Just kidding, Daming's annual tax is only a few million taels.

One million taels of silver a year, is this to dedicate all the belongings to His Majesty?

Li Chuan put on a pen and said: "Although money and silver are good, they are not the favorite of the lower officials, in the eyes of the lower officials, money and silver are things outside the body, they are not brought in life, and they are not brought in death, just enough." Now that the state affairs are difficult, the lower officials also have the heart to worry about the country, but the lower officials can only earn some money and silver for their father-in-law as a businessman, is one million silver enough? ”

"Enough!"

Wang Chengen nodded again and again, stared at Li Chuan for a while, and then said: "That's it, since you have a heart, our family will receive your distraction, you let it go, our family can give you a thorough understanding, your Jinyi Wei Qianhu is not a virtual street." ”

Li Chuan was stunned for a moment, then understood a little, and asked: "Dare to ask my father-in-law if he can lend some manpower to the lower officials, none of those powerful families in the south of the Yangtze River are good at stubble, and the lower officials are only afraid that they have the ability to make money but have no life to spend it." ”

Wang Chengen said with satisfaction: "Our family can't help you with this, you can figure it out yourself." You don't belong to Jinyiwei, you just put your name in Jinyiwei, do you understand what our family means? ”

"Xia Guan understands!"

Li Chuan nodded hurriedly, just to put a name on Jinyiwei, that is, a supernumerary.

However, with this identity of Jinyi Wei Qianhu, the local government can't control him, this is a talisman. If Ying Tianfu dares to come and arrest people again, he will dare to kill people, and there should be no such fools in those places.

Jin Yiwei is the pro-army of the Son of Heaven, and if he violates the law, he will be dealt with by Jin Yiwei, who dares to arrest the emperor, what do you want to do?

Wang Chengen confessed a few words, and hurried back to the palace.

In the afternoon, someone brought a letter and official uniforms.

Li Chuan didn't want to stay for a long time, so he set off back to Jiangyin with his men and horses the next day.

The blue waves are rippling, and a big ship pulls the sails straight down to the south of the Yangtze River.

Despite the chaos in the north, there was an endless stream of merchant ships coming and going from the south to the north.

The grass grows on both sides of the strait and the warbler flies, and the scenery is infinite, but it is difficult to hide the broken world.

If the sun is in full bloom, the banks of the canal are a beautiful landscape.

But in this way, the north is full of wind and fire, everywhere there are people who are yellow-faced, hungry and thin and can't survive, no matter how beautiful the scenery is, it can't cover up the destruction of the world, so that people have no intention of enjoying the scenery along the way.

At the bow of the boat, Li Chuan sat cross-legged and chatted with the boat boss.

The boat boss is a man in his thirties, with bronzed skin, and a hideous scar on the left side of his face, which looks very strong and very bold, when Li Chuan asked about the scar on his face, the boat boss said: "It is not as easy as you imagined to make a living on the water, the world has been too chaotic in recent years, and there are many thieves who rob houses on the canal. In the early years, a small boat could also run south and north, and now you see, where there are still small boats, they are all big boats like us, and there are no more than ten guys, who dares to run on the water. ”

Li Chuan asked, "Haven't you thought about doing something else?" ”

The boat boss sighed: "It's not easy to do anything these days, I can't do anything else with these guys, so I can only guard this boat and beg for a few mouthfuls of food on the water, and I can barely eat enough." In this world, except for the officials, the ordinary people are working hard. ”

After that, he glanced at Li Chuan, a little insinuating.

Li Chuan smiled: "Don't look at me like that, I'm not an official, I'm a businessman." ”

The captain of the ship said in disbelief: "I can see that those people of yours have all been on the battlefield, and I have seen a lot of merchants, but I have never seen a businessman like you, but it is really strange to see that you don't look like those officials and old men." ”

Li Chuan didn't explain, and asked: "How many water thieves are there on this canal?" ”

Chuanlao Daodao: "The largest is three water thieves, and there are too many small water thieves to count, some people can't survive, so they become water thieves, and if they grab it, they will eat a bite, and if they can't grab it, they will lose their lives." You can rest assured when you take my boat, those little thieves don't dare to provoke us, and the three biggest thieves also have an agreement with our boat gang that they will not rob my boat. ”

Li Chuan became interested and asked, "Are you from the boat gang?" ”

The boat boss nodded and said, "I'm from the Horse Head Gang." ”

Li Chuan didn't know much about this kind of folk gang, so he asked for advice with great interest.

