Coming out of Gu Tingye's small courtyard, Wei Chen still felt a hot sensation in his waist.

Grandma's, it's really a dog biting Lu Dongbin, and she doesn't know the hearts of good people. This Gu Er, didn't he kindly remind him, and the attack was too light and heavy!

Standing at the gate of the courtyard and cursing a few words in a low voice, Wei Chen took out the invitation card given by Gu Tingye, unfolded it and looked at it, the content in it was similar to what Gu Tingye said.

On the day Wei Chen arrived in Ren Yuzhou, Zhao Zongquan was not present, and he felt guilty, so he deliberately set up a table in Jixian Restaurant this time to make amends to Wei Chen, hoping that Wei Chen would be able to appreciate the light at that time.

Wei Chen felt between the lines that Zhao Zongquan was sincerely afraid when he wrote this invitation, and couldn't help but be a little funny.

This is the future son of heaven, and now in the face of my little Zhizhou, he still has to be so cautious, and the bizarre things in the world are really nothing more than this.

The banquet is tomorrow, and there is no hurry, Wei Chen took it into his arms after reading the invitation, and turned around and walked towards the separate courtyard where his other staff member, Fang Yuan, lived.

Before entering the courtyard gate, he saw a person holding a booklet of documents, hurrying from the courtyard, it was Fang Yuan that Wei Chen was looking for.

Seeing Wei Chen, Fang Yuan was slightly stunned, then stepped forward and bowed, presented the document in his hand and said: "The matter of clearing the warehouse and inventory instructed by Dong Weng has been completed, this is the account book, please take a look at it." ”

"So fast?"

Wei Chen was slightly surprised.

According to the usual rule, after the new officials take office, in addition to the dignified ceremonies such as parading the streets in a sedan chair, ascending to the hall to receive seals, and worshipping the temple with incense, they also have to carry out substantive work such as clearing the warehouse and inventory, clearing the prison, and hanging signs and announcing them.

Wei Chen is busy with the latter two these days, and Wei Chen has handed over the matter of clearing the warehouse to his staff Fang Yuan.

After these days of contact, Wei Chen also has a basic judgment on the level of his three staff.

Gu Tingye needless to say, the position of captain of the Yuzhou Public Security Management Brigade belongs to him, and Wei Chen has already arranged for him to gradually accept the officials and archers in the state government, and gather these rabble to train them strictly.

】

Wei Shuping is old-fashioned, experienced, and proficient in literature and ink, and is good at eucalyptus things, so he can take him with him as a secretary.

And Fang Yuan was thoughtful, calculating, and flexible, Wei Chen was ready to arrange for him to be his big butler, in charge of the warehouse money and grain in Yuzhou.

This time, Fang Yuan was in charge of the clearance and inventory after taking office, and Wei Chen also wanted to take this opportunity to test Fang Yuan's ability to do things.

Now it seems that Sheng Hong is still quite reliable, and the staff member who recommended it to his future son-in-law is really powerful.

Fang Yuan invited Wei Chen into the house and sat down, opened the account book and showed Wei Chen: "Dong Weng, my subordinates have carefully calculated, there are less than five hundred taels of silver left in the state treasury, and there is a lot of grain in stock, more than 10,000 stones. ”

Wei Chen was taken aback when he heard this: "Such a big Yuzhou City, there are only five hundred taels of silver in the official treasury?" This bit of silver is not enough for the daily repair of the official office, right? ”

"Five hundred taels is already a lot." Fang Yuan smiled bitterly: "When my subordinates used to take up the post of magistrate with Lord Sheng, the poor people in the treasury were not even willing to patronize the mice, and there were five thousand taels of holes left by the predecessor to fill. ”

"So, my ex is still kind?" After listening to Fang Yuan's words, Wei Chen couldn't laugh or cry, no matter what, his predecessor had left five hundred taels for himself, which was much better than Sheng Hong's predecessor.

In fact, there are many corrupt officials in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the official treasury is mostly in deficit, as long as the predecessor smooths the accounts, the hole left is not too big, and the successor has to carry it for him.

The new official is not the old official account, and the rules in officialdom have always been like this. After all, the successor will leave office in the future, and if you don't want to be picked up by the successor, you have to follow the rules.

If you really want to get to the end, maybe one day the warehouse will inexplicably start a fire. It is full of people's fat and people's ointment, and it is the people who are bitter.

It's just that having said that, Wei Chen's visit to Yuzhou is not just a formality, but he sincerely wants to do something practical for the people.

Building bridges and paving roads, disaster relief, and education and ......, which of these things does not require a lot of silver? The five hundred taels in the treasury are obviously far from enough.

It's hard for a good woman to cook without rice!

Wei Chen only felt a lot of pressure on his body, and asked Fang Yuan for advice at the moment: "How did Master Sheng make up for the deficit of his predecessor?" ”

"Rely on trafficking."

Fang Yuan said: "Master Sheng wrote to the imperial court and asked for a quota of one hundred degrees, and he solved the urgent need by selling these degrees. ”

"This is a palliative treatment!"

Wei Chen originally expected to learn scriptures from Sheng Hong, but after listening to Fang Yuan's words, he was greatly disappointed.

With this certificate, monks and nuns can not only prove their identity, but also receive preferential treatment from taxation and forced labor.

Exemption from taxation and servitude, what a tempting privilege, in order to avoid tax servitude, the common people actually became a monk, so the degree has become a sought-after commodity, when it is cheap, twenty or thirty tael, when it is expensive, eighty or ninety tael, and it is still priceless.

The government often relied on the sale of the degree to make up for the financial shortfall. However, although this can save the moment, the more degrees that can be sold, the more people will be exempted from taxes and forced labor, and in the long run, the state finances will only become more and more stretched.

With Zhao Zhen's importance to Wei Chen, if Wei Chen wrote to the imperial court to ask for one or two hundred Dao degrees in exchange for some silver flowers, it would definitely be much easier than Sheng Hong, but Wei Chen was really unwilling to do this.

If you don't sell it, where should you get the money? Wei Chen also had a headache for a while.

After pondering for a moment, Wei Chen raised his head and asked Fang Yuan: "Before taking office, when I exchanged letters with Chen Jun of Xinzheng Zhi County, he once said that Yuzhou is located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, bordering Chang'an in the west and Luoyang in the east. ”

During this time, in addition to inspecting the money and grain in the warehouse, Fang Yuan also looked through a lot of books, and he knew a lot about the customs and customs of Yuzhou, so he nodded and said: "Back to Dong Weng, there is indeed such a thing, only forty percent of the taxes collected in the state are agricultural taxes, and the remaining sixty percent are past commercial taxes. ”

"Commercial tax accounts for sixty percent?" Hearing Fang Yuan's words, Wei Chen's eyes couldn't help but widen.

Fang Yuan said with a smile: "Dong Weng can know that there is an old site of Juntai in Yuzhou, which is where Xia Qi, the son of Xia Yu, enjoyed the princes back then. ”

"Juntai? ......"

Wei Chen's mind suddenly flashed: "Could it be that Jun of Jun Porcelain?" ”

Fang Yuan smiled and nodded.

Wei Chen suddenly realized that Yuzhou was actually the location of Jun Kiln.

You know, the porcelain is known as the "five famous porcelain" of the first, can be called the best in the porcelain, as the so-called "gold is priceless", "the family has ten thousand, not as good as a piece of porcelain".

Jun porcelain such an artistic treasure, the origin is actually under the rule of Yuzhou, no wonder can attract merchants from all over the Great Zhou, for Yuzhou to contribute so much business tax.