After the banking system was streamlined and rectified, there was one deposit and withdrawal outlet in the city and two in the countryside in the entire Shaanzhou county. These three offices can only deposit and withdraw money, and cannot exchange money and grain.

As for the money and grain exchange points, there was a market town on the east and west sides of the county.

When the common people pay the public grain, they can convert it into silver money and pay it, or they can directly hand over the grain. The north has not yet been reformed, and some provinces in the south can only pay money, and the common people have to exchange it once.

This kind of reform seems to be taking off the pants and farting, and leaving a hole for the grassroots to exploit the people.

But it is necessary because the administrative cost is too great. The taxation system and the banking system are two separate yamen, and if grain is used to pay agricultural taxes, the taxation department has to send special personnel to the bank's money and grain exchange points to stay on a permanent basis. Although the two systems can cooperate and seem to be very simple, in fact, there are often various contradictions and disputes......

At the two money and grain exchange points in Shaanzhou, a fixed amount of grain received each year will be deposited in a specific granary. This granary is the usual closing position.

Theoretically, the grain that is often closed belongs to the county-level government, but it is only stored by Datong Bank. The loss and consumption of warehousing are deducted directly at the time of deposit, which is equivalent to the custody fee paid by the government to the bank. Next, whether the grain is eaten by insects or burned by fire, the government will not lose anything, and all the losses will have to be filled by the banks.

"The bank is getting worse and worse for the grain collectors!"

A farmer complained to Liu Chuanzong: "In previous years, when we paid grain, we all went to the exchange point in Chenjiazhuang. Pick up the wheat, and the bank clerk will come over, put his hand in it and stir it, and hard your wheat is not dried, so let you pick it back and dry it again. Sometimes, the wheat bran in it is not clean, and it has to be cleaned before the grain can be delivered. What's going on with that? Don't you just want to deduct the fire consumption? It's good to be close, pick it up and get it back. Farmers who are far away have to work hard back and forth several times, which is time-consuming and laborious, and it is better to admit a pound or two of grain. ”

It's a phenomenon that happens all over the country, but it's really hard to manage.

If the imperial court strictly controls the grain collectors, the grassroots work will not be able to be done. Because there are indeed peasants who are greedy for small and cheap, and when they pay grain to the government, they deliberately do not dry the water, or deliberately mix broken wheat or even wheat bran. Crushed wheat and wheat bran are fine, but if there is wheat that has not been dried, it accidentally enters the granary, and it can destroy the whole barn after mold.

Liu Chuanzong said: "Didn't the imperial court order that when the peasants handed over the grain, the bank money and grain exchange points must be opened to the peasants? The grain that has not been dried is dried in the nearest drying field, and the wheat bran is also dried in the drying field. ”

The old farmer was surprised: "And this is the case? Our officials here do not allow the peasants to enter the drying field. ”

Wei Gan, who was squatting next to him, quietly picked up his pen and wrote it down in a small notebook.

Liu Chuanzong asked again: "Is there any rumor about the regular liquidation in the county?" ”

The old farmer was mysterious: "In the money and grain station, I heard that there were grain rats, and they stole grain from home every once in a while. ”

Liu Chuanzong was a little disappointed and didn't ask for the information he wanted.

Petty theft is normal for grain rats and rats, and it is impossible to empty the regular position, which scares grain merchants to buy grain at a high price in the disaster year to fill the hole.

Night.

Luo Fang, who went to the grain station to secretly squat, came back and whispered: "There must be a problem with the regular liquidation, within one day, there are three large truckloads of grain transported in, and all of them are private grain merchants who transport grain inside." The hole in the often closed position must be very large, and grain merchants have been busy buying grain at high prices. ”

Wei Gan smiled: "They are also unlucky, Shaanzhou is close to Shanxi. This year, Shaanxi and Henan are drought, and although the drought in Shanxi is not heavy, the freight will have to be a large amount of money if it is transported from the mountains and mountains. If these grain merchants want to go to other places to buy grain to fill the holes, they also have to go to Hubei to buy grain recently. Even if it is time, it will be snapped up by the states and counties further south of Henan, and it will not be the turn of the merchants in Shaanzhou. They are already sick and rushed to the doctor, so they can only buy from local farmers. ”

Liu Chuanzong analyzed: "This case is obviously not the corruption of officials, but more like the collusion between officials and businessmen to embezzle the grain that is often closed. Under normal circumstances, they will slowly make up for it in the next few years. Coincidentally, this year's drought hit and we had to quickly fill this hole. ”

Luo Fang: "Misappropriation of grain that is often closed is nothing more than using it for business." Moreover, it must be somewhere, not only the price of grain is extremely high, but the demand is also very large, and the grain they normally harvest cannot satisfy the appetite of the buyers. ”

Wei Gan: "It's definitely not sold to the south, the price of grain in the south won't be too high, and you can't let them take risks." The northern provinces, Henan and Shandong, were the first to recover, and the people's livelihood was also the first to be restored. A lot of the grain and official grain of these two provinces were transported to the north to make military rations for the Datong army stationed in the north. Therefore, the merchants of Henan and Shandong can only buy a grain from the people, and the government will not sell them a grain of grain. ”

Liu Chuanzong continued: "Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei, and Beiping Prefecture, these four places have not suffered much in recent years, and the population is relatively small, so they can be self-sufficient, and they will not ask for a large amount of high-priced grain. He took out a map, "Although Shaanzhou is close to Shanxi, it is more convenient to go to Shaanxi, and it is a necessary place to go from Guanzhong to Henan." ”

