In the Jiangdu official house, the carriage that Ma Tan was riding stopped in front of the door, and Ma Jian probed out of the narrow space of the carriage, and then gently jumped down on the stone floor in front of the official house.

I saw a familiar servant who seemed to have been waiting in front of the door for a long time, and hurried up to deliver the prayer post: "Young Changgong, my lord has set up a banquet in the hall, just wait for Young Changgong to drive." ”

Ma Tan picked up the prayer post and saw that it was Chen Zhen's prayer post, and then remembered that this person was Chen Zhen's servant, and walked to the official house together, where lived the officials or representatives of the counties who went to Jiangdu: "When did Brother Xiaoqi come?" ”

"I entered the city this morning and stayed in Zhijiang overnight yesterday."

After asking and answering, he turned around a few small courtyards and came to the small courtyard where Chen Zhen was temporarily housed.

There is also a half-year-old lamb that has been skinned for a short time hanging in the courtyard, and the official who slaughtered the lamb is holding a sharp meat cutting knife, and the thin and tender mutton is sliced.

Ma Tan squinted at the red and white mutton as he passed by, and pursed his lips slightly...... Previously, the largest supply of sheep in Jiangdu came from Ma Chao's Linfu Ranch, and now it comes from Beifu.

Before the heavy snow blocked Wuguan Road, about 30,000 sheep were driven to Nanyang, and many of the families of military officials who received the sheep were reluctant to eat and kept them as breeding sheep.

And because Nanyang is covered with ice and snow in the wilderness, and there is no reserve of feed in summer, many sheep born in summer and autumn are transported to Jiangdu for sale.

In terms of family wealth accumulation and management, the Ma family has never been able to keep up with the speed.

Since the Tian Xin Promotion Department twisted and turned the system of calculating the food and eup, too many people were disbanded, and the people of the household either became government soldiers, or returned to their hometowns to become local people.

And the generals, who still hold the troops and private soldiers in their hands, are far ahead of the other officials in terms of savings industry.

During the period of the first emperor, various rich rewards have given generals and military officials the capital to buy land and operate industries; Now stimulated by the war dividend, the family property of the middle and senior military officials in Beifu is also expanding rapidly.

The officials other than the military officials are stared at by Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, and it is almost difficult to make a fortune legally, reasonably, and reasonably.

The opportunity to get rich like Li Yan...... Hardly anymore.

And Zhuge Liang's accumulation of family business was also purchased through legal means, and he exchanged the wealth repeatedly rewarded by the previous emperor for land, hired workers or rented tenants.

In addition to Zhuge Liang, other officials also saved a lot of money for the Pang family, in addition to the generous pension to Pang Tong, there are also Pang Lin's military dividends.

So personally, Ma Jian can afford to eat mutton every day, but it is difficult to eat a sheep for a feast.

In these years, if there are no accidents, if you want to get rich, you can only eat military dividends.

Now the military officials of Beifu have received the war dividend of seizing Guanlong, and the imperial court will allocate another military reward.

This reward is indispensable, and the prestige of the court cannot be said with words.

As long as the money is in place, many people also have a conscience, and naturally they will not be too greedy and do risky things.

Use money to feed the vast number of officials in the northern province...... This is the most ideal thing to do; But if you can't feed it, you can't let the officials of Beifu gossip and give birth to group grievances.

Chen Zhen also stepped on clogs to welcome Ma Tan, and when he saw Ma Tan, he smiled and said: "Brother Xiaoqi came to Beijing on business, I don't want to be so bold!" ”

"What do you say?"

Chen Zhen pulled Ma Jian into the warm greenhouse, and Ma Jian took off his warm coat and listened to Chen Zhen say in an indescribable tone: "This matter is a long story, the Beifu collects charcoal in Nanyang, and there are some hired workers in the foolish brother's family, so they contract the mountains and forests to cut wood and burn charcoal." I have not returned from Nanzhong for a long time, and when I entered the city early this morning, I learned that I had made a profit of nearly one million dollars since August. ”

There are few slaves in everyone's family, and the slaves in Nanyang also have to pay the nature of poll tax, so the slaves of many people's family savings become hired laborers...... Employees are freed to pay the ransom in installments.

It is all a contract completed by Beifu as a guarantor, no matter how loyal and reluctant the slaves of the times are, after signing the redemption contract in installments...... The enthusiasm of labor is really much higher.

When Ma Tan heard that he had made millions of dollars in three or four months, he was not calm at all, a charcoal farm run by twelve or thirteen hired workers could earn so much?

Although there is water in the straight 100 coins, by the end of the Han Dynasty, this million coins could probably have the purchasing power of 50,000 yuan.

With the pure profit of one million dollars, you can buy six or seven cows, and you probably didn't spend millions of dollars in the past year after getting rid of public funds to eat and drink. If you count the small consumption, it can only exceed one million dollars.

Eating and drinking at public expense...... It is only a fixed ration according to official position and rank; The rations and cloths were mainly given by Yulu, and some of them were converted into 100 yuan.

Therefore, a county guard with an official rank of 2,000 stones, relying only on Yulu, can support a family and less than ten followers.

If you want to dress well and eat well, you must either work hard to get rewarded, or go to illegal laws and regulations to make money.

Therefore, Ma Tan is really poor, and like the vast majority of officials who can't eat the dividends of military merit, the family lives on a small life.

If you give Ma Tan a few sheep...... It is much more likely to be kept and kept than to be eaten.

This is the current property situation of the central and local officials, and various internal and external factors overlap, and the officials of the Ji and Han dynasties generally maintain a state of poor living.

Problems also followed, Beifu has received war dividends year after year, and excellent officials want to join Beifu, and it is not difficult to get opportunities with their own political achievements as stepping stones.

And more officials, conservative-oriented officials, in addition to the dividends of the military merits of the Northern Mansion, some want to join but can't, and some are envious but don't want to take the risk of tossing.

After coming and going, this kind of situation of the military officials of Beifu being unique, having both meritorious service and wealthy personal private property has gradually formed, but now they have achieved a great victory in Guanzhong.

No matter how good Ma Jian is, he is also trapped in the current situation, and he has no ambitions to fulfill, and he has to live a simple life.

Individuals can still endure it, but what about the demands of families, relatives, and entourage?

Ma Tan was shocked by Chen Zhen's industrial development, and there was a little estrangement in his heart, feeling that Chen Zhen had made so much money from Beifu, who would he talk to?

Millions of dollars, when the new emperor ascended the throne and rewarded his ministers, the various rewards he received were not worth millions of dollars!

Chen Zhen waited for Ma Jian to sit down, waved away the waiter in the house, and handed tea to Ma Tan, Ma Jian answered and asked: "Brother Xiaoqi suddenly arrived in Beijing, what happened?" ”

"Young Chang, the foolish brother is here to persuade the general to worship Qin Ziyi as Taichangqing as soon as possible. so as not to be in a hurry and give people a handle. ”

"Handle?"

"Exactly, the prime minister heard that Mrs. Tian was sick in Chengdu, and he was worried that the general was strong and did not know how to mediate and adapt. If you are bent on fighting and do not give way everywhere, you will fall behind and be counted by the enemy. ”

Chen Zhen's tone was slow, and Ma Jian had no intention of drinking tea, so Chen Zhen said: "Today, the Wei people are eyeing each other, just waiting for the court to be incompatible." ”