Shu Yan saw that there was only one person left, and asked, "What are you doing, let's talk about it." ”

The man seemed to be a little cringe: "The villain is the head of the Nancheng Zuofu. ”

Hearing this, everyone was stunned. In Ruyin, Zuofu is the second largest family after the Shi family, with generations of wealthy gentry and countless family wealth. Although the servants in the family can't eat whatever they want, at least they don't have to worry about food and clothing, so why do they come here to eat?

As two great families in the same city, the Shi and Zuo families certainly have contacts. As soon as he heard that Biyu was coming back the day before yesterday, the son of the Zuo family immediately went to visit Shifu. Biyu glanced at the man: "You are a servant in Brother Zuo's mansion, you don't work in the mansion, why did you come here?" Isn't Zuofu still lacking your food? ”

When the servant heard that Biyu was familiar with his son-in-law, he was a little flustered, and hurriedly waved his hand and said, "No, no, no, of course my house will not lack my food." I was serving the eldest brother of Zuo Gongzi, but because I made a little mistake today, I made my master angry, and my master punished me for not being allowed to eat. I was depressed for a while, so I walked out of the house to relieve my boredom. Because of his hunger, he happened to see the messenger greeting him, so he followed here. ”

It is common for large families to punish their servants and maidservants. Everyone didn't have time to ask him why he was punished, but they were very interested in the food and clothing of the servants and maids of the wealthy family, so they asked: "You also heard the words of the previous people, and you also told me about your daily food, and you can go down to get the meal." ”

The servant of the Zuo family was still a little hesitant, "The villain thanked the adult for giving him food." But the villain was punished by the head of the house for being hungry, and if he ate here, he was afraid that the head of the house would know about it......"

Shu Yan saw what he meant and comforted: "As long as you don't say it yourself, we will keep it secret for you." What's more, with Shi Taishou's face, even if your master knows, you will be fine. ”

Hearing this assurance, the servants of the Zuo family were relieved and said truthfully: "In our big family, not only are the masters divided into the eldest and the youngest, but the servants are also divided into three, six, nine and so on. My son-in-law Zuo is the authentic descendant of the Zuo family, of course, he is a treasure of the poor water and land, and his younger brothers and sisters are slightly inferior. As for our subordinates, in addition to their ranks, they also depend on which master they follow. If the status of the master is low, the treatment of the subordinates is also low, and if the status of the master is high, the treatment of the subordinates will also rise with the tide. ”

When Shu Yan heard this, he snorted and said, "There are so many grades in the same mansion. The situation of your big family is too complicated. Instead of listing others, let's take yourself as an example. ”

"Oh, in the case of the villain. According to the usual practice, it is just yellow rice porridge on weekdays. But the masters often gave leftovers to our servants. Of course, not everyone has the opportunity to eat these leftovers. As for the medium-class servants like me, many of them are white rice, dough cakes, and occasionally fish and meat, sometimes they have not touched a few bites, and sometimes there is only some soup left. ”

"Even if it's some soup, it's still oil and water."

"That's just as well."

"Alright, you can go down too."

After everyone finished asking, Shu Yan looked at the group of Peng Shi and said, "You all heard it this time, right?" The people only eat soup porridge as their staple food every day, barely able to stay hungry, far worse than the slaves of the wealthy family, who else dares to say that the people of Ruyin are already well-fed? ”

Magistrates have always been flattering to the top, and no one is willing to really care about the people's feelings at the bottom. Zhong Pengshi has never encountered such a county man who understands public opinion, and he can't be deceived at all, so he all lowered his head and didn't dare to speak.

At this time, I saw two people carrying in a large food box, and two more people each holding a small basket. It turned out that Shi Mansion brought food to Biyu. Biyu didn't want to eat here, so she arranged to carry the food box to her room in the back hall and enjoy it alone.

