Chapter 118

Guan Shengyun actually completely controlled the three prefectures in northern Hubei Province, needless to say, the silver grain of these three prefectures, the three divisions of Huguang and even the imperial court should not think about it. Not only that, but even Huguang has to pay half of the silver rice to the imperial court every year - you can figure it out with your toes, and most of these also go into Guan Shengyun's pocket. It is said to be "Dadu", because from Kou Shiyi, the governor of Huguang, to Jiang Zhonggang, the magistrate of Gucheng, every official of the Ming Dynasty has to deduct a little bit from it.

This is the rule, the so-called no rules are not a circle. The power of this kind of "rule" is so great that even Guan Shengyun can't help it. At first, of course, Guan Shengyun didn't do it, blowing his beard and glaring at him, threatening to go to Emperor Xianlingxian * to "complain", and then lead his troops to Wuchang to find Kou Futai to "reason"! This momentum frightened Mo Qiushui, Gan Zhihai and others to kneel on the spot. But fortunately, without waiting for Guan Dashuai to attack further, Luo Yonghao stepped forward in time to stop him. Luo Yonghao expressed his full understanding and gratitude to all the adults, and made it clear that he was very satisfied with this amount, and it would be good to implement it according to this standard in the future - even, if there is any accident or the sky is not perfect, it is acceptable to have a half percent less, well, as long as it does not exceed one percent.

When Luo Yonghao sent away the officials and came back, Guan Shengyun was still angry: "Strategist, you are too easy to talk, these dog officials dare to bully Guan Mou, don't give them some color, and think Guan Mou is a vegetarian!" ”

Of course, Luo Yonghao knows why Guan Shengyun is so angry - the reason why he has come to this day is not because the civil officials deducted the salary of Guan Shuai's (called Lu Sixiang at the time) father-in-law Lu Yong too much? However, Luo Yonghao also fully understands that the officials do have a last resort: "Dashuai, with the money and grain of the three mansions, let's raise these sons, as long as we save some money under our hands, it is almost enough, plus the money and rice in Huguang, we are more than enough." ”

Guan Shengyun said angrily: "I didn't say enough, these are two different things!" I'm just angry, but these dog officials who don't know how to die dare to deduct Guan Mou's head! ”

Luo Yonghao smiled slightly: "Dashuai, they are really forced to do so, otherwise, they will never dare to fight our idea." We can really ask them for as much as we want, and they will never dare not give ...... However, in that case, our peaceful life will not be long. ”

Guan Shengyun was stunned: "How can the military advisor say this?" ”

Luo Yonghao explained: "Dashuai, you know how low I am an official, let's take Jiang Zhixian as an example." The salary of the magistrate is around seven stones and five buckets, and not all of them are grain, some of them are rice and wheat, and some of them are in kind, such as satin cloth, pepper, and sumac. Most of the time, rice and wheat account for two or three percent, and the rest are physical goods or banknotes. In other words, what the imperial court issued to Jiang Zhixian was 'something that could be converted into a total of seven stones and five buckets of rice and wheat'. There is a question here: if it is a physical product, what price is it converted at? ”

Guan Shengyun was a little interested, and said, "That's right! The price of the same thing can vary greatly from place to place! Not to mention anything else, such as salt. Don't hide it from the military advisor, Guan Mou had resold some military salt for his father-in-law before, about three or four cents of silver a catty. And here in Huguang, there is only a penny of silver per catty. ”

Luo Yonghao said: "That's right. However, the imperial court doesn't care about the price difference in various places, and the household department can fold it as much as it wants! Not only that, but the court will not care about the cost of food and drink on the way back and forth when you send someone to get these things, let alone how much you can sell them at a discount of the household. Anyway, the court just sends it down, and the rest is your own business. ”

Guan Shengyun smacked his tongue: "Obedient, ruthless enough." ”

Luo Yonghao said disappreciably: "Where is this? There are even more ruthless ones! As I said earlier, whether it is rice and wheat or cloth and pepper, there are still physical objects, and the most absolute thing is to issue money, and send the treasure money directly! Grandpa Tai invented the Ming treasure banknote, a piece of paper to draw ten strings of copper coins stamped with the official seal is consistent, painting five strings is five hundred Wen, and stipulated, consistent banknotes are converted into one tael of silver, can buy rice and one stone, this is the eight years of Hongwu. In the thirtieth year of Hongwu, if you buy a stone of rice, if you use silver, you only need two coins and five cents, and if you use treasure money, you will need two and five hundred wen! That was when the iron-fisted Taizu was there, and by now, this banknote is no different from straw paper. When Luo was in Shenmu, the court gave Shaanxi Provincial officials 'one banknote, two meters and seven cents', but Luo belonged to the broken drum and everyone beat it, and the officials in northern Shaanxi made the banknotes cheaper Luo, and the monthly money was all paper money, and Luo simply didn't get it. ”

