Wang Zhaomin poured out the problems since the start of the levy. In his opinion. The imperial court's collection of silver is simply harmless to a remote county like Lingao. On the contrary, every time it is time to levy silver, it will make a lot of noise and disturb the people.

"Lingao is not as good as Nanzhili, even Henan and Hebei can't be compared! Where will the people of such a land get their money to pay? It's nothing more than selling grain and cloth cheaply, and fattening the businessmen in vain. Wang Zhaomin sighed.

Wu De listened and knew that this was another headache in the county, Lingao and Xu Wen and Haikang across the strait were exactly two extremes, on the one hand, because of sugarcane sugar, the commodity economy was developed, and the grain was expensive and cheap; Here, however, it is almost entirely a natural economy, and there is no silver to be found in the market.

"I heard that Xu Wen on the other side of the strait, because of the abundance of cane sugar, rice is expensive and silver is cheap, why not sell grain to Xu Wen for silver?"

"Where is it so easy!" These words aroused Wang Zhaomin's full of complaints.

This idea was also had when Wu Mingjin first took office, and he also sent his family to Xu Wen to inquire about the market. However, in order to traffic grain, it is necessary to have a batch of grain on hand as a turnover, and this batch of grain has no place to come from -- Lingao's annual grain supply is barely completed, and there is no surplus grain to be adjusted when the position is often closed. In addition, the ferry of grain by sea involves the cost of trafficking, in case the ship capsizes. No one can afford to compensate for this loss. After the freshness of Wu County's new official took office passed, Zuihou also left this idea with the idea that more things are better than less.

The local county government has obtained a lot of income from the sugar trade, and there is no worry about not being able to buy grain, but there is grain but it may not be able to exchange for silver. The worst thing is that Lingao's agricultural level is not as good as Xu Wen and Haikang, and they are simply unable to exchange the required silver taels through large-scale grain exports.

The government has to finish the class, so it can only force the villagers to sell their products at a low price. Although the monetization of taxes has an important role in promoting the disintegration of the natural economy and the establishment of a commodity economy, it is very destructive in places such as Lingao, where natural disasters are frequent and productivity levels are low.

Unexpectedly, only separated by a narrow Qiongzhou Strait, they are two completely different worlds. Wu De lamented the size of China and the complexity of the national situation, and felt a little afraid of wearing the big hat of "civil affairs" for the first time.

However, when it comes to this, Wu De feels that it is almost over, he has accepted the full power of the executive committee, and he can have a showdown with Wang Zhaomin.

He opened his mouth and said, "Master Wang, in fact, you don't have to worry about the grain endowment—"

"Sincerely!" Wang Zhaomin hurriedly thanked him.

"Slow!" Wu De said slowly, "Regarding the matter of my Australian public class, I can promise here, 500 acres of paddy fields, and there are a lot of grains. Not only that, this year's autumn endowment in Lingao County, whether it is a field endowment or a diding. Whether it is a salary, we will pay it on our behalf. ”

"What?!" Wang Zhaomin was stunned, and he didn't know how to react. "The county's grain endowment"! , this is too unexpected for Wang Zhaomin - someone actually proposed to pay the autumn tax of the whole county!

"The county's food endowment?" Wang Zhaomin asked in disbelief.

"Exactly." Wu De nodded.

Wang Zhaomin thought to himself that this group of Australians was too bold! The county's grain allowance alone is nearly 8,000 stones, as well as all kinds of expenses in the process of grain collection and transportation, even if the county's handlers are as clear as water and as clear as a mirror, they must have 10,000 stones of brown rice to cope, not to mention more than 8,000 taels of silver.

Australians are still collecting "reasonable burdens" in the county after the Spring Festival this year, why did they become so generous in a blink of an eye?

"This year, we will be the general contractor of the county." Wu De said clearly, his tone was unquestionable.

Wang Zhaomin was speechless for a while, this was an ending he never expected. He thought that the Australians would refuse to ask for a single rice and not pay a single rice, and he also thought that he might ask for a sky-high price, and he also thought that he might ask the county government to collect a "reasonable burden" on his behalf. But the requirement to pay taxes for the whole county is too unexpected. Even when the Gou brothers Shili were the oldest, they never had such thoughts.

"Do you really want to take care of the county's taxes?" Wang Zhaomin couldn't help but ask again.

"Of course it is." Wu De nodded and said calmly, "We have always been good at talking, when did we lose our trust in others?" ”

Wang Zhaomin's brain is running rapidly, is this a pro or a bad for him and Wu Mingjin? For a moment, he couldn't make a judgment.

But. He instinctively felt that there was evil intentions behind this request.

"The grain endowment of this dynasty is full of threads, among which there are many tricks, and Chen Minggang is extremely vicious...... Wang Zhaomin began to sacrifice the "problem" method.

