I'm afraid that gangsters have culture
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"Liang Gong, are you used to living in Guangzhou?" Orondai said with a gentle smile. He was no stranger to Guangzhou. The last time he came here, he was the adjutant, but this time he was the chief officer. This meant that as long as it was within his jurisdiction, he had the final say.
Furthermore, while his family's support was gone, no one in this area had a stronger backing than him. So, while this appointment was akin to exile for you, with a touch of probation, he was still leading a comfortable life in Guangzhou. Not only did he enjoy good food and drink, the local officials had no power over him, and he even managed a smuggling business. His partner was Yunlu, who had previously thwarted his scheme. The profits were quite good.
Throughout Guangdong, he had never taken anyone seriously, until Nian Gengyao fell from the sky. Nian Gengyao's family background was not low, but in Orondai's eyes, he was still a little inferior. What made Orondai worried was Nian Gengyao's behavior.
Nian's behavior over the past six months has truly frightened Orondai. It's true that "it's not the hooligans you're afraid of, but the hooligans with culture you're afraid of." Nian Gengyao, to a certain extent, was a cultured hooligan. Orondai himself wasn't illiterate, but compared to Nian Gengyao, a Jinshi, Shujishi, and Shiduxueshi, he was almost as illiterate. He simply couldn't afford to mess with him!
Orondei was very polite to Nian Gengyao. Even if we consider the complicated relationship between them, he was still Nian Gengyao's elder.
When one is under someone else's roof, one must bow down. Orondai didn't want to be like Alinga, who had lost his title. While the family's survival was important, he also wanted to prosper along with it, didn't he? Furthermore, Orondai had recently been involved in smuggling. As a member of the military, he was colluding with Yunlu, and most people would have turned a blind eye even if they knew about it. But Nian Gengyao was different. He had soldiers at his disposal, and as a bannerman, his status wouldn't be a disadvantage in bringing a case before the emperor.
Rather than both sides being hurt, it is better to maintain a good relationship. Orondai is honest, but not necessarily stupid.
Nian Gengyao also smiled gently: "I'm a little uncomfortable when I first come here, and I thank you for your advice." After all, Nian Gengyao was not a local, and the most difficult thing was food—two meals a day plus snacks and midnight snacks, which were unavoidable—but when he first arrived, the Orondai did provide a lot of living arrangements. Firstly, he owed them a favor (although he didn't look down on the Tong family as an external relative, it was because Kangxi had taken too much care of them, and their power and achievements were not commensurate). Secondly, he had important tasks to complete, and it was not appropriate to offend the Tong family too much.
Besides that, there's the climate. Nian Gengyao had just arrived in Guangzhou, and honestly, it was late spring when he arrived, so the weather was quite nice. However, once summer arrived, he cursed—it was truly scorching! Summers in China are generally hot, and Sichuan isn't necessarily much cooler, but it's certainly closer, making ice storage easier. But in Guangzhou... thanks to his status as the governor, the local leader, his material benefits were better than anyone else's.
However, his first year in Guangzhou was quite difficult. The reason for this was simply that Guangdong was the experimental field for the land-based tax system, which was his most important task. Guangdong was far from the capital, and compared to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, there were not many powerful families in this area, nor were there many officials from Guangdong.
Yinreng chose Nian Gengyao as governor-general because he was responsible, knew he had a temper, and was decisive. Furthermore, his father, Nian Xialing, had served as governor-general of Huguang, and his brother, Nian Xiyao, was also a seasoned official. Furthermore, the Nian family was a bannerman, not a target of revolution, and thus faced less resistance.
From spring to winter, Nian Gengyao worked diligently, not caring about his own pleasures (his standard of living had always been high). Except for the first two months, when he entertained his subordinates and parallel systems like the Orondai, he kept up with the work, holding the account books.
At this time, the memorial to "officials and gentry serving as one and paying taxes as one" had not yet been submitted, but Nian Gengyao was already implementing the equalization of the land tax. According to regulations, he had to travel from Sichuan to Beijing to report on his work, bid farewell to the emperor, greet the Ministry of Personnel and other officials, visit relatives and friends, and then rush to Guangzhou.
It didn't matter what he did in the capital; what mattered was that his mind was working too fast. He had to go to the Ministry of Revenue, where he happened to meet the two Fourth Masters who were single-mindedly implementing the New Deal.
