ushernet Chapter 670 The Advantage Is Too Great
Chapter 670 The Advantage Is Too Great
After enjoying more than half a year of good times, the Liangshan magistrate's office quieted down again.
Wu Daoxing was from Raozhou in Jianxi (now Poyang County), and his family naturally owned a considerable amount of land.
Raozhou is very close to Jingdezhen, so it was inevitable that the family would also need to open a kiln to fire porcelain. Wang Li's path to wealth pointed out the way to riches for Wu Tongzhi.
Not only Tongzhi Wu Daoxing, but anyone who could serve as an official in Liangshan Prefecture had to be a Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations at the provincial level), because Liangshan was a superior prefecture.
Those who held the rank of Juren or above all possessed land and assets, let alone current officials. Seeing Commander Wang Li become wealthy, everyone begged Wu Daoxing, who had connections with Chen Er, hoping to find a path to riches for their own families.
Military officers had such low status that civil officials didn't even bother to deal with them.
Among those present were not only Wu Daoxing, the Assistant Magistrate, and Wang Jiuluo, the Vice Prefect, but also Qu Lianfang, the Magistrate, and a host of other officials.
Wang Jiuluo was a Jinshi from Shuozhou, Shanxi. Qu Lianfang didn't need an introduction, and Chen Er knew he was from Guangdong. Indeed, he was a Jinshi from Dongguan.
Without a word, Chen Er agreed. There was no need to partner with him anymore. Each party could arrange to transport their goods to the port near the sea, make an appointment, and then a ship would take them to the port for the transaction.
Then Chen Er introduced the development of Taiwan to the officials. As the initiator, Chen Er should do something to attract investment for the development of Taiwan, right?
For the officials who came to meet with Chen Er today, surprises kept coming one after another, including the opportunity to participate in maritime trade and land development.
In the Ming Dynasty, which had lasted for more than 200 years, passing the imperial examination to become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations) was a major hurdle for ordinary people. Once someone passed the examinations, they were basically guaranteed a worry-free life.
Passing the imperial examination was another hurdle, and becoming wealthy was basically no longer a problem. But that was pretty much the end of the road; to get rich further, one would have to become a governor, a minister, or a grand secretary.
But such positions were extremely rare, and most families of Jinshi officials could only rise to the level of middle-class gentry.
With land consolidation almost complete and no new investment channels available, most of the Ming Dynasty's silver was buried underground.
The officialdom in Liangshan was in an uproar. The next day, as soon as the city gates opened, groups of people could be seen rushing out of the city. Some sharp-eyed flag bearers and captains recognized them as stewards and servants of the various lords in the city.
Wang Li of Liangshan Guard made a fortune last year, and the military officers of Fujian Guard couldn't sit still after hearing the news. Commander Wang Li's house was constantly visited. The civil officials couldn't afford to associate with him, but they were just right to visit Wang Li.
Yes, military officers can also join, but there's a condition: any able-bodied man under 25 years old who is from a poor family can be sent to Taiwan, and the Huaxia Group will handle the transportation.
In this day and age, are there any garrison soldiers who aren't struggling financially? Apart from military officers with a household size of over a thousand, there's no one whose family isn't in financial trouble.
June in Liangshan Prefecture was bustling with activity. In officialdom, who didn't have a few close relatives or fellow townsmen who relied on each other? Letters were sent out one after another, and officials who received them hurriedly dispatched reliable family members or stewards to Liangshan to investigate.
No amount of flowery talk can compare to seeing Taiwan for yourself. The passenger route from Liangshan to Changhua was thus opened.
It's true, it's all true.
It's one thing to have vast tracts of fertile land, but more importantly, Changhua is in dire need of officials, and Taiwan is in dire need of officials. Illiteracy is really not suitable for being an official. Many gentry families have sons who have studied for many years but failed to pass the imperial examinations.
No need for the imperial examinations, just a simple nomination by the people is enough to become an official! Good heavens, hurry, hurry home, hurry and bring your children to Taiwan.
