achievements in agriculture if it wants to maintain local stability. Considering that the direct transfer of land to the public might provoke strong resistance, the management committee, after seeking the approval of the executive committee, decided to first implement the Haihan collective farming method in Danzhou, and then gradually complete the reform of the land ownership system after consolidating the local ruling base.

But for the many local literati in Danzhou, how to plant the land outside the city, what to plant, and what the harvest will have to do with them has little to do with them. These people are often concerned about the books in front of them and the next imperial examination - of course, they have to add the recruitment and selection of Haihan people, after all, as long as they can get an errand under the Haihan people, they can also enjoy a worry-free life.

However, not every scholar's mind is on this, Zhang Qianzhi was woken up early in the morning by his fellow dormitory to prepare, he and five other academy students will go into the city with Huang Zixing today, and go to Nanhai Restaurant to attend the birthday banquet of Zhang Xin, director of the Danzhou Management Committee. Of course, although they went as little brothers carrying bags, their actual task was to place some fire-burning objects inside and outside the Nanhai Restaurant, so as to create chaos so that the assassins who were mixed in with the guests could assassinate the leader of the Haihan.

After everyone cleaned up, Huang Zixing appeared, and he specially set out to cheer up the group: "Gentlemen, today's matter is to promote orthodoxy and defend the righteous deeds of my Ming Dynasty! And after the matter is completed, the court will also have a corresponding reward, fame and fortune, and you can get it in one fell swoop! In public and private, this matter is worth fighting for your life! The old man is going to the national disaster with all the gentlemen today, and if there is glory and wealth in the future, all the gentlemen should also share it!"

Zhang Qianzhi and several others responded to the call, and then checked what they were carrying. The ignition they were carrying was inconspicuous, that is, strips of cloth soaked in oil, wrapped around their arms and calves, and their coats and trousers were not visible at all. When you use it, you can untie it down and form a pile, and you can ignite it with an open flame. As for the tinder, it is even more convenient, and everyone is given a box of convenient matches produced by Haihan, which can be taken out and used at any time with a stroke. Zhang Qianzhi couldn't laugh or cry when he saw it, but he didn't expect that these guys who wanted to deal with Haihan would actually use the things produced by Haihan.

However, what made Zhang Qianzhi feel a little relaxed was that these people, including Huang Zixing, did not carry any sharp weapons with them. Zhang Qianzhi was not afraid that they would bring sharp weapons in and hurt people, but that these guys were inexperienced, and they had sharp weapons on their bodies, and their movements were stiff, and it was not good to be seen in advance.

Huang Zixing continued: "Don't think that we are alone this time, in fact, as early as a few days ago, several soldiers who were really in charge of the operation had already lurked all over the city, and after the action, the city and outside the city would be launched together, and within a day or two, the local institutions of the Haihan people could be eliminated." This matter is under the command of the lord sent by the imperial court, and the princes can rest assured. ”

Huang Zixing saw that everyone had doubts on their faces, and said with a smile: "In order to let you go with confidence, the old man has invited Lord Zhao, who planned this matter, to meet with you today. ”

After a while, a man in a blue cloth robe entered the courtyard, bowed his hand to everyone, and then took out a waist card from his arms and showed it to everyone: "This official is Zhao Ye, the Fusi of Jinyi Wei Nanjing Town, and he was ordered to come to Qiongzhou to investigate and deal with all kinds of illegal things in Haihan.

Zhang Qianzhi stared at this person, and said in his heart, no wonder the Ministry of Security had been staring at the periphery for so many days, but still couldn't find any trace of this Zhao Ye, it turned out that he had been hiding in Zhongming Academy! Zhang Qianzhi thought about the situation in the academy, and thought that Zhao Ye was mostly hiding in the courtyard where Huang Zixing lived before, and it was also thanks to his patience that he hadn't even shown up once for so many days. Knowing that this guy was hiding here, the Ministry of Security should have put this Zhongming Academy to a boil, and there would be no need to waste so much time.

After saluting everyone, Zhao Ye continued: "This official is sitting outside the city today, and when the matter inside the city is completed, he will immediately launch an ambush to take over Danzhou." As for whether it will be successful or not, it depends on your appearance today!"

Zhang Qianzhi thought to himself that this Zhao Ye was cunning, and he didn't enter the city at all, and he had to find a way to pass on the news to his own people, so that they could come to Zhongming Academy to arrest people.

Two carriages had already been hired to take them from Zhongming Academy to Danzhou City for a banquet. This time, the Danzhou Chamber of Commerce also spared no expense, not only invited local political and business people, but also sent invitations to all the colleges in Danzhou, inviting the heads of the colleges to attend. And these officials, bosses, and the head of the academy naturally need to bring their entourage, which is roughly calculated to be a few hundred people.

Of course, Yan Mingjun and Li Jin were also in the flow of people going to the banquet, the difference was that the distance between their residence and Nanhai Academy was not far, and there was no need to take a car, but the Chamber of Commerce still specially sent two sedan chairs over to be responsible for the transportation of the two magistrates. Yan Mingjun only brought He Qi and one old servant, while Li Jin brought four of his own soldiers who had just recovered from their wounds - of course, Li Jin was very sensible and did not let his own soldiers carry any weapons, so as not to make everyone's faces ugly when the time came.

