bullyxtreme Chapter 240 Maintaining Stability
Chapter 240 Maintaining Stability
Chapter 240 Maintaining Stability
Staying for lunch means it's definitely not just about eating.
Zheng Yonghe was feeling unwell, so he simply picked up his wine glass, moistened his lips slightly, said a few words casually, and then left the table accompanied by his granddaughter.
After Lao Zheng left, the atmosphere at the table became much more relaxed.
Zheng Fan acted as a go-between, helping Shao Shuyi get to know Xie Qingguang and Ni Guangye.
In the end, perhaps because he was in high spirits from drinking, or for some other reason, Xie Qingguang asked Shao Shuyi if he knew any seafarers. If there weren't many, he would help him cross out their names so that they wouldn't be selected to transport grain when the ships were detained in the winter.
Ni Guangye then spoke about recent developments in officialdom. According to him, the prefect Liu Yesian and the Censor-in-Chief of the Southern Terrace, Han Yuanshan, were old acquaintances and had helped him a lot. Recently, Liu Yesian had also sent more people to Taizhou to protect the safety of the censors, because the situation there was rather delicate.
At this point, Shao Shuyi couldn't help but ask, "May I ask, Mr. Ni, what is the situation in Taizhou?"
Ni Guangye paused, picked up his wine glass, and took a sip.
Zheng Fan, Shao Shuyi, and Xie Qingguang exchanged glances and waited patiently.
After putting down his wine cup, Ni Guangye sighed and said, "As far as I know, the Taizhou Circuit couldn't resist the Censor, so they sent several officials to Cai Luantou's house to invite him into the governor's mansion for questioning. As a result, Cai Luantou closed the door and beat the officials to death on the spot. Afterwards, he packed his valuables, gathered his confidants, took his wife, children, and elderly parents, and fled on a boat."
Shao Shuyi nodded slowly.
Escape for your life? Probably not.
Sure enough, Ni Guangye continued, "Cai Luantou committed the murders in late October. Yesterday, I heard that Cai Luantou was hiding somewhere along the coast, inciting fishermen, salt merchants, and seafarers to join him in an uprising. They robbed an official ship traveling between Hangzhou and Wenzhou, killing more than twenty people. I also heard that he encouraged the seafarers in Wenzhou and Taizhou to ignore the orders of the Grand Canal Administration and send their ships to the designated docks for detention, instead taking weapons and sailing out to sea with him to plunder everywhere."
After saying that, Ni Guangye sighed heavily again and said, "With the grain transport list to be finalized next month, the seafarers in Wenzhou and Taizhou are in chaos. I heard that the seafarers in Qingyuan and Shaoxing are also getting restless. Hangzhou is shocked."
Xie Qingguang sighed upon hearing this, after all, he was also a member of the Caofu (Grand Canal Administration).
Zheng Fan looked on with curiosity. His cousin Zheng Song was a clerk in Qing Shao, and Zheng Guozhen, who was from the third rank, was also trying to get a position as a commander in Qing Shao—or at least a deputy commander.
Shao Shuyi listened intently and immediately asked, "What has the governor or the provincial governor said?"
"I don't know what the Grand Canal Administration is doing," Ni Guangye said. "The provincial and central authorities need to be considered separately. The provincial government is mainly focused on appeasement; although they haven't openly offered amnesty, they've already secretly sent people to Cai the rebel leader, but I don't know if he's received it. As for the Censorate..."
At this point, Ni Guangye sneered and said, "Isn't this whole thing their doing? Wenzhou and Taizhou were peaceful, but they had to investigate the red headbands. Now look what's happened. The Wenzhou and Taizhou Thousand Household Office is in chaos, and there aren't many people in the Qingshao Office handing over their boats. If this chaos continues for months, what will happen to next year's Spring Festival travel rush? If the grain transport boats loaded with taxes are hijacked, it will be a major event that will shock the province and the prefecture."
The Censor-in-Chief, Han Yuanshan, is currently in Hangzhou, in a state of utter chaos, and has given the Supervising Censor, Zhang Ci, a thorough dressing-down.
For some reason, upon hearing this, Shao Shuyi immediately relaxed.
First of all, Cai Luantou, that hot-tempered blockhead, has attracted everyone's attention, so the investigation into the red forehead ribbon has definitely been put on hold and there's no need to worry for a while.
Secondly, he also gleaned an important message from Ni Guangye's words: the court's overall policy can be summed up in two words: maintaining stability.
Yes, the Yuan Dynasty has entered an era of maintaining stability—or perhaps it was just about maintaining stability before, but now it has reached its climax.
Spring has arrived for local powerful families, as stability is a key performance indicator for local officials, as determined by the imperial court. This is especially true in the financially vital Jiangnan region, where "stability is paramount," "steady progress," "steady improvement," and "progress within stability" are crucial.
Cai's chaotic behavior served as a reminder to the officials that some people really don't think things through and will "rebel passionately." He might very well be robbing the grain transport boats now. What will you do?
Even if they didn't rob the grain transport ships, they couldn't afford to rob merchant ships and salt ships. Wenzhou had a Maritime Trade Office, and Hangzhou had a large salt warehouse; these were very important sources of revenue for the imperial court. Now that they were threatened, who would take responsibility?
This situation is truly a comfort zone for local tyrants; they're too comfortable.
