Chapter seven hundred and sixty-one four two levels
Jia Langzhong, Zhao Langzhong and others warmly invited Zhu Pingan to Zhang Guanku's office room, and told Zhu Pingan carefully about Taicang's "customs". In addition, Secretary Liu, Secretary Zhang and others were beating the drums on the side, and then moved out.
Zhang Guanku waited for a long time for the reason. It was hard to refuse such hospitality. .
Inviting myself in front of everyone in the East Factory, I guess they wouldn't dare to do something dirty at this time.
At the same time, Zhu Ping'an also wanted to see what kind of medicine they were selling in the gourd, so he followed them to Zhang Guanku's place half-heartedly.
"Hehehe, Zihou is here, please come in quickly."
Zhang Guanku heard the commotion outside, and before Zhu Ping'an could walk through the door, he greeted him with a gentle smile. Such enthusiasm, this scene is quite a bit like the demeanor of Cao Cao who greeted Xu You in the Three Kingdoms period.
.
"Master Zhang is so kind, I'm ashamed to be a subordinate. I invite you, Master Zhang." Zhu Ping'an returned the gift with his hand.
After repeated courtesy at the door, Zhu Ping'an followed Zhang Guanku and others into the house, where the guests and hosts sat down.
Zhu Ping'an was humbly allowed by everyone to sit opposite Zhang Guanku.
It was getting dark outside, so three oil lamps were lit in the house, with the wicks raised, illuminating the room.
"Does Zihou know some of Taicang's 'customs'?"
Zhang Guanku was sitting on a chair, straightening his body as if at ease, looking at Zhu Ping'an calmly, looking like the endless sea, and asked softly like a famous scholar.
"I don't know about Ping'an, but I would like to hear the details." Zhu Ping'an shook his head, and then pretended to ask for advice.
Zhang Guanku glanced at Jia Langzhong. Jia Langzhong knew what he meant and nodded slightly. Then he chuckled and attracted Zhu Pingan's attention. Then he smiled and said to Zhu Pingan, "Zi Hou is also the first time he came to Taicang. I don't know Taicang."
The 'routine' is nothing short of normal."
"Then let's talk about 'four and two equals' first." Jia Langzhong said with a smile.
"What is four ounces flat?" Zhu Ping'an asked curiously.
"Four taels are equal, haha. Zihou has been in Taicang for a few days, and he should have seen that it is very hard for the soldiers in the warehouse to carry the silver taels. Although we don't have to work hard, we are also very hardworking. Zihou, you don't know.
It is common for us to stay up late and work overtime when taxes and salt taxes are collected every year. Think about it, the chief secretaries of various places and prefectures and counties such as North and South Zhili collect tax dollars, horse grass, silk, cloth, and money.
, money yarn, grains, yellow wax, discounts, shipping materials, commercial taxes, deed taxes, salt taxes, stolen goods penalties, Liao rates, tax discounts and more than 20 items of silver, it can be said that there is a lot of money, and I have to stay up late and work overtime for more than a month.
." Jia Langzhong looked at Zhu Pingan with a tired face and said with some emotion.
The foreshadowing is so vigorous and serious at the beginning, but the rest of the story will definitely not be serious.
After listening to Jia Langzhong's foreshadowing, Zhu Ping'an came to such a conclusion in his heart.
really.
Next, when he heard Jia Langzhong's explanation of four-two draws, Zhu Pingan sneered at Taicang's "conventions" in his heart.
"At the local level, seeing how hard we are working, they all sympathize with us. Every year when they donate taels of silver to Taicang, they donate an extra 4 taels of silver for every 100 yuan to comfort us. We have refused many times.
But this is a convention that has been established in Taicang and the local area for hundreds of years. The local government insists on this, and we have no choice but to abide by this convention. As for the extra 4 taels of silver, according to convention, 2 taels of it will be allocated to the treasury.
