As soon as Zhuang Yimu and their father and son were in the cafeteria, a handyman greeted him and said, "Lord Official, please come in." ”

"I booked a room in Tianzi Ding," Zhuang said.

The handyman turned around and shouted inside, "The room is now served." ”

They were a group of three, and soon after they entered the room and sat down, the handymen began to serve food. This light meal has a total of eight dishes, four meat and four vegetables. It was the first time He Zhiyuan had eaten such a sumptuous meal since he traveled to this dynasty. His family is now considered to be making money every day, but it has never been so extravagant. As the saying goes, "A little bit of being an official is better than doing business." That's true. Especially in the Ming Dynasty, where the hierarchy of "Shi Nong Industry and Commerce" is strict, this is even more appropriate.

After the dishes were served, Zhuang said: "In the yamen, officials can't drink alcohol at noon, and today we can only replace wine with tea." As he spoke, he picked up the teacup and said to He Shaoyun: "Brother Shaoyun, nephew Zhiyuanxian, first of all, I wish Brother Shaoyun a prosperous business and a prosperous source of wealth, and I also wish Zhiyuanxian nephew a high school in the autumn next year." ”

He Shaoyun and his son hurriedly thanked them. Raise your glass and drink the tea in your cup.

Putting down the wine glass, He Zhiyuan hurriedly refilled the tea for Zhuang Yimu and his father. After eating for a while, He Shaoyun raised his glass and said: "Brother Wenxuan, our father and son respect you, I wish Brother Wenxuan, prosperous official luck, and rise step by step." ”

Zhuang Yimu also thanked him again and again, and drank the tea in the cup, and He Zhiyuan continued the water. Zhuang said: "When it comes to official luck, it's difficult. As the saying goes, there are people in the court who are good officials, and a nine-grade official like me has passed the age of not being confused, and it is even more difficult to take a step forward. ”

Zhuang Yimu is also true when he says this, the general official is equivalent to the secretary of the Zhizhou, the Zhizhou leaves office, and the official is not promoted, so when the next Zhizhou succeeds, it will be difficult for the official to be promoted. If you don't get it right, it is possible to be transferred or demoted. When Zhuang said this, the atmosphere was a little cold.

However, Zhuang Yanmu continued: "You have a joint venture with Boss Zhou in Qingzhou, and you must have a good relationship. When Boss Zhou's Ling Lang returns to his hometown, please help me introduce him. ”

He Shaoyun understood, his purpose was here. Then he said: "Don't worry, your business is my business, and I will handle this matter with all my heart." ”

Zhuang Zhimu continued: "Liang Zhizhou, who is about to take office, is also from a high background, and he was just a small official in Yanjin County at the beginning, but he has repeatedly made meritorious contributions, and he has been evaluated again and again, and later he was appreciated by the court officials, and he was promoted all the way, and in just ten years, he was promoted to Zhizhou. If it weren't for the promotion and appreciation of someone in the DPRK, no matter how good it was, there would be no chance. ”

He Zhiyuan said: "Shibo, there is no need to be arrogant. When it comes to official promotion, as long as the upper level seeks political achievements for the upper officials, strives for face, and the lower level seeks benefits for the people. Become Shangguan's right-hand man and indispensable confidant, Shangguan will definitely try his best to promote. ”

"The virtuous nephew is right, if you can have such insight at a young age, you will definitely make great achievements in the future." Zhuang Yimu praised: "I also want to seek more political achievements for Shangguan and win face, but it is difficult to achieve success because of the interweaving of interests in this ya, and the constraints in many ways." ”

"Shibo, do you know what problems the new Lord Zhizhou needs to solve the most after taking office?"

"Since Lord Yang left office last year, Zhizhou has been vacant. There are many government affairs that need to be solved so far, but there are three major problems that need to be solved urgently. The first is the collection of taxes and grain, and now the state's finances are already very tight, and it is difficult for officials to distribute them normally, so the first thing to solve is the collection of part of last year's autumn grain and this year's summer grain; The second is the problem of the victims, as 50,000 or 60,000 people were affected by the floods last summer, and the drought in the spring of this year has made the disaster victims even worse. The third is the problem of bandits, now not only the bandits on Maqi Mountain, but also the north of Dongguan is also plagued by bandits, this bandit is not eliminated, the villagers are not safe. If someone helps an adult solve the three major problems, he will inevitably be reused and promoted, but these three things are difficult to solve. ”

After speaking, Zhuang looked at He Zhiyuan and said: "Virtuous nephew, listen to Brother Shaoyun, you are well-read, you have seen a lot, and you have given strange books in your dreams, do you have a good plan?" ”

"Shibo, I am still young and have little experience. When I go back, I'll think about it, and I'll have a good idea. ”

Zhuang Yimu smiled after hearing this, and said, "Then I will wait for the good news of the virtuous nephew." In fact, he didn't expect any good ideas from an underage child, it was just perfunctory.

After lunch, the father and son said goodbye to Zhuang Zhimu, came out of the state office, and got into a carriage and went home.

On the way, He Shaoyun said to his son: "Zhiyuan, you told Zhuang Yanmu today that there will be a good plan, if he is serious, how can you deal with it, how can I worry about the affairs of the yamen?" ”

"Father, I think this is a very good opportunity for our family."

