Pan Yinglou of Yanfa Road in Zhejiang wrote another letter in his study.
When there was chaos in Taizhou, he went to Hangzhou to mobilize troops. As a result, the Qing army suddenly went south to occupy Hangzhou. Pan Yinglou had a bit of his father's style of knowing current affairs and being a hero. When his father was the governor of Zhejiang, he saw Wei Zhongxian gaining power.
, immediately took the lead in building a shrine for Wei Zhongxian in Zhejiang.
When Pan Yinglou was trapped in Hangzhou, he immediately took the initiative to join him and got an official position as a fellow magistrate in Hangzhou.
However, the surrender to the Qing Dynasty was also a coincidence. The family members were still at the rear, so he became a naked official. Others had their wives, children, and children sent away, and he stayed as a naked official. He had his wife, children, and children at home, so he went out to be a naked official.
In just a few months, Pan Yinglou performed outstandingly and was promoted to Zhejiang Salt Law Road and Branch Patrol Hangzhou-Jiahu Road. This was a high promotion. Especially for the Salt Law Road, in a province without a salt transportation envoy, he was the highest salt administration official.
However, managing the salt administration has always been a job for which there are many people competing for the top job.
Pan Yinglou holds the title of Deputy Envoy of Zhejiang Inspector and is also responsible for salt law and inspection. He is a fourth-grade official.
A few months ago, he was an official in Taizhou, only in the seventh rank. In the twelfth year of Chongzhen, he entered the official position as a special tribute student and was awarded the title of Taizhou push official. He worked there for five years. Although he did well, he was only in the seventh rank.
Official. It has only been a few months since the Qing Dynasty, and it has been promoted one promotion after another, first to the fifth rank of Hangzhou Tongzhi, and then to the fourth rank of Yanfa Dao.
Not to mention other things, the Yanfa Road has only been in operation for a month, and even though it only occupied three prefectures in Zhejiang Province, Pan Yinglou has already collected more than 30,000 taels of silver.
The advantage of being in charge of the salt law was that Pan Yinglou even said it smelled really good.
The only bad thing is that my wife and children are still in the Ming Dynasty. What is a little comforting is that my fellow villager Fang Duanshi has been helping to take care of me. I send letters from time to time to inform them that they are safe, which is some comfort.
However, Fang Duanshi's replies to him have become more frequent recently, and they are no longer just reporting that they are safe, but also starting to talk about more content.
Especially the letter I just received today contains a lot of explosive news.
Lu Jianguo personally killed the general Zhennan Bo Fang Guoan with his sword, and slew hundreds of generals. He then disbanded most of his troops and sent some of his brave and capable soldiers into other battalions.
Lu Jianguo killed Fang Guoan, and also went on a rampage in Yanzhou to purge local powerful gentry, confiscating homes everywhere. For example, the cousin of former chief minister Fang Fengnian was forced to hand over more than 50,000 shi of grain and 100,000 taels of silver. Fang Fengnian himself was also
They were forced to donate one hundred thousand taels of silver and a lot of food.
Many gentry and landlords in Yanzhou were forced to pay taxes for twenty years and were fined huge sums of money. Many of them had their families ruined and were extremely resentful.
Fang Duanshi also said that he was demoted to the eighth rank because he was Fang Guoan's supervisor. Fortunately, through his fellow villager Ruan Dacheng, he got to know Zhang Guojun, the brother of the supervisor's princess, and raised a large sum of money to give to him.
Be able to recover.
Ruan Dacheng, who was now sending the money together, was awarded the title of Jinqu Strict Patrol Road, Ma Shiying was assigned to Guard the Road, and he was awarded the post of Magistrate of Hangzhou.
However, Fang Duanshi complained, saying that Hangzhou is still in the hands of the Qing army, but he, the prefect, can only manage affairs in Fuyang, but no one knows when the Qing army will also occupy Fuyang.
