By September, a picture of a bumper harvest appeared among the fields in the south of the Yangtze River, and the fruit trees in front of many people's houses were already fruitful.

With the arrival of the autumn harvest season, this vast land presents the scene of people harvesting rice in the fields. They harvested the rice that they had worked hard for several months back to the village to thresh, dry and store.

Because the Songjiang Prefect Hai Rui organized personnel to dredge the Wusong River, and the good weather in Songjiang Prefecture in the second half of the year, the output in the region was significantly higher than in previous years.

Shortly after each household stored the rice at home, Shanghai and Huating County launched a huge grain collection campaign, and through clerks, yamen runners and grain chiefs, they released the tax grain from each village to the granary.

As the first to pilot the unruly book, Songjiang Prefecture, although the total tax payment this year has increased by 20% compared with the same period last year, many people clearly feel that the tax payments have not increased but decreased.

There are two reasons for this situation: one is that the unlucky book indirectly promotes the fairness of paying food; the other is that the construction of clean government in Songjiang Prefecture has begun to show results.

The unruly book of bad people is undoubtedly a landmark strategy. Because of its deterrence effect on local gentry and large households, they not only dare not continue to evade taxes, but also dare not distribute the grain tax that should have been borne by them to other people equally.

Hai Rui is undoubtedly a good official who truly cared about the people. He has extremely strict requirements on the officials under his rule and insisted on severely cracking down on the act of exploiting the people, resulting in the officials in one prefecture and two counties not daring to be greedy for ill-gotten wealth.

That's right, even though Songjiang Prefecture ushered in a rare year of bumper harvest, even if the taxes and grains paid by Songjiang Prefecture were 20% higher than last year, the people of Songjiang clearly felt that the taxes and grains they paid had decreased, and their foods stored

It has increased significantly.

For the people who are used to hard life, nothing is more at ease than sufficient food storage at home, and they also make them grateful to such a court from the bottom of their hearts.

Whether in modern times or ancient times, economic phenomena can be seen everywhere in life.

When many people did not react, the large jars used to store rice quickly became popular in Songjiang Prefecture, and were scrambled to buy them first, which led to the increase in the price of the large jars.

As a result, the melon-eating group who did not know the truth thought that Japanese pirates outside the city had been smashed, so they had to go to the city to purchase more large piers.

Although the lives of the people of Songjiang Prefecture have been changed, the development of a region can no longer rely solely on good crop harvests, but on the advantages of handicrafts or trade areas.

In Songjiang City, after an autumn rain, the air was filled with a little chill.

In the area east of the city, there were dense weaving sounds here every day in the past few years, but now it has become as deserted as the air. You can even see the scene of several weaving workshops being abandoned.

From Huang Daopo’s teachings, Songjiang Bu once occupied most of the Ming cotton cloth market. But time passed, with the strong rise of Leizhou cloth, Songjiang Bu had already declined and even reached the point of sinking.

The defeat of Songjiang Bu to Leizhou Bu is an irreversible trend. In addition to the overall failure of production technology and talent competition, it is also related to the cost of their raw material cotton.

Unlike Songjiang Prefecture, which is "closed to the country", Leizhou Prefecture has long extended its tentacles to areas such as Nanyang and Japan with the advantages of Leizhou Wharf.

In the Ming Dynasty, where land is valuable in every place, the cost of growing cotton cannot be considered. However, Leizhou basically does not produce cotton on its own now, and buys cheap cotton from Southeast Asia or Japan, resulting in the cost of raw materials for Leizhou cloth being extremely low.

Although the joint workshop gives female weavers a generous benefit, thanks to the efficient shuttle loom, the cost advantages of weavers and raw materials actively involved in the production have been achieved, which has led to the fact that Leizhou cloth can still completely crush Songjiang in terms of price and quality.

cloth.

It is precisely because with the sudden fall of Xu Jie, Leizhou Bu has completely seized the northern market and even directly entered Songjiang City, the hinterland of Songjiang Prefecture.

There are also many knowledgeable people in Songjiang Prefecture. They realize that "opening the sea" is the best way to save Songjiang Prefecture, but they keep calling on the court to establish Songjiang Prefecture's Shipping Department in Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture, and build Shanghai Wharf to welcome them.

This new ocean era.

