"Kickback?"

The pian was confused as he listened to these two unfamiliar words, but the meaning behind them was obvious.

Swallowing his saliva, the pianist carefully observed Huang Kai's face and seemed to be a little impatient. In this case, in line with the principle of doing more than doing less, the pian hurriedly agreed, opened the box and checked to confirm that it was correct.

Afterwards, he quickly thanked Zheng Chenggong and Huang Kai for their kindness on behalf of the county magistrate, and quickly embarked on the journey back to the county with other officials, government servants and people.

When leaving the city, there were oxen and horse-drawn carriages carrying silver and grain, but when they came back, a large box containing dozens of kilograms of silver was delivered directly to the back house of the county government.

"rebate?"

It’s no wonder that the code official is ignorant. In fact, the county magistrate, who is well-read in poetry and books, has never heard of this word. At least, he has never seen it in the books of sages and soothing Buddhist scriptures for exam preparation. However, just like the code official,

In that case, he naturally understood what this thing was.

A full thousand taels of silver. According to the system of the Qing Dynasty, the annual salary of a county magistrate is forty-five taels of silver plus twenty dans of rice. Among them, one dan of grain is one stone, so twenty dans is twenty dans.

, the current price of food is twenty-five taels of silver. In total, the county magistrate's annual salary is sixty-five taels of silver. This one thousand taels is enough for him to earn for fifteen or six years without eating or drinking.

Huge amount of money received!

After opening the box, the light emitted by the silver illuminated the whole room several times. The magistrate swallowed his saliva. He had been an official for many years and his gray income was far more than the normal salary. This was a common practice in the officialdom. It probably started in the Hongwu Dynasty.

, there was only one Hai Rui in the Ming Dynasty who did not have any gray income. But even so, this thousand taels of silver was still a big sum. Seeing these cute little things shining brightly in front of my eyes, the old face of the county magistrate was full of ravines.

Beads of sweat soon fell down one by one, and the whole person was struggling with temptation and worry, almost drowning.

"My lord, please rest assured. I didn't leave any documents for that person named Huang."

Without written evidence, others could not frame him. This word was stretched out like a life-saving straw. The county magistrate grabbed it and leaned out of the "water surface". While breathing in the air, he felt

He did not forget to praise the pian's diligence without hesitation, and praised the pian so much that he didn't know where to put his face.

After a good reputation, the county magistrate had been in the officialdom for a long time and naturally understood the rules. Immediately, he took out two hundred taels of silver and ordered the clerk to distribute it in the county government office. Not only the accompanying officials and government officials, but also the county officials

Other officials and servants in the government office must also receive their share, and even the civilian husbands, although they may not be given any money, must still be given some benefits, such as reducing or exempting some corvees. Anyway, the government will suffer, and everyone will be happy.

.

"It's not easy for local officials. You have to take care of the superior officials."

The magistrate murmured to himself, which seemed to be casual, but in fact he was talking to the pian. Speaking of which, this was the first time he had encountered such a thing, especially the first time he had taken it from the Ming army.

When it comes to bribery, the county magistrate is slightly unconfident and does this. As for the clerk, who has been doing this business for generations, he naturally knows the importance of it. He echoed a few words to express that everyone in the county government will understand the difficulty of the magistrate. The boss is so generous.

Everyone will definitely stay with the boss through thick and thin in the future, until the magistrate is satisfied.

The clerk took the money and went out to distribute it. The magistrate soon received unanimous support and love from all the county officials. The magistrate, who received the support and love, immediately found a cousin who followed him to the post and took him with him.

He rushed to Fuzhou Fucheng with some of the silver.

When the magistrate enters the prefectural city, he must naturally hand over the receipt to the governor's Yamen, and also check out the Shangguan officials. But his cousin has to go straight to the back house of the Magistrate's Yamen with the money and pay the Shangguan's favors.

Only then can we feel at ease. However, the prefect did not accept the favor fee. To be precise, he did not accept all of it, and the cousin had no choice but to return with the money without success.

"Why do you accept so little? What did the Palace Master say?"

At the inn, the magistrate lowered his voice and asked, and his cousin also learned the magistrate's words exactly. According to the magistrate, someone had informed him the day before yesterday, saying that the benefits of the magistrate were indispensable, and the magistrate also knew that.

In the same way, Liu Qingtai, Tong Guoqi, and even the local Daotai and Fujian patrols, and the stewards of these officials' families, Ming Jun, were all informed, so it was enough that they were aware of it, and there was no need to spend too much money.

