The sunshine in the spring is extraordinarily bright, and the women in the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River are also extraordinarily charming, with soft and gentle voices, no wonder there is Wu Nong's soft saying. Jiangsu is Wu, Zhejiang is Yue, the land of Wu Yue has been rich in beauties since ancient times, such as the four beauties of ancient times known to women and children - Xi Shi, which is the Yue people's clan.

At this time, a huge building ship with a huge hull was flowing down the canal, and a majestic Xuanhuang regimental dragon flag fluttered above the top of the boat. This kind of flag was only allowed to be used by the royal and royal envoys, so the ships passing on the canal saw it from afar and gave way to the waterway.

Xu Jin did not wear an official uniform today, but wore a regular uniform, wearing a square scarf, dressed as a scholar, with red lips and white teeth, handsome and elegant, holding the railing of the building ship with both hands, standing on the deck to enjoy the scenery of the south of the Yangtze River on both sides of the strait, and listening to the boat's fishermen singing like answers.

Xu Jin said goodbye to his wife and children on the tenth day of February, left the capital and rushed to Tongzhou, and on the second day, he led the crowd to board the ship at the Tongzhou wharf, and then went south along the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, after half a month, today, finally entered the territory of Yangzhou Mansion in the south of Zhili, and then arrived at the Yangzhou wharf in half an hour.

is the so-called: waist around 100,000 yuan, riding a crane down Yangzhou. Yangzhou has been a prosperous and prosperous place since ancient times, and it is a paradise for the rich. There is a sentence in the poem of the Tang Dynasty poet Du Mei: The dream of Yangzhou once in ten years won the name of Qinglou Bo Xing. It can be seen that Yangzhou is indeed a good place for drunken gold fans and having fun.

There is a saying in Feng Shui: those who rely on the mountain are expensive, and those who are near the river are rich. The reason why Yangzhou is so prosperous and prosperous is mainly due to its convenient water transportation, which is the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, and the river network and waterways criss-cross the territory.

Of course, the reason why Yangzhou is prosperous is not only the advantage of geographical location, but also the salt industry. Salt was a necessity of life in any dynasty, especially in ancient times, and the salt industry was a lucrative industry that has always been controlled by the state. The Lianghuai region is the largest salt-producing area of the Ming Dynasty, the output accounts for nearly one-third of the entire Ming Dynasty, and the Lianghuai Salt Transit Department is located in Yangzhou, and nearly one million salt introductions (400 catties per introduction) are issued every year. With such a large volume, can Yangzhou not be rich? The wealth of any large salt merchant is probably more than the annual GDP of a medium-sized province.

Because Yangzhou is the intersection of the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, the waterway shipping is very busy, especially in February and March, it is the season when the autumn grain is transported into Beijing, so at this moment the canal is full of ships and merchant ships going back and forth, an endless stream, a busy scene of traffic.

It is worth mentioning here that the tax revenue of the imperial court is divided into summer tax and autumn tax, the summer tax is generally transported into Beijing in seven or eight parts, and the autumn tax is released in February and March of the following year. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the taxes paid by the people were all physical grain, and the loss of long-distance transportation was too great, and the grain chief who was responsible for the liberation was also easy to fill his pockets, so later the tax was changed to the way of converting silver, except for some of the tribute grain areas in the south of the Yangtze River, the rest of the places had to pay silver, which was the so-called "folding color".

Xu Jin held the railing of the boat with both hands, while enjoying the scenery on the canal, while pondering how to open up the situation of Qingzhang land in Zhizhejiang and Zhejiang.

In the capital, Xu Jin opened up the situation through the Zhang family, a relative of the ban, and successfully completed the Qingzhang land, however, to develop the Qingzhang land in Zhizhejiang and Zhejiang, I am afraid it is more difficult than the capital, after all, in the capital can also borrow the power of the little emperor, and the Zhizhejiang region is the emperor of the sky, and the local powerful gentry may not sell Xu Jin's account of the Qincha, Yang Feng Yin violated, and all kinds of obstruction are predictable.

Xu Jin thought quietly, and his thoughts drifted back to the capital unconsciously, and now the battle for the "Great Rites" above the court should be getting more and more intense, right?

In fact, just before Xu Jin left Beijing and went south, the little emperor Zhu Houxi said that he would recall Zhang Xuan and Ji Cao from Nanjing.

Xu Jin didn't want to get involved in the whirlpool of the "Great Rites Discussion", so since the "Great Rites Discussion" war was rekindled, he has been staying out of the matter and watching the fire from the other side. However, as the controversy over the "Great Rites Discussion" heated up, it was impossible for Xu Jin to stay out of the matter all the time, at least the little emperor would be dissatisfied with Xu Jin's lively attitude.

Just when Xu Jin had a headache about how to avoid this situation, the first assistant Yang Ge Lao sent a pair of "pillows", and actually proposed to let Xu Jin patrol the two places in Zhejiang and the governor of Qingzhang land.

