Chapter 48 I told you not to leave the protection scope of Master Tongzhi, but you died
After the Hongmen Banquet on the night of the Ghost Festival, the division between the enemy and ourselves was basically clear.
Chen Shuren knew very well that Yuan Zhongyi and this small group of "local tyrants and evil gentry" would not cooperate with the government. They also wanted to extract the marrow to ensure their own maximum interests.
Just like those officials who were forced to donate by Chongzhen, what they care about may not be the money and food they have now, but that after opening this hole, the poor will become the target households, and the government will think they are easy to bully.
This can be regarded as a series of sequelae caused by the lack of rule of law and the lack of protection of private property in ancient society. What rich people think in their hearts is "I gave in to the robber for the first time, and the robber will still stare at me in the future." I will never give in to bribery.
However, at least Yuan Zhongyi and the others have not dared to quarrel directly with Shen Shuren, and Shen Shuren is not in a hurry to do so - the real conflicts will not fully erupt until the autumn grain collection.
At the moment, these people are most likely to engage in other small actions that are not direct confrontation.
As for the specific little action, Shen Shuren can basically guess it based on his IQ.
…
The day after the Hongmen Banquet, Shen Shuren called his confidant Shen Fu and asked him a few questions: "In those years when we were hanging out at sea, did you kill anyone? Did you kill anyone with your men?"
Shen Fu was unambiguous. He changed his cautious attitude when he worked as a follower to the eldest master, and showed a rare hint of ferocity:
"Kai, three years ago I was still traveling to North Korea. One time, I encountered a typhoon on my way back from selling ginseng. The route deviated and drifted south to Jeju. When I returned to Ningbo from Jeju, I encountered the Hizen Matsukura clan's Zhuin ship on the sea. I even killed a real Japanese."
Chen Shuren almost showed a look of surprise, but fortunately he was so deep in the city that he quickly controlled it and asked in a disguised manner:
"Oh? Do you still have this ability? It seems that my father arranged you to be with me because he is well aware of your abilities. No wonder you performed well when transporting grain to Shifutai last year. By the way, this kind of thing is not for the Matsukura Domain Why didn’t you take revenge later? And wasn’t that place Zheng Zhilong’s territory?”
Shen Fu rarely showed a wild smile, as if recalling the proud things in his life, and said with great detail:
"That year was not chaotic. In order to avoid suspicion, Zheng Zhilong restrained his subordinates from sailing to several ports in Hizen and Higo, so as not to offend the Edo shogunate and be misunderstood as a traitor.
As a result, the Shimabara Rebellion broke out in Kyushu in the next year, and the feudal lord Matsukura Katsuie was captured by Tokugawa Iemitsu and beheaded in Edo for triggering the rebellion. How could he care about his subordinates suffering such a small loss?"
Shen Shuren has a good history, and he also loved playing games in his previous life. If you think about it briefly, you will understand what is going on.
The "Shimabara Rebellion" was a great rebellion in the Kitakyushu region of Japan between 1637 and 1638 in which the Amezu believers rebelled against the rule of the shogunate. The leader of the rebellion, "Amakusa Shiro Tokisada," was the prototype of the big boss in the "Samurai Shodown" series of games.
The Shen family's status as the "Hegemon of the Yellow Sea" is indeed not in vain. Even if the Zheng family only has one-twentieth of the power, it is more than enough to deal with these river merchants.
After Shen Shuren was reassured, he went straight to a showdown with his subordinates: "Last night at the Hongmen Banquet, I revealed to those wealthy gentry the origin of the seeds of tilapia, Indian chicken, and corn and potatoes. This was also my intention to show my sincerity and to ask for directions.
Those wealthy gentry who are willing to cooperate with the government should hurriedly pay their dues in the next few days, actively apportion, and sign leases in exchange for the improved chickens and fish in my hands.
Those who are unwilling to cooperate will definitely not be idle after hearing that these products are highly productive. They will probably find a way to go from Jiangxi to Fujian to search for them themselves, bypassing me as the 'middleman', and not allowing me to make the price difference.
