Chapter 47 Three fires when the new official takes office
More than half a month of autumn harvest farming has finally passed.
The people in Wuchang, Hanyang and other places had no time to notice that the warlords and frontier officials above them had changed.
Simple farmers, in days like this, only see the crops that are about to be harvested. Every time they harvest a batch, they feel a little more at ease. As for who the official has changed, who cares.
After the harvest, the people began to worry about taxes, grains and apportionment.
"There have been floods and droughts for several consecutive years, but this year the harvest is finally better. It's not easy. I hope that the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes will be levied. I heard that the newly arrived Taotai likes to parade around, with beautiful cars and horses. I don't know how much people's wealth and money have been plundered. ."
Many squires and rich peasants probably have this mentality.
The newly arrived Shen Daotai likes to travel, and has recently become famous around Wuchang Prefecture. He is quite ostentatious. Not only does he have to bring many guards, but he also has many maids and concubines accompanying him, and they are all very beautiful.
Of course, outsiders could not see the two maids at Shen Daotai. Only occasionally when the local magistrate and wealthy gentry entertained guests, they could catch a glimpse of them. What they saw was astonishing to everyone.
Other maids of a slightly lower class may be seen from a distance by ordinary local squires during outings. Sometimes they also wear veils or curtains, and their looks are equally good.
This kind of gossip has always been the easiest to spread. Officials and gentry in Wuchang's officialdom quickly spread the rumor in private that Shen Shuren was a lustful and unrestrained dog official.
"Have you heard that Shen Daotai is quite extravagant? His family is originally from the richest man in Suzhou. He has been a maritime merchant for many years. Apart from the Zheng family of Fujian, the Shen family of Suzhou has the largest fleet. A descendant of this kind will be rich. When you are an official in the state capital, you don't show your true nature."
"I heard that he has done a lot of meritorious service, but he didn't do it with the help of money, right? I heard that Mr. Yang Ge used him very seriously. He was responsible for the great cause of suppressing thieves in Huguang and Henan. The overall situation was defeated like this, but he was the only one who won all the way. Maybe he sucked the blood of Mr. Zuo Town and Mr. Liu Town so that he could win the battle all the way! Only the other routes would lead to such miserable losses!"
"But after all, we are the richest man's family. Those beauties are really rare in heaven and hard to find in the world. I heard that the beauty named Chen was originally the number one in Kunqu Opera in Suzhou, and the girl named Li was also the number one in Nanjing Nanqu. The beauty of Suzhou and Nanjing Women, he pinches and uses them. If you can live like this for one day, it's worth dying."
…
Shen Shuren was on vacation during this time, and of course he also secretly understood public opinion. Therefore, he knew everything about him among the people, but he just didn't take it seriously.
He was even a little proud in his heart: Being born into a wealthy family, I didn’t expect that it would have such a magical effect. It could make people who don’t know you more inclined to interpret your success as “it’s not just about paying bribes”. "Buy it, let Mr. Ge allocate resources to get the credit?"
In particular, Zuo Liangyu originally had deep-rooted business interests around Wuchang. Even if Zuo Liangyu was moved to the town by Shen Shuren, the radish still had mud when it was pulled out, and the remaining root system in the soil could not be cleaned in a day or two.
Therefore, all kinds of public opinions that beautify Zuo Liangyu and vilify Shen Shuren have not been eradicated to this day. The story about Zuo Liangyu when he was kidnapped and his beautiful concubine was taken away is so tenacious that it has been sung by countless people. Everyone knows that Shen Shuren The tree man stole a most beautiful concubine in the world.
If Shen Shuren was from a poorer background, and others could not find this excuse to explain his success, they might be even more wary of him.
Chen Yuanyuan and Li Xiangjun have been with him these days, and they have deeply felt this atmosphere.
On this day, they were out on an outing to encourage farmers and inspected several counties in the core of Wuchang. Today they have arrived at the southeastern corner of Wuchang Prefecture, close to Daye County in Jiangxi Province, which is the county where the Daye Iron Mine is located.
