At that moment, Boss Cai snorted and tearfully told Xu Liangxu about his business situation. Xu Liang's eyes widened when he heard this, and he couldn't believe it.

After listening carefully, Xu Liang couldn't help but sigh, it seems that Boss Cai's current situation is difficult not to lose money. The Hanzhong government collects taxes from the factories under its jurisdiction, which are not collected according to the turnover, but directly calculated by the local government according to the operating hours in order to save trouble. For example, a brick and tile factory and a pottery factory under the name of Boss Cai need to pay a fixed amount of 20 to 30 taels of silver per month to the tax bureau of the prefect's yamen, while Cai's coal mine on Dingjun Mountain has to pay more than 100 taels of silver per month to Hu Gang, the eunuch of Hanzhong Mansion.

These are the taxes and silver that must be paid to the court every month, as for the various taxes of the court, such as the city tax, the road car tax, the carriage and horse tax, and even the filial piety silver that is offered to the local government every festival, and all kinds of apportionments that come out from time to time are too many to count.

In addition, Boss Cai is dealing in building materials such as bricks and tiles, and it just so happens that Hanzhong Mansion has been in war for two years, and the official army and the civilian army have been fighting back and forth, blindly destroying, and all kinds of construction have basically stopped, so Boss Cai's business can only be described by the word bleak.

Many businessmen like Boss Cai have closed down one after another because they can't bear the burden of taxes. The reason why Boss Cai can still persist until now is that he is still a good person and deliberately stammers with the Song Governor's Mansion, and secondly, he has somewhat accumulated some family funds in the past few years, plus these livelihoods are his life's work, and he can't bear to close down the door, so he gritted his teeth. Hold on until now.

Boss Cai finally sighed and said: "Lord Participating in Politics, it's not that I, Cai, took the liberty of deducting the miners' wages with my conscience. It's really because the grass people don't have any money anymore. If it weren't for the time of the past few days, if you were going to repair the Hanzhong Dao Yamen, my brick and tile factory would be closed! ”

Xu Liang was silent for a while. asked Wang Qinian: "Qinian, let's buy Boss Cai's bricks and tiles, but the goods are on delivery?" ”

Before Wang Qinian could speak, Boss Cai hurriedly said gratefully: "Thank you so much, the payment that Lord Wang gave to the grass people was paid in full without the slightest arrears." ”

Xu Liang nodded, since his yamen did not owe Boss Cai the payment, Xu Liang did not have the reason to be a good person to advance money to Cai Laoxi. Immediately said to Boss Cai: "Since that's the case." Boss Cai, you still have to go out and make it clear to the miners who are making trouble, don't worry about the official repairing the yamen. ”

Cai Mao nodded with a bitter face, reluctantly arched his hand towards Xu Liang, and then opened the door of the yamen and walked out.

At the moment when the gate opened, the many miners who were surrounding the yamen saw that Cai Mao finally showed his head, shouted and surrounded him.

Song Chaodu, the prefect of Hanzhong, took advantage of this gap. and Song Zhiren squeezed into the yamen. Governor Song hurriedly straightened the black gauze hat on his head, patted the dust off his body a few times, and said with a wry smile to Xu Liang: "Let Lord Xu smile, since the prefect of Hanzhong took office." Almost every month, there are one or two miners' riots. ”

Xu Liang nodded, listening intently to the outside of the gate of the yamen, Cai Mao was hoarsely explaining something to the miners. Xu Liang frowned and asked the prefect of Song, "Lord Song." Just now I learned from this Boss Cai, the root cause of the miners' frequent troubles. In fact, it is also because the government has taken too much advantage, resulting in too heavy a burden on the workshops. Difficult to maintain. ”

Hearing this, Governor Song said bitterly to Xu Liang: "Lord Xu is very right. It's just that there's no way around it. In order to maintain the normal operation of the prefect yamen of the lower officials and the yamen of various prefectures and counties, there will always be expenses. And now Hanzhong Mansion is in ruins, most of the fields are barren due to the war, and the large and small merchants in the city are also half dead. The lower officials really had no other way than to levy and apportionment some silver taels from these factories and mines. ”