"If Cai the rebel refuses to surrender, we still have to wipe him out," Xie Qingguang sighed, then said, "We might have to deploy the navy. If all else fails, we can send those who follow Cai the rebels home. These people won't listen to advice, but their families will."
"I'm afraid that if it drags on for too long, it will disrupt the Spring Festival travel rush, which would be a real problem," Zheng Fan said from the side.
Ni Guangye nodded, then looked at Shao Shuyi and said, "There are rumors in the prefecture that you have committed many illegal acts when transporting goods. I thought about it carefully and realized it was slander. So I told the prefect, but Lord Liu wouldn't listen. I then explained the situation to the Darughachi, and Lord Buhua brought the prefect to reprimand him. The matter was then dropped."
Upon hearing this, Shao Shuyi immediately stood up to express his gratitude.
Ni Guangye waved his hand and said, "Taicang and Liujiagang are too important. We must not allow any chaos to occur. Some people just like to stir up trouble out of nothing. They don't understand the big picture and the overall situation."
Shao Shuyi agreed repeatedly, while secretly laughing to himself. If it had been two years later, Zhou Ziliang might not have died. It was truly a matter of timing and fate.
The situation changes step by step, people's ideas change little by little, and the court's policies change little by little.
If you miss the boat, you die; if you catch it, you thrive.
Perhaps feeling that the topic was too heavy, the group quickly stopped talking about it and instead began discussing the matter of acquiring servants, maids, and even concubines from among the refugees.
Xie Qingguang said he had just bought several children, all around five or six years old, for five strings of cash each. However, within a few months of bringing them home, two of them died of illness one after another, which made him so angry that he went to find the guarantor.
The guarantor, however, said that the contract stipulated a guarantee period of only one hundred days, and since this had exceeded one hundred days, he would not bear any responsibility. He even mocked him, saying that a child costing five strings of cash was nothing, that one could buy anywhere, and that he was acting like a poor man, haggling over every penny.
Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.
Shao Shuyi seemed to be deep in thought. Children's things are so cheap? Only five strings of cash!
In times of chaos, human life is truly cheap. What has become of those places in Henan and Jiangbei? If things continue to develop, won't it lead to cannibalism—perhaps this has already happened, albeit on a small scale.
Ni Guangye said he had just had a banquet at his subordinate's house.
When a subordinate was getting married, the in-laws came and presented the betrothal gifts, which included "one hundred taels of silver (real silver, not paper money)," "ten taels of colored silk," "eight pearl rings," "a head full of pearls and jade," "a gold-embroidered gemstone headdress," "a pearl phoenix crown," and "ten sheep and ten bottles of wine," among other things. They remarked that there were still many wealthy people in Liujiagang. It was just a minor official getting married, yet he received so much betrothal money. Yes, betrothal gifts were taxed in the Yuan Dynasty, and the taxes were quite substantial.
Upon hearing this, Shao Shuyi immediately took it personally.
Damn it, if we didn't smuggle some salt, we wouldn't even be able to afford the bride price!
The imperial court had clearly set limits on betrothal gifts. The maximum betrothal gift for upper-class families was only one tael of gold, five taels of silver, six bolts of colored satin, and forty bolts of miscellaneous silk. The maximum betrothal gift for middle-class families was about 80% of this, and for lower-class families it was 60%. The court also encouraged that "the groom's family should take the lead, and those who wish to reduce the amount are welcome"—of course, Mongols and Semu people "followed their own customs."
If the bride price exceeds this limit, it can be recovered through a lawsuit after the marriage. However, it's hard to say exactly how many people do this. Shao Shuyi has never seen it happen, but he has heard of it.
Zheng Fan then mentioned that he had just bought two fine horses —
The banquet did not end until early afternoon.
When Shao Shuyi passed by Ganzeyuan on his way out, he inexplicably slowed down, moving at a pace barely faster than a snail.
Sure enough, a moment later, Shiliu suddenly appeared. Seeing that no one was around, she handed over a letter and said, "Shao She, my wife said she has asked you for help many times and feels really bad about it, but she doesn't have much money. She can only give you this. Take it to a pawn shop and pawn it as a small reward."
After saying that, he handed over something.
Shao Shuyi took a look and discovered that it was actually an armlet, also known as a gold armlet.
He didn't know her before, but when he spent the night with Madam Liu, she would sometimes complain that the gold armband he had wrapped around her arm had been flattened when he woke up, and that's how they met.
"You really want to give this to me? It's worth quite a bit of money at a pawn shop." Shao Shuyi had originally intended to say he didn't need the money, but he subconsciously took it and asked with a smile.
Shi Liu nodded, hesitated, and finally just sighed, giving Shao Shuyi a glare.
Shao Shuyi laughed and said, "Go back and tell my wife that I will make a trip to Jiangxi after the New Year. No matter how difficult it is, I will make a trip to Anlu to help my wife find out something."
"Really?" Shi Liu asked, somewhat surprised.
"Really. I would lie to anyone else, but not to her," Shao Shuyi said with a smile.
Shi Liu nodded happily, then asked, "Do you always wear that bronze mirror?"
Shao Shuyi took out a red rope from under his neck, with a bronze mirror tied to the end of the rope.
Shi Liu took a closer look and, after realizing it was a gift from Madam Zheng, felt relieved. She then said, "You should leave quickly, so no one finds out."
Shao Shuyi grunted in response, waved to Shi Liu, and left as if nothing had happened.