The Ming Dynasty in February is not as gentle as spring breeze and rain.
Just like those Jiangnan women with date disorders, even if they are usually gentle and gentle, at this time they are full of anger, and their anger has nowhere to vent.
Far away from the homeland of the Central Plains, but having already raised the flag of the Ming Dynasty, a brand new wooden camp was built in a harbor on the west coast of Japan in just a few months.
A loess road, with scars from knives and swords, grew from the back of the camp into the mountains and spread deep into the mountains.
In the mountains in the distance, there would be a loud noise from time to time, causing the surrounding towering trees to spread and sway outward like waves.
It’s just that those forest birds that had been frightened and left their nests were no longer seen.
As the loud noise gradually subsided, soon a cart full of ore would be pulled towards the camp by buffaloes. However, when they arrived at the camp, they did not enter the camp. Instead, they turned to the workshop area next to a stream.
There are countless smelting furnaces that are spitting out thick smoke.
"You bitch, Yoshinoya is looking for death!"
On the camp wall, Li Jinglong, the Japanese general, slapped the wooden post heavily, his face full of anger and murderous intent.
After cursing, he turned to look at Heqing Hou Zhang Yi, who had turned around and was giving additional training orders to the officers and soldiers in the barracks.
Li Jinglong grunted in displeasure and turned his head to look at Tie Xuan, who had his hands in his arms.
Tie Xuan was about to turn his head to avoid trouble.
Li Jinglong had already reached out and grabbed his shoulder: "Tie Xingxing, Taisun wants us to bring people back from Japan. This is a big deal. But now the Southern Dynasty wants us to spend money to buy prisoners from the Northern Dynasty. This matter is not easy to handle. You He is a scholar and has many ideas, so he has to help us figure out what to do."
Tie Xuan clasped his hands in his hands, twisted his waist, and broke away from the general's palm. Then he said calmly: "What the Southern Dynasty wants is money to buy the road, and the general will pay for it no matter what."
Li Jinglong raised his eyebrows: "How do you say this?"
Tie Xuan sighed softly, always wondering how such a person could thrive in the Southern Dynasties of Japan. He even visited the Yoshino family's back house countless times.
"The Yoshino clan in the Southern Dynasties also had branches and factions. Yoshino Temple asked for money in order to gain a foothold in the clan. The money was not used to buy Japanese people, but to buy someone for convenience.
We spent money, and then we could go to the Japanese countryside by ourselves and bring those Japanese who had no food to eat back to the Ming Dynasty. "
Li Jinglong shook his head and said after a while: "Is it that simple?"
Tie Xuan nodded: "It's that simple."
"In that case, let's leave this matter to Tie Xingxing!" Li Jinglong showed a solemn expression, and then raised his legs to walk under the camp wall. He turned around halfway and said, "What's going on over there in the South Dynasty recently?" , invited me over. I can’t get away, otherwise we definitely wouldn’t be able to do this with iron walking.”
After speaking, Li Jinglong, the great general of the Ming Dynasty who suppressed Japanese aggression and Duke Cao, had completely disappeared.
Tie Xuan's expression suddenly changed.
"It's over! He's tricked me!"
For a moment, an unknown fire ignited in Tie Xuan's heart.
The wooden piles of the camp wall in front of him were slammed loudly.
…
Yingtian City.
On the Lion Mountain next to Zhongfu Gate in the North City, there is an elegant house.
When you open the window, you can overlook the Longwan Pier and the ever-flowing Yangtze River not far away.
This place is far away from the imperial city, a full city away.
Liu Sanwu and Zhao Mian, two high-ranking officials in the court, sat on opposite sides, and the atmosphere in the court was less 'concerned about the country and the people'.
"Your Majesty has pressed the impeachment button and has made it clear that he has never agreed to the replacement of the imperial envoy. I'm afraid it is no longer possible for us to find a way out of the siege in the court."
Zhao Mian raised his eyes and looked out the window. On the river in the distance, a small boat was about to carry a fisherman wearing a bamboo hat, throwing a finely woven fishing net into the river.
The fishing net slowly sank under the river.
When it sinks to the bottom, the fishing net is closed.
The fisherman stood on the bow of the boat with explosive movements, lifting the fishing net out of the water with both hands.
"Rebirth of the Great Era of Fighting Waves"
Zhao Mian's breathing gradually slowed down, and his eyes became more focused.
The sound of rushing water seemed to reach Zhao Mian's ears from the river.
The fishing net dripped a large amount of river water, but nothing was harvested.
Zhao Mian's eyes showed disappointment.
Liu Sanwu, a member of Zhongshushe who was sitting opposite him, took a sip of tea and said in a low voice: "I have sent people to send letters to various places. Although we and other sage disciples were occasionally separated by academic barriers in the past, now we are probably at the point of survival. We should eliminate the barriers and protect our Confucianism and Taoism for thousands of years."
Zhao Mian's eyes flashed.
"Are you going to bring the voice of scholars all over the world to the court?"
He hesitated a little, whether it was the right choice to let the entire Shilin's opposition enter the court.
Face the Emperor's wrath?
Liu Sanwu's eyes darkened: "Plowing and reading heirlooms, if there is no farming, how can we read?"
"After hearing the news from Zhejiang, a land clearing order has been started there to verify the number of local acres. The collection quotas are divided into ten acres, thirty acres, fifty acres, one hundred acres, three hundred acres, and five hundred acres. ." Zhao Mian said worriedly.
