"Lord Futai, 'stop the fire' is the order of the lower official!" Seeing that Ma De actually fired at Shi Shilun, Lu Longqi hurriedly said.

"Master Lu, don't interject. I'm asking Shi Shilun! Ma De said to Lu Longqi, and then motioned to his subordinates to help Lu Longqi back to his seat.

"Lord Futai, the Yamen of Zhentai can't control the matter of stopping the fire consumption...... Lu Longqi gave up his hand again, but he had already been blocked by Hai Liu.

……

"Wonderful! ...... "Many officials present were tickled by Ma De's trick, and they were secretly happy to account for the majority, even some people who originally wanted to remain neutral also had the intention of watching a good show. Shi Shilun originally offended a lot of people, and the suspension of fire consumption made this situation even worse.

"Back to Lord Futai, the matter of stopping the fire consumption is indeed ordered by Lord Lu. However, Xiaguan didn't do this to treat adults, Xiaguan just wanted to reduce some of the burden on the people of Anhui! Shi Shilun bowed down and replied.

"What Lord Zhentai said is good." Chang Hongzu, the prefect of Huizhou, laughed twice at Shi Shilun, stood up and arched his hand at Ma De and said: "Lord Futai, Anhui suffered a disaster last year, and the imperial court is grain and silver, where did those people suffer?" Moreover, the emperor's grace is vast, and he also exempted us from the money and food of Anhui! …… Isn't that enough? Lord Shi also asked Lord Lu to give an order to 'stop the fire consumption', which is simply to let us officials drink the northwest wind! ”

"Yes, Lord Futai, the lower officials also feel that what Lord Shi has done is indeed inconsiderate! The people have to be fed and clothed, but the officials also have to support their families and maintain the dignity of the court, where is the silver not used here? The money given by the imperial court is only a little bit of money, and it is not enough to even invite a master! If you don't collect the fire, do you want everyone to go to beg for food and escape the famine? Li Wenmin, the prefect of Ningguo, looked left and right, spread out his two hands and said to Ma De.

"Shi Shilun, what do you say?" Ma De asked Shi Shilun in a cold tone.

"Lord Futai! And my lords! Shi Shilun first arched his hand at Ma De, then turned around and hugged his fists at the surrounding officials, and said, "I don't know if you have counted a single account?" How many hukou do we have in Anhui? ”

"......" No one answered, and most people looked away and didn't look at Shi Shilun.

"As of last year, there were 1,353,062 people in Anhui, and a total of 2,567,325 households were registered. The population has exceeded 10 million. Seeing that there was no answer, Lu Longqi came forward again and said.

"One hundred and thirty-five people, two million and five hundred and sixty thousand households. Each household only receives one penny of silver, which is more than 200,000 taels. Ladies and gentlemen, do you only charge one penny for the cost of fire? Shi Shilun looked at the officials again, and these people still turned their heads away.

"The average fire consumption in Anhui Province the year before last was as much as 'five coins'!" Shi Shilun shouted loudly again.

“……”

"I collected so much the year before last, isn't that why the clan and the Yamen of Zhentai ask for a lot of money? What can we, the officials below, do? The arm can't twist the thigh, Lord Shi, if you want to calculate this account, you have to go to your office! Chang Hongzu said in a low voice.

"Can't twist your arms around your thighs? Hum...... You can't screw it when you ask for money; When you don't need money, you are quite happy to screw it! Shi Shilun snorted coldly.

"You ......" was so unceremoniously sarcastic by Shi Shilun, Chang Hongzu patted the arm of the chair, but he didn't know what to say.

"Master Shi, your words are not kind enough. Hitting people doesn't slap people in the face, scolding people doesn't expose their shortcomings, aren't you revealing people's shortcomings? It's insulting to do that! …… Besides, the year before last year, there was a lot of fire consumption, is this year the same amount of fire consumption? Moreover, the year before last, didn't our people in Anhui live and work in peace and contentment? It can be seen that this has little to do with the fire consumption and overcharging! …… Moreover, the year before last, the fire was much more expensive, and that was because your ex was pressing on it so much. But now it's different, with you and Lord Lu, the two Qing officials, will we still dry up and fish? Xu Yue, the prefect of Taiping, said in a non-yin and non-yang manner. And his words were immediately echoed by many officials.

