Pang Yu stood in line with a shocking attitude. At least for the past two days, Wang Dazhuang did not dare to do anything harmful. He also got an errand. He felt happy and all the fatigue from last night was gone.
However, he didn't know yet how to handle the job of Hemai. He only heard a little bit about Gu Xiaowu's chat last night and knew that he could make some money.
Now Jiao Guozhao is recuperating at home, and only He Xianya is familiar with him in the yamen. He is about to go to the eight-character wall to look for him, but he finds that He Xianya is on the opposite side of the corridor.
He had obviously heard Pang Yu's speech just now. Apart from being surprised, He Xianya also found that Pang Yu did have a lot of bright ideas, and the way he looked at Pang Yu was very different from before.
Pang Yu excitedly grabbed He Xianya, and after a moment of serious study, he figured out what "harmony buying" meant, and why buying things was not called buying, but had to have a separate name. It was because the yamen did not go the usual way when buying things.
It has to be called "Hemai".
Hemai originally meant fair trade, but the taxes in the Ming Dynasty were strange. Zhu Yuanzhang ranked merchants last among scholars, farmers, industrialists and merchants, with the lowest status, but he only charged them a very light tax. For example, for door stalls in towns,
Among the miscellaneous items paid to the court, there was a fixed amount of door-to-door tax. Tongcheng County only collected a pitiful 40 taels per year, which was almost as if they were not collected at all.
Local yamen have close relations with the people, and they all know how much money merchants make. It is impossible for the local government to rigidly implement such a low stall tax, but there is no imperial decree as a basis.
It must be collected. How to collect it is only decided by the Yamen. In addition to the cash collected, if there is something that needs to be purchased in the county Yamen, they often have to pay less. It is regarded as a disguised shop tax. This is called He
purchase.
Therefore, it would be good if you can basically get half of the silver for each house purchase. It is not easy for the store to get even this half of the silver.
He Xianya mainly followed Jiao Guozhao on weekdays and had done a lot of errands. He was not as fresh as Pang Yu. Seeing Pang Yu's happy look, he couldn't help but smile and said: "Second brother, you said you were doing big business, but you just go out and buy.
It became like this.”
Pang Yu laughed and said, "How can you reach a thousand miles without taking small steps?"
He Xianya bowed slightly and said: "In the next few days, spend some money to find a house to buy a card ticket, and go to the countryside to compare money and food. That will make more money than buying with He."
"How can the countryside compare to the city?"
He Xianya whispered, "Second brother, you don't know something. The countryside is indeed not as good as the city, but we are just government servants, and we can't move to the better shops in the city. Do you think we are all like Zhou Yongtian, a guest living there, meeting gentry and country officials?"
Whatever, you lose your life to others.
The villagers are still honest and don’t understand anything, so we can deal with him no matter what we do.”
Pang Yu got an errand and didn't want to think too much for the moment. He just urged He Xianya to go out to do the errand. When he went out, he found that Zhou Yueru had come by himself and was still waiting at the eight-character wall.
Pang Yu saw Gu Xiaowu poking his head at the gate and remembered that this person was a united front and had taken good care of Pang Yu last night.
So he also invited Gu Xiaowu to go with him.
Gu Xiaowu knew that there was a profit to be made, so he happily followed.
I heard a roar from the door, "Gu Xiaowu, where do you want to go? Go and sweep up the fallen leaves behind the house. Leave one behind and beat you ten times. After sweeping, I will go to Beixiaguan."
It was Wang Dazhuang's voice that made Gu Xiaowu's face darken, lowered his head and went back in silence.
"Brother Gu, I can't help you anymore."
Pang Yu shrugged and started his first business trip.
... Wearing the green jersey of Zaoli, with a female secretary behind him, he was walking struttingly on the street. Seeing the people around him rushing to avoid him, Pang Yu felt indescribably proud. He was rich in his previous life, but sometimes he was envious in his heart.
As an official, although today's yamen servants are small, they still represent the power of the government.
When he dealt with Shopkeeper Zhou two days ago, He Xianya was extremely vicious, but now he was running errands with Zhou Yueru, but he didn't feel any discomfort at all, as if that was the way it should be.
He Xianya was an elite member of the gang. As soon as he talked about buying pens and inks, he immediately said: "There are six pen and ink paper shops in Tongcheng, but three of them are opened by gentry families, the Ye family, the Liu family, and the Fang family.
can not go.
The remaining He Ji paper shop and Ri Sheng Ji pen and ink shop on South Street, as well as Zhou Ji on East Street..." Pang Yu coughed, He Xianya looked up at Zhou Yueru, and saw Zhou Yueru's face was clouded, and he immediately changed his words: "But we
What does it have to do with the Zhou family? We don’t know each other without fighting. We are all one family now, so we will only go to South Street."
