Fang Yingwu stood in front of the desk, holding a brush in his hand, his eyebrows furrowed. Wang Ying stood beside him, also holding his breath, waiting for his master to write.
Should he write romantic poems that can be sold for money, or should he continue to write poems about the country and the people that hit the streets? Fang Yingwu can’t decide. Nowadays, customers have learned that they must read the poems before paying, and even use poems by victims of disasters to defraud money.
That's impossible.
It's not that he was hesitant because he was greedy for money. It was because the cost of going to the capital was uncertain, and an extra penny would give him a sense of security.
Just as Fang Yingwu was struggling, suddenly Wang Shu's entourage came outside the door and said, "Young Master Fang, my master has asked you to come over."
Fang Yingwu put down his pen and went to Mr. Wang Shu's study. In addition to Wang Shu, there was an old man in the study. He was about seventy years old, but he looked very tough.
Who is this famous person? When Fang Yingwu was thinking about it, the old man introduced himself first, "I am Wang Weidao of Dongshan, the grandfather of the incompetent Wang Quan."
Wang Quan’s grandfather, which also means Tanhua Wang Hao’s grandfather, Fang Yingwu stepped forward to pay homage. I heard that Wang Weidao was also a legendary figure. He had been focusing on the children of the clan to study for decades, and he cultivated Wang Hao.
This is the third flower.
Wang Weidao said to Fang Yingwu: "The unscrupulous descendants are talking nonsense and plagiarizing poems outside, which has brought shame on my family. I feel guilty here."
"The old man is speaking harshly," Fang Yingwu said. After saying a few more words, Wang Weidao left first.
Wang Shu responded to the other party's instructions and said: "Tomorrow I will hold a business gathering in the back garden. I have invited many wealthy and famous people in the house to attend in advance. You will accompany me to attend."
Fang Yingwu was surprised. It turned out that Wang Shu had not bothered to harass him in the past two days. It turned out that he was busy with this matter. This was a big deal!
He guessed: "Does the boss plan to take this opportunity to talk to the gentry and celebrities of this mansion in public about the equal taxation between the government and the people?"
"That's right, I'll talk to them first tomorrow to get a feel for what's going on." Wang Shu admitted, but with a worried look on his face, "But this is not an easy matter, and I guess it's hard to convince them, but we have to give it a try."
He then told Fang Yingwu: "I asked Wang Weidao to help me just now, and he agreed. Later, you can pay a visit to the Wang family to resolve the grudge between you and Wang Quan and give them a step down."
Fang Yingwu immediately thought that the Dongshan Wang family was a well-known big family in the Dongting merchant gang. The Wang family's livelihood was actually half-farming and half-business, so they were far less sensitive than other families about land taxation, so it was understandable that they would agree to help.
But things will not be that simple. The biggest characteristic of any fence-sitting faction is to be defeated by the wind. Fang Yingwu reminded: "The Dongshan Wang family is a local after all. If other families desperately oppose it, the Dongshan Wang family cannot risk the world's disapproval and peace."
The natives sing the opposite opera."
Wang Shu didn't say anything, but waved his hand firmly. Fang Yingwu could see that even with Wang Shu's tough personality, he was under a lot of pressure at this time.
After all, reducing rents on official land rented by poor people, while increasing taxes on private land mostly owned by large households, is a matter of taking food from the big households. Although it is beneficial to most poor people, it will not be labeled as "working with the people".
"Strive for profit" is a big hat, but it also brings great resistance.
But Fang Yingwu thought about it again. Fortunately, it was just a hundred years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the Jiangnan Gang had just emerged in the political arena, and its influence had not yet reached the height of the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty in history.
Otherwise, Fang Yingwu dared to conclude that even if ten kings were here, it would be difficult to recover. The tax issue in Jiangnan at the end of the dynasty was a dead end that no one could solve.
But at this time in the 14th year of Chenghua, the Ming Dynasty had just passed its restless and enthusiastic youth period, and Wu Kuan and Wang Hao, the most promising people in the Susong area, were still raising their heads in the Hanlin Academy;
Gu Dingchen, Mao Cheng, Xu Jie, Shen Shixing, Wang Xijue and other successive big guys have not yet appeared in the world's sight. The Jiangxi Gang, Fujian Gang, and Zhejiang Gang are all more influential than the Jiangnan Gang.
In this era, the biggest impression given to the world by the literati of Suzhou Prefecture was just celebrities and celebrities, which were cultural symbols, rather than political influence. As for the Donglin Party and Fushe, which arose in the south of the Yangtze River and directly affected national policies, they had strong regional colors and vitality.
There is not even a shadow of social groups.
Some things always need people to do it, Fang Yingwu secretly thought, he also wants to be a good young man who cares about the country and the people.
On the next day, the alley in front of the governor's office was bustling with traffic and celebrities gathered together, making it a grand gathering.
After all, the governor's authority became increasingly powerful after the Xuande Dynasty, and he still had great reputation. Those who received invitations would usually come, even if they had to travel a long way from other counties.
The city of Suzhou is famous for its gardens, and the back garden of the governor's residence is an exquisitely constructed garden. This place was used for the "Gongyu Gathering" that Wang Shu called this time.
Excluding the servants, there were about twenty or thirty guests, most of whom were middle-aged or above. Fang Yingwu saw a few familiar faces, such as Zhu Yunming's father-in-law, Mr. Li Yingzhen, Wen Zhengming's father, Mr. Wen Lin, and Mr. Wen Lin, who just yesterday
I know Mr. Wang Weidao.
The rest were strangers in Fang Yingwu's eyes, but he had read the list in advance and knew that in addition to Fucheng, there were also the Wang family in Taicang, the Shen family and the Ye family in Wujiang, Kunshan Guijia, Changshu Weng family, etc.