"Last year, our province was hit by a disaster, and although the imperial court allocated food funds, it was only for emergency relief. The people have not yet recovered their vitality, and this year's fire consumption will not be collected, which can reduce the burden of nearly one million taels of silver for the people of Anhui. That's more than a million taels, ladies and gentlemen, last year's disaster relief food from the imperial court was only this amount! Shi Shilun finished speaking loudly, and then hugged his fist at Ma De and said: "Lord Futai, recently, the lower officials have visited one by one, and the officials of the Anqing prefect Zhang Kaizhang and the officials of the six counties under his jurisdiction have agreed to stop collecting this year's fire and silver. The lower officials thought that Master Zhang and the six magistrates could be called models for my Anhui officials! Therefore, please report this to the Imperial Court and give it a reward. ”

"And this?" Ma De frowned, looked at the seven prefects sitting together, and asked, "Who of you is Zhang Kai?" ”

"Back to Lord Futai, the lowly position is Zhang Kai." This person's memory is really bad, didn't he just sign up? I'm the top spot of the Anhui prefect! Zhang Kai stood up from his seat and bowed to Ma De.

"Is what Shi Shilun said true? You and your six magistrates agreed not to charge for fire? Ma De looked at Zhang Kai obliquely and asked in an unkind tone.

"Back to the words of the adult, Lord Shi has a heart for the country and the people, and he is not talented, but he is also willing to attach himself to it." Zhang Kai replied.

"Villain!" Chang Hongzu and the three of them looked at Zhang Kai's appearance and secretly took a sip.

"That's a nice thing to say! …… Is it sincere? Let me ask you, how many accounts does Anqing have? Mader asked after taking a sip of tea.

"Lord Huifutai, there are six counties under the jurisdiction of Anqing, and there are a total of 108,642 main households, 73,736 attached households, and a total of 182,378 households in the whole government!" Zhang Kai opened his mouth and came.

"So much? 180,000 households! How much less do you charge a year if you don't charge fire? Do you really want to bear it? Mader asked.

"Returning to the words of adults, although the lowly position collects less money, it can benefit the people under its rule. This move is not only beneficial to the people, but also beneficial to the country. Zhang Kai has read the books of sages for so many years, but he also knows when to do something! Zhang Kai said to Ma De with his fists clenched again. However, although he said it righteously, his words offended many people present.

"What does this mean, Lord Zhang? Who in this room didn't read it after ten years of hard work? Do you know those big truths? Besides, are we just collecting fire for ourselves? Chang Hongzu shouted.

"Wow! Master Chang, this is something to say! …… Then I don't know what you are collecting fire for? Li Scale, the prefect with the largest jurisdiction on the ground in Anhui, finally spoke.

"I ......" Li Scale's identity is "transcendent"! There is no one present who does not know that Ma De had a "secret talk" with this Master Li for a period of time as soon as he arrived in Anhui. No matter how domineering Chang Hongzu is, no matter how much he hobs the meat, he doesn't dare to offend this guy who is very likely to be Ma De's "cronies".

"Hehe, Lord Li just arrived last year, and I'm afraid I don't know a lot of things. Although the money consumed by the fire is at the disposal of local officials, when there are occasional small disasters in the local area, this money can be used for disaster relief! In addition, in normal times, what kind of bridges and paving, education and persuasion, these also have to use silver. …… We can't ask the court for money for everything, right? Master Li, do you say? …… If you don't believe it, you can ask our Lord Wang, his old man presided over the study and politics of Anhui Province, persuaded teaching, and never asked the court for a penny! Xu Yue, the prefect of Taiping, smiled and pulled out Wang Xinlan, a scholar in Anhui.

"What Lord Xu said is reasonable. The magistrate is the pastor of the imperial court, and he is also responsible for educating the people, which is indeed a lot of silver! Wang Xinlan half-squinted and said leisurely.

"Well, that's it. …… There is a saying: the emperor is not bad for hungry soldiers. Our emperor fought Geldan a few years ago, didn't he prepare tens of millions of taels of silver? Being an officer is the same as being a soldier, what kind of battle can you fight when you are hungry? Lord Futai, you are also a general in the army, do you say that the last general? Zhao Hengsheng, the chief soldier of Anqing, said to Ma De with a sad face.

"Mr. Zhao, you're right." Ma De nodded: "Ben Fu has done a little bit in the military and politics of Manchuria, indeed, everything needs silver!" ……”

"Lord Futai, I heard that Lord Shi has been walking around a lot recently, but he has persuaded many gentry to agree to implement the law of 'rent reduction and interest reduction' to support the people!" Seeing that Ma De was inclined to his side, a magistrate sitting behind Li Wenmin stood up and said.

"Oh? Rent and interest reductions? "Isn't this almost land reform? Ma De looked at Shi Shilun and felt that if this person had grown up in the West, he might have become a proletarian revolutionary before Marx, and he might even be able to complete Lenin's work.

"My lord, the matter of rent reduction and interest reduction has not contributed much, but this move is really thanks to the help of the two wise men!" Shi Shilun looked at Ma De and took the initiative to say.

