(Today is the party’s birthday. As an old party member with twenty years of party experience, I wish you all a happy holiday! Happy birthday to all party members!)

"The sea and sky are one color, and the autumn water is one long sky!"

On April 16, the 17th year of Chongzhen, Zhao Fuxiang, accompanied by Li Zhengdao, finally boarded a passenger ship in Haikou Port and set off for Guangzhou. Not long after the large ship left Haikou Port, Zhao Fuxiang stood on the bow and looked at the sea and sky.

Sing the famous lines in the preface to Prince Teng's Pavilion.

At this time, all the passengers on the ship were packing their luggage. After all, this journey would take ten days. Now only Zhao Fuxiang stood on the bow of the ship and sighed. The passengers secretly cursed this guy in their hearts for being such a fool!

Li Zhengdao now relies on Zhao Fuxiang for his life, so naturally he can't watch Brother Zhao fall to the ground, so he quickly comes over and stands next to Zhao Fuxiang to praise him: "Brother Zhao is really talented, and this scene is really suitable for the occasion!"

When Zhao Fuxiang heard Li Zhengdao complimenting himself, he smiled and said: "Brother, in this great era, you and I should be the trendsetters, so that we can live up to this life!"

Li Zhengdao quickly smiled and said: "Brother is absolutely right!"

The wind and waves are getting bigger after leaving the Qiongzhou Strait. This is not a calm month in the twelfth lunar month. The South China Sea has entered the typhoon season since April. Although there are no typhoons coming at this time, the waves are still not small.

Zhao Fuxiang was a landlubber. When he saw a huge wave as high as one story coming, he didn't care about the tide and hurriedly hid in his cabin.

There are two ways to go from Hainan Island to Guangzhou. One is to cross the Qiongzhou Strait and land in Xuwen County, and then transfer to Guangzhou by land. Although this way is safe, it takes too long. It takes a month to reach Guangzhou.

The other way is to take the sea route, along the coastline of Leizhou Peninsula, Dianbai, Guanghai, and finally into the Pearl River Bay. This route is the fastest, but it also takes ten days.

Of course Zhao Fuxiang took a boat in order to rush for time, but he forgot that the ships of the Ming Dynasty were not ships with tens of thousands of tons in later generations. The largest sea-going ship in the Ming Dynasty only had more than 400 tons. The Guangzhou ship Zhao Fuxiang was on had a weight of 100 tons.

Many tons.

The ship bumped up and down with the waves, and Zhao Fuxiang was made to vomit in a few strokes. At this time, he had forgotten about the dynasty and the beauty and passion. Zhao Fuxiang just wanted to leave the ship smoothly and get to Guangzhou alive.

Haikou is a thousand miles away from Guangzhou. If we go by previous experience, this journey will take ten days. However, this year's monsoon comes earlier. The southwest monsoon, which usually only comes in May, arrives in April, blowing from the equator.

The warm and moist air brought the typhoon and doubled the speed of the ship.

Zhao Fuxiang vomited on the ship for three days and only got used to it on the fourth day. However, by this time the ship had already reached Guanghai, which was only three days away from Guangzhou.

After passing Guanghai, there was Yashan in front of them. Zhao Fuxiang was much better at this time. Accompanied by Li Zhengdao, he came to the bow of the ship to see what Yashan looked like.

Li Zhengdao is a native of Guangzhou and has visited Yashan before. Li Zhengdao pointed to a faint cliff in front and said: "Brother, the cliff in front is Yashan, which is where Lu Xiufu and the little emperor jumped into the sea.

At the top of the mountain is the Yashan Temple, which was established in the early days of the Chinese dynasty, and inside it is dedicated to three loyal ministers: Wen Tianxiang, Lu Xiufu, and Zhang Shijie!"

At this time, the sea conditions were not good and there was heavy fog on the sea. Zhao Fuxiang could only vaguely see the cliff mountain according to Li Zhengdao's instructions. Zhao Fuxiang asked: "I heard that hundreds of thousands of people jumped into the sea with the little emperor. Is it true?

?”

