Pang Yu went out early the next day. Ruan Dacheng sent a servant as a guide. He first went to Zhuque Street to redeem a flight ticket of 500 taels. The 500 taels weighed thirty kilograms. He packed a baggage and left it alone with Xu Lengzi.
Hanging on his shoulder, Guo Fengyou followed him, staring at the money bag intently along the way, looking highly alert whenever anyone approached.
Several people passed through Taipingli, crossed Dazhong Bridge, and arrived at the broad Chongli Street.
Along the way, in addition to the work of porters, both men and women on the street are dressed in gorgeous clothes. Although women's dresses are mainly plain colors, their styles are varied, and their bun shapes are also unique, and many of them are also wearing heavy makeup.
The carriages and sedans encountered on the way are also beautifully decorated. The carriages are often engraved with patterns, and some are even colored.
Walking on the streets, there is a sense of luxury that is not felt in Anqing. Judging from the pedestrians on the streets and the pawn shops on both sides, the economy is also very active, unlike Anqing, which is slightly deserted.
The pedestrians on Chongli Street were even denser, and many pawnshops on both sides sold expensive silks, porcelain, precious wood, etc. What surprised them even more was that they also met two or three blond and blue-eyed Westerners.
It was the first time for He Xianya and the three of them to meet foreigners, and they all stared at each other. Even Guo Fengyou, who was so focused, couldn't help but turn his head and glance a few times, and then stared at the money bag again.
But the passers-by around them turned a blind eye, and a few foreigners cast disdainful looks at them, making Pang Yu and his party look like bumpkins.
After seeing the foreigners, go east via Chongli Street and you will find the left-behind institution in Nanjing, where Pang Yu wants to work.
In the Battle of Jingnan in the early Ming Dynasty, after Zhu Di defeated his nephew, he established the capital in Beijing, but retained a complete set of central institutions in Nanjing, so Yingtian Mansion was also called Nanjing to serve as a backup for the Ming court.
Nanjing has never been used for many years. Even when the Tumu Fort incident was extremely critical, the capital was not moved to Nanjing in the end.
The actual effect is not big, but this set of institutions is still complete, because Nanjing has complete institutions and high levels.
It often becomes a place for retired ministers to retire, or a place for newcomers to make a transition, because the levels are the same.
Pang Yu and others went north at the intersection inside Zhengyang Gate and arrived at Hongwu Gate. Inside Hongwu Gate was Qianbu Corridor and Chengtian Gate, and further ahead was the Imperial City.
However, Pang Yu could not enter the Hongwu Gate. The Nanhu Department was on the right side of Qianbu Corridor. Pang Yu went all the way north on Qinglong Street. The Six Departments were all on this street. Pang Yu carefully observed the order. The Ministry of Works arranged
At the end, the Ministry of Husbandry is between the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites, ranking second, which is basically the order of status in the court.
The steward sent by Ruan Dacheng was brought here, and Pang Yu went in to donate tribute.
There are Thirteen Clean Officials Division under the Nanhu Department, which is basically the same as the one in the capital, but the power is far different.
The Southern Household Department is mainly responsible for the fields, grain storage, reserves, and warehouses of various garrison posts in Nanjing, as well as the payment of salaries to Nanjing officials, troops, and subordinate officials.
The most important power is to supervise the tax payment of the four chief secretaries of Nanzhili, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Huguang, and Fujian. Although these taxes do not go into the pockets of the Nanhu Ministry, the responsibility of supervision is also heavy, and it can be regarded as the responsibility of various ministries in Nanjing.
A department with real power.
Pang Yu went in and asked around, and finally went to Huguang Division to handle the prison donation business. The doctor of Huguang Division was not there, and the supervisor was not there either. Pang Yu waited for half an hour before a supervisor came. Pang Yu asked He Xianya to give him ten taels of silver. This person's attitude
It was still not good, but a book office was quickly arranged to deal with it.
He checked Pang Yu's prefectural and county-level certificates, and then issued a document asking Pang Yu to pay the silver at the shipping warehouse. The speed was faster than Pang Yu expected, probably because there was competition from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household Affairs was afraid of losing the order.
When they arrived at the place where the silver was paid, two subordinates and a silversmith were sitting inside, with a pair of silverware beside them. Pang Yu and He Xianya looked at each other. They had seen this kind of scene many times last year, but the roles were reversed.
The subordinate in the middle is about forty years old, with a yellow beard hanging under his pointed face, which fits the image of a cunning master in Pang Yu's heart.
He raised his head and glanced at a few people. He looked like a country bumpkin. He flattened his mouth and said lazily, "Bring me the money."
Pang Yu nodded to Xu Lengzi, who threw the entire bundle onto the table with a bang, shocking everyone in the hall.
