"While Lu Zongyi is temporarily in charge of the affairs of Quanzhou Prefecture, Gu Xiaozi will return to Jinling as soon as possible to express his gratitude."
Gu Zhengchen looked at the imperial edict without even raising his head, and his head was filled with confusion. If it weren't for the Dabao stamped behind it, he would really doubt if someone was pretending to be it. .?
Lu Zongyi was filled with envy. What is favor? This is favor. The emperor did not treat him as an official, but as a nephew. Listen, Gu Xiaozi, not Gu Zhengchen...
Gu Zhengchen dug it with his fingers and asked doubtfully: "That's it, gone?"
Lu Zongyi nodded: "What else do you want?"
Gu Zhengchen was extremely depressed: "His Majesty suddenly issued an order to recall me, so I should explain the reason. Lu Shenzheng, let's get to the bottom of it. Is someone impeaching me? Your Majesty is angry and is going to throw me into the dungeon again?"
Lu Zongyi rolled his eyes at Gu Zhengchen: "You act so tyrannically and kill people at every turn. You have killed the powerful clan of Quanzhou Prefecture almost like quails. It is appropriate for someone to impeach you. But the matter is not serious enough to go to the Ministry of Punishment. After all, this is calling you back to Aurous Hill, not sending angels to capture you."
Gu Zhengchen rolled up the imperial edict, thought for a moment, and said: "You may as well come now. Even if His Majesty does not allow you to come, I will invite you to Quanzhou Mansion to preside over the affairs of the government. To be honest, Lu Shenzheng, the first two I sent a document to the imperial court that day, requesting an order to return to Jinling. Now that the imperial order has arrived, it saves a lot of trouble."
Lu Zongyi frowned: "You are the prefect of Quanzhou, why are you going back to Jinling? It's already February, and it's the busy time of teaching classes, mulberry farming, and spring plowing..."
Gu Zhengchen smiled, took out a document from the desk and handed it to Lu Zongyi: "Take a look."
Lu Zongyi took it, opened it and looked at it, and couldn't help but frown: "You actually let people go to sea, openly violating His Majesty's will. Aren't you afraid of beheading? Wait, isn't this also authorized by His Majesty?"
Gu Zhengchen just smiled indifferently and did not explain. He just said: "If you want to convince the emperor to open the sea, you need to convert these trade goods into money and grain. The number of merchants in Quanzhou Prefecture is small, and those who have been suppressed over the years have not had much financial resources. Large local households Most of them are just big but not rich, and their family property cannot even collect a thousand taels of silver, so this batch of trade goods can only go north and finally reach Jinling."
"Lu Shenzheng is a sensible person. He should know that if the coastal areas want to prosper and the people want to live a good life, they have to open up the sea. Since ancient times, people rely on the mountains to eat the mountains, and rely on the sea to eat the sea. In our Ming Dynasty, we can't just rely on the mountains to eat. Mountains are close to the sea and cannot eat the sea. Therefore, I need to visit Jinling myself."
Lu Zongyi sat down, frowned and asked, "What exactly do you want to say?"
Gu Zhengchen chuckled: "What I want to say is that this time when I return to Jinling, I must persuade His Majesty to open the sea, but this process may not be smooth. Some people will stop me, hinder me, and impeach me. I will suffer a little injustice and suffer a little loss. It doesn't matter, but I can't let go of the 300,000 people here. If I can't come back in a short time due to some changes, please ask Lu Shenzheng to show compassion to the people here and prevent official or man-made disasters from happening again."
Lu Zongyi looked deeply at Gu Zhengchen.
I have to admit that this person really loves the people.
Judging from what he did in Quanzhou Prefecture, whether he killed officials or large households, it was not for his own personal gain, but for the people of Quanzhou Prefecture!
Lu Zongyi stood up and bowed solemnly: "Prefect Gu, there are few people whom Lu admires in his life, and you are one of them. I promise you, before you come back, I will do my best to take care of Quanzhou Prefecture!"
Gu Zhengchen returned the courtesy.
Soon, Zhang He, Chu Xing, Wang Dahe, Wang Futu and others received orders to prepare to sail north.
Gu Zhengchen summoned the officials and servants of the government and handed over the money and food accounts, the prefect's seal, etc. to Lu Zongyi, and said to everyone: "I am only going to Jinling temporarily. During this period, Lu will take part in the affairs of the government temporarily. You need to be serious about your work. This is the time." What belongs to you is naturally yours, not yours, whoever reaches out will lose his life!"
Huang Fei, Zhao Sanqi and others agreed in unison.
This is a reassurance, that is to say, Yanglianyin will continue to be given and will not be canceled due to the arrival of Lu Shenzheng.
Just as Gu Zhengchen was packing his luggage, Zhang Pei hurried in and said to Gu Zhengchen, "Master, Zhao Yihui is here."
"Finally here."
Gu Zhengchen smiled and went out to the government office to greet him personally.
Zhao Yihui no longer looked as depressed as he did in the dungeon. Although he was still very thin, he was in good spirits. When he saw Gu Zhengchen, he quickly saluted: "I have met Magistrate Gu!"
"Haha, come in quickly."
Gu Zhengchen invited Zhao Yihui into the magistrate's house and ordered Zhang Pei to prepare a table of wine and food.
After some pleasantries, Zhao Yihui pointed to the door: "There are some boxes in the yard. Why is this? Could it be that Magistrate Gu wants to leave here?"
Gu Zhengchen did not hide anything and talked about trade, opening up the sea and other matters: "His Majesty suddenly issued a decree to call me back. I don't think it was for this reason. What news did you hear when you came from Jinling?"
Zhao Yihui nodded slightly: "I did hear something, but I don't know if it has anything to do with calling you back."