When the two of them arrived at the Nanhai Restaurant, they stood at the door to greet several businessmen from the Danzhou Chamber of Commerce, and Zheng Zhangxin and the others had not yet arrived at this time. Yan Mingjun looked around while greeting the people of the Chamber of Commerce, but he didn't see anyone wearing the uniform of the Haihan People's League nearby, and he couldn't help muttering in his heart, could it be that this Haihan people are so big that they really don't take Huang Zixing's gang seriously?

The scale of the Nanhai restaurant is also one of the best in Danzhou City, and the four-story building can set up more than 40 tables of banquets, which can barely accommodate the hundreds of people who go to the banquet today. The top floor is a private room, arranged for today's protagonists and local leaders. After Yan Mingjun and Li Jin were brought into the private room and seated, someone brought the roster and asked them to sign it, while their entourage and subordinates were arranged to sit on the lowest floor.

The two of them signed their names, and each took out the sealed gift money. Since Haihan Bank entered Danzhou, it is now convenient to give gifts, no longer need to carry heavy silver, just put a check from Haihan Bank in the envelope. However, the money they sent was not out of their own pockets, that is, they sent the silver sent by Haihan back to their own home.

Although the two of them have no real power in the local area, the whole city knows that they are just two mud bodhisattva decorations, but the guests who arrived first still relied on etiquette and lined up to greet the two, which more or less satisfied the vanity of the two. After all, they are usually all outsiders, and few people will take the initiative to visit, even if they go to the street, few people can recognize their identities.

However, their relaxed mood soon tensed up again, and Yan Mingjun's hand under the table touched Li Jin: "It's here!"

The person who walked up from the staircase step by step was not Zhang Xin, but Huang Zixing. The position he came up from was just facing the chairman's side, and he met Yan Mingjun at a glance. Huang Zixing didn't know that a serious change had happened a few days ago, and nodded to Yan Mingjun very calmly, and then walked over to greet the two.

"Grass folk Huang Zixing has seen two adults!" Huang Zixing said.

Yan Mingjun arched his hand and said: "Huangshan has not been seen for many days, has it always been good?"

Huang Zixing responded: "Lord Xie Yan cares, everything is very good! Today's event, the two adults just need to watch it!"

With Huang Zixing's status, he couldn't sit at the main table, and after finishing speaking, Xiao Er came over and led him to another table to take a seat. Li Jin lowered his voice and said, "It seems that they will still do it." ”

Yan Mingjun nodded slightly and said, "It's okay, it's up to them to do the death, he also said, let's just watch." ”

Li Jin glanced at Yan Mingjun's face and saw that he didn't seem to be upset, so he responded, "Brother Yan has figured it out, right?"

Yan Mingjun responded: "If you can't figure it out, you can only do this! Brother Li, what you said is right, after all, it is important to save your life, otherwise it is really not cost-effective to lose your life and bear an infamy!"

If nothing else, Huang Zixing's gang will definitely be convicted of colluding with pirates to cause chaos, and although Wang Tom said that day that he would give Yan Mingjun and Li Jin a good reputation behind him, but that was just talking, Yan Mingjun didn't dare to pin his reputation on the benevolence of the Haihan people, and when the time came, he would be charged with a crime, and he would not be able to defend himself at all. Maybe in the future history books, it will be recorded that "in the fourth year of Ming Chongzhen, Yan Mingjun, the governor of Danzhou, colluded with pirates, scourged the township, and died in pirate infighting".

Seeing that the guests who should have arrived had already arrived, but Zhang Xin and the others had not yet appeared, Yan Mingjun couldn't help but wonder if it was because the Haihan people were afraid that they couldn't control the scene, so for the safety of their own lives, they simply showed up at all? When he was muttering, there was a commotion downstairs, and then he saw seven or eight Haihan people coming up from the staircase surrounded by a group of strong men.

"You've been waiting for a long time, I'm really sorry, I'm sorry for the delay on official business!" Zhang Xin greeted loudly while making a circle around him. He didn't make excuses to shirk, he was indeed communicating with the base camp about the final course of action.

After nearly a month of investigation in the Danzhou case, more than 400 people have been identified, and they are not limited to Danzhou, but also have accomplices in the capital of Qiongzhou and in many county towns in northern Qiongzhou. The opinion of the Ministry of Security is to wait for Danzhou to take action, and all localities will take simultaneous action to arrest these people, so as to avoid the occurrence of fish that slip through the net to the greatest extent. As the person in charge of Danzhou, Zhang Xin naturally wants to assist the military and security departments in mastering the rhythm and proportions of their actions.

The people present naturally did not hold Zhang Xin accountable, anyway, the high hat does not need money, and it is harmless to say a few more good words, and there is a lot of sycophants at the moment.

"Director Zhang is busy with official business, and it is not easy to find time to have fun with the people, how can anyone blame him!"

"Director Zhang is too polite, it was the grass people themselves who came too early, just to drink a cup of tea to eliminate food. ”

"Director Zhang is still busy with official business on his big day, and this Danzhou can have today's prosperity, thanks to Director Zhang and the heads of Haihan who work day and night, this enthusiasm is really admirable!"

Although Yan Mingjun couldn't pull off this face and say some fleshy words, when Zhang Xin came to take a seat, he still got up with Li Jin very cooperatively to greet him. Zhang Xinchao nodded with a smile and said, "The two adults have also waited for a long time, so please come to the table together! I have been waiting for this banquet for many days today!"