The South China Sea actually does not only refer to the two provinces in the remote South China Sea such as Guangzhou and Fujian, but also incorporates the two provinces of Zhejiang and Nanjiang into it, collectively referred to as the four provinces of the South China Sea.
In the land of the South China Sea, only Zhejiang was originally a land of plenty, and the other three provinces were originally barbaric lands. For more than four hundred years of the Zhengyang Empire, the land of the South China Sea had always been peaceful, so it was gradually developed. The land was already fertile, and the Han people After a hundred years of development, the other three provinces have become a land of plenty like Zhejiang.
Especially in Guangdong, there is a huge island in the south of Guangdong. It is called Qiongzhou. Qiongzhou has established numerous seaports and numerous merchant ships. They go out to sea to the west. Although the land there is occupied by a group of indigenous people, there are rare gold mines, silver mines, spices, precious wood and other valuable materials. treasure.
In Guangdong Province, the empire specially set up a Nanhai Commercial Department to be in charge of the collection of commercial taxes from Qiongzhou to the sea. The tax rate here is not the national unified ten tax and one tax, but the terrifying five tax and one tax. However, those who go to sea from Qiongzhou There is still an endless stream of merchants, and with the intervention of the government, a South China Sea Trade Association has been formed here. Merchants from Guangdong and Zhejiang who go to the South China Sea must join this trade association.
After a century of rapid development, the tax revenue collected by Guangdong Province is now comparable to that of the four southwest provinces combined.
475 years of the Gregorian calendar
Giant pirates in the South China Sea, the Yin tribe counterattacks
early spring
Only those who have inherited it for hundreds of years can be qualified to be called aristocratic family. In addition to the main family as the trunk and the side branches as branches, the towering tree of the aristocratic family also needs the Yin clan as the root system. Only the Yin clan as the root system can a family be passed down. , the foundation for survival in the face of storms.
Normally, he listens to his master's orders, and when encountering trouble, he listens to the orders of the Yin clan.
The Yin tribe may be merchants, poor peasants, or giant bandits, but... they cannot be the old woman in front of them.
"Please, Butler Zhang. I have to see the master today. Please be accommodating to Butler Zhang!"
An old woman wearing coarse linen clothes was holding a huge colorful rooster in her hand. This was the best gift she could give. If it were not an emergency, this big rooster would be the next gift for her and her son. A source of livelihood for half a year. Such a beautiful big rooster will be bought by wealthy families when placed in the market. Rich families also have high requirements for chickens that are used to crow to tell the time. A beautiful one like the one in the old woman's hand has a very high price. .
The back door of a mansion was ajar, and an old housekeeper in purple stood on the steps of the back door, looking down at the old woman with obvious impatience in his eyes.
"The master is not at home, I have told you many times! I am busy with official matters during this period, and the master will not come back!"
"Then... Butler Zhang, do you think this will work? You can put this chicken away. When the master comes back, you can tell him that Mr. Zhang Xia wants to see you."
"Well, I got it!" the old housekeeper agreed casually, and was about to step forward to take the big cock handed over by the old woman.
This chicken has been raised for two years. It crows extremely accurately and is very long and beautiful. Its price is several times that of ordinary roosters.
The old housekeeper walked slowly down the steps with a bastard step. Just when he was about to reach out his hand, his body suddenly stooped. Then he put on a flattering smile that the old woman had never seen before. He smiled behind the old woman and said: "The second young master is back. La!"
The old woman was startled and shrank to the side. She lowered her head and could only hear a young voice with a strange tone. She must have been drunk.
"Manager Zhang, why are you here at this time? Hahaha, who is she? Could it be that you are meeting your old flame?"
"Second Young Master, have you just come back from Lan Chunyuan? The master is in the front hall. Second Young Master, please don't go from there."
"This... why didn't dad go to the Yamen today? Manager Zhang, don't tell me that dad has seen me!"
After the young man said this, he turned around and left, never entering the house again.
It wasn't until the young man walked away that the old housekeeper said softly: "Hey, the second young master is far worse than the eldest young master. The Li family's status is really unshakable."
When the old housekeeper took the chicken and was about to turn around and leave, the old woman spoke:
"Butler Zhang, I...I heard from the second young master that he is at home."
The old woman's voice was pleading.
But the old housekeeper snorted coldly without looking back: "Since you know that the master is at home, you know that he will not see you. You can give up this idea, and your chicken will be taken away. By the way, don't tell anyone. Today’s matter, especially the second young master’s matter, otherwise your son who is in prison will never get out!”
With a bang, the Zhang family's residence, the most luxurious family in Qiongzhou City, closed the door forever for this old woman.
Three months later, Zhang Youguang left Qiongzhou Prison. His green shirt was stained with blood.
You will not be stained with blood when you go to jail, and you will not be a human being when you are released from prison.
Three months ago, he was framed and dismissed from his position as a scholar. He was never allowed to take the exam. Thirty years of hard work day and night were in vain. But what worried him the most was his mother in prison. For three months, I suffered every day because I felt I was sorry for my mother's hard work, which involved waking up early and working late at night.
If it weren't for the fact that a good friend from the past had some connections and interceded on his behalf, he would have been sent to prison for at least three hundred miles for the matter of him injuring Xuezheng. A hundred years ago, Qiongzhou was the farthest place where the imperial court issued punishments. If he was sentenced to punishment, he could only be demoted to slavery and become a slave on a merchant ship in the South China Sea. It is a great blessing to be released after being imprisoned for three months.
