Chapter 118 Salary
In fact, Guan Shengyun completely controlled the three prefectures in northern Hubei. Needless to say, the Huguang Third Division and even the imperial court did not want to worry about the silver grain of these three prefectures. Not only that, even the amount of silver and rice that Huguang had to turn over to the court every year was reduced by half - you can figure it out with your toes, most of these also went into Guan Shengyun's pocket. It is said to be "most" because every Ming official from the governor of Huguang, Kou Shiyi (zi Zhiye) to the magistrate of Gucheng, Jiang Zhonggang, had to deduct a little bit from it.
This is a rule. There is no rule without rules. This kind of "rules" is so powerful that even Guan Shengyun can't do anything about it. At first, of course Guan Shengyun refused. He threatened to go to the Emperor Xianlingxian to "submit a lawsuit", and then led his troops to Wuchang to find Kou Futai to "reason"! This momentum scared Mo Qiushui, Gan Zhihai and others to the point where they knelt on the ground. Fortunately, Luo Yonghao stepped forward in time to stop Marshal Guan before he could get angry any further. Luo Yonghao expressed his full understanding and gratitude to all the adults, and made it clear that he was very satisfied with this number and would just implement it according to this standard in the future - even if there was any accident or bad luck, it would be even less than half a percent. Well, as long as it doesn't exceed 10%, it's acceptable.
When Luo Yonghao sent all the officials away and came back, Guan Shengyun was still angry: "Commander, you are too talkative, but these dog officers dare to bully Guan, don't give them any color, and think that Guan is a vegetarian!"
Of course Luo Yonghao knew why Guan Shengyun was so angry - the reason why he got to where he is today is not because the civil servants deducted too much from Lu Yong, Guan Shuai's (then known as Lu Sixiang) adoptive father? However, Luo Yonghao also fully understood that the officials did have last resort difficulties: "Commander, with the money and food from the three prefectures, we can support these sons and daughters. As long as we save some money, it is almost enough. Plus the money and rice from Huguang, We have more than enough.”
Guan Shengyun said angrily: "I didn't say enough, these are two different things! I'm just angry that these ignorant officials dare to take advantage of Guan!"
Luo Yonghao smiled slightly: "Commander, they are really forced to do so, otherwise they would never dare to take our ideas. We can indeed ask them for as much as we want, and they will never dare not give it... But in that case, our Peaceful days will not last long."
Guan Shengyun was startled: "What did the military advisor say?"
Luo Yonghao explained: "Commander, you know the low salary of officials in our court. Let's take the county magistrate Jiang as an example. The salary of the magistrate is around seven stones and five dou, and not all of it is given out in grain, part of it is rice and wheat, and some are rice and wheat. Some of them are in kind, such as pieces of silk and satin, pepper, sappanwood, etc. Most of the time, rice and wheat only account for 20 to 30%, and the rest are in kind or banknotes. In other words, what the imperial court issued to Magistrate Jiang can be converted into A total of seven stones and five measures of rice and wheat. There is a question here: If the goods are distributed in kind, at what price is it converted?"
Guan Shengyun became slightly interested and said: "That's right! The price of the same thing may vary greatly in different places! Let's not talk about other things, such as salt. To be honest, Guan used to resell some for his adoptive father. Military salt costs about three or four cents of silver per catty. But here in Huguang, it only costs about one cent of silver per catty."
Luo Yonghao said: "That's right. However, the court doesn't care about the price differences in different places. The Ministry of Household Affairs can discount it as much as it wants! Not only that, the court won't care about you sending people to pick up these items or the cost of food and drinks on the way there and back. Not to mention how much you can get at the Ministry of Household Discount. Anyway, the court will just distribute it, and the rest is your own business."
Guan Shengyun clicked his tongue: "Good boy, that's cruel enough."
Luo Yonghao said disapprovingly: "Where is this? There are even worse things! As I mentioned before, whether it is rice, wheat or cloth and pepper, there are still physical objects at least. The best thing is to issue banknotes, directly handing out treasure banknotes! Too much My grandfather invented the Ming Dynasty treasure banknote. Drawing ten strings of copper coins on a piece of paper and stamping it with the official seal is a consistent value. Drawing five strings is five hundred coins. It is also stipulated that one tael of silver can be used to buy rice and one stone. This is what Hongwu Eight years ago. By the 30th year of Hongwu, if you use silver to buy a stone of rice, you only need two cents and five cents. If you use treasure banknotes, it will cost two cents and five hundred cents! That was still when the Iron Fist Taizu was around. Today, this banknote is no different from papyrus. When Luo was in Shenmu, the salary given to officials in Shaanxi Province by the court was "one banknote, two meters and seven cents", but Luo was beaten by everyone, and officials in northern Shaanxi The banknotes are cheaper than Luo’s, and his monthly salary is all banknotes, so Luo simply doesn’t go to get it.”
