If "smuggling the talker" was not a task sent by Qin Dewei, Yan Shifan would still be willing to engage in such a black-and-white thing given his character.
But rationally, he told himself, what good intentions could Qin Zhongtang have? So Yan Shifan resisted this task.
However, as a "subordinate", Yan Shifan did not dare to refuse directly, so he asked righteously and sternly: "With the respect of Zhongtang, why do you want to engage in smuggling? Don't you even want your reputation?"
Qin Dewei responded with a smile: "It was you Yan Shifan who smuggled it, what does it have to do with my reputation?"
Damn it! Yan Shifan forced himself to calm down and asked again: "Zhongtang should make it clear, what is his intention?" Qin Zhongtang replied confidently: "Of course it is to make money!"
Yan Shifan felt like a loyal person and persuaded him earnestly: "Zhongtang, you are not short of money, so why are you so greedy? What's the use of money?"
Qin Dewei looked at Yan Shifan as if he was a fool, "Of course there are many uses for money! Don't you need money to fight against Japan? No money to train new soldiers? No money to reorganize the coastal defense line? No money to build new warships to consolidate the sea frontier?"
Yan Shifan had nothing to say about this. He also knew very well what the state treasury had been like in the past two years. It had been squandered by Emperor Jiajing and had begun to bottom out. He only talked about how much it would cost each year to build a large-scale construction project in Xiyuan and build an earthly fairyland.
?
If Emperor Jiajing is in a coma, who feels the most unhappy? Wang Yiqi, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, must be one of them. At least he no longer has to deal with the bottomless pit!
Therefore, the state treasury will definitely not be able to come up with the huge funds required by Qin Zhongtang to rebuild order on the southeastern coast, so he can only find ways to raise it himself.
Most officials would scrape the land or cut off the flesh of wealthy businessmen, but Qin Zhongtang thought about using his power to engage in smuggling, which was a very clear idea.
Yan Shifan still couldn't help but said: "If Zhongtang wants to imitate Guanzi and make money, just follow suit, but don't lead the subordinates astray! What benefit can doing this kind of thing do to the subordinates?"
Qin Dewei said in surprise: "Don't tell me, you Yan Shifan can't even enrich your own pockets? I sent you to represent the shogunate to handle the smuggling business, and you can also make some money yourself. How can I say it's not good for you?"
Yan Shifan looked up to the sky and laughed, "You, Qin Zhongtang, have made a good calculation! The smuggling proceeds have been put into the public accounts and used by you for official business. Even if someone questions you in the future, you will have room for defense!"
And all the money I get from filling my own pocket belongs to my private account. When I am fattened up, you, Qin Zhongtang, can just kill me and take away the money from my private account, and finally gain both fame and fortune!"
It's not like Yan Shifan has never done anything like slaughtering fat sheep. How could he be fooled by you, Qin Zhongtang?
Qin Dewei seemed to hate iron and said: "You are really delusional about being persecuted. I don't know who turned you into this! You did this kind of thing as an official of the shogunate. If you are punished for this, wouldn't you?
Will it implicate the shogunate?
If you think about it again, you have the opportunity to enrich your own pockets and can regularly send money to your father or your hometown! Can others still recover it?
By the way, it is recommended to use Yuan Feng Bank's money order service! You can deposit money at Yuan Feng in the southeast, and after receiving instructions from the capital, you can issue a bank note to your father."
Yan Shifan suddenly felt that there was still something going on in this matter!
Although the resistance from the local wealthy families must be great, Qin Zhongtang's power is not a vegetarian, and Qin Dewei must have a way to deal with the local wealthy families! This is called fighting fire with fire!
After he has mastered the smuggling channels, he can then seek a way out and gradually leave the shogunate! At least his father is the elder in the ruling cabinet and can protect him! After making up his mind, Yan Shifan decided to be more reserved so that he could get more from Qin Zhongtang.
Key conditions.
Yan Shifan is not boasting, Qin Zhongtang may have many party members, but there are really not many who can do dirty work and are willing to do dirty work! Qin Dewei has always established an honest and pragmatic persona, so most of the party members are positive and cherish their feathers.
Therefore, Qin Zhongtang has to use Yan Shifan to some extent! As long as he masters this point, it is not impossible to give Qin Zhongtang a little control.
After coughing, Yan Shifan said slowly: "Although smuggling is an extraordinary act to raise money, not everyone can understand it.
Asking a subordinate to do smuggling would harm his reputation if word spread about it. The character of the subordinate is not suitable for enduring humiliation and bearing the burden..."
Qin Zhongtang shook his head, "I heard that you, Yan Shifan, had already trafficked several pieces of silk to Ningbo Prefecture. Your attempt to smuggle it to the sea failed, but instead you had conflicts with the local people, which eventually led to a fire involving 200 to 300 people?"
Yan Shifan said angrily: "Everyone knows that those are the goods of the shogunate!"
Qin Zhongtang said: "But Mr. Tu Ren, who came from Ningbo to see me, insisted that it was your Yan Shifan's goods. I guess the locals would think so, right?"
