On April 16, the fifth year of Zhengde, in the land south of the Yangtze River, in the twilight of spring, mixed peanut trees, and a group of warblers flew wildly.

The poplars on both sides of the official road are lined up into a forest, and the flying white flocculent fills the air, which is annoying.

The midday sun was still warm, passing through the mottled shadows of the trees, and occasionally some birds scattered in horror when they saw the human convoy, splashing nameless petals on the ground.

There were more than a dozen people resting under the shade of the trees, all of them dressed as peasants, with coarse linen clothes and patches, and the cuffs on their wrists turned up.

“…… There are merchants in Suzhou Prefecture who collect raw silk, and these are local mulberry farmers, who carry them on their shoulders, thinking that they can exchange some silver in the city. ”

These were spoken by a young man with a sword on a horse and guarding a carriage.

After he finished speaking, a voice came from the carriage, "It's different from the tea farmers in Fujian, Suzhou doesn't grow tea, right?" ”

"Less. Suzhou characteristics are other objects, for example, there is a thing called loquat in Wuzhong West Mountain, its meat is white and tender, sweet and sweet, since Zhongcheng has arrived in Suzhou, you might as well taste it. How about Jiang Yong and Jiang Zhibai, it will take a few days to hand over. ”

"No, we are guests, don't look for food and drink on the realm of Yingtianfu."

“…… Be. ”

There was silence for a while.

Another voice came from the carriage, "I heard that Bai Shiweng went to the New Year, see where his tombstone is, I'll go and pay respects." ”

The young man outside was dressed in a long robe and wore a square scarf, although he was holding a sword, his movements were a bit of scholarly elegance, and he responded slowly, "Yes." ”

Baishi Weng is a celebrity in Wuzhong. The surname is Shen, a single name is a Zhou character, the word Qinan, the number Ishida, and the self-name Baishi Weng in his later years. This person is the founder of the Wumen School of Painting, and is good at landscapes and flowers, especially known for his ink and wash landscapes.

It's a pity that in the fourth year of Zhengde, Shen Zhou died of illness.

And the person who wrote the epitaph for him was the second assistant of the dynasty, Wang Wei.

Although Shen Zhou is not an official, his attainments in poetry and painting are quite high, and Wen Zhengming and Tang Bohu are all his students, so there is a saying of 'worship'.

After some inquiry, I learned that his hometown and tomb are located in Xiangcheng Xijianwei, which is on the edge of Yangcheng Lake.

So the group went to the dock instead, found a boatman, and got on a canopy boat.

On the blue waves, there is no end in sight, there are only a few boats on the clear blue lake, the smoke and waves are swirling, the time is quiet, and the so-called Jiangnan is about the same.

There was a wooden case on the bow of the boat, and behind the wooden table sat a middle-aged man in a cyan robe, with slender fingers and a white face.

The lake scenery is really open and shocking, so he is also interested, and he took out a hole flute to play, and its sound whined and lingered for a long time.

Soon after, another boat approached, and from that side came a young man with buckteeth and an ugly face.

He was dressed in a blue official robe, and stepped onto the boat with the lower corner of the official robe in his hand, lowered his head from the canopy to this end, and then saluted, "Jiang Yong, the prefect of Suzhou, has seen Zhang Zhongcheng." ”

The sound of the flute stopped, and then the words came out.

"Since you have come in a hurry, you must have known it. Zhibai, it seems a little wrong for you to call yourself the prefect of Suzhou again, right? ”

"Thanks to Zhongcheng, he can afford to be a lower official. The grace of Zhongcheng's promotion is unforgettable. ”

Zhang Li turned his head and took a closer look at the Suzhou prefect in front of him.

This person is not very old, and he is only twenty-six in the New Year, and he has been an official for no more than four years, and the first three years were in Deqing, Zhejiang. At the beginning of last year, there was an ugly incident in Huai'an Mansion, and after Long Yan was angry, the prefect was imprisoned.

At that time, Lin Han, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, was so impressed by his virtue that the imperial court transferred his son Lin Ting to the prefect of Huai'an, Huai'an is a thoroughfare, and it is important.

In this way, Lin Ting's original prefect of Suzhou was vacant.

And it was the Shaofu Ling Gu Zuo who won this position for Jiang Yong.

Now that it has been less than a year, Gu Liqing came to be a lobbyist for him again, and recommended Jiang Yong to Zhang Li's governor Yamen to participate in politics.

So important, so promoted...... But in fact, it doesn't look good, and it even looks a little ugly because of the buckteeth.

Zhang Li was in a complicated mood, he actually didn't have the idea of recruiting this person, or that they should all think about how to do what Gu Zuo liked.

"You don't have to thank the official for his kindness, there is someone else who recommended you in the ministry. Since you're here, sit down and go with the official to worship Shiraishi. ”

"Yes."

There was a rattling sound from the boat's water.

The two of them sat cross-legged side by side, and Jiang Yong's position was slightly back.