Shu Yan smiled strangely, and then asked everyone: "If anyone is not satisfied with the food provided by the official office, please follow Shi Taishou, spend your own money, and eat whatever you want, I welcome it with both hands." If you can't do it, please sit down and eat honestly. ”

It is the so-called fighting food assistant. The rank of these assistants is only about 100 stone per month, and the lowest is even the level of fighting food. With an income of more than one bucket of rice a day, he also has to support his wife, children, and parents. If it weren't for the benefits of the government, it would be better to be a more honest farmer. With free food provided by the government, who would be willing to spend their own money to eat? At this time, everyone had already changed their faces, there was no resentment, and they sat down to eat calmly.

Others' hearts were calm, but Shu Yan was uneasy. When he heard that the common people were living such a hard life, he secretly made up his mind in his heart: Within five years, the lives of the ordinary people must be significantly improved.

Du Jian saw that Shu Yan seemed to be thinking, so he leaned over to Shu Yan with his rice bowl and asked, "Shu Cheng, what are you thinking?" ”

"I'm wondering, would you like to eat better?"

Du Jian had a teasing expression: "Eat better?" Do you need to ask, of course I do. However, you have set our food level at the home of the middle people, and we are not allowed to raise it, and we can't eat good food if we want to. ”

"Why can't you eat it? I didn't say that the standard of dining will never change, but that the average people should prevail, and if you want to eat well, you have to find ways to improve the living standards of the people. As long as the living standards of the common people improve, our dining standards will also improve. Do you have faith? ”

Lowering the standard of dining in the government office is just a matter of one sentence, but to improve the overall living standard of the common people is simply a dream, like a joke. Everyone only coped with the sentence "confidence" weakly, and no one took it seriously, but they were very interested in the anecdotes in Luoyang City.

"Shu Cheng, what did you mean by what you said just now about letting Shi Taishou follow the example of the He family's father and son? Who are the father and son of the He family? Gongcao Shi Sun Yi asked.

"The father and son of the He family are He Zeng, who was a lieutenant when he was the first emperor, and his son He Shao. The Imperial Officials provided the imperial meals to the Imperial Officials, but He Taiwei didn't like it and disdained to eat it, so he prepared his own meals, which cost 10,000 yuan a day. Even if it is a meal of 10,000 yuan a day, he still said that there is no place to put the chopsticks, that is, there is no food worthy of his chopsticks. And his son He Shao can be said to be better than the blue, and he doubled the daily food standard from his father's 10,000 yuan to 20,000 yuan! ”

"A day's food costs 120,000 yuan?" Sun Yi couldn't help but smack his tongue, "According to that, our annual income is not enough for people to eat a meal." ”

The thief Cao Shi Wu Qian said: "The family is the third duke, the rank is ten thousand stones, and there are additional rewards in the imperial court every year and every festival, how can we compare?" ”

"Jokes, you don't count, even the rank of ten thousand stones can't afford such an expense." Tocao Shi Guotang retorted.

Bing Cao Shi Peng Hui said with a smile: "What do you know, people like theirs, the main income comes from the sale of land and property, what is Wanshi Chenglu!" ”

These people don't like to be pragmatic and only blindly admire the rich. Although Shu Yan doesn't like them like this, this is not something that can be changed in a moment. Seeing that these people are very willing to be the melon-eating masses of the rich, it is not impossible to take advantage of this to get closer to them and mingle.

"In the Beijing Division, although the He father and son are extravagant, they are not as good as the two kings and one sheep."

"Who are the two kings and one sheep?"

"Two kings and one sheep refer to Wang Kai, Wang Ji and Yang Xiu, all of whom are wealthy families and relatives of the emperor. Although the three of them are noble, they are not as rich as Shi Chong. ”

"Huh? In this way, the He father and son, who cost 10,000 or 20,000 yuan just for eating every day, are not worth mentioning in front of Shi Chong! Luoyang City is really a paradise. What kind of extravagant life do they have? Shu Cheng might as well tell us more. ”

......