You are all old sailors, and our boats are also fast. In the past few days, we have been keeping a close eye on the wharfs and towns at the mouth of Qishui, Bashui, and Xishui. Let's see if any wealthy gentry wants to avoid me.
In addition, now that the money and food matters have been taken care of, we must also pay attention to the recruitment and training of troops. We can first recruit local poor people who have lost their land and turned into fishermen, screen their characters, and recruit new ones into our Shen family. fleet.
Regarding ships, we can also get some money to expand the number of civilian ships, and let Suzhou bring some more. Anyway, I want to block the business travelers from Huangzhou counties from using the Yangtze River waterway, and I have to plan for it whenever I want to go to Jiangxi."
After hearing this, Shen Fu looked troubled: "If you do whatever it takes and just keep an eye on it, it's not difficult to get there. But if you want to come secretly, our manpower and ships are far from enough. Young Master, you can only come here this time." He brought twenty or thirty large ships, five hundred sailors, and five hundred elite servants."
Chen Shuren waved his hand: "You don't have to come completely secretly, you can do it openly. In a few days, I will announce at the right time that Liu Xiyao has gone further. He has raided civilian ships in Huanggang and will go out by water to rob grain from various counties. I will step up the force Be alert, set up customs inspections at various river mouths, and temporarily collect convoy gold."
The young master's words shocked Shen Fu. At least he knew a little about the household laws of the imperial court and what the official taxes on money and food were.
The Ming Dynasty did collect commercial tax, but it accounted for a very low proportion of the total fiscal revenue. The large-scale commercial tax at water transport hub nodes such as Linqing, Yangzhou, and Suzhou only accounted for 100,000 to 200,000 taels of silver per year. For tax and other banknotes, it would be good to have tens of thousands taels.
However, the system of "Lijin" was obviously never used in the Ming Dynasty, and the imperial court did not allow commercial trade circulation taxes to be collected in places other than legal banknotes.
Shen Fu was worried that the young master would violate the national law, so he quickly reminded him tactfully.
Chen Shuren didn't take it seriously, and just waved his hand casually: "What's the point? First of all, it's wartime. In order to raise troops and suppress thieves, what's wrong with the local government's urgent need to obey the authority?
Secondly, originally the imperial court also had tax cards in Wuchang, but instead of Liu Xiyao and other thieves cutting off the Yangtze River, there were many leaks in Wuchang. In fact, couldn't they collect it?
Finally, what we collect is not a 'tax', but money to escort the merchant fleet. This is only natural. Even if we go to hell, Chiang Kai-shek will help us.
Even if His Majesty is worried, he will just turn a blind eye and wait and see the effect first. If the effect is not good, or it causes bigger problems, Your Majesty may blame me to calm the anger of the gentleman. If the effect is good, , the situation is under control, Your Majesty must not go along with the situation.
Besides, the Fujian Zheng family has been doing this for a long time in collecting money for escorting, and we are not the first to stand out."
When Shen Shuren said this, there was no need to finish what he said later. Shen Fu already knew what the young master was targeting.
According to the model of the Zheng family's flag money, collecting a de facto commercial circulation tax means "if you pay a protection fee, I will escort you to ensure your safety. If you don't pay a protection fee, I guarantee that you will definitely be attacked by Jiang." A thief robbed?”
Most of Zheng Zhilong's family business came from this - the Zheng family owns one or two thousand sea-going ships, and the other countries in East and Southeast Asia also have one or two thousand sea-going ships. Each ship pays the Zheng family three thousand taels per year. The flag of silver is silver, which is protection money.
This amount is worth one thousand to twelve million taels per year, which is equivalent to two of the three royalties of the imperial court.
The Shen family in Huanghai actually has a similar model, but the scale is only one-twentieth of the Zheng family, but everyone is familiar with the operation process.
Shen Fu took a deep breath and solemnly asked the young master for a final measure: "Young master, if you really follow the method of 'Flag Silver' and encounter someone who resists stubbornly, you will be pushed to 'die at the hands of the Liu Xiyao Jiang thief'" On the head?
