In November of the thirty-seventh year of Jianping, Feng Sheng gave birth to the only little princess of Wei Wangfu.
It was the middle of winter at that time, and it was snowing heavily outside, so Feng Sheng gave her the baby name Ruixue.
This is the first daughter of Feng Sheng and King Wei, and also the daughter they have been looking forward to for a long time, and also the younger sister that Brother Huan and Brother Xuan have long talked about, so they are destined to be loved by thousands of people from birth.
It's completely different from when Brother Sheng and Brother Xuan were children. As Xiao Ruixue looks different every day, Feng Sheng thinks that his daughter feels like him, but Wei Wang is against it. He thinks his daughter is like him.
It's a pity that talking to Feng Sheng about this topic is doomed to fail, because the two will always argue about it.
Unexpectedly, when she was brought into the palace during the Chinese New Year, the imperial concubine said that Ruixue looked like herself, now Feng Sheng and the king of Wei would no longer compete, and the mother-in-law (mother) was the biggest.
This year the Forbidden City was deserted than in previous years. After King Wu came out of Beijing to become a feudal clan, King Zhao, King Xiang, King Qi, King An and others were granted fiefdoms one by one, and they went out of Beijing to become a feudal clan. Although the King of Wei has not been crowned as the prince now, he has been left as a prince in Beijing, and he is already a sure and uncrowned king.
The court ushered in an unprecedented calm. After entering February, King Wei left Beijing for Fujian again to complete his unfinished business.
This time, not only did he go alone, but he also brought his wife and daughter with him, while Brother Xun and Brother Xun were left in Beijing.
There will be two sons left behind, one is to consider that brother Xuan still has to study, and brother Xuan has reached the age of enlightenment, and the other is that the imperial concubine will be lonely in the palace. Without a son and daughter-in-law, the grandson always has to stay by his side.
In fact, the imperial concubine still wanted to keep Ruixue, and felt that the little granddaughter was too young to go out with her parents to suffer, but she had already left two, and the king of Wei would probably not want to keep the little granddaughter.
In this way, Feng Sheng and King Wei came to Fujian, a place facing the sea.
This place has suffered countless hardships because of its proximity to the sea, but it is also a very prosperous place because of its proximity to the sea.
In the previous dynasty, Fujian also experienced ups and downs several times because the imperial court repeatedly banned the sea. In the Great Zhou Dynasty, although the imperial court did not explicitly ban the sea, because of pirates and some other problems, the imperial court's attitude towards the sea was still mostly cautious.
This time the king of Wei came to Fujian, apparently in the name of the Ministry of Households Tonghai Cleaning Department, in order to preside over the purchase of grain from overseas, in fact, to clear up several shipping departments and rectify the imperial court's overseas trade. matter.
At first glance, this matter does not seem to be difficult, but if you consider the entangled local merchants and the collusion between the government and businessmen, you will know that it is not so easy.
It's not that the imperial court had never thought about rectifying it before, but it all ended without a problem because of one or another situation. Since Emperor Jianping made up his mind to change this time, he naturally had to start from the most fundamental ones.
But what is the most fundamental
King Wei was not anxious about this, but while setting up the airs of Tonghai Qingli, he released the news that the imperial court intends to purchase grain from overseas for a long time, and plans to arrange this task to some powerful businessmen. let it go.
After the news was released, some businessmen with insightful business opportunities came one after another, but this was only a small part, and most businessmen with capital still held a wait-and-see attitude.
Unexpectedly, the rebellion of the King of Wu occurred in the middle of the capital, and the king of Wei was ordered to return to Beijing, which was tantamount to throwing away this mess. The initial momentum was not bad, but because the matter cooled down, all the merchants thought that the court was deliberately playing tricks on them. A few particularly active merchants were ridiculed by their companions for this, and they joked that they were hot faces and cold butts.
Therefore, when King Wei returned to Fujian from Beijing again, the progress was not satisfactory at the beginning.
Originally, the local merchants had an attitude of flattering and secretly spurning towards the imperial court and even the imperial court officials. Flattery is a last resort. After all, if they want to do a good job in business, they cannot do without the support and support of these officials and turn a blind eye.
And spurning is their changing orders day and night and turning their faces like flipping books. As for why these officials are like this, most businessmen have the same answer.
