I

Hukou.

Just as the merchant ship docked, Xu Nianzu and others got out of the cabin to breathe, when suddenly there was a crackling sound from the pier.

Then the gongs and drums sounded, and the suona blew joyful music.

Really, gongs and drums are loud, firecrackers are blasting!

But seeing a Confucian scholar get off the boat, eight people carrying blue woolen sedan chairs stopped firmly beside him.

Many gentry came to greet him, and a master of ceremonies shouted: "Mr. Lu, please get on the sedan chair!"

The Confucian student surnamed Lu couldn't laugh or cry, and waved his hands again and again: "No need, no need, I'm here to be a teacher."

A gentry stepped forward and said, "Without Mr. Lu, the Hukou County Middle School would not have been established. Mr. Lu is my great benefactor in Hukou County. Please don't refuse and go to the school in a sedan chair."

The Confucian scholar still wanted to decline, but a group of gentry rushed forward, surrounded him and pushed him into the sedan chair.

Standing on the boat, Xu Fengcai asked in bewilderment, "Where is this great Confucian man who enters the city in eight blue sedan chairs?"

"Hahaha," Li Fenglai couldn't help laughing, "Look at the badge on his chest, you can tell he belongs to the Mathematics Society. Daxing Culture and Education in the main town, no matter boys or girls, have to go to elementary school for three years. Above elementary school, there is middle school. Many states and counties have not yet set up. There must be mathematics and geometry teachers before new middle schools can be established. This person must have been invited to teach mathematics and geometry.”

"Jiangxi pays so much attention to mathematics and geometry?" Xu Fengcai was shocked.

Li Fenglai said: "The general town attaches great importance to it, and the gentry naturally attaches great importance to it. In the future, I am afraid that these exams will also be taken in the exams to obtain scholars. All states and counties are secretly competing. Opening a middle school a year earlier can produce many more students. Go first."

Xu Nianzu asked: "How many middle schools are there in Jiangxi?"

"More than ten, maybe twenty, and many more are added every year." Li Fenglai replied.

Liu Rushi suddenly asked: "If the county has set up a middle school, will the previous county school be abandoned?"

"Of course not," Li Fenglai explained, "directly change the county school to the county middle school, and still have to learn the Four Books and Five Classics, and add courses such as mathematics, geometry, and Datong."

"I see. Mr. Zhao really advocates practical learning." Xu Fengcai said happily.

After a little replenishment, the merchant ship entered Poyang Lake and took them to Ji'an Mansion.

The Confucian student surnamed Lu was also sent into the city by eight sedan chairs.

Outside the city, inn.

Xu Du, Xu Jiaying, Zhou Gui, Wang He, Ding Ruzhang and more than a dozen scholars watched the sedan chair enter the city silently.

Suddenly, they closed the window.

Xu Du said: "Let's make a decision, who doesn't want to make trouble?"

No one said anything.

Xu Du asked again: "Who wants to start trouble?"

All stand up.

Ding Ruzhang said: "The emperor is stupid, and the court is immoral. There have been catastrophes in Zhejiang for several years, and now they have increased their salaries. This year and next two years, it will be a tragic situation of cannibalism again. This Mr. Zhao has not come to Zhejiang for a long time. Then we Just take down Zhejiang and send him the territory!"

"I have been in Jiangxi for three months to observe the government," Wang He said. "If the Jiangxi government can be carried out in Zhejiang, tens of millions of starving people will be saved!"

Xu Jiaying smiled and said, "Your family has a lot of property."

"After returning to my hometown, divide my land first!"

Wang He clenched his fists tightly: "The elders of the family are all ruthless and ungrateful. When the time comes, I will need your help. Anyone in my family who dares to obstruct the distribution of the land will be arrested and placed under house arrest."

"good!"

Xu Du slapped the table and said, "I will lead the soldiers to divide your land, and you lead the soldiers to divide mine!"

Zhou Gui also stood up: "My family doesn't have a few acres of land, so it doesn't matter whether we divide it or not. If anyone else refuses to do it, I will lead soldiers to help his family divide the land."

