Liu Mao exchanged the performance with Wang Chengen and said: "In the thirty-third year of Jiajing, the exploration and combination were increased to five words: gentleness, kindness, courtesy, thrift, and letting. Wen character five, for the descendants of the saint, Longhu Mountain Zhang Zhenren and sent filial piety to use; Twenty-nine good words, for civil and military officials to go back and forth; Nine articles of Gong Zi are required for civil and military officials outside the tolerance; two frugal words, for preferential compassion; Let the word six, for Rouyuan. The three years of Wanli are divided into large and small surveys, and the large surveys are used with two horses, ten husbands, and two boats, but the officials and gentry are all heads-up figures, and they like to pave the way, and they use horses, husbands, and boats without authorization, and at most ten times the old example, and the work and food naturally increase. What is particularly unbearable is that it has formed a bad rule that has been broken for many years......"

"What do you mean by folding?" The more Chongzhen listened, the more frightened he became, interrupting him and asking.

In the past, the gentry relied on their power to force the post station to provide more goods, and the excess part was not returned, but it was converted into cash to fill their pockets. Lintong County, the hometown of the minister, has a horse and a horse to eat 160 taels, which is not much, and some counties have increased to 300 taels, which is still called hard work, and it can be seen that the harm of the post delivery is more serious than what the minister said. ”

Chongzhen turned to the cabinet ministers and said, "How can three hundred taels still be called tired?" ”

Li Biao said: "I think there are too many errands, and the silver consumption is naturally heavy." ”

Han? He continued: "Since Taizu created the post office, it has been more than 250 years now, and the times have changed, and there are many differences, so the Jiajing and Wanli dynasties have lost and lost the ancestral system to meet the needs of the time. The quota of the two dynasties has increased more, which is intended to show the emperor's grace, distinguish between the noble and the low, and the official gentry follow it, which has become a common practice, if the hasty changes, the ministers are afraid that some cunning people are afraid of the strict law of the king, and do not dare to disobey it openly, but they can not rely on the emperor's benevolence to throttle and love the people, secretly restrain it, and skillfully countermeasures, the old evils have not been eliminated and the new evils are reborn, and the sores in front of the eyes are cured, and the flesh of the heart is removed, but it violates the original intention of the emperor to use the people to lenien. ”

"But where doing things is prosperous, there must be a disadvantage, the two disadvantages are lighter, the trade-off is clear, you can do it boldly, how can you be the first rat at both ends, blindly patrolling? Reducing the number of post stations not only relieves people's hardship, but also saves money and food, why not? Chongzhen disagreed, and sneered: "It is the grace of heaven that the ancestral system of the previous dynasties has its own equal differences, but some officials and gentry are still greedy and insufficient, and they do not use what they need. ”

Qian Longxi saw that the emperor did not approve, and he knew that the explanation was not thorough enough, and he was afraid that the emperor would be suspicious of the ministers and obstruct him, so he hurriedly said: "To reduce the post delivery, first find out the practical quota, and then reduce the work and food according to the quota." If all the work and food are cut indiscriminately, what will the post delivery rely on to deal with it? How to pay for horses, husbands, boats, and cars? At that time, not only did the gentry complain, but they would also rip off innocent people, and the people became more and more miserable. ”

Liu Mao said: "The emperor is wise, insightful of the world, and blindly follows the feelings, which is bound to be more difficult to return." The post delivery is extremely tired, and the small people knock on the bones and suck the marrow, in fact, it is only because the situation is difficult to break, and the gentry in the past arbitrarily blackmailed, and the state and county did not dare not to worship, and they were willing to break the fee. The minister said something excessive, and now the post has become a place for many officials to share the fat, under the pretext of worshiping the gentry, pretending to be greedy for ink, and the small people who feed the post horses and mules are exploited and fed, and the post is taking the opportunity to take the routine, and the officials and gentry extort and fold the cash, all of which are embezzling the money and grain of the imperial court. For many years, no one has cared about these bad rules and no one has supervised them, and everyone is accustomed to them. People are willing to enjoy pleasure and indulgence, which of the ready-made benefits is not willing to get, which is willing to find uncomfortable! but it has afflicted the people. The emperor is determined to innovate, and when he seeks a solution to both the symptoms and the root causes, so that passers-by have nowhere to extort, some people dare not raise additional flattery, cut the labor and food silver to ease the people's strength, or release the money to offset the salary, in the court can save money, and in the small people it is a virtuous government, and it can benefit both. ”

