"Who says it isn't?"

The county magistrate did not doubt that he was there, but he showed a helpless look. However, it did not cause unnecessary panic. The county magistrate still revealed to Li Yu that the Qing government was urgently urgent for eight hundred miles and issued an order stating that he would dispatch Prince Zheng to assist Li Yu.

When Jidu, the eldest son of Erhalang, led the Eight Banners Army southward, I felt a sense of relief from the people in front of me.

"Hey, Beijing is thousands of miles away from Fujian. Let alone Fujian, let's just talk about Hangzhou. I'm afraid it won't be until next year."

Even so, the county magistrate did not say anything out loud. However, Li Yu was also concerned about the affairs of the Fujian officials Luying. Even though the county magistrate remembered that Li Yu seemed to have some interaction with Feng Junrui, the deputy general of Fuzhou City Guards who had been sent to the Ming Dynasty.

"Don't worry about being banished to the mortal world. Since you have already paid back Thief Feng's share of the money, nothing will happen to you."

It doesn't matter if there is a connection. Li Yu is a scholar, a very famous talent in Lanxi and even Jinhua. Now he is also a very popular figure in Hangzhou.

When I was in the countryside, I made friends with local scholar-bureaucrats, including Li Zhifang, the official of Jinhua Prefecture, Ji Zhenyi, the magistrate of Lanxi County, Zhu Fengtai, the magistrate of Kaihua County, Quzhou Prefecture, and Zhu Zhixi, the young scholar of Zhanshi Prefecture who is now serving in the court.

They all had good friendships. After arriving in Hangzhou, the gentry had good contacts with the governors Xiao Qiyuan and Qin Shizhen, the prefect Zulong, Wen Qizhi, and even other local officials in Hangzhou. It is said that they even connected with the new General Pingnan who replaced Jin Li.

The female relatives of Liu Zhiyuan's family in Gushan'erzhen also liked Li Yu's plays, and they even went to sing in Mancheng Hall half a year ago.

With such a vast acquaintance, if they were really involved, the entire officialdom of Zhejiang would be shaken. What's more, Feng Junrui's servant was far away in Fuzhou, and Li Yu was in Hangzhou. How could he be involved in the rebellion at such a long distance? This originally made no sense.

Da Jia reassured him, and when he saw Li Yu's expression relaxed, the county magistrate seemed to have remembered something: "Moreover, there is no final conclusion yet on the officialdom of Fujian. It's hard to say who is right and who is wrong."

"Aren't those things obvious? How could there be any confusion?"

Li Yu obviously didn't quite understand this, but he didn't say much. This matter was not important to him. He was sure that Feng Junrui would not implicate him. The tension of the past few months finally came to an end, and he suddenly had a flood of thoughts.

I picked up the Hui ink sent by Zhu Fengtai some time ago and started grinding it.

Li Yu was noncommittal, but the county magistrate seemed to be very interested, and immediately pretended to be mysterious and said: "You know, Fujian has been hit by a disaster." His expression seemed to be telling a secret.

"Hmm..." Li Yu continued to study the ink, but the thoughts that had just suddenly dawned on him were all in his mind, and he wanted to write them down on paper right away.

"So, this matter is still hard to say." He said with a sad expression: "Who is right, who is wrong, who is loyal, who is traitor, it is not so easy to decide who is right."

The county magistrate's mood was a bit off. Li Yu put away his eagerness to create and looked at the magistrate again. He was still the same as usual, but his expression was less cynical and more respectful.

The worries of the world's people.

"Well, wasn't Zhejiang also affected by disaster this year?"

This year, 21 counties in Zhejiang including Hangzhou, Ningbo, Jinhua, Quzhou, Taizhou Wufu, Qiantang and Haimenwei have suffered from drought. Governor Qin Shizhen has already gone to the Qing court to request tax exemptions for these counties this year. This matter

, Li Yu heard it from the county magistrate a few days ago, and now he heard that Fujian was hit by a disaster, and he really couldn't figure out the reason.

“Have you heard that Hangzhou’s business tax will not be collected this year?”

"It seems not."

"Have you heard that the Eight Banners garrison stopped operating debt?"

"It doesn't seem to be the case."

Leaning forward, the county magistrate approached Li Yu and looked directly into his eyes: "Because this is Zhejiang and that is Fujian. It's as simple as that."

