After listening to Xue Tingxiang's explanation, Chen Jian was in a cold sweat and could not calm down for a long time.
was startled.
He never thought that such a big crisis lurked in this peaceful and prosperous world, and he didn't notice it.
At the same time, his heart is too chaotic. He has been with Xue Tingxiang for many years and knows his character. His character is that he doesn't say or do it, since he has said it, he must do it.
But once it is done, it will be the enemy of the entire Shilin.
This is the most powerful group of people in the world except for the emperor, representing all the scholars in the world.
Everything is inferior, only reading is high.
Why? it goes without saying.
"Have you really figured it out?"
Xue Tingxiang groaned slightly: "Even if I don't propose, Your Majesty will do it, but it's only a matter of time. It's not too late. I've ordered people to find a new continent suitable for growing food in Waihai, but this kind of thing can't be done overnight."
"You must know that people of all dynasties and generations, whoever implements the New Deal..."
"What?" Xue Tingyan looked at Chen Jian, and suddenly smiled: "Dead without a whole body, infamy, what thousands of people refer to, people perish and the government disappears, leaving a legacy for thousands of years?"
He suddenly sighed and said, "Ajian, to be honest with you, I was actually quite hesitant, otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned this to you today."
"Have you mentioned it to the teacher? Why don't you ask the teacher, brainstorm, and see if you can find a solution to both." Chen Jian was also a little confused, so he said that.
Xue Tingxiang knew it, he shook his head slightly: "Don't forget the people behind the teacher."
He is from Beilu Academy.
Knowing that Beilu Academy owns nearly half of the land in Futian Township, the students in the academy have benefited a lot, but Xue Tingxiang and others disagreed. Thinking about it at this time, there are many fields in Beilu Academy, and the fields of the people living nearby will naturally decrease, so the wool comes out of the sheep, and it is the people below who suffer.
"Ting Yan, you should slow down first and let me think about it." Chen Jian said.
"Ajian, in fact, I told you about this today, I didn't want you to do anything, but..." Xue Tingyan smiled bitterly and said, "It seems that I was wrong, I shouldn't have told you this, but it messed up your affairs. mind."
"Why do you say that, Ting Wei, don't you think I'm a friend, or..." Chen Jian was actually a little annoyed.
Xue Tingyan hurriedly said: "Stop, stop, look, it's not that I didn't take you as a friend, but this matter is destined to be an enemy of tens of thousands of people, and I shouldn't implicate you. It's enough for me to do this alone. Now, you don't need to be mixed in."
"I admit that I am a little scared, but my fear is not because of what I am, I am afraid of you..."
"Okay, Ah Jian." Xue Tingxiang stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder: "I understand what you mean, and I also understand that you are worried about me."
He came to the window and looked out: "It's just that when I hit the drum, I can't help it. In fact, I'm not a saint, and I will make plans for myself, seek benefits and avoid harm. Including my current The idea is not so firm, but there is always a voice telling me - try it, maybe it will work?"
There was silence in the study, and Chen Jian looked at Xue Tingxiang standing in front of the window.
The two met in the wild, and they were classmates and teachers, and they should have been in the same department, but Tingxiang's fate was always ups and downs, so he eventually missed it.
For a long time, Chen Jian has never regarded himself as the real champion. Every time someone mentions what happened to Chen Zhuangyuan, he will always say in his heart that if that person comes, the champion will not be Chen Huanzhi, but Xue Tingxiang.
It was precisely because of this miss that the two took a completely different path.
The path he walks now is the path that a champion should really walk, glory, stability, dignity, and dignity, not like Ting Yan, who has to fight against the sky, the earth, and people every time he climbs up.
Occasionally outside, I heard someone say that Xue Tingxiang could only stand in his new year, so he did what he did.
He was always very excitable.
Because only he knows what kind of road Ting Yan has taken.
Alone, with painstaking effort and gallbladder.
Maybe one more will be added later, although there are thousands of people and I will go.