Hearing this, Guan Shengyun came up with a new question: "Military advisor, please stop for a moment. Guan originally knew that this treasure note was indistinguishable from papyrus, but when the military advisor said this, he suddenly remembered something but did not understand. Guan used to I have heard that the emperor often gave millions of treasures to the barbarians as tributes... According to this, what he gave was worthless. Then... why did the barbarians keep coming all the way? Are they really stupid for coming here to pay tribute?"
Luo Yonghao said sternly: "How could someone be so stupid as to travel across the ocean and go through all kinds of hardships to get a few scraps of paper back? The barbarians came here just to take advantage! The treasures given by the Holy Spirit seem to be worthless, and they will carry goods and places with them. What a deal! This one item alone has many times the profit. Moreover, in their view, this treasure banknote is even more priceless - having a treasure banknote given by the Holy Spirit means that the imperial court recognizes them! Taizu Back then, there were fifteen ‘countries that would not be conquered’, and what they took back was a life-saving amulet!”
Guan Shengyun scratched his head in embarrassment: "Hey, I thought either they were really stupid, or the treasure notes given to them by the emperor were different and could be exchanged for real gold and silver."
Luo Yonghao said disapprovingly: "The heavenly kingdom bestows real money and silver on these small countries? Commander, you can imagine it. Why?"
Guan Shengyun smiled coquettishly: "The military advisor is right. But, having said that, it is enough to give these things to the barbarians. Giving them to one's own family is too much."
Luo Yonghao smiled mockingly: "Misfortune comes with blessings. It is also a blessing for Luo, who is extremely prosperous, to meet the commander. Commander, don't be anxious, there will be more to come..."
"besides?"
"Well, there are still arrears! It's normal to delay for a few months. Also, the court is only responsible for the salary of the official himself, and does not ask about anything else. The county magistrate is better. Generally speaking, hiring two masters is enough. One is Master Qiangu. In addition to collecting the imperial grain and rice, he is also responsible for planning the revenue and expenditure of the county government, such as the distribution of rice*, worship of mountain gods and river gods, annual poetry gatherings, and expenses for the transportation of officials at all levels. What level? There are rules for how to receive people; one is Mr. Xing Ming. If the people have any lawsuits, the county magistrate is responsible for judging them. This Mr. Xing is familiar with the "Ming Dynasty Law" and will make specific decisions: whether to fight thirty or fifty bans, Whether one travels a thousand miles or two thousand miles is a matter for Master Xing Ming. Think about it, Marshal, magistrates and counties are often scholars who have read "Zi Yun Xiu Qi Zhiping" for more than ten years. They can't even tell the difference between rice and rice. Ten copper coins here and five coins of silver there will definitely make it impossible to make money, and it is even less possible to be proficient in the laws of the country. These two masters must have it no matter what."
"Also, you always want your children to continue on the right path of scientific examination and career, right? Then you need to be literate and study. Although you can teach it yourself, but you can't keep an eye on it all the time, then you have to hire a teacher. If you want There are no omissions or flaws in the official documents, and a single master is required to draft and check them carefully. The annual salary of the firewood clerk in the yamen is twenty taels, and there are several masters and one gentleman. Each of them costs four or five. Ten taels, right? This is in theory. In fact, if you don’t have a hundred taels, no one will help you do this. This is only at the county government level. If you are a master at the prefect level, it will be more than double! By the way, the county magistrate’s The annual salary is forty-five taels of silver, which is not enough for one ingot of silver! In other words, if you pay more than double the amount yourself, it will be almost enough to hire someone! Do you have to do everything yourself to buy tea and rice to receive your salary? So you still need to have a few family members who are the chief disciples. The weddings and funerals of Shangguan colleagues are done by Bingjingtanjing*, and they take wives and concubines to worship in high halls... This is all human nature. A county magistrate who follows the rules and is not very greedy needs to meet the requirements every year. Your expenses are about seven or eight hundred taels, but the court only gives you ninety shi of grain or forty-five taels of silver, which is discounted at their price! What do you think we should do?"
"We can only make decisions about the common people." Guan Shengyun smiled bitterly and understood.
"That's right! Commander, look, why is this Gucheng County government office so shabby? This is called 'officials not repairing the government office'. Anyway, it is a temporary official. After working for a few years, it is left. The magnificent repairs are just a wedding dress for others. If you have this money, you might as well put it in your own pocket. If you use it to get to the top, you can continue to climb up. If you don't buy some land in your hometown, you will become a rich man."
Guan Shengyun couldn't help but interject and joked: "If all the officials work together and build the government offices into a magnificent place, wouldn't everyone be comfortable no matter who they are or where they are transferred?"
