"Explanation? What explanation do you want?"
Zhao Ping asked in a bad tone.
He didn't think carefully about how to lead the people of Qingzhou out of the sea of misery, but he came to care about how a businessman like himself did business.
It's really hard to worry about eating carrots.
Besides, all his methods are completely routine operations.
There is nothing dirty or unsightly about it.
Fart term.
Zhao Ping couldn't help but want to swear.
"Shouldn't you restore the cloth to its original price?"
Chen Xinghe asked.
“Why restore the original price?”
Zhao Ping asked, "The people are already suffering enough. I lower the price of cloth so that they can buy more clothes to keep out the cold. What's wrong?"
"Are you thinking about the people?"
Chen Xinghe said in shock.
He really didn't expect this.
"if not?"
Zhao Ping said indifferently.
Zhao Ping also had contact with Chen Xinghe and knew that the other person was a good official who loved the people.
However, my IQ is not quite enough.
As long as he stands on the moral high ground and thinks about the common people, there is nothing he can do about himself.
Zhao Ping continued: "Think about the people in Qingzhou."
"They work hard every day, but they don't have enough food or clothing."
"Now that I run a textile factory, I naturally want to lower the price and provide benefits to the people."
"But if you do this, how will other cloth shops survive?"
Chen Xinghe asked, "If they cannot survive, many people will lose their lucrative livelihood to support their families."
"When winter comes, many people will freeze to death."
"Those are all the people of my Dawei Dynasty. They were frozen to death and starved to death. I feel heartbroken when I see them."
"hehe."
Zhao Ping sneered in his heart.
I really want to say something that has nothing to do with me.
The common people are freezing to death and starving to death. That is your royal family's problem. It failed to govern its own world.
However, considering that Chen Xinghe was a good official and had come all the way to Xiping Village to seek advice from him, Zhao Ping did not embarrass him too much.
Instead, he said indifferently: "Master Zhou Mu, let's talk about this matter later. Let's talk about the purpose of your trip to Xiping Village first, right?"
"I……"
Chen Xinghe looked around and saw that there were still many people there.
Somewhat unspeakable.
"Don't worry, I'm all my own people here."
Zhao Ping understood and said with a smile: "I guarantee that after listening with their left ear, their right ear will pop out, and they will never reveal a single bit of what they saw and heard today."
"On your side..."
"We won't reveal it either."
Peng Yue and Xu Tianhua hurriedly promised.
Chen Xinghe took a deep breath and then made up his mind.
He stood up, adjusted his clothes, bowed deeply to Zhao Ping, and made a ninety-degree salute.
"Master Zhou Mu, I can't afford such a big gift from you. Get up quickly and let's talk carefully."
Zhao Ping was startled and hurriedly stepped forward to help him up.
I thought highly of this old man.
In order to govern Qingzhou well, he bowed to a commoner regardless of his status as an imperial uncle.
Zhao Ping admired him a little.
"Please sir, teach me how to deal with the current situation in Qingzhou."
Chen Xinghe said bitterly: "Although the bandits were removed, many corrupt officials were brought out."
"If all these corrupt officials are taken back to the capital for trial, I am afraid that the entire Qingzhou will be paralyzed, and there won't even be anyone who can work."
"But if I forgive them, how can I live up to the people they criticized so harshly?"
"I would like to ask you, sir, to give me some advice and find a way to get the best of both worlds."
"No."
Zhao Ping shook his head without hesitation.
thump!
Chen Xinghe fell on the stool, his face full of disappointment.
The whole person seemed to have been drained of energy in an instant, looking extremely tired, even old.
"Sir, is there really nothing you can do?"
Xu Tianhua couldn't bear it, so he also spoke up and asked, "Master Zhou Mu came all the way here just to ask for advice."
"There is no best-of-both-worlds solution. There are other options."
"It would be great if Qingzhou can get through the current difficulties."
"This is true."
Zhao Ping said.
"It's really true?"
Chen Xinghe rushed over fiercely, as if he was a young man again, and grabbed Zhao Ping's hand with much greater strength.
"Sir, tell me quickly. I am all ears."
"Lord Zhou Mu, let me ask you, how long did it take you to leave Qingzhou and come to Xiping Village?"
Zhao Ping asked.
Chen Xinghe counted on his fingers and said, "Ten days."
"Ten days? So long?"
Zhao Ping was shocked.
Ordinarily Chen Xinghe should be in a hurry and rush to Xiping Village without stopping.
Riding a fast horse, you can arrive there in five days.
It actually took ten days.
It seems that I am still not in a hurry.
