So I thought of a bad trick, that is, borrowing.

"Xiao Man was so frightened that he couldn't close his mouth, you must know that this kind of behavior can only be seen on the black market, how can it be that the officials of the household department do this kind of thing openly."

"Li Niang, your news can't be wrong, do you know that this loan is a killer?"

Seeing Su Xiaoman so naïve, Li Niang naturally felt a little ridiculous.

"The big crime of killing the head, don't tease me, do you think the emperor doesn't know what they are doing, originally this loan, naturally it is a matter of making silver, the emperor thought that he had money to spend, so he also turned a blind eye, who knew that after the household officials lent out the silver, they couldn't get it back at all, which caused today's situation."

Wei Xiuyuan nodded, it is indeed this matter that the emperor is looking for him today, because now the treasury is really empty, the emperor has calculated that nearly half of the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty are looking for loans from the household department, and they refuse to repay the loan, blindly cheating, because this matter can not be put on the surface, and the minister cannot be punished.

The emperor also felt very embarrassed, so he heard that Wei Xiuyuan was so good at raising money in Jiangnan, so he wanted him to show his skills in Shangjing, and go to these officials to recover the arrears of the household department, which made Wei Xiuyuan embarrassed, if you want to say that you have to deal with those salt merchants, it is good to say, after all, those salt merchants are not in the officialdom, although there is Lord Liu behind to support, but they don't have so many conspiracies after all.

But these people in the officialdom are all old foxes who have lived for decades, and since they have done the thing of borrowing money and have come to this point, they are naturally ready not to pay it back.

Wei Xiuyuan is just a young official, how can he fight with them, but today, no matter how Wei Xiuyuan refuses, the emperor still keeps pushing this matter back, and finally promises that if Wei Xiuyuan can find someone to solve this matter, the emperor will immediately be named the king of the county and demarcate the Yangzhou area as his back cover.

Hearing what the emperor said, Wei Xiuyuan also understood that the emperor wanted to deal with this matter ruthlessly this time, and he didn't know whether the emperor was willing to take care of the affairs of the household department because he had no money to spend, or for the sake of the people.

Hearing this, Lu Li still felt a little strange, so he asked Li Niang.

"Senior Liniang, I don't understand very well, according to what Xiuyuan said, half of the officials in the court have borrowed the silver of the household department, but they obviously have a fortune, so why should they borrow the silver of the household department."

Li Niang glanced at Xiao Man, thinking that only Xiao Man could answer this question.

"General Lu, you have always been dealing with business outside, and you naturally don't know about these transactions in the market, why don't you ask your wife, how much does it cost to put a decent table on the table now?"

Xiaoman thought about it, and now he wants to say that if he wants to set up a table in Shangjing, he will get ten taels of silver, but if he wants to entertain dignitaries and nobles, the dishes will be more or less expensive, and he will get twenty taels of silver.

When Lu Li heard this number, he felt a little surprised, to say that in the capital, it is common for dignitaries and nobles to treat each other, and it is always a delicacies from the mountains and seas, although Lu Li does not like to set foot in these banquets, and has never invited others, but he never thought that the atmosphere in the capital has reached such a point.

Seeing Lu Li's surprised expression, Li Niang still felt that Lu Li was too young, although he had a heart of love for the people, but he still didn't understand the people's livelihood, blindly lived his rich life, and didn't eat the fireworks of the world.

"General Lu, why don't you ask your wife how much it costs to make a good official uniform?"

Lu Li glanced at Xiao Man again, and Xiao Man replied in a low voice.

"If I buy the fabric and sew it myself, it may cost about three taels of silver, but in the eyes of others, most of these official uniforms can't be put on the table.

Lu Li nodded, fortunately, his clothes were basically customized by Xiaoman when he bought fabrics, but the price was reduced by one percent compared to other officials, thinking that other officials still had to compare the quality, workmanship, and comparison of official uniforms, this has simply become a luxury in the court.

"Xiaoman said so much, I think you also understand, then you can answer me now, how much is your annual income?"

You must know that Lu Li, as the prince of Zhenguo, can be said to be the highest in the entire Shangjing, but compared with the price just now, Lu Li felt a little embarrassed at this time, so he slowly replied to Li Niang.

"My year's worth is only one hundred and twenty taels of silver."

Li Niang sneered.

"One hundred and twenty taels of silver is just twelve feasts and twelve official uniforms, what can I do?"

"Lord Wei, how much do you have in a year?"