Luo Yonghao was stunned by this whimsical idea: "How can this happen? How much food will the people all over the world have to pay! Besides, the masters of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the inspectors of the two capitals and thirteen provinces , is it all a decoration? Even Emperor Xin Huhai and Yang Guang* cannot tolerate it."
Guan Shengyun said embarrassedly: "Guan just said it casually. Sir, you don't have to take it seriously. I also know it is absolutely impossible."
Luo Yonghao also understood that Guan Shengyun was acting on a whim, and continued: "If we insist on sticking to the original amount, they will not dare not give it, but after all, their needs are there, and unless they are willing to starve to death, they cannot reduce it. Although Huguang It was a land of plenty, and they could not touch the royal family's estate. The wealthy gentry did not pay land tax, and they did not dare to think too much about the joints between the two capitals. All the burdens would eventually be passed on to the common people! Before long, the common people who cannot survive will either sell themselves as slaves and join the gentry, or they will leave their homes and live in exile. By then, won’t we be able to farm and weave ourselves? At that time, the desperate Huguang Third Division and officials from various governments will only We will continue to be greedy without doing anything, and finally put all the responsibilities on me! The main reason why the court tolerates us now is that we are afraid of beating the rat to pieces, for fear of beating this famous land of plenty to pieces. At least half of it is still there. We can count on the grain and silver. If it is too messy to deal with, then we will no longer have any scruples, and we can only continue to fight all the way. I just told them that it can be a little less, which is a hint to them We need to leave some room for each other. Officials who can be parents here have seen the world, and they will definitely understand what I mean."
The sincerely convinced Guan Shengyun couldn't help but raise his hands to the sky and sighed: "Guan is so virtuous that he got the help of military advisors!"
Luo Yonghao hurriedly said a few words of humility, then his eyes lit up and he said: "Just now, the Marshal said that he was smuggling military salt, and I suddenly had a new idea."
Guan Shengyun asked hurriedly: "What did the military advisor think of?"
Luo Yonghao did not answer immediately. He thought quickly for a while and then said: "Commander, wait a moment, I think this matter has great potential. Someone, please find Shifan quickly. Commander, when the puppy comes, we will discuss it together."
Knowledge points in this article:
*The Xian Emperor in Guan Shengyun's mouth is Xingxian King Zhu Youqian (pronounced "Yuan"). The fourth son of Xianzong Zhu Jianshen, the half-brother of Xiaozong Zhu Youtang, the uncle of Wuzong Zhu Houzhao, and the father of Shizong Zhu Houcong. Emperor Wuzong had no children. After his death, "brothers eventually succeeded brothers", and Zhu Houcong ascended the throne. After the "Dali Yi", he was revered as "Xingxian Emperor", and his posthumous title was: "Zhitian Shou Dao Hong Deyuan Ren Kuan Mu Chunsheng respectful thrifty Jingwen Emperor", the temple name Ruizong.
*If a scholar passes the examination and enters the county school, the government will distribute one liter of rice to each person every day, which is about two kilograms. This is called "Linmi". It means to encourage people to concentrate on studying and continue to make progress, and no longer need to waste energy on food farming. One liter of rice is certainly enough for one person, but if you are already married and have a large family, you will still be a little nervous. However, it is better than nothing.
*Here Luo Yonghao is talking about the large ingot of fifty taels, which is commonly known as "Yuanbao" among the people. Note that the word Yuanbao could never be used before the mid-Ming Dynasty because it was necessary to avoid Zhu Yuanzhang's taboo. However, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was not so much emphasis on it - "Jin Ping Mei" was roughly written during the Wanli period, and there is a description in it of "moving out sixty large ingots, totaling three thousand taels."
*The elegant name of bribery began in the Ming Dynasty. The origin is that the emperor, in order to show favor to his ministers, gave charcoal for heating in winter and ice to cool down in summer. Every severe winter, laborers would be mobilized to cut large pieces of solid ice from the river and transport them to the ice cellar for the emperor to use to cool down in the summer. Later, the people also began to follow suit. In midsummer, there would be vendors pushing ice carts covered with thick quilts to sell to wealthy families of officials. These two things were originally used as excuses by foreign officials when they came to the capital to communicate with the Liubu Tang officials: You just wanted to buy some ice (charcoal) to cool down (warm up)... Later, they developed into officials from all over the country sending it to each other, and it became an official rule. These two are just a general term, and there are many more specific ones: Nian Jing - given during the Chinese New Year, Jie Jing - given during the holidays, Xi Jing - given during happy events, Men Jing - given to the leader, guard and secretary It was given by Zhuang Jing - it was given to my wife, my wife, and my wife, and Wen Jing - it was given to me by the teacher in the tutoring class for my young master...
*Di Xin: King Zhou of Shang. Hu Hai: Qin II. Yang Guang: Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty.
These few people were really notorious, so Luo Yonghao called them by their first names instead of using their imperial titles.
