Chapter 760: Rules and Talents

All dynasties have been endowed with service, but it is somewhat rare to have such a light and heavy service as the Ming Dynasty. Nowadays, in addition to Su Song and other extremely taxed prefectures and counties, the vast Central Plains, the tax per mu can be described as extremely light, and the annual tax to be paid by the people is only one-thirtieth of one stone, that is, three liters and three in five spoons. However, compared to the light taxation, the forced labor is very much. Just the opening of the canal and the repair of Beijing City during the Yongle period, I don't know how many people were killed and injured. On weekdays, the tax and grain are collected, the military craftsmen are released, the fugitives are investigated, and the military food is transferred...... If so, and so on, it is enough to make people fearful.

The construction of the new wharf in Huangpu Town can be regarded as either miscellaneous errand service or government servants, and at that time, the flood had passed, and this kind of errand government often only paid three meals a day and did not give money, so there were few people who applied for the job at first. It wasn't until Zhang Yue offered the same monthly salary of 1,500 as the sedan chair in the city that the respondents gathered. Since the government couldn't come up with so much money at that time, the 200 people who applied for the recruitment only made a blank slip for the time being, promising to pay 5,000 yuan in three months.

During the three-month construction period, three meals a day were enough, and one meal of meat could be eaten every five days. Before the inauguration ceremony of the wharf, the government informed them to gather at the wharf to watch the ceremony, and said that there would be good food and good food at noon, so they naturally went happily. Sure enough, after watching the ribbon-cutting and lion dance celebrations, and watching the big ship enter the harbor, someone invited the 200 people to the grass hut that had been erected in advance, and set up twenty large round tables.

On each table there is a jar of old wine and eight bowls of vegetables and four poon choi. More than half of the eight large bowls are real meat, braised elbow, pig's head in sauce, three fresh river fish, stewed old hen, plum cabbage button pork...... The poon choi is also full of oily meat. After a large crowd of people sat down in a hurry, they saw that they were drooling profusely, and waited patiently until they had finished speaking, and then immediately feasted on them. On the easternmost table, a middle-aged man snatched a chicken leg, glanced at the other dishes, tore a piece of chicken and chewed it, and then began to speak vaguely.

"I thought that I was just called to bask in the sun on an errand, and in the end, I just gave out two steamed buns per person, but I didn't expect that there would be such good wine and food, the government is really generous!"

An older craftsman next to him shook his head and said, "Where is the generosity of the government, it is that Lord Zhang who is kind and remembers our hard work!" Earlier, there were also river bridges repaired, how could we have eaten well in those three months? Not to mention the salary. ”

"Uncle Qin is right, I still remember the first time I opened the meat, such a big meat bun, one person can get four, I am not willing to eat, Baba brought it back to the old lady! This time, there is no salary, and there is no loss! ”

"Also, five thousand wen for three months, how much is this, the government should not send it to us according to the face of the treasure banknote!"

"Since Master Zhang has agreed, he shouldn't fool us, right?"

When the table was full of gossip and commotion, someone suddenly came from the front of me to silence the reminder. After a while, the huge grass hut immediately fell silent. The old craftsman looked ahead, and immediately whispered in surprise and joy: "Brothers, it is the servants who have come to send the wages, and I see them carrying a heavy pocket!" ”

It stands to reason that five thousand coins is five hangs, but since the issuance of treasure banknotes in the Hongwu period, the Ming Dynasty has gradually minted less money. During the Yongle years, there were many coins, but they were all locked in the treasury, and the rope that strung the money was moldy and rotten, and it was never taken out. The copper coins in private circulation are often worn and even unusable, and the number is very small, most of them are holding the imperial court treasure money as change. The face of the ticket is the usual treasure banknote, which is only worth five cents in the market, and even then it still scores new and old.

However, what came out of that pocket at this moment was a string of genuine copper coins! So the men who had been waiting for three months all forgot that there was still most of the wine and food on the table, and they all stared at their pockets with bright eyes, and everyone in front of them stretched their necks, for fear that the few servants who were in charge of the money would be deducted. When the sharp-eyed man saw a young man standing in front with his hands behind his back, for a while, the news immediately spread from the back to the front, and everyone was reassured.

Yu Qian was born in poverty, when he was still studying, he had heard of the treacherous deeds below, and after he came out, he inspected the place, and now he is appointed as the governor of Guangdong, and he has seen more greedy and shameless people, so when he heard the old servant report that the feudal division began to distribute wages to the workers, he immediately left the table and came here. At this time, he stopped there and immediately stopped a few soap subordinates and servants who were thinking about Xiao Jiujiu.