In order to seek benefits.
Therefore, the imperial court has no credibility in the eyes of merchants, and it will even squeeze their living space. Because of the high tariffs and the attitude of Shibosi, many of them would rather smuggle in black ways than fight with Shibosi. dealing with officials.
In the end, the king of Wei still used Chen Hao and other small businessmen to launch the first shot of Tonghai Qingli.
As long as you get the qualification from the Tonghai Qingli Department, you can freely enter and exit the customs through the Shibo Department. Although you also have to pay taxes, you don't have to pay two taxes.
The so-called double tax refers to the fact that the officials of the Maritime Bureau collect tariffs in a clever name to fill their personal pockets. When they go to sea, they collect one tax. They call it the poll tax and the ship tax.
This crop tax is heavy, according to the goods brought back, it is divided into two types: coarse color and fine color.
Fine colors refer to more expensive goods, while coarse colors refer to general goods, which are three or four out of ten (not necessarily, depending on the situation), and two out of ten.
Judging from the general appearance, the goods brought back from overseas have to pay at least 20% before they go ashore for sale. The 20% is regardless of whether you lose money or not, and it is no wonder that those businessmen would rather smuggle than go through the Shibo Department. Even if they pass through the Shibo Department, it is still a dark way, that is, to buy the Shibo Department officials, give certain benefits to the officials, and let the other party open the back door to pass the customs.
This kind of situation is the most, and it enriches each other, but it hurts the interests of the court.
These inside stories were only known to the king of Wei after he came to Fujian after some overt and secret understanding. This time, he revised the tax law of the Tonghai Qingli Division by virtue of the purchase of grain.
Two rounds of taxes were changed to one round, not looking at the head but only at the goods. After the goods arrived at the port, no matter whether they entered or exited, they were required to be randomly inspected by officials of the Cleansing Department.
Sampling inspections are not only random inspections of goods, but also random inspections of whether there are weapons, copper, population and other things that are banned from going to sea by the imperial court. After the random inspection of the goods is completed, the tax will be collected according to the number of sampling inspections, one out of ten for fine colors, and one for fifteen in coarse colors.
And the two colors of thickness and thickness were clearly determined, and a public notice was posted outside the office of Tonghai Qingli.
This action has received praise from many businessmen.
Nothing else, because the thickness and thickness of the two colors have never been clearly determined, so the random inspection is always based on the mood of the officials in charge of the random inspection at that time. That is to say, he was in a bad mood today and said that your thick color is fine color, so you have to pay more taxes because of this, you have to admit it.
Ordinary merchants are unwilling to offend these people. After all, the goods on this ship may be their entire net worth. They must not be delayed or ignored, even if they are wronged and humiliated, they must endure it.
Tonghai's move to clean up officials is tantamount to preventing such things from happening in the future.
This idea was given by Feng Sheng to King Wei, and it was also her impression when she was a master in Taizhou.
Many people are not really ignorant and ignorant, but many low-level officials are not clear enough to promulgate the imperial government's decrees, and the implementation is not thorough enough. For the convenience of doing things, the servants simply ambiguous and perfunctory.
Now that they are written in black and white, there are few illiterate people who can go to sea to do business, and they are courageous enough, so I don't believe that there will be missteps in the implementation of government orders.
It took King Wei a whole year to establish the name of Tonghai Qinglisi.
Nowadays, you don't need to go through the Shibo Department when you go to sea, as long as you have a pass issued by the Tonghai Qingli Department in your hand, you can pass without hindrance. However, when the goods enter the port, they need to be escorted to the place designated by the Tonghai Qingli Department for random inspection and tax payment.
This is tantamount to the Tonghai Cleaning Department directly bypassing the local Shibo department, and all the officials of the Shibo department panicked immediately. When the king of Wei first arrived, they relied on the fact that the king of Wei was not familiar with the local conditions, and they were perfunctory and perfunctory, trying to fish in troubled waters.
Who would have thought that the king of Wei didn't say anything in person, and he would do whatever he wanted when he turned his head. Countless dumb losses.
Now that the Tonghai Cleaning Department is doing so well, the King of Wei has informed the court that he intends to close the Shibo Department and establish the Tonghai Cleaning Department instead.
This is like smashing everyone's jobs all of a sudden, and it is really too much for them not to panic.
