Chapter 243
The price of food in flooded Jiangnan has skyrocketed as expected.
The biggest good news for the people in Jiangnan during this period was the collapse of the Lu Dayou Group. After seeing the report in "Jingshi Tongyan", the people throughout South Zhili felt relieved.
However, the people's relief cannot restrain the rising food prices. Even because of the collapse of these Yuezhou people in mainland China, the food prices are even higher.
The reason is naturally very simple. Jinyiwei and Dongchang raided the properties of Yuezhou merchants and took away many Yuezhou merchants. They also suppressed and blackmailed many grain merchants.
The final result is that there is less food on the market.
The Japanese rebellion has lasted until mid-July, and this year's summer grain cultivation has been completely abandoned.
Fang Wanghai, who had just taken charge of the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs as the Minister of Household Affairs, encountered the biggest problem since he took office: how to suppress the increasingly high food prices.
If this continues, problems will arise. Excessively high food prices will cause famine, and there may even be civil unrest.
Just when Fang Wanghai was in a state of panic, Jiangbei's officers and soldiers finally moved.
Xu Hai besieged Yangzhou City to no avail, and began to lead his troops north to plunder Huai'an, Taizhou and other places.
The imperial court issued one order after another, requiring the officers and soldiers in Jiangbei to attack as soon as possible to quell the Japanese rebellion in Jiangbei.
Yang Bo, the Minister of War in Nanjing, finally could not withstand the pressure, but the officers and soldiers in Jiangbei had low combat effectiveness and did not dare to go out of the city to fight the Japanese pirates.
At this time, Yang Bo received the plan from the court.
Dig the Huaihe River, use the Huaihe River to burst its embankments, flush out the Japanese pirates, and drive them out from the north of the Yangtze River.
This plan was suggested by Yan Maoqing, a strongman of the Strict Party. Yang Bo's hands and feet were cold after receiving the plan.
It's not that the plan is useless, on the contrary, it is really feasible.
The Lixiahe area where Huai'an and Taizhou are located has a relatively low terrain, so it will be flooded every time there is a flood.
The area where Japanese pirates are currently active is precisely this area.
The water level of the Huaihe River is not low this year. If the Huaihe River is really dug, the flood will rush into the Lixiahe area and submerge the Japanese pirates here. The morale of the Japanese pirates will definitely collapse immediately.
Based on Yang Bo's understanding of Japanese pirates, once they encounter a setback, the Japanese pirates will definitely flee back to the sea immediately.
Just because this plan was really feasible, Yang Bo felt that his hands and feet were cold. Hundreds of thousands of people in Taizhou, Huai'an, would also be displaced because of this flood.
No matter who ordered this thing to be done, it would be forever nailed to the pillar of shame of the people in Jiangbei and become the target of countless curses and curses day and night.
But Yang Bo had no choice.
The imperial decree became more and more severe. On July 25, Yang Bo, as the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, ordered the digging of the Huaihe River embankment.
The flood rushed out of the river embankment and rushed towards the lower-lying Lixiahe area. The Japanese pirates here were unprepared and a large number of Japanese pirates were swallowed up by the flood.
But it was not just the Japanese pirates who were swallowed up by the flood. Almost half of Huai'an and Taizhou became Zeguo. People's houses were destroyed, and many people were drowned by the flood in their sleep.
Xu Hai, who was stationed in Yangzhou, received news that the Japanese pirates under his command were flooded by the army. He spit, cursed the officers and soldiers for their inhumanity, and then decisively led the remaining Japanese pirates to retreat to Tongzhou.
As soon as Xu Hai retreated, the officers and soldiers in Yangzhou City covered up and killed them. However, when they retreated to Jiangdu, they were attacked by Japanese pirates again. Xu Hai once again killed the officers and soldiers in chaos. The officers and soldiers retreated to Yangzhou City, and the Japanese pirates took care of them. The remaining troops continued to retreat while looting.
In early August, Xu Hai returned to Tongzhou where he landed and loaded the loot onto the ship.
Looking around, Xu Hai brought three thousand Japanese pirates. After repeated battles and the Japanese pirates who were flooded by the Huaihe River, only more than a thousand Japanese pirates were taken away.
Xu Haixin was furious again. After robbing Tongzhou, he captured more than 2,000 young men from Tongzhou and boarded the ship. Finally, Yang Fan left in a grand manner.
After receiving the news, Linhuai Marquis Li Tingzhu immediately expressed his congratulations to the court, saying that the officers and soldiers of Nanzhili defeated the Japanese pirates and put down the Japanese rebellion in Jiangbei.
At this point, with the withdrawal of the Japanese pirates, the Japanese rebellion in Jiangbei was indeed over.
But what's the cost?
