Every time we breathe in, we grow old; every time we open our eyes, we die. Time is always like the feelings we are unwilling to let go, passing between our fingers and escaping unexpectedly. The winter night always comes earlier, just like the sorrow that a young man does not want to face, which makes people feel heart palpitating.
Looking at the darkening weather and the empty door, Ge Da wrapped himself in cotton clothes and couldn't help but ask, "Sir, are we still waiting?"
There were only broken stars left on the stove next to him, but the coldness of his body was secondary. Wang Busheng felt that his heart was even colder. Those days of voluntary cleaning for the people of the Dongshi Hundred Household Office were wrongly paid. The king of time has been waiting for the grateful people, but unfortunately, there are no people carrying fruits and vegetables, no businessmen carrying bacon and eggs, and no honest elders holding eighteen-year-old hens. Of course, It is even more impossible to get free money. Wang Busheng feels that he has done a lot, but he has not received any spiritual gratitude, let alone material gratitude. Thinking of the sanitation workers who worked hard in his previous life and some big leaders personally gave it to them Herbal tea made Wang Busheng feel even worse. Although the leader was giving herbal tea, there were dozens of reporters taking pictures. Even if it's formalism, Wang Bushu still wants it. Even if it doesn't work out, it can be regarded as recognition of his work for a year, and he will be willing to reimburse the money for making the banner.
Wang Busheng's heart ached, but there were people around him who didn't have the eyesight to pierce his heart. He glared at Ge Da fiercely.
Of course, a knife is needed to prick the heart, and Ge Er is the one who handed the knife, "Sir, let's not wait any longer. Even if we wait until next year, no people will give you gifts."
Ge Er's hawk-like gaze seemed to kill him, "Do you know what my New Year's wish is?"
Ge Da and Ge Er were full of curiosity, "What is it?"
"I hope your bad breath will be cured and never come back again."
Ge Da covered his mouth and said, "Sorry, I never brushed my teeth before, but I will continue to brush my teeth every day in the future."
"Hee hee," Ge Er's honest look was full of joy, "Sir, you guessed it wrong. I have hemorrhoids but no bad breath."
"Sir, it's getting late. The dinner will start soon. Don't keep the third lady and the others waiting too long." Liu Mei couldn't help but persuade.
"Hey" the original good mood was gone, Wang Busheng could only stand up, waved his hand and said, "Go home and eat."
It is understandable that Wang Busheng did not receive any gifts. First of all, Wang Busheng had just joined Dongshi Baihusuo, and no one knew much about Wang Busheng's habits and habits. Although officials in the Ming Empire were greedy, no high-sounding gift of money was enough. It's the best strategy to get twice the result with half the effort. Therefore, many people who want to give gifts are waiting and watching, hoping that Wang Busheng can reveal his preferences to ensure that they can get them accurately.
Furthermore, the sixth-grade Jinyiwei Baihu can only be regarded as minor officials in Songjiang Mansion. As long as they are civil servants with rank, they can easily handle them, including those who spend money to buy officials, and as long as they are somewhat involved with these civil servants None of them would think of taking the path of Wang Immortal, which makes Wang Immortal not a popular choice for gift giving.
Compared with the deserted situation in front of Wang Busheng's door, the residence of Li Yutang, the Minister of Civil Affairs, was much more lively. According to a mobile vendor selling cooking cakes, since the twelfth lunar month, there have been sporadic guests in front of Mr. Li's residence. When I visited Niangen, there were long queues day and night, so the mobile vendors selling cooking cakes also became regular. I made a lot of income every day by relying on Mr. Li's business. Mr. Li is worthy of being the father-in-law of the people of the world, always and everywhere. They are all thinking about benefiting the people.
Today is the 30th of the twelfth lunar month, and the peak season for gift-giving is ushered in in front of the Li family mansion. Because there are too many people giving gifts, the road is blocked, and the Wucheng Army and Horse Division had to send officers and soldiers to direct traffic and organize gift-giving people to line up in an orderly manner. Otherwise, a stampede may occur during the Chinese New Year.
