Maybe it’s because I received too many messages during the day.
That night, in this inn in a foreign land, Xia Xuan couldn't sleep.
What was imagining in my mind was completely different from what I had seen and heard since childhood.
At this moment, he couldn't help but think of someone again.
Deng Changli.
In fact, Xia Xuan knew nothing about the life of Deng Changli.
But judging from his speech and behavior, he should not be an ordinary man from the mountains.
It's just...that being said, he doesn't look like a pure scholar.
Just like a... freak who was forcibly rubbed together. He has a scholarly side, but is no different from the common people he sees.
It's just that Chief Deng made a good impression on him.
In other words... In the environment of the post station, the entire inn seems to have such an atmosphere. Many people may have different personalities, but the temperament they display is generally like that of Deng Changli.
I don’t know if it was because of what he had learned over the course of the day, but Xia Xuan, who was a little tempted to give up, was determined to persevere.
It's strange to say that this is the impact of atmosphere on people.
If a 'weird' person like Deng Changli had been in Xia Xuan's circle of friends in the past, he would have been laughed at and laughed at.
But here, everything seemed so natural, even Xia Xuan herself felt a little bit of respect.
The next day, I still continued to deliver letters with my parcel.
The place we went to was different this time. It seemed that Xia Xuan didn't know much about the regulations of the Postal Department, so Deng Da emphasized some of them along the way.
What they travel today is a rugged mountain road. The official road of the Ming Dynasty only provided connections between the big city and the provincial capital and the capital city. Most of the other roads were made by people.
You can even judge the number of people ahead based on the width of the roads, the compaction of the soil, or even the growth of weeds.
Deng Da had an open-minded temperament, and said at this time: "Don't think that walking like this every day is very boring, but after walking for a long time, there are many interesting places... In the past, Pingtan was just an unheard of place. Such a remote place,
It’s really not worth mentioning, but can you imagine that you and I couldn’t finish walking here in just a few days? Can you imagine that there are so many people of all kinds here?”
After a pause, Deng Da said with some emotion: "Traveling thousands of miles and reading thousands of books, you and I may not be able to read as well as others, but here, traveling thousands of miles, we can do it."
Xia Xuan also began to talk about sex more and more intensely.
The two of them talked about their own circumstances in a cursory manner. Of course, it was only a superficial conversation. Xia Xuan did not dare to talk about his father, Xia Yuanji. In fact, yesterday, Xia Xuan felt unbearable pain in the muscles and bones all over her body, especially in her legs.
When I returned to the inn, it felt like I was filled with lead, but today...it was actually a little better.
But seeing Deng Da walking like flying, he couldn't help but sigh to himself.
But at this time in the capital, winter was gradually entering.
The weather was getting colder, and even the slightest breeze was biting. In the Wenyuan Pavilion, charcoal pots could not help but rise up, and the heat was there, which finally made people feel a lot better.
In fact, when the new Wenyuan Pavilion was built, Zhang Anshi thought of directly building a floor dragon for the Wenyuan Pavilion, that is, hollowing it out under the building, and then burning charcoal every winter. The principle is roughly the same as the floor heating in later generations.
almost.
It's just that...this Earth Dragon was only built after the Ming Dynasty moved to Beijing in history, and it was called Nuan Pavilion.
The problem is, if Zhang Anshi creates an earth dragon here, I'm afraid Zhu Di will know about it and have to strangle Zhang Anshi to death.
Each charcoal basin is emitting heat at this time.
But here in Wenyuan Pavilion, everything was filled with joy.
The hard work that went on for several months seemed to have paid off.
The reports sent from various places have been quite gratifying.
The latest report is from Beiping. There were originally 29,000 households in Beiping Prefecture. Now, 9,000 hidden households have been traced, and the number of households has increased to 38,000.
This represents a quarter increase in the tax-paying population of Beiping Prefecture.
In addition to this, the same is true for other prefectures and counties. The most remarkable achievement was actually Ganzhou Prefecture, which increased from 90,000 households to 130,000 households.
Jie Jin and others gathered together, and everyone was happy. When Zhang Anshi drank tea with them, they were still talking about this matter.