Inside and outside the letter, he revealed his disappointment with the current Lu Jianguo in eastern Zhejiang and his despair for the future of the Ming Dynasty. He somewhat wanted to abandon the secret and join the Ming Dynasty, but he didn't know if it would be accepted here. He wanted to talk to him first, hoping that fellow villagers could
Help him find out.
Of course, Pan Yinghua wrote back immediately and said yes. He also said that he now had a good relationship with Feng Quan, the cabinet scholar of the Tianqi Dynasty.
The prince's Taibao was dismissed because he offended the eunuch Cui Chengxiu, and Chongzhenlu was demoted to the people for flattering Wei Zhongxian.
After surrendering to the Qing Dynasty last year, he was ordered to join the Inner Courtyard with the original title of bachelor to assist in the maintenance of machinery. This year, he was awarded the title of bachelor of Hanlin Hongwen Academy and the minister of the Ministry of Rites. In Beijing, he was deeply trusted by the Manchus.
Feng Quan once served as the chief executive, presided over the compilation of the Three Dynasties Code, and was Wei Zhongxian's confidant. However, he later became too greedy, which caused Cui Chengxiu to become jealous and he was spared from internal fighting. The Chongzhen Dynasty was liquidated again, and he was idle at home for many years. As a result, when the Tatars came, this
The guy immediately went to worship, which made the Tatars very satisfied, so he became a Han scholar in the Manchu court like Hong Chengchou and others.
Although Pan Yinglou did not hold a high official position before, his family background was not small, and the Pan and Feng families were still relatives. Therefore, after defecting to the North, he soon became close to Feng Quan, who was in the court, especially Pan Yinglou.
After Feng Quan gave him 10,000 taels of silver, Feng Quan became very kind to Xiao Pan, regarded him as a confidant, and openly called him his student.
Feng Quan also gave Pan Yinglou a task, hoping that he could recruit more officials and gentry from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. This would be both Pan Yinglou's and Feng Quan's credit.
Feng Quan once said a very good flattery to Dorgon, saying that he could be loyal to two gentlemen with one heart, but he could not be loyal to one gentleman with two hearts, in order to show that he was a reliable person.
Pan Yinglou is more open-minded. Since he has surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, it will be a dark road. If he can enter the court and become a cabinet scholar of the Qing Dynasty in the future, wouldn't it be very successful?
After writing the letter, I called a tummy tuck attendant and asked him to personally go to Fuyang to deliver the letter.
······
Fuyang.
The new governor of western Zhejiang, Chen Zilong, had not yet arrived, but Fang Duanshi, the newly appointed governor of Hangzhou, had already arrived.
But now Fuchun Jiangbei is garrisoned by the Yuying Banner Battalion, and all counties are reorganizing their troops, clearing fields, measuring land, sorting out taxes, etc. It doesn't really make any difference whether he is the prefect or not.
Fortunately, Fang Duanshi came with a secret mission this time.
"Pan wrote again, inviting me to meet."
Fang Duanshi took the letter to Ruan Dacheng. After Ruan Dacheng read it, he smiled with satisfaction and said, "Pan Yinglou has completely trusted us now. It's time to meet him at some time."
"What should I do after meeting?"
Ruan Dacheng was very confident, "This little Pan is a man with a good family background and good abilities, but he is alone in the north after all. As long as we grasp his weaknesses, we are not afraid of not being able to control him."
Pan Yinglou wanted to recruit Fang Duanshi and even Ruan Dacheng to surrender, but he didn't know that Ruan Dacheng had been fishing and wanted to instigate him to rebel. After all, Pan Yinglou now has a high status in Zhejiang and even has a backend in Beijing.
Before Jianguo was about to attack Hangzhou, it would definitely be of great use if he could successfully instigate such an important figure to rebel.
"Threatening his family members?"
Ruan shook his head, "This method is too despicable and inferior. If you use this method, you can really instigate the enemy. You should not use this method unless it is absolutely necessary."
"Then how to use it?"
