There was a flat boat on the river, and there were no chairs in the boat, only small benches, so several people sat on their knees. Occasionally, a few trumpets or folk songs were heard from the shore. If you only look at the scenery, you can't see more things, such as the homeless people who meet at the entrance of the village.

Zhou Zhongzhang asked and said, "If the lower official didn't guess wrong, you are Zuo Yushi, right?" ”

Zuo Guangdou smiled and said, "Changyan doesn't have to be polite, please take a seat." If the old man didn't guess wrong, you are Lord Zhang of Zhejiang Salt Class? ”

Zhang Wen said that the student was ashamed, and then made a gesture to Chu Sang next to him, and then sat down together.

Zuo Guangdou instantly suppressed his smile and said: "After Zhejiang changed to salt, the price of salt skyrocketed tenfold, at this time, Lord Zhang was not trying to stabilize the price of salt in the lifting division, but he sent salt here, but he didn't know that Zhangjiali got salt in one place, and there are countless Zhangjiali in Zhejiang, what should I do?" ”

Zhang Wen naturally can't say that he came to your old man's house on a special trip, so he will take care of it in the future. masked with Zuo Guangdou, it was the villagers of Zhangjiali who invited the two to have a chance, and there were not many traces, so Zhang Wen would not admit it, so as not to leave a bad impression on Zuo Guangdou.

So Zhang Wen said unhurriedly: "The household department has changed to open the middle and nano, which has doomed the price of salt to skyrocket, there is an official document, the students are powerless, and they are ashamed of the people because of their position, so they have to try their best to do a little good deed, and they feel a little better." ”

In Zuo Guangdou's impression, Zhang Wen is a timid and cowardly person, but this time he is masked, and Zuo Guangdou feels that he at least has a good heart for the people, no matter what, he is still worthy of praise. Zuo Guangdou looked at the river, and suddenly sighed, not only was Zhang Wen powerless, but what could he do about it?

Zhang asked: "I don't know what Zuo Da learned from visiting the township?" ”

Zuo Guangdou said: "How difficult is the people's livelihood, after the salt change, 500,000 taels of military expenses will be collected by the imperial court, but the wealth of Li Min who has been exploited because of this is not more than 5 million?" The Zhejiang Party controls the cabinet, ignores the suffering of the people, blinds the emperor, and blocks the way of speech, the old man must send the letter to the emperor! ”

Zhang Wen couldn't help but say: "I'm afraid Lord Zuo's advice like this won't work." As far as the students know, in Hangzhou, for example, each mu of land is less than one bucket, while the yield of rice fields in the south of the Yangtze River can reach up to three stones per mu. These accounts, the emperor can see, isn't this kind of tax already very low? Now the household department cannot come up with military spending, and there is nothing wrong with raising military spending through other means, and the emperor is on the side of the Zhejiang party, and it is useless to admonish him. ”

"Oh?" Zuo Guangdou lowered his head and pondered, speechless for a long time.

Zhang Wen didn't speak, just looked at the mighty river, guessing Zuo Guangdou's thoughts. Zuo Guangdou has been inspecting for so long, so he naturally knows why people's livelihood is suffering.

The average tax per mu is less than one-tenth, and the wind and rain in the south of the Yangtze River are smooth, but most of the people are still just getting enough food and clothing, and there are even bankrupt displaced people. Where is the money and food? The problem is that now that a large number of land has been annexed, the peasants are almost tenant farmers, and they have to pay not only state taxes, but also land rents. In some places, the rent can be as high as eighty or ninety percent of the harvest, and there is not much left for the cultivators.

The people at the bottom have been exploited layer by layer to close to the critical point, and at this time, the situation will deteriorate even faster by means of salt change. Zhang Wen is also a landlord, but he understands this, so he feels that other landlords are carried away by greed and are stupid.

Zuo Guangdou was speechless, but he also knew the truth in his heart. Zuo Guangdou is sad and merciful to the people, hoping that the people will have a better life, this kind of mood, Zhang Wen thinks it should not be fake. But Zuo Guangdou can scold the emperor, he can scold the household, does he dare to go against all the landlords who rule the empire?

