Chapter 30 Chapter 30 Mining Tax

The journey from Wuxi to Nanjing is not far away, plus three days of lecture time, it can take at most ten days to go back and forth, but Gu Xiancheng walked for a whole month and a half to complete the trip. He only brought a little boy to follow him, deliberately slowing down his pace, stopping and going in a roundabout way, lingering at each place for two or three days instead of rushing on the road. It is not about visiting friends to reminisce about the past, but to investigate the suffering of people's livelihood. The scenery and customs of the south of the Yangtze River are very different from those of the capital, but it is the place where he grew up. Besides being familiar with it, he has a more intimate feeling than the capital.

That day, he was staying in a very unusual small hotel, and there happened to be a few cloth vendors traveling together in a group next door. He is a well-known scholar and dismissed official, and I first paid three points of respect in my heart; I also saw that he was unreserved, and his speech was extremely modest and polite, and a sense of intimacy arose spontaneously. The conversation became more and more lively; after dinner, because there was nothing to do at home, we simply started talking at night by candlelight. The leader of the cloth sellers was about fifty years old. Although he was just a small business peddler, he didn't read much, and his appearance was not very decent, but he was very popular because of his hardworking attitude; He has many years of experience in business, and he is very decent in dealing with it; the people who follow him, one is his brother-in-law, the other is a colleague, and they are all about the same age as him; there are three other young people, but they are apprentices of the three of them , and do some chores by your side.

He reported his name as Qiao Ming Jiaxing, and he called himself "Old Man"; and because Gu Xiancheng declined the title of "Master", he changed his name to "Mr. Gu". He had repeatedly said modestly to Gu Xiancheng: "The old man is waiting for a peddler, thanks to Mr. Gu for not giving up—" Gu Xiancheng interrupted him repeatedly with a smile, and finally said to him simply: "Mr. Qiao, don't say that, I also came from a businessman - my father was a businessman, raised my four brothers, because the family was not rich, The two brothers followed their father in the business, so they have enough money to support my younger brother and I to study and take exams—”

This is true, and because he has a deep understanding and experience of the ups and downs of his father and brother's business, talking with this Qiao Jiaxing will be able to hit the heart of the problem more and more; as he talked, Qiao Jiaxing couldn't help feeling: " The hardships of being a businessman, although it is unavoidable to live in the wind, sleep out, make calculations, and take risks, but since you have done this business, you can still bear it; the most unbearable thing is the heavy taxation of the court and the exploitation by corrupt officials!" He moved his fingers and counted: "Since Lord Wanli took office, the customs and taxes have doubled, and the joint money that should be filial and managed has also doubled. Even those who do big business can no longer afford it." , not to mention the old man who runs a small business! However, once the imperial court loses control, the price of goods will rise, making life even more difficult-for example, the situation of beating the old man's house. A piece of cloth, running back and forth, selling it for a "hard work", and always getting food and clothing for the whole family; now, one year's income is only paid for half a year's expenditure—"

As he said that, there were two "knock knocks" on the door, and he called "please", but the shopkeeper pushed the door in. This Qiao Jiaxing has been doing business for a long time, and he is a regular customer, and he and the shopkeeper have long been familiar with each other like family members. , So, one more person joined the topic. Qiao Jiaxing continued without hesitation: "When the old man was young, he heard that Lord Jiajing did not go to court all the year round. The power of state affairs fell into the hands of the treacherous Prime Minister Yan Song, and the coast was full of pirates all the year round; It’s so heavy, life is not so sad!”

The shopkeeper interjected: "Mr. Gu was a senior official in the court. He knows more about the affairs of the court than us ordinary people. Do you have any idea to speak for the ordinary people? I beg Wanli Lord not to add insult to injury to the ordinary people." Taxes—don't talk about land taxes and commercial taxes, just the 'mining tax' added at this moment will kill many people!" This sentence immediately stunned Gu Xiancheng on the spot, he was silent for a long time before he let out a long breath and said: "Although I have been dismissed from office, I should still do my best—"

So, the shopkeeper told all the tragic incidents caused by the mining tax as far as he knew: It turned out that most of the mine supervisors and tax envoys sent by Emperor Wanli were eunuchs in the palace, and many of them were poor in character and conduct; In order to collect money for themselves, it became a double exploitation; wherever mine supervisors and tax envoys went, they were all rampant and lawless. "A local rich man, surnamed Zheng, just wanted to reduce the cost of sending joints. He didn't comply with the wishes of the mine supervisor. He insisted that there was a vein in his ancestral grave, and he wanted to dig for it. He also said that the mine was a mine. The rare treasure mine is priceless, and his family has to pay three thousand taels of silver for the mine tax first; this kind of quarrel has happened several times, and the rich man Zheng has been tossed and angry, complained and angry, but he just took this batch of lawless people. The eunuchs had no choice but to get out of breath, so they screamed for their lives; but these wicked people still didn't give up, forcing the family members of Zheng rich man to sell their fields and land, and they forced out five thousand taels of silver before they let go and agreed. Don’t dig his ancestral grave—”

Gu Xiancheng sighed dejectedly when he heard this, and murmured: "Is there still a king's law?" The voice he uttered was very low, but the surging tide in his heart was huge; as a scholar, a spontaneous sense of mission made him unable to let go, and even his sympathy and compassion for the people, and his ideal of political reform ——The flame in his heart burned even hotter. Until the end of the night's talk, he couldn't fall asleep, and he kept thinking about the voices of these people and the channels he could do his best in his mind. When he thought of the East, he got up with his clothes on and saw that the boy was still soundly asleep, so he didn't wake him up. He lit the lamp first, took the paper and pen, grinded the ink, and began to write vigorously.

