Li Zhengdao explained the business of the shop, and then went out with Zhao Fuxiang. The dock here is just a shop. The Qiongzhou branch of the Furui No. 1 is located in Qiongzhou City. The shop here at the dock is just a warehouse. Because of the Chinese New Year a few days ago, I came from Guangzhou

A batch of goods was delivered, and Li Zhengdao happened to come over to inspect it, and then he met Zhao Fuxiang who came to the door.

The two of them went out and hailed a carriage at the street entrance. Haikou was not close to Fucheng. If you didn't take a carriage, you would just rely on walking. It was already evening when they arrived in Fucheng.

There is an official road from the wharf that leads directly to Fucheng. The two carriages walked for an hour and arrived at the south gate of Fucheng. The roads in the Ming Dynasty were not as good as those in later generations. The bumps of these ten miles almost broke Zhao Fuxiang's bones.

Zhao Fuxiang got out of the car and cursed: "Are all the officials on this damn road a fool? Don't they know how to repair it?"

When Li Zhengdao heard Zhao Fuxiang curse, he quickly stepped forward and covered his mouth, and said in a low voice: "Brother Zhao, be careful that trouble comes from your mouth. We are not scholars and have no right to make unreasonable opinions!"

After being reminded by Li Zhengdao, Zhao Fuxiang remembered that this was not a future where everyone was equal. This was the Ming Dynasty where the Jinyi Weidong Factory existed. Zhao Fuxiang looked around in shock and asked, "Brother, why are there Tiqi from the factory guards here?"

"We are in a remote military state here, so what kind of Tiqi are there? The kind of Tiqi that swaggers through the city is only common in the northern and southern capitals, but our Qiongzhou Prefecture has hundreds of Jinyi Guards stationed in it. It would be troublesome for someone to spread the word to their ears.

!”

Zhao Fuxiang saw that Li Zhengdao was cautious and seemed to have suffered a loss, so he quickly asked: "Brother, how come you have suffered a loss from them?"

Li Zhengdao sighed: "Hey, don't talk about the past!"

Zhao Fuxiang saw that Li Zhengdao didn't say anything and stopped asking. However, he was interested in another thing, which was the problem of scholars in the Ming Dynasty. Just now Li Zhengdao said that only scholars have the privilege of talking nonsense. Are scholars so awesome?

"Brother, you just said that only scholars have the right to make arrogant opinions? Are they so powerful?"

When he mentioned that Li Zhengdao, a scholar, had obviously relaxed a lot, he smiled contemptuously and said: "Those hanging-necked scholars are smelly and tough. They often comment on government affairs because they have read sages' books for several years, and they drink a few cups of cat."

Naturally, I can’t control my peeing, and everyone is used to it!”

Scholars in the Ming Dynasty were really awesome. Zhao Fuxiang knew that the Ming Dynasty stories also recorded scenes of ministers fighting at court meetings, but those were all officials. How could an ordinary scholar in Hainan be so awesome?

"Brother, you said just now that there are Jin Yiwei here, don't they care about these stinky old men?"

"It's not that I don't care, it's that I don't dare to care! Who is the most famous scholar here in Qiongzhou? I don't know, right?"

Zhao Fuxiang really couldn't remember it for a while. Li Zhengdao looked at Zhao Fuxiang and shook his head before he remembered that this guy came back from Nanyang. It was normal not to know the news. Li Zhengdao said in a low voice: "The most famous thing here in Qiongzhou is Hai Rui Haigang Peak.

, With such a giant Buddha as a backer, these scholars are very arrogant. As long as they don’t knock on the door and beat up the guards, those guys who are called ghosts are too lazy to care about such nonsense, so they might as well turn a blind eye!"

Zhao Fuxiang was reminded that Hai Rui was from Qiongshan County, Qiongzhou Prefecture. Zhao Fuxiang also visited Hai Rui Cemetery before crossing, which is located in Binya Village on the left side of Haixiu Avenue, not far from Haikou.

