There is a space for passenger planes in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 30 Meet Xu Tongzhi

Early the next morning, in order to prevent the horse bandits from pursuing them again after discovering that the stolen tax money was wrong, Lin Feng ordered the departure before dawn to continue to Jiazhou.

Fortunately, the subsequent journey went smoothly, and the official road was relatively safe after all. One morning three days later, Lin Feng and his party arrived in Jiazhou.

Lin Feng ordered Chen Xiong and Li Changji to take the people from Zhenming Group to Li Changji's blanket-making shop. He took Su Shunnian, Fang Tiezhu and others to the state government office first.

When he arrived at the Jiazhou Yamen, Lin Feng asked Su Shunnian to go to the Yamen House to go through the formalities for handing over the tax bank, while he went to see Xu Shihua, a fellow magistrate of Jiazhou.

Xu Tongzhi was surprised to learn that Lin Feng had brought tax money to hand over today. He had completed such an arduous tax collection task less than a month after taking office, which showed his strong ability, so he summoned him immediately.

"Yuanshan, are you here to pay the tax this time?" Xu Tongzhi was in charge of taxation in Jiazhou. Of course, he was most concerned about this issue and asked directly as soon as he came up.

"Yes."

"Are you here to pay wages or summer taxes?"

"My lord, I have brought you the wages and the first batch of summer taxes. The total is eleven thousand taels." Lin Feng replied.

"What! It's all paid in full, but it's still enough. Yuanshan, you are a county magistrate. You are the first in the state to pay both taxes in full. The other two counties are complaining that they can't collect them. . It seems that you must have done well in the exam this year." Xu Tongzhi praised.

"It's all thanks to your Majesty. When I took office, you reminded me that I should do a good job in tax collection, so I focused on it as soon as I took office." Lin Feng replied humbly, and he also attributed every effort to Xu Datong's knowledge. .

"Haha, Yuanshan is such a wonderful person. Do you have any experience in collecting taxes?" Xu Tongzhi asked.

"It was also a coincidence that when I took office, I caught a criminal case involving a large family and took the opportunity to collect the taxes they owed." Lin Feng replied.

"But the case of the Liu family in Dabao Town, Fugu?"

"Exactly!"

"Hey, Yuanshan, the Yulin Guard Command Post entrusted our Feng Mian Tongzhi to take care of this case. You have offended someone." Xu Tongzhi sighed.

"Sir, it was an arrow on the string that had to be fired. The big households in Fugu refused to pay taxes at that time, and the Liu family was the leader. I can't complete the task unless I capture them.

Here is a letter written by our county magistrate to Zhang Zhizhou. I hope you can help deliver it. After we collected the taxes, we still had some management fees left over. I heard that the state government's expenses were also tight, so I brought 200 taels for adults to use. I also asked Mr. Xu to say a few good words for our Fugu. Lin Feng said as he put a small box of silver on the table.

"Haha, how embarrassing is this?" Xu Tongzhi declined symbolically.

"Sir, this is not for you personally. You need to pay for it for public use!" Lin Feng advised again.

"In that case, I won't be polite. The state government's expenses have been tight recently. Without the more than 10,000 taels of tax silver you paid, the state government's salary this month would be difficult." Xu Tongzhi complained, and this is indeed the truth. , there was no grassroots state or county in the late Ming Dynasty that was not short of money.

"Sir, on the way here, we encountered a group of horse bandits trying to rob tax money. We repelled them and captured one of the bandits. I don't know how to deal with them?" Lin Feng then asked.

"Oh, there is still this matter. Yuanshan is really talented in literature and martial arts, and he is a good material. You can hand over the gangsters to the criminal chamber and save the tax money. This is also a great achievement. It is a pity that the criminal name matter is in the charge of Feng Tongzhi, I guess. It's hard to record your merits." Xu Tongzhi said regretfully.

"It's okay. I just need you to care more about Master Xu. I wonder if I will be lucky enough to invite you out this time to deepen my feelings for our Fugu." Lin Feng saw that Xu Tongzhi must have a good impression of him, so he extended the invitation at the right time.