Experienced adults know that the closer the New Year is, the more people give gifts, so many officials have finished giving gifts early. At this time, they are enjoying the reunion dinner with their families in peace, which is a big pain for the generals guarding the border and others. For some border officials, because of the long distances, it takes time to transport gifts, and the end of the year is also a period of high incidence of crime. If they send troops to escort gifts, it is very likely that their gifts will become military pay for a certain village for ten years. The bandits who carry the reputation of being a gangster can't get cheap money, so they will set the time to give gifts on this day, because they think the bandits will also have a holiday on New Year's Eve.
"Selling cooking cakes, selling cooking cakes, soft and delicious sesame sesame cakes." In order to survive the good year, kind-hearted people will not give themselves a holiday. The vendor selling cooking cakes shouted loudly. Seeing so many Gods of Wealth, he felt that his daughter could eat jelly beans during the New Year this year.
"Hey, old man selling cooking cakes, here are two cooking cakes," shouted an official in line.
The old man came trotting over with a load, "Official, you want cooking cakes."
"How do you sell pancakes?"
"If I return to the official, I'll give you one tael or three pieces of silver." The old man put down his burden and opened up the washed white cotton cloth, "Master, my mother-in-law has just baked it and it's still hot."
"Why are they so expensive?" Looking at the sesame cakes in the box, the official said, "One tael of silver or four."
"My lord, this old man can't sell it at this price."
The current Ming Empire is no longer in the era of trading with copper plates. If the cost of labor is included, the old man can only earn as much as one sesame seed cake for three sesame seed cakes.
"If I say you can buy it, you can buy it." He stretched out his hand and picked out the four largest ones in the box, and then threw out a tael of silver. "If it were not in the capital and under the emperor's feet, I wouldn't have to give you this silver."
You have to spend money to buy things, haha, they are all serving the people of the Ming Empire, so they should take advantage.
If the people do not fight against the officials, how can the poor peasants of the 18th generation dare to challenge the authority of the officials? The old man can only accept the money and pick up the pole in angrily, hoping that the next guest will be a good official.
The official took a bite of the sesame seed cake and then handed it to an official in front of him, "Old Li. Take a bite of the sesame seed cake,"
The official surnamed Li took a bite, and then spit it on the ground. "Bah, it tastes really bad. Even my dogs won't eat it."
The official swallowed reluctantly and said, "Old Li, the conditions are difficult, let's make do with it."
Looking at the long queue, not knowing that the queue would last until the Year of the Monkey and the Horse, the official named Li could only take out the jug, take a sip of sesame seed cakes and a sip of wine.
What, why can't they go to the tavern to eat and drink before coming back? Haha, there is no one to queue up in front of the Li family mansion, and it is easy to be put on the line. It is disrespectful to the Lord Shangshu.
"It happens every year. It will last until the Year of the Monkey and the Horse." The official surnamed Li couldn't help complaining.
"Hey, it's not easy even in the cold weather."
After looking at the officials in front and behind, no one noticed this. The official named Li lowered his voice and asked in a low voice, "Old Wang, how many red envelopes have you received this year?"
The official surnamed Wang used his body to block it, and spread his right thumb and index finger, "Eighty Thousand Liang".
"It's only eighty thousand taels. Don't you know that Mr. Li's threshold for accepting gifts has been raised?"
"What, the price has increased again?" The official surnamed Wang was excited for a moment and his voice was a little loud. Many people looked in this direction, and even the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division responsible for maintaining order on the scene scolded, "Don't shout loudly in front of Mr. Li's house." Noisy.
The official surnamed Wang hurriedly confessed. When he saw others looking away, he covered his mouth with his hands. Then he asked in a voice that only the two of them could hear clearly, "What is the current price for Mr. Li to receive gifts?"
The official surnamed Li stretched out his two palms and said "one hundred thousand taels".
"Uh, one hundred thousand taels." The official surnamed Wang covered his heart, "I'm not afraid of your jokes, Old Li. The area under my jurisdiction is already poor. Everyone in the city paid taxes to collect 60,000 taels. I had no choice but to Next year's land tax has been collected in advance, and I have only collected 80,000 taels. If I add another 20,000 taels, I really can't afford it."
