Linchuan is located in the combination of Wuyi Mountain and Poyang Lake Plain, where the two rivers of Linyi (Yihuang River) and Ru (Fuhe) flow together; The Fuhe River flows through the north from southeast to northwest, in this piece of mountain Bingling, the river port is vertical and horizontal, Linchuan City is built by the mountains and rivers and is located on the edge of the beautiful Fuhe River, a small hillside of the remaining veins by the Fuhe River is called Yanbu Ridge, because the place of unloading salt is at the foot of the slope of this small hill, so this small hillside is called Yanbu Ridge by people,

Wang next to the group, arrived in Linchuan, has been walking for a month, the horse Taluan bell, the group into the county, the front, is two young sons side by side, one of them is a little strong, the facial features are angular, crotch under a white night jade lion even more this person temperament extraordinary; The other beside him was a little thinner than he had heard, but he was also well-mannered, and behind them were several retinues, following the two carriages through the county.

Now it has entered the wax moon, it is already past noon, many people on the street came out to buy New Year's goods, and the pedestrian next to the king attracted the people on the street to stop and discuss, and there were eyes to recognize it: "Alas, isn't that the eldest son of the Wang family." ”

"Oh, it's not, it looks like it's back for the New Year."

"It's been a few years now, and now it's a big guy, who is the one next to him?"

"I don't know~"

"Have you heard, the Wang family has a second son, who was a big official in the capital a while ago, you look at the style of that young man, will it be the second son of the Wang family?"

"It's really hard to say, the second son seems to be rarely seen, have you seen it?"

"No, no"

Walking in the county, the horses did not dare to go fast, Wang heard the pedestrians on the street talking, thinking that although he was slightly famous in the capital, he was often recognized even when he walked on the street, but now no one recognized him when he returned to his hometown, there were no cameras, newspapers, and no TV networks in this era, many of them were legends, and no one knew who looked like specifically, so I thought that if in ancient times, incognito should be a very fun thing,

The southeast of the county is Yanbu Ridge, which is also the highest place in the entire county, Yuan Ze pointed to a large mansion on the ridge: "Look, we're almost home." ”

This is Wang Anshi's home, he actually chose such a good house in the place of mountains and rivers, and now people in the city, who would have thought that this would live on the ridge in the city, quiet in the middle of the city, and can enjoy the scenery of the county, "Our father will really pick a place~" Wang couldn't help but admire in his heart,

"What~, this is the ancestral property of our ancestors, brother, you see that there are still hundreds of acres of land on the slope, and that is also our family."

"Good place, if you are old, there is nothing to worry about returning to the countryside, I said why did our father insist on not being an official, it turned out that he went back to his hometown to live a quiet life in this paradise." Wang said this, and he was still a little envious of Wang Anshi in his heart.

"This brother, you are wrong, no matter how you say it, it is not as good as being an official and taking Yulu, good brother, you are also a person who has been a big official, how much you have in those years, not to mention how much you have earned in business, just say that the Yulu issued by the imperial court, as well as the rice and wheat issued throughout the year, the silk, silk, Luo, winter cotton, summer tea, winter coal, which spend money on your own, in addition, even the clothes are issued by the imperial court, and there are various festival rewards, which are all clean."

Wang Bi thought of the income of Yulu over the years, and he also picked the corners of his mouth, Yuan Ze's account is not confused: the prime minister of the Song Dynasty and a high-ranking official at the level of privy envoy paid 300 taels of silver per month, 20 horses of silk each, 30 horses of silk, 100 taels of cotton in spring and winter, and 100 stones in Lusu month; Local state and county officials, large counties (more than 10,000 households) county decree 2 taels per month, small county county decree 12 taels per month, Lu Su month 5 to 3 stones, in addition to the regular income, there are also various subsidies, such as tea, wine, kitchen materials, salary, artemisia, charcoal, salt, and even forage for horses, clothing, food, etc., the amount is considerable.

In addition, those foreign officials are not allowed to bring their families, and the alimony of the family members is provided by the government finance, and daily necessities such as rice, flour, and sheep are provided monthly.

Take the king as an example, not counting those dazzling subsidies every month, only two hundred taels of Yulu, in the past few years, there are subsidies in the house, although it is not mixed with the "job field" but there is a large amount of "public money" (that is, entertainment expenses), when going to Goryeo, the public money can be as high as 20,000 taels, and there is no cap, in an official sentence called "exhaustion of the continuous giving, unlimited years and months",

According to the purchasing power of silver in the Song Dynasty at that time: one tael of silver can basically buy about eight stones of rice, calculated by sixty-six kilograms of Song stone, one tael of silver is equivalent to nearly 1,800 yuan or so, the Song Dynasty Qipin County Order (small county) is twelve taels per month, his monthly salary is more than 12,000 yuan, however, Wang Liu's Yulu is not a simple multiple, the Song Dynasty Yulu changes greatly with the official rank, not only that, the standard of Beijing officials is much higher than that of local officials, so Wang Bi once gave himself a rough calculation, Take him, a three-grade waiter, not counting these living money, just talking about the fixed salary and subsidy, two hundred taels of silver per month, and the subsidy according to the "Lu Order" of Renzong, is exactly twice the basic one, which is equivalent to six hundred taels of silver.

