Su Ze took Lin Deyang and Fang Aizhu and wandered around Wu County for two days.
Then he went to Taicang County, which was also under the rule of Suzhou Prefecture, and returned to Chaoguan Hall in Xuguan three days later.
As soon as he entered the Chaoguan Hall, Su Ze went straight to Fang Wanghai's study.
Fang Wanghai was notified that Su Ze was exempted from etiquette as soon as he entered the study. Fang Wanghai asked eagerly:
"Is there anything Ru Lin can do?"
Su Ze nodded and said, "Uncle Shi, I already have a way to prepare for team training."
Fang Wanghai said overjoyed: "Where did this regiment of trained soldiers come from?"
Su Ze said: "Orito."
Fang Wanghai said in surprise: "Weavers? How is it possible that all the weavers in Suzhou Prefecture work in the workshops of several big weavers, and let them collect taxes from the weavers?"
Fang Wanghai had already doubted Su Ze's IQ at this time. After he came to Xuguan, he also investigated the situation in Suzhou Mansion.
Suzhou produces silk and Songjiang produces cotton.
In fact, silk is available all over the country.
According to the design of Emperor Hongwu, every self-cultivated farmer is a self-sufficient agricultural unit. Men farm and women weave. In addition to farming, every household also has corresponding mulberry fields. In addition to food, a farmer pays a certain amount of tax every year. quantity of silk.
It is a pity that the emperor's pastoral fantasy of men farming and women weaving went bankrupt in the increasingly serious land annexation. Every household weaves cloth, but not every place is suitable for raising silkworms, not every place is suitable for planting mulberry trees, and not every place is suitable. People in this place can weave beautiful silk.
Suzhou Prefecture is such a place suitable for the development of silk weaving industry.
The development of Suzhou lies not only in silk weaving but also in embroidery.
Those silks with exquisite embroidery are the most desired high-end luxury goods in the world.
Silk weaving has a long history in Suzhou, but it has changed in recent years.
With the serious land annexation, the silk weaving industry also began to gather.
Workshops with thousands of weavers working together have appeared in Suzhou. These large-scale weaving workshops have advanced equipment and are more efficient. They have large output and have bargaining power. Ordinary weavers have gone bankrupt and been forced to sell their homes. The land comes to the city to work.
It is these huge workshops that have also created the prosperous citizen economy of Suzhou city.
Su Ze actually expected to recruit weavers to collect taxes from these big weavers?
Su Ze said confidently: "Uncle Shi might as well try posting a notice to recruit bankrupt weavers or hired workers to participate in team training."
Fang Wanghai finally believed in Su Ze. He sent officials from the Chaoguan Department to announce the recruitment of regiments in various cities in Suzhou Prefecture.
Following Su Ze's suggestion, Fang Wanghai made it clear that the purpose of this group training was to "tax taxes" to fight against the Japanese. The group training lasted for one year, with one tael of silver discounted every month. The total number of people was 200, and only small groups were woven. Recruited from households and bankrupt households.
Fang Wanghai originally thought that he would not be able to recruit anyone at all, but he did not expect that after just a while of publicity, Su Ze had recruited 200 people in less than three days!
After the recruitment of personnel was completed, Su Ze came to the Chaoguan Hall again. He took out a map of Jiangnan and said to Fang Wanghai:
"Uncle Shi, I have investigated clearly over the past few days. The big households in Suzhou took silk out to sea from the dock in Taicang County, and then flowed upstream from Huangpu to the mouth of the Yangtze River, bypassing the Chaoguan Hall in Huguan."
The silk produced in Suzhou Prefecture could not disappear out of thin air, and the big households in the city could not store silk. Su Ze pretended to be a silk merchant from the north and quickly found out the whereabouts of the Suzhou Prefecture silk, which was similar to what he had guessed at the beginning.
Everything is according to Su Ze's plan.
After hearing the news that Suzhou merchants were transporting silk around the Yangtze River Estuary, Fang Wanghai paced back and forth in his study and said:
"Detour from the mouth of the Yangtze River? That's right. The wind direction is blowing upstream now. The river at the mouth of the Yangtze River is wide enough for large ships. No wonder these guys don't use canals anymore!"
Fang Wanghai paced back and forth and said, "Rulin, what's your plan?"
Su Ze pointed at the map and said: "Since they took a detour, we will plug this loophole. My plan is to set up an anti-smuggling team training center here to search and inspect cargo ships on the Yangtze River."
Fang Wanghai took a closer look and saw that the place Su Ze was pointing to was not far from Songjiang Prefecture. It was a small county on the map. The name of this county was Shanghai County, and it was a small county under the jurisdiction of Songjiang Prefecture.
"Shanghai County? Anti-smuggling team training center?"
Although Fang Wanghai had never studied the art of war, he also saw the important geographical location of Shanghai County.
