Back to Daming to be a genius

Chapter 65
(PS: There are two updates today, and the first one will be delivered.)
"Thank goodness, that little bastard Zhang Qing didn't come at all," Wei Zhongxian, Cui Chengxiu, Gu Bingqian and others who came to see him off had already left when they were about to board the ship. Huang also left, and Song Jin, Wei Liangqing, Fu Yingxing, Xiao Chuan and others who went to the south of the Yangtze River with Young Master Zhang also boarded the ship one after another, but Zhang Qingyun, who begged Young Master Zhang to come to Jiangnan to see the world and gain experience, still did not come , Young Master Zhang, who has a very bad impression of Zhang Qing, is inevitably a little elated, "It seems that God bless, Zhang Qingyun did not convince the British Duke. Haha, Zhang Guogong, you are so wise."

The purpose of Young Master Zhang's trip to the south of the Yangtze River to raise funds for disaster relief is to raise 50 taels of silver in the prosperous south of the Yangtze River to buy grain and transport it to the disaster-stricken area in Shandong to deal with the ensuing famine in Shandong.Regarding this point, although Wei Zhongxian, who is well aware of the virtues of gentry, rich and businessmen in the south of the Yangtze River, did not hold much hope, he still gave Young Master Zhang great support. The sword of Shangfang has the right to kill first and play later in terms of reputation - its purpose is very obvious, to intimidate all officials in the south of the Yangtze River and reduce the resistance from official circles as much as possible.The eunuch Song Jin, the supervisor of ceremonies, was given the title of special envoy of the East Factory Supervisory Office, meaning to assist Young Master Zhang in supervising the execution of official duties by Jiangnan officials, and at the same time have the effect of monitoring Young Master Zhang.Fortunately, the relationship between Young Master Zhang and Song Jin has always been good, so there is no need to worry about internal threats.

This time, Young Master Zhang only brought Lu Wanling, a book office, and Zhang Shitou, a servant; Song Jin, who had just become his boss and was still planning to climb up, wanted to prevent Wei Zhongxian from feeling that he was going crazy when he was successful. He only brought four young eunuchs to serve him; Wei Liangqing and Fu Yingxing, the two good brothers of Young Master Zhang, brought twenty beautiful maids and twenty servants to serve him, plus card tables, gambling equipment, toilets, birdcages and other things, two people Only two official ships were occupied; Xiao Chuan, the chief guard who was named by Young Master Zhang, carefully selected a hundred masters from Dongchang fanzi and Zhenfusi Jinyiwei in an extremely exaggerated manner. They brought out Chen Jianhuang, the youngest of the thirteen imperial guards of Jinyiwei, to jointly protect Young Master Zhang and his party. A hundred or so people also occupied two official ships; together with Young Master Zhang and Song Jin on the main ship, the total Five big ships, the momentum is still quite huge.Only in this way, the pressure on Young Master Zhang will inevitably increase a little bit—if he brought so many people to the south of the Yangtze River, if he really returns empty-handed, even if Wei Zhongxian doesn't care, the gang of censors and officers in the court and Feng Quan and his group will not let Young Master Zhang go.

"Hey, let's take it one step at a time. There are benefits to having more people." Young Master Zhang sighed, and was about to board the first ship and give the order to set sail, when a few people emerged from the crowd at the pier, carrying packages on their backs. Xiang Xiang boarded Young Master Zhang's boat, and Xiao Chuan and Chen Jianhuang, who were guarding the boat, quickly stopped him and shouted: "Stop, this is an official boat, take a civilian boat to Luheyi Wharf, get out!"

"Dare to tell me to go? Are you so daring? Zhang Haogu, do you dare to tell me to go?" A familiar sharp voice came, "Zhang Haogu, what did you say in front of my sister? Now you People who dare to tell me to go, do you believe that I will sue my sister?"

