Zhao Shangshu was sitting, and the two patrolmen were standing.

After reprimanding the two subordinates who had just met, Zhao Shangshu ordered with a straight face: "Shen Xun, you hold my warrant and invite Zhao Wenhua, the squire of the Ministry of Works, and Hu Zongxian, the governor of Zhejiang, to come over and talk two days after the Ming Dynasty." ”

Then he said to the king, "Wang Xun, take my token, and invite five famous families and ten common people in the locality, and I will see these people in five days." Saying that, the two of them did not have any doubts, so he waved his hand and said, "Go down." ”

Wang Yongji said softly: "Whether the adults move to the post house, it is more convenient there." ”

Shen Mo also chimed in: "Yes, my lord." ”

"No need." Zhao Zhenji snorted and said: "There are all officials from Tiannan and Haibei, this kind of thing happened in Nandu, I don't have the face to live." ”

The two of them were bored, so they had to retreat, came out of the inn, and only looked at each other and shook their heads and smiled bitterly when they walked away, feeling that this strange old man was not good to serve.

Shen Mo said softly: "The old master has such a big shelf, let Zhao Shilang come to see him, isn't this purely looking for trouble?" ”

"It's also good to have this kind of adult." Wang Yongji spread his hands and said with a smile: "Do your best to do your errands, and the rest don't have to worry about it." ”

Silently shook his head again and again, then said goodbye to him and went their separate ways.

Shen Mo went to Lu Yuan first, and only after asking did he know that Zhao Shilang had gone out to take a hot spring, and then asked when he would return, and the housekeeper said: "This is not accurate, it depends on the physical condition of the adult." "In fact, everyone knows that it is not Zhao Shilang's body that is watching, but the progress of the situation.

It seems that Zhao Wenhua is determined to stay out of the matter, and Shen Mo has no choice but to go to Hu Zongxian, Hu Zhongcheng did not play missing, and it is impossible to go against Qin Cha's intentions, but Shen Mo knows that Zhao Zhenji will not get anything useful from him...... He knows Hu Zongxian too well, although he is not as old as Zhao Zhenji, but his cunning is even better.

Sure enough, after ending the conversation with Hu Zongxian, Zhao Zhenji looked for Shen Mo, and said with a very ugly face: "You are the patrol and supervisor of the military road in Zhejiang, and you have the responsibility of supervising the military and government of the province, tell me your views on this matter." ”

Shen Mo was about to speak, but when he saw Zhao Zhenji raise his hand, he said: "Don't talk about it, don't be perfunctory, this official is not easy to fool." ”

Only then did Shen Mo know that it turned out that Hu Zhongcheng was using 'clichés' and 'perfunctory' Zhao Butang, no wonder the old master's face looked like he had lost money. After sorting out his thoughts a little, he reported: "This time, Your Majesty ordered the ministry to investigate this matter thoroughly, which is nothing more than to want to know three things, who did it, what the purpose is, and who should be mainly responsible. ”

Zhao Zhenji nodded, and listened to him silently: "Now here in Zhejiang, there are different opinions, some people say that Xu Hai, who suffered a big loss in Wang Jiangjing, is taking revenge and wants to get back the field; Some people also say that it's just that the Japanese are lost and the headless flies bump into them......" After a pause, he said in a low voice: "There is another saying that is very popular...... It is said that it was the 'Ti Bian' who caused the trouble, and some big families paid for the dead man to give him eye medicine. ”

The central finance of the Ming Dynasty was scarce, and the local difficulties had to be solved by the localities themselves, and hundreds of thousands of anti-Japanese troops gathered in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the people who ate horses and chewed would get two thousand taels of silver every day.

They had no choice but to raise additional taxes, but the common people of Zhejiang had already paid a cent-and-a-cent per mu in addition to the land rent and land tax, and in addition to the numerous other levies and strict sea bans, every family was already clean and unsustainable. If it is exploited again, it will undoubtedly cut off the livelihood of Li Minsheng and force him to join the ranks of the Japanese bandits.

However, the war cannot be fought, and there must be no arrears of salaries, and there must be a method of immediate results to ensure the continuous flow of military supplies to resist the Japanese. Raising salaries for the army is Zhao Wenhua's main task in addition to supervising the war, but he obviously does not have the means to solve this big problem, so it is not surprising that he threw this hot potato to Hu Zongxian and asked him to find a way.

There was no other way, so Hu Zongxian had no choice but to come up with a method called 'Ti Bian', which was to classify the people into ten classes according to their wealth and poverty, and then start to tax them from the richest class. If the tax paid by the rich does not meet their needs, the levied will be levied downward on the second-richest class, and so on.

Seeking truth from facts, this method is very appropriate, after all, everyone knows that ninety percent of the wealth of the Ming Dynasty is concentrated in the hands of less than one Chengren, and now there is no money to fight.

