"What do you mean?" The strong man walked out from behind the old man again, obviously the most daring person in the group.
"What do you mean by giving you money?" Jiang Damin was displeased with the man's rudeness.
"Yes, I still have some money left on hand. Well, it's a donation prepared by my master. I can give it to you as an apology to the government." He Qizhou also had more than a thousand taels of silver he won from Tongwan City.
When I see poor people, I can't help but want to give away my wealth.
"You're not a bandit, are you? You want to give us some money to get us to join the gang?" The strong man still didn't believe it. At this time, hundreds of civilians gathered around and looked at He Qizhou and the others. Of course they were moved when someone gave them money.
"Brother Qiang, listen to him first." Someone advised.
"Let's do the math first. We only give you money and don't want anything from you. Who can tell us what the situation of this deed is?" Upon hearing about the loose silver, Xu Mu also became interested.
He Qizhou and her looked at each other, and said two words to each other at the same time: "Prodigal!" Of course, they just moved their lips and did not make a sound.
Seeing that He Qizhou and Xu Mu were sitting cross-legged on the ground like the common men, the strong man believed a little and asked someone to calculate the total, while he told the situation of the people nearby.
It turned out that their farmland had been sold off long ago, and the younger members of the family had gone to the military camp, where they still provided food for the family. The women of the family continued to farm for the wealthy family, while the older men went out to do hard labor.
In the past two years, the government's debt repayment has been getting longer and longer. Sometimes it has to use the arrears as security and borrow money to survive. Some people are unwilling to pay interest and just sell the loan deeds. Although the wages are small, but
I can still make a living without being forced to do so.
A deed owed by the Ministry of Industry could be sold for 80 to 90% two years ago. But now that the war is about to begin, there are more and more jobs, but the arrears of the deed are getting longer and longer, making it less and less valuable.
It dropped to 30%.
If Jiang Damin hadn't yelled, 25% of people would have sold to the deed collector today. As for the deeds owed to the government and the county, they are worthless. It sounds like they are working for the local government. Such hard work
It was impossible to recruit any civilian husbands to survive, so they basically had to rely on Yao servants.
But even if the purchase is made at 30%, there will still be people doing it, because as long as it is a job assigned by the Ministry of Industry, most of them will get a meal, the deeds owed are worth some money, and if they can wait, they will probably get their money back. But these people
Most of them are extremely poor households, and few of them can keep the loan deed until the court distributes the money.
Today's road construction work is considered to be sent by the Ministry of Industry. In fact, Wenshui County took advantage of the Ministry of Industry and transferred these civilian workers who were supposed to build the Great Wall without even providing them with a meal.
It has been in disrepair for a long time. There are so many large cars coming and going these days. Many stones have fallen into the deep ditches on both sides of the uphill slope for about a hundred steps. Some of the stones are extremely damaged. If they are not repaired, they will soon be gone.
I can't drive anymore.
A stone bar for road construction weighs three to four hundred kilograms and requires four people to lift it. After a hard day's work, if calculated at a 25% discount, it only costs five copper coins, which is not enough to buy a steamed bun. How can those people be willing to do this?
?That’s why I thought about going on strike.
After all, it was a war, and these civilians were not stupid. They knew that building roads was also to protect their families. So after Jiang Damin yelled, he obediently installed and compacted the last few dozen stone slabs, and the road became smooth. Still.
A few people couldn't get rid of the problem at home, so they sold their deeds at a 30% discount. The person who cried the most fiercely, his brother who worked with him had just died under the Great Wall due to poverty and illness before he was fifty.
The loan deed that they had been holding in their hands became increasingly worthless, so they had no choice but to sell it. After nearly two years and forty taels of silver, they only sold twelve taels of it. It was not enough to pay back the money they borrowed from their neighbors, so it was a big deal.
Start crying.
"Don't look at me. My father said that as long as he handles matters, he will definitely target the Household Department for money, so the people in the Household Department are most afraid of him and hate him the most." Xu Mu replied to He Qizhou's unfaithfulness.
Kind eyes.
"Sir, let's do the math. Not counting those from each family, the total debt we owe is two thousand seven hundred and twenty-five silver, two cents and eight cents." Someone pointed to the number calculated on the ground using tree branches, timidly.
Di said to He Qizhou.
I'll go! He Qizhou secretly screamed in his heart. He didn't have enough money around him to even take over this "business". He still had more than half a month to go back to the capital, so he couldn't let everything go. He was thinking about giving him 10%.
When he was still hesitating at 20%, the forced smiles on the old faces looking at him gradually solidified until they seemed to be crying.
"Thirty percent! I will give you 30% for each loan deed. It is regarded as the government's interest. Don't sell it easily." He Qizhou gritted his teeth and said.
As soon as the words fell, the crowd burst into unbelievable cheers after an unbelievable brief silence. However, the roar started again, and the cries of a dozen people drowned out the laughter of hundreds of people.
"What happened again?" He Qizhou asked.
"They just sold the owed deeds in their hands, and they can't even get the 30% you wanted to give them." The strong man sighed.
"Then let's calculate the total amount of money for the loan deed they just sold. I'll pay you 30%. To be honest, I want to make up for your losses, but unfortunately I don't have much money around... Brother Damin, please
Please take some money from my carriage."