Chongzhen nodded and said: "A cut word is deeply widened in the political country, one point is wide in the people's livelihood, one point is rich in the country, and it is better to avoid it in the people." ”

Han? Said: "The emperor works hard, cherishes the small people of the world, and his sainthood is as clear as the sun and the moon." This sentence is enough to move the heart of heaven, and the people are very lucky! ”

Chongzhen didn't feel that he was greatly used, and he ordered loudly: "In the future, officials who return to their hometowns, report military information, and send orders to the Qin are allowed to use post delivery, and the rest are forbidden and not allowed to be used without permission." Liu Mao was promoted to the military department, and he supervised the reduction of post delivery. Since it was difficult to achieve urgent results in the reduction, they first sent 100,000 taels of internal funds to help the victims of the disaster in Qindi. Go down and draw up your purpose! ”

Han? The three of them came out of the warm pavilion, it was almost noon, a layer of gray and black clouds hung low around the sky, and small snow particles fell sparsely, and the three of them entered the first assistant's duty room together, and the snow particles drifted into snowflakes. Here Han? And for Minoru, now that I have revisited the old place, I have a lot of emotion in my heart, and I looked out the window and said: "The weather is steep and cold, and the victims of the Sanqin disaster are not knowing how to suffer, fortunately, the emperor is kind and sends internal relief, otherwise I, a bad old man, am afraid that I will be scolded as a walking corpse who takes money for nothing." ”

Qian Longxi saw that Li Biao was busy cleaning up some confidential documents left on the case, so he didn't have time to speak, and pondered: "The Sanqin disaster relief has a clue, the punishment is fined, and the silver is also available, just a little reprimand, Wu?" Enough to do the job. However, the matter of cutting the post delivery is extremely extensive and very tricky, Liu Mao does not know the depth, and it will be too late to turn back when he knows that it is difficult. In fact, no matter how strict the holy order is, it will be difficult to break the situation with only one person from the seven grades. I was worried that he was in a hurry to achieve success, so he started by cutting hundreds of thousands of post soldiers, most of whom were idle and restless people, who were used to eating, drinking, and playing tricks on weekdays, so how could they still do the heavy work of farming and cultivating the land? Since ancient times, it is easy to go from thrift to luxury, and it is difficult for them to make a living, if their livelihood is lost, it is difficult to ensure that they do not do some illegal acts, block roads, rob homes, and rob houses. ”

"This matter must be guarded against." Han? Provincial enlightenment: "Liu Mao plans to reduce the five characters of the post to 51 to 12, the action is too big, and he is indeed ruthless, but it has been approved by the emperor, and it is not good to change it, but Liu Mao can not use thunderbolt means in vain, and the reduction of post guards cannot be too hasty, and it is necessary to come step by step, step by step, and act prudently." ”

Li Biao held a stack of official documents in his arms, shook his head and said: "Liu Mao's new favorite, it is when the eyes are higher than the top heart and arrogance, I am afraid that these golden and jade words will not be heard, and it will be in vain to waste some painstaking efforts." Originally, the matter of cutting the post delivery, the imperial history Gu Qiguo had also played it before, and the emperor had already given a decree to the Ministry of War, strictly supervising and controlling it as usual, and not issuing white cards indiscriminately, and all localities have been reined in. I don't know why Liu Mao brought up the old matter again, and also involved the reduction of the post delivery and the disaster relief in Shaanxi, if he waited for him to cut the silver and then help the victims, Shaanxi is afraid that there will be no more living creatures with gas left. Fortunately, the emperor Shengming issued 100,000 taels of internal money. ”

"Liu Mao is also selfish in this article." Qian Longxi showed a sly smile on his face, "I'm afraid you don't know the reason!" ”

"Why?" Seeing that he was smiling strangely, Li Biao put down the official document and sat down in a chair to listen carefully.

