The Ming Dynasty in February is not as gentle as the spring breeze and rain.
Just like those Jiangnan women with date disorders, even if they are usually gentle and gentle, at this time they are full of anger, and their anger has nowhere to vent.
Far away from the homeland of the Central Plains, but having already raised the flag of the Ming Dynasty, a brand new wooden camp was built in a harbor on the west coast of Japan in just a few months.
A loess road, with scars from knives and swords, grows from the back of the camp into the mountains and spreads deep into the depths.
From time to time in the mountains in the distance, there will be a shocking loud noise, causing the surrounding towering trees to spread and sway outward like a wave.
It’s just that I no longer see those forest birds that have been frightened and left their nests.
As the loud noise gradually subsided, soon there would be a cart full of ore, being pulled towards the camp by buffaloes. However, when they arrived in front of the camp, they would not enter the camp, but turn to the side of the work site beside a stream.
Fang District.
There are countless smelting furnaces blowing out thick smoke.
"You bitch, Yoshinoya is looking for death!"
On the camp wall, the Japanese general Li Jinglong slapped himself heavily on the wooden post, his face full of anger and murderous intent.
After cursing, he turned to look at Heqing Hou Zhang Yi, who had turned around and was giving additional training orders to the officers and soldiers in the barracks.
Li Jinglong grunted in displeasure and turned his head to look at Tie Xuan, who had his hands in his arms.
Tie Xuan was about to turn his head to avoid trouble.
Li Jinglong had already reached out and grabbed his shoulder: "Tie Xingxing, Taisun wants us to bring people back from Japan. This is a big deal. But now the Southern Dynasty wants us to spend money to buy prisoners from the Northern Dynasty. This matter is not easy to handle. You
He is a scholar and has many ideas, so he has to help us figure out what to do."
Tie Xuan clasped his hands in his hands, twisted his waist, and broke away from the general's palm. Then he said calmly: "What the Southern Dynasty wants is money to buy the road, and the general will pay for it no matter what."
Li Jinglong raised his eyebrows: "How do you say this?"
Tie Xuan sighed softly, always wondering how such a person could thrive in the Southern Dynasties of Japan. He even visited the Yoshino family's back house countless times.
"The Yoshino clan in the Southern Dynasties also had branches and factions. Yoshino Temple asked for money in order to maintain a foothold in the clan. The money was not used to buy Japanese people, but to buy a person for convenience.
We spent money, and then we can go to the Japanese countryside and bring those Japanese who have no food to eat back to the Ming Dynasty."
Li Jinglong shook his head and said after a while: "Is it that simple?"
Tie Xuan nodded: "It's that simple."
"In this case, let's leave this matter to Tie Xingxing!" Li Jinglong showed a solemn expression, and then raised his legs to walk under the camp wall. He turned back halfway and said, "What's going on over there in the South Dynasty recently?"
, invited me over. I can’t get away, otherwise we would definitely not be able to do this on iron foot."
After finishing speaking, the Ming Dynasty's great general who suppressed Japanese aggression, Cao Guogong Li Jinglong, had completely disappeared.
Tie Xuan's expression suddenly changed.
"It's over! He's tricked me!"
For a moment, an unknown fire lit up in Tie Xuan's heart.
He slammed the wooden piles of the camp wall in front of him so hard that they banged.
……
Yingtian City.
On the Lion Mountain next to Zhongfu Gate in the North City, there is an elegant house.
When you open the window, you can overlook the Longwan Pier and the ever-flowing Yangtze River not far away.
This place is far away from the imperial city, a full city away.
Liu Sanwu and Zhao Mian, two high-ranking officials in the court, sat on opposite sides, and the atmosphere was less of the 'concern for the country and the people' in the court.
"Your Majesty has pressed the impeachment button and has made it clear that he has never agreed to the replacement of the imperial envoy. I am afraid that it is no longer possible for us to find a way out of the siege in the court."
Zhao Mian raised his eyes and looked out the window. On the river in the distance, a small boat was about to carry a fisherman wearing a bamboo hat and throw a finely woven fishing net into the river.
The fishing net slowly sank under the river.
Wait until it sinks to the bottom and the fishing net is closed.
The fisherman stood on the bow of the boat with explosive movements, lifting the fishing net out of the water with both hands.
"Rebirth of the Great Era of Fighting Waves"
Zhao Mian's breathing gradually slowed down, and his eyes became more focused.
The sound of rushing water seemed to reach Zhao Mian's ears from the river.
The fishing net drips a large amount of river water, but there is no harvest.
Zhao Mian's eyes showed disappointment.
Liu Sanwu, a member of Zhongshushe who was sitting opposite him, took a sip of tea and said in a low voice: "I have sent people to send letters to various places. Although we and other sage disciples were occasionally separated by academic barriers in the past, now we are probably at the point of survival.
We should eliminate the barriers and protect our Confucianism and Taoism for thousands of years."
Zhao Mian's eyes flashed.
"Are we going to bring the voice of scholars all over the world to the court?"
He hesitated a little, whether it was the right choice to let the entire Shilin's opposition enter the court.
Face the Emperor's wrath?
Liu Sanwu's eyes darkened: "Plowing and reading the family heirlooms. If there is no farming, how can we read?"
"After hearing the news from Zhejiang, a land clearing order has been started there to verify the number of local acres. The collection quotas are divided into ten acres, thirty acres, fifty acres, one hundred acres, three hundred acres, and five hundred acres.
