The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Time has slowly come to the end of February, and the results of the Beijing Examination will be announced soon.

The day before, Wei Guangde took a leave of absence from King Yu and Yin Shizhen, and went to the Jiujiang Guild Hall in the evening to wait for the results of the examination with the candidates who were rushing to take the exam. Naturally, Lao Kan, Ouyang Yijing and others were also with him.

Ouyang Yijing had been brought back to the capital by Wei Guangde from the post of magistrate of Xiaoshan County, and was placed in the Sixth Section. He was currently assigned the post of Shizhong in the Criminal Section.

"I heard that fathers from three provinces are also participating in this examination?"

Sitting at the table, Lao Kan suddenly asked.

The three provinces he mentioned were Zeng Shengwu, the current magistrate of Fuchun County, which is interesting to say. Zeng Shengwu was admitted as a scholar in the 35th year of Jiajing, but his father took the examination in the 41st year of Jiajing.

"I received letters from three provinces before. I went to see him at the Huguang Guild Hall a few days ago."

Wei Guangde smiled and nodded and said, although he is now registered in Anlu, Huguang, he is still a branch of Peng Zezeng's family.

In the past few years, the Peng Zezeng family has not produced many talented people, and all of them have fallen into the Anlu branch.

"Their family is also very powerful. Three generations of their family have been successful candidates, and they were admitted first in the three smallest provinces."

Thinking of what he knew, Wei Guangde smiled and said to Lao Kan and others, "I don't know if my great uncle can pass the test this time."

"Yuan Shu and the others are still studying for the provincial examination. If they find out, they will be ashamed."

At this time, Ouyang Yijing suddenly interrupted.

"Being able to pass the hospital examination actually shows that you have reached the level. The subsequent provincial examinations and general examinations are more about luck. Just like me, I missed a beat during the provincial examination, and then luck came and I couldn't stop it. "

Wei Guangde said with a smile.

Although he said this to be true, he also wanted to show some mercy and open his mind to them. They were all taking part in the imperial examination for the first time. It was impossible to say that they were not nervous. That is to say, Zhu Shilong and Duan Mengxian, who had passed the mathematics examination. This is the first time I have tried, and my mental quality has been developed. I seem to be able to accept whether I pass or fail this time.

Wei Guangde's self-deprecating words caused a burst of laughter from Lao Kan, Zhu Shilong and others.

Of course they know Wei Guangde's level, but as Wei Guangde said, luck came, and he was finally appointed by the emperor as a passerby. Who can explain this? It is said that he is a third-level person, and it is impossible for him to get into the second-level. One goes.

There was also the thirty-fifth year of Jiajing. This year, the Hanlin Academy had no intention of selecting concubines, and it was also forced into it by Emperor Jiajing.

"It depends on the time, it's time for the results to come out."

Lao Kan looked at the dim light outside and made some mental calculations.

"It's yours, so you can't run away."

Wei Guangde just said with a playful smile.

Days like this only happen once every three years. Now that he is with everyone, Wei Guangde misses those days very much and waits with anxiety and hope.

"We won two of them last time?"

Hukou Zhangdao suddenly asked.

Wei Guangde didn't answer. He pointed at Ouyang Yijing next to him and said, "Ask him."

Ouyang Yijing was one of the people who was lucky enough to pass the exam last year. He naturally had the most say when asked about their subjects.

Nodding, Ouyang Yijing smiled and said: "There are two of them. Fortunately, we have entrusted the charity to let them be blessed. Before them, we in Jiujiang Prefecture had no one on the list in several subjects."

"Don't be nervous. Let's learn from Mr. Zhu. Look how calm he is."

Wei Guangde saw that Zhang Dao was a little nervous and hurriedly smiled and comforted him.

Not long after, there started to be noisy outside, and there was the sound of playing and drumming. Wei Guangde and the others knew that someone had already announced the names of the candidates for the current examination from the Gongyuan and began to deliver good news.

This is the second time Wei Guangde has participated in such an event. He was a little nervous the last time, but now he is completely calm.

After a burst of noise in the street outside, I don’t know how many teams passed by to announce the good news. Just as disappointment gradually rose in everyone’s hearts, a team of people finally entered the Jiujiang Guild Hall. This also represented the Jiujiang Prefecture’s participation in the meeting. Some of the candidates who took the exam passed the general exam.

"In the 41st year of Jiajing's reign, the Renxu Science Examination has been successful. Congratulations to Mr. Duan Mengxian of Hukou County, Jiujiang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province for being ranked No. 211 on the first-class list. The Beijing News has been listed as the first-class scholar."

Two hundred and eleven, a fate for the top three, but the position is still very high among the top three.

Wei Guangde and others hurriedly stood up and congratulated Duan Mengxian, followed by the candidates like him, and finally the businessmen from Jiujiang Prefecture in the corner of the hall.

Although they are rich and powerful, they are still the lowest-ranking people here.

