Idle courtiers

Chapter 53
"Well, you surnamed Zhou, do you think my family gave me too little money and refused to help?" Seeing that Zhou Nan couldn't make sense, Yang Youtian was finally dissatisfied: "How much money do you want, just tell me. You can take the money. To my own family, hehe, admiration!"

Zhou Nan said with a sullen face, "Brother, what's your attitude? Don't say that I can't help you with this matter. Even if I can help, I won't bother you. Xiaolan, see off!"

"Okay, okay, sure enough, you don't show affection at all, and you don't even want to help your father-in-law. Are you not afraid of being stabbed in the back? Zhou Nan, you white-eyed wolf, our Yang family has never treated you and your wife badly in the past, you Is that how you repay us?"

After that, he picked up the silver and left angrily.

Zhou Nan looked at his back angrily, and sighed in his heart: Today is really unlucky, I'm going to lose sleep, I'm going to lose sleep.

"Uncle, which one is more powerful, the governor or yours?" Xiaolan asked curiously.

"How can this be compared? When it comes to local power, I am stronger. But he is an official and I am an official, but his wealth is much greater than mine. It can't be compared, it can't be compared." Zhou Nan responded casually. He said: "Hey, you don't understand after I told you, is the meal ready... well, you spend the money and go to the street to cut some roast meat and sieve a corner of the bar."

Speaking of the saltworks of the Ming Dynasty, there are generally two.One is Changlu Salt Field in Bohai Bay, and the other is Lianghuai Salt Field in Huaidong.Among them, Lianghuai is the largest and most important.

Salt was an important strategic and financial resource in ancient times, but in the era of small-scale peasant economy.Most of the people's daily needs can be self-sufficient, and there are no other expenses at all.But there is no way for private individuals to get things like salt.If you don't eat salt for a few days, you will feel weak all over.Moreover, in the era without refrigerators, salt was the only means of preserving meat, which was just needed.

Therefore, the state implemented a salt monopoly system and imposed heavy taxes.In this way, the Lianghuai Salt Farm has made a huge contribution to the finances of the Ming Empire, and those who dare to boil and sell salt privately will lose their heads.

Generally speaking, there are two systems in the country's salt industry monopoly, one is the Department of Transferring Salt Envoys, and the other is the Department of Salt Promotion.

Both systems are under the administration of the Ministry of Household Affairs, but they play different roles in salt administration.The Department of Transshipment and Salt Envoys is responsible for transshipment and inspection, and the Salt Division is responsible for production and tax collection.

The politics of the Ming Dynasty paid attention to the system of size and mutual supervision.These two ministries are directly responsible to the central government, and the Ministry of Household Affairs is not considered a superior-subordinate relationship.For example, the transfer envoy who is responsible for the transfer and inspection of the Du Transfer Salt Envoy Division is a senior official of the third rank and enjoys the treatment at the deputy ministerial level.As for the promotion of the Yanke Judiciary, who has a little more power and more lucrative resources, he is promoted from the fifth rank, which is not as good as a magistrate.However, if the prefect of Huai'an is asked to do this promotion, it is estimated that the prefect will wake up laughing from his dreams.

Andong County is located in the northernmost part of the Lianghuai Salt Field, and its output is also small.In the city, the two salt government yamen also set up institutions equivalent to offices.Among them, there was a governor whose surname was Shi and name Wanshi lived in the city all year round.

The name is very strange, but the correct pronunciation should be Shi Wandan.It is said that this man was very poor when he was young and served as a soldier in Gansu.Later, the people above took a fancy to him and chose him as a soldier.

Later, when the master's family was promoted, he also rose, and he got this good job through the master's way.

When this person first came to Anton, he was a big soldier, dark and thin, with only a ragged bag with him.After ten years in Anton, he became rich, bought a big house, married three wives in one go, and became fat as if he had made dough.Everyone in the world said that his name was well obtained. In the position of governor, not to mention earning ten thousand shi a year, there should be more than a thousand shi.

Shi Wanshi was born in a military family, and he is rude and uneducated. In addition, the Salt Administration is an agency directly under the central government and has independent law enforcement powers, so he will not give the local government any face at all.

Moreover, although he is from the eighth rank, he is still an official, and he is an official.Officials are divided into fields, the sky is high and the earth is far away, and they are completely people from two worlds.

If you really want to go to the door and touch your nose, you won't say anything, but you will be ashamed of yourself.

Yang Liuye, Yang Youtian and his son have no experience, and feel that their master is so big that they can do anything.In fact, in the political architecture of the Ming Dynasty, I am not even the cornerstone.In comparison, it can only be regarded as a grain of sand on the top, and whoever blows on it can blow him into the dust.

On the second day, as soon as Zhou Nan entered the yamen, the book office said that the magistrate invited him to come and talk, immediately, immediately.

The county has been safe and sound recently. As far as Zhou Nan knows, there were no difficult cases when the yamen released the cards yesterday. Shi Zhixian suddenly asked him to go over and didn't know what happened, so urgent?
Seeing Zhou Nan, Shi Zhixian immediately asked: "Zhou Nan, are you very poor recently? You are looking for people to borrow money everywhere. The monthly salary given to you by the imperial court is not enough? You must be out looking for flowers and asking Liu all day long. As a result, you can’t make ends meet, and lose your morals. You have also read the books of sages, so it’s hard to read all of them..."

He was about to talk to Zhou Nan about the principles of self-cultivation for scholars.

After thinking about it, he has long been expelled from the ranks of gentlemen, and he has long been expelled from the ranks of gentlemen. It is impossible to talk to him about these things.

