It felt like everything was pretty much arranged, and by mid-April, Qin Dewei was planning to leave for the north.
This time he only stayed in his hometown of Nanjing for more than ten days. It didn't seem like much time, but he was really blessed by God's grace.
You must know that for the vast majority of Ming Dynasty officials, entering the official career meant selling themselves to the emperor, and they could only return to their hometowns if they resigned from office or were dismissed.
Apart from this, there are only three situations. The first is that one has to return home to observe the system after the death of one's parents; the second is that one is passing through one's hometown when going to take office elsewhere; the third is that one is from the capital or Nanjing.
Sometimes, we read in history books that some officials resigned or were dismissed for no apparent reason, and then reappeared two years later. Maybe it was because the person was homesick.
This time Qin Dewei went north, taking Mrs. Gu and his second son Qin Guotai with him, as well as some property.
In the end, I left my eldest son Qin Guozuo in Nanjing, otherwise I was really afraid that my uncle Qin Xiang would not be able to figure it out.
Then before leaving, Qin Dewei told his uncle that the Yuanfeng Bank in Nanjing should focus on stability and not expand for the time being until a new path is opened up in the capital.
In order to be on the safe side and avoid encountering bandits along the way, we borrowed thirty strong officers and soldiers from Wei Guogong to protect us.
In this way, the team going north was well organized, with more than ten ships loaded with people and goods, which was quite worthy of the status of a small powerful official.
According to the old rules, we still start from Longjiang Pass. Qin Dewei has walked back and forth on this waterway several times and is no stranger to it.
However, after setting off, something happened.
Qin Dewei disliked the feeling of being stuffy in the cabin, so he sat on the bow deck and blew in the wind while sipping tea with a small teapot. In front of him was the escort ship opening the way.
Suddenly, Qin Dewei saw a young man with a fifth-grade animal patch on his chest emerging from the boat ahead, waving to him.
"Surprise or not? Surprise or no surprise?" Xu Shi'an and Xu Laosan stood on the boat in front and shouted to Qin Dewei.
Qin Dewei: ""
Xu Shian shouted across the water again: "Third Master, I have never left Nanjing. This time I will personally escort you north to see the world!"
After wandering all the way for two days, he arrived in Yangzhou City and stayed at Shuiyi outside Nanshuiguan. Then Qin Dewei entered the city.
Mr. Feng Enfeng served as the salt censor of the Huaihe River Patrol here. Since he was passing by, he had to pay a visit. Besides, the reform of the salt law was proposed and promoted by Qin Dewei, so he couldn't care less about the actual situation.
However, when Academician Qin came to the Yanxunshi Chaoyuan, he was disappointed. Master Feng was not in the official office.
After Qin Xueshi revealed his identity, the secretary reported: "Master Feng took the lead and personally led the salt men to hunt down the smuggled salt dealers on the Yanyan River in the east."
Qin Dewei was speechless. He was very good, very energetic, and very characteristic of Mr. Feng.
Qin Dewei didn't know how to evaluate the fact that a person at the top of Lianghuai Salt Administration personally led a team to catch illegal salt dealers on the front line.
At three o'clock in the middle of the night, Qin Dewei was sleeping soundly in the luxurious courtyard of the post house when he was suddenly woken up by the night watchman.
A servant of the post station reported in the courtyard: "Master Feng, the salt censor of the Lianghuai River, is here and is waiting in the lobby of the post house!"
Making noise in the middle of the night is what Mr. Feng can do! Qin Dewei had nothing to say, so he forced himself to wake up with cold water, and then got dressed and went out.
Mr. Feng still looks so young, not like a man in his forties at all. The weathered look he accumulated in Liaodong has gradually faded away. He said excitedly: "I heard you were passing by Yangzhou, so I came to visit you overnight!"
Qin Dewei yawned and couldn't help but respond: "If you hadn't met me, you would have been an official up to the sixth rank! It's still complicated!"
The two of them changed to a more private flower hall, and then Mr. Feng took the initiative to talk about the reform of the Salt Law, "Originally, the share of Western merchants has shrunk to 20%, but after the restoration of China and France, the share of Western merchants has now recovered to 60%.
Seventy percent."
"This momentum is very good." Qin Dewei nodded in approval.
The Kaizhong method is to exchange border materials for salt. This is the strength of merchants in border provinces such as Shaanxi and Shanxi. Therefore, the expansion of the share of Western merchants in the salt industry means an increase in border materials.
The expansion of the share of Western merchants from 20% to 60-70% means that grain and other materials worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver are transported to border towns every year. Looking at the whole country, it is equivalent to transfer payments from southeast to northwest.
After announcing the good news, Feng En began to talk about the problem again: "It turns out that private salt dealers were all sporadic small groups, or even individuals worked alone.
But now there are a large number of southern salt merchants who have lost their salt base, and many of them have begun to traffic in private salt, and these people are more violent than the original small private salt traders."
