Hearing that Xu Dong said that Yan and Chen had sent someone to report that the summer tax had been collected, and asked him to go to the meeting, Gu Yunji did not continue to stay, and after saying hello to Zhang Cuiying, he went to the Xuzhou Mansion.

In the palace, Yan Zhengqian and Chen Xunzhou were already waiting there, and as soon as they saw Gu Yunji, Yan Zhengqian picked up his signature smirk again, and said enthusiastically: "Alas, Master Gu is here, we have been waiting for you for a long time." ”

Gu Yunji replied lightly, glanced at the account book on the table, and looked back at the two of them with a smile: "Two days ago, I asked Lord Chen for the account book, and I wanted to see the progress of the tax collection. As a result, the adults said that the levy had just begun, and that they would delay it for two days and then give it to me, so why should they delay it until the grain tax was collected before notifying me? ”

Chen Xunzhou laughed dryly: "That's ...... I misjudged the progress of the tax collection, I thought it would take ten and a half days, but I didn't expect the people under my command to move so fast, and the summer grain tax was collected at noon today. It's also hard work for them, and when they are idle for a while, give them an extra allowance. ”

Gu Yunji smiled perfunctorily and didn't say anything.

This is the first time Gu Yunji has been out of Beijing to serve as a magistrate, and when he first arrived in Xuzhou Mansion, he still had extremely high expectations for his colleagues, especially the prefect and Tongzhi, and looked forward to governing the state capital with them.

Later, as he got to know better, he found that Yan Zhengqian and Chen Xunzhou were not worth working with at all. From the beginning of the promotion of high-yield artichokes, Gu Yunji didn't expect the two of them to help anything, just do their own things.

Later, he and Yan Zhengqian had a face-rending quarrel, only to find that the two of them were rotten from the inside out.

Yan Zhengqian is about to leave office, and his mind has already flown away from Xuzhou Mansion, and his mind is full of how to beautify his political achievements, curry favor with Shangguan, and pave the way for his promotion and fortune.

Chen Xunzhou's family is quite powerful in the local area, and the clansmen oppressed the people in the fish and meat township, all of which were instructed and acquiesced by him. Like Yan Zhengqian, he also did not think about governing the state capital, but thought about how to obtain the maximum benefit for himself and continue this benefit.

And now, although the three of them are still maintaining peace on the surface, in fact, Yan Zhengqian and Chen Xunzhou have long been standing together, and there is a faint tendency to partner against him.

Gu Yunji had a hard relationship and a large background, so they didn't dare to target him openly, so they chose to isolate him and exclude him from the power center of the Xuzhou Mansion.

For example, this time the summer tax and grain collection, Gu Yunji never received any report from beginning to end, and he didn't know any of the details and affairs of the tax collection, except for the only time - that is, now, to tell him that the summer tax and grain in Xuzhou Mansion had been collected.

Regarding this behavior of the two, Gu Yunji sneered in his heart, feeling a little ridiculous.

Yan Zhengqian is just that, anyway, he has to be transferred, and it is nothing to offend Gu Yunji a little before leaving, after all, the world is big, and the possibility of encountering him in the future is very small, and he basically has no chance to deal with Gu Yunji.

As for Chen Xunzhou, Rao is Gu Yunji couldn't help but scold him for being a fool in his heart. He is different from Yan Zhengqian, he can't run away, he can only stay in Xuzhou Mansion all the time, and in the future, he will not look up and see Gu Yunji when he looks up, and he will make an ugly scene today, and when Yan Zhengqian is transferred away, won't he be afraid that Gu Yunji will free up his hands to deal with him?

Isolation is isolation, Gu Yunji is the general judgment of Xuzhou Mansion, but everything in the mansion is not good without his signature. The two of them can only isolate him in some small things, and when they encounter major decisions, they don't dare to exclude him? Gu Yunji was too lazy to care.

After the polite scene was finished, seeing Gu Yunji flipping through the account book without saying a word, Yan Zhengqian said on the side at the right time: "Although there is a big drought this year, the overall situation of summer grain collection is still good, and a total of more than 90,000 stone grain has been collected. After two days, I will go to the political secretary with Master Chen......"

"How much?"

Gu Yunji flipped through the account book, raised his head and said in disbelief: "The drought in the spring and summer of this year is so serious, and the grain production has been greatly reduced, and the Xuzhou Mansion has paid 90,000 or 100,000 stone of tax grain in previous years, how can it be possible to receive 90,000 stone of grain this year?!" ”

Yan Zhengqian said with a smile: "Although this year's drought seems to be a bit serious, the actual situation is actually okay, not as bad as we imagined. The people's homes are abundant, and the taxes and grains collected are naturally more. ”

"Kurayu is abundant?" Gu Yunji laughed angrily, and closed the account book in his hand with a snap, "Lord Yan, don't you feel blushing when you say this?" I think you know better than I do what this year's grain harvest will look like. ”

"I don't dare to say anything else, just say that I have been to see the farmland around Fucheng. On both sides of the riverbank, the yield of the remaining fields has been reduced by 30 to 50 percent. From spring sowing in February to the end of May, there was no rain for three months, and some of the smaller rivers were almost dried up by farmers. ”

"In this case, Master Yan told me that 'the drought is not so serious' and 'the actual situation is actually fine', do you think I will believe it?"

Yan Zhengqian's expression was a little unnatural because of him, and he forcibly explained: "...... Master Gu also said, you only look at the surrounding areas of Fucheng, the situation in distant towns is really not so bad, and it is a common phenomenon to reduce production by only one or two percent. ”

"Anyway, the tax grain of 90,000 stone has been collected, and it is true, and there is no fraud. There is no violent tax collection in the process of grain collection, Master Gu can casually go to a farmer's house to inquire and ask them, are we levied according to the tax grain of the imperial court, have we secretly increased taxes to force grain? ”

Speaking of this, Yan Zhengqian made a reasonable appearance, not squinting, but he didn't dare to look directly into Gu Yunji's eyes.

This year's grain output has been greatly reduced, and if it is levied according to the normal standard, it will be considered good to be able to harvest 60,000 stone of grain. Gu Yunji originally thought that even if the two of them wanted to collect more grain, they would collect a maximum of 70,000 or 80,000 stones, but they didn't expect to collect a full 90,000 stones, so you can imagine how serious Chen Xunzhou's pressure on the tenants under his name was.

So in this way, in order to settle the account book, they must have done a lot of tricks, and most of the grain requisition data on this account book is estimated to be fake, and it doesn't matter if you look at it or not.

Thinking like this, Gu Yunji put the account book on the table and said lightly: "Since the summer tax has been collected and the grain has been collected, there is no point in me saying more." It's just that I want to remind you two that there are some things that fool me, but don't fool yourself into it. ”

Speaking of this, Gu Yunji turned his head to look at Chen Xunzhou and smiled coldly at him: "Especially Lord Chen, this summer tax collection, the Chen family, as a big local family, has a lot of fields, Lord Chen must have made a lot of efforts, right?" It's been a lot of work. ”

Chen Xunzhou's eyes fluttered, he smiled weakly, and did not speak.

Looking at the hypocritical faces of the two, Gu Yunji suddenly felt a little bored-in a state capital, two of the three core officials are like this, this officialdom is really going to end, and Daxia will be finished sooner or later.

(End of chapter)