Xu Liang sighed: "I heard that many factories have closed down and mines have closed. Did Lord Song ever think that if this continued, there would be no factories and mines in the entire Hanzhong Mansion. When the time comes, who should Lord Song ask for silver? ”

Song Chaodu was stunned, his expression was gloomy, "Xiaguan has no other way, but to take one step at a time." If that time comes, the lower officials will have no choice but to ask the court for guilt. ”

When Xu Liang talked to the Song prefect in the yamen, outside the yamen, I didn't know what promises Cai Mao made to the miners, it seemed that some kind of agreement had been reached, and the miners dispersed one after another.

Song Chaodu and Master Song also left with their farewells.

Xu Liang had nothing to do, so he walked up casually in the renovated Hanzhong Dao Yamen, and Wang Qinian and Tietou followed step by step. From time to time, Wang Qinian also introduced the repair place to Xu Liang.

It should be said that Wang Qinian's vision and ability to do things, Xu Liang still quite recognizes. Most of the yamen has been repaired, and from the wheel corridor that has been repaired, Xu Liang can think that in the future, the Hanzhong Dao Yamen will not be inferior to the Hanzhong Prefect's Yamen in the Song Dynasty.

Xu Liang asked casually: "Qi Nian, how much money has it spent on repairing the yamen so far?" ”

"Don't worry, the lord," when Wang Qinian was surrounded by only his own people, he no longer called Xu Liang an adult, but insisted on honoring Xu Liang as the lord.

"Every expense of the Yamen's repairs must be remembered clearly in Qi Nian." Wang Qinian said, "The officials carefully calculated last night, and there are 1,274,26 coins of silver that have been spent. If it were to be completely repaired, it would cost a little more than 1,480 taels. ”

Xu Liang asked in surprise, "So accurate?" ”

Wang Qinian said modestly: "I don't have the ability next to the lower officials, and I won't make mistakes in bookkeeping and accounting." ”

Xu Liang sighed: "Duan Qianhu is really not wrong, Qi Nian, you are a real talent. ”

Wang Qinian smiled modestly, although he didn't know that the Duan Qianhu in Xu Liang's mouth was the Qianhu of the guard, but he could hear the positive evaluation of himself from Xu Liang's mouth, Wang Qinian still felt warm in his heart.

Wang Qinian said: "My lord, in five days, our Hanzhong Dao Yamen will be able to settle in." ”

Xu Liang said with relief: "Okay, the yamen is repaired, and you have contributed a lot to the new year." ”

Wang Qinian said: "It is the duty of Qinian to be able to share the worries of the Lord. Qi Nian did not dare to ask for credit. ”

Wang Qinian's attitude made Xu Liang feel comfortable. After wandering around the yamen for a while, Xu Liang returned to the post house with an iron head.

Five days later. The restoration of the Hanzhong Dao Yamen was finally completed. Xu Liang led the Tsing Yi guards to move into the Hanzhong Dao Yamen. Song Chaodu, the prefect of Hanzhong, led several officials of the yamen of the prefect of Hanzhong to congratulate him, and Wang Qinian lit a large plate of firecrackers prepared earlier at the yamen. crackled for a while, officially announcing the official arrival of Xu Liang, the master of Hanzhong Daotai.

Time entered August of the second year of Chongzhen in a blink of an eye.

One day, in Liangning, in the backyard of the Yamen of Hanzhong Road, Xu Liang was dressed in a well-fitting Confucian shirt, lying on a rocking chair and napping, while two fifteen or sixteen-year-old green-clothed maids beside him were stretching out their pink hands and beating Xu Liang's thighs lightly.