Ruan smiled slightly, "I have not been idle during this period. I have collected a lot of information about Pan after he surrendered to the north. When this guy was the governor of Hangzhou, Bolo and other Tatars were still there, but they were conscientious and did not dare to mess around.
Collect some regulations. But Boluo went north. He patrolled Zhejiang, presided over the salt administration of Zhejiang, managed various salt fields, collected salt taxes, and cracked down on private salt. The result was not honest and clean."
"In just over a month, I collected tens of thousands of taels of silver."
"Use this as a blackmail?"
"Wrong, why didn't you understand? Xiao Pan is very greedy and courageous, so we can't use force against him, but have to use inducements. Isn't he in charge of the salt administration of Tatar Zhejiang Province, so let's just follow him.
Across the river, you can smuggle salt over there, and then you can share the profits with Xiao Pan. If you get a lot of profit, won't Xiao Pan get closer and closer to us?"
Pan Yinglou now collects money from salt merchants. This kind of thing is actually a common practice. Who patrols the salt and doesn't collect money? You can't stay if you don't. After all, the money collected is not yours alone, but the people below.
Everyone needs a share, how can you share it if you don’t accept it from others?
Now in this time of war, Zhejiang is on the front line, and the salt policy has more loopholes to exploit, making it easier to make money.
Ruan Dacheng is a smart man, and there is no gain in coercion.
If he is in charge of salt, then ask him to sell illicit salt and give him money. As long as the money is distributed in large quantities, he will be completely pulled into the water. When the situation is over, we must consider the consequences of having control and even more losses.
The question of this large sum of money.
"The Duke of Ji is brilliant." After all, Fang Duanshi was a bit younger and was not as far-reaching as Ruan Dacheng thought. In other words, although Ruan Dacheng had been idle during the Chongzhen Dynasty, he had been active among scholars and was a great politician.
No one in the brokerage, officialdom or comprador world knows the connections better than him.
Pan Yinglou, like his father, is not a loyal and upright person. We are all fellows from Tongcheng, Anqing, so no one knows anyone well.
······
Tiaoxi.
The Qing army in Hangzhou occupied Yuhang, and the Ming army occupied Lin'an. The two sides were bounded by Tiao River, with the Ming army on the south bank of the river and the Qing army on the north bank.
After the Qing general Tian Xiong personally led his troops to seize Yuhang County, the two sides maintained peace for the time being.
Two boats approach.
Fang Duanshi boarded Pan Yinglou's boat.
As soon as they met, Pan Yinglou eagerly persuaded you to surrender, "Feng Gong in Beijing has promised that as long as you are willing to surrender, you will be retained at the original grade and you will be guaranteed to be in the fourth grade."
"What does Mr. Ruan mean?"
Fang Duanshi thanked him repeatedly, "Thank you so much, Brother Pan, but I'm still a little unwilling to leave like this. Supervisor Lu has humiliated me so much, and I must avenge him."
"Brother Fang, although you are the prefect of Hangzhou now, you still don't have troops. Isn't it difficult to do it alone?"
"I have discussed with Mr. Ruan secretly, and here is what we have considered. If we surrender to the North like this now, it will be useless. We don't even have a certificate of surrender. I am afraid that Beijing may not reuse us. As for Brother Pan, it will not show any merit.
.It would be better to make use of the Hangzhou magistrate who just got through Zhang Guojun's connections, and strictly divide Jinqu into patrolmen and other duties, and make a good plan."
"······"
After Pan Yinglou heard the "plan" conspired by Fang Duanshi, Ruan Dacheng and others, and heard that they planned to surrender several prefectures in eastern Zhejiang, he couldn't help but become a little excited.
"Is that possible?"
"King Nalu went on a mass killing spree in Yanzhou this time. He not only killed many generals of the State Security Department, but also persecuted the local gentry in Yanzhou. Now everyone has resentment in their hearts."
Pan Yinglou sighed, "I had been with King Lu for a while before, and I thought he was a polite and virtuous corporal. Why has he become so cruel now?"
