Chapter 221 Zado riot!
In the nineteenth year of Hongwu, mid-July.
Hangzhou Prefecture, as the residence of the Chief Secretary of Zhejiang Province, has always been very developed in commerce.
But now it is a bit more desolate.
While the people outside the city were busy preparing for the autumn harvest, a large group of kitchen households crowded to the top of the city and looked at the notices posted in the city.
"What does the court mean by this?"
"They won't accept the salt we make? They won't distribute food either?"
"Isn't this cutting off our way of survival?"
"."
At the top of the city, a small official in soap clothes looked at the crowds of kitchen households below, a flash of contempt flashed in his eyes, and he said coldly: "Don't make noise, it's not the first time I heard this. He said that now the court has just announced the rules.”
"In the future, the imperial court will not need kitchen households."
"Now we have two salt factories in Hangzhou. The salt we produce is of high quality and quantity. It is much better than the salt you usually produce, and the price is also higher than the salt you usually produce." It was a few cents cheaper in the past. The imperial court is considerate of the people at the bottom and wants to provide them with good salt at a more affordable price. Don’t be so ignorant.”
“But the imperial court will indeed not spend money on you again in the future. "
"After raising you for so long, the salt produced is not half as good as the machine. It's me, and I don't need you. From now on, you will find your own way out. Of course, there are two salt factories now. We still have to recruit people, you can try it, maybe you can get in.”
“And this information has been told to you a long time ago. If you are not sure, it is not our fault.”
"Okay."
"I won't say anything more."
"I have said everything that needs to be said, and I have also said what needs to be explained."
" Don’t blame me.”
“This is the decree of the imperial court.”
"Let's go, let's go."
The clerk said a few words impatiently and returned directly to the Yamen.
He has no intention of making trouble with these kitchen households.
This matter was decided long ago.
Inside the Yamen.
A clerk looked out the door with a worried expression and said uneasily: "This will directly cut off the supply of food. Isn't this a bit too much? There are quite a few Zao households in Hangzhou."
The Yi Xiaoli said disdainfully: "This is the intention of the superiors."
"We, the head of the Zhejiang Salt Transportation Department, all want to claim credit from the superiors. This has reduced the court's expenditure. What can I, the Chief Secretary of Zhejiang, do?" It is said that there are tens of thousands of kitchen households, and they consume a lot of food this month. Now it is only given to a thousand people. How much food will be saved?”
“And your Majesty loves the people now.”
“I heard that the price of salt in Zhejiang has dropped and the quality of salt has improved. If Long Yan is happy and gives some rewards, we may still be able to benefit from it.”
"Also, it used to be very tiring to distribute food to these kitchen households, but now we are relaxed."
"As for these kitchen households, who cares about them, can they make a difference?"
"Let's talk about it."
"The autumn harvest is coming soon, and some people are asking for part-time labor."
"Are they still afraid that they won't survive?"
"If they can't survive, then they don't deserve to live."
The Zaojiao clerk looked contemptuous.
He didn’t feel anything bad. These kitchen households couldn’t afford anything, and there were so many people in the world who couldn’t survive. They were the oldest ones. If the imperial court controlled everything, then they Aren’t these little officials exhausted every day?
Qiantang County.
A low earth house.
A middle-aged woman with freckles on her face was weaving, but her eyes looked out the door from time to time, unable to hide her anxiety and uneasiness. She turned around and looked at the two boys who were sleeping soundly, and then looked at the piles A few dustpans of salt, but the sorrow in my eyes couldn't be dispelled at all.
No one collects salt anymore.
Since last month, the government has cut off the food supply.
Although their family is still making salt, the government no longer collects it. However, from the salt factories in Hangzhou, people come to collect salt from time to time, but the price of salt is higher than before the government collected salt. A half discount, with such low salt prices, they can't even keep their lives.
If I hadn’t been frugal, I might not have survived today.
Many households in Qiantang County have no food to eat, and some people even go out to sell illegal salt. However, the government has been keeping a close eye on it recently. There are very few people who really dare to sell illegal salt, but no one collects the salt. , and there is no other livelihood, so we are sitting on nothing. No matter how much we have, we can’t afford it.
Not to mention there is a family to support.
The woman lamented: "How come this day is like this?"
She also knew it.
We have been working as kitchen households for generations, and they have been working well, but suddenly they lost their livelihood. The government did nothing, they just issued a notice and then drove them away. They also stopped buying salt. They are not allowed to sell privately, and their hope of living a good life will be gone in one fell swoop.
Creak.
House doors are promoted.
A dark-skinned man returned home.
The woman looked up and said with hope: "Master, what do you think of the salt factory?"
The swarthy man shook his head and cursed: "Those bitches, what's the deal? They gave me two taels of silver and asked me to enter the salt factory. But when I went there, I was asked to give five taels of silver. How could our family get five taels of silver? And looking at how they looked, I was afraid that even if they gave me five taels of silver, they wouldn't be able to feed them enough. .”
