Emperor Ming Dynasty

"Slanting wind, drizzle, this county test is really interesting."

In Zhangzhou Fucheng, outside the county government office, Zheng Sen was sitting in a restaurant with great interest, holding a wine glass with a happy face.

The rain wetted the window sill, splashed a little water droplets, and felt a little cold on his forehead, but he didn't care about it at all, and his interest remained undiminished.

Sitting beside him is Zhangzhou Tongzhi, named Nan Zihao, from Shanxi.

Although the official positions of the two went up and down, Nan Zihao was nearly fifty years old, with gray temples and wrinkles on his face. Obviously, this fellow acquaintance was not easy to do.

He looked at Zheng Sen, sighed slightly, picked up the vinegar jug ​​in his hand, poured himself a cup, and drank it down in one gulp.

There is really no comparison between people.

I am a Jinshi of the same class, and he is a Jinshi of the second list. In the same year, my future can be seen at a glance, but he is about to move to the capital and serve as a high-ranking official.

"Futai, this Zhangzhou is densely populated. Although there are not many scholars in the two lists, they cannot compete with the four provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, but they are only children, but they have thousands of troops."

Nan Zihao sighed: "Longxi County, which is attached to Guo, has nearly 800 references, but my county in Shanxi is only half of them."

"North is not as good as south, it's been a long time."

Speaking of this, he even wailed a little in his heart.

Of the eight major customs offices, only Tianjin is in the north, and it is located in the Gyeonggi region. The customs have brought prosperity and money.

Although there are children from poor families in every class, to be honest, money is the key to supporting studies.

"North is not as good as south?" Zheng Sen turned his head and said with a light smile, "Brother Nan, if you talk about Henan, Shaanxi and other places, it is indeed not as good as the south."

"But you Shanxi people are different. The reputation of Shanxi merchants is like thunder. Now that Suiyuan is newly established and the Mongolian tribes have surrendered, you Shanxi merchants have become active again and made a lot of money."

"I have some words from my colleagues. The Shaanxi businessmen even mobilized all relations to discredit you. Some people even sent a message saying that they are going to sue and recalculate your old accounts."

Regarding this, Nan Zihao became anxious, and hurriedly said: "The integration of Shanxi and Shanxi is really too much."

Afterwards, he laughed again and said, "Your Majesty is not that confused. No one cares about businessmen's affairs."

Zheng Sen smiled.

Shanxi merchants are not only active, except for Huizhou merchants who can compete with them, Fujian merchants can only eat leftovers.

With the increasing number of western barbarians in Taiwan, things like banks were also introduced, and were gradually learned by Daming.

Shanxi merchants, Anhui merchants, Shaanxi merchants, Zhejiang merchants, Jiangxi merchants, Chu merchants, etc. have established similar banks, but it is only Huizhou merchants, Shanxi merchants, and Shaanxi merchants that can really spread throughout the world.

They set up semicolons in almost every prefecture and city in the 25 provinces of the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty, and they are connected to the world.

In fact, the Zheng family had already built a bank, but it was only in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. The rest of the land had no place and could not compete.

He glanced at the county government office with its closed gate, and then looked up at the sky. It was past noon and the sun was about to set.

"Xiaoer, what time is it?"

When Nan Zihao saw his appearance, he immediately felt blessed and asked with a beckoning hand.

"Guest officer, it's almost the end of the hour."

Xiao Er was taken aback for a moment, then took three steps and two steps, ran quickly, and answered crisply.

"Oh? You still ring the bell?"

At this time, Zheng Sen noticed Xiao Er's behavior and couldn't help but wonder.

"Look at what you said, this chime clock is not a rare thing nowadays, but it is expensive, and it costs 100 yuan!"

Xiao Er smiled wryly and said, "But now in business, the most fearful thing is that there will be no one but no one. If there are other restaurants, my family has to prepare them too."

"Look, storytelling on the stage, with a chime bell next to it, has probably become the norm in the whole of Fujian."

"And let me tell you, we are not ingenious people, and the ones we make are cheap, but our shopkeeper likes the Western Yi style, and the Han people don't have this taste..."

Zheng and Nan looked at each other and smiled.

Looking around, in the whole street, if you search carefully, you can also see a yellow-haired Xiyi.

Without it, there are two of the eight major customs in Fujian, Yuegang and Fuzhou, and they are also close to the Taiwan government, which can be said to be close to the water.

In this way, businessmen traveling from south to north and rare items from the west are really used to the people of Fujian.

"The narrowness of Yuegang was the last resort of the Longqing Dynasty. Now it is not as many as Fuzhou and Ningbo." Nan Zihao suddenly said:

"In my opinion, the imperial court will inevitably move the customs, and I don't know if they can come to Zhangzhou?"