"How so?"

"First of all, there are 50,000 or 60,000 victims in our state, which is not only the disaster victims, but also cheap labor. As I mentioned last time, the manufacture of cement, glass, and briquettes requires a lot of labor, so isn't it possible to make use of these labors? It not only solves the problem of the victims, but also solves the labor problem of our workshop, which is a double benefit. The second is the problem of this bandit, if we get the approval of Ding Zhuang's recruitment, then we can recruit at least 500 Ding Zhuang. By suppressing bandits, we can further increase our power. ”

"However, to solve both problems, money is needed. How can we have so much money and food? To build a cement factory, a glass factory also needs silver taels. Where does this money come from? He Shaoyun retorted: "The most critical issue now is food. As long as there is food, the rations of the victims will be solved, and the money and food for the suppression of bandits will also be available. Therefore, the biggest problem of the government now is to collect taxes and grain. Only if this problem can be solved, the rest will be easy to do. But it is very difficult to collect taxes and grain. ”

He Zhiyuan understood, mainly the problem of silver. Now the soap workshop is indeed very profitable, but it is also a large expense during this time. It took more than 6,000 taels to repair the reservoir, 1,000 taels to recruit Mr. Jianxue Hall, more than 1,000 taels to build a new residence, plus the expenses of the nursing home, it also cost 5,600 taels a month, and now I have to go to the yamen to make some points. In this way, there is not much silver left in the house. Zhou Xuhai's family does have silver, but it is his family's silver after all. It's better to go home and discuss with the young lady to see if she has any investment ideas.

He Zhiyuan thought of the matter of the grain chief mentioned by Zhuang Yimu again, it seems that Qi Hongfu, who sent his cheap father to the prison cell, has been immortal all these years, and the people are very angry, which has attracted the attention of the government. If you can take the opportunity to help your father get the job of grain chief, it will be a complete counterattack! So he asked his father: "Today, I heard from Zhuang Yimu that I want you to fight for the post of grain chief, but you don't seem to be very willing, why is this?" ”

He Shaoyun said: "The position of grain chief, a few decades ago, was still very affordable, most of them were held by the heads of large households, mainly responsible for the collection of taxes and grain, and most of the extra grain was privately divided with the yamen. It is said that in the Hongwu Dynasty, there were few scholars, and the grain chief who did a good job could still be an official, and the highest could be promoted to Shangshu. Therefore, large families are vying to be grain chiefs. ”

"But over the years, there have been more scholars, and no matter how good the grain chief is, there is no chance of becoming an official, even if he is promoted to a small official. In addition, the land is concentrated in the hands of large households, the peasants have less and less land, and it is becoming more and more difficult to collect grain. ”

"Oh, so that's the case, is my father willing to be a grain chief?" He Zhiyuan asked.

"If you want to do it, you can't be a grain chief who is scolded like Qi Hongfu." He Shaoyun said.

"Of course it is! This Qi Hongfu cheats, deceives others, buys and sells, and does bad things. Daddy can't do that! ”

"The most reviled thing about him is the falsification of the yellow books, and his relatives and friends, who give him benefits, underreport or do not report the population. However, some people who do not give benefits will report more, and those who do not benefit will be reported more than others, and those who are inferior will be reported to the upper land, and those who have not benefited will pay more taxes and grain. Those who give benefits pay less or no taxes. If everyone scolds him behind his back, it will be difficult to collect natural taxes and grain. ”

"The position of grain chief is really difficult to do. If Qi Si officials get in the way and give you small shoes to wear, it will really be angry at both ends. However, today the village officials say that the relationship between the household warden and the priest is not harmonious, but it can be used. If we can use this to bring down the Qi officials, the Qi family will lose their backers, which is very beneficial to us, so I think we can fight for this position. He Zhiyuan analyzed for his father.

Then He Zhiyuan said: "Today, Zhuang said that we must carefully prepare the gift to Liang Zhizhou, and we have to be careful about this matter." ”

"It's a science to choose a gift. This requires a clear understanding of the hobbies and habits of the people in the state, and doing what they like, in order to achieve the desired effect. ”

"Hey, that's nerve-wracking." He Zhiyuan said: "Forget it, let's go home and discuss it again." ”

Back home, He Zhiyuan went to the soap workshop, and Zhou Fuliu was in the workshop. The current Zhou Fuliu is not only the account room, but also the gentleman of the school, because now Wang Dejin is busy with the preparation of the new school, so she is still the teacher of the school.

Zhou Fuliu saw He Zhiyuan coming to the house, so he put down his pen and asked, "Zhiyuan, how did things go to the state government today?" ”

"It's going well. Today, I heard some news from Lord Shimu, some things are not sure, your family has been in business for generations, and has a lot of experience, so I will come over and discuss it. ”

"Tell me what's going on."

"The first thing I did was to prepare a meeting gift for the incoming Lord Zhizhou. Today, Zhuang said that his father, as the representative of the governor, went to welcome the arrival of Lord Zhizhou, and wanted to give a delicate but not too expensive gift. My father and I are struggling with this, so you can help me figure out what to send. ”

Zhou Fuliu said without thinking: "Do you still need to think about it, we have ready-made gifts here." ”

"What gift?"