The boat boss didn't hide it, so he told him about the formation of the boat gang and the size of the forces.

The formation of boat gangs is a historical necessity, boat people take the boat as their home, have no fixed residence, and are easy to be bullied if they do not form a group, so out of the need for self-protection, relying on group organizations, they can better deal with the bullying of others or the robbery of water robbers, and ensure the safety of people and property; There are many boat gangs on the Grand Canal, and the largest boat gang is only five, and the Matou Gang is one of them.

The boat boss didn't brag, and there were indeed many thieves all the way south.

But after seeing the small flag hanging on the bow of the ship, those water thieves did not dare to provoke.

Although it is comfortable to walk by water, the activity space on the boat is limited, and it is a bit boring after a long day.

Li Chuan didn't want to be bored in the cabin, he basically moved on the deck during the day, either chatting with the ship's boss and sailors, or comparing Zhao Tiezhu and Hu Laosi, all the way to Jiangyin was also relaxed and happy, and arrived in Jiangyin more than ten days later.

Jiangyin is an important commercial town, and the ships on the wharf are very lively.

Li Chuan even saw a large cargo ship fifty-six meters long, unloading cargo on the dock.

The ship docked, and the sailors skillfully lowered the anchor to stabilize the ship.

Li Chuan observed the road and asked the boat boss, "How about bringing your people with me?" ”

The captain of the boat was a little surprised and said, "Do you want to pay for settling-in?" ”

Li Chuan said: "You want to know the settling-in fee? ”

The boat boss grinned and said, "One person is one hundred and two lines?" ”

Li Chuan said: "Five hundred taels for one person, and the boat will give you two thousand taels." ”

The boat boss immediately said happily: "It's done, you wait for me!" ”

After that, he hurriedly ran back and summoned the sailors to confess.

Li Chuan was thoughtful, although the common people have no culture, but if anyone thinks they are easy to deceive, they are really stupid. In fact, there are no fools in this world, the division of labor is different, and the pursuit of each person is also different, and the grass-headed people have their own wisdom for survival.

He was observing the boat boss and his people all the way, but the ship boss hadn't observed him.

However, the ship's boss agreed so happily, which made him a little complacent.

This fully shows that the boat boss thinks that there is a future for following him.

It didn't take much effort, but the captain and the sailors gathered.

"Call the master!"

The captain of the ship shouted, and as soon as the sailors were dry, they immediately called out to the master.

This is to take the initiative to sell oneself and be willing to be a domestic servant.

Li Chuan was once again surprised by the decisiveness and courage of these people, and immediately took out a handful of silver tickets and stuffed them into the boat boss, saying, "Go back and settle down the family, and then come to Lijiazhuang to find me." However, it is best to bring the family to Jiangyin, and it will be convenient to take care of it in the future. ”

The captain of the boat took the silver ticket and asked, "Won't the lord let us run away with the silver?" ”

Li Chuan said with a smile: "You are all smart people, what do I have to be afraid of." ”

The boat boss laughed dryly, and watched Li Chuan take Zhao Tiezhu and Hu Laosi to board the dock and leave, before greeting the sailors: "Hurry up, go back and get the family over, Lao Tzu will not run the boat again, and follow the new owner to eat and drink spicy food in the future." ”

The sailors clamoured and immediately anchored the ship.

Life on the water is more difficult than imagined, and even if you huddle together to keep warm, life is not easy.

A high-roller like Li Chuan, who doesn't care about dozens of taels of silver, can't meet a few all year round.

If there are better options, everyone wants to live a better life.

It is better to take care of the homes of the powerful than to float on the water all year round.

Li Chuan returned to Lijiazhuang, and Li Changyue had already taken a group of servants to greet him at Dakoumen.

"The young master is back!"

Li Changyue's face was full of smiles, he was so worried these days that he couldn't even sleep well at night.

Finally, when the young master came back from the capital, he could breathe a sigh of relief.

Li Chuan nodded and asked, "There's nothing going on at home, right?" ”

Li Changyue said: "It's okay at home, and the people from Ying Tianfu didn't come again." ”

Li Chuan sneered, but didn't say anything, and strode into Zhuangzi.

"Welcome young master!"

The servants knelt on the ground and sang in unison.

"Get up!"

Li Chuan waved his hand: "Don't do these pomp and circumstance in the future, do what you should do." ”

Li Changyue hurriedly responded and waved his hand to let the servants retreat.

Entering the inner courtyard, the little maid Xinghua greeted her and saluted half-squatting.

Li Changyue followed, knowing that the young master had something to explain.