Jingqing's parents died when he was young, and he lived in his grandmother's house.
The two servants were from Jingqing's grandmother's line. When they saw the opportunity to go home, they were happy even though the journey was far away. They quickly agreed to come, packed up, saluted, shouted "I'm going", and then left.
Not long after, the two of them ran back and complained to Jingqing, "This travel fee is not enough. Sir, can you give me more?"
Jingqing was furious. He gave you two a full thirty taels of silver from Nanjing to Zhenning. Isn't this enough?
Do you think I sent you to visit the mountains and rivers of the Ming Dynasty?
Looking for a fight?
Just as Jingqing was cracking the whip, the servant knelt down and cried: "Sir, horses outside the city now need to pay a deposit of fifteen taels before they can be rented, and the daily fee is one tael of silver, and the round trip will cost at least fifty taels." Damn it, it’s only fifty taels, you see…”
Jingqing was furious, who could be so wicked? Horse leasing has always cost around three hundred cents a day. When did it increase to one tael?
Also, people from the Metropolitan Procuratorate dare to ask for security fees when renting horses?
"Don't you know how to try another one?"
Jing Qing suppressed his anger.
The servant cried: "Sir, which one should I change to? We have inquired, and all the horses within a radius of three hundred miles of the capital have been bought by King Liao and King Min, and they have also signed contracts..."
Jingqing was a little dizzy, King Liao, King Min?
Aren't these the two vassal kings who had their fiefdoms taken back and started doing business?
It's really abominable. Within a few days of starting business, his true nature as a profiteer was revealed!
"Tell them it's the horse that the Metropolitan Procuratorate wants!"
Jing Qing gritted his teeth and said.
The servant replied uneasily: "Sir, just because I mentioned your name, I originally needed to pay ten taels of security, but now I need fifteen taels..."
Jingqing clenched his fists and took a deep breath!
The kings of Liao and Min were taking private revenge for the public good!
The Metropolitan Procuratorate frequently impeached these two people, but now they are fine. Here, they are anxious to send someone to deliver the message, but over there they have a monopoly on the horse market. If you don't rent two horses, it will be difficult to deliver the message.
Yes, I still have a few horses in my mansion, but they are rogue horses. They can pull carriages, deliver goods, and run a short distance. If they go to Shaanxi, they will probably have to report to Xitian.
Jing Qing turned his back and said through gritted teeth: "Go to the accounting room and get thirty taels! Set off immediately, don't delay!"
It's normal to be unwilling.
In normal times, Jingqing would never spend that money.
A horse costs fifteen taels of silver, and the round trip money is enough to buy two horses.
But now, this is not normal.
Ten days later, the imperial court will clear out the land and investigate the source of the land. Once these orders are conveyed and if I don't handle it well before then, I will lose more than just two horses' money and food!
That evening, it was hard to find a horse in the capital.
In the end, a horse was actually rented for ten taels of silver a day, but this still could not meet the needs of the capital. The horses were also pulled out, and some servants even rode out of the city on donkeys.
Some well-informed wealthy gentry families, after hearing the news in the court, began to pound the table and smash the chairs, then pulled a piece of red cloth and cursed for two hours. After feeling thirsty, they sat down and started writing letters.
The endless stream of teams leaving the city, the anxious and uneasy expressions, the hurried footsteps, and the backs of galloping horses made the soldiers guarding the city wall confused. They looked in the direction of the palace from time to time, but they didn't hear any movement.
Xu Huizu inspected the city defenses and ordered the city gates to be closed an hour later.
Since some people are anxious and want to leave the city, let them go.
Anyway, everyone who leaves, no matter what their mood, is doing good deeds.
cabinet.
In addition to the three cabinet ministers Yu Xin, Zhang Zhen, and Xie Jin, Huang Zicheng, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and Xia Yuanji, the Director-General of Agricultural Taxation, were also sitting nearby. In the middle of the room, there was a sand table used in the Fengtian Palace.
Yu Xin looked at the sand table, pondered for a long time, and asked Xia Yuanji: "Is the land annexation really so powerful?"
