Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 21

The marriage has been settled, so naturally it's time to talk about business.

Taichang originally wanted to ask Wu Yangchun to help turn the copied treasures, antiques, calligraphy and paintings into cash, but he never thought that the Wu family would encounter serious trouble.

Wu Yangchun was so anxious to marry his precious daughter, which showed how big a problem this was. It seemed that if he didn't help him solve this problem first, he might not be in the mood to deal with treasures, antiques, calligraphy and paintings.

Taichang simply asked: "Master Wu, after talking for so long we still don't know what kind of trouble you have encountered, why don't you tell me and listen to see if I can help you."

Is he talking politely, is there any problem in this world that even the emperor can't solve?
When Wu Yangchun heard the words, he murmured in his heart.

Now that the marriage has been settled, why is Young Master Zhu still called "Master Wu", shouldn't he change his tune?

He didn't know that Young Master Zhu was the emperor, so it's strange that people can call him "Master Yuezhang".

However, he also murmured in his heart.

Mr. Zhu seems to be at least 20 years old. For a wealthy family like Cheng Guogong, the 20-year-old son must have been married long ago, and his daughter was probably just a concubine in the past.

With his status, he married a concubine, so it's normal not to want to be called father-in-law.

In short, as long as people are willing to help.

Thinking of this, he quickly explained: "Young master Zhu, to tell you the truth, this matter has something to do with Wan'er. Years ago, Xu Zhiji, the grandson of Xu Guoda's scholar, came to propose marriage, but the lower official didn't agree, which ended up annoying him. , this disaster is coming.”

This is strange, Xu's family has a bachelor at least, which can be considered a rare wealthy family, why do you refuse to agree to this marriage?

Of course, Taichang knows who Xu Guo is. He is the University of Martial Arts Hall of the Wanli Dynasty. He has made outstanding achievements. He is a rare capable official. Where can I find it?

Taichang couldn't help but asked curiously: "The scholar Xu Guoda is a first-rank official. There are only a few official families who can rival him in the world. Xu Zhiji came to propose marriage. Why don't you agree?"

Wu Yangchun took a look at Bi Maoliang, and then sighed: "Xu Guoda's scholar is the pride of our Huizhou region, and the lower officials naturally admire him very much. However, Xu Zhiji failed to inherit the mantle of Xu Guoda's scholar. Not only is he unnamed in the imperial examination, but we are famous in Huizhou." Not to mention his wives and concubines, he often invites friends to go to Jinling to have fun, eat, drink, piao and gamble, and has everything. The huge family business of the Xu family is about to be ruined by him. If I agree with this Marriage, the Wu family's family fortune may also be ruined by him, and if I betroth Wan'er to such a person as a concubine, wouldn't it be harming her."

Bi Maoliang also nodded slightly and said: "This Xu Zhiji is really not a thing, and the face of Xu Dashi is completely lost by him."

Uh, well, it turned out to be such a thing.

Taichang nodded slightly, and then asked, "Then how did Xu Zhiji bother you?"

Wu Yangchun couldn't help sighing and said: "Although Xu Zhiji's character is not good, he is a bunch of cronies. He doesn't know how he got on Zhang Pu, Minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Criminal Justice. He sued the Nanjing Ministry of Criminal Justice, saying that I embezzled Huangshan, so The Ministry of Criminal Affairs actually accepted the absurd thing. Once the lawsuit started, all kinds of monsters and snakes came. In the past, there was an evil slave, Wu Rong, who killed my second brother Yangze, swallowed my second brother's property, and usurped me. My second brother's concubine has joined Wu Kongjia, my nemesis of the Wu family, and urged him to sue me for occupying the twelfth floor, alas, these two lawsuits really made me burnt out!"

Who are these people?
Taichang asked: "Who is Wu Kongjia? How did he become your enemy?"

Wu Yangchun explained: "Wu Kongjia is a distant relative of Wu Tianxing, the original owner of the twelfth floor. This son is quite capable. He ranks among the top three in the county examination, government examination, and township examination. The title is definitely not a problem. After he became a juren, he said that the twelfth floor belonged to his family, and he had a fight with me several times, probably because he wanted to extort money."

