"Rebate, kickback?"

The warden listened to these two unfamiliar words with a confused expression, but the meaning was obvious.

Swallowing his saliva, the warden carefully observed Huang Kai's complexion, and seemed to be a little impatient. In this case, in line with the principle that more is better than less, the warden hurriedly responded, unpacked and checked, and after confirming that it was correct, he hurriedly thanked Zheng Chenggong and Huang Kai for their kindness on behalf of the county, and hurriedly took other officials, officials and people to embark on the journey back to the county.

When I went out of the city, it was a cart of oxen and horses carrying silver and grain, but when I came back, it was a large box with dozens of catties of silver and sent it directly to the back house of the county government.

"Rebates?"

It is not to blame that the warden is ignorant, in fact, the lord of the county who has read poetry and books has never heard of this word, at least in the sage books and comforting Buddhist scriptures that prepare for the exam. But, like the warden, he knew what it was.

It is a full 1,000 taels of silver, according to the system of the Qing Dynasty, a county's annual salary is 45 taels of silver plus 20 taels of rice. Among them, one load of grain is one stone, then twenty loads is twenty stones, and the current price of grain is twenty taels of silver. On the whole, the county's annual salary is sixty-five taels of silver, which is enough to make a huge amount of money that he can earn for fifteen or six years without eating or drinking!

When the chest was opened, the silver glow lit up the room a few degrees. Zhixian swallowed his saliva, he has been an official for many years, and his gray income is much more than that of normal Yulu, which is a common practice in officialdom, probably out of the Hongwu Dynasty, and there is only one Hai Rui in the Ming Dynasty who is not exposed to gray income. But even so, this thousand taels of silver is also a lot of money, seeing these cute little things flickering in front of his eyes, the old face of the county ravines quickly fell drop after drop of sweat, and the whole person was also struggling with temptation and worry, almost drowning.

"County honor, please rest assured, the villain didn't leave any note for the person surnamed Huang."

Without written evidence, others will not be able to frame him. This word, like a life-saving straw, grabbed it, the whole person poked out of the "water", while breathing the air in a big gulp, he did not forget to praise the diligence of the warden, and praised the warden so much that he didn't know where to put his face.

After a good reputation, the magistrate is a long-time officialdom, so he naturally understands the rules. Immediately, he took out two hundred taels of silver and instructed the warden to divide it in the county office, not only the accompanying officials and officials, but also other officials and officials in the county government.

"It's not easy to be a magistrate, you have to deal with the officials."

The magistrate muttered to himself, seemingly casually, but in fact he was speaking to the warden. Speaking of which, it was the first time he had encountered this kind of thing, especially the first time he received a bribe from the Ming army, and the county magistrate was a little unconfident. And the warden, who has been doing this business for generations, naturally knows the severity, and echoes a few words, saying that the county government will understand the difficulty of the county boss, the boss is so generous, everyone will be with the boss in the future, and it will be a matter of being satisfied with the county.

The warden took the silver and went to the outside to distribute it, and the magistrate soon ushered in the unanimous support and love of the county's ya. The county magistrate, who was supported and loved, also immediately found a cousin who went with him, and rushed to Fuzhou Fucheng with some of the silver taels.

When the magistrate entered the city, he naturally handed over the receipt to the governor's yamen, and by the way, he also had to probe the tone of the officials. But his cousin had to go straight to the back house of the prefect's yamen with the silver, and he could only feel at ease after giving the benefit fee to the official. However, the prefect did not accept this benefit fee, not all of it to be exact, and the cousin had to return with the money in vain.

"Why do you just accept such a little, what did Fuzun say?"

In the post station, the magistrate lowered his voice and asked, and the cousin also learned the prefect's words as they were. According to the prefect's statement, someone had already informed him the day before yesterday, saying that the prefect's benefits were indispensable, and the prefect also knew, in the same way, Liu Qingtai, Tong Guoqi, and even the local Daotai and Fujian patrols, these officials' housekeepers and Ming Jun have been informed, so it is enough to have their minds, and there is no need to be too bothered.

"Brother, this Haicheng Gong is doing things very decently."

