While Yu Wang Fuquan was shopping, he was still looking at Wang Zhongxiao's concubine Yang Xiaohuan with relish. Today, he and Wang Datou came to Zhengyangmen together. Most of the reason was because of a nanny like Xiaohuan.
How nice is this little ring! The wet nurses in Fuquan Mansion are more resourceful than others. If you keep one like this at home, you will definitely not run out of milk to drink!
Fuquan also heard that this Yang Xiaohuan also practiced wrestling and often played wrestling with Wang Zhongxiao, which was very exciting just thinking about it. Wrestling with a girl like this makes me happy no matter whether I win or lose!
Uncle Fu also heard that Yang Qilong had many good sisters, most of whom were as plump as Yang Xiaohuan. Just when he was thinking about becoming brother-in-law with Wang Zhongxiao, the voices of Guo Jinbao and Wang Zhongxiao came.
"Uncle Fu, Ruixin Hall has arrived!"
This kid didn't learn well either. Wang Zhongxiao had obviously arranged for him to work in the Central Army of the Green Camp New Army, but he was unwilling to do so and had to shamelessly hang out at the sticky pole. It is also said that the sticky pole is close to the nobles, so it is easy to get promoted.
Later, Wang Zhongxiao forced him to have no choice but to push his father, Gunpowder Guo, out as a shield, and let Gunpowder Guo Guo Dequan become the firearms general of the Green Camp New Army. He also asked his father to collect his big gun. My uncle, Li Jixiang, is my apprentice and I don’t care whether he passes it on to his son or not to his daughter!
The work of arranging gunpowder is dirty and tiring. Who is really willing to learn it? If you have that kind of time, why not accompany the prince to the Eighth Alley to do good deeds?
King Yu Fuquan looked up and was stunned. He blurted out: "Oh, why are there so many officials? What day is it today? Why are there so many officials queuing up at the entrance of Ruixin Hall?"
It turned out that there was a large group of officials queuing outside the gate of Ruixin Hall, which was converted from Yangsan Teahouse and two nearby rows of houses.
"So many officials are queuing up to save money? Are these all officials who had an affair with Obei?" Fuquan continued.
His mouth was only locked when he was in front of Kangxi, Obai, and Bumbutai. As long as the three of them were not around, he was the master of saying whatever he wanted, and now he started yelling randomly!
As a result, a large group of officials who were queuing up turned to look at him, and some of them even got into a fight.
"Where did you come from as a child? How could you accuse someone of innocence?"
"That is, your adults don't care about it?"
"Yes, Jing has been working in Jingquan since high school. How could he be one of Obai's traitors?"
"Zhang was also a Jinshi in the sixth year of Kangxi's reign. Since being elected in Beijing, he has never even met Ao Bai."
"Alas, you are still Jinshi, and Zhu is just a candidate. He failed in three subjects. He has been selected in Beijing for several years. I don't know when he will be the winner!"
"Jiang is also a candidate. He has been selected in Beijing for nine years. It's hard."
"I have also been choosing in Beijing for eight years."
A group of high-ranking officials attacked Fuquan at first, but soon they began to complain.
It was only then that Fuquan and Wang Zhongxiao saw clearly that these officials were all sesame and mung beans, most of them were seventh or eighth rank, there were also a few sixth-rank officials, and some were even wearing the uniform of a judicial officer.
These officials looked unlucky at first glance. They must have little money. The material of their official uniforms was naturally very poor (official uniforms in the Qing Dynasty were usually prepared by themselves). There were not many followers lining up to accompany them. Most of the officials were alone. .
Some of them looked good-looking and thin. At this time, foreign medicine was not popular in the Qing Dynasty. Is this official looking sick? He probably doesn't have enough to eat.
Guo Jinbao, an old Beijinger, smiled and came to Yu Wang Fuquan's side. He pointed at the group of poor officials with a look of disdain and said: "Your Majesty, these are sesame mung beans waiting to be selected in Beijing. They should be borrowed from Ruixin Hall." A loan shark."
"Oh, it turns out they are a group of poor officials, bad luck!" Yu Wang Fuquan obviously looked down on these officials who came to Ruixin Hall to borrow money. After cursing, he swayed into Ruixin Hall.
Several palace guards who followed Fu Shen immediately rushed forward like wolves and tigers, waving their fists to scare the poor officials and said: "Get out of the way, get out of the way of the good dogs! This is the prince! Who wants to collide?" My lord, don’t take this official skin anymore!”