The subordinate official in the middle slapped the table and stood up, scolding in a stern voice, "What are you doing here? This is the second-rank yamen of the Nanhu Department. How can we allow you bumpkins to be so presumptuous?"
Xu Lengzi was so frightened that he stepped back continuously. Although he was a little stunned, he also knew that this yamen was big, several levels bigger than the county yamen, and he definitely couldn't afford to offend him.
Pang Yu quickly said to the subordinate official, "Sir, please calm down. How dare we act so arrogantly in Nanhubu? It's just that the servants don't understand the rules."
"My servants don't know the rules, and your master doesn't know the rules either."
Pang Yu winked at He Xianya, and He Xianya quickly took out a few five-tael silver ingots and presented them in front of several people one by one, "My lords, please forgive me for the conflict just now. Please don't take it off."
Several subordinate officials calmed down as usual, and their anger eased slightly. When the subordinate officials who stood up sat down, He Xianya quickly opened the bag and took out the silver ingots one by one.
The silver man sat next to him, picked up a piece and looked at it, saying, "Seventy percent silver is too much."
He Xianya hesitated and said, "Master, I just got this from the bank. It is indeed 90% silver."
"If the official tells you 70%, it will be 70%. If you tell me again, it will be 60%."
"These words..." He Xianya stopped talking. It was originally he who said these words, but now he has become a taxpayer.
He looked back at Pang Yu, who was also frowning. They all worked in the yamen and were prepared for this situation. They took the five hundred taels specially because they just thought that the household department would always be better than the grassroots.
It's shameless to be such a smelly yamen servant, but I didn't expect that it would be 70% at first glance.
If calculated as 70%, the 500 taels of silver he took can only be counted as 350 taels. When the scale was weighed, the scales and the weight must have been tampered with. 20% must be eaten, and 30% is also
It's not impossible. Five hundred taels can only be counted as less than 280 taels in the end, which is definitely not enough.
After admitting that 70% of the money was not enough, and not admitting that 70% of the things could not be done, it would not be done anyway, unless they redeemed another meeting ticket. In the end, they did not know how much they would have to add. After an awkward silence for a moment, Pang Yu thought for a moment and prepared.
Open your mouth.
At this time, Guo Fengyou's voice said from behind, "Master, they just don't accept it. Let's go to the Ministry of Industry to handle it."
"It doesn't make sense."
The subordinate in the middle slapped the table again and stood up, "Another wanton domestic slave. Do you think that bringing out the Ministry of Works will scare our Department of Household Affairs? The Department of Works is at the bottom. Why don't you look at us and the Department of Household Affairs?
.
The emperor's golden words said that all donations and money for supervising students should go to the household department. This is the king's law. Who dares to accept it from the other departments of work?
If you dare to go there to do it, I guarantee that your young master will not donate to prison students."
Another subordinate official scolded him, "You, Kanwen, have already joined the company. You even went to the Ministry of Works and you couldn't apply for a prison donation. You are an ignorant servant, and you are delaying your young master."
Pang Yu was appreciative in his heart, turned around and winked at Guo Fengyou, and said angrily, "Who told you to talk too much? Do you understand the rules? Although we still have merit, the donation to prison is of course handled by the Ministry of Household Affairs, money and food
There is no reason to wait for things like the Ministry of Industry. Go back and get your own methods. You will be indispensable with a hundred sticks!"
After scolding him, he turned back to the subordinate staff of the Ministry of Revenue, put on a smile and said, "Several officials, my servants are not sensible, I will discipline them strictly when I get back.
But if we calculate it at 70%, the money I brought with me today is really not enough, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to donate it to the prison, so I’ll have to wait until I get enough, and I’m sorry to trouble you all.”
The subordinate hesitated for a moment. Just now, the slave asked the Ministry of Works. The young master also said that there is a kanwen. Generally speaking, you can only open a kanwen, but in the local yamen, as long as you have money, you can do anything.
Come out, he has seen even more outrageous things.
The handsome young men who came to do the prison donation were all rich and well-known in the local area. They were well-fed in the yamen. Maybe this young master really had two jobs.
Once this person leaves, I'm afraid he will really go to the Ministry of Works to donate money to prison.
Although the Ministry of Industry ranks the lowest, it ranks second in terms of money-making ability, and a considerable portion of the total tax revenue goes into their treasury.
Chongzhen did say that the Ministry of Household Affairs would be responsible for the donation of prisons, but it was only verbal. The imperial court did not formulate rules, nor did it implement the regulations for the Chief Secretary. The Ministry of Works has continued to donate prisons on a small scale.
The Ministry of Works is a completely different system. They will directly report the roster to the Ministry of Works in the capital, and then to the Ministry of Personnel. It has nothing to do with the Ministry of Civil Affairs at all. Any guarantees that cannot be achieved are just empty threats.