"Yes, the decisive battle between the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty and the Song Dynasty was not far away from Yinzhou Lake. I heard that the old man at home

(This chapter is not finished, please turn the page)

I have said that at that time, the sea was full of warships. The warships of the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties fought for three days and three nights. The sea was dyed red with blood. After the war, I heard that 200,000 people jumped into the sea.

, in the next few decades, fishermen in this area will still be able to pick up bones from the sea from time to time!"

Because of the favorable wind, the ship was moving very fast, and the cliffs disappeared quickly after passing by. Zhao Fuxiang turned around and saw a large port in front of him. Although it was far away, he could still see the forest of masts.

Zhao Fuxiang asked: "Where is that place? Why are there so many ships?"

Li Zhengdao looked at it and said: "That's Haojing'ao. The Folangji people built a city there, and all the merchant ships coming and going were supplying there, so there are more of them!"

It turned out to be Macau. Zhao Fuxiang asked: "When the Fo Langji people occupied this place, didn't the imperial court send troops to clear it out?"

Forced occupation? Li Zhengdao said with question marks on his face: "The Folangji people did not occupy it. There are officials from Xinhui County in Haojing'ao City, and the Folangji people also pay taxes on time every year. Why did the imperial court come to clean up?"

Zhao Fuxiang was confused when he heard it. Wasn't this place occupied by unequal treaties like Hong Kong?

In fact, Zhao Fuxiang didn't know that from 1535 to 1999, the Portuguese only had governance power but no sovereignty over Macau. This governance power came only after the Opium War, when the British occupied Hong Kong Island, and the Portuguese relied on the power of the British.

They only obtained governance rights after signing a treaty with the Qing government. As for the Ming Dynasty, the Portuguese did not even have governance rights here. The security and taxation in the city were managed by Xinhui County Yamen.

Even though Zhao Fuxiang, a country boy, knew this kind of thing, he swore an oath in his heart that when he came to power, he would drive out all foreigners in China.

Even after passing through Hao Jing'ao and entering the Pearl River Estuary, the Pearl River Estuary in the Ming Dynasty was much larger than that in later generations. From Jiuxing in the west, which was Zhuhai City in later generations, to Daxi Mountain on the opposite side, which was the outlying island area of ​​Hong Kong in later generations, the straight-line distance was thirty years.

Kilometers away, Zhao Fuxiang saw that the color of the water under the boat became darker, and he knew he had entered the Pearl River Estuary.

After entering the Pearl River Estuary, the water surface became wider. Later, various wetland parks in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province were still in the water. The Pearl River water could reach directly to the foot of Xiangshan County. From the estuary to Guangzhou, it is still 200 miles away, and to the inland river

Although the wind and waves became lighter, the resistance of the boat against the current increased, so the distance of 200 miles took a full day and night.

In the early morning of the next day, the ship arrived at the city of Guangzhou. Zhao Fuxiang was sleeping soundly. It was rare for the ship to be stable these days. He finally had a peaceful sleep, but he didn't know that Li Zhengdao came to call him early in the morning.

When Zhao Fuxiang heard that Guangzhou had arrived, he didn't bother to wash up. He just put on his clothes and ran to the bow of the ship to see with his own eyes the largest international city in South China.

The city of Guangzhou was first built in the Qin Dynasty. At that time, Renxiao, the commander of Nanhai County, built the city by the Pearl River. This is the origin of the city of Guangzhou. Although successive courts have vigorously repaired the city, due to the humid climate in Guangdong, the city wall did not last long. Zhao Fuxiang's vision

Although the city of Guangzhou was built in the Song Dynasty, most of it was built in the Ming Dynasty, especially the new city south of Yudaihao. City construction only started in the early Ming Dynasty, so the city wall in the southern city of Guangzhou did not take long to complete.

Although it was just dawn, the Guangzhou pier was already bustling with people, including the ship under Zhao Fuxiang's feet, waiting to enter the port to unload. Some workers on the pier saw the work coming, and they all stood on the pier eager to try, preparing to work to earn a day's wages.

necessities of life.

Guangzhou is indeed a nationalized metropolis. There are many Buddhists with tall noses and deep eyes on the pier. Zhao Fuxiang can’t figure out which country they come from.