After taking a nap, Shu Yan was anxious about what he was learning, and he couldn't sit still, so he wanted to find Biyu. The matter of Shujiazhuang is indeed anxious, if it is placed within the scope of Shujiazhuang, it is a big deal, but it is a trivial matter in the entire Ruyin County. As a county leader, he must focus on the overall situation of the whole county, and he can't patronize the affairs of his hometown.

Shu Yan walked to the back hall, but saw Biyu holding a small bronze mirror to apply fat powder and tidy up his makeup.

"As the head of a county, you are really idle!"

"Nothing, what am I not doing idle?"

Shu Yan shook his head: "I just took over, and I don't know the general situation of this county, so you actually said nothing?" ”

"Do you mean the population, the land, the taxes, the inventory of the money silo, the granary, and so on?"

"So you understand? When a new official takes office and the two officials are handed over, the above matters must be understood first. ”

"Of course I understand, but I just don't want to care. With you, I don't worry. "Biyu said lightly.

"Hmph, don't forget, you are the lord of a county and the magistrate, and it is not as easy as being a subordinate official in the secretary's pavilion. I can do more for other things, but I advise you to understand these basic information yourself. What's more, today is your first day in office, and no matter how you do, you can't be too slack. ”

Although Biyu was annoying, he couldn't resist Shu Yan, so he had to listen to Shu Yan's words.

Shu Yan called all the officials over to understand the situation one by one.

First asked Hu Cao Shi Guotang: "How many households are there in Ruyin County now?" ”

"There are more than twenty-one thousand." Guo Tang replied.

There are more than 20,000 household registrations, and Shu Yan is a little relieved: the princes of the late Han Dynasty are fighting, and the people are killed and injured countless times. By the time of the unification of the Great Jin Dynasty, there were less than 10,000 households left in Ruyin County, and now the household registration has doubled, which is really gratifying. However, compared with the heyday of history, there is still a big gap.

"What about the fields and taxes?"

"There are 1.1 million acres of land in all counties of the county. 50,000 horses of silk and 50,000 catties of cotton; Tian Fu 60,000 Hu; Sporadic city tax of 400,000 dollars. ”

These numbers are far from ideal. First of all, the amount of arable land is not large, and the taxes are even less. However, I am new to the city, and I don't know the specific situation, so I shouldn't be arbitrary.

Biyu held a bronze mirror in his left hand and a tail in his right hand, and although he sat in the center, he never said a word. It's as if the person in charge here is Shu Yan, and he is just a bystander.

Shu Yan's intention to comfort and remind has been fulfilled, as for whether Biyu cares about it or not, that's his own business.

"How much money and grain are in the government treasury at present?" Shu Yan turned to ask Cang Cao Shi Qian Shengdao.

"As of yesterday, there were 5 baht and 154,000 yuan, 500 horses of silk, 7,000 pieces of millet and 1,000 pieces of wheat in the treasury."

"Is there only so much for all the treasury?" Biyu spoke suddenly. The dignified county treasury is not as much as a fraction of his private warehouse, and it is not counted as the property in Luoyang. He was very confused.

"Huifujun, that's all."

"Where do the salaries of the officials come from?" Shu Yan asked.

"That's it."

"So how many officials are there in our county?"

"There are less than a hundred officials." Gong Cao Shi Sun Yi replied.

"That is to say, after deducting the salaries of the officials, there will be not much left in the treasury?"

The main bookkeeper, Du Jian, laughed slightly: "How can there be any leftover?" Historically, when the former official leaves office, he will distribute the money and food in his hand to the left, who will give the next one a lot of leftovers! Today, the treasury can only last until the next collection. ”

Although Shu Yan is resentful, this is an unwritten and consistent malaise in officialdom, so what can be done? After understanding this, he asked some more about thieves, inspections, water conservancy, etc., and knew that the territory of Ruyin was basically stable, and there was nothing important.