"I see, but it has been sixty or seventy years since Hai Rui died. Is the Hai family still so powerful in the local area?"

"Of course Hai Rui is an upright official, but that's not necessarily the case with his family. The current head of the Hai family is Hai Rui's direct grandson Hai Shuzu. This guy is married to a local wealthy family, the Qiu family and the Liang family. Even the royal family will look at his family's face.

, not to mention those Jin Yiwei! In order to win over the hearts of local scholars, Hai Shuzu would always come forward whenever the scholars had trouble. The Jin Yiwei gang could not offend Hai Shuzu by killing them, so he simply ignored them in the past few years and hid in the yamen and acted like a turtle!

"

After Zhao Fuxiang heard what Li Zhengdao said, he stroked his newly grown beard and thought: It turns out that there is such a person among Hai Rui's descendants. It's interesting. It seems that Hai Shuzu should make friends with him!

Zhao Fuxiang is different from his son Zhao Heng who wants to build a new society. Zhao Fuxiang has already been turned into a glass ball by society. He knows that it is far more difficult to sail against the current than to go with the current. It is much easier to adapt to the world than to change it. The imperial examination system developed greatly in the Ming Dynasty.

In the era, these stupid old nines who were stupid at studying were very tight. Countless famous officials were produced in the Ming and Qing dynasties. At the same time, these guys controlled most of the local manpower and material resources. If they wanted to quickly gain a foothold in Hainan,

It won't work without relying on them.

Seeing that Zhao Fuxiang didn't ask, Li Zhengdao stopped talking and began to introduce the customs and customs of Qiongzhou City to Zhao Fuxiang, an outsider.

In the Ming Dynasty, Hainan Island had 240,000 registered households and 470,000 people, two-thirds of which were concentrated on the alluvial plains close to the mainland, that is, Chengmai, Lingao, and Wenchang counties around Qiongzhou Prefecture.

The most densely populated and economically developed city is Qiongzhou Prefecture.

Qiongzhou Prefecture was inhabited 10,000 years ago, but counties were established relatively late. In the sixth year of Yuanding, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, after the Han army destroyed the Nanyue Kingdom, Zhuya County and Dan'er County were established on Hainan Island, which belonged to the governor of Jiaozhou.

Jurisdiction, the seat of Zhuya County is in Qiongshan, which is now Qiongzhou Prefecture.

From the establishment of prefectures and counties in the Han Dynasty to the establishment of Qiongzhou Prefecture in the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, for more than two thousand years, due to the war in the north, refugees from the south took refuge in Hainan Island, bringing not only population but also advanced productivity. By the end of Chongzhen

, Hainan Island has developed into an important border town.

As the largest city on the island, Qiongzhou Prefecture is also the political, economic and cultural center of the island. The scale of the natural city is countless times greater than that of Haikou. The city wall of Qiongzhou Prefecture is more than 4,000 meters in circumference, nine meters high and six meters wide.

There was a strong sense of oppression under the city wall. Looking at the blue-grey wall tiles and the dark green moss above, Zhao Fuxiang felt a sense of respect in his heart.

Li Zhengdao thought that this country bumpkin had seen such a high city wall for the first time, so he smiled and said: "Brother, this Qiongzhou city wall is quite short. When I have time, I will take him to Guangfu to broaden his horizons. That city wall is comparable to the one here."

Too strong!"

Zhao Fuxiang knew that this guy looked down on him, but he didn't say anything. He nodded and followed Li Zhengdao into the south gate of Qiongzhou Mansion.

Different from cities in the mainland, Qiongzhou City has only three city gates, namely Chaoyang Gate in the east, Jingnan Gate in the south, and Huehua Gate in the west. Because it is necessary to guard against pirates from the sea, Qiongzhou City does not have a north gate, but only a north gate.

The city wall tower is called Wanghai Tower.

