my brother-in-law is the prince

Gao Xiang nodded.

But he smiled and said: "Speaking of the customs, Yu Qian sent an official document."

The Customs, like the Taiping Mansion, belonged to the county prince's mansion, and theoretically did not belong to the Taiping Mansion's subordinate government office. Therefore, if they wanted to negotiate with the Taiping Mansion, they only needed to issue official documents, but did not need to report.

Zhang Anshi cared most about the customs news.

After all, it's about money.

So Zhang Anshi said with great interest: "What official document?"

"The customs side is asking if the Taiping government can allocate a piece of land, about [-] mu, for the purpose of building a school."

After Zhang Anshi heard this, he couldn't help saying: "If you want to build a school, you don't play the king first, what kind of name is this Yu Qian doing?"

Gao Xiang smiled and said: "It should be just a draft, and there is no complete charter yet. Now I just ask about the attitude of the Taiping Mansion."

Zhang Anshi knew in his heart that most of the people in the Taiping Mansion were like this, because of the shortage of talents, many emerging industries required a lot of manpower.

Therefore, everyone began to imitate the model of government schools, such as the current customs, which not only needs a group of anti-smuggling personnel, but also requires strict discipline.These people are not only used as a guarantee of force, but also need these people to be able to read and write, and have sufficient arithmetic ability. In addition, a large number of customs officials have higher requirements for arithmetic.

Under such circumstances, it would be time-consuming and labor-intensive to hire from the market, and it might not be possible to recruit the people you want.

Presumably because of this, a special school was set up to recruit students, and it was promised that these people would directly enter the customs after graduation. What kind of people are needed, can be targeted to open courses.

At this time, Zhang Anshi couldn't help but said: "With a land of three hundred acres, the scale of this school is not small. This guy Yu Qian has a big heart!"

Gao Xiang said: "Your Majesty, you can find a way to allocate the land, but as His Highness said, it occupies too much land."

Zhang Anshi thought for a while and said, "Let's discuss it after his charter is reported to the county prince's mansion."

Gao Xiang nodded, but raised his eyes to look at Zhang Anshi, and said, "One more thing..."

Zhang Anshi said: "Just say it."

"Many people in various prefectures and counties wrote down to ask questions..."

Zhang Anshi couldn't help frowning when he heard this, and said with a cold snort: "We have nothing to do with other prefectures and counties. What are they going to do next? Don't pay attention to these people."

Gao Xiang said: "Yes."

What Gao Xiang reported did involve the problems of various prefectures and counties. A large number of overseas special products have flowed in, from pepper to sugar, spices, etc., and because of the large-scale inflow, the prices have been acceptable to ordinary people.

Coupled with the introduction of a large amount of cotton from Tianzhu, this Tianzhu has fertile land and good sunshine conditions, so a large number of cotton fields are widely planted, and the price is low. The characteristic of cotton is its light texture, so a sea ship can carry more cotton. , if the transportation cost is amortized, it is still profitable.

On Qixia's side, many workshops spun the cotton and made it into cloth, and the price was actually much lower than the current cloth.

A large amount of production raw materials entered Taiping Mansion. After Taiping Mansion produced and processed, the goods were piled up like a mountain. Except for the use by the military and civilians in Taiping Mansion, the most important thing was to export them.

But right now, Zhili is doing well. After the implementation of the new policy, all kinds of goods have entered thousands of households, but other prefectures and counties have begun to find that many goods have slowly penetrated.

Cotton cloth with better texture and cheaper price, sugar, spices and peppercorns, which were expensive in the past, are now slowly becoming cheaper.

Especially cotton cloth and sucrose, the former can make people wear warm, while the latter, for the people at this time, sugar has always been a luxury, which can be equivalent to meat.

And the sugar food at this time, in this era, is rich in nutrition, which is roughly the same as that of an old hen.

The price of sucrose is different from before, it is no longer unattainable.