"But no, this prisoner really thinks that he is supreme when he becomes a prisoner. Little does he know that by acting so recklessly, he has already betrayed people's hearts."
After a confidential conversation, Pan Yinglou was very excited.
"Brother Pan, I have another idea this time."
"What?"
"Salt!"
"Salt?"
Fang Duanshi then talked about his plan to make a fortune, taking advantage of the special situation on the front line. In addition, Pan Yinglou was the Yanfa Taotai of Zhejiang, and he was the prefect of Hangzhou. Ruan Dacheng and Ma Shiying were also patrolling and guarding the Yanzhufu of Jinqu.
So they proposed cooperation to smuggle salt.
Taking advantage of Pan Yinglou's authority in charge of salt, he brought salt from the salt fields in western Zhejiang to eastern Zhejiang, and sold the salt to various prefectures in eastern Zhejiang through Fang Duanshi, Ma Ruan, etc., without the need for salt imports or high salt taxes.
The profits are huge, and everyone will divide the salt profit 21% into 50%.
"Mr. Pan, you take half, and I and Mr. Ma Ruan will take half."
Pan was also moved and felt very wealthy. "How can this work? Since we want to cooperate, it must be fair. There are four of us. Why not divide it into five parts? Each of the four of us will get 20%. I will share the remaining 20%."
How about taking care of the officials at the Salt Factory and Saltworks below?"
After some refusal, Fang Duanshi and Pan Yinglou finally reached an agreement and agreed to bring the salt when they meet next time.
"Is there any way you can get some ordnance and horses?" Before leaving, Fang Duanshi asked, "There are many soldiers and horses in eastern Zhejiang, but they are short of weapons and armor. The price of various ordnance is very high. As long as there is a way to get it, we can do it casually.
If you resell it, you can make a lot of money."
Pan Yinglou hesitated for a moment.
"Brother Pan, you have the right to use this. It will become invalid after it expires. Opportunities like this are rare now, and there may not be such convenient opportunities in the future. While it is convenient now, let's get some more money quickly. In the future, whether it is asking for gifts or returning home
Isn’t it convenient for a family to buy land and farmland?”
"It doesn't matter what armor, swords, guns, cannons and horses are. As long as we can get them, we will accept them all here, and we can even give you a little more money. You can get more credit over there, such as damage or replenishing ordnance.
If you buy low and sell high, the price difference is huge.”
"Some of them can even be bought without capital."
Pan Yinglou was moved by what he said. Because Zhejiang is not at peace now, he also has a salt patrol patrol. There are not many soldiers, just two battalions of about 700 people, and the equipment is also very average, but after all, it is considered a patrol.
A channel for acquiring weapons.
When Fang Duanshi saw that he was moved, he struck while the iron was hot and pulled him to continue talking for a long time.
If you hold power and control territory, if you really want to make money, there are many ways to do it, not only smuggling salt, reselling weapons, but also other food, cloth, etc.
Pan Yinglou admired this fellow countryman and classmate for being able to come up with so many ways to make money. According to him, if they didn't make three to five million taels of silver this year, they would be sorry for their current occupation.
this vantage point.
When Fang Duanshi returned to his boat and left, Pan Yinglou was still so excited that he could not calm down for a long time.
I thought I was just recruiting a few fellow villagers, but I didn't expect there would be such huge financial and business opportunities.
He had no doubts about Fang Duanshi. After all, his family had been hiding in Fang Duanshi's house for the past few months, and he helped take care of it. Moreover, it was true that Fang Guoan was killed. Fang Duanshi served as Fang Guoan's supervisor.
It is normal for the army to be implicated. Now I have bribed my uncle to get the governor of Hangzhou. But in the current situation, what is the role of the prefect of Hangzhou? He can't even enter the city of Hangzhou.
In order to save people, Fang Duanshi wanted to find another way out, which is normal. Hanging himself from a tree with a crooked neck in the Ming Dynasty is a problem.