As early as Xu Jie was in power, some people had already made such calls. Unfortunately, these measures to open seas actually infringe on the original interests of the landlord class, especially Xu Jie is the greatest interest of Songjiang Prefecture.

Focusing on agriculture and suppressing commerce is not just an effective strategy for state rule, but also for local landlords. As local landlords, they hope that the people at the bottom can be their tenant farmers honestly, rather than relying on business.

Make your fortune by making a fortune by wisdom, and then grab resources from yourself.

The same is true. Although Xu Jie heard the petition from Kaihai in his hometown, he did not pay attention to it and even scolded them for wanting to attract Japanese pirates.

Fortunately, they met their parents, Guan Hairui, who was dedicated to serving the people. After realizing Songjiangbu's predicament, they also formally requested the court to open the Shanghai Maritime Bureau.

Songjiang Mansion, Xu Family Mansion.

"The next play is "The Hu Niu Clever to Treat the Confused Magistrate". Please watch the prime minister and all the masters!" A troupe with a loud voice walked onto the stage and introduced to the audience below.

At this time, Xu Jie was sitting in the best viewing position. He maintained a smile like a spring breeze on his face, and was wearing the clothes of ordinary scholars and officials, who looked more like a Confucian scholar.

According to the Ming Dynasty's retirement system: officials above the third rank retire at their current position, and those below the fourth rank can be promoted to the first level of retirement, and those with outstanding performance can be promoted to the second level of retirement.

That's right, although he had stepped down as the Grand Secretary of the Zhongji Palace, he was still the first-rank young master and crown prince master of the Ming Dynasty, enjoying the treatment of the corresponding rank.

Not only will he be invited to participate in official local celebrations or activities, local officials will also perform the etiquette of the officials in a regular manner when they see him, and still have a transcendent position.

In order to show his integrity in the capital, Xu Jie was more cautious about food and drink. However, after returning to Songjiang Mansion, he was extremely picky about these things, as if he wanted to enjoy them even more.

Because I like Songjiang perch's skull marrow, I not only spend a lot of money to buy, but also just eat a little bit of the skull marrow, and I have begun to pursue a luxurious life state.

In addition to the extreme importance of food and drink, it is also inevitable to pursue spiritual food. Drama is undoubtedly the most respected and loved entertainment project of this era.

The wealthy Xu Jie spent a lot of money to invite well-known opera troupes from all over the place. The opera troupes invited this time came from Hangzhou and were known as "the first troupe in Hangzhou".

"Stop!" Xu Jie looked at the drama performance for less than a cup of tea, but suddenly said in a deep voice.

The head of the team was commonplace with this situation, so he hurriedly ran to the stage, first stopped the actors on the stage from continuing to perform, and then asked Xu Jie with a smile on his face, "Prince, I don't know what's not satisfied with it."

?”

The group of old men sitting next to him were relatives of the same generation as Xu Jie. They were just watching it with relish, and when they heard this, they turned their heads curiously to look at Xu Jie, but for some reason Xu Jie wanted to stop this wonderful play.

"Although the plays are all made up, this matter is too inaccurate. How can a little girl have such wisdom? Don't mislead others here, and you will not perform this play to others in the future!" Xu Jie, who was born in the first place.

He immediately scolded him.

As soon as he finished speaking, a female actor on the stage immediately stood up and argued: "Prince, this incident was not made up, it was something that happened to the little woman! It was thanks to Guanqian Bo's rescue back then

Only then can my family survive. If not, my family would have been destroyed by that confused magistrate!"

Huaxia values ​​favorable love, but not only for the reputation of the opera troupe, but also for the image of her benefactor. Even if she has to face a retired prime minister, she has to stand up and argue with reason.

The head of the opera troupe also knew about this and nodded solemnly to Xu Jie to show that they did not make up.

"Rareless, you a low-ranking actor, how could you talk to the prime minister like this!" An old man next to him saw the female actor confronting Xu Jie, and immediately scolded him.

The female actor's eyes choked with tears, but her eyes seemed very firm.

"Haha... there are really everyone in the world. If you can leave Songjiang Mansion, I, Xu Guangnian, will not be named Xu from now on!" Xu Guangnian saw the stubbornness in the female actor's eyes and immediately said harshly.

The troupe saw that, and knelt down to Xu Jie and Xu Guangnian and said, "Prince, Master Xu, this little girl has a stubborn temper and is ignorant. If you have a lot of them, please spare her this time!"