With that iron-masked imperial history watching in front, who dares to play catty!

Zhang Yue was a few steps behind Yu Qian, and as soon as he arrived here, he saw the back of the person standing with his hands in his hands, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, thinking that this person was really meticulous. He stepped forward to say hello to Yu Qian, and the workers who were cheering with their wages at the front had already seen him and knelt on the ground. This move immediately alarmed those behind, and after a while, the twenty tables of the elders on both sides were all half short. Seeing such a scene, he hurriedly raised his hand, and a loud officer behind him hurriedly shouted, and it took a long time for people to stand up one after another.

"It took three months to pay everyone their wages, and everyone couldn't bring the money home, but now that this sum has finally been paid, you are determined, and the company is also determined." Zhang Yue saw a large number of people with smiles on their faces, and knew that this trip was now a reassuring person's heart, so he said with a smile, "In the future, the government will also have errands such as building bridges, renovating yamen, and repairing river embankments, and will also recruit errands when the time comes." Although not all of them are as rushed as this time, there may not be such wages, but there is one sentence that our company can guarantee, that is, we will never let everyone sweat and do day work! ”

Everyone below originally pricked up their ears to hear what the lord of the domain had to say, but when they heard the last sentence, they didn't know which one took the lead and shouted yes, and the others also echoed it vigorously, and for a while, there were cheers one after another. After it was easy to stop, Zhang Yuecai said unhurriedly: "Now some of the fields are planted with three crops of rice, some are two crops of rice, some are double crops of rice and wheat, and in two months it will be the summer harvest, and everyone will go back just in time for the harvest." After eating this meal, it is dispersed, and I wish everyone a good harvest this summer! ”

After another round of applause, Zhang Yue nodded and left here. As for whether there will be any deductions from the wages of the errand just now, he doesn't worry at all. After all, such an iron-faced and selfless person pestle is not fake there. Sure enough, he hadn't walked out for a long time, and the little guy behind him stepped forward to speak.

"Young Master, I'm going to ask questions on the table along the court."

Zhang Yue stopped at his feet, and then continued to walk forward: "With a strict person like him, naturally you don't have to worry about it." ”

In the eyes of others, Zhang Yue is also careful. After removing a few silver boxes from the ship, he immediately found the merchants in Foshan Town, and after carefully handing over the silver money one by one, he exchanged eight hundred taels of silver for the one thousand hanging coins they had prepared a long time ago. At this time, he went back to Caiyun Tower to take a look at the fat man Chu who was settling accounts with these merchants, and then returned to a single courtyard in the west, and as soon as he entered the main room, he saw his father standing next to the account room where several abacus crackled.

"Dad, it's hard work for you this time."

"I'm just watching from the sidelines, and I don't have to bother socializing, where can I talk about hard work."

Zhang Zhuo straightened up and called Zhang Yue out of the house. When he sat down in the ear room next to him, he smiled and said, "This time, you didn't pay any more money to the maritime merchants, but you knew that you had to rebuild the dock on credit, which made many people breathe a sigh of relief." However, at first, the merchants who owed wood and bricks to the feudal clan on credit were sweating, and many people complained that it was equivalent to giving away for nothing, and even the workers had the idea that they would not get the money. In fact, it's okay for our family to advance money first, so why do you have to learn from your predecessors who use credit to owe money? ”

"Our family is certainly rich, but the public is public, private is private, if you set up your own rules for the successor to advance money, what should those who are already poor? It is better to set up rules for them to follow, so that the government can also make fewer merchants in the future. By the way, this time the payment of those merchants in Foshan Town may be paid off? ”

"Almost, in addition to the value of rhino horn and ivory, the chief secretary can still have a lot of surplus, enough to do some things."

"Zhaoqing Prefecture, Guangzhou Prefecture, Chaozhou Prefecture and other places have reported the construction of embankment sluices, and several bridges that were broken last year also need to be repaired, and the county schools and schools in various counties are also in disrepair, so it can be said that some of them are places to use money. Fortunately, now the prefectures and counties have reported that about 20% of the farmland has been changed to three or two crops of rice, fortunately, Master Liu has brought dozens of apprentices one after another, otherwise I am afraid that I will not be busy. As soon as he saw me, he nagged about the impact of the first rice harvest on the next two crops, and although I didn't go to the field to farm, I was about to become an expert who could fool people. ”

"Okay, in the future, if you farm and I do business, even if I am not an official, I will not starve to death!"