Wei Guangde was familiar with them, and he only went over and said a few words at the beginning. This was because they were as old as his father, otherwise he would really ignore them.

After Duan Mengxian wanted to give the good news, no one entered the Jiujiang Guild Hall again.

The eyes of candidates such as Zhu Shilong, Lao Pi, Zhang Dao and others were filled with despair at this time. Duan Mengxian, who received the good news, did not look as high-spirited as before and sat there quietly.

"Okay, if you don't pass the gold test, you'll have to wait for the next one. Everyone is still young. Come on, let us drink from this cup. We will definitely pass the next test."

At this time, Wei Guangde had already stood up, picked up the wine glass in front of him and raised it to the people at several tables and said.

The results of the general examination have come out. Although I am a little disappointed, it is better than nothing. Finally, someone is on the list and everyone is not left to sit here all night.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with the other people in Beijing, but for the candidates taking the exam, they could only pretend to smile at this time, raise their glasses to greet Wei Guangde, and then drink the wine in one gulp.

In February Xinsi of the 41st year of Jiajing reign, there was a general examination of the Ministry of Etiquette. Three hundred people including Wang Xijue were selected for the Chinese examination.

The general examination has passed, but Duan Mengxian still has to prepare for the palace examination. Wei Guangde and the others will wait for dawn to go home and rest. He has asked for leave today, so he does not have to go to Prince Yu's Mansion as an errand.

It was still early when he came back, so he went directly into the backyard after entering the house, and had a good sleep under Xu Jianglan's service. After all, he had stayed up all night, and now he was really dozing off.

Perhaps, only Duan Mengxian and other tribute scholars who were listed on the list would be so excited that they could not sleep at this moment. They should have already set off to the Gongyuan to wait for the results to be released. This is how Wei Guangde came here in the first place.

In the afternoon, Wei Guangde woke up from his dream, got up to wash up, and took a nice bath, and then he felt comfortable all over.

"Master, there is a letter from my family in Nanjing."

While Wei Guangde was eating, Xu Jianglan walked over with an unopened letter in his hand.

Wei Guangde was eating with chopsticks in his right hand and a steamed bun in his left hand. He glanced at the letter and said, "This is from home. Why didn't you open it to see what it was about?"

"It said you had to open this letter in person, so I didn't bother to read it."

Xu Jianglan put the letter on the table, sat on an empty seat and watched Wei Guangde wolfing down his meal.

It is rare to see Wei Guangde eating at home during the day, after all, he is in Prince Yu's Mansion most of the time.

Wei Guangde just raised his head and smiled at her, ate the steamed buns in his hand in three bites, and then picked up the envelope on the table. He already had a premonition that this letter might be related to the news he sent back last time.

The maid next to her began to clear away the dishes under Xu Jianglan's instructions, while Wei Guangde took the letter directly to the study.

Wei Guangde was secretly surprised when he opened it and read the contents of the letter clearly.

Nanjing actually wants to transfer 100,000 taels of silver to the capital to fund activities, but the money is placed in a certain business in the capital, and Wei Guangde can directly withdraw it when he needs it.

The letter also directly named the people he wanted to visit, including two senior cabinet ministers and senior officials from the Ministry of War.

Touching his already hairy chin, Wei Guangde wondered where so much money could be used.

Whether it's Xu Jie or Yuan Wei, sending three to five thousand taels of silver is a huge expense. As for the Ministry of War, one or two thousand taels is enough. I really don't understand what my father-in-law thinks, to get so much money. Come to the capital.

It seems that the business line they operate is really profitable.

The business of selling illegal salt along the Yangtze River actually only gradually developed during the Japanese Rebellion a few years ago.

The private salt snatched back from the Japanese pirates was directly sold by Zhang Fugui, and a sales network was initially established.

After that, merchants kept asking if they could still get private salt, which led to the contact between Nanjing and Yan Maoqing, the Prime Minister of Salt Affairs, to directly sell the remaining salt from the four major salt farms for profit.

Of course, ordinary people can't do this kind of business. In the past, those who could do the residual salt business were either big salt merchants who were willing to spend a lot of money to manage it. However, the salt quota they could obtain was limited after all, and most of them were directly through private salt sales. Carry out sales.

After all, the money for buying salt has to be paid to the capital. If you sell private salt privately, you don't need to pay the account at all. The money can be divided by passing through.

As for whether there is a market for so much salt, it can only be said that the government is so fucked up.

At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, a nationwide census was conducted. Zhu Yuanzhang personally took charge of this matter. On this basis, he compiled the "Yellow Book of Taxes and Services" to register household registration on a household basis, including the names, genders, ages, occupations, etc. of family members. Address, Dingkou, land, property and household level.

This operation was supervised by the emperor, and a large number of censors were sent to participate in and supervise the census. Therefore, the authenticity of the data is very high. The population of the census at that time was close to 60 million.

