"You, the Kong family, only offered three thousand taels of silver. Could it be that we also offered the same three thousand taels as the Kong family?" The fat middle-aged man looked at Kong Yinjing with an ugly face.
If it weren't for the fact that this was a government office and he was worried about the identity of the Kong family, he would have thrown the tea bowl in front of him on his face.
Seeing the expressions of the people in front of him who were trying to impress others, Kong Yinjing said unhurriedly: "Your home is in Ziyang, unlike my Kong family in Qufu. It is said that there is no end to the nest. Soft, if Ziyang City is captured by tiger thieves, even if they escape, their family property will not be taken away. In the end, it will only fall into the hands of the thieves. Whether Ziyang City can be defended is a long-term problem for them. It’s more important to me than the Kong family.”
The fat middle-aged man and his two companions had dark faces.
Although I don't want to admit it, I have to admit that what the other party said is true.
The Kong family is based in Qufu, and most of their family properties are in Ziyang City. If something happens to Ziyang City, their family properties in Ziyang City are likely to suffer total losses.
They don't want people to run away and their money to be gone.
Otherwise, they would not have chosen to stay in Ziyang City instead of fleeing Ziyang with their families before the Tiger Banner army arrived in Jining Prefecture.
At this time, the magistrate of Yanzhou stood up and smoothed things over and said: "Several of you, everyone, we are all here to prevent thieves from harming the people of Ziyang City. In my opinion, you are not as good as the Kong family. You are just two people in a family." One thousand five hundred taels, maybe!”
The fat middle-aged man and his two companions were speechless.
For them, earning a thousand or twenty thousand taels is not too much, and earning one or two taels is not too little. However, if they give money to others in vain, even a penny is not enough.
What's more, the government repeatedly asked for money from them.
"You guys need to think carefully. Once Ziyang City is destroyed, you won't be able to keep it no matter how much money you have." Seeing that several people still did not express their stance, their words were full of threats.
The fair and fat middle-aged man's face looked even worse.
At this moment, he suddenly felt someone gently kicking his foot.
He glanced down and noticed the owner of the foot, who nodded slightly towards him.
The fat middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, then turned to the Yanzhou magistrate and said, "Yes, each of our families is willing to pay two thousand five hundred taels of silver, but I also have a request."
As he spoke, he raised a finger.
"Everyone is paying money and food to defend Ziyang City, and it is also for our own good. How can we selfishly make demands for personal gain when we are facing righteousness like this." Kong Yinjing looked at the fat middle-aged man with dissatisfaction. people.
At this time, the Yanzhou magistrate on the side said with a big belly: "It doesn't matter, as long as it doesn't harm the nourishment of the people, I can agree to it."
"It's still Futai that you have a big belly." Kong Yin bowed his hands in admiration.
The magistrate of Yanzhou smiled and twirled his beard and asked, "If you have any conditions, please tell me. I am here to listen."
The fat middle-aged man looked at the two people singing and singing with an expressionless expression, and said: "My request is very simple. After we take out this money, the government will not allow us to give out money for other reasons."
As he spoke, he looked at the Yanzhou magistrate.
He knew that the only person who could make up his mind in the end was the parent official of Ziyang City in front of him.
After the Yanzhou magistrate hesitated for a moment, he said, "Okay, I promise you."
"Thank you Futai."
The fat middleman and the two other people at the same table stood up and saluted the Yanzhou magistrate at the same time, for fear that the other party would regret it.
Seeing this, the Yanzhou magistrate smiled and said, "You don't have to be so polite. It's a pain for you, but your righteous deed will definitely be remembered by the people in Ziyang City."
He was also very satisfied at this moment.
The three grain merchants added up to 7,500 taels, which exceeded his expectations.
There are so many people present, and each family contributes some. Even if it is not as much as 2,500 taels, they can still make up to 10,000 to 20,000 taels of silver.
Even if half of it is given to the Kong family, it will still end up in the hands of him as the prefect, a few thousand taels.
His annual salary is only 288 stone per year, which is equivalent to less than 100 taels of silver.
A few thousand taels of silver is enough to match his salary after serving as an official for decades.
The three most powerful grain merchants in Ziyang City all bowed their heads to the government. Others present did not dare to challenge the government and the Kong family. No matter how unhappy they were, they honestly pledged donations from their own pockets.
】
One after another, they came forward to pledge their donations, and a special person in the Yamen recorded the donation. Then someone was sent to follow these people home, and all the money was taken back to the Yamen one by one according to the list.
After everyone left, Kong Yinjing accompanied the Yanzhou magistrate and sat at the table at the beginning.
He said: "Why doesn't the government let the three families bring out food? I think as long as we suppress them, we might be able to force them to solve the food problem for the soldiers defending the city."
"Everything is too much, and nothing is too much." The magistrate of Yanzhou picked up the tureen on the table and blew the hot air inside, saying, "The price of food is getting higher and higher day by day. If I ask you, Kong, to exchange these three thousand taels of silver for What can you do to make food?"
Kong Yinjing looked embarrassed when he heard this.
A few hundred shi of grain would be fine, but with as much food as three thousand taels of silver, he couldn't make the decision.
Food is different from silver. Silver is usually useful. In a situation like Ziyang City, which is about to be besieged, silver is far less valuable than food.
The magistrate of Yanzhou glanced at him and said, "It's good to just get money. Don't be too greedy."
After saying that, he put down the bowl in his hand, stood up and walked out.
Kong Yinjing quickly stood up and followed.
On the other side, a group of people who came to the Yamen for the banquet left the Yamen one after another and rushed home in groups.
The fat middle-aged man sitting at the main table and two other companions were riding in a carriage.
Behind this carriage was the carriage in which the other two people arrived.
"Why did you promise to give the government so much money? No matter how much money we gave out, it would all be divided among these bad officials secretly." said a wealthy man in his thirties on the carriage.
He was obviously dissatisfied with the fat middle-aged man's promise of two thousand five hundred taels of silver.
The fat, white middle-aged man who heard this looked at him and said, "Brother Zhang ordered me to pay this money. If you want to explain, it's Brother Zhang who will explain it to you."
As he spoke, he looked at the other person on the carriage.
At this time, the rich man also looked at the other party.
The man surnamed Zhang leaned against the wall of the carriage and said, "The three of us were invited to the main table. Do you think they will let us go without any bloodshed?"
"I didn't promise the family to give the government two thousand taels of silver. This is already a lot, so why bother giving them an extra five hundred taels." said the rich man.
In his opinion, the money given to the government is just meat buns beating dogs.