Xu Jin naturally couldn't ask for it, sneaked out of Beijing and came back, and the dispute over the Great Rites should have come to an end, so that he could avoid getting involved in the Great Rites Controversy, and without attracting the dissatisfaction of the little emperor, killing two birds with one stone!

At this juncture, Zhu Houxi's kid was originally reluctant to send Xu Jin, a confidant, out of Beijing, but after chatting with Xu Jin privately, he changed his attitude, not only agreed with Xu Jin to patrol Zhejiang and Zhejiang, but also added weight to Xu Jin's errand, in addition to the governor Qingzhang's land, he also inspected coastal defense.

In this way, Xu Jin's power suddenly increased greatly, and it was almost equivalent to holding the military power of the coastal guard. Yang Tinghe naturally understood the little emperor's intention to seize military power, but now he was eager to transfer Xu Jin, a-stirring stick, out of Beijing, so he had no choice but to compromise and draw up a holy decree according to the little emperor's wishes.

"Master, the wind is strong on the bow of the ship, but I don't dare to blow it for too long, so let's go back to the cabin." The maidservant came over in early spring, draped a thin jacket on Xu Jin's shoulder, and persuaded softly.

Xu Jin smiled and said: "It's okay, the wind blows cold, the willow wind is not cold, this sun is shining, where will it catch a cold." You and early summer should also get more sunlight and supplement calcium! ”

Chu Chun asked suspiciously: "Master, what does calcium supplementation mean?" ”

Xu Jin couldn't help but be dumbfounded, glanced back at the little cabbage beside him, and said with a smile: "Calcium...... It's the bones, and the sun makes the bones tougher and taller. ”

Chu Chun seemed to understand oh, this girl is seventeen years old this year, she is not very tall, only to the position of the bridge of Xu Jin's nose, her body is slender and graceful, with fine skin and tender meat, as if she can pinch out the water.

"By the way, how is early summer now?" Xu Jin asked with concern.

Chu Chun replied: "Thank you for your concern, my sister is already well, and she is reading miscellaneous books in bed, that is, the master is used to her, if she had changed her home, she would have been swept out of the house." ”

It is said that the little hoof in the early spring was full of excitement and followed the master to the south by boat, but on the first day, he was seasick, vomited so dark, and it took several days to get used to it.

Xu Jin smiled and said: "That's fine, if you suffer a crime all the way, let her rest for a few days, I don't need her to serve." ”

Chu Chun's eyes were slightly red, he glanced at Xu Jin, and said movingly: "Meeting a master like the master is the greatest happiness in my life in early spring and early summer." ”

Xu Jin smiled and diverted the topic: "By the way, I seem to have heard Xiaowan say that you two sisters are from Zhejiang?" ”

Chu Chun nodded and said, "Yes, sir, we are from Ningbo Mansion, Zhejiang." ”

Xu Jin said with a smile: "No wonder you are so good-looking, Wu Yue has been a beautiful place since ancient times." ”

In the early spring, his face couldn't help but blush, both shy and happy, saying that his sister had been in Xu's mansion for more than two years, and the lord praised himself for being good-looking for the first time.

"Is there anyone else in the house?" Xu Jin asked casually, but as soon as the words came out, he regretted it, he was sold to others as a prostitute since he was a child, and even if there were relatives at home, it was estimated that it would not be good.

Sure enough, Chu Chun's eyes suddenly darkened and said, "It's gone, everyone in the family is dead." ”

Xu Jin said apologetically: "I mentioned your sadness." ”

Chu Chun shook his head and said lightly: "It doesn't matter, many, many years have passed, and I was still young at that time, and I can't even remember what my parents look like." ”

Xu Jin couldn't help feeling pity, stretched out his hand and stroked Yahuan's forehead, and comforted: "When the time comes, the master will take you back to your hometown to look for relatives, and by the way, you will pay tribute to your parents." ”

Chu Chun's eyes turned even redder, and he shook his head and said, "I don't know where my parents are buried, and it is estimated that the village does not exist anymore." ”

Xu Jinjian frowned and asked, "What happened?" ”

Chu Chun replied with tears in his eyes: "Our family is a stove household on the coast of Ningbo Prefecture, and the whole village is a stove household, and they make a living by boiling salt. One day the pirates and pirates came, and these vicious bastards went around killing and plundering, killing the slave's father and taking his mother captive...... Later, he committed suicide by jumping into the sea. The maid and her sister escaped by hiding under a pile of firewood and grass. ”

Xu Jin said in a deep voice: "Then you ...... later"

Chu Chun pursed his lips and said, "Later, a clan uncle sold us to the Qinglou, and then we were bought back by Wei Guogong's housekeeper. ”

Xu Jin couldn't help but sigh secretly: "Then do you hate that clan uncle?" ”

Chu Chun shook his head: "Don't hate, if Uncle Clan didn't sell us to Qinglou at that time, the maid and sister would have starved to death, and Uncle Clan would be able to survive if he took the money, and he could also bury our father and mother in two coffins." ”

Xu Jin sighed lightly in a heavy mood, and spat out two words between his lips: "Wakou!" ”