"This is such a shitty world!" The woman stood up, took a piece of linen cloth, wiped the man's sweat, and said worriedly: "Then what should we do now? The government won't collect salt. Although the people from the salt factory will come to collect salt, but The price of salt is getting lower and lower, and you can't even buy one or two meters. The family doesn't have much money."
The man sighed, with some irritation in his eyes.
How could he not know the situation at home?
Now there are two salt factories in Hangzhou. The workers have already collected enough. The salt they produce every day is as much as they produce in several months. Now people in the city are basically buying salt factories. Even if they want to smuggle salt, they have to worry about whether they will be sued.
The man picked up a melon gourd, scooped out a gourd of water, and drank it in large gulps.
Then he went out again.
Zhao households are different from farmers in that they do not have fields.
My livelihood depends entirely on salt production. Normally, the court would distribute some grain at regular intervals and use money and grain to collect salt. Now the government just doesn’t care. The grain will no longer be given, and it will no longer use money and grain to collect salt. , and most of the salt they worked so hard to make fell into the hands of the salt factory.
If it changes hands once in the salt factory, it can be sold at a high price.
Ten days later.
The man fled home in a hurry.
At the same time, there is another news brought back.
The man who went out to sell smuggled salt with him was caught and beaten to death by the government.
Sitting in the room, the dark-skinned man was trembling all over. Just looking at his hopeful family, his eyes gradually showed a ruthless look. No one wants salt now, and those who sell smuggled salt will be killed by the government. Go No one wants to work as a day laborer. The whole family is counting on him. He has been forced to a dead end.
The man licked his dry lips and asked: "How much food is left at home?"
The woman whispered: "If you eat one meal a day, you can still take care of it for three days."
" Three days!" The man murmured a few words in a low voice and gritted his teeth: "We can't go on like this. If we continue like this, we will starve to death. These dog officials are driving us to death. The Yan government will not accept them. If the factory doesn’t want it, it’s not allowed to sell it myself. Since they are unkind, I, Deng Muzi, will give it up.”
“Isn’t it a steam engine?”
“Smash it!” >
"Without this bullshit, the government would have to buy our salt, and everything would be restored."
Thought of this.
Deng Muzi climbed up from the corner.
He said: "You stay at home, don't move anywhere, I'll go out."
As he said that, he looked around the house and found a pole in the house. He held it tightly in his hand, it was very strong, and then went out directly. Now he was not the only one who could not survive, there were thousands of households in Hangzhou, and they were all harmed by this steam engine.
There is only one thing on his mind right now.
Smash the steam engine and everything will return to the way it was before.
The government will continue to collect salt and give them food, and their whole family will be alive.
The commotion caused in Hangzhou soon spread to the entire Zhejiang.
But what greeted them was only bloody suppression.
However, the commotion caused by Zaohu did not end quickly. Instead, it quickly spread in Jiangxi, Fujian and other places. Only after this incident did several officials from the Chief Secretary in Jiangnan realize that something was wrong.
Before that.
Several letters have been sent to Yingtian Mansion.
But it was not sent to Fengtian Palace, but to the Salt Transport Department.
Seeing that most of the chief ministers in Huguang, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian and other southern regions had riots among Zao households, the salt movement frightened the people of Wei Heng.
He knew something was wrong.
Something big happened.
He did not dare to hesitate at all, and immediately called all the other officials of the Salt Transportation Department to discuss countermeasures. They must suppress these situations before the court takes action, otherwise they will not be able to do anything once His Majesty is informed. One person can escape.
Just seeing the letters written by these salt transport envoys, Wei Heng couldn't help but want to curse.
It is true that a dog cannot eat.
He had warned them in advance, but as a result, these people did not listen at all, and even intensified their exploitation, completely denying these kitchen households any way to survive. As long as these people were willing to give up some profits, collect salt at a slightly higher price, or provide some daily The food cannot be cut off like this.
However, the fact is that no one paid any attention to it.
They all try different ways to make money.
I wish I could put all the money into my pocket, and I don’t want to take out a penny.
In just two or three months, Zaohu was forced to a dead end.
Wei Heng didn't hide it at all. He slapped these letters directly on the table and said, "See for yourselves. As Xia Zhibai expected, something happened in the Jiangnan area, and it happened in a large area. These bastards, a little bit They don't know how to restrain themselves and are trying to make money from death. Now, there are Zao households in Huguang, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and other chief secretaries who are making trouble. There are even local chief secretaries who are preparing to submit a letter to the court, but they are deliberately suppressed. "
< br>"Now they think of us and want us to find a solution for them."
Wei Heng sneered, his eyes extremely cold.
Didn’t they give me a solution?
Give it.
But no one listened.
As for the suggestions put forward by Xia Zhibai, the Chief Secretary ignored them at all. Now that something has happened, I think of them again. Why did they go there earlier? If Zhou Dexing and the others agreed to let Xia Zhibai It would be great if Bai went south, or if they had given them a little way to survive, how could they have ended up like this?
Tian Jing looked at it for a few times and said in a serious voice: "Then what should we do now?"
Wei Heng said dissatisfied: "What should I do? I don't know what to do, let them take their own heads. Top.”
(End of this chapter)