Chapter 765 Four Liang Ping
Jia Langzhong, Zhao Langzhong and others warmly invited Zhu Pingan to Zhang Guanku's office room. They wanted to explain to Zhu Pingan well the "customs" of Taicang, plus Secretary Liu , Treasurer Zhang and others were playing drums on the side, and they moved out of the Treasury and waited for a long time. It was hard to refuse such hospitality.
Inviting myself in front of everyone in Dongchang, I expected that they would not dare to do something dirty at this time.
At the same time, Zhu Ping'an also wanted to see what kind of medicine they were selling in the gourd, so he followed them to Zhang Guankuna half-heartedly.
“Hehehe, Zihou is here, hurry up, please come in.”
Zhang Guanku heard the commotion outside, and before Zhu Ping'an walked through the door, he greeted him with a gentle smile. With such enthusiasm, this scene was quite a bit like Cao Cao's style when he walked backwards to greet Xu You during the Three Kingdoms period. .
"Master Zhang is so kind, I am ashamed to be a subordinate official. I invite you, Master Zhang." Zhu Ping'an returned the gift with his hand.
After repeated courtesy at the door, Zhu Ping'an followed Zhang Guanku and others into the house, where the guests and hosts sat down.
Zhu Ping'an was humbled by everyone and sat opposite Zhang Guanku.
It was getting dark outside, so three oil lamps were lit in the house, with the wicks raised, illuminating the room.
"Does Zi Hou know some of Taicang's 'customs'?"
Zhang Guanku was sitting on a chair, straightening his body as if relaxed, looking at Zhu Ping'an calmly, like the endless sea, his whole body He asked softly like a famous scholar.
"I don't know about Ping'an, but I would like to hear the details." Zhu Ping'an shook his head, and then pretended to ask for advice.
Zhang Guanku glanced at Jia Langzhong. Jia Langzhong knew what he meant and nodded slightly. Then he smiled and attracted Zhu Pingan's attention. Then he smiled and said to Zhu Pingan, "Zihou is also a junior. When I come to Taicang, I don’t know that Taicang’s ‘routine’ is quite normal.”
“Let’s talk about the ‘four-two flat’ first,” Jia Langzhong said with a smile.
"What is four ounces flat?" Zhu Ping'an asked curiously.
"Four taels are equal, hehe. Zihou has also been in Taicang for a few days. He should have seen it. It is very hard for the soldiers to carry the silver. Although we are not working hard, we are also very hardworking. Zihou You don't know, Hou, when we collect taxes and salt taxes every year, it's common for us to stay up late and work overtime. Think about it, the governors of various places The company also collects taxes, money, horse grass, silk, cloth, money banknotes, money yarn, grains, yellow wax, discounts, shipping materials, commercial taxes, deed taxes, salt taxes, stolen goods penalties, Liao rates, etc. It's a lot of money to pay for more than 20 pieces of silver, and I have to stay up late and work overtime for more than a month." Jia Langzhong looked at Zhu Pingan with a tired face and said with some emotion.
The beginning is so vigorous and serious, and the rest of the story is definitely not serious.
After listening to Jia Langzhong’s foreshadowing, Zhu Pingan came to such a conclusion in his heart.
Sure enough.
Next, when he heard Jia Langzhong's explanation of four-two draws, Zhu Pingan sneered at Taicang's "conventions" in his heart.
“At the local level, seeing how hard we are working, they all sympathize with us. Every year when local governments donate taels of silver to Taicang, they donate an extra 4 taels of silver for every 100 yuan to comfort us. We wait They have been rejected many times, but this is the practice established in Taicang and the local area for hundreds of years. The local government insists on this, and we have no choice but to Fortunately, we have followed this convention. According to the convention, 2 taels of the extra 4 taels of silver will be allocated to the Treasury soldiers, and the other 2 taels will be allocated to the Treasury officials and the Chaku envoys. This convention is commonly known as "four taels of silver". '." Jia Langzhong slowly spoke out the convention of four and two, as if they had no choice but to abide by this convention.