Many prefectures and counties, especially the local parents and officials, obviously have a natural aversion to the goods of Taiping Prefecture, so the officials below simply set up checkpoints at various docks.As a result, many merchants complained.

It's just that this was true at first, but soon, the situation began to slowly change.

Because these officials who wanted to eat cards soon discovered that the merchants who used to hold these goods had gradually changed. They were no longer merchants wearing cloth clothes and cloth shoes.

These people don't pay attention to ordinary official missions at all. When the ship arrives at the shore, someone will be in charge of picking up the goods immediately. .

These ordinary little officials are all from the same village, they only read the famous posts, and they dare not neglect them immediately, not to mention making things difficult, but they may need to salute to those who come, and shout out "Master".

As for the county magistrate, county magistrate, chief bookkeeper, captain, inspector, etc., although they are not from the same township, after learning of the report, they also kept silent.

Although the prefectures and counties use the ranks of officials, the imperial court appoints and removes county officials, and those who are really among the officials are only a few people. The entire county is actually a village autonomous to a certain extent.

The essence of rural self-government is gentry self-government.

For parents and officials, the servants are locals, the gentry are locals, and only they are outsiders. Therefore, the first thing to do when taking office is to establish a good relationship with the local gentry.

After all, the Ming court did not have the so-called large allocation of funds to the county. Almost all the money and food, or what happened to the county, had to be raised by the gentry.

However, these gentry are deeply rooted in the local area. After a hundred years of reproduction, there are various so-called marriages and funerals that are well-matched.In essence, no matter how many miles they are from the east or west of the county, to put it bluntly, they are all relatives, either the daughter of this family is married to the son of that family, or the son of that family has been advised by that family. , but a disciple of that family.

It can be said that offending one is tantamount to offending them all.

Once the parents and officials disobey the local gentry, then you don't have to do anything. If they want to trip you up, it's easy.

What's more, most of these people have fame and fame, and some of them are even officials outside. If they really want to turn their faces, they may not think highly of you, the seventh-rank county magistrate.

Because of this, the county magistrate with the famous post, no matter how disgusted these goods are, or how unbelievable it is that the escorts are involved with the children of the scholarly family.

But at this time, he could only pinch his nose and admit it.

At first, this kind of thing was just a cover-up, or in other words, it was still a minority, but slowly... such things began to flood.

The official roads and wharves in the county, as well as the large number of horses and boats escorting goods, have increased greatly compared to previous years.

There were quite a few gentry families who participated.

At this time, many "sighted people" in various prefectures and counties have gradually begun to feel a sense of crisis.

They felt that letting things go like this was not the way to go, so they immediately appealed to the imperial court, begging the imperial court to ban this matter, and on the other hand, let the Taiping Mansion below be more "rules".

As for the gentry, they are not easy to criticize.

After all, it is my duty to report to the imperial court, and to negotiate with the Taiping Mansion, what can the Taiping Mansion do with me?
But the local gentry are different. Everyone is under the same roof, and if you open this mouth directly, it is equivalent to tearing the skin, stepping on someone else's tail, and preventing others from making a fortune. There is no guarantee that there will be no accidents.

Of course, Zhang Anshi didn't pay any attention to these angry parents. This was their own problem.

At least Zhang Anshi himself learned from Jin Yiwei that there is a certain concept of agency in the Taiping Mansion.That is to say, merchants are responsible for production, while the distribution of goods is handed over to the local people in various prefectures and counties, who will escort the goods back to their hometowns for sale.

As for the origin of these agents, Zhang Anshi doesn't care, anyway, whoever sells the goods is not the one who sells it.

So now Qixia is getting more and more lively, and it also has a bit of the cultural atmosphere unique to the Confucius Temple. Many scholars have emerged, staying in shops, playing the top, listening to operas, it is very lively, and even spends money like water.

This made Jin Yiwei's side suddenly refreshed.

Now to fill up the head, the Hongwen Museum in each feudal town is still short of people.

However, after an investigation, it was found that these well-known scholars all held books from major workshops and many ocean-going shipping companies.