When the officials heard that Fu Quan was the prince, and then looked at Fu Quan's temperament and the appearance of Wang Zhongxiao who followed Fu Quan, they were all half shorter, and they all knelt on the ground where the snow had not yet melted to kowtow to Fu Quan.
Even though he was called a dog, he was still so low-spirited. Don't compare this dog slave to the civil servants of the Song Dynasty. Compared with those officials of the Ming Dynasty who were easily spanked, he was far behind.
However, Wang Zhongxiao, who has been in the Qing Dynasty for almost two years, actually understands the difficulties of these dog officials.
Officials in the Song Dynasty had high salaries to keep them honest, and officials in the Ming Dynasty had great tax-free privileges, so a lot of the income from donations and donations went to wealthy owners.
The officials of the Qing Dynasty, to be precise, most of the Han officials and dog officials, were just one word - loss!
It is really risky to be a dog, so you must be cautious when entering an official position!
It is still the early years of Kangxi, and the Qing Dynasty has not yet opened many donation classes, so these officials all have meritorious titles, either Jinshi or Juren. According to the system in the early Qing Dynasty, Juren can only participate in three to five examinations (Yuan Province Three subjects, five subjects near the province), if you fail to pass the exam, you can only try your luck in the selection of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
As for those who are particularly lucky and get Jinshi, although they can be awarded officials, having an official position does not mean that there is a shortage. Most of the officials who are selected as Jinshi have to go through a long process of candidates and candidates before finally getting a real vacancy.
Candidates (selection) and alternates are two passes. Among them, Beijing officials only need to be candidates (selected). Once selected, there will be vacancies. But officials in Beijing were poor, especially for Han members who had no connections or property in Beijing.
Local officials need to be selected (selected) by the Ministry of Personnel first. If selected, they can get an alternate official, and then go to the local government to continue waiting.
As far as Wang Zhongxiao knows, it takes an average of eight years for a serious Jinshi in the Qing Dynasty to go from high school to becoming a county magistrate!
Eight years! The Anti-Japanese War was victorious, and these Qing Dynasty scholars were waiting for a county magistrate to be vacant. Of course, waiting eight years for a county magistrate seemed quite worthwhile, but according to the Qing Dynasty's system, candidates and alternate officials were not paid.
What's even worse is that the candidates have to wait in Beijing, and the candidates have to wait in the provincial capital.
What is the cost in Beijing? What are the expenses in the provincial capital?
Moreover, being an official comes with the dignity of being an official, and all kinds of communication, all kinds of greetings and farewells, and all kinds of dealings all cost money.
And when you become an official, you no longer have to work. Is it acceptable for a candidate official who has passed the Jinshi degree to carry a big bag on the Tongzhou Canal pier? If the workers are not paid, it is even more impossible to beg for food. The dignified court orders officials to beg for food, which is a loss of dignity for the court.
In addition, just finding a niche does not mean that you will be able to live in peace and stability for the rest of your life.
Because most official positions have a term of office, it can be as short as three years (expired), or as long as five years, and after the salary is over, you have to go back to Beijing for election. No more money!
In addition to the due salary, there is also the issue of returning home to be a dutiful son for three years after the death of the father or mother. There is no salary for keeping filial piety. After keeping filial piety and getting married, you have to go back to Beijing to be elected. Still no money!
After being selected as a local official in the Quanxuan election, he will have to be on the waiting list again and continue to have no money!
What to do if you have no money? Of course you have to borrow loan sharks.
This kind of usury is called Beijing Debt in Beijing.
Therefore, if these Jinshi and Han officials of the Qing Dynasty did not have a particularly rich family, or had a background and connections, or did very well in the exam, and were ranked first, second, or third overall, etc., if they wanted to make a lot of money, It is really difficult. If you are not careful, this corrupt official will be in trouble.
The idea of corrupt officials losing money might have been a joke in other dynasties, but in the Qing Dynasty it was a common occurrence. In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, when there were too many officials and shortages became even more rare, there were even cases where officials starved to death. That was a tragedy!
However, most of the officials who lost money were not because they borrowed money to live while they were candidates or candidates, but because they borrowed loan sharks and paid bribes to get through.
In the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty, it was a normal practice to borrow money, pay bribes to buy short children, and then embezzle to repay debts after taking office. Most of them had no background, did not do particularly well in exams, and did not meet any noble people. If they wanted to make up for their vacancies earlier, most of them had to borrow money from usury to buy out their vacancies. Otherwise, the number of years for candidates and candidates would be too long - the eight years from high school Jinshi to becoming county magistrate, that's an average!