The price was that nearly half of Taizhou and Huai'an prefectures became Zeguo, and tens of thousands of people fled south. However, other prefectures and counties simply did not have the ability to accept these refugees.
Refugees continue to move south and flood into the Jiangnan region, causing food prices to rise again in the Jiangnan region, which is already severely short of food.
The soldiers fighting in Jiangbei could not get the rewards promised in advance, and the Nanjing Military Department did have no money and food. In the end, they could only condone these officers and soldiers to rob in Jiangbei.
Yancheng, Xuzhou, Tongzhou and other areas that were not flooded also suffered from military disasters. The worst was Tongzhou. First, it was robbed by Japanese pirates, who took the young and strong as slaves. The remaining orphans and widows were robbed by officers and soldiers. Counties in Jiangbei It can be said that every family is crying.
On August 14, before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Yang Bo personally took charge of the army and returned to Nanjing. He immediately wrote a memorial to the court, resigned from the position of Shangshu of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, and recommended Hu Zongxian to take full charge of the overall anti-Japanese war in Southern Zhili and Zhejiang. .
After Yang Bo submitted the memorial, he directly sealed the seal and left Nanjing with his family without waiting for a reply from the court.
During this Japanese rebellion, two of the six ministers of Nanjing collapsed, and Nanjing's officialdom was violently shaken.
At this time, in the Nanjing Household Department, Fang Wanghai was in a state of distress.
I thought that taking charge of the Nanjing Household Department would be able to better implement banknote tariffs.
But Fang Wanghai didn't expect that he was completely trapped by other matters at the Nanjing Household Department and had no time to care about banknote customs duties.
Jiangbei needs disaster relief, and Jiangnan needs to suppress food prices. Although Fang Wanghai has ordered the mobilization of food from Huizhou and other prefectures, the harvests in these places are not good this year.
After all, there is still not enough food on hand.
All the neighbors in southern Zhili were invaded by Japanese pirates, every family was in difficulty, and no one could help.
The Japanese pirates in Pinghu Cixi, Zhejiang were repelled, but the Japanese pirates in Ningbo came again. Fortunately, they were defeated by Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang.
But a sudden fire broke out in Hangzhou in July, burning down half of the city and even Hu Zongxian's Zhejiang governor's office was burned down.
The situation in Shandong was similar. The Japanese pirates looted a lot in Qingzhou and Laizhou. Wang Shizhen led the regiment to fight hard. In the end, the Japanese pirates had enough plunder before they retreated to the sea.
Fang Wanghai borrowed food from everywhere, but there was no food around.
During this time, Su Ze returned to Shanghai, commanding the Anti-Japanese and Anti-Smuggling Corps to protect each other with the people along the Yangtze River and fight against the roving Japanese pirates.
By the time of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Su Ze finally returned to Nanjing.
Fang Wanghai couldn't wait to pull Su Ze and said:
"Rulin, you are finally back!" Both
the Minister of Hubu and the Minister of Nanjing have mansions. Fang Wanghai is still the Minister of Hubu, so he just moved into Hubu Lane. That servant's house.
As a senior official of the third rank, the Minister of Household Affairs has a house with three front and three entrances, as well as an exquisite small garden with corridors and pavilions everywhere. This house is much more grand than the previous official residence. But Fang Wanghai obviously had no intention of admiring his new house. He took Su Ze to the study, but did not talk about business directly.
"Rulin, after we finish the things at hand, let's go back to Fujian together in October."
Fang Wanghai's meaning was very clear. Su Ze was from Nanping, and he was not married into Fang's family. Naturally, he wanted to return to his place of origin to marry a wife.
Su Ze was stunned for a moment, but he didn't expect Fang Wanghai to be so anxious.
Fang Wanghai said: "Because of the anti-Japanese war, you have already been delayed from taking the exam this year, but it's okay not to take the exam this year. You can wait for the next exam and use your talents to pass the first or second grade. In the future, The official career will be much smoother."
Counting the days, Qiu Wei has already passed the exam this year.
Su Ze has been busy fighting against the Japanese during this period, and Xu Shixing, Wang Xijue and Xu Guo also stayed in Jiangnan and did not go to take the exam.
However, Huang Maochong and Zhao Bingzhong, the Fujian examiners who came to Nanjing to report at the Imperial College with Su Ze, still went to the capital to participate in the imperial examination.
This year is the 35th year of Jiajing, and the next examination will be the 38th year of Jiajing. Obviously, Fang Wanghai can't wait.
He said to Su Ze: "A real man can get married first and then start a career. You are still young and can participate in the imperial examination in the next imperial examination."
Since Fang Wanghai had mentioned this, Su Ze could only hand over his hand and said: "How dare you I don't agree."
