Hou Xun, the secretary of the household department, and Yang Sichang, the secretary of the military department, came to visit at the same time, which is a rare situation.

Su Tiancheng is very clear that the two of them came to visit, they have their own purposes, and they also have common interests, for example, the issue of mutual markets, the household department and the military department both want to get more benefits, as for the issue of the abolition of the sergeant of the guard, it involves the issue of the military household system, which is directly under the jurisdiction of the military department, and it must involve a lot of things, but fortunately, it is only in Shaanxi to start the trial, which will not cause too much impact.

Hou Xun and Yang Sichang, both of them are members of the court of Zheng Erpin, and their rank and official position are above Su Tiancheng, so Su Tiancheng must go to the door of the mansion to greet him, and Zhu Xianxin must also follow to greet him, don't underestimate Zhu Xianxin's welcome, after all, Zhu Xianxin is Su Tiancheng's original wife, with a noble status, and coming to greet the guests who come to visit with her husband is the greatest respect for the guests.

Hou Xun and Yang Sichang saluted Zhu Xianxin with smiles on their faces, of course they were happy with such a welcome specification.

After entering the study, Hou Xun quickly got to the point.

"Master Su, this official and Lord Yang came to visit today, mainly for official business, delaying your time to rest, don't be dissatisfied."

"Your Excellency is polite, the lower officials have been prepared for a long time, and they have been thinking about the mutual market and the dismissal of the guards and sergeants, even if the two adults don't come, the lower officials will have to pay a special visit."

Hou Xun touched the goatee and nodded.

Yang Sichang then spoke.

"Lord Su, the emperor has agreed to this mutual market and the dismissal of the sergeants of the guard, and the specific operation has been briefly discussed between this official and Lord Hou, although it is difficult. But it is still necessary to do a good job in accordance with the emperor's will. ”

"The subordinate officers must do their best to do a good job in the exchange of markets and the dismissal of the sergeants of the guards."

Next, according to Su Tiancheng's understanding, some specific issues should be discussed, such as opening several locations for mutual markets. It is obviously inappropriate to set up only one place, not only for the Mongolian Xibe tribe and the Daurian tribe, but also for the people of the Ming Dynasty, at least in Yulinwei, Ningxia Houwei, Ningxia Wei, and Ningxia Qianwei There must be places where there are mutual markets. When economic interests are involved, Su Tiancheng also understands that it is said that only the Xibe tribe and the Daurian tribe can exchange expenses with the Ming Dynasty, but in fact, it is impossible, if there are other tribes in the grassland. If you voluntarily surrender to the two tribes, you will definitely have to join the army of the mutual market, and in this regard, it is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to monitor.

The economic interests of the mutual market are too great for the imperial court to care about, and the household department, as the direct manager, has to worry more.

As for the dismissal of the non-commissioned officers of the guard, it is even more important. It may not be possible to discuss it clearly in a while, and it is necessary to come up with a preliminary plan. It will be possible to start a discussion.

Unexpectedly, Hou Xun and Yang Sichang didn't talk about business at all, and chatted about other things for a while.

The second monk Su Tiancheng was confused, and he didn't know the true meaning of the two adults.

After a long while, Hou Xun spoke.

"Master Su, this mutual market matter. The official thought about it, Master Su and the Jiangning battalion went deep into the Hetao area and defeated the Xibe tribe and the Daurian tribe, such a feat, the official really admires and admires it. If you want to talk about the mutual market, it is what Master Su thought of and proposed, and there must be a clear idea, and the household department does not need to work hard, and the official will say it directly, the household department does not want to interfere in specific affairs, and there is no problem in sending officials, what the official thinks of is that Shaanxi Province directly pays two million taels of silver to the household department every year on the profits of the mutual market, you see how this arrangement is. ”

Su Tiancheng looked at Hou Xun and was speechless, two million taels of silver a year, this is really a lion's mouth, to say that two million taels of silver is not much, but there are still many problems, the Jiangning camp needs to get military salaries from this, and the vassal kings of Shaanxi need to get benefits from it, so calculated, it is an astronomical amount, and the matter of fishing with all his might, it is absolutely impossible to do, and trade needs to be maintained for a long time.

Before Su Tiancheng could speak, Yang Sichang also spoke.

"Lord Su, the officer's idea is the same as that of Lord Hou, this matter of abolishing the sergeant of the guard, Lord Su must have thought it through, and the Ministry of War will not consider specific measures, until Lord Su comes up with a plan, the Ministry of War will jointly report to the cabinet, but the official also has some ideas, of course, it has been discussed with Lord Hou, the Ministry of War needs to allocate 500,000 taels of silver to the Jiangning Battalion every year, since Shaanxi presides over the mutual market matters, then this military salary, whether it can be raised by itself, the Ministry of War will not consider it for the time being, with the money saved, the military department can support the rest of the guard sergeants. ”

The total amount of silver proposed by Hou Xun and Yang Sichang was 2.5 million taels.

