Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1075 Mengjin Ferry

Du Yinxi started from Xi'an and headed eastward, passing through Tongguan and entering Lingbao, Henan. He then continued eastward through Luoyang to Xinxiang, then turned back north, entered Xingtai, Zhili from Wu'an, and then arrived at the capital.

This road is slightly longer than the one from Shanxi, but it is much easier to travel. After all, Shanxi is mountainous while Henan is a plain. Another important reason is that Du Yinxi plans to take this road to see the current situation in the Central Plains.

The last time I passed through Henan was several years ago. At that time, the bandits had just been wiped out and the Central Plains had just been pacified. Henan suffered severe war disasters. Coupled with the natural disasters during the Chongzhen period, Henan suffered extremely serious damage.

But this time when he came to Henan, Du Yinxi saw a completely different scene. With the recovery of production and local stability, there was a sense of prosperity. Although it was not as good as a real heyday, it had signs of prosperity, which made Du Yinxi extremely pleased.

"Master, Mengjin is ahead." The carriage slowed down slightly, and the old servant driving the carriage turned around and called out to the back.

Du Yinxi stuck his head out of the car to take a look. There were obviously more people on both sides of the official road, and it was getting more and more lively in front.

"Go directly to the ferry." Du Yinxi looked at the sky and instructed the old servant. The old servant responded and drove the car straight to the nearest ferry.

Mengjin is an important place in Henan Province. It is famous for the meeting of 800 princes when King Wu of Zhou attacked King Zhou. Since ancient times, Mengjin is not only a military stronghold, but also a ferry connecting the north and south of the Yellow River. In fact, Mengjin has not only one ferry, but several ferry, which are distributed in several places in the Mengjin area, carrying people's traffic to and from the Yellow River, and it has been like this since ancient times.

Du Yinxi had to cross the Yellow River to go from Henan to Zhili, and it was most convenient to cross the river from Mengjin. The old servant drove the car quickly to the ferry, found a place to stop the car, and went to the ferry to inquire about the ferry. Du Yinxi also got off the car at this time and stretched his muscles.

Because of the Yellow River ferry, Mengjin has formed a number of small towns with each ferry as the center. These towns not only have pedestrians traveling from north to south, but also more merchants and local people making a living. In addition, with the imperial court’s garrison at the ferry and the management setup of the local government, this place is very lively.

Looking around, he could see pedestrians coming and going and many shops on both sides of the official road. Du Yinxi took a look and walked towards the tea shop not far away.

This tea shop is not a big shop, it is just a canopy. People who come here to rest are pedestrians or businessmen passing by the ferry. The tea sold is not good tea, but ordinary inferior tea that ordinary people drink.

When they arrived, Du Yinxi found an empty seat and sat down.

"Shopkeeper, give me a cup of tea!"

"Okay!" A middle-aged woman answered, and came over with a big bowl and a pot in her hands. She put the bowl down first, poured a bowl of tea, and then said to Du Yinxi with a smile: "Sir, please have some."

"Thank you." Du Yinxi smiled and nodded, saying thank you. The woman took the pot and went back to work. There were only two people in the tea shop, and there was another man busy not far away, who seemed to be the woman's husband.

He took a sip of the tea bowl. The tea was not very good and tasted a little bitter in his mouth, but Du Yinxi didn't care at all and drank it with relish. He was a little tired after sitting in the car all the way, so it was a good time to take a break.

"Did you hear that?"

"What did you hear?"

"Why? Haven't you heard? The government posted a notice a few days ago saying that place...what's it called? Bay?"

"You mean Taiwan Prefecture?"

"Yes, yes, yes! It's Taiwan Prefecture!" While drinking tea, he suddenly heard two people talking next to him, and they were talking about Taiwan Prefecture, which made Du Yinxi's heart move slightly.

The two people who were talking were dressed like ordinary people, and they were probably in their early twenties. They were strong and looked like laborers at the ferry.

There are quite a few people like this in Mengjin. Although Henan is a plain, there is not much arable land because of the Yellow River. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty was founded nearly three hundred years ago, and many members of the royal family were granted fiefdoms in Henan. In addition, there are local wealthy families, gentry, landlords, etc., so over the past two hundred years, there has been serious land annexation.

Henan had suffered considerable losses due to natural disasters and man-made calamities before. After the bandits were pacified, although the land conflict was slightly eased due to the war, and the court had been reducing taxes and restoring production in Henan in recent years, the land in Henan was still not enough for cultivation. Therefore, many people who were short of land or had lost their land could only find other ways out. This was the case with the people in Mengjin. Because of the existence of Mengjin, those who were able to do so opened a shop at the ferry to do some small business, or simply relied on selling their labor to help others transport goods to earn an income to make a living.

The imperial court also encouraged this. The current imperial court is different from the previous one. With the development of foreign trade, especially border trade and maritime trade, the Ming Dynasty is now more tolerant and open to business than before. In addition, after the imperial court set up the police department, the new police department gradually replaced the original yamen structure. Especially in places like Mengjin, management is under the dual jurisdiction of local government and the police department. This also avoids many troubles that were common in the past and makes life much better for the people.

