The two news that Fang Jun returned to Huating Town and that the Shipping Company was about to start operations spread throughout the south of the Yangtze River with the rustling autumn wind and rain.
All the Jiangnan nobles were a little at a loss - hadn't the emperor already issued an edict ordering Fang Jun to return to the capital to report his duties? Before, you could just hide overseas, and you would not be affected by the emperor's orders, but now you can't return to Huating Town.
Returning to Chang'an for the first time is tantamount to blatantly disobeying the emperor's orders. Are you seeking death?
Of course, what everyone is worried about is not whether Fang Jun will die or not, but the Shibo Company that is about to be put into operation!
All fools know that as long as the shipping company operates, it will be like cutting off the flesh of wealthy families and wealthy businessmen. The huge profits from sea trade in the past will have to be cut off and given to the court, just like the fat in the mouth.
Who would be willing to spit out half of it?
I thought that the joint suppression of the aristocratic families had caused the emperor to back down, so he recalled Fang Jun to Chang'an, and the Ship Bureau naturally left the matter alone.
But who knew that this stick actually ignored the emperor's order, resisted the emperor's decree, and disrespected it...
The power of the monarchs these days is far from the peak of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Even if they resist the imperial decree, they will not be dismissed from office and imprisoned without saying a word. But after all, they are disobeying the emperor's orders. How can this stick be taken so seriously?
?
The Jiangnan gentry were collectively confused and did not know what to do.
Fang Jun's official letter has been issued, calling all merchants engaged in maritime trade to Huating Town to participate in the opening of the Municipal Shipping Department and sign the "Municipal Shipping Department Management Regulations". Only by signing this regulation does it prove that you firmly support the system of the Municipal Shipping Department
, can you have the qualifications for sea trade, otherwise operating sea trade privately is smuggling, and must be severely cracked down on...
To go or not to go, that is the question.
If you go, that means standing on Fang Jun's ship. Obtaining the right to operate maritime trade also means that you are willing to be chopped down by the court and take away some of the benefits.
If you don't go, you are going against Fang Jun. The Royal Navy, which consists of hundreds of warships, still has new warships laying keels and launching trials every day. Such a force sweeping the ocean will become a noose around the neck.
, once the privately engaged in maritime trade is discovered, the consequences will be unimaginable.
The Jiangnan nobles had no idea what to do and could only place their hope in the game between the Guanzhong clan and Fang Jun.
Although everyone belongs to different camps, over the years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there have been more and more commercial cooperation, especially the hugely profitable sea trade transactions, in which the Guanzhong clan and the Shandong aristocratic family all have a share of the pie, and no one wants to leave it alone.
clear.
And everyone is keenly aware of Fang Jun's true intentions. Once the shipping company is operating well, they will write to the court to request the establishment of an industrial and commercial tax...
If everyone can tolerate the taxation of the Municipal Shipping Department, at worst it is equivalent to giving His Majesty Li Er a face to support His Majesty the Emperor's great cause of the Eastern Expedition, then the establishment of commercial tax is absolutely unacceptable!
Since ancient times, there have been taxes on Tianjin, taxes on miscellaneous sects, and taxes on corvées. There are various types of taxes, but there has never been a formal industrial and commercial tax!
The commercial tax reform plan proposed by Fang Jun in the Political Hall has long been leaked to the outside world. All customs taxes should be cancelled, and shops should instead pay taxes in proportion to their trade quota!
Could it be that the Tang Dynasty was going to set an unprecedented precedent?
Once the new commercial tax is established, all the aristocratic families all over the world will suffer a cruel blow, which is equivalent to a 10,000-point critical hit, and their annual income will lose at least 10 to 20%. Who can bear this?
Therefore, now all the noble families must unite and strictly resist Fang Jun!
*****
While other noble families were still considering whether to participate in Fang Jun's invitation, the Yangxian Zhou family was completely confused.
In the Jiangdong area during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the two powerful families in Jiangdong who were good at military force were the Zhou family and the Shen family. The Zhou family descended from Zhou Yi, the prefect of Poyang in the Three Kingdoms. Ying, all have hairpins from generation to generation, and the family is full of ministers.
Therefore, people at that time called him: The tycoon of Jiangdong, Mo Qiang and Zhou Shen.
