Fenghou

Chen Qing nodded and said, "What's the name of that clerk who goes to the island every two months? I want to meet him."

Chapter 865 Penghu

The clerk of the county government is called Zhang Tong. He is in his thirties. Because of going to sea all the year round, his skin is darkened by the sea breeze. He is lean and fleshless, but he looks very energetic.

Chen Qing looked at him and asked with a smile, "Are you Zhang Tong who often goes to Penghu Island?"

"The villain is right!"

Zhang Tong is a local, and he speaks Quanzhou dialect that he cannot understand, but he is a county magistrate after all, so he can only follow the official dialect, and his accent sounds a bit awkward.

"When was the last time it was Penghu Island?" Chen Qing asked again.

Zhang Tong scratched his head, "Half a month ago!"

"What's the situation on the island now, let me briefly talk about it."

"The island is still the same. The men fish and plow the land, the women weave at home, and the children go to school to study. But recently, there is a bit of uneasiness, and there is a lot of trouble, and they all clamor to come back."

"why?"

Zhang Tong glanced at the magistrate, and said helplessly, "The magistrate said that if taxes are to be collected on the island, the people on the island will not do it."

Cai Shouzhi, the county magistrate, quickly explained: "Since they are citizens of the Song Dynasty, of course they have to pay taxes. In the past, the government had no burden on the island, so they turned a blind eye if they didn't pay taxes. Now there is a school on the island, which pays taxes every year. There are costs, and taxes are there to subsidize those costs."

Chen Qing nodded. The magistrate made sense. There was nothing wrong with taxation. This problem must be solved at a higher level. It is unrealistic to rely on local financial subsidies.

Chen Qing said with a smile: "I won't mention this question for the time being. I want to go to the island to have a look. I'll solve this problem when I come back. Would Cai Zhixian be willing to go with me?"

Cai Shouzhi hurriedly said, "Your official should accompany you!"

Chen Qing said to Zhizhou He Jing again: "As I said just now, officials can choose whether they want to stay or leave. I will never force them. I will not be here for a few days, so I will give them consideration. I will reply when I come back from Penghu Island." .”

"The officer understands!"

……

Ten Wanshi big ships sailed through the waves in the sea. Although there were slight waves on the sea, the Wanshi big ships sailed very steadily, as if they were flying in the sky.

The horizon has long been invisible, the sun is setting, and the western sky is rendered extraordinarily gorgeous by red clouds, as if a raging fire has been ignited, and it is like a fire phoenix gliding across the sky, and the flames on the tail feathers engulf the entire sky.

Zhao Yingluo was standing on the side of the boat, staring at the color of the sky, Chen Qing walked over, put his arms around her shoulders and said with a smile, "Very beautiful, isn't it!"

"It's so beautiful!" Zhao Yingluo exclaimed in a low voice.

"Things that are too beautiful often hide disasters. Just now the boatman said that a storm is coming soon."

"storm?"

Zhao Yingluo was taken aback, "What will happen to the storm?"

"I don't know, I guess it won't be easy."

……

At night, the gorgeous sunset glow disappeared, and there appeared groups of dark clouds in the sky, mixed with lightning, and there was a strong wind on the sea, and the waves were rough, with black waves rushing towards the big ship like mountains.

The big ship was continuously engulfed by the waves, and then emerged from the waves. The Wanshi sea ship was like a small beetle in the turbulent waves, which was extraordinarily small.

Except for the crew, all the people on the big ship were tortured by the violent jolting and pain, and they vomited in a mess. Zhao Yingluo fell on the deck, hugged Chen Qing's legs tightly, and buried her head deeply in Chen Qing's arms. Pale, eyes closed tightly, enduring boundless suffering.

Chen Qing sat cross-legged on the floor, firmly grasped the fixed wooden pole with one hand, fought against the waves with his strong body, and was never knocked down by the waves, but only then did he know why the cabin was empty, and a heavy object was lying on top of it. It was too dangerous to bump back and forth in the cabin.

The hull shook violently from side to side, making a terrifying creaking sound, as if the hull was about to be torn apart by huge waves at any time.

But the Fujian Dahai ship that Chen Qing was on was indeed the best sea ship of this era, no matter what kind of stormy waves it was, it could withstand it.