Yuegang is originally in Zhangzhou Prefecture, but compared to other customs, it is in the sea, far away from the mainland.

In this way, it will be difficult for the entire Zhangzhou government to get a lot of money. After all, the customs taxes are collected directly by the emperor, unlike other ports, which can get a little bit of money locally.

"Difficult——" Zheng Sen put down his wine glass: "The customs is different from the past. It is managed by His Majesty himself and managed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If you want to relocate, it will be difficult for the elders to intercede."

"However, the most likely place is Quanzhou."

Having said that, Zheng Sen smiled unconsciously.

No way, his hometown is in Quanzhou Prefecture. Although the whole family has moved to Beijing, their roots are here.

Customs plays a huge role, which is the consensus in the officialdom.

Because for local officials, the final law is hanging over their heads, and in matters such as taxation, litigation, and Dingkou, other matters can be fooled, but taxation is the most difficult.

Because this is real money to be given, the key tax collection department is under the control of the Ministry of Finance.

After the establishment of the Customs, just being rich is enough to make you worry about taxes. After you get rich, the style of writing will naturally increase, the population will multiply, and although there will be more lawsuits, it is just a trivial matter.

While the two were talking, the county government opened up, and scholars poured out like a tide.

At this time, I saw that the originally smooth street suddenly became congested. It turned out that too many family members of candidates flocked to the street, so that the bullock carts blocked a street.

The local people have experience and have long been used to this scene, but the examinees have different expressions, some are haggard, some are excited, and some even walk swaying.crumbling.

Seeing the pale faces of the young candidates in front of him, with their gray hair, Zheng Sen couldn't help but be speechless:
"It's about to die, why bother?"

"People in the world love fame and wealth, how can they give up so easily?" Nan Zihao sighed.

Although there is an unspoken rule in the officialdom that one cannot enter Jinshi at the age of 50, in the examination room for scholars and candidates, there are many people in their sixties.

Because these people understand that although they cannot become officials, they can enjoy great prestige among the people and become gentry by virtue of their fame.

I'm just a child, but I can find a teacher, and I don't have to worry about eating and drinking.

The two were speechless.

At this time, they also remembered the difficulty of their own exams.

In the examination room, what is tested is not your knowledge, but your impromptu performance. How many people are full of talent but forget their words?

At this time, many scholars have already gone upstairs in the restaurant.

After five exams, although the heart is tired and the body is exhausted, the anesthesia of alcohol can make people uplifted.

"I have to drink a lot today, no, I have to drink from cattle to relieve my suffering for a long time—"

"All the hardships come to an end, drink—"

"Five bosses, six! Come on, come on, let's drink and drink!" The examinee drank and punched in the tavern, disregarding the politeness, to relieve the pressure.

Waves of uproar fell into the ears of Zheng Sen and Nan Zihao. At this moment, they sounded more and more touching.

Everything seems to be just yesterday.

"I heard that the new law is being tried in the countryside?"

Suddenly, on a drinking table somewhere, after drinking, several scholars began to discuss the affairs of the department.

"That's right, I've heard people say that in the future, the stereotyped essays will only be tested in county, government, and college exams. To put it bluntly, stereotyped essays can only be used to test scholars."

"If it's in the township test, if it's a test, then you have to take a new test—"

"Hey, the township exam is too far away, let's take care of what's in front of us!"

Zheng and Nan looked together.

During the Shaowu period, many reforms were carried out, but the most shocking thing among the people was the reform of the imperial examination.

From the palace examination, to the general examination and the township examination, it can be said to be a step-by-step advancement. The officialdom and the people have heard of it for a long time, and at the beginning of this year, the rules were completely formed.

From then on, the examination time for the township examination, general examination, and palace examination will be shortened to only three consecutive days.

On the first day, there will be tests on arithmetic, geography, history, astronomy and other miscellaneous subjects.

The next day, take the article.

On the third day, take the national law exam.

These three subjects will all be calculated as percentages.

Simple and direct, it can be described as subversive.

In this case, the officialdom has been paying attention, for fear of trouble.

But in fact, the backlash from the people was not great.

Because the ones who learn the most stereotyped essays are the reserve talents.

They account for ninety-five percent of the world's scholars.

In the Xiucai examination, the eight-part essay is still reserved, which reassures them that the ten-year cold window has not been in vain.

In fact, no matter how hard the Manchu Qing struggled, whether it was the Xin Chou Treaty or the Shimonoseki Treaty, most of the local gentry supported it.

But when it abolished the imperial examinations, it immediately turned the gentry class back from the constitutionalists to the revolutionaries.

