******
I send my dream of returning home to Wu Qiang. The journey to Shuiyi River is long.
I imagine seeing the setting sun when the rope was first tied to Fangzhou.
You can recognize Wuchang through the smoke and trees.
The hair is covered with new frost. The court clothes were once stained with imperial fragrance.
When I return to my hometown, I find few old friends and feel sad.
But I am afraid that a foreign land is better than my hometown.
In the backyard of Doctor Bian's house on Tongbai Street in Wuchang, a piece of music floated down from the dressing room, adding a bit of gentleness to the autumn colors of the garden. Li Xiangjun, led by the maid of the Bian family, just stepped into the path in the garden. After listening to the music and the clear singing, a slightly playful smile suddenly appeared on her face.
She then chanted loudly under the dressing room: "I live at the head of the Yangtze River, you live at the tail of the Yangtze River. I miss you every day, but I can't see you. We drink the water of the Yangtze River together. When will this water stop flowing, when will this hatred end. I only hope that your heart is like mine, and you will not let me down."
The sound of the piano upstairs stopped, and then Bian Yujing ran out with her skirt gathered up, leaning on the railing to look down. She was wearing a moonlit skirt, which was blown by the autumn wind, floating like clouds. Her jade-like face was a little thinner, and her figure was graceful and elegant, as graceful as a poem.
"Sister Xiangjun is here, but you didn't even let her in or announce it. I'm so rude of you." The blush on Bian Yujing's face couldn't be wiped away, making her look even more charming.
Li Xiangjun smiled and replied, "If someone reports it first, how can we hear such a moving and moving song?"
"What beautiful song and heartfelt voice? Stop talking nonsense, sister. Be careful or I'll pinch you." Bian Yujing came downstairs. Her threatening words were so weak that she looked even more embarrassed.
Li Xiangjun held her slender waist, and as they climbed up the stairs, she said, "I came here this time to tell you great news. If you dare to pinch me, I won't say anything, hehe..."
Li Xiangjun was slender, graceful as the moon, playful and bright, and lovable in every way. Even a woman like Bian Yujing could not help but feel a little doting on her.
After going up to the dressing room, Bian Yujing asked the maid to serve tea while asking, "Sister, please tell me, what is the good news?"
"The news of a great victory came from the front. The King of Qin conquered Nanjing and made it the capital..."
"real?"
Before Li Xiangjun finished speaking, Bian Yujing could not help but exclaimed and hurried around the room, her excitement was beyond words. Although her dressing room was not luxurious, it was decorated very elegantly and pleasantly, with scriptures on the left and history on the right, gauze and carpeted beds, music, chess, calligraphy and painting, making the jade lady look as elegant as an immortal.
Li Xiangjun seized the opportunity to say, "Of course it's true. We can go back to Jinling soon, so there's no need to feel sorry for yourself, sister. Hehe..."
"Don't give me that. What does this have to do with me?" Bian Yujing argued.
"Whether it matters or not, only God and the earth know. You know, I know..."
"I'll let you know, I'll let you know..." Bian Yujing finally couldn't stand her teasing anymore, and rushed over with a blushing face, pinching and scratching her. The small and delicate girl laughed non-stop, and her sweet voice reached the autumn clouds outside the window.
"Sister... please forgive me, hehe... I won't dare to do it again. But there is one thing I said that is true."
"What's the matter? You better behave yourself. If you dare to tease your sister again, I will not let you off."
Bian Yujing let her go. After Li Xiangjun laughed and made a scene, her face flushed and she looked very charming. She wrinkled her nose and made a face at Bian Yujing before saying, "Sister Bian, please think about it. The King of Qin has set up his capital in Nanjing. Won't he live in peace from now on?"
