Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 711
The Liaodong side calmed down for a while, and Hou Jin had no energy to continue to toss, so he retreated to Shenyang to raise fat; Everyone is safe and sound.

They don't want to toss, but some places will die if they don't toss for a day!
For example, the place where Yang Menglong made his fortune is Nanyang.

In just one year, Nanyang has become much more prosperous again, with a population close to one million. There are many colorful buildings in the modern world, and the streets and alleys are endless rivers, flowing with gold and silver.

People in Nanyang are famous for their love of tossing—who made them have a leader who naturally likes tossing?At the end of last year, that tossing guy made two big things happen. The first is to issue gold and silver coins with guaranteed quality and quantity, and eliminate those copper coins with mixed quality and fake and shoddy goods on the market, which is super inconvenient to use. , This article can poke the lungs of the imperial court. I don’t know how many scholar-bureaucrats jumped on their feet and cursed, accusing Yang Menglong of being lawless, and dared to mint currency privately. They simply wanted to rebel!However, the people of Nanyang are happy to hear about it—according to their experience, as long as Lord Yang insists on doing it, and the court princes object to it, it must be a good thing, and everyone must raise their feet to support it.After a year of hard work, gold coins and silver coins have been fully circulated in Huguang, and radiated to the Jianghuai area, which has the momentum of ending the jobs of all dens that make private money in one fell swoop.Common people like to use this kind of new money. The first is the quality assurance. Each silver coin is made of silver with very few impurities, which does not seep into the sand. When you take it out to spend, you don’t have to be checked by the other party; secondly, the value of the currency is clear. , easy to use, no need to cut and cut a silver ingot like before, it is too troublesome to cut a silver ingot into fine pieces, and have to weigh it after cutting.I don’t know about other places, but at least in big cities like Nanyang, Luoyang, Jingxiang, and Wuhan, if someone takes out a piece of silver and cuts it there when buying something, the people around will unceremoniously call “ Stupid" these two words hit his face.

The second biggest toss is to come up with the Daming Stock Exchange.This is a good thing. Iron and steel mills, flour mills, and military factories can issue stocks here to raise funds. As for the common people, after a period of waiting and watching, they found that this thing can indeed make money, and they took out their spare money to buy money. Buying stocks... On the whole, the more than 50 stocks listed are showing a strong upward trend. As long as you hold your breath, you can always make money. The mentality is not too hard, and no one will be pitiful if you die.Although this damned stock exchange played to the climax of Nanyang people, most stockholders still made money, and some assets even multiplied several times. In Yang Menglong's words, pain and happiness.And factories also use the funds raised from the stock market to continue to expand production capacity, improve technology, reduce production costs and increase efficiency, thus forming a virtuous circle. The old debts have been paid off and profits have been realized. Everyone is really happy.

However, a mere stock exchange can't satisfy the troubled hearts of Nanyang people. They are looking forward to bigger movements, preferably ones that turn the world upside down.Life lies in movement, life lies in tossing, if there is no tossing, what is the meaning of this life?To their disappointment, the guy who would die if he didn't toss around for a day is still in Liaodong, and he might not be able to come back to celebrate the New Year, which made their tossing trip a lot eclipsed.

Although Yang Menglong is not here, his heart that loves to toss is still there.On December [-]th, the seventh year of Chongzhen, the long-awaited big event finally came. On this day, everyone flocked to the central square frantically. It's still dense, and there is no place to stay at all.On flagpoles, on treetops, on balconies... as long as there is a place where people can hang them, there are a lot of strings. Everyone is curious about the huge canvas-covered monster in the center of the square, and there is a lot of discussion.The magistrate said that today they will witness a miracle, the birth of a new era. Such a gimmick made them so excited that they couldn't wait to rush over... If what they see is not as exaggerated as advertised, don't blame us for spraying you to death!
"With so many people gathered together, are you not afraid of any trouble?"

