"Once upon a time, there was a scholar named Qi Shimei, a fellow countryman of mine. His home was under the Longshan Pagoda in Junzhou. When he was eighteen years old, Qi Shimei married Qin Xianglian, the daughter of a merchant in this county. Later, he went to Beijing to take the science and technology examination. Eighteen in the second class, with good official fortune, he was directly sent to Jiangxia and became a county magistrate. It is said that he was upright by nature, honest in his official duties, and had outstanding political achievements in Huguang."
Jin Yuji reads a lot of storybooks on weekdays, and is quite familiar with the stories about love at first sight, private engagement for life, rectification of chaos and separation, and happy reunion. She said with a smile:
"It's rare for you to talk about talented people and beautiful women, but you have killed too many people these days. Do you feel guilty?"
"I have a clear conscience."
Liu Zhaosun signaled not to interrupt him.
"His old friends heard about it and came to Qizhi County to "make money", that is, borrow money to do things. At first, Qi Shimei was reluctant to cope with it due to the friendship with his fellow villagers. Later, when his salary was spent and it was difficult to survive, he began to alienate these people. people."
Jin Yuji interjected again: "Then where is Qi Shimei's wife? How much salary can a county magistrate have to support his fellow villagers?"
Liu Zhaosun gave her a blank look:
"There's no need to argue about the details, and you're not reading "The Biography of Judge Dee". I think you've listened to too many books, and you're just like a troll."
Jin Yuji also asked what a troll was, Liu Zhaosun put down the tea cup, and Amber came over to refill it.
"Those fellow villagers and acquaintances, unable to get what they asked for, became angry and began to slander Qi Shimei. He was the first poor scholar to write a book called "The Case of Guillotine Beauty". Have you read it?"
"The guillotine case? Never heard of it."
"Of course you haven't heard of it. It should have appeared in the late Ming Dynasty." Liu Zhaosun said to himself.
Not only has Jin Yuji never seen the Guanmei case, she also knows nothing about Chen Shimei.
"It is said that during the reign of Zhenzong in the Northern Song Dynasty, Chen Shimei, a Confucian scholar from Junzhou, went to Beijing to take the exam. There was no news for three years. It is said that the hat demon was eaten by him. His wife Qin Xianglian had to endure hardships to make ends meet in her hometown."
"What is a hat-trick?"
"Don't interrupt me yet, okay?!"
"good."
Liu Zhaosun picked up the tea cup and drank it all in one gulp.
"Later, a famine caused her parents to starve to death. Qin Xianglian buried the two old people, took her two emaciated children, begged along the way, and traveled through mountains and rivers to Bianliang, the capital of the Song Dynasty, to find her husband who had not seen him for three years. "
Next to her, Amber was holding a tea tray in her hand, listening blankly, obviously fascinated by this scandal.
"In the past three years, Qin Xianglian suffered a lot, but Chen Shimei was high-spirited and became the top scholar in high school. During the imperial examination, the emperor decided to recruit Chen Shimei as his consort. Chen Shimei deceived the emperor and said that he had never married. He forgot where he came from, his parents, wife and children. .
Qin Xianglian went through many hardships and found the Prince Consort's Mansion. Unexpectedly, when Chen Shimei saw Qin Xianglian, he beat her out and sent people to kill his wife and children. The killer heard Qin Xianglian's accusation, let Qin Xianglian go, and then committed suicide. Qin Xianglian went to Yingtian Mansion to file a complaint. Bao Zheng accepted the case and decided to defend Qin Xianglian. In the end, Chen Shimei died under the guillotine of a tiger's head. "
Chen Shimei's story spread north and south through the mouths of storytellers. Jiangxia is now Wuchang. At that time, it was a big dock. There were so many storytellers on the dock. The story of Qizhi County quickly spread.