Zhang Anshi looked at the happy expressions on everyone's faces and couldn't help but said: "Could it be that the hidden house that was found... is just the tip of the iceberg?"
Zhang Anshi's basin of cold water was actually expected by Zhu Wenyuan Pavilion's great scholars.
Yang Rong explained patiently: "On the one hand, His Majesty is furious and the court is urging you. On the other hand, the Metropolitan Procuratorate has also sent a large number of inspectors to inspect everywhere. Naturally, there may be fish that slip through the net. The world is so big.
There are so many people involved, and if we believe that there is no fish that slipped through the net, then we are really just living on a corpse, and we are not worthy of being a bachelor."
Yang Rong explained very straightforwardly. Even they themselves did not believe that these people could really uncover all the hidden people.
Zhang Anshi said: "In this case, how many hidden houses are still hidden? Doesn't His Majesty want to uncover all the hidden houses?"
Several academicians looked at each other, and then even Xie Jin couldn't help but pick up the tea cup and said: "That's what they say, but if the court wants to do this, it's not allowed."
Zhang Anshi looked a little more serious and said, "Please give me some advice."
Xie Jin then said: "The essence of the imperial court is to do things generally well within a certain range. There is a saying that if the water is clear, there will be no fish. This is not to excuse anyone, but as for one thing, you
If you work to 60%, you may only spend one hundred thousand taels of silver, but if you want to work to 80%, then the money you may have to spend is millions of taels. If you are still not satisfied with 80%, and you want to work to 90%, then then
It requires more effort and more manpower and material resources, so... such a cost may be three million or even five million taels. As for... as His Highness said, if you want to achieve 100%...
…So……"
Xie Jin smiled here and continued: "Then... it may be tens of millions of taels. The various patrols and other manpower that need to be used may be that tens of millions of taels of money and food are not enough... In this way, the world
All the hidden households have been uncovered, but the problem is...by doing so, the imperial court and the various state governments in the world will be unable to do anything else, and the taxes collected from the hidden households will be far less than what the imperial court wants.
The cost paid, so... for many things, being able to do 60 or 70% of it as we do now is actually considered perfect. If we really want to catch the water until it is clear, there will be no fish left. It is not impossible, but it is impossible.
Why."
Zhang Anshi narrowed his eyes and said: "Now I understand. The closer to perfection, the cost does not increase linearly, but increases geometrically."
"..."
The study fell into a deathly silence.
They didn't understand what Zhang Anshi said.
Zhang Anshi thought for a while and said: "But the problem is, how can you be sure that this is 60 to 70%?"
"This..." Xie Jin was speechless. In fact, Xie Jin and others were also a little unsure.
After pondering for a moment, Jin Youzi said: "The matter is so serious. It is impossible for the officials in the various states to dare to deal with it at this time. Of course, in order to facilitate this matter, the Metropolitan Procuratorate sent many patrol inspectors...
…”
Zhang Anshi said: "It makes sense."
Xie Jin immediately said: "Gentlemen, please sort out this hidden house first, and then go see the driver later and report the matter. In any case, the increase in the yellow household registration this time is a great achievement."
As soon as these words came out, everyone was pulled back from the heaviness just now.
At this time, even Hu Guang was very happy. He said excitedly: "Yes, yes, yes, hey... this time... speaking of it, the emperor's grandson made a great contribution. If he hadn't revealed the matter in Nanchang Mansion,
, how can our Ming Dynasty increase so many people? In every dynasty, the number of households has doubled, which is a sign of the prosperity of the dynasty."
At noon, Zhu Wenyuange, a great scholar, went to see him.
After everyone saluted Zhu Di, Xie Jin said: "Your Majesty, for several months, all the states and governments in the world have tried their best to track down the hidden people, and they have been quite effective. I have calculated that the number of new people in our Ming Dynasty is seven times that of previous years."
Last year, there were 8.27 million households in the country, and now, the number has increased to 12.7 million, which is gratifying and congratulatory."
The yellow book is also called the yellow book of taxes and corvee, which is the main source of collecting taxes and corvee through this yellow book.
Now that the population has increased significantly, the court's room for maneuver has also greatly increased.
