Chapter 183
The Handwashing of the Golden Basin is over, just as it should have been when it began.
After inspection, Shang Zhixin seemed to have just lost his mind in a hurry, and everyone didn't know why he was so afraid of the gentleman, the head of Jianjiang.Luo Yuantong said lightly that it must have been caused by excessive drinking and losing control of his emotions, so he sent his disciples to set off together and escorted him back to Pingnan Palace in a car.
The martial arts people who came from afar did not leave immediately after the conference was over, because the Luo family, as the host, traditionally provided funds to entertain guests from all over the world, including food and lodging for the first two days, and a feast for all the heroes on the third day. The Golden Basin Washing Hands Conference is not considered a success until the feast is mixed and the guests and hosts enjoy themselves.
Some people may think that this is being taken advantage of, but they must know that after washing their hands in Jinpen, this meal is no longer Luo Yuantong's face, but Luo Shuang'er's own favor.
Zhou Long was naturally overjoyed at such a beautiful event, and he was able to bring the disciples of the Vajra Sect to eat and drink for free, but people like Jiang Wen who had a place to stay basically left first, but Promised to attend the reception three days later.
It can be said that apart from Tiedanzhuang, the other big forces have done exactly the same.
Fan Xinghan left in a hurry without waiting for the Luo family to stay, his expression was already preoccupied, and he didn't need to distinguish it deliberately; the Songyang faction escorted Shang Zhixin who had fainted worriedly, and the head of the group, Bai Zhen, was dressed in official clothes. The uniform led them to swagger through the market; while the Qingqi Gang did not say a word, and left with everyone from the Red Flower Society. For a while, the severe situation caused by courtship in Luo's mansion was relieved a lot.
Yuan Ziyi ran to chat with Luo Shuanger, admiring the pair of Hanwang green knives in her hand enviously, and then said that Jiang Wen and the others would go back first, and he wanted to chat with Sister Shuanger for a while, and he would not go back for dinner.
"Then remember to go back yourself, let's go first."
Jiang Wen was not polite, turned around and was about to leave, when he suddenly remembered the team of musicians he had brought along, and they were still following behind, eagerly waiting to settle their wages.
At this time, most of the people in the mansion dispersed, but what Jiang Wen didn't expect was that several theater troupe musicians who came together, obviously he had rarely settled the reward in full, but each of them hesitated and refused to leave. Stop hinting whether Jiang Wen will have similar errands in the future, and they are always ready to serve the Wuyi faction.
"Masters, what do you mean by this? You might as well make your words clearer."
Jiang Wen was a little puzzled, could it be that after this battle, they also had the desire to make their debut in the Jianghu, and planned to claim the title of "a heartbroken song, where can I find a bosom friend"?
Faced with doubts, the musicians of the troupe honestly expressed their thoughts.
Jin Pingcai hangs the skin and tunes the willow, these people are half of the world, and the musicians are all single men.
The "Eight Immortals Troupe" troupe they belong to is not well-known in Guangzhou, let alone a famous gusset. On the back road, he was planning to sneak away to a rich family and become a young husband at any time.
The musicians saw Jiang Wen's extravagance and flamboyant behavior, and now they have figured it out. If they follow the Wuyi School and often have such opportunities to see the world and show off, it is better than suffering in the Caotai troupe.
Taking a step back, even if the grand occasion is no longer in the future, they can still learn more new tunes from Jiang Wen, and go out in the future to get some jobs to promote and celebrate, so they won't starve to death.
Jiang Wen sighed after hearing this, no wonder these people looked pale and ragged, at first he thought it was the artist's intentional dressing up of a master.
In the final analysis, the world is not good, which puts pressure on them to change careers to make a living. If these musicians don't learn some new skills, they may not even be able to steal money from weddings and weddings in the future.
"But I'm a Jianghu sect, what's the point of raising a few musicians..."
One of the sallow-skinned musicians hurriedly explained: "Master Jiang, it's quite normal to have a troupe of musicians in a rich family. The Wuyi School is so famous, so it's natural to have it."
After some explanations from the other party, combined with his own knowledge reserves, Jiang Wen finally knew some of the reasons behind the doorway.
It turned out that as early as the early Ming Dynasty, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang learned the lessons of the end of the Yuan Dynasty when the monarchs and officials perished due to pleasure and negligence, and implemented the strategy of governing the country with severe punishments and strict laws. The ethos of obscenity and pleasure has caused adverse effects, so Yuefu Zaju was abandoned and suppressed, and a series of restrictive policies were adopted for advocating excellent drama activities.
However, folk opera became self-contained and gradually flourished during the Hongzhi period, and it was forced to reach its peak during the Zhengde and Longqing periods. Countless people also joined in it, and professional troupes like the "Eight Immortals Troupe" became more common.With the help of the charm of Kunqu opera, many opera troupes are attracted to Suzhou and Hangzhou. If they can learn the big plays planned by celebrities in the court and the public, such as "The Bingshan", "The West Chamber", and "The Jade Hairpin", they can easily attract tens of thousands of spectators. The scale of people, site scale, squeezed out of the grand occasion of the gate.
But the rules set by Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang have not changed, all actors will be classified as lowly, such as the "Eight Immortals Troupe", which is called "Tuyou" and "Town Troupe" and composed of local artists, is just a troupe. He has a rough proficiency in writing and ink, and he also sings the "wide tune" of "singing in harmony with all the voices".
They occasionally invite a poor scholar to write a pen, but they can still only act in some vulgar and vulgar plays, and the lyrics and music they write and perform themselves are not accurate, and the rewards they earn can only barely make ends meet.In a prosperous town like Guangzhou City, with its unique geographical and dense population advantages, it has naturally become a place where professional troupes gather, and there are even more frustrated people among them.
The opera troupe mentioned by the musicians originally refers to the activities of the aristocratic families raising actors. They were called into the mansion from an early age, built gardens and ponds, stored vocal tricks, tuned silk and bamboo, and gathered celebrities every day to perform and sing. Not to be underestimated.And the rich and wealthy families in Guangzhou City follow the arty, and often have theatrical troupes that sponsor and support, and pay for the performances in temples to reward the gods whenever major events occur.
Jiang Wen could already foresee that after today, the big factions of famous families would go out for walks, and they would all lead their bands like himself to strengthen their prestige. replied mercifully.
"This seems to be feasible, but you have too many people. To be honest, our Wuyi faction even counts people and horses together, but it can't keep up with your large number. From now on, Jiang will only be responsible for the rewards for going out, and someone else will pay the daily wages. Several people Come back with us, Master."
Several musicians immediately thanked them with gratitude, packed up their instruments overjoyed, and walked behind Jiang Wen. No one would care. Just because of his words, an extra group of musicians ran out of nowhere in Guangzhou. Lu and the troupe master are at a loss for the unlucky theater troupe.
On the way, Jiang Wen also inquired about it, and found that the local troupe belonged to Wu Dawen's opera troupe. The "Eight Immortals Class" was originally the most popular, and it was the martial arts "Thunder Killing" that the old troupe master learned from Nuo Wu in Leizhou. No one can perform it.
On the way back, Hong Wending passed by the private school with its closed gate, and vaguely saw an old figure walking alone in the distance under the heavy rain, but when he looked back, the lonely figure was scattered by the raindrops, as if What just happened was just an illusion.
"Brother Wending, what are you looking at?"
Fu Ningdie had maintained an overjoyed look ever since she left Luo's mansion. At this moment, she stopped and asked Hong Wending.
Hong Wending always felt that the gray-haired Meng School teacher was as full of thoughts as his father Hong Xiguan before, and he was almost unable to walk with his back on his back.
"Oh, nothing."
Hong Wending shook his head and followed the footsteps of the others.
After trekking through Jishui streets, everyone finally came to Leihuo's house located on Xiguan Street. They saw Leihuo, who was dressed in luxurious silk clothes, standing at the door looking forward to it. Seeing Jiang Wen and the others appearing, they were overjoyed. yell.
"Jiang Daochang, Jiang Daochang! You are finally back!"
"What happened?"
Jiang Wen calmly gathered the oiled paper umbrella, shook off the remaining water stains on it, and first introduced to the musicians following behind him, "From now on, this Master Lei will pay for your wages, you must remember it!"
The musicians hurriedly bowed and saluted, and said in unison: "I have seen Master Lei!"
"Since Daoist Jiang has spoken, you will be members of my Lei family from now on, and the wages will be paid according to the cook first."