"We know this," Wu De didn't plan to talk to him about the specific details, but simply stated his own conditions:

"How much tax should be paid, I think Master Wang is clear, and he will not deceive me and other outsiders to be ignorant." Wu De's eyes stared at Wang Zhaomin tightly, "How much is the positive amount, how much rice is consumed, and how many benefits should be in the yamen, you can come one by one, you don't have to be polite." ”

"This, no, no need to ......" Wang Zhaomin was already panicking, "This matter must be discussed with the proprietor before it can be decided." ”

"Deliberation is natural. However," Wu Delou said with a threatening look, "Autumn grain is a major event in the county government, and I don't think Master Wu will not fail to understand this truth." ”

This is an unmistakable direct threat: if they don't get the autumn tax, Lingao won't have to think about the grain requisition.

"Yes, yes, this is naturally understood." Wang Zhaomin was sweating profusely.

"So, the thief is determined to take over the taxes of the whole county?" Wu Mingjin asked with a sad face.

"Exactly! Dong Weng. This bandit leader surnamed Wu is not disrespectful, and the implication is that if he does not give them cover, he will make the autumn grain in the county unable to be collected! ”

"Old Master, what is the thief going to do?"

"It's about taking the opportunity to gather." Wang Zhaomin thought about it. It's only possible," but I don't think it's like it, it's very suspicious." ”

"Exactly," Wu Mingjin nodded, "What you want is wealth and goods, what's the use of asking for so much food?" Moreover, it is very easy for them to ask for food and money -- who dares not to pay it if they ask the rich people to take it out? Why bother to make a trick of collecting taxes first. ”

Collecting taxes is not an easy task, it is not only troublesome, but also difficult. If it is said that the crossing group wants to make a fortune, it is inevitable that it will not be kao.

The two of them thought about it, but couldn't figure out what their motives were. Of course, they agreed that the Australians were "not well-intentioned".

Whether he has a good heart or not, Wu Mingjin does not face many choices, or he agrees to the Australians to take over; Either he doesn't agree and waits for the Australians to make trouble, and the two will be one or the other.

The result of the choice was obvious, and Wu Mingjin had no choice but to agree. In terms of the daily behavior of Australians, they have always been trustworthy. When it comes to collecting taxes, we will never engage in the trick of collecting grain and not paying taxes. It is also a good thing for Wu Mingjin to be able to collect all the taxes in time, at most, the Australians will increase the floating income of rice consumption in order to collect a few more stones of grain - but this is also a matter for the common people. It has nothing to do with him.

"I'm afraid it's just that this year's profit is much less." Wang Zhaomin reminded the owner.

"This is also a helpless thing." Wu Mingjin sighed, but he intuitively thought that it would probably not be less, but he still had to put on a helpless look, "More things are better than less things, I just want to be able to finish this term of magistrate peacefully, and immediately return ......to my hometown after leaving office."

Wang Zhaomin was speechless, so he had to quit first. He secretly thought to himself, Dong Weng said that he was "helpless", and the benefits of this year's autumn grain still had to be done for him - after all, this was also directly related to his income. He took care of the concubine and made a pot of tea, and thought carefully about the cause and effect: the Australians took care of the taxes, no matter what kind of evil intentions they harbored. For now, there is no harm to Wu Mingjin or to himself.

The food can be paid in a timely manner, and I don't have to deal with the officials of all kinds of houses every day. As for the "Diao people" in the county, naturally there are Australians who quickly grab bayonets to clean them up. Wang Zhaomin suddenly wanted to go through the crowd and haode to clean up this group of guys who had been contemptuous of his authority in the past.

The next day, he met with Wu De again, and the two sides agreed on the issue.

Australians are responsible for the county's taxes, including grain, land, miscellaneous taxes and salaries. All the full amount is paid to the county government on time.

"The cut-off date for autumn grain is at the end of November." Wang Zhaomin reminded, "However, sooner rather than later, the county will have to hand it over before the class can be completed." The transportation of large quantities of money and grain, the journey is difficult, and Lingao here has to cross the sea and wade through the waves, and it takes a lot of time on the road, so it is best to pay it all at the end of October, so that it can be more relaxed. ”

The money and grain were shipped to Beijing, and there was a Cao army in charge of Nanzhili, and there were many tricks in it, which Wang Zhaomin had seen. There is no task of transportation here in Qiongzhou Mansion, and the county is responsible for transportation itself, so it is inevitable to deal with the transportation households.

The earlier the money and grain start event, the cheaper the freight will be. When the deadline is approaching, the shipper knows that the government cannot delay the deadline, so he will deliberately grind in order to extort the freight.

“…… At this time, if the 'rice' is not enough, you have to requisition the people to serve and transport grain, which is a great drawback, please pay attention! ”

"Is the county's money and grain handed over to Qiongzhou Mansion?"

"It's complicated." Wang Zhaomin said, "There are several places in the county's autumn endowment. ”

In the autumn grain with a total amount of 7,686 stones, 7 liters and 9 he, there are 6,489 stones of official rice in the capital treasury. This is the part of the autumn grain that needs to be shipped.