The new year is finally coming in the crackling and exploding of firecrackers, and the four counties of the north that are shrouded in haze and fear, Zhengyang County is a festive atmosphere up and down, the streets and alleys, dressed in red and green, although it is early in the morning, but on the brightly lit streets, the crowd is still flowing, from time to time there will be stubborn boys who throw a piece of bamboo into the burning fire, the sudden burst of sound often scares the people who are passing by, and then provokes bursts of joyful laughter. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Jeongyang County is lucky. During the years of war in Vietnam, they were basically unaffected. He was the largest granary in Qianyue, and it was also the richest place in Qianyue except for the capital city of Yuejing, and of course, it was also the most heavily defended place. The only time they were affected by the flames of war was a few years ago, when the Shuntian Army annihilated the Tiger Ben army led by Zhang Ning's son, and then invaded Zhengyang County.

However, the Shuntian Army at that time was only to contain the Yue army and not a large-scale invasion, and later with the defeat of the Shuntian army, several counties occupied by the Shuntian army fell into the hands of the Taiping army. It was not until the Taiping army launched a large-scale attack on the Yue Kingdom that Zhengyang County felt the threat of war for the first time.

But this time the war was anticlimactic, and soon disappeared, and the county soldiers under the leadership of Xu Jie, the squire of the imperial court, and the temporarily organized people's army turned against each other in the face of the powerful offensive of the Taiping army, so that Zhengyang County fell into the hands of the Taiping army almost without blood.

For the Xu family in Zhengyang County, this is unfortunate. The first clan in Zhengyang declined, and the Taiping army that occupied Zhengyang County settled accounts after the autumn and confiscated all the family property of the Xu family. For the people of Zhengyang County, this is lucky, because they still did not suffer from the poison of war in the end. The rapid annexation of Zhengyang County has made its economy and people's livelihood basically not suffer much loss.

For Da Mingguo, it is lucky. Because a good Zhengyang County, which has not suffered much loss, will provide a steady stream of food, so that the capital city is as stable as a mountain, and the financial income of the national treasury will not be greatly affected. But for the Ming court, it was also unfortunate. Zhengyang County quickly surrendered, and the old aristocratic gentry turned around and changed their masters, but they were still the handful of people who occupied the top of Zhengyang County. A series of vigorous movements in other places in the Ming Dynasty were still like a small stone seed still entering the sea in Zhengyang County, and there was no sound after a few small bubbles.

For example, the reform of the rule of officials, such as the issuance of new currency.

What the imperial court encountered in Zhengyang County was not overt resistance, but covert obstruction. The officials who were ordered to come to Zhengyang County soon found that no matter how enthusiastic they were, they could not compete with the sticky mud under their feet, and they could not move an inch. The invisible conventions and old customs that have continued for many years in Zhengyang County have worn away the passion of the New Deal little by little, and any decree will become the same as before when it reaches the most ordinary people layer by layer.

It seems that all the laws and regulations have been promulgated, but none of them have been implemented and changed.

The Yue Kingdom perished, and the Ming Dynasty rose. But Zhengyang County is still Zhengyang County, it was that group of people who ruled Zhengyang County before, and now it is still that group of people, of course, their heads have changed. In the past, it was the Xu family, but now it is the Li family.

Li Wei is the head of the largest family in Zhengyang County.

The Li family, who used to be in second place in Zhengyang County, second only to the Xu family, and after this war, Li Wei's battlefield defection brought him rich rewards. The Xu clan fell, and the Li clan took advantage of the situation, and the civilian army he commanded during the war, after the selection, still left 3,000 and was incorporated into the regular field army of the Ming Dynasty, and Li Wei was the commander of this army.

The limelight of the Li family is unique in Zhengyang County.

"Brother Li, this year, it's really shocking, heaven and earth, back and forth, now that I think about it, I still think about it, and if I step into the void, then there will be no return!" Liao Hui sighed and said: "Yesterday, I went to the south of the city, and occasionally saw Xu Jie's farmer, crammed into a leaky room on all sides, and there was not even a single grain of surplus grain at home, let alone the New Year, it is difficult to say whether he can survive this winter." Looking pitiful, I gave them dozens of taels of silver, and Mrs. Xu, who was so arrogant before, cried in front of me, and even kowtowed to me to thank me. Alas, can't see, can't see. ”

"Brother Liao, you have a soft heart." Li Wei pursed his lips, "Xu Jie went against the trend and almost affected us, the Taiping Army wants to make trouble for them, don't get into trouble." ”

Liao Hui smiled: "Brother Li, you have to spare people but spare people, where does the imperial court remember Xu Jie now?" They have come to this point step by step, and your brother is indispensable to help the trouble, I know that the Xu family offended you a lot in the past, but now that they are like this, why bother? ”