Zhou Nan called out to Qu: "Mengxian respected and supported, three shimi a month for a humble job, two taels of silver is enough, I don't know who spread the rumor that I borrow money everywhere, where can I find it."

The county venerable snorted: "You don't understand as an official, don't you want to raise children, and you will spend more money in the future/"

Zhou Nan: "I, I, I..." This matter is really unclear.

Shizhi County: "Okay, just now, the lord of the Caifu government ordered our county to resettle a group of refugees. This is up to you to handle, and you must do it properly. This autumn and winter, if you see a frozen sputum starved to death, I will only ask you. "

Zhou Nan thought about it for a while, and realized the benefits of this, and hurriedly patted his chest and said that the county lord can rest assured, and wrap it on the humble job.

In recent years, the southeast has been infested by pirates, and a large number of people have fled to the north of the Yangtze River, and the farthest even went to Huai'an Mansion.Up to now, thousands of people have gathered in Fucheng.

In order to make a living, these people gathered crowds to cause trouble, and the public security in Fucheng deteriorated sharply.The imperial court felt a great headache, and planned to send them all back to their hometowns, but they also cost money, who would pay?Therefore, the grandmothers tried to save trouble and handed over the matter to the Huai'an government, allowing the refugees to settle in Huai'an and find a job for them.

Settling immigrants has always been a lucrative thing. Of course, the Ming government was not like later generations, not only giving money to refugees, but also distributing houses and land.But manpower is a resource, so if you think about it, you may not be successful.

Seeing Zhou Nan thinking, the Shizhi County reprimanded: "Don't use your brains. If something happens, I will lose face. This time, our county has 410 households, a total of [-] and [-] people. I have already thought about it." Alright, we'll break it up and send it to the townships, let them rent the land of the big families in the county, and at least they can have a meal."

Now that you’ve made up your mind, what’s the point? Zhou Nan is dissatisfied. Huai’an Mansion is a prosperous area with a lot of people and little land. Where can the big households in the county have extra land to rent to refugees, and they don’t need so many tenants. This is clearly a problem. A thankless task.However, after the county magistrate explained it, he had to do it.

I had no choice but to agree with a bitter face, and ran for two more days, but was politely rejected by various big families.

The big households refused to comply with the last change to mulberry, and they still refused to resettle the refugees this time.It seems that they are determined to non-violent non-cooperation with Yamen.

For a while, Zhou Nan was really in a bit of a state of distress. First, there were rumors that Sister Su was pregnant, and it was the crystallization of his one-night affair with someone Zhou.Then the resettlement of the refugees did not go well. The most terrible thing was that the sword of Damocles that I owed the Mei family 300 taels of silver did not know when it fell.

Running outside on a hot day, salt flowers covered his body. Zhou Nan got angry in a hurry, and a blister formed on his nose, which was painful to the touch.

When I got home, I saw that the yard was in a mess, there were boxes and cabinets everywhere, a stool with a leg missing, a rotten table full of holes, it was just a garbage dump, Xiaolan was using a wet Wipe it with a towel.

Zhou Nan was annoyed, and shouted: "What are you doing, who told you to move things out?"

Xiaolan was very wronged: "Uncle, it was my aunt who asked me to wash it, so what's the matter with me?"

"No one can say, what, your aunt is here?" Zhou Nan was overjoyed: "Yunniang, Yunniang, is that you?"

Amidst the shouting, Yunniang came out of the room with a smile.She was only wearing a thin linen shirt, and when she sweated, she outlined beautiful lines.

Yun Niang smiled and said: "Master, my elder brother went home yesterday with a letter, saying that you asked me to come to live with you in the city. No, I just finished the busy farming season and happened to have nothing to do, so I came over to have a look. These are all things at home. I brought it from the country and used it. It has been left for a long time, so I have to wash it, so don't scold Xiaolan."

As she spoke, she raised the rag in her hand, revealing a slender arm like a lotus root.

Zhou Nan hurriedly grabbed her hand: "It turned out to be something from home. I said why it was so shabby. It's okay now, it's okay now, our husband and wife are finally reunited, and you don't want to go back to the countryside." So in the past, Yunniang was not allowed to enter the city because he was afraid that the Mei family's retaliation would harm his wife.

Now that she's here, Zhou Nan only cares about being happy and can't care about anything else.

The weather was too hot. After dinner, Zhou Nan was lying on the Hu bed in the yard, and Yun Niang was beside him gently fanning him.

The sky is full of stars, silver candles and autumn lights are coldly painted on the screen, and small fans lightly flutter the fireflies.The sky and night are as cool as water, lying down to watch Altair Vega.This ancient night sky is so beautiful, but the most beautiful thing is the people around you.

Knocking a melon seed and taking another sip of tea, Zhou Nan said with a smile: "My uncle is the same, afraid that you, a girl, will suffer in the countryside and think that I have a good life in the city, so he tricked you into enjoying the blessings in the city. In fact, I'm just an ordinary person, so I don't have any blessings to enjoy. However, husband and wife are going to be together, and I miss you very much. "

Hearing her husband's words, Yunniang was sweet in her heart, and said in a low voice: "My family also cares about my husband. When my elder brother picked me up, he told me to speak to you about Daddy Xiang and him wanting to buy a boat."

It turned out that Yunniang was a lobbyist moved by Yang Youtian. When I asked why he was so kind to trick Yunniang into the city, Zhou Nan couldn't blame his wife, so he frowned slightly.

(End of this chapter)