Because his experience was similar to that of Chen Shimei, the common people regarded Qi Shimei as a typical example of ungratefulness. Qi Shimei was an upright official and always thought of the people. He was a figure similar to Hai Rui. He was ostracized in front of his colleagues. The people were bewitched and lined up to pour water on him in front of his house. Pig blood, calling him a heartless man... He couldn't stay in Jiangxia any longer, so he was forced to resign and return to Junzhou. Unable to tolerate the rumors, his wife committed suicide by jumping into a river. A year later, Qi Shimei died in depression. It is said that he drowned due to drunkenness. died. "
Liu Zhaosun stared at the floor and stopped talking.
Jin Yuji and Amber asked in unison: "Is it over?"
"It's over."
"What a nonsense story!"
"This story has been passed down from generation to generation in Junzhou, and is known to all women and children."
"Why did it end like this? Why did he die like this? Why are good people not rewarded?"
Jin Yuji’s reading did not exceed ten thousand volumes, but also hundreds of volumes. She had never seen such a ridiculous story.
"This is the real world."
Liu Zhaosun held the beauty's slim waist with one hand, spread out the rice paper with the other hand, and wrote the words "Be strong without desire".
"The people don't care what corrupt and honest officials are. They can only see what's in front of them and see the stories that others want them to see. As the saying goes, a saint is a person who has no good or evil. Therefore, for the king, the only way is to transcend good and evil. , to be able to do anything.”
~~~~~~
Two days later, Liu Zhaosun summoned Xie Yang, the chief civil affairs officer, Liu Yuer, the shopkeeper, Liu Xingzuo, the coir raincoat guard, and others to discuss the matter.
"This Eastern Expedition went quite smoothly, and all the regiments achieved victory. Now, it's your Chamber of Commerce's turn to make contributions."
Xie Yang, Liu Yuer and others looked at each other, wondering what the Emperor was going to sing.
"You all are confidants, so let me get straight to the point. I need North Korea's money, not only the annual coins paid by Li Zhu, but also... The war has just ended, and it is not appropriate to kill anymore. The Empress Dowager Cisheng also needs I don’t want to see too many people die. The most important thing is that the custom of "hunting local tyrants to divide their fields" in Guan Nei needs to be adjusted. In short, how can I turn their money into my money without killing too many people? People. This is why I came to you today."
Xie Yang and Liu Yue'er knew very well who the "they" the Supreme Emperor was referring to.
The country of North Korea is poor and barren. There are some wealthy households in the two northern roads that have just been occupied, but it is probably harder to get money from these rich people than to reach the sky.
None of the civil affairs officials spoke.
"Director Xie, what do you have in mind?"
Xie Guangkun is good at logistics and material procurement. Now it is really difficult for him to carry out legal looting with nothing.
Xie Yang thought for a while and finally said bravely: "Your Majesty, I have an idea, which is to be more vicious."
"explain."
Xie Guangkun rubbed his nose and quickly looked around.
"First of all, there is a money shop in Yuzhou with a very wild road. The Chamber of Commerce can contact them. At the same time, they will issue directions to those wealthy households who are willing to move to the customs. However, before entering the customs, they are required to deposit their money in this shop. shop."
"go on."
"After the wealthy family left the customs, the local Tunbao chief detained him on the grounds that the road was wrong and the banknotes were forged. He was controlled in Liaodong and the money was collected into the national treasury."
Liu Zhaosun squinted his eyes. This routine was quite familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
"Okay, this is how to hide wealth among the people. I like it very much, but I'm afraid it will be confusing."
Xie Yang smiled and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. When the time comes, the blame will be placed on the money shop in Yuzhou. Several Shanxi merchants will be killed, and the people will be angry. They won't give back even one tael of silver, so they say that all the money was taken to the Japanese country by the shopkeeper." ”
In this era, people generally used copper coins with broken silver for daily trivial transactions; silver ingots were used for large-scale transactions.