"Haha... it's all a trivial matter! Okay, I'll be here today, I'm exhausted!" Xu Jie waved his hand lightly, then yawned.

this……

The opera troupe looked at Xu Jieyun's calm and gentle appearance, turning his head to look at the hot-tempered old man Xu Guangnian next to him, and couldn't help but swallow and spit secretly.

Xu Guangnian snorted coldly, still staring at the stubborn girl, as if she wanted to write down the girl's appearance under the foundation.

As Xu Jie left, everyone dispersed, but a disaster was quietly buried.

"Master, do you want to say hello to Xu Guangnian? Otherwise, he might really cause a murder!" The butler saw the scene just now and asked with great concern.

Since Hai Rui became the prefect of Songjiang, Hai Rui has especially dared to imprison Xu Ying, but he knows that they have encountered a tough guy. Although Xu Jie has returned to Songjiang Mansion, their Xu clan has also restrained their evil deeds.

If Xu Guangnian really killed the girl according to her previous temper, then Hai Rui would definitely not sit idly by and would definitely do the trick of Xu Guangnian.

Xu Jie took the tea from the maid, but shook his head lightly and said, "It's all a trivial matter, and he won't be able to do this!"

Butler Xu's eyes were still full of worry, but he swallowed the words back when he was at his mouth. Seeing Xu Jie's disapproval, he had to retreat to Xu Jie.

Xu Jie looked at the butler's back as he left, but the corner of his mouth gently raised.

He naturally knew that Xu Guangnian would not give up, and even knew that Xu Guangnian would definitely take revenge, but both in the court and in this big family were inseparable from conspiracies and tricks.

It is not necessarily a good thing for everyone in the family to abide by the law, especially for him, the chief of his family, he will undoubtedly lose his own importance.

Especially when he and his fourth brother Xu Zhi had broken up, he needed to have stronger control over the family so that he could better exclude Xu Zhi's family, who was the Minister of Justice of Nanjing at that time.

The same is true. After returning from the capital, he turned a blind eye to the evil deeds of his children in his clan, and even deliberately indulged them in doing some evil deeds.

Only when the children of this clan cause trouble outside and need their own master to come forward to solve the problem, will the importance of his master be demonstrated.

Especially the ten years of secondary support and the last six years of primary support have made him deeply feel the taste of power, and now he also hopes to continue to touch on power.

He has been in the officialdom for decades, and his disciples and former officials are everywhere. If something happens to his family, he will use his connections to check the "loyalty" of these people.

Xu Jie also knew that he was actually playing with fire, but he believed that with his decades of official wisdom, he could not beat the monster Lin Qingran, and was more than enough to deal with a stubborn Hai Rui.

"Master, Lin Zhongcheng asked for a meeting!" The housekeeper went back and came in to report respectfully.

Xu Jie took a sip of tea lightly, then nodded gently and said, "Take him in!"

"Please pay homage to Mr. Xu!" Lin Run, wearing a fourth-rank official uniform, came in from outside and bowed respectfully to Xu Jie.

Xu Jie put down the teacup, stepped forward and helped Lin Runxu and said, "Ruoyu, please get up quickly!"

"Xie Ge Lao!" Lin Run looked at Xu Jie with his eyes and said very gratefully.

The reason why he was able to take up the throne of Governor Yingtian from a small Nanjing Censorship in a few years was that although he had the political achievements of overthrowing Yan Song, he was mainly due to Xu Jie's support.

After becoming the governor of Yingtian, he arrived in Suzhou with Xu Jie's mission and wanted to find out the joint business group hiding behind the silk merchants, and then helped Xu Jie to defeat Lin Qingran.

However, Suzhou silk merchants united with the United Merchants to form a close community of interests. Not to mention the United Merchants Group, he had long become a "public enemy" in Suzhou City.

Earlier, he could not break the situation with Xu Jie's support. Now that Xu Jie has resigned, he naturally dare not dig deep into the joint business group hiding behind the Suzhou silk merchants.

Although Xu Jie has retired, he is still a first-rank official and has awesome political resources. He also asked gently: "Ruoyu, why are you here this time?"

"Gemaster Xu, didn't you pass the message and ask the officials to come to Songjiang quickly?" Lin Run said in confusion when he heard this question.

Xu Jie glared at his eyes, but said in surprise: "When did I send a message to you?"
Chapter completed!