"Brother Xiao, Master Chen, let him board the boat." Young Master Zhang didn't even bother to turn his head, and directly ordered: "He is Zhang Qing, the youngest son of the British Duke, and I promised to take him to Jiangnan to see and broaden his horizons. Mr. Zhang, I have prepared two rooms for you in the back cabin, you can live in them yourself." Xiao Chuan and Chen Jianhuang were taken aback, and quickly moved out of the way to let Zhang Qing and his party get on board.And Young Master Zhang didn't get on the boat until he caught a glimpse of Zhang Qing's figure in the back cabin, and then he got on the boat dejectedly, muttering in his heart, "Sun! I thought he wasn't coming, it's annoying!"

"Start the boat." Master Zhang gave an order, and the five official ships bearing the imperial envoy's flag raised their oars and anchored at the same time, and slowly sailed away from the Shiba wharf dedicated to the palace. Drove south.

According to Young Master Zhang's plan, this trip south to the south of the Yangtze River is to do offending errands, so try not to stop at the shore on the way, and try not to disturb the state capital along the way, so as not to let people catch the handle and have a pretext for impeachment and attack.But what Young Master Zhang didn't think about was that his plan was almost disrupted when he arrived at the Tongzhou River section after he had just left the capital for less than forty miles...

The accident took place at Tongzhou Huangmuchang Wharf. At that time, Young Master Zhang's boat had just passed the east side of the wharf when a cargo ship full of timber rushed across the wharf. The waist of the young master’s boat, although young master Zhang’s boat was light and he turned the rudder in time to avoid it, but the bow of the cargo ship still hung on the stern of young master Zhang’s stern. Down, everyone broke out in a cold sweat.After the ship stabilized slightly, Xiao Chuan and Chen Jianhuang immediately rushed to the stern and yelled at the cargo ship, "Are you blind? You dare to hit the ship of the imperial envoy? Do you want to rebel?"

"My lords, I'm really sorry. The rudder is broken, and the wind is too strong, so I can't control it." A man who looked like a bow stood on the cargo ship, and explained to Xiao Chuan and Chen Jianhuang with a playful smile.Xiao Chuan looked up at the flag, saw that the corner of the flag didn't move, and immediately flew into a rage, pulled out the Xiuchun knife and shouted: "Fart! Where is the wind coming from now? Are you looking for death on purpose, kid?"

"Master, what you said is wrong." Another man with a horse face came out of the cabin of the cargo ship, smiled at Xiao Chuan and said, "Master, there was indeed a strong wind just now, and my rudder broke again. , that's why I was rushed to this side by the wind, and accidentally bumped into the imperial envoy's boat - all the cargo ships and merchant ships on the pier can attest to this. So although Caomin's boat was at fault, it was really unintentional. Please forgive me, Lord Jun." After finishing speaking, the horse-faced man bowed his hands to Xiao Chuan, with a very contemptuous attitude.

"Damn it, are you really looking for death?" Xiao Chuan was trembling with anger, thinking that the morals of the world are really reversed. The brother-in-law of the hundred households of the East Factory and the commander of the Town Fu Division has only left the capital for thirty or forty years. Here, some people will not buy my account immediately!If I don't give this kid some color today, will I be able to hold my head up in the capital in the future?Thinking up to this point, Xiao Chuan shouted: "Brothers, come on, take down this rebel who rammed into the imperial envoy's boat!"

"Decree!" A dozen Jin Yiwei and Dongchang fanzi who were also furious agreed at the same time, drew their knives and jumped onto the opposing cargo ship, intending to take down the horse-faced man and beat him up first.But at this moment, Young Master Zhang saw that something was wrong, and hurriedly shouted: "Stop! Step back for now!" The factory guards who jumped on the cargo ship froze for a moment, but they still stopped obediently.Young Master Zhang shouted at the horse-faced man again: "Who are you? Why did you ram my cargo ship?"