Wei Gan nodded and said, "The grain merchants in Shaanzhou will inevitably transport grain to Shaanxi." Shaanxi does not lack so much grain, and will continue to be trafficked abroad, and there are no more than three destinations. First, all the way to the west, transported to the outside of Jiayu Pass; second, it was transported to the Xihai (Qinghai) grassland; Third, it was transported north to the Mongolian steppe. ”

Luo Fang said excitedly: "These three directions, no matter which one they are, are all violating the ban of the imperial court and selling grain abroad without permission. Moreover, not only did they purchase private grain for export, but they also dared to embezzle the grain that was often closed! It is certain that there are corrupt officials in the Datong Bank in Shaanzhou who collude with grain merchants inside and outside. As for the Shaanzhou County Government, I know how many officials below the county level are in the same stream, and this has to be investigated slowly. If the time for misappropriation of the standing position is short, it is possible that the government does not know about it. If he embezzles the Chang Ping position for several consecutive years, even if the magistrate does not know about it, it is a serious dereliction of duty, and he has the responsibility to check the Chang Ping position regularly! ”

Wei Gandao: "Most of the grain merchants in Shaanzhou will not directly transport grain abroad. Instead, it was shipped to Shaanxi first, and then the merchants in Shaanxi bought it and then transferred it out. Cross-border smuggling of bulk goods, and the news can be concealed all the time, and the inspection department on the Shaanxi border is probably also a piece of shit! ”

Well, it not only involves Shaanxi businessmen, but also the border armed police in Shaanxi.

Liu Chuanzong said: "Shaanzhou County is so rampant, what will Lingbao County and Ruxiang County, which are closer to Shaanxi, look like?" Transporting grain from Lingbao and Ruxiang to Shaanxi is closer. ”

Luo Fang said: "Three counties, one person is responsible for one. Relying on us alone, we will definitely not be able to find out, and after collecting the basic information, we will go to Kaifeng to request more manpower. ”

Liu Chuanzong said: "Okay, Lao Luo stays in Shaanzhou, Lao Wei, you go to Lingbao, and I will go to the farthest township." Again, don't be brutal in case of trouble, if there is danger, flee immediately! ”

After the three of them finished their work, they began to work the next day.

Liu Chuanzong, the original little patrol officer, has finally regained the feeling of being on the battlefield since he was specially recruited into the Metropolitan Procuratorate. When he was busiest, he spent ten months a year inspecting places, and he couldn't even take care of his wife and children at home, but he felt that life was exciting and fulfilling.

Due to repeated corruption cases, Liu Chuanzong is now from the seventh grade.

As soon as he entered the border of Ru Township, Liu Chuanzong knew that he had come to the right place, and there were also people here who collected grain in the countryside at a high price. He searched in Ruxiang for half a month, simply went west out of Tongguan, crossed the border and ran to Shaanxi, and found that there were Henan merchants who also crossed the border and ran to Shaanxi to collect grain.

Shaanxi has been plagued by rogue gangsters for more than 10 years, and at the same time, it has been accompanied by a major drought for more than 10 years, the population is sparse, and a large amount of land has been abandoned.

A few years after the imperial court recovered here, the people's livelihood and economy were recovering. However, the imperial court directly halved the land tax in Shaanxi Province, and even the field tax in individual states and counties was completely exempted. As a result, farmers here can sell more grain if they are willing to work hard, because they give less grain to the government – especially in the rich Guanzhong region.

"Fellow countryman, have there been many businessmen who have gone to the countryside to collect grain in the past two years?" Liu Chuanzong asked an honest farmer.

The peasant "saw through" him at a glance and grinned: "You are from the south to collect grain?" I can't harvest it, and this year there is a drought, and few families are willing to sell grain. ”

Liu Chuanzong asked again: "What about last year?" Do you sell grain to the grain station of Datong Bank, or do you sell it to local merchants? ”

The peasant said, "It must be sold to merchants, and those who do business will pay a higher price when they collect grain." ”

Good guys, Shaanxi grain merchants are very powerful, relying on price means to snatch business from Datong Bank. The official grain price is neither high nor low, and it has always been in a moderate state, and the merchants must have collected grain at a high price in order to obtain greater profits.

Liu Chuanzong asked again: "Where do these Shaanxi merchants buy so much grain and sell it?" ”

The farmer said, "I heard that it was transported to Shanxi." ”

Liu Chuanzong said with a smile: "Don't coax me, fellow countryman, where is there a shortage of food in Shanxi?" Then, he stuffed a few copper coins into the farmer's hand, "Well, I was sent by the owner to explore the way, and it is better to go back and receive a reward for a financial road." ”

The peasant whispered: "There are financial roads to the north (Mongolia) and west (Qinghai), and I have also listened to people, the grassland has been snowstormed in recent years, and many livestock have frozen to death, and they are short of food." Last year, a car overturned, and it was all wheat, and it was transported to the West Sea. There are often merchants who buy cattle, sheep, mules and horses from the West Sea, and they all exchange them for grain. There was also a very large kind of oxen, which had very long hair and were very strong, and they did not know whether they were good at plowing the fields. ”

The smile on Liu Chuanzong's face disappeared, thinking that the inspection department in Shaanxi was rotten, at least those armed policemen on the border line must be turning a blind eye to reap the benefits.

Whether it is the Qinghai grassland or the Mongolian grassland, the government allows the export of horses, tea, and salt.

However, the export of iron tools is restricted, and the daily necessities such as iron pots can only be sold, and the smuggling of swords and iron armor is to kill the head if it is caught. In addition, the export of grain is also prohibited, and even if grain is to be exported, it is the imperial court that uses grain to control a certain tribe.

The two provinces of Henan and Shaanxi actually smuggled a large amount of grain into the country, and I don't know how many people lost their heads because of this.

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