The three guards who were guarding the pony and the princess were obviously a little more vigilant. Moreover, while staring at these two people, they also looked at Zhu Wu and signaled with their eyes.

However, Zhu Wu was not particularly nervous, and obviously did not mean to be particularly dangerous.

Seeing that these two people hadn't approached Zhang Yifan's side, they "poofed" and knelt down.

The one who was a little taller opened his mouth and said to Zhang Yifan: "Sinner Liu Datou...... Zhou Heizi knocked on the horse lord and Her Royal Highness the princess! ”

After saying that, the two kowtowed.

When Zhang Yifan saw it, he was a little curious, so he looked at Zhu Wu.

When Zhu Wu saw it, he explained: "He said that the two of them are pirates, and they have important news to report to the horse. ”

Perhaps hearing his words, the person named Liu Datou, who had already kowtowed, raised his head and looked at Zhang Yifan and said: "The criminals and he are both Ma Rujiang's subordinates, and they were ordered to go ashore to step on the spot, just to inquire about the news on the shore and prepare to avenge his brother......"

As soon as he heard this, although it was not very unexpected, that Ma Rujiang would definitely not be good at resting, but knowing that these two people turned out to be pirate spies, he also became serious, staring at the two people in front of him and listening.

“…… However, after I went ashore with him, I found that the horse master was a good man, and not only forgave the lowly status of people like us, but also had a share of the land. The master of the horse even took out so much money to make everyone be able to read. We've never seen anyone so generous in our lives. So the two of us discussed it and decided to surrender to the horse. We have been in the county seat for several days, and we are afraid that there are other Ma Rujiang's eyeliners in the county, and it was not until today that the horse master went out of the city and found an opportunity. ”

Zhang Yifan listened, stared at the two of them, and found that both of them were very sincere, so he said to the two of them: "It's a good thing that you can get lost and return." Go to the first 100 households, and then talk about the specific situation. ”

Here, of course, there will be a hundred households to protect the salt farm.

Even in this field, it is not a place to speak.

So, the group quickly arrived at the Baihu Office, and then questioned further.

Zhang Yifan was sitting, with guards on both sides, and people from hundreds of households, but they didn't let them in.

Liu Datou and Zhou Heizi didn't see any fear, and stood there and continued to tell Zhang Yifan.

"On the outer islands, we are not the only ones in charge...... Ma Rujiang is one, and there are other pirates, who usually do business and rob passing ships. Among each other, it can be roughly divided into three factions. None of us obey the other, sometimes we fight each other, but most of the time, we have our own territory. ”

Zhang Yifan knew that on this side of the sea off the mouth of the Pearl River, there were Wanshan Islands, with more than 100 islands of all sizes. Pirates are hiding on these islands, and if they don't know where, it's really hard to find.

Before, I just didn't know the specific news of the pirates, so I couldn't send a sailor to take the initiative to clean it up. Now that there is news of these two people, there is hope for taking the initiative to clean up.

Therefore, Zhang Yifan listened carefully.

"But some time ago, half a month ago, Liu Haozi softened and said that he listened to Ma Rujiang, and then Ma Rujiang and Liu Haozi subdued the water knife and them, and now there are nearly 2,000 people who can listen to Ma Rujiang's orders. He thought of revenge, so he sent the two of us ashore to inquire about the news. ”

Speaking of this, this Liu Datou saw the frowning appearance of the horse master, so he hurriedly said: "Don't worry about the horse master, there are a lot of pirates like the two of us who were originally desperate because of their cheap status." Now that the concubine has abolished the lowly status, the sinners believe that they definitely don't want to live on the knife edge. As long as we go back and talk about it, they will definitely be willing to submit to the court. ”

When Zhang Yifan heard this, he was not immediately overjoyed, but asked them about their specific situation.

Of course, those who live at sea are not stable on land, so no one wants to be a pirate unless they are forced to do so.

The reason why there are still many pirates is because of some regulations of the Ming Dynasty, such as those who are lowly people, they can't see the hope of mixing in the Ming Dynasty, so they are reversed.

There are also some of He Zhen's opponents, He Zhen surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, so they naturally could not be obedient, so they fled to the sea.

This kind of person is the most, including Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen's subordinates, and many of them fled to the sea. It is distributed on the side of the Yangtze River estuary and goes all the way to Fujian.

After verifying the situation, Zhang Yifan said to them: "Very good, if you are willing to submit, that is to atone for your sins, this official promises you, I will give you civil registration when you turn back, and according to your performance in the process of purging, there will be another reward!" ”

Hearing this, the two were very happy and took the initiative to kneel down and kowtow.

Subsequently, the two also confessed to the distribution of pirates near the mouth of the Pearl River.

Zhang Yifan was very happy to get this information.

More than 2,000 pirates may not be able to attack a county town or other city with a strong wall, but if they go ashore to harass villages and towns, the harm will naturally be great.

