Time flies, and it’s September in the blink of an eye. The autumn tigers in September in the north are still very powerful, especially in Sijiu City. In addition to feeling a little cool in the morning and evening, the rest of the time is like a hot dog sticking out its tongue.
In this kind of horrible weather, the six yamen are too lazy to do errands, especially the Ministry of Rites, Tongwen Hall, Lifanyuan, Taixue, Hanlin Academy... and other noble yamen. Even if the officials click Mao in the morning and then leave, People turned a blind eye and no one wanted to embarrass the big guy.
Not to mention that the officials in the six ministries of the Qing Dynasty did not understand the rules, and the court was not doing much better. The officials' salary arrears had reached as high as 60%, and many poor officials had to borrow debt to live. Not everyone in such a large court could They are corrupt officials. In many Qingshui yamen, no one burns incense at all. In addition to hoping for salary, many civil servants have been reduced to selling their letters.
The imperial salary is not fully paid, and there is no work to do as an errand. If you still have to sit in the office every day, it would be a bit unkind, and you don't allow others to find some extra money.
But today is very strange. It’s as hot as a steamer in Sijiu City, but 90% of the seats in the Liubu Yamen are filled with officials. They don’t even dare to do anything, they just sit there and drink tasteless tea leaves. There is nothing to talk about, and I don't even go home.
The clock on the table pointed to past eleven o'clock. Many people's stomachs were growling with hunger, but no one was willing to leave the Yamen.
"Brother Liu, Brother Liu... your colleague of the same year is the head of the household department, and he is the real boss in charge of the warehouse. Please tell us the truth about whether the salary arrears can be repaid."
"That's right, Brother Liu, as long as you tell everyone the truth today... nothing else, we will work together to invite you to the cheap shop at noon..."
The official who was sitting around clasped his fists and said apologetically, "Colleagues, please don't embarrass me. If I really knew the details, would I still be here with everyone? I would have gone home to rest." Let's go, let me tell you the truth, there is real money. Four million dragon-patterned silver coins minted by Ryukyu, all of which can be blown when blown, were secretly escorted from Tanggu to Beijing in the middle of the night three days ago. , now in the Hubu Daku..."
"Ah, four million, this is great, we have to make up a batch for us guys." People said in a hurry.
The official surnamed Liu shook his head and sighed, "Hey...it's difficult, it's difficult. Four million seems like a lot, but don't forget that the holes in the court are too big. Not to mention that our officials are in arrears on their salaries, military expenses, and river works." Even the pay of the Eight Banners, which is not in arrears, is too much for the monks..."
"Damn it, those ancestors of the Eight Banners are so shameless. They have no salary, but they receive rice on a monthly basis. They have no money to spend but they can eat enough... Can they be the same as us? We have no money. I can’t even afford to eat, and I’m not afraid of your petty remarks when I say it. I even owe the rent for more than half a year..."
"Hey, it's all the same. Who told us that our Rites Department has been the Qingshui Yamen since ancient times? If it were the Oil and Water Yamen of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Ministry of Household Affairs, even if it was a low-ranking secretary or Zhang Jing, wouldn't that person be crazy..."
"To say that the richest one has to be the Prime Minister's Yamen. Good guy, he is a special zone and a telegraph line operator. I heard that he will train the new army and buy big ships. Spending money is like running on sea water. Any drop of oil will be lost. There’s enough for us to swim in.”
People were talking a lot, and the money they were talking about was the four million yuan of bond acceptance that had been escorted in the name of Emperor Tongzhi three days ago.
Of course, the first person to know the news was the Prime Minister's Yamen, because the first telegraph room in the capital was built in the Prime Minister's Yamen. When Fuqing saw the telegram, he laughed three times excitedly and shouted "Long live your Majesty", and then went to Quanjude at noon to do it himself. One person ordered a large table of noodles and got very drunk.
Prince Gong Yi? was completely dumbfounded. At that time, he called his brother Yixuan and Lao Lin from the household department, plus a few direct relatives to discuss the matter behind closed doors in the Yamen.
Of course it is a good thing to have money to spend, but how did the money come from? People first did not expect that Emperor Tongzhi would receive so much money. Although it was Xiao Letian who finally paid for it, the telegram clearly stated that these The money was obtained by using the shares of Fuso Bank as a mortgage.
Who would have thought that Zai Chun, that little kid, could acquire so many shares just because of a near-miss assassination. Then Fuso Bank could monopolize the mining business of Japan's largest gold and silver mine, and Zai Chun could get it all by himself. Two and a half.
Yi? With his mouth full of bitterness, he sighed and said, "If I had known this, I would have let them assassinate me once. Even if I had to fight for it, I would admit it... This Jiachun Chun's reputation is getting higher and higher."
The room was filled with the most knowledgeable direct descendants, so there was no harm in saying something. Yi Xuan sighed and said, "That's right. Originally, Zaichun was upright when he won the country, and no one could question his status. Now he has started to train new recruits in Ryukyu, and even now He even took care of the military pay himself... He wants to cultivate his own power outside the imperial court."
Everyone gnashed their teeth and thought that it was getting harder and harder to be an official.
Lao Lin from the Ministry of Revenue asked in surprise, "Why is this Xiao Letian so rich? He accepted six million for the Beihai Project, and now he has accepted another four million. According to the message, as long as the court unified the tax reform, he will accept again." Ten million taels..."
"Even if he has the ability to sell the debt, the working capital will still cost more than 10 million taels of silver, which is a mountain of gold."
People whispered to each other for a long time but still didn't understand what was going on. In the end, they said, wait, wait until Yinzi is actually deported to Beijing, and let's see how the limelight makes the decision.
Three days later, the silver indeed entered Sijiucheng under the cover of night. When the cashiers from the Department of Accounts and Lotte Bank completed the handover procedures and counted the silver boxes, the two princes and the Minister of Accounts finally found the flaw.
They pointed to a box full of piles of banknotes and bonds and sneered, "This is the money you gave us. The debts of the Ministry of Accounts were obviously subcontracted to you for underwriting. You should sell these bonds. Why?" After a full circle, we are back to our household department. This is the solution you gave us. Search..."
With an order, all the silver boxes were opened. Only then did people discover that there were only two million taels of real silver coins, and the remaining half were these beautifully printed bonds.
The second shopkeeper who led the team didn't mean to panic at all. He smiled and said to the prince and the adults, "Oh, my lords, you know, who can sleep with a mountain of silver on his back? Millions of taels of silver can't be transported back and forth by ship. , we are not allowed to mobilize soldiers for protection."
"These two million taels of cash were collected by us from all over Tanggu for the court, and the remaining bonds are not waste paper. No matter what the court needs, you can bring the bonds to our Lotte Bank to purchase them, and we guarantee that they will be used as Just use the money..."
"I heard that the prince has trained 30,000 new troops in the western suburbs, and he is worried that he has no money to purchase military uniforms and uniforms. Hahaha, while we are here, you can take these paper bonds and go to any branch of Lotte Bank to purchase them. I I guarantee you can buy as much as you want, and how about giving you a 20% discount.”
"Is there a shortage of bullets for the New Army, a shortage of rifles, and a shortage of army artillery? Hahaha... You don't need to carry cash to buy it. This bond is better than a banknote. You can just buy it from us... …”
"Since the scraps of paper can be exchanged for supplies that are urgently needed by the court, what do you have to worry about?" This book was first published from, be the first to read the authentic content!