Bian Yujing nodded without answering. Li Xiangjun hid her smile and sighed self-pityingly, "Even for an ordinary family, having many children and grandchildren is a sign of prosperity. The King of Qin is the ruler of a country, but he is still the only child. I heard that the ministers have mentioned the issue of offspring many times, and the Queen is worried about it. She even took the initiative to let Ruoruo and Momo sleep with the King of Qin, but there is still no sign of pregnancy. It's all our fault. We have followed the King of Qin for a long time, but we have not been able to give birth to a son or a daughter for him."
Bian Yujing quickly comforted her, "Sister, please stop saying that. The King of Qin cares about the whole country and has been on the battlefield for many years. You and the King of Qin are rarely together and it is rare for you to serve him. The matter of the heir cannot be entirely blamed on you."
"Sister, you don't need to comfort me. I know my own business. Sister Dong and I have served the King of Qin for some time. If we can't get pregnant, we can only blame ourselves. Fortunately, we have successfully conquered Jinling this time. After the capital is established, the King of Qin can finally be more at ease."
Li Xiangjun finally regained some of her smile when she said this, and then continued with a smile: "By the way, the ministers will inevitably bring up the issue of offspring again. As the queen is the mother of the country, she will inevitably have to arrange for the king of Qin to find concubines. You, the eldest daughter of the Bian family, and Qiao'er, the girl, will be selected in the near future. Qiao'er is still a little young after all, so when the time comes, it will be up to you, sister Bian. Sister, you must work hard and don't let your younger sister down."
It is impossible to say that Bian Yujing had never dreamed of this, but Li Xiangjun had said it so clearly that she inevitably felt very embarrassed. A blush stained her face, like a delicate flower covered in dew and blushing in spring.
***
As Li Xiangjun expected, Qin Mu's order came soon, that the central government office in Wuchang had to be moved to Jinling as soon as possible, and the special examination would also be moved to the Jinling Imperial Examination Hall.
No one was surprised by this. Wuchang was flat on all sides and easy to attack but difficult to defend. It did not meet the conditions to be an imperial capital. When Qin Mu proclaimed himself king in Wuchang, he was too lazy to repair the palace and did not declare Wuchang the capital. By the time of the Eastern Expedition, everyone was very clear that the King of Qin would wait until he conquered Nanjing before announcing the establishment of the capital.
The common people of Wuchang inevitably felt a little disappointed, but the scholars were all celebrating when they received the news of the great victory.
Previously, the Qing army marched south and quickly occupied the south of the Yangtze River, and the world was on the verge of collapse.
Now that the King of Qin has recaptured Nanjing and swept across the south of the Yangtze River, he has reversed the trend of the world's decline in one fell swoop. Everyone finally doesn't have to worry about becoming slaves of a conquered country. The comparison between the past and the present makes people feel deeply moved. After receiving the good news, many people were so happy that they read poems and books.
Various spontaneous festive activities in the city attracted thousands of people, and the laughter and joy reached the sky.
Gu Yanwu, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, was even more exaggerated. Not only did he take out all his salary, he also sold all the valuable items in his home and invited those who participated in the Eight-Legged Essay Forum under the Yellow Crane Tower to get drunk. As a result, he had to lose face and go to the home of Xu Yingjie, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, for a free meal the next day.
It is a well-known fact that Xu Yingjie's family is rich enough to rival a country. Who else can we ask for a free meal if not him
Gu Yanwu had no other intention in going to the Xu family to eat, he just wanted to fill his stomach.
But this invisibly brought greater pressure to Xu Yingjie.
Qin Mu had never said anything about his family's wealth, but he had always lived frugally. So the families of the ministers in the court generally lived frugally. Against this backdrop, the Xu family was the only one whose wealth could not be concealed, which seemed unusual and abrupt. This was not a good phenomenon.
Gu Yanwu just came to have a few meals, which is nothing, but who can guarantee that other ministers will not be jealous? By then, even if the Xu family is not the target of public criticism, it will be difficult for them to integrate into the high-level power circle.
What Xu Yingjie hopes to leave to the Xu family is not just "wealth", but more importantly "nobleness".
In the past few years, the Xu family's wealth has grown explosively, mostly thanks to Qin Mu.