Qin Dewei cannot completely put an end to this phenomenon. Any restructuring will have people whose interests will be harmed.
Qin Dewei could only suggest: "It is better to block the situation than to clear it out. It is better to find a way to give them a way out to reduce future troubles as much as possible."
Mr. Feng asked very skillfully: "What's the plan?"
Qin Dewei said angrily: "You should think more about it yourself, and you don't have to ask me! This time I will only give a general outline. I remember that the marketing salt areas of Lianghuai Salt Industry are South Zhili, Jiangxi, and Huguang.
Each prefecture is considered an area, and is operated exclusively by one or several distributors. Then, those southern salt merchants are gradually turned into lower-level distributors contracting the area, which can be regarded as giving them a way to survive.
It’s up to you to decide the specific regulations, but remember that the government must take the greatest initiative!”
Mr. Feng thought of something and smiled again: "I suddenly felt recently that if you proposed the reform of the Salt Law, you and I would also suffer a great loss!
It turns out that the salt merchants paid silver in Yangzhou, and then they could receive the salt, and then Yangzhou had to send hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to the capital.
For banks, this is actually a huge opportunity, especially since you have always dreamed of connecting the North and the South. As a censor here, I can try my best to help you realize your wish.
Now that the Kaizhong method has been changed back, only supplies from border towns can be exchanged for salt. There is less money circulating here in Yangzhou, and there is no need to send a large amount of money to the court. From the banker's point of view, the benefits are much smaller."
Qin Dewei sighed, as long as the money is enough, the consciousness of the time traveler is so high.
No one in this era can imagine the tragic situation a hundred years from now, let alone the decline of China three or four hundred years from now. Although I don’t know how far I can achieve it, I can save a little bit.
The two hadn't seen each other for a long time, and the conversation lasted until dawn. Then Qin Dewei continued on his way. In fact, he didn't have much time to waste on the road.
There was nothing else going on all the way. When the time just entered mid-May, in the enthusiasm of early summer, Zhan Shi, the young master of Zhan Shifu, Zuo Chunfang bachelor and Hanlin bachelor, and Qin Dewei, the admiral of Siyiguan, returned to the capital.
Xu Miaoxuan, the headmistress of the Qin Mansion in the capital, was particularly excited. After hurriedly helping Gu and Qin Guotai settle down, as soon as it got dark, she took the initiative to drag her husband to bed.
When Xu Xiaodi came back from a trip, he was promoted to the commander of the Jinyi Guards and assisted in the Fusi of Beizhen. He also became the sword-carrying guard in front of the emperor in folk legends. He was called a glorious ancestor, even surpassing his ancestors.
As a sister, Xu Miaoxuan had nothing to repay, so she had no choice but to reward Qin Dewei a few times with her own body.
Qin Dewei couldn't bear this enthusiasm, so he quickly stopped and said: "Wait a minute, wait a minute, I'll find someone to call my little brother over. I'll see him first!"
As a qualified political figure, after returning to the capital, of course, you must first understand the current situation, otherwise you will not be able to sleep peacefully.
Not long after, Xu Miaojing hurried over and reported the recent situation to Qin Dewei.
It turns out that Emperor Jiajing came back a month ago, and went to Changping Dayu Mountain to conduct a survey, and finally determined that the feng shui of Dayu Mountain was really not as good as that of Chengtian Prefecture's Chunde Mountain.
After that, Emperor Jiajing hid in the palace and never appeared again, and the court meetings were suspended.
Xu Miaojing didn't pay much attention to this and said casually: "Your Majesty's dragon body has never been strong. Now he has been working hard for two or three months, so he needs to recuperate."
But after Qin Dewei heard this key information, he knew very well that Emperor Jiajing had finally started the mode of cultivating immortals. I am afraid that cultivating immortals will be his main job in the future, and the emperor will be a side job.
So he shook his head and said, "I'm afraid the story of Chenghua Dynasty will happen again."
Xu Miaojing had already been popularized about what Chenghua Dynasty was like. He said in disbelief: "It's not like this, right?"
If the emperor doesn't go to court and doesn't meet his ministers, then isn't his job as a royal guard just a gimmick?
Although Qin Dewei knew the trend, he could not prove it concretely. He could only let the facts educate Xu Xiaodi, who still had illusions.
As for the motivations and reasons for Emperor Jiajing's turn of events, it is enough to write this paper.
To put it simply, the first is the sense of disillusionment. After the death of his parents, the male emperor was severely hit mentally and felt extremely lonely, and he turned more to religious comfort;
The second was frustration. Emperor Jiajing was a very sensitive person. What he saw and heard along the southern tour was not satisfactory, which gave him the idea that more than ten years of hard work would be wasted. So why bother?
Even if Qin Xueshi consciously wrote dozens of flattering poems for spiritual encouragement, he could not hide the current situation. The current world is not the prosperous age imagined by Emperor Jiajing.
