Chapter 7 Zhujing Town
The power of tyranny is based on the local people. In one's own home, there is strength in numbers, and others give face to one's own clan. Speak with weight. This is powerful. It’s not just about being rich and powerful, but more importantly, having people.
In other words, only when there are people can one be rich and powerful.
This was the normal state of local power in the feudal era.
Once they leave their familiar soil, they have to start all over again. There will be nothing left.
Instead, it turned into a child holding money and causing trouble. A lot of suppression came about. became a vulnerable group.
The imperial court did nothing. Just a move, and the local powerful men who threatened the central government were ravaged to a great extent.
This method cannot be used by those who do not truly understand the local situation.
But at this moment, there was a whimpering sound coming from the next door. Not loud. Apparently he didn't even dare to cry aloud.
He Xi sighed.
In fact, he also knew that a decade or two ago, that nephew might not have been a good character in his hometown. It’s not that he is a bad guy or a good guy. However, the local tyranny inherited from the Yuan Dynasty did not decline through the troubled times of the late Yuan Dynasty and the early Ming Dynasty. Is this kind of family really a kind family?
Unlikely.
But seeing it like this is still amazing.
Yao Guangxiao also sighed and said, "In recent years, many beggars from the north of the Yangtze River come to the south of the Yangtze River every year, and they all speak Wu dialect."
Princess Anqing tugged on He Xi's sleeves and said, "It's so pitiful that we can't help him without money."
He Xi said: "Be good, this is a major national policy. It is not something we can interfere with."
Today's incident also shocked He Xi greatly.
To be honest, He Xi didn't think Zhu Yuanzhang's policies were wrong. In the great war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Jianghuai area was the main battlefield. It was almost a white field. Regardless of whether Fengyang City was built for political purposes or to fill the population of Huaihe and Huaihe, it cannot be said to be wrong.
After all, the population in the south of the Yangtze River is large and the population in the north of the Yangtze River is small. This kind of development is uneven. This is not a good thing for the country. Many powerful people in Jiangnan were not too obedient to the court's management. Crack down on administrative measures. It's not wrong either.
But many commands are out of shape when they reach the bottom.
He Xi believed that Zhu Yuanzhang did not intend to abuse Jiangnan immigrants. But people are cheap when they leave their hometown. Locals bully outsiders. This kind of thing is all too common. So much so that it becomes like this.
He Xi can only take this as a warning.
Every decision he makes will affect countless people. Even if you make the right decision, you will probably run over some people. A grain of sand of the times falling on a person is an unbearable burden. And He Xi is the person who drives the times. It is even more important to be cautious.
With this one thing. Princess Anqing was a little unhappy.
He Xi did not participate in this matter because he was afraid that if he participated, he would become someone's gun. After all, no matter what happens, Zhu Yuanzhang cannot change this national policy. Secondly, it may not be a good choice to abolish this policy or allow the migrated people to return to their hometowns.
Even caused more things.
This is why Fang Xiaoru and many other people support the idea that doing more is worse than doing less. The execution ability of the feudal dynasty, whether it is a correct decision or a wrong decision, as long as it is executed, it will cause accidental damage.
Maintaining the status quo becomes the best policy in these people's eyes.
This also allowed He Xi to make his first decision. That is, don’t do anything within a month or two. Because of spring plowing.
Yes. The spring plowing of the 16th year of Hongwu is coming amid the steady drizzle. Before He Xi came out, she had not considered this factor, but now she realized that this was the top priority and everything else had to be put behind.
This made He Xi decide to think about it carefully first, and then decide what to do after the spring plowing.
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Yao Guangxiao's judgment was correct. The next day, Zhujing Town arrived.
Zhujing Town is not small. If placed elsewhere, it would not be an exaggeration to say it is a small county town. But in Jiangnan, there are many such market towns. Of course, this is talking about this era. Speaking of which, Zhujing Town is just a small town with a few streets. There is also a street facing the river. It's the dock.