"On the way, the official saw a lot, and you pushed some people in Suzhou to change the rice fields into mulberry fields, which is said to be quite effective."

Jiang Yong bowed his head slightly, "Catch up with this good time, before the opening of the sea, silk was only sold in the mainland, seven or eight taels of silver per horse, and when it was shipped overseas, it was less than two times, and more than three times, mulberry fields were originally more profitable than rice fields, and the price of raw silk was higher, and it was more cost-effective to plant mulberry fields, probably earning more than two taels per mu per year." ”

Zhang Li nodded after hearing this, the reason why Gu Liqing recommended him was that he had a degree of talent, and now he listened to his mouth, no matter what, he should have his heart when he was this prefect.

"After the March court meeting, His Majesty has issued a holy decree, two capitals and thirteen provinces, each with its own duties, and you also know the affairs of the north. Therefore, the south must not have any situation, not only can it not be released, but Zhejiang must gradually abolish all kinds of regulations that have been set up in the past to restrict the people from participating in maritime trade, and only allow the government to set up banknotes, and not allow counties and prefectures to set up again. At the same time, in order to avoid a decline in Zhejiang's grain production, grain merchants operated by Shaofu have set up grain purchase and sales points in Zhejiang and neighboring provinces to balance grain demand.

At the end of the fourth year of Zhengde, Zhejiang Haimao Silver was 800,000 taels shorter than last year. Maritime trade has become more important than the annual grain and rice of more than 2 million stones, especially sweet potatoes are promoted in various places. Your Majesty can not do without this grain, but you can't do without sea trade. Zhibai, this official knows that you are good at economics, and you need to do your best to go to Zhejiang. ”

He didn't say that Jiang Yong would understand.

Everyone knows about the March Dynasty Meeting, and it has been about half a month since the news reached Jiangnan.

This year, the Son of Heaven has been on a par with Juntun, and several chaos in a row has also made the court a little nervous, and no one wants to touch that frown at this time.

At this time, such a request was made for Zhejiang...... Everyone thinks that the imperial court wants to use soldiers, so they can't afford to lack silver.

But Jiang Yong didn't think so.

"Zhongcheng, the lower officials think that there is no shortage of silver taels in the imperial court."

Zhang Li turned his head, and a person who was still the prefect just now talked to him about the imperial court, and he talked so firmly, it was rare.

Jiang Yong continued: "Zhengde has had sea trade silver in the warehouse for three and four years, and although it is less this year, I heard that there are more than one million taels. In addition to last year's, His Majesty alone deposited more than 2 million taels of silver. As the clean-up continues, the salaries to be paid by the imperial court will drop significantly, while the number of grains will increase, and the promotion of sweet potatoes will gradually fill the granary in the interior.

In addition, the border troubles of the imperial court have been eliminated, and the military tun is being cleaned up, with the thoughtfulness and stability of the Son of Heaven, the imperial court should not have a plan for an expedition in the fifth year of Zhengde. So even if Haimao Silver continues to decline to less than one million taels at the end of the year, it doesn't matter. Xia Guan dared to assert that there must be a surplus in the treasury this year, and it would even be a surplus of millions of stones.

Your Majesty is an extremely intelligent person, and if the lower officials can see this, Your Majesty must also be able to see it. Therefore, even if His Majesty asks Zhejiang to encourage commerce, it will not be for the sake of Haimao Silver. ”

After saying this, Zhang Li was a little impressed.

The so-called people should not be good-looking, and they should not look at people's ugly parents and have a contempt for them.

"So what do you think Your Majesty expects from Zhejiang?"

It's a difficult question to answer.

Jiang Yong can understand some economics, but he is too far away from the emperor, and he has seen it once so far, so it is really difficult to answer what the emperor thinks. However, when the governor asked, he could only try to say.

"The lower officials can only be sure that His Majesty's plans are often the overall situation rather than one domain."

"What is a domain?"

"Hundreds of thousands of taels of silver more every year."

"Is a few hundred thousand taels still a domain?"

"Ten years ago, it didn't count. But in the fifth year of Zhengde, for the current household department and the current majesty, count. ”

"So what's the big picture?"

"It's hard to say. But His Majesty's preparation for the establishment of a sailor may be able to peek into a spot or two. ”

Or give him a little more time, after all, it has only been a few days since he received to go to Zhejiang to participate in politics, and Jiang Yong has not had time to think about Zhejiang.

As he spoke, the ship was about to dock.

Zhang Li took the group to the dock, because it was a worship, so he had to straighten his hat, and then continue to walk, "Gu Shaofu recommends winning people." Zhibai, Zhejiang's governor Yamen, really needs you. ”

Jiang Yong bent down and arched his hand, "The lower officials don't dare to be the officials." ”

"Haha, let's go. Let's go all the way slowly, and then we will have to rush to the night, and we will have to delay for another day. When I picked you up at Suzhou Mansion, I was already postponed. ”

After the Great Dynasty Meeting, the Holy Decree flew to various places, and many people were gearing up, and Zhang Li, the governor of Zhejiang, was no exception.