Fang Wanghai hesitated for a moment and said, "The imperial court established the Customs Department, but it did not allocate soldiers or provide positions."
Posts refer to the total number of officials and government officials in a department. The Ming Dynasty had detailed regulations on the number of officials and government officials that could be used by government offices at all levels. If this amount was exceeded, redundant personnel would be required to be fired.
Fang Wanghai is now the target of public criticism throughout Jiangnan. If he recruits too many people rashly, he will definitely be impeached by Suzhou officials.
Su Ze smiled slightly and said: "Of course we are not recruiting in the name of the Customs Office, but in the name of group training."
"Team training?"
Su Ze nodded and said: "Uncle Shi, have you forgotten? The imperial court has ordered Southern Zhili, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangzhou to recruit groups to fight against the Japanese."
After Su Ze's reminder, Fang Wanghai finally remembered that the court did have such an order.
League training was to allow local gentry to recruit soldiers to fight against the Japanese. The imperial court not only encouraged league training, but also gave each county the task of organizing league training, and included the number of self-recruited soldiers in various places into the assessment of county magistrates.
However, the Ming Dynasty group training at this time was still different from that of later generations. The group training lasted for one year and had to be disbanded after one year.
The food, grass and weapons for the regiment training were all self-raised, and the weapons eliminated by the military guards could be purchased at low prices. The imperial court did not pay military pay to the regiment training soldiers, but as long as they could kill the real Japanese, they could receive a reward.
"But can we really recruit soldiers in Suzhou?"
Fang Wanghai encountered obstacles everywhere. He already knew the importance of having armed forces in order to collect taxes.
But he is a foreigner who landed in the air, and the gentry who evaded taxes are all big families entrenched in Suzhou. Even if he recruits troops in Suzhou, it will be difficult to drive these people, let alone let them bayonet out to inspect these Suzhou. A tax evasion case involving a large local family.
Su Ze smiled and said, "It depends on what kind of soldiers you recruit. Uncle Shi, leave this matter to me and I will definitely handle it for you!"
Fang Wanghai was forced to have no choice. He said on the spot: "Then I will appoint you as a regiment training officer to recruit local braves to protect the Chaoguan Hall."
"This money for recruiting soldiers?"
Fang Wanghai said with a sad face: "Rulin, you don't know the difficulties of the Chaoguan Hall. Originally, these subordinate officials in the Chaoguan Hall knew how to exploit the ships passing by, which caused great resentment among the people. As soon as I took office, I will dismiss these people and recruit them. We have hired a group of officials who can read and write."
"But these days, there are even fewer normal sailings, and the funds have been spent to the tune of 77, 88, 8, or 8,000, and the Bank of China Customs Office can't get rid of the problem."
Su Ze also didn't expect that Fang Wanghai would be in such a miserable situation. From this, it seemed that he was really suppressed by the entire Jiangnan officialdom, and even the funds for the Customs Department were insufficient.
It's normal to think about it. Jiangnan has developed commerce. The essence of the banknote tariff is to turn the commercial tax that the court didn't know how much it was into a verifiable amount through a series of operations such as tax deductions.
As long as the business tax can be checked, in addition to violently resisting the tax, the merchants in Jiangnan can only obediently pay the tax.
The biggest premise of Su Ze's banknote customs method is to establish banknote checkpoints covering all major shipping routes. Only by firmly grasping all nodes in transportation through these banknotes checkpoints can merchants be forced to pay taxes.
The result now is that Fang Wanghai has not even been able to clear the Hu Pass. Suzhou merchants would rather spend more on freight to go around the Hu Pass, so that Fang Wanghai cannot collect taxes at all.
Seeing how miserable Fang Wanghai was, Su Ze could only say: "Uncle Shi, leave the matter of recruiting group training to me. Don't worry."
Fang Wanghai held Su Ze's hand. Sure enough, he was still reliable!
Fang Wanghai arranged for Su Ze to live in a side hall of Chaoguan Hall, but Su Ze did not start recruiting troops immediately. Instead, he took Fang Aizhu and Lin Deyang, and hired a young local Suzhou official to head into Suzhou. In all counties of the prefecture.
In Suzhou Prefecture, Wu County is the first county of Suzhou Prefecture and is also the Yiguo County of Suzhou Prefecture.
The Suzhou magistrate's government office is very elegant. There are two large white marble stone lions at the door. The entire government office is neat and square. There are so many people going in and out of the government office every day. There are two side doors beside the main entrance.
Because Suzhou Prefecture is the most prosperous in the world, the prefect of Suzhou is also called the best prefect in the world. Just after a day of official business at the front office, Suzhou Prefect Xu Shangzhen dragged his tired body back to the back house.
Sitting on the Taishi chair in the study, Xu Shangzhen thought that it was still official business at the Yamen.
A young man pushed open the door and came in. The study was the most important territory for officials of the Ming Dynasty. Those who could enter and exit freely must be the people closest to and trusted by the owner of the study.