But even so, Henan, as a place in the Central Plains, also has a lot of pressure on its people, and Henan has always been a populous province. The population of Henan alone is often several times that of other provinces. The larger the population, the less land there is. Coupled with some other factors, it is not easy for the people of Henan to live a good life.

"Fifth brother, is what is said in this notice true or false?" The slightly younger one of the two people who were speaking asked his companion.

Another person laughed and said, "Why? Are you interested? Are you really planning to go to Taiwan Prefecture to try it out?"

"How can I not be tempted? This notice clearly states that as long as you go to Taiwan Prefecture, the government will give each household 30 mu of land, and there will be 8 taels of silver for resettlement. In addition, farm tools and other things will be allocated by the government. In addition, taxes will be exempted for five years, and taxes will be reduced by half for three years after five years. The land you are given is yours except that it cannot be transferred. This is land that can be passed down from generation to generation!" The man sighed, his eyes shining as he spoke. Although he was a farmer, his family had long lost their own land. They had lost their land since their ancestors, and had been tenants of local landlords for nearly a hundred years. But being a tenant was not easy. In the past few years, there were both natural disasters and man-made disasters. The harvest in the fields was poor, but the rent was high. The whole family almost starved to death. Fortunately, they were lucky to survive. Now the court has given the local government a lot of policies in the past few years, and he is young and strong, so he came to Mengjin to work as a laborer. Although labor is hard, he may earn real money, and his family has gradually become much better.

But after all, labor is not a serious job, and it is impossible to do it forever. The Chinese are born to be an agricultural nation, and their desire and pursuit for land is deep in their bones. Why doesn't he want a piece of land of his own? If he has such a piece of land, he will have hope for the future, and this land can be passed on to future generations, so how can he not be tempted?

"Seventh Brother, although that's what you said, who can guarantee whether it's true or not?" The older man hesitated and shook his head, "Thirty acres of land! And eight taels of silver for resettlement, where in the world can such a good thing come from? And I heard that Taiwan Prefecture is not in Ming Dynasty, but overseas, and you have to go to sea! Let alone go to sea in my whole life, I have never even left Mengjin. If I really go to Taiwan Prefecture, I can't say whether I can come back in this lifetime."

"Also, I heard from Mr. Liu in the village that Taiwan Prefecture was originally called Yizhou, and Yizhou is where the Yi people live. There are tens of thousands of Yi people in Taiwan Prefecture. These Yi people are very fierce, with cut hair and tattoos, and they not only live in caves but also eat raw meat and drink blood. When you go there, you are unfamiliar with the place, and if you encounter Yi people coming down the mountain to rob you, your life will be in danger! Although having land is a good thing, if you lose your life, no matter how much land you have, it is all fake. What if you lose your life?"

"Didn't the imperial court tell us that when we get there, the local government will let us settle down and protect ourselves. The imperial court will also station troops there to protect us. In addition, they will also provide us with spears and other weapons. Even if the barbarians come, we will be able to fight them."

"Can you take what the court says seriously?" The fifth brother sneered, "Other people may not know what kind of people those military households are, but you don't know? When the bandits were rampant, the court's army killed no fewer people than the bandits. Do you really want to let these military households protect us ordinary people? Isn't this wishful thinking? The fear is that we will not die at the hands of the barbarians but at the hands of these military households. Brother, although these fine grain cakes are good, you can only look at them. If you really want to swallow them, it's hard to say whether our stomachs that eat bran can bear it." As he spoke, he patted the other's shoulder and said earnestly.

Although Lao Qi was conflicted, he still couldn't bear to give up such a good thing. After all, this was real land! And the court had issued a notice, it couldn't be all fake, right? Even if half of it was true, it would be a chance for him to turn things around.

Moreover, although the army of the Ming Dynasty was very bad before, and even killed innocent people for credit, it has obviously improved a lot in the past two years. The court is no longer in chaos, the people are living a much better life with the Holy Emperor in power, and the local government is not as oppressive as before. Everyone can see this. Since the court has made such a decision now, if we don't try it, what if it is really a good thing, won't we regret it in the future?
Thinking of this, his expression gradually became firm. Although he had not made the final decision, he was inclined to go to Taiwan Prefecture to try his luck. Ordinary people like them had few opportunities in their lifetime. This was a big thing that could completely change their fate! Anyway, he had only one life, and if he died, he would die. If he was lucky, he could try this opportunity to change his life! He was reluctant to let it go.

Listening to the other party's conversation, Du Yinxi seemed to be thinking about something. Although he knew the purpose of his visit to Beijing this time, he also knew that Sun Chuanting recommended him to be the governor of Taiwan. If nothing unexpected happened, after meeting the emperor, he would go to Taiwan to take up the post.

But Du Yinxi didn't know much about the situation in Taiwan, only some information from the imperial court's post and other channels. And he also admitted that what the two said was a little right, that is, Taiwan was not a good place to go. After all, Taiwan was isolated overseas for thousands of years. Although there were Ming people living on the island, there were also barbarians.

The distinction between Han and Yi has existed since ancient times, and Taiwan is mostly a wild land, so it is not easy for him to be the prefect. During this journey, Du Yinxi had been thinking about how to open up the situation after arriving in Taiwan, but he did not expect to hear this news in Mengjin, which surprised Du Yinxi.

(End of this chapter)