The two ministers of North Korea had to take care of their families, and the silver was very heavy and difficult to carry. It was impossible to carry gold and silver with them.
The Yuzhou Bank exchanged the banknotes for them, so these people could buy it once and for all with peace of mind.
In the Ming Dynasty, silver, as a weighing currency that had not been standardized, had a natural flaw: it was necessary to identify the fineness of the silver and weigh the silver during transactions.
Not to mention that some private minters add tin, lead and other common metals to the silver to risk having enough silver.
The standards of scales used to measure the weight of silver vary from place to place and from industry to industry.
No matter from which perspective, currency reform is imperative.
Of course, now that we have arrived in North Korea, we should first use North Korean wealthy households to test the magical power of "Lu Yin plus banknotes".
"Your Majesty, please let us know in advance that if you deposit your money in a bank in Yuzhou, the interest rate will be higher. Not only will the bank not accept depositors' money (in the Ming Dynasty, you had to pay a fee to the bank for depositing money, which was thirty cents for a thousand coins). If there are a lot of people, the Yuzhou Bank will give them money, and the interest will be doubled."
Emperor Wu Ding nodded slightly.
"This Yuzhou silver shop is now managed by a few Shanxi merchants. Lin Yiwei has a lot of dirty information about them, and will check it when the time comes..."
"Okay, let's close the door and beat the dog, but will any dog come?"
"Of course, don't worry, Your Majesty! Shanxi merchants have no righteousness. As long as they give these people enough benefits, they will rush to do the beheading business."
Xie Guangkun touched his heart and said with a pious expression:
"Your Majesty is benevolent and loves the people. In order to avoid hurting ordinary people, I suggest that the bottom line of bank deposits be set at two thousand taels, which means that the starting point is two thousand taels."
Emperor Wu Ding held Xie Guangkun's big hand tightly and lamented that it would be a pity for this Mediterranean man not to travel back to Yuzhou in 2022 to save money.
"Let's talk about any other means."
"Yes, Your Majesty, you can first find a few local wealthy households and let them deposit money first, and then let the raincoat guards arrange it and select some prisoners to dress up as bandits and rob one or two families, so that the Koreans will feel that the situation is unstable. "
"good."
········
Then, Emperor Wu Ding and Xie Yang discussed the specific details of "hiding wealth from the people", and all the raincoat guards were dumbfounded. Compared with Director Xie's knife that could kill people without bleeding, Liu Xingzuo felt a little ashamed.
"This is to eat it dry and wipe it clean, knocking the bones and sucking out the marrow."
At this time, a guard came in and reported to Liu Xingzuo. The spy chief was overjoyed.
"Your Majesty, the peace negotiation is complete."
With that said, he handed a Tang newspaper to Dongfang Zhu.
Emperor Wuding's attention was immediately drawn to the Tang newspaper sent from Jianghua Island.
"Okay, you can discuss the other details after you go down. I will ask the troops from the Reiyi Guards to cooperate with the action. Xie Yang, this operation of hiding wealth from the people must be done well, be bigger, and be able to withstand the test of future generations. .”
Xie Yang looked serious and said loudly: "Your Majesty, don't worry, you will definitely fulfill your mission!"
After saying that, he hurriedly retreated with his subordinates.
Liu Zhaosun unfolded the parchment envelope with trembling fingers. There were two copies of the newspaper, both written in Chinese.
Emperor Wuding put down the copy with the seal of the King of Korea, picked up another copy, and read softly:
"The Great Qi Empire and the Kingdom of Korea, Sudun, have had a long-standing friendship. Now that the two countries have not reconciled their feelings, they want to restore old friendship and consolidate their friendship. Therefore, Emperor Taichu of Qi State, Jian Te, gave full authority to serve as minister, deputy prime minister, and to participate in the Eastern Expedition. Sun Chuanting and Deputy Plenipotentiary Minister Hou Xun went to the Jianghua Mansion of the Korean government. Zheng Douyuan, the central minister of the Korean government, and Kim Youkui, the deputy general manager, each followed the order and negotiated the terms, which are listed on the left:
first set
Korea is indeed a completely independent country. Therefore, any damage to its independent and autonomous system, such as the dedication ceremony established by the country to the former Ming Dynasty, will be abolished thereafter.