To put it bluntly, the abolition of the imperial examinations is equivalent to pulling out the backbone of the Qing Dynasty, and the countdown to its demise has begun.

The reason why scholars have little opinion about taking the provincial examination is that they have already half-stepped into the officialdom and understand what is taboo.

This kind of thing is messed up again, that is a stain, and it will definitely make the examiner unhappy.

You even have an opinion on the emperor's new policy, or do you have a heart for the court?

"Your Majesty's movement is really too great." Zheng Sen sighed.

"The stereotype has been dead for three hundred years, and most of it has died." Nan Zihao sighed.

Is this a sigh for stereotyped writing?
No, this is a sigh for youth.

Suddenly, the bustling restaurant attracted many people.

"Master! Do me a favor, give our sisters a bite to eat, do good deeds..."

A young girl with a dusty face bowed her waist, holding a little girl in ragged clothes, with a sallow and thin face and gloomy eyes.

In this busy county town, it looks extremely abrupt.

"Go, go, this is not the place you should come to—" A trace of pity flashed in Xiaoer's eyes, but he was used to all kinds of social situations, so he could only forcefully drive him away.

He understood that as long as he let these two people in, not only would he be beaten severely tonight, but he would also have no food to eat.

this is the truth.

Zheng Sen, on the other hand, came from a high position, and caught a glimpse behind the pair of sisters. There were a few tall figures looming, looking around from time to time.

Sure enough, the buddy's voice made this group of immature scholars lose their temper.

Maybe it was because they saw that the pair of sisters were a bit pretty, and each of them gave generously, a pile of copper coins, a few silver cents and silver coins, which was considered extremely generous.

The sisters were overjoyed, and quickly knelt down and kowtowed.

Seeing this, the people on the street also wanted to take advantage of it, so the restaurant had to send many people to chase them away.

Zheng Sen's face was grim: "So much money, for the sisters, it is a disaster rather than a blessing."

After saying that, he ordered his long follower to follow the sister.

The other long follower went to the yamen to call someone.

Nan Zihao frowned: "I guess it's the green-skinned rogue in the county, who sneaked and cheated. It should have been repaired a long time ago."

Zheng Sen snorted coldly and said, "Originally, as the prefect, I shouldn't say too much about the internal affairs of Longxi County, but now that I'm about to step down, even if I offend Longxi County, it's okay."

"Futai—" Nan Zihao hesitated to speak.

But after thinking about Zheng Sen's background, he didn't say any more.

He can't get along in the officialdom, so he goes home to inherit the title, what is he worrying about?

Sure enough, the green-skinned rogues in Longxi County were beaten and cried for their fathers and mothers, and then they were reported to exile and prepared to go to the Luzon Governor's Mansion.

Now, the entire Zhangzhou Mansion was shocked.

At this time, Luzon was in a state of prosperity.

In other words, after taking over the entire Philippines that year, Jin Bao became the governor, managing all civil affairs and military affairs, and it can be said that he has great power.

He carried out the court's proposition, cooperated with the Catholic Church, compromised, and established the court rule logically.

Today, the huge Luzon Governor's Mansion has completely changed its appearance after a series of institutional reforms.

In Luzon, there are 86 counties and [-] townships in total.

Among them, there are 6000 Han people, about 30 Xiyi people, and [-] native people.

After years of conquests, the natives belonged to many again, which led to a great increase in the strength of the Governor's Mansion.

Up to now, the military strength of the Governor's Mansion has expanded to the scale of ten thousand people.

Five thousand Han soldiers and five thousand native soldiers.

Coupled with the support of thousands of sailors, the strength of the Governor's Mansion is as stable as Mount Tai.

As the governor, Jin Bao was somewhat in a slump at this time.

He stood in front of the window, on top of the huge bridge, there were many pedestrians, and a bustling and noisy scene appeared in front of him.

At this time, the chief envoy came quickly to report the situation:

"Governor, the taxes for this spring are out."

The Philippines is located in the tropics, with high temperature and rain all year round, so plants grow luxuriantly, and it is normal for three crops a year.

It is precisely because of this that Luzon's taxes are basically calculated on a quarterly basis.

"Oh?"

"The seventeen counties have had a bumper harvest. They can get 150 million shi for grain and 27 yuan for money."

The chief envoy said beamingly: "As expected, the total tax collection this year will exceed 300 million, leaving a lot of money."

"Hmm!" Jin Bao said suddenly: "Tell me, where is the most convenient place for Lu Rong to build a city?"

"Luzon is high in the north and low in the south. I'm afraid there is no suitable boundary to build a city."

The chief envoy said strangely: "However, in the west, it is also a plain. It is good there, but there are more natives, so it is not convenient at present."

"Too close." Jin Bao shook his head: "Too close is not good."