But seeing the way Xu Tianhua kept blinking at him, Zhao Ping had other ideas.
Could it be that this guy deliberately delayed the time so that he could prepare?
Real pig teammates.
Is that necessary?
Don’t you know the situation in Qingzhou?
You still do this, aren't you afraid that the people won't be able to survive?
Of course, things have happened, and Zhao Ping has no intention of blaming Xu Tianhua. After all, he is doing it for his own good.
After thinking for a moment, Zhao Ping continued: "In the past ten days, you have not handled any government affairs. Have you ever noticed anything unusual in Qingzhou?"
"Like public grievances?"
"Another example is some officials. Are they diligent and caring for the people? Or are they bullying the people and doing things that are outrageous and resentful?"
"Don't tell me you don't know this."
"I know."
Chen Xinghe said: "Before leaving, I arranged for people to monitor them and report to me every day."
"There is nothing like what you mentioned."
"Isn't this enough?"
Zhao Ping spread his hands and said: "You are the majestic governor of Qingzhou. Even if you leave the state capital, Qingzhou can still operate normally."
"As for other officials, what will happen if they leave?"
"At most, it's just that the official business is being processed a little slower. When new personnel are trained to take over, won't it be able to go back to business as usual?"
"this……"
Chen Xinghe blinked, it seemed to make sense.
In his absence, Qingzhou could go on as usual. Other officials were escorted away. With him in charge, would there still be trouble in Qingzhou?
However, Chen Xinghe was still worried and continued to ask, "Sir, the current matter is settled, what about the future?"
"Corrupt officials appear again, people collude with bandits appear again, people oppress the people, bully men and dominate women again, what should I do?"
"Why wait until it appears before solving it?"
Zhao Ping asked: "Can't we prevent it in advance?"
"Precaution in advance?"
Chen Xinghe was stunned for a moment, as if a door had been opened in his heart, and some sunlight came in, but it was mixed with fog, making him still unable to figure it out.
"How to prevent it?"
"Master Zhou Mu, think about it, why do corrupt officials appear?"
Zhao Ping didn't wait for Zhou Mu's answer before continuing: "I think there should be two situations."
"First, the salary is too small."
"Take the magistrate of Yun'an County, for example. He only earns a few dozen taels of silver a year. What can he do?"
"Can you maintain food and clothing for the whole family?"
"How did the county magistrate come?"
"Young people with high hopes have passed the exam after studying hard for several years or even more than ten years."
"Children of big families think about finally getting an official position and being able to contribute to the family."
"It turns out that I can only get a salary of dozens of taels of silver a year. How can I be filial to the elders of the clan? So let's just be greedy."
"In the first year, there were relatively few people who were greedy for ink. Thousands or tens of thousands of taels were given to the elders of the clan."
"If the elders give you a few words of praise, even a reward or two, or a few words of encouragement overtly or covertly, there will be more greedy people in the coming year, and no one will be able to find out anyway."
"So what if you are found out? There are people behind you, so what are you afraid of?"
"And what about the county magistrate who comes from a poor family?"
"Their family is so poor that they can hardly afford to eat. The savings of several generations and even the whole village are all spent on one person, hoping that he will succeed."
"When you become a county magistrate, you can be regarded as an official of the imperial court. It will indeed bring glory to your family."
"But what's the result?"
"With a salary of only a few dozen taels of silver, they can't even cover their own food and clothing expenses. How can they give back to the neighbors and fellow villagers who raised them?"
"Be a little greedy. At least you have to repay your kindness and live up to your own conscience."
"In this way, everyone is greedy for ink. If you are not greedy for ink, you are not in the same boat as them. You will easily be squeezed out and suppressed, and your way forward will be blocked."
"Over time, the trend has increased."
"Everyone is thinking about how to get more money to make themselves or the people behind them live more comfortably. How many people are really thinking about the people?"
"Of course this situation is best resolved."
"As long as we give them enough salary to meet their daily needs, and make some savings, and improve their quality of life, we can almost stop it."
"The difficult thing is the second case."
"The greed of desire."
"That kind of person, if you give him a steamed bun and he wants two, give him a hundred taels of silver and he wants a thousand taels or ten thousand taels. He will never be satisfied."
"You will go further and further down the road of greed."
"Facing such people, the only way to stop them is to strike hard."
"this……"
Chen Xinghe was shocked. He felt that what he said made sense, but he also felt that it was inappropriate.
After thinking for a while, he asked again: "If the salary is too high, won't the court be able to afford it?"
"After all, tax revenue is only a little. If we increase taxes, won't the people be even more breathless?"
"What should we do?"