Xu Liang enjoyed his face, and the Tsing Yi guard on the side blocked his head, leaning on a pillar with an iron head, and holding a small pot of wine in one hand. Squinting and listening to the cicadas, he took a sip of wine into the spout of the pot for a while.

Xu Liang and Tietou are the two of them who are alive and well.

Wang Qiqing entered the pavilion lightly, and when he saw Xu Liang's half-squinted eyes, he bowed slightly and waited quietly.

After a while, Xu Liang raised his eyelids and glanced at Wang Qinian, and asked softly, "How is it, Qinian, what did Master Qian say?" ”

Wang Qinian said respectfully: "Lord." Qian Yongtai is still the same old-fashioned, the subordinate said dryly in front of him, and Lord Qian just didn't agree to allocate money. ”

Xu Liang nodded and said, "Since the money for repairing the yamen." Lord Qian doesn't agree to allocate it, so he should definitely allocate hundreds of monthly silver from our Hanzhong Dao Yamen, right? ”

Wang Qiqing sighed. "No, no." ”

When Xu Liang heard this, he couldn't lie down anymore. He sat up straight and glared at Wang Qinian, and asked, "What does Old Man Qian mean?" Do you even want to rely on this money and not give it? ”

Wang Qinian sighed: "Master Qian, he said. Our Hanzhong Dao Yamen is honored by the officials below every month, and this money is enough to distribute silver. There has never been a precedent for the political envoy to allocate this kind of money. ”

Xu Liang scolded: "Let go of the fucking Luo Quan! What about the other yamen, this old boy is also a dime? I really don't believe it! ”

Wang Qinian choked, and then smiled bitterly: "Lord, this subordinate has really inquired about it." It seems that Yansui Road, Xi'an Road and several other sub-guarding yamen, and the political envoy Yamen has really never allocated the moon silver. These sub-Taoist yamen all generate their own income and spend as much as they earn. They have never asked Lord Qian for silver, and this is really the first of our kind. ”

Xu Liang was even more surprised and asked, "Hey, where did their money come from?" ”

Wang Qiyoung coughed twice, looked at Xu Liang embarrassedly, and said: "My lord, as far as the lower officials know, the other sub-roads are all honored by the prefect, governor, and county of the jurisdiction. Ahem, we have Hanzhong Mansion and Gongchang Mansion under our jurisdiction, and the Song Governor's Mansion may be poorer than the lord, and he wants to be filial, but I am afraid that he is powerless. As for Shan Yuxiong, the prefect of Gongchang Mansion, that, since you took office, Shan Prefect has not come to visit you. ”

"Hey, when you say that, I really remember it." Xu Liang also reacted, scratched his scalp, and scolded: "I've been patronizing the yamen in Hanzhong Mansion for a while, and I haven't been able to take care of Gongchang Mansion yet." That Gongchang Mansion Governor Shan Yuxiong really pretends to be deaf and dumb, this official has been in office for so long, and Shan Governor has never shown up! What does this bastard mean? ”

Tietou also stood up at this time, and shouted angrily, "Yes, young master." In my opinion, this single male is definitely not to give the young master face, and deliberately embarrass the young master. ”

Xu Liang glanced at Tietou, then at Wang Qinian, and asked, "Qinian, I'm very unhappy, what do you say?" ”

Wang Qinian thought for a while, and said to Xu Liang: "Lord, respecting Shangguan is the basic skill of every official in the Ming Dynasty. Xia Guan didn't believe that this single prefect was busy and forgot to come to visit you. He undoubtedly didn't take your lord into account when he did this. To deal with such a person, I think the lord can give him some benefits and disadvantages appropriately, and teach Shan Yuxiong the rules of being a subordinate. ”

When Xu Liang heard this, he nodded slowly, and said thoughtfully: "I remember that the main responsibility of our Yamen is to supervise official affairs. Qi Nian, you go to find out what new decrees have been issued by the court or the Shaanxi political envoy Si Yamen recently, and we will set off to meet this Shan prefect tomorrow! ”

The next day, Xu Liang and Wang Qinian, Tietou and more than 40 Tsing Yi guards drove out of Hanzhong Mansion in a carriage, passing through Fengxian, Taizhou, and Ningyuan all the way, and arrived at Gongchang Mansion after four days.