Don't rush. It's true that you can recommend someone for an official position, but they must first study at the Huaxia Academy of Administration. Only after passing the exam will they be eligible to be recommended.
It's just studying and taking exams. Who have the scholars of the Ming Dynasty ever feared?
Fang Sheng was the steward of the Fang family, a large salt merchant family in Yangzhou. For many years, he had been in charge of his master’s maritime trade in Japan. On July 5, his master prepared the first batch of five ships of goods for the year and set off from Nanjing for Nagasaki.
As soon as we reached the territory of Haizhou, we saw a Fujian-style ship in the distance, with several flags hanging on it.
One of the flags looked like the Li family's flag. Fang Sheng, who was also a frequent seafarer, could tell from the draft that it was a lightly loaded vessel. It was impossible to catch up with it, which was a pity.
Even though they knew those were ships protected by the Li family, if they encountered a lone ship at a convenient time, they would still rob it anyway.
Unexpectedly, the boat came closer on its own. After walking about seventy or eighty steps away, it sent a small boat over. Fang Sheng was quite curious and wondered what the other party wanted to do.
When the people on the small boat got closer and said something, Fang Sheng was both angry and amused. Stop the boat, register, and inspect? What kind of nonsense is this? Even in the Ming Dynasty, nobody inspects their own boat.
Fang Sheng ignored the people on the small boat; he must have lost his mind.
Thump thump thump, the enemy is closing in and firing.
Fang Sheng thought that with five large ships and more than 200 warriors on board, what could a single Fujian ship possibly do?
The distance was too close, only thirty or forty meters apart. Pang Huaiyi and Dong Xian separated their fleets to patrol separately, and this time Pang Huaiyi was leading the ships.
Three out of the first five shots hit the target. Although Fang Sheng's ship also had cannons, they were all small cannons weighing three jin each, and in the heat of the moment, they didn't even know where the shots had landed.
With a loud bang, Fang Sheng, who was on the deck of the ship, saw a large hole opened in the hull. A fist-sized iron ball broke through the hull and only stopped after it was embedded more than halfway into the opposite hull.
That shot turned the deck into a living hell. Seeing the enemy approaching, the crew reacted immediately, hiding behind the ship's sides to avoid being hit by arrows or thrown weapons.
The three people behind the ship's side, which had been breached by the cannon fire, were instantly shattered, their limbs and splinters flying rapidly in all directions.
The three people hit by the bullets died instantly, but those hit by the flying bone fragments and wood chips fared much worse. The side of their bodies that were closest to the bullets was covered with all sorts of debris. They were not dead, but they could not even make a sound. They trembled on the deck, while those further away were rolling around and howling in pain.
Fang Sheng was dumbfounded. Over the years, he had encountered many battles, but he had never seen anyone be bombarded by artillery like this. He had heard that the Red Hairs had such tactics, but no one had ever witnessed them.
Fang Sheng was dumbfounded, but Pang Huaiyi was perfectly clear-headed. This was the third wave this month, and it was always the same. If you didn't bombard these people with artillery fire, they wouldn't take you seriously.
Keep firing.
Some of the crew members in the fleet realized what was happening and, without Fang Sheng's prompting, quickly changed course to try and surround the ship that had fired the cannons.
Boats equipped with bearings and gears have a significant advantage in terms of ease of sail adjustment and rudder control. Moreover, Pang Huaiyi's boat is lightly loaded.
Before the other ships could surround them, Pang Huaiyi's side fired a second round of cannon fire. This time, they weren't as lucky as the first round; only one shot hit the bow sail.
The bullet didn't hit the foresail mast squarely; it grazed most of the mast and changed direction as it broke the mast.
He slanted downwards and crawled into the superstructure at the stern. The wooden planks of the superstructure at the stern were not as thick as the wooden planks of the gunwales and deck. As soon as Tie Dan went in, he pierced through two layers of thin wooden planks, and the flying wood chips took away two helmsmen.