For such a big event, as the former Nanyang prefect and now the Huguang governor, Fang Yizhi would naturally come back.Not only did he come back, but Li Yan and others also came back.Li Yan and others have long been accustomed to strange things, but this is the first time for a relative who has returned to Nanyang to see such a big scene. The huge crowd makes his heart beat faster and his breathing becomes difficult.Oh my god, there are so many people, and if they make any small noise, big trouble will happen!
Li Yan said with a smile: "Don't worry about participating in politics, the law and order here is very good, the common people... er, how should I put it, they just have a big heart, even if a meteorite falls in the middle of the square, they will only take it as a joke made by the government. , clapping and cheering, without any panic."

Fang Shenzheng's eyes widened in disbelief, and he just wanted to say: "There is still such a magical place!?" He can't be blamed, the education in ancient times is at this level, and ordinary people are generally dull and superstitious. Just make a huge basket, let alone a falling meteorite, even if you put a piece of paper in the stomach of a fish and take it out, it can make the city full of wind and rain. I heard that the people in Nanyang are so calm, of course he can't calm down!After he walked in with the flow of people and saw two young people walking towards each other talking and laughing, he became even less calm, and sternly shouted: "Nie Zi, stop!"

The two young people who were discussing with great interest were startled by his sudden yell, and when they came to escape the prestige, they were stunned when they saw this political lord.

The two who used a large group of officials as air were Fang Yizhi and Chen Zilong, who had both stayed in Nanyang for three years.

In three years, the two handsome guys have changed. Chen Zilong's fair face has turned dark, his hands have become rough, his knuckles are thick, and his trousers are still stained with mud. He looks like a young farmer.He made Yang Menglong fool him into not being able to tell the difference between east, west, north and south. He and a group of old farmers who had been dealing with crops all their lives went into the fields and racked their brains to collect rice seeds and wild rice seeds from all over the country, hybridize, optimize and cultivate them. It is necessary to cultivate a rice seed with a yield of more than [-] catties per mu, so as to benefit the common people, and at the same time, to leave a name in history.Unfortunately, although he devoted himself wholeheartedly and Yang Menglong gave him unlimited support, the progress was not great. This was a difficult task and not easy to accomplish.As for Fang Yizhi, he has completely lost the elegant and suave appearance of a young man from an aristocratic family. His hair is as messy as a chicken coop, his eyes are as red as rabbits, his eye droppings are very conspicuous, and his clothes are stained with unknown causes. Xiao Kong didn't realize it. Seeing his appearance, Fang Shenzheng really wanted to beat him to death with a stick!

Fang Yizhi was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses, he stepped forward to salute awkwardly: "Father..."

The one who blew his beard and stared at him was his father, Fang Kongxuan.

Fang Kongxuan is one of the few people in the Donglin Party who can do practical things. Not only is he good at academics, but he is also good at fighting. In history, when he was the governor of Huguang, Zhang Xianzhong suffered a lot. The officers and soldiers of the army actually beat Zhang Xianzhong, who had an absolute superiority in strength, and ran around, and in the end they did not dare to come to his defense area to make trouble. He was indeed a rare Confucian general in the late Ming Dynasty.Originally, there was a rebellion in Huguang, and Tang Hui, the original governor of Huguang, was thrown into prison by the furious Chongzhen. It should be Fang Kongxuan's turn to take the position. If he was made governor of Huguang, I'm afraid the Huguang rebels would be in big trouble.However, Chongzhen did not give him such an opportunity, and sent out the super luxurious combination of Yang Menglong and Fang Yizhi, who drove the Huguang rebels to the mountainous areas of Guangdong and Guangxi to gnaw bark in just one year, and Fang Kongzhen lost the stage. I can only be a rightist political party under Fang Yizhi's hands with aggrievedness.Fortunately, he is also a person dedicated to serving the country. After taking office, he cooperated very well with Fang Yizhi and managed Hunan and Hubei in an orderly manner. The two quickly became close friends.Now that there is such a big commotion in Nanyang, Fang Yizhi naturally wanted to bring this good partner and good friend to open his eyes. He never expected to bump into Fang Yizhi as soon as he arrived in Nanyang——this buddy hasn’t been home for three years up.Seeing his son become like this, Fang Kongzheng was furious, and said coldly, "Do you still recognize me as a father?"