"father."
As soon as the young man spoke, a smile appeared on Xu Shangzhen's face. This was his youngest son, Xu Shixing, and his most proud son.
Suzhou Prefecture has to participate in the rural examination in Nanzhili, which is the rural examination held in Yingtian Mansion. This can be said to be the most demanding rural examination in the Ming Dynasty.
South Zhili includes Jiangsu, Anhui and Songjiang Prefecture, which is similar in area to North Zhili, and these places are all where the kings of the Ming Dynasty gathered.
Needless to say, Jiangnan is also a place with a long history. In Huizhou Prefecture, where Wang Daokun is located, there are dozens of memorial archways for Jinshi.
Under such a cruel environment, Xu Shixing still ranked third in the Nanzhili Township Examination of high school, which is enough to show Xu Shixing's ability in studying.
Xu Shixing is only 21 years old this year. His youth and high school did not make Xu Shixing frivolous and arrogant. Instead, it made him more restrained and more thoughtful.
Xu Shangzhen liked this younger son the most. He took Xu Shixing with him and personally supervised his studies. He also often handed over some government affairs to him to train Xu Shixing's ability to do things.
In the Ming Dynasty, it was not uncommon for fathers and sons to go into battle. Nowadays, Mr. Yan Ge, the cabinet minister, and Yan Shifan, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, are also father and son. Yan Shifan lives in Mr. Yan Ge's house and helps Mr. Yan Ge handle government affairs. People in the capital call him "Xiao Ge" old".
Of course, Xu Shi acted in a low-key manner and did not rely on his status as a magistrate to act arrogantly. His reputation in Suzhou Prefecture was still very good.
Standing in front of Xu Shangzhen's desk, Xu Shixing said: "My son went to several chambers of commerce, and they all said that they would fight the imperial court's banknote customs law to the end this time. They would rather take a detour to Songjiang Prefecture than pay taxes at Huguan."
Xu Shangzhen sighed and stood up. He told his son to sit down and said:
"These businessmen are so domineering. They don't even think about it. The imperial court now lets civil servants serve as bank envoys. Fang Wanghai is also a Jinshi after all. He has read books about sages. As long as they can pay a little tax, That Fang Wanghai will never push too hard."
"If Fang Wanghai falls, the person sent by the court next time will not be a civil servant."
Xu Shixing didn't understand the operation of the imperial court, so he asked: "Dad, if you don't send civil servants, can you send tax officials to serve as bank envoys?"
Xu Shangzhen said: "Civil officials can't collect taxes, so they can only send eunuchs."
Xu Shixing was shocked, but he also felt that what his father said made sense. With the emperor's character, if Fang Wanghai couldn't do this, he would use more drastic measures and appoint eunuchs to collect taxes.
Xu Shangzhen sighed sadly and said: "At that time, Suzhou Mansion will really never have peace!"
Xu Shixing asked: "That's why my father asked me to visit the leaders of the chamber of commerce and persuade them to be more or less friendly, so that Mr. Fang's face would not be too ugly, and the imperial court would continue to retain him as a bank envoy?"
Xu Shangzhen nodded and said: "This is what it means to be a father. It's a pity that these guys are short-sighted and shout that they know this minister and know that minister. These words can only scare civil servants like Fang Wanghai. If the eunuch really comes, they say It’s no use knowing anyone.”
Xu Shixing also became worried. Xu Shangzhen took the opportunity to educate his son and said:
"Shi Xing, as a father I have been an official for many years, and the way to be an official is summed up by the word 'water'."
"The highest good is like water. The one in charge is to adjust the yin and yang. It is necessary to harmonize the relationship between all aspects. Only by working together can things be done well."
Xu Shangzhen sighed and said, "Now that Fang Wanghai is about to lose the fight, these businessmen are still busy celebrating, but they don't know that disaster is coming?"
Xu Shixing felt that he had gained some experience as an official. He said to Xu Shangzhen: "Dad, what should we do next?"
Xu Shangzhen said: "There is no way, the banknote customs method that Fang Wanghai came up with is really ingenious. If he really succeeded, the commercial tax of Su and Song Prefecture would be equal to the land tax of the entire southern Zhili. "
Xu Shixing took a breath and said, "So many?"
Xu Shangzhen said: "Look at the silk workshops in the city, with hundreds of looms working day and night. How many pieces of silk can be produced in a year?"
"You are looking at the cotton merchants in Songjiang Prefecture. Do you know what price a batch of Songjiang cloth can be sold for in the north?"
Suzhou Prefecture and Songjiang Prefecture are often compared, but the main industries of the two cities are different.
Suzhou was the silk base of the Ming Dynasty, and Songjiang Prefecture was the cotton cloth base of the Ming Dynasty.
Similarly, in Suzhou Prefecture and Songjiang Prefecture, there have been textile workshops with up to a hundred people working at the same time, and guild organizations such as silk guilds and cotton guilds have also appeared. These guilds have even had monopoly guilds. nature.