Soldiers, and the other 2 taels are allocated to us, the Treasury officials and the Chaku envoys. This convention is commonly known as 'four ounces of flat'." Jia Langzhong slowly spoke out the convention of four taels of flat, as if they were also forced to do so.
I have no choice but to abide by this convention.
After Zhu Ping'an heard this, his face was expressionless, and there was a shocking wave in his heart. He despised Jia Langzhong and others. For every 100 taels of silver, he collected 4 taels of silver more. Taicang collected more than 2 million taels of silver every year.
Just for the "four taels" alone, they collected more than 80,000 taels of silver every year.
What a burden this has put on the common people!
"How many are there in a year?" Zhu Pingan pursed his lips and asked calmly.
"It's not much, just over 80,000 taels of 'hard-earned money' in a year." Jia Langzhong shook his head disapprovingly and said lightly.
That's not much?! Isn't more than 80,000 taels of silver enough? It's equivalent to more than 48 million yuan in RMB. A fourth-grade official only receives a salary of more than 140 taels of silver every year. You guys
The money gained from this "custom" is enough to pay the salaries of five to six hundred fourth-grade officials for a year.
How many fourth-grade officials were there in the entire Ming Dynasty?!
Not much haha, it can be seen that they have more than one "routine" to make money, and it can be seen that the money they make is much more than the 80,000 taels.
Haha, "hard-earned money"? What did you do? It was just your job. This is also called "hard-earned money". Isn't this just lying down and picking up money?!
Zhu Ping'an gained a new level of understanding of the greed and shamelessness of Jia Langzhong and others.
"In the past, the treasury inspectors dispatched every year were all treasury officials. This year, with Zihou working so hard and laboriously to inspect Taicang, I think the higher authorities will no longer send treasury officers to inspect the treasury. Since then, the 80,000 taels of silver have been
"Hard-earned money," Zihou can get about ten thousand taels of "hard-earned money." Although it's not much, it can be considered a consolation for Zihou's hard work in checking the treasury." Jia Langzhong raised his head and looked at Zhu Ping'an with a smile.
.
"Ten thousand taels?!"
When Mr. Zhao on the side heard this, his face suddenly dropped, as if he was a little dissatisfied.
Look at your future!!
Zhang Guanku, who had been controlling the situation in the room, immediately glared at Mr. Zhao, and stared back at the words Mr. Zhao was about to blurt out.
Under Zhang Guanku's gaze, Zhao Langzhong was speechless. He muttered and stopped talking. There were ten thousand dissatisfaction in his heart. Why should he give Zhu Ping'an ten thousand taels? In previous years, this item was given to Cha
The treasury envoy only had four to five thousand taels of silver.
Now that Zhu Ping'an has been given more than twice as much, doesn't it mean that the money we receive is less?!
"Ten thousand taels" Zhu Ping'an clicked his tongue.
Just be tempted, haha, you Zhu Ping'an is nothing more than that, I bought you with just ten thousand taels of silver.
Seeing Zhu Ping'an smacking his lips, the smile on Jia Langzhong's face became even brighter, and Zhang Guanku's face also showed a smile.
"Does anyone agree with this 'convention'? If they agree, then I can accept it; if they don't know, then I can't accept a penny." Zhu Pingan glanced at Jia Langzhong, Zhang Guanku and others one by one, and shrugged slightly.
shrugged.
"Well, this has been done for more than a hundred years. This practice can be regarded as Taicang's business rule. If Zihou refuses to accept it, wouldn't it be a violation of the rules?" Jia Langzhong advised earnestly.
Well.
Why do I break the rules when I try to keep myself clean?! What kind of rules are these!
Zhu Ping'an smiled silently, held up his hands to plead guilty and said: "Zi Hou doesn't understand the rules, please don't blame me, sir. However, there is no reward for no merit, and checking the bank account is within Ping'an's duties. It's normal for him to do it."
There is enough time in the day, and I don’t have the merit to stay up late and work overtime for more than a month like all of you, so I have absolutely no shame in accepting this money."