Ding Ruzhang said: "There is no need to rush to divide the land. Let's fight all the way from Dongyang, Yiwu, and Jinhua to Jiangshan County. After the territory borders Jiangxi, immediately ask Mr. Zhao to send people to Zhejiang. Send troops quickly, so that the government cannot react in time!"

"Alright." Xu Du nodded.

Wang He said: "Let's make an alliance!"

More than a dozen scholars from Zhejiang took out the statue of Guan Gong, cut their palms, and made a blood oath.

Guan Gong, the god of imperial examinations.

This thing originated from the Wanli period, when Xinke Jinshi assigned work. Due to the serious phenomenon of favoritism and fraud, the Ministry of Officials switched to the method of drawing lots.

The Ministry of Officials specially produced a "Guanhou Sign" to mark the location, size, simplified and traditional, etc. After the Xinke Jinshi draws lots, according to the content of the draw, they will be assigned to a certain place to be a county magistrate.

It's bullshit, but fair.

It's a pity that after a few years of unfairness, they began to cheat openly.

Guanhou's lottery is made of different lengths, thicknesses and thicknesses. As long as you bribe the officials of the official department, you can know in advance which lottery you draw is the best fat job.

Because officials assigned officials to sign with Guan Hou, Guan Gong gradually became the god of imperial examinations, and scholars often went to worship at Guandi Temple before the scientific examination.

Too much business, Guan Gong is very busy.

Xu Du and others went to Nanjing by boat to meet the local swordsman. Then he went to Hangzhou to pay a visit to Xu Ying, explaining that he was about to start an incident, and asked Jiangxi to respond as soon as possible.

Then, they lobbied Fushe's various branches in Zhejiang.

Xu Du has a wide range of friends, and within ten months, he actually persuaded hundreds of scholars to join the group. Even the children of rich families dare not report indiscriminately because they are afraid of Zhao Han, and even some scholars who came from big landlords are willing to join.

It can only be said that Zhejiang is too miserable.

During the severe drought two years ago, bones were exposed in the wild, and father and son, brothers, and husband and wife ate each other, and anyone who dared to go out alone might be eaten.

And this year there will be an additional allocation, the imperial court will increase the allocation by one point, and the officials dare to increase the allocation by five or ten points!

Historically, Xu Du was the leader of Yishe (the branch of Fushe), who distributed money to recruit soldiers and summoned warriors. While contacting scholars from all sides, they also contacted the uprising peasants. With 100,000 soldiers and strict discipline, they conquered Dongyang, Yiwu, Zhuji, Pujiang, Yongkang, Wuyi, Tangxi, Lanxi and other cities one after another.

In the end, they were forced to accept recruitment. Sixty-four people, including Xu Du, were killed by the government after the recruitment. The remnants were aroused to rebel, and several counties were captured. After the defeat, they moved to Fujian and joined forces with the Fujian uprising army.

A scholar who rebelled would fail in ten years.

The Baitou Army uprising in Xudu was a rebellion by a group of scholars, and the scholars in the south of the Yangtze River were all sympathetic.

Xu Du was killed, which even caused Xu Fuyuan to break off friendship with Chen Zilong.

...

But it is said that when people come to the border of Jiangxi, they don't need to go to the city to see the prosperous scene.

This year, southern Zhili has been severely affected by drought, and only the northeast of Jiangxi has been affected. In addition, about half of the Dongting Lake Plain is dry this year.

When you come to Poyang Lake, there are many fertile fields along the lake.

There are also many fishermen who have also abolished exorbitant taxes and sang songs while rowing and fishing.

That is, Zhao Tianwang is relatively lenient, stipulating that the fishing nets should not be too dense, and the nets are not allowed to be cast during the breeding season of fish.

When passing Wucheng Town, I heard someone cheering suddenly.

But the official came to post a notice that this year's summer grain, due to the severe drought, the four counties of Pengze, Hukou, Fuliang, and Leping will be exempted from land taxes, and the land taxes in Jing'an, Wuning, and Ningzhou counties will be halved.

"When we arrive in Jiangxi, there are surprises everywhere." Lin Xue said with a smile.