"Brother, Mr. Haicheng does things very decently."

After his cousin praised him so much, the county magistrate only talked about the old story of the Zheng family bribing officials with their huge profits from sea trade in the Ming Dynasty. He was not a native of Fujian, so he didn't know much about it, but he had heard some about it. It seems now,

When it comes to handling matters appropriately, Zheng Chenggong certainly does not live up to his father's heroic demeanor.

Youdao is that being an official for thousands of miles is just for money. All the officials in the prefectures and counties involved have received a share of the income, which is naturally very gratifying for them. But those officials in the prefectures and counties who are not involved are not here for the time being.

Just jealous.

However, Comrade Zheng Chenggong, a considerate friend of the Fujian officialdom, did not forget them. He soon expanded the scope of food and salary collection to the inland counties of these prefectures, and at the same time, he also asked Quanzhou Prefecture and Zhangzhou Prefecture.

In neighboring Tingzhou and Yanping, the two prefectures issued a note asking them to prepare food and grass as soon as possible for the army.

In this regard, Tingzhou Prefecture is still a little hesitant, because although they are a county in Fujian, they are administratively subordinate to the Nangan Governor's Yamen. Without Shangguan's permission, they cannot report their accounts to the superior. However, Yanping Prefecture has

Waiting eagerly for both parties to reach a conclusion, all the prefectures and counties in Yanping Prefecture hurriedly sent money and grain to Datian County at the junction of Yanping Prefecture and Zhangzhou and Quanzhou Prefectures for the Ming army to receive.

In this September, a feast of kickbacks swept through Fujian, Yanping Prefecture, Xinghua Prefecture, Fuzhou Prefecture and Funing Prefecture, and all the local officials made a lot of quick money. However, the greed of people in this world has always been

There is no end to it. After this first cooperation, they soon began to look forward to the next cooperation. Some of them had even planned the next cooperation in their hearts.

"Zhijun, the imperial court's decree has not yet come down. If the imperial court refuses to give in, the deficit households other than Xinghua Prefecture will not recognize it. Even if the imperial court gives in, it is estimated that it will not be able to give in to Yanping Prefecture and

Fuzhou Prefecture, there will always be trouble."

No matter how hot it is, there are always people who are willing to grab money. At the governor's office, a steward came forward to accept the kickback, while Tong Guoqi was still panicking about it. On the contrary, Liu Qingtai didn't care about it, and even more

He kept reassuring the former, saying that there was always a way to stop the shortfall.

"However, there is some truth in what Siyuan said. I thought that in addition to the money and grain in the treasury of each prefecture and county, in addition to what is turned over to the ministry, there is also money and food left to support the green camp and pay official salaries. It is difficult to empty it out.

. We have to make a stipulation that in the future, if anything is distributed from the treasury, the amount must be reported to us first, and then distributed after approval, so that we can always control it."

"This is a good way to control the army, but I'm afraid that when I get down, I'll find it hard to get through."

Seeing that Tong Guoqi was still a little worried about this, Liu Qingtai pointed out with a smile that as long as the overall recruitment was completed and the civil servants of the imperial court stationed in Zhangquan Chaoqiong's fourth house and eliminated the major troubles in the southeast, a small deficit would not be counted.

What. Even if there is indeed a mistake, it is Dorgon's fault. After all, Shunzhi has now let the former regent take the blame for this.

"By the way, let's go down and tell the untouchables that if there is an increase in food and salary, it is the work of Duke Haicheng. The more the locals dislike him, the more stable the imperial court will be in Fujian."

………………

Throughout September, under the temptation of kickbacks, only the officials of Tingzhou Prefecture, Jianning Prefecture and Shaowu Prefecture in Fujian Province had no choice but to stick to their principles, so that these three prefectures could survive.

Disaster.

In the Zhongzuo Institute, large amounts of money and grain are constantly transported from various prefectures and counties, flowing continuously from the wharf to the warehouse. Among them, grain is not mentioned. The army is large in size and spends a lot of money, supporting Zhangzhou at all times.

The Ming troops stationed in Quanzhou and Quanzhou gave Chaozhou a breath of relief. As for silver, in addition to daily expenses, the mint under the Ordnance Bureau was also constantly melting silver into silver coins called Zhangzhou military pay.