Among the counties under Wuchang Prefecture, Daye has the most mountainous and hilly terrain and the least low-lying terrain such as lakes and wetlands. Therefore, it is also the most suitable for promoting the planting of corn and potatoes in the future. It needs to be focused on survey before the government issues seed loans - which is exactly Because there are many mountains and hills, this area is suitable for mining. If it were all low-lying wetlands, it would be impossible to find mineral deposits at all.
At this moment, while Chen Shuren was going to the fields, Chen Yuanyuan couldn't help but feel a little reluctant for him: "Sir, it's enough to pretend to be saucy and covertly inquire about people's sentiments. Aren't you uncomfortable being looked down upon like this all the time?"
"Why do you feel uncomfortable? When others look down on you, you will only feel uncomfortable if it is true. If you know that they just have no vision, how uncomfortable will it be for you?"
Chen Shuren patted the soil on his hands and said happily, "This year is a rare good year, I really didn't expect it. It can't be said to be a bumper harvest, at least it's a normal year.
I remember that starting from the 10th year of Chongzhen, for four consecutive years, at least half of the provinces in the world suffered from floods and droughts every year. In Henan, Shaanxi, and Hebei, in addition to floods and droughts, there were three years of locust plagues, which affected at least two provinces every year.
This year there is neither a locust plague nor a flood or drought, so it’s hard for God to open his eyes. However, we must be prepared for any disaster. While we have food, we can make good water conservancy arrangements in the winter. If there is a flood or drought next year, we can easily get through it."
When Chen Yuanyuan heard him change the topic, she remained silent. She didn't care much about the general trend of the world and didn't understand the situation in various places.
Among the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai, Bian Yujing and Gu Mei like to talk about history and understand current affairs the most, followed by Li Xiangjun and Liu Ru. The others do not care about the world.
Li Xiangjun, who was on the side, often read the imperial newspaper, and added with a sad look: "Although there are no reports of floods, droughts, or locust plagues this year, there are plagues in Henan and Hebei. We also have quite a few plagues here in Huguang and near Nanyang."
The fourteenth year of Chongzhen was the only year in the last eight years of Chongzhen that did not have large-scale floods, droughts, and locust plagues recorded. The remaining seven years had them every year.
But even in such a good harvest year, plague is unavoidable. The 14th, 16th, and 17th Chongzhen years were all years of plague.
This year, it is estimated that one-third of the population around Beijing will be infected with the disease. It is even worse in Henan, where at least more than half of the population will be infected.
After a year and a half of cessation, from the second half of the 16th year to the beginning of the 17th year of Chongzhen, when the epidemic struck again, it directly wiped out nearly half of the population of the capital. How could Li Zicheng still have the strength to hold on when he attacked.
However, Chenshuren is not very afraid of the plague because he has scientific knowledge. He knows that floods and droughts cannot be resisted, and locust plagues are slightly easier to control. The great plague is mainly related to wars. If there are too many people killed and there is no time to bury the bodies, of course there will be plague.
In addition, there have been four consecutive years of floods and droughts, so many people have died of starvation, and there will be no one to bury the starved dead, who will also become a source of infection.
The plague that started in Henan this year is obviously related to the previous famine and this year's massacre. The epidemic in the second half of the 16th year of Chongzhen was related to Li Zicheng's excavation of the Yellow River to flood Kaifeng City and create a yellow flood zone, which eventually affected most of the city. North China Plain.
Chen Shuren pondered for a long time: "The main source of the plague is caused by the failure to deal with the dead in time. Guarding Jianghan and preventing the infected refugees from the north from flowing south on a large scale, and burning and burying the local war dead and starving dead in time can be controlled.
Alas, there is just one more errand that requires government expenses. If the money is not enough, you have to find a way to extract it from the gold. Use this money to organize the soldiers to collect the corpses and burn them."
Shen Shuren talked indifferently, and no fluctuations in his tone could be heard.
It's not that he doesn't take the dead seriously, but that in his position, he no longer has the energy to pity the dead. It's just a number. What he has to do is to use scientific methods and management to keep this number down. There is no such thing as emotional use. Any help.
…
Chen Shuren, under the guise of an outing, visited the last township and had dinner at the home of the largest tycoon in Daye County that afternoon.