Lei Hu patted his chest nonchalantly, and flatteringly said to Jiang Wen: "Anyway, Jiang Daochang's affairs are my Lei's affairs, Jiang Daochang's friends are my Lei's friends, and Jiang Daochang's face is mine. Someone's face, Jiang Daochang's money is my Lei's money..."
Speaking of this, he himself felt a little inappropriate, so he almost said the truth, and hastily changed his words, "Anyway, it's right to find me...Jiang Daochang, fortunately you came back, today the mansion received something , until now I dare not open it, just looking at the handwriting on it, it seems to be handed over to you..."
Several people crossed the book side room, crossed the Qingyun Lane leading directly to the main hall, and immediately saw on the table of the Eight Immortals in the middle of the hall, there was an object wrapped in layers of oil paper and wrapped with hemp rope repeatedly, and printed on it with thick ink. A big word "Jiang" was written.What's more, due to the infiltration of the humid climate recently, there are traces of insect whiskers and mycelia oozing between the ink writing, making it even more threatening and terrifying.
"That's the thing. It should have come with the convoy that transported the silk and satin from Lei's family two days ago, and it was stuffed in the pile of goods without anyone noticing it, and it wasn't discovered until the housekeeper took stock of the goods this morning."
Leihuo's expression was a little overly tense, as if what was in front of him was not a paper bag, but some kind of scourge that chose to devour people, and once opened, it would be lost forever.
Jiang Wen patted him on the shoulder and comforted him.
"Master Lei, are you a little nervous? I think the moisture-proof workmanship is rigorous, and the materials are not cheap. It may just be that the medicinal materials ordered by a pharmacy were loaded into the wrong car. The 'Jiang' written on it probably refers to Jiang Zhu, It's the abbreviation of the names of medicinal materials such as Gardenia Jiang."
However, Jiang Wen's consolation didn't have any effect, only the corners of Leihuo's mouth twitched slightly, and he whispered in Jiang Wen's ear.
"Jiang Daochang, you don't know... In fact, there was a layer of paper on the outermost layer of this paper bag, which said 'Ma Jiashan's personal letter'. Fortunately, no outsiders saw it, and it was torn up and burned by the housekeeper..."
Jiang Wen frowned suddenly, seeing that this thing really came prepared.
Ma Jiashan, that was Leihuo's original name in Xiamei Town, and it also represented his past affair with the Qing court.The person who sent the item took the initiative to mention this matter, obviously with the intention of intimidation, and warned Leihuo that he must hand over the item, otherwise I will send it to the government because of the fact that you have colluded with Nan Shaolin.
"Pretending to be a suspicious soldier, attacking the heart with a few words, this person is quite capable."
Jiang Wen sneered, stretched out his hand and tore away the layers of oiled paper, revealing what was hidden deep inside.
The three apprentices surrounded him curiously, but Xiao Shitou took the lead in taking a step back when he saw that there was no food in it.
There is no medicinal material in it, but a hand-transcribed book hidden in it. The paper is intact and the ink is still fresh, but only the cover page seems to be intact, and most of the back of the book has been torn with brute force. Gone, only a few scattered debris hanging.
""Guo Gu Feng Tu Ji"?"
Jiang Wen slowly opened the book and read the title of the book.
After studying in private school for a few days, Hong Wending has already become familiar with common written characters, but he is still more curious about the origin of this book.
"Master, who sent this? Is this person an enemy or a friend?"
After Jiang Wen read the remaining page, he put the remaining book back on the table, and sat down in the grand teacher's chair beside the Eight Immortals table, with a thoughtful look on his brows.
"I look like an enemy but a friend, neither an enemy nor a friend..."
Jiang Wen said slowly, "The fact that we came to Guangzhou was not obvious at all, and it was not widely announced until today. The other party can send books to Guangzhou so long in advance, it should be only the Madonna of the Red Lotus."
Fu Ningdie poked her head out curiously: "Then why do you say neither enemy nor friend?"
"That's where the problem lies."
Jiang Wen spread out the fragments of the first few pages and said, "The few hundred words left in this book are clearly the fragments of Feng Tu Ji written by Zhou Chu of the Jin Dynasty, and they were written down without any consideration. The local customs and the origin of the festival seem to be nothing strange, why did the Virgin of the Red Lotus send it here without any reason?"
The terroir mentioned in "Feng Tu Ji" actually only refers to the customs in Yixing.Yixing was called Jingyi in ancient times, and it belonged to Wu in the Spring and Autumn Period. In the 26th year of Qin Wangzheng, Jingyi was changed to Yangxian County. Therefore, the beginning of the residual book is "There is Taihu Lake in the east of Yangxian County, there is Baoshan Mountain in the middle, and there are caves under the mountain. , the cloud is omnipresent, which is called the Dongting ground vein."
And the author of this book is Zhou Chu, the protagonist of "Zhou Chu's Elimination of the Three Harms". From the second year of Tai'an in the Western Jin Dynasty to the fourth year of Yongjia, the imperial court commended Zhou Qi (Zhou Chu's eldest son) for his achievements in suppressing the chaos by three righteous soldiers. Yixing County, so it can be said that Zhou Chu is not only a local celebrity in Yixing, but also a part of the origin of humanity.
The surviving "Feng Tu Ji" has only a few words, and the rest of the pages are about the origins of customs such as July [-]th, September [-]th, and keeping the year old. Take the Taisu disc with a width of six feet, hold it in your belly, and flick it with the five fingers of your left hand to feel the festival, and the dancers dance in response to the festival." The record is also confusing.
"Another way of thinking, is the answer to the mystery on the surface?"
Jiang Wen was talking to himself, and then focused his attention on the cover of the residual book, looking at the word "Guo Gu" on it and lost in thought.
From the content point of view, the content of this book is no different from that of "Feng Tu Ji" circulating on the market, except that this alias is unknown, and there may be some sayings in it.
The word "Gui Gu" comes from the upper nine lines of the Gua Gua in "Book of Changes". , when it rains, it will be auspicious."
The two sentences "Seeing a pig carrying a load of ghosts" have been interpreted by many Yi scholars to mean that someone saw a pig with mud on its back struggling to pull a cart, and came to see that the cart was full of ghosts. This interpretation Scary enough, and bizarre enough that it borders on absurd delusion.
Even Kong Yingda, a master of Yi studies, also said in "Zhouyi Zhushu": "The one who carries ghosts in a car, first opens the arc, and then talks about the arc", and the ghosts and ghosts fill the car, which is so weird."Zhu Xi in the Southern Song Dynasty said: "A car carrying ghosts is a matter of difference." What is a matter of "difference"?
This hexagram was difficult to explain. Later, "carrying ghosts and a car" evolved into an idiom, which, as the name suggests, is very absurd and bizarre.
But Jiang Wen knew that relying on the efforts of historians in this area, he gave a different explanation from the past, and boldly interpreted the word "ghost" as ghost square or ghost place, which opened up a new situation.
The writing of a book is ultimately inseparable from the influence of the time and environment in which it lives. Therefore, some people believe that ghosts should refer to Gui Fang, a minority ethnic group in northern China, who later became the Xiongnu.
During the Yin, Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Central Plains was once invaded by the Guifang people, so they were hostile to the Guifang people, so they were called bandits.Marriage is a way to resolve ethnic conflicts, and this tradition is also very old.
Therefore, this hexagram should be interpreted as: Quai was suspicious, first saw a pig appearing on the road, and then saw a car full of ghosts, so he set up a bow and arrow, and then put down the bow and arrow. It turns out that these people are not thieves. But the team that came to make peace.Going forward and meeting rain is auspicious.
According to this explanation, they thought they were here to fight, but in the end they found out that they were here to ask for marriage. It seemed to vaguely refer to the matter of Luo Shuang'er being proposed for marriage, implying that they should use marriage to resolve the crisis and turn enemies into friends?
The other interpretation of ghosts comes from the ancient cognition that "everyone knows astronomy for more than three generations". He is accustomed to integrating various astrological and climate astronomical phenomena into literary poetry.
Combined with "Historical Records Tianguan Shu": "Ghosts, ghost temples; the white ones are the hostages." The astronomical interpretation says: "The white ones in the ghost dwellings are called corpses. One is called the corpses, such as Clouds are not clouds, like stars are not stars, just see the air", this is a sign that it is about to rain.
Such an explanation is that there is wet mud on the back of the piglet nearby, and the people who are about to get married look up at the sky and see that the ghost house in the south is condensed with corpse energy (because the ghost house has four stars, its shape is square, just like a car, so Take this image), it seems that it is going to rain.Then send someone to ask the man driving the ox cart, saying that he was just passing by and not here to make trouble.A rain resolved a misunderstanding, the marriage continued, and a friend from afar was made, and good things happened again and again.