As expected, he became the cannon fodder who might be pushed out to take the blame. Yan Shifan sighed resignedly, "Actually, I can bear the humiliation and bear the burden without making any conditions!"
It’s okay if so many aristocratic families are smuggling, so what will happen if you engage in smuggling yourself?
Qin Dewei secretly laughed and asked Yan Shifan to engage in smuggling, not only to raise funds, but also to achieve the political goal of killing two birds with one stone. With the current situation along the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian, it is completely impossible to completely eradicate smuggling without officially opening up the sea.
The main reason is that the participation rate of the coastal people is too high, which means that it is difficult for the law to blame everyone. We cannot punish all the people. Those aristocratic families dare to smuggle semi-openly, and the imperial government can do nothing about it, so it is not a coercion.
The will of the people? Even Qin Zhongtang cannot go against the opinions of the people, so after thinking about it again and again, he can only fight fire with fire.
Follow other people's paths and leave others with no way to go! Isn't it just smuggling? What the local wealthy people can do, the shogunate can do just as well and even better!
Seizing the share of the smuggling trade from the hands of wealthy families can not only attack the wealthy families, but it does not affect the livelihood of the people who seek the sea. Yan Shifan is a suitable person to be pushed out to do such bad things, and it can be regarded as another way of fighting fire with fire.
Qin Zhongtang's boat continued on from Cixi County and entered Yin County. Yin County is the seat of Ningbo Prefecture, and Ningbo City is also the county seat of Yin County.
According to official rules, when a big boss like Qin Zhongtang enters Yinxian County, all prominent officials in Ningbo City must go to the county border to greet him, as well as representatives of local gentry.
Qin Zhongtang was already a little tired of this set of welcome and drop-off procedures.
The main reason is that Qin Zhongtang's status is too high and spans a wide range of borders. Almost all officials wherever he goes have to come to visit him, and the number of social interactions is far more than that of ordinary officials. Whenever he is forced to open business, he often meets with dozens of officials who have no interest in him.
When using A Mao A Dog, Qin Zhongtang thought, no wonder so many officials here like to visit privately incognito. This also has a realistic psychological basis.
Qin Zhongtang's eyes passed over Shen Kai, the prefect of Ningbo Prefecture, Liu Jie, the commander of the Ningbo Guards, Feng Mou, the doctor of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Shipping Secretary, and Hu Mou, the censor of the patrol, and suddenly found a special person in the crowd behind him. .
"Monk Ceyan! Why are you here?" Qin Zhongtang lowered his face and shouted.
The monk Ceyan who was named by Qin Zhongtang was Ceyan Zhouliang. This year he was the chief envoy of the Japanese Tribute Corps. He was the deputy envoy last time and got to know Qin Dewei, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Since Ceyan Zhouliang arrived in Ningbo, due to various reasons, firstly, the nine tribute ships did not comply with the regulations and became Japanese pirates, and secondly, Emperor Jiajing was in a coma, so Ceyan Zhouliang has been stranded in Ningbo.
Now that he heard Qin Zhongtang's unceremonious roll call, Ceyan Zhou Liang quickly came out of the crowd to pay homage.
Qin Zhongtang sternly reprimanded: "Last year, in consideration of your country's request, I sent out some more surveys. Originally, I thought that your country could get more artifacts from the Ming Dynasty, so as to express gratitude to the great Ming Dynasty for its kindness!
Unexpectedly, there were actually three batches of nine ships, pretending to pay tribute, but they went across the sea to become bandits! How did you become an envoy? Is your Japanese country so ungrateful?"
Hearing this sentence, the local squires glared at Ceyan Zhouliang angrily. If it weren't for the Japanese rebellion, Qin Zhongtang would not have come to Zhejiang! Nine tribute ships with more than a thousand people turned into Japanese pirates, causing the largest Japanese rebellion in recent years. Nowadays, they are still looting in the Fujian area.
When the court investigated the responsibility, it was Qin Zhongtang who advocated expanding trade with Japan, so Qin Zhongtang was forced to personally deal with the situation. This was the direct trigger for Qin Zhongtang to come to the southeast!
Ce Yan and Zhou Liang hurriedly explained, and the general interpreter beside him said: "I have other reasons as well. There are too many explorations and cooperation, so it is inevitable
A mixed bag of good and bad things.
I am called the envoy, but in fact I cannot control each batch of tribute ships at all. Those three batches of nine ships are all Satsuma..."
"No need to say it!" Qin Zhongtang interrupted Ceyan Zhouliang's explanation, waved his hand and said: "I don't have time to deal with you today, you go down first! Go back to the post house to think about your mistakes behind closed doors, and wait until I have time to ask!"
Ceyan and Zhou Liang sighed helplessly, turned and left.
After that, other people of all kinds came forward to see Qin Zhongtang in turn. Among the local gentry, the leader was an old man in his seventies. Qin Zhongtang frowned. With his rich fighting experience, he saw the age of this old man. , you will know that the person who comes is not good.
