Zuo Guangdou's family is a prominent family in Tongcheng, and has been quite wealthy since his great-grandfather Zuo Lin.
Therefore, although the Zuofu in the depths of the alley cannot be compared with the luxurious mansions in the capital, it can be regarded as a quite spacious courtyard.
Zuo Guangdou, who is forty-five years old this year, has a wife and a concubine.
The left concubine, Mrs. Yuan, stood at the door in the dusk, waiting for Zheng Haizhu's car to arrive. She greeted her respectfully, moving swiftly and yet still maintaining dignity.
Zheng Haizhu and Hua Er followed her in. Zuo Guangdou's legitimate wife Dai Shi saw the movement and immediately supported her mother-in-law Zhou and came out of the main room.
Zuo's mother had already heard from her son that the distinguished guest was not an ordinary woman, and in terms of the sixth-rank imperial order, it was higher than the seventh-rank Zuo Guangdou, who was the supervisor of the censor.
At this moment, Zheng Haizhu saw Zuo's mother's kind face, but her expression was a little panicked. She thought that this old lady from the countryside of Tongcheng was simple and honest, and she didn't know how to socialize with "people from the imperial court."
After Zheng Haizhu performed the courtesy as a junior, he smiled and asked Yuan to help Hua Er to give the Songjiang cotton and Han embroidered handkerchiefs brought from Yanzhou Trading Company to the old lady and his wife Dai.
After sitting down and chatting with the Zuo family about the scenery of Songjiang, I offered to take a rest early so that both the guests and the host could relax.
Zheng Haizhu's time is precious, and she really doesn't want to spend it on doing housework. She would rather look at the moonlight alone and think about the next step.
The next day at Shenshi, Zuo Guangdou returned to the mansion.
Zheng Haizhu is already waiting in the front hall.
Even though Dong Qichang had already laid the groundwork, and Zuo Guangdou had also inquired from his colleagues, he still couldn't hide his surprise when he saw Zheng Haizhu.
Unexpectedly, this Zheng was less than thirty years old.
Zheng Haizhu has met too many big figures in the history of the world in the past five years. Now when he saw Zuo Guangdou, he was not as excited as checking in as a famous person. He just wanted to talk about business.
After hearing Zuo Guangdou's straight-to-the-point praise for her righteous speech in Tongzhou, she fine-tuned the topic in a timely manner.
"Mr. Zuo attaches so much importance to the cultivation of rice in the north and the south. Is it because he feels that the sky is different in recent years?"
Zuo Guangdou took a sip of tea, squinted his eyes, and said in a deep voice: "Madam, you not only know business and military affairs, but also farming?"
Zheng Haizhu said, neither humble nor arrogant: "I grew up in Fujian, where there are eight mountains, one water and one field. The food harvest has been poor, which has been impossible since ancient times. But in recent years, I have discovered in southern Zhili that Jiangnan, which is supposed to be warm and rainy, is severely cold in winter and spring. , like falling into an ice cave, and often drought. The original saying that if Su Lake is ripe, the world is full, I am afraid it will become a thing of the past. Otherwise, why did Xu Gong Guangqi spend so much effort to plant sweet potatoes in Songjiang? It’s not because of this thing. The desire for the weather is not as high as rice and wheat, and the ground grows long in the famine years, so it can save the lives of the people."
What Zheng Haizhu said was actually the "Little Ice Age". According to later statistics, the late Ming Dynasty experienced the "Fifth Little Ice Age". The average temperature was lower than the normal era, the climate was generally cold and dry, and natural disasters also increased accordingly.
Zuo Guangdou listened attentively and sighed: "Your Majesty comes from the countryside, and he is indeed more discerning than the empty talkers in the court. Brother Nian is from Hubei, and he is also worried. He said that the harvest in the fields in his hometown has been great in the past few years. Extremely bad.”
Zheng Haizhu asked inquiringly: "Brother Nian the master is talking about, is he Master Yang?"
Zuo Guangdou relaxed his brows and said with a slight smile: "Yes, that's Yang Lian. He and I were Jinshi in the same year."