Because the cover of the volume given to the Ministry of Household Affairs was made of yellow paper, it was called the Yellow Volume.

According to regulations, the yellow book is produced every ten years, and each book is made in quadruplicate and submitted to the central household department and the provincial, prefectural and county household housing archives respectively.

However, as far as the information Wei Guangde can find, it seems that the largest population in the Ming Dynasty was in the first year of Yongle. The yellow book records that the population reached 11 million households and more than 66 million people.

The world has been at peace for a hundred years. According to the latest Yellow Book ten years ago, the population of the Ming Dynasty was more than 63 million, which was actually 3 million less than the Yongle period.

Because the population of the Ming Dynasty has not changed much in more than a hundred years, the salt production of major salt farms is naturally fixed, and salt prices are stabilized by controlling salt diversion.

When Wei Guangde was still in Bengshan Fort, he knew that there were hidden households in his hometown, and their propertylessness and occupation were not recorded in the yellow books. Naturally, this phenomenon was not limited to his own family, but was true in all provinces across the country.

No one knows how many people there were in the Ming Dynasty at this time, but the official yellow book always listed more than 60 million people.

Unbeknownst to Wei Guangde, in later generations, when the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs to seize the world, they received the yellow records managed by the Ministry of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty. Someone actually discovered the yellow records of taxes and levies in the 24th year of Chongzhen from this pile of the most important documents of the Ming Dynasty.

It is not surprising that the names of the households in the yellow register during the Chongzhen period are exactly the same as those during the Hongwu period.

The hidden population naturally has a huge demand for salt. This is why private salt sales are booming, and official salt is simply not enough to sell.

As for the salt tax of the Ming Dynasty, which was only more than one million taels a year, naturally no one had any objections. Of course, the salt tax must be linked to population. Without population, how can the salt tax be increased?

When I first heard Zhang Fugui's advice, I could earn tens of thousands of taels of silver from just one salt run. Wei Guangde only thought that this business would definitely be profitable, but the annual demand was so much that he could only run a few times, so he became an official in the imperial examination, especially after entering the Hanlin Academy. He stopped thinking about Yan Zheng.

It seems that my family can now earn 10,000 taels of dividends from this business every year. This is already a huge amount of wealth, and it was something that was unimaginable in the past.

But this time, the generosity of his father-in-law Xu Pengju really shocked Wei Guangde. Can they spend so much money just to keep the golden waterway?

The letter made it clear that he was asked to send a few thousand taels of silver to Xu Jie and Yuan Wei to test their tone. After all, they wanted to talk to Yan Song, who had invaded the government and the public. If he didn't give enough money, they might not be willing to buy it, but this was fine. Too much.

After a little calculation, Wei Guangde roughly decided on a price. Xu Jie would give 3,000 taels of silver, and Yuan Wei would give 2,000 taels of silver first, and let the people from the firm exchange them for meeting tickets to go and get it himself.

But for whatever reason, Wei Guangde felt a little irritable.

Nanjing's idea is good, but the Ministry of War has not yet issued an official document to Nanjing. It seems that it is a little early.

But it's not surprising that Xu Pengju was so nervous. After all, it was a long way from the capital. He was afraid that if the emperor was tempted by Yan Song's words, he would make an arbitrary decision and not give them a chance to speak.

The matter was a bit difficult to handle, and it was hard to send the money away. Wei Guangde was still thinking about it, and a few days passed quietly.

"Master Yin, Master Wei, this is the decree that Xiyuan just sent out."

While Wei Guangde was reading in Prince Yu's Mansion, a panting servant came in with a note.

Wei Guangde and Yin Shizhen both put down their books. Wei Guangde got a little closer to the waiter and reached out to take the note and read it.

It's not a big deal, it happens every year in the palace examination.

The content on the note is very simple. Emperor Jiajing sent a paper reader for the current imperial examination.

"It's the order of the scribe."

Wei Guangde said nonchalantly, and stretched out his hand to hand the note in his hand to Yin Shizhen, but before Yin Shizhen reached out to take it, Wei Guangde suddenly became aware of something.

"wrong."

While talking, Wei Guangde had already taken back the handed out note and looked at it carefully.

Wei Guangde's startled look aroused Yin Shizhen's curiosity, "What's wrong?"

Before Wei Guangde could hand over the note again, he had already stood up and walked to Wei Guangde's side, his eyes falling on the note.

"There is no Mr. Yan Ge."

Hearing Wei Guangde's words, Yin Shizhen was startled, and then looked at the note and read it carefully.

"Ming Shaoshi and the Prince Taishi's Minister of Civil Affairs Xu Jie, a bachelor of Wuyingdian, Yuan Wei, a bachelor of Wuyingdian, the Prince's Taibao Hubu Shangshu, Shaobao and the Prince Taibao's Minister of War Yang Bo Guo Pu Gaoyao Cai Yuncheng. Leili Pan En Dongfen Gaogong Wan Cai Pei Yu reads the paper."