On the fifth day of the first lunar month of the second year of Guangde, the Wang family's residence in Taicang Prefecture City.
"Master Zhang, please."
"Brother Chenyu, please!"
The main hall is decorated with bright incense and candles, brocade tents and embroidered curtains. In the middle of the wall hangs the plaque of the nave, and in the middle hangs the portraits of the ancestors of the Wang family, all wearing python waist jade, and there are several reels of shadows of the ancestors on both sides.
The Taicang Wang family is a branch of the Taiyuan Wang family. It spread its branches in the south of the Yangtze River in the late Tang Dynasty. It can be regarded as a veritable hairpin family. There are many ancestors who were officials. Wang Heng's father, Wang Xijue, was a famous chief minister during the Wanli period.
"In a year of great calamity, if you don't provide good hospitality, you will be forgiven."
The maids and servants stood in east and west directions, men in the east and women in the west.
The ground was covered with red felt, and there were several large gilt and enamel fire basins placed in the corners. It was the first month of the year in Taicang, and the sky was still a bit chilly.
"The Sword Comes"
There is a backrest pillow in the shape of a dragon holding longevity in the main seat. There are seven or eight lacquered chairs facing each other on both sides. There is a large copper foot stove under each chair.
There is a long oval table in the middle, densely covered with dishes, close to the host and guest seats. The freshly cut venison is sizzling and smoking on the oven, and the fragrance is overflowing.
The elegant Wang Heng (alias Chenyu) sat at the top of the table, next to a twenty-year-old young man, dressed in luxurious clothes, who was either rich or noble.
The Young Master Zhang mentioned by Wang Heng was the eldest son of Zhang Zhongyi, a wealthy businessman in Taicang Prefecture, and his surname was Zhang Mingyuan.
"I'm really ashamed that I came to bother Brother Chenyu on New Year's Eve. Brother Chenyu is so polite and offends me."
A pretty maid next to him came forward to pour wine. Zhang Yuan didn't even look at the beautiful maid, but stared at Wang Heng eagerly.
Wang Xijue's son slowly picked up the cherry blossom cup, tilted his neck and drank it all in one gulp.
He did not look at his anxious friend, but just stared at the dishes on the table and sighed slightly:
"Hey, the old accounts of the Wanli Dynasty still need to be settled. Let's stir it up. Let's stir it up. It will mess up the whole country. I'm afraid I won't give up until a few lives are lost."
Zhang Yuan asked anxiously: "Where are the old accounts from the Wanli Year? My relatives in the capital wrote to me that this time the settlement of my father-in-law's property was made since the first inspection of the land in the Ming Dynasty, and the arrears were recovered. That's why my father asked me to bother Brother Chenyu and ask for help. Wang family..."
Wang Heng waved his hand and did not give Zhang Yuan a chance to speak: "The first time? It must be the old Huangli in the Hongwu Year."
"Eight hundred owners of a thousand-year-old farmland, together they want to put hundreds of years of land tax on us? It's murderous and heart-breaking. You Zhang family must pay one million taels back!"
Zhang Yuan left his seat, stood up and saluted Wang Heng, almost begging:
"Brother Chenyu, save me!"
Wang Heng helped his friend up and Yun Danfeng said lightly:
"Brother Zhang Yuan, what are you doing? The soldiers are coming to cover up the water and the earth. I have some friendship with Huang Zhizhou. My father was the chief minister at that time and I was kind to him. I will write a letter and ask him to take over your family. The extra 5,000 acres of land were first sold to the Yellow Register. When the imperial envoy asked about it, they said it was ownerless land and the Yellow Register was in disrepair for a long time. At the most, they would be refunded several thousand taels of silver."
Zhang Yuan made a move to kneel down again.
"Thank you Brother Chenyu for the rescue. It's a great kindness to save my life. Thank you..."
Wang Heng took the wine glass in front of Zhang Yuan, filled it up for him personally, and wrote lightly:
"A censor, an imperial envoy, and a coir raincoat guard come to Taicang. They are not familiar with the place and don't bring Qiu Balai. What are you afraid of him doing? But beware of these little devils below. It's hard to feed dozens of mouths in the city. A Tongzhi , two general judges, three referees, experience department, governor, zhaomo, inspection department and prison, all of them are unfamiliar with them."
"Come, let's drink this cup together!"
Zhang Yuan raised his wine glass, hesitated for a moment, and whispered:
"Brother Chenyu, five thousand taels of silver have been prepared for you to use. Just don't worry."
Wang Heng smiled and nodded, his expression unchanged:
"The imperial envoy is from the north, from outside the customs. In short, he is not of the same religion."
"Tatar?" Zhang Yuan looked surprised.
"It could be Beilu (Mongolia), it could be Donglu (Jianzhou), or it could be Han people from Liaodong, so I can't get on with it."
Wang Heng drank the wine with regret, his eyes were slightly red, and he suddenly smacked his gums.
"This is unreasonable! It is simply insulting to the gentlemen! It ruins our Jiangnan culture! This warrior is so militaristic that he has harmed the Central Plains and Huguang. Now he has reached out to the south of the Yangtze River. With a Hongwu yellow book he got from nowhere, he wants to inventory the acres of land and seize the land. Tax, they are just like bandits. I really think there is no one in Loucheng!"
Zhang Yuan quickly signaled to Wang Heng to whisper.
"Brother Chenyu, be careful that the walls have ears."
Life was not easy for the Wang family in Taicang.
According to the standards set by Emperor Guangde, the Wang family must either clear out the 50,000 acres of farmland they have illegally occupied since the Jiajing period, or pay back the land tax of two million taels of silver...
There are three aristocratic families like the Wang family in Taicang Prefecture City, namely Huang, Chen, and Zhang. They are known as the four major families.