(This chapter is not finished, please turn the page)

Anyway, they all speak terrible Chinese.

There are eight city gates in Guangzhou Nancheng along the Pearl River, namely Yong'an Gate, Xiaonan Gate, Yongxing Gate, Wuyang Gate, Jinghai Gate, Youlan Gate, Bamboo Lantern Gate, and Taiping Gate. Each gate has its own pier.

Among them, the most prosperous ones are Jinghaimen and Wuyangmen. Because the city is located within the city, many cargo ships have to unload their cargo here.

Zhao Fuxiang and others took a passenger ship, which docked at Yongxingmen. However, because there were too many ships, Zhao Fuxiang waited until noon before officials from the Shipping Department at the pier boarded the ship for inspection.

The Municipal Shipping Department was the customs in later generations. Because these guys were directly under the jurisdiction of the Central Bureau of Ceremony, they had great power. A small official wearing a miserable green official robe got on the ship and looked around decently.

Look, and then asked: "Where are you all from?"

The ship owner quickly replied: "Sir, we are a passenger ship from Qiongzhou Prefecture, carrying eighty-nine guests and their carry-on luggage!"

The officer glared and said, "Is there any luggage? I want to check it carefully to prevent anyone from smuggling it and causing the saint to suffer losses!"

The word "sage" in the Ming Dynasty refers specifically to the emperor. When Zhao Fuxiang heard that this petty official had moved the emperor out, he cursed in his heart: If Zhu Youjian knew that you guys were charging arbitrary fees in his name, he would probably jump out of his grave.

come out!

Because of the lack of information, Guangzhou at this time did not know that the emperor had hanged himself. Otherwise, he would not have dared to use the Daxing Emperor as a banner, even if he had given the little official a hundred courages!

The captain had already experienced it, so he quickly took out a piece of silver from his pocket, which was estimated to weigh one or two pounds, and then put it into the hands of the junior officer. He said in a low voice: "Sir, we are all law-abiding and good people on the ship. So what's the matter of smuggling? Please tell me, sir."

rest assured!"

The junior official looked at the money in his hand, and his tone immediately became much gentler: "In that case, I will be exempted from the inspection!" After saying that, he took his men off the ship, and then boarded another passenger ship to continue his extortion business.

.

After Zhao Fuxiang watched the junior official walk away in a swaggering manner, he asked in a low voice: "Brother, doesn't the City Shipping Department collect customs fees for cargo ships? Why does it also collect customs fees for passenger ships?"

Li Zhengdao saw that the official had gone away, and then he explained in a low voice: "Brother, I don't know. As long as the ship goes to sea, it must go to the Municipal Shipping Department to collect customs. Although passenger ships do not need to collect customs, they do at the end of the year.

If you offend the official during the inspection, they will make a stumbling block during the inspection at the end of the year and prevent you from getting a new one, so the ship owners don’t want to get into trouble and spend a small amount of money to get it done!"

Zhao Fuxiang felt very cordial after hearing this. Back then, when he was in charge of the education work in the township, any student who wanted to transfer to a different class or desk would have to give Zhao Fuxiang a gift. If he didn't give a gift, not only would your child be transferred to a poor class, but he would also be in the last row.

Can't see the blackboard!

Zhao Fuxiang sighed and said: "This junior official's methods are still a bit immature. He still has to directly ask for bribes, set up berths on the pier, and then divide them into three, six or nine grades. Those who pay more can go through customs directly without waiting. If you don't pay or pay, you can go through customs directly."

If you don’t have enough money, you won’t have a berth even if you die!”

Zhao Fuxiang's move is similar to the fast and slow classes set up in later schools. Those who get more money can enter the fast class, and then provide these fast classes with the best teachers and the best infrastructure, so that the parents will not complain and will praise the school.

The quality of teaching has improved. As for being in the slow class, you won’t complain about others. Who said you can’t get the money?

Li Zhengdao didn't expect that Zhao Fuxiang had such a method, and he cursed in his heart. It's a good thing that you didn't come to be an official in the Shipping Department. Otherwise, would there be a way for us maritime merchants to survive?
Chapter completed!