This kind of certificate is mostly issued by local merchants, proving that they have business contacts with each other.

They took out such certificates, and the captains had no choice but to go away.

It's just that these memorials were reported to Wenyuan Pavilion and various ministries, but they sparked a heated discussion.

The harm of this kind of thing is not small, especially the influx of a large amount of cotton cloth, which caused the original country cloth to completely lose the market, and the relatively peaceful men farming and women weaving were greatly destroyed.

The cloth in Taiping Mansion is of course good in design and color, and it has also been dyed. The price is relatively low due to large-scale production, which almost wiped out the homespun cloth in many places.

The tenants have lost many livelihoods, making it even more difficult to afford the burden of rent.

Many strong men either went with others to escort the goods, or entered the county or prefectural city to carry goods for others. Of course, more people chose... to flow into Taiping Mansion.

Among them, the victims are not small, and they are still gentry.

Due to the lack of manpower, the rent of the land had to drop repeatedly before tenant farmers could be recruited for cultivation.

Therefore, these people are the most exasperated.

Some people even went to the county school and the government school, demanding that the school and the county eunuchs severely punish the scholars who colluded with the Taiping government.

Xia Yuanji was quite worried about this, after all he was the Minister of the Household Department.

At this moment, he frowned worriedly and said, "It's not the way to go on like this. If the number of people in the countryside is greatly reduced, a large number of grain fields will inevitably be desolate. If things go on like this, what will happen to the summer grain in the future? It’s going to be a big mess.”

All the ministers were drinking tea, seemingly casually talking about this matter.

But in fact, everyone has their own thoughts, and the more they talk about big things, the more they appear to be understating them.

And the more you talk about small things, the more eager you are and show your anger.

Because trivial matters are innocuous and hardly hinder other people's interests, they can be more intense and show their positions.

But such a major event directly involves the national economy and the people's livelihood, which is no fun. Every word and action may lead to unpredictable consequences.

After hearing Xia Yuanji's words, Hu Guang said, "It is true that without agriculture and instability, this is a major issue that should not be underestimated. What's more, many scholars are now no different from merchants. Yes, it's really gentle."

Hu Guang looked worried and somewhat angry.

The crowd fell silent again.

Jin Zhong, Minister of the Ministry of War, did not say a word. He was also worried about the issue of food. It is not impossible to implement the New Deal, but food must not be less.

Liu Guan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, smiled at this time, so he seemed too different among this group of frowning people.

Seeing him laugh, everyone couldn't help being suspicious. Xia Yuanji took the lead and asked, "What is Mr. Liu's opinion? The matter of scholars is closely related to the Ministry of Rites. If the rituals are broken, Mr. Liu will be to blame."

Liu Guandao: "The sage didn't say that scholars can't manage business, right? What does this have to do with the collapse of rituals and music?"

Xia Yuanji raised his eyebrows and said, "But Yanli...after all..."

Liu Guandao: "If you talk about profit, you should control it. Does buying land mean profit? Lease the land to tenant farmers for farming. Isn't it talk of profit? , wouldn’t it be good? Simply distribute all the land, so that it can be regarded as solving the current hidden danger at the root. Anyway, there is no profit at all.”

Xia Yuanji blushed a little, and said: "That's not what you said. In this way, Mr. Liu thinks that the reports of various prefectures and counties... are taken for granted?"

Liu Guan immediately said: "The old man didn't say that."

Xia Yuanji asked: "Then what kind of argument?"

Liu Guan blushed without panting: "This is fine, that's fine, you guys argue first, and the old man will second whoever is right."

This is too shameless!

Encountering such a fool, Xia Yuanji was at a loss for words for a moment.

To be honest, if it wasn't for his colleagues, Xia Yuanji would have given him two slaps.

"In any case, the issue of food is not a joke. Even scholars' affairs can be deferred. If the land is barren and the grain production is greatly reduced, and if there is a famine in the coming year, we will be sinners for thousands of years."

