Zhu Ming found a stone, sat down at the foot of the mountain, and asked, "Who is doing the sacrifice?" ”

Geng Dingchen, the chief bookkeeper, stepped forward: "Back to Taishou, it is the lower officials who are doing it." ”

"Bring up the books." Zhu Ming said.

Geng Dingchen offered it with both hands, feeling uneasy in his heart.

Zhu Ming flipped through the pages and said, "Pen and ink! ”

The county magistrate held the pen, the county ordered the ink, and the main book sent the paper inkstone.

Wine jue, cloth and the like, Zhu Ming did not move, he picked up the pen and sketched, and halved all the double sacrifices, such as Li Su rice beans and so on. He also said: "Although the official is to worship Yaoling on behalf of the Son of Heaven, after all, it is not the Son of Heaven who is there in person. Don't talk about the Son of Heaven, not even the princes. The prison and the prison are all overdue, and in the future they will be changed to small three animals, and they can be sacrificed to chickens, ducks and fish. ”

God is a special little three animals, the Song Dynasty did not have such a saying.

Then, Zhu Ming saw the amount of wine: "One hundred and twenty jars of wine, is this who wants to drink with Di Yao?" Changed to eighteen altars! In addition, hazelnuts are not part of the five grains, and all of them are canceled. ”

Zhu Ming invited Liu Taigong to inquire about the local prices of these sacrifices.

After some conversion, there are only more than 32 left.

Zhu Ming said to everyone: "32 guan must be too compact, and the price may increase in the event of a disaster year." Counting the husband's money, in the future, the quota for sacrificing Yaoling will be 80. Can you have any objections? ”

The officials complained in their hearts, but they did not dare to oppose it to their faces.

They sacrifice once, and they can toss hundreds of times, and they can share the money up and down. Zhu Ming's approach is not to cut the funds in half, but to cut them down at the knees.

However, Zhu Ming set the funding at 80 yuan, but it also left room for making money.

The attitude has been very clear, you have worked hard to sacrifice, and you really can't do it in vain. Especially the officials, who are busy and don't have any salary, you are allowed to be greedy for a few small dollars.

But you can only be greedy for a small amount of money, not more!

Zhu Ming continued: "The cost of 80 yuan is shared equally by the whole county, can there be any objections? ”

This question was asked by the squires present, after Song Huizong refined the capital, 250 households were a big guarantee. Eighty yuan is evenly distributed to the whole county, and each insurance is not more than a few, which is completely within the affordable range.

However, the squires were afraid of the officials.

In the past, only the villages near Yaoling were apportioned, but now it has spread to the whole county. What if after the governor leaves, what should the officials do in the county? At that time, Zhu Ming's order not only failed to reduce the burden of the people, but became an excuse for the officials to make more money.

The squires didn't speak, they knew the officials too well.

Zhu Ming pointed to the small notebook brought back by Bai Sheng and Li Bao: "The local officials are very good at collecting money." Not only is the exempt money levied together with the Ding service, but it is also repeatedly levied at the level of the capital, the big and the small security. Fuck it, dare to use the signboard of Zhizhou! Bai Sheng, do you calculate how much money they levied? ”

Bai Sheng fished for three days and dried nets for two days, and studied with Zhu Guoxiang for a while, although the cultural level is still not high, but the four operations have been fully mastered.

He picked up the stones and laid them on the ground, and after a moment he said, "A total of 552 pieces will be levied." ”

Zhu Ming asked Cao Yuangui: "How many can you get for these more than 500 guan?" ”

Cao Yuangui hurriedly defended: "It's too conservative, and the officials won't take a penny!" ”

Zhu Ming glanced at the other officials again, and sneered: "Even if you tell the truth, according to 80 guan evenly distributed to the whole county, you can calculate by yourself how much money should be returned to the people." Nothing is returned, immediately! ”

The three county officials hurriedly gathered to settle the accounts, and also called the clerks, scribes, and stickers.

After repeated calculations, Cao Yuangui whispered: "Return the excess money immediately, and warn those officials not to stretch out their hands." If Zhizhou can send someone to make a secret investigation once, he can send someone to make an secret investigation two or three times. This time it's to save our face, and next time I'm afraid we'll be in jail! ”

Zhu Ming said to the squires again: "You all guarantee each other, hand over the money, and go back and apportionment yourself." Remember, whoever dares to take the opportunity to blackmail the people, I will send him to Hebei to deal with the Liao people. ”

"Don't dare!"

