"Soldiers?" Lian Zining was still puzzled. Seeing him like this, a big man who was waiting in line came to join in the fun and said, "Huh? This official also looks well-dressed. How come he doesn't even know about this? Could it be that he is studying at home and has lost his mind?" ?”
"In the past few days, no one in Yingtian Mansion knows that going to sea in Fengming Continent will lead to great achievements. Those who got off the ship have become very successful just because of such a trip to sea..."
"I have a neighbor to the south of my house, Lu Dalang. He used to be a carpenter. He lost all his money due to excessive gambling a few years ago. In order not to hurt the family, he had no choice but to sell himself on a boat and go to Fengmingzhou... I thought that would be the end of the world. I was going to die, but who would have thought that when I came back this time, I would actually bring a bag full of gold!"
"I bought a house and land for my parents, and enrolled the younger ones in a private school. From now on, I will be a student. You can do what generations have done in a few months. Who wouldn't want to give it a try?"
Hearing what he said, another man came to join in the fun and said, "That's nothing to you. My neighbor was a soldier in the past. This time he went to sea and not only brought back a lot of gold and silver, he even followed the Marquis and Tie The young master entered the palace and met His Majesty. Mother, this is really a smoke coming out of the ancestral grave. It has great benefits and makes the ancestors look good..." When this man mentioned the word "ancestor", his eyes lit up. , it seems that he also wants to honor his ancestors.
"No! Of these people who went to sea, none of them came back like a different person. Zhang Da, who lives in a shabby house in our village, used to be just a scoundrel who hated dogs. This time he came back and bought a house and land. , and even married off the village chief’s daughter!” Speaking of the village chief’s daughter, the man looked regretful. I just wish I wasn't the one to marry him after returning from the sea.
A group of people talked and told anecdotes about those who had returned from the sea. The content is nothing more than how destitute those people were originally. After returning from the sea, they all spent money like water and lived like dogs. Human nature is always prone to comparison. After seeing so many people who were almost the same as themselves rise rapidly in a short period of time, some people will naturally feel unconvinced and feel that they can do it too.
So these days, many people have been looking around for ways to go to sea. Now it is rare that a Zhao family openly recruits people. How can these people not flock to it?
Lian Zining's face was as dark as water. From the words of these men queuing up, he could hear the general trend of public opinion on maritime affairs among the people today. There has been a craze among the people who yearn to go to sea. If they try to stop it, it will go against public opinion.
He had been focusing on the King of Zhou and the court, but he had actually ignored the craftsmen and soldiers who had disembarked and returned home...
Lian Zining lowered his head and thought about how to solve the problem. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the crowd of people on the street. There were many people in well-dressed people riding in cars, looking jealously at the Zhao family recruiting people. After watching for a while, he got into the carriage and drove away. He pointed to the carriages of those people and asked: "Who are those people? They can ride carriages and horses, and are accompanied by servants when they go out. They cannot be these poor people who hope to go to Fengmingzhou to make a living."
"Why are you here?"
"Oh, those are all wealthy merchants who covet Fengmingzhou's quota to go to sea." said the classmate of Lian Zining. "This time, we should have issued a large-scale survey to Fengming Continent, but there has been no movement from the court. Only the Zhao family and a few other families have obtained surveys."
"There is gold everywhere in Fengming Continent. Go early and capture it early. With such huge benefits, how can those businessmen not be jealous?"
Lian Zining's face turned darker. He is not a pedantic mediocrity, and has seen the impact behind it: not only the common people, but also businessmen have begun to covet the benefits of maritime affairs, and he is afraid that it will become more difficult to maintain a conservative position.
Don't forget that merchants are at the bottom of the four people, but the influence of these people on the court is actually far stronger than that of the common people in Guizhou. First of all, most of the merchant families are local wealthy families, and some are even squires who are the chief grain lords of a place. Their influence on the area is even greater than that of the government. If these people start to make trouble, they, the censors, cannot resist it. Second, most of these people have the support of court officials. Some of them are their own children who have studied and become officials, and some are scholars who have supported a lot. Even Lian Zining himself was helped by the squires of his clan when he was studying in the past.
The so-called kindness of a drop of water should be repaid by a spring of water. If these businessmen exert their influence in the DPRK, it will be more difficult for the conservatives to succeed.
Sure enough, on the second day after the Zhao family began to recruit men to go to sea, an official came out in the morning to advise on maritime affairs: "Your Majesty, it has been more than a month since the thousands of soldiers who made a triumphant return to Xunfengmingzhou returned home. You have merited Not to reward them would be to chill the hearts of the heroes and soldiers."
"I request your Majesty to issue a decree to reward Zhang He, Tie Xuan and others, so as to show the justice of our dynasty's rewards and punishments."
"I would like to ask your Majesty to issue a decree to reward meritorious ministers, so as to show the justice of our court's rewards and punishments!" Immediately, many courtiers came out to second the proposal. Although there were no high officials, Coach Zining broke into a cold sweat.
"Oh? You want us to reward Zhang He Tiexuan and the others?" Lao Zhu sat on the throne and glanced at Lian Zining and the censors with a playful look. "It's not that we don't reward them, it's just that someone in the court feels that Tie Xuan and others are deceiving the emperor?"
"Qing Lian, what do you say? Should we treat Tie Xuan, Zhang He and the others as a reward or not?"
"Your Majesty." Lian Zining walked out bravely. I just feel like all the pressure is on my head. "I believe that we should wait until the corn yield per acre is calculated before making a final decision."
"I still have a bet with His Royal Highness the King of Zhou..."
"Waiting for the corn yield to be harvested? How many things will be missed?" an official scolded. "Today, there are less than a hundred immigrants from our Han family staying in Jinshan Fort in Fengmingzhou. They are eagerly waiting for our motherland to come to our aid and help them gain a foothold. But you and others are trying to frame and obstruct the maritime affairs with unfounded charges. If it harms If those immigrants died, what crime should you, Lian Zining, face?"
This official was just a neutral person before, but now he speaks fiercely and is upright. Lian Zining knew that this person must be one of the spokespersons of those impatient businessmen. Fortunately, he had already made preparations and said: "It is the beginning of spring and the ice and snow have not yet melted. Even if you want to go to sea, it should not be at this time... "
"What I'm talking about is to reward the soldiers first. Going to sea should be a great good governance for our country. How can we put it aside like this and make people feel dejected? Even if we don't go to sea again immediately, we should first give out the rewards and honors that the soldiers deserve. It’s appropriate.”
Before Lian Zining could answer, someone among the censors stood up and pushed back what the official said. All of a sudden, there was a quarrel in the court, and the maritime and conservative factions started going back and forth like this in front of Lao Zhu. Lao Zhu watched coldly for a while, then suddenly stood up and walked away.
Only two groups of officials were left, looking at each other in the court hall.
"...Congratulations to Your Majesty!"
It wasn't until Lao Zhu's figure completely turned out of Fengtian Hall that Lian Zining came back to his senses. He was already breaking out in a cold sweat during the unification debate just now.
Because he discovered that most of his colleagues who used to stand on the conservative side with him have chosen not to say a word today.
The matter of going to Fengmingzhou to the sea seems to have gradually formed a general trend and is beginning to be unstoppable.
(End of chapter)
