Gangnam-do is a land of plenty. Because of this, rainfall is very frequent, and because it is close to the bay, it is necessary to prepare for heavy rains caused by typhoons and other weather conditions.
Each canal and underground river must be cleaned regularly twice in the first and middle of the month to prevent blockage and waterlogging. Not to mention that after three to five years, canals affected by accumulated water or rain must be repaired or river embankments reinforced.
Therefore, the money invested in water conservancy every year accounts for seventy-eight percent of government and civilian expenditures.
Normally, this amount of money is shared equally between the imperial court and the local government. However, in the past two years, major and minor disasters have occurred frequently in various places, forcing His Majesty to start using the royal family's internal treasury to fill the shortfall. Although the huge sales of Ping'an wine this time have allowed The inner treasury has received a lot of money, but it is still unknown whether the money can be distributed to Jiangnan Road.
What's more, once a process is completed, construction may not start until next year. The rice in Jiangnan Road is only grown for one season, and now it has been harvested. It is the time when manpower is most abundant and it is most suitable for repairs.
Jiang Yan knew Su Rui's difficulty, but he didn't say another word.
Before Su Rui could lift the table and leave, he put the July monthly tax account books of Jinling Mansion that had just been compiled in the morning on the table in front of Su Rui.
There are not many merchants who pay monthly taxes, so you can see the total amount with little need to turn the page.
He felt that Suri should show his face.
"My Lord Governor, please don't get angry. Come and see if the taxes above are enough for you to repair the canals and river embankments."
"Monthly tax account book?"
Su Rui frowned and stared at Jiang Yan dimly.
Usually those who pay monthly taxes are those merchants who make small profits but quick sales. He knows that Jiang Yan has been given an important task by His Majesty, but if the monthly tax can suddenly generate the two hundred thousand taels of silver he wants, he can only think of one possibility.
It is unlikely that Jiang Yan secretly raised taxes and fees behind his back.
It is possible that Jiang Yan secretly sold the property he bought in Jiangnan for money behind his family's back.
"Brother Jiang, I know it's difficult for you, but the difficulty is only temporary. It's good that you have the intention to serve the people and the country, but I don't think it's good to protect everyone from caring about your family."
Su Rui's words made Jiang Yan's heart tremble.
Ignore your little family and protect everyone?
Where is this?
He stopped pretending, opened the account book directly, and laughed: "Stop thinking about it, take a look at the number above."
"I'm not in the mood to look at the monthly tax account books. If you have nothing else to do, I'll leave first..."
"Walking wherever you want, you can watch it as long as you want."
Jiang Yan didn't expect that Su Rui really didn't give him face, so he could only use his trump card.
"Mr. Ning changed the payment of quarterly taxes to monthly taxes for the shops and workshops under his name."
As soon as these words came out.
With his butt raised, Su Rui sat back down again, holding the account book on the table with both hands, as if it would fly away with wings. When he looked down, his pupils shrank suddenly.
****!
Two hundred and seventy-five thousand taels? !
Or monthly tax? !
"Why did Mr. Ning change the quarterly tax to monthly tax?"
Su Rui was shocked for a moment and her mouth dropped.
Jiang Yan smiled with satisfaction at his performance.
This is the effect you want.
Be shocked.
Such a happy event cannot let him be surprised and happy alone. He couldn't sleep well all night with this account book. He originally planned to write a letter to inform him, but he felt that seeing his friend's current appearance with his own eyes would make him more mentally balanced. .
It shows that it is not because he is a junior official that he is not calm. Even if he is the largest official in Jiangnan Province, he cannot be calm when encountering such a thing!
"Tell me, what's the point? Believe it or not, I overturned your table... No, this table of dishes was sent by the Ning family."
Suri didn't care about the image, picked up a chopstick of sweet and sour pork and threw it into his mouth.
Hmm... smells good! sweet!
It's also a little sour for no reason.
"Brother Su, you may not believe it, but Mr. Ning said that he is used to paying monthly taxes."
Jiang Yan didn't know where Mr. Ning got this habit.
As a result, someone was sent to check the tax records of Ping An Medical Center in the past, and found that Ping An Medical Center had been paying monthly taxes for a long time, but it was later changed to quarterly taxes due to poor management.
But because the monthly tax payment was small, there was no splash at all.
"Mr. Ning's work is really different. With such a monthly tax input, the money for repairing water conservancy projects will be available. In addition to the money confiscated and sent to Beijing, His Majesty will not urge us to pay this year's taxes in advance. Hand over the proceeds and use the money to build water conservancy projects!"
Suri slapped the table directly and made a decision.
If the imperial court is short of money, it cannot just cut the flesh of Jiangnan Road.
The money confiscated from the house was much more than the monthly tax paid by Mr. Ning.
It's just that the expenses of each government are high, and even more people cannot make ends meet. The money that goes into the treasury may not be kept for a few days, and then it goes from one hand to the other and flows to other places.
"Brother Jiang, when I write the memorial, I must say a few nice words for you, hahaha..."
Heartbroken, the Surui people were in high spirits and had a great appetite on happy occasions. They even drank a glass of wine. Their faces were rosy and they looked several years younger.
But Jiang Yan waved his hand and declined the proposal: "It's better not to take credit for me, lest His Majesty think that this is my ability and expect too much from me, and ask me to collect more taxes later. I won't be able to collect them. You write a memorial." , just write that this was handed in by Mr. Ning on his own initiative, don’t mention my contribution, just forget about it and complete the task."
It's not that Jiang Yan is modest, it's that this matter really has little to do with him.
If it has something to do with him, it's probably because he was lucky enough to serve as the prefect of Jinling Prefecture. If it were someone else, it would be the same, and it's not because of his outstanding ability at all.
Su Rui had a different view on this. After eating a piece of pickled fish with chopsticks, he savored the taste and said with a profound smile: "It is also a skill to make Mr. Ning take the initiative to pay taxes. Brother Jiang, even if the Ning family All the children in the clan have been promoted to minor officials. To put it bluntly, they are placed in other states and counties, and they may be officials. They visit the Ning Mansion three times a day, trying to find some benefits from the Ning family, but you and them different."
"Brother Jiang, you used to ignore official matters, but you are self-sacrificing and do everything you should do. You have done everything you need to do, such as arranging wounded soldiers and promoting troops and farming. You even spent your own money to solve problems. Mr. Ning is willing to give you Do meritorious deeds, not because you are the prefect of Jinling, but because you are worthy."
Hearing this comment, Jiang Yan tightened his fingers holding the wine glass and put the glass down again.
Suri next to him was shocked when he saw this.
Did Brother Jiang ever pick up a wine glass and then put it down without taking a sip?
Did he go too far?
But his words were indeed spoken from the bottom of his heart and were not intended as a compliment.
"Brother Su, stop talking and eat quickly."
Jiang Yan picked up his chopsticks, and the wind and clouds began to swirl.
And they sent someone to replace the wine with tea.
Su Rui was dumbfounded on the spot and asked in confusion: "Brother Jiang, don't you have a few drinks?"
