There is a quiet room in Deyi Building, also called a tea room, which is specially designed for guests to have private conversations. Mr. Zhang invited Fang Yingwu and his party, and Fang Yingwu thought about it and followed.
He was also very curious about what secrets Mr. Zhang wanted to tell him. Especially from what Mr. Zhang said, he would regret it if he did not take this trip.
At this time, Wang De, who was the most confused in the room, saw Fang Yingwu going out and subconsciously wanted to follow him, but was called back to the banquet by Manager Tang. After that, Manager Tang kept chatting with Wang De without saying a word.
.
Although Wang De is a little stubborn, he is not stupid. At this time, he still can't see that today's protagonist is Fang Yingwu, and he is just the reason and intermediary for them to meet Fang Yingwu!
Fang Yingwu and Mr. Zhang came to the secret room next to them and let the store light candles. After they sat down respectively, Mr. Zhang got straight to the point and said: "My friend Fang must have some suspicions, but I do have a confidential matter that is not known to outsiders.
Let me tell you, this is also my Dong Weng’s intention.”
In this deserted place, Fang Yingwu also put away his harmless smile and asked with a cold face: "Don't talk about idle talk. I wonder what Mr. Zhang's advice is?"
"A few days ago, friend Fang, did you go to the Chief Envoy's Office? Did you witness local people making trouble in the office?"
Fang Yingwu was surprised at first that he knew his whereabouts, but then he thought of something. Mr. Lu, the right chief envoy, and Mr. Ning, both work in the chief envoy's office, which can be said to be officials in the same government office.
.
Although Mr. Lu is relatively weak in the Chief Envoy's Office, who official in the government office does not have some close confidants? He went to the Chief Envoy's Office to visit Ning Yanei and Mr. Ning. He was seen and spread to Lu.
It is also normal in adult ears.
Could it be that Mr. Lu has noticed him since then and used tricks for his own benefit? Fang Yingwu thought suspiciously.
But this is not the key tonight. I heard Mr. Zhang continue: "Friend Fang should know the reason for this. I wonder what Friend Fang heard?"
"I heard that Mr. Ning has been working hard on the seawall in the past three years and has been in urgent need of labor. As a result, the local labor force has been heavy and the people have complained a lot. It just so happened that this year another disaster occurred when the tide destroyed the embankment, so there was a quarrel with the government.
." Fang Yingwu replied.
Mr. Zhang's face showed an expression of "I knew you would say this", but Fang Yingwu quickly added a few words: "But I think it is excusable. Mr. Ning is kind-hearted, but he is just impatient.
"
Ning Liang, the chief envoy to the left, is a public servant of Prime Minister Shang, while Fang Yingwu is a closed student in the name of Prime Minister Shang. Therefore, even if Mr. Ning occasionally makes mistakes, he must have the attitude he should have and should protect him.
This is the meaning of the comrades to be protected.
The butt determines the head. If you want to sow discord from here, you are too underestimated. Although he is physically young, his mental age is not young.
Mr. Zhang didn’t pay attention to Fang Yingwu’s addition, “Did friend Fang hear it from the Ning family? Does friend Fang think the situation is really that simple?”
Fang Yingwu asked: "Then what other explanation do you have?"
Mr. Zhang stared at Fang Yingwu and lowered his voice: "I can tell you why the people feel that the corvee labor for the seawall construction is heavy and miserable. It is because all the corvee money has been pocketed by the Ning family!"
Fang Yingwu was shocked. Even though he was calm, he couldn't help but change his expression at this moment. He really didn't expect that there was such an inside story.
An ordinary person would naturally not be able to decipher anything from this short sentence, and would probably be too confused to understand what was being said. Fang Yingwu was familiar with historical data and world conditions. His mind was spinning like lightning, but he understood.
The so-called corvee silver starts with the corvee system. Ordinary people, especially farmers, not only had to pay grain, but also served. The Ming government would also recruit young laborers according to the yellow book to engage in engineering construction, government errands and other labor.
If someone does not want to serve and has spare money at home, he can pay silver to the government to avoid corvee. This is called corvée silver. Theoretically speaking, corvée silver is given to the government by those who avoid corvee, and the government can use the money to hire other people.
For labor use.
But in fact, local governments may not actually use this money to hire labor. If there is a labor shortage, then the construction period will be delayed. Take your time and don't rush.
In the Ming Dynasty, when the proportion of fortunes was very high, the local government had very little tax and grain left, so the Xian Yin became an important source of small treasury for the local government.
The Zhejiang seawall is a famous major project in history. Large-scale repairs must be a huge undertaking. Tens of thousands of laborers are involved, and the construction period is estimated to take several years. The levy collected from it must also be considerable.
.
If Mr. Ning, who is leading this project, wants to leave his name in history, and he is old and does not have much time left, then in order to complete the progress as soon as possible, he should take out the corvee silver and hire additional workers to make up for the lack of corvee collection.
, to complete it on schedule.
But if Mr. Ning embezzled all the corvee and silver, and at the same time wanted to speed up the progress of the project, then he would probably have to impose corvée beyond the normal limit, so the local people would be miserable and go to the Yamen.
This is the logical relationship between the local people's trouble in the government and Mr. Ning's embezzlement and misappropriation of money.
Fang Yingwu could hardly believe it and said: "Mr. Ning is rumored to have a good reputation. How could he do such a thing? Are you just making up a joke to amuse me?"
Mr. Zhang observed the words and knew that Fang Yingwu had already understood the real situation, which saved him from having to explain it. He couldn't help but secretly praise that the best thing about talking to smart people is that it saves effort.
He pretended to sneer: "Do I need to lie to you about such a serious matter? Ask Mr. Ning, do you think he dares to deny it? Nowadays, people along the coast are boiling with resentment. It's just that the "warm breeze" in Hangzhou city
It’s just that tourists get drunk”!
In fact, it’s not just about Xian Yin, there are other things that are not visible to the public during the construction of the seawall! I won’t say more if it’s alarmist!”
Even though Fang Yingwu has a relationship with Mr. Ning due to his sect, and can naturally be classified as an ally, Fang Yingwu still thinks that Chief Ning has really gone too far this time!
First of all, according to the rules, even if the corvée silver is not taken out to hire other workers, it is used as a small treasury of the yamen, rather than directly going into the pocket of the chief official. This is not in line with the rules of the officialdom, whether it is an explicit rule or a hidden rule.
Secondly, this seawall repair project was huge and took several years. The amount of money handled must have been a large amount, at least several thousand taels, which was quite different from other small amounts of money.
Quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes. If the amount is small, it is called gray income. If the amount is large enough, it is of another nature.
How could Mr. Ning be such a person? Fang Yingwu slapped his forehead in pain. Being an accomplice with a corrupt official who did something extraordinary has always been one of the most troubling things in Vanity Fair. It was very tricky!
Bu Zhengyi deliberately sent someone to tell him the news, and he also had his own plans. He was really worried! He had always known that Lu Buzheng was acting too cunning, and he was always on guard in his heart, but he didn't expect that he could take all precautions.
, I still fell into his trap. (To be continued...)
ps: The third update, I don’t have enough time in the morning, so I will write this much first, and I will do it in the afternoon if I have time.