"Well, I have something to do today, so let's do it tomorrow night. The distant mountains are full of sincerity, and I can't deny your face." Xu Tongzhi said.

"Thank you for the honor, sir, but I don't know where to make the arrangements? I don't know about Jiazhou by accident." Lin Feng asked.

"Let's go to Qingyan Pavilion in the city. It's relatively quiet there and I haven't been there for a while. Then I'll call a judge from your valley to sit with us." Xu Tongzhi thought for a moment.

"Okay, then I will be waiting for you at Qingyan Pavilion tomorrow night." Lin Feng finally confirmed. "Okay, then I will go to Zhang Zhizhou first. Let's go to the city for a walk in the distant mountains first." Xu Tongzhi served tea to see off the guests.

After leaving Xu Tongzhi's public house, Lin Feng first went to the prefectural government office to check on the status of the tax bank transfer. Su Shunnian had already completed the tax bank deposit procedures and obtained the voucher.

Lin Feng considered that the state government housing was still very important and they often had to deal with it, so he asked Su Shunnian to give them a red envelope of 50 taels of silver.

The state government office has never received such a generous red envelope. Lian praised the magistrate of Gulin County and promised to contact them if anything happens in Jiazhou.

After everything was done, Lin Feng took Su Shunnian and others out of Zhouya and headed to the inn they had booked in advance.

After a brief lunch, Lin Feng followed Li Changji to his carpet-making shop. The shop has been closed for more than half a year, but the things inside are still quite clean. It has obviously been cleaned in the morning.

The shop is not big, with only two rooms at the front and back. In front is a store facing the street, with more than a dozen wool blankets of various sizes placed inside.

Lin Feng picked up one and looked at it. The wool was relatively smooth after preliminary treatment, but it didn't have the fluffy feel of later generations. It seemed that the wool degreasing technology was still relatively primitive.

The back room is where wool is processed. There is a pool in the middle, which is probably where lime water was put. It has dried now, revealing the white lime inside. There is also a lot of wool that has not been processed yet.

After looking around, Lin Feng asked: "How many wool blankets can be sold in a month?"

"Sir, there are about twenty pieces, with an average of seven or eight taels of silver each. I can earn about 5 taels per month." Li Changji replied.

"It's pretty good, about twice the income of ordinary people." Lin Feng affirmed.

"Yes, in addition to food for a year, there is still a slight surplus. However, in the past two years, the state government's apportionments have increased more and more, and income has become more and more difficult."

"How much does a shop here usually cost?"

"This street is the Wenjiao Street where the Prefecture School is located. It's a bit far from the city center. It only costs about 50 taels of silver. If you want a courtyard behind it, it might cost 100 taels."

"Did you buy or rent this shop?"

"I bought it. This is also the ancestral property of our Li family."

"Changji, you go and have a look today and buy another shop with a yard in your name as our place to stay when we come to Jiazhou in the future." Lin Feng arranged.

"Yes!" Li Changji replied.

Shaanxi has experienced frequent civil unrest and wars in recent years. People have fled one after another, resulting in a large population loss, so there are many shops for sale. Although Jiazhou is a state city, the situation is similar.

Soon, Li Changji came to report that he had found a suitable shop. The owner was eager to sell it and only needed 95 taels of silver.

When Lin Feng heard that it was not expensive, he asked Su Shunnian to accompany Li Changji to go to the government clerk to complete the transaction procedures. Anyway, they had just given gifts in the morning and the relationship was still warm.

It only took less than half a day for the transaction procedures to be completed. When the clerk from the state government office came over, he lowered the price to 90 taels. It was indeed someone in the government office who was easy to handle.

Lin Feng told Su Shunnian to take the opportunity to take Li Changji to invite the scribes from the prefectural government office to have a meal. They could also seek some care when carrying out business activities in Jiazhou City in the future.

　An additional chapter will be added on the weekend.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)