On the thirtieth day of the lunar month, although everyone was tired, they still got up early, which was the thirtieth of the Chinese New Year's Eve.

Ma Pozi walked around all the families who came with their families, and to see who was not ready, she muttered a few words and sent someone to help.

In particular, some families have moved over with the whole family, and the ancestral tablets and incense and candle offerings are ready, and the elderly attach great importance to these things.

With a small family, new clothes and hats, chicken, duck and fish meat plus snacks and sweets, and even rice and noodles Wang Tong gave them down, and there was no shortage of them.

The twenty Zhuang guests, led by Chihei, even sent out sorghum roast from Baoding Mansion, which was a fine liquor, and it was to be exchanged for horses, cattle and sheep when it was transported to the grassland, and they were sent to the field to hunt game, and the supply was complete.

The young people of the family gathered together, lively and busy preparations, waiting for them at night are also big fish, big meat, mountains and delicacies, young people are interested, such a big group of people together, they forget homesickness, completely replaced by excitement and freshness.

Wang Tong's house is naturally the main house, his father Wang Li's spiritual seat and incense case have been placed, get up early in the morning, according to the rules, Wang Tong first respectfully kowtowed to incense.

After the sun rose, Lu Wancai, who came yesterday, came to the door again, but Wang Tong was startled as soon as he entered the door, Lu Wancai's eyes were bloodshot, and he looked like he hadn't slept all night.

Before he could ask, Lu Wancai said with a wry smile:

"What Brother Wang said yesterday afternoon, it was really word for word, I thought about it all night, and then the surname Suo was not sleeping, I lit the lamp and copied what the brother said, and I felt that I had a heart, in the past, when I was in the imperial examination, I often heard the old man in the family talk about what Wenqu Xing descended to earth, and what kind of brother is like this?"

Wang Tong looked at the excited Lu Tongju, and said with a smile:

"Brother Lu, combine work and rest, it's easy to break your body!"

"Combination of work and rest" Lu Wancai muttered this word, and then tapped his palm with a folding fan, and exclaimed:

"Those four words make a lot of sense."

Wang Tong shook his head, didn't dare to say any more idioms, and asked directly:

"Brother Lu must not be amazed when he came this morning, you can't delay too much time here in Tianjin, just ask if you have something to say!"

Lu Wancai blushed and smiled a little ashamedly:

"Brother Wang is very old-fashioned, for the brother to ask, the Department of Public Security has already done the matter of collecting news in Beijing, except for the Qinglou Gambling House, other brands don't know how to send them, and they don't know how to collect money, and this also requires Brother Wang to take out a charter."

I don't know how to send and how to receive, Wang Tong was stunned when he heard this, what is so difficult about this, but looking at Lu Wancai's expression, it doesn't look like a fake, as long as he says:

"Restaurants and teahouses, these people come and go, where dragons and snakes are mixed, send the brand down first, they deal with the yamen a lot, there are many rights and wrongs, and they can't afford to offend us, and the others start with the big merchants, and they don't dare not accept this brand if they get a few big ones below."

Hearing Wang Tong's words, Lu Wancai nodded, but the confusion on his face was even heavier, and even Wang Tong was confused, thinking that this kind of thing is so difficult, and sure enough, Lu Wancai hesitated and asked:

"What if these merchants don't pay?"

"If you don't pay it, isn't there still less means to trouble them in the yamen, Shuntianfu can't find it, you can't find Jinyiwei, you can't find Jinyiwei, you can't find it, you can't help Dongchang, whether it's the emperor's relatives or ministers and high-ranking officials behind him, isn't there a little bit of selfishness?"

Wang Tong's words suddenly became stern, and Lu Wancai, who listened attentively, couldn't help but tremble, but the question was still there, saying that it was so easy, what if it was Wu Qinghou's industry, what if it was the industry of Gonggong Feng and Gonggong Zhang, and what if it was the industry of Lord Zhang, the first assistant of the cabinet, but Wang Tong immediately gave the answer:

"Naturally, some of them don't have to be accepted, but if you want to trouble Grandpa Zhang's side, you must ask Your Majesty to issue an order to exempt them, this is Your Majesty's reward, not the benefits they get by relying on their power."

Lu Wancai sighed again, in this way, although they are not collected, but the meaning is different, it is a general rule of the Ming Dynasty for people with meritorious officials to be exempted from taxes, if they don't accept it directly, they take it for granted, if the Son of Heaven decrees to exempt it, this is a special case, they should be grateful.

After tax exemption becomes a privilege, the people who obtain this benefit will take the initiative to maintain it and exclude others, and these top noble families of the Ming Dynasty will also automatically maintain the system of this safe brand.

However, the next sentence that Lu Wancai asked made Wang Tong almost turn his back on it:

"In that case, how much do those serious merchants have to charge to be considered okay? After all, they are serious merchants and Qinglou gambling halls are different, wouldn't it be a direct bankruptcy to collect so much? ”

"Find some bookkeepers to check their account books, look at their business, and set the grade according to the amount of money, make less money, earn more and pay more......"