Li Fenglai is quite proud: "Even the mountain people in Jiangxi can eat enough now. But they don't eat well, and they mainly eat sweet potatoes."

Jiangxi is full of mountains, and many places have not been cultivated.

Because reclaiming wasteland is very tiring and requires continuous fertilization. A few years before the reclamation, it is very likely that the harvest cannot make the seeds pay back, and it takes two or three generations to turn a piece of wasteland into a fertile field.

It is very likely that the gentry came out to seize the land as soon as the wasteland became good land, so the enthusiasm of the farmers to reclaim the wasteland was not high.

Sweet potatoes don't pick the land. Although the yield of the wasteland that has just been reclaimed is very low, the harvest is definitely greater than the cost of the seeds. Now in the mountains of Jiangxi, sweet potatoes are planted everywhere, and more than 100,000 mu of mountain land have been reclaimed.

Brothers Xu Nianzu and Xu Fengcai looked at each other, feeling a little surprised.

A big businessman like Li Fenglai was very proud when he mentioned that the mountain people could eat enough.

"Hey," Li Fenglai explained with a smile, "At the beginning of Mr. Zhao's incident, there were no sweet potatoes in the counties of Ji'an Prefecture, and the sweet potatoes and corns were purchased and introduced by me. Now, sweet potatoes and corns are promoted to the whole province, and I also have a hard work. .”

"Disrespect, disrespect!" Everyone bowed their hands and saluted.

Li Fenglai said proudly: "It's just a small effort, but it can save many people. This is a great thing to accumulate virtue."

The boat sailed to Nanchang.

On the pier, a group of demons appeared unexpectedly.

Different from the costume demons in Suzhou and Hangzhou, these costume demons in Nanchang are not brightly colored, and the fabrics are not luxurious, but the styles of clothes and hats are very outrageous.

Some people even openly wear python robes!

It is not a traditional python robe, but also decorated with various patterns, the wide sleeves have been replaced with arrow sleeves, and the belt is tightly tied, which is very energetic.

"Can this boa robe be worn on the street?" Xu Nianzu asked in surprise.

There are also people in the south of the Yangtze River who wear boa robes, but they usually wear them at home, and at most they have fun with friends in private.

Li Fenglai explained with a smile: "Haha, Mr. Zhao doesn't care about his clothing or house violations, as long as he doesn't go out naked on the street, he can wear anything. Of course, you can't wear official uniforms, military uniforms, or official uniforms. If you catch him, you will be punished immediately."

When Liu Rushi saw the Nanchang Wharf, there were actually many women, who seemed to be rich families.

They should have gone out of the city to pay respects to the Buddha, and their skirts and jackets are out of place, and they have been altered indiscriminately anyway, but overall they are quite pleasing to the eye.

Li Fenglai said: "That is the improved style of Mr. Fei's family. It was first worn in Ji'an Mansion, and soon spread to Nanchang. The hair accessories have also been improved a lot. Ladies like it very much, and ordinary women have also started to follow suit."

Wang Wei sighed, "It's really a scene of prosperity!"

Everyone looked at it strangely all the way, and came to Ji'an mansion along the river.

It happened to be noon at this time, when a group of coolies sat down to rest, the peddler came over with a burden and set up a fire to cook soup and noodles.

"Lao Li, buy some wine!" said a coolie.

"Hey, fifth brother, do you still want to drink today? Don't fall when you carry your bag in the afternoon."

"What's so scary about two taels of wine?"

"I'm coming too!"

"..."

A group of coolies were sitting on the pier eating noodles, and everyone was selling wine and drinking, and the noodle soup was also rich in oil and water, with a layer of oil and spicy pepper floating on it.

Xu Nianzu stood there stupidly, watching the coolies drinking and eating noodles, his eyes suddenly became moist.

"What's wrong, brother?" Xu Fengcai asked.

Xu Nianzu muttered to himself: "I should have come to Jiangxi long ago, and stayed in Jiangnan, wasting a few years in vain. During the holy period, I can see the prosperity of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and it will come within thirty years!"

(I recommend Da Luoluo's "Buried the Qing Dynasty Alive", a master of history, don't worry about the quality, you can know the content from the title of the book.)