Gu Zhengchen raised his eyebrows.
Zhao Yihui said seriously: "Last year, the imperial court promoted the treasure banknote promotion department to a fourth-level yamen. Soon after, Fei Zhen completed the batch printing of 100,000 banknotes. At the beginning of this year, Suzhou, Daming Banks have been set up in big cities such as Hangzhou, Kaifeng, and Peking. I heard that various prefectures and counties will follow suit and set up banks..."
Gu Zhengchen thought for a while and found out that Lao Zhu hurriedly summoned him back to Jinling this time. It was probably related to the Baobao Proposal Department, or it might have been requested by Fei Zhen.
This means that the date for the nationwide issuance of banknotes is very likely not far away.
"By the way, before I come, your wife asked me to give you this jade pendant."
Zhao Yihui took out a jade pendant from his arms, held it in both hands and handed it to Gu Zhengchen, adding: "When I set off, Gu Cheng, the steward of your house, and Hu Hengcai, the shopkeeper, were already organizing a caravan. It was said that they wanted to go south to Quanzhou. , should be already halfway there by now.”
Gu Zhengchen took the jade pendant, his hands trembling slightly.
I don't have many jade pendants, so I only gave one away. The jade pendant came back, indicating that the man was gone.
Gu Zhengchen felt sad and whispered: "Is the Zhan family holding a funeral?"
Zhao Yihui saw Gu Zhengchen's appearance and looked at the jade pendant. He suddenly understood and said quickly: "Zhan Chengzhi did not survive until spring and left in the last few days of winter."
Gu Zhengchen held the jade pendant and was silent for a long time. It was not until Zhang Pei arranged for the wine and food to come back to his senses that he tied the jade pendant around his waist and sighed: "Although I haven't met Zhan Chengzhi a few times, I always feel that he is kind. He was a good old man. It's a pity that our farewell on that day became forever."
"Is Brother Tongwen gone?"
Lu Zongyi walked in and was shocked by the news.
Zhao Yihui had said that Lu Zongyi couldn't help but lament: "When I was still in the Ministry of Justice, it was Mr. Zhan who strongly recommended me to be transferred to Fujian to participate in politics. Before leaving, Mr. Zhan did not forget to tell me, We must love the people and be honest, and do not increase the burden on the people..."
When the wine is full, we go north to pay our respects.
After calming down, Gu Zhengchen said to Zhao Yihui: "Since you are here, you will be in charge of the Quanzhou Shipping Department. You will be responsible to the prefect's yamen and no longer responsible to the province. Do you understand what I mean?"
Zhao Yihui nodded heavily: "Understood."
Gu Zhengchen arranged: "If this trip goes well, the imperial court will open the sea. In order to welcome the next maritime trade, the Municipal Shipping Department must be fully prepared. First, it needs to dredge the port, rest the dock, and second, make good connections. For transportation, the wharves of Jinjiang and Luoyang rivers should also be renovated. Thirdly, ship management and landing management need to be done well, and new types of official certificates for entering the sea need to be designed..."
Regarding Gu Zhengchen's arrangements, Zhao Yihui agreed one by one and wrote them all down.
After Gu Zhengchen finished speaking, he looked at Lu Zongyi: "I'd like to trouble Lu Shenzheng to take care of the affairs of the Municipal Shipping Department. Jinjiang City is old and many inns have been closed. The government office also holds a number of shop deeds. You can find businessmen to take over. Don’t sell, just rent.”
Lu Zongyi was a little confused: "Why just rent?"
Gu Zhengchen picked up his wine glass: "It's simple, because in a few years, Jinjiang City will have a completely new look. In the future, every inch of land will be very valuable for shops here. As for now, no one will pay a big price to buy a shop."
Lu Zongyi suddenly realized, raised his hand and said: "When it comes to business, I'm not as good as you. It's just that the attitude of the court is not clear at the moment, and it is still unknown whether the sea can be opened. Will merchants rent shops at this time?"
Gu Zhengchen drank the wine in one gulp and said with a smile: "Let's see how knowledgeable and courageous they are. The government hired someone to secretly spread the news, saying that the imperial court might open the sea. If I can't convince your majesty, there is room for change. "
Lu Zongyi praised again and again: "You have the right to advance or retreat, haha. In this way, it will really test the courage of the merchants. I think it is feasible. If someone just waits and watches the wind, once the east wind blows from the court, the stores in the hands of the government will increase. The price is high.”
After a meal, many matters in Shibosi, Jinjiang City, and Quanzhou Prefecture were finalized.
After Zhang He sent someone to inform him that the voyage was ready, Gu Zhengchen quietly left Quanzhou Mansion without disturbing the people here.
Lu Zongyi and Zhao Yihui saw him off.
Gu Zhengchen stood on the boat and waved, watching the port getting further away, then turned around and said to Zhang Pei: "After you go back, you will stay in Jinling to accompany your family, and Yao Zhen will accompany you. If you follow me, you can't abandon your family all year round. .”
Zhang Pei shook his head: "I don't need to take care of the family. The money I gave them is enough for them to live well in Jinling."
"When people live, they don't just live, they also need companionship. That's how it's settled."
Gu Zhengchen made up his mind and then looked at Lin Baifan: "I heard that your nephew joined the Quanzhou Guards instead of you. Are you out of the military now?"
Lin Baifan solemnly said: "I want to follow Magistrate Gu, no, I want to follow the master."
Gu Zhengchen shook his head bitterly: "Following me may not bring any good results. With my temperament, I will inevitably make enemies. Now the emperor can tolerate me. If he is angry because of something in the future, he will chop me down. If he is implicated at that time, Got you..."
Lin Baifan said firmly: "If you miss this opportunity, it will be a regret for the rest of your life! With you, I will have no regrets even if I die!"