This kind of explanation is also reasonable and reasonable, just in line with the situation that the upper and lower sides of the Kui hexagram diverge from each other, and their aspirations are different, and then they deviate from each other, and finally reach the situation in "Zuci" that "men and women have the same aspirations".
But this explanation is also somewhat miraculous. How could the Virgin of the Red Lotus be thousands of miles away? It can be counted that Jiang Wen will encounter heavy rain during this trip...
"... Is she practicing kung fu or fortune-telling?"
The two interpretations with different directions are related to the two things in front of me.
This is where the magic of the Book of Changes lies. After a thorough analysis in Jiang Wen's mind, he stumbled upon the situation of his trip from the simple word "皮孤". Customization, even the continuous heavy rain in the city of Guangzhou was counted and became a good omen...
"No, I can't be fooled by these tricks. No wonder the smarter you are, the less you can break free from superstition."
Jiang Wen shook his head, and decided to disenchant his own cognition first, so that he could make truly logical thinking.
Of course, the disenchantment he mentioned was not aimed at the I Ching.The all-encompassing content in the Book of Changes itself is very philosophical and inspiring, and does not violate the logic of thinking. It is also reasonable to distinguish between friends and foes when going out. What he wants to re-examine is only referring to the Madonna of the Red Lotus. .
It is absolutely impossible for the other party to have the ability to predict the future from thousands of miles away, otherwise, it would be a long time ago that Mr. Ding's love for him was gone, and he would quickly stage a scene where the two of them died happily. Be unfathomable to yourself.
In this way, from a logical perspective, what the Virgin of the Red Lotus sent out must be a complete and accurate message, and it was clearly ordered to be delivered to him, but it was deliberately reduced and destroyed by someone in the middle. It became a puzzle and came to my hands.
The Mingzun Sect has been weakened for a long time, and its control over the sub-rudders in various places is also tending to be weak. This can be seen from the fact that the Madonna of Red Lotus broke into Fuzhou City alone, and the Dharma protectors in various places are not necessarily in Cao Ying like Huang Ji. In the Han Dynasty, there is nothing you can do about it.
But the question is, who is in the way?
Jiang Wen waved his imitation sword slowly, and then a tall figure with disheveled hair and chains appeared in front of his eyes. With his face that seemed to be smiling but not smiling, all states and counties in the world turned into him fighting and fighting. The chessboard, but he himself is hiding in the deep valley shrouded in clouds and smoke, seeing the beginning but not the end, waving his hands all over the place is thousands of unsolvable puzzles, falling in front of the opponent one by one.
"Thinking about it this way, it really looks like Zao Wou-ki's handwriting of drawing the ground as a prison and throwing beans into soldiers. Ordinary people are frightened and dare not move, but he may have hidden thousands of magic soldiers of the Qingyang Sect in some corner." , just waiting for the person who has cracked the mystery to go and learn."
The encroachment of the Qingyang Sect on the Fuzhou Hongyang Sect was far beyond imagination, and the Holy Child of the Red Sun had secretly planned for ten years, and only had time to keep Mr. Ding as the winner, so it was only logical that the order of the Holy Mother of the Red Lotus was intercepted and known.
But what Jiang Wen was sure of was that with Zao Wou-ki's style of doing things, the focus should not be on the city of Guangzhou.His purpose of doing this was just to test Jiang Wen again, to see if Jiang's previous feat of holding the sky with one hand in Fuzhou Mansion was just a result of luck.
"Interesting, really interesting..."
Jiang Wen smiled slightly, holding back the guess that he had been spied on by all directions, and then overturned his previous guess again, simplifying his thinking to the extreme.
Is there a possibility, for example, that this matter is just a sloppy work by the Madonna of the Red Lotus?
The previous conjectures are naturally valid, but the main problem is that Jiang Wen and the others are currently in Guangzhou, and the content of "Feng Tu Ji" is Yixing, which is clearly a mistake.If there is really any important content to give away, it should also be given to Gu Wei's "Guangzhou Ji" in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, right? !
Guangzhou is more than a thousand miles away from Yixing in the south of the Yangtze River. This is equivalent to your friend knowing that you are going to travel in Texas and bringing you a Shandong travel guide. It really makes people wonder what is going on in her brain. .
"It's not good... Could it be that the condition of the Holy Fire Gong has deteriorated, and the Madonna of the Red Lotus is completely confused?"
Leihuo and Jiang Wen's apprentices saw Jiang Wen talking to himself, his expression sometimes serious and sometimes speechless, and the changes were frighteningly fast.
"Master, what are you thinking?"
In the end, it was Fu Ningdie who asked, which made Jiang Wen come out of his thoughts.
"It's nothing, nothing, I can't take care of the things in front of me, how can I have time to care about things far away in the sky."
Jiang Wen casually let go of his doubts completely, turned to Lei Huhu and said, "Master Lei, do you have any caravans going to Fujian recently? Both land and water are fine, just send me a letter to Quanzhou."
Why think so much, Jiang Wen decided to write a letter directly to ask, even if there are some flaws in the time span, it is still a way to find out the problem.
However, upon hearing Jiang Wen's request, Lei Huo sighed deeply.
"Master Jiang, you don't know something. I'm afraid you won't be able to get out of Guangzhou City these days."
Jiang Wen asked puzzledly, "Ah? Why do you explain this?"
what happened?Was the city of Guangzhou really washed into the sea by the torrential rain?
Leihuo twirled the tourmaline bracelet in his hand, summoned the housekeeper in front of him, and asked for a notice from the Guangzhou government office, and quickly explained.
"The government issued a list this morning. Because the imperial navy is about to go to war, the sea and fishing will be banned from now on, and sails will not be allowed to enter the water. If there is any violation, it will be punished as conspiracy with bandits. The whole family will not be pardoned. Several major commercial firms are now in a hurry. Like ants on a hot pan, but they can't do anything."
After finishing speaking, he gloated and said, "Fortunately, our goods were delivered two days ago ahead of schedule, so I can kill them hard this time!"
It was only then that several people from the Wuyi faction suddenly realized that this was the case.
As early as in the city of Fuzhou, Jiang Wen met Da Su, the Great General Who Conquers the South. His mission on this trip was to gather cavalry and naval forces. The forces were eradicated in one fell swoop.
But the military is extremely fast in the battle, so it is determined not to reveal the purpose in advance, and now the emergency ban on the sea must also be for the purpose of cooperating with military operations.Now, it can be said that it kills two birds with one stone.
"Master Lei, if you can't go by water, you should still go by land."
Fu Ningdie poked her head out and suggested, "Even if several official roads have been washed away by heavy rain for several days, you can also go on a boat and go westward along the Neihe River. That's how we came here."
Leihuo looked at Ningdie and showed a slightly kind smile.
"Little girl, what you said is correct, but the eight gates in the southeast, northwest, water and land of Guangzhou are now closed."
"Isn't this approach too puzzling?" Jiang Wen said.
The steward of the Lei Mansion replied at this time: "My lords, I happened to find out the reason for the closure of the city today. It is said that a group of Japanese pirates sneaked ashore with the intention of attacking Guangzhou City to destroy the plan to suppress bandits, so the Pingnan Palace ordered it to be closed. Hold the door firmly, waiting for the thief to show his flaws."
What?Japanese pirates?There are still Japanese pirates these days?
Jiang Wen almost laughed out loud.
The composition of the so-called Japanese pirates is relatively complicated, but it generally refers to the bandits sent by the Japanese feudal princes and Chinese pirates such as Wang Zhi and Xu Hai in collusion.
They plundered villages, towns and towns along the coasts of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian, which led to the outbreak of Japanese pirates in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty.Until the late Jiajing period, generals Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou and others successively pacified the Japanese pirates in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, and the Japanese invasion began to be leveled.
The last Japanese pirates recorded in history invaded the coast of Fujian in July of the fourth year of the Apocalypse (1624). Later, due to Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s issuance of the Hachiman ship prohibition order (piracy prohibition) and the stability of Japan’s domestic political situation, Japanese pirates’ activities It can be said that the Japanese pirates have disappeared for a long time.
It has been 40 to [-] years now, and Shang Kexi said that there are traces of Japanese pirates in Guangdong. Doesn't this make people laugh, and he is not afraid that the Qing court will order him to ask him what his intentions are.
The reason why Jiang Wen has the confidence to make the judgment that the Japanese pirates are false is the change in the current political situation.
