Zhou Yanru responded: "The subordinates will draft the decree when they go down." This year's Spring Festival Rite Department on the public fold, the minister thought that this is the emperor ascended to the pole and then opened the ceremony, after the Jin soldiers committed Gyeonggi, stopped a department, the spring of the reopening must be grand, the tribute courtyard also needs to be repaired, I am afraid that it will not be able to come down 50,000 taels. ”

"It doesn't have to cost more, and it doesn't have to be grand. The talent selection ceremony must be fair, eliminate fraud, and the others are secondary. Stop opening a subject, gather more talents, and it's not easy to choose! Chongzhen stopped drinking tea, and said slowly: "I know that it is difficult for you to be a courtier, every year the nine-sided military salary plus the inner court offerings, the rewards of each side and the needs from time to time, Taicang silver is released with the solution, not only has no savings, but every year there is a deficit of more than two million taels, not counting the millions of taels of military salaries accumulated over the years. Liaodong and Shaanxi are the henchmen of the imperial court, and in the future, there will be no arrears, and the household department Bi Ziyan has a special fold on opening up the source and reducing expenditure, listing twelve things, increasing salt and leading, discussing drum casting, including miscellaneous taxes, nuclear hidden fields, tax temple properties, nuclear tooth lines, stopping the repair of the warehouse, stopping the office of the office, the South Ma Xieji, Chongwen shop tax, Beijing transportation allocation, and the discount of board wood. All methods are feasible, but they will inevitably knock out the marrow of the people. These days, I have been thinking about the need to collect the taxes owed by the provincial governments over the years, and although it is slow and difficult to collect, it is not an emergency, but it is a fundamental policy after all. If those debts can be returned to Taicang, the household department will not have to shout poverty every day. ”

"The emperor's holy view is insightful. Most of the provincial governments and vassals are unable to make ends meet, and the amount of arrears is huge, so it is difficult to send people to collect them. The arrears accumulated for many years have been handled by successive officials, but the current officials have to repay them, where to get the money? It is better to open the net, first to waive the arrears of taxes, and pay the amount in the past four years, so as not to be afraid of the provincial capitals and wait and see, and promise happily behind their backs. ”

"Hmmm! The tax arrears in the past four years are not enough to spend, and a few days ago, Liang Tingdong, a soldier, had an excerpt to say that he would increase the salary of Liao, and the matter was very high, so he stayed in the middle and pressed it. Mr. Eat Tea. Chongzhen gestured, took out the fold from the mahogany box on several cases, and said, "What he said is true. Today's people are poor, but the only reason is official corruption. so that if the corrupt wind is not removed, that is, it will not be increased, and the people will be free from sorrow; Let the greedy wind cease, that is, it will be sent again, and the people will rejoice. ”

Zhou Yanru got up and said: "The emperor always thinks of all the people in the world, and he can't bear to make them suffer more, which shows his holiness. The ancients said: If you are thin, the world will be fat. Today's situation, Taicang is empty, it is really hiding the wealth from the people, and the officials in various places deduce that the pilgrimage, the examination is full, the line is taken, and the promotion is promoted, so that the silver will cost five or six thousand taels at least; Patrolling, checking, visiting, giving bereavement, and thanking for the recommendation, so that the silver is as much as 20,000 or 30,000 taels, and if these silver are returned to Taicang, I am afraid that it will not be able to hold it. His expression was extremely respectful, and even a few words were said in a dignified manner.

Chongzhen picked up the pen and criticized Zhu on the fold, and sighed: "It affects my people, and I finally feel uneasy." Discuss with the household department, how to increase the distribution, how much to increase, and the last article. ”

Zhou Yanru returned to the duty room, and before he could take a sip of tea and take a breath, the second assistant Wenyuan Pavilion University scholar Wen Tiren came in with a smile and bowed: "Shoufu, is the holy bow safe?" Zhou Yanru knew that he had come to listen to the news, and he felt extremely impatient in his heart, but Wen Tiren was his own boss when he was in charge of the Ministry of Rites, so it was not good to dry him coldly, not to mention that he first asked the emperor to say goodbye, took a sip of the hot tea in his hand, and then put down a slight bow and said: "Holy bow and health!" When he didn't see the emperor for a day, the old gentleman invited St. Ann, but he was a rare loyal minister! He pointed to the chair next to him and invited him to sit down, while the clerk busily made him hot tea.

