The clerk of the county government is called Zhang Tong. He is in his thirties. His skin is darkened by the sea breeze because he has been at sea all year round. He is lean and has no flesh, but he seems to be in good spirits.
Chen Qing looked at him and asked with a smile: "Are you Zhang Tong who often goes to Penghu Island?"
"That's right, villain!"
Zhang Tong is a local and speaks an incomprehensible Quanzhou dialect, but since he is a county official after all, he can only speak Mandarin, and his accent sounds a bit awkward.
"When was the last time we visited Penghu Island?" Chen Qing asked again.
Zhang Tong scratched his head, "Half a month ago!"
"Tell me briefly what's going on on the island now."
"It's still the same on the island. The men fish and till the land, the women weave at home, and the children go to school. But lately, I've been a little restless and made a lot of noise. They're all clamoring to come back."
"Why?"
Zhang Tong glanced at the county magistrate and said helplessly: "The magistrate said that he wanted to collect taxes on the island, but the people on the island stopped doing it."
The county magistrate Cai Shouzhi quickly explained: "Since we are people of the Song Dynasty, of course we have to pay taxes. In the past, the government had no burden on the island, so they turned a blind eye without paying taxes. Now there is a school on the island, and every year
There are expenses, and taxes are collected to subsidize these expenses.”
Chen Qing nodded. What the county magistrate said makes sense. There is nothing wrong with taxation. This problem must be solved from a higher level. Relying on local financial subsidies is very unrealistic.
Chen Qing smiled and said: "I won't mention this issue for now. I want to go see the island. I will solve this problem when I get back. Will Magistrate Cai go with me?"
Cai Shouzhi said quickly: "I will accompany you as my subordinate!"
Chen Qing then said to He Jing, the prefect: "As I said just now, officials can choose whether to leave or stay. I will never force it. I will not be here these days, which is just for them to consider. I will reply to you after I return from Penghu Island."
.”
"I understand, I understand!"
Ten large ships of ten thousand stones cut through the waves and sailed in the sea. Although there were slight waves on the sea, the large ships of ten thousand stones sailed very steadily, as if they were flying in the sky.
The horizon was already invisible, and the sun was setting in the west. The red clouds in the western sky made it extraordinarily gorgeous, as if a blazing fire was burning, and it was like a fire phoenix flying across the sky, and the flames on its tail feathers engulfed the entire sky.
Zhao Yingluo stood on the side of the ship, looking at the colors of the sky. Chen Qing came over, put his arm around her shoulders and smiled: "It's very beautiful, isn't it?"
"It's so beautiful!" Zhao Yingluo sighed in a low voice.
"Things that are too beautiful often hide disasters. Just now the boatman said that a storm is coming soon."
"storm?"
Zhao Yingluo was surprised, "What will happen to the storm?"
"I don't know either, I guess it won't be easy."
At night, the gorgeous sunset disappeared, and groups of pitch-black clouds appeared on the horizon. The clouds were mixed with lightning. A strong wind arose on the sea, and the waves were turbulent. Black waves like mountains rushed toward the ship.
The big ship was constantly being engulfed by the waves, and then emerged from the waves. The ten thousand stone ship was like a small beetle in the rough waves, extremely small.
Except for the crew, everyone on the big ship was tortured by the violent turbulence and vomited. Zhao Yingluo fell on the deck, hugged Chen Qing's legs tightly, and buried her head deeply in Chen Qing's arms. Her face turned pale.
Chen Qing sat cross-legged on the floor, firmly grasping the fixed wooden pole with one hand, and used his strong body to fight against the waves. He was never knocked down by the waves. But then he realized why the cabin was empty. There was a heavy object in the cabin.
The collision back and forth in the cabin is too dangerous.
The hull shook violently from side to side, making a terrifying creaking sound, as if the hull was about to be torn apart by huge waves at any time.
