Such a fatal blow would be inexplicably clear if it were not a vendetta.

Such a horrific incident happened, Mei Xiaohan had no reason not to care, but all she could do at this time was to wait and see what happened. Otherwise, there are not many options.

Mei Xiaohan said: "Zhang Nan and Zhang Bei, what do you think of this matter?" ”

Zhang Nandao: "I don't know about this matter, and it's not easy to judge it!" ”

Mei Xiaohan looked at Zhang Bei again and said, "Then what do you think?" ”

Zhang Beidao: "I listen to my brother!" ”

Mei Xiaohan shook her head: "You two brothers are really interesting!" ”

After eating, the three of them left the inn, and Zhang Nan and Zhang Bei also returned to the sword.

"It seems that this place has become a place of right and wrong!"

There are people in the rivers and lakes who have been killed one after another, which seems very strange. Originally, the matter of chasing and killing in the rivers and lakes has been known since ancient times, but it is not a strange news.

This time, the people who were killed were all peerless without exception, which is extraordinary.

The duel between masters was originally unpredictable, but this time something like this happened because the master was killed in an instant, which is enough to see that this mysterious killer is by no means an ordinary person.

This person only kills people in the rivers and lakes, and the people killed are not ordinary people.

Mei Xiaohan said with a smile: "I have a lot of connections with people in the rivers and lakes, and I don't know if I will become the target of assassination!" ”

Zhang Nandao: "Master Mei, I'm afraid this won't be!" You have never had an enmity with the people in the rivers and lakes, I don't think anyone will deliberately kill people for fun! ”

This time, Mei Xiaohan's main purpose is to investigate, and he really doesn't want to get involved in the grievances of the rivers and lakes.

All the way to Wenchengdao Town, Shibian Village.

Shibian Village, this village, is mostly people with the surname Shi. Because the village is backed by a mang mountain, many villagers also go to the mountain to hunt.

When they arrived at Shibian Village, Mei Xiaohan was intercepted at the entrance of the village, and it was not robbers or bandits who intercepted them, but local villagers.

Zhang Nan and Zhang Bei immediately pulled out their swords and said, "What do you want to do?" ”

"No outsiders are allowed to enter this place, this is what the county lord has confessed!"

Mei Xiaohan motioned to Zhang Nan and Zhang Bei to put down his sword and said, "I see, but I don't know why outsiders are not allowed to enter or leave?" ”

The villager said: "The county lord will issue a pass token to the merchants who come and go, and those who do not have a pass token to and from all parts of the county are not allowed to boast about it!" ”

Mei Xiaohan was puzzled: "I came from Splendid City, why have I never heard of this along the way?" There is no obstruction, but why is there such a rule in this village? ”

The villagers said: "There are naturally not too many obstacles for guest officials to pass in the county, but there are other regulations for passage in various places, especially between villages!" ”

Mei Xiaohan said: "Since it is a government regulation, can there be an official document?" ”

The villager said: "This is indeed no, we only look at the token, if there is really no token, please forgive us for not being accommodating!" ”

In order to make money, Luo Dalin, the county governor of Yongfeng County, levied additional taxes on merchants who did business in Yongfeng County.

However, the silver went into Luo Dalin's pocket and did not go into the treasury. The reason why Luo Dalin dared to do this was that someone was supporting him.

And the person behind Luo Dalin is likely to be Yang Yuan.

Mei Xiaohan said: "So how can I get the token?" ”

The villager said: "Go to the Yongfeng County Government Office to buy it!" ”

"But the price is not low!"

"How much silver?"

"Fifty taels!"

When Zhang Nan heard this, he said angrily: "This is too much! So much silver! It's in the Ming robbery! ”

Mei Xiaohan's face also changed greatly, he didn't expect that this time he would come out and go deep into Yongfeng County, and there would be so many things that surprised him.

So, Mei Xiaohan planned to go to the Yongfeng County Government to take a look at what the so-called token was, and why did the Yongfeng County Government dare to sell the so-called "customs clearance token" so blatantly.

After being instructed, Mei Xiaohan quickly found the Yongfeng County Government, and the so-called Yongfeng County Government is actually just an ancient courtyard, but it is not in the county government.

This makes people feel even more suspicious, because it is very suspicious to choose the office location in an ordinary private house rather than in the county government.

According to the inquiry, Mei Xiaohan found a yard called "Cloud House", which is not big, but it looks very elegant.

It is very "creative" to set up the county government in a private house, which is not only convenient for collecting money, but also convenient for transactions, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

Fifty taels of silver, for an ordinary family, enough to eat and wear for a year. Even if it is a wealthy family, fifty taels of silver is a lot of money.

Among the officials of the past dynasties, the thin is more than the Ming, and the officials of the past dynasties are no more generous than the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty is the one who implements the system of high salaries and incorruptibles.

Even so, there are still many officials who engage in corruption.

In the Song Dynasty, the official system was very chaotic, and officials who did not have real positions could receive salaries, and those who had real positions could add additional money.

In addition to the regular salary, there are also clothing, millet, tea, wine and kitchen materials, charcoal, salt, clothing and food for retinues, horses and corn, additional expenses (increase in provisions), office money, minister's money and favors, etc., and the magistrate is equipped with a large number of professional fields.

Officials who have a duty on assignment are given an additional allowance as a duty allowance. This kind of salary is paid according to the difference between the rank of the official and the post of reprimand, so even if the same official is appointed, the salary is not the same.