"Shousuke has a good reputation." Wen Tiren laughed dryly, took the tea in his hand, squinted his eyes at the steaming heat on the tea cup, raised his nose and inhaled, and said: "Good tea!" Good tea! ”

Zhou Yanru was afraid that he would be idle and waste time, and he was afraid that he would ask what he would say, so he didn't answer, and shouted his words: "Brother Changqing, I just heard you talk about the Spring Festival, but what do you think?" ”

Wen Tiren laughed dryly, waved his hand again and again, and said, "Where is there any high opinion?" It's just nonsense, waiting for the first assistant to announce the emperor's edict! ”

"There should be a new atmosphere in this spring." Zhou Yanru saw that the curtain was raised, He Ruzhong, Qian Xiangkun, and Wu Zongda came in one by one, and hurriedly greeted: "I was about to ask you for advice." The five ministers gathered, and they sat down around the stove with their hands rubbed together. Among the ministers, Wen Tiren and He Ruzhong are both Wanli twenty-six years old, the oldest, Qian Xiangkun and Wu Zongda are a few years later, Zhou Yanru is late to Wanli forty-one years, but the top of high school, the glory is unmatched, the young thirty-nine years old is a very human minister, if the order of the cabinet is the earliest, He Rupet and Qian Xiangkun are second, Wen Tiren, Wu Zongda is the latest, Wen Tiren is because Chongzhen likes him to be isolated and loyal, and he is specially promoted to the second assistant. However, it has always been only the first and secondary, and the other ministers are just following orders.

Zhou Yanru and the other secretary office added charcoal fire, and the corner of his eyes swept Wen Tiren, who was sitting still, and said with a haha: "Sit, sit by the stove, there are no outsiders, don't limit your deeds." I was thinking of asking you to come over and discuss the matter of the Spring Festival......" He looked around at the four ministers, paused deliberately, and then took another sip of tea. Wen Tiren saw him so good, but the three of them calmly supported their ears, sneered secretly in their hearts, and ate tea without hurry.

Zhou Yanru put the teacup and said in a deep voice: "This year's spring, the emperor intends to be grand, but how to be grand but has no clear purpose, it takes a lot of thought. Suddenly, everyone didn't think of a good way, they each lowered their heads and twisted their eyebrows to think, and there was silence in the room, only Wen Tiren was eating tea by himself.

"The Tribute Courtyard has not been used for many years, and there are many places that need to be repaired, such as the shadow wall, the gate, the second gate, the Kui Pavilion, the number house, the lobby, the second hall, and the back building, which do not need to be detailed, just say that there are more than 10,000 number houses, as well as more than 1,000 official rooms for the chief examiner, the supervisor, the invigilator, the inspection, the same examination, the deacon, etc., plus the rooms for meals, warehouses, miscellaneous servants, guards, etc., as well as pools, gardens, bridges, passages, watchtowers, how many bricks and tiles are needed?"

"Bricks and timber don't care about it, just count how much silver you need." Wen Tiren swallowed the hot tea, put the teacup lightly, stroked his gray beard and said, "Since it is a matter of the Ministry of Rites, the silver will be raised by them." ”

"How does the Ministry of Rites raise it?" Zhou Yanru heard him say it lightly, and he was a little suspicious in his heart.

"At the beginning of Emperor Taizu Gao's Piji, he set up a system of official prostitutes, Emperor Chengzu Yongle built a retranslation outside the city of Jinling, Shicheng, Heming, Drunken Immortal, Lemin, Jixian, Light Smoke, Light Pink, Mei Yan, Liu Cui, Drum Belly, Acura, South City, North City, Qingliang, Guest Sixteenth Floor, Light Eyebrows and Light Powder, Ye Yan Mingshu, and many happy households together with donations, every year there are about 10,000 taels of gold and silver, four years down, there are 40,000 taels."

"There is still a deficit of 10,000 taels."

"Taicang is like washing, the household department is helpless, even if you ask for the order, Bi Ziyan can't take out half a tael of silver, and these deficits are useless to find the household department." Wen Tiren stopped talking and slowly blew the tea leaves floating on the newly retained hot water, looking very leisurely.

Qian Xiangkun glanced at Zhou Yanru, saw him bowing his head to eat tea, as if he hadn't heard it, and urged: "Brother Changqing didn't lead it, but he didn't think the first auxiliary bonus reward was insufficient?" ”

Wu Zongda also smiled: "The second assistant can't bury his high opinion. ”

Wen Tiren didn't pay attention to it, and said with a mysterious smile: "Actually, I don't have any way to raise money, but I just avoid the truth and make it false." Since silver cannot fall from heaven or out of the earth, let it not hold on. The emperor said that it should be grand, but in fact, it was intended for ceremony and efficacy. Foolishly thinking that there is no need to repair too much, the amount of silver is as much as it is, use it as appropriate, and change the heaviest main exam. ”