Recently, the "Sea Overlord" Zheng's family is the number one pirate in the southeast coast, Taiwan, Japan and other places. The private navy he organized and painstakingly managed is powerful. Even if pirates wanted to plunder, they would never be able to use the hated name of "Japanese pirates" with great fanfare.
Moreover, Zheng Chenggong, who is at the helm now, has a clear distinction between love and hate. Even if the Japanese pirates really want to do something, they can only pretend to be Han people and come here to steal. Otherwise, where is the face of the Zheng family?
But when Jiang Wen uttered his conjecture and basis, the housekeeper of Lei Mansion could only spread his hands innocently.
"I don't know about this villain. I vaguely heard that this group of Japanese pirates had fierce swords and killed many travelers. After hearing the news, Miss Yan of the mansion also rushed out of the city at the last wave. It is said that they He was following the orders of Zheng Sen's cousin, Zheng Tai, who intentionally came here to harass the army."
Zheng Tai is currently the No. [-] member of the Zheng family, and also Zheng Chenggong's chief steward. When Zheng Chenggong led troops to go out, Zheng Tai was often responsible for staying in the base area, cooperating with each other tacitly.
Jiang Wen had doubts in his heart, but he didn't say anything, but he knew that this matter was not that simple.
"It's a little dangerous for Miss Yan to go out of the city. I hope she will be safe."
Jiang Wen said lightly, and fell into thinking again.
At this time, the rain was murmuring in the heavenly hall, and it never ceased from far to near, and Jiang Wen was silently listening to the sound of dripping, letting his thoughts flow, while watching Leihuo and the housekeeper discussing how to make this business big. By the way, he also wanted to avenge the hatred of being squeezed out by local commercial firms.
"Steward, you go down first. Remember to mark the price of the goods this time and put them out at three times the price, and you must also calculate clearly when you enter the account. If the tax collected by Guangdong is less than one share, you can hang yourself at the gate of the government."
Lei Huo said flatly, obviously he had planned to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune, but he kept paying taxes in his words, which was beyond Jiang Wen's expectation.
"Master Lei, I didn't expect you to have a strong tax awareness." Jiang Wen joked.
Lei Huo said with a wry smile: "You have to be careful. Now the Pingnan Palace is investigating the matter of taxation. If you are not careful, you will be ransacked and questioned. They charge [-]% of the property in the business. Those of us who have weaving machines Forty taxes are one, and if the boat owner owns a boat over five feet long, he will also be charged a tax. This kind of sword and gun is aimed at everyone, it can be said that everyone is in danger."
"This is a tax imposed by the Shang family themselves? Who can bear such a high tax?" Jiang Wen said in surprise.
"Small households and ordinary families have gone bankrupt and thrown themselves into the sea."
Lei Hu could only say helplessly: "But there is no other way. The Pingnan Palace launched the Cantonese Expedition in the name of suppressing the rebellion and suppressing the bandits, saying that as long as there is one more day of fighting, the soldiers of the Shang family will have to pay for the horse chews." Count it on our heads."
"That shouldn't stop everyone from concealing it, right? You store the money in other places, so it's fine if you don't get found out?" Jiang Wen had another whim.
"It's not that easy, they've already thought of a backhand!"
When Leihu said this, he was also full of resentment, "In addition to the Yue Zheng, the Pingnan Palace also opened a levy. If someone hides and transfers property privately and is reported to the government, half of the money from the ransacking will go to the government and half will go to the government. people."
There are always ups and downs in doing business. Once a business happens, God knows it. Unless you don’t do business in Guangzhou City at all, it really can’t stop someone from trying to make a fortune. Under Sanmu, whether the property is real or not? If you want to hide something, how can you have the final say?
And Jiang Wen became more and more familiar with it as he listened to it. This method is clearly a replica of the counting and warning methods in the early Western Han Dynasty.
Tie, originally intended to be a rope to wear copper coins, later became a unit of currency, a string of money is a consistent, one thousand qian.And the calculation is also a unit, which is 120 yuan.In the fourth year of Yuanshou, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty accepted the suggestions of Zhang Tang, the imperial historian, and Sang Hongyang, the servant, and ordered the collection of counting money, and everyone involved must collect 120 coins.
And to report means to report, that is, in order to make the trend of reporting prevail, the imperial court promised rich rewards to the informers-"Those who have the ability to report will give half of it."
This method has a lot of profits and a lot of damage. It is an evil government that has no space in history. It is also directly related to the war between Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu at that time. It is mainly to fill the bottomless pit of war, which consumes wealth.
"What a vicious trick, who came up with this method?"
Jiang Wen asked suddenly.
Leihu thought for a moment, and said with uncertainty: "There are rumors in the market that this was suggested by Li Xinghe, the celebrity in front of Lord Shang, but no one has any evidence for it. But apart from him, no one can say so Big deal."
Li Xinghe, the sorcerer of the rivers and lakes again?
Jiang Wen's impression of him was originally in a slightly contradictory feeling, he was extremely stingy and bold, he was obedient and reckless, and he had deliberately deceived Jiang Wen before, but he didn't know why he opened his mouth in such a way. A decree left behind by the family?
All kinds of contradictions are complicated, which also makes his sleek and sophisticated appearance even more confusing. The only thing that remains the same is that this person's scheming, which is deeply versed in people's hearts, has more and more surfaced.
The method of reckoning in the Western Han Dynasty was naturally an irrefutable evil policy, which violated the national policy of resting with the people, causing the people in the country to work hard enough to pay for food, and to spin enough clothes. It's another look.
First of all, the Shang family is not a king and landlord. The purpose of the Pingnan Palace is to rule the local area and suppress rebellion. Therefore, exhausting the power of the people and exhausting the local area is an optional ruling policy.
Secondly, the money collected can effectively support the suppression of Zheng Daye. As long as half of the increased taxes are finally used for practical purposes, it will be a windfall for the Qing court.
In the end, the Shang family didn't have to care about the support of the people.He came here ten years ago with iron cavalry and killed countless people. As long as there is no shortage of swords and guns in the mansion, and there is an endless supply of soldiers, he will naturally have a gratifying place. This is something that no one can deny.
But this kind of evil on the surface is so naked that Jiang Wen has to lament that those who can put forward this idea and implement this policy can be called real and undisguised villains.
But the most ridiculous part of the world is here. People like this who openly absorb the people's fat are already the existence of a low threat among the San Francisco, which the Qing court relied on as a dry city.
Among the other two vassal kings, Wu Sangui has the highest military exploits.When he first arrived in Yun and Gui, the Qing court once allowed him to "act cheaply", that is, to allow him to appoint officials privately, which was called "Xuan Xuan" at that time.Therefore, all civil servants and military generals in the Southwest are his cronies, and they are all controlled by him. In a few years, there will be a saying that "officials elected from the West will be all over the world", as if the Southwest has a hegemony.
If Geng Jingzhong, the second of the three vassals, successfully inherits the position of the vassal king, the history books will also record that he "extracted violence from Fujian with taxes", even if his subordinates "send slaves harshly and extort silver and rice", they will still say that he gathered "little people". , spreading rumors that "the Son of Heaven is a clone of Huo Er", falsely claiming that "Huo Er is the one who is Geng Ye. There is a reason in the world, according to Ba Fujian, if you try to make progress, you can succeed", and brazenly tied the people of Fujian to his chariot involuntarily, sail to perdition.
Compared with the political ambitions of the two of them, Shang Kexi set up a city in Guangdong without permission, collected taxes without permission, and opened up foreign trade ports without permission. Under the wanton profit-seeking, will the family be destroyed?
What's more cruel is that at this time, even becoming a beggar, the only way out after the house ransacking and bankruptcy, is actually in the hands of Shang Kexi...
"Let's have dinner!"
Xiao Shitou happily came to announce the start of dinner, Ning Die and Wending left without hesitation, and everyone left from the main hall, only Jiang Wen was left holding a broken book in his hand, standing still.
Jiang Wen turned his head and pretended to smile with relief, then continued to look at the sky wistfully, and spoke slowly.
"Then wait until the rain clears. Either I continue to wait, or the weather clears up, whichever comes first."
Washing hands in the golden basin, the heavy rain did not stop.At this time of sudden change in the situation, similar discussions also exist among different people in the Guangzhou government.
They are emotional or sad or happy with each other, and the things they talk about are straightforward or misty, and they will eventually disappear in the torrential rain. It seems that there is only this torrential rain in the world, and it will become the only eternal. things that change.