Those who add guards and tests before the words "judgment" and "knowledge" indicate that they are lower than the first to second grades of the punishment position, and add 55 and 50 respectively per month. If the words "judgment" or "knowledge" are added before the word "judgment" or "knowledge", it means that the official is higher than the officer of judgment or at the same level as the officer, and 60 words are added every month.

Zhengyi products are all fictitious, additional positions, and no real power, so there are fewer people.

Monthly Salary (2)

Three divisions 120 taels

Prime Minister 300 taels

Governor 200 taels

Six books of Shangshu 60 taels

Squire 55 taels

Jiuqing 45 taels

Shaoqing 35 taels

Chixian county order 30 taels

Chixian County Cheng 15 taels

Generally speaking, ancient currencies were mainly gold, silver, and copper coins (in fact, copper-containing alloys). The silver standard of the Song Dynasty and the later Ming and Qing dynasties was different, it was a copper standard, copper coins were the main currency, and gold and silver were not used as currency. The basic unit of copper coins is "Wen", and "Guan (缗)", which is always 1000 Wen. When the Song Dynasty was financially tight, there were 800 Wen and 850 Wen as the same situation.

The monthly income of the chief civil and military officials (prime ministers and privy envoys) of the first rank of the Song Dynasty was 1.28 million, with an annual income of more than 15 million, and the monthly income of the second-rank officials (equivalent to the current provincial governor) was more than 250,000, even the monthly income of the county magistrate of the current rich county was nearly 130,000.

Under such a high salary, there is still such serious corruption, which makes Mei Xiaohan very surprised.

The Song Dynasty's hundred officials were the most generous among the feudal dynasties, with a monthly salary of up to 400 guan (always a thousand wen), which was 10 times that of the Han Dynasty and 2 to 6 times that of the Qing Dynasty. In addition to money, there are also Lu rice, the Song Dynasty officials of all sizes in brocade clothes and delicacies, and a luxurious life.

is a product official, 150 stone of Lu rice per month, 120,000 yuan, plus 20 horses of silk every year, 1 horse of Luo, and 50 taels of cotton; From the nine officials, 5 stones of rice per month, 8,000 yuan, plus 12 taels of cotton per year. In addition to the above salaries, there are many kinds of welfare subsidies, including tea and wine money, kitchen material money, charcoal money, horse feed money, and so on. The government also "pays" for the food, clothing, and wages of the servants of the officials' households.

In the Song Dynasty, the interest on public money loans and the income from the fields were mostly paid by the department chiefs, most of them went into the "small treasury" of the department, and were distributed to the officials every three or five times, becoming part of the income. When officials go on business trips or go to work, they can use the "gift rolls" issued by the imperial court to eat and live in the local area for free, and even receive food and clothes.

The Song Dynasty also established the "Ancestral Lu System", in which high-ranking officials of high moral standing carried out regular recuperation, and all expenses were borne by the state. Many officials in the Song Dynasty were able to receive two salaries, which were called "job money". Due to the generous treatment, few officials in the Song Dynasty voluntarily retired (retired), and some even changed their age in order to extend their term of office.

Therefore, the imperial court had no choice but to force officials to become officials, and to refuse to take courses or promote old bureaucrats who had reached the age of 70. When officials are appointed to the office, they are often given promotions, similar to the "immediate promotion" of today's civil servants. After the prime minister-level officials become officials, they can still participate in the government and serve as "senior advisers". If an official is automatically promoted to office, his descendants can "make up" a certain official position, resulting in a large number of "second-generation officials" in politics.

The numismatic system of the Song Dynasty was also extremely chaotic, and its records were full of contradictions.

The Song Dynasty used "money" as the currency in circulation, and the social and economic development of the Song Dynasty was rapid, industry and commerce were also unprecedentedly developed, the demand for money was unprecedentedly huge, and the production and import of silver were not high.

At that time, there was no government macro-control management agency like the central bank, which caused an extremely chaotic situation.

Generally, dynasties are consistent with 1,000 coins, which are always equal to one tael of silver, but this is not the case in the Song Dynasty.

"Song History Food and Goods" and "Continuation of Capital and Governance Tongjian" both mentioned that since the Zhenzong Dynasty, due to the small stock of silver is not enough to catch up with the development of the economy, the price of silver has continued to rise, and more than 2,000 copper coins should be used as one tael of silver.

The Song Dynasty's "money law" was very chaotic, there were copper coins, iron coins and lead and tin coins circulating at the same time, each state had the right to mint money on its own, and there was also a situation of private coinage, the size of the money was different, the composition was not suitable, the value was changeable, and "the system was established at any time", which was very chaotic.

Iron money is passed in Sichuan and Shaanxi, and ten are exchanged for one copper coin, and the money circulating in Jiangnan and Jiangbei is not the same.

There is also uncertainty about how much money there is in practice, there are 800 or 850 for the same, there are also 480 for the consistent, and the edict is to be issued for 770 to be consistent, and the states "follow their own customs for private use", which is completely confused.

According to the "History of the Song Dynasty" mentioning that "before Xi and Feng, rice and stone were only six or seven hundred" and "Song History and Official Records" "each bucket (rice) is converted into thirty wen", let's take 2,000 copper coins into one tael of silver, the price of rice in the Taiping period was 600-300 yuan per stone (one tael of silver and one stone of rice from before and after the Jingkang Rebellion to the early Southern Song Dynasty is not within the normal calculation range).

1 tael can basically buy 4-8 stone of rice, and with 66 kilograms of Song stone, 1 tael of silver is equivalent to nearly 924-1848 yuan.

After coming to the cloud house, someone immediately went out to ask questions.

"Is it a merchant who has applied for a pass token?"

A voice came from inside the courtyard.