Xia Yuanji nodded slightly, then shook his head, confusing Yu Xin and others.
Before Yu Xin could ask further questions, Xie Jin on the side interjected: "Master Yu, land annexation is indeed powerful, but it is not as serious as the emperor said. When the emperor used the sand table to deduce the remaining acres of land tax ten years later, he just considered The original reduction of endowment land did not take into account that many of the parts swallowed by black are actually subject to tax, such as tax-free land, which is not completely tax-free, but only partially tax-free."
"However, according to my deduction, if our dynasty cannot take measures to contain it at this time, in 20 years, the income of the Southern Zhili may not be enough for official salaries. In 50 years, the court will be plagued by bad governance. A hundred years later, there will be many disasters. One hundred and fifty years later, If there is no restructuring in ten years, the Ming Dynasty will come to an end!"
Xia Yuanji stood up, bowed respectfully to Xie Jin, and said, "I have often heard that Mr. Xie Ge has insight into the outside and the inside, and is extremely intelligent. Now I hear it for myself, and it is extraordinary. As Mr. Xie Ge said, although the emperor deliberately ignored it, The issue of taxes from landowners to tenant farmers, but in the long run, what the emperor said will definitely come true! It just takes time, not ten years, but maybe a hundred years, or a hundred and fifty years! No matter how much it is, it may be difficult to maintain. "
If Zhu Yunwen were here, he would definitely admire the two of them.
Because one hundred and fifty years later, it was Zhang Juzheng's reforms that extended the life of the Ming Dynasty.
Jie Jin laughed loudly and returned the greeting: "Shilang Xia is a real talent. When asked, he can answer the questions about the land and acres of land fluently. His calculations are accurate. His future prospects are limitless."
Huang Zicheng withdrew his hand from touching the sand table and said to Xie Jin: "Xia Shilang is a rare talent in the Ministry of Revenue. You are not allowed to bring him to the cabinet."
After everyone heard this, they burst into laughter.
Zhang Yu stopped laughing and arranged: "Time is tight, so Huang Shangshu and Xia Shilang will compile a new salary plan first. I and a few others will come up with ways to contain the merger and strive to present it within two days. emperor."
"That's very good."
Huang Zicheng and Xia Yuanji quickly agreed. They walked to the table and began to prepare a new salary plan.
The most distinctive feature of the salary system in the Ming Dynasty is just one word:
Thin!
The salary is so thin that it is almost shabby.
In the fourth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the Zhongshu Province and the Ministry of Household Affairs to draw up the annual salaries for civil and military officials.
A first-class official, nine hundred shi a year; a first-grade, 750 shi;
If you are in the second grade, you will get 600 shi per year; if you are in the second grade, you will get 500 shi per year;
…
The seventh grade, eighty stones; the seventh grade, seventy-five stones;
…
The ninth grade is worth sixty stones; the ninth grade is fifty stones.
Although in the 26th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered to adjust the salary and change the annual salary to monthly salary, but in one year, compared with the fourth year of Hongwu, there was not much increase. The first grade increased by 100 shi, and the ninth grade increased by 10 shi. .
For example, in the early Ming Dynasty, a seventh-grade county magistrate would receive a salary of eighty shi a year, which would equal nearly seven shi of grain a month. On the scale, yes, it would be more than a thousand kilograms of grain.
The county magistrate is in good health, has married four wives, has three boys and two girls, his parents are still alive, and he has two servants. Calculated this way, a dozen people would not be able to eat that much food for a month, leaving more than 900 kilograms left.
If you take out two hundred catties and exchange them for some vegetables and tofu, the remaining seven hundred catties will be your residual wealth?
No.
The magistrate was picking his teeth stuffed with green vegetable leaves when someone knocked on the door.
When I opened the door, I saw the officials working in the Sixth Ward, Food Section, Ma Section, etc., as well as the yamen servants responsible for standing in the hall, supervising, guarding, urging subjects, and arresting people. They all saluted, and then stretched out their hands: "County Master, Where is our food for this month?"