Su Tiancheng was a little annoyed, does this number mean that he has become two hundred and five.

"Two adults, Xia Guan thought, this is a specific plan, Shaanxi can work its own, reduce the trouble of the household and the military department, but this silver thing, Xia Guan does not dare to express his position for the time being, how much profit is in the mutual market, I don't know how much profit there is for the time being, the grassland tribe is not particularly rich, Shaanxi is a place, many years of poverty, but also hope to be able to through the mutual market, so that the people can slowly have enough food and clothing, and Shaanxi officials at all levels, that is really poor, Yu Lu can't send it, Xia Guan has been to a few yamen to see, I feel chills. ”

Hou Xun had a smile on his face, as if he had expected it a long time ago.

"The situation in Shaanxi, the household department is aware of the Tao, so many years, the tax has basically not been handed over, and sometimes, the household department also needs to allocate silver two for disaster relief, but the profit of the mutual market, the household department also knows some, since Su said so, then you can tell me, how many silver taels can be handed over to the household every year."

"Xiaguan thinks that in the first year of the mutual market, Shaanxi paid all the taxes, which is also more than 1.4 million taels of silver, and Xiaguan can also guarantee that Shaanxi will never ask for a penny of silver from the household department, if it encounters a famine, find a way to overcome it by itself, and Xiaguan has made such a decision, and he has done his best."

Hou Xun didn't speak, looking at Yang Sichang.

Yang Sichang shook his head slightly.

"Lord Su, the sergeants of the Shaanxi guards, especially the sergeants of the border towns, need to allocate a lot of silver every year, if these guards are abolished, presumably these military salaries can be used by Shaanxi, plus the profits of the mutual market, it is a lot, besides, after the Su people arrived in Shaanxi, the situation was quickly stabilized, and the people began to grow food, although they could not pay taxes immediately, but they could also receive some, which was completely different from the previous situation."

Such a bargain was beyond Su Tiancheng's expectations.

Hou Xun and Yang Sichang are on behalf of the imperial court, and discussing the matter of silver with Su Tiancheng is a bit cheap, of course, there must be reasons for the emperor and Sun Chengzong, especially the Ministry of War, which is directly under the jurisdiction of Sun Chengzong.

"Lord Yang, after the abolition of the sergeant of the guard, the governor yamen will report a detailed plan, according to the requirements of the plan, allocate silver taels, the court is also difficult, Shaanxi will not ask for more military salaries, the lower officials have calculated, the sergeants of the Shaanxi guard and the soldiers of the Jiangning battalion, the annual military salary is 800,000 taels of silver, in addition to the 500,000 taels of silver in the Jiangning battalion, the remaining 300,000 taels, the lower officials plan to reduce as much as possible."

"I don't know how much the road can compress."

Su Tiancheng gritted his teeth, this bargaining also requires some paying.

"The lower official stated that Shaanxi's annual military salary is maintained at the amount of 500,000 taels of silver, and the remaining shortfall will be made up by the governor yamen himself."

"Okay, Lord Su is refreshing, but the Ministry of War also has requirements, can you completely dismiss the sergeants of the guard, especially the sergeants in the border towns, of course, this is the officer's heart, Shaanxi has the guards of the Jiangning battalion, there will be no problems."

When he said this, Su Tiancheng actually regretted it, 300,000 taels of silver is not a small number, and with his own words, the military department earned 300,000 taels of silver, which is not much different from the 500,000 taels raised at the beginning.

Hou Xun then spoke.

"Lord Su, Shaanxi pays taxes, this is another matter, if it encounters a disaster, the household department does not dare to say that it requires the governor Yamen to forcibly collect taxes, this mutual market profit, two million taels, may be a little more, this official looks, just one million taels, this is the minimum."

After Hou Xun and Yang Sichang left, Su Tiancheng was so angry that he walked around the house, but after more than an hour's effort, Shaanxi lost 1.3 million taels of silver, if he could insist, at most half of the silver would be enough.

This is also a matter of no way, the household department and the military department have made concessions, and the power of formulating plans and jurisdiction has been handed over to Shaanxi, which can be made by the governor of the yamen and arranged according to their own needs.

Zhu Xianxin saw that Su Tiancheng's expression was not very good, and silently stayed by Su Tiancheng's side.

These days, Zhu Xianxuan has written a lot of letters, some of which talked about the situation in Shaanxi, including some decisions made by Su Tiancheng, and many changes in Shaanxi.

After a long while, Zhu Xianxin finally spoke.

"Husband, you are alone in Shaanxi, the concubine is not at ease, the concubine is thinking, let Chunping and Gu Hengbo follow to Shaanxi, and also take care of the husband's life, the people in the mansion also follow the past, the concubine heard what her brother said, the husband is busy with acting government affairs every day, and he can't take care of himself, the husband is the pillar of the concubine's body, if he always suffers outside, the concubine can't eat well and sleep well."

Su Tiancheng nodded, the life of a bachelor should indeed be over. (To be continued......)