It's just that the Ministry of Works is secretive and the Ministry of Personnel may not give enough places, so there are sometimes delays. Pang Yu thinks this is an unknown risk, so he gives priority to the Ministry of Household Affairs.
The junior official pointed to the bundle on the table and said, "This bundle is not enough, but it's not far behind. You can collect more when you can, or there are other tickets available. There are various tickets in Zhengyang Gate."
Send someone to our bank and they'll be there in a short time."
"I really didn't bring enough."
Pang Yu came closer and said, "Your Excellency, I know that there are five hundred taels in this bag. Anyway, it is just these silver coins."
The subordinate officer narrowed his eyes and looked at Pang Yu suspiciously. Pang Yu did not panic at all. He smiled and lowered his voice and said, "Your Excellency, you can take a look. Except for the silver ingot that was checked just now and it is 70%, the others are all 80%. It must be excessive."
Exactly three hundred and fifty taels.
In this way, when the elder is on an errand, the villain does not have to go back to his hometown to collect money, which is a convenience."
Pang Yu meant to give 500 taels, and the extra 150 taels were given to them, and any more would be gone.
What made the three of them hesitate the most was that the young master would probably go directly to the Ministry of Works to donate money to the prison after he left here. In this way, they would lose a fortune out of thin air.
Pang Yu gave them a multiple-choice question. If they insist on the 70% calculation at this time, they will get nothing. If they give up the 70% calculation, they will earn 150 taels. The choice of the subordinate staff is very clear.
The two subordinate officials and the silver man exchanged glances with each other. Finally, the subordinate official in the middle turned to Pang Yu and said, "Since my master is sensible, I won't argue with these servants.
I saw that some of the silver was 80%, so I weighed it quickly and gave the coupon to this gentleman."
"Thank you, sir."
...Coming out of Nanhube, several of the attendants looked not very good.
Pang Yu sighed and said with a smile, "As long as the matter is done, you guys have done a good job, especially Guo Fengyou's sentence is the key, so we have a bargaining chip to counter them.
That's what I said. If a few subordinates from the Ministry of Revenue cannot come to Taiwan, things won't be done. Friends, it's just right.
So Fengyou has performed very well, and I will be rewarded when I go back."
Guo Fengyou bowed and did not dare to say anything, but his expression was quite excited. He Xianya looked calm, and only Xu Lengzi looked dejected.
Pang Yu turned to Xu Lengzi again, "The bag was a little heavy when I put it in. It's not a big deal. Just pay attention to it when you come to the Yamen in the future. You still have to act boldly. Problems will always happen in your work. Don't be timid because of this."
Xu Lengzi nodded, but his mood was still not high.
Pang Yu patted him on the shoulder to express comfort. Ruan Dacheng's servant came over and asked, "Do you want to go to the Imperial Academy first? I can lead the squad leader there."
Pang Yu shook his head repeatedly. He had no interest in the Imperial College, he just wanted to get a reputation, and he was not planning to go to class there.
"Go to my house in the west of the city."
The servant agreed and led the way.
They started from the east of Nanjing and were going to the west, basically crossing the entire Nanjing.
After coming to the Ming Dynasty, Pang Yu stayed in Tongcheng. Even Anqing was not that big, so his estimate of Nanjing was wrong.
After this trip, Pang Yu felt that it was more than ten miles. In the middle, the servant brought the wrong person twice, and he walked another two or three miles.
After walking like this for more than an hour, they finally arrived at Qingliangmennei Street in the west of Yingtianfu City. The servant took him to Longpanli and stopped. Pang Yu and others walked north into Longpanli on their own. After several inquiries, they came to a building.
Before the house.
The appearance of this house is very simple, and judging from the length of the courtyard wall, the courtyard is not large. It is different from the mansion Ruan Dacheng wants to build.
Pang Yu looked up and down and saw the word "Knee Apartment" hanging on the door, and then he confirmed that there was no mistake. It was indeed the residence of the Fang family.
He stepped forward and knocked on the side door. The person who opened the door was a servant of the Fang family, brought from Tongcheng. He had also met Pang Yu. After hearing Pang Yu's request for a meeting, Fang Yizhi asked Pang Yu to wait outside and hurried to report back.
After a while, the servant came back and took Pang Yu through the door. Several of his subordinates stayed in the concierge.
The garden was indeed not big, and soon they arrived at a place that looked like a study. Pang Yu strode in and was about to say hello to Fang Yizhi, but suddenly he was stunned. There was no figure of Fang Yizhi inside.
It's Fang Kongzheng, whom I haven't seen for a long time.
There was another person next to him who was looking at him coldly.
Pang Yu smiled and saluted Fang Kongzheng first, then turned to the man and said, "Mr. Fang is fine, why did he leave his post and come to Nanjing without permission again?"