Six hundred taels of silver, which is fifty times the amount of a county order, if the king doesn't do business, he will just be an official for a few years, and his net worth has exceeded one million, not to mention his left one, another reward, and then there is those public money that doesn't even have **,

It's no wonder that Yingzong so happily agreed to Wang Bei's request to resign, thinking about this reduction in funds, there is nothing wrong with starting with me, thinking of this, Wang Bei smiled: "Brother doesn't know it's here, this is called welfare." ”

"But what can be said, if everyone wants to be an official, being an official can make welfare, if it is like what you think, there are a few fields that can be raised you are wrong, in the year of famine, you have to resign yourself to the fate of the land, not to mention to pay land rent and taxes, of course, if it is a vocational field, then it is another matter." Yuan Ze said it quite indifferently,

As he spoke, he suddenly saw the noisy pedestrians around him, followed by several shouts behind him, "Get out of the way, get out of the way", Wang Bei and the others took the horses, and saw two messengers galloping over from their sides, overtaking them and galloping away in the eastward direction,

Seeing that these two people were in a hurry, dressed as errand soldiers, the pedestrians on the side of the road consciously dodged a road, and after the two people left, the pedestrians on the side of the road began to talk one after another, and the king listened carefully, and heard someone say: "Is this going to catch an errand again?" ”

"It seems that you see, isn't that going to Chen Yuan's house."

"I don't know if Chen Yuanwai is gone."

In the meantime, an old man said: "Hey, if you leave, it's okay, where to go under the roots of this big year, I think this Chen Yuanwai is not having a good time this year." He shook his head regretfully as he spoke,

A young man beside the old man tugged at the sleeve of the old man's shirt, and crossbowed his mouth at the group of people next to the king, "It seems that there is no benefit of no money without money, if you have a little money like this, if you don't have the power, if you run an errand, how big your family will be hollowed out in three or five years." ”

This young man probably saw the group next to the king, who were tall and dressed in rich clothes, and seemed to have family members accompanying him, not to mention that ordinary people could not afford to use the carriage, and the government did not allow them to use the carriage, but most of the people who came with the carriage were either rich or noble, and it also made the team of people next to the king more eye-catching in this not too big county.

Wang was following the sound to look over, and when the young man saw Wang looking this way, he hurriedly flashed and walked away, and the people who spoke were also going in the southeast direction, as if there was a bustle to see,

They also went to the southeast, and after walking a street or two, they were close to Yanbuling, and they saw a lot of people standing at the door of a slightly larger house.

There were those who talked and those who watched the excitement, blocking the street that was not too wide, Wang and Yuan Ze sat on their horses, looking into the crowd, the gate of this courtyard was open, and a man of forty or fifty years old stood at the door, and talking to him were two errand officers who had just run past them beside the king,

They couldn't hear what was being said at a distance, so the king jumped off his horse and said, "I'll go and see what is going on." ”

Anyway, no one knows him now, and Wang is full of curiosity about this place, Yuan Ze frowned, "Daddy is still waiting in the house, don't be nosy, now you are not an official, even if you still have an official position, you can't take care of this matter." Yuan Ze seemed to see the curiosity of the king, and he reminded the king in a low voice,

"Hmm." This is not in the capital, although it is the hometown, but it is very strange to the king, the king responded, handed the reins to the Wa Zhuang who followed, and then leaned into the crowd,

The audience whispered, Wang guessed that this person might be the member surnamed Chen, who seemed to be a weak scholar when he was young, wearing a haircut officer, a navy blue Confucian skirt inside, covered with a cardigan, and looking like a pair of Sven, he was in and out of the door, and he was carrying a package on his back, and he seemed to be about to go out, but he was holding on to the door to retreat,

The two errand officers, a slightly thinner one, were pulling this Chen Yuanwai's arm, pulling and pulling Chen Yuanwai and begging: "Two officials, please tell the county master, I really can't do this errand." ”

"Nope." The thin errand officer said in an unquestionable tone, staring at Chen Yuanwai with eyes,

The tone of the thinner errand officer was more relaxed: "If you leave, don't talk about us, even the county magistrate can't make a difference, why don't you go with our county office, and you can tell the county magistrate directly about anything." "The two officers seem to be determined to take Chen Yuanwai away,

Someone in the crowd said: "The county master can't pay badly, he has been assigned to Chen Yuanwai for so many years, Chen Yuanwai is good, don't embarrass him." The voice was beside the king, and the thin servant looked at the crowd and said, "Who said this, or you will do this errand and do it for Chen." As he spoke, his eyes fell on the king.