The county magistrate's words were full of undoubt, and Li Yu subconsciously straightened his back. Looking at it again, he still looked the same as usual, with less cynicism and more concern for the world and people's hearts. It seemed that there was something in it.

The great sense of mission of the saint’s disciples.

"The disaster situation in Fujian is really different from that in Zhejiang." The county magistrate had a resolute face and looked into the distance.

“Just because that’s Fujian?”

"No, to be precise, it's the three prefectures and one prefecture that are adjacent to Zhangzhou Prefecture and Quanzhou Prefecture, as well as Xinghua Prefecture, Yanping Prefecture, Fuzhou Prefecture and Funing Prefecture on the coast."

"Is it just such a coincidence?"

"It's such a coincidence!"

"But aren't Tingzhou Prefecture and Chaozhou Prefecture also bordering it?" Ever since he knew that Chen Jinnan was Chen Kai, Li Yu had learned a lot about the geography of Fujian and Guangdong.

"Exiled to Fan, you are asking questions knowingly!"

"I……"

"Who is the superior officer of the prefect of Tingzhou, and which governor's office controls him?"

"this……"

"Chaozhou Prefecture is the territory of Guangdong. Besides, it has been occupied for many years. Who is holding it now?"

"Well……"

"Let me make it clear, Tingzhou Prefecture is under the jurisdiction of the Nangan Governor's Yamen, and Chaozhou Prefecture is Chen Kai's territory. It is impossible for those two places to be affected by disasters." At this point, the county magistrate paused and gave Li Yu a warning.

Time to think: “So, why are only a few state capitals affected by the disaster?”

"Because of recruiting silver?"

"Wrong, big mistake!" The county magistrate stood up as he slapped the case, his veins bulging out, and he looked like he was about to hit someone: "Tong Fujun said that there are some recruitment banks, but they are all officials from Fujian.

The Green Camp deducted it from their salary, and also persuaded local merchants and the gentry to donate part of it. With these, the commander-in-chief of Jingnan Domain, Xu Degong, was replaced."

"Is this okay?"

"What's wrong!" The county magistrate raised his upper arm: "This world belongs to the emperor, and the Tong family is a relative of the emperor, known as the Tong Banchao. Besides, have you ever heard how much Zhaofuyin there is?"

"How many?" Rumors spread wildly in official circles that Fujian had levied recruitment funds, but no one knew the exact amount. Even someone as well-connected as Li Yu had never heard of it.

"One hundred and six hundred, six hundred, four and three taels and seven cents of silver, which is less than 10,000 taels a month on average!" the county magistrate said impassionedly: "Zheng Envoy Zhou said that Fujian officials did not collect even one penny more of the recruitment silver!"

"Not a penny more?"

"Absolutely not!"

"So?"

"It's all a cover! A cover used to confuse Zheng Ni and Chen Ni!"

"Is it a cover?"

"Being humiliated and bearing heavy burdens, Fujian officials have sacrificed a lot for the imperial court." The county magistrate had a deep expression, thoughtfully, and then said in a persuasive manner: "Exiled to a mortal, just imagine, if the Fujian officials didn't say that they had collected a lot of extra recruitment money,

Can Zheng Shu sit down and talk to the court if he doesn't act greedy and shameless, doesn't let the pirates think they've enriched themselves, and just relaxes?"

"Oh my God!" Li Yu was shocked, shocked by this grand truth. There was silence in the study, and the two looked at each other speechlessly.

"The governor's office is playing a big game of chess." It's still the same as usual, with less cynicism and more concern for the world's people. This time, there is not only the great sense of mission of the saint's disciples, but also the great sense of mission of the saint's disciples.

The brilliance of the wise man shone so brightly that Li Yu could hardly open his eyes.

"Liu Zhijun and Tong Fujun are infinitely close to victory in this war."

"this……"

"Huh, Fuzhou is lost, right?"

"Yes, the provincial capital has been lost..." Li Yu replied subconsciously, and suddenly stopped, suddenly realizing the deep meaning of these words.

"If Fuzhou is lost, then Zheng Ni will definitely move into Fuzhou. But they can't ignore the Guangdong territory, so they can only rely on Chen Kai. During the recruitment earlier, Liu Zhijun and Tong Fujun were already among them.

They created a rift between them. Originally, Zhongzuo Institute and Chaozhou were close to each other, and the two could communicate frequently to eliminate conflicts. Now one is in Guangdong and the other is in Fuzhou, thousands of miles apart. It won’t take long for the Zheng family to be divided!"