He is the Minister of Household Affairs of the imperial dynasty, and he always needs to know the details of these details in more detail.
I saw him saying again: "There is also a business tax. The tax levied on merchants and merchants has also been clearly stated. The minimum is three points, but it is only levied on those people who enter the city to sell. Going up, it is seven points, one 10%, 20%, 30% are collected.”
Liu Sanwu snorted coldly, and an unknown fire ignited in his heart.
"With heavy taxes, I can already see that soon after Zhejiang Road, people's livelihood will wither and people will be displaced! You can even see the officials and gentry wailing, government orders blocked, and merchants closing their doors."
This person from Zhongshushe who came from the former Yuan Dynasty had a gloomy face: "When the time comes, it will be another disaster for the country!"
Zhao Mian shook his head feebly: "But with His Majesty's current attitude, it is probably impossible for him to stop this matter."
"That's why I want to raise the voice of scholars from all over the world to enter the court!"
Liu Sanwu looked at Zhao Mian with a hint of stubbornness and anger in his eyes.
…
"It's over!"
"I'm afraid something bad is going to happen!"
Looking at the Zhengyang Gate of Yingtian City not far away.
Zhu Yunxi, who had been rushing back to Beijing, suddenly cursed.
I saw that the horse he was sitting on was covered in mud spots, and his clothes were a bit dilapidated because they had not been changed for a long time.
Behind him, Sun Cheng personally led dozens of imperial guards, escorting him all the way from Hangzhou City via the official road to heaven.
Sun Chengle stepped forward and asked in a low voice: "Third Master, what's the problem?"
As he spoke, Sun Cheng glanced at the Zhengyang Gate of Yingtian City ahead.
Zhu Yunxi shook his head, but there was some hesitation on his face.
The reason why he hurriedly rushed back to heaven was to resolve the criticism and delay that might arise in the court. In the end, Zhejiang Road was finally cleared, and the reform that was about to start was brought to an abrupt end.
But until now I saw Yingtian City again.
Zhu Yunxi suddenly woke up and realized that he had made a mistake.
There is an old man in Yingtian City, and there is the prince and his father who are currently lurking low-key but always paying attention to the court. As long as they don't hesitate, there is no chance that their affairs in Zhejiang Road will be suddenly interrupted.
If he went out of the capital and killed half of Zhejiang Road, the old man could naturally kill some in Yingtian City.
Then his sudden return to Beijing at this time will become a matter full of variables.
He must face the accountability and pressure from the Central Government.
Far worse than before, he was in Zhejiang Province and could not be blamed by the court. The most he could do was impeach himself at the court meeting.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yunxi's face darkened, and he felt inexplicably irritable.
Sun Cheng asked worriedly: "Third Master, do you want to enter the city?"
"Enter the city! Go to Qingliangmen first."
After finishing speaking, Zhu Yunxi immediately turned around and headed from Zhengyang Gate, which can directly enter the imperial city, towards Qingliang Gate in the northwest.
Sun Cheng quickly led others to follow him.
The group stayed close to Yingtian City and passed through Tongji Gate, Jubao Gate, Sanshan Gate, and Shicheng Gate before arriving at Qingliang Gate.
After entering the city gate, it turns into Yingtian Middle City, which is also the most densely populated area, ending with Xiao Wutai Mountain on the right.
To the left of the city gate is Qingliang Mountain, which is why Qingliang Gate got its name.
To the northeast of Xiaowutai Mountain and Qingliangmen is Yingtian Xicheng and Beicheng, where there are mostly fields, tombs, and farmers' houses walking around.
As well as the heavily guarded Jingwei camps.
Zhu Yunxi took the lead and followed the road at the foot of Qingliang Mountain to the northeast of Qingliang Mountain.
What comes into view is a large area of shacks surrounded by fences.
This is the human tooth market in Yingtian City.
A place dedicated to buying and selling servants.
In fact, it was a place where slaves were bought and sold. It was just because Emperor Hongwu issued a decree when he founded the country that no slaves were allowed to exist in the Ming Dynasty.
But there are so many meritorious military generals, royal relatives, and royal family princes in the world in recent years.
As long as these people exist, keeping slaves will never be forbidden.
But it's just a different reason and excuse.
Sun Cheng didn't quite understand why the third master didn't go back to the palace first after returning to Beijing, but instead came to such a filthy place first.
Zhu Yunxi, on the other hand, led the horse and walked through the entire human tooth market step by step.
At the front of the human tooth market is the Kunlun slave with the lowest price. The so-called Kunlun slaves are just slaves who came from Tianzhu or Southeast Asia and were deliberately tanned. They are not really Kunlun slaves.
Inside, there are some inferior new wives, barbarians and Ji Ji. Further inside, there are Silla girls and Orchid girls from the Western Regions who are of better appearance.
At the very back, there was Akito with a grass tag on his body.
The insertion of this grass mark shows that these Ming people sold themselves voluntarily and were not sold as slaves by their own clan.
Of course, the money after selling oneself will still go to the hands of those of the same clan.
It was just one more process that legalized this matter that was prohibited by the emperor.
After reading it all around, Zhu Yunxi's expression made it impossible for Sun Cheng who was following him to show any emotion.
Except after the human tooth market.
Zhu Yunxi said: "Go back to the palace and buy a hemp rope to wear."
