"Oh? It seems that there is quite a lot of oil and water here." Liu San nodded with a smile.
"I don't dare to say nonsense about whether the oil and water are big or not," Mao Xiuyu squinted his eyes and smiled, "Let's just say that the appearance of the recent Mr. Dong Wu when he took office was really indistinguishable from the poor people living here.
In less than two or three years, my hometown built another house and bought land. I even bought a house in Guangzhou to hide my love."
Liu San silently calculated in his mind, there were 2,165 people, each person had three dou of rice per month, and the money was 45 wen. In one month, he could receive 6,495 dou of brown rice, 97,425 wen, and 650 shi of brown rice from the official warehouse. According to the market price in Guangzhou
The average price on the website is nearly 700 taels of silver. Including copper coins, Puji Hall’s monthly expenses are nearly 900 taels of silver, which is more than 10,000 taels a year!
He suddenly thought that it was impossible to allocate the full amount of the money, and it was customary to handle three percent of the money. Then he asked: "As usual, what percentage will be paid to the court?"
"Master is really sensible!" Mao Xiuyu said with a smile, "As usual, it's 30%."
Liu San thought this was really dark. Then he asked: "Tell the truth, how much rice can each person adopted in this hall actually receive per month?"
Although Mao Xiuyu was smiling all over his face, he licked his lips before saying: "Everyone in the bureau, as long as they are not too sick to walk, will go to the streets to beg on weekdays..."
"Does that mean there's actually nothing?"
"It can't be said that there are none. The old, weak, sick, disabled, and those who can't move are indispensable for them to eat porridge in the hall. When it's rainy weather and they can't go out, they also provide food in the hall. The women in Qingjie Hall can't show their faces and rely on weaving and raising chickens.
In order to make a living, the hall should also provide some subsidies to them." Mao Xiuyu did not dare to smile anymore and reported in a low voice.
"How much rice do you get per month?" Liu San asked.
"There is a quota," Mao Xiuyu said. "All laborers in the hall are given two dou of rice and three hundred wen per month."
"There's no extra money?" Liu San said with a smile.
Mao Xiuyu glanced at him nervously, laughed a few times, and said: "If you say it's not true, I definitely don't believe it, but it's very limited. The water flooded the ground and wet the ground."
"How many laborers are there here?"
"There are always more than a hundred people. I haven't seen the roster, so I don't dare to talk nonsense..."
"Where are the people?"
"The few that Mr. Dong brought have all run away. I have never seen the other little ones. There are still seven or eight who are now taking care of them everywhere in the hall."
"Since I'm on duty here, how come you haven't seen me before?" Liu San was puzzled.
"Master Mingjian." Mao Xiuyu said, "They are all recommended with a high threshold. It is inconvenient for the master in the county to refuse, so I can use my reputation to make one or two."
Originally, only 30% of the account was received, and there were still about a hundred redundant employees who were paid to do nothing, and the stewards who "built houses, bought land, gold houses, and hidden girls" came to exploit them. It was anyone's guess how much money would fall on the adopters. No wonder Puji
The church was in dilapidated condition. The people inside looked like beggars - they were simply beggars.
Liu San has been out collecting medicines and practicing medicine for a long time, and has had deep contact with traditional society. He has long been used to the extreme decadence and darkness of this time and space. He estimates that the 2165 adopted people may not be real, and they are at least half as wet. He
asked:
"Are the rosters and account books in the hall still there?"
"This... is all in Master Gao's hands."
Liu San wondered why Master Gao appeared again: "Who is Master Gao?"
"It's the accountant of our hall, his name is Gao Bohai. He doesn't come to the hall often." Mao Xiuyu said cautiously, "He has all the account books and rosters."
Liu San estimated that Master Gao was also a powerful figure in Puji Hall, and asked Mao Xiuyu a few more questions. He probably knew that Master Gao was "recommended" by a local gentry and had been a master in Puji Hall for more than ten years.
.
Liu San saw Mao Xiuyu's eyes twinkling and hesitating when he mentioned Master Gao, knowing that there must be a hidden meaning. So he used words to trick him, and hinted that he could be considered for the position of chief executive. In this atmosphere of "change of dynasty and change of feng shui"
Under the influence, Mao Xiuyu finally told some crucial news.
In fact, Master Gao is the one who really controls Puji Hall. All affairs in the hall are in his hands, which is exactly the same as the relationship between the county magistrate and the household secretary. The managers of Puji Hall come and go as the prefects come and go.
Go, Master Gao seems to have taken root. When a new manager takes office, the first thing he does is to have a good relationship with Master Gao, otherwise he will suffer huge losses within a few months. Everyone in the hall will
Old people, women and children went to the streets to stop the provincial officials and started making trouble. Even the prefect's own son was in charge and could no longer do his job.
"Those in charge are here to make money and enjoy happiness with the masters. How many of them are willing to come to this barren mountain to work? Anyway, as long as you get a lot of money, that's all."
However, Master Gao did not have any "big killer weapon" such as the "Fish Scale Book" to compete with the ministers. The key lies in the gentry and good people who recommended him for this position.
Zhenshan's name is Zheng Gaizheng, and he owns a large area of land and forests in the north of Guangzhou. He is rich and powerful, and he is enthusiastic about charity, repairing bridges and roads, burying fallen roads, organizing porridge sheds... and he has also donated several pieces of land for charity.
