Chapter 174: Driving fish into the abyss (Part 2)
"...There is no trouble now, Brother Mi! I have just reached an agreement with the leader of the Kun bandits, Zhao Yingong. Within a month, the Kun bandits will use sea ships to transport rice, wheat and grains to Shanghai County and Chongming Island. Three hundred thousand stones, four thousand stones of salt, and several swords, guns, and firearms to meet our urgent needs.”
Seeing that everyone was there, Zhang Pu found a chair and sat down. While ordering the boy to make tea, he said calmly, "...In order to obtain these weapons and grain, the imperial court must pay 800,000 taels, cash on delivery. . At present, the imperial treasury in Shanghai naturally does not have that much money, but Songjiang Xu The family (a descendant of Xu Jie, the famous Prime Minister of the Jiajing Dynasty, the largest wealthy man in Songjiang in the late Ming Dynasty, but has nothing to do with Xu Guangqi) is willing to donate 400,000 taels of silver and raise some from other Jin gentry families. If that doesn't work, it will probably be enough. , you can also use the refugee population to offset the price..."
"...Hey, the times are tough. I'm afraid we will have to become human traffickers for a time." Fang Yizhi lowered his head and considered the family fortune of the Shanghai court for a while, then couldn't help but shook his head and sighed, "...Brother Tianru, you What else have you negotiated with Zhao Yingong? You might as well tell us all!”
"...After a lot of hard work for my brother, the Kun thieves also agreed to withdraw the Hainingwei rebels who had surrendered to them from Jiaxing Prefecture and retreat to Hangzhou Prefecture for resettlement. In this case, the imperial court could occupy Songjiang, Jiaxing, Suzhou, and Huzhou The land of these four prefectures, I can barely deal with the Qing prisoners who are entrenched in Jinling." Zhang Pu continued, looking around the room and found that there seemed to be someone missing, "...Eh? Where is the eldest son (Zhang Dai)? "
"...He is accompanying Miss Yu in the backyard! I just heard the sound of a piano coming from there." Fang Yizhi replied casually.
——The girl Yu mentioned by Fang Yizhi is Yu Xiaoyu, a famous prostitute in Hangzhou. She is also an old sweetheart Zhang Dai met by the West Lake when Zhang Dai, a dandy, previously lived in Hangzhou: Taking advantage of the opportunity of this mission, Zhang Dai also Back again After a year's absence from Hangzhou, he discovered that the city where he had lived for many years had become very strange and strange. The brothels and casinos where he used to frequent gold-selling dens were now basically gone. Has closed down and gone out of business. The Zhang Family Courtyard in Hangzhou (Zhang Dai’s hometown is in Shaoxing) was also set on fire and reduced to rubble during the riots on the eve of the city’s fall. The acquaintances from the past were almost all gone now.
While Zhang Dai was wandering around the familiar but unfamiliar streets of Hangzhou, he recognized the haggard-looking girl Yu Xiaoyu at the fish selling bridge...
It turned out that just last spring, when Australian thieves attacked the city of Hangzhou, the brothel where Yu Xiaoyu lived was also ransacked by thugs and gangsters in the city. In the end, it was set on fire and burned to the ground, and even the madam was beaten alive. die. Fortunately, when Yu Xiaoyu saw that the situation was not good, she rolled up her parcel and hid in a secret cave. She stayed like this for a few days until the Australian thieves entered the city to suppress the riot and calmed the market, and then she quietly slipped away. I came out, took the little money I had saved, and temporarily rented a house to settle down.
Although she escaped the military disaster, most of the Jin gentry in Hangzhou City had been frightened by the Kun thieves and fled, and no one could sing or sing with her. Even though Yu Xiaoyu was excellent in both sex and art, she knew all the poems, lyrics, music, playing, playing, and singing. , and his livelihood is cut off, he can only sit back and have nothing. As for the talented and famous people who had been in contact with her, after Hangzhou changed hands, they basically either escaped or died. For a while, there was no one who could take refuge. There was a gang leader who once wanted to take her in, but how could Yu Xiaoyu, who was arrogant and arrogant, think so highly of a vulgar martial artist? What's more, this guy is dark and thick, and has no talent at all. Yu Xiaoyu scolded him a few times, citing classics, but he didn't catch it. In the end, Miss Yu had no choice but to take out the scissors, pointed them at her chest and scolded her harshly, saying that if the leader took another step forward, he would kill himself immediately, and that would be the only way to drive away this toad who wanted to eat the swan meat.