"Not now Li Jiaguo, the president of the Tongzhou Chamber of Commerce." The horse-faced man cupped his hands casually and symbolically, and then replied proudly: "Master Imperial Envoy, Cao Min once again declares that Cao Min's boat was blown by the strong wind just now, that's why he was not careful. I crashed into your lord's boat——if your lord doesn't believe it, the cargo ships and merchant ships passing nearby can all testify to the grassroots."

"Yes, we can testify that Chairman Li's boat was blown by the wind." At some point, all kinds of merchant ships and cargo ships were gathered around Mr. Zhang's boat, and the merchants on board were driving all kinds of With such an accent, he shouted: "My lord, don't wrong President Li. President Li is a good man." If you want to wrong Chairman Li, then we will go on strike! The wood market, grain market, salt market, and boat market in Tongzhou are all on strike! Please the emperor and Jiuqiantui uphold justice for us!"

"Trap! This is a trap!" Seeing this scene, could Young Master Zhang guess that the other party came prepared?Dig a trap and jump in for yourself. If you jump in, then the largest Tongzhou Wharf at the north end of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal will all go on strike. At that time, there will be a shortage of grain, rice, oil and salt in the capital. Needless to say, there will be overwhelming impeachment memorials in the court Therefore, Ming Xizong and Wei Zhongxian must punish Young Master Zhang.However, Young Master Zhang is still very strange, "Who is this Li Jiaguo? Why are you targeting me like this?"

"Tan Hua Gong, this person is not easy to mess with, you must not be impulsive." At this time, Lu Wanling, the dog-headed military strategist of Young Master Zhang, came over and whispered in Young Master Zhang's ear: "My little brother has heard of his identity, he is The eldest son of Li Sancai, the late veteran of the three dynasties and the former Minister of the Ministry of Households, Li Sancai, the eldest son of Mr. Li, was as rich as an enemy, and he kept his word among the merchants along the canal. , we won’t be able to clean up.”

"Li Sancai's son? Why did he punish me like this?" Young Master Zhang was even more surprised.Lu Wanling replied: "This matter should start from Li Sancai. Li Sancai is the leader of the Donglin treacherous party. He has made more than 100 memorials, condemning the late emperor Wanli for collecting labor tax, mining tax and commercial tax. There was a lot of response from the local and private merchants. When he was alive, even the first emperor Wanli and Jiuqiansui didn't dare to touch him casually. Once Jiuqiansui was dismissed as his official, but he was affiliated with the merchants in the Li Sancai Chamber of Commerce. Massive protests (note) caused more than 200 city strikes in the north and south of the river, causing great turmoil among the people, and forced Nine Thousand Years to restore his official position. It was not until Li San died the year before last, and Nine Thousand Years Only dared to cut him last year. You are nine thousand years old, Mr. Tanhua, how can Li Sancai's son not hate you?"

Speaking of this, Lu Wanling added in a low voice: "Tanhua Gong, in my opinion, you should bear with it first, this Li Jiaguo is not easy to mess with, although his family's scholar status has been cut, but he still has money , the merchants in the north of the Yellow River still listen to him! And his younger brother Li Jiabin is the president of the Jiangnan Nanjing Chamber of Commerce. Our errands in Jiangnan are even more difficult."

"Damn it, it's like the nine thousand years of the Industrial and Commercial Bank!" Young Master Zhang murmured in his heart.On the other hand, Li Jiaguo shouted arrogantly and domineeringly: "Master Imperial Envoy, what do you say about this? If you want to arrest me to see the officials, then we will leave now. But Li Jiaguo believes that in this world, there are still more honest people and less despicable people. There are more honest officials than corrupt ones, even if the lawsuit goes to the Golden Palace, someone will make the decision for me."

"Xiao Chuan." After pondering for a long time, Young Master Zhang finally gritted his teeth and ordered: "Call your people back, set sail, and leave." Although Xiao Chuan was angry at Li Jiaguo deliberately finding fault with him, Young Master Zhang swallowed his anger Xiao Chuan obediently called back to Jin Yiwei who had jumped onto the cargo ship, and led the remaining four boats. Amid Li Jiaguo's triumphant laughter and the laughter of surrounding merchant ships and cargo ships, he continued to leave southward with his tail between his legs.