These round silver coins have gradually gained some presence in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, and even in Chaozhou. However, the use of silver coins has been long-established and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Apart from some merchants related to the government and the army, most of them still have

I don't quite recognize it.

Today, another batch of silver coins entered the Mint's warehouse. Feng Chengshi waited for all the work to be completed and counted it again before going home. When he returned home, his son Feng Xifan had been waiting for a long time. The father and son were eating, and Feng Xifan asked

He remembered what he heard today about kickbacks.

"Oh, that rebate ratio. For ten thousand taels of silver and grain, the rebate for one thousand taels of silver is only 10%, which is already very little."

Feng Chengshi replied lightly, and continued to stretch out his hand to pick up the piece of meat. However, the last sentence "It's just" and the sentence "It's very little" made Feng Xifan stunned for a moment, and immediately he didn't care about his father.

While chewing, surprise and displeasure came out of my mouth.

"Father, this time to levy food and pay, we will send out armies and fleets. The cost is not small. This 10% rebate is only for those magistrates who do specific work. Such as the magistrates above, Daotai, and

Liu Qingtai and Tong Guoqi, the two supervisors, both have to spend extra money to feed them, which is already a lot!"

Feng Xifan was not saving money for Zheng Chenggong, but the idea came from Chen Kai. Because of the relationship with the Arms Bureau, the Feng family and his son had always been vaguely wary of Chen Kai. Especially Feng Xifan, he always felt that Chen Kai would have ill intentions towards them.

, so he kept encouraging his father to plot against Chen Kai. On the contrary, Feng Chengshi knew things much better than his impulsive son, and knew very well what he could and could not do.

At this moment, Feng Xifan asked, "I know my son better than my father." Feng Chengshi naturally understood the meaning, but this matter is not that simple at all.

"Father, let me give you an example: There is a flood in a place, and it is necessary to relieve the people and rebuild the river embankment. The imperial court appropriated 520,000 taels, but starting from the issuance of the imperial edict, the cabinet first had to make a cut, and the Ministry of Household Affairs and Works

Even the Ministry of War has to do this when it comes to mobilizing troops and horses. Outside the capital, in the province, in the government, in the county, and even the generals of the town soldiers and guards, these people still have to be constantly divided.

Run. When it finally got into the hands of the people who actually did the work, only 150,000 taels were left. This was already the result of the vigorous mediation of capable people..."

From five hundred thousand taels to one hundred thousand taels, the number changed position, but 70% of the silver was suddenly lost!

As he spoke, Feng Chengshi put down his chopsticks and carefully looked at his son's dumbfounded look. He did not pick up his chopsticks again and continued eating. He only waited for Feng Xifan to react before giving an answer.

"Well, Father, this is too greedy."

"How much?" Feng Chengshi shook his head and continued: "It has always been like this when dealing with each level. In fact, each level does not take much, but the more levels, the more."

"Besides, a lot of the money here has not yet entered the hands of the officials who handle it. For example, the doors and windows of a government office are in disrepair for a long time, and the house is leaking. It is not convenient to report these things to the central government to request the allocation of repair money, because it has been there for a long time.

Officials in the same yamen do not have the right to report, and the official who has the right to report may have been transferred before the money is approved. Who is willing to use his reputation and favors to benefit future generations? And even if it is reported, the central government may not approve it.

——The world is so big, there are so many yamen, today you repair the windows, tomorrow I repair the doors, no matter how rich your property is, it will all be ruined."

"So, it can only be deducted from the money used for other things?"

"That's right." Feng Chengshi nodded, but then subconsciously lowered his voice and said to his son: "To put it bluntly, the Taizu of this dynasty claimed to be a Huaiyou civilian, but he was actually a monk.

, I also worked as a beggar. However, Taizu’s family also had land and a shop in the early days. They were not rich, but they were better than mere tenants. Even when there was a famine, they gave out money to provide relief, but they were eaten up layer by layer.

Otherwise, my father told you to study more, but have you ever seen a few of the founders of the country who would always peel off the skin of corrupt officials?"

After saying this, Feng Chengshi took a sip of water to moisten his throat and continued to eat. Feng Xifan couldn't help but swallowed and sat there blankly. It took him a long time to say, "It's really not much."

Come on.

"My father heard Guo Xing mention it, and Chen Jingcheng predicted in his letter that those corrupt officials will soon have to ask for an increase in the kickback ratio. He said that according to his calculations, as long as the kickback does not exceed 50%, it is a sure profit.
Chapter completed!