Along the way, under the surprised eyes of the defenders of Gongchang City Gate, Xu Liang's carriage arrived in front of the Yamen of the Gongchang Prefect.

Getting off the carriage elegantly, Xu Liang looked up at the stable Gongchang Mansion Yamen in front of him.

Shan Yuxiong, the prefect of Gongchang Prefecture, who received the news, led a group of officials from Gongchang Mansion to greet him at the entrance of the yamen.

Welcoming Xu Liang and the others into the lobby of the prefect's yamen, Xu Liang was not polite to the prefect, and naturally walked towards the desk hanging high above the mirror and sat down.

Shan Zhifu, who was following behind him, changed his face and sat in the first position on the left.

Xu Liang smiled and looked at the officials of Gongchang Mansion who were surprised or happy, and arched his hand and said: "This official should have come to Gongchang Mansion to take a look on the spot, but a few days ago there was something to worry about in Hanzhong Mansion, until a few days ago I had time to travel. ”

The officials of Gongchang Mansion who sat with him had a slightly different face, Xu Liang privately spent money in Hanzhong Mansion to repair the Hanzhong Dao Yamen, and the officials present had already known about it, and Shan Zhifu also told it in the hall as the funniest joke this year.

When the prefect heard this, he put on a straight face, and introduced several colleagues from Gongchang Mansion to Xu Liang one by one, and at the end, he arched his hand to Xu Liang, and asked in a very businesslike tone: "Xia Guan was supposed to go to Hanzhong to visit your Excellency as soon as possible, but recently the special envoy of Zhao'an sent by the Governor has been busy recruiting the People's Army, and he failed to visit Lord Xu in time, and please don't blame your lordship." ”

said sorry words in his mouth, but there was no embarrassed expression on Shan Zhifu's face, and there seemed to be a little smugness, as if he could help Yang He, the governor of the three sides, to recruit security, and he was very embarrassed.

Xu Liang knew in his heart, no wonder Shan Yuxiong dared not to treat himself as a dish, it turned out that people had already hugged the super thick thigh of Yang He, the governor of the three sides.

Xu Liang had a smile even more on his face, with an expression of understanding, and waved his hand: "The Shan Prefect is busy with official business, and this official understands it very well. The Governor's recruitment work cannot be put on hold, and it doesn't matter if the prefect visits him or not. ”

When Shan Zhifu heard this, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and he gave a reluctant smile, and arched his hand: "It's good that Lord Xu understands." Well, my lord, forgive me, Governor Yang's envoy is still in the study of the lower officials, and he is looking for the lower officials to discuss important matters. It is inconvenient for the lower officials to accompany you, Lord Xu. In this way, let the two acquaintances accompany you, and the lower official will be out of company. ”

As he spoke, Governor Shan got up apologetically, smoothed the corners on the crimson official robe, and sighed unintentionally: "Alas, I didn't expect that Governor Yang would send his master Song Shiwen as a special envoy to Zhao'an, Master Song is Governor Yang's absolute confidant, and the lower officials have to go to be entertained." He turned around and arched his hand towards Xu Liang, "Lord Xu, you have been waiting for a lot of people, and you are out of company." ”

Xu Liang waved his hand and said gently: "It is important for Governor Shan to accompany Master Song, hurry up." ”

When Shan Yuxiong strode out of the lobby, the two fellow intellectuals of Gongchang Mansion bowed their hands to Xu Liang in a sneering manner, and were about to open their mouths to say hello, when they saw that Xu Liang, who was still smiling and groaning a second ago, was already sinking like water at this moment.

The two acquaintances cried out uneasily, "Eh, Lord Politics? (To be continued......)