The cousin praised him like this, and the magistrate only talked about the old story about the Zheng family's bribery of officials with huge profits from sea trade in the Ming Dynasty. He is not a native of Fujian, he doesn't know much about it, but he has heard of it, and now it seems that Zheng Chenggong is indeed not allowed to be a big man in his father's demeanor.

There is a way to be an official for thousands of miles only for money, and the officials involved in the prefecture and county have all received a share of the income, which is naturally very happy for them. But those prefectural and county officials who were not involved are only red-eyed here.

However, Comrade Zheng Chenggong, a sympathetic friend of Fujian officialdom, did not forget them, and soon expanded the scope of grain and salary collection to the inland counties of these prefectures, and at the same time, sent a note to Tingzhou and Yanping, which were adjacent to Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, asking them to prepare grain and grass as soon as possible for the needs of the army.

In this regard, the Tingzhou government was still a little hesitant, because although they were the prefectures and counties of Fujian, they were administratively subordinate to the Yamen of the governor of Southern Jiangxi, and they did not get the permission of the officials, and they were not easy to report to the authorities. However, Yanping Mansion was waiting for the two sides to negotiate properly, and the prefectures and counties of the entire Yanping Prefecture were busy sending money and grain to Datian County, which borders Yanping Prefecture and Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, for the Ming army to receive.

In September, the feast of kickbacks swept through Fujian, and local officials in Yanping, Xinghua, Fuzhou, and Funing Prefecture all made a quick buck. However, the greed of the hearts of the people in this world has never ended, and with this first cooperation, they soon began to look forward to the next cooperation, and even some of them have already calculated the next cooperation in their hearts.

"The army, now that the will of the imperial court has not come down, if the imperial court refuses to give in, the deficit household department other than Xinghua Mansion will not recognize it. Even if the imperial court gives in, it is estimated that it will not be able to make Yanping Mansion and Fuzhou Mansion, and it will always be a matter of time at that time. ”

No matter how hot the silver is, there are always people who are willing to grab it. On the side of the governor's yamen, a housekeeper came forward to receive the kickback, and Tong Guoqi was still panicking about it. On the contrary, Liu Qingtai didn't care about this, but he comforted the former, such as that there is always a way to block the deficit.

"However, Siyuan's words also have some truth, I think that in addition to the money and grain in the treasury of each prefecture and county, in addition to the money in the ministry, there must also be a green camp and a distribution to the officials, which is not easy to hollow out. In the future, if the amount is issued in the library, the amount must be reported to us first, and then it will be issued after approval, and some can always be controlled. ”

"It's a good way to control the army, but I'm afraid that the lower officials will be uneasy."

Seeing that Tong Guoqi was still a little worried about this, Liu Qingtai pointed out with a smile that as long as the overall situation was done, the civil officials of the imperial court would be stationed in the four mansions of Zhangquan Chaoqiong and eliminate the great trouble in the southeast, and a little deficit would be nothing. As for even if it is really wrong, it is Dolgon's fault, after all, this black cauldron has now made the late regent His Royal Highness carry it.

"By the way, I ordered that if the food and wages were increased, I would say to those untouchables that it was the handiwork of Haicheng Gong. The more the locals looked at him unpleasantly, the more stable the imperial court became in Fujian. ”

………………

Throughout September, under the temptation of kickbacks, only the county officials of Tingzhou, Jianning, and Shaowu were forced to stick to their principles, so that these three prefectures could survive.

In the center of the left, a large amount of money and grain was constantly transported from various prefectures and counties to this place, and there was an endless stream between the wharf and the storehouse. Among them, the food is not mentioned, the size of the army is not small, and the use is very large, and it always supports the Ming troops stationed in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, which makes the Chaozhou side breathe a sigh of relief. In terms of silver, in addition to daily expenses, the Mint Institute under the Ordnance Bureau is also constantly melting silver into silver coins called Zhangzhou military salaries.

These round silver coins have gradually gained some presence in Zhangquan and even in Chaozhou. It's just that the use of silver taels is too deep and deep, and it is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and most of them are not recognized, except for some businesses that have a relationship with the government and the army.

Today, another batch of silver entered the treasury of the Mint, and Feng Chengshi waited for all the work to be finished and recounted before returning home. Back home, his son Feng Xifan has been waiting for a long time. While the father and son were eating, Feng Xifan asked about the kickbacks he had heard today.

