Xiangye

Chapter 202: Gong Xi Fa Cai
"Gudong."

"Gudong"

The sound of soldiers swallowing saliva was heard all around, Gao Wen looked back, and the eyes of all the soldiers outside the warehouse turned red.

He naturally knew what was going on in everyone's mind. He fought fiercely in the middle of the night, didn't he wait for this moment?

To put it bluntly, the army of the Ming Dynasty was "feeding money", and the soldiers were paid very little.The little military expenditure allocated by the imperial court every year, after passing through the hands of the Ministry of War and officers at all levels, does not fall into the hands of ordinary soldiers at all.When encountering a war, everyone will work but not work hard.The reason is very simple, not only can the career of a soldier not bring honor and future to people, but you have to endure poverty beyond that of ordinary people.

Therefore, whenever the soldiers need to work hard, the officers will take out silver and promise rewards to boost morale.

But Mr. Xu is just a scholar and has never led a soldier before, so how does he know this.Seeing his posture, he was patronizing and happy, as if he had no intention of giving money to everyone.

As a leader, Gao Wen must fulfill his promise to everyone.

His lips moved, and when he was about to speak, Zhao Qianhu rushed in and told Xu Yu: "My lord, the chief envoy's yamen and the soldiers and horses from the Criminal Division are here. Please go out and have a look, my lord."

Xu Yu sneered: "They're finally here, okay, okay, it's lively now. I ordered that no one should be put in the granary. My imperial envoy's guard of honor was issued and this room was sealed. Stop."

Gao Wen: "The student is here, what is the teacher's order?"

Xu Yu: "You count here and check the numbers."

Gao Wen: "Yes, teacher."

Xu Yu stretched out his hand and patted him on the shoulder: "I'm afraid I'm going to stay up all night today, and I won't be able to stay all day tomorrow. You will enter the examination room at dawn the next day, but you can hold on, don't worry." It’s better to delay your future.”

Gao Wen: "Teacher, don't worry, the students can still bear it. Back then, when the students were studying, they would light up the lamp to read at night, and it didn't matter if they stayed overnight."

"Haha, it's hard to say that I'm going to go to the chief envoy today. I'll stop you and check your belongings here. I'll let Zilin come with the account later, and I'll leave it to you first." Xu Xu Huan: "Thanks for your hard work." Then he turned and went out.

As soon as he left, Gao Wen didn't have time to say anything else, leaving only Zhao Qianhu and the others staring at Gao Wen, hesitating to speak.

After a while, there was a commotion outside.

After a while, another person came to report that Xu Zhen had gone to the chief envoy.

Gao Wen looked at the crowd and said, "Brothers, don't worry, Gao Wen will never break his word on what he promised you, and he will give everyone an explanation in the end."

Zhao Qianhu showed joy on his face: "Mr. Gao, I believe you."

Soon, Gao Wen put a seal on all the warehouses of the grain depot, and the seal of Xu Xuan's imperial envoy was stamped on the seal.

There are fifteen warehouses in total in this grain depot, four of which are stocked with grain, and the others are empty.The food in those four warehouses was not worth a lot of money, and it was inconvenient to carry, and no one cared about it.

As soon as he finished his work, Diao Hualong brought two accountants over to count the belongings. Seeing so much money, Diao Zhixian's eyes lit up with excitement.

After working for a long time, I finally checked out a real data, a total of 34 taels of silver.

At this time, the sky had already opened up.

The relationship between Diao Hualong and Gao Wen is quite peculiar. He was admitted to Gao Wen in the county examination, and he is supposed to be Gao Wen's teacher.However, during the college examination, Gao Wen was accepted by Xu Xuan and became his fellow student again.Moreover, the college examination is a formal imperial examination.

He could also tell that his teacher Xu Yi valued Gao Wen very much.As long as Gao Wen wins the Juren, or even Jinshi in the future, his future will definitely not be small, maybe the Xu family really has to be supported by him.

Therefore, Diao Zhixian quickly adjusted his position and recognized Gao Wen, a fellow apprentice, with a very kind attitude.

He handed the ledger to Gao Wen, and said, "You stop, the numbers are out, just take a look at them."

Gao Wen glanced at it and said with a smile, "Brother Zilin, the data is wrong!"

Diao Hualong was not surprised when he heard the words: "Erzhi, when you were weighing the silver just now, you were able to stand by, but there was not a single cent left."

Gao Wen waved the accountant and the soldiers to go out, and when there was no third person in the warehouse, he picked up a pen and erased the number 34 taels in the ledger, changing it to 300 taels.Said: "I wrote too much."

Diao Hualong was startled: "This... this... I mean..."

Gao Wen smiled lightly and said, "Brother Zilin, there is a saying that the emperor does not send hungry soldiers. Today I am waiting to mobilize so many soldiers and horses to suppress the bandits, and all the soldiers need to be rewarded. Wounded soldiers need soup and medicine. We need compensation, and the corpses all over the ground have to be buried, and everything needs money. You and I are poor, and the old man, my teacher, is as clean as water. If we are asked to pay for it ourselves, But I can’t take it out, so I can only land on it.”

Diao Hualong: "But...but, 4 taels was deducted all at once, isn't it too much?"

Gao Wen: "There are so many, think about it, my teacher, the old man got His Majesty's order to come to Shaanxi to recruit soldiers. After a year of busy work, why did he only recruit one or two hundred people? It's because he has no money. If he has tens of thousands of taels Military pay, why are they stuck in Shaanxi and unable to return to Beijing. After handling this case, my mentor returned to the court to report on his duties. Presumably, he also wanted to find a good position. He needed to manage everything up and down, and the money he used was gone. We These disciples have to share the worries of the teacher! The teacher has a good future, and we have a future as students!"