Everyone was shocked, the second assistant was the main examiner according to the routine, and the weight was already extremely heavy, Wen Tiren actually said something unbelievable, naturally it was not that the second assistant was not serious enough, but that he was afraid of the difficulty and wanted to pick on him. He Ruzhong, Qian Xiangkun, and Wu Zongda all looked at Zhou Yanru together. Zhou Yanru laughed, got up and said: "The jade ruler measures talents, but it is a supreme merit, I have the heart to grab this errand, but the main test is a precedent." If it is changed rashly, the emperor must be asked to decide. Wen Ge's words were unexpected, and it was also a practical way to do what he could, so as not to make it difficult for everyone. Everyone was the only one, seeing that the two of them had their own thoughts, they didn't dare to say more, gossiped for a while, and each went back to the room.

Zhou Yanru returned to the house in Shihu Hutong, and the manager Zhou Wenyu greeted him to the sedan hall with a smile, and waited for him to get off the sedan chair with a curtain. Since Yuan Chonghuan's death, he has not been a deputy chief soldier and has returned to the Zhou Mansion. Zhou Yanru asked as he walked towards Hao Chunxuan, "Is Mr. Xu here?" ”

"In, in." Zhou Wenyu nodded as if pecking rice: "I guess that the master is about to go back to the house, and I only went in for a while, and the uncle and others accompanied me to taste tea inside!" ”

Zhou Yanru ordered: "I have something to discuss with Mr. Xu, and idle people are not allowed to enter or leave." Someone came to visit the house, but none of them were seen. With that, he stepped into Haochun Xuan without looking back.

At this time, there was a lot of laughter in Haochun Xuan, Zhou Yanru's brother Zhou Suru and several guests Li Yuangong, Jiang Fuchang, and Dong Xianting were accompanying a white-haired old man to taste tea and gossip, Zhou Yanru stepped forward to bow to the old man, and the old man stroked his hair and smiled. Zhou Suru jumped up and said: "Jade Rope, you came back just in time, Mr. Xu just came up with a link, and several of us are thinking about it, and we can't make a sentence." ”

"It's hard." Dong Xianting shook his head and sighed, seeing Li Yuangong and Jiang Fuchang pondering with their heads bored, he persuaded: "Save your brains!" Accustomed to the pair, do you still want to be strong? ”

Zhou Yanru sat down on the chair with Huang Huali's back and said, "What did the master say?" ”

"The mountain people just saw that they were sitting and waiting, so they came out with a couplet of 'black and white is indistinguishable, teach me how to know the north and the south', which was originally a game, and it was not right."

Zhou Yanru closed his eyes and pondered, and after a while, he opened his eyes and said, "Qinghuang is not accepting, I will borrow something from you." Can the teacher see the ironing? ”

"Hmmm! Wonderful, wonderful! The old man couldn't stop nodding, and several other people also applauded. Dong Xianting was puzzled: "People in the world say what to buy things, why don't they say buy north and south?" ”

Zhou Suru said: "Aren't you talking nonsense and raising the bar!" I've been saying it for years. If you don't believe me, you ask Mr. Xu, he is an old man who is as knowledgeable as the sea and understands everything. ”

The old man smiled silently, seeing that Zhou Yanru's eyes were a little wandering, absent-minded, knowing that he had something important to discuss, so he said: "Don't laugh, what's the important matter to see the jade rope?" The crowd hurriedly fell silent. This old man was dressed in smoke and straight, wearing a scarf, there was nothing unusual, but everyone admired him very much, he was Zhou Yanru's teacher Xu Taimei. Xu Taimei was a famous hermit in the world, living in seclusion in Taihu Lake Maji Mountain, with outstanding intelligence and profound knowledge. Zhou Yanru, the champion of high school, returned to his hometown, high-spirited, pedaled the car and had the ambition to clarify the world, heard of Xu Taimei's name, cloth and long shirts, and an oil-paper umbrella, only with the scholar Zhou Wenyu, braved the rainy season, and went to apprentice. Xu Taimei said that he was used to living in seclusion, and he didn't want to enter the red dust again, so he took out a plate of red jujube hospitality, and said with a smile: "Zhou Sheng is both a toad and a laurel, and Wensi is unique in the world, how about taking this as a poem?" Zhou Yanru took one and ate it, spit out a two-pointed jujube core, and arched his hand: "The elder dare not quit if he has a life." "Impromptu chanting:

The red silk nucleus is small,

Go into the yamen and take a walk.

All the bones were thrown out,

The meat was eaten by the officials.

