The ensuing Jiangnan businessmen trapped Feng Ziying in a circle, but he still had to treat them with courtesy.
For now, his circle in Jiangnan is mainly concentrated in the group of merchants, or some gentry, but they are basically a group of people who are intertwined with maritime trade, industry and commerce, and do not rely on land rent as their main source of income. middle.
Among the entire gentry group, his influence was not enough.
Feng Ziying divided the entire Jiangnan gentry into several pieces.
On the one hand, business was used to support literature. When business became prosperous, they began to train their children to study and pursue official careers, but this part was not yet a success.
The dominant force is the traditional landowners who make a living from land rent. Relying on relatively stable land rent, they can have more energy to educate their children and form traditional gentry.
There is also a group of traditional gentry, but they are willing to accept new ideas, realize the huge profits of industry and commerce, and begin to transform, taking into account both industry, commerce and land income. This group is not small.
The rest are pure merchants and wealthy families gradually formed by officials who were poor scholars. The proportions of these two groups are not large.
The first and fourth blocks can be regarded as Feng Ziying's basic base and will not waver. They are the beneficiaries of the strategy of opening up the sea. The third block is growing rapidly. They have realized the benefits of industrial and commercial trade and are in a period of transformation. , especially Feng Ziying frequently put forward views to support industry and commerce, and actively provided policy support, which naturally won their favor, and they were also Feng Ziying's fans.
Only the second and largest family, as well as the fifth pure official family, have nothing to do with Feng Ziying.
The second group is even quite hostile to Feng Ziying, because according to Feng Ziying's advice to the cabinet in the DPRK, it is to further introduce laws to restrict landowners from collecting excessive land rents, and to reduce or even eliminate labor service. The former attacks the landlords, while the latter liberates farmers to provide more labor for industry and commerce.
Although this proposal has only been submitted to the cabinet, the Jiangnan gentry also had deep connections in the court and could naturally find out this information.
For example, salt merchants belong to the first group or the fourth group, while Weng Qiyang and other business gangs in Dongting, Longyou, Huizhou, and Anfu mostly belong to the third group, which are relatively stable supporters.
Now what Feng Ziying has to do is to continuously weaken the second group, transform the members of the second group into the third group, make friends, allies and supporters bigger, and make enemies less.
Feng Ziying stayed in Nanjing for seven days, much longer than the three days originally expected. Even Gu Bingqian was joking with Feng Ziying in private, saying that this was suitable for the status of a governor-elect of Jiangnan.
Feng Ziying found that her role changed very quickly, from a minister of the Ministry of War to a minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs or a minister of the Ministry of Commerce. She could get along well with businessmen at banquets and discussions, and they had a lot of fun.
If Hou Chengzu hadn't bothered him from time to time, asking about the construction of the Naval Officer School, he would have really forgotten the original intention of his trip to Jiangnan.
During this period, Busiyamala and Zhezhe were happy. They had a great time traveling from the Qinhuai River to the Confucius Temple, from Qingliang Mountain to the Dabaoen Temple. It was also the first time that Busiyamala was so free and carefree. She went out to explore the area and was amazed by the scenery of Jiangnan and the exquisite food and scenery.
Even Bushiyama La himself lamented why these ethnic groups on the grassland always wanted to drink from the Yangtze River, because the scenery south of the Yangtze River was so rich and rich compared to the bitter cold on the grassland that they couldn't help but come.
On the way back to Beijing, Feng Ziying stopped in Xuzhou again and had an in-depth talk with her father.
The main content of this conversation focused on what he should do if he became the governor of Jiangnan.
Although Feng Ziying has some ideas in her mind, after all, her father has been in office for so many years and has a better grasp of human nature, so she needs to refer to some of his opinions.
According to Dad’s advice, die-hards don’t need to be too accommodating. No matter what you do, you can’t win everyone’s approval.
After defining those who cannot live in peace, we should consider how to weaken the influence of these people.
It is best to be able to cut benefits from these enemies for your own allies and friends, so that you can kill two birds with one stone.
Feng Ziying was also touched by her father's suggestion. Don't try to win over people with little hope. Instead of trying to win over people with little hope, it is better to stabilize your base and let them tie them to your carriage. That would be much more effective.
This is true for civil servants, merchants, and military men.
It was already the end of March when I returned to Beijing.
The good mood was ruined by various feelings when passing through Shandong.
The weather this year is a bit weird. The drought in Shandong is more severe than originally expected. The water in the canal has dropped by at least four to five feet compared to previous years. This can be seen from the marks on the river bank.
The canal is like this, which shows the seriousness of the drought on the ground along the coast.
Except for the Eastbound White Lotus Sect that appeared in Linqing, the situation in Jining and Dongping, or the entire Yanzhou Prefecture, is not optimistic.
Dad also mentioned that the White Lotus Sect in Peixian, Fengxian, and Dangshan in Xuzhou also has frequent activities, and has very close contacts with Yutai, Shanxian, and Tengxian in Yanzhou, and they are almost integrated.