"Magi? Except for Gu, Huang, and Fu, Ben Fu has never heard of anyone who can be called a wise man in these years! It's a pity that the old ones are gone, and they can't be seen. Master Shi, who are these two people in your mouth? Maybe Ben Fu will have a chance to meet him. Mader said.

"Lord Hui, these two wise men don't have much contact with the lower officials, but they are both from Tongcheng and belong to the jurisdiction of Anqing Mansion, if you want to know their situation, you can ask Lord Zhang." Shi Shilun looked too lazy to continue talking to Ma De.

"Oh? Tongcheng people? It seems that these two troubled ghosts belong to the five major difficulties of "learning" the word "difficulty". Ma De thought about it secretly for a while, and then turned his gaze to Zhang Kai.

"Lord Hui, what Lord Shi is talking about is Tongcheng Fang Bao and Zhang Tinglu, two young handsome people!" Zhang Kai said.

"Fang Bao? Zhang Tinglu? "No wonder! It's all big names! Mader nodded secretly. Fang Bao is a famous person in the world, Zhang Tinglu is a prime minister's brother, who dares not to sell his face? Shi Shilun can invite such two people, and his face is not small. It seems that I can make good use of it in the future......

"My lord, reducing rent and interest is the real way to solve the people's worries. I thought that since Lord Shi could make the gentry reduce rent and interest, why did he have to work the small amount of money that was consumed? …… I wonder what you think, adult? The magistrate asked Ma De again.

"Yes, sir! Our Qing Dynasty has always been based on agriculture. If some of the people eat, everything will be fine. Why do you have to avoid fire? Someone said.

"That is, the fire consumption is allowed by the imperial court, how can it be said that it is exempted? ……”

"Yes, yes, yes......"

……

The successive approvals made Shi Shilun's face more and more ugly, and he was about to stand up and refute these people, but he felt that his official uniform was being pulled by someone. turned his head to look, but saw Lu Longqi looking at Ma De and shaking his head gently.

……

"Well, there's some truth to what everyone says! …… It's really not easy to live this life as an official! In response to those people, Mader also nodded incessantly.

"My lord can understand the hardships in our hearts, which is really a blessing for all the officials!" As soon as Xu Yue heard Ma De's words, he immediately stood up and saluted Ma De, and following him, Chang Hongzu and Li Wenmin also stood up, and then, a large number of county magistrates also stood up. In the end, those who did not stand up were left with only a few senior officials such as Ma De, Lu Longqi, Wang Xinlan, Zhang Kai, Li Yan, Chen Yigang and Zhang Chunxiu, and a few prefects.

"What's not a blessing? You don't have to! You will all be officials under Ben Fu in the future, and Ben Fu will naturally have to think more about you! Didn't Mr. Zhao say everything? The emperor is not short of hungry soldiers! …… Ben Fu has led the troops, how can he not understand this truth? Ma De said as he motioned for everyone to sit down again.

"My lord, please give an order to abolish the order of the feudal yamen to 'stop the collection of fires'." Seeing that Ma De had clearly supported his side, Chang Hongzu was overjoyed and said loudly to Ma De.

"Okay! Since everyone thinks so, let's stop this order first! Ma De said with a smile without thinking about it, looking kind to others.

"Your Excellency is wise!" Xu Yue and the others shouted with joy, completely ignoring Shi Shilun and Lu Longqi next to them.

……

"That's right! Although Ben Fu agreed that everyone would continue to collect fire consumption, after all, our Anhui had just been hit by a disaster, so Ben Fu hopes that everyone will not be too ......" After the cheers stopped, Ma De looked at Shi Shilun and Lu Longqi's faces, and said to everyone with a whole face.

"Don't worry, sir! Xia Guan naturally knew this truth. The lower officials can assure the adults that I am in the Taiping Mansion, and this year's fire will cost more than one penny! Xu Yue patted his chest and reassured.

"Good! …… What about you? Mader clapped his hands and asked the others.

"Lord Futai, our Huizhou Mansion will never exceed one penny!" Chang Hongzu also shouted.

"I am willing to guarantee my humble position!" Li Wenmin followed closely with the two accomplices.

"Good! …… That's great! Everyone can be so assured, Benfu is very relieved! But ......" Ma De suddenly lowered his smile and said: "There is a saying that 'words have no evidence, and words are evidence'." Since everyone is willing to guarantee that the fire consumption does not exceed one dollar, let's make a guarantee first! …… Sea Six! ”

"In!" Hailiu walked out, holding a tray in his hand, on which was a stack of paper, brushes, and inkstones!

"Please sign and draw ......," Ma De said coldly.