The father and son looked at each other and laughed, and after being happy for a while, Zhang Zhuo let out a long sigh and said: "A few days ago, I flipped through a lot of ancient books, but I found a good character. "Taixuan. There are clouds in the Yuan Notice, the day is like day, and the moon is like night. This word Yu has the meaning of shining, and it just coincides with the word Ye of Jingguan's name, what do you think? ”

For the purpose of quoting scriptures and taking names from ancient books, Zhang Yue has always felt that it is troublesome to be first-class, at this time his father is right, he read Zhang Yu twice, and he also feels that Langlang is catchy, so naturally he will not pick any thorns, after all, his father is still full of excitement at this time. The father and son talked again, Zhang Zhuo was concerned about the account books outside after all, and Zhang Yue couldn't leave all the officials of the three divisions there, so he went out of the house to do their own things.

This summer, as Zhang Yue said, was just the wind and rain, and the storms that often hit in previous years were much less, except for a few states and counties where strong winds blew down some trees and houses, and most places were unharmed. The rice fields in Tong Province have a good harvest of more than three or even four stones, and there are also two stones of bad harvest. For a time, from top to bottom, the Fuzhou counties that were anxious because of the autumn grain last year were all celebrating, and the political secretary Yamen was happy with the harvest, but was busy preparing for the autumn of this year.

According to the rules, every year of the autumn examination, the provinces will ask the imperial court to send Hanlin officials to preside over the township examination. For example, the north and south are often sent to the top of the Hanlin Academy to study or lecture on the bachelors, while the rest of the provinces are sent according to the distance and simplicity. Zhang Yue, as a political envoy, invited Xiang Shaoyuan early on, but was surprised when he learned that he was coming this time.

The person who presided over the township examination in Guangdong this time turned out to be Shen Cang, a bachelor from Hanlin and a bachelor known as Xiao Shen!

Because the Hongwu Dynasty had abolished the imperial examination for more than ten years, for several dynasties, the ministers of the central court were not the world of Jinshi. There is Yang Shiqi in the cabinet, and there are Xia Yuan, Jilu Zhen, Fang Bin and Wu Zhong in the six departments, all of whom are either recommended or born as students, and although there are many Jinshi in the Hanlin Academy, there are also people from other paths. Among them, the Shen Du and Shen Cang brothers are a well-known pair. Although Shen Du moved the world with the title of the golden jade book, Shen Cang's cursive writing is also a must, and the reputation of the article is not as good as his calligraphy.

Guangdong Gongyuan was only rebuilt last year, and now it is ushering in the triennial township examination, and naturally countless people are trying their best to find out about it - some are investigating the quality of the number room, some are exploring the character of the examiner, and some want to drill the camp to see if they can find another way...... Some people even hit the idea directly on Zhang Yue's close people. That night, after Zhang Yue set up a banquet to wash the dust for Shen Cang, who came from afar, the two sat down in the study, and there was a banging knock on the door outside.

Zhang Yue stood up with a frown, and as soon as he opened the door, he saw Fang Jing and Li Guoxiu Rui Yixiang outside holding a handful of things. When he was stunned, Fang Jing looked inside, and when he saw Shen Cang sitting there, he lowered his voice and said, "Third Brother Zhang, I heard that Xiao Shen lives here, and all the scholars who participated in the township examination have thrown ink rolls into your official office, and there is no stop at the back door." That's not all, Xiao Li Xiaorui and I went out in the afternoon, and we brought back so many ...... We can't dispose of this thing, so we can only bring it to you. ”

Shen Cang finally saw what the three people were holding outside the door. Although he has always been a Beijing official, he is no stranger to this kind of doorway. Knowing that the three outsiders were not outsiders, he beckoned people in, and after they put down the ink roll and went out, he took one roll and looked at it, and soon put down his hand and took another volume, and after reading it a lot, he couldn't help but shake his head.

"Although the four words of the golden version of the jade book are glory, it is not a good thing for everyone to learn Shen Ti!"

Putting aside this, he didn't bother to look at the neatly copied ink scrolls, but said to Zhang Yue: "When I came, I heard that Concubine Sun Guifei of the Inner Court was pregnant with Liujia, and the date should be the beginning of spring next year. If next year's examination coincides with good news, the emperor will definitely attach great importance to it. You have made remarkable achievements in Guangzhou, but in addition to these, it is also the credit of you, a feudal official, to win a few more scholars in the examination. Therefore, this time in the township test, you have to choose a few talents to come out! ”