Hearing Su Ze's agreement, Fang Wanghai was in a good mood. He continued: "It's only now that the Japanese chaos has calmed down a bit, so I have time to go back. I called Rulin today because we still have to discuss the price of food in South Zhili. What can Ru Lin do about the matter?"
In fact, Fang Wanghai is also a dead horse and a living doctor. These days, everyone in the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs is studying it, but it is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice, and no one can make food.
Fang Wanghai just relied on Su Ze habitually, so he hurriedly called over to ask.
Su Ze nodded and said, "I have a way."
"It doesn't matter if there is no way. The Ministry of Finance has been studying it for so long... What?! Do you have a way?"
Fang Wanghai raised his head and looked at Su Ze. He knew that Su Ze never said Big words, he finally did what he said before.
Fang Wanghai asked in surprise: "Rulin, what can you do!?"
"Transport grain from Guangzhou and Fujian."
Fang Wanghai sighed and said, "Guangzhou, Fujian has indeed not been harassed by Japanese pirates this year, and the weather has been smooth. However, the grain transported from Guangzhou and Fujian to It's too late to go to the south of the Yangtze River."
Su Ze said: "It's too late, why not, transport it by sea."
"By sea transport?"
Su Ze took out a map, pointed at it and said, "Uncle Shi, please see, if we board the ship from Fuzhou Port, along the With the sea heading north, it only takes half a month to reach Shanghai."
"So close?"
"Of course, in the Tang and Song Dynasties, goods shipped from Yangzhou Port only took twenty days to sail to Quanzhou. , Shanghai is closer to the sea, and it is more convenient for sailing and docking. It is a natural port."
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Jiangnan was connected to Guangdong and Fujian through shipping.
However, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Nanzhili, as an important area in the capital, has carried out extremely strict sea bans.
Yangzhou has changed from a triple port of Yangtze River shipping, water transportation, and sea transportation to a water transportation port. Even the Ming court did not support Yangtze River shipping.
The remaining coastal cities in southern Zhili have implemented firm sea bans.
Su Ze brought up examples from the Tang and Song Dynasties, and Fang Wanghai paced back and forth. This seemed feasible.
The maritime trade in the Southern Song Dynasty was very developed. From Yangzhou to Hangzhou, then to Quanzhou and Guangzhou, there were ports all along the way. Maritime transportation supported the Southern Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years.
According to Su Ze's calculations, it only takes fifteen days to transport Fujian's grain to Shanghai, which can alleviate the food shortage in the entire Jiangnan.
But sea ban?
Fang Wanghai hesitated again.
Su Ze said: "The disaster relief docking in Shanghai is not setting up a dock in Shanghai for trade, nor is it a violation of the imperial court's maritime ban policy."
Fang Wanghai thought for a while, and Su Ze was right. He said, "But is it too late now? ?"
Su Ze said: "There are still some ships left by Japanese pirates in Tongzhou. They should be able to sail after repairs. If we go by sea, we can notify Fuzhou in time." Calculating the
food on hand, it will take a month to come and go. It should last until that time, so Fang Wanghai immediately made a decision. The Nanjing Ministry of Revenue squeezed out more money to build a dock next to the Shanghai Anti-Japanese and Anti-Smuggling Corps, and went south to Fuzhou to distribute grain.
After arranging these things, it was Su Ze's turn to talk about his affairs.
"Uncle Shi, there must be a great epidemic after the war. It's hot now, and Jiangbei is hit by floods again. Does the Nanjing Six Ministries have a disaster relief plan?" Fang Wanghai was stunned at this moment. He had been exhausted every day since he took office as the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing
. Never thought about it.
After Su Ze reminded him, Fang Wanghai finally remembered.
He asked: "What Ru Lin said is absolutely true, but now?"
The six ministries in Nanjing are in turmoil, the governor of South Zhili is vacant, and there is no leading department to provide disaster relief.
Su Ze said: "Actually, preventing epidemics does not require so much money. As long as medical officers in Nanjing are mobilized, I am willing to go to Jiangbei to provide disaster relief." "Do you really want to go?"
Su
Ze nodded and said, "I want to go!
" These days, there were refugees from the north to the south of the Yangtze River in Jingjiang and Yangzhong. Seeing the miserable plight of these people, Su Ze strengthened his idea of going north to fight the disaster.
Fang Wanghai looked at Su Ze and said, "This is not a simple matter. The prefectures and counties in Jiangbei can't give you much support." "I know,
but seeing the people like this makes me uneasy. I want to Do something for the people in Jiangbei."
"In that case, Ru Lin, go ahead. I will recruit medical officers from Nanjing. If there are needed medicinal materials, you can place an order." "Thank you, Uncle
Shi!"
At the same time, a man A doctor carrying a medicine box took a boat from the capital to Huai'an. This medical officer who once worked in the Imperial Hospital began to treat people in Huai'an free of charge.
(End of chapter)