(End of this chapter)
The Handwashing of the Golden Basin is over, just as it should have been when it began.
After inspection, Shang Zhixin seemed to have just lost his mind in a hurry, and everyone didn't know why he was so afraid of the gentleman, the head of Jianjiang.Luo Yuantong said lightly that it must have been caused by excessive drinking and losing control of his emotions, so he sent his disciples to set off together and escorted him back to Pingnan Palace in a car.
The martial arts people who came from afar did not leave immediately after the conference was over, because the Luo family, as the host, traditionally provided funds to entertain guests from all over the world, including food and lodging for the first two days, and a feast for all the heroes on the third day. The Golden Basin Washing Hands Conference is not considered a success until the feast is mixed and the guests and hosts enjoy themselves.
Some people may think that this is being taken advantage of, but they must know that after washing their hands in Jinpen, this meal is no longer Luo Yuantong's face, but Luo Shuang'er's own favor.
Zhou Long was naturally overjoyed at such a beautiful event, and he was able to bring the disciples of the Vajra Sect to eat and drink for free, but people like Jiang Wen who had a place to stay basically left first, but Promised to attend the reception three days later.
It can be said that apart from Tiedanzhuang, the other big forces have done exactly the same.
Fan Xinghan left in a hurry without waiting for the Luo family to stay, his expression was already preoccupied, and he didn't need to distinguish it deliberately; the Songyang faction escorted Shang Zhixin who had fainted worriedly, and the head of the group, Bai Zhen, was dressed in official clothes. The uniform led them to swagger through the market; while the Qingqi Gang did not say a word, and left with everyone from the Red Flower Society. For a while, the severe situation caused by courtship in Luo's mansion was relieved a lot.
Yuan Ziyi ran to chat with Luo Shuanger, admiring the pair of Hanwang green knives in her hand enviously, and then said that Jiang Wen and the others would go back first, and he wanted to chat with Sister Shuanger for a while, and he would not go back for dinner.
"Then remember to go back yourself, let's go first."
Jiang Wen was not polite, turned around and was about to leave, when he suddenly remembered the team of musicians he had brought along, and they were still following behind, eagerly waiting to settle their wages.
At this time, most of the people in the mansion dispersed, but what Jiang Wen didn't expect was that several theater troupe musicians who came together, obviously he had rarely settled the reward in full, but each of them hesitated and refused to leave. Stop hinting whether Jiang Wen will have similar errands in the future, and they are always ready to serve the Wuyi faction.
"Masters, what do you mean by this? You might as well make your words clearer."
Jiang Wen was a little puzzled, could it be that after this battle, they also had the desire to make their debut in the Jianghu, and planned to claim the title of "a heartbroken song, where can I find a bosom friend"?
Faced with doubts, the musicians of the troupe honestly expressed their thoughts.
Jin Pingcai hangs the skin and tunes the willow, these people are half of the world, and the musicians are all single men.
The "Eight Immortals Troupe" troupe they belong to is not well-known in Guangzhou, let alone a famous gusset. On the back road, he was planning to sneak away to a rich family and become a young husband at any time.
The musicians saw Jiang Wen's extravagance and flamboyant behavior, and now they have figured it out. If they follow the Wuyi School and often have such opportunities to see the world and show off, it is better than suffering in the Caotai troupe.
Taking a step back, even if the grand occasion is no longer in the future, they can still learn more new tunes from Jiang Wen, and go out in the future to get some jobs to promote and celebrate, so they won't starve to death.
Jiang Wen sighed after hearing this, no wonder these people looked pale and ragged, at first he thought it was the artist's intentional dressing up of a master.
In the final analysis, the world is not good, which puts pressure on them to change careers to make a living. If these musicians don't learn some new skills, they may not even be able to steal money from weddings and weddings in the future.
"But I'm a Jianghu sect, what's the point of raising a few musicians..."
One of the sallow-skinned musicians hurriedly explained: "Master Jiang, it's quite normal to have a troupe of musicians in a rich family. The Wuyi School is so famous, so it's natural to have it."
After some explanations from the other party, combined with his own knowledge reserves, Jiang Wen finally knew some of the reasons behind the doorway.
It turned out that as early as the early Ming Dynasty, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang learned the lessons of the end of the Yuan Dynasty when the monarchs and officials perished due to pleasure and negligence, and implemented the strategy of governing the country with severe punishments and strict laws. The ethos of obscenity and pleasure has caused adverse effects, so Yuefu Zaju was abandoned and suppressed, and a series of restrictive policies were adopted for advocating excellent drama activities.
However, folk opera became self-contained and gradually flourished during the Hongzhi period, and it was forced to reach its peak during the Zhengde and Longqing periods. Countless people also joined in it, and professional troupes like the "Eight Immortals Troupe" became more common.With the help of the charm of Kunqu opera, many opera troupes are attracted to Suzhou and Hangzhou. If they can learn the big plays planned by celebrities in the court and the public, such as "The Bingshan", "The West Chamber", and "The Jade Hairpin", they can easily attract tens of thousands of spectators. The scale of people, site scale, squeezed out of the grand occasion of the gate.
But the rules set by Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang have not changed, all actors will be classified as lowly, such as the "Eight Immortals Troupe", which is called "Tuyou" and "Town Troupe" and composed of local artists, is just a troupe. He has a rough proficiency in writing and ink, and he also sings the "wide tune" of "singing in harmony with all the voices".
They occasionally invite a poor scholar to write a pen, but they can still only act in some vulgar and vulgar plays, and the lyrics and music they write and perform themselves are not accurate, and the rewards they earn can only barely make ends meet.In a prosperous town like Guangzhou City, with its unique geographical and dense population advantages, it has naturally become a place where professional troupes gather, and there are even more frustrated people among them.
The opera troupe mentioned by the musicians originally refers to the activities of the aristocratic families raising actors. They were called into the mansion from an early age, built gardens and ponds, stored vocal tricks, tuned silk and bamboo, and gathered celebrities every day to perform and sing. Not to be underestimated.And the rich and wealthy families in Guangzhou City follow the arty, and often have theatrical troupes that sponsor and support, and pay for the performances in temples to reward the gods whenever major events occur.
Jiang Wen could already foresee that after today, the big factions of famous families would go out for walks, and they would all lead their bands like himself to strengthen their prestige. replied mercifully.
"This seems to be feasible, but you have too many people. To be honest, our Wuyi faction even counts people and horses together, but it can't keep up with your large number. From now on, Jiang will only be responsible for the rewards for going out, and someone else will pay the daily wages. Several people Come back with us, Master."
Several musicians immediately thanked them with gratitude, packed up their instruments overjoyed, and walked behind Jiang Wen. No one would care. Just because of his words, an extra group of musicians ran out of nowhere in Guangzhou. Lu and the troupe master are at a loss for the unlucky theater troupe.
On the way, Jiang Wen also inquired about it, and found that the local troupe belonged to Wu Dawen's opera troupe. The "Eight Immortals Class" was originally the most popular, and it was the martial arts "Thunder Killing" that the old troupe master learned from Nuo Wu in Leizhou. No one can perform it.
On the way back, Hong Wending passed by the private school with its closed gate, and vaguely saw an old figure walking alone in the distance under the heavy rain, but when he looked back, the lonely figure was scattered by the raindrops, as if What just happened was just an illusion.
"Brother Wending, what are you looking at?"
Fu Ningdie had maintained an overjoyed look ever since she left Luo's mansion. At this moment, she stopped and asked Hong Wending.
Hong Wending always felt that the gray-haired Meng School teacher was as full of thoughts as his father Hong Xiguan before, and he was almost unable to walk with his back on his back.
"Oh, nothing."
Hong Wending shook his head and followed the footsteps of the others.
After trekking through Jishui streets, everyone finally came to Leihuo's house located on Xiguan Street. They saw Leihuo, who was dressed in luxurious silk clothes, standing at the door looking forward to it. Seeing Jiang Wen and the others appearing, they were overjoyed. yell.
"Jiang Daochang, Jiang Daochang! You are finally back!"
"What happened?"
Jiang Wen calmly gathered the oiled paper umbrella, shook off the remaining water stains on it, and first introduced to the musicians following behind him, "From now on, this Master Lei will pay for your wages, you must remember it!"
The musicians hurriedly bowed and saluted, and said in unison: "I have seen Master Lei!"
"Since Daoist Jiang has spoken, you will be members of my Lei family from now on, and the wages will be paid according to the cook first."