Everyone looked at Yang Rong, Yang Rong pondered for a moment, and said: "My lords... I only read the memorial, but I also have a memorial here."

All of a sudden, everyone became more and more silent.

Yang Rongdao: "This was submitted by Yang Pu, a scholar of Zhan Shifu. He ordered some people from Zhan Shifu to conduct investigations in various prefectures and counties. This is what the above said. In the past, gentry leased out land and handed over The tenant farmer cultivates, and the farmer pays [-]% of the rent.”

"In addition to this, the court's taxes and corvees have to be paid. Therefore, what falls into the hands of the tenant farmers is only [-]% of the grain. If it is not a disaster year, this [-]% of the grain is indeed barely enough to make ends meet. But some government However, they have to pay [-]% to [-]% of the rent, because there are many people in the area, but the land is small, and the gentry can't rent it out without worrying about the rent."

Yang Rong paused, and then said: "Now the reports of various prefectures and counties say that because of the decrease in population and the loss of the income from the earthen cloth, the tenant farmers have no way to survive and have to flee one after another. You can think about it carefully. Come on, if the tenant rent is reduced to [-]% to [-]%, can the life of the tenant farmers be improved and they can work in peace of mind.”

"Secondly, there is the issue of food tax. The situation that the scholar Yang Pu sent to investigate carefully is shocking. The food tax set by the imperial court has never been much. However, there are many apportionments and miscellaneous taxes in various names at the local level. Not to mention other things, just talking about the loss, the farmers are required to pay by themselves, talking about the loss...why can the Taiping government solve it, but why...all the prefectures and counties levy it on the people?"

After these words, all the ministers in Wenyuan Pavilion were speechless, and became inexplicably embarrassed.

In fact, these things, in fact, everyone knows it in their hearts.

However, Yang Rong felt that it was unreasonable, so he proposed.

Some people think that this has been the case for thousands of years, and it is a tacitly agreed rule that cannot be broken.

The people here are all extremely intelligent people. In fact, even if there are disputes, they all have their own reasons. It depends on where everyone focuses.

Yang Rong naturally understood everyone's thoughts. He smiled and said, "So... the land is going to be barren. As far as I am concerned, if there is land and I am willing to lower the rent, I am afraid that there will be no people to cultivate it? After all, it is back to the past. When it comes to the issue, it is still talking about profit. The gentry selling goods is talking about profit, and the gentleman who is angry is also talking about profit, but the interests of each other are different, and no one is superior to the other.”

Xia Yuanji was still worried and said: "Although that is the case, the reason is also the same, but... the Ministry of Households is still worried..."

Yang Rong said: "Then let's take a look again. When I am waiting for the draft of these memorials, I still suggest that Your Majesty keep them and wait for the follow-up."

Xia Yuanji sighed and said, "This is the only way to do it now. That's right, everyone in the capital is saying that there is a Yu Qian. Have you heard of this person?"

Jin Chundao, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment: "I have heard a little bit. This person seems to be in charge of the customs. He is a juror, but he is very courageous. I heard that a batch of goods from the Chengyanghou Mansion were detained by him a few days ago, and he ordered the Chengyanghou to pay the tax... "

After hearing what Jin Chun said, everyone couldn't help smiling.

"This man is as bold as a fight!"

……

Yongle 19 early summer.

Yu Qian came to the county prince's mansion with a pile of accounts.

He is very familiar with the county palace, and it is not too much to say that he is going home.

After seeing Zhang Anshi, Yu Qian still saluted politely as usual: "I have seen Your Highness."

Zhang Anshi nodded at him, and said casually: "These days, my king has been expecting you to come, but you seldom come and walk around."

Yu Qian said: "The customs affairs are complicated, and the lower officials can't get away."

Zhang Anshi pointed to the thing in his hand, curiously asked: "What is this?"

"The accounts from the establishment of the customs to the present, as well as a large amount of income and expenditure, please look over them!"

After hearing this, Zhang Anshi became very interested, and said, "Oh, this king has been waiting for a long time."