"It's useless, someone bumped into the boat of your majestic imperial envoy and didn't even dare to fart, are you considered a man?" Zhang Qing's harsh sarcasm came from the cabin.Young Master Zhang didn't bother to pay attention to him, he just pointed to Li Jiaguo's group who were still laughing wildly in the distance, and gritted his teeth to Xiao Chuan and Chen Jianhuang's group who were livid with anger: "Brother Xiao, Brother Chen Shisan, And brothers, don’t worry, there will come a day when I, Zhang Haogu, will lead you to raid his Lijiaguo’s house and rob him of all his money and women!” Having said that, Young Master Zhang pulled out the sword on his waist, He slammed on the ship's side and shouted: "If I, Zhang Haogu, can't do this, I swear I won't be a human being!"

…………

"Hahahahaha!" While Young Master Zhang swore to take revenge, Li Jiaguo was still laughing loudly on his own cargo ship full of royal timber, and a person walked out of the cargo hold without a sound, but he was thrown away by Young Master Zhang. Qian Qianyi, the great Confucian who was dismissed from office and was also hit with a wrench, is Mr. Qian.Qian Qianyi bowed his hands to Li Jiaguo, and said with a smile: "Brother Li really has a clever plan to make Zhang Haogu, the so-called imperial envoy, lose face, and increase my Donglin ambition. It is respectable and admirable."

"Everyone says Zhang Haogu is great, but in my opinion, that's all." Li Jiaguo laughed triumphantly, "What's wrong with me intentionally ramming his boat? How dare he say anything? Didn't he obediently run away with his tail between his legs? Originally, I purposely made this boat full of wood used by the Ouchi Imperial Palace. If he dared to file a lawsuit, I would make it impossible for the Imperial Palace to even be repaired. My second trick is useless. Well, it's better to be famous than to meet, and it's better to be famous than to meet."

"Brother Li, don't be too careless. Zhang Haogu has always been treacherous, ruthless, and merciless. Countless members of the Donglin Party have fallen into his hands. Be careful that he will settle accounts with you after Qiuhou." Qian Qianyi kindly A reminder, and then said: "So this time, no matter what, we can't let him raise 50 taels of silver. We have to let him be dismissed from office first, so that we can rest assured to avenge the countless Donglin Party members who died unjustly." avenge."

"Then what are you going to do?" Li Jiaguo asked Qian Qianyi squinting.Qian Qianyi replied: "I have already sent a letter to Mr. Gao Panlong Gao and the others, telling them to kill Zhang Haogu and not to donate a penny. And I myself plan to go to the south of the Yangtze River in person. Wuxi Donglin Academy organized Donglin students to fight against Zhang Haogu, and prevented ordinary merchants and people in the south of the Yangtze River from donating money to Zhang Haogu."

"Okay, I'll go with you." Li Jiaguo waved his hand and said grandly: "Our Li family also has a lot of influence in the south of the Yangtze River. I will join hands with my younger brother Li Jiabin to suppress those salt merchants, tea merchants and textile companies. Don't let them donate a tael of silver to Zhang Haogu."

"It's the best." Qian Qianyi was very happy, and said darkly: "If Brother Li's family can go on strike and expel the tax supervisor a few more times like Wanli Dynasty, then Zhang Haogu's life will be even better."

Note: Before the Wanli large-scale taxation in the Ming Dynasty, bureaucratic merchants were actually in a situation where they did not have to pay any taxes. Other merchants could also obtain the benefit of all tax exemptions if they spent money and affiliated with the firms opened by big bureaucrats.Therefore, Li Sancai, the general leader of Tongzhou merchants, naturally hated Zhang Juzheng, Wanli, and Wei Zhongxian who levied taxes on the industrial and commercial industries. Pay business taxes.But in fact, his family property is more than the annual income of the Ming Dynasty treasury.

(End of this chapter)