"Is it worth it?" In the silence, he heard his own trembling voice.
Although Chen Jian has been unknown in recent years, he has been watching and knows the reason why Xue Tingxiang was recalled from Guangzhou. This is the greatest grief of being a courtier, either to follow the trend or to be unconventional, but at the same time, you are afraid of breaking the emperor's taboo.
Xue Tingxiang frowned and shook his head: "I don't know. But I know whether it's worth it or not, it's not what others say, but what I see for myself."
Suddenly, he laughed loudly: "Well, this topic is too heavy, and I'm not going to do it right now. Let's talk about something else, maybe when I change my mind, my mind changes?"
"Okay." Actually, Chen Jian's mood is quite complicated now.
It was not until the afternoon that Xue Tingxiang returned to the house with his wife and daughter.
On the way, Zhao'er told him about Chen Jian's family affairs.
Xue Tingxiang sighed: "It seems that everyone has a hard time reading, and Ajian's life is not easy."
"It's also my fault that your salaries are too small. Look at you, for example, Tangtang is a high-ranking official in the 2nd rank department, and his monthly salary is only less than one hundred and fifty taels. If you give these money to the common people, you can naturally live a long life. Half a year, you can give it to us.
"Look at our family's servants, carriages and horses, human relations in various places, as well as children's expenses and your and me's expenses, how can this amount of money be enough for a month. Not to mention Ah Jian now, he This official position is very precious, but it is really precious and expensive, the salary is only fifty taels a month, and the household department is always dragging it, and everything has to be supplemented by the wife with the dowry."
Seeing that Zhao'er was filled with righteous indignation, Xue Tingxiang was a little embarrassed: "You can't say this when you and Xu's are together?"
Zhao'er gave him a sideways look: "What? Can't talk about it?"
He touched his nose: "No, it's just that the two of you two women are sitting together and arranging your husbands, isn't it a bit against women's ethics?"
"It's against women's law to say this?" Zhao'er raised his eyebrows.
Xue Tingxiang hurriedly begged for mercy, followed by righteous indignation: "Okay, it's all useless for us masters, and we have to let the wife support. Speaking of which is also a dignified official, the imperial court only pays us this idea, and we are always in arrears, how can we support our family? To make a living, we were harassed by our wife, our husbands were weak, the world was declining, and people’s hearts…”
"Oh, you're enough, the more you talk, the more outrageous it becomes." Zhao'er annoyed him.
Xue Tingxiang also laughed, smiling, remembering that Zhao'er said that he was in arrears with his salary.
In fact, he really knows this, and he knows a lot. In the past, officials owed their salaries because the Ministry of Household had no money, but now the Ministry of Household has money, but it still delays, but because there are too many officials in Beijing, and the Ministry of Household is too busy, bad governance habits, and inertia.
For a while now, it's useless for him to just think about it. It's better to start from the corner first, maybe going against the current, it will become a trend. Xue Tingxiang rubbed his chin and thought.
The matter of arrears of salary is different from others. It is under the control of the Ministry of Household, and naturally you can do it if you want.
When Xue Tingyan really went down and asked about it, he realized that there were too many disadvantages.
Dachang followed the old system of the previous dynasty, including the salaries of officials.
Officials' salaries can be paid annually, quarterly, silver, or rice, depending on what the Ministry of Household has the most when the salary is paid. In addition to silver rice, silk cloth has also been issued, but this is very rare, and it all happened before Kaifu, when the court had no money, so silk cloth was used to fill it. Meter.
All in all, it's pretty confusing.
Just in time for the last season of Ji Lumi, Xue Tingxiang simply changed the charter.
Official salaries are no longer issued from Guangyingku, but a new salary department has been established.
The officials in the salary department are temporarily drawn from other departments of the Ministry of Households, and will only be formally brought to the table when the court issues an order.
Once the matter was posted, it caused a lot of heated discussion.
Some small officials in Beijing went to Guangyingku to collect Lumi, but were told that the distribution was not through Guangyingku, but from the Salary Department. And I can't get it now. I can only get my salary after the salary department has issued a document.