At five o'clock, the storm suddenly disappeared, the sea became calm, there was no cloud in the night sky, and the sky was full of stars like bright gems, hanging all over the sky.

Chen Qing hugged Zhao Yingluo's waist and walked out of the cabin, looking at the quiet night sky, at the smooth and glistening sea like silk, Zhao Yingluo suddenly fell on Chen Qing's shoulder and began to cry. The excitement of returning to the world.

……

In the afternoon, Chen Qing accidentally saw the county magistrate Zhang Tong talking with an old man on the deck. The old man was called Jia Lun, and he was the teacher of the school on Penghu Island. This time he came to Quanzhou to bring his son, wife and grandchildren. go to the island.

When Chen Qing stepped forward, Zhang Tong was so frightened that he quickly stood up. Chen Qing waved his hand, motioning for him to sit down, and asked the old man surnamed Jia to sit down too.

"How were you two last night?" Chen Qing asked with a smile.

Zhang Tong smiled bitterly and said, "I'm fine, I've made it through, Mr. Jia is in a bit of pain."

Ja Lun shook his head and said with lingering fear, "It's the first time I've encountered this kind of storm, and I vomited so faintly."

"Have you never encountered one on the island?"

"There were two encounters on the island last summer, but the problems were not serious. It was the first time on the boat."

Zhang Tong next to him also said: "Don't say it's Mr. Jia, even the straits I have traveled for more than ten years, this is the second time I have encountered such a storm. The first time I almost died. Take this kind of big boat, it’s safe.”

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "I will leave some big ships for the army later, and one of them is specially used as a strait ferry and belongs to the county government."

"That's great, it won't be so painful to go back and forth across the straits."

Chen Qing smiled and asked Jia Lun again, "Where is Mr. Jia from? The accent seems to be from the Central Plains."

"Xiaomin is from Sizhou. He was originally a Ph.D. in state studies. In the second year of Jianyan, the Yellow River flooded. I took my family and fled all the way south. One of my students was from Quanzhou, so our family fled to Quanzhou. Introduction, I have been teaching in the county school."

"Then why did you think of going to Penghu to teach?" Chen Qing asked again with a smile.

Jia Lun smiled and said: "I will tell the truth in front of King Yong. First, the salary given by the county is relatively high, which is twice that of my teaching in the county. Second, the county promised to give me a piece of [-] mu. Farmland, I am not a native of Quanzhou, I teach wherever I am, so I decided to come to Penghu Island and bring my wife with me, but my son refused, and he wanted to stay in Jinjiang."

"Then why is your son willing to come this time?"

"Old Song, who ran a grocery store in the town, passed away. He was a lonely old man. Before he died, he gave his grocery store to me. I took care of his funeral. My son opened a grocery store in Jinjiang City. The business It wasn't very good, so the family of four came and took over the grocery store."

"If you open a grocery store, you must stock up often!"

"Exactly, so I thank the lord for arranging a ship of ten thousand stones, so that he can buy goods more conveniently."

Chen Qing nodded with a smile, and asked again: "Are there many Han people on the island? I'm not talking about fishermen, but farmers who live on the land."

"Yes! There are quite a few. There are two to three hundred families, and there are hundreds of families on the big island. They all escaped from the north. They don't pay taxes for farming in Penghu, so many people have gone to the island. Otherwise, they would cross the river. There is a risk, and more people will come, but it is rumored that a tax will be levied during this period of time, and there is a lot of noise, people's hearts are unstable, my lord, will the tax be levied or not?"

Chen Qing smiled slightly and said, "Let me tell you the truth! As long as Quanzhou is under my control, no tax will be levied on Penghu Island."

Jia Lun clasped his hands together and said, "If this is the case, the common people are blessed!"

Chapter 866 Penghu

Zhang Tong next to him said with a smile: "Old Jia, the lord is very concerned about Da Dao, and even wants to build a county in Da Dao, you can tell the lord what you think."

Jia Lun's eyes lit up, and he said repeatedly: "It's good to build a county! It is necessary to garrison troops. This kind of large overseas island is not like land. The army can fight all the way there, and it can occupy even wild places. The big island hangs alone overseas. , if it is left alone for hundreds of years, it may be occupied by other overseas countries.”