Guarding the mouth of the Huangpu River, Shanghai County is the gateway to the Yangtze River.
Behind Shanghai County are Songjiang City and Suzhou counties. If an anti-smuggling regiment training center is set up here, it will be equivalent to blocking both Songjiang Prefecture and Suzhou Prefecture.
Fang Wanghai looked at the map again and felt the importance of Shanghai County.
Su Ze pointed to Shanghai County and said: "Not only is it anti-smuggling, but also organizing team training in Shanghai County can also prevent Japanese pirates. This is a multi-purpose thing."
Fight against Japan?
Fang Wanghai nodded. The Japanese pirates poisoned Songjiang Mansion and Suzhou Mansion last year, and no one dared to object in the name of resisting the Japanese.
After walking around the study room again, Fang Wanghai said:
"If we want to set up an anti-smuggling regiment training center in Shanghai County, I'm afraid the officials in the Southern Zhili Province won't agree."
Su Ze had already thought of a countermeasure. He suggested to Fang Wanghai: "You don't have to take the road to South Zhili. Uncle Shi, you can find Hu Zongxian."
Hu Zongxian?
Only then did Fang Wanghai remember that Hu Zongxian was now the governor of Zhejiang and was in charge of the anti-Japanese affairs in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
Since anti-smuggling and fighting against Japanese invaders are also anti-Japanese, the establishment of an anti-smuggling regiment training center is naturally one of Hu Zongxian's powers.
Although Hu Zongxian has not yet held the title of Governor of Jiangsu and Jiangsu, Zhang Jing had previously held the title of Governor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang when he presided over the anti-Japanese war in Zhejiang, and could control the military and military officials in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
If there was Hu Zongxian's support, it would be justifiable to set up an anti-smuggling and anti-Japanese regiment training center in Shanghai County.
"But I have no contact with Hu Zongxian. Will Hu Zongxian support me?"
Su Ze said firmly: "As long as Uncle Shi can get money to fight against the Japanese, Hu Zongxian will definitely support you."
"In Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the one who truly agrees with Uncle Shi is Hu Zongxian!"
Only then did Fang Wanghai realize that he had been tortured by the affairs of the Customs Department during this period and had lost his ability to judge the overall situation.
On the matter of resisting Japanese aggression, Fang Wanghai and Hu Zongxian really had the same position.
Imposing customs duties on banknotes can increase the imperial government's finances. At least the reason for levying this money is to use it to fight against Japanese invaders.
But in the past, Fang Wanghai was always unwilling to contact Hu Zongxian because he was a strict member of the Party and cherished his own feathers.
But now Fang Wanghai has figured out that imposing tariffs on banknotes is an offending thing. Now his reputation in Suzhou Prefecture is not as good as Yan Song.
In this case, it is better to contact Hu Zongxian directly.
Fang Wanghai directly picked up the letter and said, "I'll write a letter to Hu Zongxian right now!"
Su Ze added: "The team training is located in Shanghai County, which is the estuary of the Yangtze River. Boats are needed for water smuggling. Uncle Shi can ask Hu Zongxian for some more Yong boats from Zhejiang. These boats are most convenient and quick to travel at the estuary."
Fang Wanghai nodded and wrote this request into the letter. After writing it, he immediately asked the butler to go to the express delivery shop to deliver the letter to Hangzhou City where Hu Zongxian was stationed.
"It takes two days to reach Hangzhou by horseback. Rulin, this time it all depends on you!"
Fang Wanghai had already put all his chips on the bank. He was like a fish that was about to die of thirst. He could only look at Su Ze to quench his thirst.
"Uncle Shi, don't worry. As long as we have Hu Zongxian's support, we will definitely be able to accomplish the legal affairs!"
After persuading Fang Wanghai, Su Ze continued to collect information in Wuxian County in the next few days, while renting a small building in the center of Wuxian County, where the magazine "Jingshi Tongyan" was located.
Sure enough, Xu Shixing, Xu Guo and Wang Xijue could not resist the temptation of running a newspaper. With the addition of Xu Shixing, the son of the prefect of Suzhou, Su Ze's running of the newspaper went much smoother.
Xu Shixing helped Su Ze buy a printing shop. The printing industry in Jiangnan was as developed as that in Fujian, and it was not difficult to find experienced engraving workers.
Two days later, Hu Zongxian, who had just taken the lead in the anti-Japanese war, had just returned to Hangzhou after inspecting the barracks.
The Zhejiang Governor's Yamen where Hu Zongxian now works was Zhang Jing's former Governor's Yamen. After Hu Zongxian's series of thunderous tactics, he has completely taken the lead in the anti-Japanese war.
Not enough. Hu Zongxian also encountered the same problem as his old boss Zhang Jing. He had no money.
Counting from the tribute competition in Ningbo, Japanese pirates have been causing trouble in Zhejiang for thirty-three years.