"How can you get money when your carriage is empty?" Jiang Damin ran into He Qizhou's carriage more than once to be lazy. Riding in a carriage was much more comfortable than riding a horse.
"Turn up the seat..."
"There's nothing in there. I looked for food once." Jiang Damin couldn't help but interrupt again.
He Qizhou couldn't walk that far, and ignored the strange looks from everyone, and said: "There is a loose wooden board under the cabin under the seat board. Turn over this board again, and there is a mezzanine underneath. Put your hand three inches into it."
, there is a money bag tied to a wooden board on the left, middle and right, let’s go!”
"You're really good at hiding!" Xu Mu chuckled.
"That's right, I even dug a deep pit in the firewood shed to hide in Tianxingyuan. Who is like you - a prodigal!" He Qizhou simply broke the pot and threw it.
Xu Mu covered his mouth and smiled: "For the sake of your money, I will spare you this time."
"Uncle, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no."
"Okay, okay, I will take away the two hundred taels. There should be nearly a thousand taels in it. You can first divide it into three parts according to the loan deed. You can discuss the excess by yourself. Also, guarding the border does not only rely on those in charge.
Soldiers also have to rely on the people and you, so I hope you can still help build the city tomorrow!" He Qizhou took out about two hundred taels from a money bag and left the rest with the civilians.
"We will definitely go. In fact, I am just saying it. Mainly because I am angry that the county magistrate came to peel off a layer of skin. Most of the people who collected the deed are the county magistrate's cronies. I heard that many people in Yuzhou are here
We died in battle while guarding the border. When things really happen, we are not cowards!" the strong man said while wiping away his tears. The civilians behind him also shouted in agreement.
"It's getting late, let's leave quickly. If I have the chance, I will ask the prince to check." Jiang Damin whispered in He Qizhou's ear.
"Well, let's go to the county seat first." He Qizhou was even more unhappy when he heard that dirty officials were causing trouble again.
Wenshui County is located fifty miles south of Jinyang, an important town in the north. It is the only place to pass from the capital to Jinyang. Almost all business travelers will stop here for one night, so the county town, which is not too big, is full of inns and wine shops.
It was even more lively than Yuzhou Fucheng. He Qizhou actually wanted to go shopping on the street, but his body was weak. After a bumpy day, he just wanted to lie down and sleep. These days, he even does exercises and breath adjustment in the early morning.
Jiang Damin found a relatively clean inn and asked for four guest rooms. He finally didn't have to squeeze in with his men. After a hasty dinner, he originally wanted to chat with Xu Mu and He Qizhou for a while, but He Qizhou rolled his eyes.
He turned around and went directly upstairs to sleep. He could only hold Xu Mu back to ask more anecdotes about their time in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. After opening a few words, the innkeeper hurried over and asked the two of them if they were from the capital.
The distinguished guest said that the county magistrate was visiting, so he was waiting outside the door.
Xu Mu hated this kind of flattering people, but he wanted to ask about those people, so he asked the shopkeeper to send a message to the county magistrate to come back tomorrow morning. Sure enough, early the next morning, He Qizhou was still doing his exercises and regulating his breath.
The county magistrate brought another entourage and four government officials to this small inn.
He Qizhou was also a little puzzled. Normally, there were quite a few officials, big and small, passing through this county. Could it be that when a Beijing official came, the county magistrate would go there in person? I heard from Zhang Damin that the county magistrate came last night, and it was Xu Mu.
I asked him to come back this morning, but he didn't expect to come so early!
He Qizhou had the same idea as Xu Mu, and also wanted to find out what the exploitation mentioned by the villagers was about. Since the county magistrate came to the door, he just wanted to ask. He asked Zhang Damin to call Xu Mu and the county magistrate.
After arriving in their own room, together with the master who came with the county magistrate, the five of them gathered in the small guest room.
The county magistrate had thick eyebrows and big eyes, was of medium height, was in his forties, and looked quite capable. As soon as he entered the door, he bowed to He Qizhou, Xu Mu, and Jiang Damin one by one, and said humbly: "The distinguished guests are visiting this small county, and we feel that we are far away."
Welcome, my subordinate Zhao Heguang apologizes to all of you."
"Master Zhao, I am not a great man. Why do you, a magistrate of a county, need to be so polite?" Xu Mu didn't know what Master Zhao meant.
"Master Zhao, please sit down. We are just subordinates working for the family. Why do you need to be so polite? I wonder if you can learn anything from this trip?" He Qizhou motioned for everyone to sit down. There were only four seats on each side of the room. The master was in trouble.
I would like to sit down and just stand behind the magistrate.
Zhao Heguang understood that the commander-in-chief of the border army was already a sixth-grade officer. It seemed that he was just a follower of these two sickly young men. Therefore, even if the two people in front of him were just servants, they should be treated as servants.
So he still said humbly:
"I heard from the government officials yesterday that the road construction workers were causing trouble and blocking the official roads. Thanks to this military man's righteous speech, the roads were repaired. Now is an extraordinary period. If something goes wrong, I will not be able to keep my official reputation.