Chapter 377 The Ministry of Industry owes the contract
"That's right, my prince is the emperor's younger brother. He will not try to undermine His Majesty. Alas, it has been a long time since I returned to Jinyang." Jiang Damin sighed.
"Why don't we go for a walk?" He Qizhou said, that is the burial place of Yang Zheng, and it has always been the place that He Qizhou longed for.
"Okay, okay, it will only take two or three days at most." Jiang Damin said happily.
"Aren't you afraid of being caught up by someone?" Xu Mu asked softly.
"Afraid, what are you afraid of? What is supposed to come will come. I, I want to see the tomb of my adoptive father." He Qizhou's door suddenly changed from high to low, and he felt a little sad for a while.
"Okay, I want to take a look too." Xu Mu also looked solemn.
"I'll lead the way! Your Majesty goes to the festival every year, and no one is more familiar there than me!" Jiang Damin said confidently.
Half a day later, the convoy turned into the official road heading north at the fork. There were gradually more carriages and horses on the wide and flat road. From time to time, there were galloping postmen and scouts passing by the convoy, and there were also long lines of caravans and escorts.
go through.
The farmland and wasteland beside the official road are still divided into five and five halves. Jiang Damin said that the Jin king's fiefdoms are all north of Jinyang, so this is still the king's land of the Han king.
At the end of the first month of the lunar month, the day was one day longer. Although it was Shenshi, the setting sun was far from setting. Jiang Damin proposed not to sleep in the open today, but to walk another twenty miles to Wenshui County. He Qizhou and Xu Mu were here.
Ridu was sleeping in his carriage, knowing that he no longer wanted to squeeze into the tent with the two brothers who were driving the carriage, so they all agreed to his suggestion and walked more distance.
We had only gone four or five miles when the official road, which was nearly two feet wide, suddenly became congested. There were more vehicles going north, and two or three vehicles lined up completely blocked the road from the south. At a glance, the official road that was several miles long was completely blocked.
It was a carriage or camel cart loaded with goods, slowly crawling northward like a long worm.
Because they were worried about He Qizhou's injury, the convoy was originally moving very slowly, but now it was even slower. After a while, the two carriages were lined up for more than a mile. Seeing that the sky was getting dark, the official road was
Complaints spread everywhere. The post riders who were in a hurry immediately rode their horses through the ridges of the fields, but the carts could only wait slowly.
Jiang Damin was impatient and couldn't wait too long. He jumped on his horse and went around the field. He quickly returned before half a stick of incense was left. He proudly said to He and Xu in the carriage: "The road will be opened soon. I
When the uncle takes action, any difficult task can be easily solved!"
"What's going on?" He Qizhou asked with a frown.
"The low prices for collecting unpaid deeds angered the people who were building the roads. Those people were unwilling to install the last few stones. The passable road was only four feet wide, so larger cars had to be very careful to pass.
Isn't it blocked?" Jiang Damin said.
"What is a debt collection contract?" He Qizhou asked again.
"You, a top scholar, don't even know this?" Jiang Damin paused deliberately. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he had to continue: "Further north is the important border defense area. The Great Wall and Guancheng need to be repaired frequently. Just relying on strong men every year
Half a month of labor is not enough, so the local government and the Ministry of Industry will hire people to build cities, walls, roads, and gates during the slack season. However, the labor often takes a while. I heard that more people have been hired in the past two years.
It’s been a long time coming.”
"Then what should we do?" Xu Mu also looked out of the car window and asked.
Jiang Damin said: "The government will issue debt deeds to the working people, and they will pay them when the ICBC is allocated. However, some poor households have no rice to cook and will not wait until the silver is allocated, so they will use the arrears on hand." The deeds were sold at a discount. Some wealthy gentry households, seeing the profits, would send people to sell off the deeds owed by the common people..."
"It's moving, it's moving, hurry up, the county town will be closed soon." Someone cheered in front, and the speed of the motorcade indeed accelerated.
"Oh, Uncle Jiang is worthy of being the first bodyguard of Prince Jin. He just ran around and solved the problem." Xu Mu praised.
Jiang Damin was even more proud and said: "It's a small thing, it's a small thing, hahahaha..."
"Tell me, how did you solve it?" He Qizhou also became curious.
"The guy who collected the unpaid deeds came two days ago, and the price dropped by half a percent compared to last time. The road construction workers couldn't help but give up their picks. I persuaded both parties that the deed collector should charge the price the day before yesterday. , and then they gave a few instructions and they started working." Jiang Damin said.
Xu Mu chuckled and said, "What did you order?"
"Oh, I just yelled and said that there were officials from the imperial court passing by. If the road was not paved within half a stick of incense, all the deeds in their hands would be invalidated. Anyone who delayed the military plane by this would be dealt with according to military law! That collector Those who were in arrears readily agreed. Seeing my words, the government officials from several counties also got excited and stared at the peasants working. They only paid for the last few dozen pieces of stone. There were hundreds of peasants, so they gave them half a stick of incense. It’s a bit much.” Jiang Damin laughed.
"How much will the people charge to collect the unpaid deeds?" He Qizhou asked again.