Once again, Nian Gengyao was born into a scholarly family, a man who lived a life of ease, high spirits, early success, and a smooth official career. In other words, the spirit of a scholar, having never experienced setbacks, remained remarkably intact in him.
A great man once said, "Scholars are ambitious, they point to the mountains and rivers, they are full of vigor and power, and they despise the nobles of their day." This is quite a vivid description and illustrates the point: they have great ambitions and want to achieve great things, but they are also quite arrogant and conceited. As long as they believe something is right, they will continue to pursue it.
The revolution wouldn't reach him, and it would benefit his clique's rule. Nian Gengyao still wanted to make a name for himself. He was quite young for a provincial governor, and a future as a Grand Secretary was a possibility. His ambitions were as fierce as a lump of hot coal. This promotion simply added fuel to the fire, making General Nian another key figure in the New Deal.
From the moment he returned to Beijing to take up his post, he began paving the way for his appointment. He first gathered information about Guangdong and Guangxi from the Ministry of Revenue, determining the population and acreage of farmland there. He then went to the Ministry of Personnel and obtained the resumes of officials from Guangdong and Guangxi. Neither of these tasks was easy. However, thanks to his strong imperial favor and powerful in-laws, he finally succeeded, after many twists and turns.
In this way, before taking office, he had read all the written materials in Guangdong and Guangxi.
What's even more cruel is what's happening below.
When he arrived in Guangdong and Guangxi, he was no pushover either. He only hunted tigers, not flies. Oh, to put it more politely, it's like "When jackals and wolves are in power, why bother asking the foxes?"
He started with the wealthy families and dug out all the relatives. It turned out that the Governor-General, who admired him very much, not only checked the land and population data of Guangdong and Guangxi in the Ministry of Revenue, but also looked at another type of information.
It's important to note that in ancient China, while the marriage system, as depicted on television, was considered complete with the wedding ceremony ending with "entering the bridal chamber," the actual ceremony included six rituals, offering sacrifices to the ancestral hall, and more. Furthermore, household registration procedures were required. In this respect, the legal regulations for marriage are no different from those of modern marriage. It wasn't just a wedding banquet; registration was also required.
Ancient Chinese aristocratic families share some similarities with medieval Western European families, namely, genealogy and in-law relationships. This is the biggest difference between the nouveau riche and the aristocratic families. As for taste, it's secondary—some prefer noodles, some prefer rice, but it's hard to say who is more noble, right?
Genealogy is different. If you're not part of the entire intermarriage group and are influenced by it, you have no idea what's going on. The power of the Guangdong family is indeed not well-regarded nationwide, but any of the more prominent families is likely to have a history longer than that of the Qing Dynasty.
For Nian Gengyao, a newcomer, navigating the complex web of relationships here was a real hassle. He wanted to cut the Gordian knot quickly, but the sword had to strike without missing a beat. Even Orondai felt sympathetic. This place, and Fujian in particular, had been far less affected by war than the north. Many families could trace their histories back to the scholars who migrated south during the Five Barbarians' invasion, living together in clans and possessing immense power. Could you possibly wipe out an entire clan?
This problem was not a big deal to Nian Gengyao, so he fully demonstrated his characteristics as a cultural hooligan: knowledge is power, and intelligence work determines victory or defeat.
The information Nian Gengyao sought was the household registers of the local prominent families. Whether it was marriage, childbirth, daughter-in-law marriage, adoption, or even the more formal taking of concubines, all required official registration. Failure to register meant that any future disputes over inheritance or property would have no basis, and the state would not recognize them. Once registered, the situation became public knowledge. Nian Gengyao swept away all his local connections. He didn't want to know everyone, only the few who stood out.
Too cruel!
These days, few officials are clean. Even if you're clean now, you must have done a lot of unspeakable things before you had the money to maintain your integrity, right? If you, your family, and your clan honestly help me achieve my political achievements, I won't bother you. Otherwise... I'll report you! Your reputation will be ruined, and now you'll be a commoner, with no tax benefits. If you continue to hide your land, I'm sorry, I won't hesitate to treat you as a troublemaker.
At first, he was still confused and wanted to bite his fingers. The new generation is always pushing the old generation forward. Compared with Nian, Orondai felt that he was simply "adorable".