Li Wei sneered: "Brother Liao, is this teaching me a lesson?" ”

"No, no, no!" Liao Hui waved his hand again and again, "It's just a casual remark." Now that they've fallen into the mud, there's no need to step on it again, they don't have to get their boots dirty. ”

"Got my boots dirty, I can get another pair!" Li Wei snorted: "The Xu family used to rely on people in the court and oppressed us many times, do you remember the incident when I asked my son to marry the second daughter of his family five years ago?" Haha, that humiliation is something I will never forget. It also made me understand that it is not enough to have money, you must also have power and status. ”

Liao Hui smiled. "That's it. If you have power, you will naturally have money, but if you have money, you may not have power! ”

"I'll go back and find the old lady Xu, aren't they going to survive, hehe, I'll ask them to sell Xu Ruping to my house to make a maid ring, I will definitely give more silver, even if he asks for a thousand taels, I will give it to him."

"Why bother?" Liao Hui's face changed color slightly.

"I just want them to taste the humiliation. What they have given me, I will give them back tenfold and hundredfold. Li Wei laughed: "Brother Liao, for the New Year, what are we talking about these uninteresting things, I came to you today, mainly to discuss a few things with you." ”

"I was looking for you too." Liao Hui said: "The issuance of new coins has been unstoppable, brother, I can't stand this county, this time Su Kairong and his son have made a ranking of counties to promote new coins, Zhengyang County is the first, better than those remote counties, I heard the news, the emperor slapped the table, Thunder was furious, I heard that after the New Year, Daming Bank and the Ministry of Households will send people down." ”

"The people don't like to use it, what can we do?" Li Wei smiled and said, "Brother Liao is worried about this? You've done what you have to do! ”

Liao Hui smiled bitterly and was silent.

"Wang Yueyao of the Commercial Bureau, also sent an official document, she ignored me, but directly found those businesses associated with the Commercial Bureau, you did not come back from the front line before, but they found where I went, Wang Yueyao pressed tightly, saying that if there is no progress, their quota will be reduced next year, and their shares will be diluted. It's a real threat. Liao Hui said.

"Wang Yueyao, a female streamer, is ruthless." Li Wei snorted coldly: "The emperor is really poor and crazy, he actually came up with this idea to plunder our wealth, others don't understand, but I, Li Wei, still understand a little bit, let me exchange real gold and silver for those stacks of colorful paper, it is really unreasonable." ”

"A hard top doesn't seem to be the way to go. There is also the reform of officials, the appointment of officials as officials, and the reform of the system of electing officials, and we will not be able to delay for long. Liao Hui said. After the Chinese New Year, Wang Hou will come to Zhengyang County in person, I don't have the courage to play with this old man, he himself is a master, and no tricks can beat his eyes. ”

"You can slowly get into the bureaucracy, but Brother Liao, you must take the initiative, as long as the people are still those people, Zhengyang County will still be ours. As for the re-election officer, he was elected for the scientific examination, haha, is it possible that those mud legs can still pass the test for the children of our family, the important thing is what to test, Brother Liao, you just need to put your mind to this. ”

"I think so too."

"Actually, none of this is important, the important thing is that we in Zhengyang County should form a group." Li Wei said: "Zhengyang County used to be the first granary of Dayue, and now it is also the first granary of Daming, so to speak, Zhengyang is unstable, then the capital of Yue is bound to be unstable, we have a little cold or something here, and Yuejing must also cough, so even if the court is dissatisfied with us, it is also a rat taboo, dare not mess around, you look at Shunping County, there is a big fart, and as a result, Tian Zhen ran away, caught and caught, killed and injured, we are here, does he dare? But Brother Liao, if we are not united, then we can just wait for someone to cut the flesh little by little, you must make this clear to those people, especially those who are not strong-willed. As long as we work together, not to mention Wang Hou, the emperor is coming, what can we do? ”

"Brother Li is cautious!" Liao Hui waved his hand in a bit of a panic. "Your Majesty's authority is not something we can speculate."

"Hey, in the secret room, you're still afraid that someone won't be able to listen." Levi said disdainfully. "Brother Liao, I am always on the front line, you are stationed in the county, here, you have to withstand it, let it go, let it go, don't let it go at all, take a step back today, and you will have to retreat step by step in the future."

"A hard top is not always the way to go."

"Of course it's not a hard top, there are many ways." Li Wei laughed: "Didn't Su Kairong and his son make such a ranking, why don't you just write to the imperial court and ask them to send someone to supervise this matter, and we will fully cooperate." Let them themselves come to understand and understand the authority of the people of our Zhengyang County. ”

"That's a way to go." Liao Hui's eyes lit up.

"When the time comes, they themselves will return with a feather, can they still say about us?" Levi said proudly.