But the Fujian Dahai Ship that Chen Qing was riding on was indeed the best sea ship of this era. No matter what kind of stormy waves, it could withstand it.
At the fifth watch, the storm suddenly disappeared, the sea became calm, there was no cloud in the night sky, and the stars filled the sky like bright gems.
Chen Qing held Zhao Yingluo's waist and walked out of the cabin. Looking at the quiet night sky and the sea surface as smooth as satin and sparkling, Zhao Yingluo suddenly cried on Chen Qing's shoulder. She felt like she was coming from hell.
The excitement of returning to the human world.
In the afternoon, Chen Qing accidentally saw county magistrate Zhang Tong talking to an old man on the deck. The old man was called Jia Lun, a teacher at a school on Penghu Island. This time he came to Quanzhou to bring his son, wife and grandchildren.
Go to the island.
Chen Qing stepped forward, Zhang Tong was so frightened that he stood up quickly. Chen Qing waved his hand and motioned for him to sit down, and asked the old man named Jia to sit down as well.
"How were you two last night?" Chen Qingxiao asked.
Zhang Tong smiled bitterly and said: "I'm okay, I got over it. Mr. Jia is a little bit in pain."
Jia Lun shook his head and said with lingering fear: "This is the first time I encountered such a storm, and I was so dizzy that I vomited."
"Have you never encountered one on the island?"
"We encountered it twice on the island last summer, but the problems were not major. This is the first time on the ship."
Next to him, Zhang Tong also said: "Not to mention Mr. Jia, even though I have been walking across the strait for more than ten years, this is the second time I have encountered such a storm. The first time I almost died. This time the boat is not bad, but it is necessary to cross the strait."
It’s safe to ride on this big ship.”
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "I will leave a few large ships to the army later. One of them is specially used as a strait ferry and belongs to the county government."
"That's great. Going back and forth across the strait won't be so painful."
Chen Qing smiled and asked Jia Lun again: "Where is Mr. Jia from? His accent sounds like he is from the Central Plains."
"Xiaomin is from Sizhou, and he was originally a doctor of state studies. In the second year of Jianyan, there was a flood in the Yellow River. I took my whole family and fled south. One of my students was from Quanzhou, so our family fled to Quanzhou. After the student
Introduction, I have been teaching in the county school."
"Then why did you think of teaching in Penghu?" Chen Qing asked with a smile.
Jia Lun smiled and said: "I will tell the truth in front of King Yong. Firstly, the salary given by the county is relatively high, twice that of teaching in the county. Secondly, the county promised to give me a piece of fifty acres."
Farmland, thirdly, I am not a native of Quanzhou, so I teach wherever I go, so I decided to come to Penghu Island and brought my wife with me, but my son refused and wanted to stay in Jinjiang."
"Then why is my son willing to come this time?"
"Old Song, who opened a grocery store in the town, passed away. He was a lonely old man. Before he died, he gave me his grocery store. I took care of his funeral arrangements. My son opened a grocery store in Jinjiang City and started his business.
It wasn’t very good, so a family of four came to take over the grocery store.”
“When opening a grocery store, you need to replenish it frequently!”
"Exactly, so I would like to thank the prince for arranging a large ship of ten thousand stones to facilitate his purchase of goods."
Chen Qing smiled and nodded, then asked: "Are there many Han people on the island? I'm not talking about fishermen, but farmers who make a living by farming."
"Yes! There are quite a few. There are two to three hundred households, and there are hundreds of households on the big island. They all fled from the north. They don't pay taxes on farming in Penghu, so many people have gone to the island, otherwise they would have to cross the river.
There is a risk, and more people will come, but during this time there are rumors that a tax will be imposed, which has caused a lot of noise and people's hearts are unstable. My lord, will there be a tax or not?"
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "Let me explain it to you! As long as Quanzhou is under my control, there will never be any tax on the islands of Penghu."
Jia Lun clasped his hands and said: "If this is the case, it will be a blessing for the people!"