Hearing this, Guan Shengyun had a new question: "Strategist, stop for a moment." Guan originally knew that this treasure banknote was no different from straw paper, but when the military advisor talked about this, he suddenly remembered something but didn't understand. Guan had heard before that the emperor gave millions of treasure money to Zhuyi tribute envoys...... In this way, what is given is worthless. That...... Why did Zhuyi still come all the way to pay tribute? Are they really stupid? ”

Luo Yonghao said: "How can someone be stupid enough to travel across the ocean and beg for a few pieces of waste paper to go back?" Zhuyi came here to take advantage! The treasure money given by the saint seems to be worthless, and they will carry goods to trade with the local government! This alone has several times the benefits. Moreover, in their eyes, this treasure is even more priceless - with the treasure money given by the Holy Lord, it means that the court recognizes them! Taizu set fifteen 'non-conquest countries' back then, and what they brought back was a life talisman! ”

Guan Shengyun scratched his head embarrassedly: "Hehe, I thought that either they were really stupid, or the treasure money given to them by the emperor was very different, and it could be exchanged for real money." ”

Luo Yonghao said disappreciably: "The Heavenly Empire gives real money to these small states? You think about it. Why? ”

Guan Shengyun smiled: "What the military advisor said is yes." However, having said that, it is just a matter of giving these things to Zhuyi, and it is too much to give them to one's own family. ”

Luo Yonghao smiled self-deprecatingly: "Misfortune and blessing depend, it is also fortunate that Luo Mou, who is not extremely Tailai, met the handsome." Don't worry, there's still a ...... behind."

"And?"

"Well, there's still arrears! It's normal to drag on for a few months. Also, the imperial court is only responsible for the officials' own affairs, and they don't ask about anything. The magistrate is better, generally speaking, it is almost enough to hire two masters. One is Master Qiangu, in addition to collecting the emperor's grain, money and rice, he is also responsible for planning the income and expenditure of the county government, such as the distribution of rice*, the sacrifice to the mountain god and the river god, the annual festival poetry meeting, the expenses of officials at all levels to welcome and send off, and how to receive at what level, there are rules; One is the criminal master, what lawsuits the people have, the county is responsible for the trial, this criminal master is familiar with the "Da Ming Law", and will make a specific judgment: whether to play 30 boards or 50 boards, flow 1,000 miles or 2,000 miles, it is all the matter of the criminal master. Dashuai you think, the county magistrates are often scholars who have read 'Zi Yue Shiyun Xiu Qi Zhiping' for more than ten years, and they can't even tell the difference between rice and rice, and the ten copper plates here and there are five coins and silver baht will be more difficult to do, and it is impossible to be proficient in the laws of the country, these two masters must have no matter what. ”

"Also, you always want your children to continue to follow the right path and seek their careers, right? Then you have to be literate and study. Of course, I can teach, but I can't keep an eye on it all the time, so I have to ask for a Mr. Xixi. If you want to exchange official documents without omissions and flaws, you must also ask a scholar to carefully draft and check the draft. The salarywood soap officials in the yamen have an annual salary of twenty taels, and several masters and a gentleman, why do they need forty or fifty taels each, right? This is theoretically, in fact, there is no one to do this, no one will help you do this, this is only the level of the county government, if it is the master of the prefect's level, it will be more than doubled! By the way, the county's annual salary is forty-five taels of silver, which is not enough for one ingot* silver! In other words, if you post it upside down yourself, it's almost enough to hire one! Do you have to do everything by yourself when you buy tea, buy rice, and receive money? So you also have to have a few long-term followers. The weddings and funerals of Shangguan colleagues were to marry Bing Jing Tan Jing*, and to marry wives and concubines to worship the high hall...... It's all human nature. A well-behaved and not very greedy magistrate has a necessary annual expenditure of about seven or eight hundred taels, and the imperial court only gives you ninety stone grains or forty-five taels of silver, which is still discounted according to their price! How do you say? ”

"I can only make up my mind with the people." Guan Shengyun smiled bitterly and understood.