If we can take the initiative to eliminate these pirates and restore peace to the Pearl River Estuary, it will be a very big blessing for the coastal people.

However, in Zhang Yifan's hands, there is no water master. If you want to clear out the pirates, you must also let the sailors belonging to the Guangdong Capital Division go on the expedition.

So, he immediately wrote a letter and sent someone to send it to the Guangdong Dusi.

If you exterminate the pirates outside, you will have one less heart disease.

Relaxed, Zhang Yifan was still in the mood to go to the salt field and reveal the mystery to Zhu Jingjing.

"See, this layout is to use the heat of the sun to cook salt." Zhang Yifan pointed to the salt field in front of him and said with a smile, "Our Xiangshan County is located at the southern end, and it is basically hot all year round. ”

Zhu Jingjing and the others were dumbfounded when they heard this, no matter how much they thought about it, they didn't expect that they would use the sun's rays.

Listening to Zhang Yifan introduce them to how to do it, Zhu Wu said in disbelief: "Don't you say that if you use this method to cook salt, you won't be able to use up the salt in the future, and the cost is too low, right?" ”

"Yes, this method can greatly reduce the cost of table salt." Zhang Yifan listened, nodded and said, "Do you remember the smell of rotten fish and stinky shrimp in Tangjia Village?" In the future, after the price of salt is greatly reduced, ordinary people can use salt with confidence, and they can use salting to save some food, which can improve their lives! ”

"So, the source of money in our Xiangshan County mainly depends on this salt farm?" Zhu Jingjing suddenly realized, pointed to the salt field in front of him and asked.

Zhang Yifan listened, shook his head with a smile and said: "Not only that, but next year, I will issue another notice to let the people of Xiangshan County plant sugarcane on a large scale, and the government will purchase it, and then make sugar and sell it." ”

At this time, basically all that is made is brown sugar, but Zhang Yifan knows how to simply turn it into white sugar, and the price can be increased several times.

"The government buys, the government sells?" Zhu Jingjing listened and asked with some confusion.

Isn't this a competition with the people? She thought so, but she didn't say it.

Zhang Yifan didn't feel anything wrong, nodded and said: "That's right, this is called official business, that is, the owner is the government, and the profits can be handed over to the imperial court and local governments, and then used to improve people's livelihood." Otherwise, it costs money to do so many things in return, where does this money come from? Isn't it better than taxing the common people or levying hard labor? ”

Zhu Jingjing listened and did not immediately agree. It's really this thing, it's too fresh, she hasn't figured it out yet.

When Zhang Yifan heard this, he explained to her: "You see what we do, such as running a social school, hiring all kinds of labor, building water conservancy, etc., this is all for the good of the people, and it is something that the government must do." But what if the government doesn't have the money in its hands? In the end, it still fell on the heads of the common people. And if the officials and businessmen don't make money, then the money is actually made by those businessmen, and a large part of it is made by Haoqiang. And they won't use the profits to benefit the people. And they come to make money, and that's probably going to be black-hearted. Therefore, the existence of officials and businessmen is actually beneficial to the people, the government, and the court. ”

"Brother Fan is really thoughtful, now I understand!" Zhu Jingjing listened and looked at her husband with adoring eyes.

Zhu Wu and the others also nodded again and again when they heard it. The thoughts of the horse master always shocked them, and they should have been numb, but they were still shocked.

I really don't know how the pony man came up with this?

Zhang Yifan himself, but there is no change in his expression, this is the state-owned enterprise of later generations, which is the mainstay of the national economy. As long as there are no problems with state-owned enterprises, then the country is not prone to problems.

In particular, the participation of state-owned enterprises is necessary for the people's biological resources, which will play a role in determining the sea's divine needle.

Of course, if there is a problem with the state-owned enterprises, the trouble will also become very big.

Nowadays, Xiangshan County is a special zone, and he can experiment as much as he wants, and he can't always have more expenditure than income, so this matter of opening up sources and reducing expenditure must also be done.

Liu Datou and Zhou Heizi also followed Zhang Yifan's side, and when they heard the words of the county order, they felt that the life of the people of Xiangshan would be better and better in the future, so they were even more excited, and secretly rejoiced that their choice was right.

In the afternoon, Zhang Yifan and Zhu Jingjing wanted to go back to the county seat, but Liu Datou and Zhou Heizi were inconvenient to return to the county seat, so they let them stay in the hundred households. After the Guangdong Dusi sent a sailor, they led them to clear out the pirates.

is about to get rid of a piece of heart disease, no longer have to worry about the hidden worries of Xiangshan County, and successfully exterminate the pirates, which makes Zhang Yifan feel very good.

However, when the messenger sent to the Guangdong capital did not turn back until the evening, Zhang Yifan was a little surprised.

According to the fast horse back and forth, it should be able to rush back in the evening.

Could it be that there is any accident?

By the afternoon of the next day, the messenger finally returned, and he was really fed by Zhang Yifan.