Chapter 402: What is the concept of five thousand government officials?
"Boom!"
"Wow~~"
Zhang Beihai, the platoon leader from the Beihai Navy Garrison Regiment, heard the tea girl's story. He punched the small table next to him in anger. Unexpectedly, he punched the small table next to him with too much force and the table was already weak.
It was smashed to pieces.
He was bought by Xu Dayong at the Luoyang market three years ago and sent to Beihai Town. In the 51st year of Qianlong's reign, there was a disaster in Henan. Three of Zhang Beihai's family starved to death. After burying his parents and sister, he
, took his 14-year-old brother with him, and walked hundreds of miles southward all the way to Luoyang. Zhang Beihai, who was already 18 years old at the time, witnessed hungry people eating each other and countless people selling themselves under the guise of prostitution.
Let him never forget it.
If his sister were still alive, she would be almost as old as Tea Girl, right?
Thinking of this, he turned to look at Tea Girl with gentle eyes and asked: "How many abducted women like you are there in the barbarian camp in Jiangbei?"
The tea girl said: "Just in the brothel I stayed in before, more than 40 people were kidnapped from Guizhou. I don't know about other places."
Xu Dayong understood what Zhang Beihai meant and sighed and advised: "Beihai, we can't handle this kind of thing right now. Even if we rescue ten today, the traffickers will sell twenty more from Guizhou tomorrow."
Zhang Beihai said fiercely: "Our Beihai Navy is right. If we want the poor to have a way to survive, we must smash this evil world!"
Tea girl listened to the conversation between the two, with a trace of panic in her eyes. Sir? Smash it? Who are they?
Not to mention how everyone settled this poor woman, at noon on the second day, Xu Dayong found a home-like wine shop in Chaotianmen, and sent a young man with a coin to go to the river beach to call Luo Sankui.
Luo Sankui is the Silly Kui mentioned before, but because he has a simple and honest face, he was often bullied when he was a tracker in his early years, so he got the nickname Silly.
As soon as they met, Luo Sankui hurriedly bowed to Xu Dayong and thanked him. He even said that he was just a poor person and did not deserve such kindness.
Xu Dayong laughed and cursed and asked him to sit down and talk. At this time, the waiter had already brought a pound of boiled wine, braised pork head meat, pig offal and other dishes, which made Luo Sankui swallow his saliva.
He worked as a porter on the pier every day and survived with only a dozen pennies. He could not afford to eat meat all year round. At most, he could only occasionally buy a fish as a tooth sacrifice.
Luo Sankui was a little reserved at first, but as time went on he became more and more cheerful and his mouth was full of oil. After drinking for three rounds, he remembered what Li Shangyuan told him, so he burped and asked tentatively: "Mr. Xu,
When you come to Chongqing this time, you don’t know what you want to buy? You might as well let the ants take advantage of it.”
"Sankui, are there many trackers stranded now?"
"Why not too much?" Luo Sankui put a piece of fat and oily pork head into his mouth and chewed a few mouthfuls, with a look of satisfaction on his face, and then added: "Almost 20,000 people, I heard
Every now and then, people who died of starvation were buried in mass graves.”
Xu Da said "oh" and said calmly: "I have a business. If I start it, you will have enough food and clothing in your life."
Luo Sankui's eyes shone as he heard Xu Dayong continue: "Help me recruit people in Jiangbei to farm in northern Jiangsu."
When Luo Sankui heard this, he immediately remembered what happened last year, and advised with lingering fear: "Mr. Xu, are you still thinking about that? If those bastards know about it, they will cause trouble for you again."
"You haven't joined the Tulu Society, have you?"
Luo Sankui suddenly became excited and hurriedly whispered: "Mr. Xu, this is not a joke! If someone from the government hears it, it will be a slap in the face."
Xu Dayong smiled, turned his head and looked around, and when he saw that no one was paying attention to him, he reached into his arms, took out a deerskin bag containing more than a hundred coins, pushed it to Luo Sankui, and said: "Three
Kui, please help me send a message to the tracker leaders in Jiangbei, saying that I, Mr. Xu, will treat them to a drink at the Xingshun in Jiangbei the night after tomorrow. You should also go there."
Luo Sankui glanced at the money bag, swallowed and said, "That's it?"
"That's it." Xu Da said with all his heart. I wish those grunts were causing trouble. He traveled all over the country for several years, but he failed when he came to Chongqing without any intention. He was so angry that when he thought about it, he felt sad.
Frustrated.
When Zhao Xin heard about this before the Chinese New Year, he asked him, would it be enough to transfer a platoon to you? After that, a platoon from the Beihai Town Garrison Regiment followed the empty boat to Sheyang Lake, and then followed him to Sheyang Lake.
Chongqing, and the platoon leader is none other than Zhang Beihai.
The regular army is really overqualified in fighting gangsters, and it is easy to deal with hundreds of grunts. What Xu Dayong wanted to do was to take advantage of this opportunity to kill all the grunt society leaders in Jiangbei Hall.