"That's right! Look, why is this Gucheng County Ya so broken? This is called 'officials do not repair the government'. Anyway, it's a rogue official, and he will leave after a few years, and he will repair the wedding dress made for others to be magnificent, and with this money, it is better to put it in his pocket. It is used to make the upper peak, so that you can continue to climb up, and if you don't buy some fields in your hometown, you will also become a rich man. ”

Guan Shengyun couldn't help but interject and quipped: "If all the officials are in collusion and make the official office brilliant, in this way, no matter which one, no matter where it is transferred, wouldn't it be comfortable?" ”

Luo Yonghao was stunned by this whimsical idea: "How can this be made? How much more food will the people of the whole world pay! Besides, the old men of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the patrols of the two capitals and thirteen provinces are all decorations? Although Emperor Xin, Huhai, Yang Guang*, can not tolerate it. ”

Guan Shengyun said embarrassedly: "Guan just said it casually, Mr. doesn't have to take it seriously." I also knew it was impossible. ”

Luo Yonghao also understood that Guan Shengyun was on a whim, and continued: "If we have to insist on the original amount, of course they don't dare not give it, but after all, their needs are there, and unless they are willing to starve to death, they can't reduce it." Although Huguang is the land of fish and rice, they can't touch the royal village of the clan, and the gentry with merit and fame don't accept the land endowment, and they don't dare to move too many thoughts about some joints in the two Kyotos, and all the burden will eventually be passed on to the people! Soon, the people who can't survive will either sell themselves as slaves and join the squire, or leave their hometowns to die in the world. At that time, the desperate Huguang Third Division and the officials of various provinces will only be greedy for nothing, and finally put all the responsibility on us! The main reason why the imperial court can tolerate us now is that they are afraid of beating this famous land of fish and rice into a mess. At present, there is still half of the grain and silver that can be counted on, if it is so dilute that it cannot be cleaned up, then there will be no more scruples, and we can only continue to fight all the way. When I told them that there could be less, I was suggesting that they should leave some room for each other. The officials who can be here as parents have all seen the world, and they will definitely understand what I mean. ”

Guan Shengyun, who was happy and convinced, couldn't help but bow his hand to the sky and sighed: "Guan Mou He De, he actually got the help of the military advisor!" ”

Luo Yonghao hurriedly said a few words modestly, and then his eyes lit up, and he said: "When the marshal said that he was selling military salt, I suddenly had a new idea. ”

Guan Shengyun hurriedly asked, "What did the military advisor think of?" ”

Luo Yonghao didn't answer immediately, and quickly thought about it for a while before saying, "Wait a minute, Dashuai, I think this matter is promising." Come on, quickly find the world. Dashuai, when the puppy comes, let's discuss it together. ”

This knowledge point:

* The emperor in Guan Shengyun's mouth is the king of Xingxian, Zhu Youqi (pronounced "yuan"). The fourth son of Xianzong Zhu Jianshen, the half-brother of Xiaozong Zhu Youzhang, the uncle of Wuzong Zhu Houzhao, and the father of Sejong Zhu Houxi. Wuzong had no children, and after his death, "brother to brother", Zhu Houxi ascended the throne. After the "Great Rites Discussion", he was honored as the "Emperor Xingxian", and posthumously as: "Zhitian Shoudao Hong Deyuanren Kuanmu Chunsheng Respectful Emperor of Literature", the temple name Ruizong.

* If a scholar enters the county school after passing the examination, the government will give each person one liter of rice per day, about two catties, which is called "rice". It means that it is encouraged to concentrate on reading and continue to improve, and no longer need to waste energy on food and cultivation. Of course, one liter of rice is enough for one person, but if you have already married a wife and had children, it is still a little nervous, but it is much better than nothing.

* Here Luo Yonghao is talking about a large ingot of fifty taels, which is commonly known as "ingots". Note that the word ingots must not be used before the middle of the Ming Dynasty, because it is necessary to avoid Zhu Yuanzhang's ridicule. However, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was not so much attention - "Golden Vase Plum" was roughly written in the Wanli period, and there was a description of "moving out sixty ingots, a total of three thousand taels".

*A name for bribery that began in the Ming Dynasty. The origin is that in order to show favor to his subordinates, the emperor gave charcoal for heating in winter and ice in summer to cool off. Every severe winter, the husband would be mobilized to dig a large piece of ice into the river and transport it to the ice cellar, so that the emperor could use it to cool off in summer. Later, the people began to follow suit, and in the middle of summer, vendors would push ice carts covered with thick cotton quilts and sell them to wealthy officials. These two things were originally the excuses for foreign officials to go to Beijing to do business and dredge up to the officials of the six departments: you buy some ice (charcoal) to cool off (warm) the heart...... Later, it developed to the point that officials in various places sent each other by themselves, and it became a kind of official rule. These two are just a general term, and there are many kinds of them: New Year's Respect - sent during the New Year, Festival Respect - sent during the Festival, Xijing - sent when doing happy events, Door Respect - sent to the secretary of the leadership guard, Makeup Respect - sent to the wives of the two, three, four and five wives, Wen Jing - sent to the young master to ask the teacher for the tutoring class......

*Di Xin: King of Shang. Hu Hai: Qin II. Yang Guang: Emperor Yang of Sui.

These people are too notorious, so Luo Yonghao called them by their first names and did not use the emperor's name.