It turned out that he went crazy after passing the exam.

Hmph, so what if he ranks in the top three in the county examination, government examination, and township examination, even if you are on the gold list, I will clean you up in one sentence!

Now it seems that there are only a Shangshu of the Nanjing Ministry of Punishment, a few idle officials, and a few idle officials.

Taichang said lightly: "Is that all?"

Don't take this to heart, it seems that Duke Cheng's mansion is really powerful.

Wu Yangchun thought for a while, and then said awkwardly: "There is also Fan Jishi, Minister of the Nanjing Household Department. Originally, I paid him more than [-] taels of filial piety every year according to the rules in exchange for Yanyin. Now he took the opportunity to blackmail him."

Shiobiki!

Taichang's interest came up immediately.

Among the things he came to Jiangnan to investigate this time is the Yanke tax, and the Yanke tax is the key to collecting the Yanke tax. The salt merchants have to pay the Yanke tax to get the corresponding amount of Yanke, that is to say, How much salt you have actually represents how much salt tax you can collect.

Originally, Lianghuai Salt Administration and Sichuan Salt Administration collected more than 100 million taels of salt tax, but now it is less than 50 taels. What is going on?
Taichang couldn't help asking: "How much tax did you pay and how much salt did you share?"

Wu Yangchun said without hesitation: "I pay 10 taels every year in exchange for [-] yin."

It's no problem to exchange two for one quote!

Originally, the Lianghuai Salt Administration issued more than 40 citations of salt, and the Sichuan Salt Administration issued more than 20 citations, adding up to about 70 citations. There are more than one hundred thousand taels, how about one million taels?

Taichang thought for a while, and then asked: "You only paid 10 taels in salt tax, why should you pay more than [-] taels of filial piety to Fan Jishi?"

This!
Bad thing, this shouldn't be mentioned.

Wu Yangchun looked at Bi Maoliang with apprehension, and dared not speak.

Taichang reacted suddenly, turned his head and saw that Bi Maoliang smiled awkwardly at him.

This guy is hiding something!
He finally understood that Bi Maoliang should have a rough idea of ​​the tricks in Yanke's taxes, and also knew that Wu Yangchun was in this business, so he brought him here specially.

This is helping him without a trace!

Well, yes, it is a usable talent.

Taichang turned his head and said to Wu Yangchun: "Just say what you have, don't be afraid, Master Bi is one of our own."

After saying these words, Bi Maoliang couldn't help feeling warm in his heart, it seemed that the emperor already understood his good intentions.

He quickly echoed: "Master Wu, you say what you want, don't worry, I won't take care of this matter."

He really won't take care of this matter, because the emperor wants to take care of it himself.

When Wu Yangchun heard this, he couldn't help being taken aback. He was originally afraid that Bi Maoliang, a well-known upright official, would be unable to do his salt business if he knew the tricks in it. He didn't expect Bi Maoliang to say such a thing.

If Bi Maoliang didn't care about this matter, he wouldn't have to worry about it.

He looked outside, and then whispered: "Actually, the current Yanyin is different from the original Yanyin. It used to cost [-] catties, but now it costs [-] catties, and the extra [-] catties It’s like they asked me to sell it on behalf of them, so I must honor them more than one hundred thousand taels every year.”

That's what happened!
In this way, Yanke's taxes were directly reduced by half, leaving only more than [-] taels.

Hey, that's not right, the current Yanke tax is obviously only more than [-] taels.

Taichang asked again: "What do you mean, the current Yanyin is half of what it used to be? No, I heard in the capital that the current Yanke tax is less than [-]% of the original."

Uh, this.

Wu Yangchun took a careful look at Bi Maoliang again, seeing that he didn't respond, so he broke his heart and gritted his teeth: "The income from Yanyinli is only distributed to the officials of the Nanjing household department, and the Yanke promotion department at the salt field People will also recruit some salt merchants to help them sell private salt, anyway, everyone is greedy, and no one will report anyone, just tell the above that the weather is bad, and the salt field will reduce production."

Well, it took no effort at all, and the matter of Yanke's taxes was finally figured out.

You corrupt officials, wait for me!

(End of this chapter)