Lei Hu patted his chest nonchalantly, and flatteringly said to Jiang Wen: "Anyway, Jiang Daochang's affairs are my Lei's affairs, Jiang Daochang's friends are my Lei's friends, and Jiang Daochang's face is mine. Someone's face, Jiang Daochang's money is my Lei's money..."
Speaking of this, he himself felt a little inappropriate, so he almost said the truth, and hastily changed his words, "Anyway, it's right to find me...Jiang Daochang, fortunately you came back, today the mansion received something , until now I dare not open it, just looking at the handwriting on it, it seems to be handed over to you..."
Several people crossed the book side room, crossed the Qingyun Lane leading directly to the main hall, and immediately saw on the table of the Eight Immortals in the middle of the hall, there was an object wrapped in layers of oil paper and wrapped with hemp rope repeatedly, and printed on it with thick ink. A big word "Jiang" was written.What's more, due to the infiltration of the humid climate recently, there are traces of insect whiskers and mycelia oozing between the ink writing, making it even more threatening and terrifying.
"That's the thing. It should have come with the convoy that transported the silk and satin from Lei's family two days ago, and it was stuffed in the pile of goods without anyone noticing it, and it wasn't discovered until the housekeeper took stock of the goods this morning."
Leihuo's expression was a little overly tense, as if what was in front of him was not a paper bag, but some kind of scourge that chose to devour people, and once opened, it would be lost forever.
Jiang Wen patted him on the shoulder and comforted him.
"Master Lei, are you a little nervous? I think the moisture-proof workmanship is rigorous, and the materials are not cheap. It may just be that the medicinal materials ordered by a pharmacy were loaded into the wrong car. The 'Jiang' written on it probably refers to Jiang Zhu, It's the abbreviation of the names of medicinal materials such as Gardenia Jiang."
However, Jiang Wen's consolation didn't have any effect, only the corners of Leihuo's mouth twitched slightly, and he whispered in Jiang Wen's ear.
"Jiang Daochang, you don't know... In fact, there was a layer of paper on the outermost layer of this paper bag, which said 'Ma Jiashan's personal letter'. Fortunately, no outsiders saw it, and it was torn up and burned by the housekeeper..."
Jiang Wen frowned suddenly, seeing that this thing really came prepared.
Ma Jiashan, that was Leihuo's original name in Xiamei Town, and it also represented his past affair with the Qing court.The person who sent the item took the initiative to mention this matter, obviously with the intention of intimidation, and warned Leihuo that he must hand over the item, otherwise I will send it to the government because of the fact that you have colluded with Nan Shaolin.
"Pretending to be a suspicious soldier, attacking the heart with a few words, this person is quite capable."
Jiang Wen sneered, stretched out his hand and tore away the layers of oiled paper, revealing what was hidden deep inside.
The three apprentices surrounded him curiously, but Xiao Shitou took the lead in taking a step back when he saw that there was no food in it.
There is no medicinal material in it, but a hand-transcribed book hidden in it. The paper is intact and the ink is still fresh, but only the cover page seems to be intact, and most of the back of the book has been torn with brute force. Gone, only a few scattered debris hanging.
""Guo Gu Feng Tu Ji"?"
Jiang Wen slowly opened the book and read the title of the book.
After studying in private school for a few days, Hong Wending has already become familiar with common written characters, but he is still more curious about the origin of this book.
"Master, who sent this? Is this person an enemy or a friend?"
After Jiang Wen read the remaining page, he put the remaining book back on the table, and sat down in the grand teacher's chair beside the Eight Immortals table, with a thoughtful look on his brows.
"I look like an enemy but a friend, neither an enemy nor a friend..."
Jiang Wen said slowly, "The fact that we came to Guangzhou was not obvious at all, and it was not widely announced until today. The other party can send books to Guangzhou so long in advance, it should be only the Madonna of the Red Lotus."
Fu Ningdie poked her head out curiously: "Then why do you say neither enemy nor friend?"
"That's where the problem lies."
Jiang Wen spread out the fragments of the first few pages and said, "The few hundred words left in this book are clearly the fragments of Feng Tu Ji written by Zhou Chu of the Jin Dynasty, and they were written down without any consideration. The local customs and the origin of the festival seem to be nothing strange, why did the Virgin of the Red Lotus send it here without any reason?"
The terroir mentioned in "Feng Tu Ji" actually only refers to the customs in Yixing.Yixing was called Jingyi in ancient times, and it belonged to Wu in the Spring and Autumn Period. In the 26th year of Qin Wangzheng, Jingyi was changed to Yangxian County. Therefore, the beginning of the residual book is "There is Taihu Lake in the east of Yangxian County, there is Baoshan Mountain in the middle, and there are caves under the mountain. , the cloud is omnipresent, which is called the Dongting ground vein."
And the author of this book is Zhou Chu, the protagonist of "Zhou Chu's Elimination of the Three Harms". From the second year of Tai'an in the Western Jin Dynasty to the fourth year of Yongjia, the imperial court commended Zhou Qi (Zhou Chu's eldest son) for his achievements in suppressing the chaos by three righteous soldiers. Yixing County, so it can be said that Zhou Chu is not only a local celebrity in Yixing, but also a part of the origin of humanity.
The surviving "Feng Tu Ji" has only a few words, and the rest of the pages are about the origins of customs such as July [-]th, September [-]th, and keeping the year old. Take the Taisu disc with a width of six feet, hold it in your belly, and flick it with the five fingers of your left hand to feel the festival, and the dancers dance in response to the festival." The record is also confusing.
"Another way of thinking, is the answer to the mystery on the surface?"
Jiang Wen was talking to himself, and then focused his attention on the cover of the residual book, looking at the word "Guo Gu" on it and lost in thought.
From the content point of view, the content of this book is no different from that of "Feng Tu Ji" circulating on the market, except that this alias is unknown, and there may be some sayings in it.
The word "Gui Gu" comes from the upper nine lines of the Gua Gua in "Book of Changes". , when it rains, it will be auspicious."
The two sentences "Seeing a pig carrying a load of ghosts" have been interpreted by many Yi scholars to mean that someone saw a pig with mud on its back struggling to pull a cart, and came to see that the cart was full of ghosts. This interpretation Scary enough, and bizarre enough that it borders on absurd delusion.
Even Kong Yingda, a master of Yi studies, also said in "Zhouyi Zhushu": "The one who carries ghosts in a car, first opens the arc, and then talks about the arc", and the ghosts and ghosts fill the car, which is so weird."Zhu Xi in the Southern Song Dynasty said: "A car carrying ghosts is a matter of difference." What is a matter of "difference"?
This hexagram was difficult to explain. Later, "carrying ghosts and a car" evolved into an idiom, which, as the name suggests, is very absurd and bizarre.
But Jiang Wen knew that relying on the efforts of historians in this area, he gave a different explanation from the past, and boldly interpreted the word "ghost" as ghost square or ghost place, which opened up a new situation.
The writing of a book is ultimately inseparable from the influence of the time and environment in which it lives. Therefore, some people believe that ghosts should refer to Gui Fang, a minority ethnic group in northern China, who later became the Xiongnu.
During the Yin, Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Central Plains was once invaded by the Guifang people, so they were hostile to the Guifang people, so they were called bandits.Marriage is a way to resolve ethnic conflicts, and this tradition is also very old.
Therefore, this hexagram should be interpreted as: Quai was suspicious, first saw a pig appearing on the road, and then saw a car full of ghosts, so he set up a bow and arrow, and then put down the bow and arrow. It turns out that these people are not thieves. But the team that came to make peace.Going forward and meeting rain is auspicious.
According to this explanation, they thought they were here to fight, but in the end they found out that they were here to ask for marriage. It seemed to vaguely refer to the matter of Luo Shuang'er being proposed for marriage, implying that they should use marriage to resolve the crisis and turn enemies into friends?
The other interpretation of ghosts comes from the ancient cognition that "everyone knows astronomy for more than three generations". He is accustomed to integrating various astrological and climate astronomical phenomena into literary poetry.
Combined with "Historical Records Tianguan Shu": "Ghosts, ghost temples; the white ones are the hostages." The astronomical interpretation says: "The white ones in the ghost dwellings are called corpses. One is called the corpses, such as Clouds are not clouds, like stars are not stars, just see the air", this is a sign that it is about to rain.
Such an explanation is that there is wet mud on the back of the piglet nearby, and the people who are about to get married look up at the sky and see that the ghost house in the south is condensed with corpse energy (because the ghost house has four stars, its shape is square, just like a car, so Take this image), it seems that it is going to rain.Then send someone to ask the man driving the ox cart, saying that he was just passing by and not here to make trouble.A rain resolved a misunderstanding, the marriage continued, and a friend from afar was made, and good things happened again and again.