Qian Longxi said: "Liu Mao has a very strong friendship with Mao Yujian, the imperial history of Yunnan Province, and he is also angry for Mao Yujian. He took a few bites of tea and continued: "Mao Yujian is extremely afraid of guilt, and his daughter-in-law is a well-known fierce woman, famous far and wide. This year, Mao Yujian was awarded the imperial history of Yunnan Province by the county, and he intended to take the opportunity to avoid her, so he went to Beijing alone to take up his post, but he couldn't bear the cold bed, and asked for a concubine. Unexpectedly, he stayed away for several months, and his daughter-in-law was young, so it was inevitable that he would miss it, and he did not send a letter, so he brought his own maid from the Hubei Public Security Bureau all the way to Beijing to find it. The little concubine endured until Mao Yujian came back from the next court, and was going to teach him to be the master and get angry, but he was so frightened that he didn't dare to enter the door, and he couldn't think about it for a while, so he threw himself into the well and died. When he heard about his life, he hurried back, but his daughter-in-law still let him go, and he was punished for kneeling all night. Mao Yujian dared to be angry and didn't dare to speak, so he moved to the post and handed it off, and the fold was the harm of Chen Yi's delivery. The emperor didn't pay attention to it because he had already made a will, Liu Mao had the heart to help him, and took the opportunity to play, not wanting to catch up with the disaster relief in Shaanxi, which was in line with the emperor's wishes. "He told the story, like a storyteller in the market, Han? , Li Biao listened attentively, and he didn't want the cut to be due to two jealous women, each of whom secretly felt funny, shook his head and sighed for a long time.

After Liu Mao received the order, he drastically cut it down, and the men and horses were all in accordance with the general practice of cutting six out of ten, and all the north and south of the river obeyed it. Where do you think that but those post guards, on weekdays the silver is allocated abundantly, the post soldiers use a lot, there are many messengers, there is no worry about food and clothing, and then serve the errands, when the old men are happy, they will reward some loose silver for eating and drinking, and the days are very comfortable. Now that there is no need for so many people, and there are fewer messengers, those who are cut off and go home are worried about eating, and those who are left on errands have also cut off their financial routes. Those farmers who raised horses were even more miserable, they could put down some forage and manure for the horses raised at the post station, but the post station cut the silver taels, and they were in arrears with the forage money for feeding, and those farmers signed a contract, and could not return the livestock, and were afraid that they would starve to death and eat the lawsuit and could not afford to pay the silver, so they had to go around and complain about borrowing and feeding, seeing that the horses and mules were thin, they sighed every day, and their hearts were so anxious that they did not know how long they would suffer.

There is a Yinchuan post in Mizhi County, Yan'an Prefecture, Shaanxi Province, which is located in the South Gate of the City Street Pavilion Lane, is only a few arrows away from the city gate, is not a big one, sits in the north and faces south of the two courtyards, the post office, the post warehouse, the general office, the mansion yard, the horse number, the post house and so on are readily available. It was the middle of winter, the rising sun was spitting a faint white light, the post station where the horse bells were ringing and the dust was rolling became unusually quiet, and the wind blew the pair of white lanterns with the word "post" hanging in front of the hall swaying up and down left and right. It was almost noon, the black lacquer gate of the post station creaked open, and more than 20 men in Tsing Yi with luggage bowed their heads and sighed out of it, and reluctantly went out of the south city gate together, crossed hands and hugged their fists to say goodbye, and scattered in twos and threes.

A stout, tall, deep-nosed man looked back at the tall city gate tower, went down the official road to the west alone, and turned north. I didn't take a few steps before I heard someone shouting behind me: "Brother Li, you gave me your errand, where are you going?" ”

Dahan looked back at the panting young man behind him, and said with a wry smile: "What is the place to go to, not to go home to make a living?" ”

"You, are you going back to Li Jiqian Village?"