When he was still far away from the south gate, Zhao Fuxiang saw a bunch of people gathered outside the south gate. At first he thought they were traders preparing to enter the city, but when he walked in, he realized that there were no traders there, but thousands of beggars.

They gathered at the city gate, hoping that passers-by would give them a bite to eat.

Only when he got close to these beggars did Zhao Fuxiang realize what a human tragedy it was. They were different from those fat-hearted extras in later TV series. These beggars, both men and women, were all in ragged clothes. They were so skinny and hungry that they all had dull eyes. They were sitting there like dead people.

When someone passed by, he raised his hands like a robot and shouted: "Master, give me something to eat!"

These beggars were skinny and skinny. Most of them were men. There were very few women, and even fewer were old and weak. Zhao Fuxiang was very curious and couldn't help but take a second look. He was immediately surrounded by beggars. He reached out and grabbed Zhao Fuxiang's lapel to ask for some food.

Food.

When Li Zhengdao saw that Zhao Fuxiang was surrounded, he quickly stepped forward and drove away the beggars, pulling Zhao Fuxiang away from the group of beggars. The beggars were probably too hungry to even chase after him. When they saw that Zhao Fuxiang was far away, they did not chase after him and started again.

Showing the appearance of a dead person, he sat on the ground and waited for the next person who was willing to give food to him.

Zhao Fuxiang visited poor households with minimum living allowance in later generations, but most of those households with minimum living allowance in later generations lost their labor force due to illness. The problem of food and clothing could still be solved, but the beggars in front of him were about to starve to death. Zhao Fuxiang couldn't bear it and asked: "Brother

, why doesn’t the government care?”

Li Zhengdao probably had seen too much and was not surprised. He said: "The government can control it. The number of beggars here in the South Gate is relatively small. Outside the East Gate and near Nandu Wharf is where the refugees gather.

In recent years, the north has become more and more chaotic, so a large number of refugees have gone south to escape the war. Qiongzhou is blocked by the strait, so very few people have fled here. There are more than 100,000 refugees outside Guangzhou, and the government will provide relief if they want.

But come here!”

Zhao Fuxiang looked back at the refugees and asked: "I see there are all adult men here, there are very few women, and there are basically no old or weak people. What is going on?"

"Thousands of miles from the north, the old and weak either died on the way or were made into food. As for the women, the young and beautiful ones have been sold long ago. The other fate is similar to that of the old and weak!"

Zhao Fuxiang heard what Li Zhengdao said in an understatement, but he knew in his heart that it was all true. In the past, it was recorded in history books that dynasties changed, wars broke out, and cannibalism happened from time to time. But now that he heard this kind of thing with his own ears, Zhao Fuxiang was still covered in blood.

The fact scared me.

Meeting the refugees at the gate of the city made Zhao Fuxiang no longer want to play. Li Zhengdao knew that this was the first time Zhao Fuxiang had seen such a thing. However, such natural disasters and military disasters cannot be changed by individuals. In the future, they will become numb after seeing them too much.

Already.

Since he stopped playing, Li Zhengdao took Zhao Fuxiang to his home. Furui Hao was indeed the largest business house in Guangzhou. It occupied a courtyard in the downtown area in front of the prefect's Yamen. In the front were the shops and in the back was where Li Zhengdao lived and rested.

place.

The two of them had traveled a long and dusty journey. Now when they returned home, a servant gave them a towel to clean themselves. Li Zhengdao saw that Zhao Fuxiang was wearing something strange and said with a smile: "Brother Zhao, you are not wearing what you are wearing in the city. If you didn't follow me into the city, you would be fine."

The guards who were guarding the city just now will not let you in at all!"

Zhao Fuxiang wore a jacket. Although it was very comfortable, it was indeed incompatible with the clothes of the Ming Dynasty. Zhao Fuxiang smiled and said: "Brother, do you have any clothes here? Let me borrow some from you!"
Chapter completed!