Chapter 223: Developing Yixing's development potential in advance and making career plans for the new Jining prefect
Yao Guangxiao nodded and said, "I understand. Does the lord have a specific plan?"

A gleam of wisdom flashed in Zhu Gang's eyes, and the corners of his mouth raised slightly.

“Of course there is a plan.

But before that, we need to collect more intelligence.

Only by understanding the movements of the four major families in Jiangnan can we formulate a more perfect strategy."

Yao Guangxiao bowed again and said respectfully, "My lord is wise."

Zhu Gang smiled and continued, "In addition, I want you to go to Jiangnan in person, meet those people, and find out their background.

Remember to be careful and not to alert the enemy."

Yao Guangxiao nodded and said, "I will obey your orders and will definitely fulfill my mission."

Zhu Gang patted Yao Guangxiao on the shoulder and said encouragingly, "Go ahead. I will be waiting for your good news."

Yao Guangxiao turned and left, while Zhu Gang put the paper in his arms, his eyes flashing with confidence.

Jiangnan is a word with complex connotations. It has different meanings in different eras, different contexts, and even in the minds of different people.

The Jiangnan mentioned in the official documents of the Ming Dynasty is mainly divided into two categories: specific terms and general terms.

The special name has a clear geographical concept and is named after "Jiangnan".

They are a collection of places that are consistent in certain aspects, representing some consensus concepts of "Jiangnan" in Ming society.

The general term is relatively vague, and only expresses that a certain place or district belongs to Jiangnan. The social recognition it reflects is lower than the former.

The reason why Zhu Gang did not clarify his concept of "Jiangnan" was to give Yao Guangxiao more room for maneuver.

The Su family members dared to be the first to commit three major crimes in the ninth year of Hongwu. Zhu Gang believed that they would never let it go.

Yao Guangxiao's ability to stir up trouble has been proven by history.

Finding out some people with ulterior motives and taking them away in one go when they set sail from Quanzhou can be considered a good thing that kills two birds with one stone.

After a night's rest, Zhu Gang decided to arrange the affairs of Wang Chengji and Fang Keqin, and then left Lishui County and continued to head towards Quanzhou.

According to the plan, the Jin King's ceremonial procession will make a short stop when arriving in Yixing County.

The pottery industry in Yixing was very developed, and the most typical legend was that of Fan Li.

According to legend, after Gou Jian conquered Wu, Fan Li retired from the army and went boating with Xi Shi.

While traveling, Fan Li quickly became a wealthy man with his wisdom and was known in history as "Tao Zhu Gong".

The secret to Fan Li's wealth is very simple: it comes from the pottery trade.

He sold Yixing pottery everywhere and quickly made a fortune.

Although the flags on the city walls changed and dynasties changed frequently, the pottery industry in Yixing has continued.

Not only did it not decline, but it even reached a higher level.

However, in history, it was not until the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty that Yixing became a true pottery capital and reached its historical peak.

Of course, Zhu Gang couldn't wait that long. Considering that future maritime trade would require "core products" to open up the market, he decided to develop Yixing's development potential in advance.

Just when Zhu Gang was making preparations for a rainy day, Lu Feng walked in from outside with Wang Chengji, who looked very happy.

"I, Wang Chengji, am here to thank His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin for his support."

There was a well-known unspoken rule in the Ming Dynasty that one's background would affect the speed of his promotion to the position of prefect.

In the 34th year of Jingtai, Wei Ying passed the provincial examination. However, he was not promoted to the prefect of Kaifeng until the rd year of Chenghua, a full years later.

Although there is a shortage of talented people nowadays, officials are selected and promoted regardless of qualifications.

Even tribute students, miscellaneous people, and those who are not from the regular military service can be promoted quickly.

However, to be promoted from a county magistrate to a prefect in less than 10 years, it was probably only possible during the Chongzhen period.

After all, according to the memorial submitted by Shang Hao, the second source of promotion to prefect is that a fifth-rank Tongzhi was promoted to prefect.

As an official position assisting the prefect in handling government affairs, the fifth-rank Tongzhi acted as the prefect's right-hand man in government affairs.

Since Tongzhi is more familiar with the work of prefect and has rich practical experience, it is the easiest official to be promoted to prefect.

In other words, if it weren't for Zhu Gang's support, Wang Chengji would have to wait until around the "Jingnan Campaign" before he could become a prefect.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gang put down the teacup in his hand and looked up at Wang Chengji standing in front of him.

"As a water transport port in southern Shandong, Jining plays an important role in the distribution of goods.

It not only transported various commodities from the Jiangnan and Central Plains regions to Yanzhou, Dongchang, Caozhou, as well as Hebei, Henan and other places through the canal.

At the same time, Jining also concentrated various local products from southern Shandong and exported them to Jiangnan and other places.

Due to the prosperity of the commodity economy, a large number of foreign businessmen and bureaucrats were attracted here to engage in various activities.

In addition, the canal runs through a bustling downtown area, with busy sailboats in the river and heavy traffic on the shore.

It has the scenery of Suzhou in the south of the Yangtze River, so Jining has always been known as the "Little Suzhou in the north of the Yangtze River."

While describing the situation in Jining Prefecture, Zhu Gang also clearly pointed out the importance of the canal transport wharf to this place.

Wang Chengji understood what was going on and quickly promised, "After arriving at Jining Prefecture, I will definitely do a good job in the grain transport work and will never let His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin down."

Zhu Gang nodded with satisfaction and said, "As long as you work hard for the court, you will have the opportunity to be promoted from prefect to deputy censor, or to councilor of the provincial government or salt transport commissioner."

As the deputy chief of the Censorate, the deputy Censor's main responsibility is to assist the Censor in handling judicial and supervisory work.

In the current official rank system of the Ming Dynasty, the rank of the Deputy Censor was set at the fourth rank.

In addition to being responsible for some judicial trial work, this position will also involve inspection and supervision tasks in many aspects such as military preparation, education, and coastal defense.

The duties of the provincial governor's office include assisting the governor in managing the administrative affairs of a province, such as finance, civil affairs, etc.

They were responsible for executing Zhu Yuanzhang's orders, managing subordinate officials, and ensuring the implementation of court policies at the local level.

In addition, the provincial governor can also participate in the assessment of provincial officials and manage the financial affairs of the province, including household registration, land, and taxation.

As for the salt tax, it is a major part of the country's taxation and is also a monopoly industry with low costs and high returns.

The salt transporters could supervise the people's livelihood and the merchants' activities and adjust the salt prices at the appropriate time.

Manage water and land transportation, and calculate the distance of the roads.

Inspect the time of transaction and determine the price of salt.

Therefore, the salt administration has always been a lucrative job. The phrase "three years as a clean magistrate, 100,000 silver coins" to describe the salt officials is somewhat pale in comparison.

Zhu Gang now offered these three high-ranking and powerful positions as a talisman. Even though Wang Chengji was usually calm and composed, he was now in a state of panic.

However, only Zhu Gang himself knew that, except for the Deputy Censor, the Councillor of the Provincial Administration and the Salt Transport Commissioner were now only positions on paper.

But this did not prevent Zhu Gang from using it to make career plans for Wang Chengji.

After all, people always have to have dreams, otherwise what’s the difference between them and salted fish?
(End of this chapter)