Zuo Guangdou's family is a prominent family in Tongcheng, and has been quite wealthy since his great-grandfather Zuo Lin.
Therefore, although the Zuofu in the depths of the alley cannot be compared with those luxurious mansions in the capital, it can be regarded as a quite spacious courtyard.
Zuo Guangdou, who is forty-five years old this year, has a wife and a concubine.
The left concubine, Ms. Yuan, stood at the door in the dusk, waiting for Zheng Haizhu to drive away. She greeted her respectfully, moving swiftly and yet still maintaining dignity.
Zheng Haizhu and Hua Er followed her in. Zuo Guangdou's legitimate wife Dai Shi saw the movement and immediately supported her mother-in-law Zhou and came out of the hall.
Zuo's mother has heard from her son that the distinguished guest is not an ordinary woman, and in terms of the sixth-rank imperial order, it is higher than the seventh-rank Zuo Guangdou, who is the supervisor of the censor.
At this moment, Zheng Haizhu saw Zuo's mother's kind face, but her expression was a little panicked. She thought that this old lady from the countryside of Tongcheng was simple and honest, and she didn't know how to socialize with "people from the imperial court."
After Zheng Haizhu performed the courtesy as a junior, with a smile on his face, he asked Yuan to help Hua Er and give the Songjiang cotton cloth and Han embroidered handkerchief brought from Yanzhou Trading Company to the old lady and his wife Dai.
After sitting down and chatting with the Zuo family about the scenery of Songjiang, I offered to take a rest early so that both the guests and the host could relax.
Her time, Zheng Haizhu's, was precious. She really didn't want to spend it on housekeeping, so she might as well look at the moonlight alone and think about what to do next.
The next day at Shenshi, Zuo Guangdou returned to the mansion.
Zheng Haizhu is already waiting in the front hall.
Even though Dong Qichang had already laid the groundwork, and Zuo Guangdou had also asked his colleagues for additional information, he still couldn't hide his surprise when he saw Zheng Haizhu.
Unexpectedly, this Zheng was less than thirty years old.
Zheng Haizhu has met too many big figures in youth history in the past five years. Now when he saw Zuo Guangdou, he was not as excited as a celebrity checking in. He just wanted to talk about business.
She listened to Zuo Guangdou's straight-to-the-point praise for her righteous speech in Tongzhou, and then she fine-tuned the direction of the topic in a timely manner.
"Mr. Zuo attaches so much importance to the cultivation of rice in the north and the south. Is it because he feels that the sky is strange in recent years?"
Zuo Guangdou took a sip of tea, squinted his eyes, and said in a deep voice: "Madam, you not only know business and military affairs, but also agriculture?"
Zheng Haizhu said, neither humble nor arrogant: "I grew up in Fujian, where there are eight mountains, one water, and one field. The food harvest has been poor, which has been impossible since ancient times. But in recent years, I have discovered in southern Zhili that the south of the Yangtze River, which should be warm and rainy, is severely cold in winter and spring.
, like falling into an ice cave, and often drought. It was originally said that if Su Lake is ripe, the world is rich, but I am afraid it will become a thing of the past. Otherwise, why did Xu Gong Guangqi spend so much effort to plant sweet potatoes in Songjiang?
It’s not because of this thing, the demand for weather is not as high as rice and wheat, and the ground grows long even in famine years, so it can save the lives of the people."
What Zheng Haizhu said was actually the "Little Ice Age". According to later statistics, the late Ming Dynasty experienced the "Fifth Little Ice Age". The average temperature was lower than the normal era, the climate was generally cold and dry, and natural disasters also increased accordingly.
Zuo Guangdou listened attentively and sighed: "Your Majesty comes from the countryside, and he is indeed more discerning than the empty talkers in the court. Brother Nian is from Hubei, and he is also worried. He said that the harvest in the fields in his hometown has been great in the past few years.
Extremely bad.”
Zheng Haizhu asked inquiringly: "Brother Nian the master is talking about, is he Master Yang?"
Zuo Guangdou relaxed his brows and said with a slight smile: "Yes, that's Yang Lian. He and I were Jinshi in the same year."