The four major families are intertwined and connected.
Before and after the fall of the Southern Ming Dynasty, the Supreme Emperor took back all the original Ming officials. Many counties in the southeast, just like the Republic of China after Xinhai Gemin, just changed the yamen entrance to a plaque, and the prefect changed to official robes, and then took office.
At that time, Zhu Changhuan granted officials excessively, and the positions below the magistrate of Taicang were basically occupied by the four major families. Even local sages like Wang Heng were recruited by the Hongguang court, and he became the magistrate of three counties.
Almost all of the more than three million acres of farmland in Taicang Prefecture (including counties) was divided up by the four families. They even did not spare the official land of Taicang Guards Station, Weaving Bureau, and Chaoguan.
The focus of Emperor Guangde's campaign was on these borers in Loucheng.
The storm is about to come, and the Zhang family is the weakest of the four major families. It is the first to feel the murderous intent coming from Nanjing.
Now that the south of the Yangtze River has been pacified, the mouth of the Yangtze River has been blocked by the navy. Under the deployment of the Supreme Emperor, a situation of closing the door and beating the dog has been formed.
These greedy rats realize that they have no way to escape and will inevitably fight against the trapped beasts.
Wang Heng looked up at the portrait of the Wang family ancestor hanging under the plaque in the middle hall, and said fiercely:
"So what? When the king's flag changes at the top of the city, I remain unmoved! I'm not bragging for my brother. In Lou City, the only ones that have stood firm for hundreds of years are our Wang family! What if the Qi army comes? My father's disciples All over the world, among the eight current chief ministers of the cabinet, four are my father's disciples! Not to mention the prefectures and counties in Northern Zhili... When Liu Wei got rich, he relied on my father's recommendation."
How did Zhang Yuan know that the Wang family and the emperor had such a relationship? He opened his mouth in shock.
"Reform and reform, no matter how he changes, he can't change the master of heaven and earth! Unless the Liu family really wants to bully the master and destroy the ancestors!"
Zhang Yuan came closer and said cautiously:
"Could it be that Brother Chenyu wants to..."
Wang Heng stopped talking.
"It's good to know. The most indispensable thing on the ground in Taicang is to carry out bluffing. Find a few reliable people to use both soft and hard tactics. Do you still remember your own Zhang Pu's "Tombstone Story of Five People"?"
Zhang Yuan's cousin was Zhang Pu, a great scholar today. Of course, after his cousin became successful, he no longer recognized him as his cousin.
"of course I remember,"
On March 18, the second year of Chongzhen, Jinyiwei went to Suzhou to read the imperial edict to arrest Zhou Shunchang, which aroused the resentment of the Wu people. Zhou Shunchang was arrested because the weaving eunuch Li Shi was involved in the performance of Zhou Qiyuan, the former governor of Yingtian. , has nothing to do with the so-called tax resistance of later generations.
In "Tao'an Dream", Yan Peiwei and four others are brothers.
"Ming Jingshi Wen Bian" writes that Yan Peiwei was born in Daxing. Fighters collect debts on behalf of others, fight, and avenge themselves. They even trapped some fools (or turned good people into fools) to be tortured in the government for others or even to die for them.
The truth behind "The Story of Five Tombstones" is probably that the Donglin Party members paid the gangsters to hire people to help them, and found some fools to die in their place to calm the trouble.
So Yan Peiwei and Zhou Wenyuan came to the front, became righteous men, and died in righteousness.
"As I said before, when soldiers come, they will cover up the water and the earth. Unless it is absolutely necessary, I will not take this step. Let's be polite first and then fight."
Wang Heng squinted his eyes, recalled the past, and said leisurely:
"I have been with the Supreme Emperor for a few years, and I know his character well. Although this man is a warrior, has a deep city, and plans carefully, if he knew that the cost would be too high, he would not do it."
“Therefore, we want to let everyone know that the new law will bring disaster to the country and the people, and there will be a heavy price to pay for its strong implementation.”
Of course Zhang Yuan knew what Wang Heng meant by the heavy price.
As long as the four major families unite, at worst, they will kill a few Huazi refugees like they did during the Chongzhen period, describe them as benevolent and righteous people, and say that they died for the people of Taicang, inciting civil unrest and threatening the court.
It should be noted that Taicang is an important place in the southeast.
By then, this Lao Shizi reform will surely come to nothing, at least, it will not be implemented in Taicang Prefecture first...
"Eat food, eat food, don't talk about bad things."
A table of jade plates and treasures.
Zhang Yuan swallowed a piece of steamed duck fermented with fermented wine and sipped ten-year-old Shaoxing wine.
The skin of the duck is white and tender, fat but not greasy, and the Shaoxing wine is fragrant and mellow, making it easy to eat without stopping.
He thought it was time to change the Zhang family’s cook, as he used to cook pig food!
After three rounds of wine and five dishes, the maid brought out a small and exquisite plate. Wang Heng introduced it with great interest:
"This is Annan country's new rouge rice. The rice grains are ground into powder, stewed with lotus leaves the size of copper coins, and chicken skin. It is then steamed with Zhitang black-bone chicken soup. It is the most nourishing. How do you like it? "
"So precious..."
"Master?"
Seeing Zhang Yuan Kuaizi stopped in mid-air, Wang Heng looked surprised.
Although Zhang Yuan was also a playboy, he had never seen such a luxurious scene before, so he hesitated and said:
"Do you need a lot of money? I got up early today and didn't have breakfast when I came."
Wang Heng put his palms in his hands and laughed, waving his big hands, showing his heroic attitude:
"It's not expensive, it's only thirty taels of silver for a bowl of rice. If you're not full, just eat more. A few bowls of rice are enough for the Wang family in Taicang."
