The next day Zhu Gui happened to be on duty in the south study room, so Ruan Yuan immediately found him and asked the teacher about Zhejiang affairs. Unexpectedly, Zhu Gui seemed to have been prepared for it, and said with a smile: "Bo Yuan, you are the governor of Zhejiang.

After you resigned as the Emperor yesterday, the Emperor specifically called me over to help you. In fact, it was my idea to recommend you to be the governor of Zhejiang in front of the Emperor. Just because I know that you have the ambition and the ability to do it.

The governor of Zhejiang did a good job."

"Of course, you have never been in charge of civil affairs before, and I know this too. I also wrote a poem for you yesterday. The most important things in Zhejiang depend on this. Come and read it first.

Let's see." With that said, Zhu Gui took out a stack of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Ruan Yuan.

When Ruan Yuan looked at the poem intently, he saw it said:

Chonghua consulted Yue Mu, who was good at Jianshi Confucian classics. He said that you would assist Nong Li and go to Fuzhe.

Ruan Jun first paid his respects to the emperor, but he was hesitant about his duties. Huai Haiyan, who is Yingying, is getting stronger but his teeth are not yet strong.

The professional body is in the sky, and it is used as a raindrop. I used to learn from Zhejiang, and I still know the details.

Kuang Jun succeeded me and sent a biography to Suxiang of Zhou Dynasty. Western Zhejiang Province was in dire straits, and Eastern Zhejiang Province was in urgent need of coastal defense.

Wentai connects Fujian and Guangdong, and the whales and crocodiles are hard to kill. The greedy officials conquer the wilds and encroach on Jiahu and Hangzhou.

There is no way to harm the horse. Use a whip to adjust the softness and hardness. Remove any damage to the horse and leave it alive. Do not damage the outside or inside of the horse with the medicine.

To deal with thieves without desire first, Cheng is an honest general. To treat gangsters with generosity and gain blessings, to destroy customs and help merchants.

There are many slanders for the government, and the nets are tightly stretched. Dai Ying please be gentle, and the neighboring chicken nuns are fighting each other.

Forgive others and be generous, and be willing to be frugal. My words are very plain, and there is no harm in prison or market.

After twenty-four years of official travel, I know the way and now I am returning. I hope you will report to the government soon, and Age will come and fly.

After Ruan Yuan looked at it, he also paid homage to Zhu Gui again: "Although I had a good understanding of the general affairs of Zhejiang before, I was not completely aware of it. What my teacher said was that the difficulty of business travel and the inconvenience of harsh government were not something I thought of before.

It seems that if a student really wants to be the governor of Zhejiang, he will have to put in a lot of effort."

Zhu Gui smiled and said: "Boyuan, in fact, with regard to the current problems in Zhejiang, even if I were a teacher and became the governor, I'm afraid there would be a lot of things that I couldn't do well. But it doesn't matter. If you become an official, you are not the only one here.

Do things. You have to know who is available and who is not. For example, regarding coastal defense, the teacher is not good at military affairs and cannot help you. But I heard you say that Li Changgeng, the commander-in-chief of Dinghai Town, has always been a capable person.

He is a person who can win over the wisdom of the people. When you arrive in Zhejiang, you should ask him more about coastal defense matters. If you are not sure, you must think twice. Do not rely on your own cleverness and make decisions without proficiency.

ah."

Ruan Yuandao: "The teacher's words will naturally be remembered by the students. But the matter of Cao Fu is another big difficulty. The students have also had a relationship with the Caogang people and know some of the difficulties. It is said...it is said that it is

In order to make up for the shortfall, Yu Zhongcheng deliberately increased the consumption, which made the people's burden even heavier, but the water transport sailors did not get any benefits."

Zhu Gui said: "The emperor has been thinking a lot about water transportation. In the past six months, the emperor has been cleaning up water affairs. I am in charge of the household department and I also understand this. The disadvantages of water transportation are that it increases consumption and gives gifts.

Over the years, officials from various provinces, mostly in the name of collecting canals, stocking warehouses, and clearing customs, have repeatedly extorted flag sailors. Each gang transported grain to Tongzhou and spent hundreds of taels of silver just to give gifts. In this way, flag soldiers

Sailor Ding was not having a hard time either. So they shifted the burden again and increased consumption. In the end, those who suffered were the people who had to pay for food. This matter of gifts is not something you can change in one province. But on top of the increase in consumption, I think

If there is a proper method, it may be able to reduce the burden on many people." The so-called "banner soldiers" refer to the soldiers who help transport grain up and down the canal. Their status is higher than that of the sailors, but they have nothing to do with the Eight Banners.

"In the past few days, Jiang Zhaokui, the governor of water transportation, has repeatedly sent letters to the emperor, requesting that for every stone and rice transported, an additional dou should be levied to provide subsidies to the flag sailors. He said that the root cause of the current water transportation shortcomings lies in the income of the flag sailors.

I can't make ends meet on weekdays, so I have to impose additional taxes. But if I really follow what he said, this will become an additional tax, and it goes against the emperor's intention of never imposing additional taxes. Therefore, based on his memorial, I do not

I don’t agree, but it might be better if we can find a way to give these flag sailors more transportation income without affecting the customs of taxes and levies.”

"What the teacher said is true." Ruan Yuandao said: "It's just that Zhejiang is still in a deficit right now. I'm afraid it will be quite difficult to find other ways to generate income, right?"

"The so-called shortfall is quite easy for you." Zhu Gui said: "Na Yude is in Zhejiang. Although it has made people angry, it has always made up for a lot of shortfalls. This year, the number of shortfalls reported in Zhejiang is only one hundred and eighty.

