The literati recited poems in the tavern while the merchants discussed business in the teahouse.
The dignitaries were boating on the lake, and the sound of music and bamboo could be heard.
The farmers were also busy in the fields. Some of them were planting rice in the paddy fields.
Those without paddy fields planted other crops.
Although the emperor had written a poem for the corn and sweet potato, there were still no races in the corn and sweet potato.
The reason was that farmers still did not recognize corn and sweet potatoes.
The emperor liked to eat, but the food was planted in his own fields.
Or was it really as poisonous as the legends said? Would the Emperor of Ming Dynasty compensate for it?
When Shi Kefa arrived in Hangzhou, he felt as if the warm wind had intoxicated the tourists.
Everything here gave him the illusion that it was not a chaotic world at all. It was the autumn of survival, and people lived and worked in peace and contentment.
He was writing a memorial to the Emperor in the study when a military report suddenly came from the door, pulling him into a crisis.
Li Zicheng's thousands of cavalry had already appeared on the outskirts of Xuzhou.
As an important military town, Xu Prefecture had always been high and deep. Without an army of 50,000, one could forget about attacking Xu Prefecture.
Li Zicheng had no choice but to sweep through the outskirts of Xuzhou, robbing the county and looting the villages.
As Zhu Youjian had sent hundreds of iron pagodas to follow him, Li Zicheng could only walk to the ground and fight for a day before leaving quickly.
"Your Majesty is trying to drive Li Zicheng across the river.”Looking at the military report, Shi Kefa muttered to himself.
For Li Zicheng, whether he secretly crossed the Yangtze River from Xuzhou to attack Jiangnan or to the west, crossing the Yangtze River from Chuzhou and Anqing, his goal was the same.
"Lord Governor, Fei Datong requests an audience.”
"Please."
Shi Kefa had been in Hangzhou for a few days. He had always remembered the words the Emperor had given him and was careful with every step.
Although the local officials used all sorts of methods to test this new governor.
However, this governor had done it flawlessly, leaving them unaware of the true intentions of the imperial court.
It had to be said that Shi Kefa had not only learned Zuo Guangdou's iron will, but he also had a lot of experience in the political struggle of the Donglin Party.
Fei Datong was in charge of the grain and taxes in Zhejiang Province, so he naturally had jurisdiction over the salt tax.
Shi Kefa wanted to ask about this, but he didn't expect this luck envoy to come.
Fei Datong was dressed as a rank four official. He wore a blue official robe and a black veil on his head. He stood outside the door and bowed.
"I am Fei Datong, the transport envoy of Hangzhou.”
"It's Lord Fei, please take a seat.”
"Thank you, sir."
Fedaton strode across the threshold.
Both parties sat down, acting like bureaucrats.
However, there was something different. Fei Datong did not say anything, but handed over a letter.
Shi Kefa opened the letter. It turned out to be a letter personally written by Wu Wang Zhu Changgan.
The letter was filled with a bunch of official words. There was no content at all, and the tone was arrogant.
However, the King of Wu had mentioned several times that he wanted Shi Kefa to take into account the face of the Imperial Court and not meddle.
Shi Kefa's heart was burning with anger. The court had just stabilized, and this vassal king had taken the lead to be selfish.
Although the letter didn't say anything, the arrogance in the letter was enough to explain everything.
Who was the one who did not care about the face of the imperial court?
He was angry in his heart, but he still had a smile on his face. Shi Kefa said to the luck envoy,
"Thank you, Sir Fei. Please go back and tell King Wu that Shi Kefeng will remember King Wu's instructions.”
Fei Datong cupped his fists and replied,"Lord Shi has come from afar. This subordinate will definitely do his best to serve the governor."”
" Sir Fei, you're too kind." Shi Kefa smiled and said," In the future, I will still need Sir Fei's help. Haha, oh, right, where is Sir Fei from?"”
"I am from Kaifeng Prefecture."
"Haha, no wonder Lord Fei's accent is so friendly. I'm also from Kaifeng, I wonder when Lord Fei will be elected?”
"I am a scholar in the first year of Chongzhen."
"Aiya! Haha, I didn't expect us to be in the same subject!”
Shi Kefa clapped his hands and said,"Fellow townsman, same subject again. Let's get drunk tonight, okay?"”
Hearing that the governor wanted him to stay for a meal, Fei Datong smiled and agreed.
At the banquet, Shi Kefa had obtained a lot of information from Fei Datong. At the same time, he also knew that Fei Datong wasn't simple.
It turned out that this fellow was an official of the Imperial Court and the son-in-law of the King of Wu.
Although his daughter was born from a concubine, Fei Datong still had a place in the King of Wu.
Moreover, this Rank-4 Transport Commissioner had a high official position and great power. Shi Kefa still had to make friends with him.
This Fei Datong was also an old fox in the officialdom. Even though they were from the same hometown, he didn't speak much and only told Shi Kefa some superficial things.
Of course, this was already very important.
The next day, Shi Kefa gathered all the officials in Zhejiang Province for a meeting.
At the meeting, Shi Kefa did not directly mention the salt tax, but only mentioned that the court needed silver.
Something very interesting happened. It was originally a harmonious meeting. The lords talked and laughed, swearing to save the people for the court and Lord Shi.
However, everyone shut their mouths at the mention of taxes, and the atmosphere dropped to a freezing point.
"Why, everyone, Jiangnan accounts for more than half of the Great Ming's taxes.
Now, Liaodong, raiders, and disaster victims needed silver everywhere. The imperial court was looking forward to the taxes from Jiangnan.
However, Jiangnan's taxes were decreasing year by year. What should he do?”
Shi Kefa's words were sincere, but the ministers remained silent like old monks.
However, Shi Kefa still gained something from it. That was, everyone was secretly looking at the Zhejiang governor.
Shi Kefa looked over and saw that this second-grade Zhejiang governor was a middle-aged man in his fifties. He was slightly plump and had an oily face. He twirled his beard and closed his eyes, looking thoughtful.
From Fei Datong, Shi Kefa knew that this governor was called Zhao Songnian, who had been the governor of Zhejiang for nearly ten years.
It turned out that he was promoted by Wen Tiren and did not belong to the Donglin Party.
"Oh, Lord Zhao, what do you think about the tax?”
"Aiya, Lord Shi, you also know that the taxes and taxes of Jiangnan have already been paid to the Imperial Court. If we want to levy taxes again, yes, we can only add new taxes.
Just like the three additional salaries previously, it could increase the tax revenue of the imperial court.”
After saying that, Zhao Songnian looked sincere, as if he was hoping that Shi Kefa would accept his opinion.
Shi Kefa cursed in his heart. What was the difference between Zhao Songnian and the officials present and the nobles in the capital waiting for Li Zicheng?
These people put their own interests above the country. Their goal was to destroy the country and not destroy the family.
Ridiculous!
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