When Xu Shixing heard that the Su and Song Dynasties could receive such commercial taxes, he couldn't help but asked: "These businessmen have made so much, shouldn't they pay taxes?"
Xu Shangzhen said: "Of course you should pay, but you must be able to collect it. Don't you know who is behind those cotton merchants in Songjiang Prefecture?"
Xu Shixing immediately sighed. The most famous person in Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture, was Xu Jie, the Second Assistant to the Cabinet.
Although Xu Jie is an official in the capital, his family is still in Songjiang Mansion.
Since Xu Jie began to have a prosperous official career, the Xu family has owned more and more land in Huating County. Now the Xu family has the saying "Xu Bancheng", which means that half of the land in Huating County belongs to the Xu family.
These lands are all cotton fields, and the Xu family has opened a textile workshop. Those who do cotton business in Songjiang Prefecture naturally know the prestigious reputation of Xu Ge's hometown.
The Xu family and his son both believed that this time their opponent Wanghai was in a dead end, and Su Ze was already wandering around Wu County.
Wuxian is a water town, and the city is full of winding waterways. Boats and cars travel side by side throughout the city. On the bridge are bustling motorcades, and under the bridge are awning boats with long poles.
This lively water town scene is like the Venice of the East. Venice is obviously the Little Suzhou of the West.
Su Ze went into a silk shop when he came across one along the way, and sat down and chatted with the boss. He still had a Fujian accent at first, but after passing by more than a dozen shops, the Suzhou dialect Su Ze spoke was not much different from the local dialect.
Lin Deyang and Fang Aizhu looked at each other. Their young master's language talent was terrifying. Su Ze and the shopkeepers spoke in Wu dialect. Fang Aizhu and Lin Deyang felt like they were speaking in a foreign language and could not understand a single word.
Su Ze visited eighteen shops in one morning. When the sun was about three o'clock in the morning, Su Ze pointed to a restaurant not far away and said:
"Let's go get something to eat first."
When I walked in, I saw a banner with the word "Songhe Tower" hanging high in the restaurant, and a sign saying "Century-old Restaurant" hanging on the door frame. The enthusiastic waiter welcomed Su Ze and others upstairs.
On the Songhe Tower, the waiter led Su Ze and others up the stairs and introduced:
"The third floor of my house overlooks the Changmen River. It is the restaurant with the best view in this area. You must have come to the right place."
The waiter led everyone up to the third floor while introducing his own food and wine.
At this time, there was already a table of guests upstairs. Three scholars wearing Confucian shirts were sitting by the railing. The leader was a tall and thin young man with extraordinary appearance.
"Sir, please sit down here. The shop will bring you a screen."
Then the waiter said to the tall and thin young man: "Mr. Xu, I'm sorry for bothering you. The store will use screens to separate the seats."
There were only two seats upstairs with a view of the river. The tall and thin Mr. Xu didn't care, and the waiter quickly had a bird-facing phoenix screen brought in to separate the two seats.
However, Su Ze could still hear the conversation in the next seat.
"Brother Yuan Yu, that's what my father said. Your Wang family in Taicang has a great business. If it doesn't work, just pay some money to Huguan. If Master Fang is really replaced, I'm afraid the court won't let go easily."
A scholar who was about the same age as Xu Shixing sighed and said: "Brother Rumo, I understand what you mean. My Wang family in Taicang has a big business, and it is not my turn to lead the family in doing things. I can't change the things that the family has discussed together. "
Another scholar said: "I would say that Mr. Fang brought it upon himself. He brought up the banknote customs law to compete for the interests of the people. Now he can no longer stand up."
Xu Shixing sighed and said: "Brother Wei Zhen, Mr. Fang has a good official reputation and is also a Confucian official with a Jinshi background. It is best for him to handle affairs. If it is really replaced by a eunuch to be in charge of Chaoguan, I am afraid that the whole Su Song will suffer." ah."
Hearing that someone was talking about the money transfer method, Su Ze immediately became interested. He called the waiter, bought the best rice wine in a restaurant, and walked directly to the table next to him.
"Sorry for bothering you."
Su Ze ignored the astonished expressions of the three of them and introduced himself: "I, Su Ze, a student at the Imperial College, heard three brothers discussing the Qianguan method. Su is also interested in this method. Can I hear your opinions?"
Xu Shixing has a gentle personality. Although Su Ze's opening remarks are very abrupt, Su Ze is a supervisory student, so he is a candidate just like them.
Since they are all scholars, Xu Shixing said: "I am Xu Shixing, the supervising student of Suzhou Prefecture."
"Xu Guo, the supervisor of Huizhou Prefecture."
"Suzhou Prefecture Supervisor Wang Xijue."
Su Ze's eyes lit up, "Hey, darling, this is the Wanli year cabinet ministers gathered together."
(End of chapter)