"Oh, I heard that guy said that there is going to be a war soon, and the court may not be able to allocate the money until the year of the monkey and the horse. If the war lasts for a long time and loses, he will even lose everything, so he quoted a price of 25% off, but I still Let him charge the price at a 30% discount," Jiang Damin said.
"Only 30% off?!" Xu Mu and He Qizhou exclaimed at the same time.
Xu Mu said: "Is it because of the general attire of the troops on your side that I had no choice but to accept a 30% discount on the price?" The border army is a formal combat force, and its clothing and weapons are much better than those of the inland garrison, and its status is also high. Therefore, those people in northern Shanxi and northern Shaanxi should be able to recognize Jiang Damin's identity at a glance.
"The 30% discount seems a bit low, but one is willing to buy and the other is willing to sell. It is a consensual matter. You can't delay the work at hand. The road is not repaired. How can we deliver food and grass to the border? He Qizhou, don't you think so? "Jiang Damin scratched his head and said with a smile.
He Qizhou just felt unworthy of those common people and didn't pay much attention to the smart-aleck Jiang Damin.
While they were talking, their carriage had almost reached the congested official road. Through the carriage window, they saw hundreds of men in ragged clothes gathered on the east side of the road. Four government officials were already lined up neatly on the roadside. , seeing Jiang Damin leading two carriages passing by, they all knelt down on one leg and shouted in unison: "Congratulations to you two adults!"
"What on earth did you say?" Xu Mu asked with a frown in the carriage.
"I said he was a high-ranking official from the Ministry of Justice in Beijing!"
"Alas." He Qizhou sighed softly. He originally wanted to secretly go to Jinyang to take a look, but after being called out by this guy, he might not be able to see it anymore.
"He Qizhou, did you hear that?" Xu Mu pushed away He Qizhou's arm around his slender waist and asked in a deep voice.
"You heard it, or go take a look!" He Qizhou actually heard the sobbing coming from the peasants in the distance. After the carriage walked up the newly repaired slope, the sobbing behind him actually turned into a roar, even though he was dozens of feet away.
Far away, but still clearly audible.
"Well, let's go take a look." Xu Mu said, "Jiang Damin, find a place to park and let's go take a look."
The four government officials who were saddled and led their horses back to the city saw the frontier general and the two "young officials" in the carriage walking down the slope. For a moment, they felt like they had been cheated. One of them couldn't help but
He murmured to his companions: "Didn't you say you were a senior official from the Ministry of Punishment? Why..."
He Qizhou's ears were sharp and he said as he walked past the motionless government officials: "We are the retainers of the high official, and we came here first to explore the way."
"You go back first. You don't need to say anything to your superiors when you go back. My lord doesn't want to alarm the local officials." Xu Mu hurriedly added.
"Let's go! I told you to go back, why are you still standing there?" He yelled at Jiang Damin and the four others. The ferocious look these four people gave to the group of peasants just now actually made him quite unhappy.
"Yes, military master, let's leave now!" A government servant who looked like a leader was so frightened that he immediately led his horse and ran away. After running a few steps with the other three people, he thought about it and couldn't help but move towards that place.
The villagers yelled: "Tomorrow we will build a wall on the mountain east of the city! One meal will be provided there every day! It's a deed owed by the Ministry of Works!"
"Don't go!" I don't know which citizen roared hatefully.
"Don't you want to go? If you don't want to go, let's go and drink the northwest wind!" came the sinister cry of the Yamen servant who had already mounted his horse in the distance.
"Master Jun, we are ordinary people, and this road is paved, so please show your respect!" A civilian said to the leader, Jiang Damin.
"It was my fault just now. I was too impatient. Didn't you sell all the deeds you owed? Even though they are young, these two are really high-ranking officials in the capital. If you have anything, you can talk to them. If I can help you,
, they will definitely help." Jiang Damin regretted a little for agreeing to the 30% discount on his own initiative, and wanted to drag the "cunning" He Qizhou into the water.
"They're all sold! One life, two years of blood and sweat..." A thin man in his forties couldn't help but howled again. There were people around him trying to persuade him, while others started to cry.
He Qizhou walked up to a muscular man in his thirties and said, "Isn't it you who told me 'no go' just now?"
"It's not him, it's not him!" an old man beside the man said hurriedly.
The strong man didn't expect that his words in the crowd could be recognized by the boy wearing an ordinary cotton robe from so far away. He hesitated, then suddenly raised his head and said: "Yes, it's me! We have all accepted it."
After serving the Yao service, wouldn't it be violating the king's law if you don't go?"
"That's not what I meant. We still have some silver coins around us..."
"Are you willing to pay more to collect our debt?" The old man next to the strong man suddenly became energetic.
"no no……"
"If not, just leave." The strong man said angrily.
"What are you talking about!" Jiang Damin was a little angry, took a step forward and shouted.
The strong man was dragged behind him by the old man beside him, and he said with a smile: "Master, he has a wooden head, please don't get angry."
He Qizhou glared at Jiang Damin and said: "I just want to make up for some of your losses. Let's do the math. How much do you have in total for the deeds you owe? I can make up for it to you now."