Pang Yu sighed and said, "That's right. Miss Zhou is here to help me. We are a community of interests. Not only can we not disturb shopkeeper Zhou, Zhou Yueru also has to share the money and the purchase."
Zhou Yueru probed her head and asked, "Do I really have money?"
Pang Yu turned to look at her and said in shock: "Be careful, you are about to drool. A woman should be more reserved and pay attention to her image. She drools just for a little money. How can she be so poor?"
Zhou Yueru rolled her eyes at him, "It's not you who caused this. The rice from the previous night is gone."
Pang Yu said without sympathy, "Then you go and haggle. The harder you haggle, the more you will get. If you haggle less, you won't have money to buy rice."
Zhou Yueru kept biting her lips after hearing this, not knowing what she was thinking.
While talking, the three of them went directly to the Heji Paper Shop and Rishengji Pen and Ink Shop on South Street. When they were about to arrive at the Heji Paper Shop, He Xianya asked the two of them to speed up.
Sure enough, when the waiter at Heji Paper Shop looked in their direction, he felt that the government servant was coming to his shop, so he quickly went to get the door panel to seal the door.
How could Pang Yu let him escape so easily? Just as he was about to speed up, the figure beside him flashed past Pang Yu. If he looked carefully, it turned out to be Zhou Yueru.
Like a crazy tigress, Zhou Yueru slammed into the door panel. The waiter screamed and was pressed by the door panel and fell to the ground. Zhou Yueru then fell against the door panel again, forcing the waiter to beg for mercy.
Zhou Yueru rolled around on the door panel and got up. She ran straight to the counter with disheveled hair and grabbed the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, Yamen Buy... He Buy."
The shopkeeper was frightened by this woman, and he had never seen a female waiter before. This scene was beyond his imagination, and he opened his mouth and didn't know what to say.
Pang Yu and the other two arrived at this time, and just in time to see this scene, He Xianya gasped and whispered: "I mean, second brother, this girl has been buried by all the gangsters. If you give her ten taels of silver today, I'm afraid you can
Kill this boy."
Pang Yu agreed, "Don't look at her crying in the yamen. If it weren't for the power of the yamen, not many people would be able to hold this woman. You never thought you would hit me with a stick the other day."
The two of them came to the shop, took out the cards, and said to the shocked shopkeeper: "Five knives for submission paper, one pound and five taels of ink!"
The shopkeeper took a deep breath with a frown on his face and said, "Guys, please wait a moment."
Xingfang bought the submission paper for 7 knives, and Yin Yang bought the submission paper for 3 knives, a total of ten knives. The filing paper was more expensive, with a market price of three liang and five yen, and the market price of Zhongmo's three kilograms was one, two, and three yen. Of course, they did not buy them all at one house.
Instead, one family bought half of it, and once the yamen tickets were taken out, the He family paper shop had no choice but to stock up.
After the goods were ready, He Xianya went up to inspect them carefully. Before He Xianya could say anything, Zhou Yueru went up and picked out a bunch of defects. She knew how to do this and bought it, and kept picking out some wormholes with rough edges to lower the price.
The shopkeeper originally wanted to use defective products to deceive him, but Zhou Yueru found out. Her family ran a paper shop, she had paper, pen and ink, and she could clearly explain the appearance of various products.
In this way, another family did the same thing.
In the end, the market price was originally 4 taels and 8 cents, but the execution house only gave 2 taels and 4 cents of silver. Wang Dazhuang deducted four taels of silver, leaving only 2 taels.
Pang Yu and the others had to make some money, and they had to settle the bill based on the inferior product. He Xianya and Zhou Yueru directly bargained down to one tael, so the two stores naturally lost money. In the end, the store had to pay five cents of silver to each of the three of them, otherwise these
The yamen were still not satisfied, so they decided to give the goods a "not mid-range" quality, which would cost them even more money and create even more trouble in the future.
Pang Yu accepted it when he saw good things, and did not bully him too much. According to what He Xianya said, the city is not better than the countryside. Not to mention that the influence of too many people is bad, but that the businessman's slickness and knowledge are not comparable to those from the countryside.
If something happens and something happens, the first person to blame is the government officials, so over the years, the government officials and the merchants will always find a balance.
Pang Yu went on a business trip for the first time. Although the three of them only made a little more than one tael in total, the matter was done well and they gained experience and lessons.