"Brother Wang, when you talk about being a brother here, you will definitely laugh at it, but where to find this account man, those who can settle accounts are in various shops, how can these people help us."

"Why don't you go to the household department to find it, doesn't he have the most proficient arithmetic official in the world?"

Wang Tong was indeed a little anxious, and asked in a stiff tone there, but he didn't expect that this rhetorical question that he thought was common sense made Lu Wancai smile bitterly.

"Brother Wang, it seems that you don't know, the household department of the Ping An brand to collect the peace money is the biggest discussion, thinking that it is to extort the hard-earned money of the people of Limin, and it hurts the peace of heaven to collect it, in the past, the tax supervisors and mine supervisors sent by the palace to various places brought back the silver taels, the household department has never participated in the accounting, but has to be collected by the inner treasury, how can the officials over there help us."

Hearing this, Wang Tong was stunned, the policy of the Ping An brand in the long run, is equivalent to opening up a new source of tax for the Ming Dynasty, the industrial and commercial industries in the cities and towns will have a large number of taxes according to this method, why the household is so resistant, it is simple to think about it, how can the civil officials' industry collect taxes, secretly attacking and setting up cards does not count, and Mingli must also passively resist.

Wang Tong sneered and said in a deep voice:

"In this case, then let those shopkeepers report their own turnover, and then collect money according to this amount, and set up a heavy reward, as long as someone says that the turnover of the store is fake, then it will be heavily fined, according to several times and dozens of times the amount of his fraud, and it is not allowed to open without a fine, as for the money that is heavily rewarded, it will come out of the amount of the heavy penalty, and it is a lot to take out three or five percent."

Hearing this, Lu Wancai couldn't help but clap his hands and shout, and said:

"Who is most familiar with the trading income of these shops, not those account keepers, after they tell the secret, they have a handle in our hands, and then they have the manpower to check the accounts of other families......"

The two were talking happily, but Ma Pozi opened the door and came in, clapping her hands a little angrily and said:

"This is the New Year, you two have been talking about business for so long, and you don't stop, come out to see the boys busy, and it's good to be basked with the joy of the New Year."

Wang Tong and Lu Wancai looked at each other and smiled, and quickly stood up and said to Ma Pozi:

"This goes, this goes."

What Wang Tong said may not be good governance, and there may even be all kinds of shortcomings as soon as it is implemented, but the question now is not how to collect this money, but whether it can be collected, first have a start, make achievements to the little emperor, and then the little emperor will take this results to others to see, this is the primary problem.

The two walked out a few steps, Wang Tong looked ahead and whispered:

"Go back and ask Zou Gonggong to tell them, the officials in charge of the various yamen in Tianjin should help me check a copy, and it is best to send it before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, in addition, Your Majesty must be very concerned about the things here, and there must be a lot of holy oracles to and fro, please Zou Gonggong and Zhang Gonggong help, for the secret, can you get a locked iron box, the key is only available to Your Majesty and me, the box contains the folding and approval, and it will be delivered back and forth by a fast horse."

After Lu Wancai heard this, he hesitated slightly, and hurriedly replied with a solemn expression:

"Please rest assured, Brother Wang, this news will definitely be brought, and it is estimated that the saint and several fathers-in-law will not have any objections."

These words are not only to bring words, but also to point out that Wang Tong understands that this time, Lu Wancai does not mean it, and there will definitely be Zhang Cheng and Zou Yi's assignment behind him, and there may even be instructions from Emperor Wanli.

He is now in Tianjin, and the matter of Jingshi actually needs him to come up with ideas, Wang Tong also took advantage of the situation to put forward his own conditions, he knows that his powerful position comes completely from Emperor Wanli, and now it is separated by a distance of more than two hundred miles, and after a long time, no matter how heavy the affection is, it will definitely be indifferent.

It is necessary to establish a communication channel to maintain this connection and affection, and the secret folding is undoubtedly a good way, and at present, the palace will definitely not refuse.

The thirtieth day of the lunar month in the palace is not so much festive as busy, worshiping the ancestors and ancestors, worshiping the gods and spirits, praying for the blessings of the country and the mountains, and so on.

The little emperor of Wanli wore a dress and finished doing this and that, and only returned to his study in the afternoon, took off the heavy crown of the dress temporarily, and waved away the eunuch palace maid who was waiting, before he opened his mouth to complain and said:

"When it gets dark, it's really tiring to wear this dress to the queen mother."

The current little emperor will ask people other than Zhang Cheng to retreat when he says anything private, and occasionally go back to the door to see if there is any eavesdropping.

Zhang Cheng hung the dress on the shelf there, and Emperor Wanli whispered again:

"At the beginning of winter this year, I said to Hutou that we would celebrate the New Year together and set off firecrackers to visit the temple fair together......"

Zhang Cheng didn't answer, just sighed there.

(To be continued)