"Brother, some money must be spent." Afraid of being heard by others, the official surnamed Li also lowered his voice, "Just some time ago, Mr. Li, a student named Xie came to the house empty-handed and was almost killed by Mr. Li. Fortunately, several adults helped to plead for mercy, and Xie also paid a red envelope of 100,000 taels, thus avoiding the fate of being dismissed from office."
"The person named Xie can't be the Songjiang prefect who just killed everyone in his family." The official surnamed Wang guessed.
"That's him. Rumor has it that the reason why Xie's family was slaughtered was by chance. Mr. Li knew that his family had a deposit of 500,000 taels, but he only gave him 100,000 taels. Mr. Li felt insulted. , then he resorted to some means and killed the whole family named Xie."
"Everyone is beheaded." After hearing such bad news, the official surnamed Wang felt his neck go cold. "What can I do? I gave a gift of 100,000 taels, but everyone was beheaded. I only have 80,000 taels."
Official surnamed Li was very sympathetic to the experience of the official surnamed Wang. After all, they were all colleagues. The official surnamed Li came up with an idea and said, "I heard that many banks in the capital have lending business. Lao Wang, you might as well borrow 20,000 yuan for an emergency."
"But if you borrow money, you have to pay it back."
Well, no matter how incompetent these officials surnamed Wang are, taking bribes, perverting the law, and harming loyal people, at least they know that they have to pay back the money they borrowed, and they are not willing to be old people.
"There are still ways to think about it."
The official named Li advised.
"To be honest with you, my brother-in-law's father-in-law passed away, and my brother-in-law spent a lot of money to build a house and get married. I have already used all the tax payment items that I can think of. I really can't think of a way to make money." At this moment, the official named Wang felt He is a poor pet dog, and his master is holding a knife to eat dog meat.
The scene was still for less than a minute, and the official named Li suddenly said, "Yes."
Approaching the ear of the official surnamed Wang, the official surnamed Li said, "I heard that in the battle between you and the Mongolian Tatars in winter, many soldiers were killed and injured."
The official surnamed Wang blushed, "Although our army was ten times stronger to fight the Mongolian Tatars, the Mongolian Tatars dispatched all elite cavalry. Our army suffered 20,000 casualties, which has been a very small loss in the battles in recent years. ”.
All along, as several princes were relieved of military power, some capable generals were specially replaced by Zhu Xiluo. There were very few military attachés who could fight and knew how to fight. Therefore, in the border friction with the enemy, the Ming Empire won less and lost more. As long as it was not defeated, Conquering the city can be called a victory. As for the number of casualties, it is not something that everyone cares about.
"My younger brother has achieved such a great victory. How can my elder brother laugh at me?" the official surnamed Li changed his voice. "According to the regulations of the imperial court, soldiers who died in battle will be given pension money."
"Old Li, it's not that I'm a coward. The pension money came from the pockets of several princes. If they knew that I was the one who saved the pension money for the soldiers who died in the war, the princes would not spare me." Although he loves money, the official surnamed Wang also knows who can use his money, and he doesn't even think about whose money it is. It doesn't matter how much money you have from the court. After all, this is what everyone is doing, but the money of the prince is not worth it. It's not something anyone dares to get involved in easily. If you have a life, you can't take life flowers.
"Brother, you are wrong. You can't keep all the money for the pensions of the soldiers who died in the battle. You can just keep a part of it. The princes will probably not say anything. In addition, the imperial court pays the soldiers for the winter. It's not worth 20,000. But if you draw enough money, you can collect the money and pay back the loan money when the time comes."
The official surnamed Wang thought for a while and said, "My brother is right. The court also issued a military salary to buy horses. If you leave a part of it, it will be enough to pay the interest."
"Brother, hurry up and go to the bank before it's holiday, and we'll queue up later."
"Thank you for reminding me, brother." Looking at the long queue behind him, the official surnamed Wang smiled bitterly, "It seems that I have to stay up all night today."