Diao Hualong heard Gao Wen say this, and then he sighed: "You only want to go far, that's the reason. However, the money is owned by someone, and it will be returned to them in the future. If the number is wrong, I'm afraid someone will make a fuss." , it’s not easy to clean up.”

Gao Wen said: "Brother Zilin, I have an idea."

Diao Hualong: "I'll stop you from talking."

Gao Wen pointed to the silver taels on the shelf and said: "The silver here varies in size and weight. There are 50 taels of official silver, some ten taels, and even a lot of five taels or one tael of broken silver. According to the system of our dynasty, After the silver enters the official treasury, it will be melted and cast into large silver ingots of 50 taels. There is a lot of loss in it, and we can deduct the fire waste."

Diao Hualong: "However, the fire consumption of 4 taels is too much."

Gao Wen spread his hands: "The fire consumption is high, because the silver here is full of impurities, and I can't help it!"

Diao Hualong chuckled: "Your reason is a bit far-fetched, but the rewards and pensions of the soldiers have to go on, well, it's up to you. Just tell me a number."

Gao Wen stroked his chin and calculated in his mind for a long time before saying, "Brother Zilin, otherwise, among the mantissa of 300 taels, Zhao Qianhu will get 3000 taels, and the rest of the soldiers will get 300 taels each."

"That's good, don't treat the soldiers badly!" Diao Hualong nodded in agreement.

Gao Wen: "There are 4 taels left, and 1 taels will be kept from my mentor. You and I will each share [-] taels."

"Ah... [-] people per person..." Diao Hualong opened his mouth wide, and was stunned as if he had been struck by lightning.

His annual salary is only a little over 400 taels, and the Zhuanglang County where he works is also a famous poor place, so there is no hope of other income. An income of 1 taels of silver was simply unimaginable for him.

Gao Wen: "Why, brother Zilin wants to be an upright official, but he refuses to ask for money. This money is not ill-gotten gains, so it's okay to take it. If you don't want it, that's fine. My mentor and I will each share 5000 taels."

"No, no, no..." Diao Hualong came back to his senses, waved his hands again and again, wanted to say something, but didn't know how to say it.

Gao Wen chuckled: "Brother Zilin, do you really want this money?"

"This... I'd better take it..." Diao Hualong was not a gentleman of morality, and his character was not very good. He was just intimidated by such a large number.

He sighed a long way: "Er Zhi, I am not good-looking, and my talents are very limited. People will dislike me when they see me. I am afraid that I will not have a good future in this career. Unlike you, you are a good-looking talent, but you are valued by your mentor. This time I have been able to make up for the magistrate of Zhuanglang County for more than ten years. I am afraid that I will not be able to serve for a few years, and I will return to my hometown..."

Gao Wen said this sadly, and Gao Wen sighed softly: "I understand, it's better to finish the tasks assigned by your mentor earlier! Brother Zilin, Gong Xi Fa Cai!"

"Erzhi, I also congratulate you on getting rich!"

The two laughed at the same time, it is indeed a good thing to have money.

After the money was distributed, all the soldiers cheered at the same time.

Next, Gao Wen and Diao Hualong recruited craftsmen to melt all the broken silver and cast it into 50 taels of official silver.Then, he ordered the soldiers to deposit the silver and send it to Xu Yu's Xingyuan and Diao Hualong's residence respectively.

The 1 taels I got were sent to Yu Xingyan, who was asked to keep them on his behalf, and exchange them into gold in the future for easy carrying and storage.Otherwise, if so much money is sent home, the mother and Shi Youyi might be frightened.

After everything was done, Gao Wen hadn't slept for more than ten hours, his eyes were red from the heat, and he couldn't stop dozing off while sitting on the chair.

He stood up and said to Diao Hualong: "Brother Zilin, I will be entering the examination room at Maoshi tomorrow, so I have to go home first."

Diao Hualong then said: "Yes, yes, yes, your future is the most important thing, don't delay, you'd better go home early and prepare! I'm here, don't lose the big."

Gao Wen yawned for a long time: "I don't have anything to prepare, just go to bed right away, I'm really tired."

After returning home, seeing Gao Wen with a tired face, his mother and Shi Youyi were very surprised, and asked him where he went yesterday.He also said that there was a lot of chaos in the city last night, and he was afraid that something might happen to Gao Wen.

Gao Wen replied that he was out of the city, and had a literary meeting with some of the same year at Baqiao, and he passed out, so he stayed there for the night, and said, "Mother, sister, I'm so tired, It's better to get some food quickly, so that you can sleep, and you still have to enter the examination room at Maoshi!"

After dinner and going to bed, Gao Wen thought to himself: I don’t know what the turmoil in Xi’an’s officialdom is like now... This is beyond my concern and meddling, so let’s brace ourselves for the next exam... Cough, go on It's not too difficult to come down to the next two rounds. This time, the township examination may really be a success.

I don't feel asleep.

……

Also in another part of the city, Huang Wei also fell asleep.

His wind-cold was very severe, and after taking the medicine, he finally got better and didn't feel so uncomfortable, but his head was still very dizzy.

As for such a major event in the city, he naturally has no way of knowing.

Even if you know it, you can't imagine it.Things have come to this point, it is a contest between the big figures in the officialdom.He is a mustard-like character, and he can't get on the stage of Shaanxi officialdom.

Of course, if he heard about it and knew it was bad, he might run away.

……

When the time came, the examinees who had rested for two days entered the arena again.

It rained again from the sky, and the sound of rumbling rain enveloped the entire city of Xi'an.

(End of this chapter)