Paragraph 2
The Kingdom of Korea and the Kingdom of Qi are the countries of the nephew and uncle, the King of Korea is the nephew, and the Emperor of Qi is the uncle. From now on, they must treat each other with the courtesy of a monarch and his ministers, and there must be no suspicion of invasion. It is advisable to first get rid of all the rules and regulations that have hindered friendship in the past, and to open up ways to expand prosperity and prosperity, so as to live in peace forever.
Paragraph 3
North Korea will manage the lower areas and transfer all the fortresses, weapons and all public belongings there to Qi forever.
First, from the south of the Yalu River to the Longgang, Zhonghe, and Yangde lines, from the east of Yizhou to the west of Jizhou, all urban fortresses in this area.
Second, Busan Port and surrounding islands.
Third, Tsushima Island and its affiliated islands.
Paragraph 4
The State of Qi will send envoys to Seoul, Korea at any time five months from now, to personally receive Cao Cao's decree and discuss diplomatic affairs. The envoy stayed for a long time, and the time was right. The Korean government also sent the crown prince to Tianxin City (Junzhou) at any time to discuss diplomatic affairs. The prince has stayed for a long time and cannot leave lightly.
Paragraph 5
Among the five provinces of Gyeongqi, Chungcheong, Jeolla, Gyeongsang, and Hamgyeong, three ports along the coast were selected for convenient trade, and the place names were designated. The period of opening was counted from December of the third year of Taichu in the Qi Dynasty, and from February of the Bingzi year of the Korean calendar.
Paragraph 6
Cut off all commercial and diplomatic ties with Japan.
Paragraph 7
Later, if the Qi ships encountered strong winds on the coast of Korea, or if they ran out of fuel and could not reach the designated port, they had to go to any coastal branch port to take shelter, repair ship equipment, buy firewood, etc. The cost of local supply must be borne by the ship owner. compensation. In all emergencies, local officials and people must be especially considerate and merciful, and rescuers will be there at all times, and supplies must not be skimped on. If the ships of the two countries are damaged in the ocean and the people on the ships drift over, the people of each place will immediately rescue and preserve them and report them to the local officials, who will escort them back to their own country or hand them over to the officials of their own country who are stationed nearby.
Article 8
The islands and rocks along the coast of North Korea have never been inspected and are extremely dangerous. Allow relevant personnel from Qi State to land and survey the coast at any time, examine its depth and depth, and compile maps so that ship passengers from the two countries can avoid danger.
Article 9
The government designated each port in Korea to set up officials to manage the merchants and people of Qi at any time. When there were any cases of negotiation between the two countries, they would consult with the local governor to handle them.
Article 10
Since the two countries have good economic connections, the people of each other can trade freely, and the officials of the two countries have no interference or restrictions. If the merchants and people of the two countries cheat and show off their sales, or fail to repay the loans, the officials of the two countries will severely punish the merchants and people and order them to collect the debts, but the governments of the two countries cannot repay the debts.
········
Emperor Wu Ding read the entire thirty-eight main clauses and the appendix of the treaty again. After reading for more than half an hour, it was almost dark outside.
A group of civil and military ministers congratulated the Supreme Emperor, celebrating Da Qi's expansion of territory and its great victory in Korea. Several generals had already begun to discuss how to conquer the Japanese country next.
The traveler walked through the noisy crowd with a smile on his face, pushed open the palace door alone, and walked to the corner of Anhe Palace. He looked up at the dark night over Pyongyang and said with a half-smile but not a smile:
"The weather is really nice and the sky is bright. These days are getting more and more promising."
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