The squires hurriedly offered money, and there were very few stalls in the county, as long as the officials did not mess around, they were willing to give money.

Zhu Ming continued: "In the future, sacrifices are not allowed to eat and drink in the village, and all those who participate in the sacrifice must bring their own food and drink. Two days ago, my entourage and I harassed Mrs. Liu, and all the money and money used was paid from the sacrificial expenses. This is an exception and there will be no more such expenditure next year. As for the inscriptions, the money is also counted and allocated by the county government. Also, since the whole county has shared the money, you can no longer recruit soldiers, just spend money to hire men! ”

"Obey the orders of Taishou!"

Officials and squires responded one after another.

Zhu Ming got up and said, "Follow me to worship Yaoling, the pigs, cattle and sheep will be withdrawn, and they will be exchanged for chickens, ducks and fish immediately." ”

Liu Taigong, who was eighty or ninety years old, was also carried into the mountains by his children and grandchildren, and insisted on coming to the scene in person to join in the fun.

The sacrifice lasted for most of the day, and it looked particularly shabby.

Where pigs, cattle and sheep should be placed, there are only poor chickens, ducks and fish, and Di Yao has changed the light taste this year.

After the sacrifice was completed, he did not leave immediately.

Zhu Ming asked the officials and squires to sit down under the altar. He pointed to the four directions and said, "Within a radius of one mile, I will erect a few boundary monuments." The boundary monument is enclosed by a forbidden area, and outside the boundary monument you can pick wood and herd sheep. Whoever dares to harass the people, you can go to the state government to complain! ”

A series of actions made everyone understand that this Zhizhou was not pretending.

Mrs. Liu sighed with tears: "The old decay has been half cut into the soil, and today I can see the blue sky!" ”

Suddenly, one person said, "May I ask Taishou, since you are allowed to pick and graze sheep, can you restore the paper mill under the mountain?" ”

Zhu Ming shook his head: "No." The common people collect livestock, and most of the officials will agree. But cutting down the trees of Yaoling to make paper, the officials and ministers must refuse. ”

The man sighed to himself, and said no more.

Zhu Ming asked again: "What else do you want, you can say it all to me, and you can also say things that have nothing to do with Yaoling." ”

The officials were present, and no one dared to react to the situation.

Zhu Ming glanced at it: "The officials retreated and waited at the bottom of the mountain." ”

The three county officials looked at each other, they were already frightened, and left with the officials worried.

When the officials were far away, the squires still did not speak.

Zhu Ming smiled: "Divide it with paper and pen, write it down, you can not write your name." ”

There are not enough pens, so I write in turns.

The squires looked up at Zhizhou in front of the altar, some were at a loss and did not dare to write, and some deliberately wrote with their left hand.

Bai Sheng, Li Bao, Deng Chun and others all stared, and when they saw who had finished writing, they immediately went over to get it. After making up three copies, he handed them over to Zhu Ming for review.

After reading these public opinions seriously, Zhu Ming said: "The most resentment among you is the taxation and the second is Ma Zheng. ”

Zhu Ming said separately: "If you pay taxes and miscellaneous taxes, I will let the county government collect less." As for the money, there is a quota for each way, which is what the official family and the prime minister want to collect, and I can only promise to restrain it as much as possible. I'm really sorry that I can't ask for your life. ”

A gentry said, "I am so grateful that I am so grateful, so why should I apologize?" ”

Another squire said: "In the past, the governors of the prefectures and counties only knew how to collect taxes. Taishou can say this to us, and we are already satisfied. ”

The squires patted each other, some from the bottom of their hearts, and some just coping.

Zhu Ming smiled and continued: "Ma Zheng, I will find a way to change it. Remember, it's just a change, not a sudden abolition, because I don't have that authority. You all say that horse politics harms the people, but in fact, the imperial court can't recruit horses that can be warned. When I know more about it, I will reduce the number of horses you have raised, and then according to the number of horses set by the imperial court, I will ask you to pay the money every year. The apportionment of fees shall be handed over directly to the state government, and the county officials shall not handle it! Would you like to? ”

The squires looked at each other, worried that Zhizhou would take the opportunity to make money and lose more in the future.