In fact, King Wei's idea is also very clear. Since the Shibo Division is decayed, aging, and not listening, it is better to smash it and rebuild it. It's as if the slave is disobedient, just change it to another one, there is really no need to talk so much nonsense.
King Wei taught all the officials of the Shibo Department the principles of life with absolutely overwhelming strength. All of this is naturally inseparable from the court, and the correct one should be the support of Emperor Jianping.
Ever since the imperial court went through a major purge last year, Emperor Jianping's methods have changed a lot, becoming more vigorous and forceful than before, telling the court and the public that he must do what he wants to do, and he must succeed.
A king with ideas, means and ambitions is naturally worse to serve than a king who spends his days in a daze and ignores the government, but it has to be said that such a king, for such a seemingly prosperous and prosperous world, is actually riddled with holes more beneficial.
With the support of Emperor Jianping, King Wei was even more unstoppable. After clearing out the Shipping Department in Fujian, he rushed to Hangzhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou and other places.
Even so, he spent five full years.
It was almost non-stop, and there was no free time. During this period, Feng Sheng also took Xiao Ruixue to follow King Wei to the north and south. They only returned to the capital once, and did not stay for too long before leaving the capital again.
Naturally, it was hard work, and even some crises were inevitable during the period, but the husband and wife survived hand in hand, and the dangers were naturally saved. When Feng Sheng was free, he also acted as the right-hand man of the King of Wei, advising him to pick up the leftovers and fill in the vacancies. He can be called a real virtuous housemate.
After finally gnawing down the tough big bone of Guangzhou, even King Wei couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief.
He looked at his wife who had been with him through many ups and downs, only to realize that they had aged a lot inadvertently. All of a sudden, she felt pity and love, and once she promised Feng Sheng to take care of things here, she took her and Rui Xue to visit the mountains and rivers.
But at this moment, a secret edict arrived unexpectedly, bringing a bad news.
Emperor Jianping's dragon body was dying, so he summoned King Wei to return to Beijing quickly.
Needless to say, the husband and wife were amazed and surprised, they rushed to the capital overnight without even caring about packing their bags.
When King Wei and Feng Sheng returned to the capital, the entire Forbidden City fell into a gloomy atmosphere.
In fact, Emperor Jianping's dragon body has long been bad. Years of overwork and illness have already brought huge hidden dangers to his dragon body, but he has been holding on.
"... His dragon body has been in trouble for a long time, that's why he used thunderous means to wipe out King Hui's party... He has long wanted to do this, and has been procrastinating for various reasons. Get rid of all the burdens, and his character does not allow him to give up halfway." The imperial concubine said with her lips tightly pressed, her face unable to distinguish between joy and sorrow.
It was only then that Feng Sheng remembered that when she went back to Beijing to see the imperial concubine, she was a bit haggard. As a daughter-in-law, she couldn't help but care a few words, but the imperial concubine said that she was getting old and couldn't sleep well at night, and told her not to worry, so she didn't take it to heart .
Maybe the imperial concubine knew it well at that time, but kept hiding it from them.
As for why you hide it
Obviously, Emperor Jianping didn't want King Wei to be distracted, and he didn't want his morale to be shaken because of his concerns about his dragon body, but he wanted him to finish the matter with all his might.
"Okay, don't worry too much. More than half of the people in the Tai Hospital are guarding here. After a long journey, you should go to rest and rest before coming back. Even if your father is really bad, it won't be so soon. I still Stay here." As she spoke, the imperial concubine turned her head to look at the unconscious Emperor Jianping on the dragon couch.
Ever since Emperor Jianping fell into a coma and was less awake, the imperial concubine has been staying in the Qianqing Palace without going out, and has been guarding here every step of the way.
"Mother Concubine..." Feng Sheng hesitated.
"Go quickly, don't worry about me." The imperial concubine said.
Feng Sheng had no choice but to leave with King Wei, and the two of them didn't leave the palace, but went to Xianfu Palace where the imperial concubine lived.
Here, the two met their sons whom they hadn't seen for almost two years. Zong Xuan has now become a young boy, and Zong Xuan has grown up.
More than six years have passed by, and it is only when I look back that time has passed so quickly.
