This trip to Jiangnan took a little longer than Tang Ning expected.
He thought that he would be able to finish the exams in Jiangnan West Province in a month at most, but he has stayed in Jiangnan West Province for more than a month and a half, and there are still two states he has not visited.
The main reason was that it started raining half a month ago. The rain was not too big or too small, but it rained for half a month at a time, which delayed most of their trip.
The secondary reason was that about ten days ago, he received a secret letter from Emperor Chen.
The letter had no signature or seal, and was filled with Emperor Chen's condolences for their trip to the south of the Yangtze River. Tang Ning ignored the clichés and stage words, only to realize that there were only two words left in the entire letter.
silver!
Although the other states on Jiangnan West Road are not as rich as Ezhou, they have traveled to more than a dozen states, plus those in Ezhou, and the total amount of tax money recovered is nearly ten million taels.
This was Tang Ning's decision to restrain himself in order to take care of the overall situation and avoid causing chaos in Jiangnan. If he really ignored it and investigated impartially, these Jiangnan officials might rise up to save their lives.
After seeing the wealth in Jiangnan, Chen Huang only had money left in his eyes. The letter said that any businessman in Jiangnan who evaded taxes would be fined ten times. Based on the severity of the punishment, Tang Ning felt that he was trying to get Chen Guo's ten years of tax revenue.
Take it back once and for all.
However, he could also understand Chen Huang's desire for money.
After he left Beijing this time, he happened to miss two important news, and these two events were related to the survival of the Chen Kingdom and captured the hearts of all the courtiers in the palace.
The Jiagu and Shuhu tribes have suppressed the Wanyan tribe for so long, and finally they can no longer suppress it. The situation in the grassland has reversed, and the Western Region has gradually become a threat to the Chen State. Once these two places change, the Chen State has been stable for decades.
The situation will be completely changed.
Only when the national treasury has sufficient money and food can we have the confidence to fight. The current domestic situation in Chen State is very stable. As long as we can ensure food and salary, we can kill them with money. There is no need to worry about being passively beaten.
In addition, he also heard about the resignation of Prime Minister Feng, which implicated more than a dozen officials in Jiangnan.
Tang Ning originally thought that the Tang family would seize this matter and pursue it fiercely, so she made those arrangements. Unexpectedly, it was Prime Minister Feng who jumped out.
Since he entered the officialdom, he only wandered around the Hanlin Academy and the Six Ministries, and then went to Xiaoqiwei. He only met the two prime ministers in the court a few times, did not speak to them, and was not very familiar with them.
The impression of Prime Minister Feng only exists through hearing.
It is said that he was an upright and upright man. He had reprimanded His Majesty in front of hundreds of officials more than once, showing no mercy to the emperor. He was called the contemporary Wei Zheng.
In order to learn from Tang Dazong, Emperor Chen had always been very generous to Prime Minister Feng's actions, except this time.
Obviously, Jiangnan has become a sensitive word in Chen Huang's heart. Whoever touches it will die, and the prime minister is no exception. Without Prime Minister Feng, wouldn't Prime Minister Zhou immediately take the lead?
Speaking of Prime Minister Zhou, we have to mention Fang Hong. Zhou Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel replaced Prime Minister Feng, and Fang Hong took over his position and became the new Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
He was busy raising money for Chen Huang in Jiangnan. He originally wanted to trick the Tang family, but in the end, he actually benefited from Fang Xiaoyue's uncle. The Fang family now has a minister of household affairs and a minister of official affairs. If it weren't for Zhao
Yuan was too young and only wanted to pick up girls and did not want to be the emperor, so the Fang family could not be involved in party disputes. With Chen Huang's suspicious temperament, it was probably impossible to give these two real power departments to the Fang family to monopolize.
Chen Zhou walked in from outside, bowed his hands and said, "Sir, the rain has stopped. Looking at the weather, it should be sunny in the next few days."
Tang Ning, who has been under the mildew rain for the past half month, is almost moldy. I wonder if Bai Juyi, who wrote "Jiangnan is good, the scenery is familiar to me before", has ever experienced the embarrassment of washing underwear and not drying it?
He didn't want to stay in this dark and damp room for a moment, so he stood up and said: "Notify them and let them set off immediately. Just send two Zhang Gu from the remaining two states on Jiangnan West Road."
Chen Zhou responded and went out to make arrangements. Tang Ning walked out of the room and took a deep breath of fresh air.
