The level of commodity economy in Lingao is very poor. There is little silver circulating in the market, and the price of silver is relatively high, and the price of grain is low. If you want to collect silver, you must collect more grain. The difference between one out and one in seems to be small, but when it accumulates, the number becomes very large.

There are a total of 1,660 acres and 98 acres of official land taxed in Lingao, which is almost 15,000 taels of silver according to the levy of 9 cents per mu, although some fields are levied at 4 cents per mu and some are exempted, but the total amount is nearly 10,000 taels of silver. For such a small county, the burden of additional distribution is simply unbearable.

Therefore, when the time comes to levy grain, the price of silver will rise very high, which is not only a great burden on grain households, but also difficult for the county. In the past, there was no additional distribution, and it was easier to run out of food. Since the first increase in the last year of Wanli, the county government has to urge the collection of grain and silver, and is exhausted.

The most tricky thing for Wu Mingjin and others is that the place of Lingao is far away from the emperor of the sky. The authority of the county government is very limited, not to mention the gentry in the county, that is, ordinary landlords who settle villages to protect themselves, and the amount of grain they pay is also very arbitrary, and the government can't ask more questions at all, and as for the hidden fields that are privately cultivated, they can't be counted.

However, in the past, with Wu Mingjin's means and Wang Zhaomin's campaign, Lingao's autumn grain was finally able to complete the class in time. Later, although it was a reasonable burden, it had nothing to do with the county government.

This year, however, the situation is more nuanced. The Australians opened up the wasteland and planted crops on their own. Wang Zhaomin has a great worry.

What's the concern? This brings us to the "trickery". In order to evade the government's taxes, there are a group of people who often adopt the method of taking land to the landlord and invest in the name of a landlord with merit or strength. In fact, there were clear regulations on the exemption of grain in the Ming Dynasty, how much officials could be exempted, how much people could be exempted, and how many students could be exempted, but in practice, it often greatly exceeded the regulations. In Lingao, there is no shortage of such things. There are not many gentry who have meritorious names in Lingao, but there are many powerful landlords, and there is no tax exemption in the law when they are sent to the names of powerful landlords, but for the county government, it is a basic principle that the magistrate should not offend the big households in the county, and often can only turn a blind eye to the figures collected. Overall, both sides are generally getting by.

Now Australians are considered to be the first-class wealthy families in Lingao County. If they blatantly refuse to hand over a grain of rice, the county government will be helpless about it, and many small and medium-sized landlords or yeoman farmers who are on the sidelines may join them. The autumn grain collection in Lingao is about to shrink a lot. This bodes badly for both Wu Mingjin and Wang Zhaomin -- this is not only related to Wu Mingjin's performance appraisal, but also related to the problem of their pockets. For magistrates, the advantage of the floating tax is that there is no risk in the income.

After thinking about it, Wang Zhaomin proposed that there are only Australians with emotional intelligence, and let them set an example. Judging from the performance of Australians in the past year, Australians do not want to be enemies of the Ming government, and sometimes they are even willing to spend money to buy a good image, so as long as the price is right, the other party may not necessarily refuse.

Where did Xiong Buyou know his abacus, and he was thinking about what the other party meant.

"The grain endowment in this county is very light," Wang Zhaomin saw him groaning, and hurriedly explained: "There are only three buckets and five liters per mu of official science." Your thousands of acres of land can be taught by 500 acres from Bairen Village. ”

Xiong Buyou shook his head: "Master Wang, I have to report this matter to the Executive Committee before I can hear back to you." ”

"This is natural." Wang Zhaomin couldn't help but be overjoyed when he saw that his intentions were negotiable, and even said thank you, if he hadn't known very well that this gang of thieves wouldn't have entered the country, he would probably have to grant him a lot of benefits.

After Xiong Buyou came back, he hurriedly reported to Wu De. This matter immediately aroused Wu De's great attention, so the executive committee immediately held a meeting to discuss the matter.

"It's a good thing to send to the door!" Wen Desi's eyebrows fluttered, "I was thinking about how to persuade them, but I didn't expect to send them to the door!" ”

"It's not the same thing." Ma Qianzhu immediately sang the opposite, "He wants us to pay grain, not to ask us to pay taxes." ”

"Although it's not the same thing, Wang Zhaomin has lowered his underwear now." Wen Deji used a vulgar analogy.

"Originally, we didn't know how much pressure Lingao County had on the grain requisition, but now it seems that they are under a lot of pressure." Wen Desi analyzed, "Judging from Wang Zhaomin's request, at least there are serious difficulties in collecting grain from the Lingao County Government. ”

Since there are difficulties in requisitioning grain, the crossing group has a lot to do.

However, they still don't know what the difficulty is. Before making the next move, they have to find out the hole cards of the county government.

This kind of thing is naturally the most direct way to inquire about the "household house" of the county government.

It wasn't easy. There are so-called "three classes and six rooms" in the county government, and the heads of these three classes and the clerks of the six rooms are people who are not easy to get along. The official affairs of the grassroots level of the large and small yamen are only familiar to the secretary office, which is their "capital", and the real situation, as well as the key and decisive know-how, are the secrets that are not passed on, so although the book office does not have a "hereditary" explicit, but it is invisibly passed down from father to son, and there is a hereditary convention. This kind of person is an old official, so familiar with official affairs that he can't be more familiar, and he is familiar with people and the philosophy of officialdom. The traverser can't control the bribery at all, so the executive committee's policy towards this group of people is to think that Huairou will use it first. When the time is right, it will be thoroughly cleaned.