This kind of explanation is also reasonable and reasonable, just in line with the situation that the upper and lower sides of the Kui hexagram diverge from each other, and their aspirations are different, and then they deviate from each other, and finally reach the situation in "Zuci" that "men and women have the same aspirations".
But this explanation is also somewhat miraculous. How could the Virgin of the Red Lotus be thousands of miles away? It can be counted that Jiang Wen will encounter heavy rain during this trip...
"... Is she practicing kung fu or fortune-telling?"
The two interpretations with different directions are related to the two things in front of me.
This is where the magic of the Book of Changes lies. After a thorough analysis in Jiang Wen's mind, he stumbled upon the situation of his trip from the simple word "皮孤". Customization, even the continuous heavy rain in the city of Guangzhou was counted and became a good omen...
"No, I can't be fooled by these tricks. No wonder the smarter you are, the less you can break free from superstition."
Jiang Wen shook his head, and decided to disenchant his own cognition first, so that he could make truly logical thinking.
Of course, the disenchantment he mentioned was not aimed at the I Ching.The all-encompassing content in the Book of Changes itself is very philosophical and inspiring, and does not violate the logic of thinking. It is also reasonable to distinguish between friends and foes when going out. What he wants to re-examine is only referring to the Madonna of the Red Lotus. .
It is absolutely impossible for the other party to have the ability to predict the future from thousands of miles away, otherwise, it would be a long time ago that Mr. Ding's love for him was gone, and he would quickly stage a scene where the two of them died happily. Be unfathomable to yourself.
In this way, from a logical perspective, what the Virgin of the Red Lotus sent out must be a complete and accurate message, and it was clearly ordered to be delivered to him, but it was deliberately reduced and destroyed by someone in the middle. It became a puzzle and came to my hands.
The Mingzun Sect has been weakened for a long time, and its control over the sub-rudders in various places is also tending to be weak. This can be seen from the fact that the Madonna of Red Lotus broke into Fuzhou City alone, and the Dharma protectors in various places are not necessarily in Cao Ying like Huang Ji. In the Han Dynasty, there is nothing you can do about it.
But the question is, who is in the way?
Jiang Wen waved his imitation sword slowly, and then a tall figure with disheveled hair and chains appeared in front of his eyes. With his face that seemed to be smiling but not smiling, all states and counties in the world turned into him fighting and fighting. The chessboard, but he himself is hiding in the deep valley shrouded in clouds and smoke, seeing the beginning but not the end, waving his hands all over the place is thousands of unsolvable puzzles, falling in front of the opponent one by one.
"Thinking about it this way, it really looks like Zao Wou-ki's handwriting of drawing the ground as a prison and throwing beans into soldiers. Ordinary people are frightened and dare not move, but he may have hidden thousands of magic soldiers of the Qingyang Sect in some corner." , just waiting for the person who has cracked the mystery to go and learn."
The encroachment of the Qingyang Sect on the Fuzhou Hongyang Sect was far beyond imagination, and the Holy Child of the Red Sun had secretly planned for ten years, and only had time to keep Mr. Ding as the winner, so it was only logical that the order of the Holy Mother of the Red Lotus was intercepted and known.
But what Jiang Wen was sure of was that with Zao Wou-ki's style of doing things, the focus should not be on the city of Guangzhou.His purpose of doing this was just to test Jiang Wen again, to see if Jiang's previous feat of holding the sky with one hand in Fuzhou Mansion was just a result of luck.
"Interesting, really interesting..."
Jiang Wen smiled slightly, holding back the guess that he had been spied on by all directions, and then overturned his previous guess again, simplifying his thinking to the extreme.
Is there a possibility, for example, that this matter is just a sloppy work by the Madonna of the Red Lotus?
The previous conjectures are naturally valid, but the main problem is that Jiang Wen and the others are currently in Guangzhou, and the content of "Feng Tu Ji" is Yixing, which is clearly a mistake.If there is really any important content to give away, it should also be given to Gu Wei's "Guangzhou Ji" in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, right? !
Guangzhou is more than a thousand miles away from Yixing in the south of the Yangtze River. This is equivalent to your friend knowing that you are going to travel in Texas and bringing you a Shandong travel guide. It really makes people wonder what is going on in her brain. .
"It's not good... Could it be that the condition of the Holy Fire Gong has deteriorated, and the Madonna of the Red Lotus is completely confused?"
Leihuo and Jiang Wen's apprentices saw Jiang Wen talking to himself, his expression sometimes serious and sometimes speechless, and the changes were frighteningly fast.
"Master, what are you thinking?"
In the end, it was Fu Ningdie who asked, which made Jiang Wen come out of his thoughts.
"It's nothing, nothing, I can't take care of the things in front of me, how can I have time to care about things far away in the sky."
Jiang Wen casually let go of his doubts completely, turned to Lei Huhu and said, "Master Lei, do you have any caravans going to Fujian recently? Both land and water are fine, just send me a letter to Quanzhou."
Why think so much, Jiang Wen decided to write a letter directly to ask, even if there are some flaws in the time span, it is still a way to find out the problem.
However, upon hearing Jiang Wen's request, Lei Huo sighed deeply.
"Master Jiang, you don't know something. I'm afraid you won't be able to get out of Guangzhou City these days."
Jiang Wen asked puzzledly, "Ah? Why do you explain this?"
what happened?Was the city of Guangzhou really washed into the sea by the torrential rain?
Leihuo twirled the tourmaline bracelet in his hand, summoned the housekeeper in front of him, and asked for a notice from the Guangzhou government office, and quickly explained.
"The government issued a list this morning. Because the imperial navy is about to go to war, the sea and fishing will be banned from now on, and sails will not be allowed to enter the water. If there is any violation, it will be punished as conspiracy with bandits. The whole family will not be pardoned. Several major commercial firms are now in a hurry. Like ants on a hot pan, but they can't do anything."
After finishing speaking, he gloated and said, "Fortunately, our goods were delivered two days ago ahead of schedule, so I can kill them hard this time!"
It was only then that several people from the Wuyi faction suddenly realized that this was the case.
As early as in the city of Fuzhou, Jiang Wen met Da Su, the Great General Who Conquers the South. His mission on this trip was to gather cavalry and naval forces. The forces were eradicated in one fell swoop.
But the military is extremely fast in the battle, so it is determined not to reveal the purpose in advance, and now the emergency ban on the sea must also be for the purpose of cooperating with military operations.Now, it can be said that it kills two birds with one stone.
"Master Lei, if you can't go by water, you should still go by land."
Fu Ningdie poked her head out and suggested, "Even if several official roads have been washed away by heavy rain for several days, you can also go on a boat and go westward along the Neihe River. That's how we came here."
Leihuo looked at Ningdie and showed a slightly kind smile.
"Little girl, what you said is correct, but the eight gates in the southeast, northwest, water and land of Guangzhou are now closed."
"Isn't this approach too puzzling?" Jiang Wen said.
The steward of the Lei Mansion replied at this time: "My lords, I happened to find out the reason for the closure of the city today. It is said that a group of Japanese pirates sneaked ashore with the intention of attacking Guangzhou City to destroy the plan to suppress bandits, so the Pingnan Palace ordered it to be closed. Hold the door firmly, waiting for the thief to show his flaws."
What?Japanese pirates?There are still Japanese pirates these days?
Jiang Wen almost laughed out loud.
The composition of the so-called Japanese pirates is relatively complicated, but it generally refers to the bandits sent by the Japanese feudal princes and Chinese pirates such as Wang Zhi and Xu Hai in collusion.
They plundered villages, towns and towns along the coasts of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian, which led to the outbreak of Japanese pirates in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty.Until the late Jiajing period, generals Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou and others successively pacified the Japanese pirates in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, and the Japanese invasion began to be leveled.
The last Japanese pirates recorded in history invaded the coast of Fujian in July of the fourth year of the Apocalypse (1624). Later, due to Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s issuance of the Hachiman ship prohibition order (piracy prohibition) and the stability of Japan’s domestic political situation, Japanese pirates’ activities It can be said that the Japanese pirates have disappeared for a long time.
It has been 40 to [-] years now, and Shang Kexi said that there are traces of Japanese pirates in Guangdong. Doesn't this make people laugh, and he is not afraid that the Qing court will order him to ask him what his intentions are.
The reason why Jiang Wen has the confidence to make the judgment that the Japanese pirates are false is the change in the current political situation.