The mainland is not as easy to get involved as the sea. I am still an official in the capital, so you won’t cause any trouble to me, right?"
Chen Shuren's face darkened: "It's really a last resort, pay attention to the scale and confidentiality. The bandits are so chaotic, there are some things that can't be explained clearly.
Huangzhou is a closed place. As long as you can control the navigation on the river, if they want to overturn the world, they have to go overland through the Yinghuo Mountains to Anlu.
Liu Xiyao is in the north and Lin Chengcheng is in the east. If these wealthy gentry really have the ability to break through the bandits' defense area, will they be beaten to the point where only four or five counties are left?"
Chen Shuren thought very clearly. He was betting that these people could not defeat the thieves and could not break out a bloody path. Even if he was domineering in Huangzhou, these people would be temporarily intimidated by his lust.
After the rebels have suffered, they may not give up their hatred, but they will definitely shelve their hatred, thinking, "Now that information is blocked, we cannot send out the news about Shen Tongzhi's lawlessness.
But as long as they endure it for a year and a half, waiting for the imperial army to clear out Liu Xiyao and clear the way, then they can go out to report the crime and hope for success! There is no need to take risks in vain just to "snatch the time gap for reporting the crime".
Only Shen Shuren knew that the current situation in the Ming Dynasty changed every year. This year, the court could still control the local government's arbitrary tax collection or squeezing of the gentry in order to suppress thieves, but next year it would be even more chaotic and the scale would be even greater.
When the time comes, as long as he has meritorious deeds, Shen Shuren will not be afraid of these small fish and shrimps making waves.
Two years before the death of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Lu killed the Han envoys. Two years before the death of Chongzhen, how could he, Chen Shuren, not be able to kill those insects!
If you want to go to the Dabie Mountains to report a crime, you can do it yourself. It's their ability to fight their way out.
…
Chen Shuren knew very well that in today's remote and isolated mountainous areas, the deterrence of the Ming Dynasty officialdom was no longer useful. Instead, it was the law of the jungle that was more about the jungle and the strong.
It's a pity that people like Yuan Zhongyi don't know that they still cling to the rules of officialdom and crazily seek benefits for themselves.
Shen Fu followed the young master's instructions and organized a fleet of ships to patrol and set up defenses. After only half a month of investigation, he discovered that there was something wrong with Yuan Zhongyi and these guys.
They actually made a trip to southern Gansu and tried to get high-quality crop seeds and eggs from the Fujian people.
The key is that some of these people are not willing to cooperate with the warnings from adults.
Mr. Tongzhi repeatedly told them that Liu Xiyao had acquired many civilian ships recently, and there was another famine in Huanggang County. Liu Xiyao organized people to go out to rob the waterway to solve the famine. But these guys took Mr. Tongzhi's warning as a way to collect money for protection. Excuse for paying! Still refusing to take out insurance!
The risk may not break out for a while, but it will definitely break out eventually.
No, one day in early August, about a week before the Mid-Autumn Festival, something happened to a Yuan family's fleet that was trying to return to their hometown to join forces.
The fleet was on its way back to Jiangxi after transporting corn and eggs to Qizhou. Yuan Daotai's distant nephew, Yuan Zhongyi, also planned to return to Jiangxi with the fleet in person that day, so that he could report to his family and discuss some matters.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the fleet left the mouth of Xishui River, it was intercepted and killed by Liu Xiyao's rogue navy on the Yangtze River.
All 100 members of the Yuan family's merchant fleet below Yuan Zhongyi were killed by Jiang thieves, and not a single person was left alive. Unfortunately, their family had not paid the lijin protection fee, so there was no naval patrol ship escorted by Shen Tongzhi at that time. .
Despite this, out of his love for the people and humanitarian considerations, Shen Tongzhi immediately led troops and ships to the scene after receiving the news to understand the situation and guide the aftermath.
He also declared martial law on the river at the boundary of Huangzhou. Local civilian ships were not allowed to go out of the river to avoid being harmed by Liu Xiyao.
If you must travel far, please take the land route over the Dabie Mountains and pass through the defense area of the 5th Battalion of Gezuo.