After Lu Jie sent the family down, Lu Shaowen looked at his father's hand twisting his beard, and knew that he already had an idea.

So he asked, "Does my father already have an idea?" ”

"Well, I need the help of the adults of the Salt Division in this matter." Lu Jie twisted his beard and continued to think: "You send someone to inquire, is the Zhou family's grain trafficked from Jiangnan?" I heard that there was a grain shortage in Juzhou in late spring and early summer today, and now there are workshops everywhere in Juzhou, and the food supply at the construction site is definitely insufficient, as long as Liang Wensheng buys grain from Jiangnan, there is a way to get him to step down. ”

"Okay, I'll do it! When he stepped down, his father made Shangyin run in the imperial court and found one of our people to serve in Juzhou. As long as there are no more people to build the city wall, the city wall of Hejia Town will have to be stopped, and those merchants who buy land in the city will inevitably go back to the land, and then the Zhou family and the He family will ......" Lu Shaowen smiled and did not continue, but a fierce look flashed in his eyes.

At the same time that the father and son of the Lu family in Yangzhou conspired against Liang Wensheng, the Zhou family, and the He family, Liang Wensheng was sitting in the Yasantang of Yishui County and discussing the problem of the people with Ling Xiang of Yishui County.

Ling Xiang was a Jinshi of Tongzhou in the 12th year of Hongzhi, and was sent to Yishui Renzhi County last year. Now that I'm only 27 years old, it's time to make a big difference and look forward to my promotion. Liang Wensheng, the governor of Juzhou, has made outstanding political achievements in less than half a year after he took office, and his official reputation has spread far and wide, and recently he has been praised by the emperor, Ling Zhixian naturally knows it, and is envious.

In terms of background, Ling Zhixian was born as a jinshi, and naturally has a full sense of superiority in front of a person, but in terms of official rank, Liang Wensheng is one level older than him. And now that Liang Wensheng is in the heart of the emperor, and his official reputation is good, anyone can see that he will definitely be promoted to another level in three years. Therefore, Ling Xiang didn't dare to hold up in front of him, but treated him warmly.

After the two of them were polite and sat down, Ling Zhixian first complimented:

"Less than half a year after Lord Liang arrived in Juzhou, he put all government affairs in the state in order, the people lived and worked in peace, and the bandits were eliminated. The political achievements are outstanding, and the official reputation is far and wide, which makes the lower officials envious. Today, Lord Liang is visiting from a busy time, and the lower officials must ask for advice. ”

Liang Wensheng has something to ask him for today, and he is one level lower than him in terms of fame, so he is naturally polite and responds enthusiastically: "Lord Ling doesn't need to be so polite, you and I are under the account of Lord Du, and we should be colleagues." Lord Ling doesn't have to be commensurate. According to my background, I should call you a senior. ”

Liang Wensheng refers to Du Yuan, the prefect of Qingzhou, because Juzhou and Yishui County are both counties under the jurisdiction of Qingzhou Prefecture, so naturally both of them are subordinates of the prefect Du.

"How dare you!" Ling Zhixian hurriedly replied.

"Lord Ling, Brother Wei is here this time to give a big gift to the people of your county. I wonder if Lord Ling accepts it? ”

This is Liang Wensheng's speaking skills, obviously he came to ask others to export labor to him, but he said that he came to give a gift package.

When Ling Zhixian heard him say this, of course he would be interested: "I don't know what kind of gift Lord Liang has?" ”

Liang Wensheng continued to sell Guanzi, and did not answer Ling Zhixian's question directly, but continued to ask: "I wonder if the people in your county are short of food and money?" Is the county government financially adequate? ”

"Lord Liang is really good at laughing,

Yishui County is mountainous and barren, and the people in the county have no other livelihood except farming, which is a real inferior county. It was like under the rule of Lord Liang, there were many workshops, and the finances and taxes were abundant. And I have to worry about the 5,000 taels of silver for the renovation of the official school. Ling Zhixian said with some grievances, and at the same time said in his heart that who let me not answer well in the palace test, and I only got a top three ranking. It is difficult to make political achievements when sent to such a county, so you can only slowly stay up until the end of your term, and then find a way to transfer.

"It seems that I have come to your county at the right time this time. I was the one who sent silver to Lord Ling's government and the people of your county. Liang Wensheng once again whetted Ling Zhixian's appetite.

"Silver? Please let me know. Ling Zhixian asked suspiciously.

"Lord Ling, the situation in your county is roughly the same as that in our state, and there will be about half a year of farming time between now and March next year. During this time, except for a small number of people who had forced labor, the rest of Ding Zhuang had nothing to do. If your county organized these people to go out to work and earn three taels of silver a month, one or two of which would be used as the management expenses of the county government, wouldn't it solve Lord Ling's urgent need? ”

"Three taels of silver a month?" Ling Zhixian quickly calculated in his mind and said: "There are nearly 30,000 Ding Zhuang registered in our county, and according to the calculation of five months of work, wouldn't the county government have an income of 150,000 taels of silver?" ”

"Exactly, and each household has an income of ten denarii. In this way, the problem of food shortage in your county next year can be solved. Liang Wensheng said.

The people of Yishui County live in poverty, most of the people live a life of half a year of bran and half a year's grain, and every time the spring and summer are not available, there will be a food shortage.

