Coming out of Gu Tingye's small courtyard, Wei Chen still felt a burning sensation in his waist.
Grandma, it’s true that a dog bites Lu Dongbin and doesn’t recognize a good heart. This Gu Er, didn't he kindly remind him that he was too careless!
Standing at the entrance of the courtyard and cursing in a low voice, Wei Chen took out the invitation card given by Gu Tingye, unfolded it and looked at it. The content inside was almost the same as what Gu Tingye said.
On the day when Wei Chen arrived in Yuzhou, Zhao Zongquan was not present. He felt extremely guilty, so he specially set up a table at Jixian Restaurant this time to apologize to Wei Chen, hoping that Wei Chen would be generous with his reward.
Wei Chen felt Zhao Zongquan's sincere and fearful mood when he wrote this invitation from the lines, and couldn't help but feel a little funny.
This is the future emperor, and now he has to be so cautious when facing a small governor like me. Nothing is more bizarre than this.
The banquet was tomorrow, so there was no rush. After reading the invitation, Wei Chen put it in his arms and turned towards the small courtyard where his other staff member Fang Yuan lived.
Before he entered the courtyard, he saw a man holding a book of documents and hurrying from the courtyard. It was Fang Yuan who Wei Chen was looking for.
Seeing Wei Chen, Fang Yuan was slightly startled, then stepped forward and bowed, presented the document in his hand and said: "Fang Yuan has completed the inventory clearance and inventory that Dong Weng asked. This is the account book. I also ask Dong Weng to take a look at it." .”
"So fast?"
Wei Chen was slightly surprised.
As a rule, after a new official takes office, in addition to decent rituals such as riding in a sedan chair, going to the hall to receive seals, and burning incense and worshiping at temples, he must also carry out substantive work such as clearing warehouses, cleaning out prisons, and hanging signs and issuing notices.
Wei Chen is busy with the latter two items these days. As for the clearance of warehouses, Wei Chen has left all matters to his staff, Fang Yuan.
After these days of contact, Wei Chen also had a basic judgment on the level of his three staff.
Needless to say, Gu Tingye needs to say that he must be the captain of the Yuzhou Public Security Management Brigade. Wei Chen has already arranged for him to gradually take over the government officials and archers in the state government, and gather these motley crews for rigorous training.
】
Wei Shuping is mature and prudent, has rich experience, is proficient in writing, and is good at writing documents. He can be taken with him as a secretary.
However, Fang Yuan was thoughtful, calculating, and adaptable. Wei Chen planned to arrange for him to be his chief steward, in charge of Yuzhou's warehouse money and grain.
This time, Wei Chen wanted to take this opportunity to test Fang Yuan's ability to do things by handing Fang Yuan the responsibility for clearing out the inventory after taking office.
Now it seems that Sheng Hong is quite reliable, and the staff recommended to his future son-in-law is indeed effective.
Fang Yuan invited Wei Chen into the room and sat down. He opened the account book and showed it to Wei Chen: "Dong Weng, my subordinates have calculated carefully. There is only less than 500 taels of silver left in the state treasury, but there is quite a lot of grain." , more than ten thousand stones."
Wei Chen was surprised when he heard this: "In such a big Yuzhou City, there are only five hundred taels of silver in the official treasury? This amount of money is not even enough to repair the official offices, right?"
"Five hundred taels is already a lot." Fang Yuan said with a bitter smile: "When I followed Mr. Sheng as the county magistrate, the warehouse was so poor that even rats were unwilling to visit it. There was also a hole of five thousand taels left by the predecessor. fill."
"So, my predecessor is quite kind?" After listening to Fang Yuan's words, Wei Chen couldn't laugh or cry. Anyway, his predecessor still left five hundred taels for himself, which was better than Sheng Hong's. My cheating ex is much better.
In fact, many officials in the Zhou Dynasty were corrupt, and the official treasury was mostly in deficit. As long as the predecessor balanced the accounts and left a small hole, the successor would have to take care of it for him.
New officials do not count against old officials. This has always been the rule in officialdom. After all, the successor will also leave office in the future. If you don’t want to be blamed by your successor, you have to follow the rules.
If we really want to get to the bottom of it, there's no telling what day there will be a fire in the warehouse out of nowhere. It's all about the people's fat and the people's anointing, but it's the people who are suffering.
But having said that, Wei Chen came to Yuzhou not just to go through the motions, but sincerely wanted to do something practical for the people.
Building bridges and paving roads, providing disaster relief, establishing schools and educating people... Which of these things does not require a lot of money? The five hundred taels in the warehouse are obviously not enough.
It’s hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice!
Wei Chen felt that he was under a lot of pressure, and he humbly asked Fang Yuan for advice: "How did Shanda make up for the shortcomings of his predecessor?"
"By selling ultimatums."
Fang Yuandao: "People from Shanda wrote to the imperial court and requested a quota of one hundred ultimatums. By selling these ultimatums, they solved the urgent need."
"This is treating the symptoms rather than the root cause!"
Wei Chen originally expected to learn from Sheng Hong, but was disappointed after hearing Fang Yuan's words.
The certificate is a certification document issued by the court to monks and nuns. With this certificate, monks and nuns can not only prove their identity, but also receive preferential treatment such as exemption from taxes and corvee.
What an attractive privilege it is to be exempted from taxes and labor. In order to avoid taxes and labor, ordinary people became monks. Therefore, ultimatums have become a hot commodity. When they are cheap, they cost twenty or thirty taels per piece, and when they are expensive, they cost eighty or ninety taels. Moreover, they are still There is a price but no market.
The government often relied on selling ultimatums to make up for financial shortfalls. However, although this can save a temporary emergency, the more certificates sold, the more people will be exempted from taxes and corvee. In the long run, the national finance will only become more and more stretched.
Based on how much Zhao Zhen valued Wei Chen, it would have been much easier for Wei Chen to write to the court and ask for a hundred or two hundred ultimatums in exchange for some money than Sheng Hong, but Wei Chen was really unwilling to do so.
But if you don't sell the ultimatum, where can you get the money from? Wei Chen also had a headache for a while.
After pondering for a moment, Wei Chen raised his head and asked Fang Yuan: "Before taking office, when I exchanged letters with Chen Jun, the magistrate of Xinzheng County, he once said that Yuzhou is located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, connected to Chang'an to the west and Luoyang to the east, so merchants in the state have frequent exchanges. Is this possible?"
During this period, Fang Yuan not only checked the money and grain in the warehouse, but also read a lot of books. He had a good understanding of the customs and customs of Yuzhou. He nodded and said: "Report to Dong Weng, it is indeed true. The taxes collected in the state are only four 60% is agricultural tax, and the remaining 60% is past commercial tax."
"Business tax accounts for 60%?" Wei Chen couldn't help but widen his eyes when he heard Fang Yuan's words.
Fang Yuan said with a smile: "Dong Weng knows that there is an old site of Juntai in Yuzhou, where Xia Qi, the son of Xia Yu, enjoyed the lordships."
"Juntai? Jun..."
Wei Chen's mind suddenly flashed with lightning: "Could it be Junci's Jun?"
Fang Yuan smiled and nodded.
Wei Chen suddenly realized that Yuzhou was actually the location of Jun Kiln.
You must know that Jun porcelain is known as the first of the "Five Famous Porcelains" and can be called the best of porcelain. As the saying goes, "Gold has a price, but there is no price" and "A family with thousands of treasures is not as good as a piece of Jun porcelain."
Such artistic treasures as Jun porcelain were produced under the rule of Yuzhou. No wonder it attracted businessmen from all over the Zhou Dynasty and contributed so much business tax to Yuzhou.
