Fang Yingwu observed others, and others also observed him, and now he gradually came to the conclusion that this person was young and energetic, eager to achieve success, acted hastily, and did not think much about the consequences.
Of course, to deal with such an imperial envoy, it is simple for veterans in the officialdom. Don't contradict him head-on. Let reality teach him that there are some things. Success cannot be achieved by just relying on the courage of an ordinary man. In the face of a powerful system, any lone hero is nothing.
Dregs.
Fang Qin sent down a shocking order. All the wine, food, and beauties were gone, and the atmosphere in the hall was a bit dull.
Of course, in the minds of veterans of the officialdom, this is called silent sex. Anyway, if this continues, they are not the ones who will be embarrassed.
Seeing that no one took the initiative to offer suggestions, Fang Yingwu had no choice but to cough and speak again: "Everyone should know that the supply of the capital depends on the southeast, and Suzhou Prefecture is the first county in the southeast, and Taicang depends on Suzhou Prefecture two to three times out of ten.
In the past two years, Suzhou Prefecture has suffered from severe shortages of money and food. I was ordered to go south to supervise the food supply. I have a very important task on my shoulders. I am willing to listen to your opinions."
After the officials of the prefecture and county looked at each other in confusion, a general magistrate named Guan Tuisi, who was in charge of the sixth grade of food in the prefecture, suddenly saw Magistrate Li winking at him, and remembered some of his previous explanations, so he hesitated for a moment and replied: "Suzhou
There are many difficulties in money and food affairs, and even though you have tried your best, you cannot get them all done. I will summarize them into three points below:
First, the taxation is too heavy. One county is equivalent to a large county in another place. How can it be easy for the whole government to transport more than two million stones? Secondly, there are too many original colors and too few colors. It is extremely inconvenient to be unable to adapt."
The Ming Dynasty's field tax is based on physical taxes, and its basic form is grain and rice, which is called true nature. Due to certain special circumstances, the tax payable can be converted from grain and rice into other things, such as money, fish, feathers, etc.
One and all, this is called folding color.
In Suzhou Prefecture, collecting money is certainly less troublesome and labor-intensive than collecting grain and rice. Apart from saving manpower and material resources, Suzhou Prefecture is a place where commerce is extremely prosperous and there is no shortage of money.
But the problem is that money cannot be eaten or drunk, and the court cannot live on money alone. The court needs food even more.
As a high-quality rice producing area, Suzhou Prefecture has good quality and high yield, so taxes are required to be paid according to the true nature. Every year, at least two million stones of grain are transported to the capital, which is not allowed to be converted into money, and is specially supplied to the royal family and honor officials.
Expensive grain rice is called white grain.
Fang Yingwu did not express his position for the time being, and Guan Tongpan continued: "Thirdly, the more grain and rice are collected, the more difficult it is to transport it. Suzhou is thousands of miles away from the capital, and the people are exhausted and the losses are huge. Transportation
It’s hard to put it into words!”
Having said this, Guan Tong felt a little thirsty. He lowered his head and drank two sips of tea before continuing to talk.
Bang! There was a sudden sound from the main seat. Everyone looked up and saw the young imperial envoy pressing one hand on the case in front of him. Obviously, the imperial envoy must have slapped the case just now.
Fang Yingwu stared at Guan Tong and said: "I heard that you are the second official in charge of food in the government office? Then Guan Bingjia, what is the purpose of telling me these difficulties?"
Guan Tongpan didn't understand why the imperial envoy asked this question. He was just a person in charge. What other purpose could he talk about where money and food were difficult to deal with?
Commissioner Fang Qin spoke more and more aggressively, "Don't the imperial court know about these difficulties? Don't I know about them? Are you so confused that I need you to explain them to me and answer my questions?"
Judge Guan Tong lowered his head and said, "I dare not think so."
Fang Yingwu changed his subject: "The current situation is that this year, Suzhou government has defaulted on arrears in previous years, and must transport more than three million dan. Since you made it so clear, have you figured out a solution?"
Guan Tongpan was speechless. What he was asking was, if he could easily solve this long-standing problem, then why should he be a general judge here? He would be qualified to be the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue!
Fang Yingwu stared at it for a long time. Seeing that Guan Tongpan could not answer, he reprimanded loudly: "Many things are caused by being afraid of things and passing the blame to each other! It sounds logical to say it, but it is useless to do it. It is like writing a thousand words.
If you don’t know how to do things, what’s the use?”
The imperial envoy's tone was extremely harsh. When he was caught and reprimanded during the interrogation, his face turned red with embarrassment and he wanted to find a hole in the ground to crawl into.
After reprimanding Guan Tongjing, Fang Yingwu said to everyone again: "The imperial court appointed me as this imperial envoy, not because you heard your complaints. I will put the words here tonight. I don't want to talk about the reasons, but only the results. If you don't listen,
It’s difficult, just find a way!”
Fang Yingwu's high-pressure aura made all the officials in the hall feel breathless, and they couldn't help but murmur in their hearts. This imperial envoy looked young, but his aura was very powerful. No wonder he was called the Tiger of the Capital.
In the dead silence, Magistrate Li, who had not spoken for a long time, suddenly spoke, "I guess Mr. Fang is very confident. Is there any good plan that we can share with you?"
When these words were spoken, everyone who was almost suffocated suddenly became alive again. The imperial envoy can't just bang the table to teach people. There is nothing you can do, so why force others?
Fang Yingwu said calmly: "I do have some ideas, but they still need to be further approved. And there are some things that need to be done in the early stage, so I hope you can work together."
Magistrate Li asked: "I wonder what Mr. Fang's orders are?" Fang Yingwu replied: "Please report the money and food figures from each county over the years, as well as the status of arrears."
Magistrate Li nodded and said: "This is easy. All counties have ready-made documents. Just copy a copy and give it to Mr. Fang."
Fang Yingwu continued to answer: "There is also a second thing. Please count the fields in each county, compile a book of households with more than 100 acres of land, count the numbers, and report to me."
Magistrate Li frowned and said, "This is very difficult to handle. Please think again, Mr. Fang."
This is indeed difficult to do. First, it is difficult to accurately count land, which is trivial and labor-intensive. Second, based on the standard of 100 acres, there may not be tens of thousands of households in Suzhou Prefecture. Completing the registration is a very heavy workload.
Big business.
Third, we have to consider the impact on the people. It is not the time when household registration books are being compiled. If the government suddenly starts to count the families of large families, it will probably cause rumors and panic. In the end, it will be difficult for local officials like them to do it.
Fang Yingwu watched with cold eyes, as if watching the fire. According to the suggestion of his subordinate Kong Mu, this was regarded as a test, and he once again came to the conclusion that the government would not be too active in cooperating with him, and would not bother to work on things that are slightly difficult.
Fang Yingwu smiled, with a deep sense of ridicule. "Just now, the prefect asked me if I had any good ideas. Now I can tell you straight away. I have my own methods, but I'm afraid I won't be able to do it.
You are all local officials, but I see that you don’t seem to be motivated, and I really don’t trust you, so I might as well not mention this method!”
Magistrate Li felt that he had been tricked by Fang Yingwu again. He had the dignity of a fourth-rank Huangtang. Hearing this, he snorted coldly, stood up and walked away. He did not even explain the situation and walked out of the lobby without looking back.
.
Fang Yingwu greeted the doorman: "I'm a little hungry, and I can't even drink tea to satisfy my hunger. Let's serve some food and wine!" (To be continued.)