Let's see who dares to fight with him in the future.
Luo Sankui is an honest man. Although money is attractive, you have to have the ability to get it. Thinking of this, he said to Xu Dayong: "Thanks to Mr. Xu for thinking highly of me, Silly Kui. If you want to do this quickly, you have to find someone else."
One person. Speaking of which, he still takes good care of me as a porter."
"Oh? Who?"
"This man's surname is Wu, and his name is Wu Desheng. He is somewhat related to me. He used to work as a scribe in the county government office. At the end of last year, he insulted Mr. Xiantian during an errand and lost his job. But he was in Ba
He is very familiar with the people in the county, so he is the right person to turn to for Mr. Xu’s affairs.”
Xu Dayong said: "Why didn't you mention this person named Wu to me when I came last year?"
Luo Sankui said with a smile: "At that time, he was recovering from his injuries at home after eating a plank. How can I recommend him?"
Xu Dayong said: "So, is he here now? You go and call someone over, and I'll have a chat with him."
"Here! His house is not far away. Mr. Xu, sit down for a moment and I will invite him right away." Luo Sankui drank the remaining wine in the bowl and hurriedly left the wine shop. After burning an incense stick, he came to Chaotian Temple
To the north, in front of a small courtyard near Yaojia Lane. Just as he was about to knock on the door, he heard a burst of curses coming from inside.
"I'm your bastard! These little turtles are worse than dogs! I think back when you were working with me..."
Luo Sankui didn't care much. He patted the courtyard door and shouted: "Brother Desheng, it's me, Sankui!"
After a while, the door opened. The person who opened the door was a middle-aged man. Although he was only in his thirties, he looked like a man in his forties because of his rough and dark skin. There was a pair of red and black glasses embedded in his square face.
He has small black and bright eyes and a mustache on his lips, making him look extraordinarily shrewd.
When Wu Desheng saw it was Luo Sankui and smelled the smell of alcohol in his mouth, he said angrily: "What do you want from me?"
Luo Sankui walked into the yard and whispered in Wu Desheng's ear for a long time. Wu Desheng's little eyes rolled. After listening, he asked Luo Sankui to call a small bamboo sedan to wait. He went into the house and told his family that he was going out, and then
He put on his clothes, went out and got on the sedan, and was led to the place by Luo Sankui.
After Xu Dayong and Wu Desheng met, they saw that this man was wearing a gray poplin gauze open air robe, and a black silk mandarin jacket. The buttons were neatly buttoned. At first glance, he looked like the kind of person who works in a government office.
. He asked the waiter to clear away the leftover wine on the table, and then served the food again, and then he started talking to Wu Desheng.
At this time, Wu Desheng no longer looked like he was cursing people in his yard. When he listened to Xu Dayong's account of what happened last year, he rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "I heard people talk about this a few days ago. Wu Desheng
To tell you the truth, I offended the people in Yaxing at first, and it was not convenient for them to come forward, so they came to trick you."
Xu Dayong was stunned and asked quickly. Wu Desheng said with a somewhat disdainful expression: "To be honest, although the bandits are arrogant now, they are only robbing along the rivers and waterways and in the deep mountains and old forests. If they were in those places, they would be like government officials.
I don’t dare to go either. As for people inside and outside Chongqing, these are just stealing people’s money and coaxing people to use their treasures. They deceive me that I am from a foreign country and don’t understand the power of it.”
After Xu Dayong heard this, he immediately cursed his mother angrily. Wu Desheng took a sip of wine and continued: "Since my brother found me through Sankui, this business is actually good, but I need to do some errands, so I should give the dental shop a share of the profit."
If you want to come out, let them come forward, and the Zuluzi will naturally not come to cause trouble."
Xu Dayong said: "Brother Wu, I heard from Sankui that you were working as an errand in the county government. Why did you lose your job?"
Wu Desheng glanced at Luo Sankui. He knew that if he wanted to do the business of recruiting people with Xu Dayong, he had to let people know his details. So he sighed and said: "This is all the trouble caused by the contract...
.”
In the Qing Dynasty, all walks of life in Chongqing had to undertake official errands, that is, corvee distribution, and almost no one was spared.
These errands are roughly divided into three categories, all of which require money from each shop owner. The first category is fixed engineering projects of the county government, such as repairing large and small yamen and even city walls; the second category is military and state affairs, such as the two conquests of Jinchuan and Jinchuan.
, recruiting civilians, horses, cattle and related expenses; the third category is the reception and farewell of officials at all levels. For example, when Fukang'an came to Chongqing for inspection, the deacon fees and husband's fees alone were as high as 89,000 yuan.
Although the burden is heavy and accepting business is regarded as a daunting prospect, with the full support and protection of the government, merchants and shops in Chongqing can operate monopolistically and control prices in the name of accepting business.