Wei Xiuyuan was just an outgoing prefect of Yangzhou, and Yu Lu was even more pitiful, he replied with a sigh.

My year's salary is only eighty taels of silver, and now they understand how hard Xiao Man and Xia Wanrou usually work at home, if there is no for them, I am afraid they will not even have this decent life, and now they are also very grateful to Xiao Man and Xia Wanrou, without their careful calculations in the back, how can they spend the silver just right.

"So you see, your money is just enough to make ends meet, if everyone has money, who is willing to go to the household department to borrow money, but I know that you must say, why can't these officials be as willing to be poor as you, but I also want to ask you, since he is willing to be willing to be poor, why should he be an official?"

Liniang pointed out the true thoughts of half of the officials in the DPRK and the central government now, they were originally officials to collect money and make profits, otherwise why would they become officials.

Lu Li and Wei Xiuyuan, there are very few people who want to serve the court for the sake of the people, so the trend of borrowing from these households will gradually spread.

Since it has been said that this is the point, Liniang naturally wants to ask Xiaoman's opinion, so she also asks Xiaoman directly, so that Xiaoman's thinking can be exercised, and Xiaoman can have the opportunity to express his thoughts.

"Xiaoman, let me ask you, now that I have explained to you the truth of the matter, you come to tell me what are the categories of people who borrow money from the court? As long as you know who the people in the imperial court borrow the silver, it will naturally make it easier for Lord Wei to start. ”

Xiao Man nodded, after experiencing the last incident, she is no longer afraid to express her thoughts in front of people, after all, Li Niang is also deliberately exercising, she has seen Li Niang so resourceful, Xiao Man gradually expects that she can become a person like Li Niang.

So she analyzed with Lu Li.

"I think that in the most court, there are three kinds of people who are looking for money from the household department, the first is to know how to spend the silver, just like people like Lord Liu, as high-ranking officials, they are all the emperor's confidants and ministers, naturally they know when to spend the silver, and after borrowing the silver, they immediately go to annex the people's land, and keep it for themselves, and their silver can be regarded as well spent, at least for their own interests, but such people are often the most difficult to deal with, because they are cunning and cunning, and they have won the trust of the emperor. Even if the emperor was informed, the emperor couldn't touch them, so the emperor handed over this thankless matter to Xiuyuan. ”

Li Niang took a sip of tea and glanced at Xiao Man appreciatively.

"This second kind is that there are some extravagant people in the court, they have too little money, but their ability is not enough, and they can't find a place to embezzle, so they can only embezzle the treasury of the Ministry of Households, thinking that they are also because the expenses are too big, but they don't want to be officials but fall to such a point of poverty, for the whole family to live a good life, they embarked on this road of no return, no matter what, they have to talk about face, talk about pomp, this is the debt of the household, this kind of people are slightly easier to deal with than Lord Liu, But if Lord Liu and the others don't fall, these people behind them won't pay back. ”

Hearing Xiao Man's analysis, Wei Xiuyuan couldn't help but take out a pen and paper and record it little by little.

"The best way to do it is this third kind, to say that the third type of people, but some villains in the court who follow the trend, they see the first two types of people benefit, so they also borrow it, there is no reason, just follow the trend, want to go to others, they don't borrow for nothing, if they can get rid of the first two types of people, then the third type of people in the back, they will return the treasury silver."

Hearing Xiao Man's analysis, Li Niang naturally nodded with satisfaction, but she didn't expect Xiao Man to be so smart now that she could deal with such a problem.

Hearing Xiao Man say such things, he also felt slightly surprised in his heart, to say that he had never thought that Xiao Man was such a resourceful person, it seems that he did ignore the inspiration of Xiao Man's thoughts, and in the future, he will learn more from Li Niang and listen to Xiao Man's thoughts.

You must know that Xiaoman's thoughts are sometimes a little more thoughtful than him.

After listening to Xiao Man's analysis, Wei Xiuyuan asked.

"Since you know that such a person will not repay the money, why should the household department lend them money, even if it is borrowed from them, then can't you just come?"

Li Niang shook her head, she didn't expect this Wei Xiuyuan to still have such a hot temper after experiencing the matter of the salt merchant.

"Lord Wei, I said that you don't do things so straightforwardly, do you think that the household department, if you don't lend money to those ministers of the court, won't you be excluded by the tide of the people in the court, since this is the emperor's acquiescence, he himself turns a blind eye, why should the household department go to provoke these people unhappy. As for you saying that you want the money back with a cold face, it is even more impossible, these cunning foxes in the DPRK and China will all play tricks. ”