The foreman fell to his knees, trembling, still afraid to speak.

Seeing this, Uncle Guo on the side let out an angry shout.

"Something like a dog! Do you know who is standing in front of you! If you don't tell the truth again, Lao Tzu will send someone to pick your skin! ”

When the foreman heard this, he trembled, and no longer dared to hide it, and knelt on the ground, and while kowtowing, he cried:

"My lord! The little ones do this for the sake of enriching themselves! The wages of the miners, not a single penny of the miners, were all sent to the Yamen of Chang'an Mansion! ”

"And the little ones don't want to be so harsh on these miners, if they don't do this, they won't be able to complete the targets set by the imperial court!"

As soon as this remark came out.

Uncle Guo's face changed slightly.

Although he was not interested in the affairs of the court, he also knew that Chang'an Mansion Yin was a person of Fang Xiang!

Without Fang Xiang's order, how could he, a small Fu Yin, dare to do such a thing.

"Do you mean...... The culprit is actually Fang Xiang? ”

As soon as he thought of this, Uncle Guo stopped talking.

The other side.

Fang Xiu's brows furrowed even tighter, he looked at the foreman, and said coldly, "Who gave you the idea to use this method to deduct the miners' wages?" ”

The foreman hesitated: "The little one also forgot who it was...... The small one only knew that someone from the Yamen of Chang'an Mansion had come to inform the small one before, saying that the imperial court was short of silver and could not pay the miners.

The small one had no choice, and he planned to go to the government office to ask what was going on, so someone told the small one such a way, and all the wages deducted from it were sent to the government office, of course, many times, the wages were not sent to the mine at all, and the small ones could not even be seen. ”

When Fang Xiu heard this, a thoughtful look appeared on his face.

After a moment, he seemed to realize something, waved his hand and said, "Someone!" Take this man down and keep a good watch! He must not be released without the order of his own appearance! ”

"Yes!"

As soon as the words fell, someone took the order and stepped forward to arrest the mine.

When the head of the mine saw this, he just shouted that he was wronged.

Fang Xiu turned a deaf ear, looked at the miner, and asked, "How much silver does the mine owe you?" ”

The miner's face showed excitement, and he said in a trembling voice: "If you go back to the Qingtian Master, it will add up to a total of five taels of silver." ”

Fang Xiu nodded, took out a few banknotes from his arms, handed them to him, and said lightly: "Here are five taels of silver, you can take it." ”

When the miner saw the silver, he only felt hope, and knelt on the ground and kowtowed vigorously.

"Master Xie Qingtian is the master of the little one, and the big master Qingtian is the little benefactor! The little one will definitely repay the blue sky in the future! ”

Fang Xiu waved his hand and said, "If you really want to repay me, do your best to do your best, whether it is farming or mining." ”

"The little one must be!"

The miners kowtow again.

Fang Xiu nodded, turned around and was about to leave.

This time.

Hundreds of miners surrounded him, knelt on the ground, and said in a mournful voice: "Please let the little one call the shots!" ”

Fang Xiu looked at them, his heart was inexplicably bored, he looked at Uncle Guo on the side, and said expressionlessly: "Uncle Lao Guo has verified how much silver he owes these people in the mine, and he will make up for them." ”

Uncle Guo hurriedly said: "Yes! ”

"Okay, the court will try to pay off the silver owed to you, and then it depends on whether you continue to work in the mine or go back to farming."

After Fang Xiu finished speaking, he was about to leave.

The miners still knelt on the ground and cried loudly: "Lord Qingtian wants to be the master of the little ones!" ”

Seeing this, Fang Xiu sighed in his heart, and said, "Since I promised you, I will definitely do it, let's all disperse!" ”

The voice fell.

The guards around them all had their hands on their scabbards.

If these miners were still here, they would have to drive them away.

Fortunately, these miners were quite knowledgeable, and when they saw Fang Xiu say this, they all obediently gave way to a road.

Fang Xiu returned to Xiangguo Mansion from the mining area.

The first thing was to find someone to summon Chang'an Mansion Yin.

"Xiaguan meets Fang Xiang!"

Yin Zhao Zhengrong of Chang'an Mansion saluted respectfully.

Fang Xiu looked at him without any expression on his face, and recounted what he had encountered in the mining area today.

"The people in the mine told Ben Xiang that all the wages deducted were sent to the Yamen of Chang'an Mansion, should you give Ben Xiang an explanation why the silver that was originally used for the miners was twisted to you, and where was the silver used?"

When Zhao Zhengrong heard this, he was stunned at first, and then he looked like he wanted to say something.

"This ......"

