Chapter 191 Knock it down and start over
"It makes sense..." Chen Cao nodded. If Yu Shimin really had the connections, he wouldn't have been in such a mess: "Yu County Cheng, I am the governor of Songjiang and specialize in Shanghai county affairs. Now there is a vacancy in the Shanghai county magistrate. , I wonder if Yu Xiancheng has this ability?"
Anyone with some brains can understand this sentence, and Yu Shimin, the opportunistic county magistrate, is no exception. He immediately bowed to Chen Cao: "If you are favored by Marquis Dingwu, you will be lucky to be a low-ranking official."
"You first go to the reception hall to pick up the Songjiang prefect who often robs you of salted fish..."
Yu Shimin ran away happily like a child. Chen Cao was amused when he saw it. Zhao Xin approached the table: "Master Hou, this guy has taken a big advantage."
"Do you know why I use Hong Chengchou?" Chen Cao knocked on the table with the command arrow on the table: "This guy is from the same family as Hong Chengchou. This kind of person is the best. By the way, the money I asked you to give to Zou Weilian last time Did you send it?"
"Give it away, and my subordinate also put in thirty thousand taels."
Xin Zhao looked annoyed, this thirty thousand taels was not a small amount.
"Well, well done, I'll send him another thirty thousand taels."
Xin Zhao: "..."
.
Huang Shijing was a Jinshi in the 40th year of Wanli. By the time he was promoted to foreign officials, he was already forty-six years old. However, his fat appearance and shiny face showed that this guy was doing well in Songjiang Mansion.
"I have met Lord Dingwuhou..."
Chen Cao blurted out: "How does the salted fish taste?"
Huang Shijing looked embarrassed, then smiled and said: "Marquis Dingwu is making fun of you. Shanghai County can't afford to pay the annual taxes, so it can only use the catch to make up for it. The lower official has to let his men go to the market to sell money in exchange for money to support the court." tax."
"That's not right," Chen Cao shook his head: "Songjiang Prefecture is a land rich in white rice. Under your rule, Songjiang Prefecture and Suzhou Prefecture support the entire southern Zhili..."
Don't tell me, it's really like this. It's precisely because the rice production in Suzhou and Song Dynasty is high and the water supply is sufficient, otherwise the court would not set up a governor in Susong. The officials in Suzhou and Song Dynasty are very rich, especially in Suzhou. .
"It is true that Dingwuhou said, Dingwuhou, Xiaguan and the people of Songjiang have prepared a banquet in the county in order to welcome Dingwuhou and wash away his dust. I also ask Dingwuhou to honor him..."
Chen Cao likes to eat the most. Officials must have money to eat, especially in Songjiang, a wealthy state capital.
However, Shanghai County is really embarrassed. Although there are many taverns in the county, none of them are of high quality. The décor of restaurants with official backgrounds is also average, but although the sparrow is small, it has all the internal organs. This restaurant also works part-time as a bartender. pimp...
"I wonder if Mr. Hou has a special hobby. Although Shanghai County is poor, there is still an Elephant House here." Yu Shimin approached Chen Cao with a smile.
Chen Cao frowned. The Xianggu Pavilion was a place for male prostitutes. When Zhao Xin heard this, he scolded him: "How presumptuous, Lord Marquis is not a manly man."
"I know my mistake..."
The women here speak softly in Wu Nong's words, and they look like little birds next to Chen Cao. They are also well dressed, but it's a pity that Chen Cao came to have a drink and dinner today to talk about business. Although he is lustful, he is not in a hurry.
"Your Majesty has asked me to patrol Songjiang Mansion, and I hope that Magistrate Huang will help you a lot during his tenure." Chen Cao raised his wine glass and raised it towards Huang Shijing.
Chen Cao was right to governor Songjiang Mansion, but there was another sentence in the official document sent by the Department of Economic Affairs and Communications, which was called "Specially in charge of Shanghai County Affairs". Therefore, although Huang Shijing was in awe of Chen Cao on the surface, she was not afraid of Chen Cao in her heart. Although he was attached to the Donglin Party, the fire between the parties had not spread to him as a prefect, not to mention that he had heard about Chen Cao being impeached by his own eunuchs in the dynasty.
"Marquis Dingwu is too polite. As long as it involves matters involving Shanghai County, I will give my full assistance to you."
Chen Cao couldn't help but admire this guy's IQ. After all, he had been a local official for so many years and was not a good person.
"Okay, now I'm bothering Magistrate Huang." Chen Cao finished his drink: "I was entrusted by Your Majesty to build the Shanghai County and City Shipping Department in order to trade with the countries in Europe and the West and increase the income of the imperial court. Recently, I have been Looking at the territory of Shanghai County, it is really terrible, so I decided to rebuild Shanghai County."
Huang Shijing's hands suddenly shook. How much would it cost to rebuild Shanghai County? Although Songjiang Prefecture is a tax-rich government, it is absolutely impossible to use Songjiang Prefecture's finances to subsidize Shanghai, a county composed of fishing villages. In this way, the money he can get will be greatly reduced.
What's more, Chen Cao's reputation in Southern Zhili was not good. Huang Shijing couldn't help but think that Chen Cao was just trying to make money by building Shanghai County.
"Marquis Dingwu, now that the Liao Dynasty has been corrupted and Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and Shandong are suffering from drought, the imperial court's taxes in Songjiang are 20% higher than before, and they are mainly used to subsidize various places." Huang Shijing showed a look of embarrassment: "Such this If you really want to do something about it, you have to ask Mr. Yang for instructions."