"Oh, that rebate ratio, worth 10,000 taels of silver and grain, and the rebate for 1,000 taels of silver, it's only one percent, it's very little."

Replying lightly, Feng Chengshi continued to reach for the piece of meat. However, the last sentence "that's it" and the sentence "it's very little" stunned Feng Xifan for a moment, and then he didn't care that his father was still chewing, and he was surprised and incomprehensible.

"Father, this time the levy of food and wages is to dispatch a large army and a fleet, and the cost is not small, not to mention, this rebate is only for those magistrates who do specific things. For example, the prefect and Taoist platform above, as well as Liu Qingtai and Tong Guoqi's two governors, all have to spend extra money to feed, which is already a lot! ”

Feng Xifan didn't save money for Zheng Chenggong, but the idea was Chen Kai's idea. Because of the relationship between the Ordnance Bureau, the Feng family's father and son have always been faintly wary of Chen Kai. Especially Feng Xifan, he always felt that Chen Kai would have bad intentions towards them, so he vigorously instigated his father to calculate Chen Kai. On the contrary, Feng Chengshi knows much more about doing things than his impulsive son, and knows very well what can and cannot be done.

At this moment, Feng Xifan asked, knowing his son Mo Ruo's father, Feng Chengshi naturally understood the deep meaning, but this matter is not so simple at all.

"I'll give you an example for the Father: It is said that there was a flood in a land, and the people needed relief, and the river embankment had to be rebuilt. The imperial court allocated 520,000 taels, but from the time the holy decree was issued, the cabinet had to cut it first, the household department and the ministry of work, and even the military department had to do the same for the matter of mobilizing troops and horses. Out of the capital, in the province, in the prefecture, in the county, and even the generals of the town soldiers and guards, these people still have to continue to share the profits. In the end, when it comes to the hands of the person who really does the work, there is only 150,000 taels left, and this is already the result of the strong mediation of capable people......"

From 500,000 taels to 100,000 taels, the number has changed its position, but suddenly it is less than seventy percent of the silver!

Feng Chengshi said, put down the chopsticks, looked at his son's stunned look carefully, and did not pick up the chopsticks again to continue eating, just waiting for Feng Xifan to react before answering.

"This, father, there are too many greedy people."

"Many?" Feng Chengshi shook his head, and then said: "Handling layer by layer, it has always been like this, each layer actually doesn't take much, but the more layers there are, the more they are. ”

"Moreover, much of the money in it has not yet entered the hands of the officials who handle it. For example, if the doors and windows of a yamen are in disrepair for a long time, and the house is leaking rain, it is inconvenient to report these things to the center to request the allocation of silver taels for repairs, because the officials who have been in the same yamen for a long time have no right to report, and the officials who have the right to report may have already transferred away the silver before it has been approved, who is willing to use their reputation and favor to benefit future generations? And even if it is reported, the center may not approve it - the world is so big, there are so many yamen, today you repair the windows, tomorrow I repair the door, no matter how thick the belongings are, they will be ruined. ”

"So, you can only deduct it from the money you do for other things?"

"Exactly." Feng Chengshi nodded, but then subconsciously lowered his voice and said to his son: "To put it mildly, the Taizu of this dynasty claims to be Huaiyou Buyi, and he has actually been a monk and a beggar. However, Taizu's family was also a family with a field and a shop earlier, and they were not wealthy, but they were always better than pure tenants. It was a famine, and the storm yuan sent silver for disaster relief, but it was eaten up layer by layer, causing the Taizu family to almost die. Otherwise, if your father tells you to read more, have you ever seen a few founding kings who peeled the skin and grass of corrupt officials at every turn? ”

After saying this, Feng Chengshi took a sip of water and wine to moisten his throat, and then continued to eat by himself. However, Feng Xifan couldn't help swallowing his saliva, and sat there in a daze, before he said a sentence of "It's really not much".

Hearing the mention of the country's surname, Chen Jingcheng's letter predicted that it would not be long before those corrupt officials would have to ask for an increase in the rebate ratio. He said that according to his calculations, as long as the rebate does not exceed 50%, this is a sure profit and no loss, and it is best to do as much as you want, which is faster than taking sea trade to make money! ”