Recently, the "Sea Overlord" Zheng's family is the number one pirate in the southeast coast, Taiwan, Japan and other places. The private navy he organized and painstakingly managed is powerful. Even if pirates wanted to plunder, they would never be able to use the hated name of "Japanese pirates" with great fanfare.
Moreover, Zheng Chenggong, who is at the helm now, has a clear distinction between love and hate. Even if the Japanese pirates really want to do something, they can only pretend to be Han people and come here to steal. Otherwise, where is the face of the Zheng family?
But when Jiang Wen uttered his conjecture and basis, the housekeeper of Lei Mansion could only spread his hands innocently.
"I don't know about this villain. I vaguely heard that this group of Japanese pirates had fierce swords and killed many travelers. After hearing the news, Miss Yan of the mansion also rushed out of the city at the last wave. It is said that they He was following the orders of Zheng Sen's cousin, Zheng Tai, who intentionally came here to harass the army."
Zheng Tai is currently the No. [-] member of the Zheng family, and also Zheng Chenggong's chief steward. When Zheng Chenggong led troops to go out, Zheng Tai was often responsible for staying in the base area, cooperating with each other tacitly.
Jiang Wen had doubts in his heart, but he didn't say anything, but he knew that this matter was not that simple.
"It's a little dangerous for Miss Yan to go out of the city. I hope she will be safe."
Jiang Wen said lightly, and fell into thinking again.
At this time, the rain was murmuring in the heavenly hall, and it never ceased from far to near, and Jiang Wen was silently listening to the sound of dripping, letting his thoughts flow, while watching Leihuo and the housekeeper discussing how to make this business big. By the way, he also wanted to avenge the hatred of being squeezed out by local commercial firms.
"Steward, you go down first. Remember to mark the price of the goods this time and put them out at three times the price, and you must also calculate clearly when you enter the account. If the tax collected by Guangdong is less than one share, you can hang yourself at the gate of the government."
Lei Huo said flatly, obviously he had planned to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune, but he kept paying taxes in his words, which was beyond Jiang Wen's expectation.
"Master Lei, I didn't expect you to have a strong tax awareness." Jiang Wen joked.
Lei Huo said with a wry smile: "You have to be careful. Now the Pingnan Palace is investigating the matter of taxation. If you are not careful, you will be ransacked and questioned. They charge [-]% of the property in the business. Those of us who have weaving machines Forty taxes are one, and if the boat owner owns a boat over five feet long, he will also be charged a tax. This kind of sword and gun is aimed at everyone, it can be said that everyone is in danger."
"This is a tax imposed by the Shang family themselves? Who can bear such a high tax?" Jiang Wen said in surprise.
"Small households and ordinary families have gone bankrupt and thrown themselves into the sea."
Lei Hu could only say helplessly: "But there is no other way. The Pingnan Palace launched the Cantonese Expedition in the name of suppressing the rebellion and suppressing the bandits, saying that as long as there is one more day of fighting, the soldiers of the Shang family will have to pay for the horse chews." Count it on our heads."
"That shouldn't stop everyone from concealing it, right? You store the money in other places, so it's fine if you don't get found out?" Jiang Wen had another whim.
"It's not that easy, they've already thought of a backhand!"
When Leihu said this, he was also full of resentment, "In addition to the Yue Zheng, the Pingnan Palace also opened a levy. If someone hides and transfers property privately and is reported to the government, half of the money from the ransacking will go to the government and half will go to the government. people."
There are always ups and downs in doing business. Once a business happens, God knows it. Unless you don’t do business in Guangzhou City at all, it really can’t stop someone from trying to make a fortune. Under Sanmu, whether the property is real or not? If you want to hide something, how can you have the final say?
And Jiang Wen became more and more familiar with it as he listened to it. This method is clearly a replica of the counting and warning methods in the early Western Han Dynasty.
Tie, originally intended to be a rope to wear copper coins, later became a unit of currency, a string of money is a consistent, one thousand qian.And the calculation is also a unit, which is 120 yuan.In the fourth year of Yuanshou, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty accepted the suggestions of Zhang Tang, the imperial historian, and Sang Hongyang, the servant, and ordered the collection of counting money, and everyone involved must collect 120 coins.
And to report means to report, that is, in order to make the trend of reporting prevail, the imperial court promised rich rewards to the informers-"Those who have the ability to report will give half of it."
This method has a lot of profits and a lot of damage. It is an evil government that has no space in history. It is also directly related to the war between Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu at that time. It is mainly to fill the bottomless pit of war, which consumes wealth.
"What a vicious trick, who came up with this method?"
Jiang Wen asked suddenly.
Leihu thought for a moment, and said with uncertainty: "There are rumors in the market that this was suggested by Li Xinghe, the celebrity in front of Lord Shang, but no one has any evidence for it. But apart from him, no one can say so Big deal."
Li Xinghe, the sorcerer of the rivers and lakes again?
Jiang Wen's impression of him was originally in a slightly contradictory feeling, he was extremely stingy and bold, he was obedient and reckless, and he had deliberately deceived Jiang Wen before, but he didn't know why he opened his mouth in such a way. A decree left behind by the family?
All kinds of contradictions are complicated, which also makes his sleek and sophisticated appearance even more confusing. The only thing that remains the same is that this person's scheming, which is deeply versed in people's hearts, has more and more surfaced.
The method of reckoning in the Western Han Dynasty was naturally an irrefutable evil policy, which violated the national policy of resting with the people, causing the people in the country to work hard enough to pay for food, and to spin enough clothes. It's another look.
First of all, the Shang family is not a king and landlord. The purpose of the Pingnan Palace is to rule the local area and suppress rebellion. Therefore, exhausting the power of the people and exhausting the local area is an optional ruling policy.
Secondly, the money collected can effectively support the suppression of Zheng Daye. As long as half of the increased taxes are finally used for practical purposes, it will be a windfall for the Qing court.
In the end, the Shang family didn't have to care about the support of the people.He came here ten years ago with iron cavalry and killed countless people. As long as there is no shortage of swords and guns in the mansion, and there is an endless supply of soldiers, he will naturally have a gratifying place. This is something that no one can deny.
But this kind of evil on the surface is so naked that Jiang Wen has to lament that those who can put forward this idea and implement this policy can be called real and undisguised villains.
But the most ridiculous part of the world is here. People like this who openly absorb the people's fat are already the existence of a low threat among the San Francisco, which the Qing court relied on as a dry city.
Among the other two vassal kings, Wu Sangui has the highest military exploits.When he first arrived in Yun and Gui, the Qing court once allowed him to "act cheaply", that is, to allow him to appoint officials privately, which was called "Xuan Xuan" at that time.Therefore, all civil servants and military generals in the Southwest are his cronies, and they are all controlled by him. In a few years, there will be a saying that "officials elected from the West will be all over the world", as if the Southwest has a hegemony.
If Geng Jingzhong, the second of the three vassals, successfully inherits the position of the vassal king, the history books will also record that he "extracted violence from Fujian with taxes", even if his subordinates "send slaves harshly and extort silver and rice", they will still say that he gathered "little people". , spreading rumors that "the Son of Heaven is a clone of Huo Er", falsely claiming that "Huo Er is the one who is Geng Ye. There is a reason in the world, according to Ba Fujian, if you try to make progress, you can succeed", and brazenly tied the people of Fujian to his chariot involuntarily, sail to perdition.
Compared with the political ambitions of the two of them, Shang Kexi set up a city in Guangdong without permission, collected taxes without permission, and opened up foreign trade ports without permission. Under the wanton profit-seeking, will the family be destroyed?
What's more cruel is that at this time, even becoming a beggar, the only way out after the house ransacking and bankruptcy, is actually in the hands of Shang Kexi...
"Let's have dinner!"
Xiao Shitou happily came to announce the start of dinner, Ning Die and Wending left without hesitation, and everyone left from the main hall, only Jiang Wen was left holding a broken book in his hand, standing still.
Jiang Wen turned his head and pretended to smile with relief, then continued to look at the sky wistfully, and spoke slowly.
"Then wait until the rain clears. Either I continue to wait, or the weather clears up, whichever comes first."
Washing hands in the golden basin, the heavy rain did not stop.At this time of sudden change in the situation, similar discussions also exist among different people in the Guangzhou government.
They are emotional or sad or happy with each other, and the things they talk about are straightforward or misty, and they will eventually disappear in the torrential rain. It seems that there is only this torrential rain in the world, and it will become the only eternal. things that change.
(End of this chapter)
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