"Is this all okay?" Li Yu, who had always been regarded as a genius by others, suddenly felt that his brain was not sufficient. After thinking for a moment, he tentatively said to the county magistrate: "But the city is still lost.

"

"Exiled Fan, do you know how many people were killed or injured by the millions of pirates trying to take down these cities?"

"how many people?"

"Seven or eight out of ten!"

"So much!" Seventy-eight tenths of one million, that is seven or eight hundred thousand. This number is enough to scare Li Yu. He took a deep breath and finally relaxed his spirit, but he didn't know that the county magistrate immediately

Then he asked Li Yu: "Do you know how much the imperial army has lost?"

"How many, how many?"

"Tibiao, Fubiao, Left Road Zhenbiao, Right Road Zhenbiao, as well as the city defense associations of Xinghua Prefecture, Yanping Prefecture and Funing Prefecture all took advantage of the victory and transferred in, with minimal losses. The real sacrifices were those stationed in the counties.

Green Camp, they resolutely completed their mission of defending the city and dying together with the enemy."

At this point, the excited emphasis faded away, and a look of dejection gradually appeared on his face. Then, the county magistrate said sadly: "It is because of the disaster in Fujian that there is not enough food in the local area, otherwise these armies would not be able to take advantage of the victory."

Turn into!"

"Yes, as you mentioned earlier, Fujian was hit by a disaster."

"The disaster in Fujian is not terrible. The terrible thing is that Chaozhou had a bumper harvest last year and this year." Thinking of the sad rumors, the county magistrate murmured: "The disaster in Fujian, the governments of various prefectures and counties tried their best to provide relief, but after all, the food was limited.

, many people simply fled to other places, and even those who didn't ran away, they went up the mountains and fell into the grass to become bandits. However, in the past two years, Chen Kai's man has worked out a method called rice field fish farming in Chaozhou, which has made Chaozhou's local rice acres

The yield exceeds a thousand catties."

In later generations, ordinary rice exceeded 400 kilograms, and super hybrid rice could even exceed the 1,000 kilogram mark. But at this time, even in the Taihu area, which has the most fertile land and is most suitable for rice cultivation, the average rice yield per mu is only 300 kilograms.

Around 1,000 kilograms per mu is a figure that Li Yu can hardly imagine.

"According to Admiral Yang and Mr. Liu, when the pirates attacked the city, they first sacrificed their lives. However, the officers and soldiers were determined to fight and refused to retreat. The corpses of the pirates were everywhere. Originally, it was not unimaginable to defend the city. However,

At this time, Chen Kai's servant brought a large amount of grain from Chaozhou. Knowing that the famine was serious in Fujian, the pirates simply drove the hungry people under the city and deployed red barbarian cannons, first loading gunpowder and then rice. When the cannon was fired, the popcorn flew away.

The sky was rotten for dozens of miles when the wind blew. The hungry people outside the city and the hungry people inside the city saw that the pirates were wasting food so much, so they must have something to eat, so they simply cooperated inside and outside, making it impossible for the officers and soldiers to continue to ensure the defense of the city wall..."

"That's what Admiral Yang said?"

"certainly!"

Using food to undermine the morale of the Qing army, and at the same time diluting the relationship between the military and civilians in Fujian, which was originally "as close as one family", the county magistrate cursed the ungratefulness of the Fujian people, regardless of the morality and friendship that the Qing court and Fujian officials had fostered for many years.

It is really shameless to act as a coward for a tiger.

The people of Fujian turned to serve the Ming army in order to be able to eat. It was shameless in their eyes, but in the final analysis, it was Chen Kai who was full of tricks. Although the Qing army was good at fighting, they had never seen such tactics. What's more, since

Since Chen Kai came out, Pingnan King Shang Kexi, Jingnan King Geng Jimao, former Governor of Zhejiang and Fujian Chen Jin and Fujian Governor Zhang Xuesheng, and even the former Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi Du Yonghe in the Ming Dynasty, so many big figures have been plotted by him——

It's like a race. Winning or losing is not important. What's important is that so many star players can't beat others, so their losses are more justified and deserved.