Chen Qingxiao asked: "Does Mr. Jia have any other good ideas for developing Dadao?"

Jia Lun thought for a while and said: "My biggest suggestion is to choose a site. There are many rivers on the Big Island that flow directly into the sea. The fresh water of these rivers is very important. In the future, the prince will develop the Big Island and must advance along the banks of the rivers. "

Chen Qing nodded and asked again: "How do the natives on the island deal with it?"

"As far as I know, the traditional natives on the island are relatively gentle. They live in the high mountains in the north and use the mountains as their territory. If the prince only develops the plains and does not enter the mountains, there will be no conflicts.

But there is another group of natives in the south of the big island. They are foreigners. They came by boat from Nanyang. They are some very small black people. I suggest that the prince send troops to exterminate this small black tribe. Only by eliminating them can the big island develop safely. "

Chen Qing nodded silently, he remembered what Jia Lun said.

……

Two days later, the fleet slowly arrived at Penghu Island. There was a natural harbor in the south, where the fleet could go in and berth. The south was also the settlement of the common people. Ten large ships appeared in the harbor. The news spread, and the common people ran to the harbor one after another. To see the excitement, the arrival of ten large ships is indeed a relatively rare thing for them.

There is a temporary simple pier in the harbor. The big ship pulls to the side, and groups of soldiers disembark first.

Jia Lun and Zhang Tong also got off the boat, and the people in the distance saw them, and they were surprised and happy, and they ran over and surrounded them.

At this time, the soldiers and guards surrounded Chen Qing and Zhao Yingluo and got off the boat. With their feet on the ground, Chen Qing suddenly felt extraordinarily at ease, especially after encountering strong winds and waves, the feeling of stepping on the land again was so good.

"My lord, these people are all old people from this island."

Zhang Tong brought a few old men to see Chen Qing, and the old men knelt down and kowtow respectfully, "Xiaomin see His Royal Highness King Yong!"

"Parents, please stand up!"

Chen Qingxu entrusted several elders to get up, and the first elder clasped his fists and said with a smile: "The villain Hao Wen is from Jingzhao, and he has heard the name of the prince for a long time."

The old man spoke with a Guanzhong accent. Hearing the accent, Chen Qing also felt very cordial, and asked with a smile, "How did the old man come here?"

"Reporting to my lord, when the Jin soldiers invaded Guanzhong for the first time, the villain took his family and fled for his life. He first fled to Bashu, and then went to Lin'an by boat. The family continued to flee south, fled to Quanzhou and settled down, and later heard that there is no need to pay taxes for farming on Penghu Island, so the villain simply brought the whole family to live on the island again, and it has been a full ten years."

Chen Qing nodded, "Traveling thousands of miles, he is the refugee who has escaped the farthest. It's not easy for the elderly!"

"It's not easy, but now that I've been stable for ten years, I really don't want to leave. Just now I heard from Zhang Tong that the prince promised to be tax-free, is that true?"

Hundreds of pairs of eyes were looking at Chen Qing. This was the result that the people on the island wanted to know the most. During this time, they were extremely anxious.

Chen Qing nodded, and said solemnly to everyone: "Fathers and folks, I can solemnly promise you that the small and large islands of Penghu will be exempted from taxes indefinitely, for ten, twenty, or even 20 years."

Thousands of people on the shore immediately cheered, but Cai Shouzhi, the county magistrate next to him, was secretly shocked. What does a hundred years of tax exemption mean?

……

Next, Zhang Tong, the county magistrate, and Cai Shouzhi, the county magistrate, went door-to-door to comfort the people. They brought food, seeds and farm tools.

Under the guidance of Jia Lun, Chen Qing visited the school. The school consists of three teachers, more than 200 students, and more than a dozen tall houses. The climate on the main island is hot and humid, with abundant rainfall and poisonous insects. The houses are basically stilt houses, almost all of which are made of bamboo, which is very strong and tough.

"We just started teaching students "Hundred Surnames" and "Thousand Characters". After learning a few thousand characters, we started to learn "The Analects of Confucius" and "Mencius", and also recited some poems."