After a long time, Zuo Guangdou said: "How does Chang Yan think this game should be broken?" ”

Zhang asked, "At this time...... No way. "The Zhejiang Party is a landlord, isn't Donglin also a landlord, one or two people, even if they have that heart, they really want to do it with all the people, the ants shake the tree, there is a fart way.

Zuo Guangdou's bright eyes looked at Zhang Wen, and felt that this person was quite knowledgeable, so he said tentatively: "Chang Yan thinks that what is the purpose of the Zhejiang Party's salt reform in addition to raising military spending?" ”

"It won't work at all to open the middle and nano, in the end, someone has to take the blame, either the fault of the Zhejiang Party, or the fault of Donglin, is the emperor still at fault? Yes, this plan was proposed and enforced by the Zhejiang Party, but it was approved by the emperor, and the Zhejiang Party pulled the emperor, so there was nothing to fear. Therefore, if you want to admonish, you can't say that the plan itself is wrong, but you have to say that the implementation is wrong, and only then can things be contested. ”

Zuo Guangdou blushed and said: "The old man is above board, how can he open his mouth and talk nonsense?" ”

Zhang asked him to give him a white look, and said in his heart, if you really dare to speak, you go and scold the landlords all over the world, Zhejiang Party Donglin, as long as the landlords are scolded, saying that they have annexed the land, and they have demanded excessively, and our Ming Dynasty has caused chaos in the world.

Of course, Zhang Wen can't think about anything or say anything, and in the future, he will have to rely on this big man Zuo Guangdou to treat himself as a grasshopper on a rope and take care of each other. So he said: "Lord Zuo, alas, the students know that you are honest and outspoken, but we are not for fame, not for profit, we have to think about the people, as long as things can be done and justice can be maintained, why do you have to stick to the form?" ”

Zuo Guangdou snorted and said, "Old man, listen to you first, how did you execute it wrong?" ”

This Zhang Q really can't be answered, because Zhang Wen guessed that what he did next was all a trick, Zuo Guangdou thought he was above board, and it didn't work with him. Zhang Wen just wanted to remind him not to make a mistake at the starting point, and directly stand in a defeated position. In the future, if Donglin is doing ghosts, the Donglin Party members involved in this matter, including Zhang Wen, will not be able to get out of it.

Just when Zhang Wen didn't know how to answer, he suddenly saw a big boat sailing on the river, and Zhang Wen hurriedly changed the topic and said, "Hey, this boat seems to be a troop carrier." ”

Zuo Guangdou looked in the direction pointed by Zhang Wen, and sure enough, he saw the lantern of the Nickel Division Yamen hanging on the ship. When the warship sailed past from the side of the boat, Zuo Guangdou ordered someone to take the seal letter and ask about it, saying that he was going to get the smuggling salt den.

The warship continued to sail westward, Zuo Guangdou looked at the white water lines drawn on the river, and suddenly turned around and asked, "Nickel Si Yamen takes the private salt den?" Changyan, did you get the news beforehand? ”

Zhang Wen shook his head.

"I don't know what the salt division is, what is the urgency of the nickel division...... The old man has to go back to the governor's yamen immediately, Changyan, you and Qingyang go with the ships to see what they are going to do. ”

Zhang Wen suddenly sighed after hearing this, Jiang is still old and spicy, and Lord Zuo, who dares to be a lover, has already considered that there is a yin trick below, so isn't it prudent? But you can't say it, people can think of tricks, but words and deeds should be above board.

Since Zuo Guangdou wanted to use Zhang Wen, Zhang Wen immediately agreed that if there was a common enemy, they would take care of each other. Zhang Wen and Zuo Guangdou's protégé Chu Sang got on Zhang Wen's salt boat, with a book and a sword, and all followed the ship, only to see more than 100 sergeants in armor, all with weapons, and even firearms, a dry battle.

Zhang Wen showed the seal letter and got on the ship. A bearded general walked out of the cabin and arched his hand: "The last general, the Nickel Division, Yamen Qianhu Sun Li, pays a visit to Lord Zhang." ”

Zhang asked, "Where are you going to get the smuggling salt den?" Why is there no news at all? ”

"Lushan, the last general is acting on orders, and other things are not clear."