One hundred thousand taels, which is much less than three years ago. In fact, the emperor has repeatedly issued edicts to inquire about the deficit in detail over the past year. The main reason for the reports from various provinces is that corrupt officials in the prefectures and counties have got their hands on the money and grain.

They steal secretly and make indiscriminate purchases regardless of the cost. If there is a flood or drought, hundreds of thousands of money and food are often used with a stroke of a pen, but only ten percent of it actually reaches the hands of the victims.

23. If money and food can really be collected and paid according to the regulations, and the expenditures of prefectures and counties can be kept in line with normal times, floods and droughts, seawall construction and other matters can be spent on the right places. In my opinion, it will not be a problem.

Such a loss."

"It's just that students have heard that it's not easy to investigate officials, isn't it?" Ruan Yuan asked.

"The matter of investigating officials has always been difficult, because there are only so many people who can be officials. If you use strict laws today to punish a group of traitors, if the ones you replace tomorrow still don't change, there will be nothing you can do.

, because no one is available. Therefore, most of the big officials nowadays are able to discern the subtleties. For example, Chen Dawen and Chen Zhongcheng, the governor of Shandong, I heard that in just a few words, he can tell the character of a subordinate and whether he has acted in a false way to benefit the public.

The officials are afraid and don't dare to deceive the governor. But you can only recognize people, but I'm afraid it's still worse than Chen Zhongcheng. Moreover, this skill of distinguishing cannot be used for a long time. If you use it too much, it will have flaws. You

It can be used, but the timing must be right so that it can serve as a warning to others."

"Since...students cannot abuse this art of understanding, do you dare to ask the teacher if there are other ways to manage officials?" Ruan Yuan asked.

"Ming the law clearly shows the rules." Zhu Gui said: "Although the country has complete laws and regulations at present, there are inevitably imperfect regulations in various details. Especially warehouse inspections, calculation of expenses for the construction of river embankments and seawalls, and so on.

There are many important matters regarding official documents and relays that are not stipulated carefully, so it is very easy for people with ulterior motives to take advantage of them. These things are different in each province. The teacher has told you this, so I can only say

I have a general idea. You have to look up the specific disadvantages in Zhejiang one by one. But you have one thing that is far inferior to the teacher. In addition to Confucian classics, you are also proficient in arithmetic, accounting, and negotiating expenses. You may be able to do these things.

Are you very good at it? In fact, the teacher also thinks that if you want to be an official in a state or county, you still need to know some arithmetic skills, otherwise the accounts will be easily falsified by subordinates if you pay more than money and food. If you pay more attention to this matter, you may be able to get twice the result with half the effort.

"

"As for making up for the shortfall... Bo Yuan, you still have to do this, but after discussing with the emperor, we have reached a consensus that the current military boom is not as good as when Emperor Sejong was checking the shortfall. Make up for it.

Don't be impatient. If you blindly think about making up for the deficit of the imperial court, regardless of the life and death of the people, wouldn't it be like killing the goose to retrieve the eggs and depleting the fish? Since you are not in a hurry, Boyuan, I estimate that as long as you can secure your position as governor of Zhejiang, the emperor will

If you are asked to work for a few more years, you must solve all the internal and external issues one by one. When the time comes, you must have a long-term plan. The court's shortfall must be made up, but the people's livelihood is more important." Zhu Gui said.

On the one hand, Jiaqing did reveal this idea, and on the other hand, it was also because he knew Ruan Yuan’s character. Ruan Yuan wanted to be steady in handling affairs, but in order to be steady, he needed to spend more effort and time to come up with plans and resolve conflicts. This encouraged Ruan Yuan.

, which is more conducive to him making effective and orderly decisions.

Ruan Yuan naturally knew what Zhu Gui was thinking, so he asked Zhu Gui about inventorying warehouses and catching thieves. In one day, he had a rough understanding of almost all the imaginable duties of the governor. But even so.

, but Ruan Yuan still felt that it was not enough. He thought that since ancient times, there were many sages who had served in prefectures and counties with outstanding achievements for reference. After nightfall, without stopping, he took another volume of "Han Shu" and saw "Xun Li".

"Biography" is an article, and I am going to study it in detail. Although Ruan Yuan is mostly involved in official history, "Biography of Xunli" is a kind of biography that has not been paid much attention to in the official history of the past dynasties. There are also carelessness in studying it in the old days. At this time, I have to secretly feel ashamed and start

Make up for these "forgotten" "lessons".

While I was concentrating on reading, suddenly a familiar voice sounded beside me: "Is this the Book of Han that Master is reading? I have heard Master read it before, but when I read it myself, I found this book very difficult.

Master, which section are you reading here? Can you also give me some pointers?"

"It doesn't matter, "Han Shu" has always been difficult to read. If you can't read all the annotations, you can never..." At this time, Ruan Yuancai suddenly realized that the voice was not Kong Luhua's. He raised his head and saw that it was also a voice.

The woman stood beside him, with a delicate face, docile and amiable face. She was a little less elegant than Kong Luhua, but a little more reserved. It was Liu Wenru who came to help him lay out his books.

Ruan Yuan then remembered that during his free time on weekdays, he often told Liu Wenru and Xie Xue some historical stories at home.

I have always been interested in it, and I would ask myself to say more from time to time. At that time, I just responded casually and told more related stories, but it was not difficult. Now I think about it, maybe Liu Wenru has read more with me, and has gradually become more familiar with history books.
Chapter completed!