In Zhangjia Village outside Qiongzhou City, Zhang Youguang discovered something unusual as soon as he arrived at the entrance of the village.
Several old men in the village were waiting for him. Although there was no communication, Zhang Youguang knew that they were waiting for him.
Suddenly there was a bad feeling in my heart.
In the thatched house of Zhang Youguang's house, Zhang Youguang's eyes were full of tears when he saw the old woman lying on the bed with her last breath. The old woman took one last look at her son, without leaving any words, but with a smile in the corner of her eyes.
After asking several elders in the village, I learned the cause and effect of the incident.
The old woman had been asking for help everywhere in the city for the past three months, looking for Zhang Youguang's former classmates and friends, as well as teachers, but no one was willing to help Zhang Youguang.
For this reason, the old woman sold the big rooster, and every household in the village took some money to the old woman. This finally supported the old woman in finding the former classmate who helped Zhang Youguang.
But after three months of running around, the old woman couldn't let go of her worries at all times. In the end, the old disease relapsed, and she held her breath just to see her son return safely.
A surge of anger rushed to the top of his head. For the first time, Zhang Youguang, who had been a scholar for thirty years, no longer concealed the coldness in his eyes, but was held down by an old man on his shoulders.
"Don't be impulsive, it's the owner's house."
"so what?"
Zhang Youguang's voice was like a demon from the Nine Netherworld, full of icy coldness.
"Now the Lord's family is prosperous."
…
Zhang Youguang stopped talking, coldly took away the old man's hand from his shoulder, and quietly picked up his mother from the bed. Feel the residual warmth from her body gradually dissipating. The last trace of warmth that this world brought to him dissipated with it.
After leaving the house, we headed straight to the short slope to the north, where the bones of the people of Zhangjia Village were buried.
There are no tombstones here. After everyone in Zhangjia Village dies, they dig a hole here, fill it with soil, and insert a branch.
People who die have no names, no epitaphs, and no information. From then on, everything in this world is coldly erased.
The secrets of Zhangjiacun are never told to women, children or outsiders. Zhang Youguang’s mother is both, so she doesn’t know her son’s secrets or the village’s secrets, but she knows there are secrets.
On the short slope, Zhang Youguang was silent, and a group of young people about his age gathered behind him at some point.
"Brother Youguang, have you made a decision?"
The one who was headed by Yin Yin said.
After waiting for a long time, Zhang Youguang slowly stood up from a branch stuck in the soil.
"If I agree, your position as leader will be mine, right?"
"That's right!" the man replied simply.
"Okay, I promise, but those old guys won't let us do this. They are our obstacles. Have you figured out what to do? I don't want any obstacles in front of me!"
"Hehe!" The man just smiled, and someone behind him stepped forward and threw a baggage out. The baggage shook off, and the heads of several old men rolled out.
Zhang Youguang looked at the bag and the heads calmly, and then said in a calm tone: "The old guys are too old-fashioned. Our Yin tribe is the root of the family, but the main body thinks that it can thrive just by absorbing the rain from the sky. , so we no longer need the help of rhizomes, and we are even unmoved by the rot of rhizomes! Then we rotten roots might as well find our own way out, break out of the soil, and become trunks, branches, and towering trees!"
On this day, the second Zhang family appeared in Qiongzhou City.
Three days later, the commander of the Qiongzhou capital ordered Zhang Yan, the second son of the Zhang family, the legitimate son of Tongzhi Zhang Mengjin, to die violently in Lanchun Garden. In anger, Lord Tongzhi washed Lanchun Garden with blood and ordered the entire city to arrest the culprits.
But after all, nothing was found. When Zhang Mengyuan returned home that day, he directly ordered his wife Chi to be sent back to the Chi family in Guangzhou, while his concubine Li was imprisoned in the cold courtyard of the back house. These two people were his support for revitalizing the family. , one is a childhood sweetheart who has been together since childhood.
The second young master is the only son of the Chi family and the legitimate son of his Zhang family.
As soon as this incident came out, Zhang Mengjin was in a dilemma because he only had two sons in his life.
The first thing before him was to choose the prosperity of his family, but he would be cut off from the seed. The second is that the family has fallen into disgrace, and it is still unknown whether his legacy can be continued. He will not be able to sleep that night.
The next day, the eldest son of the Zhang family was called to the study, but he still didn't come out after a day and a night.
The next day, at a seaport dock in Qiongzhou, a giant merchant ship slowly sailed into the South China Sea. Its destination was Zhejiang, and the ship's full of spices were transported to the rich families in Zhejiang.
At the stern of the boat, several men were shirtless, absorbing the warmth of the early summer sun, and their chests were burning.
Zhang Youguang's green shirt was no longer on his body, revealing his strong bronze body as he walked out of the cabin at the stern of the ship. The men nodded in greeting when they saw him.
Zhang Youguang came to the stern of the ship and looked at the water waves split by the bow. The anger in his heart was condensed into an axe, and he wanted to split the world like the ship.
"After entering the open sea, the ship's surname will be another Zhang!" Zhang Youguang sighed, saying goodbye to his identity as a scholar forever. His mother's insistence on letting him study for thirty years finally failed.
"Mom, have you known for a long time that I am a robber at heart? It's a pity that I still can't become a scholar in the end!"