Fang Xiu looked at him and said, "Say whatever you want, you are a person, you still know the true appearance, even if you have the heart to be greedy for this silver, you don't have the courage to tell the original appearance, who took away so much silver?" Where is it used? ”

Throughout, his tone was extremely flat, as if it were a trivial matter.

However, Chang'an Mansion Yin knows better than anyone else in his heart.

Since Fang Xiang chose to personally inquire about this matter, it means that he still takes this matter to heart!

Fang Xiang is not only the prime minister of the Great Qian, but also the regent of the Zhou State, it is not an exaggeration to say that there are all kinds of opportunities!

How could something that Fang Xiang could ask about in person?

That's it.

Zhao Zhengrong didn't dare to hide it anymore, and said busily: "If you go back to Fang Xiang, all this silver has been sent to the household yamen, and the Chang'an Mansion is just a transit role, every time the silver is sent to the mine, the lower officials don't even know how much." ”

"Got it, you go down."

In the case of Wu Guo's grain merchants, this Zhao Zhengrong can be regarded as making some contributions.

What he said was quite credible, and he didn't have the courage to deceive Fang Xiu.

"Retire!"

Zhao Zhengrong breathed a sigh of relief, saluted again, and turned to leave.

Fang Xiu sat on the stone bench, was silent for a moment, looked at the guards on the side, and ordered, "Call Qin Xingyan." ”

"Yes!"

Since the silver was sent to the household department, it must have an indelible relationship with Qin Xingyan.

Although Qin Xingyan said that this person was Fang Xiu's staunchest supporter.

However, this matter involved a lot, and even Fang Xiu couldn't turn a blind eye.

The nearest mine to Chang'an, the situation of deducting wages is so serious.

You don't have to think about what the rest of the mines and caves look like.

Those miners must be living in misery and suffering!

And this is what Fang Xiu never wants to see!

Minutes and seconds passed.

It's only half an hour.

Qin Xingyan, who was dressed in a scarlet official robe, came to Fang Xiu's face, with a flattering smile on his old face as always: "Fang Xiang, what do you have to order?" ”

Fang Xiu glanced at him and said, "There is a copper mine in the south of Chang'an, do you know?" ”

In just one sentence, Qin Xingyan instantly understood what Fang Xiu meant.

The original smile froze on his face, and he looked a little uneasy.

Seeing this, Fang Xiu sighed in his heart.

With an angry look on his face, he said sharply, "Have you been to the mining area?" Do you know what kind of life those miners lived? It can be described in four words, life is better than death! You also have to be greedy for ink, don't you feel hot when you hold it in your hand?! ”

When Qin Xingyan heard this, the old man's face showed a touch of grievance, and he defended himself in a low voice.

"The money that should have been issued to the miners was indeed sent to the yamen of the household department, but it was not greedy by the lower officials."

Fang Xiu said angrily: "It's not that you are greedy for ink, where is it used?" ”

Qin Xingyan said:

"Used everywhere! Build workshops, relieve floods, produce weapons, and build new cities...... All of this is in silver, and before this year, the imperial court was already in serious deficits, and the treasury was empty, as you know.

Later, Fang Xiangyou founded Zhenbao Zhai, and then established the Tax Institute and the Royal Bank, which increased the proportion of commercial taxes, greatly improved the emptiness of the treasury, and the imperial court also had surplus silver.

However, in the past six months, the imperial court has fought wars with the Zhou and Yan states, requiring a large number of soldiers, weapons, and grain and grass.

Let's not talk about how much silver is needed for the raw materials of weapons and grain and grass, let's talk about the cost of personnel, the standard you specify for the new army is two taels of silver a month, the standard for the miners is one tael of silver a month, and the craftsmen in those workshops are in the tens of thousands!

With so many people, such high standards, and no war, it can be said that the court can barely support them, not to mention that when it starts, the lower officials really have no choice, so they want to reduce their expenses from everywhere and use the silver in critical places.

For example, the wages of miners, in the past, these young and strong mining for the imperial court was listed in the conscription, the imperial court did not even need to prepare food for them, reduce their expenses, although it will cause dissatisfaction, but it is not to the boiling of public resentment, after all, the number of miners is not too much, but the flood in Huizhou is different, if it is not handled well, it will provoke the people to revolt!

There is also the construction of the new city, Zhao Zizheng of the Ministry of Industry has been urging me to do not know how many times in the past few days, to let our household department allocate funds, saying that it involves a lot, and saying that it is Fang Xiang, what do you mean, you say that if you are a lower official, what will you do? It is nothing more than tearing down the east wall and making up the west wall.

You know what kind of person Xia Guan is, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is a dog thief who loots people's fat and people's cream.