"I feel sorry for the officials and generals who defended the city. Most of them fought desperately until the city was broken. For example, the magistrate of Fuqing County has a local saying that it is as clear as water and as bright as a mirror. He buys meat once a year to honor his mother, which is called

It was Hai Qingtian who was alive and deeply loved by the people. This time the pirates used unruly people to break the city. The county magistrate knew that he had no fists and no courage, so he simply committed suicide in the county government office to repay the emperor's kindness. Who knew that the pirates came so fast, and he was stunned

I rescued him from hanging until he was unconscious."

"Loyal ministers and righteous men are naturally admired by others. When Wang Xiuqi, the commander of the pirates who attacked Fuqing, heard this, he immediately ran to the county government to persuade him to surrender, and took out the official position of Fuzhou Prefecture magistrate. He said so earnestly that he didn't sleep all night, but you

Knowing what was going on, the magistrate pointed at Wang Xiuqi and cursed, and even rushed to the wall several times to kill him on the spot. Seeing that Wang Xiuqi could not persuade him, but feeling the magistrate's loyalty, he let the magistrate's family go and sent someone to escort them out of Fujian."

According to the county magistrate's narration, the deeds of Fujian's loyal ministers and righteous men were placed in front of Li Yu one by one, and he could only hear him sighing.

Of course, as big as the woods are, there are all kinds of birds, some who fight to the death, some who turn against others like Feng Junrui, and some who even try to exploit the people in the face of such a once-in-a-lifetime disaster in Fujian. Among them,

In Changle County, which is adjacent to Fuqing County, the people there were so angry with the officials in the Green Camp that the Ming army directly dragged them out and executed them after they broke through the city. It is said that even the bones had teeth marks on the bones the day after they were dumped, which shows the resentment among the people.

of boiling.

"Why."

Sighing sincerely, before the county magistrate could continue talking, the door knocked, and the servants rushed to say that my uncle was here, and my wife asked him to return to the house as soon as possible.

"It's time to say goodbye."

The county magistrate covered his face, and Li Yu saw dark tears between his fingers. When he stood up again, his concern for the country and the people, his strong sense of mission, and the brilliance of a wise man were all gone, and his whole person had completely rekindled.

He became the somewhat cynical and henpecked county magistrate whom Li Yu was most familiar with.

"Based on the memorials and newspapers written by those Fujian feudal marshals, I almost forgot that I am actually an official from Zhejiang, not Fujian."

As soon as he said this, the Prime Minister of Qiantang County couldn't help shaking his head and laughing. Li Yu, on the other hand, was stunned at first. Then he figured it out and laughed so hard that he even knocked the ink to the ground without caring.

Go up and take care of it.

After the lady spoke, the county magistrate did not dare to stay for a long time. However, before leaving, he specifically told Li Yu that what he said today should not be passed into the ears of a third person, so as not to offend people unnecessarily. After hearing this, Li Yu also quickly stopped laughing.

I have made the guarantee again and again.

"Since I told you this to Ban Fan, I can trust that you will keep it secret. There is a bit of excess here."

"This is what it should be." After expressing his affirmation, Li Yu went to deliver it in person. However, when he reached the gate, he couldn't help but ask again: "Well, can they pass the test like this?"

"Why not?" With a slight smile, the county magistrate took out a piece of silver from his sleeve, threw it in the air in front of Li Yu, and then took it down: "With this, are you still afraid of not being able to pass the test?"

The county magistrate got on the carriage gracefully and disappeared at the end of the street. In the next few days, Li Yu's mind was always in a mess, and the inspiration that originally came like a tide was gone. The new work "Jade Scratching the Head"

》Not a single word has been changed for several days. It was originally planned to be released during the Chinese New Year, but now it seems that it is no longer possible.

A few days later, Li Yu was walking on the street, intending to seek some inspiration from street life. Unexpectedly, just as he was doing business in the yamen, a group of yamen servants, led by the pian, rushed into a shop and arrested everyone. It is said that

He also wanted to ransack his house. He didn't dare to look at such a mess. Just as he was about to leave, he saw the county magistrate in the restaurant diagonally across the street. He went up to chat with him and found out that it was the governor Qin who suspected that a local businessman had something to do with him.

The Ming army in Fujian colluded, so some merchants who had business dealings with Fujian were brought back to the Yamen for questioning.

After hearing this answer, I followed the gaze of the county magistrate and saw that the yamen guards, who were like jackals and tigers, were tying up the storekeeper and the clerks, affixed a seal on the shop door, and escorted these people towards the yamen.
Chapter completed!