Yongwu Guanzhi, Xu Taimei listened to the heart of the heart was shocked, this poem is slang, but there is a great burden of the world's pain and sacrifice life to take righteousness, immediately wrote the four words "take the law in the middle", said: "Your future career is on these four words, these four fonts will be good, then you don't need to invite, the mountain people will go to find you." ”。

Zhou Yanru kept it in mind, after the Wanli and Apocalypse dynasties, the eunuchs and Donglin were not offended, and if they were about to leave, they went from Shao Zhan Shi to the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, and then worshiped the Dongge University Scholar, and finally became the head of the hundred bureaucrats. Xu Taimei really lived up to the previous appointment, Ge robe, bamboo cane and mango shoes fluttered into Beijing, Zhou Yanru ordered someone to pack out a small cross-courtyard for the teacher to settle down and live, in a blink of an eye, Xu Taimei came to Beijing for more than half a year.

Zhou Yanru was most convinced by the unfazed demeanor of Xie An, the famous minister of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and didn't want to sweep away everyone's interest, so he coughed lightly and said, "It's not difficult." According to the Five Elements, the south belongs to fire, the north belongs to water, knock on the door to borrow a fire to eat a bowl of water, there is no need to trade; The east belongs to wood and the west belongs to gold, both of which are qualitative things, and they can only be traded through buying and selling, so they can only be said to buy things but not to buy north and south. Offering the court, is this still reasonable? Seeing that everyone nodded, he returned to the truth and preached: "The opening of the Spring Festival is imminent, Wen Wucheng intends to publicly invite students to take this subject, and the students don't know what he means, so they come back to ask the master." When he said the latter sentence, his expression was very respectful.

Things were strange and hasty, Xu Taimei also felt confused, and muttered: "The second assistant to take the spring examination is a precedent of the previous dynasties, and it is a good thing to cultivate power by recruiting talents from all over the world for the emperor, but he shirked it instead, it is really unhumane, and his heart is unpredictable, and he must be guarded against." ”

"The Beijing Gongyuan is in disrepair, and the household Taicang can't get the silver, will he be afraid of it?"

Xu Taimei shook his head and said: "Even the governors of the provinces can't help it with tens of thousands of taels of silver, let alone the dignified ministers?" You can't have both fish and bear's paws, and since he refuses to be the main examiner, he must intend to take the bear's paws. ”

"What is a bear's paw?" Zhou Yanru leaned forward, and the other four people also listened quietly, for fear of missing a word.

"It's still unclear at the moment, so I have to sit back and watch what happens, and I brake quietly."

"Does the Master mean that he should come down, or should he push it down?"

"Whether you should come down or not depends on the emperor's intentions. As long as you are careful in everything, and do not give a handle to others, it will not be a big problem. Xu Taimei's tone was quite conceited, he closed his eyes and counted his fingers, and said: "Jade Rope, you relax, the old man calculates that your passing years do not have the appearance of disaster." ”

"Go ahead! Xiangye is the main exam, how many people in the world are running under the door, and the silver does not flow in like water? I'm afraid that my jewelry store has a lot more business! Dong Xianting rubbed his hands together with joy and screamed happily, as if the gold, silver and jewelry had been piled up in front of him like a mountain.

Zhou Yanru said with a worried face: "If the student takes the spring exam, Wen Wucheng will inevitably act as the student for the time being. Then he glanced at Dong Xianting, and said solemnly: "Recently, we must be more restrained, don't stretch out your hand too long, only care about the silver and don't care about your life, the prince is guilty of the same crime as the common people, if something really happens, no one can protect you!" Go down! Don't talk too much about it! ”

Xu Taimei heard that Zhou Suru and the four of them were embarrassed to withdraw from Haochun Xuan, raised her eyelids and asked, "What are the important things in the cabinet recently?" ”

"Nine-sided soldiers' salaries, Shaanxi people's uprising, Jiangnan Fushe ......"

Xu Taimei interrupted: "These are all foreign affairs, what is the big deal in the DPRK?" ”

"The spring of the department opened the department to take the scholars, and agreed on the candidates of the secretary of the ministry and the secretary of the criminal department......"

"No more need. The mountain people now know what a bear's paw is. Xu Taimei was like seeing a thousand-year-old Ganoderma lucidum fairy grass in Lang Zhong who went into the mountains to collect medicine, and his eyes narrowed into a thin slit.

"What's more important than recruiting talent?"

Xu Taimei secretly sneered: It is better to use people than to choose talents, Wen Tiren is really smart! He replied word by word: "Big--mound--Zai--。 But you don't have to take this matter to heart, he has many officials and ministers as helpers, and the weight is still light, as long as you refute the ticket a few more times, they will be arrogant. ”

Zhou Yanru nodded yes.