The family said something briefly, and they didn't have time, let alone celebrate their long-lost reunion. The fall of Emperor Jianping was like a heavy weight on everyone's hearts.
He is Emperor Jianping, he is diligent in government and loves the people, he is talented, he is invincible, he may be unpredictable, but he gives people a sense of stability, it seems that no matter what happens, as long as you look back, he is there.
But now the mountain is about to fall.
Until now, King Wei still felt like he was dreaming.
"Don't think too much, father is getting old after all." Feng Sheng persuaded.
King Wei was silent for a while, and suddenly said: "These few years have been the most peaceful years for me in the past few decades. I don't have to think about anything, just put my head down and get the job done, and I don't have to be afraid of being stabbed in the back. There is no need to look forward and backward, because I know that my father will support me, and this is also what he wants to accomplish.
"Since I led a mission to the south of the Yangtze River, I have experienced too much and seen too much over the years. For children of dragons and phoenixes like us, it seems that the country should exist there, and we don't need to spend too much on it. Because we are naturally superior to everyone, as long as we can sit on the position of the crown prince, the world will be ours.
"But what the world is like and how to manage it, we never know. We don't know how much the common people will harvest from one mu of land, and how much will be handed over to the court. We don't know the price of rice and salt. Geometrically, I don't know that the seemingly unattractive salt that everyone will eat has such a huge maladministration hidden.
"I don't know that overseas, our Great Zhou is no longer a great country that allows all nations to come to court, and there are other countries that have far surpassed us. I thought there would be enough time for us to go out for a while. , and then came back to do other things, but suddenly found that there was no time."
Feng Sheng was silent.
She has been married to King Wei for decades, but this is the first time she has seen King Wei like this. Perhaps this is the sudden collapse of the spiritual pillar, and the panic that is bound to be faced
There is no way to persuade this kind of thing, she can only sit there quietly with him, let him slowly settle down, and accept this reality.
Dewang's voice broke the silence, and there was panic in his voice, which seemed ominous.
"Your Highness, the imperial concubine called you to go to Qianqing Palace quickly, your majesty is not well..."
When the two hurried to the Qianqing Palace with their children, before they entered the Qianqing Gate, they heard bursts of crying from inside.
King Wei walked in slowly, followed by Feng Sheng leading the three children.
Entering the sleeping hall, apart from the servants kneeling all over the floor, the figure of the imperial concubine lying on the dragon couch can be seen from a distance.
She knelt in front of the dragon couch, with her head bowed, her face still buried in Emperor Jianping's palm, she just lay there quietly, motionless.
I don't know how long it has passed, until Feng Sheng couldn't help but want to call her, the imperial concubine suddenly straightened up and turned her head.
The look in her eyes was something Feng Sheng had never seen on her.
"Your father, the mausoleum collapsed..."
"Mother Concubine!"
The whole country mourned, and overnight the Forbidden City was flooded with layers of white.
There were cries everywhere, even though they were already far away, the cries were still ringing in my ears.
Zong Yue became the successor emperor step by step, held a funeral ceremony for the late emperor, drafted a posthumous title for him, and ascended the throne after repeated persuasion by his officials.
After the funeral ceremony was over, Zong Yue also lost a lot of weight, and the Forbidden City, like him, did not slow down at all and fell into a continuous downturn.
During this period, the imperial concubine was conferred the title of the Holy Mother Empress Dowager, and took the position of empress dowager. Feng Sheng's conferment edict was also issued, and the Ministry of Rites was just waiting for the canonization ceremony to be arranged.
From winter to spring, the earth glows with infinite vitality, and the Forbidden City is like a patient recovering from a long illness, gradually gaining color.
It is a commonplace thing to fill the harem after standing up, but Zong Yue refused because he wanted to be a filial piety for the late emperor for three years.
In fact, the courtiers have understood over the years that His Majesty is completely afraid of his wife like a tiger. When he was King Wei, he married Queen Fang for more than 20 years. He has never taken a concubine. No, could it be that just because he became the emperor now, can he change his disposition
Obviously impossible.
And this queen is not a good stubble, she is no less resourceful and scheming than a man. Although the courtiers have not seen with their own eyes what Wei Wang and his wife have done outside these years, they have seen it through people's words and the examples around them.
Who wants to offend such a queen? When the time comes, I don't know how I died.