Fang Yizhi's face turned pale with fright, and Fang Yizhi hurried to speak for him: "Don't be angry, my nephew. My nephew has devoted himself to his studies these past few years. He often studies Taixi's works all night and organizes experiments. The results are remarkable. This year, he has studied the phosphate fertilizer." A lot of improvement suggestions were put forward for the production process, which greatly improved the production efficiency and lowered the cost. I don’t know how many farmers want to give him plaques!”

Fang Kongzheng restrained his anger slightly: "Really?"

Fang Yizhi is also not polite: "Master Yang is a genius, he thought of the method of using green vitriol to oil the ore and turn it into fertilizer. There are countless people living there, but the craftsmanship is too primitive and rough. After thinking about it, I found out Many problems have been solved, and now only part of them have been solved, and there are many more important problems waiting to be solved."

(Yang Menglong: "Ahh!")
Fang Kongzheng's complexion changed slightly, and he said sharply: "Nizi, do you think that you are great after learning a little western knowledge, and you are no longer arrogant? Champion Hou..."

Fang Yizhi said nervously: "Qian Fu, don't scold, don't scold! It was the champion who asked him to try to improve and perfect all kinds of craftsmanship. If you are afraid of scolding him, you don't dare to work anymore. The champion will definitely kill someone." !"

In ancient times, the concept of superiority and inferiority was very strong. Even if the subordinates knew clearly that the superiors were not as capable as themselves and the arrangements made were full of loopholes, they could not speak out directly. They would either let it rot in their stomachs or find an opportunity to point it out tactfully. , and finally, I want to flatter the leader and tell everyone that this was all the thought of the leader. He bluntly said that the leader did not do a good job. Whether it is ancient or modern, it is very taboo. No one will like such an employee.Fang Yizhi had made a big mistake just now. Of course he was nervous as a father, but when he heard what Fang Yizhi said, he was stunned again: Is there anyone who would pay someone to hire his subordinates to make trouble for him?How strange!

Chen Zilong said with a smile: "Uncle Fang doesn't know something. My virtuous brother's tossing has increased the production of phosphate fertilizer by [-]%, [-]%. How much more food can be produced and how many people can be fed with so much phosphate fertilizer? But I appreciate it so much, no one will let me tell you.”

Fang Kongxuan snorted, stopped cursing, and asked Chen Zilong: "Nephew, what have you been up to these past few years? You're not going back home, and you've left behind your studies!"

Chen Zilong said: "The juniors don't have the skills of Mizhi. They run around all year round, collecting seeds of various crops and bringing them back to cultivate, to see which ones have higher yields, and how to make the yields higher."

Fang Kongzhang said: "Nonsense! This is what a farmer did. How can a scholar like you do it!"

Chen Zilong smiled freely and said, "As long as you can make a difference and be remembered by future generations, what about being a farmer?"

Fang Yizhi said: "Father, Brother Zilong is not fooling around. He wants to research a rice seed with a yield of [-] catties or even [-] catties per mu. If he succeeds, there will be no famine in the Ming Dynasty forever. The merits are in the present age, and the benefits are in the future. Compared with him, the child seems to be messing around!"

Chen Zilong said: "My dear brother, don't say that. No matter how good the seeds are, there will be no harvest without fertilizer. In the words of Lord Hou, you and I can achieve each other, and one is indispensable. By the way, how did you research the potash fertilizer? This is very important."

Fang Yizhi looked depressed: "Don't mention it, there is no clue at all! I found that nitrate alum is very helpful to promote crop growth, and it is more effective when used in combination with phosphorus fertilizer."

Chen Zilong's eyes lit up: "Really? Tell me about this nitric acid!"

Fang Yizhi said: "You are so brave, it's just..." Talking and gesticulating, and walking while talking, the two left their elders aside and ran away to argue.

Fang Kongzheng was dumbfounded.

Fang Yizhi hurriedly said with a smile on his face, "Don't blame the divers, they didn't intend to belittle the elders, they are too obsessed with it... Come on, let's go over there!"

Fang Kongxuan couldn't say anything, so he followed Fang Yizhi to the rostrum in the center of the square.When he was approaching the rostrum, he pretended to turn his head inadvertently, just in time to see that bastard son standing in a corner talking eloquently, which made Chen Zilong beam with joy.His face was expressionless, but he couldn't help boasting in his heart: "Son, you did a good job!"

(End of this chapter)