In view of Zhou Yueru's outstanding performance, Pang Yu gave her three pieces of silver on the spot. The woman's face glowed brightly and she carefully collected the money in her purse.
By the time they returned to the Yamen, Pang Shazi's eloquent article praising the county magistrate in the morning had already spread to every room and class as breaking news. Many people took the initiative to say hello to Pang Yu, with comradely warmth in their eyes.
When I sent pens and paper to the punishment room and the yin-yang room, there were only three people in the punishment room. Yesterday, more than half of the people in the execution room were beaten, and there were not many left. Yesterday, the execution room suffered heavy damage, and all the officials deserted their relatives.
The atmosphere in the room was depressing. The two clerks looked up at Pang Yu and then lowered their heads. They neither said hello nor came to hand over the items. The clerk had to get up and come over by himself, even facing Pang Yu with caution.
After delivering the things to the torture chamber, there are still three swords of paper to give to the Yin and Yang officials.
Yin Yang's office is on the east side of the lobby, next to the Dianshi Yamen Office. There are only three rooms in total. The Yin Yang officer and a boy are usually on duty, and the dozen Yin Yang students he brings are in the other two rooms.
As soon as he arrived at the door, he saw a straight-fitting middle-aged man in blue with a beautiful beard and a slim chest. He greeted Pang Yu with a smile: "It turns out to be Pang Xiaoyou from Zaoban."
Pang Yu didn't expect him to be so polite. The county's Yin Yang, medical officers and teaching officials were all miscellaneous officials, but they were mainly engaged in technical positions and had little contact with the yamen on weekdays. They probably belonged to the professional and technical career establishment.
Because these miscellaneous officials are relatively independent, the chief executive usually doesn't pay much attention to them, but they are officials after all, and they still have official airs in front of the servants in the yamen, so Pang Yu also understands that the smiling face of Yin Yang official is not to please.
I am just interested in my performance today.
"I've met my lord."
Yin Yang waved to Pang Yu and motioned for him to go over and sit down. Pang Yu went over to put his things away first. When he sat down, he discovered that there was another person in the room. Upon closer inspection, he turned out to be the county magistrate's secret friend.
Sure enough, as Gu Xiaowu said, this friend had been standing next to the county prime minister in the morning. Pang Yu found that the county prime minister had consulted with this person several times before making decisions. He was obviously a confidant of the county prime minister.
As soon as Pang Yu's butt touched the chair, he immediately jumped up as if he was electrocuted when he saw this person, "Pang Yu, the villain, has seen Mr.
Yu Muyou waved his hand and said: "No need to be polite. Yu is neither an official nor a official. He is also a guest when he comes to Mr. Tan's place. We are all welcome."
Yin and Yang are Master Tan. He smiled and said to Pang Yu: "Brother Yu and I are both interested in learning from the old man Zhuang. We will sit together and discuss it when we have free time."
Yu Muyou laughed and said: "Master Tan is good at more than just Zhuang Lao's learning. Yu is here to ask for advice, not to discuss."
"Brother Yu is joking. What I have learned is just some miscellaneous knowledge. No matter how much I learn, it is useless. I will never be able to compare with the official path of the county magistrate."
After the Yin Yang officer finished speaking, he turned to Pang Yu and said: "I have met Pang Xiaoyou several times before. Tan might as well say it straight. At that time, Pang Xiaoyou's eyes were dull and his speech was not smooth. But when we meet again today, Pang's eyes are clear and alert. This morning, he was
Tan happened to be attending the meeting as well, so the order was very clear."
Pang Yu saw his friend beside him, and took the opportunity to continue standing in line, "Young man, that was out of righteous indignation, because it was all the truth, so my mind became flexible for a moment, and I naturally spoke smoothly. You two gentlemen should not laugh at the recklessness."
.”
Official Yin Yang shook his head and said with a smile: "Pang Xiaoyou's creation is enough to make people marvel at the magic of heaven and earth's creation."
At this time, Yu Muyou interjected: "About Pang Xiaoyou, Yu also heard about it. He said that Pang Xiaoyou injured his head some time ago, I'm afraid it has something to do with it.
The head is the head of the six yangs, where the yang energy condenses. Pang Xiaoyou used to have heavy yin but weak yang. If the yang energy was not in the head, his eyes would not focus. Now he got an opportunity. The yang energy penetrated the whole body, and his eyes were naturally as clear as new. Only then did he become what he is today.
Pang Xiaoyou.”
Yin Yang official said: "Little brother Pang has such a strange encounter, there is no telling whether he will be blessed with great blessings in the future."