After Zhu Di heard this, his eyebrows moved slightly and he said: "Will there be results so soon?"
"In the past few months, everyone in Xiatouzhou County has been working hard, especially the Metropolitan Procuratorate. They have selected inspectors and inspected all directions. Among them, inspector Chen Zheng and Ganzhou prefect Wang Wenhui are the leaders."
After Xie Jin finished speaking, Hu Guang subconsciously raised his head and glanced at Xie Jin.
He heard some overtones. After hanging out with people like Xie Jin for a long time, even a piece of wood could gain some insights.
Speaking of which, the great increase in population is a great achievement, but even if it is a great achievement, it is considered a small achievement. In all dynasties, it has always been the most important thing.
According to his understanding of Jie Jin, whenever he had a fault, the Jie Gong would be able to push it away. However, if he had merit, he would often take some of it from him. Even if he did so without knowing it, at least he would talk about it endlessly.
He talked a lot about the hard work of this inventory, but today's answer was very brief, only briefly mentioning it, and did not even mention the credit of himself and Wenyuan Pavilion.
After Zhu Di heard this, he was very interested and said: "In a few days, the yellow book will be presented to me. I want to take a good look at it."
"According to the decree."
Zhu Di added: "Such results have been rare in previous years. You have finally done something that makes me happy. All officials who have worked hard in this process must be rewarded, except for what Qing Xie mentioned just now."
In addition to the governors and magistrates who have been promoted to official positions, the rest of the people who have made great achievements must also be promoted to official positions; those who have made great contributions will be given money and food, and their hearts must not be chilled."
Zhu Di's previous sentence of doing something that pleased me has actually shown his attitude. He thinks that the people above and below him are not very satisfied with him.
But in this unsatisfactory situation, these people finally have merit, so they will not hesitate to reward them. In any case, the court will always rely on these people. In this case, then they should still be rewarded, and they should be rewarded heavily. In this way
Come on, these people may be more willing to contribute.
So Xie Jin said: "I will order the officials to report my merits."
Zhu Di nodded and said: "Your contribution is not small. These days are also rewarding."
Xie Jin hurriedly said: "In this process, I am just following His Majesty's will to connect the previous and the lower. I really dare not take credit."
Zhu Di raised his eyelids slightly, took a deep look at Xie Jin, and then nodded: "Yeah."
After all, this is a major event celebrated by the whole world. Zhu Di thought of Di Bao again, so he said: "Di Bao must also publish it. This is the top priority. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, such happy events have rarely happened. Over the past dynasties, the number of household registrations has increased greatly.
They are all signs of a prosperous age..."
With that said, Zhu Di looked at Zhang Anshi.
Zhang Anshi understood and immediately said: "I... will go back and explain."
Zhu Di said: "That's it."
Although he could not hide his joy, he still looked reserved. When the ministers left, Zhu Di sat down and his expression gradually became relaxed.
Yi Shiha gave him a cup of tea.
Zhu Di took a sip of tea and then showed his joy: "Finally...it's done. It's not easy, it's rare...they are still willing to do the work."
Yishuha Dui smiled and said: "My servant also congratulates Your Majesty."
Zhu Di smiled and said: "Now that I am old, it is reasonable to say that I can leave such a legacy to my descendants."
After Zhu Di finished speaking, he looked filled with emotion.
Yi Shi laughed and said: "Your Majesty's dragon body is in good health and can live to be a hundred years old."
Zhu Di waved his hand, snorted and said: "Your mother, don't talk such nonsense."
But if you look carefully, you can easily see the upward curve of the corners of his mouth!
…………
Xie Jin returned to the check-in room. Hu Guang, who was walking at the end, saw no one around him and followed Xie Jin in quickly.
"Jie Gong..."
When Xie Jin saw Hu Guang, he immediately smiled.
As a bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion, no matter how long Xie Jin has been with Yang Rong and Jin Youzi, or whether they are fellow villagers, no matter how much they joke or talk to each other on weekdays, in fact, deep down, Xie Jin treats Yang Rong and Jin Youzi.
More or less, I still have to be careful.