For a time, there was a lot of complaints, and the Ministry of Household maladministration was always in arrears, and it was criticized and criticized again.
But they are all low-level officials. Even if they are dissatisfied, it is useless to discuss them.
As for the Ministry of Housing, let alone.
The following officials are all discussing, this new official took office three fires, originally planned to burn here. Usually busy enough, but also looking for something to do, this is not a blatant tossing people.
In addition, it is Guangyingku and some individuals. After this order was issued, how many people were restless and ran away in private.
Peng Junyi didn't show up all the time. Seeing the commotion below, he inevitably went to Xue Tingxiang and said something.
"Xue Shilang's days in the Ministry of Households are not too short. You should know that we have less people and more things here. This time, regarding the distribution of salary, you should temporarily change the regulations, and you should also discuss with the Lord of the Ministry, and see what's going on below. This official wanted to say something for you, but because I don't know the inside story, I don't know where to start."
In fact, the meaning of Peng Junyi's words is very clear, that is, he is blaming Xue Tingxiang for not saying hello to him beforehand.
It's just that the two of them are of the same rank. Although Peng Junyi is on the left, his status is a little higher than that of the right servant, but Xue Tingxiang is the person that Emperor Jiacheng likes, so naturally he can't tell the difference.
Hearing this, Xue Tingxiang was stunned for a moment, and then apologized: "I saw that Mr. Peng was busy with official business, and I thought that this matter was not a big deal, but this official saw that Guangyingku had one and two things, and the burden was too heavy, so I will relieve them. business."
"Since they are appointed officials of the imperial court, there is no need to say that the burden is too heavy, how can they complain constantly, so it is better not to be an official."
Xue Tingxiang said with a smile: "Master Peng said very much, but as a senior officer, how can you turn a blind eye to the affairs of your subordinates. I have visited Guangyingku, they are in charge of storage and accounting for each official. The salaries and the distribution of the stipends, there are both rice and silver in the distribution, there are too many trivial matters, and some mistakes are inevitable.
"Like that day, when I went there, I met some officials who complained that the Lumi issued by the Ministry of Housing was too poor. It was mixed with sand and gravel, so I couldn't eat it, and it was a pity to throw it away. Later, after listening to Ambassador Naku's explanation, I could understand Guangyingku's official business. It was too heavy, so Guangyingku was stopped and a salaries company was set up instead."
"So there is such a thing?" Peng Junyi stroked his beard and asked in surprise.
"No, this official is also quite surprised. But then I think about it, who would dare to take the Beijing official's salary after eating the guts of a bear's heart and a leopard. Zuo is just that Guangyingku's burden is too heavy, and there is a mistake in the middle. "
Not to mention, there are really people who have eaten bear hearts and leopard galls, not just one or two.
Although the capital city is the root of the imperial city, not every capital official can see His Majesty or the court official in charge of the first department. Moreover, the rice was escorted to Beijing after a long journey, and it would appear to be a little broken due to external force, which is normal.
The crushing can be caused by external forces, including sand and gravel, or it can be said that the people are not careful in paying their grain. How can you, an official, go to the local area and compete with a flat-headed common man, or even the yamen who manages the grain collection below
Usually self-confessed.
Over time, all the officials knew that the Lumi issued could not be eaten, and even if it was exchanged for money, it could not be sold for a price.
But this involves the distribution of stipends, and how the officials' salaries are distributed is a matter for the Ministry of Households. There is rice to make rice, but no rice is converted into silver taels, but the time to convert silver taels is less, and the time to make rice is more.
Without him, it is because rice grains are the easiest to use.
Broken rice or even rice mixed with gravel is much cheaper than first-class grain. The Ministry of Household distributes salaries to officials according to the first-class grain, and the conversion is also calculated according to the grain price of the first-class grain. But the problem is that the Ministry of Household has such an algorithm, and the rice distributed is sold, but it cannot be sold at the price of first-class grain.