After hearing this, Zhu Ping'an had no expression on his face. There was already a shocking wave in his heart, and he despised Jia Langzhong and others. For every 100 taels of silver, they charge 4 taels more. Taicang collects more than 2 million taels of silver every year. So just for the "four taels flat" alone, they collect more than 80,000 taels of silver every year.
What a burden this has put on the people for nothing!
"How many in a year?" Zhu Pingan pursed his lips and asked calmly.
"It's not much, just over 80,000 taels of 'hard-earned money' in a year." Jia Langzhong shook his head disapprovingly and said lightly.
That’s not much? ! Isn't more than 80,000 taels of silver enough? It's equivalent to more than 48 million yuan in RMB. A fourth-grade official only receives a salary of more than 140 taels of silver every year. The money you get from this "custom" is enough to pay the annual salary of five to six hundred fourth-grade officials.
How many fourth-grade officials were there in the entire Ming Dynasty? !
Not much. Haha, it can be seen that they have more than one "routine" to make money, and it can be seen that the money they make is much more than the 80,000 taels.
Haha, "hard-earned money"? What you did was just your job. This is also called "hard-earned money". Isn't this just lying down and picking up money? !
Zhu Ping'an had a new level of understanding of the greed and shamelessness of Jia Langzhong and others.
“In the past, the treasury envoys sent every year were treasury officials. This year, with Zihou working so hard to inspect Taicang, I think the higher authorities will no longer send treasury officers to inspect the treasury. Since then, this Of the 80,000 taels of 'hard-earned money', Zihou can get about 10,000 taels of 'hard-earned money'. Although it is not much, it can be regarded as a consolation for Zihou's hard work in checking the treasury." Jia Langzhong raised his head and smiled. He looked at Zhu Pingan and said.
“Ten thousand taels?!”
Hearing this, Mr. Zhao’s face suddenly dropped, as if he was a little dissatisfied.
Look at your potential! !
Zhang Guanku, who had been controlling the situation in the room, immediately glared at Mr. Zhao, and stared back at what Mr. Zhao was about to blurt out.
Under Zhang Guanku's gaze, Zhao Langzhong hesitated, muttered, and stopped talking. There were 10,000 dissatisfactions in his heart. Why should he give Zhu Ping'an 10,000 taels of silver? In previous years, Chakushi was only given four to five thousand taels of silver for this item.
Now that Zhu Ping'an has been given more than twice as much, doesn't it mean that the money we receive is less? !
"Ten thousand taels" Zhu Ping'an clicked his tongue.
As long as you are tempted, haha, you Zhu Ping'an is nothing more than that. I bought you with a mere ten thousand taels of silver.
Seeing Zhu Ping'an smacking his lips, the smile on Jia Langzhong's face became even brighter, and Zhang Guanku's face also showed a smile.
"Do you know the consent of this 'convention'? If you know the consent, then I can accept it; if you don't know, then I can't accept a penny." Zhu Pingan glanced at Jia Langzhong and Zhang Guan one by one. Ku and the others shrugged slightly.
"Well, this has been done for more than a hundred years. This practice can be regarded as Taicang's rule. If Zihou refuses to accept it, wouldn't it be a violation of the rules?" Jia Langzhong said earnestly. advised.
Uh.
Why do I break the rules when I keep myself clean? ! What kind of rule is this!
Zhu Ping'an smiled silently, held up his hands to plead guilty and said: "Zihou doesn't understand the rules, please don't blame me, sir. However, there is no reward for no merit, and checking the bank account is Ping'an's job. It's normal to order the number to go to the Yamen." There is enough time in the day, and I don’t have the merit to stay up late and work overtime for more than a month like you all, so I have absolutely no shame in accepting this money.” (End of Chapter)