But those big families who hold huge wealth are unwilling, they have been accustomed to more than a hundred years, do not pay taxes and do not pay taxes, suddenly want to let them take the lion's share, of course they can't accept it.

It is said that these people are all powerful, and they are in the same spirit, which cannot be provoked or touched. But now it is not normal for everything to be focused on fighting against the Japanese, and the pretexts used to attack officials, such as 'unauthorized killing', 'arbitrariness' and even 'dictatorship', can all be forgiven, at least temporarily.

And the local government, you can hold high the big hat of 'Tongwa', see who dares not to listen to the greeting, and then plop down and buckle it, so that your family is ruined and killed, and no one can save it. The magistrates occupied an unprecedentedly strong position in the face of these large households.

As a result, the 'Mention Law' was implemented, and the big households had no choice but to pay obediently. After this increase, the Zhejiang First Division collected an additional 400,000 taels of silver in the first half of this year alone, while Nanzhili reached 600,000 taels because it was bigger, richer and less affected. The source of military spending was barely secured, so that the war could be sustained for a long time.

But in the minds of big households in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the two names of Zhao Wenhua and Hu Zongxian have undoubtedly become pickpockets and ghosts, and their relationship has long been no longer harmonious, so there are such rumors.

Shen Mo already knew about Zhao Zhenji's private visit, so he must have known this, so he simply didn't hide it for Zhao Wenhua, anyway, this matter was boiling, and it couldn't be covered.

After listening to Shen Mo's words, Zhao Zhenji's face looked a little better and said, "You are honest." Then he asked in a deep voice, "Which one do you think?" ”

Shen Mo shook his head and said, "These are just rumors, and there is no basis for any judgment until there is enough evidence." ”

Zhao Zhenji's eyebrows trembled slightly: "I have to let you say one?" ”

Shen Mo still said calmly: "It depends on what Zhao Butang wants to see." ”

"Don't you have your own opinions?" Zhao Zhenji snorted unhappily.

"Xiaguan didn't." Shen Mo said softly: "Xiaguan is also very chaotic. ”

Zhao Zhenji never got any valuable clues from Shen Mo's mouth, and only let him out.

When the door closed, Zhao Zhenji mocked as if talking to himself: "This is the future Zaifu in your Tan Zili's mouth?" The talent of the country? ”

The curtain in the middle of the room was raised, and a middle-aged official in his thirties and forties, with a dignified appearance, walked out of it and smiled disapprovingly: "Don't you think that the ministry hall has performed very well?" ”

"Gua Wazi Land, wonderful batches." Zhao Zhenji scolded: "He is less than twenty years old, and he is like an old bureaucrat who doesn't eat oil and salt." ”

That Tan Zili is Tan Lun, the prefect of Taizhou, who is inextricably linked with Zhao Zhenji, and recruited him with a letter from Old Master Zhao.

Tan Lun sat down under Zhao Zhenji and smiled: "If he doesn't say that, I really feel disappointed." ”

Zhao Zhenji scolded with a smile: "Who are you talking to?" ”

Tan Lun smiled, lowered his voice and said, "Brother Dazhou, I really feel that this time, you should turn a big thing into a small thing, and a small thing into a small thing." ”

Zhao Zhenji's smile disappeared immediately, and he frowned: "Zili, did you let them pull them into the water?" ”

Tan Lun said: "Brother Dazhou, please rest assured, my Tan Zili's integrity does not need to be doubted." ”

"What about you...... How can you help Yan Dang speak? Zhao Zhenji knocked on the table and asked.

"I didn't speak for the Yan Party, I started from the overall situation." Tan Lun said calmly: "Zhejiang can't withstand any civil strife, so I don't agree with you to use the topic to play and bring down Hu Zhongcheng...... Because he is the best leader in the fight against the Japanese. ”

"Ridiculous!" Zhao Zhenji said angrily: "Who do you think of me Zhao Mengjing?" Don't I know that everything is about the big picture, and everything is about stability? He slapped the table heavily, turned his head sadly, and said, "Have you ever wondered why I want to live in this little inn?" Why do everything in private? ”

Tan Lun hurriedly apologized: "Little brother doesn't choose what to say, Brother Dazhou must not be surprised." ”

Zhao Zhenji waved his hand, signaling that he didn't have to be like this, and said in a low voice: "If Hu Zongxian does a good job, of course I won't make a mess, but does he really have to do a good job?" If nothing else, let's just say that this additional method of compilation and the looted people's wealth are really used as military salaries? He said with a sneer and said: "Don't forget, I am the head of the household department, and I have already calculated the general account for you in Zhejiang, according to your current military maintenance expenses." The normal tax burden of Nanzhili and Zhejiang, plus the 'salary' and the 'promotion', was enough to supply 300,000 troops to continue fighting. ”

"May I ask Lord Tan, why do you still tell me that your subordinates can only pay half a salary, and the military rations are often unsustainable?" Zhao Zhenji asked with blazing eyes.

(To be continued)