After that, Yu Xiaoyu was in panic for a few days. However, the young thief leader seemed to have a good mind and did not take revenge on her afterwards. However, Yu Xiaoyu has never been able to find a new benefactor who is willing to pay a large price to buy a smile. I heard that there has been a war outside, and she, a weak woman, dare not leave the city. After a year of sitting on the fence, Yu Xiaoyu's previous savings have been exhausted. , jewelry and dresses were all pawned one after another... In the end, he couldn't even pay the rent, was kicked out by the landlord, and lived on the streets, with no other way out—— Yu Xiaoyu, who considers herself a talented girl, neither wants to go to the low-class brothels in Hangzhou that are still running poorly, and serve the traffickers and vulgar warriors with her tender body, nor enter the "purification camp" of those Australian thieves. ", shaved his hair and moved to those overseas countries where cannibals are said to be infested... So he wandered around Hangzhou selling fish Qiaotou all day long, thinking of drowning himself in the river.
However, at this moment, she met Zhang Dai... Zhang Dai, who finally saw an acquaintance, was immediately excited and rushed to rescue him. He said "the water is too cold" to dispel Yu Xiaoyu's desire to jump into the water, and then killed him. She took the Ming Dynasty mission back to its residence and hired several maids to serve her in her daily life. Such a timely offer of help immediately moved Miss Yu's heart. It wasn't long before the two reunited again. They were like glue. They sang poems together all day long, lamenting the spring and autumn. Together they recalled the charm, wealth and hustle and bustle of the past, and sighed at the prosperity of today. Scattered, deserted and dilapidated...
Just when Fang Yizhi mentioned this matter to Zhang Pu, the sound of Yu Xiaoyu playing the piano came from the backyard. Zhang Pu could only hear the sad and mournful sound of the piano, full of sadness and decline, and couldn't help but sigh. Xu Fuyuan, who had a stronger temperament, clenched his fists and said angrily:
"...Now that the northern and southern barbarians are fighting, and the four villages south of the Yangtze River are in ruins, how can we think of ourselves as gentlemen? The Jianzhou Tartars are racing to enclose the land in the south of the Yangtze River, slaughtering Suzhou, and killing and plundering the people of the south of the Yangtze River. It is certainly extremely cruel. . But these overseas thieves who stole Hangzhou are trying to poison the people this time. , I met old friends of the same age along the way, and they all shed tears when they talked about how the thieves harmed the Jin gentry, corrupted the morals, and lured good people to go to sea as slaves. But we, with the emperor's orders, not only cannot expel the thieves, but also have to grovel and beg for mercy... This is really... a shame and a shame!”
"...Brother An, the Kun thieves are armed with sharp weapons and it is difficult to control the situation. We can only attack slowly and not act rashly!" Hearing that Xu Fuyuan seemed to be opposed to this peace negotiation and trade, Zhang Pu was afraid that his temper would get worse. This messed up the matter, so he had to jump up quickly and comfort him, saying, "...this thief confuses the people's hearts. He spared no effort in using people's power and tried to occupy the land of our ancestors. However, he did not respect Confucius and Mencius and did not hold the imperial examination. As long as the people of Ming Dynasty were in full power, the king and the people would be nothing more than an ant. If you want to shake a big tree, even if it is rampant for a while, it will definitely be wiped out in the future..."
While Zhang Pu was saying things that he didn't even believe, he couldn't help but think back to all the things he had seen and heard in the past few days that frightened him.