Zheng Haizhu said frankly: "That's great. I wonder if Dong Gong has told Mr. Zuo that I am here this time to meet with Yang Gaijian and talk about the advantages and disadvantages of the Songjiang switch. The impeachment of the Songjiang Mansion switch , let the Tatars mix with the merchant ships in Liaodong and North Korea to spy on our Ming Dynasty, it is simply a waste of food because of choking."
Yang Lian is a member of the Sixth Section, and the admonishment officer is the most important position. Even if it is to protect the interests of Songjiang local official Huang Zunsu, who is also a member of the Donglin clan, Yang Lian will fight against the Zhejiang Party's impeachment. Of course Zuo Guangdou understands this. Zheng Haizhu's idea is correct.
Zuo Guangdou only asked again: "Ma'am, what profit do you have? Switch, apart from collecting the silver and customs duties for the ship's guide, what other profits are there?"
Zheng Haizhu said: "Import grain. Mr. Zuo, the Ming Dynasty was freezing from Hebei to Jiangnan and Huguang. However, Luzon, Siam, Champa, and America at the end of the East Ocean were not cold and droughty. We can exchange for the rice, wheat, and beans and grains used to feed war horses and livestock. We can exchange them with sea trade. How can Yuegang be enough? Let me tell you, not only Songjiang needs to be switched on and off, but Denglai and Ningbo must also be switched on and off. "
"Oh..." Zuo Guangdou was a little confused for a moment.
The list of place names Zheng Haizhu mentioned was beyond his knowledge.
As a censor who was often sent by the imperial court to inspect various prefectures, he had always taken it upon himself to look at the country's conditions, but at this moment he suddenly realized that the Ming Dynasty was not the only one in the world.
Zuo Guangdou appreciated this woman's sincerity and insight. After hearing her remarks today about farming and people's livelihood, he felt that what she did in Tongzhou was an honest act.
…
Two days later, Zheng Haizhu followed Zuo Guangdou and visited Yang Lian.
Even though Zhu Changluo's enthronement ceremony will take place half a month later, the day the new king, who is supported by the Donglin faction, enters the Qianqing Palace, is already an auspicious day for the Donglin disciples in the government and the public to celebrate with their foreheads and hands.
Yang Lian is naturally one of them.
"Together," Yang Lian called out Zuo Guangdou's words with high spirits, "Long Live is ready to issue an edict to recall Mr. Jing Yi, a member of my Donglin sect who was deposed during the late emperor's reign, and he will also come back!"
Mr. Jing Yi is Gao Panlong, the leader of Donglin after Gu Xiancheng.
Zuo Guangdou looked at the rosy-faced Brother Nian, but he was not as excited as him: "Brother Yang, in my humble opinion, Zhou Shangshu should not be so anxious."
Zhou Shangshu is now Zhou Jiamo, Shangshu of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. In terms of political views, he can be regarded as a member of the Donglin School.
Yang Lian was thrown cold water by her friend. She was stunned and asked, "Why?"
Zuo Guangdou said: "At the time of the reform, if we drive people out so quickly, we in Donglin would have occupied all the positions from the cabinet to the six ministries overnight. It is a trivial matter to be looked at by others. I am afraid that some talented ministers Even capable officials are accidentally injured."
Yang Lian was slightly disdainful: "Who said that?"
Zuo Guangdou smiled peacefully and raised his chin towards Zheng Haizhu, who was sitting quietly at the bottom: "This friend from Donglin said it."
Yang Lian turned to Zheng Haizhu with a face full of beards.
When Zuo Guangdou sent his servant to pay his respects, he already explained the reason in detail. He not only emphasized the close relationship between Mrs. Anyuan and Huang Zunsu, but also mentioned her angrily denounced Wei Zhongxian in the capital.
In addition, Dong Qichang came to socialize a few days ago and mentioned this woman when he presented the Wusong customs map and the Minghe naval battle map. Yang Lian did not treat this Zheng family as an outsider, so he did not avoid hiding in front of her that Donglin could regain power. joy.
She never thought that she would criticize the current situation like Zuo Guangdou, and Zuo Xiandi seemed to agree with it.
Yang Liansui's eyes turned cold and he said to Zheng Haizhu, "Is this how you look at me, Dong Lin?"
(End of chapter)
