Chapter 1217: Geng Zi Juan’s Marriage

Seeing that her husband was deep in thought, Shen Yixiu was also a little frightened: "Ms. sir, this is just some news that my father got from his hometown. It may not be accurate, but I feel that although everyone inside and outside seems to be saying that the Jiangnan scholars are powerful in the court. Big, but they are relatively fair like the First Assistant and the Second Assistant. For example, the taxes in Jiangnan are heavy, and the Jiangnan scholars are very resentful. They still explain the current situation in the north to the Jiangnan scholars objectively and truthfully, at least from this point on Speaking from the outside, they still stand for the overall interests of the public. As for asking them to fully protect the north, it is unrealistic in itself. After all, they are from Jiangnan..."

"Is this what your father-in-law said?" Feng Ziying couldn't believe that this was what his wife, who had never been involved in current affairs, thought.

"Not exactly. There was some mention in my father's letter, saying that the scholars in North Korea and Huguang had great prejudices against the first assistant, second assistant and Jiangnan scholars, but even if Mr. Qi Ge was replaced as the first assistant , can there be much improvement? It is an indisputable fact that taxes in Jiangnan are now heavy, especially in places like Suzhou and Huzhou. Many small people put their land on the heads of big families, which means they cannot bear the pressure..."

The Great Zhou Dynasty treated the gentry favorably. There was a tax reduction and exemption policy for the gentry, especially the exemption from labor. This is why everyone worked hard to find a status as a scholar. As long as they passed the examination to become a scholar, they would be exempted from labor, and if they were elected, they would be eligible for exemption. The taxes on the family fields are gone.

“If we continue to impose more taxes, I’m afraid there will really be chaos in Jiangnan.”

 Shen Yixiu's words were a reminder. How could Feng Ziying not know? However, before other ways to make money were found, heavy financial pressure forced the court to keep focusing on Jiangnan and Huguang, especially Jiangnan.

Under such internal and external troubles, the Zhou court was like a bowstring that was too tight. If there was a slight accident, it might break.

The unfavorable situation in the southwest war continues to add weight to this problem, and the court's room for maneuver seems to be getting smaller and smaller.

Feng Ziying can imagine that Guan Yingzhen must also be under a lot of pressure. The increase in the price of the charter fee and the increase in national debt are all issues that have to be considered under pressure from the cabinet, the Ministry of Household Affairs and even the Ministry of War. They even have to consider increasing the amount of national debt. Taxation, and this is bound to stimulate the turbulent Shilin public opinion in Jiangnan.

Feng Ziying couldn't help but sigh. After all, she was born at the wrong time, and she encountered an era where all kinds of contradictions and problems were intertwined.

At this time, Feng Ziying was really envious of those protagonists in time-travel novels who would be bowed to by their younger brothers at every turn. The protagonist was killing everyone. How could she come back through time-travel and become such a cowardly and suffocating character?

I have tried to show my talents to the world as much as possible, raise my reputation, build a wide network of contacts, and grab the opportunities everywhere. In the eyes of countless people, I am already a genius and have risen to the top, but why do I still feel exhausted? And the feeling that the situation is not getting better at all?

 Is it true that human power will eventually be limited and the way of heaven will eventually be determined? Shouldn't it be said that man can conquer heaven?

The pilot project of Yongping Mansion was a plan that Feng Ziying thought he had done well. However, the land of Yongping Mansion was still too small for the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, and it only lasted less than a year. No matter how earth-shaking he was, It's impossible to turn stone into gold.

It can be said that with the help of Shanshan merchants and Foshan Zhuangji, and even the strength of the Ministry of War Arms Bureau for joint development, I have maximized all the potential and resources, but this will take time to accumulate slowly. Rome is not a day If it can be built, even if he is allowed to take over as the prefect of Zhu Zhiren, the development of Yongping Mansion will be difficult to see big results within three to five years, let alone change the entire Zhou Dynasty pattern.

Sometimes Feng Ziying herself feels tired. Although Qi Yongtai, Guan Yingzhen, Qiao Yingjia, and Chai Ke are closely related to him, to be precise, they only partially agree with some of his views, and they are not even fellow travelers. In this sense, the teacher-student friendship or the old relationship between villagers and party members, which still belongs to this tradition, can only be regarded as personal friendship.

Even among my classmates who have high hopes for me, none fully agree and support me. This will take time and success to accumulate slowly.

However, Feng Ziying believes that her success in Yongping Mansion has made a good start. It has not only created a good reputation for herself in the government and the public, but also attracted the attention of many people to her methods, making them also I saw the hope of "taking shortcuts" in my official career.

The most important things in the Zhou Dynasty's assessment of local officials were taxation and public security. With limited fields and fixed tax standards, countless people thought hard about how to make this a breakthrough without causing unrest in public security. But Feng Ziying not only accomplished this in just one year, she even helped the court solve the problem of housing tens of thousands of refugees, which made it impossible for anyone to question Feng Ziying's contribution in this.

Of course, there will be no shortage of criticism, and the dissatisfaction of the gentry is the biggest hidden danger. However, fortunately, Qi Yongtai is the leader of the Northern Scholars, and Beizhili is its foundation. Qiao Yingjia is also in charge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. These situations are all She can still suppress it, so this also makes Feng Ziying dazzling today.

