Chapter 269 Breaking into a cold sweat!
The next day, it was early in the morning.
Zhou Ziliang and other officials heard a surprising news.
Last night Xia Zhibai sent three people to write a memorial about yesterday's banquet and report it to them.
Hearing the news, Zhou Ziliang, who was originally calm, froze on the spot, with a hint of irritation and anger in his eyes.
He really didn't expect that Xia Zhibai would really do what he said.
I thought it was just to scare them and make them afraid, but in the end, Xia Zhibai really dared to do this.
Go to the official office.
As soon as Zhou Ziliang sat down, Wang Xuanfan and other officials came, but their faces were full of worry and panic, as if they were frightened by Xia Zhibai's actions, and his whole person was a little nervous. .
Wang Xuanfan gritted his teeth and said, "Is this Xia Zhibai really a court official?"
"How can there be such a disorderly person in the court?"
"What the hell is this?!"
"I have to report everything to the court. I really think it's a child's play. Playing house? It's like suing your parents when something happens? "
Wang Xuanfan was so angry that he wanted to laugh.
This is the first time in his life that he is so speechless.
He had sworn before that Xia Zhibai would never dare to pass those words on, but within a day, he was slapped in the face in public. Xia Zhibai not only dared, but also acted vigorously, in the middle of the night, Send these records out.
They can’t even try to dissuade her.
At this moment, not only Wang Xuanfan was speechless, but officials such as Zhou Ziliang and Lin Shijia were also speechless.
Lin Shijia touched her smooth forehead and said angrily: "What did Xia Zhibai do? Who will dare to contact him in the future? If you say anything, you must tell the court immediately. Doesn't this mean we It’s really unreasonable to put it on the fire.”
“It’s a good thing we don’t plan to come into contact with Xia Zhibai, otherwise we don’t know how we will be tortured.”
"It's simply deceiving!"
Zhou Ziliang's face was gloomy. He looked at the clerk who was reporting the complaint and asked, "Please tell me more about this matter."
The clerk nodded. Said: "Return to your lord, last night the imperial concubine Ding came to the door and asked us to deliver the records. There were three main routes, one was the water route, one was the land route, and the other was the sea route."
"Sea route? "Zhou Ziliang was startled, and his whole body suddenly became alert. He said in a serious voice: "What does this have to do with sea routes?"
The clerk said with a bitter smile: "How do my subordinates know?"
"It's just that Censor Na Ding said that they were racing against time to deliver the records, and that every second counts."
"These records must be handed over to His Majesty as soon as possible."
"So the speed must be guaranteed."
"Because he didn't know the transportation conditions of various roads, so he asked us to use every method."
"The sea route was not mentioned by us. But he took the initiative to mention it.”
Zhou Ziliang frowned and said solemnly: "The imperial court now prohibits the sea, how can we open the sea for him alone? Isn't this ridiculous? Can you agree with this?"
The little official looked aggrieved. Said: "Sir, how dare we not listen? This is a record sent to His Majesty, and the orders were given by the ministers who followed the imperial envoy. They said that they were adhering to your majesty's will and the imperial envoy's instructions. How dare we stop it? We can only let it go. ”
Zhou Ziliang’s eyes were uncertain.
He knew that the junior officials were telling the truth, and that officials and senior officials would kill people.
Not to mention Xia Zhibai.
People who use the power of foxes and tigers to the extreme, open and close your majesty, your majesty, even if they are faced with it, it will be a headache. The officials below are even more afraid to offend and provoke, and how can any official dare to stop it? When the time comes, a charge of gross disrespect will be imposed. Who can afford it?
"Is there anyone from the government on this ship?" Zhou Ziliang was a little uneasy and continued to ask.
The clerk nodded and said: "Of course, the person assigned by the government is at the helm."
"The imperial envoy and his party are new to the country. They are not familiar with the place and do not understand the place. They can only ask the government to help. And my lord has specifically told me before that if the imperial envoy has any request, I must do my best to satisfy it, and the subordinates also obey your lord's instructions," the junior official said anxiously.
Hear the words.
Hearing the clerk's reply, Zhou Ziliang's tense heart relaxed a lot.
Sea transport is something that cannot be touched.
Wang Xuanfan obviously knew what Zhou Ziliang was worried about, and whispered: "You may be too worried about participating in politics. What can be seen from a ship, and the route is still within our control, and it is not far from Yuhang to Yingtian Mansion. It’s only about two hundred miles, and the coast is not long, so it won’t be noticed.”
Zhou Ziliang nodded.
He also felt that he was a little too tight.
His expression returned to normal and he said calmly: "I understand, you go down first. If this happens again in the future, you must report it as soon as possible, and the sea route must be arranged by someone from the government."
< br>"Yes." The clerk nodded in agreement and left quickly.
Back in the lobby, Zhou Ziliang took a deep breath and said a little irritably: "This Xia Zhibai really has a lot to do. First, he used chicken feathers as arrows to put pressure on us, and then he did something. Record, now he's running across a sea route."
"What on earth does he want to do?"
Wang Xuanfan and Lin Shijia looked at each other with helpless expressions on their faces.