However, my father's Northwest Army is only a garrison and is not responsible for local security, so I only have a rough understanding of it and cannot interfere in local government affairs, so I don't care too much.
Perhaps in Dad's mind, these White Lotus cult bandits can't cause much trouble. As long as the border troops arrive, they won't fall apart and collapse thousands of miles away.
But Feng Ziying didn't dare to look at it that way.
Several White Lotus Sect uprisings in history have caused huge waves, which can make the imperial court tremble. And judging from the situation I am observing now, I am afraid that the power of the White Lotus Sect in the Great Zhou Dynasty in this time and space should be far stronger than in the previous life. Once the White Lotus Sect in the middle and late Ming Dynasty started to stir up troubles, its power should not be underestimated.
Look at the turmoil caused by Fengzhou Bailian in Shaanxi, which caused Yuan Keli a lot of fatigue and seven injuries. It has not been settled yet. Of course, there are many factors for this, but it also shows how powerful this kind of party rooted in the countryside is. Powerful.
"Are you so worried about the White Lotus Sect?"
After reporting on the situation of Jiangnan and his party, Feng Ziying solemnly reported what he saw and heard in Shandong to Qi Yongtai. Qi Yongtai put down the document in his hand and frowned.
"I know that these white sects have always been difficult to eradicate in the North. There are many stupid men and women in the countryside, especially the White Lotus Sect, the Smell the Incense Sect, the Stick Club, the Wuwei Sect, and so on. But as you said, even many squires can't do it. It’s a bit incredible that everyone believes this.”
"Master Qi, don't underestimate this kind of trick to fool people, especially when the harvest in the countryside is not good and epidemics are prevalent." Feng Ziying also knows that it is difficult to convince people, especially these high-ranking people, Qi Teachers are no exception.
"I'm afraid this situation is more common in Shandong and Beizhili. Isn't everyone used to it?" Qi Yongtai pondered, "I remember that the cabinet discussed it and ordered the Ministry of Punishment to require all prefectures and prefectures to strictly enforce inspections and prohibitions. Last time Isn’t the White Lotus Sect the reason? Ji Hui still has some opinions about you, thinking that Qiu Shiben used it as an excuse because you made a fuss out of a molehill. Of course, I don’t agree with his point of view. Sooner or later, the pustule will be squeezed..."
After returning home, Feng Ziying sat in Jingqi's study for a long time before sighing.
Good words can never persuade a damned person, but he seems to have tried his best.
I learned from Han Xu that Liu Yishen already had a very good opinion of him. Who else could he tell?
He also said hello to Jia Yucun, but Jia Yucun seemed to agree on the surface, but he still didn't believe it on the inside.
I also talked to Fu Shi, but Fu Shi was only in charge of the treatment, not the Fu Cheng, so it was not his turn to take care of this job.
He was not sure when this kind of thing would break out. He was afraid that the Northwest Army would not be able to stay in Xuzhou for long and would have to leave in stages.
If something happened after he went to Jiangnan, Xuzhou would be involved, and he would feel trapped again. But now that there are no soldiers in Jiangnan, wouldn't he have to fight the world with his bare hands again? Same as in Yongping Mansion?
While sighing, he didn't even notice Tanchun coming in.
"Have you encountered trouble again?" Tan Chun's clear voice calmed down Feng Ziying's irritable mood slightly.
Tanchun changed her bun style and chose a high-vertebral bun. She seemed to have matured a lot all of a sudden. Her heroic aura was a little lighter, and her soft and gentle flavor was a little stronger.
Paired with an azure elastic and ink cloud brocade double-breasted spring shirt, covered with a light red Huanhua brocade armor, covering up the graceful curves brought about by the pair of towering confronting peaks.
"When did my sister come, and Baoxiang didn't say a word?" Feng Ziying's frown spread. Every time he saw the beauty in the garden, he felt much better, and his worries could be forgotten.
After entering the bridal chamber, Feng Ziying discovered that Tanchun, who was about to turn 20, had a figure that could definitely rank among the top among his women.
Maybe not as good as Wang Xifeng, Bu Xiyamala and Siqi, but not inferior to Baochai, Miaoyu and Yingchun. Maybe Xiangyun, who has not yet passed the exam, can also be comparable to Baochai, especially the one on the chest. For Beilei, it is even more confusing.
Before she got married, she usually wore bras worn only by women when visiting her virginity because she was afraid of being laughed at, but it was only after she got married that Feng Ziying could taste the sweetness of it.
She saw her husband waving for her to come over, but her husband was sitting in the official hat chair. She could sit there, but of course she could only sit on her husband's lap.
But if someone catches her in such an intimate situation, she will be stabbed in the bone. She is not a maid, so she is not afraid of others telling her.
Seeing Tan Chun's hesitation, Feng Ziying knew that Tan Chun had just passed by and was still a little shy, so she smiled and said, "When you come in, others will not come in. Baoxiang is sensible, and the sisters also understand."
Tanchun was so ashamed that her face was as red as a cloud, but she moved lightly and sat in her husband's arms.