But in the past two years, Xia Guan has indeed not been greedy for ink anymore! To maintain the expenses of the house, all rely on the dividends of Jumbo Zhai! The dividends of Zhenbao Zhai are indeed a huge amount of income for other colleagues, but they are not worth mentioning to Xiaguan, a dog thief who was once greedy. ”

Speaking of this, his eyes were already full of tears, and he said in a trembling voice: "Over the years, although Xia Guan has done all the bad things, he has always wanted to share his worries for Fang Xiang, and I hope that Fang Xiang will look at Xia Guan's dedication over the years, and observe this matter. ”

He said a lot in one breath, and his emotions gradually became excited, obviously suppressed for a long time.

Fang Xiu looked at him and suddenly found that he looked a little older than he had been some time ago.

Obviously only in his fifties, he looks like an old man in his sixties and seventies.

"The prime minister knows that the burden on your body in the past two years is very heavy and the pressure is very high, but the prime minister still wants to ask you, why don't you tell the prime minister about these things?"

Fang Xiu asked in a flat tone.

Qin Xingyan hesitated for a moment, and decided to tell the truth: "The lower officials are afraid. ”

Fang Xiu's brows furrowed slightly, and he asked, "What are you afraid of?" ”

Qin Xingyan said: "I'm afraid that Fang Xiang will think that it is unfavorable for the lower officials to do things, like this kind of thing, the lower officials are trying their best to maintain it, and they can't maintain it, so they think about demolishing the east wall and making up the west wall, until one day, something happens......

"I remember that you weren't like this before."

Fang Xiu frowned.

When Qin Xingyan heard this, he looked like he wanted to speak and stopped.

Seeing this, Fang Xiu waved his hand and said, "If you have anything to say, it doesn't hurt to say it." ”

Qin Xingyan said: "In the past, Fang Xiang was the backbone of Xia Guan and others, and there were many people in the court who were enemies of Fang Xiang and Xia Guan, and they were-for-tat with Fang Xiang everywhere, Fang Xiang needed Xia Guan to do things, and even if Xia Guan made a mistake, Fang Xiang would also think about making up for Xia Guan."

But now Fang Xiang is the backbone of the entire imperial court, and even the entire Daqian, and what he thinks about in his heart is the entire Daqian, if the lower officials make another mistake, it will be different from before......"

The implication is that.

Previously, Fang Xiu was more like their big brother.

Now, Fang Xiu was more like a new monarch.

Even if he has followed Fang Xiu for many years, his mentality towards Big Brother and facing the monarch is completely different.

Fang Xiu was completely able to understand his thoughts, was silent for a moment, and said: "The changes you have made in the past two years are in your eyes, and the present phase believes that you are not greedy for this silver. ”

When Qin Xingyan heard this, he was stunned at first, and then tears welled up in his eyes, and he was moved: "Those who know me, don't be more than Fang Xiang!" ”

"Xiaguan doesn't hide it, a few years ago, Xiaguan was desperately greedy for ink and silver, mainly thinking about leaving more family property for those two sons.

Now Xiaguan found that Xiaguan's two sons all pretended to be people in their hearts, even if they left the silver to them, they would not think of Xiaguan's goodness, but would feel that Xiaguan was a moth who scavenged the people's fat and ointment.

Because of this, Xia Guan is no longer as greedy for ink and silver as before, some time ago, the flood in Huizhou, Xia Guan also took out a sum of silver from his own house as a donation. ”

When Fang Xiu heard this, he thought of his two sons, whose character was indeed not bad, and sighed, "You have two good sons. ”

When Qin Xingyan heard this, he sighed and said, "Yongxin is quite obedient, but Shouyang ...... Ay. ”

Fang Xiu waved his hand and said: "Everyone has their own ambitions, there is no need to force them, and besides, it may not be a good thing to study idle books...... Okay, let's talk about this gossip later, but the most important thing now is how to deal with this matter! ”

Speaking of this, he paused, and said in a deep voice: "The court is short of silver, but no matter how short of silver, you shouldn't suffer the people, if you deduct wages, it will be equivalent to apportioning forced labor to those miners, and after a long time, there will definitely be problems!" ”

Qin Xingyan nodded heavily and said, "Xiaguan thinks so too. ”

Fang Xiu glanced at him and said angrily: "What the prime minister wants is how to solve the problem, not to echo it." ”

Qin Xingyan smiled awkwardly and replied: "Xia Guan thinks that the best solution is to reduce the wages of miners, the original one or two silver is too much, Xia Guan thought that it could be reduced by fifty percent, and changed to five hundred wen a month." ”

After a pause, he said: "In addition to the wages of the miners, the wages of the craftsmen must also be reduced.......

When Fang Xiu heard this, his brows furrowed slightly, and he said, "I think that in addition to reducing wages, there is also a way. ”

Is there anything else that can be done other than to reduce wages?

Qin Xingyan was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously asked, "What method?" ”