"It's because Lord Liang's workshop is short of manpower, right?" Ling Zhixian immediately asked after reacting.

"Exactly. Lord Ling, we are adjacent to each other, and the road is relatively flat. In the slack season, the people come to our state to work in the workshop, the county government has income, the people also get wages, and the workshop in our state has also solved the problem of lack of labor. It's a triple win. Liang Wensheng handed over the real bottom this time.

"What workshops in Lord Liang need labor, and how much labor is needed?" Ling Zhixian then asked.

"The town of Hejia in our state is being built and requires a lot of labor, especially for cement workshops. How many Ding Zhuang can you organize in your county? ”

"There are nearly 30,000 registered Ding Zhuang in our county, does Lord Liang need so much labor?" Ling Zhixian was surprised.

"Plus the concealed population of 50,000 Ding Zhuang, it should be there, right?" Liang Wensheng asked Ling Zhixian.

"Well, there should be." Ling Zhixian replied without hesitation.

The phenomenon of concealment of population reporting was an open secret in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, and local officials had long since ceased to shy away from each other.

"If Lingzhi County can export 50,000 Ding Zhuang for our state, then your county will have 50,000 taels of silver per month, which is 300,000 taels of silver in half a year, and these silver Lingzhi County can be used freely, and the problem of food shortage next year can also be solved, and Lord Ling's political achievements will inevitably be rated as excellent. This kind of good thing, I first thought of Lord Ling, you have to grasp this opportunity."

Ling Zhixian thought for a moment and asked uneasily: "Are you sure that after the spring starts in March next year, it will be completed, and these Ding Zhuang can return to their hometowns to farm?" Will it not delay the agricultural time? ”

Liang Wensheng smiled and said, "I know Ling Zhixian's worries,

These Ding Zhuang are only used temporarily, and they will not be naturalized in our state. After the beginning of spring, it is natural for them to return to their hometowns. ”

Hearing Liang Wensheng say this, Ling Zhixian was reassured. Local officials attach great importance to household registration management, and the population is the most important tax and conscription guarantee in the local government. It is also a criterion for the performance of local officials. If the population loss is severe under the rule of local officials, not only will they lose a source of taxes and forced labor, but they will also be convicted.

At this time, Ling Zhixian had already come back to his senses, Lord Liang had gone around in such a big circle, in fact, it was the lack of labor in his territory, so he came to him for help and borrowed labor. Don't ask him for conditions at this time, let alone when.

However, Ling Zhixian, who is a reader, will naturally not be too much, and although Lord Liang is from a high background, anyone with a discerning eye can see that his future promotion is inevitable.

Thinking of this, Ling Zhixian said: "Since it is a matter of killing multiple birds with one stone, and Lord Liang promised that he will not be able to delay the agricultural time next year, I agree with Lord Liang's proposal, but I put forward two requests for the people in the county and ask Lord Liang to agree." ”

Liang Wensheng thought to himself that it wouldn't be to bargain, right? He regretted a little that he didn't leave room for himself, but he still smiled and said, "Lord Ling, please speak." ”

After all, Ling Zhixian was still a young man who had not yet been established, and his cheeky cultivation was not so thick. He said a little embarrassedly: "Lord Liang, you also know that my county has many mountains and few lands, and the people live in poverty. Under the governance of Lord Liang, your land is now full of finance and taxes, and the people are healthy. My idea is that when these 50,000 Ding Zhuang go to work, can the three meals a day be provided free of charge by the workshop where they work? ”

Liang Wensheng thought to himself that this was still a disguised increase in wages. After a quick calculation in his heart, he finally came to the conclusion that if he was provided with three meals a day, each Ding Zhuang would have to spend an extra half a tael of silver per month. This is equivalent to three and a half taels of silver, which is still cheaper than the local workers, and the local workers also provide three meals a day, which is not much trouble for the workshops.

So Liang Wensheng agreed to his request.

Then Ling Zhixian said: "Now is the cheapest time for grain prices in Jiangnan, and the county government originally planned to buy some grain from Jiangnan to stock up on food shortages next spring, but there was no shortage of silver taels. Can Lord Liang pay two months' management fee in advance, and our county can buy a batch of grain while the grain price is low? ”

"This is easy to do, and our state also plans to buy grain from Jiangnan. How much food Lord Ling needs to buy, our state can buy it at the same time. Liang Wensheng said. In fact, he also did this for a purpose, and now the price of grain in Jiangnan is about five cents to six cents of silver per stone, and after it is transported to the local area, there is almost five to seven cents per stone. If Yishui County is given seven cents of silver per stone, it is still profitable. And the more grain you buy, the cheaper the price of food will be, and the lower the freight will be.

"Let's buy 100,000 stone first." Ling Zhixian replied.

"Okay, our state also plans to buy 100,000 stones, so that it can be purchased. After the 100,000 stones in your county arrived in Yizhou, they went directly to Yishui County by taking the Yi River. How about paying 70,000 taels of silver in advance? ”

Ling Zhixian knew that Liang Zhizhou had a little profit in this, but just now he happily agreed to the first request, plus he didn't have to worry about buying grain, and sent it directly to the dock. felt that it was reasonable, so he agreed to Liang Wensheng's request.

(End of chapter)

The little people of the Ming Dynasty

The little people of the Ming Dynasty

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