The household secretary office in Lingao County is called Chen Minggang, a local. It is said that this person's ancestors have been the bookkeeper in Lingao County since the Song Dynasty. There are many secret books hidden in the house.,It's extremely familiar with the county.,All aspects have to sell him a face.,It's a very popular local character.。 Chen Minggang has gained great benefits from Gou Da Gou Er's misdeeds in Lingao County -- in fact, from Ran Yao's point of view, a gang like Gou Da Gou Er seems to be powerful and seemingly powerful, but it is not difficult to eradicate it in fact, and once it falls, it will be scattered in a hurry. A deep-rooted and intertwined figure like Chen Minggang is the real so-called "invisible mastermind".

In the county, he is also an indispensable celebrity. Wang Zhaomin was able to collect autumn grain every year, which Chen Minggang had a great credit. In fact, whether or not we can establish a good cooperative relationship with the county household secretary office can be said to directly affect the success of the county order.

Therefore, even Wang Zhaomin, a powerful figure in the county, has to affectionately call Chen Minggang "Old Eight!" when he sees him! -- Chen Minggang is the eighth in line, and he thinks he is familiar with informality

Because the household scrivener is related to the county's taxation and is an extremely important figure, Wu De has always had the idea of winning him over, so he sent Xiong Buyou to communicate with him a few times, and Lin Baiguang also went out to fight with him, but the result was unsatisfactory.

Chen Minggang is not an upright person. There is no position at all, and his attitude is slick to the extreme. For the crossing public, he tried his best to be perfunctory, what to ask for, what to do, never procrastinated, nor asked for all kinds of bad rules, it can be said that he bought face and bought twelve points. However, when it comes to some key issues, especially the amount of land and the tax burden, he is always sloppy. Saying half hides and half hides, sometimes they simply pull some obscure terms, so that the traversal does not know what to do.

In the archives of the General Administration of Political Security, Chen Minggang has a lot of black materials, and it can be said that he is one of the few officials who are most angry in the county, and he is even more heinous than the secretary of the torture room. Zhang Xingjiao also hated this person to the core -- after all, his family's ruin and death began with the trick of colluding with Gou Dagou and Gou Er to "produce and save grain."

But now, the traversal has to use him for another stage. Xiong Buyou immediately asked someone to prepare a post, asking Chen Minggang to go to the teahouse in front of the county government to talk about it.

Generally speaking, the street in front of the county government is always the most lively place in the county, and there are always a few teahouses and other businesses opposite the county office. There are "scriveners" who are specially issued by the government to "stamps" who specialize in writing pleadings on behalf of others, and there are also experienced litigators who hook up with the three parties, and as usual, they all nest in the teahouse in front of the yaqian and wait for customers to come to the door or wait for an opportunity to peddle business. The officials in the yamen, the servants and the various people who followed the master for a long time, communicated with the outside world, talked about the pounds, colluded with fraud, and bargained, and also used this place to carry out the transaction. If you want to go to the county office, this is the best window.

Lingao County is a small county, and there are not many tricks, but the general situation is similar, but it is specific and small. So although the teahouse is small, it still exists.

Xiong Buyou is already a "celebrity" in this county, who doesn't know that he is the big boss of the Australians, who is in charge of connecting with the county. So as soon as he arrived at the store, a guy immediately ushered him into the private room at the back.

It is said to be a private room, but in fact it is very small, but it can accommodate a table and a few chairs, and the tea is not necessarily smart. Anyway, the people who come to drink tea are mainly for talking, and drinking tea is secondary.

Xiong Buyou deals with the officials in the county, and he usually always makes appointments here, mainly because this is the familiar environment of the officials, which is enough to make them feel at ease. In addition, the executive committee still has one more layer of concerns, and is unwilling to call the officials directly to Bairen City to talk secretly, so as not to make outsiders think that the crossing group has too deep a relationship with the officials in this county. It is more suitable to talk in this kind of place where "eating and talking about tea" and "talking about catties".

Not long after, Chen Ming just came. He was nearly fifty years old, with a dark complexion and a slightly fat figure. Limited to the relationship of identity, the dress is not very gorgeous, but the workmanship of the material is very exquisite. He also held a Sichuan fan in his hand.

The guy brought in, and Chen Minggang treated the traversal. The attitude can be described as respectful, and every time we meet, we must salute.

"No need to be polite, sit! Sit! Xiong Buyou greeted.

(The following is outside of 3,000 words and is not charged)

Concentrate:

1. Liao's salary is 9 percent in the second year of Chongzhen, but it is slightly different from place to place. Don't go into details.

2. How much is the Liao salary increase in Lingao, I didn't find out. Here is a direct calculation of the taxable acres of land in Lingao, which is definitely not accurate, and a number was found, Yancheng County, Huai'an Prefecture, and the Liao salary for the third year of the Apocalypse was 23,000 taels. Yancheng County is not an economically developed area, of course, it is much more haode than Lingao.

3. The tax of three buckets and five liters is the average level of the Ming Dynasty, and there are eighteen standards for the beginning of Chaqiong Prefecture. It is most common to take three buckets and five liters. That's it. (！ )

[зZcｎ.]