." Zhao Mian said worriedly.
He is the Minister of Household Affairs of the imperial dynasty, and the numbers of these details always need to be known in more detail.
I saw him saying again: "There is also a business tax. The tax levied on merchants and merchants has also been clearly stated. The minimum is three points, but it is only levied on those people who enter the city to sell. If it goes up, it is seven points and one.
00%, 20%, 30% are collected."
Liu Sanwu snorted coldly, and an unknown fire ignited in his heart.
"With heavy taxes, I can already see that soon after Zhejiang Road, people's livelihood will wither and people will be displaced! You can even see the officials and gentry wailing, government orders blocked, and merchants closing their doors."
This person from Zhongshushe who came from the former Yuan Dynasty had a gloomy face: "When the time comes, it will be another disaster for the country!"
Zhao Mian shook his head feebly: "But with His Majesty's current attitude, it is probably impossible to stop this matter."
"That's why I want to bring the voice of scholars from all over the world to the court!"
Liu Sanwu looked at Zhao Mian, with a hint of stubbornness and anger in his eyes.
……
"It's over!"
"I'm afraid something bad is going to happen!"
Looking at the Zhengyang Gate of Yingtian City not far away.
Zhu Yunxi, who had rushed all the way back to Beijing, suddenly cursed.
I saw that the horse he was sitting on was covered in muddy spots, and his clothes looked a little dilapidated because they had not been changed for a long time.
Behind him, Sun Cheng personally led dozens of imperial guards, escorting him all the way from Hangzhou City via the official road to Hingtian.
Sun Chengle stepped forward and asked in a low voice: "Third Master, what's the problem?"
As he spoke, Sun Cheng glanced at the Zhengyang Gate of Yingtian City ahead.
Zhu Yunxi shook his head, but there was some hesitation on his face.
The reason why he rushed to the sky in a hurry was to resolve the criticism and delay that might arise in the court. In the end, Zhejiang Road was finally cleared, and the reform that was about to start was brought to an abrupt end.
But until now I see Yingtian City again.
Zhu Yunxi suddenly woke up and realized that he had made a mistake.
There is an old man in Yingtian City, and there is the prince and his father who are currently lurking low-key but always paying attention to the court. As long as they do not hesitate, there is no chance that their affairs in Zhejiang Road will be suddenly interrupted.
If he went out of the capital and killed half of Zhejiang Road, the old man could naturally kill some in Yingtian City.
Then my sudden return to Beijing at this time will become a matter full of variables.
He must face the accountability and pressure from the Central Government.
It is far worse than before. I am in Zhejiang Province and cannot be blamed by the court. The most I can do is impeach myself at the court meeting.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yunxi's face darkened, and he felt inexplicably irritable.
Sun Cheng asked worriedly: "Third Master, do you want to enter the city?"
"Enter the city! Go to Qingliangmen first."
After finishing speaking, Zhu Yunxi immediately turned around and headed from Zhengyang Gate, which can directly enter the imperial city, towards Qingliang Gate in the northwest.
Sun Cheng quickly led others to follow him.
The group stayed close to Yingtian City and passed through Tongji Gate, Jubao Gate, Sanshan Gate, and Shicheng Gate before arriving at Qingliang Gate.
After entering the city gate, it turns into Yingtian Middle City, which is also the most densely populated area, ending with Xiaowutai Mountain on the right.
To the left of the city gate is Qingliang Mountain, which is why Qingliang Gate got its name.
To the northeast of Xiaowutai Mountain and Qingliangmen is Yingtian Xicheng and Beicheng, where there are mostly fields, tombs and farmers' houses walking around.
And the heavily guarded Jingwei camps.
Zhu Yunxi took the lead and followed the road at the foot of Qingliang Mountain to the northeast of Qingliang Mountain.
What comes into view is a large area of shacks surrounded by fences.
This is the human tooth market in Yingtian City.
A place dedicated to buying and selling servants.
In fact, it was a place where slaves were bought and sold. It was just because Emperor Hongwu issued a decree when he founded the country that no slaves were allowed to exist in the Ming Dynasty.
But there are so many meritorious generals, royal relatives, and royal family princes in the world in recent years.
As long as these people exist, keeping slaves will never be forbidden.
But it’s just a different reason and excuse.
Sun Cheng didn't quite understand why the third master didn't go back to the palace first after returning to the capital, but instead came to such a filthy place first.
Zhu Yunxi, on the other hand, led the horse and walked through the entire human tooth market step by step.
At the front of the human tooth market is the Kunlun slave with the lowest price. The so-called Kunlun slaves are just slaves who came from Tianzhu or Southeast Asia and were deliberately tanned. They are not really Kunlun slaves.
Further in, there are some inferior Silla women, barbarians and barbarians. Further inside, there are better-looking Silla women, barbarians from the Western Regions.
At the very back, there is Akito with a grass tag on his body.
The insertion of this grass mark shows that these Ming people sold themselves voluntarily, rather than being sold as slaves by their own clan.
Of course, the money after selling oneself will still go to the hands of those of the same clan.
There is just one more process, which legalizes this matter that was prohibited by the emperor.
After reading it all around, Zhu Yunxi’s expression made it impossible for Sun Cheng who was following him to show any emotion.
Except after the human tooth market.
Zhu Yunxi said: "Go back to the palace and buy a hemp rope to wear."