The only good thing about the rainy season that lasts for half a month is that it cleans the air. Take a deep breath and you will be filled with a fresh and refreshing smell.
From here, it only takes one day to enter Gangnamdong Road.
Chen Huang may have forgotten that the purpose of their trip to Jiangnan was to eradicate the rebel forces and not to raise money everywhere, but Tang Ning herself did not forget it.
However, he traveled throughout Jiangnan West Road and found nothing wrong except that the "all things dry" used by the Ezhou governor should not appear on his hands.
And when he asked the governor of Ezhou, the other party only admitted that he bought his things from an unknown businessman, and didn't know anything else.
Tang Ning was not sure whether officials from other state capitals had contact with the "King of Guizhou" mentioned by Gongsun Ying. He could not meet local officials and ask them if they wanted to rebel. However, judging from the current situation, the root cause of the Jiangnan rebellion was
It's very likely that it's on Jiangnan East Road.
Jiangnan East Road is further away from the capital, and it is also richer. There are many wealthy businessmen and tycoons who are as rich as the country. Those families are so intricate and powerful that even the local government has to give way to them, or simply hold on to a big tree.
Trees, their influence in the local area is so deep-rooted that even the imperial court has to avoid them.
The foundation of the Tang family is here. If Tang Ning wants to fulfill the goals set by Chen Huang, he must find a way from here.
Raozhou.
As the last stop on the Jiangnan West Road, after leaving Raozhou, it takes three days to travel to Quzhou.
On the day when Tang Ning and the officials from the Ministry of Personnel left, officials from all over Raozhou saw each other off at a distance of ten miles. Their reluctance to leave was beyond words.
"Master Tang, walk slowly!"
"My lords, have a safe trip..."
"When your Excellency returns, you must come to Raozhou again and let me wait for all the landlords..."
…
Before an official could finish speaking, someone covered his mouth and kicked him in the back.
If this person really came to Raozhou on his return trip, wouldn't they be worried again?
Although this Tang Dynasty official from the Ministry of Civil Affairs was not as scary as the legend said, his days in Raozhou also caused chaos in the state.
Especially many merchants in Raozhou were caught by him and paid a lot of fines to the court.
Public security, population, official discipline... He doesn't seem to care much about these. He only cares about taxes and money. To describe him as loving money as much as his life is not an exaggeration.
The governor of Raozhou stood on the official road, watched the carriages and horses go away, and said slowly: "With his money-loving character, he will definitely target those people. There are many ruthless characters in Jiangnan East Road.
…”
…
Starting from Raozhou, the nearest is Quzhou.
Quzhou has five counties under its jurisdiction, and the state capital is built in Dingyang County. Before the group arrived at the state capital, the inn had already passed the news.
When they arrived outside the city, the governor of Quzhou and local officials came out of the city to greet them in person.
The governor of Quzhou was a middle-aged man with a kind face. When Tang Ning got off the carriage, he stepped forward to greet her and said with a smile: "My lords, you are here to welcome me, but I feel sorry for you..."
Tang Ning greeted him with a smile and was about to follow him into the city. She glanced at him inadvertently and stopped in her tracks. Her eyes rested on a local official standing in the back row.
A look of surprise appeared on his face, and the governor of Quzhou looked at him and asked doubtfully: "Master Tang, what's wrong?"
Tangning came to her senses, looked away, shook her head and said, "It's okay."
The officials of the Ministry of Personnel were still arranged at the inn. After the Quzhou governor made an appointment with them for a dust-cleansing banquet tonight, he left with the Quzhou officials.
Tangning walked out of the room and saw someone still standing in the courtyard.
He walked forward and asked with a smile: "Brother Xu, why are you here?"
A few years ago, he met Xu Qingyang when he was still in Lingzhou. At that time, he participated in the provincial examination as the second best in the state examination. In the later palace examination, although his performance was not very good, he was still good.
Yes, even if he didn't enter the Hanlin Academy, he still stayed in Beijing. He has a bright future and shouldn't appear here.
Xu Qingyang smiled awkwardly and said, "It's a long story."
In Tang Ning's impression, Xu Qingyang always appeared with Zhang Yansheng. He seemed to have never seen the two of them alone. He was not used to seeing Xu Qingyang alone. He smiled and joked: "Brother Zhang didn't show up with me this time."
Are you together?"
"Brother Tang, it's really you!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a surprised voice suddenly came from behind him.
Tang Ning turned around and saw Zhang Yansheng standing at the door of the inn, looking at him with surprise.
