It has to be said that there is always a market for literary and artistic young women in any era.
Feng Chuchu is very popular in Hangzhou, which is naturally related to her mastery of poetry.
Take the Broken Bridge Osmanthus Gathering for example. Countless talented and famous men were trying their best to squeeze in, just to catch a glimpse of the beautiful face of Miss Chu.
Xu Yan and Mr. Qian were naturally the lucky ones, successfully advancing after careful selection.
There is nothing special about the elegant gathering itself, it is nothing more than reciting poems.
It's just that Feng Chuchu deliberately asked Xu Yan a few questions about the creative background of "If Life Could Only Be Like First Meeting".
What surprised Xu Yan was that Feng Chuchu mentioned to him the past that he did not want to recall.
The poor scholar's betrayal was so infuriating that Xu Yan suddenly realized what was going on. No wonder Feng Chuchu felt so empathetic to this poem.
Of course, the protagonist of this gathering is definitely Mr. Qian.
Qian Dehong was obviously a veteran in the world of romance, and also had the title of a famous scholar. He was having a very pleasant conversation with Miss Chuchu.
However, apart from chatting about a few lines of poetry at the beginning, Xu Yan had no chance to interrupt.
He didn't mind. After all, he was here to accompany his mentor, so as long as he was happy, that was all that mattered.
When the banquet was in full swing, Miss Chuchu even sang a Kunqu opera to liven up the atmosphere, which drew applause from the whole room.
After the gathering ended, Xu Yan and Mr. Qian returned to Gushan Academy together. However, as soon as they entered the door, someone reported that someone from the Governor's Office had come and asked Xu Yan to go over for a chat.
Xu Yan knew that Zhu Wan would not normally summon him unless there were special circumstances, and he thought something must have gone wrong.
He reported the situation to Mr. Qian, and after getting permission, he immediately went to the Governor's Office.
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But Xu Yan came to the governor's office and was taken all the way to the back hall.
Seeing Shen Mingchen and Zhu Wan sitting together under the locust tree in the courtyard, Xu Yan walked straight forward.
"I greet you, Lord Minister."
Xu Yan bowed to Zhu Wan and said.
"It's time, please sit down."
Zhu Wan pointed to the stone bench next to him and gestured with a smile.
Xu Yan then lifted his robe and sat down.
Now Shen Mingchen has been officially hired by Zhu Wan as a guest of the imperial court and has moved to the Governor's Office.
Shen Mingchen hadn't seen Xu Yan for a long time and missed him very much.
"Hmm...well, I'm afraid this game of chess is going to get into a stalemate. How about trying it with time?"
Seeing that the game between Zhu Wan and Shen Mingchen had reached the middle stage and was too close to a clear winner, Xu Yan thought to himself, is this a trap for him to fall into?
"That's unnecessary. There's no point in changing players mid-game."
After a brief pause, Xu Yan continued, "The Minister summoned me here, is there something important to discuss?"
Xu Yan knew Zhu Wan's character too well.
Zhu Wan would not summon him unless it was something important, let alone to play chess.
Although Zhu Wan looked relaxed, something important must have happened.
As expected, Zhu Wan cleared his throat and said, "The court has already decided on the candidate for the Governor of Zhejiang Province, and he should be arriving in Hangzhou soon to take up his post."
Xu Yan couldn't help but take a deep breath when he heard this.
He was right!
Although Emperor Jiajing openly supported Zhu Wan not long ago, he was still somewhat worried about letting Zhu Wan hold all the power.
Didn’t he immediately appoint the Governor of Zhejiang to share Zhu Wan’s power?
"May I ask, sir, who is the new governor of Zhejiang?"
Because of Xu Yan, the course of history has quietly changed, and the appointment and removal of some officials will naturally change as well.
Especially at the level of Zhejiang officialdom, Xu Yan can no longer rely solely on existing history to make inferences.
"Yan Maoqing, the Junior Minister of Dali."
As soon as Zhu Wan finished speaking, Xu Yan gasped.
Yan Maoqing is a very famous person.
This person is one of Yan Song's most famous lackeys, and his level of lickspittle is comparable to Zhao Wenhua.
The most important thing is that this person is very proficient in officialdom tactics and is good at disguising himself. He often does things that are both a whore and a saint, so his reputation as an official should be quite good so far.
If Xu Yan remembered correctly, Yan Maoqing was a Jinshi in the 20th year of the Jiajing reign. He initially went to the Censorate to observe politics and became a censor. Later, because he defected to Yan Song and recognized Yan Song as his godfather, Yan Maoqing began to rise rapidly in his career.
There is no doubt that Emperor Jiajing's appointment of Yan Maoqing as Governor of Zhejiang was definitely the result of Yan Song's strong recommendation.
Yan Song would never give such a lucrative position to an outsider. After careful consideration, Yan Song extended his hand to Zhejiang.
"May I ask, sir, has the imperial court defined the duties of the Zhejiang Governor?"
In theory, the governor-general was under the control of the governor-general, but if the court had special instructions, the old rules could be deviated from.
"The court ordered Yan Maoqing to inspect the salt business."
Zhu Wan said lightly.
As expected!
Zhejiang has a Salt Transport Bureau that is in charge of matters related to sea salt drying.
In the Ming Dynasty, salt and iron were firmly in the hands of the imperial court.
According to custom, the imperial court would centrally distribute official salt, and anyone who wanted to buy salt had to hold a salt permit.
Of course, there are people who would take the risk of selling illegal salt for huge profits, but this is a capital crime and if caught, they will be dead.
The Yan Party extended its hand to the salt administration, and its appetite was really big.
But there is good news after all, that is, Yan Maoqing will not interfere too much in military affairs.
The southeast is not yet peaceful. In order to completely eliminate the Japanese threat, it is necessary to ensure Zhu Wan's absolute leadership and control over the official army and navy.
From this perspective, as long as Yan Maoqing doesn't cause trouble, it's acceptable.
"Your Excellency, please listen to what he says and observe his actions first, and be patient."
Xu Yan gave his own suggestions.
Although Yan Maoqing was a great villain, at least he was restrained at this stage.
As long as he doesn't act too excessively, Zhu Wan doesn't need to fight to the death with him.
After all, Yan Song is now very powerful, and it is not wise to confront him head-on.
"I have nothing to fear, but I am afraid that the people will suffer."
Zhu Wan sighed and said, "The emperor has issued an edict that taxes in Zhejiang will increase again this year. If Yan Maoqing's salt inspection can't fill this hole, he will definitely find ways to make up for it."
Xu Yan couldn't help but feel sad.
Zhejiang is one of the most prosperous places in the world, but precisely because of its prosperity, Zhejiang's taxes ranked at the top during the Ming Dynasty.
Many emperors changed, but the taxes in Zhejiang could not be reduced.
Now Zhejiang has increased taxes again.
But to be honest, Emperor Jiajing did have a good eye for talent.
Yan Maoqing has two major advantages.
One is flattery, which can be seen from the fact that Yan Song valued him.
The second is to make money.
Yan Maoqing's ability to make money was definitely among the top five in the Jiajing Dynasty, even Yan Song himself might not be able to compare with him.
The Ming Dynasty's tax system was very distorted, with very low taxes on businesses and often expenditures exceeding revenues.
In order to maintain military expenses in the nine frontiers, it was normal for Emperor Jiajing to increase taxes.
But no one wants to be burdened with taxes, especially Zhejiang, which already bears a lot of taxes.
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