Su Song Governor Yang Weizhi and Chen Cao learned from Zou Weilian before Chen Cao came that this guy was the former chief assistant Fang Congzhe.
Now, although the Zhejiang Party has contact with the Donglin Party, it has maintained a neutral attitude in the court. Yang Weizhi will definitely not buy Chen Cao's blame. This is why Huang Shijing deliberately shirks it. Furthermore, he is indeed not qualified to adjust Songjiang. The wealth of Shanghai County was built.
Chen Cao first sneered, and then laughed loudly: "Hahaha, Huang Zhifu, don't be nervous. I will not interfere with Songjiang's wealth. I have already found the source of the cost of building Shanghai County this time. You don't have to Worried..."
Huang Shijing sat down for a moment with relief, then picked up the wine glass: "I'm sorry, I'd like to order a glass for Marquis Wu."
"As for the cost, I have found it, but for other matters, we have to ask Magistrate Huang to help."
As long as he doesn't need to pay for it, Songjiang Mansion can talk about anything.
"Even if Marquis Dingwu opens his mouth, I will definitely try my best."
Chen Cao smiled: "After I got off the ship, I checked the household register of Shanghai County. After actual inspection, I found that there are only 700 households in Shanghai County, with a total of more than 1,600 people. These people cannot build Shanghai County. Therefore, I want to recruit some people in Songjiang Mansion to help, and I need the coordination of Magistrate Huang."
This kind of thing is simply too trivial. As long as he doesn't pay, even asking him to give his wife away is a trivial matter. Without his wife, he can marry a young concubine...
"This kind of thing is a piece of cake. I will definitely make arrangements for it after my official returns."
Chen Cao quickly interrupted Huang Shijing, because he felt that Huang Shijing would definitely take advantage of the common people in this regard.
Craftsmen were recruited on the pretext of recruiting workers for the imperial court, and one tael of silver was used to earn thirty to five dollars, and the people had to bear the burden first. As a result, it was difficult to recruit workers in the late Ming Dynasty, and the loss of craftsmen households was also the fundamental reason.
"Prefect Huang, don't be anxious. I want to recruit refugees and untouchables from Zhejiang and other places. The untouchables will be handled by me, while the refugees will have to be handled by Prefect Huang."
Huang Shijing was overjoyed when he heard this. The Dingwu Marquis in front of him was like a big mallet. He seemed to see a moving big meat bun that had been chewed.
"Marquis Dingwu..." Huang Shijing was so excited that she could hardly speak: "How many refugees do you want?"
"It depends on how much Magistrate Huang can get..."
rub
Huang Shijing stood up and held his hands towards Chen Cao: "Dingwuhou Haihan, I deeply feel that Dingwuhou has served the court. He has done nothing in the past few years. I have to leave now. I can make arrangements with the city." Immediately give the order for Wuhou to relocate the refugees."
"Prefect Huang, don't worry, you haven't eaten enough yet. Besides, you just came from Fucheng, can you bear it?" Chen Cao looked worried.
Huang Shijing looked upright and awe-inspiring: "Marquis Dingwu, I serve the court, and serving your majesty is the foundation of our ministers. How can we choose the opportunity to act with great speed? Marquis Dingwu, I have resigned..."
Seeing Huang Shijing leave vigorously and vigorously, Chen Cao burst into laughter. Zhao Xin quickly tilted his head and came over: "Master Hou, this guy thinks we are taken advantage of..."
"I don't know who is being taken advantage of..." Chen Cao drank a glass of wine and grabbed the woman Wu Nong who was accompanying him on the chest.
Since the mid-Wanli period, the Ming Dynasty has entered the rare Little Ice Age. The most severely affected areas were Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan. Parts of Shandong were affected by the disaster. In addition, improper land use in Liaodong led to the emergence of many refugees during this period. .
The Ming Dynasty's treatment of the refugees was relatively lenient. Whenever this situation occurred, the court would usually resettle the refugees in batches to various chief envoys, who would then send them to relatively wealthy state capitals for resettlement. Of course, , and when disaster strikes, the refugees will be repatriated to their place of residence.
This kind of situation would never have happened before Jiajing. Once the landless farmers escaped and were caught by the government, they would have no choice but to be sent to Jiubian to serve as soldiers to make up for the lack of soldiers in the border towns for so many years.
Suzhou and Songfu are the most prosperous mansions in Southern Zhili. They are extremely prosperous. More than 100,000 refugees who moved south from the capital have been resettled. There are 40,000 refugees in Songjiang Prefecture alone, and Suzhou Prefecture even supports them. nearly 70,000 refugees.
These people are a big problem in the magistrates of the two prefectures. The reason why Huang Shijing wanted to rob Yu Shimin's salted fish was out of helplessness. Counting the nominal Shanghai County, there are only three counties in Songjiang Prefecture, and Songjiang The white rice tax was entirely supported by Qingpu and Huating counties, and Huang Shijing had more things to worry about.
So just now Chen Cao asked Huang Shijing to share the share of the refugees, and the boy was as happy as a child who had received lucky money, and immediately went to deal with the matter. Moreover, there was still the words of Marquis Dingwu, "As much as you have," Huang Shijing was here. On the way back to Fucheng, I had already planned to send all the refugees in Songjiang to Chen Cao within three days.
"Now I am out of the sea of misery...hahaha..."
On the official road, Huang Shijing, who was sitting in the carriage, couldn't help laughing loudly, and was discussing the matter of refugees with the master sitting in the carriage.