Pang Yu was confused by what he heard, but it seemed to make sense. After thinking about it, he reluctantly continued: "It is true that the two gentlemen said that the yang energy on the head has gathered and opened the orifices. It is indeed an adventure, but the villain is now
It is also a matter of sincerity and fear. The ancients said that every benefit will bring about a disadvantage. Everything has two sides. Villains realize that the same is true for others. They should not get carried away. Sometimes, when you have just received a benefit, you will suddenly encounter difficulties before you can enjoy it.
It is said that it is irritating but not irritating.
Therefore, the villain does not dare to think about big blessings now, but must carefully deal with the world after this adventure."
Pang Yu was naturally talking about his past life. Lord Tan and Yu Muyi heard this, but they both looked surprised at the same time. Yin Yang official said: "When there is a benefit, there will be a disadvantage. Little brother Pang said it was said by the ancients. I don't know which book it is in."
See?"
What Pang Yu said were his own experiences and thoughts. Hearing this, he was surprised and said, "Isn't it what the ancients said?"
The two men shook their heads at the same time, and Yu Muyou said, "I have never heard of this. This language is concise and concise, and it coincides with the theory of yin and yang. If there is such a language, others may not know it, but we and other good people must know it."
.”
In fact, this was written by Ruan Kuisheng in the Qing Dynasty in "The Guest Talk of Tea Leaves". Naturally, Mr. Tan and his wife had never heard of it.
Pang Yu didn't know the source, but he immediately made a guess and rolled his eyes and said, "I'm not afraid of the two adults' jokes. I never read books, but some truths just seemed to be born in my head, and I just blurted it out."
Official Tan Yin Yang sighed: "That means Pang Xiaoyou has some extraordinary talents. If he can practice some of Zhuang Lao's teachings, his achievements will far surpass me."
Pang Yu was not interested in Mr. Zhuang's studies, but he understood that these two were figures with some status in the government. After hearing this, he knelt on the ground and said, "I would like to worship Mr. Tan and Mr. Yu as my teachers, and I will be my teachers for the rest of my life."
Treat both gentlemen with courtesy."
Officer Tan Yin Yang laughed and said: "Pang Xiaoyou has a true temperament in killing snakes and following the stick. However, I have already taught more than ten Yin and Yang students and I am really unable to teach others. Brother Yu, how about you accept this disciple?"
Pang Yu knew that Mr. Tan was helping him. Although Mr. Yu had no official position, the actual power of the county magistrate in the county government far exceeded that of the Yin and Yang officials.
Seeing that Mr. Yu didn't answer, Pang Yu kowtowed, "Pang Yu pays homage to his mentor."
Mr. Yu was just a down-and-out scholar. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, due to the excessive backlog of students, the road to the imperial examination was really a single-plank bridge with thousands of troops crossing a single-plank bridge. Many scholars who felt that there was no hope for the imperial examination became officials or worked as litigators.
Those who had special skills, such as familiarity with criminal names, money and food, etc., became the mentors of the Qing Dynasty.
The curtain friend relies on the power of the official, and the official relies on the skill and wisdom of the curtain friend. The curtain friend is like the official's personal secretary, a very powerful role in the yamen.
After three years here in Tongcheng, there were many people who wanted to become county magistrates by following the path of friends, but this was the first time that someone had the embarrassment to ask him to be his teacher. As a person who once had the ideal of imperial examination, being a teacher is a kind of thing.
Glory, but not enough to impress Yu Muyou.
Mr. Yu immediately refused and said: "Yu himself failed the imperial examination. He can't teach Pang Xiaodi anything. I'm afraid it will delay you. There are always some difficulties in this matter, so I won't mention it."
Your Majesty, I still have some secular matters, so I’ll take my leave now.”
After saying this, he cupped his hands with the Yin and Yang officials, stood up and walked out, not giving Pang Yu a chance to continue grinding, leaving Pang Yu kneeling on the ground in embarrassment.
Yin and Yang officials laughed twice, stretched out their hands to help Pang Yu up and said: "Brother Pang, there is no need to worry about it. Mr. Yu has such a temper. He has rarely interacted with people in the past three years in Tongcheng. It is not only his duty as a secret friend, but also because he is afraid of the roar of the lion from the east of the river at home. He
He dared not agree to anything that the lady had not approved.
However, Mr. Yu is indeed talented and learned. When it comes to public practice in Tongcheng County, it can be said that there is no one who can surpass him. Since it is not possible for a while, Pang Xiaodi will wait for the opportunity in the future. There is a saying that sincerity will lead to gold and stone."
When the word "gold and stone" was mentioned, the Yin Yang officer deliberately emphasized his tone and narrowed his eyes at Pang Yu.