After many days of observation, he discovered that the thieves entrenched in Hangzhou, although it was said that they were just a side force that was not taken seriously, were also well-organized and managed in a very orderly manner. They were very good at governing politics and caring for the people. Although the soldiers killed and looted terribly in wartime, they never plundered people's property on weekdays. They looked more like official soldiers than the current Ming Dynasty soldiers and horses. I really don't know how they were trained.
What is even more ominous is that according to some of the proclamations and rumors that Zhang Pu collected privately, it seems that these thieves have all kinds of governance methods, but they do not have the Confucian sect. shadow! What does this mean? It shows that Kun Zei doesn't really want to use these Confucian scholars at all, at least he doesn't intend to let them occupy high positions in Kun Zei's court! It’s really unbearable! Scholars of my generation are born to be high officials! How can you thieves not give our high-ranking officials generous salaries? There has never been such a ridiculous thing in all dynasties!
What's more, the words used by these Australian thieves in daily life are all in popular style, and their articles and announcements are all in vernacular. It is really outrageous and vulgar! No matter how many times those great scholars denounced them, these shameless thieves still refused to change. The scribes he used had neither literary talent nor dignity. Even though there were a few scholars who fell in love with him, they seemed to be possessed and had forgotten all the teachings of the saints! This is simply changing Yi Yi into Xia!
In the past few years, watching the turmoil and disintegration of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Pu had some vague premonitions about the future destiny of the Ming Dynasty. He even wrote such a quatrain in his notes: "...the mountains and rivers are eternally beautiful, Zhou Ding often changes people. Zhu Ming loses his deer, let’s see who can get it.”
However, if the Jiannu Tatars were allowed to conquer the world, everyone would just stay in pigtails and become slaves. After civilizing those barbarian chiefs who admire sacred learning and allowing them to hold imperial examinations and promote literature and education, the scholars in the world might still have a chance to turn around. . But if these thieves who have no respect for scholars take over the world, I am afraid that the Chinese heritage and the orthodoxy of saints will be destroyed! Fortunately, these thieves were short-sighted, had a small structure, and lacked strength. They were satisfied with Hangzhou and stopped moving forward. Otherwise, facing the attack from the two thieves from the north and the south, the entire Jiangnan Shilin would probably be destroyed together...
Hey, where can I find a virtuous corporal who treats the Jin gentry favorably, who neither collects taxes nor recruits troops, but also has a great martial arts master, just like Zhao Kuangyin, the founder of the Song Dynasty, who single-handedly wiped out the thieves, the Tartars, and the Tatars in this dirty and troubled world? A traitorous martial artist, so that the world's literati can feel proud? !
While Zhang Pu was thinking about it, several of his accompanying staff members hurried over and whispered something to him. An expression of disbelief suddenly appeared on Zhang Pu's face. When Fang Yizhi saw this, he asked, "...Brother Tianru, what happened?"
The next moment, Zhang Pu gave him an earth-shattering answer: "...just now, a Ming army entered the city from Fengshan Gate!"
"...What? Could it be that our government has defeated the thieves and regained Hangzhou?" Xu Fuyuan immediately looked happy, but then he thought that this was impossible - the military strength of the **** in Shanghai was better than anyone else's. Clearly, if they really had the ability to regain Hangzhou, why would they be asked to send envoys?
As a result, everyone's faces immediately became solemn, and the explanation Zhang Pu gave next made their thinking even more confusing, "...it is true that those who entered the city were the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers, but they were the deposed Emperor Chongzhen. The officers and soldiers on the other side didn’t come in here, they came under the banner of envoys just like me. No. I heard that after the deposed emperor Chongzhen died of illness in Chizhou, the deposed queen Zhou family and the rebel minister Wen Tiren moved to Huizhou with the deposed prince Zhu Cixiang and established a new puppet dynasty. Now they sent envoys to Hangzhou... Could it be the Huizhou puppet dynasty? You actually disregard your dignity and want to unite with the thieves to plot against our government?”
Hearing Zhang Pu's speculation, all the Jiangnan celebrities in the room turned pale in an instant... but in fact they were just scaring themselves. ——In fact, this is just a time-traveler who has been wandering for a long time and is exhausted. He is returning to the organization and returning to his roots...