In addition to wealth, Qin Mu treated the Xu family very well. Xu Yingjie himself rose from a humble merchant to the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue of Qin, a high-ranking official of the third rank. The queen and his wife often visited the Xu family when they were in Ganzhou, and showed that they had no disdain for the Xu family's merchant background.
We have gained enough from Qin Mu, it is time to give back to the Qin Dynasty. Xu Yingjie decided to donate half of his wealth to the Ministry of Works in the name of everyone to build the imperial palace.
Donating in the name of the public can prevent the Xu family from becoming the target of public criticism, and at the same time show that the King of Qin has the support of the people and win prestige for the King of Qin.
On the other hand, no matter how low-key he was, with Ye Bushou's ability, he believed that Qin Mu would know that he was behind the scenes, which would win more favor from Qin Mu. And this was better than any amount of wealth.
From the day after Gu Yanwu went to Xu's house for dinner, officials from the six ministries and nine temples were still preparing to move their offices, but hundreds of people came to the Ministry of Revenue and took the initiative to ask for donations to the King of Qin to build the palace.
Minister of Revenue Liu Boquan was naturally very happy to see it, but the matter was of great importance and he did not dare to accept the donation on his own, so he quickly reported it to the cabinet.
He hadn't even waited for the cabinet's approval, but the next day even more people came to donate, reaching more than two thousand people at once. Some people even brought the silver directly to the Ministry of Revenue.
Now even Xu Yingjie was secretly surprised, because most of the people who came to donate this time were not arranged by him, but came to donate voluntarily, including many former powerful families of the Ming Dynasty.
For example, the Xu family of Duke Dingguo, who suddenly brought in two hundred thousand taels of silver, said a word to the Ministry of Revenue and left, without caring whether you accepted it or not.
After this incident, more and more people came to donate. The front of the household registration office was filled with cars and there were so many people as if it was a market. At one time, someone donated hundreds of thousands of taels, while others donated only a few copper coins.
Among them, an old lady with gray hair only donated three copper coins, but her words when she asked the official from the Ministry of Revenue to accept the money made everyone present burst into tears.
"Everyone knows that the Ming Emperor has been raising taxes every year, and we ordinary people can no longer survive. When the soldiers come, they rob us; when the rebels come, they rob us. There is not even a grain of food left in our homes. The bark of the trees in the village has been eaten up. We can hardly survive.
It wouldn't matter if an old man like me starved to death at this age, but my grandson, who just turned five years old, is so thin that he is just skin and bones. He is so hungry that he doesn't even have the strength to cry. It's a pity that my Huang family only has this one child left!
Fortunately, God had mercy on us and sent the King of Qin. The King of Qin distributed land to us and provided us with disaster relief food, so that we could survive. This grace is higher than the sky.
The King of Qin drove away the rebels and the Tartars, allowing us to live a good life, but he himself was reluctant to rebuild the palace, and the Queen had to rely on selling the collapsed bricks and stones to make ends meet.
I don't know anything else, I just know that the King of Qin is a great benefactor to my family. With the King of Qin's relief, my only child can survive. I have no children and my family is poor, so I can only take out these three copper coins. I know it won't make a difference, but this is my little token of my appreciation, so just accept it, just accept it."
I don’t know how many of the onlookers had similar experiences. After hearing what the old lady said, they burst into tears and donated money.
After that, donations were no longer just a matter for the rich, nor were they limited to Wuchang. They expanded to the entire Huguang and Jiangxi provinces. Thousands of people went to the local government offices to donate, and the situation got out of control.
Now Xu Yingjie was panicked. He never expected that the situation would become so serious. What if the King of Qin blamed him? Wouldn't that be counterproductive
*****************
ps: More than one million words, but less than 500,000 hits. It’s so cold in this summer. Please support me, brothers. Click, reward, monthly ticket, give me the support you can, give me some motivation, I’m so grateful! (To be continued..)
...