By the time other guests who stayed in the room began to make noises in the next room, and even his little boy woke up from his sleep, and it was broad daylight, he had already written a long letter. The letter eloquently stated everything he heard in the hotel and his own worries; finally, he wrote in extreme emotion: Xiancheng has been dismissed from office and now living at home. He has no position and no position. It is not appropriate to talk about political affairs. However, as a scholar, Xiancheng always cares about the common people in the world. Shangda, pray for the benefit of all people, and reduce or exempt the "mine tax"——

The object of his letter was Chen Yubi, a cabinet scholar—since he has been dismissed from office, he has lost the qualification to submit memorials to Emperor Wanli, and can only write letters to government officials as a "commoner", asking them to Pay attention to the harm of the "mining tax" and try to abolish it; Chen Yubi is already one of the few honest and capable officials in his mind, and compared with Sun Piyang and others, Chen Yubi holds the position of cabinet scholar It is more suitable to fight for the abolition of mining tax from Emperor Wanli. While writing the letter, there was great hope and strength in his heart. He believed that with Chen Yubi's character and mind, after understanding these folk problems, he would try his best to influence Emperor Wanli ——This hope and strength supported his spirit, causing him to deal with this matter quickly; he sealed the letter as soon as it was written, and immediately ordered the boy to send it to the nearest station, paying double the fee For the price, please ask the postman who is responsible for delivering official documents to deliver his letter to the capital——

However, he has been away from the capital for some time, and he has lost a considerable degree of understanding of certain news-Chen Yubi had already reported to Emperor Wanli several times before he wrote the letter, requesting the abolition of the mining tax, But it had no effect; Emperor Wanli either didn't ask the eunuchs to read the memorial to him at all, or he issued an imperial edict to scold him, accusing him of violating the emperor's order-when Chen Yubi received his letter, not only had he I am unable to fight against the Wanli Emperor in vain, and I am even worried and depressed because of this matter, which has greatly affected my health. It was snowing heavily in the capital on this day, and the weather was cold, but Chen Yubi's whole body had a high fever due to illness; his thin face was flushed as if roasting on a fire, but his lips were blue, his eyes were closed, and he kept babbling; Several doctors and nephews waited in shifts day and night, but because his ravings were low and vague, they couldn't tell them apart at all. Everyone always focused on his condition and didn't pay much attention to it; occasionally when he woke up, , the raving stopped, and it was even more difficult for people around him to ask him; in this way, even after being ill for a long time, he never had a chance to express his heart. There was almost no more, and his ravings became nothing but moans. The letter from Gu Xiancheng was respectfully placed on his desk, waiting for him to read after he recovered; however, it seemed that this moment would never come. It's the middle of winter, and it's the day of the "Great Cold", and the weather is as cold as if the world is about to die out; two copper braziers were set up in Chen Yulu's ward at the same time, which made the accompanying people feel uneasy, especially in the middle of the night At that moment, the cold air seemed to spread from the bottom of everyone's heart to every part of the body, freezing all the blood into ice. But Chen Yubi woke up suddenly. After slowly opening his eyes, his eyes were as clear and peaceful as an eminent monk, and he looked straight ahead. It became so clear that the doctors, nephews and a group of servants around him could clearly hear his voice: "Think of the people—I implore, Long Live Lord, to think of the people—" After repeating it twice, his mouth and eyes were slowly closed, his breath gradually weakened, and there was no more sound. These two words became his last words. Gu Xiancheng never expected that a letter he sent out asking for the suffering of the people would be returned as an obituary; for a moment, he couldn't help but burst into tears and said to Gu Yuncheng who was sitting opposite him: " It's the sorrow of the people—" Of course Gu Yuncheng felt the same way. The death of an upright and virtuous official is a loss to the people of the whole world and an irreparable shortcoming between heaven and earth; , to break this one more, it is really inhumane!" The two brothers were so sad that they fasted for three days, and called together a group of friends around them, and held a simple memorial service in Wuxi nearby. And the death of Chen Yubi. Some people began to speculate on the impact of Chen Yubi's death on the political situation, and even the successor candidates, although there were many discussions, they all spoke with a sad attitude, so the atmosphere was very different from the usual gatherings. It also extended until nightfall, when a group of people ended their conversation in the piercing snowstorm and bid farewell to each other; but after all the friends had dispersed, Gu Xiancheng suddenly had a different thought in his heart: "Master Chen has passed away, we are waiting to mourn , mourning, all just for him personally—" He suddenly asked himself sharply: "His death is the loss of the people of the whole world, but what did many scholars like us do to make up for the loss of the people?" This thought gave him an epiphany—— In the past, the kind of scholar I despised the most was the one who had nothing to do all day long, talking about metaphysical and mysterious issues such as "life" in the mountains and forests, or writing some romantic essays. , and even harmful. But what about your own actions? He recalled that he and even the group of friends around him had spent most of their time in "empty talk" since he was dismissed from office and at home—although what everyone talked about was politics rather than romance. "Without practical actions, it is also of no benefit to the national economy, the people's livelihood, and the morals of the world!" He thought that he broke out in a cold sweat. The death of Chen Yubi brought him another understanding; he had been dismissed from office and served as a citizen, and he had neither position nor power. However, it may not be feasible for Chen to invite high-ranking officials in the court to pay attention to the sufferings of the people's livelihood—as far as Chen Yubi's virtuous ability is concerned, he does not live long; and there are not many upright people in the court. The role of "indirect entrustment" is too limited. "If you want to influence the government, you need another channel—" He thought over and over again, and several thoughts kept crossing in his mind: "People's customs, study style, and public opinion-all are feasible ways, or even, some of my disciples have entered the official test in the pilot test, unite, and have strength." That's pretty impressive—” Another wave of hope was ignited in his heart from the mourning for Chen Yubi's death.