Zheng Haizhu said frankly: "That's great. I wonder if Dong Gong has told Mr. Zuo that I am here this time to meet with Yang Gaijian and talk about the advantages and disadvantages of the Songjiang switch. The impeachment of the Songjiang Mansion switch
, let the Tatars mix with the merchant ships in Liaodong and North Korea to spy on our Ming Dynasty, which is simply a waste of food."
Yang Lian is a member of the Sixth Section, and the admonishment officer is the most important position in the Qing Dynasty. Even if it is to protect the interests of Songjiang local official Huang Zunsu, who is also a member of the Donglin clan, Yang Lian will fight against the Zhejiang Party's impeachment. Of course Zuo Guangdou understands
Zheng Haizhu's idea is correct.
Zuo Guangdou only asked again: "Ma'am, what profit is there? Switch, apart from collecting the silver and customs duties for the ship's guide, what other profits are there?"
Zheng Haizhu said: "Imported grain. Mr. Zuo, the Ming Dynasty was freezing from Hebei to Jiangnan and Huguang. However, Luzon, Siam, Champa, and America at the end of the East Ocean were not as cold and droughty.
We can exchange for the rice, wheat, and beans and corn for the horses and livestock with sea trade. How can Yuegang be enough? Let me tell you, not only Songjiang needs to be opened and closed, but Denglai and Ningbo must also be opened and closed.
"
"Oh..." Zuo Guangdou was a little confused for a moment.
The list of place names Zheng Haizhu mentioned was beyond his knowledge.
As a censor who was often sent by the imperial court to inspect various prefectures, he had always taken it upon himself to survey the country's conditions, but at this moment he suddenly realized that the Ming Dynasty was not the only one in the world.
Zuo Guangdou admired this woman's sincerity and insight. After hearing her remarks today about farming and people's livelihood, he felt that what she did in Tongzhou was an honest act.
…
Two days later, Zheng Haizhu followed Zuo Guangdou and visited Yang Lian.
Even though Zhu Changluo's enthronement ceremony will take place half a month later, the day the new king, who is supported by the Donglin faction, enters the Qianqing Palace, is already an auspicious day for the Donglin disciples in the government and the public to celebrate with their foreheads and hands.
Yang Lian is naturally one of them.
"Together," Yang Lian called out Zuo Guangdou's words with high spirits, "Long Live is ready to issue an edict to recall Mr. Jing Yi, a member of my Donglin sect who was deposed during the late emperor's reign, and he will also come back!"
Mr. Jing Yi is Gao Panlong, the leader of Donglin after Gu Xiancheng.
Zuo Guangdou looked at the rosy-faced Brother Nian, but he was not as excited as him: "Brother Yang, in my humble opinion, Zhou Shangshu should not be so anxious."
Zhou Shangshu is now Zhou Jiamo, Shangshu of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. In terms of political views, he can be regarded as a member of the Donglin School.
Yang Lian was thrown cold water on by her friend. She was stunned and asked: "Why?"
Zuo Guangdou said: "At the time of the reform, if we drive people out so quickly, we in Donglin would have occupied all the seats from the cabinet to the six ministries overnight. It is a trivial matter to be looked at by others. I am afraid that some talented ministers will
Even capable officials are accidentally injured."
Yang Lian was slightly disdainful: "Who said that?"
Zuo Guangdou smiled peacefully and raised his chin towards Zheng Haizhu, who was sitting quietly at the bottom: "This friend from Donglin said it."
Yang Lian turned to Zheng Haizhu with a face full of beards.
When Zuo Guangdou sent his servant to pay his respects, he already explained the reason in detail. He not only emphasized the close relationship between Mrs. Anyuan and Huang Zunsu, but also mentioned her angrily denounced Wei Zhongxian in the capital.
In addition, a few days ago, Dong Qichang came to socialize and presented the Wusong customs map and the Minghe naval battle map. He also mentioned this woman. Yang Lian did not regard this Zheng family as an outsider, and just did not avoid Donglin's return to power in front of her.
joy.
I never thought that she would criticize the current situation like Zuo Guangdou, and Zuo Xiandi seemed to agree with it.
Yang Liansui's eyes turned cold and he said to Zheng Haizhu: "Is this how you look at me, Dong Lin?"