And this is still a non-commissioned officer. If you want to promote someone to become an official, it will be too difficult to do it without spending money.
However, it is risky to borrow loan sharks to buy shortcomings, because in Beijing you can only buy candidate shortcomings, and it is hard to say whether you can buy the real ones you like in the local area.
In addition, even if you buy a good thing, you won't be able to protect it. If the old man at home is gone in a few days, you have to go back to being a filial son, and all the money you spent on buying the good thing will be wasted.
And for such a group of upright officials who owe a lot of loan sharks and get a lot of interest every day when they open their eyes, they want to be upright officials, but the conditions don't allow it!
Most of the capital used to lend Beijing debt to these Han officials elected in Beijing came from the banner lords. Of course, the lords themselves generally would not show up, but they would definitely get the big share of the money when the money was divided in the end.
To put this matter more clearly, even though the bannermen and nobles of the Qing Dynasty had already enjoyed most of the officialdom's oil and water, they would not let go of the part assigned to Han officials. They used financial means and created officialdom involution, and then ruthlessly Scrap the fortune of Han officials.
If all the Han officials in the officialdom were put together and issued a financial report every year, even if they did not lose money, the net profit would not be too high. Overall, they would be a group of "officials working in vain."
And this kind of "official labor" that can be lost if you are not careful, has turned into extremely fragrant meat because of the relationship between supply and demand and the few outlets for Han intellectuals.
However, Wang Zhongxiao had no objection to the Qing Dynasty's bad habit of bullying and exploiting Han officials. Even corrupt officials could be blamed for your losses. Why would such a court want it? Can this not be revolutionary?
After revolution, don’t we no longer have to pay back the loan sharks we owe? So before the revolution happens, shouldn’t we borrow a little more?
Thinking of the good thing about borrowing money and not repaying it, Wang Zhongxiao had already accompanied Yu Wang Fuquan into the lobby of Ruixin Hall - the lobby of the original Yang San Tea House, which was now transformed into a bank lobby and built There is a row of high and sturdy counters, with jujube wood fences erected on the counters, each one as thick as the mouth of a bowl. The openings leading to the inside of the counter and the second floor were covered with iron-covered wooden doors, which were very solid at first sight, and there were strong men with eyebrow-high sticks guarding the door.
When Wang Zhongxiao accompanied Fuquan into the lobby of Ruixin Hall, it was a time when business was booming. In front of each counter stood a candidate official or elector who was doing business. Most of them had sad faces. to silver.
Yang Qilong, Yuan Linjing and Wang Sanshun, the three shopkeepers, arrived early in the morning. At this moment, I heard the report from my subordinates that the prince had arrived, and they all came downstairs to greet him. When they saw Fu Quan, they knelt down. The "official white laborers" who were doing business also felt that a noble person had arrived - they all knew the person behind Ruixin Hall. It’s King Yu Fuquan! So now you have to kneel down to the big boss Fuquanfu. You see, there is no one else who will kneel down to the store owner.
However, Fuquan didn't want to tangle with them anymore, so he ran up the stairs with a quick step, and then went up to the second floor in a hurry. Wang Zhongxiao, Yang Qilong, Yuan Linjing, Wang Sanshun, and Guo Jinbao also followed immediately. They all went up the stairs, and then heard the sound of the door slamming.
The second floor of Ruixin Hall is the accounting room. When Fu Quan, Wang Zhongxiao and others climbed up, they heard the sound of abacus beads being moved.
Fuquan asked: "Are you still settling accounts? It's already the New Year and you don't want to take a break?"
"Your Majesty, we are the busiest before the New Year's Eve for our accounts. Moreover, we have just opened a new business, and this year is the first New Year's Eve. Why don't we do some calculations?"
It was Yang Qilong who answered. There are now three big shopkeepers in Ruixin Hall, Yang Qilong, Yuan Linjing, and Wang Sanshun, among whom Yang Qilong is the eldest. Moreover, he has also become a loan shark and has a group of accountants and debt collectors under his command. They are rich in experience!
"Your Majesty, please."
While Yang Qilong replied, he invited Prince Yu into a spacious living room.
After sitting down, King Yu asked again: "How much did you earn last year? Is it done?"
"Your Majesty, the final results haven't come out yet." Yang Qilong said with a smile, "But our Ruixin Hall didn't make much money last year, but we collected more than 2.4 million taels in savings."
The savings of more than 2.4 million taels are actually bribes of more than 240,000 taels, but on the books it is deposited here by others!