After all, everyone is a smart person. Even Jie Jin dare not say that he has a complete understanding of these two people. It is really difficult to guess the thoughts of smart people.
But only towards Hu Guang, just like Yang Rong could always confide in Hu Guang, Xie Jin was not wary of him. Moreover, the two of them had a very deep connection, and they were naturally much closer than others.
Xie Jin sat down, motioned to Hu Guang to sit down, and said, "Mr. Hu, you seem to have something to say?"
Hu Guang sat down and said: "His Majesty Long Yan is very happy today... It is rare to see His Majesty so happy."
Xie Jin's expression also relaxed, and he smiled and said: "Yes, the Sacred Heart is unpredictable. It is indeed rare for Your Majesty to be so happy."
He emphasized the words "Unfathomable Sacred Heart" very seriously.
Hu Guang sighed: "But in today's report, I have some reservations about my opinion, but I don't know why. What? Is there anything that worries me?"
Xie Jin glanced at Hu Guang meaningfully, and then said slowly: "What has His Highness, King Song, been doing recently?"
"Ah...him?"
Hu Guang was a little surprised when he suddenly mentioned Zhang Anshi, but he still said: "Recently, he has been reclusive and talkative. He...is not very gregarious..."
Xie Jin said, "That's not necessarily the case."
Hu Guang looked at him very strangely, and then said: "Please give me an announcement."
Xie Jin said: "The matter of Yinhu... is too big. Such a big event... His Highness the King of Song has turned a blind eye. Do you think this is reasonable?"
After hearing this, Hu Guang's eyes opened slightly, and he said as if he was enlightened: "Jie Gong means... yes, the King of Song likes to strive for merit most."
Xie Jin smiled and said: "This is not to strive for merit, but to share your Majesty's worries."
Hu Guangdao: "Actually, doesn't it mean the same thing?"
Xie Jin smiled and said: "They are doing the same thing, but the interpretation is different, and it is completely different. Those who share your Majesty's worries are loyal ministers and good generals, while those who strive for credit are rebellious ministers and traitors."
"..."
Xie Jin continued: "The matter in Yinhu is too big, and the credit is too big. It is quite effective now, but there is no guarantee that... there will be no mistakes. So at this time, we are not asking for credit, but we should try our best to
Putting aside this matter, all the credit in the world should be given to Your Majesty, and to those below who have sacrificed their lives."
Even if Hu Guang was a fool, he could probably understand Xie Jin's meaning at this time, and he suddenly realized: "In such a big matter, it is inevitable that there will be some mistakes... As long as there are mistakes, in the future... Oops, thank you very much for the suggestion. Farewell
!”
After he finished speaking, he immediately left excitedly.
Xie Jin took a sip of tea, but when he was about to walk out the door, he suddenly said: "Come back."
Hu Guang looked back at him and said, "Do you have any other advice from Mr. Xie?"
Xie Jin put down the tea cup and said with a smile: "Hu Gong is so excited, but he wants to go to Yang Gong excitedly to tell him this understanding?"
Hu Guang's face turned red, his eyes wandered guiltily and he said, "It's just a discussion."
Xie Jin sighed: "I advise you not to mention it."
Hu Guangdao: "I... just said it casually."
Xie Jin said: "If you say it casually like this, you may appear naive."
Hu Guang: "..."
Xie Jin said: "What I can think of, everyone in Wenyuan Pavilion can probably think of, so... these things are already understood by each other, and there is no need to discuss them. Otherwise, it will only increase people's laughter."
of."
Hu Guang: "..."
He felt like he was so embarrassed that he could carve out a room!
…………
Postal Department.
Carloads of documents have been delivered to the Post Office in the capital.
Because the Postal Department is affiliated to the Ministry of Railways, its office is located next to the Ministry of Railways Hall, and its scale is smaller than that of the Ministry of Railways.
But because the business is so extensive, there are quite a few people working on it.
In this department alone, there are hundreds of officials working there.
The Railway Department has specially set up several warehouses to receive documents from stations and newsstands all over the world. Today, more than 120 clerks are sorting these documents.
They verified the status of the documents, and then sorted them into categories, from the prefecture to the county, and then to the township and village.