Jia Lun is the principal, and the other two gentlemen are his students in the county school. He introduced the situation to Chen Qing, "The teaching materials are all donated by the counties in Quanzhou. Some of the pens, ink, paper and inkstones are donated by Quanzhou businessmen, and some are purchased by the county. , The tables and chairs are made by the common people, there are many trees here, and there is no shortage of wood.”

"After reading the book, what plans do these children have?" Chen Qing asked again.

"Most parents just want their children to be literate. They will not be deceived in the future. They will go home to work after the age of [-] or [-]. There are very few parents who want their children to continue to study. I have contacted the county school and asked some children to go to school. Studying in a county school means that the cost of board and lodging costs money, and their parents may not be able to afford it."

Chen Qing waved his hand, "It's a good thing to want to study, and all their expenses will be borne by the county."

"Caizhi County said that they can't afford the money, so why is there a tax, that's why."

"You don't have to worry. Quanzhou's commercial tax is divided in half with the imperial court. It will be used to subsidize the garrison and the county government. The rest of the taxes will also be used. The county government will have money."

"Then thank you so much, my lord!"

Chen Qing smiled and pointed to the front, "Is that the town?"

"It's a small town!"

Chen Qing walked over. The so-called small town is a small street about [-] steps long, with residential houses, schools and more than a dozen shops, mainly grocery stores, taverns and shops for receiving goods.

There are three grocery stores, but there is one tavern, which is very small, and the others are delivery stores. There are no inns or brothels, but after the army is stationed, these will be available.

Chen Qing stopped in front of a store that received goods, and asked, "What does this store accept?"

"Reporting to the prince, it is mainly dried fish and other seafood, and then there is kapok."

"Kapok?"

Chen Qing asked curiously: "Kapok is still produced here?"

"There is kapok on the island, but the output is not large. The main reason is that there are too many kapok trees on the big island. Every year when the kapok fruit is ripe, we will go to the big island by boat to pick kapok, and then sell it to merchants to earn some pocket money. money."

Chen Qing nodded secretly, seeing that in addition to planting sugarcane, kapok is also a good economic crop.

The town was very short, and it ended within two hundred steps. At this moment, Chen Qing saw Jia Lun's son and daughter-in-law busy packing goods in a grocery store.

It seemed that there were not many goods in the store. At this time, Cai Zhixian and Zhang Tong came back. Cai Zhixian sighed and said, "I brought too few things, and the islanders are disappointed."

Chen Qing remembered this, and said to Cai Zhixian: "On the big ship, there are two cabins full of various sundries. They are all kinds of daily necessities seized by us in the rebellion in Sichuan. We took away the useful ones, and the rest They are items that soldiers don’t need. They are all civilian products. I originally planned to give them to the natives of Penghu Island, but now it seems that there is no need to give them away. You can take one cabin and distribute it to the common people! The other cabin is reserved for the people of Penghu Island. people."

Cai Zhixian was overjoyed and thanked again and again. He quickly took Zhang Tong and followed a soldier to the big ship to carry the goods.

Jia Lun next to him looked very depressed. His son failed to open a store in Jinjiang County and owed a lot of debts, so he had to follow him to open a grocery store on Penghu Island. The prince distributed daily groceries to the islanders, and they still made a lot of money!

Chen Qing saw his disappointment, so he smiled and said: "I will station a thousand soldiers on the island soon, I suggest that your son change it into a restaurant! The business must be good."

Jia Lun's eyes lit up, and he quickly bowed and said, "Thank you, my lord, for reminding me, Xiaomin understands."

Chen Qing quickly inspected a circle of islands. In fact, there was nothing to see. Most of the islands were covered with forests. At this time, it was getting late, and Chen Qing returned to the big boat to rest.

The soldiers came up to meet him and said: "Cai Zhixian took all the people out of the cabin, and the elders left this for King Yong. They said it was called the Sea God Pearl."

The soldier handed a wooden box to Chen Qing. Chen Qing opened the wooden box, and inside was a round and shiny pearl, the size of a lychee, exuding a layer of faint colorful halo.

Chapter 867 Killing

Early the next morning, Chen Qing got on the big boat again, and the boat sailed to the big island of Penghu.