Wang Zhongxiao was worried that King Yu would not understand what Yang Qilong meant by "not making any money", so he quickly explained: "Your Majesty, those more than 2.4 million are long-term silver deposits. And the bank account does not require interest. Once it is released, If you earn 10% profit every year, you can make a profit of 240,000 yuan. However, the money you put out now will not be able to collect interest until next year. So you will not make anything this year."
Fuquan nodded with satisfaction: "I know, I know that's right, who did we give our money to? Can we get it back?"
Yang Qilong smiled and said: "Returning to the prince, most of our money is currently given to the officials and juren who are selected and selected in Beijing. There is no guarantee that all of it will be recovered, but the interest is heavy, and the interest is compounded. Even if it is damaged a little, it will be recovered." The general ledger can still be profitable.”
Of course, Yang Qilong didn't tell the truth. Ruixintang's current business is not only profitable, it's simply extremely profitable!
Now he is close to King Yu, and he is also an official in the stick office. He is an absolutely well-informed person and only lends money to officials who have a chance to be selected. Moreover, interest is only part of the income that can be obtained from lending money to candidate officials. The other part of the income is obtained by "sending family members."
The so-called "sending family members" means that the creditor sends people to follow "Guan Bailao" to take office (the family members can also be sold directly), and then use the official power of "Guan Bailao" to make money crazily! When trouble arises, the "family members" disappear, and it is "Guan Bailao" who takes the blame.
As for this part of the income, there is no need to reimburse Fuquan. It will be divided among the five of them: Wang Zhongxiao, Guanyinbao, Yang Qilong, Yuan Linjing, and Wang Sanshun!
"Didn't you say before that you would give accounts to merchants engaged in water transportation?" Fuquan asked, "Why are you giving them to officials now?"
Yang Qilong had been waiting for this question for a long time, and immediately said with a smile: "My lord, I don't know something. The merchants who run water transportation all purchase goods in the southeast and sell them in Beijing. They only need to borrow money when handling goods. When they arrive in Beijing, they need to borrow money." Once the goods are sold, it’s time to pay back the money. Therefore, to do business as a water transport merchant, we need to open branches in Yangzhou, Suzhou, and Hangzhou. We will open accounts in Yangzhou, Suzhou, and Hangzhou, and collect accounts in Beijing. At the same time, we must also It can carry out exchange business and help merchants and officials remit money to the southeast or back to Beijing."
"My lord, this is a good deal!" Wang Zhongxiao quickly encouraged Fuquan: "There is money in the southeast itself, there are salt merchants in Yangzhou, Suzhou and Hangzhou have been rich in silk since ancient times, and there are four major weaving industries in the south of the Yangtze River, and the annual water flow is also a large amount. Money. If the salt merchants and the four major weaving companies can save some money to enter Ruixintang, it will not be more than two million, but four to five million or even tens of millions!"
Yuan Linjing came from Yangzhou. Of course he wanted to return home in fine clothes and not get involved with Yang Qilong, a local snake in Beijing. At this moment, he also smiled and said: "Your Majesty, this is a great thing that benefits the country and the people. As far as I know, The interest rate for borrowing money in the Southeast Market is very high, and the interest rate of 20% a year is considered very low. But our Ruixintang can make a lot of money even if it is 15%!"
"Really? This is pretty good!" Fuquan smiled, "Wang Datou, what do you think?"
"Me?" Wang Zhongxiao said with a smile, "Your Majesty, I heard that there are a lot of shortages in Liangjiang in the civil service department that need to be released. How about you become a noble person today and select a few officials who have come to Ruixin Hall to borrow money?" Let him serve as an alternate county magistrate in Liangjiang, so that Brother Yuan will have someone to take care of him when he goes to the southeast. If there are merchants in Cao who dare to default on their debts, someone will be able to help them collect money."
Wang Zhongxiao added: "In addition, the semicolon of Ruixin Hall in the southeast can also be set up as a branch of the East Hall Yamen at the sticky pole. Together with the four major weaving companies, it can serve as the emperor's eyes and ears, and at the same time, it can make money for you, the prince."
"Okay!" Fuquan slapped his thigh, "This is a good idea, let's do it. By the way, Datou, you now go and select a few officials and candidates who are waiting for selection and selection, and let them come to see me. If I When the king thought it was okay, he sent a message to the officials and arranged for them to release the two rivers."
Wang Zhongxiao said with great joy: "Your Majesty, then you are really their great nobleman!"
(End of chapter)