Representative of the family.
It was indeed a grand gathering. This was a big scene where celebrities gathered in Suzhou. In comparison, the gathering at Wangyuan Tower could only be regarded as a children's nonsense.
Fang Yingwu came in behind Wang Shu. When Mr. Wang entered the garden, he bowed his hands to everyone and sat on the main seat under the shade of a tree.
After everyone returned the courtesy, they sat loosely around the place. An artificial river meandered by, enclosing a small and quiet world here.
As for Fang Yingwu himself, he could only stand behind Wang Shu and act as a waiter. He glanced around and found that there were young people about his age standing behind many guests, and there were even children younger than him.
.
Fang Yingwu immediately speculated that these young men were probably the future stars of the family, and were they brought out specially to see the world? Maybe one of them would be a big celebrity in the future.
For example, the teenage boy next to Wen Lin, Fang Yingwu estimated that there was a 90% chance that he would be Wen Zhengming, one of the four great talents in Jiangnan in the future.
When Fang Yingwu was idle and making random guesses, Wang Shu, as the master, spoke first, "Since I came to Suzhou, I have been busy with many things and have never been idle. All of you are famous sages in the south of the Yangtze River, and I have long admired your name.
I just wish I couldn't get to know Jingjing. Today I finally have half a day's free time. I am lucky enough to invite all of you to meet and enjoy the glory together. It will be a blessing for me to spend the rest of my life."
All the guests were old enough to see each other, so they immediately and loudly said in a tacit understanding: "Thank you, Mr. Zhongcheng, for your hospitality."
Wang Shu turned to the other party and said, "I am old and my mind is slow. Please write a poem on my behalf to welcome the guests."
Fang Yingwu walked around in front of Wang Shu, bowed and said: "I obey your order."
When everyone arrived in Fucheng, they would inevitably visit each other's old friends, and they had all heard about this young man who suddenly became famous in the governor's office. He was said to be the best in Gusu with two lines of broken poetry. His poetry skills were superb, and he was especially highly praised by the female elite.
Today, everyone saw that this man was going to compose a poem in public, and everyone couldn't help but become interested. However, they saw him meditating for a moment, and then recited in public:
"The water passes through several counties in Wusong and weeps. The farmers are suffering the most this spring. The huts are paid by the officials and the taxes are paid. The gravel in the countryside is the ancient river canal. The officials are walking in the microwave to urge renters. The rain makes it difficult to manage the grain carts. The smoke from the kitchens in the north of the house is not rising, and the wealthy families dare to sigh.
No fish.”
There are all well-educated people here, how could they not understand the meaning of this poem, which refers to the recent floods in the northern part of the country. At the end, he habitually sarcastically said, "The rich family dares to sigh that there is no fish to eat." This is a typical poet
Hatred of the rich.
With their self-cultivation, they would not curse and ruin the scenery like the traffickers who spend money to be fashionable. But after hearing this poem, they all knew in their hearts that when Governor Wang summoned them today, he must be preaching about taxation.
They had heard rumors that Governor Wang was going to increase land taxes before, but they were never sure. Today, when the boy next to him came up and lamented the hardship of the victims, it was tantamount to officially starting to criticize them.
Wang Shu seemed to be motionless, but he caught everyone's expressions. After a moment, when no one spoke, he spoke again: "I inspected the disaster area. Wherever I went, most of the people who had lost their families were renting government land.
The poor are really pitiful. If things go on like this, there will probably be more and more such people. If they cannot be content with their jobs, there will naturally be many hidden dangers. I am very worried about this.
The fundamental reason is that the tax on official land is too high. Often half of the income is paid in official rent, and the remaining income is not enough to make ends meet. However, the southeast is the source of national expenditure, and the amount of tax cannot be reduced, so I want to harmonize taxes and increase the amount of private land.
The tax will be collected, and the surplus income will be used to supplement government land and the poor."
Wang Shu just explained his thoughts, and most of the people bowed their heads and responded with silence.
But an old man further away said angrily: "I heard that Taizu was angry with the people of the Soviet Union and attached themselves to Zhang Shicheng, so he punished them with heavy taxes. In this way, the country owes the people of Jiangnan, not the people of Jiangnan owes the country! Even if it is the people's land,
Taxes are already higher than those in other places, so the governor still wants to continue to expropriate them?"
Fang Yingwu couldn't help but sigh in his heart, times are really different, and he dared to say such things publicly. If he had been in the Hongwu and Yongle years, he would not dare to speak like this even if he had ten courages, it would really cost people's lives.
Wang Shu was about to say something, but he saw Fang Yingwu step forward, stand up and shout to the old man: "The old man is extremely ridiculous. Does the old man dare to openly use it as a basis for the rumors of ignorant people in the market?
What kind of place do you think this is? This is not a tea shop or a restaurant, nor is it a street. The people here are not peddlers and lackeys, but gentlemen from the countryside! If you don't want to be on stage, don't open your mouth, otherwise you will only embarrass your fellow guests!
"
Wang Shu, whose sight was blocked, couldn't help but be a little stunned. He never expected that Fang Yingwu was so courageous and dared to stand here and scold others. Although the old man's words were not very good, he was still an old-timer.
Among the other young people in the field who came to see the world, who was not trembling and cautious? In comparison, Fang Yingwu was really special.
The reason is that Mr. Wang Shu is not familiar with Fang Yingwu. Otherwise, if he brought Fang Yingwu to such a large gathering, he would have been mentally prepared to be robbed of the limelight.
Not to mention that Fang Yingwu was detained and suppressed by the cheap grandfather for more than ten days, and he was already holding back his thoughts. (To be continued. Please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!)