The difference in this? Naturally filled with those silverfish.
This is why every time the salaries are given out, when they hear that they are converted into silver, the officials below are all happy, and when they hear about the payment of rice, all of them are like eggplants beaten by frost.
These are all swindling their salaries. Dachang officials' salaries follow the Ming system, which is already meager. With such a sting, they can't survive, and those who can be greedy will naturally want to be greedy.
Xue Tingxiang's words made Peng Junyi a little unable to take it. Could it be that the Ministry of Household is so courageous that he dared to play with the official salary
Is it a child's play? In fact, most of the people in the Ministry of Household know it.
Snakes have their own way, and shrimp have their own way.
Well, it depends on how he will act in the future when he offends someone in the ministry.
Peng Junyi smiled and cupped his hands: "Master Xue is really caring about his subordinates, and this official sighs that it is not as good."
"Master Peng is always busy with big things every day, so it's normal that you can't see the details. I'm new here, so I'm not too familiar with the affairs of the department, so I can only make up for it."
After greeting each other, Peng Junyi left.
This season's salary was supposed to be released in March, but it was delayed until April.
Now the constitution has been temporarily changed, and it has been postponed from April to May.
Just as the crowd below was so excited that even Emperor Jiacheng in the palace had heard about it, the Ministry of Household finally issued a document, and the stipends began to be distributed on the tenth of the fifth lunar month.
There are only five days, and it has not yet expired, which surprised many people. Therefore, even those high-ranking officials who don't care about these three melons and two dates can't help but explain to the servants in the family, and it is time to remember to go to collect their salaries.
On that day, there were two long queues on the back door street of the Ministry of Housing.
There are low-level officials in official robes, and there are servants dressed as servants. Because they don't know whether the salary is paid this time, whether it is rice or silver, they all have cloth bags in their hands.
Not far from here, there was still a group of people standing, headed by businessmen dressed up, surrounded by a few coolies and a trailer. Maybe other people don't know what these people are doing, but some low-level Beijing officials do.
Some officials received Lumi, but they didn't want to eat it and it was useless at home, so they sold it to these people. The price is naturally low, so seeing these people, some low-level Beijing officials are quite disgusted. But I also know that there are people behind these people, but they dare not speak out.
The queue seems to be quite long, but in fact it is moving very fast. From time to time, someone squeezed out from the front, holding two pieces of paper in their hands, looking astonished.
These are the ones who came to receive their salaries in a hurry. Most of them were not in a good family and were waiting for the rice to cook, so the Ministry of Household said that they would get their salaries today, and some people came at night just to be in the front.
"Brother Li, what's the matter? Why didn't you see the rice or the silver, but sent two sheets of paper?"
There was the person in the back who knew the official who had already received the salary, and when he saw the other person's appearance, he couldn't help but ask one more question.
But this brother Li didn't answer either, so he could only walk out of the team and take a closer look.
I saw that brother Li's name and official title were written on one of the pieces of paper, followed by two lines. These two lines of characters have their own categories, one column is written with salary, the next is a small line of characters, the other is written with grace, and the following is also a small line of small characters.
This person is naturally literate, and he can clearly see what is written in those two lines of small characters.
One reads thirty-six taels, and the other reads thirty taels.
By convention, they came to receive the salary of the first season, that is to say, three months' salary. This brother Li is an eighth-rank petty official, and his monthly salary is 12 taels of silver, which is 36 taels for three months.
The number is correct, so what are the last three or two
This brother Li said: "The Ministry of Household said that in the future, officials' salaries will be converted into silver, and they will be distributed regularly. You can come to receive receipts on the first five days of the next month."
Hearing this, the man immediately laughed.
"This is a good thing. It's better to fold silver than rice."
"The Ministry of Household also said that His Majesty felt the hard work of the officials, so this season everyone will be rewarded according to their grades."
"That's a good thing too."
"It's just that there is no money, so each person issued a ticket, saying that they can go to the Tailong ticket number to get the money."