. He has a great reputation both in and outside the city, and is known as a Zhenshan person. He can be called a genuine rural sage.
Liu San nodded and suddenly whispered: "Can you tell me how many people Puji Hall has adopted?"
Mao Xiuyu stammered: "There are always... there are always four or five hundred people... I can't tell the exact number myself." He said that there were more than a hundred poor and chaste women and several people in Qingjie Hall.
There are ten children. I know the approximate number because I rarely go out. The others can stay or leave as they please. As long as they hold Pujitang waist cards, they are considered to be members of Pujitang. As time goes by, some brands and people have long been no longer consistent.
.
"...Even if there is a roster, I'm afraid we don't know the true number of people. This roster has not been changed for many years."
Liu San secretly thought that the small Puji Hall was full of shady things. But these were Lin Baiguang's affairs. He was more concerned about the environmental sanitation here and said, "Take me to see inside the hall."
"The hall has not been cleaned for many years and is extremely filthy..."
"It's okay."
"Yes, yes," Mao Xiuyu thought, this Australian is really weird. What's there to see in this ruined temple with piles of rubble and garbage everywhere? If he didn't want a few coins, he really wouldn't want to stay here for a moment.
treat.
Now we are leading the way, leading from the back of the Main Hall to the pagoda at the back on a flat bluestone road. There are luxuriant weeds on both sides, broken bricks and tiles, and Xiao Ai, one or two feet tall, growing out of the gaps between the stone slabs.
This Huanghua Temple is huge in area and has many palaces. Although it has been abandoned for a long time and has lost its appearance, there are still many houses inside, most of which have open doors. The grass in the courtyard is too deep and there is no trace of people. The sacred cabinets in the temple are full of piling up and down.
After removing the dust, you can still see the marks of mice crawling on the confession and the ground.
In some places, it can be seen that people still live there, with rags and rags, broken bowls, casseroles with corners missing, and broken straw mats with only straw mats spread on the ground. But most of the people are not there, only some who are sick.
As for the disabled, according to Mao Xiuyu, as long as they can walk, they have gone out to beg. As for whether they will come back at night, it is not certain. Some people can go there for several months and still beg.
"When Hui Nantian comes, the weather is rainy, and more people will come back from going out. If it is very cold in winter, there will be fewer people going out,"
Mao Xiuyu took him to the door of a courtyard. Liu San was surprised to see that the door of the courtyard was closed and locked. Mao Xiuyu took a few steps and shouted several times: "Fifth sister-in-law!"
A middle-aged woman came out in response, in her thirties, with a very capable appearance. She was startled when she saw Mao Xiuyu coming with a few "Kun people", but she immediately reacted and immediately changed her appearance to a master.
With a happy face, he rushed down the steps, knelt down and kowtowed in front of Liu San:
"Those from the fifth and fifth families of my family, please kowtow to me."
"This is--"
"The slave family is an official media, and they are here to look after the Qingjie Courtyard."
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, local government agencies all had official media. They were responsible for taking care of any official affairs involving women, and they were regarded as women's government servants.
Liu San saw her neat manners and sharp eyes, and knew she was a powerful and fierce woman.
Hearing that Liu San was the Australian "chief" who came to inspect, Sister-in-law Sun became a little more attentive and quickly took out the key and opened the courtyard door.
Liu San was puzzled: "It's clear and sunny, why do you need to lock the door?"
"All the poor widows who live here live here. Although it is deserted, there are still many men coming in and out. The door is locked, and no external words come in, and no internal words come out. There are fewer rumors." Sun Sansao babbled, "Widows
To observe integrity, the first thing is to avoid suspicion!"
She said that men are not allowed to enter here on weekdays. Even if relatives come to visit, they can only meet at the door. Some widows with children have to move out when the boys are seven years old.
"The most rigorous thing here is. It has been almost a hundred years since the Yuan was founded, and there has not been a single scandal, nor has there been any remarriage." It was clear from her words that Sister-in-law Sun was very proud.
Liu San saw that the Qingjie Yuan was a converted monastery. It was surrounded by the clean rooms of the monks in the past, and there was a kitchen in the corner. Now it was in a dilapidated state, barely repaired with broken bricks and tiles, but compared with the outside
It is still much clean and tidy. The bricks laid in the courtyard have been shoveled away, and various vegetables are planted. There are also a few chickens walking leisurely in the courtyard.
Sister-in-law Sun Wu said that the chaste women usually weave cloth and silk. There are more than 30 looms in the hospital, and they grow their own vegetables and raise chickens, so they can make a living.
"Aren't you going to give me money or rice?"
"Give! Give!" Sun Wu's sister-in-law said repeatedly, but she glanced at Mao Xiuyu. Mao Xiuyu said angrily: "Fifth sister-in-law, just tell the truth. Nowadays, when the dynasty changes, there are not so many taboos!"
Sister-in-law Sun Wu hurriedly smiled and said: "You can get money and rice, but it's only one bushel per month. For those who have children, add three liters..."
"Only one fight?" Liu San asked with a frown.
"Sir, you are wise! Even this fight may not be given out on time." Sister-in-law Sun Wu sighed, "I rely on the ladies at the gate of the big house in the city to be kind and send people to the hall to give alms from time to time. Otherwise, there is really nothing to say!"