Since the anti-Japanese war, the imperial court has imposed additional taxes on Zhejiang, which has made Zhejiang, once a prosperous country, increasingly poor.
After the Battle of Shuangyu, the Japanese rebellion escalated again and spread to many provinces such as Shandong and South Zhili, which were the financial and taxation centers of the Ming Dynasty.
Especially last year and the year before last, Japanese pirates were rampant in Jiangnan, which affected Jiangnan's tax revenue and brought the imperial government's finances to the brink of collapse.
Hu Zongxian knew how Zhang Jing was killed, and he naturally understood that his purpose now was not just to fight against the Japanese, but how to fight against the Japanese with less money.
The imperial court supported the fight against the Japanese. The Ministry of War issued an order a year ago, allowing various regions to organize regiment training. It also asked Zhejiang, Nanzhili, and Fujian to recruit troops to fight against the Japanese.
However, whether it is group training or recruiting soldiers, these all cost money, but every time the local government asks for money, the reply from the Ministry of Household Affairs is two words - "self-financed".
Self-finance means there is no money, but the court has never said how to raise money by itself.
One of the crimes that Zhang Jing was killed for was expropriation in Zhejiang. However, Hu Zongxian, who impeached Zhang Jing, knew very well that after Zhang Jing's death, his family had no money left. All the money he collected in Zhejiang was used to fight the Japanese.
Hu Zongxian realized the difficulties of his old superiors. This time when he inspected the camp, he was almost blocked by officers and soldiers to ask for wages.
After entering the official office, Hu Zongxian went directly to the Mingtang where his staff worked.
After Hu Zongxian presided over the anti-Japanese war, he immediately recruited Xu Wei, Shen Mingchen, Mao Kun, and Wen Zhengming, who were well-known in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, as his staff to assist him in planning the anti-Japanese war.
As soon as Hu Zongxian entered the Mingtang, Xu Wei came over with a letter and said:
"Master Futai, please read this letter for yourself."
Hu Zongxian took the letter and saw the name of the person who wrote the letter: Fang Wanghai. Hu Zongxian frowned and said, "Chaoguan Hall? I have no contact with this Fang Wanghai. How could he write to me?"
Xu Wei didn't say anything. After Hu Zongxian read the letter, he closed it and asked, "Chang Wen, what do you think?"
Xu Wei looked at Hu Zongxian and said, "Futai, I think we should agree to Lord Fang's request."
Hu Zongxian is now thirty-five years old. He and Xu Wei are the same age. However, compared to Xu Wei who failed in the imperial examination, Hu Zongxian won the Jinshi in the 17th year of Jiajing. He was only 27 years old that year.
The young man passed the imperial examination and had a successful career, making Hu Zongxian look much younger than Xu Wei.
Hu Zongxian touched the letter and said, "What does the article chief mean by asking me to fully support the Chaoguan Office and Fang Wanghai?"
Xu Wei said: "The imperial court set up Chaoguan to raise money to fight against the Japanese. Part of the money from Chaoguan was also directly allocated to us. This reason alone is enough for us to support Mr. Fang."
"If Mr. Fang succeeds in Jiangnan, then Zhejiang can also set up a banknote customs office to collect commercial taxes to fight against the Japanese."
Hu Zongxian smiled and said: "There is also Xu Songjiang, right?"
Xu Wei didn't say anything. He didn't like to get involved in the struggle between the two parties in the court. However, these days, he found that the disputes between the two parties were everywhere. In the eyes of Hu Zongxian, a high-ranking official who values practical work, party disputes were a top priority.
Hu Zongxian waved the long sleeve of his official robe and said: "Master Fang is raising banknote tariffs to fight against the Japanese. Since it is to fight against the Japanese, then Hu will naturally support it."
Hu Zongxian said: "Allocate five Yong boats from Ningbo to Shanghai County, and then follow the order of the Anti-Japanese General Directorate to allow Fang Wanghai to set up an anti-smuggling regiment training center in Shanghai with a staff of 300 people and self-financing!"
Ningbo is very close to Shanghai, and the Yongchuan is also a small boat used for offshore operations.
However, this attitude also shows Hu Zongxian's support for Fang Wanghai.
Xu Wei immediately drafted an order, stamped it with the official seal, and sent it to Ningbo Coast Guard and Suzhou Prefecture.
Orders were passed quickly between Hangzhou and Suzhou. After receiving the order from the Anti-Japanese General Directorate, Su Ze immediately led Lin Deyang and the regiments raised in Suzhou Prefecture to train troops in Shanghai County.
Fang Wanghai, who had been silent in Suzhou for many days, suddenly made such a big move and joined forces with Hu Zongxian in Hangzhou, which immediately attracted the attention of the entire Jiangnan.
For the sake of completeness of the plot, this is it. I will update the word count tonight. Thank you for your support!
(End of chapter)