In the social customs of this era, respecting the elderly was also a core etiquette. For example, in rural disputes, the oldest person often stepped in to mediate, hence the term "relying on the elderly and selling the elderly".
It is customary for local officials to treat local elderly people with some dignity and not to be too harsh.
The representatives of the gentry who came out to greet the officials were usually the backbone of the force, and it was rare for such people in their seventies to come out to make trouble. So when Qin Zhongtang saw this old man in his seventies, he immediately sounded the alarm in his heart.
To put it bluntly, even if this 70-year-old man did nothing and fell directly in front of him, it would still be unclear if word got out!
As the "landlord", Magistrate Shen introduced him to the side. The old man's surname was Yang Meihuang. He was a retired official who had also reached the fourth rank. Just by listening to his surname, he knew that this old man Yang Meihuang must be one of the four major families. The "famous guest" of the Yang family.
The Yang family has been the head of the four major families in Ningbo City since the Chenghua Dynasty.
Because at that time, the Yang family produced a "record" that shocked the past and the present. Brothers of the same generation produced five Jinshi, known as "five Jinshi in one discipline". It was also extremely exciting at the time, and then the Yang family became the head of the four major families. .
Mr. Yang Meihuang's grandfather was one of the "Five Jinshis", and his father was also a Jinshi and an official. It can be said that it is a family of officials, with hairpins from generation to generation.
Such a person is considered highly respected in the local area and is one of the most famous people among the country squires, so appearing here can be said to represent the local people.
Qin Dewei actually didn't want to talk to this so-called local sage and wanted to leave after saying hello politely.
But Mr. Yang took the initiative to talk and said: "I heard that my old friend Tu Ren went to visit Zhongtang. I wonder where he is? Why didn't he come back? There is no news at all, which makes me worried."
Qin Dewei replied without changing his expression: "Mr. Tu has a lot of insights into the Forbidden Sea and wants to provide suggestions for this center, so he invited him to go to the shogunate in Hangzhou to write a detailed statement for me to observe and learn from."
Yang Meihuang definitely didn't think this was true, but there was no evidence to prove it, so she asked again: "Zhongtang suddenly visited Ningbo Mansion, why did he come?"
Qin Dewei replied: "I heard that two hundred Japanese pirates invaded outside Ningbo City, injured people and set fires. Is it a small matter? I personally came to inspect the place to stabilize the place!"
Yang Meihuang advised in a more subtle way: "Although there have been some disturbances in Sanjiangkou a few days ago, it was actually all about the business of thousands of pieces of silk.
I believe that only by being friendly can you make money, and making a big show of it is not a long-term solution."
Qin Dewei asked in surprise: "Is it possible that the old man thought that this hall was here for thousands of pieces of silk?" Mr. Yang also wanted to ask a question, didn't he?
He responded in a neutral tone: "There are a lot of people in Qin Zhongtang, and military and national affairs are important. Don't be like peddlers and pawns, running around for a few bolts of silk."
You Qin Dewei obviously wanted to make money through smuggling, but you made things worse by not following the rules! The best way for you Qin Dewei now is to keep things quiet!
Smuggling is something you can do or not say. Qin Dewei is the worst behavior if you keep arguing about it!
Even if you, Qin Dewei, have ulterior motives for coming to Ningbo, using the excuse of being blocked from smuggling will not be good for your Qin Dewei's reputation.
Qin Zhongtang sighed to everyone: "Actually, the silk doesn't matter, it's just some goods! If it's gone, it's gone. Money is an external thing, and I never value it."
I don’t know what other people think, but it’s stuck in the middle and muddy
Magistrate Shen breathed a sigh of relief. It seems that Qin Zhongtang also wants to smooth things over?
In fact, it is best to keep things quiet. If this matter gets too big, it will be of no benefit to anyone. Does it mean that you, Qin Zhongtang, have made such a fuss over thousands of pieces of silk that you will be embarrassed?
Mr. Yang was slightly proud of himself, twirling his beard a few times, and was just about to say a few more words.
But Qin Zhongtang's face suddenly became angry, and he said angrily: "What makes me angry is that an official ship was burned! Your Yaxing at Sanjiangkou in Ningbo Prefecture actually
How dare you be so bold as to burn the official ship of my shogunate if you disagree with me!
This matter is of a very bad nature and must be investigated to the end! If you dare to burn the official ship carrying cargo this time, you will dare to burn the main ship next time!" Mr. Yang: "..."
In terms of shamelessness, he, an old man in his seventies, actually lost to a young man in his twenties!
Qin Dewei looked around, "There is a shogunate officer following the official ship named Xu Weixue. Where is he? I want to ask questions!" Prefect Shen reported: "The incident happened suddenly and he was temporarily detained."
Qin Dewei asked coldly, "Who detained it?" Magistrate Shen looked at Ningbo Guard Commander Liu Jie.
Everyone intuitively felt that Qin Zhongtang really came here with bad intentions, and he just took turns to fuck him one by one. This chapter has been completed!