This family's surname is Qin, and there is a cousin Qin Riguang in the family who works as a promotion official in Wuchang Prefecture. Because the family is powerful, there are many local officials accompanying today's banquet, including the magistrate of Daye County and the chief bookkeeper. They all came too.
The local old patriarch is named Qin Jilie. The clan owns thousands of hectares of land in Daye. He has also helped the government manage the Daye Iron Mine for many years and also runs many iron shops. However, Qin Jilie is old and now His son Qin Rixin was already doing the job of helping the government manage the iron mines. In the past few years, he had made a lot of money by helping Zuo Liangyu's army handle the ordnance.
Not to mention that Zuo Liangyu's starting territory was actually much better than that of Shen Shuren. When he first became a warlord, he occupied a state capital with a large iron mine. To build weapons, he did not need to buy steel from outside, but at most some coking coal. , charcoal.
It's a pity that Zuo Liangyu doesn't know how to organize production. If such a site had been given to Chen Shuren two years earlier, Chen Shuren would have risen even faster.
The Qin family is also a little wary of the new Taotai who has come to power, fearing that the Qin family will be driven away by the Taotai's one-time official.
Especially when they heard that the relationship between Shen Shuren and Zuo Zongzhen was extremely bad. It could be said that they were on the same level as each other. They had helped Zuo Zongzhen run weapons and equipment for many years, so it was inevitable that they would be liquidated.
So this time the reception was very thorough, and the wine and food were delicious. Shen Shuren has recently been making secret visits under the pretense of seducing people, and of course he will not refuse this kind of reception. He looks like a playboy. All orders received.
But no matter how much he enjoys it, Chen Shuren always has a steadfast thought in his heart: He uses science, engineering, technical talents, and mathematical account management talents, and he will never ask who he has worked for in the past. As long as the other person does good things in the future and does not deceive him, he will You can continue to use it.
Of course, this treatment is only limited to science and engineering, professional and technical talents.
Liberal arts bureaucrats must look at service resumes, at least those who have been traitors must not be used. Those who have served the bandits should be judged by the situation and what role they played within the bandits. Anyway, there was no shortage of scholars in the Ming Dynasty, and many imperial examinations were held After a hundred years, even if all the traitors are killed, there will still be enough scholars left to serve as officials.
After having a banquet and socializing, and making Shen Shuren feel comfortable for a while, Daye County Magistrate Liu Minsheng took the lead and helped Shen Shuren to say good things in front of Shen Shuren:
"Master Daotai, I heard that you attach great importance to military preparations, even more than when Zuo Liangyu was there. There is Tieshan in Daye County, but the preparation of military preparations is the most important thing. Maintaining Tieshan's normal operation cannot be neglected.
It just so happens that you are here today, and the officials and others also take the opportunity to listen to the teachings and know how to handle Daye Iron Mountain in the future, whether the old method should be used, or what reforms should be carried out..."
Chen Shuren put down his wine glass and pressed it with his folding fan. Liu Zhixian immediately shut up and did not dare to say anything nice.
Chen Shuren swallowed his drink and said slowly: "I don't have time to worry about Tieshan's affairs at the moment. The autumn harvest has just ended, and I have been concerned about persuading farmers.
How is the harvest in Daye County this year? Let me report in detail first. Also, I will promote the planting of corn and potatoes in Daye next year. Has the upper and lower water and drought conditions of the soil in this county been re-examined? How much land will there be next year? Are those imported plants suitable for planting? Can we calculate how many seed loans the local gentry will have to borrow from the government?"
Liu Zhixian and Qin Rixin looked at each other and thought to themselves that Shen Daotai was really greedy. Isn't this the same as the previous dynasty Wang Anshi's Green Crop Law and forcibly apportioning seed loans?
If we really lend money to the poor, I'm afraid we won't be able to repay it at all. In the end, why don't we give priority to the rich farmers who are actually not so poor in money and food, and let the rich farmers pay back the interest several times more after the autumn harvest?
Fortunately, they are also prepared and know how to please their corrupt superiors and share the benefits among themselves.
Under Shen Shuren's questioning, they quickly took out their newly adjusted "Atlas of Cultivated Land Suitable for Planting Corn and Potatoes" for Shen Shuren to review.