How do they know?
What Xia Zhibai did caused them to break into a cold sweat.
Whether it is recording records for His Majesty or running to open the sea, these are currently unacceptable to them.
The record is okay, but it can only be regarded as them complaining, which is irrelevant.
Your Majesty will not really punish you for this. But the opening of the sea is different. The Ming Dynasty is 'forbidden sea' to a certain extent, but they know the real situation better than anyone else. The shipping industry in the Ming Dynasty is very prosperous. Although on the surface, only the ships of the Ming Dynasty royal family are still plying the sea, This is not the case.
Many families are involved behind the scenes.
A lot of profit.
Even the imperial court’s ban on the sea was instigated by these people.
In the seventeenth year of Hongwu, the Japanese monk Yao Tibetan leader was also found to be colluding with court officials, and was directly killed by His Majesty's order.
At that time, the national security of the Ming Dynasty was not stable. The main external threats were the Beiyuan in the north and the Japanese in the southeast, known as the "Northern Japanese and Southern Japanese". However, after investigation, it was found that the Japanese monk Yao Tibetan had an intersection with Hu Weiyong. His Majesty was already very concerned about the Japanese pirates. He didn't like it very much, so seventeen years after Hongwu, he issued a direct order to stop all exchanges and implement a maritime ban with all his strength.
The Ming Dynasty Sea Ban officially kicked off.
However, the Japanese did not give up. They had been secretly sending envoys here, hoping to make good friends with the court and purchase some Ming products. However, they never received a response at the official level. Therefore, these Japanese gradually followed the coast The officials had contacts.
Back and forth.
Smuggling at sea began to flourish.
Today, in the waters of the Ming Dynasty, in addition to smuggling with the Japanese country, there are also contacts with Vietnam and the Three Islands in the south.
There is a wide range of smuggled content.
In addition to the common silk, salt, tea, and porcelain, there are also some weapons and firearms.
The reason why commerce in the south is so developed today is also due to smuggling. It is precisely through smuggling that various places in the south have made a lot of money. On one hand, they tried their best to advocate the sea ban to the court, and on the other hand, they continued to win over the coastal areas. Officials, so that the court can never detect it.
The reason why the Chief Secretary of the Salt Administration this time was not very concerned about it.
That's it.
Salt is a good thing.
But they don’t have much interest in it themselves.
So I don’t want to get involved, and I hope to settle the matter as soon as possible. I am even very dissatisfied with the aggressive achievements behind the scenes, thinking that they are greedy and causing trouble for them. If the secret smuggling information is known to the court, it will only I'm afraid that something big will happen.
Wang Xuanfan said: "Is it possible that we are too worried?"
"Xia Zhibai is a northerner, how can he know the situation in the south? How can he know the value of shipping?"
"And after so many years of hard work, in the minds of most officials in the court, shipping itself is a waste of money." Ben's business is not worth the loss. As long as the people sent by Xia Zhibai cannot find the ships operating on the sea, nothing big will happen. "
"And since he is sending a message, he cannot go deep into the sea. "
"I think it's safe."
Zhou Ziliang said solemnly: "Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the worst."
"I have long said that these people should be less greedy and don't push for an inch. These people refuse to listen and want to push the kitchen households into a desperate situation. Do they really lack the three melons and two dates that the kitchen households have in their hands? It’s greed.”
“Sooner or later, these people will die from greed.”
Wang Xuanfan smiled bitterly, not knowing what to say.
Zhou Ziliang snorted coldly and said: "Don't think that I don't know what your plan is. Isn't it just that you are reluctant to give up the money and want to run the salt factory yourself and sell the salt to remote areas such as Japan? region, and then seek high profits.”
“But don’t forget.”
“The steam engine was invented by Xia Zhibai.”
“Xia Zhibai knows the output of steam-driven salt.”
“Now steam-driven salt has been produced in the south. It has been a long time since the supply of salt in the south has been excessive, but now the salt market in the south is normal, and this is not normal in itself!"
"I have a hunch."
"Xia Zhibai must have noticed something."
"Otherwise, he wouldn't be so obsessed with the number of salt factories and insisting on bringing them under government control."
"They have dug a big trap this time!"
Lin Shijia curled her lips, He said in a deep voice: "Zhou participated in politics. Salt politics is salt politics, and shipping is shipping. The two are different. After so many years of hard work, our interests in the south have long been integrated. How can Xia Zhibai stop it?" < br>
“There’s nothing I can do about the salt policy.”
“Other people who started first have already had their fill, so we can’t let those who come after us take nothing, right? It’s like Lin Xian and others from Mingzhou have been jealous for a long time, and they are determined to wipe out the entire salt factory. It’s not that we haven’t tried to persuade them, but they can’t persuade them at all.”
"They have all fallen into the eyes of money."
"They just want to rely on the few salt factories in their hands to get back everything they have not caught in these years."
"There is nothing we can do ."
"Because no one else will take advantage of it."
"No one wants to."
"If it really can't be done, it's not a bad idea to abandon them."
"After all, things must come to an end!"
I may not have time to update if I have to catch a train tomorrow and move.
(End of this chapter)