However, at the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Jiangdong was in turmoil. The two major families ceased their activities one after another, and the northern gentry who crossed south gradually gained a foothold. After the Jin Dynasty moved south, Jiangdong culture began to transform from toughness to civility, which was actually a sign that northern culture replaced the original Jiangdong culture. reason.
The two great gentry clans of Zhou and Shen gradually abandoned their previous use of force and instead achieved outstanding achievements in business and academics.
On the ninth day of winter in the fourteenth year of Zhenguan, Yangxian County on the west bank of Taihu Lake.
Yangxian is located on the west edge of the secluded Taihu Lake, where you can sit and watch the ups and downs of the Tianmu Mountains. It is a residence with beautiful mountains and clear waters. It is a paradise of paradise. It is nurtured by the aura of heaven and earth and baptized by the essence of the sun and moon. It has been a land of rich fish and rice since ancient times.
It was raining and the sky was dark.
It's not yet night, the sky and the earth are already hazy, and the pattering light rain brings a refreshing chill. It is carried by the cool breeze blowing from Taihu Lake, passes through the beautiful purple bamboo forest in the courtyard, and pours into the main hall of Zhou's ancestral house.
The slim maid took off the pole holding the window and closed the window to keep out the fine rain and cold air.
The smooth floor was covered with thick cushions, four people each occupied a table, and the atmosphere was dull.
The swaying candlelight swayed gently, bursting out from time to time, illuminating four nervous and angry faces...
The old man at the top and in the middle is about sixty years old. He has a square face and a thin face. His eyes flicker in the candlelight, and he has a majestic and majestic aura that is not angry but powerful.
It was Zhou Boxian, the head of the Zhou family in Yangxian.
The slim and graceful maid in green clothes served the fragrant tea, with her head slightly lowered. She placed the tea utensil on the table in front of Zhou Boxian with her slender hands, bowed and exited the main hall, and gently closed the door.
Zhou Boxian picked up the purple clay pot and slowly poured a cup of tea.
This is Yangxian's specialty black tea. It has a tightly knotted appearance, a black and lustrous color, and a leisurely fragrance, just like Anzhidinglan. Compared with Longjing, which is now famous at home and abroad, it has a warm and mellow fragrance. .
After taking a sip, Zhou Boxian said calmly: "Tell me how to handle this matter."
A middle-aged scribe sitting on his right said angrily: "That Fang Jun deceived people too much. It is simply unreasonable! I don't believe it. Is there no royal law in the Tang Dynasty?"
A middle-aged man of similar age opposite him sneered: "Wang Fa? Fang Jun is Wang Fa! This one-third of an acre in Jiangdong is his back garden. The governor of Suzhou is walking with a dog wagging its tail in front of him. You bastard, even if you now file a lawsuit with the Suzhou Governor's Office, do you believe that the man surnamed Mu can even come back to you and falsely accuse the imperial official?"
The middle-aged scribe is Zhou Boxian's biological brother, Zhou Shuxian.
This man was proficient in Confucian classics, and his literary reputation was very prominent in the Jiangdong generation. However, he was a bit pedantic and had to explain everything.
Hearing this, he glared at his younger brother Zhou Jixian opposite him and said angrily: "You don't believe that Fang Jun can cover up the sky with one hand? The emperor is wise and can enforce the law impartially and know everything clearly. I will set off for Chang'an early tomorrow morning. Even if blood is spattered on the Zhuque Gate, We also want justice for our Zhou family!"
Zhou Jixian retorted: "Fair? Fair ass! When Zhang Liang sent someone to deliver the letter, I simply ignored him according to my wishes. But you said that if you receive a drop of kindness from someone, you should repay it with a spring... Then...
What kind of thing is Zhang Liang? Do you have no idea? Not to mention that the so-called kindness in your mouth was just a matter of Zhang Liang's casual words, but now he is a general manager appointed by the imperial court, but Fang Jun talks dirty about him.
There is no way to control the kid, so why does our Zhou family have to support him? Now, Fang Jun has detained our people and goods, and charged us with smuggling and selling weapons in aid of the enemy. This will require a lot of attention.
Cut them off and destroy the nine clans!"
Zhou Jixian was very excited, and his words were inevitably disrespectful to this pedantic brother. It was not to blame that he had lost his etiquette, as anyone who was accused of such a big crime could not help but panic and complain a few words.