Wait for the group to dock. Yang Yu had already greeted him from a distance. He immediately saluted and said: "Master, madam, steward. I have already inquired about it. This is indeed a gathering place for cotton cloth. Usually in summer and autumn, merchants from all over the world come here to buy cloth. It is as far away as Peking and as close as Songjiang. It is crowded at that time. . The whole town cannot live in it. However, now is not the time. So it is deserted now."
While listening to Yang Yu's introduction, He Xi glanced across the entire street.
As Yang Yu said, it was deserted. There were not many pedestrians in the entire spacious street. More than half of the shops facing the street are cloth shops. In addition, it is generally a variety of shops. It can be seen that although this place is not as wealthy as later generations. But it is much richer than other places in the world.
As long as people have money and spending power, it’s good.
Although the cloth industry is the absolute backbone of this place's industry. However, the prosperity of the cloth industry also led to the prosperity of other industries. Therefore, there are also other industries, such as inns and restaurants. There are also rice and grain shops and so on.
However, this period is the off-season. The whole Zhujing town is feeling weak. More than half of the shops have simply closed their doors. The remaining ones were not closed, but no one was taking care of them. Looking inside the door, there were only one or two boys cleaning. No intention of welcoming guests.
There were probably no guests.
"However, the largest cloth shop in Zhujing Town, Zhangjia Cloth Shop, is still open. I also visited yesterday. Shopkeeper Zhang has been waiting for a long time. If the master wants to buy a property, in my opinion, Zhangjia Cloth Shop is the only one. That’s it.” Yang Yu said.
He Xi said: "Oh, why?"
Yao Guangxiao said: "If I am not wrong, other cloth shops are too small. They are not even considered an industry."
He Xi looked at Yao Guangxiao, her heart moved, and said, "Let's take a look."
After a while, Zhangjiabu Village was already in sight.
Zhangjiabu Village is not small, it is two stories high. There is a tall archway above the main entrance, which is the sign of the house. Almost the entire front of the cloth village was covered. It even blocks the light from the neighbors. This is also without municipal management, otherwise fines will be imposed.
In fact, this is also a unique signature culture of ancient times. It is not big enough to be surprising.
An old man with gray hair had already greeted him at the door.
Seeing He Xi and others coming over, he quickly stepped forward and said, "Little old man, pay homage to Mr. Li."
He Xi was still not used to his identity as Mr. Li. He was slightly taken aback and said, "You are so polite, old man. I don't have any official position, so there is no need to address me as sir."
Shopkeeper Lao Zhang said, "The etiquette cannot be discarded. I also respect the honorable name of Duke Cao. I have never done anything wrong in my life, and I am deeply grateful for my kindness."
He Xi's mind changed and he asked secretly: "Has Cao Guogong led his troops here?" He Xi couldn't remember for a while. He vaguely remembered that when he attacked Suzhou City, Zhu Yuanzhang sent out thirteen soldiers and came to the city in person. It seemed that the Ming Dynasty All the famous generals passed by Suzhou City. And here is not far from Suzhou. I've probably been here before.
However, these are small things.
He Xi exchanged a few words with shopkeeper Lao Zhang and was politely invited to the cloth shop. Go to the backyard.
The back of the cloth shop is very big. It seems that a few people have entered the courtyard. The outermost one is naturally the shop, and the middle one is the Zhang family's residence. Behind, He Xi looks like a workshop from a distance. But I didn’t take a closer look. Somewhat rude.
After sitting down, Princess Anqing spoke first. He said, "Shopkeeper, bring over the best cloth from your house. Let me have a look. Only when you see something can you talk."
Shopkeeper Zhang said: "Madam is right, madam is right. This spring is busy and most of the guys are going home. Please wait a moment. I will go get it right away."
Shopkeeper Zhang went quickly and came back. After a while, he came back with several pieces of cloth in his arms. He said: "These are the best cloths from Xiaolaoer Cloth Shop. I would like to ask Madam to take a look at them."
Princess Anqing asked Xiao Huan to help her and pull the cloth apart. Princess Anqing looked at the sun and looked at it carefully. After a while, he frowned.