So Zong Yue was pushed back, and the ministers who wrote the letter didn't say much, as if, "As a subject, I want to fulfill my obligations as a subject. Since Your Majesty doesn't appreciate it, then as a subject, I don't want to waste my words." ' posture.
But in this way, it saved Zong Yue and Feng Sheng a lot of trouble, lest they have to fight wits and courage for this kind of thing, which is really extremely boring.
The change of Feng Sheng's identity seems to have affected her life.
When I was a princess before, I could close the gate of the palace and live my own life, but now I can't.
What is after a country? She is the mother of the country and an example for women in the world.
We all know that Empress Fang is good at controlling her husband, and she is also resourceful and resourceful, which is not comparable to ordinary women, so more and more women are looking for the empress to make decisions.
From a certain adult pampering his concubine to destroying his wife, to a certain Marquis taking concubines beyond his control, all in all, it is the fault of the east and the west.
Although this family is different from ordinary people, since it comes to family affairs, it's nothing more than nonsense. Feng Sheng had no choice but to hide, so he could only bitterly help the decision-maker to come up with ideas, while listening to some interesting anecdotes in Beijing.
These seem trivial, but they are not useless, at least when Zong Yue investigates a certain official, he can suddenly hear some private matters about the other party's mansion from Feng Sheng, which also helped Zong Yue several times.
As for Zong Yue, if he was ambitious and full of unlimited ambitions when he first became emperor, now he is suppressed by those mountain-like government affairs day after day, and he has tasted all the ups and downs, and finally understands why his father's face Not old, but early blooming hair, it turns out that it is all for worry.
Although the husband and wife are in different circumstances, their circumstances are surprisingly similar, and they can be regarded as sympathetic to each other. Occasionally, when he had free time, Zong Yue often complained to Feng Sheng, such as saying that the emperor really didn't do it.
He also said that Zong Jue should grow up quickly, and when he can be alone, he will abdicate to his son and take Feng Sheng to travel around the world.
Of course, this is just talk, but in recent years, I have not thought about it.
(full text)
The author has something to say: It's finally over.
I said this with a guilty conscience, and this book was written intermittently. In the middle, because of Calvin, family affairs, and the need to update another book, it was always interrupted, which disappointed many relatives.
Some concluding remarks. In my imagination, this book should end after King Wei ascends the throne. After all, there are still many things to do after ascending the throne, but that is all later. It can be expected that Zong Yue and Feng Sheng will never leave, after all, the relationship between the two was determined very early.
For the article on foreign trade, I thought about it over and over again, but I didn't write it in detail. The background of this article can be regarded as the combination of Ming and Qing Dynasties, and if you want to write about the sea in Ming and Qing Dynasties, you will just revolve around the emperor, officials, maritime merchants, pirates (sea bandits), and barbarians.
I once wrote that Xue Tingxiang came to Ningbo, Zhejiang Province as a young official in "Domestic Little Chief Assistant", and made great contributions to the opening of the sea ban, and many wonderful stories happened in it. But as a surefire king of Wei who is the future emperor, I don't think it's easy to start.
In fact, it is not difficult to unfold, but the overwhelming advantage brought by the identity makes the outcome between each other obviously less to guess, so it must be less interesting, so it is simplified.
In fact, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially the Ming Dynasty, there were too many stories about the sea. I once searched for information on this topic and gained some in-depth understanding. I really like the background of this world. Maybe I will try a plot similar to the sea in the future, but I will not write about the official and the prince, maybe I will change the angle, such as a big pirate or a female pirate, but that is a matter for the future.
Speaking of this, my only emotion is that I will never double-open in the future, double-open will kill people, and I would like to thank my parents who have been chasing me for never leaving me. I am ashamed of you, and I will never do this again.
Regarding Fanwai, I actually thought about writing the story of the imperial concubine and Emperor Jianping in Fanwai. After all, I really like these two people, and I think they can write a lot, but because I couldn’t help but take this stalk alone. A book—"Wai Chong", so it can only be shelved, and those who are curious can read it.
As for the children, to be honest, I don’t really like writing stories about children. It may be because I write too much, or it may be because I always feel that the children’s future is actually separated from the story of the hero and heroine. It’s better to leave blank, no Suitable for deep digging.
Well, I love you guys.
2019.5.12