Feng Ziying also realized that her next goal may not only make herself more dazzling and reach a higher level, but also need to attract a group of like-minded people to work with her. Even those who only agree on some views are worthy of fighting for peace. As they develop, they can gradually accept their views and opinions through the influence of their ears and eyes, and the most persuasive thing is undoubtedly everything that they are doing now and have succeeded.

 For Feng Ziying, although there are many worries and troubles, they are not imminent. The most important thing at the moment is still getting married.

Although Feng Ziying was overjoyed when Shen Yixiu gave birth to a daughter, it also made the Duans happy but also a little regretful. Feng Ziying had been married and had concubines for some time, and there were several maids who took over the house, but there were only a few maids. The eldest lady Shen Yixiu is pregnant and has given birth. The two concubines and three maids who live in the same house are not pregnant. If the Duan family hadn't known something about Shen Yixiu's temperament, they would have suspected that Shen Yixiu was here. It's caused trouble.

But in any case, marrying the Xue sisters into the family is a big deal. Even Shen Yixiu can't take care of the affairs of the second wife. It is not suitable for Shen Yixiu to get pregnant again in a short time. Naturally, I placed my hopes on the Xue sisters, especially Xue Baochai's rich and graceful appearance, which made the eldest Duan very satisfied. This physique looked like a child, so the attitude has changed from the initial disapproval to the current one. ardent hope.

 The sun finally rose.

The weather has been kind, and it has been windy and snowy for the past few days, but since the day before yesterday, the weather has cleared up.

The sky was blue and the sun was shining brightly. The two days of sunshine made the entire capital city bright and clean.

The streets have been cleaned, and at least the view from Fengcheng Hutong is particularly comfortable. The Feng family has welcomed a new bride again, which also makes the entire Fengcheng Hutong noisy.

There are some changes in the customs of Dazhou weddings compared to those of the Song and Ming Dynasties. It emphasizes going out at auspicious times in the morning to greet the bride, and then taking the bride home. At noon, relatives and friends come to congratulate her, and until the wedding is completed in the evening, most of the guests have to save a meal. , just like marrying Shen Yixiu, there are also arrangements in the mansion, but there are also more than 20 tables in a restaurant in Wudinghou Hutong nearby. The guests who come to the banquet, if they are relatives who come from a long distance, have to help arrange accommodation. at.

In this era, personal wedding is the mainstream, but in the south there is also a custom of letting the elders of the family bring the bride back without going there personally. However, in the north and in towns, the custom of personal wedding is still basically adopted.

If it is an ordinary family, there are donkeys and carriages, and there are also horses and donkeys, which are not uniform. Of course, for Feng Ziying, she must go on horseback, and the bride will naturally be brought back in a sedan. This has become the mainstream of official families in this era. Ways of getting married.

The Xue family moved out of Rongguo Mansion a few days in advance. In fact, after Xue Pan married the daughter of the Xia family, he moved to the old Lige Hutong in Yongfang, which is adjacent to Taipu Temple in the north and Taiye Pond in the east. The environment is very nice, but the house is not very big.

However, the second wife of the Xue family lived in Shibei Hutong in Yongfang in Dashi. However, this time they were marrying the daughter of Xue’s eldest brother, and Xue Baoqin was marrying off as a concubine, so they naturally waited for the wedding at Xue’s house in Lige Old Hutong. .

The wedding procession came out of Fengcheng Hutong and headed south along the northern section of Xuanwumenli Street. Although the weather was fine, the wind was still blowing hard, making Feng Ziying's cheeks stiff with cold, but the smile on her face was beyond words.

The large group of people immediately attracted the attention of countless people in the neighborhood, and as soon as they entered Xuanwumen Street, they were greeted by people walking all over the street.

 “Hey, it’s the Feng family’s wedding,...”

“Which Feng family? You don’t even know about Xiao Feng Xiuzuan? Do you know about opening the sea? Do you know that this time the Mongols came in and fought a defeat? It was Xiao Feng Xiuzuan who did it,..."

“Oh, it was written by Xiao Feng, so why didn’t you know? I remember that the Feng family got married the year before last, didn’t they?”

 “What do you know? I have a family with three bedrooms and only one child, so the Holy One specially approved it, and...”

“Tsk, tsk, then you can marry two people if you dare? I have heard of this situation in the countryside, but it seems that all the three people in the Feng family have titles. This is new..."

“That’s it, if that’s not the case, how can we need to have both the title and the title? Then the title must be inherited by heirs, right?…”

“Look at this posture, I wonder which family the woman is from?”

“I heard that his surname is Xue and that he belongs to a wealthy family in Jinling, but I haven’t heard much about it in our capital city…”

"Hey, how can a talent like Xiao Feng Xiuzhuan marry that southern barbarian? Don't we have a daughter from a prominent family in the capital that satisfies him? If it were me, I would have to marry him even if I took the initiative. It’s a marriage,…”

“Why don’t you take a look at yourself? She’s tall and thick and looks like a gangster. Your daughter is also worthy of the Feng family’s eyes. It’s hard to be a maid..."

 (End of this chapter)