Under such circumstances, Orondei was very sensible. After communicating with Yunlu, he also communicated more frequently with Nian Gengyao. At the same time, he also decided to appropriately tell Nian Gengyao about his past experience in smuggling business.
Yunluo readily agreed: "He's in the limelight, and his subordinates are afraid to make any moves. He's also the governor, so he'll know about our affairs sooner or later. If we don't tell him, he'll find out later on his own, and he won't hesitate to use us as a scapegoat. If we tell him, he won't be able to intervene when the time comes."
After Orondei was convinced, he immediately approached Nian Gengyao to get close to him. He first asked about his work and life, and then brought up the financial constraints: "It's true that the fire consumption is returned to the public and the money for maintaining integrity is enough to support the whole family. If you want to do anything else, there's not enough. Those low-ranking officials don't want to make progress, and they don't have the ability to make further progress, so they just muddle through. But when it comes to our situation," he said with a wry smile, "we can't do without social interactions."
"You're right." Nian Gengyao's father, brother, and himself were all beneficiaries of the fire consumption silver. Losing this part of the income was indeed... not very pleasant! However, he was now striving for progress, so he endured it for the time being.
Orondei said mysteriously: "Now I have the courage to find a way..." to drag Nian Gengyao into the water.
You have such courage, you don't even need to show off.] Nian Gengyao complained in his heart, but he didn't say it out loud because he felt that this was not in line with his personal cultivation.
Nian Gengyao already knew about Orondai's affairs. He had been on and off with the Ninth Master in Beijing, but now they were mingling again. While openly engaging in foreign trade, they were secretly smuggling. Currently, trade with the Dutch still accounted for a large portion of China's total trade. Without the Dutch, the channels for importing goods were greatly reduced, and other Westerners were unable to immediately fill the Dutch's share. So, after battling the Dutch to the point of bloodshed, the Ninth Master's gang began trading with them privately again.
He smiled lightly and said, "I thank you and Master Jiu for your cultivation. When you trade with Westerners, do you know whether they are Dutch? I can never tell the difference." He was never a timid person and agreed. Seeing that Orondai did not understand his hint, he had to point out, "These people who come here under the banner of other companies, can you guarantee that there are no Dutch pretending to be them?"
Orondei felt uncomfortable under his gaze, but a light bulb went off in his mind: "Oh!" Selling private salt as official salt is something that anyone can do. It is estimated that no one would be so bored as to impeach him for this. Even if he was impeached, he could say that it was done by the servants. They are idiots and ignorant. They can't tell which country is which. A place the size of a palm is divided into dozens of countries. Isn't this deliberately trying to confuse people?
"Not bad, not bad."
"It's almost the end of the year, and the memorials I submitted to the capital to pay my respects and request an audience with the emperor are about to arrive. I have to go back and wait for news, so I won't stay with you for long."
"Haha, take care." You little bastard, if the situation wasn't so overwhelming, I really want to beat you up!
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"Officials and gentry all serve and pay taxes together?" Shujia asked in surprise. What was this? When she was in school, her history textbooks mentioned the Yongzheng era's land tax system, but they didn't mention the idea of all serving together.
"Exactly," Yinreng said with a sly smile. "I've completely blocked their cheating scheme. Let's see what they can do!" Before the decree was issued, he mentioned it to his wife. Shujia wasn't particularly knowledgeable about government affairs, but she sometimes had a good grasp of the general direction. Hearing her opinion would boost his confidence. Yinreng was convinced that his approach was right.
Shujia calmed down. Just by hearing the title, she knew it was a good thing, and she was also very receptive to it. However, she said, "This is a good thing, but I'm afraid the officials and gentry won't agree."
Yinreng was unconcerned. "I've made up my mind and am ready for this tough battle," he sneered. "I'm afraid it will be even harder than fighting the Junggar. But... I can't wait any longer!"
Shu Jiamo, reform is not an idyll: "Once you have made up your mind, just do it. It's just a matter of how to do it..."
"I know what's going on." But they were just being stubborn. The scholar had been rebelling for three years but had failed. Now that it had become a fait accompli, they had no choice but to accept it.
Yinreng's idea was good. In the first month of the twelfth year of Changtai, he issued an order that could definitely be called a "reform" or, if a bit exaggerated, a "revolution." Then, due to excessive excitement, he fell ill.
This is not a good sign.
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