Zhou Shuxian became more and more angry, glared and shouted: "When a gentleman receives kindness from others, he should repay it with grass. If he betrays his trust by adding insult to injury, how is he any different from an animal? I don't even bother to do it!"
Zhou Jixian said sarcastically: "Okay, if you want to be a gentleman, you can do it yourself, but now that the entire Zhou family has been kidnapped, what's going on?"
Uncle Zhou was so choked that he couldn't say anything like "one person does something and one person takes responsibility". Family blood and interdependence are not something you can just say goodbye to. If you do something wrong, the whole family will suffer.
…
But he was not angry and said to himself: "That Fang Jun is just scaring people. I don't believe that he really dares to do anything to our Zhou family! The Yangxian Zhou family has been a wealthy family for hundreds of years, and he can still frame us with just one word.
Did you really confiscate your family and exterminate your clan?"
Zhou Zhongxian, the second oldest brother who had been leisurely and leisurely beside him, seemed to be drifting away from things. He interjected leisurely: "I think back then, the Gu family probably thought the same way as you..."
Zhou Shuxian was speechless.
The Gu family's lesson is not far away. Who dares to say that Fang Jun will not dare to kill him seriously? Who dares to say that today's Zhou family will not become the second Gu family?
The mallet went crazy and dared to poke a hole...
Zhou Jixian got the support of his second brother, and he suddenly became angry and shouted at Zhou Shuxian: "Then Fang Jun suppressed Zhang Liang just to show all the Jiangnan nobles, so that everyone can see clearly who is the talker in Jiangnan! Now our Zhou family
To blatantly support Zhang Liang is to openly oppose Fang Jun and embarrass Fang Jun. Do you think that guy will seriously kill us, to scare the tigers and scare the monkeys?"
Uncle Zhou's face turned pale and he kept silent.
In the past, the Zhou family received favors from Zhang Liang. Now that Zhang Liang is in trouble, the Zhou family will naturally reciprocate the kindness. This is Zhou Shuxian's principle of human conduct. Even if he dies, he cannot bow to him. But now the entire family is facing threats.
Fang Jun's butcher's knife has been raised high. As long as he is convicted of supporting the enemy and selling weapons, it will be a huge disaster that will affect the entire family.
Under this situation, Zhou Shuxian did not dare to stick to his principles.
Could it be that the Zhou family, a century-old wealthy family that has held a hairpin for generations, will perish due to the gentleman's demeanor of repaying kindness?
Should we stick to our principles and maintain the reputation of the Zhou family to repay kindness and then be slaughtered by demons, or should we give up the so-called benevolence and morality and preserve the glory of the family's bloodline?
Zhou Shuxian didn't know what to do.
Zhou Boxian, who had been silently listening to the arguments of his brothers, sighed softly, swaying the teacup in his hand, feeling the warmth of the tea passing through the teacup to the palm of his hand, and sighed and said: "Third brother, I only want to ask you one thing. , has Zhang Liang expressed anything since the official letter from Huating Town was delivered to the Zhou family?"
Uncle Zhou's mouth twitched and he was speechless.
Because the Zhou family helped Zhang Liang get out of trouble, they were targeted by Fang Jun and decided to retaliate. But what did Zhang Liang do? To drag the Zhou family into trouble, he just made a fuss in Huating Town, and then died down without any movement... …
Zhou Jixian slapped his thigh and said angrily: "This bastard was scared to death by Fang Jun! He pushed our Zhou family into the water to bear Fang Jun's anger, but he himself sat on the Diaoyutai like nothing happened. What the hell? What do people do? Third brother, you keep saying that you must repay kindness and be benevolent and moral. You talk about benevolence and righteousness to others, but they treat you as a fool! This kind of person is worse than a turtle, why do you want to pay attention to him? "
The words are rough and the reasoning is not rough.
Zhou Shuxian hesitated to speak, and finally lowered his head and sighed helplessly.
It is true that Zhang Liang did this unjustly, but Zhang Liang was unrighteous, how can we be so immoral?
But faced with the crisis of the survival of the entire clan, he could not say such words.
A sincere gentleman should only hide in a small building to study. He will never be able to survive in this dirty and dirty world...