The third is fear. This led to an extreme desire for immortality, and this desire gradually overcame worldly matters and gained the upper hand in the mind of Emperor Jiajing.
Xu Xiaodi continued to report other matters. The most important thing to him was that during the southern tour, the national master Shao Yuanjie died.
After the emperor returned to the capital, Xu Xiaodi's old Taishan Tao Zhongwen was conferred the title of "Shen Xiao, Protector of the Country, Propaganda of Virtue, Zhenfa, Tongzhen, Loyalty, Filial Piety and Bingyi", succeeding the late Shao Yuanjie in charge of Taoist affairs.
In other words, Tao Laodao, Ah Bu, Tao Zhenren officially became the second generation of national preceptors of the Jiajing Dynasty.
Speaking of this, Xu Xiaodi felt more and more that his brother-in-law was wise and powerful. Four years ago, he could see the potential of Tao Zhenren. What kind of vision was this?
Xu Miaojing spoke again: "When His Majesty went to Dayu Mountain for inspection at the beginning of the month, Xia Guizhou, the first assistant, was late for some unknown reason. His Majesty was furious and accused Xia Guizhou of being negligent and rude.
Later, in anger, His Majesty dismissed Xia Guizhou from office and recovered the imperial silver medal. However, after a few days, His Majesty's anger subsided and Xia Guizhou was reinstated.
However, when Xia Guizhou came to thank him for his kindness, his words angered His Majesty again, and he was reprimanded again, and the young master was demoted to the rank of Shaobao."
Qin Dewei had nothing to say about this. This kind of drama will happen frequently in the next few years. I don't know whether Yan Song Gonghuo is involved in it.
In fact, how to deal with the triangular relationship with Xia Yan and Yan Song is a big knowledge.
"By the way, be careful. I heard that Lu Zhanshi has a lot of opinions about you." Xu Miaojing reminded again, "After Zhanshi's mansion was rebuilt, the staff are gradually arriving, and you are the only one who has not returned to your post, which has caused a delay.
Lu Zhan is very unhappy because he can't open a house."
After the big reshuffle, Zhan Shifu shifted from a virtual official position to a real job. It can be said that the house is full of talented people. A large number of scholar elites were selected, many of whom were from other places.
For example, Luo Hongxian, the number one scholar in the eighth year of Jiajing's reign, re-entered the imperial court from his hometown in Jiangxi. Tang Shunzhi, the first scholar in the Huiyuan Dynasty in the eighth year of Jiajing's reign, also re-entered the imperial court from his hometown of Changzhou. There is also Xu Jie, the most famous scholar in the second year of Jiajing's reign, who is more familiar to most people.
In February, the Zhanshi Mansion was reorganized. By April, thirty-five new officials of the Zhanshi Mansion gathered from all directions, and almost all of them were present. The only one who was absent was a certain young man named Zhanshi.
The Prince's East Palace is the foundation of the country, and the reconstruction of the East Palace's official offices is a very important matter for the court. Zhan Shilu of Zhan Shi Mansion planned to hold a grand opening ceremony after everyone gathered.
And let all members of Zhan Shifu attend and get to know each other. After all, this is a completely new government office, and many people are still strangers to each other.
As a result, after waiting and waiting, in the end, only Shao Zhanshi and Zuo Chunfang, a bachelor, had not returned. Moreover, a month had passed since his absence, and the founding meeting of the new Zhanshi Mansion had not yet been held.
If others were absent, Lu Zhan would leave things alone. But the one who was absent was the only second-in-command of Zhan's Mansion, a mascot like Bachelor Zuo Chunfang, and such a special person who was not easy to mess with.
So Lu Zhan couldn't get around it, so the longer he waited, the more annoyed he became.
Upon hearing this, Qin Dewei said helplessly: "Oh, it's all formalism, why bother with so much detail? What are they waiting for me to do! I don't mind!"
Xu Miaojing looked at Qin Dewei again and again, thinking silently in her heart, brother-in-law, you are saying that you don't mind now, but if they really don't wait for you and open the house behind your back, you might get angry again.
Then Xu Miaojing silently gave himself a thumbs up. He felt that he had made some progress again and could actually tell that his brother-in-law didn't mean what he said.
Xu Miaojing still had a lot of news to say, but when he accidentally looked up, he found that his sister was standing at the door and staring at him fiercely.
So Xu Xiaodi immediately stood up and took the initiative to say goodbye: "It's getting late. I'm going back to rest. If my brother-in-law has anything to say, I'll talk to you tomorrow!"
After Qin Dewei watched Xu Xiaodi leave, he said to Xu Miaoxuan: "You go to bed first, I want to go to Xifu to talk to my father and Li Jing.
They should be going to Liaodong soon, I have to hurry up and talk to them, I don’t know how late it will be, you don’t have to wait for me.”
As the saying goes, with greater power comes greater responsibility!
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Chapter completed!