The big man nodded, his eyes were infinitely sad, and he muttered, "Alas! Back then, wearing a postal uniform, hanging a fire-printed wooden sign on his waist, riding a healthy horse, passing back and forth, drinking a lot of wine, eating a large piece of meat, how lively and happy! I want to die of old age here, where did I think I could go home so quickly. Fortunately, I still have a home, and three crooked houses are better than your baby without a father. ”

"The eldest brother has a sister-in-law to take care of him when he goes home, but the younger brother is single and lonely, and it is not much fun to stay." The boy was saddened.

Dahan shook his head and said, "Take care of what?" She is a woman's family, with a few years old female baby, where can she take care of me? Let's have a good time together! ”

"My brother and sister-in-law are close relatives, and the whole family is so lively." The young man's face was full of envy.

"I have long been separated from each other and live separately, and my brother and sister-in-law don't move around a few times a year."

"Brother Li, last night the younger brother heard that he wanted to defect to those rebellious green forest heroes, but he didn't know which one was the best, and he couldn't make up his mind. Big brother, which do you say it's better to go to? ”

Dahan said: "As long as you can have food to eat and live, Wang Zishun, Wang Jiayin, Gao Yingxiang, Wang Zuohang, Don't Stick to the Mud, Wang Daliang, it's not the same?" He couldn't help but look gloomy, and sighed: "When I was eight years old, my father sent me to study in a private school, wanting to mix my background and glorify my ancestors. Mr. changed my name to Zicheng, and hoped that I would be self-reliant and self-reliant, and achieve a career, but after eight years of studying, it was not even difficult to make a personal living? I am a man, I should have crisscrossed the world, earned some fame and wealth, and glorified the township, but now I am empty-handed, what face do I have to go back? You are good at being an errand boy, saving some money to marry a mother-in-law, and you have someone who knows how cold and hot. It's been closed for nearly a year, don't forget to burn some paper money and kowtow a few times on your parents' graves, so that they won't be left out in the cold when no one pays tribute to them. ”

A few words brought the young man to tears, and he couldn't help but whimper, and Shaoqing wiped away his tears and said: "Brother Li, the younger brother will wait for you at the post station, and there will be no way to live. ”

Li Zicheng touched the young man's head and said, "Okay! Go back, and I will call you with me." The two said goodbye and parted.

The sun was in the west, Li Zicheng arrived home, his daughter-in-law Gao was dressed in a green cloth shirt and blue cloth skirt, hugged her four-year-old daughter and happily welcomed her out, and she wanted to tidy up the food, Zicheng looked at the smoky black wall, and stopped: "Don't be busy, the loose guys ate too much wine last night, and they are not very hungry." I haven't been back for many days, and you two think you've suffered a lot from this cold pot and cold stove. ”

Gao wept and said: "I was born with a hard life, and I don't feel it when I suffer a little." How did you come back, but you have a messenger on your way? Scare! What casual wine? ”

"The post station didn't need so many people, and most of it was laid off by the emperor's order. Master Yicheng wanted to keep me, but I pity Gao Jie for not having a father and mother since he was a child, and it is difficult for him to live alone, so I gave him the errand. Zicheng sighed softly, seeing that Gao was silent, knowing that she was a little unhappy, he sat awkwardly and gossiped a few words, then got up and said: "I haven't come back for a long time, while the sky is still bright, goodbye brother and sister-in-law." So saying, he took his daughter out, and realized that he had no gift to meet, so he had to walk around the street, and only turned back when it was almost dark. When I entered the house, I heard intermittent crying, and hurriedly stepped into the house, and saw Gao wearing a hair flute, bending his legs and crying on the kang, and hurriedly put his daughter away, and asked eagerly: "What's wrong with you, how do you look like this?" ”

Gao said in a forbearant voice: "Master Ai heard that you came back, and sent someone to urge you to ask for debts, I knelt down and begged for a long time, but I didn't allow it, saying that if I didn't pay it off before the year, I would send it to the official." ”