Chapter 134 133 Mixed in Jiujiang

Wei Guangde was more and more confused at first, until he suddenly realized what was going on.

It must be said that empiricism kills people.

The people who executed the Ming Dynasty from top to bottom were all gentry families, all people with meritorious service, so they would naturally speak in their favor.

They claimed that the court's preferential exemption regulations were exempting people with meritorious service from taxes and labor service, and transferred the taxes and labor service that they should have borne to ordinary people.

Wei Guangde threw the "Da Ming Hui Dian" in his hand on the table, leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes to think.

I have to admire the person who thought of this method, it's really smart.

Under the temptation, the entire group of scholars turned to his side, and from top to bottom, they all operated in a direction that was beneficial to their own interests.

With meritorious service, no taxes, no labor service, what could be happier than this?

Not only that, they also made a lot of propaganda to the people below to confuse people, so that the people believed it.

It seems that most people in later generations also think so.

He was really good at deceiving his superiors and subordinates.

Wei Guangde could only admire the unknown senior in his heart.

However, does this have anything to do with him?

It has become a consensus among the people that people with meritorious service are exempt from taxes and labor service. Wei Guangde would naturally not do something to dig his own grave, not to mention that it is in his interest.

Wei Guangde chose to be like all the scholars, acquiescing and treating the exemption as exemption.

Throughout the 32nd year of Jiajing, Wei Guangde spent most of his time studying in Jiujiang Prefecture, except for returning to Pengze twice to attend the weddings of his cousin and eldest brother.

At this time, Wei Guangde couldn't help but think of his own future.

It seems that at that time, people in small cities and rural areas also got married early, while the marriage age in big cities was generally late, and this is also the case in this era.

Zhang Hongfu is about the same age as his eldest brother, and he has not heard of marriage until now.

Wei Guangde seemed to have heard that Zhang Hongfu had a wife who had not yet married, but he didn't know why he hadn't talked about marriage for so long.

Without an inducement, Wei Guangde would naturally not ask.

And the loan business that Wei Guangde had high hopes for has not found a suitable one yet.

There is no way, there are only a few categories of big business these days.

Salt, tea, cloth and porcelain, etc., and the market benefits of these consumer goods in the Ming Dynasty have long been divided up.

In the past few years, there was a golden time for private lending business. In fact, most of the bosses who borrowed money at that time invested their silver in the textile mills of Suzhou Prefecture and Songjiang Prefecture. Most of the products were smuggled and trafficked overseas by sea merchants for trading and making huge profits.

After the Japanese pirates made trouble in Zhejiang in the 31st year of Jiajing, the coastal prefectures of the entire Ming Dynasty were now in a state of panic, and they were very afraid of attracting Japanese pirates.

Ordinary people don't know, but officials are naturally well-informed about what Zhejiang is like after being ravaged by Japanese pirates.

The soldiers in the garrisons are all incapable of fighting, and the Japanese pirates are extremely vicious.

Merchants, as the group of people who have the most contact with those officials, naturally know the situation.

Before, many of them were still close to these sea merchants, calling each other brothers, but now they dare not recognize any of them.

These days, if people know that you know these people who make a living on the sea, wouldn't it be fatal?

In the past, these sea merchants still did legitimate business with merchants. Although it violated the laws of the court, it was fine as long as they were not caught.

But now, they have found a more profitable way, that is, to take the Japanese pirates directly ashore to rob and do that business without capital.

In Jiujiang City, Wei Guangde could hear merchants complaining about the difficulty of doing business almost every time he went to restaurants and teahouses. The Japanese pirates along the coast were getting more and more fierce, and the news that the imperial government and the government troops were not doing well in the encirclement and suppression.

During this period, the government and the military had the fastest channels for information transmission, with post stations all over the country and postmen running back and forth on the post roads. They raced against time to transmit the news happening all over the country to where they were needed.

The wars that were happening in various parts of the Ming Empire, various war reports were first collected in the two capitals of the north and south, and then transmitted from there.

Zhang Hongfu, Wei Guangde and other guards also heard and saw a lot of information at home.

It can be said that the entire 32nd year of Jiajing seemed to have never stopped since the first month.

Since the first month, the coastal prefectures have been constantly alerted. From Nanzhili to Fujian, there have been small groups of Japanese pirates landing. Only Wenzhou Lieutenant General Tang Kekuan led his troops to repel the Japanese pirates who invaded Wenzhou Prefecture, and the other routes did not have much success.

In addition, Shanghai County of Songjiang Prefecture was burned down by the invading Japanese pirates, and the loss of property was incalculable.

While the people in Jiangnan were in a panic because of the Japanese pirates, Altan Khan in the north led tens of thousands of Tatars to break through the Yansui defense line and invade Fuzhou, Ganquan and other places from Mizhichuan.

The war reports from the north and south were transmitted to Jiujiang Prefecture through various channels and sent to the Jiujiang Guard Command, which made the commanders of Jiujiang Guard, who had just experienced a war, terrified.

The Ming Dynasty, which had been peaceful for a hundred years, seemed to become precarious overnight.

"Guangde, the very powerful general you mentioned, I saw the news yesterday that he was suspended and convicted a few months ago because of his failure to resist the Japanese pirates."

That day, Wei Guangde followed his father to Zhang's house. His father and uncle went to Zhang Tongzhi's study to discuss matters, while he and Zhang Hongfu found a side room to drink tea and warm themselves by the fire.

It was already the beginning of December of the 32nd year of Jiajing. Almost the whole year, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang coasts had been in a state of war. Before, Wei Guangde had sworn to express his optimism about Taizhou General Yu Dayou, who had been suspended from his post due to unfavorable conditions in the war. That's why Zhang Hongfu did this. One thing to say.

Wei Guangde had known this news for a long time. To be honest, he was extremely surprised when he saw this information. Who would have thought that Yu Dayou would also suffer defeats, and he would lose miserably. Taizhou under his jurisdiction Most of the coastal villages and forts were captured by Japanese pirates.

In sharp contrast to his poor record, Wenzhou General Tang Kekuan, although he also had many defeats, was generally praised by the court for his performance.

Wei Guangde not only reads books, but also likes military affairs. Zhang Hongfu has discovered this a long time ago, so he also likes to sit with Wei Guangde and discuss the current situation. If the conversation is casual, then it will be impossible to have a pleasant chat.

"I didn't expect that either."

Wei Guangde spread his hands and said, "I thought he had a good record in suppressing bandits in Qiongzhou and Guangxi, so I took it for granted that he could easily capture the Japanese pirates."

Wei Guangde was actually wondering in his heart, who was Tang Kekuan and how could he be so good at fighting?

Judging from the current situation, it seems that he can fight better than Yu Dayou, but it seems that he has never heard of such a number one person, which is really strange.

"Which one of the southern Japanese and northern pirates is more powerful?"

Zhang Hongfu asked again.