For example, if a seller of mountain products wants to sell Guangdong products, he must pay a separate amount of money. Otherwise, he will be sued and will definitely lose.
The same goes for the dental stores. Each dental store has a fixed business location, and as a rule, they are not allowed to interfere with other people's properties. The common practice in Chongqing is that the payment for the dental store is contracted by the secretary office of each county government office, and then the
It is subcontracted to the lower levels. If the tax is insufficient every year, the clerk will advance it.
It was because Wu Desheng contracted a dental shop, and saw that the taxes he had to pay in advance were too much to bear, so he gritted his teeth and collaborated with others to open a "Jin Feng Shop" in another place. This violated the rules of "illegal manipulation". He was later arrested.
He complained to the county government and was accused of "conspiracy, two posts and one row, and occupying the street." In the end, he was ordered to be fired by the county magistrate of Ba County, and he was given a slap in the face and fined a sum of money.
Xu Dayong listened with confusion and asked: "Then if you are engaged in the grain and cotton business, you will have to pay two share of the difference?"
Wu Desheng shook his head and said: "No, each has its own rules. The grain store sells goods for one stone per customer, the dental store takes six cents of silver, four cents are used as bank expenses, and two cents are used as supplements for errands. The cotton shop takes one roll of cloth per customer as per the old rules.
Two cents will be taken from the two cents to help bank accounts. In short, you will pay when opening a bank, deduct money during transactions, or pay quarterly."
Xu Dayong's head grew louder and louder as he listened, wondering why there were so many rules in this place, and he couldn't help but frown.
Wu Desheng guessed what he was thinking, so he said: "Brother, I don't know something. Ba County is located on an important road along the river, and the traffic is heavy. Do you know how many government officials there are in the local county?"
"Two or three hundred people?"
"The rated number is three out of one hundred, but the actual number is no less than five thousand!"
Go! Xu Dayong almost fell off his stool. There were actually 5,000 yamen servants in one county government. However, he did not know that in another time and space in history, by the end of Jiaqing, the number of yamen servants in Ba County was as high as 7,000.
No. 1 in the country!
There is a local saying that "the difference in salary is in exchange for the promotion of a person, and the promotion of a person will be compensated by a thousand silver", which shows that the government servants can make a lot of money by accepting the difference.
After that, Wu Desheng asked Xu Dayong about the purpose and number of trackers. Xu Dayong talked about his Zhuangzi in northern Jiangsu and vaguely mentioned the territory in Jeju Island, which meant that he wanted to recruit a large number of people to farm and graze.
.
Wu Desheng felt strange and asked why he bothered to go to Sichuan to recruit people when he could recruit people along the coast.
Xu Dayong then pretended to be surprised and asked: "Brother, don't you know about the big iron ships in Beihai Town? They recruit people everywhere along the coast of Shandong and Northern Jiangsu, and the prices for recruiting people from the north are extremely high. Listen here
He said there were many refugees in Sichuan, so he came here to recruit them."
Although Wu Desheng is inland, he has occasionally heard it mentioned by businessmen coming and going. However, no matter how fierce Beihai Town fights outside the customs, the impact on the provinces in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River will not be serious. The most sensational thing in Chongqing is the 51st Emperor Qianlong.
In 1998, General E Hui of Chengdu led his troops north to fight against the bandits, but he never returned. Six months later, the news came back that he had died in battle.
A large number of refugees gathered in central Sichuan, which not only caused many problems to the local social security in Chongqing, but also affected the lives of ordinary people. Now someone was recruiting these people out of Sichuan and could make a fortune from it, and Wu Desheng was naturally willing to do it. So he asked
: "Those tracker leaders are very familiar with me. We can invite them here tomorrow. But what about the price?"
Xu Dayong said: "Each person will be given an allowance of two thousand yuan, and other expenses will be paid separately. It is better if you are willing to bring your family with you, so as not to have to help them find women when they get there."
Wu Desheng shook his head and said: "Two thousand coins is too much, five hundred coins is enough. And how will the people be transported away? Who will take out the ship?"
Xu Dayong was overjoyed. He didn't expect that the settlement fee in Sichuan Province was so cheap. He cupped his fists and said, "I need my help with this matter. When we get to Xiangyang and Hankou, there will be people from the Caobang to take care of us."
Wu Desheng raised his eyes and looked at Xu Dayong, thinking that this person had such a good relationship with the Caobang that he could help with human trafficking. After thinking for a while, he slowly gave his suggestion.
His opinion was that in order to realize such a large-scale population transfer without attracting the attention of the government, it must be covered up with superficial commercial activities. Therefore, Xu Dayong had to establish two or three merchant houses in the local area. One was from Jiangnan.
To transport cotton and cotton cloth, the second is to purchase rice from the local area and traffic it to Hankou. Then through the local boat gang, in the name of hiring boatmen and trackers, the trackers stranded in Chongqing can be gradually transported to Hankou or Xiangyang.