Zhu Ming knew that he had just arrived, and his prestige was obviously not enough, and he could not win the trust of these gentry.

He continued: "The third thing you reacted to was that there were too many robbers, and there were even powerful people who colluded with Xu officials. There were four gentry, mentioning a name. This person's name is Sun Zongdan, bullying and dominating the market, and in the fish and meat township, his brother is still the head of the county. Can Sun Zongdan be available today? ”

A strong man stood up and angrily rebuked everyone: "Who is suing me for the situation? Don't believe their nonsense, I have always been law-abiding, where did I come from? ”

The squires all bowed their heads and remained silent, not daring to look at the man, and there was obvious fear.

In front of Zhizhou, he scared the gentry into silence, what is it if it is not Haoqiang?

Zhu Ming could see it clearly, almost certainly, and said in a flat tone: "Deng Chun, take people." ”

is really "taking people", Deng Chunsheng is tall and big, half a head taller than Sun Zongdan, a big man in Shandong. Sun Zongdan was so conceited of his martial arts that he even wanted to resist, but was kicked down by Deng Chun, and then picked up his belt.

Li Bao's eyes widened, and he said, "What a lot of strength!" ”

Sun Zongdan was still struggling and roaring: "My uncle is the king of the Ministry of Lang, let me go!" The officials are in charge of you officials, and if you offend me, don't think about being promoted again! ”

"The king of the Ministry of Ministers can be described, right? It happened to be impeached at the same time. Zhu Ming wrote down the name in a small notebook.

The squires were surprised, especially those who made anonymous complaints, no one expected that Zhu Ming would dare to arrest people.

Where did the stunned green come from?

No, it's not stunned. Such a young Zhizhou is obviously someone in the court, and he is not afraid of offending anyone!

Zhu Ming said again: "The head of this county is this person's brother, and he wants to do evil. Li Bao, you take someone down the mountain to catch it, and that guy is waiting outside. ”

"Yes!"

Li Bao was very excited, although he also had the nickname of "Splashing Li San", he was not really splashing, but he was just too casual in talking and doing things.

He immediately took the two of them down the mountain, both of whom were sumo wrestlers from the Zheng family.

said that the three county officials had been waiting, and it took a long time to see Li Bao coming.

Just as he was about to step forward to ask, Li Bao had already shouted: "Sun Dutou, take a step to speak." ”

Sun Dutou trotted over, thinking that Zhizhou had something to send.

Li Bao was taken by surprise, picked up the scabbard and smashed it out, hitting Sun Du dizzy: "Tie up!" ”

The two sumo wrestlers held Sun Du's head down, took out the rope and tied it up.

Geng Dingchen, the chief bookkeeper, was Sun Dutou's top boss, and he was frightened and asked, "This and this...... What's going on? ”

Li Bao said: "Sun Zongzhen, the head of this county, bullied the market, fish and meat people, I was ordered to arrest!" Do you want to stop it? ”

Geng Dingchen hurriedly cleared up the relationship: "I have nothing to do with this guy!" ”

Wang Jin looked at Cao Yuangui, and Cao Yuangui shook his head slightly.

Wang Jin said in a low voice: "This Zhizhou doesn't save half of his face." ”

Cao Yuangui said: "It is so vigorous and resolute, and there are backers in the court, which is not something you and I can resist." Whatever he wants, follow him, don't put us in. ”

"Do you still want to follow Zhizhou to do things?" Wang Jin reminded, "Today's arrest of Sun Dutou has offended Wang Langzhong, the minister. Some people in his court are not afraid, but how dare you and I grudge with the officials of the ministry? ”

Cao Yuangui thought about it, gritted his teeth and said: "Even if you don't have a grudge with the officials, can you and I be promoted?" It's not a waste of time. Why don't you take a gamble, completely attach Zhu Zhizhou, and sacrifice your life for a future! ”

Wang Jin felt that this was reasonable, they had no backer, and Zhu Zhizhou was a ready-made backer, so he also said: "It's done, I'm afraid of a ball!" ”

This kind of refuge is not swaying from side to side, and there is always a little leeway.

Instead, he completely treated Zhu Ming as a horse boy and tied to the same boat as Zhu Ming, and it would be difficult to change jobs in the future, because really doing things would offend people.

(End of chapter)